A City Gem: Yakitori Totto

It doesn’t happen very often that you walk into a place and immediately know that it is one of the best.  We knew this was such an occasion as soon as we walked up the stairs and entered Yakitori Totto, which serves authentic Japanese food in the middle of Hell’s Kitchen.

When you enter, you’ll notice that the open grill is the centerpiece of the warm dining room.  For your first visit, pick a seat by the bar to observe the chefs masterfully create the many grilled skewers of joy, ranging from

Banana Walnut Oatmeal Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

Yes, I managed to pack all of said ingredients into one cookie. 

 banana walnut oatmeal pb choc chip goodness

 

What better way to spend hurricane weekend than to make cookies (that sound like they were made by a tornado sweeping up all of the ingredients together).  These cookies really pack a punch (a healthy one!) with hearty oats,

Satisfying My Six Month Tiramisu Craving

For roughly six months now, I have been craving tiramisu.  Three months ago I got a slice from a nearby Italian restaurant only to be sourly disappointed, and so the craving continued on, unsatisfied.  I had to take matters into my own hands…the result is this giant tiramisu made by yours truly.  I think it’s safe to say I will have fully satisfied my craving after this is all gone.

 The solution to a six month tiramisu craving

Adventures in Spain: San Sebastian and Pamplona

We promise this is the last of our Spain posts (until our next trip).  We’ve dragged on our trip to Spain for more than a month now and almost considered not posting the last entry, but we couldn’t bear to skip over our final glorious days in the Basque region!

I’m going to keep this brief because the photos will speak for themselves.  We spent one day in the beautiful beach town of San Sebastian, known to have the best pintxos (that’s what they call tapas in the Basque region) and most Michelin star restaurants per capita in the world.  Heavy rain that day prevented us from wandering the beach; however, we happily occupied our time exploring the pintxos bars of San Sebastian.  

Yay we have arrived at San Sebastian!...but booo it's raining!

Adventures in Spain: Tasting Navarra's Best Wines

During our week in Spain, we were invited to tour two of Navarra’s finest wineries.  Neither of us knew much of anything about wine other than how to empty a glass of it, so it was nice to take a closer look and see how wine is produced from start to finish.  The process is extensive: harvest and crush the grapes, fermentation, aging period, and finally bottling the wine to be sold.  The master of all things wine, or the "enologist,"

Adventures in Spain: Road Trip Through Navarra

After our evening tapas crawl in Madrid, the next morning we set off on our journey to the region of Navarra.  After four hours of driving through rather quiet scenery, we arrived at the picturesque Bardenas Reales, a desert-like natural park of plateaus formed by erosion over millions of years. 

We continued on to the historic town of Olite.  It was a very charming town housing the Royal Palace of Olite, previously home to the court of the King of Navarra during the Middle Ages.

Quiet streets of Olite

 Royal Palace of Olite

That day it so happened that there was a special youth federation event – we got to witness a mini “running of the bulls” with the young boys of Olite running with small bulls through the streets of Olite. 

Adventures in Spain: Tapas Crawl in Madrid

Back in February, my string of good luck began when I won a trip to Navarra, Spain.  You can read my original post about Navarra and the dinner we attended during Navarra Gastronomic Week here. 

The time finally came last week for Piggie Hubby and me to embark on what we knew would be a spectacular, unforgettable gastronomic adventure in Spain.  As you’ll see from the photos, we kicked off our trip by spending our first two days eating all of the tapas Madrid had to offer. 

Our first food adventure was at Mercado de San Miguel, a covered market with over 30 different shops that offer fresh fruit and seafood and most importantly for us, beer and tapas!  We came here our first night in Madrid to have a sampling of tapas.  There was so much more we wanted to try, we came back for lunch the next day as well.

Tehuitzingo – Mexico en Nueva York Señoras y Señores

Today's post is compliments of Piggie Hubby.  Born and raised in Mexico, this piggie knows his tacos.  

I have searched endlessly for a place that would remind me of the delicious dishes I grew up eating in Mexico.  My search for those treats, tacos, quesadillas, tostadas, tortas, has spanned numerous cities with the hopes of finding the restaurant that would remind me of the comforts of home with a single bite.  Hidden in the back of a tiny Mexican grocery store in Hell’s Kitchen, I finally found the answer to my quest: Tehuitzingo.

In hindsight, I should have known that my search would end as soon as I entered Tehuitzingo and found myself surrounded by the familiar décor of a traditional deli in Mexico: shelves stocked with traditional spices, salsas, sweet treats, canned goods, and friendly faces.  Beyond the groceries and after walking past a set of fridges filled with Mexican drinks (Sidral, Sangria, Jumex juices),

Mini Oreo Cheesecakes

As most of you already know, or may have figured out, I have an absurdly large sweet tooth.  I have successfully managed to polish off batches of cookies and cakes by myself (probably not something to brag about).  In order to curb my excessive dessert intake, I now try to decrease my baking.

A few weeks ago, my coworker had a housewarming party - the perfect opportunity for me to bake something and not single-handedly consume all of the goods.  For two years, yes, TWO WHOLE YEARS, I have had this Mini Oreo Cheesecake recipe bookmarked but never actually made it.  On this fine Saturday in May, I finally

Best Thing Since Sliced Bread? Mac n Cheese Sandwich

Oh yes, your eyes are not fooling you.  I did indeed pile mac n cheese between two slices of sourdough bread.  This has been a dream I’ve wanted to make a reality for a long time. 

Dreams really do come true

But that’s not all folks – my mac n cheese had a spicy kick from