New York City: Odds and Ends

Dear readers,

From the start of my long, 9 day visit to New York, I knew that I would need to write one catch-all post at the end of the trip for all those wonderful little sundries that never found their way into a post of their own. This is that post. There’s a lot to share, so let’s get started.

I bought this cookie in Toronto before I left, originally taking it along to eat on my bus ride to New York, but I never got hungry enough for it, so I decided to split it with Caitlin after I arrived. If you can’t read the label, this is a Seed ‘n’ Raisin Bite Me! Cookie from local Toronto company New Moon Kitchen. They make a lot of good products, and these cookies were no exception. They were full of tasty seeds and raisins, as advertised. To get a little better idea, check out the flip side:

Yum! Okay: Next!

These were the two cute little baked goods Caitlin and I got a Chinese bakery in Chinatown in celebration of Chinese New Years. The one on the left was a green tea bun and the one on the right was a red bean bun. Both were very delicious.

We also drank some wine while I was there. This was the first bottle we drank: a Hacienda Del Plata Malbec. I’ve really been digging malbecs a lot recently, and this was a good one.

This wine, a Red Diamond Merlot, was also very good. I think I preferred it to the malbec, but in general I’ve really been liking merlots now, so that’s no surprise.

I picked up this bag of Food Should Taste Good Chocolate Chips at the store one day. I’ve always been a big fan of all of FSTG’s other flavors, but this was the first time I tried their chocolate. Verdict: excellent! Kind of like their cinnamon variety, these work surprisingly well, having the perfect amount of chocolate subtlety mixed in with their already tasty corn chips. Recommended! They give a whole new meaning to “chocolate chips”!

While Caitlin was at work during the week, I stayed at her apartment and worked as well (on essays and such). For lunch, I wanted to have something hearty and easy to prepare, so I picked up some canned soups at the store beforehand. Not really the best lunch, I know, but they served their purpose. I also got the chance to try some new things I had never tried! The soups you see above are, from left to right: Amy’s Organic Chili (my favorite of the bunch), Amy’s Lentil Vegetable (though this was also good), and Jyoti Madras Sambar (and this was good too).

The other element to my lunchtime meals was a nice little side of Sabra Savory Dill Hummus with some homemade tortilla chips (just blue corn tortillas cut up and baked in the oven). I really liked this hummus a lot. But then again, I really like dill.

One night Caitlin and I drank some beers. I had the Wells Banana Bread Beer on the right (which attentive readers may remember from this post, and which I can now say from personal experience is something everyone must try for themselves) and Caitlin had the Wychwood Hobgoblin Dark English Ale. Cheers!

One morning, a dalet, the fourth letter of the Hebrew alphabet, appeared on the ceiling in Caitlin’s room. We stared at it for a while in wonderment, pondering over what sort of prophecies it could portend, and then we realized it was just appearing from how the light was coming through the window curtains.

Another morning (or maybe it was the same morning?), I made the great idea that we should eat biscuits. Caitlin found a nice and simple recipe, whipped them up, and then we munched away. These were very very good, like all biscuits should be. Just look at ’em:

So good.

Finally, on my last night in New York, Caitlin and I ordered in some Mexican food from the awesome Zefe’s. This time we tried two new things: their quesadilla…

…and their enchilada…

Both were, as expected, delicious, although nothing could compare to their flautas (which I forgot to take a picture of this time, but looked very similar to how they did before). I just love this place so much.

And that’s all I got! I’ll be back soon with some exciting updates from my Toronto kitchen, and Caitlin should be checking it soon as well, so come on back!

Until we eat again,

Willie