NYC - Rainbow Bagels!!

We all know that these Rainbow Bagels are a big hit right now, so when in New York, get a rainbow bagel at THE BAGEL STORE! 

LOCATION: 349 BEDFORD AVE, BROOKLYN, NY 11211

The bagel store in Brooklyn is right on the corner and super easy to find. We walked in around 1pm (not the prime bagel time) and there were people around but nothing TOO busy. We waited for a couple minutes, walked up to the counter, and a nice girl came up to us to take our order. All three of us got rainbow bagels (they don't let you toast them) with different fillings. Zoe got hers with honey which she said was one of the best bagels she's had, Karie got hers with plain cream cheese (and she got a lot of it), and I got mine with the funfetti cream cheese and it was magical. The bagel itself wasn't different in terms of flavor but the cream cheese made me feel like I was eating cake which is alright by me! 

The store itself wasn't as obvious of a home run. Being in New York there wasn't a lot of seating which itself is not a huge deal. In terms of customer service it was sub-par. The girl that took our order was great but the 3 or 4 other guys working at the same time were less than enthusiastic to be there. Karie got her bagel and paid for it, then they set Zoe and my bagel on the counter, and walked away. We stood there for 10 or so minutes waiting for any one of the workers there to come and let us pay for our food that was already made and ready to go. It was an odd time of day and the store wasn't crazy packed with people so we couldn't figure out why we had to wait there for such an extended amount of time just to pay. 

Overall, the bagels were good but maybe I'll look for a different location next time around.    

NYC - Snow Fluff

I'm here again in NYC visiting Karie and Zoe before our trip out to Hong Kong to move Zoe back. This means one last shot to go out with Zoe and try new foods with her/ let her go back to her favorite spots!

Tonight Zoe and Karie decided on dinner at BCD Tofu House which is one of Zoe's favorites. There's a post of my thoughts of this place last time I was in New York visiting these two so if you feel so inclined to scroll back a bunch to find out, feel free!

Zoe was a little later to meeting Karie and me so Karie and I decided that we would knock a restaurant off my list and get ice cream appetizers at Grace Street!

LOCATION: 17 W 32ND ST, NEW YORK, NY 10001

I've heard a lot of great things about Grace Street and we actually passed it on the way to BCD Tofu House so we circled back about half a block and got ice cream! 

It was easy to say that it was an extremely good idea and we had such a good time. I ordered the Mango Madness snow fluff which is one of their signature shaved snow creations. Mango madness is their milk shaved snow with mango drizzles, banana, and mango chunks. This was such a delicious ice cream. It's a tricky dessert to eat because the shaved layers are kinda hard to scoop up with the spoon but when you get to it, its really light and a perfect level of sweetness. I would totally go back in a heartbeat. Karie did a build your own with the green tea shaved snow, chocolate pebbles, red bean, and strawberry. I have to say it's an odd combination but Karie seemed to like it and it's all in good fun.  

T-Swifts Vanilla Chai Sugar Cookies!!!

I found this recipe and idea from T-Swift herself and I'm not ashamed of it. It's a vanilla cookie recipe taken from joythebaker.com with a little twist from Taylor Swift's Instagram. 

To make the cookie I beat 1 stick of softened butter down and then added 1/2 cup of vegetable oil. I then added 1/2 cup of granulated sugar then mixed to incorporate before adding in 1/2 cup of powdered sugar. After that was all mixed in I added 1 egg, mixed it in, then added 2 tsp of vanilla. Now this is where T-Swift's Chai Tea comes into play. She says to add 1 packet of chai tea leaves right into the batter but I decide I'm just gonna go for it and add two. Yolo. Once that was mixed in I added 2 cups of flour, 1/2 tsp baking soda, and a 1/4 tsp of salt all together and stirred it in until the dough formed. 

I refrigerated the dough for an hour before scooping into 1in dough balls and baking it in a 350degree oven for about 12 minutes. I took them out and let them cook before icing them.

The icing was all from Taylor Swift and it was a mixture of 1 cup of powdered sugar, 1/4tsp of nutmeg, 1/4tsp of cinnamon, and 3 tbsp of milk (or eggnogg which she uses). I also added another pack of vanilla chai tea to this as well because I'm already at it so why not just go all in with the chai. I, of course, am also still somehow incapable of making an icing or frosting of any kind so mine came out thinner and more like a sugary glaze. That's fine.. one day... 

UPDATE: I remade the icing with half the amount of milk and it came out with a thicker consistency which I'm really happy about! It totally looks more like what an traditional icing would be and I'm glad I nailed it!  

ROC - Cha Chat Cafe!

Bubble Tea adventures in Rochester have begun!! Well... just this one trip but it was a success! 

I found a new bubble tea cafe in Rochester called Cha Chat Cafe decided to pay it a visit!

LOCATION: 1455 EAST HENRIETTA RD., ROCHESTER, NY 14623

You walk in and it's a super cute light blue cafe with a small dessert case and a big blackboard with the menu listed. To the left are a row of semi private open 'study rooms' for four people and cutsie stickers on the walls all around. 

I, of course, had to order a bubble tea and just decided to stick to my favorite Lychee Black Iced Tea (with bubbles) and I also figured I'd get a mixed fruit crepe with vanilla ice cream as my brunch for the day. I sat down in one of the study rooms with my notebook and relaxed and wrote while I waited. My bubble tea came out quickly and I'd say it was a pretty good drink. The bobas were made perfectly and weren't too hard or too mushy. The flavor of the tea was prominent but it wasn't overly sweet, and the price overall wasn't bad. Not too long after my mixed fruit crepe with vanilla ice cream was brought to me and it was phenomenal. To start, it was a beautiful looking crepe. The fruit and ice  cream were lined inside so perfectly and right away I knew I had made a great decision coming there. I spent the next hour writing and eating this crepe and it was perfect. 

I enjoyed this place so much, and I'm already looking forward to going back and telling more people about it.  

My First Lasagna!!

I've made my first lasagna! (Courtesy of 'Taste of Saveur Italian Classics').

I've never made a lasagna before but I was pretty excited when I found the recipe and decided to give it a shot.

For this recipe I first had to make a bechamel sauce which was actually simpler than I realized and delicious in the end. I just had to melt 3 tbs of butter then add in 4 tbs of flour and whisk. Once this was combined I slowly added in 2 cups of warm milk and added salt and pepper to taste while stirring for about 15 or so minutes. (I didn't actually clock it, I just waited until the consistency was thick and creamy.) 

I used standard casserole dish which is a 9x9in square, kind of unconventional for lasagna but it worked so that was alright. I just took a little extra time trimming down the pasta sheets to fit. I cooked one sheet of pasta at a time for less than 30 seconds and laid it down on a baking sheet covered in a damp kitchen towel. I coated the dish in melted butter then put a layer of pasta down. Then I put down a coat of pasta sauce and a light sprinkling of parmesan cheese. The recipe calls for a bolognese meat sauce but I have this terrific pasta sauce with italian sausage that I got from Wegmans and is made locally so I just decided to use that instead. After the layer of sauce and cheese I put down another layer of pasta then half the bechamel sauce that I just made (it was about a cup worth of sauce). I continued on, alternating pasta with the sauce and then a layer of pasta with bechamel until I had 5 layers of pasta. I then topped the lasagna with one more layer of pasta and cheese and into the oven it went!

I baked it at 450 degrees for 10 mins to start then cranked the oven up to 500 degrees and continued baking it for about 7mins. I let it cook and then digged in.

It was a delicious lasagna and was really not difficult to make. I would have to say the bechamel is my favorite part and overall is a filling and fun dish to make and eat!