New York City, Another Tour of Eats

One thing that I love about New York City is how there is always a new "latest and greatest" thing to try, do, see or eat. Always. It's the city of change, and there is a constant, bubbling rotation of trends in every industry. You certainly don't get bored, no matter how many times you've visited or how long you've lived there. There is always more to explore.

The recent visit my family took was no exception, and we made it our mission to try all the latest eats (that were relatively kid-friendly, because c'mon, I'm not going to take Everett to Mercer Kitchen and let him terrorize the pristine-ness). But we found some great spots and were introduced to a few new ones by our best buds from the Upper West Side (who we keep trying to convince to move to Atlanta - it never works but I'm taking the it's-a-marathon approach and hoping that eventually I can convince them). They are legit foodies and always steer us in the right direction. They took us on this East Village food tour last time, and obviously, it lives on in my memory as one of theeeeee most righteous nights in NYC.

Annnnnyways, we ate and ate and ate and ATE. And Everett truly shocked us with his endurance. That boy can hold his own! I fear for my future grocery bills. They are rising, people.

Stumptown Coffee (hairbender is my favorite blend) and a Black Seed Multi-Everything Salmon Bagel. BEST BREAKFAST EVER. And that was just the start of the day :)

Oh the fame. We just want a tiny piece of it. In the form of a croissant perhaps.

Really glad my kid slept through the ice cream part of this field trip, or else he would have demanded some of his own. And I wasn't about to share this delicacy.

Look at who's re-opened since I moved away! One of my first New York memories is from eating in this restaurant with my dad and Aunt like a million years ago. And now it's back and better than ever!

We made friends sitting at the communal tables and sharing brew. And watching Everett flirt with all the girls. And stuff his face with sauerkraut.

Hudson Eats! It's like a food court except way more awesome, with some of the most famous/delicious restaurants in NYC represented.

That boy.

Eating outside at Brookfield Place, so you can watch the sun go down over the water and dream of owning one of those phat yachts. Yes, I said phat. PHAT.

BFFLS. FTW. Who cares if the photo is blurry. The friendship endures.

A few spots (where we devoured) that are worth trying:

Black Seed Bagels - Get anything. Just flippin' anything.

Dominique Ansel Kitchen - Try the Sumac Chicken Salad Toast with Parsley Tabbouleh! Oh, and of course the crazy famous Burrata Ice Cream. Dear God, that ice cream.

Stumptown Coffee at the Ace Hotel - Always a fave. Great place to buy coffee as a gift, too.

Hudson Eats at Brookfield Place - We devoured burnt ends at Mighty Quinn's Barbeque, catfish from Num Pang Sandwich Shop, shopped at bit at Le District, and reveled in the glorious crepes from Financier Patisserie.

Landmarc - I actually ate here twice with friends. It's fancy, but a good option for kiddos because it's stroller-friendly and extremely spacious. Plus, you get a view of the Upper West Side!

Burger and Lobster - Oh my goodness, why didn't I know about this when I lived there?! LOBSTER ROLL FOR THE WIN. And sangria :)

The Beer Garden at Tavern on the Green - German style pretzels (totally made me remember this little jaunt over to Munich), awesome beer, and Everett eating more bratwurst and sauerkraut than me.

Let me know if you visit one of these places on a trip to NYC! I would love to hear about what you tried/loved/hated!

*Other posts about NYC eats and food tours: munching through Alphabet City, tasting through East Village, Cruising through West Village, testing the CRONUT, enjoying high tea at the Plaza and high tea at Alice's Tea Cup, first time at Black Seed Bagels, feasting on outdoor eats in Soho, barbeque in Harlem, pizza in Brooklyn, and a fancy meal option on the Upper West Side, just to name a few :)

Our Stage 1 Baby Food Methods & Resources.

Entering Stage 1. 

The past 6-8 weeks have been SO MUCH FUN. My son has started munching on solids, and by solids, I totally mean pureed, smoothie-ish textured foods :) This new part of our routine has led to a much better sleep schedule for us all. Of course, as I type this, I am completely sleep-deprived, because he has been teething this week which just throws everything off again, again. But he has worked so hard for these two little bottom teeth that sprouted up this week (all the moms feel my whole-hearted HOORAY!) In spite of this little teething blip, I must say that overall, things have been really smooth sailing in the baby department lately. Which is saying a lot, because it has been a whirlwind ride since this little boy made his appearance 7 months ago. So, yaay for teeth and fun foods and SLEEP.

"Knowing" He Was Ready.

My pediatrician kept telling me that I would know when my son was ready for solids. I didn't really know what she meant by that. But all the sudden, at 5 months old he started reaching for everything I was eating. He almost drooled into my coffee cup as I poured the happy morning beverage. How does he know to drool over coffee? That's my boy. I guess this was the "I'M FRIGGIN READY, MOM"-indicator. I wasn't ready for him to be ready, but he was! So at 5 and a half months, I tearfully strapped him into his little high chair and slowly armed his clothing with his rubber bib (see a few pics HERE.) I sat down in front of him with my first batch of homemade apple sauce, and after weeping a tiny bit (me, not him), I began spoon feeding him. That little smile. Smeared across his face in mashed-apple joy. He LOVED it. He was in apple Heaven, and started banging on his tray, as if to say, "I want more, cmon woman!" Every day since then, we have given him apple sauce or banana for "breakfast" and fed him different fruits and veggies at dinner time. Of course, this is all in addition to his many nursing sessions each day :)

Resources & Recipes.

I'm not into reinventing the wheel. So when it comes to making my own baby food, I have reached out for lots of help and guidance. I have pulled on the resourceful brains of my big sis Kara and my dear friend Liz, along with the Momtastic Wholesome Baby Food website and book. I started with recipes for making singular pureed baby foods, including Bananas, Sweet Potato, Apple Sauce, Pear Sauce, Mangoes, Avocados, Carrots, Peas and Zucchini. I have started combining some of the foods, creating blends of Apples & Carrots, Pears & Peas, Zucchini & Pears and Banana & Avocado. This isn't proprietary information, since pretty much every blogger under the sun has published the same baby food recipes over and over again. But I really needed step by step instructions spelled out for me, and in case you're a little bit like me, I wanted to share the method I've most enjoyed.

Stage 1 Baby Food Prep:

Cooking.

1) Peel, (when appropriate, core) and chop your fruit/veggie.

2. Place in a steamer basket within a stockpot of water on the stove. Make sure the water is high enough to just barely cover the fruit/veggies.

3) Steam/boil the fruit/veggies until soft enough to easily stick a fork through. The timing will totally depend on the type of fruit/veggie and how much you're steaming. Give yourself anywhere between 7-20ish minutes for this stage.

4) Remove chunks from heat and strain the fruit/veggies out. Reserve that water! It's nutrified.

5) Place chunks into blender (I use a Vitamix), and add a cup or two of the reserved water.

6) Blend mixture until a smooth puree is achieved.

Storing.

7) Pour mixture into ice cube trays. Cover with plastic wrap and freeze overnight. In the morning. place cubes in a large zip-top bag. Label the bag with the food type and date. Keeps in the freezer for 3-6 months.

8) Voila! You've made your baby food! You deserve chocolate.

Serving.

9) Remove a day's worth of baby food from the freezer at the beginning of the day. This could be 1-2 cubes for "breakfast", and 2-3 cubes for "dinner". I haven't really opted in to start serving him solids around lunchtime, but you could!

10) Place cubes in individual baby food containers. Allow to thaw. If you would like to serve the food warmed, you can place this container or this container in a cup of hot/boiling water to quickly heat. My favorite method to thaw/heat baby food is by water submersion, but there are tons of different options.

11) Make sure to stir the mixture well and taste-test each new serving (just to make sure there aren't heat pockets that could burn a baby's mouth.)

// I had a pretty cute audience for this food prep. //

Our Kitchen Tools:

- Tommee Tippee Easi Roll Bibs (These were a genius baby gift, thank you Jordan!)

- Munchkin Soft-tip Spoons

- Keekaroo High Chair (Another gift, thank you Merritt family! We love our pretty high chair!)

- Vitamix Blender

- OXO Freezer Storage Containers (for storing/heating baby food)

- Ball 4-oz. Jars (for storing/heating baby food)

A Few Last Thoughts:

Making baby food is no joke. It feels like a very domestic, wonderfully mommy-ish thing to do, but it is hard work. There is NO SHAME in serving your child store-bought baby food. On our first road trip I gave Everett some of these and these pouches of Stage 1 baby foods and he loved them. So there you go. Kids really don't know the difference.

A helpful note about how much to serve your baby.

A good reminder to always nurse or bottle feed your baby before serving solids. 

After preparing all this food, I was ready to go on a baby food diet myself. Seems so healthy.

I hope this helps! Do you have any tips for feeding your baby solids or recipes/methods that have been super successful in your own family? Do share!

TASTE: Lemon & Olive Chicken.

TASTE: Lemon & Olive Chicken.

Happy Tuesday to you! I hope your Valentine weekend was full of love and hugs and kisses and tasty treats. Ours was hilarious and wonderful. With all this incredible cold weather up in our business, I've got a warm yummy dinner recipe for you today!

This meal has quickly become a staple in our household. When I got this amaaaaaazing dutch oven for Christmas last year, I started experimenting with all the delicious ways I could cook easy meals and make them taste like Heaven. This dutch oven has made my success rate increase tenfold. Seriously. This particular recipe is a favorite because it's super duper easy to make (no, seriously) and it's mega healthy. There's nothing crazy bad in it, which makes it the perfect midweek pick-me-up that tastes like comfort food without hindering my waistline. (I've got other temptations to hinder my waistline) :)

I got this recipe from Gwyneth Paltrow's book, It's All Good, a publication that garners a lot of hate but I confidently stand by. Just because Gwyneth gets misquoted (okay, a lot) saying sometimes outland-ish, borderline pretentious things, her food life is the center of my envy. Everything I've cooked from that book has been GOLD. I've made a few changes (for the lazy crowd, you're welcome), so this recipe is officially easier than ever. Add a side of quinoa and a side of something green and this meal is going to become your new go-to. What's for dinner at our house tonight? I'll give you one, deeeeeelicious guess :)

Ingredients:

- 6 boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts

- 1 Lemon, sliced

- 3 Shallots, sliced thinly into rings

- 1.5 cups Chicken Stock

- 1/2 jar Green Olives

- 2-3 cloves garlic, peeled

- 2 tbsp. Olive Oil

- Salt and Pepper, to taste

- 1 sprig Thyme

Method:

1. Heat oven to 400 degrees. Drizzle olive oil in a cast iron dutch on the stove and heat on medium.

2. Generously salt and pepper chicken on both sides and place in dutch oven. Cook until lightly browned, about 4-5 minutes, then flip and cook on the other side. Cook for another 4-5 minutes (chicken should still be pink inside), then remove chicken from heat and transfer to a plate. DON'T WORRY. We aren't done cooking the chicken.

3. Add shallots and garlic to the dutch oven, cooking until softened, about 2-3 minutes.

4. Place chicken back into the dutch oven, along with any juices that collected on the plate. That's flavor town, by the way.

5. Add the chicken stock, olives, thyme and scatter on top of the chicken. Squeeze individual slices of lemon over the chicken and discard the skins.

Note:

I like to keep the lemons in the mixture so they cook together, but you don't have to since you won't eat them. Totally up to you.

6. Bring the mixture to a boil on the stove top, then cover and place in the oven. Cook for 30-40 minutes on 400 degrees.

Woop, there it is.

Tada! I personally like to serve this dish with an herbed quinoa situation (quinoa on the stove, cooked in chicken stock, and fancied up with any fresh herbs you've got on hand - THE BEST.) This meal tastes gourmet and looks like something Ina Garten whipped up, but the hands-on time is minimal. Enjoy! And let me know how it goes!

Alice's Teacup, Upper West Side

"'Twas brillig, and the slithy toves, did gyre and gimble in the wabe; All mimsy were the borogoves, and the mome raths outgrabe." - Except from Jabberwocky, by Lewis Carrol from Through the Looking Glass*

Fancy A Scone.

My lovely cousin Amber came into town last week. We traipsed around 5th Avenue and did all sort of girlish things, but one of my most favorites was the dreamy afternoon we spent over tea. As an early birthday surprise, she treated me to an Upper West Side high tea service at the famed Alice's Teacup.

Let me just say. It was quite the delight.

Alice's Offering.

Alice's Teacup is a fondly-known establishment in my hood, though I hadn't been there before. After stepping inside and letting our eyes adjust for a moment, we realized we were in a haven of fantastical fun. Teapots danced across the walls, charming silver spoons posed on the shelves. There was Alice in Wonderland paraphernalia everywhere and, for a gal with a deep-seated love for Alice and her posse of goof-off friends, I couldn't think of a happier place to be. We settled into our enormously overstuffed chairs and scoured the menu. And it was decided. The Madhatter's Delight it is. Which grandly included cucumber and watercress sandwiches, pumpkin and white chocolate scones, fragrant black tea and rich chocolate mousse. Oh, and tea cookies. Can't forget the petite, pretty little cookies that you can nibble with the tips of your teeth. The interior of Alice's is warm & intimate, set off by jeweled colors and topsy-turvy furnishings. It's was so comfortable, you could sit there for hours and get lost in deep conversation. And that's just what we did. Although, it was often interrupted by our deep-bellied howls of laughter that shook the room (and the teacups) and maybe caused a few annoyed glares in our direction. We are both quite the storyteller. And we are both rather loud.

Lets Talk.

This wonderful place made me realize why I am so enchanted by the fancifulness of tea time. It's a frilly event that is really masquerading as quality connection time, enjoying delectable treats over real conversation. Finding out what's running deep along the inner landscape of the magnificent person sitting across from you; taking the time to understand their perspective, look in their eyes and grow with them. It's an enriching, enlightening experience

that somehow always takes place over a hazy, heady cup of tea. I want to note that this is different than coffee time, people. Coffee time is also a sacred time, but in a completely different way. We will discuss that another day.

My day with this girl, ah, I'll never forget it. She's a treasured one.

* Also, this is the first poem I ever memorized. 3rd Grade poetry competition and I can still remember it, can still recite every word by heart. Nonsensical fun really does run deep.