Finding style in meals, cities, and a lens

Italian Porcini Pasta with Meatballs

pasta

I am not a big fan of Italian food. Maybe it’s because almost everything has tomato sauce. But over the weekend I did buy some pasta, Porcini mushroom tomato sauce, and ground beef to make meatballs. I have not had some home made Italian food in a while so why not eh?

It was a quick and yummy meal. I seasoned the meatballs with chopped onion, garlic powder, onion powder, salt and pepper. Simple but tasty. I baked them for 25 minutes or until they were brown and most of the fat came out. After that, simmered them in the remaining pasta sauce with the lid on for about 10 minutes.

I loved the pasta sauce cause it wasn’t heavy on ingredients. There were only seven ingredients: tomato pulp, tomato concentrate, olive oil, tomato puree, Porcini mushrooms, sugar, and sea salt. Nothing too hard to read which is how food should be. If it’s too hard to read, you know something’s up.

As for the Porcini mushrooms, I never heard of them until this meal. They’re popular in Italy and not easy to find everywhere. And a cool fact is that porcini actually means “piglets” in Italian. Who would’ve thought?

pasta

Nutmeg Oatmeal sans Oats

oatmeal

I remember the first time I was served oatmeal in a carton coffee cup. Not conventional but it made your fellow New Yorker happier and way more productive. When I didn’t have time to make breakfast, I would just pop in and get a cup of oatmeal. But the cup isn’t what made it convenient. What made it convenient was that it was a smooth oatmeal sans oats and easy to drink. But of course, it still tasted like oatmeal.

I tried and tried to simulate this recipe for the longest. I’m happy to say I have finally found the recipe.

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Nutmeg Oatmeal sans Oats

Nutmeg Oatmeal sans Oats

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup of oats
  • 4 tbsp. of cinnamon
  • 2 tbsp. of nutmeg
  • 2 cups of water
  • 1 cup of milk
  • 1 tsp. of salt
  • 2 cloves grounded
  • 4 tbsp. of sugar

Instructions

  1. Mix cinnamon, nutmeg, sugar, grounded cloves, and oats in a blender
  2. Blend until oats appear dissolved
  3. Once dissolved, strain mixture into a pot
  4. Boil mixture and stir occasionally for about 5 minutes or until the tastes have blended
  5. Serve hot with a sprinkle of cinnamon
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Benefits of Citrus Fruits in the Winter

mandarins

Many people aren’t aware that the best time of the year to eat citrus fruits is during the winter. They’re readily available and cheaper during the winter season. It is believed that oranges, tangerines, blood oranges, and even lemons taste sweeter during the winter.

Winter time is the perfect time to experiment with citrus fruits as well. You can make juice, cakes, muffins, and even dried fruits. But do not just limit yourself to freshly squeezed orange juice. Switch it up with some blood oranges and make a juice out of that. They’re definitely sweeter when they ripe so let them sit for a day or two. Not a juice fan? Build up your baking skills and maybe make some blood orange cake. I promise it’s delicious.

Another benefit of incorporating citrus fruits into your winter diet is the health benefits. They’re filled with vitamin C, potassium, folate and magnesium. So, why not take advantage?

My personal benefit is just looking at how different the citrus fruits are in color as well as in size. It may just be me, but seeing the vibrant color of a blood orange or grapefruit can always uplift my mood during the winter..

Raspberry Thumbprint Cookies

It’s almost Christmas and I still have Christmas shopping to do. But instead of getting that done, I stayed in baking raspberry filled thumbprint cookies. They’re great cookies to bake for the holidays besides gingerbread cookies. They just look so festive and fun to make. 

Maybe it’s the jam filling that makes them perfect for Christmas. Below is a recipe that I followed to make these tasty treats. Enjoy!

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Raspberry Thumbprint Cookies

Raspberry Thumbprint Cookies

Ingredients

  • 1 cup of unsalted butter
  • 2/3 cup of sugar
  • 1 large egg yolk
  • 2 tsp. of vanilla extract
  • 1/2 tsp. of salt
  • 2 1/4 cup of flour
  • 1/2 cup of jam (for these I chose raspberry jam with seeds)

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
  2. Melt butter in a saucepan and leave place in refrigerator to cool off for a few minutes.
  3. Mix salt and flour together in a bowl.
  4. In a separate bowl, beat cooled butter, egg yolk, vanilla extract, and sugar until batter is fluffy. 
  5. Take a small 1-inch round spoon, and use it to place dough onto the baking sheet.
  6. After this is done, you can gently press on the dough with your thumb. If you find your thumb sticking on the dough, just wet your thumb with water and it will do the trick.
  7. Place baking sheet in the oven. Bake for 10 minutes. You may notice that, after the 10 minutes, the dough has expanded and the thumbprint may be going away. Take the cookies out and press firmly down with the back of a small spoon. 
  8. Before you put them back, fill in the thumbprints with jam.
  9. Now, you can bake for an additional 5 minutes or until the cookies look golden.
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thumbprint cookies
jam

Sweet December Holidays

holiday market

There’s nothing better than the winter holidays and festivities. My favorite part are the decorations and lights that are put up everywhere.

Oh and the holiday markets are the best! You can get great gifts there. My go-to ones are the one in Union Square and the one on 59th street. They’re like mazes but no worries you won’t get lost.

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10 Things to Do in Montmartre

Ah Montmartre, the place that became home to famous artists like Picasso, Van Gogh, and Toulouse-Lautrec amongst many others. La Belle Époque left a mark on Montmartre making it the Bohemian center of Paris.

Today, certain parts of Montmartre are filled with tourists and vendors trying to sell their talents and souvenirs. But there is still so much to see.

Below are 10 things to do and see in Montmartre whether you like to keep it traditional or you don’t mind being a tourist.Read More

Belgian Waffles and Breakfasts

Belgian waffles

I don’t know why or how I started ordering Belgian waffles along with my usual breakfast but it happened and I never ordered regular waffles again. To me, Belgian waffles taste better. But are they really Belgian?

Waffles are very popular in Belgium. However, Belgians don’t have waffles for breakfast. Their breakfast typically consists of bread, cheese, jam, and honey.

The more important question is, is the Belgian waffle dish that’s served in the United States the same as what we would get in Belgium? The answer is no. First of all, they don’t come served on a dish. Prepare to eat a waffle with your hands. Secondly, waffles loaded with syrup, whip cream, and strawberries is a faux-pas in Belgium.

On the flip side, they can be enjoyed at any time of the day since it’s a popular street food in Belgium. But remember to enjoy it without all the extra sugar.

Balthazar Boulangerie

Balthazar boulangerie

A typical New Yorker morning would be to head to Starbucks or Dean and Deluca for a coffee and a pastry.

But with a nostalgia for France, why not start a Saturday morning by going to Balthazar instead? This boulangerie is so cozy and filled with different pastries including tarte aux pommes and scones. Grab a hot cup of coffee and a warm cinnamon roll. The cinnamon roll is a must-try by the way. It has a crusty outside with a soft inside. So good you won’t regret the five bucks it costs.

After that, get a baguette to take home. That’s how simple I like my Saturdays to be. And you don’t need to be across the Atlantic to do that.

Balthazar Boulangerie

Delacroix at The Met

Delacroix Fantasia Marocaine

This past weekend, I checked out the Delacroix exhibitions at the Met and I must say they brought me back to the place I love: Morocco. His paintings and sketches reminded me of how it felt to be on the streets of Meknes and Tangier. It gave my mind a great contrast to the everyday life in New York City.

For those who don’t know, Eugene Delacroix was a French artist who spent some time in Morocco on a diplomatic mission. During his trip there, he sketched, painted and went back home with sketchbooks filled with memories and a lot of culture. Most of those sketchbooks are kept in Paris and couldn’t be brought to the the Met but some of the paintings were.

I’m not even kidding when I say Delacroix and Morocco go hand-in-hand. Just like many other artists and authors, Delacroix found something alluring about the country. The curators even dedicated the exhibition store to Moroccan culture. From the lanterns to the Moroccan poufs, it was all there. The merchandise was a bit too pricy, compared to original prices in Morocco, but still available for purchase.

The exhibition includes 12 different galleries which showcase the artist’s various interests throughout his life.

The Karen B. Cohen Collection of the Delacroix Drawings ended already but you can still visit the main exhibition until January 6, 2019.

Delacroix sketchbooks

Spanish tiles

Delacroix Maroc

Delacroix paint

Delacroix

Delacroix at the Met

Gâteau à la banane

banana cake

This was a recipe that I was really contemplating about publishing on the blog. Not that it doesn’t taste good; it actually tastes magnificent. But the frosting was more of a little project for me and Magdalene. As you can see, it’s not the most perfect display but since it’s so yummy I couldn’t resist sharing it.Read More

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