Happy 2013!

January 6, 2013

Happy New Year! I’ve had such a wonderful couple weeks spending time with family, friends and relaxing– and hope you did as well. In between the holiday festivities, I’ve been working on my new website that I’m looking forward to sharing soon. As for the latest food shoots, I spent an afternoon in Downtown Syracuse grabbing some sandwiches to go. Of course, whenever I’m in the area, my first stop is Pastabilities for their infamous hot tomato oil. For the sandwiches, I decided to stop at Kitty Hoynes, a casual Irish pub, for a reuben, and lastly made my way to Franklin Square’s Boulangerie for a chicken salad sandwich.

Pastabilities Hot Tomato Oil

Pastabilities Hot Tomato Oil

Reuben Sandwich from Kitty Hoynes

Reuben Sandwich from Kitty Hoynes

Reuben Sandwich

Reuben Sandwich

Fries and pickles

Fries and pickles

Chicken salad waldorf with apples, raisins, cheddar and nuts

Chicken salad waldorf with apples, raisins, cheddar and nuts

Franklin Square

Franklin Square

Chicken salad waldorf with apples, raisins, cheddar and nuts

Chicken salad waldorf with apples, raisins, cheddar and nuts

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Merry Christmas!

December 24, 2012

My contribution to Christmas Eve dinner this evening is the cheese platter. I decided to go with a goat cheese, provolone and fresh ricotta. To add a bit of holiday color, I rolled the goat cheese in dried cranberries and chopped pistachios. The ricotta I placed on french baguette slices with prosciutto, honey and thyme. The provolone I kept simple, ready to be sliced with crackers. Wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas! x

Goat cheese with cranberries and pistachios

Goat cheese with cranberries and pistachios

Pistachios

Pistachios

Provolone

Provolone

Ricotta, prosciutto, thyme and honey

Ricotta, prosciutto, thyme and honey

 

 

 

New England at Christmas

December 13, 2012

It was one of those weeks that I was in need for a spontaneous adventure. I called up my best friend in Boston, told her I was venturing there, and we were going to drive up the New England coast to Maine. I’d never been this time of year, and it was rather pleasant, not having the summer tourist crowds, but instead the cozy Christmas atmosphere. Our first stop was the historical town of Newburyport, where we grabbed some cinnamon buns, ham and cheese croissants and a breakfast turnover from the Chococoa Baking Company before strolling around the cobblestone streets to do a little shopping. To warm up, we stopped at Plum Island Coffee Roasters and for very seasonal, delicious drinks– The North-Pole Mocha and the Snowflake Latte. Before long we hit the road again, driving up to Maine to hit as many antique shops as possible along Route 1 before the end of the day. At this point, I decided to retire the camera, but we finished up our daytrip in one of my favorite places– Perkins Cove– for some butternut squash soup with a smoked pork sandwich and clam chowder with bacon and chervil drop bisquits from MC Perkins Cove. The northern sun had since set, families had gone home, and we drove home along the dark windy coastal roads, being lit only by house’s Christmas lights and blaring Bruce Springsteen’s Santa Claus is Coming to Town.

Nubble Lighthouse & Cinnamon Buns

Nubble Lighthouse & Cinnamon Buns

Holiday Inspired Drink Menu

Holiday Inspired Drink Menu

Ham & Cheese croissant

Ham & Cheese croissant

Newburyport

Newburyport

Breakfast turnover

Breakfast turnover

One of the best parts of New York during the Christmas season is the markets that pop up across town. I was thrilled to hear that my favorite beef jerky boys at Field Trip were going to be setting up shop at Columbus Circle’s Holiday market, where I frequent often. I’ve already made a couple visits and certainly plan to stop by more before Christmas. The market has expanded from years past to include a more diverse aray of food options, so you can not only shop but grab a bite as well. Happy Holiday Shopping! x

Fieldtrip Beef Jerky

Field Trip Jerky

Pepper vinegar pulled pork and green apple coleslaw from The Fat Beagle

Pepper vinegar pulled pork and green apple coleslaw from The Fat Beagle

Grilled Cheese from Mrs. Dorsey's Kitchen

Grilled Cheese from Mrs. Dorsey’s Kitchen

Salumi

Central Park 

Chicken from the Red Basil Thai Kitchen

Chicken from the Red Basil Thai Kitchen




A Morning Walk

November 29, 2012

Last weekend I woke up to a beautiful snowfall and decided it was the perfect morning to grab what breakfast food I could find in the kitchen and take a relaxing walk at nearby Beaver Lake in Baldwinsville, NY. Within about 5 minutes I threw together a bag of croissants, heated up some hot cocoa, and grabbed some berries, granola and yogurt. It was a great winter preview to get ready for the fun-filled skiing adventures, cozy fires and chunky knit scarves to come.

Sunday Breakfast

Blueberries

Lakeview Trail

Yogurt, dried bananas, granola and berries

Hot Cocoa

Granola & Fruit

Hot Cocoa

 

 

 

 

 

 

Happy Thanksgiving!

November 22, 2012

Wishing everyone a very wonderful and safe holiday weekend filled with celebrating everything to be thankful for! x

Apple Pie

Apple Pie & Coffee

 

Happy Halloween!

October 31, 2012

After a few days with limited access to my computer due to Hurricane Sandy, I’m finally able to get posts up and running. While the city around me  is still in recovery mode, I spent my morning flashing back to a perfect Saturday autumn morning I recently spent in Syracuse, visiting a local farm for some pumpkin picking. Hope everyone has a wonderful and safe Halloween!

Pumpkins

Gourds

Pumpkins

Lakeside Lounging

June 1, 2012

This past weekend my girlfriends and I had a wonderful time lounging lakeside in Cazenovia. Dating back to the days of junior prom camping trips, we’ve always been known to prepare far more food than necessary, and 10 years later it’s no different. While we spent an afternoon at the wineries around the Finger Lakes, and a dinner out at Brewster Inn, we still had to ensure ourselves we would not go hungry at the house. Memorial Day essentials– watermelon, hotdogs and hamburgers were in abundance, fruit salads and bagels for the morning hours and snacks like spanakopitas, pinwheels and banana pudding to fill us up during those in between hours.

Morning fruit

Everything bagel and cream cheese

Bagel

Hotdog

Hotdogs, hamburgers and cheeseburgers

Spanakopitas

Watermelon

Banana pudding dessert

Pinwheels

Happy Memorial Day!

May 28, 2012

Wishing everyone a wonderful day filled with friends, family and picnics! x

Pizza frite and Brownie a la mode

Brownies & Pizza frite

Easter Desserts

April 12, 2012

My parent’s house was a makeshift bakery this past Saturday. Filled with the aromas of melting chocolate, bread cooking in the oven, and bits of flour trailing around, the end result was well worth it. We baked the usual Italian chocolate filled cookies and banana bread to share with friends and family. Luckily they’ve lasted me through the week and I even have a loaf frozen. A great find and prop for the shoot was the 1950’s mixer I took home from my grandmother’s house. Still need to get it working, but for now, it’s a perfect vintage accent to keep as kitchen decor.

Chocolate filled cookies

Banana Bread

Chocolate Filled Cookies

My favorite dough

Banana bread