Food Magazine Pile-Up

I love my food mags but I hate magazine pile ups! I started a tear sheet project a long long time ago and unfortunately I've been pretty bad about the whole thing. So I spent a good amount of time last Saturday going through ALL of my past issues of Gourmet and Cooks Illustrated. I bought a bunch of composition books one for recipes, shop ideas and fashion inspiration.



I taped/glued recipes and sometimes just took down notes. Easy way to get rid of your mags but still keeping your favorite articles, recipes etc. It also makes it easy to find a recipe instead of having to remember the exact issue :)

Last Night's Takout: Lil' Frankies

This week is a busy week for me, I'm trying to work as much as I can so that I can peacefully go on vacation in a couple of weeks. So that means, I probably won't have the motivation to cook = lots of take-out.



Last night we ordered from Lil' Frankies - really good pizza (not as good when you have it delivered).



Great salads too!

5-Minute Dessert

Strawberry Parfait


strawberries + store-bought slice of cake + heavy whipping cream (whipped into cream)


Make two layers of cake, strawberries, whippped cream then top with an optional drizzle of non-whipped heavy cream (for extra moisture and goodness)!

Packaging revolutionized

I'd like to take this moment to point out a very innovative packaging solution that only took Nabisco 96 years to come up with!



Oh and let's not even talk about why I have a package of Oreos... ehrm... research!

Summer trip

Remember I mentioned something about staying up all night planning a trip? Well here it is...



We'll be visiting Hillsy's parents in England for a week then going off to the Chianti region of Tuscany for a week of good food, wine and cooking classes!

I'm attempting to learn some basics with the help of this great podcast that I found on iTunes - Learn Italian.



I'm really excited about the trip, but I'm also stressing out because I need to make sure that I have two weeks worth of content for Heart Handmade before I go!

If you've been there, I'd love to hear all about it!

Weekend Eats

We were pretty good this weekend - didn't go out to eat as much and no burgers :)


Croque Madame from Flea Market Cafe (they have the best fries)


Special request by Hillsy - I made the Sausage Fennel and Peppers dish again on Saturday.


Curry Chicken Salad with Cranberry Chutney from Le Pain Quotidien


Pork Burrito from La Puebla, my favorite Mexican joint in the East Village

Lifeflix Rewind

The weekend couldn't come fast enough! Just got back from having lunch with Hillsy, so my weekend has officially started :)

Thanks for reading and speak to you on Monday!!

:: Italian Sausage Special
:: How to: Crispy Prosciutto
:: Asparagus Bacon and Parmigiano-Reggiano Frittata
:: Shrimp and Tomato Cream Sauce Pasta

:: Runner's High - my running playlist
:: Beauty Break: Product Recommendation
:: Makes me happy... (yummy French canvas shoes)

Last Night's Dinner #111: Shrimp and Tomato Cream Sauce Pasta

Here's another 10-minute recipe. I suggest having everything measured and right by your side before you begin cooking - it goes by so quickly and you don't want to overcook the shrimp, so be ready.

You'll need:
1/2 box of cappellini pasta
2 - 3 tbs olive oil
3 cloves of garlic crushed into paste
1/2 teaspoon of dried oregano
1/4 fresh lemon juice
1/2 pound of cleaned and peeled shrimp
14 oz can of diced tomatoes
1/2 cup of sweet red vermouth
3/4 cup of heavy cream
1 tsp or more salt to taste + pepper

Start boiling a large pot of water for your pasta. Don't cook the pasta until you're almost done with the sauce (pasta will take less than 2 minutes too cook).


Step 1. Heat up olive oil and throw in the shrimps, garlic, oregano, pinch of salt and pepper. Turn shrimps after 1 minute and cook other side.


Step 2. Add vermouth and tomatoes and thoroughly mix, making sure you get all the brown bits from the bottom of the pan. The vermouth goes so well with shrimp and the tomatoes. It really brings out the sweetness. Stir and add another pinch or two of salt.


Step 3. Add the cream and bring to a boil. At this point, you don't want to overcook the shrimps so you can fish them out and transfer them to a plate while you wait for the sauce to come to a boil.

In the meantime, add the pasta and salt to the boiling pot. Cook for a little less than 2 minutes then add pasta into sauce and mix.

Once the sauce boils, you can remove it from the heat and add the shrimps back. Stir in lemon juice and taste for seasoning. Add pasta to sauce. You can use some of the pasta water to thin out the sauce if you notice that it's a bit thick or dry.

*adapted from Gourmet

Runner's High

Hillsy finally convinced me to start running again... my weekly regimen used to consist of three days of spinning and two days of strength/weights/stretch. Recently I've replaced my early Saturday spin class with a running session. Running inside is ten times easier than running outdoors, but I'm taking it slowly and hopefully I'll be strong enough to start running outside in a couple of weeks.



When I first started, I was only able to run for about half an hour - about 3 miles. The runs used to wipe me out and left me with no choice but to spend the rest of day on the couch. Two weeks ago, something happened and I was finally able to double my time to a whopping one hour (about 6 miles covered). I finally felt the runner's high that I've been hearing about. My breathe was steady, steady enough to sing along to the tunes blasting in my ears. I felt like I could run forever.

In no means do I consider myself a runner. If it weren't for my playlist, I probably couldn't go further than a mile. So I thought I'd share my magical list, keep in mind that each song is hand-picked for its rhythm (not necessarily for its musical merits, so it's quite an eclectic mix). The order has also been meticulously arranged. I'm really mental when it comes to conditions - e.g., I can't have one strand of hair on my face while running (it irritates me to no end), my energy starts to drain out at the 20 minute mark so it's important to have a song that motivates me, I can't go too fast too quick or my entire run is screwed, etc.

1. Under Pressure - David Bowie & Queen
2. Goldigger - Kanye West
3. Who Knew? - Pink
4. Sexy Back - Justin Timberlake
5. Float On - Modest Mouse
6. Rehab - Amy Winehouse
7. What You Waiting For - Gwen Stefani
8. Are you Gonna be my Girl - Jet
9. Seven Nation Army - White Stripes
10. The Crowd Song - Louie DeVito
11. All These Things That I've Done - The Killers
12. Lose Yourself - Eminem
13. Foundations - Kate Nash
14. Please Don't Stop the Music - Rihanna
15. Trampled Underfoot - Led Zeppelin
16. The Rockafellar Skank - Fatboy Slim
17. Pump It - Black Eyed Peas
18. Young Folks - Peter, Bjorn and John
19. The Skin of My Yellow Country Teeth - Clap your hands and say yeah
20. Baby Fratelli - The Fratellis
21. Ceremony - New Order

What's on your running playlist? I'm gonna have to change my playlist soon (and buy new sneakers). Any recommendations? I'm a huge overpronator :)

Last Night's Dinner #110: Italian Sausage Special

This is an absolute MUST-TRY!


You'll need: Sweet Italian Sausages (I used 4 fairly big ones) cut in half, 4 Italian frying peppers (Cubanelle) cut into two-inch pieces, fennel bulb cut into two-inch pieces (reserve fawns) and 1 onion cut into two-inch pieces. Salt and olive oil


Drizzle about 1/4 cup olive oil + about a teaspoon of salt


Toss


Preheat broiler. Broil for about 8 to 10 minutes (about 4 inches away from flame) or until veggies are tender. Turn veggies and sausages and broil for another 10 minutes until sausages are cooked through. You should keep your eye on it - you can easily burn the vegetables.


Top with a handful of finely chopped fawns. Perfect with crusty bread drizzled with good olive oil.

*Adapted from Gourmet

Beauty Break: Happy Face

I walked into Duane Reade (drug store) two weeks ago and the St. Ives promotional campaign for their latest Elements line was in full effect. As you already know, I'm a sucker for sandals, packaging... and now - signage and point of sale marketing.



I wanted to buy the whole line, but talked myself into trying the Microdermabrasion Scrub first. I love scrubs (currently using their Apricot one) so it was a no brainer. I've been using it for a week now, maybe twice a week, and I LOVE IT.

Now, I don't believe a scrub can smooth away the appearance of fine lines (I'm not that kind of a sucker) - but what I will say is that every time I use this product at night, I wake up with super super soft skin! To me, that's worth the $10.

Oh and it smells really good!

How to: Crispy Prosciutto

Crispy Prosciutto is an easy way to dress up a simple salad or an easy way to put a twist on the BLT classic. I love love love a good crispy prosciutto, arugula and tomato sandwich (garlic mayo a major plus!)

Preheat oven to 450F degrees





Gently place prosciutto slices on a baking/cooling rack, careful not to overlap. Bake until crispy, about 7 minutes. Allow to cool, they crisp up even more.

Makes me happy...

Loving these Bensimon canvas shoes! Of course French schoolgirls had these cute things... and I had white Keds! Jumelle, a cute shop in Brooklyn just got their shipment in!! Hurry, I'm sure these will be gone by the end of the day!

Last Night's Dinner #109: Asparagus Bacon and Parmigiano-Reggiano Frittata

A new Italian cafe opened up in my neighborhood so I gave it a go last week. I ended up spending $12 for lunch - a tiny (really tiny) piece of frittata with a simple salad with crunchy proscuitto. The frittata was tough, underseasoned and the proscuitto was definitely not crunchy! I wanted to try making a better version of the meal (tooting horn warning)... I think I may have :)



You'll need:
5 eggs
1/2 cup milk (better if you have 1/4 cup heavy cream 1/4 cup milk)
4 strips of bacon cut into 1/4 inch pieces
3 asparagus strips cut into bite size pieces
1 clove garlic finely chopped
1 shallot finely sliced
1/4 cup freshly grated parmigiano reggiano
1 tablespoon olive oil
3 thyme sprigs, leaves finely chopped
1 rosemary sprig, leaves finely chopped
salt & pepper

for Salad:
mixed greens
6 slices of proscuitto, crisped up
goat cheese
balsamic & olive oil


Step 1. Roast the veggies. Toss trimmed asparagus, shallots, garlic with some olive oil. Season well with salt and pepper. Bake for about 8 minutes in a preheated 350 degree F oven.


You'll notice the skins start to blister up


Cut diagonally into bite size pieces


Step 2. Heat up a 1/2 tablespoon of olive oil and cook bacon. Cook until almost crispy. Then add roasted veggies, including shallots and garlic. Add thyme and rosemary. Add a pinch of salt.

** By the way, you can finish the frittata in the oven or cook the whole thing stove top (which I did). If you opt for the traditional way of making a frittata just make sure you use a skillet that's oven friendly and once the asparagus is done, increase the temp to 425 so it'll be ready when it's time.


Step 3. In the meantime, scramble the eggs with the milk and 3/4 of the cheese (save some cheese for the topping). Add salt.


Step 4. Pour in egg mixture into the pan. Control your heat so it's doesn't end up burning the outside layer. Stir the veggies into the egg so everything is well distributed.


Step 5: Once it looks set (above pic is not set) and you think you'll be able to flip it or flip it using the plate method (see Spanish Tortilla recipe) - go ahead and top it with remaining cheese then flip. It'll it be done in about 3 to 4 minutes on low heat. Transfer to a serving plate and allow to cool and settle.

** If you're going to use the oven, just wait for the egg to set (maybe 8 minutes or so) then top with remaining cheese and insert the whole pan in the oven and cook for 2 additional minutes.


Perfect with a goat cheese and crispy proscuitto salad!

I need coffee

Hi everyone! I'm running a little late this morning - slept late planning a trip (tell you about that one later!). I'm just waiting for the kettle to whistle at me and I'll get right on last night's dinner - a really yummy frittata! Consider this my Late Note :)

Weekend Eats

Believe it or not, I didn't have a burger this weekend! And I only had one stomach ache (after the tunal melt).


Met up with my friend Zandra on Friday and it felt like we were eating the entire time. I had a tuna melt at Grey Dog Cafe in Union Square.


Zandra is a big Pinkberry addict so I wanted her to give Red Mango a try. I personally prefer Red Mango, I think it has less of an artificial taste and it's much creamier in texture.


Love my local grocery store - it carries the full GOYA line and I'm lovin' this roasted coconut juice!


Canoli from DeRobertis Pasticceria - my favorite in the city


I knew Hillsy would love Grey Dog Cafe, so I took him there on Saturday. I had a Cuban Sandwich - roasted pork + ham + pickles + dijon mustard. Love their Raspberry Lemonade.


My favorite bagel shop Bagel Zone is now Native Bean - same croissant, different bagel :(


My new favorite bubble tea flavor - Almond (not as thick as Taro)


Siu Lung Bao - steamed pork juicy bun shanghai style from Je' Bon


Mango Pudding from Je' Bon


Smiley Bun - sliced tender pork sandwiched in steamed bun from Je' Bon . Not even close to David Chang's pork bun special!


Matcha Soy Latte from Amai Bakery & Tea House


... and finally the Parisienne from S'Mac - creamy Brie, roasted figs, roasted shiitake mushrooms & fresh rosemary.