Monday, February 14, 2011

Wow, a lot to catch up on

Basically, I have been so overloaded with homework, I have
had no new food. Today I went to Peace food cafe. I had Green Thai curry and
their new cherry black forest pudding. Amazing. I also went to the Four Seasons
for a Bat Mitzvah. I was disappointed. Quite disappointed. The vegetable
dumpling they handed out as an appetizer was okay but for the kids, there was
fast food. All they had was pasta with red sauce, Caesar salad, French fries, mozzarella
sandwiches, sushi (which we should not have even gotten but we snuck in,) and
some other classic diner food. The adults on the other hand were getting the
high quality food. Not fair. The desserts were okay. I am a sucker for pumpkin
pie so I loved that but their homemade Apple Crisp was just okay. I guess it’s
all about the scene of the restaurant. They had balloon chandeliers that were
extravagant. And they changed the entire restaurant into a club in no time at
all. The dancing was fun until the parents came to dance. Don’t get me started
on that. Recently, my mother created this wonderful curry lentil rice dish that I will
post soon. I just can't stop eating it!

Saturday, October 16, 2010

Bat Mitzvah and The Russian Tea Room

I went to a Bat Mitzvah today. It was quite fun. The ceremony was very intersting. This was my first Bat Mitzvah so I was very excited. I have a lot more to go to this year. After the ceremony, we (my classmates, and my friend's family/family friends) had a lunch at the Russian Tea Room. Let's just say that they are not the most vegetarian-friendly people. Because it is the weekend, I can eat dairy so I had some dairy there. It was either eat dairy or look depressed and eat nothing. They had a roll, which was surprisingly good for a ball of bread. It almost melted in my mouth. Then they came with the options for the meal. There were three; a chicken dish (I believe by checking their menu that it was "Chicken Keiv",) a Sea Bass dish (which was the "Market fish" on their menu,) and cheese ravioli with marinara sauce ("Vareniki" on their menu.) I was too scared to try the vareniki because I was worried that the cheese had rennet. Surprisingly, three of the seven at our table were vegetarians and one had meat restrictions (Muslim.) I am fairly sure that all three of us were the only vegetarians in a room of about ninety people. I thought that I would not eat anything. To my surprise, they gave us an appetizer. My friend asked the waiter what was in it and he said it was a blintz with cheese and mushrooms with a salad on the side. I found out that it was called "Goat Cheese and Wild Mushroom Blinchik" and was described as "Crepe filled with mixed mushrooms, melted onions, and lingonberries." I thought, oh no, cheese, mushrooms and salad dressing, just what I love. If you did not realize, I was being sarcastic. I cannot say how much I hate vinegar and mushrooms. The two on a plate together was disgusting. I just don't eat cheese in general. I asked the waiter whether there was any fish in the salad and he said no. I did something I had never done before; eat salad with salad dressing. Result: Never again. I knew I hated vinegar so why did I try it? On the bright side the cherry tomatoes in the salad were very fresh and sweet. I went on to the blintz/crepe. I saw other people eating it and saw chopped mushrooms. Something was wrong with my brain that day because I did the unthinkable; ate mushrooms on purpose. Maybe I should be admitted into a mental hospital. This is not like me at all. The result; amazing! I finally figured out my hatred of mushrooms; it is the texture. I hate the gross, slimy texture of mushrooms. When its chopped it can be quite nice. The mushrooms were seasoned perfectly and the crepe was the best crepe I have ever had. It was nice and eggy. The two were the best paired foods other than Peacefood Cafe's sandwiches and paninis. I had to scrape the goat cheese off (because of the rennet issue again.) I knew when I was tasting it that there were onions. I just knew it! Ha ha ha! I am so proud of myself... Before today, I had no clue what lingonberries were. I kind of want to try them again.
Now comes the desserts. Brace yourself. My father told me that The Russian Tea Room is known for their desserts. I can understand why. First off, I was upset. While the adults attending the party got what looked to be a warm chocolate cake, the teenagers and kids were stuck with make your own ice cream. They just gave out chocolate ice cream, vanilla ice cream, and whip cream. There were toppings such as fake cherries, M&Ms, marshmallows, sprinkles... Why I ask, why? I decided that ice cream is just a little too much dairy for me so I passed. Good thing I did because then they came out with the best desserts. Though I could not find it on all of their menus, I can explain to the best of my ability. There were eight mini desserts each no bigger than two square inches. There was a sweet potato tart with a citrus fruit, a chocolate tart, two chocolate truffles, a peanut butter tart (chances of that are small but it its my best guess,) a pistachio cake with green tea frosting and a chocolate square on top, a chocolate cream puff, and something else that got grabbed so fast that I forgot what it was. They were the best desserts I have ever had except for a vegan chocolate pudding from Josie's five years ago, Chef Chloe Coscarelli's desserts, and Jack's Stir Brew Aunt Rosie's Famous Chocolate Chip Cookies. You do not understand how big that list is for me. I care so much about desserts. For me to put something on my top list is a thing that rarely happens. Take note of this important post. First, I had the chocolate cream puff. From years of Beard Papa's, I knew at first sight that that was a cream puff. The outside was perfectly puffy and the inside was the chocolate unbelievable cream. It was better than Beard Papa's. I never thought that I would hear myself say that but I did. Next I had the chocolate tart. It was more of a chocolate truffle, but better. The filling melted in my mouth. It was chocolaty goodness. The crust was a perfect chocolate crust that was soft, but not break apart-soft. Finally I had the pistachio cake with green frosting and a chocolate square. The green frosting was either pistachio or matcha. I thought it was too buttery. I guess that is the point of frosting. One thing that I don't miss about dairy. The chocolate square was a nice solid piece of chocolate. The mini cake on the other hand was amazing. It was so moist and you could taste the pistachios so well. My favorite of the three was the chocolate tart. Next came the classic birthday cake which was a chocolate cake with vanilla frosting on top and chocolate frosting inside. It was better than average but nothing to write that much about.
Note that I checked the menu after I had eaten the food. I found the food I ate from The Russian Tea Room's Pre & Post Theatre menu, which, in some cases, does not have the same things as their normal menus.
I am so stuffed. For dinner I am having some foods from Whole Foods. I am having Aloo Mattar, Chana Masala, and Zen Palate Spinach Noodles, all in very small portions. No more desserts more me! I have had way too much sugar (I I didn't even mention the Cliff Smores bar I had in the morning.)

gardein Tuscan Breasts

Last night, I tried some gardein Tuscan Breasts. Even though they were my least favorite gardien product I have tried, I still highly enjoyed them. The reasoin I didn't love them was because they were a little bland. Though the sauce and the fake chicken were good, they did not have much seasoning. On the other hand, it was gardein, so the fake chicken tasted like chicken, but better, and it had a good quality sauce. I am still considering whether or not to try them again.

No More Daily Blogging

Sorry, but I cannot do daily blogging anymore because of my homework. I will continue to blog but just expect it every other day or once in three days.

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

A Surprise at Peacfood Cafe

There was a huge surprise two days ago...
My father wanted to try Peacefood Cafe!
I was going to have the falael sandwich for lunch but I just had to take advantage of this opportunity. We got in and I was worried. He ordered a Roasted Japanese Pumpkin sandwich, Thai Coconut Soup, and a Green Lemonade. I ordered what I got last time I was there; a Mediterranean Oven-Dried Seasonal Vegetable Panini. For those of you who have not heard me say this; he loves meat, hates vegetables, and despises coconut, obviously posing some problems...
He got the Green Lemonade first and I asked if I could taste it... It was good to be, but it tasted like vegetables and a splash of lemon. I got worried. He tasted it and got the why I am here look on his face. He kept taking sips of it and later told me it was so good that he could not stop thinking about it all day. Wow, that was a shocker.
Our sandwiches and his soup then came. I tasted his soup, burnt myself, and loved it! It was the best soup I have had. If they have it on the specials again, I am getting it for myself. He tasted the soup and really liked it. He finally liked something coconut! Success!
After he ordered his sandwich he realized that there was caramelized onions in there. Another thing he hates is caramelized onions. Amazingly enough, he liked them and said that it "brought the sandwich together."
Then we split a big slice of carrot cake. It was the second best carrot cake I have had (the first best being babycakes carrot cupcakes which I consider a cake.) I found fruit, nuts, and a whole lot of spices in it. It made my day.
Later in the day I finally had the falafels. The guy cut the sandwich in "half." Really there we three falafel balls all on one side of the sandwich so when I took my half, it was pita with some lettuce. Luckly I took one of the falafel balls for myself. The seasoning was great but it was very greasy. I guess that is the point of falafels which means I might have to make my own.
For anyone interested I still have the sushi rice in the fridge.