Weekend Getaway: Red Hook, NY

Sometimes you just need to get out of the city for the weekend, enjoy some fresh air and take in everything nature has to offer. Matt and I did just that this past weekend, heading to a lake house with our good friends Tommy and Julie. We headed two hours north of the city to the town of Red Hook, NY, where we made our way to the Painted Turtle Cottage, our home for the weekend.

The charming red house was exactly what we were hoping for - a rustic, yet modern cabin feel on the inside and a large sunroom to enjoy many meals and great views of the lake. There was a path down to the lake, where there were two balconies, the higher being ideal for enjoying lunch and the lower where you can find canoes and kayaks to enjoy. There was even a floating dock!

After loading up with food and drinks, we enjoyed everything the house had to offer for the weekend. While Friday was rainy, we had a great meal and made some s'mores once the rain died down. The house also had a basement with a ping pong table, which we took full advantage of throughout Friday and Saturday. One of the most relaxing features of the house was the outdoor hot tub!

On Saturday, we made a delicious breakfast before canoeing and kayaking in the lake, playing frisbee in the front yard, riding bikes, grilling burgers for lunch, swimming in the lake, playing lots of ping pong, hanging out in the hot tub, and having steaks and corn on the cob for dinner. We packed in all we could on Saturday!

Sadly, Sunday was our last day so we made breakfast, enjoying one last meal in the sunroom before cleaning up and taking a final walk around the property. We even saw some chickens as we were packing up the car!

I would have loved to have another day at the lake, but we definitely did everything we could while we were there. Hopefully we'll have another weekend getaway this summer, especially once it really starts warming up!

Cronuts!

I can now say that I've tried a cronut. You're probably wondering if the wait was worth it, and I'm here to tell you that it was! I don't think I'll be doing it every month to try each new flavor, but the experience itself was a lot of fun.

Matt and I met up with two of our friends nice and early at 6:20am on Saturday, went for a run from the New York Public Library down to Dominique Ansel Bakery, and got in line around 6:45am. The one hour 15 minute wait went pretty quickly, especially when we were given a lemon madeleine to enjoy halfway through. We were informed that the flavor for June is a strawberry balsamic and mascarpone filled cronut, rolled in basil sugar, and topped with strawberry glaze. My mouth was already watering.

Once the clock struck 8, we started moving forward! They only let in a certain number of people at one time, so we had to wait for the first group to clear out before making our way inside. Once we were in, we were able to witness the cronut assembly as the line slowly moved forward. 

You're allowed two cronuts per person, so of course we went for this option. In addition to our cronuts, we also got a DKA, which stands for Dominique’s Kouign Amann. The bakery website describes it as a tender, flaky, croissant-like dough with a caramelized crunchy crust.

We found a table on the back outdoor patio, and settled in to enjoy our tasty treats. The cronut had a good balance between flaky and doughy, without being too dense. The strawberry jam and mascarpone filling were sweet and creamy. All in all, the cronut was a very satisfying treat!

Let me know in the comments section if you get the chance to go to Dominique Ansel bakery and try the cronut yourself! 

A Lovely Day in Brooklyn

Saturday was such a sunny and (fairly) warm day so we decided to spend it in Brooklyn! We started our afternoon at Smorgasburg, a weekend outdoor food flea market in Williamsburg with almost 100 different vendors selling all sorts of delectable food and beverages. Since we hadn't eaten anything beforehand, we were super hungry and ready to eat! We started with fries at Home Frite that had been mixed with truffle oil, parmesan and parsley, with a lemon aioli for dipping. The fries were thick cut, perfectly seasoned with a fresh citrus flavor from the aioli. Next up was a small slider size brisket sandwich and pulled pork sandwich from Mighty Quinn's, a BBQ restaurant in the East Village. The pulled pork was really good, but the brisket was awesome. The meat just melted in your mouth, with the right amount of fat and flavor. We can't wait to actually go the restaurant now! Last stop was at Oaxaca, where I picked up two tacos, one with pork carnitas and the other with ceviche. Both were really fresh, with a nice kick of spice and acid from the lime. We made some good choices, ending with a refreshing beer in the beer garden at the center of the space.

As we were heading to our next destination, we had a lucky discovery that OddFellows Ice Cream was on our way! I have been wanting to try their ice cream as they are known for having for creative and wacky flavor combinations. We had a double scoop of burnt marshmallow and the big winner, miso cherry. The miso was very prominent, but not too overpowering, and the macerated cherries added the right amount of sweet and tart. I could eat that flavor of ice cream every day - trust me, I'm not joking.

Our next destination was Radegast Beer Hall, where we had several German beers - hey, we're just doing research for our trip to Europe in the fall! Some friends met us there and we hung around for awhile longer and enjoyed a pretzel because it was National Pretzel Day after all!

Our last stop, and the one I had been waiting for all day, was at a fairly new restaurant called Emily in Clinton Hill. I was drawn to it, of course, by the name, and was even more excited when I heard really great reviews! They are predominantly a pizza place, but also have some pasta dishes and sides/appetizers as well. We ordered the Emily and the Matt pizzas, of which we both agreed the Emily was the clear favorite. Loaded with mozzarella, truffles, pistachios and honey, it was the perfect balance of sweet, savory, salty and earthy. I would go back solely for that pizza. We also had the opportunity to meet one of the owners, Emily, which was a really nice treat!

I can't wait for another fun Brooklyn day, especially as the weather continues to warm up. Where are your favorite places in Brooklyn? Let me know so I can check them out this summer!

Choice Eats

Last week, Matt and I went to the Village Voice's annual event, Choice Eats, where we were able to try dishes from 70+ restaurants, imbibe ourselves with lots of beer, and enjoy some sweet treats too. It was so much fun and we stuffed ourselves silly!

By far, the best dish we tried that night was the beef brisket at Mable's Smokehouse in Williamsburg. The meat was so juicy, tender and full of flavor. I absolutely want to go there now that I know how great they are at smoking meat. 

Some of my other favorite dishes were:

• Black pork curry at Banana Leaf - great flavor from the spices and a nice kick of heat
• Mackerel crudo at Littleneck - refreshing bite of fish, complemented with the herb oil and sesame seeds
• S'mores ice cream at OddFellows Ice Cream Co. - chunks of chocolate and graham cracker mixed throughout, bringing me back to my Girl Scout days by the campfire

I found a great beer, Five Hop ESB, by MOA Brewing Company based in New Zealand. The beer was so smooth, bordering on a bit creamy, and had a subtle honey flavor. I must have gone back at least half a dozen times to get a refill. Luckily, I can find the beer at Whole Foods so I'll be heading there soon!

After having experienced this all-you-can-eat glutton fest, I can't wait for their next event, Choice Streets. Choice Streets is a gathering of food trucks on the Intrepid - how does it get any better than that?! I really hope I'll be able to make it as I have a work trip right around the same time. I highly recommend that you all go and enjoy yourselves because it's bound to be a really fun time!

New Discoveries

Living in New York, there are so many amazing places to go, sites to see and food to eat. Because of this, I want to start sharing some of the new discoveries I've made recently. Here's to exploring everything NYC has to offer!

• Jacob's Pickles - beer, biscuits and pickles...I can't wait to try this place out!
• Finally finding the Morimoto Soba Ale at Peculier Pub - I've been wanting to try this beer for so long and it was well worth the wait
• The seasonal pickle plate at The Pickle Shack - I kind of really love pickles
• This ice cream race I'm considering doing over Memorial Day weekend - am I ready for my first 10K?!
• This awesome giraffe iPhone case (pic below) at C Wonder - I need this in my life

What do you love about NYC?? Tell me the great places you've discovered around the city!

Wingin' It for the Super Bowl!

I'm definitely not a football fan, but I always enjoy watching the Super Bowl for the commercials and the food! It's not the Super Bowl without a few batches of wings and a cold beer to wash them down. I decided to make two types of wings since Matt is a traditional buffalo wing eater, while I like the gooey varieties.

Since we don't have a grill, I went for the oven baked route. I found two yummy recipes, one for buffalo wings and one for sweet and spicy ginger wings. I've never cooked with ginger beer before (yay, another new ingredient!), but these sound really tasty with both the ginger beer and fresh ginger.  I left the wings marinade for about an hour before cooking both sets of wings together in the oven.

The buffalo wing glaze was very traditional, Frank's Red Hot hot sauce mixed with some butter, before dunking the wings into the mixture. They had a nice level of heat for me, but Matt could have used more heat. We were wary of the Franks' Xtra Hot variety, but this may have been more up Matt's alley.

The glaze for the ginger wings turned out really great. The combination of ginger beer, ginger, soy, honey and a split habanero pepper produced a glaze with a nice balance of sweet, salty and a nice level of heat. Next time, I would cook the glaze down more so it really coated the wings and made them nice and sticky. What wings did you make for the biggest game of the year?

Siteseeing in the City

I had a whirlwind weekend, surprising my sister in Charleston for her bridal shower, and then spending yesterday back in NY with some friends visiting from China. Charleston was the perfect weekend retreat from the cold weather - I was basking in the 50s! It was great getting to spend a weekend with my sister and meeting a lot of her friends that I've only heard of by name. 

Once I was back in NYC, I had a tourist filled day, checking out the Statue of Liberty, walking through Central Park, and roaming around the American Museum of Natural History. Here a few pictures from my walk around the city.

Some of my favorite places to see around the city are:

• Views from Top of the Rock
• Central Park Conservatory Garden
• Chelsea Market (so much good food!)
• Taking the tram to Roosevelt Island and seeing the creepy house at the south end of the island

What are your favorite NYC attractions? Tell me in the comments section!