Spring Break Round-up

I love visiting other cities whenever I get a chance, and being on the East Coast means that I have so many choices to choose from. This spring break, I went to Washington, D.C. and New York City.  Here are some my favorite places.

WASHINGTON, D.C.

Food:

Founding Farmers: we were in the area on a Sunday night, when the streets were all empty.  you wouldn't have realized it from the restaurant, however; both floors were completely packed.  good food and quality ingredients that are made in-house or carefully sourced.

Standard: great barbecue. 'nuff said.

Shopping:

GoodWood: they have a shop puppy that makes a visit worth it.  They mostly carry 19th and 20th century antiques, other vintage finds, and some locally-made products.

Tabletop: a wonderful collection of modern accessories.

Proper Topper: runs the gamut from hats, dresses, baby toys and clothes, books, and more.  good for treating yourself with something beautiful or for gifting a friend.

Trohv DC: huge place chock full of home goods, furniture, party accessories, and more.

Other:

Museums (obviously).  Most of the Smithsonian museums are free, which just makes it all better.  The most popular are the Air and Space Museum and the Museum of Natural History, but some other gems include

National Gallery of Art: beautiful art in a beautiful building.

Freer/Sackler Gallery of Art: Asian art plus a random gallery of American Art.

Museum of American History: I learned so many new things about this country.  Made me proud to be an American, even with all the hiccups we've had (and are still having).

Botanic Garden: and many other gardens dotted between the museums are beautiful.

NEW YORK CITY

Food:

Doughnut Plant: huge donuts with innovative flavors.

Russ and Daughters: cream cheese and cured salmon all made in-house.  lines are long, but worth the wait.

Patisserie Claude: best croissants ever.

Pearl Oyster Bar: lobster rolls and shoestring fries

City Bakery: pretzel croissant.  better than it sounds.

Eataly: Mario Batali's food extravaganza.  a mix between grocery store, deli, cafe, and restaurant.

Momofuku Milk Bar: crack pie is a must-have.  cereal milk ice cream as well.  heck, just try everything.

il laboratorio del gelato: wonderful flavors.

Mast Brothers Chocolate: handcrafted dark chocolate with beautiful packaging.

The Cinnamon Snail: vegan food truck bursting with flavor.  the pastries are wonderful too.

Shopping:

Brooklyn Flea: better in the spring/summer, but still great in the winter.  fantastic collection of clothes, craft, antiques, and food.

Papel New York: cute shop featuring cards and paper goods

Moon River Chattel: kind of like a thrift store, but classier and higher quality and wonderfully curated.

Brook Farm General Store: possibly my favorite store ever.

Purl Soho: quality yarn and fabric shop.  their website also has free patterns for a variety of projects.

Other:

High Line Park: built on abandoned railroad tracks above the city, with great views of the Hudson and surrounding streets

beach day

It rarely ever gets cold in southern California.  One fine day in the middle of winter break, my family and I cruised around the beaches dotting the coast.  We drove up to Seal Beach, and then hit Huntington and Sunset Beach before ending at Newport Beach.  Along the way, we drove by a dog beach that I need to revisit because puppies.  That is all.

a brief foray into food photography

Over winter break, I commandeered my mom's DSLR, and basically took the camera everywhere for two weeks.  Most notably, I baked up dozens of cookies, which were meant to be gifted to our neighbors.  They ended up not getting any (sorry neighbors!).  Most were eaten at the gatherings we had at our house, but there is still a tin with some leftovers.  I bet they'll still be there when I go home for the summer.

I started off using the lenses that came with the camera, but my dad later picked up a Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 lens that multiple bloggers suggested.  So I went back and reshot some of those original photos.

Now that I'm back at school, however, I no longer have the camera at my disposal.  Boo hoo.

All-Purpose Cornbread

taken from Cook's Illustrated (thanks Sean!)

Makes One 8-inch Square. Published January 1, 2005.

Before preparing the baking dish or any of the other ingredients, measure out the frozen kernels and let them stand at room temperature until needed. When corn is in season, fresh cooked kernels can be substituted for the frozen corn. This recipe was developed with Quaker yellow cornmeal; a stone-ground whole-grain cornmeal will work but will yield a drier and less tender cornbread. We prefer a Pyrex glass baking dish because it yields a nice golden-brown crust, but a metal baking dish (nonstick or traditional) will also work. The cornbread is best served warm; leftovers can be wrapped in foil and reheated in a 350-degree oven for 10 to 15 minutes.

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour , (7 1/2 ounces)
1 cup yellow cornmeal (5 1/2 ounces), see note
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon table salt
1/4 cup packed light brown sugar (1 3/4 ounces)
3/4 cup frozen corn (3 1/2 ounces), thawed
1 cup buttermilk
2 large eggs
8 tablespoons unsalted butter (1 stick), melted and cooled slightly
Instructions

Adjust oven rack to middle position; heat oven to 400 degrees. Spray 8-inch-square baking dish with nonstick cooking spray. Whisk flour, cornmeal, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in medium bowl until combined; set aside.

In food processor or blender, process brown sugar, thawed corn kernels, and buttermilk until combined, about 5 seconds. Add eggs and process until well combined (corn lumps will remain), about 5 seconds longer.

Using rubber spatula, make well in center of dry ingredients; pour wet ingredients into well. Begin folding dry ingredients into wet, giving mixture only a few turns to barely combine; add melted butter and continue folding until dry ingredients are just moistened. Pour batter into prepared baking dish; smooth surface with rubber spatula. Bake until deep golden brown and toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, 25 to 35 minutes. Cool on wire rack 10 minutes; invert cornbread onto wire rack, then turn right side up and continue to cool until warm, about 10 minutes longer. Cut into pieces and serve.

the STEAKhouse is open! (almost)

I am so excited for summer!
we found our fifth person, the first month of rent has been paid, we're basically ready to move in on the 22nd of May (although we have to get through the last three weeks of class and then finals... but i only have two! and a final paper and a lab report. but still. score!)and we've named our soon-to-be home STEAKhouse, which stands for StephanieTiffanyElizabethAllisonKieran. completely awesome and not corny at all, right? hehe
and we've decided to take the uhaul we're renting that day to costco as well, since we don't usually have a car, and therefore can't usually make the trip. this is going to be one epic saturday =D

I'm also hoping for a job at a bakery this summer, preferably as a baker's assistant/apprentice, but i'd also love to be counter staff at a good bakery. I walked all around Harvard (on a hurt foot, no less!) to drop off applications, after making the same route yesterday to pick up those applications... hopefully something wonderful comes out of it! I swear, I'd work super early hours just to get bakery experience. My top two choices at the moment are The Biscuit and Flour Bakery. Flour would be optimal for during the school year because it's one block down on the way from my dorm to school, and i wouldn't mind walking a minute and a half in the morning to go work. gosh, I'd LOVE to do that. But for the summer, I'd have to get all the way from Harvard/Porter to Central/MIT. I was thinking of running it every morning, taking a shower on campus, and going to work. multitasking ftw! And then The Biscuit would be the exact opposite - perfect (as in PERFECT) for summer, and not so convenient during the school year. I went there today and bought a humongous pecan strudel, and a loaf of challah. ohemgee delish.

After walking around for a bajillion years, I also went to Trader Joe's and got my TJs fix that should last me until the end of the year, after which it will be filled with a Costco fix and then a let's-make-everything-delicious fix. and hopefully a bakery fix that will be satisfied every day =D
*crosses fingers*

SPRING BREAK to do =]

Academic: (bleh)
1. ROTC formal briefing presentation
2. organize/rewrite chem notes
3. STS paper 2 rewrite
4. organize math notes (um, need a binder)
5. study physics - practice tests
6. start 5.35 lab report

Fun:
1. eat at Flour
2. go to garment district
3. go to buffalo exchange
4. go to anthropologie and the rest of newbury/boylston ave. and barnes and noble
5. make trash bag dress for APO SFF (aack excited!)
6. plan SFF!
7. alice in wonderland tea party and movie sesh
8. buy running shoes
9. buy a pair of heels?

Food:
1. something with poppy seeds
2. red bean buns
3. asian sponge cake
4. 包子
5. 葱油饼
6. yeast pizza dough
7. spinach gnocci
8. sesame seed balls with red bean
9. macarons?

symptoms of sleep deprivation

1. eyes hurt
2. chest (where my heart is) hurts
3. going up the stairs makes my muscles sore and my heart rate increase
...

oh god. i need sleep pronto.