Where I’m off to this evening with Mom and Kendrick (Dad was planning on coming, but broke his foot and has to keep it elevated…feel better, Dad!).
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The Little Pie Company is on 43rd between 9th and 10th, but don’t worry about the exact address…because you’ll smell the place from blocks and blocks away. Megan and I stopped in because I was craving cherry pie and she was craving cherry pie, apple pie, and pumpkin pie (yes, she bought all three…but she swears she’s sharing). It’s only a couple of blocks from where I grew up, so I’ve been going there for years, and I’ve found that it’s the perfect throwing-a-dinner-party-and-forgot-to-make-dessert place, as well as the perfect on-the-way-to-Penn-Station-to-stay-with-friends-in-Jersey-and-forgot-to-buy-a-hostess-gift place.
My friend Morgan adapted this Chinese Chicken Salad from MyRecipes.com. I’ve never been a huge fan of this type of salad (or, um, salad generally), but when Morgan first made it for me I was struck by how fresh and light it is. Kendrick ruins it by pouring a ton of hot sauce over the top, but he seems to like it. At least, I think he does. He sort of grunts approval between enormous bites.
CHINESE CHICKEN SALAD
Toss together:
1 large package coleslaw (I use FreshExpress), 1 bunch steamed asparagus (cut into pieces), 1 avocado (cut into pieces), 1 can drained mandarin orange slices, 2 boiled, shredded chicken breasts (boiled 20 minutes in approximately 6 cups of water with 1 chicken bouillon cube added to water), 2 tbsp toasted sesame seeds, 1 cup store-bought crispy chow-mein noodles.
At the Votre Vu stand at the Girls’ Night Out event, I taste-tasted the Snapdragon Beauty Beverage, which was described to me as an anti-aging drink filled with acai berries, collagen, aloe vera, and fiber. My interest was piqued when the representative explained that it’s delicious mixed with “21+ drinks,” and is equally useful for banishing the aftereffects of those grown-up beverages the next morning. Also, it tasted to me like mangos and strawberries, which is always a good thing.
If you’d like to make an antioxidant smoothie at home, here’s a good recipe to try from Suite101:
Blend together 1 cup frozen blueberries, 1 cup frozen raspberries, 1 cup acai berry juice (can be found at many health food stores), 1/2 cup nonfat vanilla yogurt, and 1 tbsp unsweetened dark cocoa powder.
One of my favorite products that I sampled last night was the Votre Vu Duette Luxe Lip Balm & Hand Cream, just because it makes so much sense. Every night before I go to bed I apply hand cream and lip balm, and I love the idea of having both products in one (very pretty) package, complete with tiny mirror. Also, it smells great, but isn’t too sweet like many similar products on the market.
On Tuesday night, Francesca and I headed over to the exceptionally elegant (so elegant that I thought it was a very fancy apartment building until the doorman, noticing our confusion, beckoned us over) Bruno Jamais Restaurant on 81st between Madison and 5th for the Girls’ Night Out event. We learned about a bunch of amazing beauty and lifestyle brands including Votre Vu, Honeycat Cosmetics, and Belli, a few of which I think would be perfect additions to my Holiday Gift Guide (look for it around mid-November).
So I’m wondering: what would you like to see included in my very first gift guide? Best friend gifts? Vintage buys? Budget-friendly picks? DIY gifts? Holiday gift-giving can be unbelievably stressful, so I’d like to make it easier for you this year. Tell me what you want to see!
Event attendance was uncompensated, but product samples were generously provided.
A Little Morning Advice
Despite what the box says, you should never, never, never make cream of wheat in the microwave. I am presently poking at a bowl of lumpy cement.
This is sad, because I was so excited when I bought the box in the supermarket a few days ago. When I was in junior high, I went through a phase where I made myself a bowl of Farina every day when I got home from school (on the stovetop…not in the microwave). I haven’t eaten the stuff in years, and this morning I thought I’d break the pattern, but I wasn’t in the mood to hand-wash pots and pans, and so decided to do the microwave-stir-microwave thing…with unfortunate ends. Breakfast today was not to be.
A shot from Sunday night’s dinner at Madangsui. I’ve eaten at Korean BBQ places before, but this place was AMAZING. I am definitely, definitely going back.
I split a plate of steamed “meat” (the waiter declined to specify what kind(s) of meat, exactly) dumplings with Tyler and Vanessa, and then the three of us attacked the combination meat platter (above, it’s being cooked before our eyes). The beef and the pork, which we wrapped in lettuce leaves with rice, soy sauce, and grilled onions, were the best. Also, I love the billions of tiny plates with delicious little things piled on them that they set all over the table. The pickles just about made me faint with joy.
Apologies for the hand-and-foot close-up (never what one would call an attractive shot), but I wanted to share the polishes that I’ve become obsessed with as of late. Both are Essie; on my toes is Aruba Blue, and on my fingernails is a matte polish called Flirty Fuschia (it’s brighter than it looks in this photo).
Monday-night Mad Men (my first time ever watching the show…I know, I know) with Stephen, Dave, Kendrick and Lucy. Stephen and Dave were rapt; Lucy, as evidenced by the absolutely enormous yawn, was less so.
