Keep Calm and Carry On: The Diary of Foodie and Gourmet

Earlier this month, to celebrate my mother's birthday, my parents, some friends, and I visited the annual Orchid Show at the Bronx Botanical Gardens. This is a rather big event that the Botanical Gardens host, as it highlights an impressive and diverse collection of orchids from all over the world. This was my first time visiting the show, but my parents had been to the Botanical Gardens' previous orchid shows and had very positive things to say.  I'll be honest, I'm not a really big plant person, despite the fact that my parents are. I don't have a green thumb, I don't really know flowers, but I do find them pretty --- that's about it. I will be at the dinner table and my parents will start rattling off plant names and I either tune out or wonder if they are just making these names up. Anyway, although I don't know much about orchids, I can appreciate how beautiful the flowers are and I had a grand time walking through the show with everyone.

(37 Spring Street, Manhattan) A few weeks ago, I attended an art gallery opening event with my parents in downtown Manhattan. The exhibit was about Rembrandt and while it was interesting, it was not the highlight of my night. As we were walking towards the art gallery, I noticed that we were around the corner from a rather impressive rice pudding shop called "Rice to Riches." I'd been there once before many years ago and remembered being amazed by it. I told my parents that after we were done with the art gallery, we had to make a stop at Rice to Riches for dessert. Sure enough, after the Rembrandt exhibit, I led the way to Rice to Riches. This store is heaven for any rice pudding enthusiast. Much like an ice cream shop, there is a counter and it is filled with dozens of flavors. Chocolate, banana, tiramisu, etc… the selection is amazing and choosing a flavor can be a challenge! I opted for the banana flavor, which was absolutely delicious, but it was a li

This is a seriously overdue post covering some whiskey related events that I attended in January and February at Astor Wine and Spirits, located in downtown Manhattan. I am a massive fan of this liquor store and I am always impressed by their wide selection of alcohol, as well as the variety of courses/events that they offer. I have decided to share my three whiskey adventures in one post because they are related thematically. I hope that you enjoy it! Celebrating Robert Burns' Birthday with a Scotch Tasting I'm not sure if this is a well known saying or not, but I've always maintained that a family that drinks whiskey together, stays together. As I've probably mention many times already, I love whiskey and I learned to love whiskey from my father, who is an avid collector and enthusiast. This past January, my parents and I attended a special Scotch whiskey tasting at Astor Wine & Spirits, which was organized to commemorate the poet, Robert Burns. To quote Wik

Greetings and Salutations to everyone! I wanted to apologize for neglecting my blog for so long. It was not my intention to disappear the way that I did, however, I have been going through some life transitions at the moment, which required my full attention. My transition is not quite done, but it is nearing completion (hopefully)! That said, I hope to return to my blog and share my adventures with you! The past few months have been busy, busy, but I have also been having fun and enjoying Manhattan! I have new posts in the works, so please stay tuned!