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

I am a self-confessed choco-holic. I love love love chocolate and I can never get enough! I am particularly keen about dark chocolate. One of my favorite foods! As an undergraduate, I attended Bryn Mawr College, which is a woman's college in the suburbs of Philadelphia. Freshman year, my friend was doing a documentary about what kind of a place a woman's college is, and I jokingly said,  "it's a wonderful place where chocolate is abundant." What a true statement. I don't think I ever had to look for chocolate, because everywhere on campus, chocolate was available. A blessing and a curse! Whilst Manhattan is full of chocolate stores, (Jacques Torres, La Maison Chocolat, Godiva, etc...), there is one that I have become particularly fond of: MARIEBELLE. That name may sound familiar to you, since some stores sell their hot chocolate. If you haven't been to this chocolatier and you love art and chocolate, you must visit as soon as possible! Never has chocol...

This weekend, I decided to come home. As a treat, my parents decided to take me to our favorite Japanese restaurant: Umeya in Cresskill, NJ. We have been coming to Umeya for literally as long as I can remember. (about 21 years..if I did my math right...) The owners, a husband and wife, started off as my father's patients. My dad has known them since they were caterers, before they opened their restaurant. Hard at work  As I said, my family have been coming to Umeya for 21 years, and there is a reason for that. Hands down, the best Japanese food in Bergen County. If you live in Northern NJ and you love Japanese food, THIS IS THE PLACE TO GO. The food is authentic, delicious, and most importantly, the sushi is sublime. The fish is as fresh as can be and Mr. Umeya's skill in preparing the sushi/sahsimi is awe-inspiring. He is a true professional. Before opening Umeya, he worked at a variety of sushi restaurants in both Japan and New York City. Another reason to go, both M...

So I tried another Weight Watchers recipe for dinner and it was ok. Whereas other WW recipes have been delicious in the past, I thought this was sort of bland...made me think, "wow, this IS diet food." That said, I share the recipe with you because it wasn't terrible. I could use some improvement, mainly more taste. I'd say be generous with your seasoning(s) of choice. The Ingredients: - 12oz chicken breast, raw without skin and bone (I personally prefer thigh. I think the thigh meat is much tastier) - 1 medium onion, uncooked, thickly sliced - 1 medium green pepper, chopped - 1 medium red pepper, chopped - 1/4 cup white wine - 2 tbsp chicken broth - 1 clove garlic (I like garlic so I tend to add more...) - 1/2 tsp red or cayenne pepper - 2 cups okra, raw, or 10 oz package frozen (not thawed) - salt and pepper, to taste * I added a bit of soy sauce, but that's because I like to add soy sauce to everything! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~...

A very happy and belated 4th of July! I hope everyone had a lovely day, but managed to keep cool! What's with this outrageous heat?! I don't know about you guys, but I HATE hot weather. I'm cold weather girl. Crisp 60F weather is ideal. None of this humid and 95 degree nonsense. I cannot wait for summer to be over! Enough ranting. I had originally planned to spend this holiday on my own, running errands, and studying for class (how boring), when at the last minute, my best friend E, invited me to spend 4th of July with her family in Brooklyn. I was delighted! E and I have been really close friends since college, 5 years now, and since moving to the city, we have lunch together at least once a weekend and I visit her in Brooklyn as often as I can! The BBQ was combined between E's family and her neighbors. Lots of food being shared between the two households. Yum! The classic burgers, salads, sausages...but my favorite was the Southern BBQ served by E's fami...

Last week, I had my best friend H over for dinner. I jokingly call H my "sister from another mister." We have been friends for about 10 years +. We went to Japanese elementary school together and since then, we have been like to peas in a pod. In fact, our parents are also really friendly. Despite that fact that her family moved from NY to Japan to London, and now are back in NY, our friendship has endured. Anyway, I finally had H over to my apartment where I cooked us a lovely meal. the menu: roasted tomatoes, brown rice, dad's summer salad, and chicken teriyaki The chicken teriyaki recipe I got from this blog: http://justonecookbook.com/blog/recipes/chicken-teriyaki/ My dad's summer salad is one of my favorite things to eat and make. It's also really flexible. For my summer salad I chopped up: tomatoes, red onions, basil, mango, mozzarella, avocado, and corn. I drizzled it with olive oil and then balsamic vinegar. 

Perhaps its because I am half Jewish or because I love fish, but smoked salmon is one of my favorite things to eat...specifically my dad's smoked salmon. Now, I don't want to brag, but my in all seriousness, my dad makes THE BEST smoked salmon in the entire world. I am convinced of this. He is an incredibly skilled "smoker" (grill, not the other kind) and has a killer marinade for his salmon.  I'd share his secret, but sadly, it's a family secret. Sorry! Still, if it's any consolation, here's the process of how dad makes his mind-blowingly delicious smoked salmon.  after letting the salmon marinade over night, dad pats each fillet dry this was a very dry summer day, so dad put the salmon in this hanger and let them dry for several hours the salmon is then smoked in the grill for several hours the finished product! 

This summer, it has become a recent family tradition to indulge our sweet tooth and visit our local Dairy Queen! Perhaps it the hot hot hot weather or just nostalgia, but I have to admit I like this tradition. Soft serve chocolate ice cream, soft serve vanilla, blizzards...goodness gracious I love DQ. Can't wait for my next outing!