Recipes Archives - Page 26 of 27 - My Healthy, Happier Life

ashleyd / June 27, 2010

Bethenny Frankel, Operation Beautiful, and lots of Pride

Living in New York City is all about taking advantage of experiences for two Southerners like me and Bo. Therefore, this afternoon Bo and I ventured two avenues away to take in the Gay Pride Week 2010 NYC Pride March. We knew this would be a site to be seen as it was the parade’s 40th anniversary.

The parade began at noon and ran from 36th and 5th and ended in Greenwich Village at the location of the 1969 Stonewall riots.

The Stonewall riots were a series of spontaneous, violent demonstrations against a police raid that took place in the early morning hours of June 28, 1969, at the Stonewall Inn, in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of New York City. They are frequently cited as the first instance in American history when people in the homosexual community fought back against a government-sponsored system that persecuted sexual minorities, and they have become the defining event that marked the start of the gay rights movement in the United States and around the world.

The parade featured three Grand Marshalls this year:

Dan Choi

Dan Choi :

Lt. Choi’s selection and acceptance of the honor of NYC LGBT Pride Grand Marshal marks the first time in U.S. history that an openly gay male on active service with the U.S. Armed Forces will be an LGBT pride march Grand Marshal.

Judy Shepard

In October 1998, Judy and Dennis Shepard lost their 21 year-old son, Matthew, to a murder motivated by anti-gay hate. Matthew’s death moved many thousands of people around the world to attend vigils and rallies in his memory.

Constance McMillen

Constance McMillen is a Mississippi high school honors student who fought back when her school told her she couldn’t take her girlfriend to the prom.

Talk about Operation Beautiful. These are certainly people who have stood up for their beliefs in peaceful yet powerful ways.

Today’s parade was filled with colorful characters, cheers, and plenty of dancing! I was surprised that the parade wasn’t more dense as I have heard a great deal about this parade historically and expected it to be constant music and dance. Instead there was normally a minute or two before each group of marchers.

There were lots of faces but only one that I recognized!

Bethenny from Real Housewives of NYC was throwing out beads and showing pride in a Skinnygirl Smart Car.

Enjoy the pictures!

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ashleyd / June 25, 2010

Eggland’s Best Foodie Night in NYC

Last night I had the great opportunity to participate in Eggland’s Best Seasonal Foodie Event at the Institute of Culinary Education. The evening was filled with delicious seasonal food, cooking lessons from chef Erica Wides, and lots of pictures.

The Eggland’s Best staff was so welcoming and sweet! In addition, they all know how to throw a party. Just from the smiles, bubbly conversation, and laughter you could hear how much fun we were all having throughout the night.

While we all mingled, there were three different passed appetizers.

This was by far the most amazing appetizer! It was “egg sushi” or Japanese egg “tamago yaki” maki rolls with shrimp and edamame puree.

Mini baked truffle egg custards. I found these akward to eat and way too fishy.

The final appetizer was a rostini with Serrano ham, smoked pimenton-deviled egg and roasted red pepper. I didn’t try this one but I saw many others try it and go back for seconds. Therefore, it must have been a winner.

After the cocktail hour, chef Erica Wide spoke to us about the evenings menu, importance of fresh vegetables, and next steps. Our menu for the evening was as follows:

Eggland’s Best Event Menu

First Course

 Warm salad of asparagus, radishes, morels, baby carrots and sugar snap peas, with slivers of duck prosciutto, toasted walnuts, and a white wine-poached egg, with champagne vinaigrette

Entrée

 Crab and lobster ravioli, with fresh peas, fennel, leeks, golden beets, saffron and chives in a lobster broth with prosecco sabayon (like a hollandaise, but lighter and foamier)

Dessert

 Individual lemon pudding soufflés with mixed berries and rhubarb coulis

 Assorted meringue cookies petit fours

The most exciting part was that we were going to prepare each of these courses.

All smiles with Missy! I agree with Missy’s comment about the picture below. Why is she holding the sharp knife? 🙂 I had a blast with Megan, Amie, and Missy last night!

Healthy Happier Bear

After at least an hour of socializing and cooking, it was time for a few great Q&A session, dining, and more socializing.

Our first course was the warm salad which was also my favorite dish of the evening. I would love to recreate this at home for Bo. He’d love it!

Our main course was crab and lobster ravioli. I actually only ate one of these as they were a bit heavy for my taste. However, most people finished their serving and raved about them.

Thank you Eggland’s Best and Weber Chadwick for an amazing event! As always, I had a wonderful time learning and socializing in a great environment!

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ashleyd / June 20, 2010

Summer Sunshine

First and foremost, Happy Father’s Day to the first guy in my life, my dad!

After our great morning yesterday, we were all excited to enjoy the rest of the day in the gorgeous sunshine. Our errands and workouts had left us ravenous so we took Kat’s suggestion and headed to Bao Noodles for lunch. Kat had read about this little restaurant online and was excited to introduce Bo and I to pho.

The restaurant is quite small and we actually walked by it on the street without realizing it. Since the weather was so nice they had all the doors open which let in a wonderful breeze.

We started out with an appetizer to subside our hunger. I chose the chicken summer rolls as they sounded delicious and are often a great, light summer appetizer since they are steamed instead of fried. The rice paper rolls were stuffed with lettuce, rice vermicelli, chicken, and fresh herbs. These were some of the freshest, most delicious summer rolls I’ve ever had! In fact, we tried to order more but instead received pork spring rolls which to our disappointment were fried and not half as good.

For our main dishes, Bo and I couldn’t decide between a couple of options so we decided to share. We ordered chicken pho and grilled pork bahn mi. I had never heard of either of these so I was excited for the experience. Unfortunately, it wasn’t what we were hoping.

The pho came out in two dishes. one dish had the “ingredients” such as bean sprouts, siricha, basil leaves, and plum sauce. The other bowl was a soup with chicken and rice noodles. Kat instructed us to add ingredients to our liking insuring we used enough siricha for flavor. Even after adding all the ingredients it still was a flavorless soup with chicken shreds. Between the two of us we barely ate 1/3 of it.

Luckily, Bahn Mi was delicious! The toasted baguette mixed cucumber, daikon, and cilantro with the perfectly seasoned pork for a perfect sandwich. I would definitely order one of these again as it was filling and the flavor was complex and delicious. I loved the crunch that the cucumber and daikon added.

After lunch, we headed up to Central Park to meet our friends Geoff and Elizabeth for an afternoon of reading in the sunshine on Sheep’s Meadow.

As you can see from these pictures, it was a beautiful day in NYC yesterday! The best part was that it didn’t even break 85 degrees so that along with the breeze made laying in the park a treat. We spent two hours laughing and reading on the Meadow enjoying a few beers along the way. While this isn’t the beach, I think this is a close second and can’t wait to go back next weekend.

After the park we all split ways as Kat had tickets with a friend to see Kelsey Grammar in La Cage and Geoff & Elizabeth had a birthday dinner. Bo suggested a date night and I couldn’t have been more pleased. We’ve both been moving so quickly lately that it’s nice to enjoy each other’s company over dinner and catch up.

After showering, we walked towards Union Square to enjoy the sites and grab beer and an appetizer. Union Square had taken on a whole new identity post Farmer’s Market. Heartland Brewery had a perfect outdoor spot that was calling our name! We quickly ordered the beer flight for Bo and a Summer Apricot Ale for me. The Apricot Ale was delicious! I wish I could get it on tap at other bars. It was crisp and fruity without being too light.

After our drink and enjoying more of the sights and sounds we headed to our dinner destination, Apiary. Apiary is Scott Bryan’s new American restaurant on the northern part of the East Village. We discovered the restaurant using our favorite iPhone app, Zagat.

Apiary’s decor is contemporary, clean, and in partnership with Ligne Roset. When we arrived at 8:15 the restaurant was only half full which had us a bit worried. But, by the time 9pm came the wait was 45 minutes and the crowds kept coming. We were both elated when we saw they had our favorite sparking chriaz, Chook. Evertying about this meal was surprisingly delicious and perfectly executed. Our evening was filled with fresh, delicious food and excellent service! I apologize for the less than stellar pictures but the restaurant’s lighting was not conducive for pictures. I started with the Diver Sea Scallops eggplant caviar, chorizo oil, upland pepper cress which were filled with flavor and a large enough portion to share. Bo started with the special of the night, crab cakes. They were plated on top of black beans and drizzled with chipotle which gave a traditional dish a new twist. The cakes were 100% crabs with a few chives. Making a decision about the main course was easy for me as their first entree featured all my favorite summer ingredients- fish, corn, and mushrooms! The Roasted Monkfish featured summer corn, poblano chiles, chantarelles, basil, and smoked bacon. I was worried it would have a large amount of bacon but was pleasantly surprised when it was served with only a few small pieces for flavor. The monk fish was succulent, perfectly prepared, and the flavors reminded me of summertime succotash back home. Bo chose the rabbit papardelle which included papardelle pasta adorned with tender, shredded rabbit, porcini mushrooms, summer vegetables and parmesan cheese. The dish was not heavy or overwhelming as papardelle dishes can be at times. Instead it allowed each ingredient to stand out on it’s own as there wasn’t a heavy sauce. Bo raved about this and has already requested a return appearance.