10
June 30, 2008 | Filed Under Memes | 30 Comments
I love how the yellow roses compliment the Yellow Cupcakes in this photo.
Kat of Our Adventures in Japan has tagged me for this latest meme called 10.
Here are the rules:
1. Post 10 of your own favorite food shots.
2. Pass the opportunity on to others by leaving a message on their comments page just so they’re aware of it.
I had a hard time choosing just 10 photos but here’s what I came up with.
Paz
Roasted Baby Roma Tomato and Feta Tart
This photo brings back good memories of making my very first (and only) tart. It was delicious, too!
My very first blog photo of the very first dessert I prepared. I still get excited thinking about it.
I love colorful food and I love how the photo is full of color.
Oven-Roasted, Prosciutto-Wrapped Asparagus
This photo reminds me of how much I love prosciutto and asparagus — oven-roasted!
Fried Yellow Plantain (Kelewele)
This is my all-time favorite comfort food — plantain. The photo has me salivating.
Another earlier dessert I learned to prepare. Very simple. Very good.
This photo reminds me of the best-tasting carrots I ever had. Yum! And so easy to prepare.
I love this salad. The meatballs give it an extra punch. I’m glad the photo came out well. The tomatoes entice me, too. 
I like carrots and peanuts and this was an interesting salad. Crunchy! I think I got lucky with this photo, which I like.
So, there you have it — my ten favorite food shots.
There‘s no set number of people to tag, so I’m tagging 10 bloggers. You can do the same — tag 10 bloggers or less. On the other hand, you don’t have to tag anyone. This meme is NOT obligatory. You DON’T have to participate if you don’t want. It’s totally optional. With that in mind, I tag the following:
1- Courtney from Coco Cooks
2- Pretty Baker from Pretty Baking in Israel
3- Sra from When My Soup Came Alive
4- Rosa from Rosa’s Yummy Yums
5- Elizabeth from Blog from Our Kitchen
6- Rebecca from From Argentina with Love
7- Tanna from My Kitchen in Half Cups
8- Laylita from Laylita’s Recipes
9-Paul and Mike from Eat Me
10-Anyone else who would like to participate. Let me know you’re doing it, so that I can check it out on your blog.
New York Monday #129: Cooling Off!
June 29, 2008 | Filed Under New York Monday | 12 Comments
Spray of water from open fire hydrant
During the hot and humid summer days, some city kids will open the fire hydrant and play in its icy spray of water, in hopes of trying to keep cool. This photo was taken in one Bronx neighborhood, where the kids did just that. You’re not supposed to open the hydrants but the Fire Department is understanding of the circumstances and prefers to open the hydrants for the kids, themselves (instead of the kids doing it). That way, they open the hydrant in a safe manner and put a special gadget on the hydrant so that too much water isn’t wasted.
Sometimes, passing cars are splashed with the water from the open hydrant. I thought that drivers don’t like that but someone told me that some drivers don’t mind because they get the outside of their car clean that way. Who knew?
When I was younger, I remember the kids on my block opened the hydrant one sweltering day. The older kids, bullies that they sometimes were, would grab the younger kids and hold them in front of the full force blast of water. Not fun for their victims. They grabbed my sister and held her in front of the gushing water till her friends helped her get away. I’m glad that never happened to me.
Happy Monday. Have a great week.
Paz
Sour Cream Coffee Cake
June 23, 2008 | Filed Under Baking, Cakes | 20 Comments
Recently, I had some dental work done and couldn’t chew or eat for a while. When I finally felt better, I decided to treat myself by making this Sour Cream Coffee Cake. Oh my goodness! Delicious! Highly recommended! Initially, I was skeptical about how sour cream would taste in a coffee cake but the ingredient pleasantly surprised me. The sour cream made the cake moist and counterbalanced the sweetness of the cake.
The recipe instructs dusting powdered sugar on the cake after it’s baked, but by the time the cake had cooled, I’d forgotten to do it. I just wanted to take the photo and have my slice (or two) of cake. So, you’ll see that this cake in the photos is without the sugar dusting. It still tasted good. The cake was already sweet with ingredients that included white and brown sugars. I don’t think I missed anything by leaving out the powdered sugar. The cake lasted about a day, then it was all gone.
I plan on making this cake more often. Thanks, Jenifer!
Paz
Sour Cream Coffee Cake
~ 1 c. butter
~ 2 c. sugar
~ 2 eggs
~ 1 t. vanilla
~ 1 t. salt
~ 1 t. baking powder
~ 2 c. flour
~ 1 c. sour cream
~ 1 tsp. cinnamon
~ 1/2 c. brown sugar
~ 1/2 c. chopped pecans
Butter a bundt pan thoroughly and preheat the oven to 350F. Sift the flour, salt and baking powder together and set aside. Mix the brown sugar, cinnamon and pecans together and set aside. Cream the butter, sugar and eggs – fold in the sour cream and vanilla. Add the dry ingredients to the batter. Pour half of the batter into the bundt pan then top the batter with all of the brown sugar mixture. Top that with the remaining batter and knock the pan on the counter a bit until the batter settles. Bake for 1 hour. Let the cake cool for 10 minutes before removing from the pan. Flip onto a plate and dust with powdered sugar {after it cools a bit more.}
New York Monday #128: The San Remo
June 22, 2008 | Filed Under New York Monday | 12 Comments
Located on Central Park West, The San Remo is a luxury coop apartment building. Past and present tenants include Steven Spielberg, Glenn Close, Bono (U2), Bruce Willis, Demi Moore and Rita Hayworth… The building is not far from John Lennon’s former residence, another popular building called The Dakota.
Happy Monday, all!
Paz
Pollo con Papas a la Florencia/Florencia’s Chicken and Potatoes
June 16, 2008 | Filed Under Argentinean Recipes, Christine Cooks blog, Cuisines, Fellow Bloggers, From Argentina with Love blog, Potatoes, Poultry, South American Cuisine | 14 Comments
I’ve written about how Christine’s Sunday Night Whole Roasted Chicken tastes so good that I’m unable to spare a few minutes to take a photo for the blog. I’ve made the roasted chicken several times since writing about it on the blog, and each time, I want to eat it immediately! No time to stop and take photos. Forget that.
Well, I’ve found another winning roasted chicken recipe that Rebecca of From Argentina with Love shares with her readers — Chicken and Potatoes. When I finished making the Chicken and Potatoes, I mustered all my human strength not to eat the chicken immediately. This time I was able to spare a few seconds to photograph the Chicken and Potatoes. Just barely. This simple Roasted Chicken dish was soooo tasty. As Rebecca described, the potatoes did have an extra tang, which made it extra special. She shares the secret to the delicious potatoes in the recipe below.
So… Now, I have two AWESOME roasted chicken recipes. Yay for me!
Paz *excited*
Pollo con Papas a la Florencia/Florencia’s Chicken and Potatoes
Rebecca’s note:
Florencia made this for me as one of my first meals the first time I met her, and I had never tasted anything like it! Since then, it’s one she knows will be a hit, and she makes it anytime we visit. It’s one of the most satisfying meals I can think of–and the simplest to prepare! The secret is the white wine–it gives the potatoes an extra tang.
one whole chicken, cleaned
coarse salt
pepper
one lemon
olive oil
1 cup dry white wine
5 cloves garlic, peeled but still whole
5 russet potatoes, peeled and sliced into ‘fries’
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Rinse the chicken and remove the packet inside. Put the chicken in a baking pan, and drizzle olive oil over the chicken, rubbing it into the skin. Squeeze the juice of the lemon over the chicken, and stuff the lemon halves into the cavity. Salt and pepper the chicken to taste.
Meanwhile, put the cut potatoes in a bowl and drizzle in olive oil, using your hands to mix them around so that they are lightly coated in oil. Salt liberally.
Put the potatoes around the chicken in the casserole dish. Place the garlic cloves around in the potatoes. Bake for about 40 minutes. After this time, pull the chicken out, and pour the wine over the potatoes. Increase the oven temperature to 450 degrees. Return the chicken to the oven, rotating the pan, for about 30 minutes more, testing for doneness using a meat thermometer, 170 degrees.
