Monday, April 22, 2013

SMORGASBURG.

If you live in the tri-state area or are visiting at all this summer, make sure you experience Smorgasburg. Your taste buds will thank me. Your scale will not, however. Don't weigh yourself for a few days after. It could get ugly.


I'm not the only one who's jumping on the Smorgasburg train, obviously.

Our plan of attack was to do one loop and then, on our second pass, pick what we were going to eat. 

That didn't happen.

We made it almost halfway around the loop before we made our choices. I didn't get pictures of EVERYTHING because, honestly, we ate a lot of it too quickly.







 The boys started off with sliders.






 My boy topped his with some onion. I didn't partake in this, but it looked delightful.







 And messy.




 We followed this up with french fries. 

I. Love. French Fries.

Especially mega crispy ones like this. 

We got halfway through them before someone reminded me that I hadn't taken a picture yet.



 I followed those up with an "arepa." I put that in quotes because my understanding of an arepa is very different from what I got.

Arepas are typically grilled corn pockets stuffed with meat and/or cheese and they are AMAZING.

But, this was good too. It was a fried corn cake with chicken, arugula, cheese, salsa, and salsa verde on top.













I obviously had no qualms about stuffing it in my face.



While the boys got milkshakes, I got vegan ice cream from Alchemy Creamery.

I chose Dark Chocolate Chili with freshly toasted marshmallows atop.

Yeah, that guy's toasting my marshmallows.

Sexy.





The finished product.

This was spicy as shit, so I didn't finish the whole thing.

But I definitely made a commendable effort.

The mallows were bananas.






We waited in a very long line for a pulled pork slider.

It was worth it.



Our lovely friends shared a homemade s'more to round out the whole gluttonous experience.

The folks at S'more Bakery have an extensive menu (extensive considering we're talking about s'mores) of homemade s'mores.

The chocolate, marshmallows, and graham crackers are all homemade and DELISH.







 I didn't get one picture of the thing not being eaten because our friends just couldn't help themselves.

Dig in, friends. I would.








But, we didn't leave empty-handed! We took goodies home!







 You've never had kale chips like these. 

I took home the Raisin Coconut because I always choose the sweet, dessert option, but The Kale Factory has tons of options and they're all lovely.








 

 
 Right before we left, I made sure to make two important stops.

The 3 Nuts make some yummy nut butters that I was eager to try. They add a few too many ingredients for my liking, but I figured it would be nice for a treat.

My last stop of the day was at Danny Macaroons.

They have the coolest flavors so, I picked up a few to go (Stout, Guava, & Salted Caramel). No pics of those yet. I will definitely be sharing when I recover enough to eat them!

Smorgasburg reminds me of that huge room in Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory where everything is edible. You really want to eat everything, but there's only so much stomach real estate. You know what I mean? I plan on Smorgasburging regularly this summer. You should pencil it in.




Oats 'n Orchids

Well, I want to pull my hair out. I just accidentally deleted this entire post after working on it all morning.

This is how I feel.


Moving on.

I had such an eventful weekend that I'll have to break it up into more than one post. Crazy, right?! 




 Since my IT band has been really tight from all the running, I made sure to get some yoga in on Friday. 

But, before I did, I munched on some of these freeze dried fruit snacks.

Unlike regular dried fruit, there's no added sugar or acids that I can't pronounce.

Zing.












After a very relaxing yoga sesh, I rushed uptown to the New York Botanical Gardens' Orchid Show.











 The idea is very cool: cocktails and dance music in an atrium surrounded by orchids.

But, we basically walked around a very loud and crowded club dressed up as a greenhouse. I think I would rather go during the day and enjoy the peace and quiet. 

The event was just trying too hard.












We had our drinks...















...and took our pictures.

Then we peaced out for some quiet wine drinking and tortilla eating closer to home.













Oatmeal is my go to Saturday morning, pre-run breakfast and I've been enjoying the baked version a lot lately. It's super easy and a nice change from the usual.

This is pre-oven.







This is post-oven.


Cinnapple Baked Oats
(adapted from this recipe)

1/2 cup rolled oats
scant 1/2 cup water
1/2 apple, chopped
cinnamon
dash of salt
2-3 drops liquid stevia
peanut butter (optional, but recommended)
maple syrup (optional, but recommended)


 
Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 380 degrees
  2. Mix first 6 ingredients
  3. Plop into greased, oven-safe ramekin
  4. Bake for 15-20 minutes, until center is firm
  5. Turn broiler on and cook for 3-5 more minutes
  6. Top with goodies and eat eat eat





I like to pop mine out of the ramekin onto a plate so I can hold it. But, you can eat it right out of there -- especially if you've been looking for a legitimate reason to burn your fingerprints off. Somehow I forgot this thing was hot on Saturday and actually picked it up. It hurt. Also, don't forget to turn off the oven. Important step.





After my run, we met up with some friends to experience the glory and wonder that is...




It's like an eating party. With all of the best restaurants and food trucks in attendance. 

Separate post to come. There's just too much to say...











We had a very light dinner on Saturday...a classy cheese plate with some wine.

There were some leftovers in there too, but they weren't quite as picturesque.














Sunday morning I made a raspberry version of baked oats and instantly decided that this might be my new favorite pastime.





It was absolutely gorgeous out yesterday, so we stepped out into the sun and enjoyed it. 

I will never ever get sick of seeing the flowers bloom.

Love an NYC Spring.
 

Stay tuned for a recap of everything I ate at Smorgasburg...I'm drooling just thinking of it.