Culinary Adventures

The past few weeks have been nothing but exploring the culinary side of New York City. Or at least that's how it seems. When Mom and the cousins were up, we grazed our way through the city one day, eating street food all day. Yum! I finally got the pictures from that weekend, so enjoy!

We miss you Cheryl and Pam!

Soraiya and Azim came up to visit last weekend, which was fantastic! I've really missed Soraiya - we used to see each other every single day, so it's been weird not having her around all the time. The weekend started out with brunch Saturday morning, with cupcakes and cookies from my old internship and ice cream sandwiches from Milk and Cookies immediately following, with the best dinner that night at wd-50. I was so full by the end of the day! We were seated at the best table in the restaurant, with a perfect view of the kitchen where we could watch the chef work. Then, 4 hours later, at the end of our fabulous meal, we were taken back to meet the chef and the pastry chef. Here we are with Wylie Dufresne:
Honestly - this dinner was one of my best New York experiences so far. And I love that Soraiya and Azim's idea of seeing NYC is eating at as many restaurants as possible. Sunday we had brunch at Prune, another restaurant I've been dying to try. I think I'm still full.

We are getting quite creative in class right now...just completed a unit on plated desserts (I gained at least 5 lbs last week), and now we've moved into pastillage, which is sugar decorations. Not tasty, but very creative. First, the plated desserts:

Creme Caramel with candied kumquats, strawberry-orange-mint salad, and a tuile cookie

Classic creme brulee with chocolate dipped shortbread cookies

Pineapple Tart Tatin with Lime Sorbet, Pineapple-Passion Fruit butter sauce, and a pineapple chip

Cold green apple charlotte (ladyfingers filled with green apple bavarian), topped with cranberry sorbet and an apple chip, dotted with red currant sauce and clear vanilla bean sauce

Warm Apple Charlotte with Apple Caramel Sauce, Green Apple Sorbet, and a caramel design

Cutie patootie marzipan fruit!

Marzipan fruit in a nougatine basket