{The Menu - 10.27.07}

Morning
Coffee + Banana Larabar

Noon
Paloma, Brooklyn, NY

Night
Sapporo Haru, Brooklyn, NY

{The Menu - 10.26.07}

Morning
Coffee + Oatmeal

Noon
Cafe 57, New York, NY

Night
Cassanova, Brooklyn, NY

{The Menu - 10.25.07}

Morning
Coffee + Oatmeal

Noon
Bouchon Bakery, New York, NY

Night
Hummus + Carrots + Soy Delicious

{The Menu - 10.24.07}

Morning
Coffee + Oatmeal

Noon
Candle Cafe @ Cafe 57, New York, NY + Ginger Snap LÄRABAR

Night
Madsen Donut + Pita + Roasted Red Pepper Hummus + Carrots + Pocky

RECIPE! Classic Hummus

I CAN'T FIGURE out how you could make this without a food processor. Perhaps with a lot of smashing and rapid wrist movement? I suppose. But this is really one for those of you with access to a blender or some other kind of knife propelled by electricity:

1 can garbanzo beans
1/3 cup tahini
3 garlic cloves
1 lemon
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp cumin
salt + pepper

Combine in a food processor or blender the garbanzo beans (a.k.a. chickpeas, ceci beans), tahini, garlic (chopped in half), juice of one lemon, olive oil and spices to taste. Blend in bursts, stopping and checking occasionally. Blend to a thick paste.

A few helping hints: Reserve the water from your canned beans in case the hummus is too thick; add water in small amounts. Garlic can be used to taste--if you've got really fresh garlic, perhaps two cloves will do. You can do without the cumin, but don't skip it if you've got it. That's all for now.

This is a really excellent recipe to experiment with. The only thing to remember is to be careful to maintain your consistency--if you add too much liquid, you'll need to add chickpeas to thicken the mix. We enjoyed this recipe with fresh purple peppers picked (finally!) from the plant that's been growing in our kitchen window since spring. Not to brag or anything, but they were pretty awesome.

{The Menu - 10.23.07}

Morning
Coffee + Muffin

Noon
Cafe 57, New York, NY

Night
Hummus w/ Purple Peppers + Chocolate Peanut Butter Soy Delicious

Fusia Asian Cuisine

Fusia Asian Cuisine
677 Lexington Avenue
(entrance on 56th St)
New York, NY 10022
(212) 308-2111
fusia56.com

Mint had a toothache. It got worse. Then, it got worse. And so she decided it was time to see a dentist. At 9:15 p.m. on a Monday night. The pickings are slim, let me tell you.

We decided to grab dinner while wandering up towards a dentist's office before her appointment, not sure she'd feel much like food after. Something soft was is order, and since we only had an hour, something quick, too. Noodles were declared the perfect choice and so we started looking. We found Fusia.

Excellent eel

And we were impressed. The miso soup was rich without being salty, large slices of shitake mushrooms floating about in the broth. The rice under the unagi don was piled high and dotted with beets, seaweed, and slices of avocado. Mint, of course, ordered noodles. They were soft.

MIKE EATS NEXT TIME: Prices were a bit high for an everyday dinner, but I'll admit it was the first time I've ordered unagi don outside of Sapporo Haru and thoroughly enjoyed my meal. That's definitely a reason to consider returning.

{The Menu - 10.22.07}

Morning
Coffee + Bagel w/ Cream Cheese

Noon
Cafe 57, New York, NY

Night
Fusia, New York, NY

I-80 East to New York

Mary's Diner
666 East Main Street
Geneva, OH 44041
(440) 466-6393

THIS MAKES TWO trips to Mary's Diner in my last two trips to Ohio. I'm quite happy with this trend. Mary's serves up classic diner fare in a classic diner setting. It's comfort food. I love it. In particular, I loved the pumpkin pancakes. Tis the season, after all.

In other news, I-80 East was not nearly as quick a drive as I-80 West. Adam and I spent at least an hour and a half sitting in traffic at various points along the way. Which sucked. At the the fall foliage was a pleasant backdrop? To make matters worse, this not-driving part of our drive ensured that we would arrive in New York well after the start of the Indians-Red Sox game. This put us in a bad mood.

Objects in mirror are closer than they appear

You know what made it worse? The part where, once finally back in the city, the Indians lost the third of three consecutive games to crash out of the playoffs and send Boston to the World Series. Blargh!

Speaking of blargh, we did stop for lunch/dinner somewhere halfway across Pennsylvania. Adam wanted Arby's. So, I got a milkshake. That was my dinner. I love roadtrips.

{The Menu - 10.21.07}

Morning
Coffee + Donut

Noon
Mary's Diner, Geneva, OH +
Pretzels + Swedish Fish + Arby's Chocolate Milkshake

Night
Donut