Hooray for Red Hook Sunday! I have been splitting my time between Red Hook and the Brooklyn Flea this summer. Which is great, one weekend I eat lobster roll and the next I eat tacos. As much as I love lobster rolls, it’s just hard spending $13 on 1 food item while I can get 6 tacos for $12. But it’s okay once in a while though last time I went to the Brooklyn Flea in DUMBO 2 Sundays in a roll.
I really wish that I have more stomach space so that i can eat more tacos at Red Hook or just more of everything at Red Hook. I usually stop after my 2nd run. I know I can do better and I will next time. Next time. The very first time I went to Red Hook, oh 2 summers ago, I had a huarache from the Martinez Taco Truck and pupusas from El Olomega, which I just found out has a website. After that first day I rarely go off to other food trucks to try other things. But one day last year I decided to stop eating those delicious pupusas and try other things. That was when I started my next phase of eating from the 2 same trucks routine. For the rest of the last summer and part of this summer I went to Perez Truck, the very last truck on Clinton St., for carne asada tacos sometimes topped with fried pork skin and Rojas Ecuadorian, the very last truck on Bay St., for beef and cheese empanadas.
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Despite my fervent wishes, autumn was creeping around the edges of this week’s Farmer’s Market. The last of the summer berries were gone, and the first of the hard winter squashes appeared. Instead of focusing on any of those, I decided to highlight something I’d never seen before: pápalo. Pápalo is a Mexican herb, the woman at the booth told me, and urged me to smell it and taste it. It had a slightly smoky, vegetal aroma, though it tasted much more ordinary than I imagined. The funny thing is I had just read about pápalo over on Eating in Translation. As he noted, the flavor of the herb has stayed with me.

Ah memories of Chicago. Last night my friends and I went to see an AMAZING band from Chicago, Company of Thieves. Genevieve Schatz, the lead singer, has such a wonderful voice. And recently a college buddy invited me to her wedding in Chicago. Chicago Chicago Chicago. So I couldn’t help but think about The Windy City and my first ever trip there few years ago. My friend had pointed me to a GREAT spot for brunch, Orange. I ordered the Chai Tea French Toast, not expecting anything out of the ordinary or life changing experiences. Also back then I never really had a good cup of chai tea before. So you can imagine when a big bowl of goodness (see left) sat in front of me. Here’s the description from the menu, “baked, chai tea-infused French toast, stuffed with Ricotta cheese, served over a chai tea latte reduction & topped with honey & caramelized apples.” It’s been 4 years since I been to Chicago and I’m STILL dreaming about this bowl of wonderfulness. This is my all time favorite French toast ever. There’s just no words to describe how good this was besides a letting out a big sigh. *SIGH

- Orange there are 4 other locations check their website for the addresses

Habana Outpost in Fort Greene is the kind of place that seems to bring together groups of people that wouldn’t normally be frequenting the same places. On a recent weekday evening we shared the outdoor seating with young couples, hipsters, and families with their young children. I think there’s something about the eco-friendly/sustainability ethic combined with the festive atmosphere that draws lots of different people. Or maybe it’s just the excellent frozen mojitos.

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On one normal March Sunday, Steph and I walked down Court St. After missing the Ikea shuttle and the B61 we decided to just snack around in Boerum Hill and Carroll Gardens. After snacking our way down Court St. we walked over to Smith St. We noticed, on the corner of Sackett St., there was a sign that said “EMPANADA.” I was definitely intrigued because I love empanadas and I usually get my empanada fix at the Red Hook ball fields. So to find a street vendor selling empanadas in winter, yes please! She also had tamales and tacos on the menu. Sadly we didn’t get anything from her that day and I didn’t get a chance to visit the empanada lady till much later. It had been so long that I totally forgotten about her until one day, there was a street fair on Smith St., I found her again. So the next day I was determined to get my ass out of the apartment to see if the empanada lady was there. Though just to make sure she was on Sackett St, I consulted the internet and found many people said she was on Degraw St. Okay, I left my apartment, feeling lucky about it. As I approached Degraw St., I noticed nothing but a sad looking lamp post. Boohooo no empanada lady sign but just to make sure I walked down to Sackett. And….

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It’s been a long while since I posted about cooking, though I cook almost every single day. Of course, not everything I cook is blog-worthy, but occasionally I find something I really want to share. While watching an episode of Jaques Pepin’s More Fast Food My Way I saw him do something quite extraordinary with a few simple ingredients (that actually happens pretty often on the show, which is one of the reasons I love it so).

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