First attempt at pancake art

 I tried making pancake art for the first time today and it went a lot better than expected. I mixed up some Bisquik with more water than usual and beat the batter smooth. This is usually a no no since more mixing means more gluten development which means tough pancakes. The batter was split into two colors, orange and brown. The brown was colored with cocoa. The key to pancake art is low heat, start depositing batter in the interior, slowly work outwards and a lot of patience. Yes, after one batch, I’m officially a pancake artist. 

Behold the Halloween pancake breakfast. 

It's just a bunch of Hocus Pocus anyway

I'm back...for now. 

I was sent this super cool looking rainbow brioche recipe back during the summer  https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/food-network-kitchen/rainbow-brioche-8532473

In celebration of all hallows Eve, I attempted to make a brioche loaf that was Halloween colored. Bette Midler hosted a Hocus Pocus e-union that was a fundraiser. My hope was to be able to make some sand-witches for movie night. The reunion was totally amazing!! But, it turns out the bread was an epic fail, not enough flour, old yeast, not enough bake time, wrong type of pan, or not enough mixing to get the gluten going.  It was super dense and raw. I’ll give the recipe another shot during the Christmas season. The loaf ended up looking super cool though!

I also made some brownies that were inspired by “Boooook!”

Something Fishy

When we were in Los Cabos, I ate fish taco three times during our long weekend there.  First time was at Zippers, a cafe on the beach.  Second was room service at the resort.  Lovely presentation!  And finally, my favorite was oddly enough at the airport from Boston Dogs.  Fresh and delicious!

Lunch Break

Slow day at work today, so I decided to go out for lunch.  Went to Three Tarts bakery based on a coworker's recommendation.  I ate an adult grilled cheese sandwich that was ooey gooey goodness with caramelized onions and bacon!  The pumpkin spice cupcake gave the NYC bakery a good run for it's money.

Two Boots

What a strange name for a delicious pizza place. Nakul ordered delivery pizza from Two Boots. They forgot the basil on the Margarita, which was worked out because Alison had a basil plant growing on ther balcony.  The Cleoplatra Jones, fantastic crust topped with sweet Italian sausage, roasted peppers, onions and mozzarella was awesome. Here she is:

Apps

Not the appetizer kind of apps, but the iPhone kind of apps. 

 I used TVFoodMaps to find breakfast while in NYC, Tal Bagels was featured on "The Best Thing I Ever Ate."

Plenty of space and seating available:

 Everything bagel with golf ball sized scallion cream cheese ball in the bagel hole:

Cluck Cluck

Alison told me about an awesome bakery, Two Little Red Hens, near her apartment.  The name sounded very familiar and when we arrived, I had walked through that bakery back in 2004!  

The decorated cakes were as cute as ever.  

We opted for the pumpkin spice, marble and Brooklyn blackout cupcakes.  The pumpkin spice was marvelous and the Brooklyn blackout was rich and chocolaty.  

Expensive, Overrated and

kind of delicious.  While I was in NYC, Max Brenner was right outside the subway station.  How could I not stop in?!

 After reviewing the menu, I settled on a blended frozen chocolate drink.  Not bad, but not worth the $7+ for it.

Rick Bayless at the Airport

I've been traveling quite a bit for work these days.  Airport food food has come a long way.  I had breakfast at Rick Bayless' Frontera Grill to go.  A little salty, still delicious.  Here's my egg and chorizo breakfast sandwich.  

Stop by gate B11 when you have a some time.

Tourist Trap

At Harry Potter's Wizarding World, if you have enough galleons, you can get all kinds of Hogsmeade goodies.
Have some refreshing pumpkin juice as you wait in line for rides:

Stop by the Three Broomsticks:

Have a seat and enjoy a frozen butter beer:

Afterwards, peek into Honeydukes

and chow down on a cauldron cake!

Made from Real Girl Scouts

First diet breaker of the weekend of decadence.  Delicious Thin Mint Ice Cream Cake.  What a great minty chocolately surprise.  

Gaaaar-Baaaaan-Zoe Snack

I cannot look at another salad. It's true. Thankfully, there are some very imaginative people out there that have created yummy and crunchy snack recipes for me to try. Today I made roasted rosemary garbanzo beans from the cookbook, "Cook Yourself Thin Faster: Have Your Cake and Eat It, Too." Yum!

I actually made two different versions, one where I removed the chickpea skins as the cookbook suggests and one where I left the skin on. Both had the same texture, I will leave the skin on in the future to save myself unnecessary work. Recipe 1 Tbsp. olive oil 1 1/2 tsp. rosemary 1/4 tsp. salt 2 (15.5 oz.) cans chickpeas, rinsed, drained and patted dry Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Toss chickpeas in olive oil and salt mixture. Bake, shaking pans occasionally and rotating pans after 20 minutes, add rosemary and bake until chickpeas are browned and crisp, about 35 to 40 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature.

A Dying Attraction

Went through a Drive-Thru convenience store in Ohio for the first time!! It's like a 7-11, where you never have to get out of your car.