Escape

Living in NYC is great - the excitement never ends. But sometimes we all need a break and some fresh air. A couple pictures I took this past weekend in Cape Cod:

This picture looks deceivingly sunny... it was freezing!

Ze water

Ze beach... I'm sure it's just packed in the summer!

The other direction, also empty!

Ahhh... wish I was still there now!

Ferry ride back - this reminded me of visiting Vancouver.

Chocorooms

I've only ever seen these at one store in NYC, but they are AMAZING!!! If you ever come across them, definitely pick up a box or 3. They are little mushroom cookies, and the cap is chocolate. so good. Perfect snack to watch the Grammy's with. On that note, did Gaga just show up in an egg?

'sweet & crispy'

treasure!

Cookies

I'm not much of a baker, but I made these chocolate chip cookies for a friend's party tonight:

aerial shot

cookie stack!

had to include the hi-res version of this close up; cookies-cum-art!

Korean Hot Pot

When I was in the Bay Area in December, my family and I experienced Korean hotpot for the first time - and it was amazing. Any recommendations for a good hot pot in NYC?

Espaghetti

Another Persian delicacy that I grew up with is 'Espaghetti'. This is spaghetti, said with a Persian accent. It's like regular spaghetti on steroids. I don't have step by step pictures, but it's quite simple. I made regular spaghetti with meat sauce. Once the pasta is done, pour about 1/3 cup of oil into a non-stick pot, throw the pasta in (made sure it was relatively evenly distributed) and then the meat sauce on top. Then, let it do its magic for about 30 mins on medium (at this point, should be hearing small snap-crackle-pop type of noises... but not too much). If done, the spaghetti will have a beautiful brown crust around the bottom:

More Snow!

Woolworth Building

City Hall Park

Steak

My steak always gets black... any ideas why? I put it on the lowest heat, and it's a non-stick pan. This one is skirt steak marinated in cumin and lime juice, but even the plain ones get like that.

like a lump of coal!

but it's still juicy on the inside

yum! (yes, a tad bit overcooked)