While reading a local paper a few days ago, I stumbled upon a full-page advert about how several New York City farmer’s markets are now accepting food stamps.  And as I perused the stalls at my neighborhood farmer’s market this morning, I thought about how the produce I was purchasing was far superior than what my local grocer had to offer, but with a lesser expensive price tag.  It really feels good to be able to eat healthy foods and save money while doing so.  Kudos to NYC for making this more available to everyone possible!

Filmmaker, Adam Pesapane (better known as PES), creates short films using found objects. Western Spaghetti is a film that is just under two minutes and features a new way of cooking spaghetti. Although I don’t recommend you follow his recipe for your next meal, I do recommend you check his films out immediately! They are too cool!

My birthday is right around the corner and all I can think about is cake.  This year I’m hoping for a multi-teared, completely over-the-top, iced extravaganza!

Being a pastry chef tends to make my birthday a bit lack-luster in the way of home-baked goodness.  I find that most of my friends are intimidated by making me a cake because they think my standards are really high.  (In fact, they are completely wrong–my favorite cakes are usually grocery-store bought, sickeningly sweet, and decorated with lot of icing.)  However, this year I am raising the bar.  All I want for my birthday is a super cool and delicious cake from a top-notch NYC bakery!  Afterall, it is my first birthday living in this culinary mecca.  Why not take advantage, right?!

Bee Raw, a company that makes varietal honey, is now offering a box set of their nine flavors.  The flight comes complete with a one-ounce corked vial of each of the flavors, which are all hand-sealed with bees wax and set in a handmade oak block.

I have one of the sets myself and found that when I tasted the nine different flavors of honey next to one another, they were completely different but in the slightest way.  Each honey variety has a very distinct flavor with subtle nuances that are not easy to taste when trying them alone.  It was quite a learning experience!

This would be a great gift for a foodie friend or tea lover!

I do not recommend that anyone follow in my footsteps.  Last night, my boyfriend and I challenged each other to another food-related contest.  But, this time it was an ice cream eating contest.

We had just finished a very filling dinner, and my never-satisfied sweet tooth decided our local ice cream stand was the place to go next (after we realized the chocolate shop in neighborhood was closed, that is).  On our way there, we discussed how full we were, but how we refused to share something.  Then the conversation turned into which one of us would order the best sundae.  Things got bad when we each chose to compete over the biggest and best dessert.

I ended up polishing off three giant scoops of chocolate-peanut butter ice cream, over a fudge brownie, topped with whipped cream and chocolate sprinkles.  Of course, it was also served in a waffle bowl.  It was delicious, but way too decadent.  I will not be doing that again anytime soon…

…In the form of pastrami-covered pig wings!

These delicious play on chicken wings were made of pulled pork that was slow cooked in pastrami spices, them pressed onto a thin pork rib, dipped in batter and deep fried.  Chicken wings will never be the same to me again…

While sitting on a park bench in New York City’s Union Square Park, I noticed a package of chocolates next to me on the bench. Just a minute later, I noticed a squirrel eagerly tearing its way into the package.

I have seen plenty of squirrels feast on park-goers leftovers, and considering that the city’s largest farmer’s market borders the park, I would imagine the squirrels in Union Square only eat the finest local and organic foodstuffs. But never have I seen a squirrel go to town on a hazelnut covered dark chocolate truffle!

On my latest visit to my local corner store for a junk food fix, I walked out with this: pumpkin chips and a German candy bar loaded with cornflakes.

Both of these items I had never had, and both were a total score! The chips were light and crispy (almost like astronaut food) and not greasy. The candy bar was sweet and crunchy—a great alternative for those who love the all-American Krunch bar. If you happen upon these yourself, I highly recommend you give them a try.

I love “gourmet junk food!” It not only makes me feel less guilty about eating chips and a candy bar for a snack, but also is an endless surprise to see what cool new foodstuffs are being made!

At the end of a recent dinner of sushi, these tiny packages of Japanese bubble gum were presented with my bill. So cute and so delicious! Surprisingly, the bubble gum tasted just like fresh honeydew melon and Valencia oranges! Now I need to find a Japanese candy shop, so I can find more flavors!

…Was me, of course!

My deviled eggs were made with a classically seasoned filling that included mayonnaise, chopped shallot, Dijon mustard, Worcestershire sauce and hot sauce.  Joe’s recipe had some similar ingredients but were further embellished with Kalamata olives and boiled shrimp.  Both were really great, said our judges, but at the end of the picnic, my plate of eggs had less on it.  Thus, I am naming myself the winner!  (However, Joe insists that I cheated because at the last minute I used one of his ingredients—Worcestershire sauce.  But, may I remind him, I didn’t follow a recipe and used only my years of deviled egg eating as my guide, whereas he followed one to a T…)