The Giants Win! + Eating Roast Beef Sandwiches in Brooklyn

Well it wouldn't be a Giants game without a nail-biting, white knuckled, pit-in-the-stomach end!

 

I am soooo happy that the Giants won last night! We celebrated with our friends, ate a lot of delicious food (including blue velvet cupcakes & pizza dip) and stayed up way too late for a Sunday evening. Which leads me to wonder...why isn't the Superbowl on a Saturday night?! Either way, it was a blast! And now I'm on the hunt for a Giants Superbowl tee.

On another note, I also really enjoyed the half-time show. To be honest, I was underwhelmed by it going in since I just don't think Madonna is relevant right now (aside from her new, horrible thing that I won't even call a song). I was so hoping that Madge would sing Like a Prayer, and I was over the moon when she did...and that Cee-lo Green joined her!! Love him!

Oh and what about the commercials? Anyone? I was a little disappointed by them. I always love the Budweiser-Clydesdale commercials, and Doritos had some good ones. Nothing too exciting though for me!

Anyhow, we had an amazing weekend all around. On Saturday, we drove out to Brooklyn to have a little city exploration day with Kimberly & Nick. Food was the name of the game for our day-long excursion. Obviously.

We started the day at Brennan & Carr, a small (and old) restaurant in Sheepshead Bay.

hot beef, anyone?

When we arrived, it felt more like being in a Wyoming restaurant, with wood paneling and antlers on the wall. Brooklyn, who?

I love the old school vibe...nothing fancy, just a small dining room (or a takeout window) and a minimal menu. Known for their roast beef sandwich, we all had to try this one! Each of us opted for the knife and fork style...meaning, you guessed it, it's so wet from their famous beef broth that you literally need a knife and fork to eat it. The beef broth and roast beef were fantastic! Salty, tender and delicious.

We loved it!

The day didn't end there. Since we were so close to Coney Island, we had to take a ride on over since neither Shaun nor I had ever been there. But since this post has gotten long enough, that's a story for another time!

I hope you all had a great weekend and have a fab week ahead!

Questions of the Day:

What did you think of the half-time show?

The commercials?

What's the best sandwich you've ever had?

psst...I'm preparing for the end of the world over on The Peach & The Pit today!

Rocco DiSpirito's Now Eat This Truck

Happy Monday! I'm sleepy this morning but I had such a fun weekend! I suppose with that under my belt, I'm ready to tackle the week :)

On Friday, my good friend Lauren and I checked out Rocco DiSpirito's new food truck for lunch. I had heard that his new food truck was parked near our office a few days a week so I couldn't wait to check it out. I am a huge Rocco fan! I have his Now Eat This! cookbook and have yet to find a recipe that wasn't absolutely delicious and completely healthy to boot. Not to mention the inclusion of some very attractive looking photos of him...

My favorite part of the truck? Rocco is actually the one cooking and serving up the goods.

The concept behind the Now Eat This Truck isn't just about yummy food. All of the dishes on the menu are also under 350 calories and include low carb or gluten free attributes. And you know what? The food is good. And extremely wallet friendly. Oh and the very best part of the entire thing? The Now Eat This Truck is a non-profit and all proceeds to Free Lunch Fridays, an initiative to provide and teach school kids about healthy cooking and eating... just when I thought I couldn't be anymore smitten. Here I am geeking out a little...

I don't often get star struck, but I really am a fan of Rocco and how he's changed the way that home cooks prepare typically unhealthy dishes (like buffalo chicken tenders, macaroni & cheese, sloppy joe's, penne alla vodka, and more). Plus, did I mention he's cute? ;)

Lauren and I shared three dishes so we could do a proper taste testing. 3 dishes = $15. Not to shabby if you ask me!

First up was Mama's Meatballs & Gluten Free Ziti. I have to preface this by telling you that I'm a meatball snob. My mom makes the best meatballs and sauce and therefore I find all others to be...underwhelming. BUT. These were really good! They were soft, flavorful and not fake tasting like a lot of processed meatballs. Oh and the ziti portion was huge.

I chose an order of the low carb chicken and broccoli stir fry. Tossed in a light sauce, I believe the noodles are 'cellophane' noodles, but I'm still tracking down this information. Either way, the dish was delish, and was Rocco's top recommendation.

Lauren chose the chicken noodle soup (it was a cold one waiting on the truck line!). Made with shredded chicken and the same cellophane noodles and veggies, it was warm and comforting...perfect for a cold day.

There was so much food that I ended up taking the leftovers home with me that evening. Three dishes plus leftovers for $15 for a healthy and tasty Manhattan lunch? Don't mind if I do. My favorite dish of the bunch? I have to go with the meatballs and ziti. Maybe it's the Italian in me, but I could eat this everyday.

So there you have it. My fun Friday lunch. You can bet I'll be tracking down the Now Eat This Truck again for lunch soon! And also tracking down Rocco's Now Eat This Diet cookbook!

Have a fantastic week everyone!

Questions of the Day:

Do you ever eat at food trucks? I love them!

How was your weekend?!

Butter Lane Cupcake Class

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I know...usually I do Five Things Friday, but I'm skipping it this week because a) I have had a week that has been B-A-N-A-N-A-S and thus haven't been doing much Internet window shopping and b) I just need to tell you about the sweet class asap. I hope you're down with hearing about cupcakes on this Friday...you don't mind, do you? ;)

As I mentioned, Kimberly had gotten a cupcake class at NYC's Butter Lane for me as a gift for Christmas last year. Due to scheduling, and Butter Lane's extreme busyness (they are always booked up! now I know why...), we only just got around to it this week.

First of all...Butter Lane is one of my favorite bakeries in New York City. It's so cute and charming, and the cupcakes are buttery, fluffy and heavenly to boot. They use high quality ingredients in all of their cupcakes, and it shows! In fact, I did a whole write up about these last year when we got them for my mom's birthday.

The class started in a little bakery studio next to the bakery itself and kicked off with...what else...a platter of cupcakes for the group!

this is after we all got at 'em!

The class was set up with stations featuring KitchenAid mixers, {lots of} butter, sugar, tasting sticks, and recipes.

Kim and I joined 3 other sweet women at the chocolate station, where we were in charge of the chocolate on chocolate cupcakes!

I have to say, I have made and written about many a cupcake here on TAA, so to be honest, I had a good idea of the ingredients that would go into the cupcakes. However, what I really learned was how long and at what speed to mix specific parts of the process (like letting the butter get uber duber fluffy for many minutes on high speed when making frosting). I thought this was so helpful, and I can't wait to try out my new found skills! I also came to the realization that I'm never making cupcakes again without an ice cream scooper (for quick and clean batter transfer) or a cake frosting spatula (for a perfect frost).

sistaaas

After our cupcakes were in the oven (and a lot of batter tasting had commenced), we made a variety of frostings, including vanilla bean, pumpkin (swoon), chocolate peanut butter, basic cream cheese and more. Once the cupcakes were done, we learned the proper way to frost a Butter Lane cupcake...

...and a certain someone won for best frosting job!

How cute is that little tote bag? I'm jeals. But at least I got my own frost on...

After frosting time, we loaded up our bakery boxes and headed back to Kimberly's place...

...where I got my cupcake eat on like it was my job.

chocolate cupcake with pb frosting...heaven!The only thing missing from our girls night? Our sister Christine! Christine Bean is at school at Penn State (and dealing with all the scrutiny going on there right now) and we cannot wait until she comes home for Thanksgiving so we can finally celebrate her 21st birthday in style!

So there you have it. Our fun girls night out, making cupcakes, and eating lots of frosting. I think this was such a great gift and would be perfect for any girls night or even a group of people or a party! Thanks to Butter Lane!

Questions of the Day:

Have you ever taken a cooking or baking class? This was my first one and I loved it!

What are your weekend plans? I'm hosting a Thanksgiving pot luck tomorrow...yay! Hope you all have a great one!

psst...it's The Peach & The Pit Friday! We're rounding up our highs and lows of the week!