You Asked, We're Answering, Part II

Happy Monday! Hope you all had a great weekend! I spent mine wandering around Chelsea Market with my sister Christine, finally sampling Carlo's Bake Shop in Hoboken (aka The Cake Boss) and staying up way too late watching the Giants lose last night. But today is a new day and I've already hit the gym and had a giant bowl of oats. Today we're kicking off this hoilday week with another roundup of FAQ's that Shaun and I often get. This time, we're talking restaurants and our going-out-to-eat habits since I often write about lots of fab places that we visit. Ready for the inside scoop?

 Our 2nd wedding anniversary at Madame Janette's in Aruba

What do you like to go out to eat for?
Shaun is as much of a foodie as I am, if not more so. While there was a time when I’d order the same, familiar dish at restaurants over and over, Shaun broke me out of my shell since he always likes to try new things at new places! Now we have both become samplers, so we will divide and conquer menus to get the most tasting for our buck...and stomach space. We really love all food and try to pick places that have things we don’t usually make at home. You can often find us dining on Italian, Mexican, Indian, Greek, steaks, sushi, good ol’ burgers, pizza, pastrami sandwiches...we really don’t discriminate!

post-pastrami sandwiches at Katz's Deli
Do you have a go-to spot?
If we are free on Friday nights we like to meet at South City Grill in Jersey City for happy hour after work. It’s near our old apartment and they have a fantastic happy hour - cheap drinks and fabulous appetizers! We usually share fried calamari, Kobe sliders and/or a Mediterranean sampler which includes hummus, tsaziki, and feta on grilled pita pieces. Aside from that, we try to find new places to dine at as often as possible! Since we live just outside the culinary hub of the world, there’s really no reason to try a place twice (though we do if we like it enough!). We have gone to Mesa Grill a couple of times, once as a surprise for Shaun's birthday and once to celebrate his promotion at work!

What are the places that make the cut to go back to, over and over again?
While we always want to try new places, there are a few that we find ourselves back at over and over again. Our short list includes Rosa Mexicano and Gyu Kaku (where we often go with our good friends Brandon & Nikki), BLT Burger, Michael Anthony’s & Lighthorse Tavern in Jersey City, and I often revisit La Carbonara and The Dove Parlour for ladies nights!

How do you decide where to go?
We keep a list of things we want to do, and on it are lots of restaurants. Our short list of NYC places to try are Locanda Verde, Artisinal, Babbo, Grammercy Tavern....Shaun? any others I'm forgetting?

What are the best restaurant meals you’ve had?
Rachel: This is a tough one. One that really stands out for me is a delicious dinner we shared with my sister Kimberly in Budapest. I don’t even know the name of the cafe (that was in pre-blog days) but it consisted of wiener schnitzel, beef goulash and apple turnovers. I still dream about it. Aside from that, I’d be remiss not to include our anniversary surf-and-turf dinner at Madame Janette’s in Aruba and Shaun’s birthday dinner at Mesa Grill.
Shaun: My favorite meal was a breakfast that we shared in Paris at a small cafe overlooking the Notre Dame Cathedral. We both had croque madame - essentially a decadent ham and cheese sandwich with an egg on top. Though I don't eat ham anymore and I usually hate runny eggs, it was one of the best breakfasts ever. The service was good, the coffee great, the scenery unbelievable and the company wasn't bad either!

I’m coming to NYC/going out to dinner/meeting friends, can you recommend some restaurants to try?
Sure, I’m working on a by-neighborhood roundup of places I’ve tried! Stay tuned! Meanwhile, check out our Restaurants tab for a giant list of restaurants and links to reviews.

Are there any dishes that you always like to sample?
Um...everything? But seriously, we always love to sample as much as possible, especially when there are specialty or local dishes involved. Shaun always likes to sample microbrews. Here he is in Aruba sampling some Balashi, the local beer of Aruba!

That's also one of the reasons I love food fests or walking/eating tours which I sometimes do with my mom and sisters. I love trying a little bit at each place! Here I am at San Gennaro in 2009 sampling a giant cupcake (one of many unhealthy delights from that evening...)

What are some places that you’ve traveled to? Any noteworthy foods?
We absolutely love traveling. Over the last 10 years together, Shaun and I have traveled to the 2006 World Cup in Germany, Paris (which was when we realized we were meant to be, since our hotel didn't have our reservation and we ended up trolling the streets looking for an open hotel. There may have been tears on my part and Shaun somehow didn't go running for the hills - see Shaun's fave meal above - this was the day after my meltdown on the streets en Paris), Budapest, Prague, Sweden, Estonia, Aruba, Antigua, Yellowstone National Park, Boston, Washington DC. A quick list of The Best Thing I Ever Ate Travel Edition include lots of microbrews everywhere, hot wine, lattes and fried cheese sandwiches in Prague, fry bread with garlic sauce in Estonia, and various cheese plates in Paris and Germany.

How much money do you spend on going out to eat every month?
Can I tell you something? Promise not to judge? I have no idea. Though I’ve tried to put aside a budget for this kind of thing, Shaun and I often just go out for dinner when the mood strikes. Since we do like to cook (and do almost every night), going out to eat has taken a back seat to eating in. We also don’t limit ourselves since we don’t go out that often. So when we want to order dinner on a busy Tuesday or just head out for a date night on Friday, we go for it.

Do you buy or bring lunch to work?
We will usually bring lunch to work 4 out of 5 days. I always let myself buy lunch one day a week, which usually is reserved for sushi (something I obviously do not bring from home). When it comes to packing lunch, we will each take leftovers or a simple sandwich or salad with some fruit and other snacks. Shaun is actually way better at packing lunch than me. In fact, he often packs my lunch. And I secretly pretend to forget to pack my lunch so that he'll make his signature chef's salad (complete with ham and cheese pinwheels) for me. Don't tell him I said that though.

I think that's it for today's FAQ! I hope you enjoy reading a little more about our going out to eat habits, and if you have anymore questions for Shaun or me, please leave it in the comments or send me an email! Meanwhile, the question of the day is: What is your favorite restaurant? Or the best meal you ever had at a restaurant?

 Psst...missed Part I of our FAQ? Find out how we get down in the kitchen right here.

Pumpkin Cheesecake

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It’s Friday and it makes me oh-so-happy for a number of reasons. First, because it’s almost the weekend, which always deserves and automatic hooray! Second, because next week will be a very short week since it’s Thanksgiving. After today, it feels like it’s officially the holiday season, and I love every minute of it!

So today I’m wrapping up our fun Thanksgiving roundup with another very important piece of the puzzle - dessert! Since there was only 4 of us, we decided to skip the table full of desserts thing, and only serve one dish. I have to admit, while I am a sampler at heart, having one dessert to share and enjoy by all was a really nice change. Especially since it was light, airy and pumpkiny to boot.

Hold the phone. You’re probably thinking, Light? Airy? I thought we were talking about cheesecake here. Yup, you heard me right.

Since Lindsey isn’t huge on the traditional pumpkin pie, and I’m always looking to change it up, we decided on pumpkin cheesecake. And after gathering all my ingredients on the morning of the dinner party, I realized that the recipe we planned to use called for a 3 hour baking time (Now I felt like Ross from Friends when someone steals his sandwich, as I ranted 3 hours? 3 HOURS?!). Anyhow, we needed a back up plan and fast. After a quick search, I came across Paula Deen’s version.

And though you can judge all you want for her obsession with butter and generally all things terrible for your body, the lady knows what she’s doing. Her cheesecake seemed simple and quick to boot - 1 hour cook time, no pre-baking the crust, mixing everything together in one giant bowl. So we went with it. And the result? An airy whipped cheesecake set in a graham cracker crust that had just a hint of pumpkin flavor. Can we say perfect dessert for post-huge dinner? Though there were a few flaws (like a giant crack down the middle of mine!), I’d make this recipe again for its ease of use, quick baking time, and delectable outcome, despite its final aesthetics. Plus, what do you think they invented whipped cream for?

Pumpkin Cheesecake
*Adapted from Paula Deen
For the crust:
1 3/4 C graham cracker crumbs
3 tbsp light brown sugar
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 stick melted salted butter
For the filling:
3 (8 oz) pkgs cream cheese, at room temperature
1 (15 oz) can pumpkin puree
3 eggs plus 1 egg yolk
1/4 cup sour cream
1 1/2 C sugar
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
1/8 tsp ground cloves
2 tbsp all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Special equipment:
9-inch spring form pan (I got one as a Christmas gift 2 years ago!)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a mixing bowl, combine the graham cracker crumbs, butter, sugar and cinnamon. Press into the pan. (Note: I found pre-crumbed graham crackers in the grocery store, which eliminated the extra step of processing them myself! Though I normally would not have a problem with this, the point is that even if you don’t have a food processor, you can snap these up. Oh and did I mention that they were cheaper than a box of whole graham crackers? Well they were.)

In a stand mixer, or with a hand mixer, beat the cream cheese until smooth (it’s best if you leave it out of the fridge the night before...I didn’t do this and it took longer for mine to come together, not to mention that it still had tiny lumps in it!).  Add in the pumpkin, eggs, egg yolk, sour cream, sugar and spices and mix until combined. Add the flour and vanilla, beating until it’s all combined and smooth. Pour the filling into the crust - mine filled almost up to the top of the pan. Doesn't that look delightful?

Bake for one hour. Remove and let sit for 15 minutes. Then cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 4 hours. (Note: I made this first, before anything else, so that it would have plenty of time to cool!) Serve with lots of whipped cream if ya like! And I do like. 

So there you have it. A light, easy pumpkin cheesecake of which, admittedly, I'm still polishing off the remnants. So what do you think? What is your favorite Thanksgiving dessert?

In case you missed it, check out how we brined a turkey at 3AM, made hearty turkey sausage stuffing and mashed up the perfect potato! And for even more Thanksgiving food ideas, check out our Recipes page, under Thanksgiving!

I Couldn't Help Myself...

I had to share this with you guys. Something happened tonight. When I stopped at the store for a few dinner items, I couldn't help myself...

I bought my first Holiday Cookie magazine! I don't officially recognize Christmas until the ride home from my aunt's house on Thanksgiving night when I force Shaun to partake in a Christmas carol sing-a-long for the hour long drive. But I saw this gorgeous glossy and the next thing I knew, it was in my shopping bag. I don't know how that happened.

Mom, if you are reading this, I know you are saying, Why did you buy that? Do you know how many cookie books and magazines I have here?       (Am I right? Say it. I know I'm right).

I couldn't help myself. I think I caught holiday excitement overload.