Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies, with a twist!

So, I've really been trying to be better at doing this blog regularly. My problem has been that I want to write something witty. I think I'm pretty funny, but I sometimes have a hard time writing witty and/or funny. It gets lost in translation, and that's very frustrating to me. So today, you get a recipe. Not just any old recipe, but the most delicious, chewy, ooey-gooey cookie recipe you've ever seen or tasted! This cookie recipe has evolved over the years from just a plain oatmeal cookie to an extravaganza of the senses. I'm kinda proud of this one...

Here we go, are ya ready?

3 cups quick oats
2 cups brown sugar
1 cup butter(unsalted)/margarine
2 eggs
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 Tbls molasses
1 1/2 cups flour (sifted, please)
1 1/2 cups craisins
1 cup mini chocolate chips

Heat oven to 375. In large bowl, combine the first 9 ingredients. Beat on low speed, scraping bowl often until well mixed. Mix in flour. Stir in Craisins and mini chocolate chips. Drop rounded teaspoonfulls onto greased cookie sheets. Bake 8 to 10 minutes. These are best slightly undercooked, as they will stay chewy. For crisp cookies (some of you like that kind of thing), just cook a bit longer. You can't eat just one of these, so make sure to save room in your belly.

My Version of an Orange Julius

Late spring and early summer are a bit tough for me to do anything other that work on my tan. So, I needed to come up with a recipe that I could take up to the roof with me. I remembered a recipe that my wonderful grandmother used to make for me on hot Texas summer days. This is my version of her recipe.

Yummy Orange Frosty

2 cups Orange Juice
1/3 cup Milk
1 egg
1 Tbls sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla
Ice

Put all ingredients in a blender, adding the ice last. Mix until slushy and delicious. Feel free to add more ice for consistency.

Pour into a glass, add a bendy straw and head to the roof (use sunscreen)!

**If raw eggs creep you out, just don't add it. The taste will be the same, just not as rich and creamy.

**You can also add vodka for a grown-up version.

Take me to Sao Paulo!

If Kristine and I keep running into little tucked away gems in Williamsburg...we may never have to eat in Manhattan again. Located on the corner of Richardson and Lorimer, Beco is another experience in dinning not to be missed. The atmosphere was cramped, the service sub-par at best, but any annoyances were cast away upon the arrival of the $2 Tecates and Pao de Queijo (traditional cheese bread baked to near crispness). For our main dishes Teenie had Bauru(sliced filet mignon w/queijo prato and tomato on baguette), and for myself Choripan(rustic Argentine chorizo on Portuguese roll). I can only image how silly we looked as we kept swapping our sandwiches back in forth to each other...but good golly, sooo good! As soon as I finished my last bite, my plate was whisked away and the table wiped up with a rag(two thumbs down as Teenie was still in mid-consumption). In the end, Beco made our list of top five tastiest places to eat in New York.

For more info visit: http://becobar.com/

I like chips and salsa!

I was at a gym last week (gasp!), and overheard a girl asking her friend who Magnum PI was. Are you kidding me? I tripped on the elliptical machine and the water I was drinking came out of my nose. Seriously. What is the world coming to?

Salsa. Is there anything better than fresh salsa? Maybe, but not today. I'm craving it, and so should you.
Here's my basic recipe:

5 Roma tomatoes (seeded)
1 white onion
1/2 bunch cilantro (stemmed)
1 small jalapeno (seeded and chopped fine)
1 garlic clove (minced fine)
1 or 2 ripe limes
dash of cumin
salt to taste

Dice seeded tomatoes and onions. Place in medium bowl. Roll cilantro into a tight roll and chop into fine pieces, seed (leave a little seed for spice) and chop jalapeno, mince garlic and add all to bowl. Stir together, and add lime, cumin and salt to taste. Right now, you have a lovely Pico de Gallo. Here's where it gets fun! Take half of your Pico and put it in either a blender or a food processor and blend. Put back into bowl and stir. Enjoy with chips, or on a yummy egg burrito.

Wanna add something cool and be a little different? Do this to the Pico de Gallo (meaning don't blend this version)... Peel and seed a cucumber. Dice it into the same size as the tomatoes and add to the bowl. Now you've got cucumber salsa! Eat people. It's healthy and delish.

And the Winner is...

After sampling the best of what the city of brotherly love has to offer...the tastiest cheesesteak crown goes to....Pat's! They are hands down the King of Steaks!!
Perfect bread, delicious rib eye, and ample Whiz is what makes this bad-boy the champ. Where Gino's and Tony Lukes are incredible in their own special way...in our opinions the quintessential Philly flavor lies in the place that started it all. That being said...next visit we were told that Jim's is the locals new favorite. We shall see!

For more info visit:
http://www.patskingofsteaks.com/
http://www.genosteaks.com/
http://www.tonylukes.com/home.htm

BBQ is Back!!

WooHoo! Springtime is here, and that can mean only one thing. The Boulevard!!
Located in the shadow of the BQE, this little slice of heaven not only offers great weekend drink specials, but the $5 all you can eat BBQ! The back patio provides the perfect atmosphere for late night shenanigans...where you're sure to rustle up a conversation with you neighboring bench buddies. Not much else needs to be said. Chances are if you come to visit us, or are out on the town in Greenpoint...we will be meeting up here. "Four cheeseburgers please".

For more info visit http://www.myspace.com/boulevardtavern

A Surprise on Bowery

A part of Manhattan that I don't frequent often became a new favorite this last weekend. The Bowery has charmed me! The only real experience I've had here is the Bowery Poetry Club...where Das has played on several occasions, and last Tuesday with the Angry Geoff Larson Quartet. Friday...Teenie and I found ourselves back to the B.P.C., this time to catch local bad-ass saxophonist and friend Jarrod Weaver. We had some time to kill and decided to walk north in hopes of finding a cozy tavern with cheap drinks and NCAA action. At the corner of Bowery and Great Jones street we found our spot. Down two precarious levels of steps we entered into the dimly lit Kings Cross. This dodgy old bar seemed more like somebody's homemade basement lounge, and was just what we were looking for. $5 whiskey shot and beer special?? Yes please! Were we in Brooklyn??? Nope...cheap libations in Manhattan!!! To make everything better...Six Point Craft Ales were on tap!!! Teenie and I agreed that this would be a definite repeat watering hole. After a few drinks we mosied back over to the B.P.C. to catch Jarrod and his band, Jason Yudoff and the New Hotness. I have been to several shows now...and the band is to say the least...infectious. After such a night...I realize that I will have to come down to this part of town more often.

Kings Cross is located at:
356 Bowery (Between Great Jones Street and East 4th Street)
New York, NY 10012

Be sure to check out Jason Yudoff and the New Hotness at:
www.jasonyudoff.com