Quinoa with Corn, Scallions, and Mint

After a five-month haitus* from my Gourmet, unbound contributions, I'm back! Before I started scouring the Gourmet archives on Epicurious, I took some time to think about getting a little something more out of the this project. I wanted to challenge myself, so I gave myself a set of rules:

Book Review: The Book of Tapas by Simone and Inés Ortega

If I could have it my way, I'd never eat another balanced meal. Full meals often overwhelm me. Why? Because I'm a picker, a snacker, a nibbler, a grazer. Because I prefer having several small servings of food spread out over the course of a day rather than restricting myself to "three square meals."

Friends Reunite over Brunch at Craftbar

Craftbar

900 Broadway

New York, NY 10003

(212) 461-4300 | Map

You know what's fantastic about honest friendship? You can have years pass between meetings and have things just pick up seamlessly as if you only just saw each other a week ago. Rewind to Sunday brunch on Memorial Day weekend in New York City and the reunion of friends over a fantastic meal at Craftbar.

Breadbox Cafe Menu - Updated!

A lot has changed since I first posted the menu for Breadbox Cafe in Long Island City: they've finally started installing their facade featuring 1600 rolling pins; they've created their website; and, unfortunately, they've raised some of their prices. Although you can find their menu on their website, I'm also updating it here.

Greek Yogurt Berry Parfait

Truth be told... The first time I tried Greek yogurt, I was not a fan. The thick consistency and its tangy tartness were too much for me to handle and I couldn't bring myself to eat an entire container. It took me over a year of trying a little Greek yogurt here and a little Greek yogurt there for me to see beyond the consistency and to embrace the tartness. And now, I prefer Greek yogurt to regular yogurt!

Cookbook Souvenir: Recipes from the Rim

As much as I love trying new things and seeing new places, I haven't traveled all that much. There were the obligatory family vacations while growing up (I think we visited Washington, DC four summers in a row), the jaunt up to Prince Edward Island in Canada when I was going through my Anne of Green Gables phase, and the epic backpacking tour through Europe that I went on with my sister when I was in high school. Nearly a decade later, I did find myself soaking in the sun (and getting the first major sunburn of my life) on the beaches of the Outer Banks, but most of the other traveling I've done appropriately falls under the category of "long weekends."

Food Memories of Phoenix

I had every intention of taking it easy this Fourth of July weekend. I wanted to catch up on sleep, to keep everything low-key and chill. Yet, here it is, Saturday night, and I'm pretty damn exhausted. I suppose it didn't help that I diligently stuck to my Hartford Marathon training schedule and ran 3 miles in this heat. Or that Stephen and I spent a good chunk of our afternoon dodging all the tourists at the Metropolitan Museum of Art just so I could finally see the Picasso Exhibit.

(Standing Nude and Seated Musketeer, 1968 by Pablo Picasso)

In order to partially follow-through with my plan, I'm going to allow myself to get lost in the memories of some of the food that I ate while out in Arizona in May for the big Grand Canyon hike.