New York City! Part 2.

Our first night in New York was one for the books and I had no doubt that each day was going to be just as exciting.  On our next day, we had a full day ahead of us and lots sweet treats planned!  Here's Day Two...

Sugar & Plumm's Short Rib Eggs Benedict

It continued to rain that morning and we had Brunch at Sugar & Plumm on the Upper West Side planned.  As we walked into the restaurant, there were tons of desserts and confections in every color imaginable; I wanted to try all the macarons!  I was torn between getting a sweet breakfast but actually went the savory route (totally not like me).  I stuck with the Short Rib Eggs Benedict and I'm so glad I chose that.  The rosemary brioche it was served on was so delicious that every bread should be that good!  I was actually surprised at how inexpensive it was, only $18 with tip for Brunch in Manhattan!  Of course, we all had to buy some treats; I ended up with a Birthday Cake and Violet Cassis Macaron, even though there were all sorts of shapes and figures of beautifully crafted chocolate.

Surrounding my Cookie from
Levain Bakery!  Thankfully
we all got our own ;)

Since we were going to see "Waitress: The Musical" later that afternoon we decided to walk around the Upper West Side and check out LeVain Bakery (thanks to Ashley Daniels for the tip) which had a line of people waiting for their famous cookies.  I only took two bites because I was so full from Brunch but that cookie melted in my mouth.  Most of us said it was one of the best cookies we'd ever had!  As we walked towards Theater Row I recognized the scenery from some movies and the closer we got to the theaters, the more excited I was.  Part of the reason for our whole trip was to see Sara Bareilles playing the leading role in "Waitress" because she had written the music for the show and I knew she would do the role justice after hearing her debut 'She Used to be Mine' at one of her LA concerts!  I've seen Sara perform in concert numerous times, so I know her witty banter and ability to sell a song so effortlessly is there but I had no idea she'd bring the talent we saw that day.  As the musical started and Sara began to sing, Giana who was sitting next to me, just looked at me and squeezed my arm.  She said she turned into a Sara Bareilles fan after seeing the show!  Every song was better than the next.  It was such a fun show and the characters were so perfectly cast.  I fell in love with 'When He Sees Me,' 'Bad Idea,' 'Never Ever Getting Rid Of Me,' and 'Everything Changes.'  She sings that song seated, and makes it look so easy, and if you weren't already crying during 'She Used to be Mine' which everyone around us was, you surely were at this point.  It was touching, funny, sweet, had incredibly talented actors and a great ensemble, and Sara just knocked it out of the park!  I was so happy to see her in this role and just blow everyone away.  Although, the real star of the show, to a lot of the audience was the guy who played, Ogie.  He got the most applause!  We actually ended up seeing the actor who plays Dr. Pommater the following night as we were walking to a bar in the area; I couldn't believe I recognized him and he was super polite and humble.  Catch "Waitress" if you can, and especially if you can see Sara playing the role of 'Jenna.'

Even Sara has Bunny Ears!

After that we went to a Sushi Restaurant, Haru for Happy Hour and Tommy, our server took great care of us.  We didn't want to eat too much since we had reservations at Barbetta that night.  Back to the Hotel we went, got changed and then headed back towards Hell's Kitchen and the Theater District.  Barbetta is 111 years old and all the dishes on the menu had the year they were created and added.  Some of the recipes were 111 years old, in fact, Giana ordered one of them which was the Agnolotti.  I ordered a Caprese Salad (always a favorite of mine) and the Gnocchetti Ai Formaggi (Gnocchi and four cheese) and it was absolutely delicious.  I was also pretty proud that I had picked out a beautiful wine that everyone loved!  The staff actually wanted to take pictures with us so we got a few with everyone who had helped us out that evening...so sweet!

We walked back towards the Subway when we came across the Rum House; a piano bar specializing in Rum cocktails.  We listened to a Jazz Band play some live music and contemporary hits and even tuned out from our cell phones for nearly an hour.  Great rule, Rach!  Rachel and I had been talking about our previous night at Jack Dempsey's and all the fun snapchats we had, so we had to go and visit Bob again since we wouldn't get to see him before we went back to LA.  We got a couple cocktails and then called it a night and made our way home.  This was our only night we were in before 2 am ;)

At Barbetta in Manhattan with my Ladies, our Host, Waiter and Sommelier!

It was another eventful night in New York City and yet, our trip had just begun!

New York City! Part 1.

When I got off the plane in Los Angeles after being in New York for five days, something felt off.  There's only a couple places I call home.  Obviously Plymouth, Wisconsin, where I grew up for 18 years and Winona, Minnesota, where I went to college because the second I stepped onto campus, I knew it was the right fit.  So when I landed in LA, after being in NY, I felt like I just left my home, the same way I do when I leave Wisconsin.  I can't explain it.  I've only been to New York twice in my life; once when I was 17 and then this past April, but I just fit in the moment I got off the plane at JFK airport.  It was raining, I was excited, each part of the city we passed as we made our way into Manhattan, was another second closer to feeling like this is where I should be.  And where my heart has felt incomplete since.  Yes, I'll get over it; could I really do long cold winters for at least four months out of the year?  Where would Rutherford go to the bathroom?  Do I want to start all over in a new place as an Actress?  But for now, and the purpose of this blog, I'm going to share my New York trip and a city that has a piece of my heart forever.

Our view of the Empire State Building
from our Hotel in Midtown Manhattan.

I've never taken a Spring Break or a Girl's Trip.  I always wanted to but the closest I would come is Florida for Cheerleading in College or family vacations to Mexico.  I don't count going to Las Vegas, only because it's a few hours from Los Angeles; it would be totally different if I was going there from Wisconsin.  So for the first time in 33 years, I was taking a Spring Break, and it was an adult one at that.  Rachel, Sam and I were heading to New York City, Manhattan specifically, and Giana was already there, as she had moved just a couple weeks prior.  She was feeling homesick so we were excited to spend some time with her and bring a little LA to her!  Our sleeping arrangements fell through on Saturday and we scrambled to find something by our arrival in New York on Tuesday.  Thankfully, I found a great Hotel in Midtown, that was centrally located to everything, for a great rate and it included Breakfast every morning.  My Mom would have been proud :)

We flew Delta on our way to New York (I got us a great flight to and from NY for an awesome price by watching flights) and we were all very excited for our little five day getaway.  Gary Sinise kicked off the trip when I grabbed a Bagel at Coffee Bean; all the employee's knew him well.  Little did we know that breakfast was included on the flight, and I was wide awake so I ended up watching 'Collateral Beauty' (which if you haven't seen, was absolutely amazing - I shed plenty of tears) and then 'The Unknowns' about the Guards that watch the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and of course, we had to get a quick glimpse of the 'Sex & The City' movie since the Core Four would all be together in NY.  We checked into our Hotel, a La Quinta Inn & Suites and decided to head straight to the Roof-Top Bar since it was Happy Hour.  To make the Hotel even better, we were directly next to the Empire State Building and we had the best view of it!

Giana & I at Beauty & Essex...first night in New York :)

Giana met us at the Hotel and we all got ready for our first night in New York!  We had reservations at Beauty & Essex that night, got all gussied up, and rode the Subway to the East Village.  Emerald Gimlets, complimentary Beet Appetizers, Tuna Tacos, and our entrees which included Salmon, Lobster Mac & Cheese, Pesto, and my Scallops (which were the best I've ever had) were all a part of our lovely dinner.  I had checked out all of our restaurants on Instagram and found that at Beauty & Essex, in their downstairs bathroom/powder room, they offered complimentary Champagne.  The Ladies and I enjoyed a couple glasses, tipping our Champagne gal for our Bubbly and all the photos she took and it really made the evening a total package.  We wanted to hit up a club after so I took over, pulling out my phone to GPS to us to our next location, but let me tell you, it was raining (I gave up on my hair after the second day of this strange atmosphere) and I walked us eight blocks in the wrong direction.  We all did this at some point on the trip, and I'm not sure what kind of signal our phones were getting, but it happened to all of us.  Of course, as soon as Rachel explained the grid, and I did some exploring on my own, it was quite easy to figure out.  But I could see how easy it was to get turned around, especially at night, definitely after cocktails, multiple glasses of champagne, and our Happy Hour drinks!  We stopped at The Box, which was a new hot club that had "shows" starting at 1:30 am but we wanted to move on so we actually headed back towards our Hotel and when Giana and Sam went home, Rachel and I walked a few blocks to get another cocktail.  We came upon Jack Dempsey's, which would be where Giana's FOMO kicked in after we regaled her with our tales from the previous evening.  Rachel and I met Bob, the Bartender, and instantly felt like we were regulars.  We stayed till nearly three in the morning but didn't head home yet.  We were in New York!  It was time for a slice of the finest NY Pizza; and it hit the spot!  And no pizza in New York is complete without Garlic Knots...lots and lots of Garlic Knots.

Dinner & Champagne at Beauty & Essex with the Ladies!

That's how our trip began...and I knew I was in for the time of my life, with some of my favorite people, in a city, that felt "just right."

April Karaoke

I can't believe I celebrated my six year anniversary of Hosting Karaoke at Gabe's last month!  The time has really flown by and I've made so many great friends because of it, on top of all the wonderful memories and new songs I've learned.  I always tell people that I love Hosting Karaoke but I'm not doing it for the money, I figure, I'd be singing somewhere anyway, so I might as well be Hosting it!

Now that I've got 10 hour Wednesday's for the
next six months, I need a little coffee in my
life...or the Unicorn Frappuccino that came out
last month!  Gotta try new things ;)

Chris Isaak - 'Wicked Game'

Madonna - 'Like A Prayer'

Tom Petty - 'Won't Back Down'

B-52's - 'Love Shack'

Richard Marx - 'Right Here Waiting'

Linda Ronstadt - 'It's So Easy'

Paula Abdul - 'Straight Up'

Madonna - 'Express Yourself'

Amy Winehouse - 'Back to Black'

Fleetwood Mac - 'Dreams'

Linda Ronstadt - 'Just One Look'

Alannah Myles - 'Black Velvet'

Red Hot Chili Peppers - 'Under the Bridge'

Pat Benatar - 'Promises in the Dark'

The first week we celebrated my Karaoke Anniversary so the challenge was for people to sing songs from the year when they were six years old.  It brought some interesting song choices but ended up being a lot of fun!  I had a good year in 1989 but as I looked at the songs from everyone else's years, it seemed like they did too!  My new song was Tom Petty's 'I Won't Back Down' but I did some of my favorites as well.  With it being tax season it had definitely slowed down at Karaoke so I didn't have to sing a whole lot and that second week my new song was 'Express Yourself' by Madonna, which also came out in 1989.  I sang all females songs that week and did the following week as well aside from my new song 'Under the Bridge' by the Red Hot Chili Peppers.  I'm kind of surprised I never sang that before but it's in an awkward key for me to sing as gal so I'd prefer to change it to make it a little easier.  I added a bunch of songs to my History that I hadn't sang in a while and had forgotten about.  The last week in April I was in New York so we didn't have Karaoke but hopefully May will get busy for us again!

Everyone really seems to like the themes when I do them so I'm going to try to incorporate it at least every other month, if not every month.  We've got a new dart board, some new music, and just need you to sing the songs.  Come on down to Gabe's for the fun :)

More Blue Apron!

With how busy I've been it's been tough to consistently get Blue Apron or even create new recipes but I was able to get a few in the last couple months.  They've looked so pretty in the pan while I've been preparing them that they were photographed before and after they made it to the plate!

Blue Apron now offers more choices (there are eight options now) and you can choose between any of the dishes without any stipulations.  If you want all meat, you can do pork, chicken and steak, or if you want to stay vegetarian, you have that choice as well.  AND if you want to get four recipes one week and two a different week, you now have that ability.  Blue Apron has definitely stepped up their game!

Starting on the top left going clockwise is a Mixed Mushroom Bucatini with Collard Greens.  It was a great vegetarian dish that was portioned well, packed with flavor and tasted other-worldly!  Not to mention it was pretty easy to make.  The second photo is Roasted Pork with Sauteed Apples, Broccoli in a Fontina Cream Sauce and Garlic Breadcrumbs.  I had originally taken Porf off my profile because I'm not a real big fan of it, aside from Bacon, because of course, Bacon!  This dish has made me think twice about incorporating it into my meals on occasion.  The edges of the Pork were roasted while the inside was juicy and tender and the Apples were so yummy.  This was a dish that required more attention to detail but it was really exciting to create something so pretty.  I made these Spicy Red Thai Curry Meatballs as an early going away Lunch for Giana.  I had never made Meatballs before but I would use the base they suggested again and again because they were delicious!  The Red Curry gave it a little kick while the coconut milk evened it out.  I love Curry dishes so this was a no-brainer choice for me!  That final photo is a Chipotle-Glazed Meatloaf with Crispy Potatoes.  I also added some Vegetables that I steamed and then sauteed for flavor to have as a side.  The Meatloaf was enough for three meals and I had used all the Chipotle Pepper and it was HOT!  I actually didn't mind the heat but it might have been a little much for the average eater.  This was the best Meatloaf I've ever made so I'll for sure be creating this recipe again!

I've got a busy month of May and June so hopefully I can hop back into Blue Apron once Summer heats up.  Until then you can follow my food adventures and all things fun on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/lyndseywegner/ Thanks for reading and Happy Cooking :)