July 4th long weekend

It was a great long weekend with full of fresh air! It's definitely a lot fresher than NYC :)

We had a lot of yummy food! We dined mostly at the resort restaurants (which are famous in the town) that specializes in New English cuisine with local VT flavors and ingredients - starch, nuts, herbs, berries, cream, butter and syrups in almost all dishes.  They emphasize a lot on homemade fresh ingredients, and to bring out the most of the natural juice and flavors from the fish/seafood/poultry. Most of our plates were heavily integrated with VT cheddar cheese, homemade butter, jam, maple syrups, and potatoes.  I guess for a hilly place with chilly winter, these are very hearty food.

In terms of activities, it was a bit lacking with a toddler; but I guess that's the expectation for a resort that is more catered to adults (skiers and business travelers) and older children. We weren't able to hike, canoe, fish, observe glass making...

So back to my workout, with a pool in the resort, I was able to add some swimming to my daily exercises!

Saturday - Bike 7 miles; High Intensity exercises 30 mins
Sunday - Swim 0.5 miles (800m); run 1 mile
Monday - Swim 1.1 miles (1.78K)
Tuesday - Rest
Wednesday - Run 1.5 miles; Bike 2 miles; Elliptical 3 miles; High Intensity exercises 15 mins

Delicious bread plate for the table

Homemade fettucine (with lots of shaved VT cheese)

View of Equinox Mountain

Resort properties

Homemade Meatballs

Getting back to cooking weeknight dinners!

Tonight's menu: Homemade meatballs
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1 lb (16 ounces) ground beef
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
2 tsp parsley (1 tsp for garnish)
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp garlic powder
1 egg
1/3 cup whole milk
1/3 cup panko breadcrumb
2 tbsp freshly grated Parmesan cheese (more for garnish)
1/2 finely chopped red onion

1. Combine milk and breadcrumbs, let the milk soak up the breadcrumbs for 10 mins
2. Place ground beef on a cutting board and loosely break it up into small pieces (until the meat is not in strands)
3. Add salt, black pepper, oregano, 1 tsp parsley, garlic powder and mix them up with the ground beef
4. Whisk an egg in a bowl, place the meat mixture into the egg.  Quickly fold the mixture a few times to absorb the liquid evenly
5. Add milk/breakcrumbs mixture, grated cheese, and chopped red onion into the meat mixture. Quickly and gently mix until combined
6. Roll the meat mixture into golf ball size balls
7. Turn the heat on medium high, add olive oil
8. Add meatballs and cook for 7 mins, until brown (Do not flip meatballs until the sides are not pink)
9.  Turn meatballs over, cook for another 7 minutes
10. Add marinara sauce. Simmer the sauce and meatball on low heat for 25-30 mins
11. Serve meatballs on a plate, garnish with parsley and freshly grated Parmesan cheese (optional)

Box of Dreams

Last weekend I finally tried the famous Box of Dreams @ Hatsuhana!!

It's a bento box, made up with nine mini bowls of (Chirashi) sashimi over rice. Yes it could've been a large Chirashi or perhaps 18-20pieces of sushi, but this presentation is really creative. The restaurant would ask if you have any allergy or specific fish that you don't eat to ensure that you box is truly a dream not a nightmare. The sashimi are very fresh.  Highly recommended!

Hatsuhana Restaurant. 17 E. 48th Street, New York, NY

Great dinner @ Blackbird

My fiance' and I went to Blackbird last Friday night.  @ Michelin rated one star restaurant, the menu looked sophisticated and amazing and the decor was minimalism and simple.

Overwhelmed with choices, we decided to try something different that night and stayed away from the traditional entrees like steak, chicken, fish, lobster.  We order the suckling pig for appetizer and creamy mussels soup. They were really savory and delightful.   For entrees we got the lamb saddle and rabbit saddle, the traditional game animals that are common on Chicago restaurant menus.  All came in small but decent portion and great presentation.  We liked the lamb but we LOVED the rabbit dish! The meat was so tender, wrapped with crispy fried skin. It was definitely the best rabbit dish I've had.

We order White Chocolate Mousse and Soft Valrhona Chocolate for dessert, but we also got a free bonus dessert for the small incident during the meal (not worth mentioning).  They were all great quality!  Price-wise, for a Michelin one star, this is relatively inexpensive.

Strongly recommended!

Easy Dinner 1

My work days are pretty busy; after a long day and getting home at 9-10pm, I really don't feel like cooking a big meal or eating out. So my simple solution is to make a small and quick dinner.  Fresh pasta is a great choice because it only takes a few minutes to cook and more importantly, tastes much fresher than regular pasta.  Buitoni Ravioli are one of my favorites because they fits all I wanted in a late dinner - fresh, simple, quick. I usually bring water to boil, drop half of the Buitoni ravioli package in water, and add some olive oil and salt. My favorite flavors are Spicy Beef & Sausage Ravioli and Wild Mushroom Agnolotti:

For Spicy Beef & Sausage, I like to put a little bit of Parmesan cheese on top or if I had pre-made some marinara sauce over the weekend, will heat and pour some sauce over it. 
For Wild Mushroom Agnolotti, my favorite of the two, I like to pour a little bit of black truffle oil on the plate and sprinkle Parmesan/Asiago cheese over the Angolotti. If I had the time I would make a creamy sauce instead.  It's a great vegetarian option for me to balance out the big lunch that I had during the day :)

During my weekend shopping, I always pick up one or two of these fresh pasta from Target, and get some freshly shredded cheese from Whole Foods Market. I've tried a few brands of shredded cheese and still haven't found any one that beats the Whole Foods 365 ones. It's simply the freshest and tastes the best!

Happy Eating!