Food in NYC

As is most likely already obvious, one of my passions in life is food.  While this has definitely made weight loss a struggle, I refuse to deprive myself of every delicious food in life, simply because it isn't lettuce.  :)  This trip was certainly no exception.  There were several fast food stops on the way up and back (for time's sake), but once in NYC, there were at least three memorable meals (along with photos) that I want to share.

The first was a lunch in Grand Central Terminal.  One of the veteran chaperones suggested that Jason and I try the Oyster Bar's fare on the lower level of the terminal (If you haven't been there, Grand Central is full of shops, bakeries, and restaurants.).  Jason ordered a fish sandwich, and I chose the crab cake sandwich.  It was amazing -- moist, delicious, and the crusty bread was the perfect finish.

crabcake sandwich from The Oyster Bar in Grand Central Terminal

The second memorable food experience from this trip was also in Grand Central Terminal...yes, on the same day.  I saved room after my crabcake sandwich for dessert, specifically because I saw a sign for Magnolia Bakery (I had heard of how delicious the cupcakes were at this bakery before coming to NYC, and was determined to try one.).  I ordered a vanilla cupcake with buttercream icing.  The icing was a beautiful pastel purple, and was topped with Magnolia's home-made and hand-dyed sprinkles.  It looked pretty simple, but the taste was divine.  The icing was perfect, not too heavy, and the cake was perfectly moist but still light.  It left me wanting more, but I didn't buy another.  :)

vanilla cupcake with buttercrea

he last meal we had in NYC was most definitely the most amazing of them all.  We chose Carmine's, an Italian family-style restaurant, where you order together as a group, and everything comes out on huge platters for all to share.  There were six of us total, and we decided upon three choices, with a pasta added as a "base."  After much deliberation, we chose: fried calamari, chicken parmigiana, shrimp scampi, and penne alla vodka. 

The calamari was the best I've eaten...it was tender and less chewy than most I've tasted, and the breading was delicious.


fried calamari



tiny squid about to be devoured by Candice

I did not try the chicken, but that is Jason's favorite dish, and he says it was delicious, so I am taking him at his word.  It looks amazing.

chicken parmigiana



The runner-up for most amazing part of the meal was the shrimp scampi. I am a huge seafood fan, and this shrimp stood out not just because of the size, but the breading on top gave it an extra crunch and flavor that made it some of the best shrimp I've ever tasted.  Unfortunately, we dug in too fast for me to get a photo of the whole gigantic plate, but I did take a photo on my plate before I devoured them.

what was left of the shrimp scampi

The most amazing part of the entire meal was the part that seemed to be the most boring and unassuming, but it was the most delicious.  The penne alla vodka was exceptional.  I love marinara sauces, but I had never tried a creamy marinara sauce before, and now that's all I'll be looking for in the grocery next week.  The pasta was perfectly cooked, the sauce was creamy but still tomato based (not nearly as rich as an alfredo sauce, which is the cream-style sauce I am most used to eating), and it went perfectly with the other dishes we chose.  I went back for seconds on the pasta, and would have gone back for thirds if my stomach would have allowed it.

penne alla vodka

just some of the massive spread of food we had

Better than just the food, though, was the company on the entire trip.  As a chaperone, I was expecting lots of teenage drama and complaining about getting up early, but in fact, it was quite the opposite.  The students were wonderful to work with, they seemed to have a fantastic time at each stop; my colleagues are hilarious to work with and kept me laughing the entire trip; and any trip with Jason is made more entertaining.  :)  It was a wonderful week in NYC, one I won't soon forget.  More on the sights and sounds later...today was all about the food.

Prom 2011

I was determined to wait until my next Friday Facts and Photos post to upload these, but after looking at them, I can't help myself...they're just too good not to share.  :)

As a high school teacher, one of the perks (at least for me) is that I am able to help chaperone each year, whicih basically means I get all dressed up, see the students in their gorgeous attire, and eat some yummy snacks provided by our principal, all without the drama of actually attending the prom.  :)  It's a fun night of talking and admiring the fashions with my fellow teachers, and it's a time I look forward to each year. This year was extra special, though, because my "little" cousin Jared is a junior and was attending this year with his adorable and sweet girlfriend, Ally.  In addition, I was able to see many of my former and current students in their finest, having a great night. 

First, the photos of Ally and Jared before prom:

I couldn't resist a shot of their fabulous shoes.

one of my favs -- love the ring

gorgeous couple

flowers and feathers

Connor wanted Jared out so he could be in the picture with Ally.  :)

And finally, shots from the prom itself:

Candice, Lauren, me, Sarah (my beautiful colleagues)

our "vogue" pose  :)

Jason stopped by to chaperone for a bit.

Connor decided to crash the party in his loungewear.

Sydney, a former student

Jacob, another former student

Kristina, another of my wonderful past students

Connor, who enjoyed busting a move with Sarah.

Friday Facts and Photos

This week has been a memorable one, especially with Connor.  It is so joyous to watch his vocabulary, skills, and personality grow more each day.  He is currently trying to string words together to form his own version of a story (more below about that), and he is just so funny it's hard to believe...or maybe it's just that I'm his mom and I think most everything he does is adorable.  :)  Besides that, the week has been a flurry of activity.  Here are a few of my random notes since last Friday:

- Jason accidentally ran over a frog in our garage last weekend, and Connor somehow happened upon it. Ever since, he has been saying "roggy" over and over again.  Eventually he also somehow learned the word "dead" (I blame Jason.), and then kept saying, "Roggy, roggy?  Dead."  Then, while visitng "Bet" (Aunt Mary Beth) last night, he attempted to tell she and Unc (Uncle Alan) the entire story.  It went as follows: "Roggy. Dead. Daddy. Trash."  I guess he equated Jason sweeping the frog out of the garage as him putting the frog in the trash, and even though it's a morbid story, it's exciting to see him beginning to string ideas together.

- Connor now also loves hand motions.  When someone leaves or he purposefully drops a toy, he says, "Gone," while throwing both hands in the air in a questioning gesture.  It's too cute.

- On Thursday, we took Connor to both the high school baseball game and the tennis match, and he loved being able to roam around, play outside, and watch "big kids."  One item of note: Connor attempted to eat two cigarette butts, a used straw, and picked up a used can of dip during our time at the tennis courts.  At the baseball game, however, he was much calmer.  He was enthralled with the boys and was riveted to the pitcher, saying "Gin" (again) each time he threw the ball.  It looks like we have a sports fan on our hands already...Daddy will be happy.

- Connor is also currently obsessed with saying people names when they are not at our house, or particularly when he wants to see them.  I gave the rundown last week of his names for everyone, but I forgot to mention how often "Abby" is brought up at our house.  Abby is the precious baby girl of some friends of ours, and she and Connor have quite the love/hate relationship.  They are either hugging on each other and playing beautifully, or Connor is trying to drag her around or push her (We obviously reprimand him, but it hasn't stopped their tiffs yet.).  Luckily, Abby has two older brothers, so her parents haven't stopped hanging out with us...yet.  It is fascinating to see how they start to develop friendships and learn how to play at this age.  Connor isn't great at it yet, but hopefully his social skills will continue to mature.

- Just this week, Connor has started asking for hugs.  He will say, "Huga," and then climb onto your shoulder and bury his head.  There is no better feeling on earth.  In general, Connor is very affectionate.  When we are sitting in our chair watching Gabba or when I am holding him at church, I often notice him rubbing my arm or playing with my fingers.  I hope he continues to have an affectionate and sensitive side as he gets older.

- We just got home this evening from a celebration for Mother's Day with my mom's side of the family, including  the Egnews, Gossers, Gran, Ally, and April.  It was a fun night with great food.  There were four choices of meat (pulled pork, burgers, chicken, or pork chops), beans, the BEST onion rings ordered by Aunt MB from the "country store" next to our house (They are seriously amazing!), my favorite corn salad (made by my mommy), and dessert by me (an easy tiramisu bowl...I may post the recipe some day.  It is super easy, yummy, and fairly low calorie.).  I love spending time with family, and Connor never wants to leave (He is spoiled by everyone just a bit.).  Dustin was home from college, so we had the complete family there for the first time in a while.  It was just a nice night, and now I am stuffed.  I definitely have to go to kickboxing tomorrow.  I love to eat, but my hips don't always appreciate the extra weight.

about to devour some delicious food at Aunt MB's

Ally and Jared shared their onion rings with Connor

Jason is stunned at just how good the pulled pork is.

the gang with Gran

- Speaking of which, my goal by this summer is to be at least 5 pounds below what I was before being pregnant with Connor (a number which only my doctors will ever know), and I am hoping all of our traveling, especially the cruise, won't throw me off track.  I truly love all things food related, and I know that portion control is something I have to focus on, especially while traveling.  My intention is not to be "skinny" but just to be healthy...and going down a size (or two) would be a nice bonus.  I typically loathe exercise, but kickboxing has been the one outlet I have truly grown to love.  Our instructor is fabulous, I get to see some of my favorite ladies and chat between kicks and punches, and the workout is different each time so I never get bored.  Kickboxing actually makes me feel strong, and I like that.  As a bonus, my students are always shocked to find out this gal in heels can fight.  ;)

- And lastly for this week, I must give an update on all things school.  We are plugging along, trying to finish To Kill a Mockingbird before the end of school sneaks up on us.  We are past the first few introductory chapters and are really getting into the heart of the book; I know I mention it often, but it's such a thought-provoking book.  I am so blessed to be able to teach it.  This week we also had a presentation where the students committed to staying in school, painted their handprints on a banner along with their names, and we all wore the tie-dyed shirts we made last week for a group photo (see below).  Finally, our Fun Friday theme this week was Decade Day, and I chose the 80s...of course.  I wore my NKOTB Joey McIntyre (which happens to have a pic of me as a child) tshirt, one that my parents bought for me at Opryland when I was a kid.  The glasses are courtesy of my sis, and the Reeboks I borrowed from my mom.  It was a fun day.


class of 2014



the pile of papers I had graded but hadn't put into the computer, until today



Decades Day in the DOCK

 See below for some more random pictures that sum up a week in the lives of the Davidsons!



shooting hoops at Mimi and Pops' house

 



Connor Alexander -- 19 months

trying on Daddy's glasses

As handsome as Daddy

enjoying a lemon (We didn't make him...he wanted it.)

Easy Tiramisu Bowl for Mother's Day celebration at Aunt MB's



side view



picking his first-ever flower for Mommy

Have a blessed weekend!

Champagne Cupcakes

To preface this recipe, let me say that I love two things in particular about this recipe:

1)  It's for cupcakes...which I LOVE.  It's totally illogical, but there is something vastly cuter and more appealing about a cupcake than a piece of cake.  Besides that, during our annual visit to Chicago last summer, my love for cupcakes grew after visiting Sprinkles (You might recognize the owner of Sprinkles, Candace Nelson, as a judge on "Cupcake Wars.").  I have never had such a moist, delicious cupcake in all my life.

Sprinkles -- best cupcakes I've ever had

2) The recipe is EASY.  I love the Food Network, and although this recipe isn't from this show, one of my favorites is "Semi-Homemade with Sandra Lee."  I enjoy cooking elaborate meals and desserts occasionally (Soon I plan to post my ice-cream cake recipe, which took two days to complete.), but most of the time I enjoy cooking with items I have on hand, not making EVERYTHING from scratch, but still having delicious meals.  The beauty of this recipe is that you use a boxed cake mix, but spice it up to make it special.  That is something that definitely appeals to this busy mom!

The below recipe was originally found and tested by my mom for our Easter celebration at Gran's house (We both made slight changes to the original recipe, which I will make note of.  The recipe was first found at The Tasteful Life, but from what I read, seems to be originally a Betty Crocker recipe.)  I made these for my small group yesterday, and it seemed to be a hit.  Hope you enjoy as well!

Champagne Cupcakes

Ingredients

1 box Betty Crocker® SuperMoist® white cake mix (not Vanilla or Golden)
1 ¼ cups champagne (I used sparkling white grape juice)
1/3 cup vegetable oil
3 egg whites
3-4 drops red food coloring

--Champagne Frosting--
½ cup butter, softened
4 cups powdered sugar
¼ cup champagne (again, I used sparkling white grape juice)
2 teaspoons vanilla 
3 drops red food coloring (I wanted my cupcakes to stay white, so I did not include this.)

--Garnish--
Sugar crystals
Edible pink pearls

Preparation

1. Heat oven to 350°F (325°F for dark or nonstick pan). Place paper baking cup in each of 24 regular-size muffin cups. (I actually have the silicone baking cups, and I love them, b/c they cook evenly and I never have any problem with burned edges.)

2. In large bowl, combine dry cake mix and champagne. Add oil, eggs and food color. Beat with electric mixer on medium speed for 2 minutes. Divide batter evenly among muffin cups. (A little less than ¼ cup per cupcake.)

3. Bake 17 to 22 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pan to cooling rack. Cool completely, about 30 minutes.

4. In medium bowl, beat frosting ingredients with electric mixer on medium speed until smooth. Frost cupcakes. Sprinkle with sugar crystals and pearls.

Finished products:



Enjoy, and have a blessed week!