Category Archives: Culture

The Nutcracker ballet – Almost 35 years later

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I have always loved Christmas and pretty much everything associated with it. When I was 5, my mom and aunt took me to the San Francisco ballet to see The Nutcracker. I was so excited since I loved ballet, but I got sick halfway through the show and had to leave early. I still remember being so upset that I got sick, as I had been looking forward to watching the Nutcracker for what then felt like a very long time. When I moved in New York in 2008, I knew that at some point, I wanted to try to see The Nutcracker again, but this time at the New York City ballet. When autumn rolled around the corner, I’d occasionally check the official site. But by the time I’d check, all the good seats would be taken. Mostly nose-bleed seats would be left, and they’d be astronomically expensive, around $200-300++ expensive just for the opportunity to squint and barely see anything. I never thought it was worth it, though each year, I’d still have my hopes up and just cross my fingers that I’d get lucky. I especially wanted to see The Nutcracker in 2021 when I was pregnant with Kaia Pookie, but when I looked at the show dates (all starting right after Thanksgiving), I thought it would be cutting it way too close to my due date, which was December 14; there was zero chance I’d spend $200+ on ballet and risk never even seeing the show because I went into early labor.

Then a couple days ago, I got an email from the New York City Ballet stating that they were offering early access discounted tickets for MasterCard holders for this year’s The Nutcracker performance. I immediately clicked in to see what was available and what the pricing would be, and I was shocked to see that this truly was “early access.” Almost the entire orchestra level was available, and you could get seats in this section for as low as $219 (this is almost unheard of in over 17 years of living here!!). I immediately went through my mental list of local friends to see who might want to come (and pay) with me. And I remembered I have one friend who said that if the tickets were in the $200ish range, she’d be willing to come. So I confirmed dates/times with her, and I went to the box office today to buy the tickets. And I was able to get them! I was so shocked that this actually worked out just as planned, and the optimal seats were still available. We’re seated in the second row of orchestra. With these tickets in hand, along with The Met Opera tickets I’d also purchased in the same Lincoln Center visit today, I felt rich! I couldn’t believe how lucky I had gotten — all in the same day!

Yes, it was a lot to blow on live performances in a single day, on two theater shows. But alas, I’m turning 40 in January (that’s going to be my excuse for pretty much everything semi-indulgent I do from now until probably next June), so I’m allowed to indulge and live life! I’ve survived this long and thrived for most of that time, so I think I deserve this fun!

Phone calls from PoPo and GongGong

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Since we got back from San Francisco, my mom has been calling occasionally to see how Kaia is adjusting to preschool and being back in New York. Given that Kaia is turning four in just a few months, she’s definitely far more aware of her surroundings and what’s being said around her now than she was one year ago. When people call, she always asks who it is. And now, she’s been requesting that we call PoPo and GongGong. She wants to “see” them via the video chat, but she doesn’t quite understand (or accept) that they refuse to do video calls with us, and that with them, it will always be voice-only.

The other day, my mom called, and Kaia asked if it was PoPo (she could probably recognize her voice through my phone) and asked if she could talk to her. She started waving and saying hi to PoPo. When PoPo asked her if she enjoyed San Francisco, Kaia responded, “Yes.” When PoPo said to Kaia, “Kaia, I love you!” Kaia even responded with, “I love you, too.” Even though I obviously have a complicated relationship with my parents, this still made me feel really happy inside to hear them communicating back and forth like this over the phone. I smiled at Kaia talking to her PoPo and then started laughing when Kaia replied “No!” when PoPo asked if she could come to New York and visit her.

Right after we got off with my mom, out of nowhere, my dad called. My dad hasn’t called me in three years since that difficult email exchange we had in August 2022, when he lashed out at me over something completely innocuous and lost his temper in a big way. He asked if Kaia was there, and then he actually asked to talk to her! I put my dad on speaker phone, and he asked Kaia how school was, if she was going home, and then called her a “good girl.” Kaia kept yelling excitedly, “GongGong! GongGong!” Then, he turned back to me and said it was time to go, and to take care. Then, we said bye and hung up.

I don’t think I will ever have an uncomplicated, 100 percent peaceful relationship with my parents where we fully understand or even accept each other. But after all that’s happened in our life together, I know deep in my soul that they tried the best that they could… even if their best was not always great with Ed or me. I know they love me and want what’s best for me. At the end of the day, I have an infinitely better and more privileged life than they could have ever even imagined for themselves. And a lot of it is because of them and what they’ve given me. And well, even if our relationship continues to be complicated, annoying, and absolutely infuriating, I do want them to have a relationship with Kaia, their only grandchild, and I want Kaia to know them and love them. So, these brief little phone exchanges have had a weird way of almost feeling like bits of healing for me.

I hope Ed is able to see all of this and smile down at us. I only wish he could also interact with Kaia directly in the flesh now.

Ube pandesal at home does not resemble ube pandesal at the Filipino bakery

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Earlier this year on a Saturday, we went back to my original New York City neighborhood, Elmhurst, and stopped by a Filipino bakery called Kape’t Torta. They opened in 2019 just blocks away from my old apartment on Queens Boulevard. They’re known for their ube desserts, such as their ube layered cake, ube custard layered cake, and of course, their halo halo crushed ice drink/dessert. We picked up a couple of their ube pandesals, which I had heard of before but had never tried. I’d previously made a plain sweet pandesal bread roll before, but I’d never had an ube one. This was was extremely electric purple with a light, melty cheese filling on the inside. I figured I could try to make it at home at some point, so I made a mental note of it and moved on.

In May, I stopped by a Filipino grocery store in Staten Island, and I finally stumbled across 100 percent dehydrated ube powder imported from the Philippines – no artificial coloring, flavorings, or preservatives. I knew this was my opportunity to finally make ube pandesal, so I bought the packet.

Fast forward to this last week, and I was testing to see if a packet of dry active yeast was still active. Luckily for me, it was, so I decided this was my week to finally try making ube pandesal. I picked a random food blog and used their recipe, but unfortunately, my result was nothing like the photo. For one, the recipe blogger says that ube extract is “optional,” but when I see the color of my dough, it’s clear that the ube extract was needed for that electric purple color. My pale purple tinted dough didn’t come close to the blog pictures or the ube pandesal from Kape’t Torta. Plus, when I did some searches, I found out that ube extract did not just have artificial coloring, but it also had an enhanced “ube” flavor from artificial and “natural” flavorings, meaning that it wasn’t 100 pure, natural ube flavor. What I perceive to be “ube flavor” may in reality just be a bunch of artificial flavors made up in a lab. Then, my dough was much softer and wetter than it was supposed to be, so to compensate, I had to keep adding flour until the dough was kneadable. This resulted to a watering down of the overall ube and sweet flavor. So in the end, while the rise of the dough was beautiful, and while the pandesal rolls were light, fluffy, airy, and spongy, they did not have a bright electric purple color. They were also not filled with kaya jam as I originally hoped because the dough was just too soft to withstand a filling.

I’ve been cutting the ube “pandesal” rolls in half this week, warming them up lightly, and then filling them with kaya jam. I have grown to like these slightly yeasted, spongy glorified and enriched “pandesal” bread rolls that are lightly tinted purple. They are definitely light, airy, and fluffy. But they lack that “ube” flavor I know… from that ube extract that I never realized was always used. I thought about it and realized that what I romanticize as authentic “ube pandesal” may actually be authentic with dehydrated ube powder AND ube extract. The artificial coloring and flavoring from ube extract may be artificial, but that’s probably what contributes to the “authenticity” of these types of rolls in the Philippines. And that’s not necessarily a bad thing — it just is what it is.

Ferry Building Farmers Market and the whining and whinging in the background

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On Saturday morning, we decided to take a Waymo out to the Ferry Building for the famous Saturday morning farmers market there. I love that farmers market; it’s likely my very favorite one in all of the U.S. that I’ve visited. As a native San Franciscan, I quietly feel a lot of pride and joy when I walk through the endless fresh produce stalls there. Every time we walk by the stalls, whether they are selling various (all labeled by variety!) heirloom tomatoes, eggplants, strawberries, or peaches, it’s as though the perfume of these fresh fruits and veggies beckon to us. I have yet to visit any farmers market in the U.S. that has such rich fragrance coming from the fresh produce all around. If my parents’ house weren’t as cluttered and dirty, I’d be tempted to buy a bunch of the produce there to prepare simply and eat at home, but I guess that is not to be.

While I enjoyed seeing, sampling, and inhaling all the deliciousness around me, it felt like there was someone whining in the background every time I reveled in a tasty piece of tomato or local Valencia orange. No, it was not my toddler. It was actually my mom, mulling in the background, complaining that this peach or that strawberry was too expensive. Seemingly every stall we visited, she’d remark how expensive something was and how could anyone pay so much for any of this produce. It almost dampened my experience of the market. Unlike her, these people take pride and joy in the produce they grow and sell, and they should be charging what is a reasonable price to make a living and continue to sustain themselves. Not everyone has the luxury to not work and have several paychecks come in every month. But she is so out of touch that she never thinks about this.

My mom said she wanted to come with us to spend time with Kaia. But I think we all know there was no quality time spent together. The one moment I actually stopped to pay for a small basket of sun gold tomatoes, I asked my mom to watch Kaia. That didn’t work out. She held her hand for maybe five seconds, and then Kaia ran off. My mom ended up luring her back with candy, which I explicitly told her not to give. If it’s not one thing, it’s always something else that is going wrong.

A friend of mine, who also has a dysfunctional relationship with her mom, reminded me that our parents will never change who they are, and we’re incapable of changing them. The only thing we should be focused on is making sure we are an improvement from them and try to be better parents to our children than they were to us. Each generation should be “better” than the previous. I hope I am achieving that — I hope.

The evolution of Stonestown Galleria

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When I was growing up, malls were always exciting places with lots of different stores, various foods to eat, and experiences to have. Since I went to Lowell for high school in San Francisco, I was just a couple blocks away from Stonestown Galleria, what was then considered a more modern, chic mall in the city. Back then, it had a Macy’s, a Nordstrom, a number of mid-price-range shops, as well as a movie theater. I oftentimes would go there to get a quick smoothie or dinner during my late nights in the high school journalism room. Other times, I’d just go there and wander the mall with friends to kill time or procrastinate on studying. It was a pleasant, clean, fun place to hang out and just be.

Malls haven’t been doing so well, though, across the U.S. And according to the New York Times, the only ones that are really surviving are the ones that have successfully pivoted into experiential spaces… or become really, really Asian. Stonestown has become far more “Asian” since the last time I visited when Ed was still working at Macy’s. Almost all the restaurants inside are Chinese, Japanese, Korean, or some Asian fusion, including Supreme Dumpling, where we ate with my cousins tonight (which had a wait of at least 75 minutes and a huge crowd outside when we left). What was a bit surprising is that they had a fast casual ma la tang restaurant (like individual hot pots) where you choose your proteins, vegetables, noodles, etc., and pay by weight. Then, they cook it all for you and put it in your chosen broth of varying spice/heat levels. The seating was all open, and this place was pretty busy! Even the dessert, snack, and drink places scattered throughout the mall outside the food court are heavily leaning Asian. As soon as you enter from the main front entrance, Onigilly, a Bay Area-based mini-chain of Japanese onigiri (Japanese rice ball) and Japanese snacks greets you. On the first floor, they had WanPo, a fresh bubble tea place from Taichung, Taiwan, as well as Uncle Tetsu, a Japanese jiggly cheesecake I already had familiarity with given that they have a location in both Melbourne and New York already. The food court was unrecognizable to me, as the only place that survived from my high school days was Panda Express (ugh, but it’s still pseudo-Asian, I suppose). They had a Taiwanese night-market-type stand named after the famous Shilin Night Market, a poke bowl stand, and Matcha Cafe Maiko, a matcha/soft serve spot I like, which is originally from Hawaii, but also has a location just around the corner from Kaia’s school in Manhattan Chinatown.

Macy’s and Nordstrom, the two major department stores that made up Stonestown once upon a time, are now a relic of history. Instead, they’ve been replaced by a chain-based fitness center, a bowling alley, Whole Foods, and Trader Joe’s. It was strange to be in there and see all the changes that have happened in the last twenty years. My cousin pointed out to me that Supreme Dumpling, where we were dining and sitting in, had previously been LensCrafters, which I had completely forgotten about. A sushi-boat eatery on the second floor was previously Banana Republic, which I used to browse all the time during high school breaks. But if he didn’t remind me of these places, I would have totally forgotten. I almost felt like I was outdated walking through the mall myself. I like the changes, and given the types of food are at the mall now along with Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s, I could even see myself going here more often if I lived in the area. But the whole experience also made me sad to think that Ed wouldn’t recognize the majority of it if he just miraculously came back to life and plopped himself in there. The last time I remember being there when Ed still worked at Macy’s, Trader Joe’s was brand new, the main attraction. And Ed would occasionally go there and buy things. But now, Macy’s no longer exists there… And neither does Ed in this world.

Mosaics across the NYC subway stations – Avenue U at Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn

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It’s a bit hard to appreciate when you are in the daily grind of commuting to and from work on a tight schedule, but one of the things I love the most about the New York City subway, other than the fact that it runs 24/7 and allows me the privilege of not needing to drive or own a car here, is the gorgeous artwork across many of its stations. To be honest, I’ve really only taken more time to appreciate it once the pandemic hit, and ever since I started working remotely and never went back into an office. I remember thinking about it a bit during one of Chris’s parents’ visits pre-pandemic, when he set them up with a NYC walking tour that had them look at subway art across many stations. Since then, when we transit through stations I go to rarely, I take more time to look at the artwork inside. The subway stations in Manhattan that I’ve always enjoyed include the random brass-colored figurines placed in conspicuous (and semi-hidden!) spots at the 14th Street A/C/E subway station, the hat mosaics at 23rd Street N/R/W, the mosaic portholes of different New York City-specific scenes at 8th Street / NYU / N/R/W, the vibrant blue glass mosaic called “Queens of the Night” at the First Avenue subway station, and the many scenes of Harlem history, music, and people across the many uptown subway stops from 125th Street up to 145th Streets.

Today, we spent the day in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn, and the subway station from which we exited was Avenue U. As soon as we got out, I noticed the beautiful mosaic flowers that led up to the subway exit. There are multiple pink, red and yellow flowers all made up of glass mosaic pieces, and they are constructed in such a way that they actually look realistic. The flowers appear to be almost climbing up the wall of the subway station. The collection of flower mosaics is called Brooklyn Seeds. After further investigation, it looks like it even won awards for public art back in 2012. You could have fooled me quite easily that it was already 13 years old, as to me, the mosaics were in such pristine condition that I would have thought they were newly put up! This is the free public art across New York City that most people never take the time to appreciate or even notice, but I think it’s a great way to brighten up the stations and make it seem like a fun place to go through.

Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) ingredients; appreciation for culture

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I’ve never been a pro medicine person. I avoid pain medications for as long as I can possibly stand, which is a bit odd to say because luckily, I rarely have a need for them unless I’m having a god-awful period, or suddenly a headache is coming on. I would much rather do whatever “natural” remedy out there exists. For period pain, if possible, I would use a heat pack on my abdomen. For headaches at night, I would rather just sleep it off or drink more water. But sometimes, the medication is absolutely vital, like when you get pertussis (good ol’ whooping cough!) or a peri-tonsillar abscess (the miserable joy from last November that I would much rather forget ever happened to me). Then, you have to take the damn pills and give in.

I never thought much about Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) even though I was given endless tonics, herbal teas, and soups lovingly made by my grandma, mom, and aunt growing up. They always said that at a given time of year (depending on the season), your body needs these herbs or these berries or special ingredients. I generally just smiled and nodded, obediently drinking or consuming whatever they gave me and assuming that it really was all good for my health. It’s not that I ever doubted it; it’s more that I wasn’t sure how much “better off” I was now that I had consumed said soup or tonic. I didn’t start actively thinking about TCM until I got pregnant in 2021 and was carrying my Kaia Pookie. Then suddenly, I was reading about all the benefits of all these Eastern ingredients and assuming that of course, they all must be nourishing and making my baby and me stronger! I wanted whatever natural remedies and herbs were out there to help me recovery more quickly and to potentially help give me a good milk supply!

One of my best friends is about to give birth any hour now. And I told her that I would make some of these TCM herbal teas and soups for her after she came home. So now, I’m once again immersed in all the ingredients. I had to restock a bunch of things I ran out of from my postpartum period, and I went to a herbal shop in Chinatown today with English/Chinese/pinyin notes ready in case I couldn’t find what I wanted and needed help. This was my list:

Red dates (hong zao): High in antioxidants; “heaty,” so good for postpartum recovery and “warming the body”

Dang shen root: Good for restoring “qi” or vital energy; helps combat fatigue and exhaustion; nourishes blood, supports digestion by strengthening spleen and stomach; boosts immunity; like “poor man’s ginseng” because it’s milder but still beneficial

Goji berries (gou qi): Combats fatigue, boosts immune system, high antioxidants

Dried wild yam slices (huai shan): Restores energy and vitality; good for kidney health, can increase milk production, cleanses system after giving birth, helps with hormone balance

Dried longan (gui yuan gan or long yan gan): Improves blood circulation, increases energy and vitality; can increase milk production

Astralagus root (huang qi): Immunity boosting, high in antioxidants, good for kidney function and sleep quality

Dried hawthorn berries (shan zha): Rich in antioxidants, boosts digestion, improves skin health

I suppose it’s true that with age, we start believing more of what our elders taught us when we were young. I guess that may be the reason, along with my general anti-medicine approach, that I’ve started reading more about TCM. In the last two years, I’ve gotten more into making nourishing, homey Chinese soups; it’s made me realize that many times, less actually can be more. And I’ve also read more about what traditional Chinese herbs and ingredients I could incorporate into everyday cooking. It’s not only been fascinating and fun to learn about, but the other way I look at this is that I’m delving into yet another aspect of my (Chinese) culture that I hadn’t previously paid much attention to. No, I won’t be using or suggesting any of these herbs to cure anyone’s cancer or HIV, but I do believe that a lot of these herbs can play a role in everyday health maintenance and wellness, so why not incorporate them? Plus, it’s another way to diversify one’s diet and ensure you’re eating more plants, which is a win for anyone!

New trends, new pizza spots, and a different kind of waiting

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Ceres Pizza opened earlier this year just a couple blocks from Kaia’s school. Every time I’d pass it, I barely even knew what I was passing back in the winter months. It was really quiet, barely had anyone in it. And then suddenly, these crazy long lines started forming, and it became the pizza spot that was showing up on every “best of” list in New York City. A major pizza critic/YouTube influencer gave it a 9.2/10 rating, thus catapulting it into “pizza nirvana.” They used to sell slices, but now given their popularity, you have to commit to a full pie. When I’ve passed it in recent months, there was never NOT a line.

Today, I passed it around lunch time to find that there were at least 20 people in line, along with all the tables fully occupied inside. A person who had already taken her pizza to go told me that she actually only waited about 20 minutes in line before ordering, and her pizza came out pretty quickly. So at around 4pm, I went to Ceres to see if I could get a to-go pizza and bring it home for dinner. When I got up to the front, I got disheartened when I heard the cashier tell the woman in front of me that if she ordered now (4pm), her pizza would not be ready until 8:30!! The woman said that would be too late, and she left. I confirmed that I heard this correctly with the cashier, and she said I did. She suggested that in the future, if I wanted to order pickup for 5pm, I’d need to get in the same single pizza line, place my order and pay by 1-1:30pm, then the pizza would definitely be ready at 5pm. They have no phone line to call, no online ordering system. It almost felt like they were manufacturing demand. Then again, given that the small kitchen is fully open and in view from the front, I guess it wasn’t like they had endless manpower or ovens to get all these pizzas cooked that quickly.

So in this case, there would be two types of waiting to get this pizza: the first wait would be to get the order in by standing in line; the second is that I’d have to come back hours later to pick up the pizza, which would be in a “to-go pizza” queue. This would necessitate being in the area for at least half the day. Granted, since Kaia is in school down there, it would be easy for me to do this on a day I’m working from the co-working space office. But if this were any other situation, it would likely never work! I’ll probably just need to throw the towel in and wait until the hype dies down in six to twelve months, but I’ll continue keeping my eye out since I’m nearby often to see if this hype ends sooner.

Voluntarily singing and learning new Chinese songs

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Ever since Kaia started at her Chinese immersion school for 3K, she has been a lot more receptive to Chinese language and songs. Around Lunar New Year, she was excited to listen to and sing a number of Chinese New Year related songs. In the weeks leading up to the end of the 3K school year, she was constantly singing parts of “Gan Xie Lao Shi” (Thank you, Teacher). When I’d play the song on YouTube for her to listen, she’d always get really excited. Based on playing this a number of times, YouTube suggested a few related songs, like “Mama, Wo Ai Ni” (Mama, I Love You) and “Ting Wo Shuo Xie Xie Ni” (Hear Me Say Thank you), plus a few others. And Kaia’s really gotten into them. We’ve only played them a handful of times, but she’s already getting most of the words correct. I am not a native Mandarin speaker by any means and do not always understand even the basic kids’ songs word for word, especially when they sing very fast. I usually will understand the gist or meaning, but I won’t always get every word or word’s meaning correct. Kaia, on the other hand, had only heard one of the songs just a handful of times, and she was actually able to pronounce even the non-chorus words correctly! It was really sweet and endearing to witness this. I love seeing her embrace Chinese language and culture; I actually feel warm and fuzzy on the inside when I see this happening and just want to squeeze her in my arms.

I don’t know how fluent or literate Kaia will become in Mandarin Chinese; my basic hope is that she will surpass my extremely rudimentary knowledge. But I do hope that this exposure lays a basic foundation for understanding and appreciation of Chinese language and culture.

Bay Ridge food crawl: Yemeni coffee and food, and Brooklyn Baklava

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Yemeni coffee houses have been popping up all over New York City in the last several years. We first learned about Qahwah House in Williamsburg, which has been expanding its footprint in Queens and also now in Manhattan, around the pandemic period. Then, Haraz Coffee House at Spring Street opened in this huge, luxurious corner space in downtown Manhattan. My friend is obsessed with it ever since since we went because she loves that it’s a coffee house that stays open so late. This is actually by design: many of these Yemeni coffee houses are open late as a safe, comfortable place for people to hang out and catch up given that it’s not in Yemeni culture (which is 99 percent Muslim) to go out and drink alcohol. And yes, these are actually places with space, with proper tables and chairs, for you to enjoy your coffee and socialize. Thankfully, they are not just teeny tiny places to grab coffee and go that have zero seats. Yemen is considered the birthplace of coffee, and so it’s been really fun and delicious to enjoy their coffee flavors and traditional brewing methods. The coffee and tea flavors are also adjacent to my favorite Indian chai flavors, as the traditional Yemeni style tea is brewed with milk, sugar, cardamom, and ginger. So it seemed only natural that I was going to like Yemeni coffee houses.

Today, we went out to Bay Ridge in Brooklyn, and we tried a new Yemeni cafe called Crafted Cafe, where we got a Yemeni style latte (espresso with ginger and cardamom), a honey whipped iced latte with whipped honey and cream, garnished with Varlhona cocoa), and a nutella croissant (to tide Pookster over since she seemed a bit hangry). The latte tasted exactly like it sounds and really hit the spot; I loved the spice flavors. Chris really enjoyed his honey whipped latte, which was carefully crafted and extremely luxurious in its texture and taste. We ate at a Mexican spot in their backyard, and then we ended our dining-in time with another Yemeni business, a restaurant called Yemenat. There, we had the foule, a rich starter of mashed fava beans with smoked ghee, which came with a huge, Yemeni charred flat bread; the lamb haneeth, or braised lamb shoulder over Hadrani rice, and a Yemeni sundae, which was a cardamom gelato over Abu-Walad crumble, topped with Samna caramel and hawaji almonds. For drinks, we enjoyed the aseer leem, a sweet limeade flavored with mint and milk, plus a pomenegrate juice (mostly to appease Pookster). I always feel like these outer borough restaurant meals we have are always the show-stoppers, the ones where literally every dish and even every drink we have is incredible. Everything we ordered here was delicious and noteworthy. The bread that came with the foule was a huge highlight, but it’s hard to say that was better or even less good versus the Hadrani rice, which had grains all perfectly separated and seasoned; the lamb was fall-apart tender and perfectly seasoned. I was pretty stuffed by the time we left, and we had ample food left over to eat the next few days.

We also stopped by a place we found last year when we came to Bay Ridge called Brooklyn Baklava. I am partial to this business vs. other Middle Eastern pastry shops in the area because they are not only friendly, but generous with samples. As soon as we came in, the woman behind the counter gave Kaia a little coconut bar, on the house! I asked about their sesame cookies, and the employee immediately opened a box of assorted sample cookies for each of us to take one and try. When she saw that I split one with Chris, she said we could take one each, and also insisted that Kaia get a cookie sample (we declined that, though). So I picked up a small box of the sesame cookies, and I couldn’t resist the maamoul cookies stuffed with pistachios I got from last year. “Maamoul” literally means filled” in Arabic, and it’s usually filled with date paste or nuts (usually pistachio or walnut). At Brooklyn Baklava, they are shaped like fat half moons. Maamoul are super delicate, buttery, melt-in-your-mouth cookies that are little symbols of hospitality and celebration in Arab culture. They are so delicate and buttery that each cookie is wrapped in paper for you to eat, as the creators are mindful that the cookie will literally shatter everywhere and cause a mess if not contained in the tiny paper bag! I forgot how good these cookies were. When we got home, and after my stomach had a few hours to rest and not eat, I decided I had to try one of these maamoul fresh. And as soon as I took one bite, I realized they tasted even better than I remember. They are so buttery and delicate; I got crumbs all over the kitchen counter. And the pistachio was mashed into this thick, delicious paste that was almost chewy, but definitely “not too sweet” and very nutty. The scent was like a mix of pistachio, sugar, and maybe rose or orange blossom? The cookies are not cheap, but they are most definitely worth it.

Bay Ridge is a delicious place. Every time we have one of these Saturday outings, I remember again and again how lucky and privileged I am to live in the diversity and deliciousness of New York City.