Category Archives: Food

Lima, people who “avoid” cities, cherimoya, and lucuma fruit

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We’re spending the first few days of our South America trip in Lima. As we wandered through the city and explored the main square, Chinatown (Peru has a large Chinese population that has given birth to “chifa” or Peruvian Chinese food), and Pueblo Libre, I thought about all the people I’ve met over the years, mostly colleagues, customers, and friends of friends, who have explicitly stated that they “avoid cities” when traveling. Some of them have even said they “avoid cities like the plague” and “cannot stand them” when on vacation. All of them live in suburbs or rural areas; none live in major cities. I wonder, though, when this actually became acceptable to say? To me, when I hear someone say something like this, what I actually hear them saying is, “I avoid places where there is culture and diversity. I dislike places where I can discover new things and challenge assumptions I had about the world.” Because if you actually said those last two sentences in any setting, whether it’s at work, amongst friends/family, or even to total strangers on the street, you’d appear to be an ignorant asshole who is scared of anything you are unfamiliar with. But I generally think: meh. It’s their loss that they don’t even realize is a loss, not mine, and not my problem or my bone to pick.

I’ll be honest: Lima, Peru, is not on my list of “beautiful cities.” It has fancy and wealthy neighborhoods, working class neighborhoods, areas with lots of grittiness and grime. The traffic here is absolutely horrendous with cars running red lights here and there and endless close calls with cars almost hitting pedestrians. Lane lines? What for? Just drive where you want! And from everything I’ve read, the public transit system is an inefficient nightmare. But Lima is brimming with culture, with lots of different (and indigenous) languages spoken, historic squares and streets. I was excited when I found out it was cherimoya season in Peru, and I snagged a massive, nearly 3-lb cherimoya for just over $2 USD from a friendly street vendor, whose cart was almost overflowing with heaps of fat green custard apples. He gave us samples and even gave Kaia extra samples when he saw she enjoyed the fruit. At Antigua Taberna Queirolo, one of the oldest bars and restaurants in Lima, having been around since 1880, we got to try our first pisco sours of our Peru trip (classic and maracuya/passion fruit, both excellent), plus a half/half mix of arroz con leche (rice pudding) and mazzamora morada (Peruvian purple corn pudding flavored with warm spices, pineapple, and apple). And in the evening in Pueblo Libre, we stumbled upon a little family-owned cafe/bakery where they made chocolate lucuma cake and introduced us to lucuma blended into a smoothie with milk. Lucuma is a new fruit for us. It’s native to the Andean valleys, specifically around Peru, Ecuador, Chile, and Bolivia, and is known as the “gold of the Incas.” Lucuma is round and green on the outside, and deep orange/golden yellow on the inside with an interesting starchy flesh almost like a sweet potato. The flavor is very interesting: it’s almost like a cross between a papaya, fig, and sweet potato. It goes perfectly blended with milk, and it’s a very popular fruit drink combination in Peru.

When traveling, I love visiting other cities. I love being able to see the countryside and rural areas. I love the mountains and the ocean. I love it all. But what I love most is discovering new things and new flavors (why would I travel to see the same stuff I see every day where I live?!). Lucuma wasn’t on my mental list of things to try here, but I really loved it, especially blended with milk. I will most definitely remember this fruit in the future and how unique it is.

Shaxian Snacks – Fuzhou food

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Manhattan Chinatown is known for two large groups of ethnic Chinese people: the Fujianese (specifically those from Fuzhou, a city with many surrounding villages in Fujian province, and the Cantonese (my Chinese people). So many Fujianese immigrants came in the 1980s and 1990s to New York and created little communities around East Broadway in Manhattan Chinatown, as well as in Sunset Park, Brooklyn. The area between Two Bridges in Manhattan Chinatown and Lower East Side is even considered “Little Fuzhou.”

Embarrassingly enough, even though I’ve been in New York City for over 17 years now, I haven’t really explored Little Fuzhou or Fuzhou cuisine very much. While I’ve eaten plenty of their dumplings and peanut/sesame noodles, I wasn’t sure what else to expect from their cuisine. But once Kaia started going to school in Manhattan Chinatown, I figured this was my opportunity to check out the Fuzhounese holes-in-the-wall in the ‘hood. One spot that stood out to me is called Shaxian Snacks on Grand.

Today, I ordered one of their lunch sets advertised on their menu. This consisted of a bowl of steaming hot, almost milky soup with a large handful of Shaxian bian rou, also known as Fuzhou style wontons. These are not the same at all in appearance, taste, or texture as the more famous Cantonese/Hong Kong style wontons. These are small, about bite or even half-bite-sized, and are really springy and bouncy in texture. The wonton skins are very slippery and almost translucent. I think there was just very bouncy pork inside. The soup was well flavored — it was most definitely made with pork bones and well seasoned, almost comforting in taste.

The second part of the lunch set was peanut sauce noodles, the Fuzhou way. These were also very slippery noodles, rice based, with a savory and slightly sweet sauce. The entire dish seemed so simple and humble but was really taken up a notch with the preserved, pickled minced vegetables that were sprinkled on top. Originally when I ordered it, I wondered if it would be too much food. But when I finished (all of it!), I realized that it was just enough and kept me feeling quite satisfied without feeling stuffed. And unbelievably, this was their special “combo meal” set, so it cost just $6.99, which is crazy and almost unbelievable given how much food I got, the high quality and really friendly service, plus the fact that we’re living in a high inflation period where most places are giving you less for more money!

Sichuan style cabbage, elevated with premium ingredients

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Ever since I splurged on a number of premium Sichuanese Chinese ingredients on Mala Market, I’ve never looked back. Every single ingredient I’ve purchased that I’ve either tested or used in cooking has been really exceptional and quite worth the relatively higher price I paid for the items. This week, I’ve been busy clearing out the fridge in preparation for our two weeks away in South America. I picked up a small head of Napa cabbage and used half of it for my lion’s head meatball braise, but I still had another half head to use up. So, I decided to prepare the cabbage Sichuanese stir-fry style with lots of garlic, Baoning Sichuanese black vinegar, Zhongba soy sauce, and toasted Mala Market Sichuan red peppercorns. And I’ll be honest: while the Chinese historically have loved cabbage and consider it one of the best vegetables on earth, I…. think it’s just fine. It’s a good vegetable, but it’s not in my top five or even ten. Whenever I have the choice of pork and chive vs. pork and cabbage dumplings, 10 times out of 10, I will always choose pork and chive. But when the cabbage is prepared like this with these premium ingredients, this vegetable almost becomes good enough to be a standalone dish on its own. After I tasted a few bites of it after cooking it, I could totally imagine myself eating just this cabbage stir-fry with some rice. It was that good. Chris, who is not usually a cabbage fan and eats it begrudgingly at the beginning of his meal to get to the “better” foods, even admitted it was “very good.”

True passion in local desserts in Ditmars / Astoria

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I half joke with a food-obsessed friend that if it weren’t for Kaia’s existence, most of my time outside of work would be spent thinking about what to eat, where to eat, and what I want to cook to eat next. This is not necessarily a total exaggeration: if you take a look at my Google Maps bookmarks lists, you can see that as of today, I have 672 bookmarked places I have either eaten at and enjoyed or would like to eat at (and have not been to) just in New York City across all five boroughs; some of that list is sprinkled with random independent bookstores, boutique shops, and houseware stores, but the vast majority is food. It seems like almost every day, I am adding yet another place I want to try to my list, whether it’s being recommended from someone on Instagram, Eater, The Infatuation, The New York Times, or a friend. Chris and I have a shared Melbourne, Australia, list of 299+ places. I also have created Google Maps lists for places we have visited (like Rhode Island or Guatemala) and will visit (Lima and Cusco, Peru). Each of those lists has at least 40 places bookmarked. No, we’re not planning to eat at 40-plus places in the several days we’ll be in each place. But hey, it’s good to have options depending on where exactly you are and what you are in the mood to eat.

Pastries by Anne is a dessert spot in Ditmars that I’ve had on my list for a while. It is owned by a Thai female chef who was educated at the Institute of Culinary Education and externed at Daniel. The main draw for me to come here was the Asian-flavored caneles. Anne has standard caneles available every day of the week, but on weekends, she chooses one special Asian-inspired flavor and adds it to her line-up of sweets. On the weekend we came, she had Assam (tea), and of course, I got one of these plus a standard one. She was actually at the counter, so we made some small talk. I asked if she had any other recommendations, and she steered me toward the pandan tiramisu, so I added that to my goodies and went on my merry way.

The Assam and regular caneles were insanely delicious, even when we had them about two days later. The texture and flavor were incredible; they were likely the best caneles I’ve had in New York City. the insides were custardy, almost spongy, caramel-like. The Assam tea flavor really sang! The only other caneles I’ve had that truly blew my mind were the ones we had in Bordeaux, France, the birthplace of the delicious canele, back in 2015, so it’s been a while since I really, truly was obsessed with a canele.

Unfortunately, I think I left the pandan tiramisu for too long. By the time I ate it later in the week, the mascarpone had already soured. This masked the pandan flavor completely, which was lost in the sourness. I was already messaging with Anne about how much I loved the caneles. She remembered me and checked in to see how I liked the pandan tiramisu. I was honest with her and told her it tasted sour, so I think something went wrong; maybe we didn’t keep it at the right temperature or eat it in time? Anne clearly felt bad; she apologized and said that anytime I could come out to Ditmars again, she’d remember me and give me a new cake. It was such a kind, generous offer. But given Ditmars is not too close to me, I couldn’t commit to when that next time would be.

The next thing I know, this morning, she posts on her Instagram that her storefront is CLOSING DOWN. She will be working as a consultant for premium airline catering, and so her kitchen will be open only for special orders, random drops, and pop-ups from the end of June onward. On the one hand, I was really happy for her as a small business to have a stable income stream and have her delicious flavors reach a broader audience. But on the other hand, I felt sad that I couldn’t just drop in whenever I wanted (selfish, I know. But when a girl needs her canele…). I messaged her to wish her well, and she said that her offer still stands: whenever I come out to Ditmars next, I can have the pandan tiramisu or any cake she offers on the house, and she’d definitely remember me and welcome me back. She said she was blessed to meet me and hoped we could keep in touch.

I was really floored. First, I already felt it was beyond generous for Anne to offer me a replacement cake, even if the error was on my side in not storing it properly or waiting too long to eat it. But then, she said I could have any cake, that she’d definitely remember me, and welcome me back anytime. She’s clearly a very talented and extremely humble and sweet person. She’s the small business owner you wish you could always, always support in any and all ways possible to ensure her success. How can you find fault in someone who is creative, talented, humble, and at the end of the day, just really wants you as her customer to love and savor what she is creating from the heart?

Kao fu (seitan) and shi zi tou (Lion’s Head meatballs)

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I look back on my childhood dining-out experiences, and almost all the meals out with family were Cantonese Chinese family-style meals. We always went to a no-frills Cantonese spot in the neighborhood that my grandma or aunt liked, and given we were with my grandma, aunt, uncle, and three sons, we always had a large table with a big lazy Susan in the middle. The few times when we were taking out someone “special” (some random relative or family friend who “had money”) as a guest of honor, my aunt or uncle would choose a fancier Chinese place that was a bit more upscale. At these rare fancy meals, the dinner would always start with an assortment of small plates, cold dishes that consisted of a variety of flavors, textures, and heat levels. The one that consistently showed up that I remember with fondness was hong shao kao fu (braised Shanghainese style seitan). I never knew what the heck it was. All I knew was that it was sweet, salty, umami, and had a variety of fun textures. I remember the meaty shiitake mushrooms, the crunchy cloud ear mushrooms, and some strange, squishy, meaty sponge-like thing that was almost like tofu, but not quite. As an adult, I later learned that this was called “seitan,” also known as wheat gluten, and was a popular meat substitute and source of protein for vegetarians/Buddhists. I also liked the slight crunch from the peanuts that were braised in the same liquid/sauce.

I finally made this seitan dish for the first time last year and was surprised how straightforward and easy it was. From my memory, it’s likely the very first Shanghainese dish I was ever exposed to. The second Shanghainese dish I had that I liked, which I wasn’t exposed to until I was in college with my Chinese teacher and our classmates, was shi zi tou, or Lion’s Head Meatballs. These are not made with lion meat (um, endangered and exotic), but rather with fatty pork, lean pork, and water chestnuts for crunchy texture. I made both of these dishes today for a mini ode to my Shanghainese Chinese teacher for my first two years of college. She not only taught me Mandarin Chinese language and more Chinese culture, but she was also responsible for giving me exposure to Shanghainese/Jiangnan style Chinese food, which was severely lacking in San Francisco (and even if it was plentiful, it would have been highly unlikely my very biased Cantonese family would have wanted to patronize those places).

You could spend your entire life learning about and making different Chinese dishes and likely never stop your learning. I’m happy to keep making “new” dishes for our home to ensure that Kaia is exposed to an endless variety of foods.

Eating and embracing the food of her cultures

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Since before Kaia was even conceived, I knew I would be hell bent on making sure she embraced the foods of her culture, so Chinese, Vietnamese, Indian, and well, inevitably Australian/American (whatever that means). It really wasn’t difficult at all, as she was exposed to flavors like sesame and soy almost immediately; within a week or two of eating solids, she was tasting and licking every Indian spice under the sun, including chilies! And since six months of age when she started eating solids, she’s never really stopped embracing these flavors. Her favorite vegetables, by far, are all the Asian ones like gai lan and yu choy. Kaia enjoys dal and richly flavored curries. As of late, she’s been obsessed with this miso that has Japanese butterbur flower buds that peak in the spring (!!) that a friend brought back from a recent trip to Japan. I’ve used it as a glaze on roasted eggplant, as well as in a braise with mushrooms and eggplant.

One area that Kaia has not quite embraced has been around Asian desserts (we intentionally have not given her any Indian sweets because they are like sugar bombs). In general, we’re strict with her sugar consumption, so when she gets sweets, it’s usually only a few tastes at most. I’ve tried to give her dou hua (tofu pudding) just to taste a few times. She will have one taste and then say she doesn’t want anymore. I tried to give her a black sesame tang yuan after cooling it, but she seemed put off by the black color. She had the same reaction to grass jelly and refused to even try it on multiple occasions (grass jelly is my THING). She did, however, very much enjoy taro coconut sago.

So when I went to Banh Mi Co Ut in Chinatown and picked up a fat slice of banh da lon (layered pandan and mung bean tapioca/rice cake), I figured she probably wouldn’t want any. These types of desserts are my ideal “sweets” to introduce to her, as 1) they aren’t too sweet, 2) they actually have nutritional value due to the protein in the mung beans and carbs from the rice/tapioca, and 3) they are the flavors of her culture. As she happily peeled lychees after dinner tonight, I briefly warmed a slice of the banh da lon for myself and placed it on the table between us. She immediately looked down at it and asked what it was. I told her it was pandan mung bean cake.

Her eyes twinkled. “Can I have some, please?” Pookster asked with a cheeky smile, expecting me to say no.

“Okay, you can have one bite,” I said to her, breaking off a piece of the squishy cake for her.

She tentatively took it, said thank you, and took a teeny, tiny bite and chewed. Deciding she liked it, she placed the entire piece in her mouth and chewed while smiling.

“Yum!” Pookster said. “Do you have more?” She started giggling with excitement.

WOW. I cannot even describe how happy this made me. My baby was finally embracing a Vietnamese dessert that I loved, that I grew up enjoying, that I always saw as a treat when my mom would surprise me by bringing some home. She was embracing the sweets of my culture, her culture, and there is little else that warms my heart than knowing she is embracing foods I either make for her or get for her.

I explained to her that we didn’t have anymore, but next time, I could either buy some more, or if I was feeling up to it, I might even make this at home with her (the negative response elicited a loud and long “Awwwwwwww” from her). This cake is laborious, as it’s layered and steamed multiple times with mung bean and pandan layers, but hey, maybe now was the time to embrace this cooking adventure! And it would make me so happy to make the foods of our shared culture together with my sweet Kaia Pookie.

Hidden gems of New York City: Forma Pasta Factory in Brooklyn

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Over ten years ago, some friends and I discovered a house-made, fresh pasta restaurant in the East Village called San Marzano which was famous for having all pasta dishes $10 and under. At the time (and now!), it seemed completely ridiculous — we wondered how the place made any money considering how cheap all the food was. I suppose that given the wine by the glass prices were higher than the pasta dishes that that’s probably where they made their money. But still, it just seemed like too good of a deal to be true. I also think about this when I think of pretty overrated and stuffy fresh pasta experiences I’ve had in New York City, at places that people often call “institutions” (I am looking straight at you, Marea). San Marzano eventually shut down and reopened, slightly increasing their prices, but it’s still been very cheap for fresh pasta. Overall, it’s pretty hard to find affordable or inexpensive fresh pasta served at restaurants in the city, so if you find a place, you want to hold onto it forever and keep going back to ensure they stay in business.

Today, we went to Forma Pasta Factory in Fort Greene for lunch. It’s a fast-casual pasta restaurant that has two locations, one in Fort Greene and one in Williamsburg. All the pasta dishes were $14. As part of the lunch special, if you wanted to add a glass of wine, it would just be $5 additional. We got two dishes, a mushroom linguine and a malfaldine scampi. Chris also got us a glass of pinot noir and a sauvignon blanc (from New Zealand!). The portions are just right. The pastas were really al dente and toothy. The sauces were light, very well flavored and seasoned, and borderline addictive! They even give you a big piece of freshly baked fluffy focaccia with your pasta (mmm, carbs on carbs), which they could easily charge for given how good it was. As I was eating fork after fork of these delicious pastas, I was just in shock over what a good deal all this was. It’s not like the rent in Fort Greene would be cheap. And to really add a couple cherries on top, they have this beautiful, enclosed outdoor seating area outside where we sat, AND both wines that Chris selected were delicious! It’s hard to go wrong with a New Zealand sauvignon blanc, but the pinor noir was very refreshing and in a strange way, almost creamy. Kaia enjoyed both pastas and also liked the chewiness of the mushrooms, too.

We ended our meal here with some freshly piped pistachio cannoli with really nutty pistachio ricotta. The service all around was really friendly. It didn’t seem to matter if it was the person who rang you up (it’s an order at the counter and pay type of place, then you get a number and they bring your food out), the people who were making pasta out in the open (all the kitchen is open to see!), the people clearing plates and tables, or the servers themselves, but everyone was really warm, friendly, and always asked if we needed anything or if they could help us in an additional way. They also gave Kaia some crayons to draw with, which was a cute touch.

In a time of high food prices, inflation, and when it seems like just breathing is expensive in the city, places like Forma Pasta Factory are very happy finds.

Pit stop at a Phil-Am Market to the Staten Island Ferry serves as inspiration for bread making

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After my friend’s baby shower yesterday, I helped with some relatives and another friend to load and off-load gifts and baby items back at their house. Since her friend had a car and was driving back to Brooklyn, she offered to take me to the ferry terminal so that my friend’s boyfriend didn’t have to drive me. The caveat, she said, was that she hoped it would be okay to first stop at a Filipino market on the island before dropping me off at the ferry terminal.

My friend looked directly at me and smiled since she knew what my reaction would be. “Ummm, YES; I would love that pit stop first! I’m coming in with you!” I exclaimed.

My friend’s friend went in to pick up Filipino groceries as well as takeout (they have a prepared foods section) to bring home to her family. I picked up the pancit, which she also got and recommended, a tray of kare kare (this delicious Filipino oxtail / beef peanut stew), and a bowl of ube halo halo. And while I was perusing the packaged goods aisle, I was beyond ecstatic to find dehydrated ube powder; this was the ingredient I wanted to use to make ube pandesal, but I hadn’t been able to source it at an Asian market until now! This was likely the one item I got from this place that made this trip to the market a thousand percent worth it.

As soon as I got home, I started looking up recipes for ube pandesal. A year and a half ago, I made classic Filipino pandesal bread buns and really enjoyed how simple they were to make, as well as how comforting the flavor was. My next step in my mind was to make the ube version. There are ube pandesal recipes that call for frozen mashed ube, but it seemed like based on the recipes I found that dehydrated ube powder was the most common and preferred way. I also love this packet of dehydrated ube powder I got because there are zero additives in it: it’s 100 percent ube powder with nothing else – no stabilizers, no artificial coloring, no weird thickeners, nada! I had a strong urge when I boarded the ferry back to Manhattan to make bread this weekend.

I decided I’d do the bread recipe that was on the top of my to-make list ahead of my ube pandesal urge, though, which was King Arthur’s big, bubbly focaccia. I started the dough this afternoon, did some pulls and dough turns to develop gluten, and then will let it bubble, grow, and ferment overnight for additional flavor before baking it tomorrow.

This visit to the Phil-Am Market really got me excited to want to make bread again – this was an unintended, unexpected effect of visiting a Filipino grocery store on Staten Island. And now, I have both dry active yeast and instant yeast, so I don’t have to do any conversions for yeast types or worry about whether something will fail based on the yeast type I’ve chosen!

Today’s Trader Joe’s haul – May 2025

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There are two seasons of the year when I get really excited to shop at Trader Joe’s. Granted, I always enjoy shopping at Trader Joe’s regardless of the time of year, but I think that their very best seasonal or limited time items come out during summer or winter. Winter is fairly self explanatory: this is when they get all their Christmas/holiday items that everyone loves, whether it’s the peppermint Joe-Joe’s, the fancy Belgian chocolate and biscuit variety boxes, the Belgian chocolate “gold coins” of various countries around the world, or the Almond-Roca with a private label (this one is my all-time guilty pleasure/favorite!). Summer, of course, will have a much different assortment. At this time of year, they have their best selection of skincare items (expecting that you will be spending more time in the Northern Hemisphere summer sun), as well as fun warm weather treats. These are some things I’m excited about that I picked up:

Organic guava fruit spread: This seems to be all over my social media feeds now. It’s guava fruit spread with just enough sugar for sweetness. I was excited about any type of guava fruit spread since guava is not a common fruit or flavor you find in the U.S. I actually don’t eat much jam (Chris is the jam person in our household), but when I do, I want it to be the extreme version of the fruit it claims to be of, and I want it to be just sweet enough. So if this is good, I may go back and stock up on three more before they run out for the season.

Ube mochi pancake and waffle mix: I never buy pre-made mixes for cakes, pancakes, waffles, or anything. I prefer to make almost everything we consume from scratch because I’m obsessive about how I like what I like. But this ube mochi mix is the only exception. I buy this every year to either make pancakes or to make ube mochi muffins, which I personally think have a springier, more fun texture than the pancakes do. Instead of water or milk, I like to add coconut milk because ube plus coconut are a match made in the purest love. Apparently, Chris’s mom is a huge fan, too: she likes to buy a box or two when they come in May/June and bring it back to Australia!

Dubai style pistachio dark chocolate: I picked up three of these. The Dubai chocolate craze doesn’t seem to be slowing down anytime soon. Since I had it at a verified place that sold it in Lower East Side with my friend when she visited back in October last year, I have seen endless variations of “Dubai chocolate” since. It’s come up in coffee drinks, milkshakes, random desserts in various shops, etc. We’ve already tried it, and this is good. At $3.99 for 100 grams of pistachio dark chocolate, this is excellent value if you like both dark chocolate and pistachio. The pistachio inside is very nutty and unmistakable. It’s also a little bit gooey with a hint of crunch. This stuff is worth it! It’s made in Turkey and not private labeled (The box says it is Patislove brand). The Upper West Side Trader Joe’s said that they are getting a “very limited supply” weekly, so if we want it, we should get as much of it as we want when we go.

Organic tart cherry fruit spread: I am not sure why no one is talking about this. Actually, yes I am: this come-back from last year has been completely and utterly overshadowed by the guava fruit spread. This was the one thing I got last year that got discontinued, likely for seasonal reasons, that I was devastated went away. Last year, I got only one jar. After I tasted it months after I bought it, I regretted not opening it earlier to buy more. But it’s BACK! This time, I got two jars. On the shelf when I saw it, there were only four jars total. When I got rang up by my cashier, he asked me what I thought of it. When I raved about it to him, he had this determined look on his face and said that as soon as he was done with me, he was immediately going on break and making a beeline for the jam aisle downstairs. If you like jam and you like sour cherry, BUY THIS.

Cheddar and parmesan cheese snackers – puff pastry cheese crackers: Okay, I’m going to be honest. I did not actually buy these. I was given them for free by my cashier! He asked me if I liked cheese and crackers, and he threw a brand-new box into my canvas bag. The cashier said they received an “over shipment” of these this week, so they were handing them out to anyone who wanted them for nada. I do love cheese crackers (Goldfish was the OG obviously, but now, Annie’s Cheddar Bunnies is my fave, though I have significantly reduced my snacking habits in the last year), and these are like a fancier version of cheese crackers to test out.

A five-stem bunch of peonies: This is my one flower purchase every year for myself. I never buy fresh flowers because I find them quite self indulgent (they die after such a short period!), though I do love them and think they make any room they are in feel brighter and livelier. But peonies truly take the cake for me. They are big, bold, beautiful, and capture everyone’s attention. And as an added bonus for someone (uh, me) with no floral arrangement skills, they are pretty darn easy to arrange given their blossoms are absolutely huge at their peak. It’s no wonder the Chinese were obsessed with them back in the day and obsessively painted them. I usually get a variation of pink, but this year, I decided to get the white ones. I really enjoy watching them progressively open up each day from really tight, small, ball-like buds. A five-stem bunch is only 10 bucks, so it’s hardly breaking the bank – it’s crazy good value! Technically, these start becoming available in the spring, but we’ve had a really cold winter this past year. So, I picked these up today.

I also wanted to pick up the seasonal passion fruit sorbet (mostly for Chris because he’s the sorbet person), but unfortunately none were in the freezer. That just means I’ll be on the lookout for them in two weeks when I go to TJs again!

Little delicious gems all around us in Manhattan

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On our Saturday adventures out as a family, Chris always seems a bit biased against Manhattan at or below Central Park and tends to prefer to visit the Bronx, Brooklyn, or Queens. I’m happy to go to all three of those boroughs, especially Queens since it was my first New York City borough, but we live in Manhattan, and it’s damn amazing for endless reasons. Even in Manhattan, on streets that you may go up and down every single day, amazing gems can show up right under your nose that you may overlook in your speed walking and desire to catch a train in time.

When I went down to the Koreatown area for a routine doctor’s appointment yesterday, I was walking along a street and suddenly got a strong whiff of ground matcha. Curious, I backed up a few feet, noticing a tiny little cafe that required a few steps up. I popped my head in, and as soon as I opened the door, an extremely strong scent of matcha almost blasted my face. It smelled as though they ground the matcha leaves fresh in this little cafe! The place was barely marked; I later found out that it was called Mika’s Direction. I quickly bookmarked it in my Google Maps saved list, went to my appointment, and came back to sit there and read before heading downtown to pick up Pookster from school. I ordered the favorite drink, the iced strawberry matcha. The same person who rang me up made my drink from scratch in front of me at the open counter, meticulously whisked my matcha, and poured the frothy goodness into my cup. The house-made strawberry syrup was mashed and just sweet enough. The matcha was earthy with a tiny hint of bitter. This was a really well made and delicious treat after my doctor’s visit. I savored my drink as I read my book for a bit.

I love stumbling upon these cute little cafes, bakeries, and restaurants by chance in my own borough. I never had this spot on a list or knew about it before I left home. Even if I didn’t originally set out to find a matcha spot on this outing, I found a delicious and obscure one in an unlikely place. I can still smell the intensity of freshly ground matcha wafting all around me. There are many things out there for us to find and taste as long as we are open minded enough to see and try them.