So...the very first time I made banana bread, it turned out something like...bread pudding. I was missing some (key) ingredients. Like eggs. So I did a quick google search that told me that I could substitute eggs with a very ripe banana. Which probably would've work out fine, had I not already been adding three bananas in. *sadface* Mistakes are just springboards for learning, though, and this time around, I made CERTAIN that I had all the necessary ingredients on hand. I mean, who actually has buttermilk in their house at the ready?! Luckily, there's peapod.com and home delivery. Seriously, I have no idea how I was living life prior to this. Turned out pretty delish and the office demolished it as soon as I put it out.
Read More Post a comment (2)One of the biggest changes I've had to deal with since moving from Hawaii to New York City is a simple one: grocery shopping. At first, I was thrilled with the idea of online shopping and having my groceries delivered right to my door for a pretty nominal fee. Since Hawaii's groceries are pretty high-priced, I wasn't surprised when I was shopping here. Pricing was similar, and with sales, it wasn't so bad. The one thing that threw me for a loop was that I couldn't go to one store to get everything I needed. Why? Because the normal grocery stores carried only a VERY limited amount of asian foods. No where could I find rice, udon, sauces, those awesome curry bricks, etc. These places had the staples, like shoyu (soy sauce) and some teriyaki or oyster sauce, but this wasn't Donki. Heck, Longs back home probably had a better selection than most places out here. Don't get me wrong, there are a few asian grocery stores, but they're out of the way and pretty pricey. So when we heard there was a Mitsuwa, which is basically a big box Japanese grocery store, we flipped. There's a shuttle that goes straight from Port Authority to Mitsuwa for $3/person. My suggestion: call to make sure the store is open and go to the shuttle stop early. We made the mistake of not doing this, and got denied twice. Power outages and shuttles ending early. The shuttles also only fit about 20-30 people, so if you're person #31, you're out of luck and waiting for the next one.
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Morning people.
You know who you are. The ones that jump out of bed at the first sound of the alarm, not to slap the snooze button, but to get the day started!
I hate you people.
Ahahaha. Okay, kidding. I more or less envy you. Because I’m more of a snooze-until-I-end-up-turning-off-the-alarm kind of person. Then I drag myself out of bed, with something like 20 minutes to get ready and get out the door. Makeup is usually a last ditch effort to look less tired. White eyeliner, anyone? Hehe.
However, there are a handful of moments that will stir me even before the alarm goes off. An early morning meeting, a volunteer event, or of course, baking breakfast goodies for the office! I originally planned to make these the night before, but the idea of them sitting in the fridge and being all cold and frigid on a day that was already something like 40 degrees just didn’t sit right with me.
So I set my alarm, and magically, jumped out of bed at the first sound of the buzzer.
I did manage to prep everything, though. Nothing like rolling out of bed just to flip on the oven and wait while it heats up, then popping in a pan that’s all set to go. These are ridiculously easy to make, and if you don’t have pumpkin, you can leave it out or swap it out for some cinnamon sugar or blueberry jam or whatever flavor you feel like. Borrowed this recipe from the talented Picky Palate, who can take something as boring as crescent rolls and make them into magical pumpkin goodness. 
First, the prep work. Mix the filling ingredients, then unroll the crescent dough.
You’ll want to form either one long rectangle or two smaller ones, then smear the filling on it like this:
I was having some major issues keeping my dough together. *Note to future self: do not take dough out when you start mixing filling. You might get sidetracked by the TV and the dough will get unbearably soft.
Once that’s done, roll the dough up:
Simple, right? Once that’s done, you can cut up the dough and place it in a pan. I used a 8×8 baking dish, but in Picky Palate’s recipe, she used two pie pans.
It’ll look space, out, but they spread out a lot when they’re baking.
Voila!
Mix frosting and cover the rolls in it while they’re still warm. I was in a bit of a rush, so forgot to take a picture post-frosting!
The recipe, from Picky Palate:
2 packages/cans Pillsbury Crescent Rolls
4 0z cream cheese, softened
1/4 Cup brown sugar
1/4 Cup canned pumkin (Libby’s)
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon fresh ground nutmeg
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Unroll crescent rolls to form 4 rectangles placed side by side. Pinch seams together to form one long rectangle. Place cream cheese, brown sugar, pumpkin, cinnamon and nutmeg into a mixer; beat until well combined. Spread mixture over crescents leaving a 1/2 inch border around edges. Starting at long end, roll up then cut into 1 inch pieces. Place around 2 9 inch cake pans that have been sprayed with cooking spray. I left the centers open so the rolls form a circle.
2. Bake for 28-30 minutes or until rolls are golden brown. Remove and let cool for 10 minutes. Frost warm rolls with cream cheese frosting recipe below.
Frosting
4 oz softened cream cheese
1/2 Cup powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 Tablespoon canned pumpkin (Libby’s)
1. Mix all ingredients into a large bowl until smooth. Spread over warm rolls.
Back in Hawaii, we LOVED Buca's. Not because they had the best pasta ever, or because the bread was flaky and buttery, or even because they offered a $10 off a $20 purchase coupon. Nope, none of those reasons. We loved Buca's because of it's close proximity to Dave and Buster's. You see, Ry and I are ADDICTED to games. Those darn coin drop games, FPS games (we've passed nearly all of them, some more than once) and even the basketball shooting games (Granted, my highest score is still a pitiful 32 baskets or something ridiculous. I get put to shame by little girls everytime!)! The thing about Dave and Buster's that we didn't like was their lack of vegetarian options. I mean, there's only so many veggie burgers and french fries you can have before you crave something different! Haha. In any case, Buca's was directly below DnB's and has tons of pasta...and who doesn't love pasta!? Our favorite was the Spicy Chicken Rigatoni. The spicy, tomato-ey sauce with just a touch of creaminess. Come to think of it, I'm pretty sure we never ordered anything else. Ahahaha. So much for not wanting to eat the same thing all the time!
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It's amazing how easy it is to rely on technology. Our oven back home, for instance, was electric. It had the spiffy digital temperature reading and magically baked everything the way I wanted it to. I love that oven. I miss it. I dream about it at night. Especially when good intentions lead to burnt cheesecake bars. Ironically, I've actually blogged about this recipe on Around Hawaii before. A simple recipe with amazing results. This is what they were supposed to look like.
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So, it's December. Better late than never?! Hehe. Three months later, I'm finally putting out the Hits and Misses post that I was so excited to start doing! Hahaha. This being the first run, let me know what you guys think! If I'm writing too much, or too little, etc. The thing about moving to a new city is that pretty much EVERYTHING we tried this month was new! I'm kind of expecting these posts to be ridiculous for a few months. Enjoy! September's hits (in no particular order):
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I think it should be a pre-requisite for every building within a 2 block radius of 9th Avenue to house a gym, because living so close to sooo many restaurants is definitely not doing my "love fat" (back fat + love handle combo word courtesy of one of my fave bloggers, The Pioneer Woman) any good. Anyway. I love the internets. Ever since we moved here, tons of people on twitter have been giving us tips and telling us all the awesome places to try. I would have never found this Amy's Bread had Harry Covair (THANK YOU!) not told me about it. My love fat's not too happy, but I am. :D Hehe.
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My office is located right on top of Grand Central Station, and while I still stare in awe at the masses of people, the ridiculous amounts of trains, and the constellations on the ceiling, these past few days, I've been more interested in food. Afterall, a girl's gotta eat! Since Grand Central has a "dining concourse" with a bunch of interesting and new places to eat, I figure I'd try ALL of them before exploring the outside world. It helps that the weather has been cold and rainy, and leaving the building is a somewhat low priority for me at the moment. :)
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O_O At first, I wrote "Two months later", then I checked when my actual last blog was posted. JUNE 6th!?!?!! I lose. So back on track. It's been three months, and a LOT has been going on. Rather than go on and on about this, I'm summing it all up with one sentence: I moved to New York City.
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So what was supposed to be an incredibly productive summer has already fallen to pieces. Well, just in the sense of blogging. Outside of that, I've been working late, keeping up with reading blogs, reading (I already finished Delivering Happiness, and have moved on to The Happiness Hypothesis) and strangely enough, I've been reading up on (weird, I know) fashion blogs.
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