Cooking with ICY

"Up in here, it's burning hot, we on fire"

I would like to introduce guest blogger "ICY", my sister, who is everything the Finance Foodie is not - aspiring engineer, anime fanatic, and ambitious chef. She presents a few of her culinary experiments in our new series "Cooking with ICY":

Honey Oatmeal Bread
Recipe: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Honey-Oatmeal-Bread-II/Detail.aspx
Time to Make: 6 HOURS
Taste: ....Not worth 6 hours.

I kneaded it by hand...!! All my blood sweat and tears went into making this bread!! Actually a lot of sweat probably did get into it... [Ed Note: Gross!] It was quite chewy.


Peanut Butter Cookies
Recipe: Leftover ingredients thrown together and baked in a toaster oven
Time to make: 1 hour
Taste: Passable

I should have used a recipe. The first batch came out as small little rounds of bread D: That's not excrement on the top! It's a walnut!! ...They tasted quite bad. The second batch came out more... cookie-like in appearance. They tasted okay!!!


ICY will be sharing more of her cooking creations along with her brief and blunt commentary, so stay tuned!

Tour de Champagne [Boston]

“Bubble, bubble, toil and trouble”

This past Saturday, I attended the Tour de Champagne at the Charles Hotel in Cambridge. This multi city tour gives guests an opportunity to experience various labels of champagne paired with cuisine from local renowned chefs. Below is a play by play of my evening:

8:30pm: Finally arrived on site, 1.5 hours late – cabbie took me to 1 Bennett St in BOSTON, not CAMBRIDGE. Check in and am definitely ready for a drink after a rough start to the night.

8:45pm: Decided to hit the food booths first, as drinking on an empty stomach can lead to dangerous and embarrassing behavior.

8:50pm: First stop: Todd English’s Bonfire. No Todd English (does he even cook anymore?) but plenty of roast beef sandwich bites served with a horseradish consummate pipette. The roast beef sandwich was skewered on the horseradish filled pipette. To consume, you had to stick the pipette into your mouth and squeeze. An interesting play on a roast beef sandwich, and the combination was surprisingly tasty

Taste of the South End [Boston]

"In the center of the ring just like a circus..."

This evening, I attended the Taste of the South End at the Boston Center for the Arts. The Taste of the South End is an annual event that brings together a few dozen of the hottest restaurants and chefs in the Boston dining scene for a night of bite-sized menu samplings that is akin to culinary heaven. All the proceeds from ticket sales and the silent auction benefit the AIDS Action Committee, New England's oldest and largest AIDS service organization. With a combination of two of my life’s passions, food and charity (finance being the third), there was no way I could say no to attending the event. Here were some of the highlights of the night:

Biggest, Boldest, and Brightest
Party Favor’s rum cupcakes tower: This colorful display was the first thing that caught my attention in the VIP section. I later found out the vanilla and chocolate cupcakes were laced with Tommy Bahama rum, which was probably why everyone looked extra happy eating these cupcakes.

New York Wine Expo

"Green on the vine, like strawberry wine..."

[Ed Note: this post is part three of three in my NYC Foodie Weekend]

I attended the New York Wine Expo a few weeks ago as part of my NYC Foodie Weekend. At this expo, over 300 wine distributors from all over the world gathered in one building to showcase their wines - a paradise for the wine enthusiast, but terribly intimidating for a wine dunce like myself. As I furiously tried to cram as much information I could from “Wine for Dummies” a few hours prior to the show, I realized it was a lost cause. No way was I going to remember which wine was named for a what grape variety from which region. Therefore, I decided to highlight the wines at the show with the best bottle / label design. Not the most scientific method (winos can stop reading this post right now), but a good bottle design can go a long way, especially for a novice like myself.

The Waverly Inn [New York]

"And we all want to be big rock stars...."

[Ed Note: this post is the part two of three in my NYC Foodie Weekend]

The second chapter in my NYC Foodie Weekend takes place at the Waverly Inn. This West Village restaurant, owned by Vanity Fair magazine's EIC Graydon Carter, has been touted as a secretive clubhouse for celebs and media movers and shakers. Although I am wary of such places - as an abundance of hype does not directly correlate with an abundance of good food - I decided to have dinner here on Saturday night. We arrived to a packed house - obviously the economic crisis has not affected the patrons of the Waverly Inn. My thoughts on the night as followed....

International Restaurant and Foodservice Show

"Pour some sugar on me..."

[Ed Note: this post represents part one of three in my NYC foodie weekend]

This afternoon, I attended the International Restaurant and Foodservice Show in New York City. At this event, over 600 exhibitors showcased their exotic foods, gadgets, and chef-y type tools used in restaurants and foodservice businesses. Translation: a Food Sample Paradise that surely beats Sam's Club on a Saturday afternoon. Below were some of the highlights that I found interesting and /or delicious: