Gracenotes NYC Giveaway!

I was recently sent some free samples from Ecotools, an earth-friendly beauty company:

They sent me two products: the body mist and the body lotion. Both smell really great (I use the body mist after my bikram yoga so I don’t smell terrible when I get on the subway to go home). The scent is kind of floral but not overpowering at all. The body lotion is a great basic daily lotion (it’s has a great consistency) and has shea butter, which is great for moisturizing right after the shower. I’m a big fan of both!

Since I’m a big fan of both, I’m doing a giveaway – one lucky winner will receive both the body lotion and the body mist! All you have to do is leave a comment:

What are your plans for the weekend?

I’ll pick a random winner on Monday at 5PM! Good luck!

Grimaldi’s

Over the weekend, my mom came to visit and we decided to do something I’ve never done in New York – walk the Brooklyn Bridge! I invited Joe and Ariel to tag along and we promised them pizza and ice cream once we walked into Brooklyn.

I’m surprised I’ve never walked the Brooklyn Bridge, especially since I love doing really touristy things in New York. And, who can forget the scene when Miranda walks halfway across the bridge to meet up with Steve in Sex and the City? We met up around 6:30 and started on the mile walk:

Halfway across the bridge, we took some more pictures:

The walk was very short (surprisingly) and before we knew it, we were standing in the huge line at Grimaldi’s. David rode his bike across the Brooklyn Bridge beforehand so he could get in line a little before us. Grimaldi’s:

We ended up waiting about an hour and a half, and by the time we got to order, we were all starving. Since there were 5 people, we decided to order two pies – one large with pepperoni and ham (half white because David is allergic to tomatoes):

And one large with sausage and mushrooms:

An upskirt shot:

The pizza was good, but was definitely NOT worth waiting in line for; I bet most people rave about the pizza because by the time it’s their turn to eat, they’re FAMISHED! Two complaints: the wait is ridiculously long (I mean when is the last time you waited two hours for PIZZA) and the people making the pizza unevenly distributed the pizza toppings. Also, the sausage had no flavor and the pepperoni was a lot better. The pizza was a little dry (there wasn’t enough tomato sauce all over the pizza and we ended up eating large pieces of crust). David really liked his pieces without any tomato sauce because they had a lot of garlic, but I thought it was all a little bland. Add more salt!

Will I ever go back? Probably not – the wait was way too long for pizza and it’s better in Manhattan (plus, John’s actually picks up their phones so you can place the order and by the time you walk over, you bypass the long lines they usually have). However, I would walk across the Brooklyn Bridge again – it’s quite a short walk and the views of Manhattan (on the way back) are beautiful!

Aerogarden: Week 4

Well, today starts my FOURTH week with my herb garden and I thought I was excited before, so I took some pictures on Sunday night in preparation for my Tuesday post. Here’s the aerogarden on Sunday:

And on Tuesday night, look how much it grew!:

A couple of DAYS makes a GIGANTIC difference! Check out last week’s post: aerogarden: week 3. On Thursday, I was excited that I could take off all of the caps, but I think there was a huge growth spurt because the herbs finally got their second round of nutrients. The biggest growth came from basil (surprise, surprise):

I’m going to pick some tomorrow morning and make myself an omelet! With basil! From my aerogarden! My thyme is also doing well, although some of the leaves are a little brown (closer to the basil side):

There’s one single chive coming in:

And the mint is quickly crawling out of its shell:

I was initially worried about the dill growth, but it looks like it finally decided to join the herb party:

And finally, my oregano is still a little shy, but hopefully the nutrients I just added will give it the boost it needs:

I reset my timer after my previous post and I can’t wait to add more nutrients! I’m a little worried that I’ll have to move the aerogarden to another place in my kitchen; if the basil continues to grow, I’ll have to raise the lamp a bit so it won’t burn any basil leaves. Check back next Tuesday to find out my Aerogarden’s progress!

Cupcake Cagematch Results: The BEST BAKERIES IN NYC!

If you read yesterday’s post, you might’ve thought it was the end of cupcake entries for a bit. Well, my friend Dan e-mailed me to let me know that I had accidentally put up the wrong data; I posted the most flavorful cupcakes in NYC, not the best cupcakes! Oopsie doopsie! I must be going crazy:

Here are the best bakeries:

1. Buttercup – you read about it yesterday; flavorful, cutely decorated, the frosting is awesome.

2. Baked – everyone loves their cupcakes (their brownies are awesome, too). My friends bought me their cookbook for my birthday and all of their recipes are pretty much the best things on earth.

3. Sweet Revenge – I adore their cupcakes; they’re sweet but not too sweet, the frosting is amazingly rich and decadent, and the flavor combinations are creative!

4. Billy’s – my friend Tim Lee introduced me to this bakery a couple of years ago and I’ve preferred it to Magnolia’s ever since I first stepped into the Chelsea location. I haven’t visited the Tribeca store yet, but I’ve heard it’s just as cute and friendly.

5. Flour and Sun – our entry from Pleasantville! Sumon and his wife liked the bakery and the flavors were cute and creative. I haven’t visited myself, but once I make it up to Westchester to visit Sumon and Koyel, I’ll definitely stop by this bakery.

Every bakery was so delicious in their own way and I really can’t wait to do another cupcake cagematch – maybe it’ll be a semi-annual event! Thanks for reading – I’ll be posting my Aerogarden update soon!

Results:
Cupcake Cagematch Introduction
Best Chocolate Cupcakes in NYC
Best Red Velvet Cupcakes in NYC
Best Wildcard Cupcakes in NYC
Moistest and Prettiest Cupcakes in NYC!
Most Flavorful Cupcakes in NYC
Best Bakeries in NYC

Cupcake Cagematch Results: The Best Most Flavorful Cupcakes in New York!

Well, it’s been quite a week of cupcake posts. If you’re just joining now, here are my previous posts regarding the best vanilla cupcake in New York (Sweet Revenge), the best chocolate cupcake (Billy’s Bakery), best wildcard cupcakes (Butter Lane), and the prettiest and moistest cupcakes (One Girl Cookies and Tonnie’s). Today, we’ll go over the best overall bakeries. The winner of the best overall bakery with the most flavorful cupcakes in NYC goes to:

It was a three-way tie: Buttercup, Baked, and Billy’s Bakery! All of our judges loved the cupcakes from the winning bakeries. Below are some pictures and comments from the winners!

Here are the winning cupcakes:

Buttercup’s cupcakes:

Here are some snippets from the judges comments: the cupcakes from Buttercup were very beautifully decorated, the icing was not too heavy but just sweet enough, and the decorations were very cheerful.

Baked’s cupcakes:

Baked’s cupcakes were dense, but also light and fluffy, their frosting was very smooth, light, and airy, and there was just a little surprise of cinnamon in one of their cupcakes (very subtle and very appreciated). The red hots on the red velvet cupcakes were a cute touch; the judges liked the simply but well executed presentation.

And finally, judges thought Billy’s cupcakes was creamy but not runny, sweet but not overpowering, and that they decorated their cupcakes very beautifully.

I’m already gearing up for a second round of cupcake tastings; next time, I’m going to have an application process for judges – they’re going to have to prove to me that they can eat cupcakes all day long without going on strike, giving up, or falling asleep. Just kidding – thank you so much to all of my friends who participated in the cupcake taste test by picking up cupcakes, getting dressed up, eating a ton of cupcakes, and putting the data together!

Also, a HUGE thank you to all of the bakeries that donated to the cupcake cagematch – here are their addresses:

1. Babycakes, 248 Broome Street
2. Big Booty Bread Company, 261 W. 23rd Street
3. Billy’s Bakery, 184 9th Ave
4. Butter Lane, 123 E. 7th Street
5. Buttercup, 972 2nd Ave
6. Ciao for Now, 504 E. 12th Street
7. Cupcake Cafe, 545 9th Ave
8. Cupcake Stop, various locations, must check Cupcake Stop’s Twitter
9. Eleni’s, Chelsea Market
10. Flour and Sun, 19 Washington Ave, Pleasantville
11. Kyotofu, 705 9th Ave
12. Ladybird, 1112 8th Avenue, Brooklyn
13. Little Pie Company, 424 W. 43rd Street
14. One Girl Cookies, 68 Dean Street
15. Pinisi Cafe, 128 E. 4th Street
16. Sprinkles, Williams-Sonoma
17. Sugar Sweet Sunshine, 126 Rivington Street
18. Sweet Revenge, 62 Carmine Street
19. Tonnie’s Minis, 120 W. 3rd Street
20. Tribeca Treats, 94 Reade Street
21. Two Little Red Hens, 1652 2nd Ave

Now go out there and have your own cupcake cagematch…here’s a cupcake to get you started!

Results:
Cupcake Cagematch Introduction
Best Chocolate Cupcakes in NYC
Best Red Velvet Cupcakes in NYC
Best Wildcard Cupcakes in NYC
Moistest and Prettiest Cupcakes in NYC!
Most Flavorful Cupcakes in NYC
Best Bakeries in NYC