Happy Monday – hope you had a wonderful weekend!  I know at least a few of you had some scrumptious winter treats – after all, this was the fourth NoshGirl Party buzzfood! A big thank you to all who participated! This month’s party was a bit scant in participation – will I see more guests next month?

Penga

Happy Friday, lovelies! Another end to a busy week! We’re having a NoshGirl Party this weekend – will you be participating?   I think this Friday’s Fun Fact is especially appropriate for this blog:

Har gow (shrimp dumplings), from Golden Unicorn

“Dim sum” translates into “to touch the heart” or “a little bit of heart.” 

As you can imagine, this meal is dear to the heart of dim sum enthusiasts!

Have you had dim sum before? What is your favorite dish?

Mmm, I love hot cocoa on a chilly evening!

Happy Wednesday, Noshers!  This weekend, I’d like to resurrect a tradition here on the blog – the NoshGirl party! And yes – EVERYONE is invited – that means you!  At previous parties, we devoured Weekend Breakfasts, Late Night Snacks, Frozen Yogurt and Summer Beverages.  I can’t wait to see what you do with this month’s buzzfood!

You want to know what it is? Any guesses? (more…)

Happy Lunar New Year, everyone!  Unfortunately, I will be working late tonight, but I got to spend New Year’s celebration with my family yesterday! In honor of the holiday, today I’m posting about Chan Chan Tang, in Chinatown.  Cha Chan Tang always places a smile on my face for several reasons.  One is the bottle milk tea that tastes not only richly luxurious but has the cutest presentation – just take a look at that first photo!  The other reason is that it was one of my friend Annie’s faves before she moved to Shanghai (check out her expat adventures on her blog!).

Cha Chan Tang means “tea restaurant,” and I recently ordered an inexpensive noodle dinner to supplement my beverage.  I ordered the ramen with fried egg and hot dog:

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Happy mid-month Friday, Noshers!  I am absolutely psyched about this Friday’s Fun Fact!

Just some of the delicious cheeses from Artisanal that I’ve tried!

Today is National’s Cheese Lovers Day!!

YAY!  I feel like this fun fact is speaking directly to me, haha!

What’s your favorite type of cheese?

Mmmm, burgers.  Growing up here in the US, a patty of beef (or turkey, or other meat) sandwiched between two carb slices has always been a way of life, a source of culinary comfort if you will.  So I knew for my very first Scrumptious Sandwich Resolution, I knew I needed to make this recipe for Thai Turkey Burgers that I saw on my friend Kim’s blog.  There are several things I liked about this recipe:

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EN Japanese Brasserie, located in the West Village, offers freshly made Japanese cuisine in a cavernous, trendy space.  Known for its housemade tofu, this restaurant takes pride in its seasonal ingredients and ever-changing menu.  I recently visited EN for dinner with an eating buddy, where we sampled several dishes.

The menu offered quite a few selections: (more…)

Happy Friday, Noshers!  Any fun plans this weekend?  I have Monday off for Martin Luther King day, nice!

Mmm, curry squash soup!

Did you know that January is National Soup Month?

Mmmmm, I love soup!  One of my favorite food genres.  One of the reasons I love soup (I can’t believe I’m admitting this) – sometimes I’m too lazy to chew, ha!

What’s your favorite type of soup? Mine is lobster bisque!

It’s that time of year again!  You know what I’m talking about….slow cooker time!  I had mentioned in last week’s Fun Fact Friday that I’d be sharing my favorite slow cooker recipe (so far!), and I’m holding true to my promise!  Last year I was somewhat doubtful of this appliance that took up precious counter space in my tiny NYC kitchen.  However, once I saw how easy AND cool it was to come home after work to a piping hot meal waiting for me, I was sold.  I tried several recipes last year, and I look forward to trying a few more this season.  One that has stood out to me was this recipe for Sweet Beer Braised Chicken that I saw on nodakademic‘s blog.   I don’t usually drink, and beer even less so – but this stew had me sopping up the bowl. It was so delicious!  Looking to try some for yourself?

You will need: (more…)

Tangentially related to this year’s resolution! Do you remember what it is?

Happy Monday, Noshers! If you followed this blog last year, you’ll know that I set (and achieved!) a goal to try 20 different vegetable recipes.  I set that goal for myself because I really was not a veggie fan – I didn’t despise veggies, but let’s just say I’d be happy if I never ate them.  Thanks to that resolution (and joining a CSA!) I discovered several new veggies that I absolutely love, as well as gained knowledge on how to tell if vegetables are ripe and/or in season.  Based on last year’s experience, I’d like to set a new resolution to achieve in 2012!

The resolution would need to fulfill several criteria:

1. Semi-healthy

I’m not going to go all out and say healthy, because I’m a big dessert person, haha.  But this semi-healthy quality led me to rule out making 12 types of cupcakes or 12 types of whoopie pies. Oh well, maybe next year, ha!

2. Not too expensive

There were some really great suggestions from readers that I’d love to try; however, they would require me to either 1. purchase large amounts of an ingredient I’d use maybe once or 2. spend a lot on lots of different ingredients.  I’d preferably like to keep this resolution within a modest budget.

3. Aligned with a greater goal

Ideally, this goal will either make me more conscious of what I eat, save money, introduce me to new foods, save me time, or improve my kitchen skills. Or a combination of any of these!

Based on the above, I reviewed all my options (thank you tweeps, for your suggestions!) and decided to go with….

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