NYC food: Rosa Mexicano

Out of our group of six, my sister Amy had been to New York most recently, which was helpful when it came to planning. For our first dinner in the Big Apple, Amy recommended Rosa Mexicano, which, when I looked up the restaurant, I saw they have in D.C., so that's exciting.

We started with this ginormous bowl of made-at-your-table guacamole. It was really fantastic, and I was so irrationally excited about it, so I started taking a bunch of pictures, and then our guacamolier offered to take one with me. This was kind of embarrassing, but I think this picture makes it quite clear that I didn't care and I have no shame.
One of the best parts of New York was that I ate a lot of seafood. My mom doled out hefty portions of food money to us all on the first night, and it was so delightful to go out to nice restaurants and choose the salmon without feeling like maybe I was choosing fish over winter shoes for Bria or something.

Most of us had dishes that featured mole in one form or another. I have only had one other encounter with mole, and it was not a good one. When I was a sophomore in college, I had a huge (unrequited) crush on this boy I nicknamed The Hobbit. He cooked dinner for my apartment one night (the background to this dinner is a story for another time). He made us an "authentic mexican dinner" which consisted of flour tortillas, boiled chicken tenderloins, and mole. I still can't talk about it without gagging. Anyway, I have no way of knowing if the mole under my salmon was actually good, but I think I was too scarred to even try it. But my sisters did thoroughly enjoy their mole enchiladas.

The mole sorbet (see it down there? at the top of the flan?), however, was intriguing and weird and almost delightful. It kind of tasted like Christmas-- but not necessarily in a magical way. (p.s. Lindsay, thanks for giving your dessert a peace sign/bunny ears.)

And then we have the ice creams. Mexican vanilla. Delicious! Mexican chocolate. Absolutely fantastic. Almost grainy, which I actually enjoyed. And Sweet Potato Rum Raisin. OK. Why did I order that? I don't know. I really don't love sweet potatoes. But the ice cream was actually really scrumptious. It tasted more like a pumpkin ice cream, which saved me from feeling like I was eating a sweet tasting vegetable (*shudder*). I just nudged all the raisins out of the ice cream. Raisins have no place in ice cream. But, my goodness, all three of these ice creams certainly have a place in my heart/mouth/stomach.

Asking for forgiveness.

So . . . Project Spring? I don't know. It kind of petered out. Will you forgive me?

Also, I can't find my camera cord, so I can't upload any pictures from New York. Sorry. I think it's buried in one of the several piles of stuff in my room.

Speaking of which, I never did finish that spring cleaning (see opening line of this blog post). But I think the time is now, because my dear sister Whitney is moving here! And staying with me for a couple weeks before she can move into her cute new house, which means all this clutter in my apartment needs to go. Seriously. Clutter out! Whitney in!

I've been such a blogging slacker lately. Forgive me? I'm going to try to be better, as long as you don't mind if I don't write as much about food as I used to. I have so many things to say! They just aren't all about food. Is that ok? I hope so.

Highlights

1. When I packed for NYC, I wanted to be prepared for any of my walking needs, so I packed five pairs of shoes. I came home with ten. (I also added three purses and a wallet to my collection.)

2. As the only one who didn't come from another time zone, I think I actually adjusted to my West Coast family's inner clocks. This morning when my sister Whitney's alarm went of at 5 am (after going to bed after 1 am), I found myself extremely disoriented, so, naturally, I elbowed her in the face.

3. A culinary list: wasabi coconut crusted salmon, cheese tortellini in a lobster cream sauce, avocado parmesan and pine nut sandwich, sweet potato rum raisin ice cream

4. Outrageous, self-given makeovers at Sephora in Times Square, where an ex-NYPD/wannabe actor/Sephora employee accurately guessed our ages.


And can I just say that New York is huge? I don't think anyone could ever run out of things to do there. I am already trying to think of a way to go back (and take Sam with me).

blogging is better than packing

I am off for the rest of the week for a trip to NYC with my mom and sisters (no husbands! no kids!). You better believe I have a list a mile long of places I want to eat. Probably my sisters will all want to do cultural or touristy or sisterly things and I'll be lagging behind saying, "wait! I want to go to the eighty-second bakery on my list!!"

And I'll leave you all with a link to a fantastic spring salad. I ate it twice this weekend, and it is absolutely delightful (particularly when accompanied by a baguette and some brie). Now, I'd better go pack . . .

Feliz Cinco De Mayo! (whatever you need to tell yourself to justify eating what you want)

Just over a week ago, this girl turned two:
On Saturday we threw her a party, and, as a result, I went on a serious guacamole binge.
I have to credit Sam for the guacamole, because he came up with a combination I really love. Now, I will eat (and love!) nearly any avocado concoction called guacamole, but I am really loving Sam's simple combination of avocados, garlic, lime, and kosher salt.

For the batch I am currently devouring--
I used two avocados, one finely-minced garlic clove, one who lime, and one pinch of kosher salt. Mashed roughly with a fork (I like some chunks of avocado), I am inhaling it like oxygen on some Costco organic tortilla chips. A delightful snack, if you ask me. Incredibly tasty, and I'll call it healthy too, since it is natural, has protein, and lots of those good kinds of fat or whatever to feed my growing brain. Right? Plus, it's festive. For Cinco de Mayo. I'm cultural like that.

maybe pies will be the next cupcake

I'll admit; I'm more of a cake-and-ice-cream fan than a pie fan, but this blog has me tickled pink.

(Bonus points for it being written by the wife of good ol' Ryan Simmons-- a cool guy I knew back in my BYU days.)

(thanks, hannah, for the tip.)