Well, Thursday was kind of the opposite of Wednesday in terms of ideal-ness. This nonstop rain has put everyone in such a funk! But, no need to dwell on Thursday (since today is Friday, yay!!), so we’re just going to go featured contributions style. And the contributions began bright and early yesterday morning when Lillian offered me a ginger almondine cookie.

I enjoyed dipping it in my yerba mate immensely, so I had two more 🙂

Then, Inginia offered me a few blueberries, and those were lovely paired with the office almonds (and followed by several more scoops of almonds straight):

Lunch was a return of Olivia‘s soup and a piece of her this-is-what-heaven-tastes-like crostini.

Among other things, I supplemented the soup with the last bit of all my coworkers’ sancocho, a Dominican soup with everything under the sun, including plantains, sweet potato, and big giant hunks of yucca:

A butter cookie from Beryl:

(Plus a bite of unpictured oatmeal raisin cookie from Lawrence)

This arrived for Nydia from a secret admirer:

But Nydia wasn’t at work yesterday, so I couldn’t eat all her fruit. Instead, I ate too much candy from Belkis’ candy jar (way more than pictured):

But I made up for it when I ate a banana in class that also came from Belkis 🙂

Oh! One more quick little thing. I didn’t finish my soymilked yerba mate yesterday, so I left it in the fridge overnight. Once again, the vibrant color this morning astounded me!

Even though it’s happened before, seeing this color first thing still makes me so happy 😀

Oh, I lied. One more thing AGAIN! My friend (and occasional guest poster) Gina caught up on all my posts from the past week yesterday, and I had to share this one comment she left about a chat she had with Chris, her husband, regarding my first CSA pickup:

OMG, Chris just made me laugh so hard, I cried and it was in reference to your blog! I said, “I need to go read about Sarah’s CSA pickup” in an excited tone. So Chris said, “What is that, like, a man?” LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL! It was probably funnier to me, but still, I guess b/c I was all excited about reading about your “pickup”, he thought I was talking about a guy! HAHAHAHA! Little does he know we get much more excited reading/talking about food!

Hahaha, Gina, that is hilarious!! Thanks for sharing 😛 In a food vs. men competition, who would win?

Yesterday was one of those ideal days at work. I was so slammed the entire day that I literally could not think of anything BUT work, and I was shocked when 5:00 arrived because I felt like I had just walked in the door. I get stressed with busy days like this, but I also love them because they make me feel useful 😀

My usefulness really got a chance to shine at lunchtime when we had an agency barbecue on the back patio in honor of Sam’s upcoming wedding (and just to encourage inter-department bonding in general).

Though he was the guest of honor, Sam was also in charge of the grilling, as usual:

Congratulations, Sam!

Look at all that green! You’d never know we were really on a narrow slab of concrete in East Harlem 😛

The food selection was superb. Lucia made this green salad with arugula, lettuce, and spinach from her CSA and dressed it with a refreshing mix of sherry vinaigrette and Greek yogurt:

Lucia also informed me that the food pantry produce donations we get at the agency come right from a farm, too! I can’t believe I didn’t know about this. She invited me to come down and observe delivery on Friday, so I will go and document if I have time.

My plate:

Clockwise from top center: Lucia’s green salad, peanuts and brazil nuts, raw carrots and broccoli, apple slices, grapes, a chicken wing, spicy Italian sausage and chorizo, chips and salsa. Ohhhhhhhh yummmmmmmmmmm.

I had more sausages:

(Sam really knows how to work the char!)

And lots more chips and salsa:

And more nuts, por supuesto:

I thought it was all over at this point, but then I saw something from across the patio that made my jaw drop and one hand fly to my mouth:

I may have actually climbed over dozens of chairs, tables, and employees to get closer. I don’t think I even knew I was doing it. I see carrot cake and instantly disappear into some sort of hypnosis state.

Didn’t Pura do an excellent job of accessorizing that cake?!! Those little bottles are darling.

I had a slice with more apples, nuts, and grapes:

And just because I’m into torturing you all:

I grabbed another little half slice-ish sliver as I left to run up to my next meeting:

This cake was so moist and light and textured, and I could have eaten the cream cheese icing from a tub. It was perfect and just the right amount of sweet. Siiiiiiiiiiiiigh, I love my job 😀 (And I promise I don’t only love it for the food.)

Before I left the office for the day, Jessica brought me a couple of caramel kisses:

They were excellent fuel for the hot yoga class last night, where I was sweating and sweating and sweating the Nile River. The Wednesday night class is so much more intense than the Saturday morning class! It feels excellent, though. And no one laughed and pointed at my embarrassingly short shorts, phew.

I got home at 8, pulled some things together for tomorrow, enjoyed a cup of Olivia’s cauliflower-sweet potato soup with honeyed truffle crostini, and then got myself into bed by 9 … finally!

What needs to happen for you to consider a work day “ideal”?

Yesterday’s food was pretty much the same as Monday’s — except that there was less of it! (Thank goodness!)

As I mentioned, I was still stuffed on Tuesday morning from Olivia‘s feast on Monday night, so my breakfast crepe came along on a field trip to work:

I didn’t get hungry until around 11:30, so that’s when the crepe made its appearance. I also ate a small handful of almonds from Lillian at some point during the morning:

Because breakfast was so late, all I had for lunch was my strawberry-flax-chia-hemp yogurt:

The yogurt sounds fancy, but there’s nothing to it. I mixed plain yogurt with unmeasured amounts of chopped strawberries, ground flax, chia seeds, and hemp seeds (I think I also mixed in a bunch of unsweetened dried coconut, too) and then sprinkled more flax on top for flair. The chia seeds worked their magic overnight and absorbed the moisture, creating a thicker and more tapioca-like texture:

I was fascinated by the looks of Belkis’ Dominican recaito (cilantro) noodles:

So she shared a bite with me. Why does everything Dominican taste so much better??

Belkis also brought in a very special treat courtesy of her son Emanuel, whose adventures in the kitchen have already served our office quite well. Name this dessert:

It’s vanilla pudding!! And Emanuel expertly dusted the top with cinnamon, yummmmmmm. I had some (of course), along with a few bits of cake left from Monday:

And then I had another spoonful. And another. And another. Until this happened:

Many people are afraid to take the last cookie, the last bite, the last piece. They worry that they will come off as greedy and rude. I am different 😛 My office is very lucky to have me on food rescue duty 24/7 … ummmm, or 8/5. (I also had several more bites of cake crumbs, but not as many as yesterday!)

Before leaving the office for class, I munched on a little snack baggie of cherries:

I bought these cherries last week because they were on sale for $3.99/lb (still a splurge, but they normally cost $7.99!), but Myrna scolded me for even paying that much and said that the Pathmark by her had them for $1.99/lb!!!! I’ve never heard of prices so low on cherries. So now, Myrna is in charge of finding me some super cheap cherries next time she is there 🙂

On the way to class, I stopped into Butterfield Market for my usual pre-class samples.

Back on the left, you can just barely make out my cheese sample — not manchego this week but some very soft French cow’s milk cheese. The market also just started selling soft serve fat free frozen yogurt, so I got a sample of the coffee flavor and scooped it up with a sample of Tate’s Bakeshop chocolate chip cookie. I was so pleased with my ice cream cookie sundae, composed entirely of free samples.

Dinner in class was the salad of the week and an apple, along with a few bites of Emily’s mozzarella tomato basil sandwich on olive focaccia:

Do you see that huge juicy chunk of olive baked right into the bread?! Incredible.

I also had this royal berry punch Starburst from Lisa because she thought the flavor was strange and couldn’t place it:

I’m convinced there was lucuma in there!

Once again, class was excellent, but it lasted the full 3.5 hours … which meant I didn’t get home until 10:30 and didn’t get to sleep until 11:30. I know I keep complaining about this and should stop whining about what i can’t change, but things start to disintegrate when I don’t get my 8 hours of sleep! I keep trying to tell myself that I’ll be fine as long as I get at least 6, but it doesn’t work very well, hmph

Are you afraid to take the last bite?

Monday night, I was one of two lucky invitees to the inaugural dinner for Olivia’s blog Ohlivin!.

That’s right, your prayers have been answered! I know you’ve been dreaming of the day when Olivia would start her own blog ever since you laid eyes on the other-worldly brilliance of the caramelized onion-truffle-goat cheese pizza she made for her birthday party last month. (I had twelve pieces that night, and I’m still dreaming about it.)

Olivia began her inaugural blog dinner for Kate and me with the crack dip (recipe alert! recipe alert!) that has also been lurking in my dreams ever since her party:

The crack paired perfectly with these “Exotic” whole grain jasmine rice & spring onion rice toasts from Edward & Sons.

You can even see the little green onion flecks, awwwww!

Those crackers + this crispy, cheesy, sweet onion brilliance = Sarah was stuffed before dinner even began.

Between our nibble course and our appetizer course, I went around and took the pics of Olivia’s apartment that I was kicking myself for not taking at the party:

In case you can’t tell from the pictures, this kind of space is unheard of here, especially in Olivia’s prime central NYC neighborhood. She soooooo lucked out!

This is actually her roommate’s (messy) bedroom:

Yes, the bedroom contains a couch, a bed, a fireplace, loads of furniture, and is bigger than my entire apartment.

After the tour, Kate and I watched Olivia as she worked on our feast.

Meet “Greater Olivia,” a present from Olivia’s mom:

The.most.incredible.soup.ever. (and I think I’m the luckiest girl ever because I brought home leftovers!!!!)

We all agreed that the souperstar (I’m on a roll) of the cauliflower-sweet potato soup was Olivia’s honey-truffle-garlic crostini, recipe to be found here. (And, believe me, you MUST go find this recipe.) I also got three lucky pieces of this crostini to bring home. I almost DIED of happiness when Olivia handed them to me.

Finally, the main course was this killer salad with braised leeks, roasted asparagus, pancetta vinaigrette and poached egg. (I made Olivia hard-poach my egg because I don’t do runny yolks, but Kate an Olivia did it the authentic way, as you can also observe here.)

I really can’t say anything about this salad because it left me utterly speechless.

Amazing.

Dessert was courtesy of DP (aka Disney Prince), who very well could be my future husband if Olivia doesn’t get to him first and if Princes Harry/William fall through and if I magically change my mind and decide that marriage is a good thing.

I had five. Because Girl Scout cookies only happen once a year (we keep telling ourselves that) and I missed the season!

Ohhhhhhh boy, are you still with me, or has the gourmet quality of this phenomenal meal short-circuited your nervous system? Obviously, if you have not already done so, you need to go pay a visit to Ohlivin! because Olivia is brilliant and knows how to “liv” life. (Just to give proper credit, that’s her pun — not mine :-P)

I got home too late after dinner to get to the gym Tuesday morning and was too full to eat breakfast on time (don’t fear — I just packed it up and brought it to work with me), but it was all worth it. I wish Olivia would launch her blog every night!

What is the best “punny” use of your name? (i.e. Olivia … Ohlivin!) If I get some good ones, I’ll dedicate a post to them so everyone can appreciate your creative genius 🙂 I’ve been trying to think of something for Sarah, but it’s not coming easily!

Please give a warm welcome to my buddy, Kate, who also happens to be an expert in portable desserts! Read on to find out more …

Will Stop for Cupcakes!

I was walking to work on Friday, and I stopped in my tracks when I saw this:

I texted Gina and Sarah with my sighting immediately! It was funny because last weekend (while eating “Imposter Mister Softee“), we were talking about all of these trucks that we have been finding around the city. There’s the Dessert Truck, the waffles truck, the Kustard King in Brooklyn Heights, the Treats Truck, and the Big Gay Ice Cream Truck. Only in New York …

I said that I wanted to start a cupcake car, but now I’ll need to find a new market before quitting my day job because the cupcake position has already been filled!

The Cupcake Stop‘s Twitter feed told me they were parked in my work neighborhood until 5. I also discovered the Cupcake Truck in my Google search. Anyone want to take a field trip to New Haven, CT for their sweet potato pecan cupcakes!?!?

I decided that this would be a nice mid-afternoon snack to celebrate the end of the work week! As I stood behind an excited couple ordering a nice assortment, some woman (who must have been living under a rock) asked me what a red velvet cupcake was. I explained everything down to the creamcheese frosting and told her she had to try one!

It made my day when I saw that they offered miniature cupcakes for $1 each (regular size were $2.25). I love trying everything, so these were the perfect size for satisfaction minus the “over-expansion.” I opted for the red velvet and the oreo crumb minis.

I took them over to the “lounge-in-the-street area” around the corner. If you ask me, Times Square isn’t meant for lounging or frequenting, but I kind of like this seating area because it’s a bit quieter and good for watching tourists attempt to take pics of the Flatiron Building from across the street. Plus, I had a beautiful view of the Empire State Building.

Okay, back to the cupcakes. The red velvet was delicious. I think I may consider paying the extra $1.25 for a regular sized one next time!

Then, it was time for the oreo crumb.

It was good, but I wasn’t crazy about this one. The icing was too sweet for my liking, and I was disappointed that I didn’t get a mini oreo cookie on top because I had seen them on the photos on their website!

All in all, it was worth the trip out of the office! And I forgot to mention, these are baked fresh daily, and they give their leftovers to City Harvest. If Sarah were to try it, it would be a Tales of Expansion-Approved truck.

OK, Sarah again here, and I approve, I approve!! Thanks for your reconn, Kate! [And I’m actually pretty sure City Harvest has brought some of these cupcakes to the agency where I work!] I will be on the lookout for more reports of food-on-the-move from you 😀

As always, if any of you have a Tale of Expansion to share, I accept submissions at talesofexpansion@gmail.com.

What is your favorite food from a truck?