It’s been a pretty busy week on the Instagram front. Aside from making a pretty easy pesto spaghetti squash, I fit in a cultural event mid-week, and spent a food-filled weekend in New Jersey and New York. We did some other things, but mostly just ate.
I made Pesto Spaghetti Squash this week. Spaghetti squash is a pretty solid substitute for actual spaghetti noodles. The hardest part of all squash though, is cleanly cutting it in half. Pro Tip: microwave whole for 1 minute before cutting.
I have this thing for fresh flowers. I picked up some yellow roses at Wegmans to accent the colors in my room. I think it’s perfectly fine to buy roses for yourself. Even the lady at the cash register was excited that I had gotten them for myself. She wrapped them up nicely and handed them to me carefully, wishing me a great evening and to enjoy my roses.
After we devoured the Pesto Spaghetti Squash, I’m talking to my mom about trying to eat healthy and cut the carbs. She tells me that she found this alternative to shell pasta made from chickpeas. I had to check the ingredients just to make sure. Ingredients: Chickpeas, Tapioca, Pea Protein, Xanthan Gum. It’s also advertised as gluten free. So, we decided to use up some of the leftover Velveeta cheese and make “healthy” mac and cheese. Banza also makes other types of pasta.
American Arabesque: A Celebration of Culture Art Exhibition. The curator, Amr Mounib, described it perfectly when he said, ” Seeing the works of so many talented Arab American artists in one exhibition—including Egyptian, Iraqi, Kurdish, Lebanese, Palestinian, Saudi Arabian, and Syrian—is a rare and wonderful opportunity to experience the artists’ passionate love of the land, and their striving for peace, freedom, and happiness expressed through a variety of artistic mediums. This unique collection reflects the diversity and richness of Arab culture.”
Over Martin Luther King Jr. weekend, we decided to take a road trip to New Jersey and New York City! Our primary purpose was to attend an engagement party. Being so close to NYC, we just couldn’t pass up the opportunity to eat our way through Patterson, NJ and part of NYC. We started off at an engagement party, where they had some delicious kabsa (rice and lamb).
There’s a place in Patterson called Nablus Sweets. They have a delicious knafeh. If you’re in the area, check it out. They’ve got tons of other sweets too.
After a pitstop at Nablus Sweets, we hit up a local shisha place. There, I had some interesting kubbeh niyyeh. It tasted like they mixed the raw meat and bulgar with tomato paste.
It’s a fact that falafel always tastes good at 1:30am, Mamoun’s was no exception. I also got a shawarma sandwich. Don’t let the half pitas fool you, it’s stuffed with lamb, tahini sauce and turnips.
Day #2, we made our way into NYC for brunch at Friedman’s. Try the blueberry pancakes. It’s fluffy perfection. The pastrami is also to die for.
Seriously amazing hot chocolate at at Jacques Torres Chocolate. They’ve even got a spiced hot chocolate, perfect for our freezing cold walk through Soho.
I wish we had more time to spend in NYC, but I’ve realized that no matter how much time you have, there are too many places to try. Until next week …. follow along on Instagram
