Perfect day for Magnolia's!

Flourless chocolate cupcake 

with vanilla bean buttercream frosting

       
Today during lunch, being a  beautiful sunny Thursday, I decided to take a stroll down to Magnolia Bakery! I figured I only have one week left before I leave the city to go back to school, so I should take advantage of my time here and just give in to my cupcake craving. Luckily they have a location only a few blocks away from my office! While Magnolia Bakery has many dessert items to choose from, I always seem to go for their famous buttercream frosted cupcakes. 

       There is just something about their icing that you can't get anywhere else. My usual cupcake has vanilla buttercream icing with a vanilla cupcake but today I decided to be Daring! I asked the girl at the counter her opinion and she suggested I try the flourless cupcake and since I am a huge fan of flourless cakes it seemed fitting that I try this. Although the cupcakes are in the $3-4 range I think these cupcakes are 100% worth it!  I sat down with my cupcake and started to indulge. The vanilla bean buttercream frosting tasted deliciously light and creamy and the flourless chocolate cake was so rich and had that deep chocolate flavor you would find in a chocolate tart or chocolate molten cake. Anyway, I am SOOO happy I got to have my Magnolia cupcake today and I think I might have a new favorite flavor!!

"Really Cheesy-Really Crunchy Mac & Cheese"

                        

Hey again guys! I realize that I just updated my last post this morning... but then I was going through my pictures and came across this wonderful meal that I had a few weeks ago and I really wanted to express with all of you how obsessed I am with this Mac & Cheese.

I was meeting my friend Adrie for dinner after work and we decided to go to Max Brenner's! For everyone who lives in the New York/New Jersey Area you may have already heard of this delicious tourist trap located on Broadway, between 13th and 14th Street in Union Square. 

Max Brenner's is basically a chocolate restaurant! Who wouldn't want to eat here honestly..! They have everything chocolate you could possibly want, whether it be frozen hot chocolate, chocolate pizza or even a chocolate syringe (like a shot of chocolate pretty much).

This place is actually amazing and it wasn't until I came here with my parents a few years ago that I realized they had real food too! I will say that it is definitely a challenge to have real food, which is all delicious, and then save room for anything chocolate that your heart could desire! Somehow, I manage to do this every time...So back to the amazing mac & cheese that I had here. On the menu it's called "Really Cheesy- Really Crunchy Mac & Cheese" and not only is this the best mac & cheese ever in my opinion, but there's more... it comes with chopped tomatoes and bacon (probably not the healthiest option on the menu, but I promise it's worth it) and they also give you a side of marinara sauce in a little test tube container. Every time I order this i get WAY WAY too excited and I can smell it coming from a mile away! As soon as I get it, I pour the diced tomatoes and bacon on the top and then I take the marinara sauce and make sure I evenly distribute it around the whole thing.  I know this might sound a little gross but it is SO GOOD!!! The tomatoes add a juicy bite to the creamy & crunchy mac & cheese, the bacon gives the dish a little bit of saltiness and the marinara sauce helps to balance out the extreme amount of cheesiness you are putting in your mouth! It is a pretty big portion so I usually end up taking the rest home. But don't worry -- it tastes just as delicious when you heat it up the next day! Okay I'm done with my mac & cheese rant now, but please go try this sometime. It is definitely at the top of my list!  

Chobani yogurt bar!

For my first food adventure I really need to share my Chobani yogurt bar experience! A few days ago I had just finished up with my internship for the day ( I intern at a public relations firm in Manhattan for the summer) and I decided to go meet my friend Kate down by City Hall. We had a vague idea of where we wanted to eat so we took the subway down towards the Soho area and started to walk. The sky was looking pretty dark and it looked like it was about to rain pretty hard, when something caught my eye from across the street! I saw a big Chobani yogurt sign and right next to it was a Chobani shop! We decided to take shelter from the storm so we ran across the street and into this awesome looking Chobani shop. The outside was all glass and inside the walls had a wood finish which gave it a kind of rustic look. A nice woman wearing all white and a Chobani apron approached me and Kate and asked what we would like to order. I had never see anything like it before. There was a menu of dessert type yogurt creations and a menu of savory yogurt creations! I was most excited to see the menu of savory creations because I'm always the first one to try the new thing on the menu.  I decided to order the plain yogurt (which is the only yogurt flavor they use) with extra virgin olive oil, sea salt and pepper, rosemary and pita chips! It was sooooo delicious. The plain Greek yogurt was creamy but not too creamy and the olive oil and salt and pepper added the perfect amount of spice and Italian flavor that I was looking for! Dipping the pita chips into this yummy creation was the icing on the cake and added just the crunch this snack needed! I was so happy to discover this place because I am always looking for something filling, yet healthy and this was the perfect snack! The shop is located at 150 Prince Street in Soho.  I recommend you check it out!!

Oh and I almost forgot, they give you a glass dish for your yogurt and if you return it when you're done you get 25 cents off your next purchase! I personally liked the dish so I kept it:)

Hello my fellow food lovers!!

Hey guys,  my name is Emily and I am really excited to finally start my very own food adventures blog! I'm currently a Junior at Umass Amherst and born and raised in Bergen County NJ. Since I have enjoyed cooking, eating, and discovering new foods for my entire life, I am surprised it has taken me so long to start blogging about my love for food! I started cooking when I was a little girl, helping my mom in the kitchen breading chicken cutlets, and have continued to expand my knowledge of cooking ever since. I would have to say that my favorite food is Italian due to the fact that I've been surrounded by amazing Italian cooks my entire life! My great grandpa (who came over from the Amalfi Coast region of Italy) taught my grandma, and she taught my mom and my mom taught me! Throughout all of my travels, especially my trips to Italy, London and Israel, I was most inspired by the food that I discovered while exploring local markets and communities within the different cultures.  I hope that my passion for food takes me on many, many more adventures throughout my life and through my blog I hope to meet/inspire people who love food just as much as me!