May Flowers Bake Sale!!

I held one last bake sale before the summer starts and the theme for the month was May Flowers. Everyone at work was complaining that it was hard for them to go on a diet because of my bake sales...little did they know that I always try to cut out as much fat as possible without ruining the flavors of these tasty treats!

I baked Thumbprint Hazelnut Shortbread Cookies filled with Apricot, Strawberry, and Raspberry preserves. I cut out half the sugar and instead of butter, I used coconut oil. Coconut oil is a lot healtheir for your body because it helps increase your metabolism and is high in lauric acid which helps fight virusus in your body.
I baked Gluten-Free Chocolate Cupcakes with Raspberry Buttercream Frosting. I tried using coconut oil to make the frosting, but I cound not skimp out on the butter...The raspberry flavor did not go very well with the coconut and left a strange after taste so I had to stick to the orginal recipe, but it was still Gluten Free!


Lastly, I baked Cinnamon Streusel Cupcakes with Honey Cinnamon Frosting! These cupcakes did not sell as well as I had hoped. I guess people are not huge fans of cinnamon flavored things unless it comes in the form of a cinnamon roll, right?! Maybe that will be next on my list of things to bake...

Soy & Sake (Restaurant Review)

Let me just say that I'm so grateful to have the few friends who are down to try vegan/vegetarian food and don't mind going to an all vegan/vegetarian restaurant--thanks!

Anyway, Soy and Sake is a Japanese Pan-Asian Fusion Vegan & Vegetarian restaurant located in the West Village. Their menu actually has a lot more selections than just Asian inspired cuisine. There were a lot of Southern-Cajun and Spanish inspired appetizers like the Buffalo Wings and Soy Crab Tortilla, both of which I ordered! I also ordered the Spicy "Tuna" Crunchy Roll because I was curious how the make soy taste like fish...

The Buffalo Wings were tasty! It came with this vegan ranch dressing which was a lot sweeter than actual regular ranch dressing (like the Hidden Valley or Wishbone dressing), but it definitely balanced the mild spiciness of the wing sauce. They even put little mini lollipop sticks inside the soy buffalo wing to make it more like a drumstick so you can hold it to eat with your hands! How clever is that, right?

The Soy Crab Tortilla was really tasty and crunchy! There were three crunchy tortilla shells topped with shredded veggies and the soy crab meat and came on top of a bed of shredded beets. The presentation and plating of this was very well done and I'm sad I forgot to photograph my food before gobbling it up!

The Spicy "Tuna" Crunchy Roll was interesting...I can't say I didn't like it because I finished it! Haha, but it was definitely different than a real spicy tuna roll and not as spicy as I had anticipated. I really did like the crunchy factor which really helped with the texture of the roll.

My friend ordered the Chicken Sandwich with Sweet Potato Fries was quite satisfied with her sandwich. The sweet potato fries here are very good and highly recommended!

Overall, I was very pleased and quite impressed by the quality and the variety of offerings available. The service here was amazing--the food came out super fast and the waitress was very nice and left us alone to chat a while longer even after we finished our meal.

I really have to remember to photography my food before eating it all up! So the photos are from the website:

Happy Cinco De Mayo!! (+Restaurant Review)

So the girls and I went out for a catch-up/marathon victory celebration last night. It was also Cinco De Mayo so why not dine at a somewhat fancy Mexican Restaurant?!

We decided on Mahayuel over in the LES and ended up having to wait a bit for a table. Was the wait worth it? Ambience-wise, well, lets just say the space is tight and the tables are small. Apparently Emily Blunt was dining here as we walked out, but I didn't see her. Food-wise, I've definitely had better Mexican Food. Maybe I am a bit partial being from Los Angeles and all, but nothing beats homemade Tamales and Tortillas made with love from from la senora!

Anyway, Mahayuel's menu is served tapas style and includes a variety of cocktail drinks, all of course tequila based. For Appetizers we shared popcorn and chips with salsa. Their Popcorn dish is called "Polomitas" and was pretty tasty. It was sprinkled with cotija cheese and ancho chili. Apparently there was lime squeezed on top of it, but I couldn't taste it... Their Chips and Salsa dish is called "Tortillas" and come with 3 different dipping sauces: Guacamole, Smoked Tomato, and Salsa Verde. The Guacamole could have used a bit more lime juice, but overall it was pretty on par with standard guacamole. The Smoked Tomato sauce was very different as I've never had a smoked base salsa. I can't quite say I liked or disliked it, but the Salsa Verde definitely turned out to be my favorite of the 3.

For the main entree, I ordered TAMALES! I was craving homemade tamales and haven't had one in quite some time so I was pleasantly surprised with their Roasted Corn and Charred Poblano Tamale. My friends ordered the Mole with Braised Chicken Tamale and said it was just as tasty. However, if you don't like spicy food, just be careful as the Mole is a bit on the spicier side. The photo below was stolen from their website...so check it out if you're in the neighborhood and dire need of a great cocktail and some Mexican Food!