Ambitious Deliciousness – Dont Eat Lazy.

Here’s something fun and free for you to attend this weekend!

Oscar® winner Jeremy Irons stars in the epic New Showtime Original Series The Borgias, the explosive story of history’s original crime family. The Borgias premieres April 3 at 9 PM (ET/PT) with a special 2-hour premiere event. New Episodes to follow Sundays at 10PM ET/PT.

Celebrate the new series in the Cellar with a Borgias inspired tablescape and a cooking demo from Macy’s Culinary Council Chef Todd English on March 27th at 1:00pm.

Chef Todd English will present “Cibreo”, a classic Italian dish – inspired by Rodrigo Borgia, aka Pope Alexander VI, in addition to the Borgias inspired tablescape.

WHO & WHAT:
Macy’s Culinary Council chef Todd English will host a cooking demonstration to kick off the new Showtime series Borgias.

WHEN:
Sunday, March 27, 2011 @1:00 PM

WHERE:
Macy’s at Herald Square
Macy’s Cellar
151 West 34th Street
New York, NY 10001

Go here for further details!

My friend Talida of Talida Bakes and I had the pleasure of hosting a cupping event for food bloggers on behalf of our friends Norm and Wilson at The Coffee Foundry on Saturday!

Here’s what we had for breakfast:

Pumpkin cardamom scones with maple topping, fruit salad (cantaloupe, honeydew, strawberries and grapes), coffee cake (with coffee from The Foundry), along with a Greek yogurt parfait with berries and honey, and Trader Joe’s orange juice! Thanks, Talida!

So, what is coffee cupping exactly?

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This past Tuesday, I attended an event at Unilever Test Kitchen in New Jersey that enabled me to cook my own recipe using Ragu’s brand new pasta sauce. I met a bunch of mommy bloggers, which I thought was interesting, since I don’t have kids (or a husband) for that matter. But everyone was so friendly, which made it easier for me to feel comfortable!

The kind folks putting the event together asked me to send them a recipe so that they can prepare the ingredients. I was talking to my friend Sharon about what to make, and she suggested putting chorizo and pineapple in the pasta sauce. People seemed to really enjoy it, so I was happy. Thanks for the great suggestion!

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I was invited to attend an event organized by Hellman’s (yes, the mayo company). It was a lunch event with a live cooking demonstration by Bobby Flay and Lori Loughlin. I ran into a bunch of other food bloggers there, which is always fun!

The room was set up with lots and lots of mayo – even in the bookshelf! I’ll bet you never thought you could decorate your bookshelf with mayo! Very creative, indeed. =)

Before the cooking demonstration, Melissa from Hellman’s shared about the company’s partnership with Share Our Strength, an organization that feeds hungry kids in America. Whenever you click on this Facebook link and make a virtual sandwich through the Swap ‘n’ Share campaign, Hellmann’s will donate $1 (for every 5 sandwiches) to Share our Strength. The maximum amount is $75, 000. Wouldn’t it be great to help them reach that goal to help feed hungry kids? Please take a moment to make a virtual sandwich now!

Read about what Bobby Flay and Lori Loughlin made during the cooking demonstration, after the jump!

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Salsa Slam took place on a rainy Sunday afternoon, there were a lot of salsa lovers who came out to taste the delicious recipes! There were a total of 20 contestants, and the night ended with a fun Mariachi Band that took requests. I did not win any prizes for my salsa recipe, but I still had a lot of fun playing around with different flavors.

Dan, who was helping me make the sign, suggested naming my salsa Double Rainbow. It is definitely more memorable than listing out the ingredients! We figured that people will either get it and laugh, or not. I got some fun reactions out of people.

The event got covered by The Village Voice, as well as NY Metromix. Check out the links for more photos!

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My coworker alerted me of this salsa contest event going on next weekend, called Salsa Slam! Since I had such a great time making cookies last time, I figured, why not do it again? You’re all invited to come out and taste 20 different kinds of salsa!

I read that the owner of 5 Burros Cafe will be judging, which is awesome because I LOVE their salsa, and I’ll have to up my game! We will be competing for Judge’s favorite, a Runner- Up, and People’s Champion spots – and I need your help! So please help me spread the word and come on out!

Event:             Salsa Slam (with a live Mariacchi band!)
Date:              Sunday, September 12, 2010
Location:      Bell House
149 7th Street (Between 2nd and 3rd Aves)
Brooklyn, NY
Time:              4 -7 pm
Cost:               $12 in advance, $15 at the door

Hope to see you there! =D

I was invited to a seasonal event by the folks at Eggland’s Best at Institute of Culinary Education (ICE) in NYC. I really love going to ICE because I looove large, industrial sized kitchens, not to mention an opportunity to learn something new in the cooking world. It was fun to meet new bloggers and reacquaint myself old ones.

According to the website, Eggland’s Best eggs contain 10 times more Vitamin E than ordinary eggs, four times more Vitamin D, 115mg of Omega 3, when compared to regular eggs.  And one Eggland’s Best large white egg contains just 175mg of Cholesterol compared to 215mg in an ordinary egg.

We learned that there is no nutritional difference between brown and white eggs. They also have regular eggs, and a different brand of organic eggs.

See photos of our scrumptious dinner after the jump!

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I attended a wonderful event at the Bronx Botanical Garden last Saturday, thanks to Alejandra of Always Order Dessert. It was a great chance to meet other bloggers, as well as to have access to all of the wonderful areas of the garden!

Unfortunately, my camera was not working properly, leaving me with a minimal amount of photos. I did end up using my blackberry to get some more pictures though. So sorry about that!

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Last night, I had the privilege of compete in a bakeoff for a fundraiser for The Lamp. The event was held at Double Windsor bar in Brooklyn. Many gathered on a rainy Wednesday night to taste the following desserts:

• Mocha Brownies by Katy Atlas of Sugarlaws
• Seasonal strawberry cheesecake by Jen Bernstein of Local Appetite NY
• Salty butterscotch chocolate chip cookies by Emily Hanhan from (non) adventures of an amateur
• Salted turtle cashew cupcakes by Anna Markow of Very Small Anna
• Asian rice crispy treats by Rachel Mount from Best Part of the Day

The following judges were also present:

• Chef James Briscione: 2-time Food Network Chopped! Champion and cookbook author (also major hottie, just sayin’)
• Giulia Melucci: Author of I Loved, I Lost, I Made Spaghetti
• Divya Gugnani: Behind the Burner host & NBC personality

Everyone got a chance to taste all of the delicious desserts and pick their favorite. There were two categories – an audience favorite and a judges’ favorite. I had the honor of being named the audience favorite, while Jen’s delicious strawberry cheesecake was a clear winner among the judges! As our winning prize, we were both mentioned in this NY Daily News column!

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I’m going to take a small break from posting a new recipe this week to let you know about an exciting event that is coming up!

For those of you in the NYC area, I’m super excited to invite you to a delicious bake-off on Wednesday, June 9th! Come out and taste some yummy desserts made by yours truly (and other bloggers) as we raise funds for The LAMP, an organization that teaches media literacy to children and families in underprivileged communities.

A panel of noted foodie judges, including Brooke Parkhurst–NY Daily News food columnist and writer (along with her husband, Chopped champ James Briscione) of the forthcoming cookbook Just Married and Cooking, and Giulia Melucci–author of saucy “foodoir” I Loved, I Lost, I Made Spaghetti will be there.

Event: The LAMP Summer Benefit 2010: Where Food Meets Media
Date: Wednesday, June 9, 2010 7-9pm
Where: Double Windsor Bar, 210 Prospect Park West (at 16th St.), Brooklyn NY
Admission: $20 in advance, $25 at the door
All proceeds benefit The LAMP and your contribution is tax deductible.

About The LAMP:
The LAMP (Learning About Multimedia Project) is a non-profit organization bringing free, hands-on media literacy workshops to youth, parents, families and educators throughout New York City. Based in Brooklyn, The LAMP was founded in 2007 by Katherine Fry, Ph.D., and community organizer D.C. Vito with the vision that one day, media literacy will be seen as the critical requirement to understanding the world and our place in it. As part of this effort, The LAMP works in communities to build healthy relationships with all forms of media, with a focus on communities which are considered at-risk or underserved. To date, more than 700 students have benefited from workshops with The LAMP on a range of topics, such as cyber wellness, news literacy, advertising literacy and much more.

I’m still in the process of figuring out what to make! Since this is a media event, I will be using a recipe from a media source (blog, newspaper, magazine, etc), as opposed to making one up. So please let me know if you have any suggestions and list the exact recipe link.

Yes, I know it’s all the way in Brooklyn but it would mean a lot to me if you could come. Hope to see you there!