Some Sibling Time in The Big Apple

We were born in the following order: Carmen (me) in ‘77, Patrick in ‘79, Nina in ‘82, and Mark in ’83. Our mother emphasized to us as we grew up that no matter what happens we always have each other, that friends come and go, but brothers and sisters are deeply tied together.

L to R: Mark, Patrick, Me, and Nina

A couple of weekends ago, Nina, Mark, and I drove up to Brooklyn to visit Pat and spent all of our time doing what we love most—eating, eating, and eating some more. Did I ever mention I am a foodie?

Our itinerary was as follows

Friday night
6:00pm Finished Opal Lady Bug socks and arrive in Brooklyn, freshen up
9:00pm dinner at Fatty Crab We dined on some Skate Panggang – grilled on a banana leaf, sambal udang kering, Fatty Duck – brined, steamed, fried, Quail Egg Shooters, Fatty Tea Sandwiches, Watermelon Pickle and Crispy Pork, Coconut Rice, and Beef Ribs. The name says it all, this stuff is fatty, and this stuff is good, beware of your cholesterol levels!

Quail Egg Shooters: Quail Egg + little teeny itsy tiny fried fishies = Yum!

12:30am dessert at Magnolia Bakery of 8 cupcakes in variations of chocolate and vanilla goodness with glasses of whole milk

Saturday
12:30pm brunch at St. Helen’s Café where I made up for all the Fatty Crab the night before by having baked eggs and salmon with a side salad, some orange juice and a café Americano. Espresso drinks only and no regular coffee. We met up with Pat’s lovely girlfriend Meghan.

1:30pm Mark was still hungry so we started to make our way into the city for more grub, on the way Nina spied a Thai restaurant with mango and sticky rice so we stopped, alas’ I don’t remember the name. Mark grabbed a slice of pizza. Did I mention my whole family is a troupe of piglets?

2:00pm I had to get some knitting adventures in somewhere. Pat, my gracious host and brother included this stop in our plans. I got to snoop around in The Yarn Tree and found some awesome Koigu KPPPM for myself (in oranges and reds) and for roommate Brooke’s birthday (in pinks and purples). I decided to make up a birthday package for Brooke and also picked up a green, small, silk, Lantern Moon bag, and some #2 Clover dpns.

3:00pm in the city on our way to St. Marks Place a street with kitschy vendors we fortuitously ran into a Filipino Restaurant. In the mood for some down home nostalgia we stepped into Elvie’s Turo-turo, we stopped in and ended up having a late lunch of longaniza and rice, pinakbet and rice, and some halo-halo for dessert.

Kare-kare, Pinakbet

Longaniza, Halo-Halo

3:30pm Did I say Pat was a good host? He’s a great host, and gets extra 200 points for planning another knitting pit stop. We visited a knitting store appropriately called Knit New York a knit shop/café that caters to people who like to sip, chew, and knit. Refreshments and coffee are available to go along with pastries. I came away with the latest issue of Interweave Knits (which was a bit disappointing), some darning needles, and the coolest thing of all a The Go Knit Pouch a handy pouch that hangs on the wrist for mobile knitting pleasure, if you don’t have one get one. The colors they come in are yummy and the design sporty.

4:00pm Mark is still hungry. Before I continue, my litter blazzer is not a glutton, he is a personal trainer cut like a Greek character like Atlas or some really buff Greek dewd. So, needless to say he has an appetite of a lion and eats approximately 7 meals a day. So, like I said, Mark was still hungry so we made our way to Crif Dogs what should be the Mecca of all red blooded Americans. This place rocks, albeit I couldn’t fit any more food in my paunch, past experiences have shown me that the hotdog can be very very very versatile. Case in point “the Chihuahua” a luscious home made hot dog wrapped in bacon, deep fried, served on a hot bun, topped with guacamole and sour cream, OMG! Or, try this on for kicks, a hot dog, grilled to plumpness, served on a bun with a slice of pickle and cream cheese (I can’t quite remember the name but trust me it is rockin!). Or just go for a traditional heart attack—a hotdog wrapped in bacon, deep fried, served on a bun, topped with chilli, cheese, and onions. Mark settled on a corn dog.

So after the hotdogs we spent some time at a park, and walked around peeking in shops until we could work up an appetite for dinner.

Meghan & Patrick--awww


9:00pm Another thing one must know about me…I love noodles. Enter Momofuku Bar seating in a minimalist organic space, the food was generous and savory. Try the pig tail appetizers and the Momofuku ramen with pork. I’m still drooling.

Pig tails...somehow we thought they'd be curly.

12:00pm A quick jaunt through Time’s Square to show Mark why the city that never sleeps is called such and back to Brooklyn we went for what was left of the previous evening’s Magnolia cupcakes.

Sunday
1:30pm no time for brunch as all four of us (Pat included) embarked on our trip home. We stopped by Whitecastle, a fast food joint made famous by a cheesy cult film Harold and Kumar Go to Whitecastle which we have all seen, which also made an impression on Mark who wanted the experience. Okay, the crave case is pretty impressive, it’s a cardboard suitcase filled with 30 little hamburgers. The first hamburger was scrumptious. The second one was a chaser to the first. The third one was a warning, and anything beyond the fourth hamburger starts pounding nails in your coffin. I liken this experience to crack. It tastes so good, you are constantly chasing the taste, and you’re killing yourself.

A case of crack for you? Hmmm don't mind if I do?

We made it home by 6:00pm-ish. I was tired, happy, satiated, shopped out, toting my Koigu KPPM dreaming of what sock lace pattern to tackle.

I have pictures of the trip and will post them later on this afternoon. Many apologies for being a total blog slacker.