Times Square

All the TV shows are back on air and I’ve begun to notice a common theme: New York. It’s the city where two broke girls are now living together, where Pan Am takes flight for the first time (this season anyway), where a guy tells a long-winded story of how [he] met your mother, the place that Glee members dream of moving to, where six friends found each other, and home to a diner that Seinfeld frequents just about every day. It’s also the place where Spiderman had his first kiss, the Devil wears Prada, a shopaholic can’t get enough green scarves, you can have breakfast at Tiffany’s, a girl meets Santa at Macy’s on 34th street, and four women find sex [in] the city. It’s no wonder everyone searches for flights to New York at least once in their lives — both the big screens and the smaller ones in our living rooms have programmed it into our minds to go!

After receiving my social security card in the mail I’ve found myself especially drawn to the bright lights of New York because now I have an opportunity to actually see everything the city has to offer — something that takes much more time than a single visit. After seeing photos from one friend’s trip to MoMA, hearing another friend’s story about a chill underground jazz club, listening to another friend’s adventures trying to find the best clubs in NY, yet another friend’s trip to East New York for cool sneakers at a discount, and another friend’s research on graffiti in NY, and then even another friend’s vacation in Manhattan, well I’ve realized two things: 1. I have lots of really cool friends who have been to New York at least once in the past year, and 2. I have to go back to New York because I obviously didn’t spend enough time there on my first visit.

The first time I visited New York, I was with Ang and Morten on our circumnavigating trip around the USA and we were all still sick from having caught Morten’s bug way back in the southern states. We arrived at night and took the train to Times Square for dinner at a pizza shop with really rude servers (so rude in fact that I almost walked back over to them to tell them off). The next day, I had originally made plans to meet BJITW Angie Orth but felt so craptastic that I bailed (which I regret because I haven’t been able to catch up with her since). Ang, Morten and I spent the day walking around the city, Central Park, and ended up back in Manhattan with my old high school friend Dani who took us on a tour of his office right next to Times Square and we had dinner at a little vegetarian curry place in the Village. We left the next morning, but not before visiting New Jersey for cupcakes. Our little tour of the city felt rushed and now I feel like I’ve missed out on a lot. So friends, I’m compiling a list of “Must-Do!” things for the next time I go to New York and would really appreciate your feedback: What do I have to do the next time I go to New York?

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Cannoli at Carlo’s Bakery

Ever since I went to Carlo’s Bakery (the bakery from TLC’s Cake Boss) with Ang and Morten, I’ve been wanting to make red velvet cupcakes myself.

Cake Boss

Carlo’s Bakery is just as tiny as it looks on Cake Boss. No, we didn’t see Buddy. But, we did see the sisters and one of the regular male bakers. The place was really busy but they were very efficient at getting orders filled and customers out the door asap.

Carlo’s Bakery Cookies

Gotta say though, the baked goods looked really ordinary and less than appetizing — I felt like we were looking at products at a school’s bake sale where you feel the need to hold onto each cookie with a handful of napkins because the butter is threatening to grease your fingers worse than a Wendy’s burger.

Still, you can’t go to Carlo’s Bakery and not try something. So, we got cannoli. The bakery is supposed to be famous for their cannoli and had even devoted an entire episode to them. We bought a box of ten, and the guy at the counter actually said “is that it?” I was a little surprised ’cause I thought ten was a bit excessive. We tried them outside and ended up polishing off the box in under 15 minutes. We went back for more and got red velvet cupcakes for later too.

Damn, they were good! I understood why the guy at the counter didn’t think we were buying much because on our second trip in I listened to see what other people were ordering and it seemed like it was the norm to buy a dozen cupcakes and throw in another box of cookies just because.

My Turn

My First Attempt at Red Velvet Cupcakes

Last weekend, we put up the Christmas tree and decorations. This weekend marked the official start of the holiday baking season with the traditional Norwegian pepperkaker, and my attempt at making red velvet cupcakes. The gingerbread house will have to wait until next week and I’ll probably test out my new Perfect Brownie Pan next Sunday.

The cupcakes turned out fabulously! I guess I picked a really good recipe. The cake is fluffy and light, and the cream cheese frosting is to die for (I suspect you could actually die from eating too much of it ’cause it’s really chubbifying). There’s a good chance I’ll make them again for Christmas dinner. Here are the recipes if you want to try making them too:

Red Velvet Cupcakes

Recipe is from the Best Cupcake Recipes Blogspot

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups sifted cake flour
1 heaping teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
2 oz. red food coloring (two bottles) or 4 oz beet juice (if you use unprocessed light cocoa you can leave out the food dyes and you’ll get a warm red/brown color)*
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs, at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup buttermilk, at room temperature
1 teaspoon white vinegar
1 teaspoon baking soda

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two 12-cup muffin tins or silicone pans with cupcake liners.
2. Sift together the cake flour, baking powder, and salt into a medium bowl and set aside. In a smaller bowl, mix food coloring and cocoa powder to form a thin paste without lumps and set aside.
3. In a large bowl, using a hand mixer or stand mixer, beat butter and sugar together until light and fluffy, about three minutes. Beat in eggs, one at a time, then beat in vanilla and the redcocoa paste, scraping down the bowl with a spatula as you go. Add one third of the flour mixture to the butter mixture, beat well, then beat in half of the buttermilk. Beat in another third of flour mixture, then second half of buttermilk. End with the last third of the flour mixture, beat until well combined, making sure to scrape down the bowl with a spatula.
4. In a small bowl, mix vinegar and baking soda. Be careful as it will fizz so don’t do it in a shallow bowl. Add vinegar mixture to the cake batter and stir well to combine. Fill cupcake cups with cake batter until they are a little under 3/4 full. I ended up with 20 cupcakes. Place muffin tins in your preheated oven. Bake for approximately 20, rotating pans halfway through. The cupcakes are done when you are able to pat the tops and the cake springs back up. If it sinks down they are not yet complete. Or you can insert a toothpick into the center of a cupcake in the center of the tin and if it comes out clean they are done!
5. Cool the cupcakes in their tins on a wire rack for 10 minutes then remove and allow to cool completely before frosting.

Cream Cheese Frosting

Recipe is from Chow.com

Ingredients:

12 ounces of room-temperature cream cheese (this is about 350g or one and a half chunks)
1/2 cup of powdered sugar
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

Instructions:

1. Combine all ingredients in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment*, and beat at low speed until sugar is incorporated.
2. Increase speed to medium high and beat until frosting is light and whipped, about 3 to 4 minutes. Use to top cookies, cupcakes, or cakes.

*I don’t have a mixer with a paddle attachment so I just beat the cream cheese mix by hand using a spatula and it worked really well but took a bit longer.

Enjoy!

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While I was in New York a couple of weeks ago, I got to see Jon Gosselin in the flesh filming an interview for The Insider in Times Square. I’m sorry my picture turned out so blurry but my camera is virtually useless at night.

Jon Gosselin on The Insider

While standing on the ledge to get a better view, a girl in front of me left with her friend saying “Yeah, I’ve had enough of Jon.” I thought “how true.” The Gosselin’s have been in such a strong spotlight — and a negative one at that — for so long, that I think everyone, fan or non-fan, is sick of hearing about them.

I guess it’s not a bad thing that the show has ended, but it’s still so sad that it had to end this way. Jon looked angry / gloomy the whole time I was there. It’s such a stark contrast from the clips of him from three years ago.

Angry Other Woman Takes Revenge

We were walking around the French Quarter in New Orleans when we spotted this wreck on the side of the road. The note reads “Baby I’m sorry I fucked up I love you and I will pay for this xoxoxo me”. A woman who works at the bar where the car was parked said she saw the whole thing unfold the night before. The story goes that there was a man who cheated on his girlfriend and his girlfriend and the other woman got into a very loud and public fight. The other woman threw this brick into the girlfriend’s car and the cheater wrote the note to apologize to the girlfriend. My question is: where’d she get the brick!?

Pineapple motif along the gates at Oak Alley Plantation

Your friend stops by for a quick visit that ends up being four hours to four days too long. What do you do? How do you tell him / her that it’s time to go without being rude? Feel free to leave your answers in the comments section ’cause I’ve never figured out how to say goodbye without feeling rude (which is probably why I spend WAY too much time at the local Starbucks when I “catch up” with old friends or acquaintances).

If you were a well-bred socialite of the 1800s living in Louisiana, you’d leave a pineapple at the foot of your guest’s bed to let him / her know it was time to leave. Random much? I thought so. This was one of the tidbits we learned on our tour of Oak Alley Plantation (about an hours drive West of New Orleans, Louisiana).

Why a whole pineapple, you ask? Well, in many cultures the pineapple is a symbol of welcome. This is why you often find pineapple motifs along fences or carved into wooden bedposts (I raised my eyebrow when I learned about the bedposts). When a guest would arrive at a well-to-do home in Louisiana, the host would serve them freshly cut slices of pineapple on their first night to indicate that they were welcome in their home. To let their guest know it was time to leave without any awkward moments, the host would leave a whole pineapple at the foot of the bed. How someone decided that this would be the custom is anybody’s guess! But hey, the system worked!

Tips for Travellers Looking for Plantation Tours in Louisiana

1. 

   Oak Alley Plantation

   After talking to tour guides, locals and consulting the travel books, we found out that of all the plantations in the area Laura Plantation is actually the one you should visit. Laura Plantation provides more information than Oak Alley about how things used to work on a plantation and also about the history of slavery on plantations. At Oak Alley, the tour is mainly about the lives of the home’s previous owners. Both Laura Plantation and Oak Alley Plantation charge a $15 admissions fee and each one offers a free tour upon admission.

2. Bring mosquito repellent. Around the trees at Oak Alley, there were swarms of mosquitoes ready to attack.
3. If you just want a picture of the oak trees at Oak Alley, I did see some people drive along the levy behind the house to sneak some pictures. Technically, you’re not supposed to stop your car on this road to take pictures. But, I didn’t see anyone being stopped. The pictures you take here of the oak lined walk are the same as they would be if you were inside the gates.

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Trees Under Water

We’re in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee right now doing absolutely nothing. It’s been pouring all day and most of the activities around here require being outside (ex. go-karting, hiking, zorbing etc). So, we spent an extra day here hoping the weather would clear up for tomorrow and caught up on our trash / crap TV including an episode of Bible Man (seriously, wtf!? This is taking cheese and indoctrination to a whole new level), Dallas Divas and Daughters, Supernanny (not so bad), and The Dish. So this is what Topanga is doing nowadays eh?

I’ve still got a boatload of pictures to upload from our visit to New Orleans (pronounced “nawlins”). In the meantime, you can stare at the above picture that was taken from our car on the highway to New Orleans featuring some drowning trees. Flash flooding isn’t a joke around the Southern states — it’s real and it’s scary stuff.

Everyone and their pumpkins at the annual Rogers’ Pumpkin Carving Party

I hung out with fellow Best Job candidates Erik Rolfsen and Marcella Moser in Vancouver (Canada), had dinner with James Hill and Greg Reynen in Brisbane (Australia), met up with Mitch Moffit in Townsville (Australia), and now I can tick Steven Rogers off my list too! It’s too bad Cali Lewis wasn’t in Texas at the time.

To be honest, I had forgotten Steven lived in Texas (even though his Twitter account is @Steven_in_Texas ). My bad. The last I remembered through our Best Job e-mail threads (everyone still keeps in touch), he was climbing Mount Kilimanjaro in Africa and roaming the streets of Europe! I received a message from him when we first arrived in Amarillo, Texas asking where we were planning on going in Texas and if we would be passing his way. He invited us to his family’s annual Pumpkin Carving Party, and we happily accepted his invitation!

Steven, his family and friends are all very typical Southerners. And by that I mean that they’re super friendly! I really like the feeling of New Mexico and Texas because everyone is generally nicer down south.

There were heaps of neighbourhood kids and their parents at the party all happily chatting, munching on cookies and candies, and taking part in their 20+ year tradition of carving pumpkins together. The Rogers family have a large dining room table covered in photos from past pumpkin carving parties including one where Steven is sporting an ‘80s mullet (my fav). LOL

Throughout the home, there are pictures of all their travels (and the whole family has travelled a lot). After a little tour, we started carving our pumpkins and mingling over cookies. A great time was had, and the pumpkins turned out fairly well. The only bad part of the afternoon was the attack of the mosquitoes. Both Ang and I get allergic reactions from mosquito bites and I was unfortunately bitten on the forehead. Ugh.

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Thank you to Steven and the Rogers Family for inviting us into your home!

My first time on a mechanical bull

We had arrived in Dallas just in time to miss the annual Dallas Fair — supposedly (according to a guy at the hotel) the biggest fair in all of the USA. “Well, that sucks” we thought and asked the receptionist if there was anything else we could do in the area. She said that there was nothing worth seeing in Dallas, but if we wanted a cowboy experience we should visit Fort Worth (about an hour away). Off we went!

Everything happens for a reason right? Although we missed the Dallas Fair, we had arrived just in time for The Red Steagall Cowboy Gathering and Western Swing Festival!

The Red Steagall Cowboy Gathering

The Red Steagall Cowboy Gathering happens on a weekend once each year in Fort Worth, and events include a chuck wagon cooking competition, ranch rodeo, cattle drive, dancing, and live music performances.

Walking through Fort Worth during a cowboy gathering is like walking through an ad co-sponsored by Ed Hardy and Wrangler jeans! I was glad I was wearing jeans. But even so, we stood out like sore thumbs (Ang even more so because she was wearing yoga pants). You’d be hard pressed to find a place with more cowboy hats, jeans or rhinestones. I can understand the hats and denim, but rhinestones?? Where’d that come from? I’m curious to know whether people normally dress this way in Fort Worth or if it was just for the event.

There’s so much to tell you about that I figured it’d be best to section this post off into smaller more digestible chunks:

Chuck Wagon Cookoff

Making bean stew the traditional way

Where else could you find a chuck wagon cookoff? So cool! There were dozens of teams set up with their own chuck wagons (Where else could you find people who own working chuck wagons!?!) cooking meals which all included biscuits, meat, bean stew and peach cobbler. The rules are simple: make your meals the traditional way using a chuck wagon and fire pits, using the same ingredients as everyone else. I don’t think there was a rule about how you clean the pots afterwards, but I saw people cleaning them the old fashioned way (in tubs) too.

And the best part? Everyone gets to sample the food! Even though the food made Ang and me feel a little ill (I suspect the culprit was the gravy), it was well worth it. We tried samples from three different chuck wagons which included: beef, biscuits, mashed potatoes, gravy, bean stew (some were plain bean stews and others were bean and vegetable stews), and peach cobbler (some were more cobbler-like and others were more pie-like). It was traditional home-cooking and for the most part, it was good! I loved the peach cobbler we had at the last wagon. Yum yum yum.

There are so many cookoff participants that the competition is sectioned off into different parts of the day. So long as you’re in the area in the afternoon, you’ll come across a sampling.

Ranch Rodeo

The cowboys lined up at the start of the Ranch Rodeo

I was really hesitant about attending the rodeo because I used to associate “rodeo” with brutality, animal cruelty and other uncomfortable images. But hey, we were in Texas and it didn’t feel right not to go to a rodeo. Besides, you should try and embrace other cultures while travelling. Right?

We got tickets and I’m so glad we did. The rodeo was my favourite part of the day! They didn’t do any of that bull spearing or thrashing that you usually see on rodeo ads or videos on tv. The rodeo was a competition featuring real challenges cowboys face on the farms:

Team Sorting: Working as a team to single out and move calves from the herd one at a time and in order (the calves are numbered) from one end of the field to the other. Some of the teams were able to do it really quickly and were very impressive.

Bronc Riding: Riding an angry horse for a minimum of eight seconds. Ok, I don’t think the cowboys do this on a regular basis (it’s really bad on the back), but it was definitely entertaining! Nobody was hurt (animals included).

Calf Branding: Working as a team to rope a cow and brand it. I flinched and went wide-eyed when it was announced that the next competition would be calf branding. I don’t appreciate the idea of branding cows because I don’t think they appreciate it either. Most of the cows and horses at the rodeo were branded. Thankfully, the competition used fake branding irons and flour to mark the cows.

This was taken earlier in the day when they were having horse cutting competitions. Horse cutting is when you separate one calf from the herd.

Maverick Branding: A combination of calf branding and team sorting where you have to cut the calf from the herd before you brand it. I wasn’t as keen on the sports that involved lassoing the animals because it looked painful and some of the cows would ‘moo’ in distress. They all walked away without any limps or signs of abuse though.

Mutton Bustin’: This was the CUTEST part of the competition! Little kids between 5 and 7 years of age would take turns mounting sheep and ride them for as long as they could. Some of those sheep could run really fast and most kids would fall off less than two meters out of the gate. There was one little boy though that seemed to have no concept of fear and latched onto that sheep all the way to the end through the herd! The crowd went wild as the kid strutted his way back to the starting line to receive his ribbon.

Team Doctoring: This is the only time when I’m ok with lassoing and tying down a cow. For this event, the team must cut their assigned cow from the herd and tie her down on both ends. This is done on a farm to allow a doctor to safely take a look at a distressed cow.

Wild Cow Milking: It’s exactly how it sounds! LOL And no, cowboys don’t normally do this on a farm.

Cattle Drive and Music Performances

Twice a day, cowboys would march a herd of cattle down the street. It’s a short spectacle, but worth a look if you’re already there.

Throughout the day, there are live music performances on several stages throughout the stockyards. Some performances don’t require a ticket, and others (the better ones) like the Quebe Sisters are held on stage in Mule Alley (ticket required). Mule Alley is also where they have the Swing Festival (dance) at the end of the night to live country music.

Around Fort Worth

Cowboy Boots

It was recommended to us that if we wanted to shop for cowboy hats, boots or jeans, we should shop outside of the main stockyards area because it’s very touristy and the prices are higher. I agree that the main stockyards area is very touristy, but it’s hard to imagine the prices being any higher than those of the surrounding stores. Boots were being sold anywhere between $200 and $2,000 per pair. Yes, they’re handcrafted and detailed, but gee whiz $2,o00 is a lot to spend on one pair of shoes. In another store we went to, each shirt was priced over $150 — the cheapest thing I found was a really ugly blue shirt on the sale rack for $70.

Tips for Travellers to Fort Worth & The Red Steagall Cowboy Gathering

1. Prices: To attend some of the events at The Red Steagall Cowboy Gathering, you must purchase a ticket (it cost $30 per person this year with an additional $10 to attend the rodeo). You only need one ticket for all the events (except the rodeo), and events that require the purchase of this ticket include: music performances, horsemanship clinics, daytime cowboy competitions (ex. horse cutting), and admission to the markets, Cowboy Hall of Fame, and small museums. You do not need a ticket to shop in the malls around Fort Worth or sample food at the Chuck Wagon Cookoff. Even if you don’t purchase a ticket for the daytime events, I would highly recommend going to the Ranch Rodeo ($10)!
2. There are surprisingly few places to get quick eats at the main Fort Worth stockyards area. If you’re there for the Cowboy Gathering, stop by the chuck wagon cookoff areas in the afternoon for free samples. There are enough samples to keep you full throughout the day if you’re short on change.
3. You can bring snacks and drinks into the rodeo (they’re very casual), but you can also purchase snacks there (hot dogs are $3.50 and they also have cotton candy, burgers etc). Do NOT purchase a chilli hot dog. It tastes as nasty as it looks, and it looks pretty darn nasty.
4. Watch where you step because the cows and horses walk on the same roads as the people.
5. This may be different next year, but when we entered the main area of Fort Worth Stockyards, there was a sign for $10 all day parking. We went a little further in and ended up finding parking for $5.
6. I don’t think Fort Worth would’ve been as much fun if we hadn’t stumbled across the Cowboy Gathering. But, if you’re there for it, plan to spend an entire day there. Go early (before noon) for good parking. If not, a couple hours to circle the area will suffice.

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Round Trip USA

Ok, I lied about the Big Texan being the only touristy kitsch thing to see in Amarillo, Texas. I forgot about Cadillac Ranch!

Even though it’s a tacky piece of “art,” I’d still recommend a visit if you’ve got a car and a few minutes to spare. It’s free to visit and if you’ve never tagged something ugly with something even uglier, then here’s your chance!

Be aware that the ranch has moved about 1 mile away from it’s original site and locals might give you directions to the old location. No worries though, because once you get to the old site, you’ll see a helium factory where they’ll give you proper directions to the new site. Follow their directions instead of your own perceptions of what might be a quicker route, because there are one way streets in this middle-of-nowhere industrial / farm area. Go figure.

Normally I wouldn’t stop at a helium factory for directions, but I had read that the Cadillac Ranch was created by a millionare who made his fortune selling helium. I figured the people at the factory would know about their boss’ weird art. We drove the car towards a group of men at the factory and before we said anything, one of the guys said “Cadillac Ranch?” and gave us quick and simple directions on how to get there. They get a lot of lost tourists their way.

There are a few stories floating around about what the Cadillac Ranch symbolizes. One says that it’s meant to represent the richness of America where expensive Cadillacs are a dime a dozen and can be buried in the ground as art. Another says that the Cadillacs represent the evolution of the car industry since each subsequent car in the line-up is a newer model of the one before it. Finally, the last story just says that the millionare who owns the property and the factory in the area is eccentric and that’s reason enough.

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Tips for Travellers to Cadillac Ranch

1. As mentioned above, the ranch has moved so if you find yourself in the wrong area ask the guys at the helium factory for directions.
2. You can bring your own cans of spray paint, but if you only want to write a word or two you can find some cans on site with some leftover paint to use.
3. Wear closed shoes (no flip-flops) — preferably with no traction. The area is super muddy and we ended up taking about a half hour just to scrape everything out of our soles.

I shrunk!

Morten originally didn’t want to bother stopping in Texas because he had heard that it was just cattle country without much going on. When I was at Surfers Paradise (Australia), I got to talking with a woman who moved to Queensland from Texas and made the food sound so good. I wanted to go to Texas just to try some of the traditional grub! Cattle country = good steak, right?

Well, it turns out both Morten and I were wrong.  Texas was a lot of fun (we ended up staying for three days) but the food wasn’t as good as I thought it would be — not bad, but not great.

The Big Texan

The one tourist attraction in Amarillo (our first stop in Texas) is the Big Texan restaurant. Why? Because it’s home to the famous 72 oz steak — free if you can eat it with a giant shrimp cocktail, roll with butter, salad, and baked potato in under one hour, or $72 if you can’t. How big is a 72 oz steak? Well, you’re only supposed to eat as much meat as the size of your fist. The 72 oz steak is roughly six or  seven times the size of my fist, or the size of a small cat.

We decided we couldn’t eat that much so we ordered a regular steak for two, and a chicken fried steak to share between the three of us. With each order, you get two sides so we picked: fried okra (a very bland green vegetable), beef steak tomatoes with raw red onions, coleslaw, steak fries, mashed potatoes, and macaroni and cheese. Needless to say, it was still too much food. We didn’t bother to pack up the leftovers because most of it consisted of the chicken fried steak which tasted cheap (imagine a fast food copy cat of McNuggets in a larger form made with mashed beef that doesn’t taste like beef).

The 72 oz steak at the Big Texan

If you order a steak at the Big Texan, always order it one step rarer than you would normally order (ex. if you like your steak medium rare, order it rare). They warn you on the menu that due to their cooking methods, their steaks always come out drier and more well-done than other restaurants.

I wouldn’t recommend the place for the food, but I do think it’s worth a stop if you’re in the area just to feel like you’re living in a world of giants. You’ll find just about everything in giant form: money, cow, cowboy boot, chair, rice crispy square, Hershey bar, cake, steak, etc.

Oh, but if you’re a vegetarian or animal rights activist, steer clear of the place. It’s a steak house and every wall is covered with the work of taxidermists: elk, deer, moose, beaver, boar, bear… anything furry and formerly wild.

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