(Overdue) Weekend Eats

This weekend was exactly what comes to mind when I think of the average teen living in New York. A girls night in, followed by an exploration of a somewhat daunting neighborhood. 

  

There is nothing like a Friday night when you order in  sushi with your best friend... and then invite your parents to join.

Seriously, it's pretty fun (sometimes). 

Of course, we had to watch Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince, as the last step to completing the preparation for the most epic night in the history of the universe.

For that exact reason, my mother did not watch, but endured the first fifteen minutes or so, in order to eat her Chilean sea bass, and soft shell crab roll. 

Of course we need some kind of dessert to round off the night. What's a night in if you can't gorge yourself with sweets?

Sweet and Salty Cake

For the cake

1 box of devil's food cake, cake mix (we cheated on this part. What can I say, Betty Crocker really knows what she's doing)

Chocolate covered pretzels

For the butter cream

3 large egg whites

3/4 cup sugar

2 1/4 sticks of butter, at room temperature, cut into pieces

1 cup caramel sauce

1. Whisk the egg whites and sugar in the bowl of a standing mixer set over a pot of boiling water. Whisk constantly until the sugar has dissolved completely and the egg whites feel hot to the touch.

2. Transfer the bowl to the mixer fitted with a whisk attachment and whip the egg whites on high speed until they have formed a meringue and the bowl has cooled (5-7 mins). 

3. Remove the whisk attachment and switch to a paddle attachment. Begin adding the butter in small amounts while the mixer is on medium high speed. 

4. Add the caramel sauce, until fully integrated. Once finished, the icing should have a smooth shiny appearance.

Finishing touches

Ice the cake.  We didn't use all the icing, and we halved the recipe (it used to include 4 1/2 sticks of butter).

Chop the pretzels, and decorate as desired. 

Pies n Thighs!

For brunch on Sunday, my friend Claire, her mother, my mother, and I, all went to what was supposed to be a pie contest (to eat pies not enter them) in Willamsburg, Brooklyn. The line was long, and we were hungry, and Claire and her mother knew of a restaurant near by called Pies n Thighs. 

This was my fried chicken with hash browns, and the best biscuit I've ever had. When I ate this I felt like I was meant to live in the south.

Claire's smoked pork hash with eggs. Sadly I didn't get to eat much of this, although the minute she say my fried chicken, she reached over on my plate and took half for herself. 

Claire happily eating her chocolate pudding pie