food – Jason & Erin

Tag: food

Quick Bite – Katana-Ya

It’s been awhile since Erin and I updated our site, and we thought creating quick posts about meals we’ve eaten would be a great way to breathe new life into the site.

This week we’re visiting San Francisco while I attend Google I/O. We were both hungry and wanted to get something simple and warm on a damp, cool May day. After some Google searching, Erin found Katana-Ya ramen in the Union Square neighborhood, which was near our hotel.

I had the Katana-Ya Ramen in Soy Broth. It included two pieces of BBQ pork, seaweed, green onions, corn, a hard-boiled egg, 2 pieces of fried goyza, and 2 pieces of karaage (fried chicken).

Erin had the BBQ Pork Ramen in Miso Broth. It included four pieces of BBQ pork, seaweed, and green onions. We both wished the pork was a pork belly as this was a bit tougher than we’re used to.

All in all, pretty good.

Some helpful tips:
When you arrive, there is a sign-in sheet outside the door. Put your name down and expect a small wait.
Turnaround is quick.
Food arrives fast and hot!
May need to flag down weight staff to pay your bill.
They don’t take American Express.

Hello from the most negligent bloggers in the land! We kept drafting posts, then not posting posts, then deleting posts, and ultimately ignoring the mere existence of posts. So here’s a little highlight reel of the last few months. We have trips to Chicago, Minnesota, and even India. We have weddings, and sightseeing, and family reunions. We have lots of friends, and lots of amazing skies. It’s been a great year and we’ve been, apparently, too busy to document it properly! Here’s to the close of 2013 and a 2014 with even more to show.

Big Apple BBQ
We came, we ate all the meat.

Chicago
Celebrating an old friend’s wedding in Jason’s favorite city.

Jekyll Island
Another wedding—this time family—on the beautiful Jekyll Island, Georgia, known for Driftwood Beach.

Bo Ssam
Shared an incredible bo ssam with ten friends and ate until we couldn’t see straight!

Beach Week 2013
Summer vacation tradition continues, but this time with a heavy heart for Jersey.

Fete Paradiso on Governor’s Island
An antique French carnival set up in New York Harbor? Ooh la la!

NYCC 2013
The boys headed to ComicCon again, this time with Cameron, too! (see more on Jason’s Flickr account).

India
Erin took the work trip of a lifetime.

Thanksgiving
Once again we hosted our family and friends for pie, stuffing, and turkey turkey turkey.

Minnesota Weekend Getaway
Braved 2° high temps to see Lauren and Peto! Escaped to Mall of America.

Bring on 2014
And as the sun sets on 2013, we are ready for a whole new year of adventure!

Say “Cheese!”

Jason’s favorite cheese has always been mozzarella, so for Christmas this past year I got him a cheesemaking kit through Zingerman’s! It has the rennet and citric acid you need to add to whole milk in order to make many batches of mozzarella and ricotta cheese.

The directions are very clear, and the process is actually quite simple, but it involves large pots, a thermometer, and some careful timing. After the milk, citric acid, and rennet sit together for five minutes they magically transform into a custard-like curd; a few minutes later and that curd is elastic and shiny and actual cheese! The box says salt is optional but it is flavorless without it, and the directions also stress the importance of a stepped-down cold-water bath that we skipped but will be sure to do next time.

(Jason pulling fresh mozzarella)

We made use of the cheese in homemade pizza tonight: a mushroom, pepper, and onion as well as a taco pizza. Creamy, soft, and delicious! We’ll make a post about our homemade pizzas another time.

Giving Thanks

They always say that the times leading up to holidays fly by, but it seems more true now than ever! We can’t believe it’s been a month since Hurricane Sandy and a full week since Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving is Erin’s favorite holiday by far (a holiday devoted to food, at which she alone receives presents (for her birthday)? perfection!) and we’ve hosted at our apartment for three years now. Our Thanksgivings in New York have always been for our “New York family,” our closest friends who also don’t travel for this holiday. But this year, because it was Erin’s parents’ first T-day back in the States, we invited them to join us. In all we were due to have 11 adults and 1 kiddo at the table, and food assignments went out early so everyone could chip in.

We were in charge of a few things besides the turkey, of course. We had to make Lindsay‘s stuffing, a tradition for all of us now that we keep up while Lindsay lives in Beirut. We also made the gravy, mashed potatoes, roasted yams, cranberry relish, pumpkin pie and apple pie. The menu was rounded out with wine and beer and these food additions from the guests: Nanda’s homemade cranberry sauce, Holly’s green bean casserole and appetizers, Tania’s Brussels sprouts and appetizers. Plus biscuits, ice cream, and whipped cream and cool whip from Heather.

Our day on Wednesday started early, with stuffing and pie prep well underway before lunch. Thursday was dominated by the turkey and stock, of course. We used Martha Stewart’s years-old method of soaking cheesecloth in butter and white wine to baste the bird. Folks started to arrive around 3pm and because of all the help in the kitchen, we were ALL able to sit at the table and enjoy some appetizers. (Adding Mom to the kitchen to cook and Dad to help with dishes meant everything went amazingly smoothly.) Everything came out great, even the un-brined turkey (though it was a touch dry). Sadly, we got late word that the McKee family were plagued with a stomach bug, so we were down two.

The rest of us gathered around our makeshift table (made up of our table plus a desk) and ate until we were full to bursting. We had a house full of dear friends and family, a table full of food, and a room buzzing with conversation. What more is there to be thankful for?

[left: Erin’s plate, including a bit of everything; right: Jason’s plate of nearly all stuffing.]

San Francisco!

It feels like forever ago that we went to San Francisco (and in some ways it was), but life sped up and the truth is, it’s not going to slow down, so it’s time to blog about the trip! Apologies for the delay.

We were going to San Francisco for a wedding. Well, a wedding reception—Erin’s friend Julia was getting married at City Hall on Friday and a reception would be on Saturday night. It was a perfect excuse for a long weekend in SF, a city Erin has always loved but Jason had never been to. Labor Day weekend was typical for SF, with temps in the 50s, and Jason could not have been happier. It made our walking tour of the city (and we do mean walking tour—we covered 25 miles in two and a half days) completely lovely. Highlights include tacos in the Mission, North Beach, Chinatown, the Palace of Fine Arts, the Golden Gate, a boat tour, friends, classic San Francisco meals, and, of course, more tacos.

Brisketlab

Science never tasted so good. Brisketlab came to the Foursquare offices, and our friends had an extra pound of brisket to sell, which we snapped up. We all snagged seats at a picnic table in the Foursquare cafeteria—along with a few hundred other hungry people. There was a choice of “fatty” or “lean” brisket, or both (Jason wisely got us half a pound of each rather than split our orders), and some sides: Whole Foods mac n cheese and jicama-melon salad. Those stamped with a blue cow on their hands were in the first wave; though our wave (red) wasn’t ever called, it was clear the crowd was managing the flow themselves. Both types of brisket were pretty tasty, but both of us preferred the fatty. The spice rub had a decidedly pastrami vibe, and don’t get us wrong, we love pastrami, but it wasn’t what we were expecting. Our friends, who’ve sampled Brisketlab before, tell us that last time it was unbearably salty on the outside and flavorless on the inside. I don’t think that was the case this time—go go experimental method!

Of course, because it was at the Foursquare offices there had to be some kind of perk for checking in, right? They didn’t disappoint, giving anyone who checked in a free can of Six Point beer (not a tiny thing). The cafeteria accommodates far more than the 110 employees we hear they have, and damn was it noisy. The band, Emily Asher, was fantastic though, and the music was a nice addition to the evening. Cap it all off with some great friends, and we had a fantastic time.

Tag: food

Quick Bite – Katana-Ya

Playing Catchup

Say “Cheese!”

Giving Thanks

San Francisco!

Brisketlab