2015 Year in Review

Since we’re in the new year and I neglected the blog all of December, I thought it would be nice to do a year in review for 2015. I was going through all of my photos in 2015 and realized that there were so many experiences I didn’t blog about, so here’s the catch up – I’ll be writing more detailed posts of some of these highlights in the coming weeks (or months!). Hope you had a wonderful 2015 and can’t wait to see what 2016 has in store for all of us!

January

I started off the new year (2015) in Taiwan. My mom, Ken and I visited my dad and other family in Taiwan and ended up going all over the island. Here I am with Ken in Taipei in front of Chiang Kai Shek memorial hall:

Me and Ken recreating the sculptures in front of my dad’s office:

And balancing on slippery rocks after hiking in Hualien:

February

We came back to New York in January to a very cold winter (but thank goodness for Canada Goose jackets!) and celebrated two events – a surprise party for our friend, Anna:

And a baby shower for my brother and sister-in-law – I made a cake for my nephew to enjoy (a sprinkle cake with his nickname, Fab!):

The sprinkle cake was about five pounds of cake and sprinkles (I had to make two trips to the grocery store because I ran out of sprinkles!!)

March

In March, we puppysat my favorite puppy, Harlie! We took her to the puppy park and also walked her around the park (unfortunately for her, she can’t enter Gramercy Park):

At the puppy park, Harlie met lots of other dogs, even a toy Australian Shepard:

April

In April, Ken and I spent a few days in Las Vegas -he was golfing in Phoenix with friends and I was going to Las Vegas for a work trip so we met up in Phoenix and drove to Las Vegas together! Actually, I picked a flight with a connection in Phoenix so we could fly together from Phoenix to Las Vegas, but Ken accidentally booked his flight for the wrong day so I got off the plane and we rented a car and drove from Phoenix to Las Vegas together. We spent the weekend together and then he flew back and I spent the week with my coworkers:

The weekend we were in Las Vegas just happened to be the weekend my nephew, Fab, was born!! I couldn’t wait to get back to New York to meet the little guy:

Here he is, waving at all the gracenotesnyc readers:

April was such a great month because Fab was born – and the cuteness from him now fills up my phone’s memory.

May

We started off May with a move to our new home:

And lots of puppy kisses from Harlie:

Moving into our new home involved lots of packing and unpacking:

And it was also the month that I finally got around to reading Marie Kondo’s book, The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up. Ken might think I didn’t take the book to heart, but I ended up donating 20 bags of clothes, jewelry, shoes and other items AFTER we moved (before the move, there were about 10 trips to Goodwill!)

After moving, we flew to Pittsburgh to visit my childhood home (and haunts) and also celebrated my good friend’s wedding:

Towards the end of the month, Ken surprised me with the longest roses I’ve ever encountered for my birthday:

For my birthday, we flew down to South Carolina and spent the weekend in Charleston:

We had my birthday dinner at FIG, which was one of the most memorable meals of the year:

June

In June, my friends Denise, Tyler and Anna took me out to dinner at Marta:

And I also spent a lot of time going to visit Fab, who grew in size and cuteness:

July

In July, we flew to Chicago for a quick anniversary trip (our second!) We stayed downtown for our actual anniversary and then spent the rest of the week with Ken’s niece and nephew, including a trip to Great America:

Where I learned that going on all rides that I used to like as a kid now made me dizzy and feel ill.

After our trip to Chicago, Ken’s parents and sister, Teresa, flew to New York to visit us, where we feasted on Han Dynasty their first night:

And then made a trip to EN Brasserie (and other restaurants):

In July, we also had our first meal outdoors in our new home:

And we ended the month with trips to the Hamptons to visit Anna – here I am with Denise and Anna at Moby’s:

August

We started off August with our first party at our home – I made boozy popsicles that were a big hit (Aperol Spritz Popsicles – in case you’re interested in the recipe):

I also went to Puerto Rico with my mom and brother for a quick weekend trip:

And we ended the month with another trip to Chicago, where we ate a lot of Dairy Bar:

September

In September, we took our first full family vacation with Fab to the Jersey Shore, where we thought Fab would like the ocean but he hated it so we went once for ten minutes and never went back:

October

In October, we started off the month with a trip to San Francisco:

To visit Teresa and Adam at Nopalito:

We drove to Sonoma after our quick trip to San Francisco and rented a house to celebrate John and Erin’s wedding weekend. At night, we would make a fire and eat s’mores in the backyard:

We also went to a few vineyards while we were there:

And then celebrated John and Erin’s wedding:

When we came back, Ken went to a playoff game with the Mets and the Cubs while the girls spent some quality time together:

And also hosted our first dinner party in our new home:

November

In November, we started off the month with more cute visits with Fab:

And also spent Thanksgiving in New York because Fab wanted to stay local for Thanksgiving:

For the second year in a row, I didn’t do a Friendsgiving and opted to have a holiday party (post-Thanksgiving) instead. We did, however, finally start decorating our apartment and I finally got around to framing our special menus and Ken helped me hang them:

Harlie helped, too:

December

We ended 2015 with a lot of fun events – first, our holiday party in our apartment:

We made cookie tablesettings with everyone’s names and also a ton of sugar cookies that Ken and I decorated:

All of us at dinner:

And then solving an escape-the-room type mystery:

AND THEN karaoke:

Then we did an early Christmas with Fab because we weren’t going to be in town for the actual holiday:

We weren’t in New York for Christmas because we flew to San Francisco (our second home!) and spent a couple nights in Napa:

Before heading back to San Francisco to celebrate Teresa and Adam’s rehearsal dinner:

And wedding:

We ate a lot of chocolate wedding cake at their wedding:

After Teresa and Adam’s wedding, we spent the week in San Francisco, where we walked through a life-size gingerbread house at the Fairmont hotel:

And admired Christmas trees and decorations:

We capped off the year with a visit from my mom and a homecooked meal for New Years eve:

And of course, lots of time with my nephew, Fab:

In 2015, we traveled a lot, put our roots down in New York, and had so much fun with my nephew and family. In 2016, I hope Ken and I can finish decorating our place, spend more time with my nephew, and continue to be happy and healthy. Wishing you and your family health and happiness in the new year!

Early Bird Farmhand’s Choice Granola Recipe

Remember when I wrote about my love for Nounos Creamery yogurt with Early Bird granola and hemp seeds? (If not, you can check out the post here). The granola and yogurt addiction was getting a tad expensive (each Nounos yogurt is $2.50 and Early Bird Granola is $10.99/bag, which I try to make last two weeks but that doesn’t always end up working). Well, I looked up the recipe for Early Bird Farmhand’s Choice granola and it is so easy to make that I went to the grocery store and farmer’s market and ended up making my own! I’ve already made two batches and it tastes identical – actually, it tastes better because I feel like I’m saving money every time I eat my own instead of buying a new bag. The recipe doesn’t include that many ingredients – nuts, oats, sugars, coconut, olive oil and salt. It actually took longer for my oven to reach 300 degrees than it took for me to prep the ingredients!

To start, mix the dry ingredients in a bowl (oats, raw sunflower seeds, raw pumpkin seeds, coconut shreds, salt, and pecans):

Then add the wet ingredients and the brown sugar to the dry (olive oil, brown sugar and maple syrup):

Mix all of the ingredients together and make sure everything is evenly coated:

Place on a cookie sheet:

And into a 300 degree preheated oven for 45 minutes. You have to take the granola out every 10 minutes to stir so it doesn’t burn:

Once you take the granola out, you can add the coarse sea salt – the granola tastes exactly the same as Early Bird and it’s much less expensive than buying it in stores! Here’s the recipe (from Nekisia Davis, the Early Bird Granola creator, herself!)

Farmhand’s Choice Granola

3 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
1 cup raw pumpkin seeds, hulled
1 cup raw sunflower seeds, hulled
1 cup coconut chips
1 1/4 cup raw pecans, coarsely chopped
3/4 cup pure maple syrup, preferably Grade A
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 cup packed light-brown sugar
Coarse salt

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Place oats, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, coconut, pecans, syrup, olive oil, sugar, and 1 teaspoon salt in a large bowl and mix until well combined. Spread granola mixture in an even layer on a rimmed baking sheet. Transfer to oven and bake, stirring every 10 minutes, until granola is toasted, about 45 minutes. Remove granola from oven and season with salt. Let cool completely before serving or storing in an airtight container for up to 1 month.

Jongro Korean BBQ

Last weekend, Ken and I were in the mood to eat out on Friday night but didn’t know what we wanted to eat (as usual!). We finally decided to get Korean and we hadn’t been to K-town in over six months, so we walked over to 32nd Street to find a restaurant. We walked all along the street and weren’t really felling any restaurant and were about to give in to BCD, but then we both spotted Jongro Korean BBQ on the second floor of an office building. I’ve been to almost all of the restaurants on 32nd and they’re all pretty good but I’d never even heard of Jongro before. Ken hadn’t heard of it, either, but it looked like it was pretty packed so we decided to take the chance.

When you walk inside the restaurant, the first thing you’ll notice is the decor – its style is very retro (Korea from the 1970s/80s) and there are BBQ plates at each table:

We originally wanted ramen and soup but when we sat down we decided to do barbecue and soup. I love going to restaurants in K-town because there are always so many banchan (side dishes that they send over after you order). Jongro sent over an egg custard that cooked at the table:

Some kimchi, macaroni salad and sides for the barbecue:

We ordered the seafood pancake (pajeon):

The pancake had a different texture than other restaurants that serve it – the batter tasted a little sweet like funnel cake. Ken and I both liked it – not too much octopus, a good variety of seafood, and dense and a little sweet.

We shared an order of kalbi; if you want to cook at the table, there’s a minimum of two orders of meat:

The kalbi was really delicious – marinated, tender and really good with rice, soybean paste, green onions and a lettuce wrap. We both agreed that it was some of the better kalbi we’ve had in Koreatown.

We also ordered the kimchi soup:

The soup ended up being more of a tofu soup than kimchi soup and it was a little flavorless, so I don’t think I’d come back for their soup. We asked for some rice because we ordered both the soup and the barbecue and I noticed that they charged for rice (which is kind of annoying considering everyone eats their bbq or soup with SOME rice!) The barbecue is definitely worth getting and the atmosphere is very lively (although the music is pretty loud) – a great new addition to our K-town repertoire!

Michel et Augustin – two kooky cookies

I was recently at Starbucks trying to keep my gold status (I succeeded – yay!) and was trying to buy my last item to maintain status. I didn’t need another drink so I was looking for something to buy to share at the office and saw these Michel et Augustin shortbread cookies at the register:

Four cookies for $1.95?! It was a good price point and the cashier said they were actually good so I bought some to bring to work. I decided to open a sleeve on my way to the office to see if they were any good and let me just tell you – these cookies are so good I was contemplating whether or not to share them!! The chocolate is full-bodied and very good quality and the shortbread has a saltiness to them that adds so much flavor to the cookie. Per Se gives similar cookies (as a sandwich) when you dine at the restaurant, but they don’t sell them a la carte.

Michel et Augustin are a relatively new brand in the US but they have a variety of products (cookies, yogurt, and even drinks) outside the US. I spotted the baguette cookies at the super market and decided to try those, too, because I loved the shortbread cookies so much. They’re good, but not as good as the shortbread cookies (I thought the baguettes were slightly flavorless and didn’t add enough to balance out the chocolate). The cookies are sold all over New York now – I’ve seen them at Le District, every Starbucks I’ve visited, and Westside Market. Their website lists chocolate mousse as another product they sell – if I ever find that in the city, I definitely want to buy it!

Nounos Creamery

A while back, I was introduced to Nounos Creamery Yogurt by my sister-in-law, Laura. Laura always stocks Nounos in her fridge so when I saw an interesting flavor, I jumped on the chance to buy it. Nounos is a family-owned creamery in Southampton that makes Greek-style strained yogurt and mixes it with fresh fruit or vanilla beans. They also have great seasonal flavors, including two of my favorites: strawberries and cream and apple pie a la mode. Nounos isn’t sold at Whole Foods so I went to Morton Williams to pick some up – sadly, they only had strawberries and cream (not apple pie a la mode) and they sell it for $2.99, which is slightly more expensive than other grocery stores. Laura gets hers from Westside Market, so I headed over to the location in the east village to pick some up:

They have a whole Nounos section!!! I was so excited that I might have gone a little overboard and ended up with $30 in yogurt:

The yogurt is creamy but not too thick, only slightly sweet, and the fillings aren’t oversweetened, which I really like. I was buying Fage yogurt, but the toppings are a little too concentrated for me (and they’re also difficult to mix because the toppings are separated from the yogurt and FruYo, the yogurt where they’ve already mixed in the fruit, is too sweet).

I was telling Ken how excited I was about the yogurt and I ended up waking up earlier than usual because I was so excited to pick my Nounos flavor for breakfast! I purchased a bunch of different flavors last week but this week I only purchased apple pie a la mode and strawberries and cream. For breakfast, I mix the yogurt with my favorite granola, Early Bird‘s Farmhand’s Choice, Hemp seeds, and fresh fruit (usually bananas or raspberries):

It’s filling and keeps me satiated until lunch time. On the weekdays, I usually have two – one for breakfast and one as an afternoon snack, and on the weekends, I limit myself to one (just for breakfast!) You can definitely get Early Bird granola at Whole Foods (we’ve also purchased it at Eataly before) and if you’re not in New York, you can order it online! We’ve tried all of the flavors and can vouch for all of them – now we just pick up whatever’s available at Whole Foods because they sell out so quickly!

I love the packaging, but now I have a ton of glass jars all over the apartment! I was thinking I could plant some seeds but that might get messy – a coworker suggested I make candles and give them out so I might look into it. I’m pretty sure I’m up to 20 glass jars already – I wish they had a recycling program (similar to Chobani’s) – 5 glass containers for a free yogurt!!