I love arepas!

I'm addicted. After a weekend in Venezuela, I can't stop thinking about them. In fact, I almost asked my cabbie to make a pit stop at Caracas Arepas Bar in the east village on my way home from the airport...but I realized that might be a bit unreasonable.

Prior to departing, I dragged Pallavi to Guayoyo in east village for a primer in Venezuelan food. We shared yuca fries and a cachapa, which is a dish that looks similar to an Indian dosa, but thicker and made with corn and stuffed with meat, vegetables and or cheese.

I was now more than ever excited for my next food adventure in Venezuela!

Uhuru and tiger prawns

I went on a trip with my sister to Kenya, Tanzania and a very quick layover in Johannesburg. We spent a week hiking Mount Kilimanjaro, and the rest of the time stalking lions in the Masai Mara or dolphins in Zanzibar.

The last time I was in Africa, I visited South Africa, I had delicious tiger prawns from Mozambique. So, I was looking forward to gorging on tiger prawns and other sea food. Maybe a prawn pizza or two?

For the record, uhuru means freedom in Swahili. The top of Kilimanjaro is named Uhuru Peak - or freedom peak - named after Tanzania received independence in 1961 (from the Brits).

A Visit to Charm City!

Charm city is a cute name for Baltimore. It also reminds me of Charm City Cakes (and we know how much I love cake). I went down to visit my sister for a weekend. As much as I wanted to eat dorm food (ha), my sister had bookmarked a few restaurants she wanted to try. If you are hungry or on a diet, you probably shouldn't look at the rest of the blog. I'm still in a food coma, a week later. 

Cousin Reunion

I love traveling to other cities - and especially when there is a cousin reunion involved! My cousin Amar lives in DC, and my sister is in Baltimore. My other cousin Ajay lives in Boston and for his spring break he came to DC. So, the four of us got together for a weekend of good food and fun times!

On Friday night, we went to Good Stuff Eatery, which is former Top Chef winner's Spike Mendelsohn's place. What the reviews say are true: what is UP with the fries? They were soggy, and I didn't feel like dipping them into my milkshake. I'd like to think that an important quality of a fry is whether you can dip it into your shake or not. These failed the test.

{Bad. Very bad.}

The shakes (I had Vietnamese Coffee, my sister ordered the Toasted Marshmallow) were to die for - but my cousin made a good point - shakes are just a ton of ice cream blended together so really, how could those go wrong?

{Good. Very good.}

The buns on the burger were fluffy and moist, and I thought the burger was ok (not fantastic).  My burger was a bit too well done for my tastes - would have preferred it medium rare or medium at most - but they did not ask me how I wanted my burger prepared. Would I come here for another burger? No, probably not, but I'd stop in for a shake if I were in the neighboorhood!

For brunch the next day, Amar took us to  Busboys and Poets. The space is really cool - a nice coffee shop / restaurant vibe and it is also a book store. I ordered the avocado panini and a latte - I was a bit full from last night and the usual brunch options did not seem too appealing to me at the time.

{Yum town pastrami sandwich}

The four of us stopped by a dog park and gazed longingly for a good 20 minutes. Then we headed back to DuPont circle, and of course, I spied a cupcake shop. Since I had worked out earlier in the morning, I decided I could share a cupcake with my sister. Actually, that is the ONLY reason I dragged my butt out of bed at 9:30am to workout.

Dinner that night was at Cedar, which I enjoyed. We each got an appetizer and an entree. And, dessert. Of course.  My sister's butter nut squash soup seemed out of place, given that we are in the spring, but it was still delicious. And my cousin's peanut butter chocolate dessert was the most salivating item out of everything we ordered.

The most magnificent meal of all was our brunch at Blue Duck Tavern. New York, I love you, but I don't think I've had a brunch this delicious, ever.

{It's not brunch without a little champagne}

{Perfectly baked croissants. Dreaming of these.}

{The best pancake. Ever.}

Let's not forget Baked and Wired. It's a cafe / bakery near Georgetown. The cupcakes are basically divine. Moist and topped with a frosting of perfect consistency and flavor. I could eat four in one sitting. And in fact, I'm pretty sure I have.

{Try and guess which one is mine}

Switzerland

When a friend of mine, Varun, suggested skiing in Zermatt for a weekend, I couldn’t pass up the chance. Skiing in the SWISS ALPS, a trip to Europe, and the opportunity to eat Swiss chocolate and cheese by the truckload? Who are we kidding, we all know that it is the last one that sealed the deal. 

This One Is For You, Ariel

Last summer, I had an ingenious idea to throw a Princess Ice Cream Party. Only, I ended up traveling for most of the summer, so I wasn't really around to throw said party. Anyways, one of the ice cream flavors I was going to make was salted caramel, for Ariel (get it: salt = ocean = mermaids). Other flavors included earl grey for Kate (now The Duchess, but forever a Princess in my mind), green apple sorbet for Snow White, Pumpkin for Cinderella, and Lavender for Belle.

Fast forward to last week, when I needed to take some pictures for my photo project. I also wanted to try some Salted Caramel Ice Cream, because I was in the mood for something different.

So, Ariel, this one is for you and, I guess, Prince Eric, my favorite Disney prince. Try and share it.

Guest Blog Post: Mango Cheesecake

Happy Valentine's Day! 

Today, we have one of my oldest friends, Avani, guest blogging for us. Avani and I have been friends since we were approximately 10 or 11. We met at a Diwali dance practice and have basically been inseparable since. No really. We could write volumes of books about our stupid inside jokes or silly things we laugh about and we are often connected through various mediums throughout the course of every day (gchat. email. text message. scramble with friends. phone. fb wall). Our favorite story to share with others is how, when we were 22 and visiting friends in NYC, Avani got a slice of pizza at that place across from Port Authority. I ate 95% of it, yet she was the one who ended up with food poisoning the next day. We also both share a deep love for the color pink, and the Middleton sisters. These days, Avani is a journalist based out of Seattle, and loves eating food as much as I do. 

Welcome, Avani! 

Sidenote: I have had this cheesecake before, when I was little and Avani's mom would invite us over, and I probably tried to ("stealthily") consume 100 pieces then. I'd still do the same now.