But enough about me... (A week in pictures and food!)

I love cute little turtles now -- my most recent purchase is a T-shirt with a very cute turtle on it. It says on top, 'Shut the Shell Up'. I wore it to work on Friday. You shoulda seen my boss' face. LOL.

Since I had to work the entirety of the last few days that Lorena and Isaac were here, I only got a chance to join them for the evenings.

Day 5

We we went to one of my favorite haunts, Dojo. There are two in NYC; by Washington Square Park and in St. Mark's Place. I just love Dojo. It is good, it is cheap (!!!), there is always a lively crowd because it seems to cater to college students' appetites and budgets!

The menu is a mix between American, Japanese and Mediterranean. And sometimes there's fusion. For instance, Lorena got a burger, in a pita, with a salad that had sprouts and that had Dojo's signature carrot-tahini dressing. The dressing is similar to the ones in Japanese restaurants - you know the ones that come with the basic lettuce salads and you always say 'on the side' but you end up drowning your leaves in it. Yes, that dressing! Mmmm.

I decided to go all veggie and had an ALT - avocado lettuce tomato. Mine was in a CHALLAH! roll. Yum yummy. The only annoying thing about the sandwiches section of the menu, as opposed to the burgers section, is that you don't really get a side salad or french fries, so of course I had all of Rafa's! YUM! In case you haven't caught on, New York visitors, Dojo - highly recommended!

Oh and forgot to mention, before Dojo, the gang, sans me, had hot dogs. You can't come to New York and not have one of these beauties.

The funny thing about hot dogs is that I absolutely love the idea of them, the smell of them, the thought of all those fixins on top - but when I eat them, I just feel so awful afterwards. And not just vendor hot dogs, all hot dogs! Those stupid times when I convince myself I will not get sick from them, about halfway through I get a mental image of how they are prepared and just get totally grossed out; I can't even finish them. Is it a mind over matter thing? Hmmn. Well if I ever figure out this conundrum, I think I should tackle the burger.

Day 6

Day 6 did not comprise of a lot of eating, at least not on my part. The gang had gone to lunch at Olive Garden, in Times Square, and were still at it when I was done at work. They utilized the 'endless breadsticks and salads' policy to its fullest extent. By the time I had arrived at the restaurant, they were on their fourth salad!

Now that's what I love about Olive Garden. Apart from the fact that yes, endless breadsticks and salad means endless breadsticks and salad, the food is really good! I may get a lot of rolling eyes at that comment but let's get real. What do you really want from an eating experience? Good food and good service, right? Well who bloody cares that it's a chain restaurant and all tourists flock to it. I always have had delicious food and impeccable service at Olive Garden. Maybe my tastes are not as refined as others, but I know what I like, and Olive Garden has got it for me. I always get the portabello mushroom ravioli - yum! Recently, I tried their risotto. Also very very good! I just really have no patience for people who love to jump on the let's-hate-chain-restaurants bandwagon just because. If you have a valid reason, then fine, but don't go ahead and be hatin' just because everybody else seems to be doing it. Be an individual, know what you like and don't like. Ok, rant over. LOL.

Day 7

Now that I've taken a deep breath, let me tell you about Day 7! Oh just let me tell you!

Without sounding too much like a oh-my-life-is-so-fabulous-be-jealous-of-me-now blogger, let me just tell you that my life is just so fabulous and you're going to be jealous of me now!! Haha! I live fairly close, that is walking distance, from the most wonderful Turkish restaurant in New York - and I mean it, New York! I've mentioned Sahara before when I made Tom's red lentil soup, because all I could imagine doing then was dipping Sahara's fab bread into the soup. Well my foodie dreams were realized.

To celebrate Rafa's first day at work (yay!), the four of us went to Sahara for dinner. I love going to a restaurant that I've been to many times before and knowing exactly what we should order. Well the starters were eggplant spread, shepherd's salad, and hummus. My family has been going here for years, something like almost 20 I think, mainly because it reminds us of the food from Israel, and the bread, wow!

I had a bit of a stomach ache so only ordered soup as my entree. My eyes instantly focused on 'Red Lentil Soup'. I was thinking, oh I know this soup. If you remember, Tom said his version was inspired by the Soup of the Day at his local Turkish restaurant. The one I had at Sahara was practically the same, only the lentils were pureed, so what I got was this intense, rich and lovely soup. This time I had 'the' bread on the side, and it was perfect together. Rafa and Lorena got the Sahara shish kebabs. The meat is so tender and you could taste the smokiness of the barbecue on them. Rice is usually what is served with kebabs and other main dishes. Sahara's rice is buttery and fluffy - it is not the typical long grain rice. My mom buys Turkish rice, so it has to be something else, although I do not know what. Isaac got some grilled chicken. That's always a good thing!

All in all a fabulous restaurant and eating experience. I could have been rude and not mentioned Sahara at all for fear that it would become too crowded with new customers, but it already is so there is nothing I could do about it. Since we started going it has expanded on both sides and added a garden eating area and an upstairs. Good restaurants should do well; I'm glad to call this one a neighborhood favorite.

Day 8

I was Ms. Crankypants on Day 8 because I was just soooo tired; you'd be surprised how un-fun shopping gets to be when you do it every single day for an entire week. Well thankfully my mood brightened when we had some yummy food at a great Cuban place we have gone to quite often - Havana Central. I usually get a Cuban sandwich with a heap of sweet potato fries -- can you say YUM!? But, this time around I got Pollo Al Ajillo with yellow rice and red beans. It was good but not fantastic! Ah, should have gone for my usual.

Day 9

I cooked! Finally! I think the tourists were tired of eating out every single day, so I think they were looking forward to a home-cooked meal. In the last few days we have eaten Italian, Japanese (kinda), Chinese, Mexican, Turkish, and Cuban. If my friends ever wondered what foodie delights New York City had to bring, they need not wonder anymore. I took them to all my favorite places.

So back to dinner. A bunch of fellow N.com'ers are cooking out of Feast's Ultimate Feasts and Partytime chapters. I made a gorgeous ultimate feast - crunchy pork chops with garlicky spinach and tomato salad. The pork chops are dipped in an egg mixture of egg (durr!), dijon mustard and oregano. They are then coated with breadcrumbs mixed in with some grated parmesan.

The dinner was a great success... It brought a smile to this domestic goddess to see Isaac pick up a chop at the end and eat almost every last bit. The salad was garlicky and perfect with the crunchy chops - yum!

Day 10

I brought bagels! No New York experience is complete without some fresh Brooklyn bagels! I got up and went out while some were still sleeping (rum 'n' coke hangover) to get some fresh bagels from Bagel Boy, known for its fab bagels and long lines! Well the line wasn't too long, and the bagels were fantastic! I picked up some cream cheese and egg salad too. Yummy breakfast! The bagels were soft, chewy, and warm. Mmmm.

After breakfast we got some sun and surf at the beach, and then joined the rest of my family for dinner at my mom's. It was a full lunch Russian-style. Vareniki, salad olivé, eggplant spread, zharkoi (a type of veal stew with potatoes), avocado spread, etc. I made some Challah! for the occasion. Lovely.

Afterwards we went into Times Square for a last look, and had some awesome elevator-riding experiences at the Marriot Marquis. We apparently weren't 'business casual' enough for The View restaurant - that revolving thingamigy restaurant. But the elevators were awesome.

The Spaniards, hubby included, were a bit hungry - I won't tell my mom, it's a sin to be hungry after a meal at her place! They put out a whole Spanish spread complete with Spanish wine.

Ok, maybe barbecue Pringles aren't that Spanish - but these Spaniards eat potato chips with everything!!! I am not a wine drinker, but I was convinced to at least have some tinto - Sprite with red wine. It was actually very nice! Now it's 12:43am and they are still talking - take that rum away from them!!! LOL. They leave tomorrow. :( It'll be sad without them here. We've had someone to hang out with for the last 10 days, so it will be very quiet. We've had some good times and really good food. And now, I'll actually have to cook something for once!