Many people, or really the teenage girl population, think of fall as “pumpkin spice latte” season and an excuse to fit in a brunch photo to upload to Instagram with the vibrant red trees in the background. I don’t find October or November any different than mid-winter January or scorching hot July; food is food, and that’s the way I like it. Although I didn’t get the chance to indulge in the pumpkin spice lattes from Dunkin or Starbucks, (see, I don’t even know where to get them!) doesn’t mean I didn’t enjoy some treats myself. October is definitely one of the better months in Simone World because it includes my birthday and a side of great weather, and November comes within a close second. I am incredibly full from the past few weeks of eating, like ice cream and cookies and lots of other treats, plus a bite or two of a salad.
For my birthday during the second weekend of October, my friends came over for a “Netflix and Chill” evening, which concluded with my mother’s famous Ice Cream Pie. (My parents’ dream one day is to open up Ree’s Bakery, named after my mother, and she would be able to fill that bakery up quickly with everything that she makes!!)
This ice cream pie includes my favorites; cookie dough, cookies and cream, mint chocolate chip and a hint of moose tracks ice cream, which throws in some peanut butter flavor in the mix. These scoops are placed on top of the crushed Oreo base and topped of with chocolate syrup to make this Ice Cream Pie so sinful.
Fifteen years ago, I gave my mom the best birthday gift ever (and frankly, it beats any other gift given to her)! I gave her my existence, my beauty and my laughter (hahaha). On October 10th, I was born and then a day later is my mom’s birthday! This means we share a birthday weekend with each other! This year on my birthday, I went to a big party/rave in New York City with two of my friends, so it was nice to at least going to a nice dinner that weekend the next night on the 11th and especially nice to celebrate my mother’s special day! Luckily, mom chose one of the better local high-end restaurants to dine at for the night. We went to Axia in Tenafly and in this great Greek-themed place, we got to have “flaming cheese”, lots of greek-style salads and other great plates. We started off with the classic Greek salad with feta cheese, fresh tomatoes and crunchy cucumbers.
For my entree, I got to indulge on a treat; the seafood clay pot. I remember not expecting anything spectacular, but I was overwhelmed (in a good way, obvs) with the presentation – the colors and the photo-worthy presentation of this meal were spectacular. This pot included scallops that were seared to perfection, bites of lobster, a beautiful shrimp displayed in the middle, on top of rice and grains that held the meal together. Even the little touches, such as the cheese and bits of onions on top, helped with the presentation and it kept me satisfied, as I hope anyone who decides on this dish would feel.
Although the presentation was okay (kidding- it was great to look at), the actual food was delectable in every way. The rice and grainy “stuff” was a perfect touch to the seasoned scallops, lobster and the shrimp that on top. Mom and Simone’s birthday weekend: complete.
Except, that doesn’t mean the gifts weren’t still rolling in. A week later, my sister came home, bearing something edible for me (plus, a life-size cutout of my favorite celebrity, which was the epitome of this weekend). She proved that, right then and there, the perks of living in Manhattan is being so close to special (and very, very trendy) places, such as Momofuku Milk Factory! She came home with a bag of packaged treats from Momofuku. Here’s a snippet:
The bag itself had good vibes – it wasn’t any ordinary brown paper bag, but a MILK BAG!!!
What was inside:
Two packs of truffles – the bday truffles and the chocolate malt cake truffles. Here’s a snap of the “bday” truffles
This is the pack of “bday truffles”. One bite in and you’re in vanilla sugary heaven. There's absolutely no way you can’t say “mmm” at the taste of it – so delectable and so scrumptious and at that moment, it seems to be that there is nothing better in the entire world.
Here is a photo of the cookies that also came in my birthday care package:
On the left: the “compost cookie”, which was a chocolate chip, nutty experience with the perfect hint of caramel and toffee. On the right: a half-eaten confetti cookie, it was probably based on the taste of the bday truffles and this cookie was soft and melted in my mouth, just like any good cookie should.
Now I can conclude this – October treated me well. But the food coma doesn’t stop when Halloween trick-or-treaters hibernate inside to dig in on their sugary treats. It’s only eight days into November and I’ve already gone to Lafayette college (where my brother attends), Soho and back to NJ. When I took the short hour and a half drive to visit my brother and take him out to dinner, we went to a local steakhouse near Easton, Pennsylvania. The filet mignon that I ordered was perfect, plus I had to order a side of the lobster mac and cheese, which I do not regret having. By the end of the meal, the four of us (my sister did not attend this dinner) were happily full – but then the dessert menu came, and we couldn’t stop! We ordered the steakhouse’s version of their ice cream pie, which, instead of my mom’s triflavor pie, it was a hunk of vanilla ice cream, with chocolate layered on top and crumbled nuts to top the dessert off.
It was the perfect size to share; a perfect sliver for everyone to get the experience that came with this delicious dessert.
Only a few short days later, the four day weekend came around for me, which meant New York City, shopping and good #EEAAAATTTSS were on the agenda. On the third day of this weekend, on Saturday, my parents and I drove into Soho and met up with my sister for a late lunch and window shopping (because we can totally afford a Chanel bag and a Dior wallet – duh!). As sneaky as he is, dad made a reservation at my mom’s favorite place to eat in the entire world – the Ladurée Soho restaurant for lunch (except she likes the one in France better!). The ambiance was great, the service was fast (despite the line out of the door) and the food was good quality. My dad and I both had a salad topped with a cheesecake-like a literal lump of moosey, spreadable kind of cheese – and with a great olive dressing on the side. My mom and sister both ordered the vegetable sandwich, but instead of one, three mini sandwiches were served with fat home fries and lettuce to top the entree off.
But the real question is, what is lunch at Ladurée without their famous french macaroons? My dad, mom, sister and I ordered two each; mom, dad and I all had the banana caramel macaroon and the toasted caramel macaroon (this proves that family members think and act alike!) and my sister went cray-cray with the salted caramel macaroon and the bright, red raspberry macaroon.
This is the photo that was lucky enough to make the ‘gram and actually, it almost reached a solid 200 likes!!
Maybe it was the cappuccino (it was 3:00pm by then, so don’t worry, it was decaf) or maybe even the “Ladurée Soho” location tag that I attached to the Instagram photo, but my Instagram followers must like the #foodporn that I uploaded to their feed. So when you feel the need to rack up some likes, #EEAATTSSS, #Soho and #Lauderée seem to be a good trio of hashtags to upload to the ‘gram.
Family, friends, and fellow readers don’t be alarmed… The entire day wasn’t all eating – my family did walk around a bit on the trip to Soho, so maybe just a bite of the macaroon was burned off. I also eat salads, and often times, I give the sweets a break. In the meantime, if you don’t have the chance to take a trip to the finer corners of the Big Apple or aren’t able to enjoy a half-melted Ice Cream Pie, sip a Pumpkin Spice Latte, and as mentioned before, they’re found in at least one Dunkin or Starbucks within a ten-mile radius of where you are right now. So, enjoy fall, enjoy the leaves and just think about the miserable, cold days that lie just a few weeks ahead. Just let that sink in.
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