Lunchtime Links for January 11th, 2011

• Serious Eats: Pumpkin brownie from Fat Witch Bakery.
• Millionaire Matchmaker: Recap from TVGasm.
• The Kitchn: Pasta e fagioli soup.
• InStyle: Target's next collaboration- Calypso St. Barth.
• Midtown Lunch: Momofuku Milk Bar croissants.

Marc By Marc Jacobs Bag

 

Just wanted to share one of my Christmas presents this year- a new Marc By Marc Jacobs bag, woo!  Marc By Marc Jacobs accessories are some of my favorite pieces- always cute, fun, and just a little different from other brands.  

This one is a little smaller than my normal gargantuan tote bags, so it's forcing me to be a little more organized.  Aka, don't throw anything and everything in my bags, haha.  But it's a great everyday bag, and the leather is as soft as buttah.

 

Love the cute little turnlock detail that a lot of Marc By Marc Jacobs bags have!  It doesn't actually work as a lock for the bag, but cute nonetheless.  What are your favorite handbag brands?

Lunchtime Links for January 10th, 2011

• Serious Eats: Italian egg drop soup.
• The Arugula Files: Litestars in DC.
• The Kitchn: Spicy soup recipes.
• A Hamburger Today: George's in Atlanta.
• Recipe Girl: Cinnamon fudge.

NYC Christmas Window Displays

I know it's after the holidays but I just wanted to share this one display that I came across in NYC, at Lord & Taylor I believe?  Holidays, food, and jewelry- so girly and fun! 

Lunchtime Links for January 7th, 2011

• Serious Eats: How to make onigiri.
• The Feisty Foodie: Donatella restaurant in NYC.
• Cute Food for Kids: Babybel cheese girls.
• Apartment Therapy: Pretty studio apartments.
• Slice: We, The Pizza in DC.

Japanarama: Milk no Melonpan Cookies

I wasn't really sure what to expect when I picked up this box of Melonpan ("melon bread" in Japanese) at the Japanese grocery store.  I just hadn't seen it before in recent visits and figured it was worth a try.

But first, some background info: Japanese Melonpan is actually not melon-flavored (traditionally, at least), but the way the top is scored, it resembles a melon in appearance.  Taste-wise they're just a plain sweet bread, usually with some sugar coating on top to enhance the melon look, haha. 

Anyway, back to these cookies.  According to the box these are mini-Melonpans with a milk-flavored chocolate filling.  When I opened the bag, all I could smell was an overwhelming artificial vanilla flavor.  I tried a few of these little nuggets and found them to be pretty boring, unfortunately.  It wasn't worth eating the whole box of them (there were about 10 of these in the box) since they weren't that great-tasting.

Clearly I wasn't expecting these cookies to taste exactly like real Melonpan, but I also wasn't expecting to taste so blah either.  Oh well, live and learn.  Maybe if the filling didnt' taste so similar to the outside, it could've turned out better.  Womp wommmmmmmmp.

Lunchtime Links for January 6th, 2011

• Serious Eats: Harney & Sons in NYC.
• Mango & Tomato: Roasted Indian chickpeas.
• Martha Stewart: Crepe cake.
• Girl Meets Food: Komi restaurant in DC.
• The Kitchn: Five ways to use ponzu.