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 OK, noone asked, "but I know folks living in the path of Hurricane Irene would like to know..."What do do with all of the canned goods in their pantry from the past weekend. My instinct was to ignore them, feed them to my two year old or have them for a desperate and rainy day and yet...three nights in a row I found myself staring at a can of low fat ravioli and tonight it was turkey chili. What's a girl to do...this is like true food confessions. You know the rest of you would do this too, you just might not admit it. When life hands you canned turkey chili... More... Posted: September 1, 2011 "Does Vanessa know how to make dinner faster than take out?" asks Ilena from NYC
I have learned to make dinner faster than ordering chinese. Seriously, Chinese in NYC comes so fast you think they have it waiting. I have learned to take a single package of ground beef and make a dinner faster than take out (that doesn't include cleaning). Last week I made pasta in meat sauce and it wasn't blogworthy but tonight I felt I had quite a feat and it didn't taste like feet. I literally took the leftovers of three other meals and made a brand new meal in what felt like 10 minutes. Posted: August 9, 2011 Eddie wants to know what I know about "Trader Joes"?Well, TJ's which to me formerly meant TJ Maxx and I still think can be confusing given they must have similar consumers. TJ's is my new favorite place for groceries. Although I like Whole Foods and Farmers Markets and a great day at Target, I find Trader Joe's to be a food experiment for me... a food meets money cooking experiment. I find myself figuring out how cheaply I can make really quality food and how many ingredients it actually takes. So far, I've had a party for $99, I made a gourmet pasta salad for about $12 and tonight I made a spectacular "Toaster Fish Tacos" as I'd describe them... More... Posted: July 8, 2011 Meredith & Jenn from Brooklyn need to know "What do I know about saving money in NYC?"Well, if you asked me a few months ago, I'd know pretty much nothing. I knew that there was organic milk in my fridge and there were olives and there was chicken but I had no clue what it cost and I was basically happy when it got there. I didn't track whether I had two lemons or one and often there was an expensive piece of rotting veggie or fruit. I knew it was wasteful but didn't know how to handle it better. Now I know a lot more, thanks to TLC and Extreme Couponing. Well, lets get one thing straight, I can't Extreme Coupon in NYC but I can pay 'extreme attention to prices'... More... Posted: May 16, 2011 Ed from NYC needs to know, "How do I get a Spaghetti-o for grownups?"Well Ed, I needed to know that too. A few weeks ago I had a great soup from Hale and Hearty that took me back to childhood Spaghetti-o's with a grown up twist. I was in love and my goal for vacation was to recreate it. I didn't perfect but came very close. At least my 18 month old is happy. More... Posted: December 27, 2010 Rachel needs to know, "Where do I go to find the item that will say MOVE OVER mac and cheese?"You must be asking yourself what can push mac and cheese aside? Well, tonight i discovered something that said move over mac there's a new sheriff in town and it is ONLY available at ChopTank. Apparently I must be the last to know about the potato au gratin at Chop Tank. This is some serious stuff. Being a graduate of an Upstate NY University I was familiar with the salt potato that they "imported" from Syracuse for it, it was then richly bathed in a bath of a delicious mixture of cheese and bread crumbs. This is not a scalloped potato, its not even a distant cousin, its a class all its own, with the perfect combo of crispy, chewy, cheesey and just plain delish! Alas, it wasn't alone on the table, we were spoiled by a selection of foods that made you feel like a foodie celeb in heaven. Let me give some shout outs to some other dishes that I will continue to lose sleep over... More... Posted: October 13, 2010 "Do you know what makes Sundays better?" one word SAUCE.So, after trying to do the South Beach diet unsuccessfully since January, I decided it was time to make pasta in my home. Hey, its Sunday. I'm tired of my meatballs and I've always wanted to make bolognese NOT meat sauce but bolognese or a ragu. I have to say, I'm not sure that I succeeded but I made something that was definitely better than normal and it was done in a fairly low-key way... More... Posted: April 18, 2010 What could vanessa know if I haven't written in a year?Shame on me. I have not updated this site in a year. I think my life has been consumed with facebook, tweets and more distracting me from my site which was so original before all the blogs and sites. Seems a little dull now. Noone has had any new questions recently so I will give an update of my new favorite things that I feel everyone should know... More... Posted: April 4, 2010 Whitney and Parker from NYC need to know, "Where do I go to lunch in our work hood and beyond?"Well, you are very lucky because when I worked in the Chelsea/Meatpacking district literally they had one restaurant that accepted credit cards and the Gansevoort Hotel was a parking lot. Now the world is your oyster. I'll start with the 10th Avenue Area and then move to when you're out of the office. More... Posted: January 31, 2009 Vanessa wants you to know, "Everyone needs to know where to get an insanely delicious cupcake."Noone asked, but I must tell because I'm bursting with delish. After a tough week who wants to go 60 blocks out of their way for a cupcake in NYC on a holiday weekend? Well, I do. I had no idea what I was headed for as I strolled down to Butter Lane, otherwise known as 7th and A. More... Posted: November 26, 2008
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