New Knife

I've been wanting a good knife for a while. The set of knives I own are stupid and dumb. They were a wedding gift from our registry (almost) four years ago. I registered for many, many stupid and dumb things because I was drunk with power when handed the laser gun at Target.

A couple weeks ago I visited Fante's, a super fun kitchen store in South Philly. I nearly (as my mother would say...and has done many times)wet my pants looking around this store. They have everything. Fante's also has a super awesome cake decorating section. I bought a plastic doll in a bikini in case I ever throw a trashy bridal shower, some small plastic babies to include with a baby gift (I had some buyer's remorse about that one.), and I bought this great knife. I will admit that I was first attracted to this knife because it is purple and only $20, but the friendly Fante's staff assured me that this was indeed a quality knife.

The multi purpose granton Santoko knife looks plastic, but it is actually "high carbon stainless with fluorinated-resin coating". It has a nice weight to it, not at all as light as it looks. And who knew that something purple and cute could chop so well? There are more knives in the Pure Komachi series (which are different colors) and I'm sure they all rule.

So, if you need a new knife and don't have a lot of money, you should get this knife. Then, you can come over to my apartment and we can chop stuff together and you can laugh at me for how slow I am. I laugh with you the first time, but if you make fun of me again I might lop off the the tip of your finger with my purple knife. That'll teach you.

Oh! Did you you notice my new links? If you have any suggestions for sites I should check out, learn to love and add to the links, let me know!

If Only I Had More Proof

Oh, three readers. I promised you a chocolately update, so I shall do my best. You see, my camera decided that it is a son of a bitch and will not let me upload any photos of my evening. All except for one of Micah.

Now, Micah is nice and all, but I had some doosies that really spelled out the night. The chocolate fountain was in fine form. The chocolate was great, way better than last year's. I made it to the RTM before the snow and got some bittersweet chocolate from Chocolate by Mueller. Jessica did not disappoint. Just like last year, she dripped all over herself. I made a smock out of a trash bag for her. I thought this was funny. You would too if you saw the photo. The spread was lovely.

So, there you have it. You really should have been there, we had plenty. It was a fun and tasty night, despite the fact that Jessica gave us all a math quiz to assess our multiplication and long division skills. That was weird, especially at an Oscar party.

P.S. Happy Birthday Jamie! No one loves hot wings more than you! XXOO

Cheese Friday!

It's Friday, so it's time to go get some cheese for the weekend!
Every Friday I will share with you a cheese that I find delicious. This week's pick is Mango Ginger Stilton!

I thought I would start out on the sweet side. This cheese is a cow's milk English Stilton with bits of Mango and Ginger. This is one of my first ever favorite cheeses. It is also fairly easy to find. Most cheese shops will have it as well as nicer grocery stores, and of course good ol' Trader Joe's usually carries it. I ate a bit of it (a little goes a long way) with my coffee Tuesday morning, and it made my day! Have a nice weekend everyone! And stay tuned! Sunday, as tradition dictates, I will be firing up Ye Olde Chocolate Fountain for the Oscars!

A Decadent Ladies Evening

I really should be getting to bed, but I had the most delicious evening!

As Micah and Nate have band practice on Wednesday nights, Jessica and Emily have ladies night. Usually, ladies night consists of beer, whatever is on t.v., and more beer. It's always fun, but tonight it was super fun.

At work Monday, I happily received some puff pastry from the lovely proprietor from the fantastic Flying Monkey Bakery in the RTM. As I am slow in all matters of thought, I couldn't think of nothing to do with it right away. Well, good thing Jessica lives downstairs, and good thing she's a genius! If not for her, we wouldn't have made mash potato, veggie ground round with garlic and onion pastry puff thingies. And for desert: chocolate, peanut butter and banana pastry puff thingies. They were fun to make and even more fun to eat. Here, I took pictures (which are backwards. I am tired so leave me alone):






Even though I ate so much puff pastry I thought I would at least throw up a little in my mouth, and even though Jessica and I had a disturbing conversation about cremation vs. burial, I had a great Wednesday night! Good food, good wine, good t.v. (American Idol), great company and I didn't even puke the tiniest bit. Goodnight!

A Glorious Morning

I didn't sleep very well Saturday night. Reasons why:

#1: I had a long, busy day at work and found it difficult to wind down.
#2: Britney Spears shaved her head and my mind was racing.
#3: I was eating at Morning Glory in the a.m. and I couldn't hardly wait.

Hands down, my new favorite breakfast spot in my new favorite neighborhood (besides West Philly). Boy, was it good. We got a great table (because we got there at 8:30) and received super friendly service. The company wasn't bad either (of course we all chatted about Britney in between bites). I ordered the Breakfast Pizza. It had a gooey rosemary dough, perfect potatoes, caramelized onions, and lots of cheese on top. it looked like this:

Everyone else's food looked good too, but it's Wednesday now and I can't remember what they had. I do recall Micah getting his food and saying that he may "tear up a little bit". Micah could have started to cry, Jessica could have poured coffee over her head, and Nate could have announced that he no longer cared for fantasy novels and I wouldn't have noticed a thing. With my Breakfast Pizza before me, the earth stopped turning and I began to eat. Delicious!

Not only was my meal at Morning Glory yummy, it was also a fantastic value at $5.50! The portions were huge! And ladies and gentlemen, I can pack it in (some refer to me as "The Machine"). I ate half and saved the rest for my lunch. Then I took a nap.

So, Morning Glory is good and delicious and affordable. I hope to visit again very soon. And so my wonderful readers, that is that. On to my next plate!

Emily Eats

Welcome friends and creepy strangers to my new blog! Here, you can expect to read about the eating adventures of me, Emily. Some may ask, "Why food? Oh, you must be a 'foodie' or chef or really like Rachel Ray or something." Quite the contrary! A) I am not a foodie, I just really like food. B) I am definitely not a chef or a very good cook for that matter. C) Rachel Ray's loud, raspy mouth with her stupid acronyms for stuff that doesn't take that long to say anyway can kiss my ass. That said, I've been wanting to try out her mushroom lasagna recipe for weeks.

Before we get started, I should point out that I moved to Philadelphia, a city full of great food, a little over a year ago from Los Angeles. After months of wasting time pouting about being far away from my favorite taco stands and vegan cafes, I fell deeply in love with cheese hoagies, fried pickles and veggie cheese steaks. Though I love Philly for many reasons, the endless food options are a big one.

Next, I should let you know that I am a vegetarian (but eat fish) and don't have a big food budget. While some may interpret these things as limitations, I don't. I don't feel I'm missing out at all. No meat, little money and an empty stomach can be a fun problem to have. If I ate meat, I would probably never try a delicious veggie cheese steak. And if I were rich, I would never understand what sweet/salty glory was, for I probably wouldn't savor Take 5 Bar.

And lastly, I'll tell you that I work at a busy Philadelphia cheese shop. This is the second cheese shop I've worked at (the first was in L.A.) and I love it. I've learned so much and am excited to learn more. From Pont Leveque to Buffalo Wing Cheddar, the cheeses all mean something special to me.

There. I think this is a good start. Hopefully, this blog will motivate me and you to eat something good every day no matter where you live!