new york

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in a way, it was like i never left. and in much the same way, i haven't one clue how i lived here for six years. how did i ride the subway every day? how did i do all of my grocery shopping with a basket and not a cart? how did i not spend all of my money on smelly cheese and pistachio cake at bklyn larder? 

(how did i sleep through the hum hum humming of the falafel truck out front and roommate patrick's 3am passion-pit-soundtracked no-girls-allowed patio parties? (i love you, patrick!!!))

and on the other hand: ask a 22-year-old me how i would ever be able to live more than two subway stops from the nearest pork bun, and no, i would not have been able to tell you.

today i go home to the farm after three weeks of making music, spending time with old friends and new, and eating approximately everything. i'll go home with a very full belly, an even more full heart, and a ring on it! i wish i could give all of my friends here one more hug, but i mustn't be long, as i've got to go home and plan a (omgomgomgomg) wedding.

here are a few of my favorite links and things from this past week in new york:

my first stop when i got to new york was black seed bagel with donny. it was a very tasty first stop and a good primer for the roberta's, the mission chinese, and the peekskill simple sour at the dog-friendly bar that i would later have with him. (hashtag my wedding diet starts tomorrow?)

i had three halvah desserts that i cannot get out of my head: an ooey gooey sandwich cookie at mimi's hummus, sticky crunchy halvah ice cream at the russ and daughter's cafe, and the kadaif at hummus place, which is covered in a mountain of shredded halvah. i later bought some shredded halvah from sahadi's to take home with me.

my first time performing in central park was with the knights last tuesday and it was so much fun. you can listen to the concert online!

the steak salad at five points. i want it every day of my life.

maria and i went dress shopping and saw pnina in real life and i got all kinds of starstruck. my kleinfeld experience was magnificent, but i think perhaps the wedding dresses at veka were much more farm girl me. 

tema introduced me to bakeri and i had a total cute attack.

yesterday's beautiful morning turned into a glorious afternoon in prospect park with some of my most favorite humans. the good people behind dolly and oatmeal, two red bowls, cake over steak, food52, apt. 2b baking co., and the tart tart came out for some serious noshing. serious noshing. and instagramming, obviously.

and but really, if i had to marry a restaurant and not eggboy, i would marry bklyn larder.

bye bye for now, new york!

-yeh!

RAINBOW MINI CAKES

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i am so excited for this weekend! my friend tema is coming to north dakota with her string quartet, ethel. she is the first of my new york friends to see me in my new digs, and i am basically going to try to bribe her to stay by way of mini cakes. (if that doesn't work, eggboy and i are prepared to ask her to be the godmama to our chickies.)

i can't wait to show tema how cool fargo is! and maybe she'll report back to my other new york friends that yes i am surviving in north dakota, and yes i wear plaid in public. 

on a related note, speaking of my new york friends: may i take this moment to express my gratitude to the internet for helping me stay in touch with them? i'm glad we don't live in a world where tema is coming to town on a horse and buggy and she could arrive today (when the cakes are fresh) or she could arrive next week (when the cakes are eaten) and the only word that rob or maria would get from me would be in two months when they run into tema at the general store and she is like molly's ox died of scurvy, but she's fine otherwise. 

like, i am just so glad that i can stalk donny's fried chicken adventures on instagram.

and give rob style advice through skype.

it makes me a happy molly.

ok, on to these cakes!

the layers are green tea, red velvet, and chocolate, the frosting is a basic buttercream, and they're decorated with marzipan and soooo mannnnny jimmmmmies. they're the children of a few different sources of inspiration:

a pistachio, chocolate, and beet root cake from ms. b's cakery in hong kong

dolly and oatmeal's mini birthday cakes

these rosemary lemon mousse cakes from engrained

and then i recycled the designs from my resolution cake and my sister's wedding cake.

(they were so much fun to make. i loved that i didn't have to decide on just one design. i could do them allllll!)

 

rainbow mini cakes

makes 12

1. make a full batch of this green tea cake, and half batches of this red velvet cake and this chocolate cake. bake them in a 9 inch x 12 inch sheet pan or a casserole dish lined with parchment. let cool, wrap tightly in plastic wrap, and then freeze overnight. 

2. make a double batch of this vanilla buttercream.

3. cut out 2 1/2 inch circles of the cakes and stack em up with buttercream between the layers. decorate how you wish and enjoy with a friend from out of town!

-yeh!

 

NEW YORK THINGS

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i am so full on love and music and pizza and bagels and amazingly fond memories from this past week in new york. egg and i were able to cram in so many perfect visits and earth shattering meals that by the end, we actually felt ready to retreat into a north dakota hibernation.

we saw a flash mob at the met, ate a (super good!) turkey and gravy donut, and had secret ramen way past our bedtime. high tea with old friends, morning coffee with new, and an oyster shucking lesson at food52! a just-like-old-times happy hour at harry's, and a chef's table situation at the wonderful glasserie. quality time was spent with the blue cheese at murray's and in that lively old brooklyn home of mine. a nighttime village stroll, a corn on the cob cocktail, a rob-centric photoshoot complete with hummus and halvah. we had epic meals with epic people, engaged in beautiful new music at b.a.m., and widely avoided getting hit by the brisket man on his fire red vespa.

these are a few of my favorite things.

but oh fuck we forgot to get a cronut.

-yeh!