Tag Archives: New York

Rania Samaha: Mother, Caretaker, Patient

Posted on October 21, 2020 by Mia Khatib

If you read about Dina Sabra’s experience with breast cancer, I’m sure you remember her cousin and caretaker, Rania Samaha. Like Dina, breast cancer has played a huge role in Rania’s life. 
Rania As a Caretaker
Rania, is a caretaker to the maximum extent of the word. As a 9 year old, Rania was giving her diabetic mother diabetes shots and joined her mother in every hospital room her mother has ever been in. As a newlywed, Rania took in her father-in-law and looked after him until he passed of colon cancer 3 years later. As a 33 year old, Rania dropped …

 

A Piece of Cake

Posted on March 15, 2013 by Jamie

I’ve been celebrating a lot of family birthdays lately – five, to be precise – and we’re only three months into 2013! With every celebration, we always have a sweet ending: cake from a local bakery or homemade desserts. Here are the different kinds of cake that I’ve been enjoying.
 

We celebrated my grandma’s birthday in early January, and her favorite cake comes from Eldo Cake House in Boston’s Chinatown. Eldo’s signature cake is a yellow sponge cake that is spread with sweet whipped cream and filled with assorted fruits (strawberries, mangoes, peaches, and kiwis). They also sell small individual servings …

 

Life with my Mother

Posted on March 4, 2013 by Carol

After my father passed away in February of 1966, my mother devoted her life to her two young children ages 9 and 4.  She never dated or wanted to date. Her children and family were her life.  She hated driving and would never take a highway.  If she could get there by back roads she would go! If there were no back roads, it was the Long Island Railroad or a cab!
She loved to shop and did all of our clothes shopping and would bring home bags of clothes for us for us to try on!  She loved jewelry.
I never …

 

French macarons

Posted on November 2, 2012 by Jamie

 
French macarons have been on my baking bucket list for a while now – ever since I tasted it for the first time in 2009 from MacarOn Café in New York City. A macaron (not to be confused with a macaroon with 2 o’s) is a delicate French cookie sandwich, whose main ingredients are egg whites, sugars, and almond powder/flour. It has an eggshell-like texture and chewy consistency. This trendy dessert comes in a variety of colors, flavors, and fillings (i.e. ganache, buttercream, fruit jams).
 
I have visited several famous macaron bakeries, including Ladurée, Bouchon, La Maison du Chocolat, Miette, and Nadège Patisserie. Unfortunately, good ones are …

 

Hot Dogs! Celebrating National Hot Dog Month!

Posted on July 25, 2012 by Carol

You might go to a mall and feel like you are home since the stores are mostly the same and malls are no longer as unique with local flavor as they once were, but food is different!  Each location we visit brings its own flavor from restaurants to supermarkets! Visit a local supermarket and you will find brands you never heard of! Try a hot dog stand in Boston and it won’t be the same as if you were in Chicago or New York!
This past Sunday, the Boston Globe Sunday Magazine section had an article called Top Dog, which frank …

 

Hot Dogs!

Posted on July 11, 2012 by Carol

Part 1: Childhood memories!
Summer time for a season griller like me is time to indulge in foods like hot dogs and hamburgers more often than in the winter.  I started to think about my journey with hot dogs where my love for hot dogs began and what my first memories of hot dogs were!

Growing up on Long Island, New York, my first memories of hot dogs were from the kosher delis I would go with my family.  In the window you could gaze at the hot dogs cooking on one side and the knishes on the other side of the …

 

Sweet & Savory

Posted on March 2, 2012 by Jamie

If you don’t know this about me already, I have a huge sweet tooth; I love making and eating desserts. Some of my friends, however, are on the other end of the taste spectrum; they enjoy savory foods so much more. For a long time now, chefs have been experimenting different ways for those who want the best of both worlds. Let me share with you my experiences with sweet *and* savory foods that were intriguing, memorable, and surprisingly, tasty!
 

Bacon Chocolate
Years ago, when I was gift- and souvenir- shopping in SoHo, New York City, I decided to see what Vosges Haut-Chocolat had to …

 

9/11

Posted on September 9, 2011 by Carol

9/11 changed us forever. Every year that passes brings back the same memories for me on 9/11.  I remember where I was and what I was doing.  I remember what I saw on TV when the planes hit the World Trade Centers. I remember the events that followed.  I remember people walking looking for their loved ones and putting up pictures of their missing loved ones.
Now ten years later, the memories are still vivid.  The enormity of the event does not change but it did change us forever.  Now on most television channels, they are telling us of the shows …

 

Blue Sky in Brooklyn – oh what a muffin!

Posted on September 8, 2011 by Carol

A stop in Brooklyn took us to Blue Sky Bakery known for their muffins.  My biggest mistake was I only got one muffin and an ice coffee for the car trip back to Boston!  What was I thinking!  I was not thinking because after I started to eat the zucchini raspberry chocolate chip muffin I wish I had more for when I got home. By the time I started to eat the muffin, I was too far away to go back to Brooklyn!  Let me tell you it is worth a trip to Brooklyn to go to Blue Sky! Everything …

 

A visit to Little Cupcake Bakeshop!

Posted on September 7, 2011 by Carol

How I wish my visit to the Little Cupcake Bakeshop in New York could have been longer!  This was the first place my sister took me to when I got to New York.  She was waiting with my dog Kudzu outside so I felt my visit inside the Little Cupcake Bakeshop had to be quick!
There was so much to take in!  This little bakeshop had so much to offer much more than just cupcakes! The cases and counter were filled with three layer cakes after three layer cake, pies, Bundt cakes, cheesecakes and the list goes on.  Everyone who worked …