Where I’m off to this evening with Mom and Kendrick (Dad was planning on coming, but broke his foot and has to keep it elevated…feel better, Dad!).
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The Little Pie Company is on 43rd between 9th and 10th, but don’t worry about the exact address…because you’ll smell the place from blocks and blocks away. Megan and I stopped in because I was craving cherry pie and she was craving cherry pie, apple pie, and pumpkin pie (yes, she bought all three…but she swears she’s sharing). It’s only a couple of blocks from where I grew up, so I’ve been going there for years, and I’ve found that it’s the perfect throwing-a-dinner-party-and-forgot-to-make-dessert place, as well as the perfect on-the-way-to-Penn-Station-to-stay-with-friends-in-Jersey-and-forgot-to-buy-a-hostess-gift place.
My friend Morgan adapted this Chinese Chicken Salad from MyRecipes.com. I’ve never been a huge fan of this type of salad (or, um, salad generally), but when Morgan first made it for me I was struck by how fresh and light it is. Kendrick ruins it by pouring a ton of hot sauce over the top, but he seems to like it. At least, I think he does. He sort of grunts approval between enormous bites.
CHINESE CHICKEN SALAD
Toss together:
1 large package coleslaw (I use FreshExpress), 1 bunch steamed asparagus (cut into pieces), 1 avocado (cut into pieces), 1 can drained mandarin orange slices, 2 boiled, shredded chicken breasts (boiled 20 minutes in approximately 6 cups of water with 1 chicken bouillon cube added to water), 2 tbsp toasted sesame seeds, 1 cup store-bought crispy chow-mein noodles.
At the Votre Vu stand at the Girls’ Night Out event, I taste-tasted the Snapdragon Beauty Beverage, which was described to me as an anti-aging drink filled with acai berries, collagen, aloe vera, and fiber. My interest was piqued when the representative explained that it’s delicious mixed with “21+ drinks,” and is equally useful for banishing the aftereffects of those grown-up beverages the next morning. Also, it tasted to me like mangos and strawberries, which is always a good thing.
If you’d like to make an antioxidant smoothie at home, here’s a good recipe to try from Suite101:
Blend together 1 cup frozen blueberries, 1 cup frozen raspberries, 1 cup acai berry juice (can be found at many health food stores), 1/2 cup nonfat vanilla yogurt, and 1 tbsp unsweetened dark cocoa powder.
One of my favorite products that I sampled last night was the Votre Vu Duette Luxe Lip Balm & Hand Cream, just because it makes so much sense. Every night before I go to bed I apply hand cream and lip balm, and I love the idea of having both products in one (very pretty) package, complete with tiny mirror. Also, it smells great, but isn’t too sweet like many similar products on the market.
