New York Day Three: Central Park and Brunch

Hello everyone! Only five days until Mom and I board a plane to Frankfurt for the first leg of our journey to India. We are so excited! We fly into Frankfurt Saturday morning, board another plane to Delhi, and then arrive in Delhi at 12:40 a.m. Sunday morning. I hope that I sleep on both the airplanes! We will be in Delhi Sunday through Tuesday and then in Bangalore Wednesday through Saturday. Now back to New York!

Before driving back to Massachusetts Sunday morning, Mom, Dad and I headed to the Upper East Side for brunch. We got there early and decided to take a walk through Central Park. We walked part way on the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Reservoir and were surrounded by New Yorkers on their morning run around the reservoir.

Since we still had a bit of time before our reservations we walked down 5th Ave past the Guggenheim to the Metropolitan Museum of Art and then back to the restaurant.

Facade to cover the water tower

I want to live there!

I am a big fan of the blog Bitches Who Brunch and they wrote a fantastic review of Paola's Restaurant on the corner of Madison Ave and 92nd St. Their brunch is different than the usual brunch menus, so we had to try it. We settled in at an outdoor table and ordered some coffee.

For a light appetizer we chose the prosciutto with grana padona cheese and some olive oil drizzled on top. So simple, yet so good. How can you go wrong with meat and cheese?

Even though we were there for Brunch, we could also order off the regular lunch menu (which is what I did). I got the Papparadelle Con Ragù Di Anatra (pasta with duck ragù) and since it was brunch I asked for a poached egg on top. This was one of the best pasta dishes that I have ever had. The pasta was perfect cooked and the duck ragù was . . . I don't even have words. And as I always say, "you can make anything better by adding an egg on top."

Mom got the Uova In Camicia, or the Eggs Benedict, which she absolutely loved. She really liked the brioche that they used instead of an English Muffin.

Dad chose the Uova Con Polenta Tartufata, which was two poached eggs on top of brioche with polenta topped with truffled mushrooms. While he really liked it, he expected the poached eggs to be on top of the polenta instead of the bread.

The Bitches gave it an A-, and the Schiaparelli family agrees! It was super yummy and perfect for our last day in the city. I love New York City. Every time I leave, I just want to go back and explore more of its neighborhoods!

See you in the next post!

Kara

Easter at Home!

Two weeks ago I went home to Massachusetts for Easter. It was really nice to see my parents, my sister, and my pets. The last time I was home was at Christmas, so it was cool to see the house without tons of unopened boxes and actually painted. 

I flew in the Friday before Easter and left Easter Sunday in the afternoon. Saturday I went to see Emma ice skate, went to Legal Sea Bar for lunch, got my nails done (yay!), and dyed Easter eggs. 

Saturday night was our "Easter dinner" with lamb, raita, hummus, and naan. Emma and Mom decorated the table and drank champagne with our fancy dinner.

How cute is this!! 

So good!!

The next day we went to brunch at Bambara in Cambridge. It was a buffet, which was good but not great. The Easter bunny who was taking photos with the kids was scary. Maybe it's because I'm not a kid anymore, but that costume was creepy. I avoided the bunny when I could. I wanted to try a little bit of everything. But my favorite was the waffle that I topped with whipped cream, fresh berries and honey. It was super yummy!

Berries with greek yogurt, a sausage patty, bread and cheese

Eggs Benedict and roast pork loin with apple butter

My waffle creation!

After brunch we went to Faneuil Hall and Quincy Market before I had to get to the airport. We wandered around Urban Outfitters, Ann Taylor and Quincy Market (where I had a fantastic latte).

It was sad to leave my family, but they are coming to Washington, D.C. in a week to take a lot of my stuff home. It's crazy to think that my freshman year is almost over!! It has gone by so fast. 

See you next time!

Kara

Yummy Brunch in Newburyport

When I first arrived in Massachusetts three weeks ago Mom and I went to one of our favorite restaurants in Newburyport, Ceia Kitchen + Bar. We went for brunch, which is my favorite meal because I can sleep in late and still eat breakfast foods! It is also perfect on a chilly, December day.

We started off with an apple muffin halved and toasted, with honey butter and a cranberry compote. The muffin was moist and delicious, and perfect with the honey butter. We ate the cranberry compote on its own, and while not as good as Mom's cranberry sauce, it was still delicious.

Looks like the Jolly Roger is casually flying over Newburyport!

For our main dishes Mom chose the Braised Lamb "Croque Madame," and I got the Steak and Eggs with grilled carrots and potatoes. Both were really good and my steak was perfectly cooked.

We ended up going back to Ceia on Christmas Eve for lunch with Dad and Emma. I got the lobster Benedict, which was pretty good. I did think, however, that there was not enough lobster on it. Overall Ceia is one of my favorite restaurants that we have found in Massachusetts so far. I look forward to trying new restaurants in the coming years. Thanks for reading!

Love,

Kara

Doughnuts and Chicken & Waffles?!? Yes Please!

Hello everybody!

A few weeks ago one of my classes decided to play a game of assassin. For most of the game, the way to kill our given targets was to throw a piece of paper at the target without them seeing. The winner and the person who made the most kills would get a free lunch from our program assistant (a PA). And guess what?! I tied with someone else for most kills! Don't know why I'm so excited about that . . . But I was also the runner-up! So that's good! Along with two other people from our class and our PA, went to GBD in Dupont Circle.

Now I love chicken & waffles and this obsession can be seen in many posts on this blog. So when we had to decide on a restaurant and my PA suggested GBD, it was a new brainer. They have an actual restaurant area and takeout. Since the actual restaurant area had a wait of 40 minutes, we decided to get takeout and sit at the tables at the front of the restaurant.

What to choose?

For brunch, GBD has a deal that it is only $3 more if you pair a doughnut and coffee with your entrée. So we all of course had to do that! Three out of four (including me) got chicken & waffles and the other girl got the GBD Poutine (which looked so good!). Now, onto to the doughnuts! I got a pumpkin spice doughnut, two of my friends got Nutella doughnuts and the last one got a vanilla glazed doughnut. When they arrived, we tried to get the perfect Instagram pic (which you can see on my Instagram @thekschiap).

Trying to get the perfect shot!

Then came the all waited chicken & waffles! While not as delicious as the sweet potato-cornmeal-bacon chicken & waffles from Lowcountry Bistro in Charleston, SC that I wrote about HERE, it was still really good. The chicken was tender and the waffles sweet. I only wished that I had gotten syrup with it, which might have been due to the fact that we technically got takeout. 

Before catching the bus back to campus, we stopped by the Dupont Circle Farmers Market for a look around. Lots of apples, which is to be expected, and lots of fresh fruits and veggies that I wanted to buy! It made me want to cook!

After getting back to campus, I couldn't help but notice how beautiful it looked with the changing colors of the leaves, bright autumn sun, and crisp and cool air. It reminded me why I chose to go to school where there are seasons. I absolutely love fall and I can't wait for the first snowfall!

Then I spent the rest of that Sunday writing papers and doing homework, which seems to be my life at the moment. I have so many papers and projects to complete before the end of the semester in the middle of December. Does anyone have any tips for surviving finals? Anyways, thanks for reading! See you next time!

Love,

Kara