Sugar Sweet Sunshine

Sugar Sweet Sunshine: 126 Rivington Street

The Lower East side has tons of options for good foods and desserts. The hardest thing about living here, is picking where to go! 

I'm going on my second year living at Ludlow, and there is one place I always take visitors for good, affordable dessert. That place is a small bakery called, Sugar Sweet Sunshine. It's on Rivington Street between Essex and Norfolk, which is very close to Ludlow. 

I'm a huge fan of this bakery because not only are their cupcakes incredible, they're only $1.75 each! They also serve coffee, cookies, and an amazing assortment of puddings (I would suggest the banana pudding). Some flavors of cupcakes include Pistachio, Banana cream-cheese, red velvet, lemon, strawberry and peanut butter, and many more. Sugar Sweet Sunshine is completely worth checking out, and trying a cupcake or two. Just bring cash, otherwise it's a $10 minimum. 

Sugar Sweet Sunshine

126 Rivington St, between Essex St. and Norfolk St.

Monday - Thursday, 8 am - 10 pm

Friday, 8 am - 11 pm

Saturday, 10 am - 11 pm

Sunday, 10 am - 7 pm

First Friday Film and Food: The Breakfast Club

For October's First Friday Film and Food RA Bethany and over a dozen Ludlow residents, brains, athletes, basket cases, princesses, and criminals gathered for a screening of The Breakfast Club in the Community Room. There was plenty of sugar to go around in the form of pixie stix to compliment the infamous lunch scene. In case you missed out here are a few links to help get you up to speed:

The Lunch Scene
Memorable Quotes
The Breakfast Club in 60 Seconds

Next month on Friday, November 2nd, we will meet again for A Fish Called Wanda. The movie starts at 8:00 PM and goldfish will be served. Feel free to bring sushi...

Noodles, sizzling skillets, and vegetarians... oh my

It's been almost six years since I went to my parents house and nearly reduced my mother to tears because I told her that I am, brace yourself, a vegetarian. Telling her right before Thanksgiving was probably not the wisest move but better to tell her in advance than hide bits of turkey underneath my mashed potatoes and pretend not to be hungry. At this point she is much more comfortable with my decision not to eat meat, and has stopped eating bacon in front of me (it's the one food that I miss as a vegetarian which I think speaks volumes about its magical powers).

As much as I love my mother it's nice to eat with like-minded people every now and then which prompted me to have dinner with the New York City Vegetarian and Vegan Meetup group. Over the course of the evening almost 100 of New York and New Jersey's vegetarians came out of the woodwork for dinner at Soy and Sake, a cafe that serves up a vast menu of all vegetarian and vegan food. I ordered the Ying Yang noodles, a plate piled high with clear noodles, vegetables, and soy-chicken, soy-pork, and soy-shrimp. The woman next to me enjoyed the soy-chicken teriyaki which sizzled as it was served piping hot on a skillet. Another of my dining companions had a bento box complete with vegi-friendly California rolls, tempura, dumplings. and fried soy-pork. The food was delicious and reasonably priced and the restaurant is easy to get to (right near the West 4th street stop on the F/M). Everyone I ate with very personable and friendly. This group meets up a vegetarian restaurants throughout the city about once a week and all are welcome, even non-vegetarians.

You can find meetup groups for nearly every interest so give it a try!

Meetup.com

Soy and Sake, 47 7th Avenue South (between Bleecker and Morton)

A small rice cooker can go a long way

It is about 6 inch tall and 8 inch wide

When I found out that I would be living here at Ludlow, the first thought occurred to me was: “oh man…. how am I going to cook rice?”  

I had few friends who lived in Ludlow and I was well aware of very much inconvenient rule that the rice cooker was not allowed in Ludlow residence hall… and imagine my excitement upon finding out that this year the rule has been changed and the rice cooker is no longer against the policy!!! Yay!!! Because I had left my rice cooker at home, the first thing I did after moving in and learning good news was to get my new rice cooker. One option was to get a “proper" rice cooker, which costs well above hundred dollars, but sadly for a student with a low budget, I quickly realized it was not my option. So I opted for a rather economic rice cooker I had found at Kmart (just under $20!). I was a little skeptical about it at first, but fortunately, the rice cooker proved me wrong.  

                                          

And here are some progress shots I took while the rice was cooking:

For cooking a semi-brown rice, the whole process took only about 20-25 min.  Yes the rice is not as fluffy as it would have been had it been cooked in more fancy and expensive rice cooker, but for what it's worth, I find it as an amazing alternative. 

Plus, I can also steam vegetables and dumplings (it came with a little basket thingy so the vegetables can be suspended above a boiling water) and even better, I can also cook ramen in it!!! If you guys want to know more about the rice cooker or cooking with a rice cooker in general, feel free to stop by or shoot me questions on a comment section.

Noodling Instead of Doodling

The view from the bar.

Cocoron, a Japanese soba restaurant, is one of my favorite places that serves up delicious food and won’t kill your bank account. It’s a hole in the wall place on Delancey St., between Allen and Eldridge St. There’s always a line of people waiting to get seats at the bar, where you can see the process of making soba food. The kitchen staff is constantly yelling out orders and busy at work. It’s fun to watch while waiting for your food.

Recently, my sister and I went there and ordered the homemade tofu as our appetizer. The tofu arrives on a small wooden plate with tiny condiments such as shredded nori (seaweed), mashed ginger, and bonito flakes (dried fish). The texture of the tofu was silky and smooth. Suffice to say the tofu was absolutely amazing.

For my main dish I ordered the Sensai soba cold. You can get the Sensai soba hot, but I prefer it cold. The Sensai soba is quite possibly Cocoron’s best dish. There’s a mix of vegetables that range from mushrooms, shredded daikon, and bamboo shoots. They also serve a small side of scallions and wasabi to add to the dish at your discretion. When you’re nearly done with your dish they’ll give you a red little pot filled with broth to pour into your nearly empty bowl. So you can enjoy a nice little soup after your dinner! 

If you don’t enjoy your dinner/lunch at Cocoron I don’t know if we can be friends.

Red pot filled w/ extra broth.

The homemade tofu appetizer.

The Sensai Soba served cold.

Essex Street Market

Funny fact about me and the Essex Street Market... It took me a whole year to realize it was right next door! So don't be me. I encourage you to leave your room and explore the area, you never know what you'll find.

This market is located on the corner of Delancey and Essex. Literally a block from Ludlow. The Essex Street Market is an indoor retail market that was one of a number of such facilities built in the 1930s under the administration of Mayor Fiorello La Guardi.

I'll have to learn how to cook so I can utilize all this food!

I wandered on over there the other day with RA Alice to see what I've been missing and to load up on the bare necessities. I was blown away at the selection available. No longer did I have to go to three different stores to create a decent meal. Produce, meat, fish, and groceries can be found at ridiculously low prices. The market is set up in a vendor style so I took my time finding everything I needed and also shared a laugh with the Heritage Meat Shop guy. I bought a lot so it was awesome that I didn't have to walk very far.

Definitely check out the Saxelby Cheesemongers booth and the Tra La La Juice Bar. There's nothing better then ordering a fresh OJ to start my day.

HOURS:

Monday - Saturday 8:00 am- 7:00 pm

Sunday 10:00 am – 6:00 pm