One-bowl Double Chocolate Chip Muffins

See what's cooking over at Allmysugar.com!

Unbelievably easy to make!

Breakfast for Champs

If there's one thing that I love about New York City weekend brunches is the availability of Eggs Norwegian—a delicious take on the classic Eggs Benedict: two poached eggs over a bed of Canadian bacon and two slices of English muffins, all drizzled with creamy hollandaise sauce. The former replaces the bacon with smoked salmon. Rabbit Hole Restaurant in Brooklyn used to be a favorite destination for this, and Smorgas Chef at the Scandinavia House in midtown Manhattan serves up an excellent plate of this perfectly poached combo.

I began the weekend with my first foray into making this dish from scratch, referencing three recipes in the process:

1) English Muffins
These take a while to make (because the recipe calls for yeast and 'resting' time), so I opted for breakfast biscuits. My go-to are Ina Garten's, which I'd blogged about here, but I knew I was topping this dish with the caloric-bomb that is hollandaise, so I searched for a low-fat alternative. Ellie Krieger's Chicken and Biscuit Pot Pie Recipe on Foodnetwork.com yielded the crumby, scone-like discs that hold well enough to sop up delicious runny yolks on the plate. They also pair excellently with orange marmalade. By the way, I skipped the oil called for in the recipe, and also used regular all-purpose flour all the way.

2) Poached Eggs
This is hands-down the smartest, easiest way to poach eggs, discovered online by my husband! The following video shows you the "Sous Vide" method—unbelievable and ridiculously simple: First, brush on oil over a large square of cling wrap. Add your favorite seasonings—salt, pepper, and some herbs if you like. Next, place the plastic over a small saucer and drop an egg in. Gather the wrap around the egg and secure it with a piece of string (and now that I think about it, you can even knot the little parcel on top if you have enough room). Drop the egg in simmering water and cook for exactly three minutes. Surprisingly, the plastic wrap doesn't melt and instead, yields the perfect texture and consistency: firm whites encasing soupy yolks. Yum!

3) Hollandaise Sauce
Ahh... The pièce de résistance. Truth be told, it's highly probable that one of the reasons I even got out of bed on Saturday morning to build brunch from scratch is the thought of finally whipping up my first batch of this rich, decadent concoction/emulsion consisting of nothing but egg yolks, melted butter, lemon juice, and a dash of salt and cayenne pepper. It's no wonder that many have been known to approach the subject with trepidation—for one, there's a risk of the eggs scrambling before they become silken; for another, there is the issue of consuming pure yellow cholesterol. That said, everything in moderation makes life pleasant. And, if you set a glass bowl over simmering water—yes, the same one you just used to poach eggs—and whisk happily, while setting the bowl over the counter when things get too hot, you'll top off a great brunch with one of the most decadent sauces known to man. For this, I referenced Tyler Florence's recipe, also on Foodnetwork.com.

Perfectly drizzled with fresh, creamy hollandaise. Mmm...

Other notes:

- The smoked salmon is from Trader Joe's. The only other place that sells it for a reasonable dollar amount is Ikea.
- A biscuit slice slathered with orange marmalade provides a tangy-sweet contrast to the salty-creamy eggs.
- Restos usually add on a side of greens or some form of vegetable. You'll need it, to help justify the hollandaise :)

Building blocks of breakfast goodness.

Google Spring Art

Earlier I chanced upon the above art on the Google homepage. Then I got reminded that today was the first day of Spring!

Looking forward to bright, sunshiny days ahead!

Roll 'Em Up

New toy.

It's been a while since I talked beauty on this blog…or hair, for that matter. So let me share with you my latest beauty/hair find: the Conair Infiniti Pro Spin Air Brush.

It's fantabulous!

I've expressed over Twitter and Facebook my non-excitement for blow-drying hair. I find it to be a complete waste of time and I would much rather have a professional do it. I actually don't mind wielding a brush and dryer for others. During my makeup artist days, I would actually get jobs that called for both makeup and hairstyling, and sometimes, it would even just be the latter. But when it comes to my own tresses, the primping skill seems to be non-transferable and I simply lack the patience for it.

New hair.

As part of my New Year's resolution though, I told myself I would take better care of my coif, starting with regular trips to the salon to have it professionally blown out. (I figured, the hike in our electric bill by spending an hour drying strands in the bathroom would justify the cost of just having someone else do it).

That plan didn't exactly pan out, as the snooze button prevailed most mornings. So…

I cut my hair. Really short. A.k.a, a traditional "one-length" bob from my tweenage years. And, I'm loving it!

Except of course, it circles back to the dilemma of properly fixing it. Symmetrical bobs, as it turns out—and I may have completely forgotten this as I no longer write about these things for work—need to be shaped and styled so they don't look flat and stringy. Fortunately, short cuts are easy to style and I can muster up the EQ to get it done.

The Conair rotating styler is wonderful because it combines the heat from a regular dryer, the shaping capabilities of a roller brush, and the heat-keeping qualities of a metal barrel in one convenient gadget. 

That it spins in both directions gives an added touch of styling ease. You have the option to turn that feature on or off. (Personally, I toggle between on and off to get the volume I want.) And, it comes with a "cool" setting too!

That it bears Jonathan Antin's name (of Jonathan Product reality show popularity) is just a bit of fun trivia. Check out the how-to videos on Conair's website. I bought mine on Amazon.com at a price lower than what it regularly retails for.

Jason Wu for Target

Target's trademark red swirls. Love their copywriting!

Now, onto lighter and more exciting things! When I got home earlier today, I found a package from Target waiting for me. If it weren't for my internet savvy-er (and more patient!) husband, I wouldn't have been able to score the following items from the recent Jason Wu collection:

Bought online. Poplin Dress in Navy.

Scored in-store. Cat Tote.

The items were practically gone in a flash the minute they went online—around 1 a.m. EST—and hit stores in the morning on Sunday. According to a sales associate, the line was 50-people long at 7:30 in the morning, in time for the 8 a.m. opening.

Now, I don't have the patience for these things. I was super into the Missoni collection a while back, but when I missed out on it (I went to the store a week later), it wasn't such a big deal. My husband, on the other hand—being the internet marketer that he is—can monitor threads and Facebook updates in real time. For the navy dress, I was almost half asleep when he nudged me that it was up online and ready to be purchased. Within five minutes after we checked out, it was sold out.

While I was asleep, he also got me this cardigan, which was really sweet of him:

Jason Wu for Target Long-Sleeve Pointelle Sweater in Belize Blue.

As for the super cute cat tote, Alvs spotted it on the floor under a rack of clothes leftover from early on. It was facing backward and quite inconspicuous, so people must have just ignored it.

To see the rest of the collection, check out the lookbook at NyMag.com. Here's how I look like wearing the navy dress, tada!

Product stills courtesy of Target.com