AWESOME GIVEAWAY: $20 to Allmenus.com

Hello awesome readers! Sorry I took a bit of a hiatus these past few weeks, but I'm back, and with a bang.

You've heard me go on and on about Signpost (formerly known as Postabon) and all the great stuff I won from them over the course of the last year (exhibit a, exhibit b, and exhibit c, not to mention my iPad). Well not only has Signpost grown into a lovely website and community for deal sharers, it now offers some of its own merchant deals including $60 for $120 Worth of Clothing at Heartbeat Style (Hoboken) and $15 for 2 Comedy Show Tickets + Half-Off Drink Minimum. You can still earn Karma Points by posting deals you see around town and by interacting with other users, but you can then go and spend those points like money on Signpost's merchant deals. The company also hosts monthly happy hours, often with free drinks (the next one is Wed. 4/6 at SideBar with a one hour open bar). So really it's a win, win, win, win, win.

One of Signpost's current merchant deals is $10 for $20 to spend at Allmenus.com, an online food delivery website serving NYC. I bought the voucher and tried out the service, and I was very pleased with the user-friendly website and assortment of restaurants available to choose from. Plus what's better than half off Pad Thai or Pepperoni Pizza delivered fresh to your door?

Well, how about a free voucher?

That's right, I'm giving away one $20 voucher to Allmenus.com courtesty of the awesome folks at Signpost. There are 4 easy ways to win and each comment counts as an entry. So to maximize your entries you should leave multiple comments. Please include your email in any comments so I know how to contact you if you are the winner.


1) REQUIRED - Follow this blog by clicking on the button on the right panel and leave a comment below letting me know you did so.


2) REQUIRED - Sign up for Signpost and leave a comment with your username. If you are already a member, that's ok. Just leave a comment with your username telling me so.


3) Follow me on Twitter @yaelleah and leave a comment below letting me know you did so.


4) Tweet or blog about this contest an let me know you did so with a link to your tweet or blog in a comment below.


One winner will be chosen using Random.org on Friday 3/25. You have until Friday 3/25 at 2 p.m. EST to enter the contest. Good luck!

A winner has been chosen! Congratulations to Christine! She was the 13th commenter and wins $20 to AllMenus.com! Enjoy Christine! And thanks to all who entered. Have a great weekend!

Still Haven't Signed Up For Tenka?

With all of the daily deals sites out there, even I get exasperated. One of the newest, Tenka, from what I've seen, only really gives away free stuff, and you can never get too much of that. I was able to get a sandwich from Tina's Cuban, two warm and gooey cookies from Insomnia Cookies, a burrito from Toloache Taqueria and a latte from Bean and Bean all FREE! They've also created a nice little animated video to explain it even further.

Peanutastic!

Heading into the Nutripolitan Museum of Art, I wasn't quite sure what to expect. However, it's NYC, a city full of unique ideas, and I knew that this one was going to be awesome. My friend Jen came along for the festivities and as soon as we walked in, we were asked to "donate" a jar of peanut butter to the Food Bank just by putting a sticker with our name on it on the wall. Easiest thing I've ever donated!

Jen and I with the wall of stickers behind us

The invitation-only launch party was sponsored by a whole host of companies, but mainly put on by the fantastic folks over at Peanut Butter & Co. to celebrate National Peanut Month. The idea behind the gallery was basically, let's style peanut butter with a whole host of foods that may or may not go with it, photograph these creations and then display larger than life-size food porn posterboards.

Some of the food porn displayed in the gallery

Jen's favorite was titled "Pizzelle Perfect"

The crowd with a rotating peanut butter art slideshow above the bar

The space in Openhouse Gallery was packed to the brim with peanut butter lovers. I'm pretty sure they had more attendees than planned as the bar line stretched almost to the exit, but the creative peanut butter themed libations were well worth the wait. I sampled the PB&J Hooray which had Purple 3 Olives Vodka and egg whites shaken over ice with peanut butter whipped cream topping. It was quite the different sort of drink, but I liked the playfulness between the grape flavored vodka and the peanut butter on top. Jen tried the Peanut Butter Java Whiplash which had 3 Olives Vanilla, Chocolate and Espresso Vodka shaken with milk and topped with peanut butter whipped cream and chopped peanuts and graham crackers.

Peanut Butter Java Whiplash (L) and PB&J Hooray (R)

At a peanut butter party, one would expect peanut butter, but not quite in the myriad of combinations that were served by waiters who could barely pass their trays out the door before having to return to the kitchen for refills. The first thing I tried was the Peanut Slaw prepared by Chef Suvir Saran of Devi. It was rather spicy, but refreshing. Other savory favorites included the Peanut Potage by Chef Ben Leezal of Buerre d'Arachede et Cie. I still can't tell you what potage is, but it was like a viscous soup with maybe some potatoes and an essence of peanut. The Penne with Peanut Pesto and Chicken Sate were wonderful as well. 

Peanut Slaw with the event's menu

Onto more sweet options, waiters were passing around breads with four different combinations of peanut butters and toppings. Using Peanut Butter & Co.'s own flavored peanut butters, the combinations were White Chocolate Wonderful with fresh blueberries, Dark Chocolate Dreams with sliced strawberries, Crunch Time with toasted marshmallows and Mighty Maple with smoked bacon, although I think the flavors and toppings may have gotten switched around a bit. The Mighty Maple was my favorite peanut butter, but it was so nice to enjoy fresh strawberries for the first time in a while. To top it all off, we also tried Magic Bars, which are like an "everything but the kitchen sink" sort of sweet concoction. So delicious and I got the recipe!

Dark Chocolate Dreams with a Toasted Marshmallow

Mighty Maple with Smoked Bacon

The rest of the night was spent noshing, enjoying the art and palling around with my new monkey friend. Everyone seemed to have a great time celebrating an awesome New York idea brought to life.

Me and my monkey friend

To me, a great event is one that I leave happy, full and feeling like I've experienced something unique. Major bonus points come in the form of a great gift bag, and this party scored major awesome bonus points! Not only did I take home two jars of Peanut Butter & Co.'s famous peanut butters (Mighty Maple and Smooth Operator), but I also received Traditional Virginian Peanut Soup from Montebello Kitchens, a ladle to go with it, Protein Plus Peanut Flour, Sir Francis Bacon Peanut Brittle, Peri-Peri Good hot spiced peanuts, Q.bel peanut butter and chocolate cookies, peanut caramels from Liddabit Sweets and packaged peanuts from Ricky's Lucky Nuts. Let's just say I'll be getting my peanut fix for the next year. 

My awesome peanut goodie bag

Thanks to my friend Jeff, who writes the awesome food blog I8NYC, I also scored a jar of Peanut Butter & Co.'s The Heat is On peanut butter. I can't wait to experiment with that one!

The Nutripolitan Museum of Art is open through tomorrow at the Openhouse Gallery in Soho. I would totally recommend going not only for the art, but every guest will get to take home a jar of peanut butter. In addition, Peanut Butter & Co. will donate one jar of peanut butter to the Food Bank for NYC for every person who visits the gallery.

Care For A Hot Beverage?

After haphazardly attending last year's NY Coffee and Tea Festival, this year at least I knew what to be excited for. In preparation, I went hungry and definitely decaffeinated.

First stop, the classroom for a lesson in entertaining with afternoon tea with expert Ellen Easton. To be honest, these breakout sessions last year were the gold mine for food samples and since this seminar was sponsored by Walker's shortbread, I was sold. I learned a couple of neat factoids in this session. Namely, did you know that when serving scones, you should put the cream on first and then the jam to best prevent everything from sliding off? Also, black tea is black because the leaves are oxidized! Ok, maybe not so exciting to everyone, but when the event volunteers brought out trays of desserts, I'm pretty sure the room was at full attention. We were each given a cute and colorful little petit fours, a Walker's shortbread cookie and an Almondina biscuit. 

Ellen Easton leading the seminar

Our plate of goodies!

When the seminar ended, I decided it was time to find some caffeine! As I toured the show, I found Harney & Sons. I discovered this brand for myself last year at this show and fell in love. Unfortunately they weren't giving away samples to take home this time, but if I were you, I'd go out and try some of their Pomegranate Oolong.

Next I tried something a bit unusual. A bright green elixir, Matcha sort of reminded me at first of Naked Juice's Green Machine. I was told that it's made from ground up tea leaves, but it's strained so you don't get any chalky-ness or grit. I'm not sure I'd want to drink it all day, but it's refreshing and with such a verdigree, how could it not be healthy?

Other highlights included Turkish coffee from the Turkish Cultural Center, mini lemon meringue pies from Bite Size Pies, Peet's coffee courtesy of the Ing Direct Cafe and catching a performance from some of the cast of Coffee the Musical - yes it actually exists!

By far the most popular place to be was at the Aroma Cafe booth. The brand new cafe with outposts in Soho and the Upper West Side was one smart cookie to book this show. People were flocking to the Aroma booth like New Yorkers in the morning to bodegas. It was mobbed. I took some time browsing their tea selection and nibbling on some chocolates before convincing myself to join the down-the-hall line for a fresh made cappuccino, latte, mocha or espresso. Even though I waited probably a good twenty minutes, I'm glad I did because that cappuccino was the best thing I had to drink throughout the entire event.

The Aroma Cafe Booth

Aroma's tea selection

The barista making my drink

Doesn't the design make you enjoy drinking it that much more?

I'm pretty sure I buzzed out of there after doing one more lap around the event space to make sure I didn't miss anything. Unfortunately I was too late to get a goody bag so I can't tell you what was in them, but they were big and probably wonderful. Next year I'll be sure to get there earlier. 

Did you go? What did you like best about the festival?

AWESOME ALERT: See Some Peanut Butter Art and Get a Free Jar to Take Home!

Did your mom ever tell you not to play with your food? Well apparently not everyone had that experience as a child. Case in point...The Nutropolitan Museum of Art. That's right, our beloved friends over at Peanut Butter & Co. have decided to celebrate National Peanut Month in a rather messy, yet creative way.

Starting tomorrow, you can visit the world's first PB&J art exhibit, complete with fun activities like meeting a peanut farmer and creating your own PB&J art! This free event runs through Sunday at the Openhouse Gallery (201 Mulberry Street, between Spring and Kenmare) in Nolita. But not only is it free, just by visiting you will receive a free jar of scrumptious Peanut Butter & Co. peanut butter, which you can eat or conduct some Picasso-esque experiments of your own. In addition to your peanut butter, Van Leeuwen Artisan Ice Cream will be providing snacks on Saturday from 11-4 and the Treats Truck will be providing, well, treats on Sunday from 11-4. You can also feel good about going because for every person who visits, Peanut Butter & Co. will donate a jar to the Food Bank for New York City as well.

So drop by the gallery, check out some unique art, indulge in a few snacks and celebrate National Peanut Month the nuttiest way you know how.

Saving You Money 3-8% At A Time

With so many online shopping destinations now, it's a wonder people even go into real stores any more. Sites like Retail Me Not and My Points are great for saving you money and earning you gift cards, respectively, but a few months ago I discovered Ebates and my life has been changed forever.

The premise of Ebates is that you log in, search for an online retailer (anything from Gap to Groupon to Sephora), click the link to go to the retailers site, and you will earn Ebates Bucks on a percentage of the purchase you make at the retailer, usually from 3-8%. Once you have earned at least $10, Ebates will send you a check - simple as pie!

Since joining a few months ago, I've already earned about $20 in cold hard cash just for making purchases I would have made anyway. Every so often Ebates will run specials as well so you will get double or triple the percentage of cash back. An exciting new development - Groupon just increased its percentage from three to six percent back! So next time you want to buy that 50% off restaurant gift certificate, you can save another 6% on top of that!

So screw 5th Avenue, sign up for Ebates. Do all your shopping online and use your savings for a night out!

Meet Your New Go-To Pizza Joint

Every once in a while, I stumble upon a restaurant that deserves so much more attention than I think it gets. La Bella in Murray Hill is one of those gems.

My boyfriend Mike and I decided to check out this relatively new pizza joint before hitting up a movie at the gigantic (well for Manhattan) Kipps Bay Theaters a few months ago. We shared a Caesar Salad and a medium pizza and from then on we've been hooked. It's not much to look at, but it's cozy, slightly dark and romantic, and the location couldn't be more convenient to the movie theaters, as it's essentially across the street.

Walking in, you'll see a to-go counter, but I'd recommend grabbing a table and staying a while. While a wine list is non-existent (in fact last time I was informed that the waiter with an Italian accent was the wine list), you can get a nice glass of Chianti to start of your Italian meal for $9. Who needs anything fancy anyway right? Next, I would recommend ordering the Caesar salad, and one order is the perfect size to split between two people. I've come to find that Caesar salads have been overdone and most of them can be pretty blah. I don't know what La Bella does, but the dressing has a nice bite (maybe the anchovy paste?), the lettuce is fresh and crispy and the croutons provide just the right amount of crunch. And at $6.95, you can't really beat the price either.

Caesar Salad

Once you've gobbled up you greens, you have the choice to partake in some unusual pizzas or stick with your plain Marinara or White. We have tried the Pollo ala Vodka Pizza more than once and it's definitely a favorite of ours. It comes with grilled chicken, broccoli and cheese covered in a tangy and hearty vodka sauce. We usually order the medium ($18) which gives us plenty and then some we can take home for leftovers. 

Pollo ala Vodka Pizza

With a plethora of other pizza options in the city, I'm not saying run here now, but if you're in the area for a movie or whatever, it's an excellent choice. I'll definitely be back!