Jasmin Sultana

The above are presents from my very wonderful friend Enas who visited from Boston last weekend.  Apart from a new British cupcake recipe book, she threw in all sorts of fun (and strange!) stuff including but not limited to: cupcake flavored dental floss, cupcake mints, cupcake flavored lip balm, cupcake hanging air freshener, cupcake plates,  cupcake apron, cupcake oven mitts and a cupcake "

eclectic nyc, a set on Flickr. My friend from Minnesota visited me last week and we had two days of nonstop walking! Our itinerary covered everything from the Upper East Side to Battery Park City, a walk across the Brooklyn Bridge to try Grimaldi's, Little Italy in the Bronx and of course the Bronx Zoo. You can see some of the pictures on my flickr uploads. Enjoy!

The Times' "Black at Stuyvesant High" article was all over my Facebook newsfeed today so I thought I'd share my two cents.As an Asian American alumna of Stuyvesant High School, I strongly believe that the specialized science high schools admissions test should not be eliminated. As we like to say, the exam makes Stuyvesant one of the only places in the world where you can have the daughter of a

You are tired,(I think)Of the always puzzle of living and doing;And so am I.Come with me, then,And we'll leave it far and far away—(Only you and I, understand!)You have played,(I think)And broke the toys you were fondest of,And are a little tired now;Tired of things that break, and—Just tired.So am I.But I come with a dream in my eyes tonight,And knock with a rose at the hopeless gate of your

If you haven't already heard- there is a new Crumbs location open at Queens Center Mall. I picked up their Halloween mini cupcake assortment because I'm a sucker for candy corn. At first glance, I thought the cupcakes were simply vanilla/vanilla and chocolate/chocolate. I was pleasantly surprised to find that they each had a contrasting buttercream filling! Definitely drop into a Crumbs and

They're holiday cookies, but I had bags of Kisses laying around so I went ahead and made them anyway. I used this recipe. They came out pretty darn good-- a little on the soft side but I tasted one fresh out of the oven and they will become more firm in an hour or so. The recipe is quite simple and my little sisters had a lot of fun pressing the Kisses in, so it's definitely one to make with

You have killed my love. You used to stir my imagination. Now you don't even stir my curiosity. You simply produce no effect. I loved you because you were marvellous, because you had genius and intellect, because you realised the dreams of great poets and gave shape and substance to the shadows of art. You have thrown it all away. You are shallow and stupid.The Picture of Dorian GrayDorian

I'm always looking for an excuse to buy or bake cupcakes and my cat's birthday was no exception. It was a last minute decision since Farhana and I hung out with Lena today and Baked by Melissa was conveniently on the way home from her apartment. Paris actually enjoys red velvet, but loses interest after finishing the cream cheese frosting. The twins, my brother and I ended up eating them (: .

In 2006 when I was in Dhaka, my grandmother pulled aside her beige sari and unhooked her blouse to show me the raised uneven line that ran down her chest. I was both saddened and repulsed by the ugly scar as I had seen the video sent to the States by the Uttara Heart Center the year before. I pictured the steel forceps pulling her dark skin taught, the instruments tangled in her body fat and

"Organized for the relief of refugees from East Pakistan (now independent Bangladesh) after the 1970 Bhola cyclone and during the 1971 Bangladesh atrocities and Bangladesh Liberation War, the event was the first benefit concert of this magnitude in world history."Enlarge the images to read the summary- proceeds from the album will benefit the George Harrison Fund for UNICEF.You can read more

This is a bizarre sequence, but it's exactly how it happened, dream and all. Last week, my uncle gave my father a potted bird's eye chili plant which he has since placed in my balcony.My late grandfather named me Jasmin because in Islamic culture, the jasmine is the "flower of heaven." I guess the chili would then be an allusion to "fire," and my father's happiness at its growth an affirmation

I am reminded of the millions exterminated in my birth country that will never have "justice." Human Rights Watch published an article last month on the Bangladeshi government finally bringing those that took part in the 1971 genocide to trial. You can read it here:http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2011/05/19/bangladesh-unique-opportunity-justice-1971-atrocitiesI stopped reading it when I saw this:"In

My friend surprised me with a box of fudge when we were in Bath, England. Surprisingly, The Fudge Kitchen doesn't have locations in London (I think the closest location is in Windsor).My first impression was "this is like biting into frosting..." but when I brought the fudge back home I couldn't stop eating it! It's more firm than frosting. If you're desi, imagine the texture of a sandesh. The

I've had macarons on my list ever since I saw the cupcakes vs macarons poster on Paris vs New York, a tally of two cities. I decided to try both of the leading macaron stores in Paris, Pierre Hermé & Ladurée. Both stores have several locations in Paris and can be found fairly close to each other at the Opéra metro stop so I went there one afternoon. I first tried the chocolate macaron (the

This was supposed to be a cupcake entry but I had to mention My Old Dutch Pancake House in London. On my trip earlier this month my friend took me there on a Monday, when all pancakes are only ₤5. You get a giant pancake with your choice of toppings, chocolate sauce and ice cream. The taste is very similar to a crepe, and it was so huge I could only finish half. I recommend sharing if you go

birthday biriani, a photo by jasminsultana on Flickr.My older sister turned 27 this week and my mom made this for the occasion. It makes me sad to think that my biriani will never be as good!

martha's cupcakes, a photo by jasminsultana on Flickr.From Martha's. I've had the chocolate vanilla and black & white before, but it was my first time having a banana cupcake. It brought back memories of that discontinued Entenmann's banana cake that desi families loved haha. There were a couple of raisins in there that I took out because I don't like biting into them (I bake carrot cake without

Goorilla Unit.

my first time making red velvet cupcakes, a photo by jasminsultana on Flickr.Theme of this week. An easy way to frost when you don't feel like busting out the piping bag is to dollop on the frosting and create little spikes using a (sticky with frosting) spoon. Inspired by Martha Stewart's Cupcakes.

I posted a link to these delicious crêpes from duhlicious.com, which inspired my friend Cristian to make them. This evening, I went over to help. Cristian made the crêpes, which was the difficult part (it's SO HARD to get them thin enough without tearing them), but by the end of the batch he had it down pat. They take a bit of practice. I worked on the filling and presentation. We couldn't

Bakery: Two Little Red HensLocation: New York, NYRating: 10/10Website: http://www.twolittleredhens.com/I had one red velvet cupcake from this place and it was enough to convince me of this bakery's awesomeness. This is THE best red velvet in town. At first glance, there's nothing particularly special about this cupcake. But you can actually taste the cocoa in the cake itself, which is moist and

dining out, a set on Flickr.Finally, this set is for everything delicious I eat outside- whether at a restaurant or at a friend's house.

eclectic nyc, a set on Flickr.Pretty, bizarre or unique findings concerning the best city in the world.

my creations, a set on Flickr.This set is where I'll add anything I make. Some of them I've posted about before (in which case, links are provided). Enjoy!

mom's cooking, a set on Flickr.Decided to put together a few flickr sets of my yummiest photos. This one's for my mom!