Perfect Popcorn

A couple weeks ago, I tried Alton Brown's technique for perfect popcorn. Basically, you put some olive oil, popping corn, and salt in a big stainless steel bowl, cover with foil, poke holes in foil, and shake the bowl on a stove burner on medium heat. It takes a few minutes, and when they're all done popping, you top with melted butter. I put a twist on the recipe by tossing in a couple spoons of grated parmesan and presto! The cheapest, best popcorn ever. I bought a bag of Goya popping corn for $0.79 and got 4 huge bowls of popcorn out of it! I'm never going back to packaged microwave popcorn again!

Six Degrees

Yesterday, I was on Carmine St. and saw a production crew filming for Six Degrees at Trattoria Oreste. As I have never seen the show, I couldn't pick out the actors from across the street.

Booties for Boots

Have you ever had a problem wearing socks in half-calf boots? I find that with walking, the socks slip down and the tops of the boots wind up rubbing my skin raw. So I wore my new boots for the second time yesterday. The first time, I went out with Josh and did a lot of walking and paid the price. So when I got to work yesterday morning, the thick knee-high socks I was wearing had already slipped down.

Then an idea popped into my head. It seemed so simple. Just fold the socks over the tops of the boots, creating a cuff! So I tested this idea all day, and I can say it worked very well. However, it probably won't work well if you're using crappy old socks with worn out elastic.

This is stupid stuff that I think about, but yay, I can wear boots without pain now!

Rub a dub dub, kitty in the tub

I have no idea why, but Morty loves rolling around in the bathtub. He did it back in my old apartment too, so it's not exclusive to this Brooklyn tub. He enjoys chasing his tail while in the tub and doing kitty stretches. However, if you turn the water on, he will zoom out of there like a bat outta hell.

Tuesday dinner

Since Josh had to make up his Monday evening classes (they were off yesterday for Yom Kippur) tonight, I decided to be extra nice and make him a really nice dinner. I decided to try Giada de Laurentiis' farfalle with broccoli. As you can see in the picture above, I didn't use farfalle (bowtie pasta) because I already had fusilli (my favorite) at home. I was a little apprehensive about this recipe because it called for 5 anchovy fillets. I don't have a problem with anchovies, but Josh does. I remember Giada saying on the show that the anchovies melt into the sauce and don't taste fishy because as they cook, their flavor turns all nutty and delicious.

I also made my first chocolate mousse from scratch! While making the pasta dish, I had Food Network on in the background and watched Alton Brown make chocolate mousse. It looked so easy that I decided to give it a go. I had all the ingredients on hand: a block of semisweet chocolate, cream, espresso, gelatin, and butter. Well, I didn't have dark rum, so I skipped that step. It turns out that making chocolate mousse is as easy as AB made it out to be! It's so lovely and light. There's no sugar in the recipe, so it's not very sweet at all. It also isn't as dense and rich as a lot of restaurant's mousses tend to be. It was yummy and definitely one for my recipe book!

Le Gamin Soho

A few weeks ago, Josh met his fellow NYC Fellows in the West Village for drinks. I was out shopping and finished early, so I joined them. On the way there, my nose picked up on this most delicious scent. To my delight, it was a rotisserie that was stationed outside of a little French restaurant called Le Gamin. Ever since I watched the Barefoot in Paris special, where Ina Garten showed the viewer the Paris street market, I've wanted to try French rotisserie chicken. Ina pointed out this street vendor who sold freshly roasted chickens out of a rotisserie, where chickens roasted and the chicken drippings dribbled down onto huge trays of potatoes which roasted in those juices. This picture shows that cooking method, but in a huger scale.

Josh and I finally went to Le Gamin Soho tonight and the aromas definitely lived up to the actual food. We each had half of a rotisserie chicken for $9 each and it was the best roast chicken I've ever had. It was incredibly flavorful and juicy. Incredible! Because I'd just had roasted thyme potatoes the night before at home, we didn't get the rotisserie potatoes, but we'll definitely try them next time! We also got a half pitcher of white sangria to share for $10. It was a great meal!