The cat who came to breakfast

Remember Wellington?

Well, this isn't him, if I compare his markings with the cat who used to show up (and I haven't seen since last winter).

This morning, I was getting ready to travel to Jersey City for lunch with a friend when I heard crying from the front windows. I looked out and there was this little black and white cat, crying his heart out. I shook Josh awake and showed him, and there was a moment where he asked me if he should get the cat and he didn't have to wait for an answer from me.

He left, but the cat had started walking up the street. I followed after Josh a few minutes later and when I got to the sidewalk, I saw Josh coming back from the top of the street, with the little cat trotting beside him. He came back to our building, where we fed him and got him into a carrier. My lunch plans went kablooey and I went to the vet with the little guy.

$170 later, he's dewormed and tested negative for feline leukemia and AIDS. Everyone at the vet's office was asking if he'd found a home with us, and he is such a sweet and affectionate little guy. However, our apartment is too small for three cats, even though I'd love to keep him. It would've been quite the Christmas story if I did get to keep him. Josh's parents already freaked out when he told them, saying that it was ridiculous to spend any money on a stray, and "what happens when the next stray cat comes along?"

I'm e-mailing someone I know who wants a cat (hers passed away a couple years ago), and hopefully she's checking her inbox this week, so she can come meet him. I know that if she meets him, she'll want him for her own.

Awesome

My brother is the best. For Christmas, he gave me something totally over the top, that I never expected to receive.

The complete X Files series on DVD, including the movie.

Too awesome. My brother, I mean. But X Files is awesome too.

Eli-Weli update

We took Eli for his second follow-up appointment last night. His September appointment's test results revealed remaining grit in his urine and the pH balance wasn't acidic enough. The vet kept him on the Hill's Prescription S/D food, which we fed Eli until about two weeks ago when we ran out. I figured we'd feed him the S/D kibble and Morty's canned Wellness food until the next doctor appointment rather than buying another case of expensive prescription food that we might not need.

Eli was a good boy at the vet's, weighing in at 13 lbs. I hope he doesn't get much heavier. He did not enjoy having his temperature taken, and stuck his tongue out at the vet after she examined his gums. Thankfully, they were able to get a urine sample (vet was worried with Eli's bladder not being very full); otherwise, I would've had to wait around for Eli to pee in a specially prepared litter box and collect the sample myself and bring it to the vet.

The vet called me this morning and said that Eli's test results are "fabulous" and that we should keep feeding Eli the way we are and he doesn't need another follow-up appointment. I'll probably be a little anal though and bring him back for another urinalysis in 6 months. The price wasn't too bad either, totaling $87 for follow-up and urinalysis. Not too bad considering it's a fancy Park Slope clinic.

Cute flatware

My brother went on a business trip to Korea a few weeks ago and he got me the loveliest souvenir! He gave me a set of stainless steel chopsticks and long spoons (if you eat at Korean restaurants, they're at every place setting) with cute chopstick/spoon rests.

Sniff! My little brother is so grown up now!

Happy Hanukkah!

I love potato latkes. It's my favorite Jewish food. Matzoh ball soup can't compete (sorry Josh's mom). Since Tuesday was the first night of Hanukkah, what better night to try my hand at making latkes for the very first time? I once watched Josh's dad make them, and I helped fry them, so I knew it wasn't that hard, especially with the help of a food processor. Turns out making latkes is so easy, and doesn't require anywhere the amount of oil I thought it did. And it also turns out that Josh thought they were delicious. When I'd turn around to put another bunch to drain, the previous batch would already be gone.

Here's the recipe I worked out:

Ingredients

3 peeled large Idaho potatoes (not the super ginormous super baked potato size)

1/2 medium yellow onion

3 Tbsp flour or bread crumbs (Josh couldn't find any matzoh meal at the market)

2 eggs

1 1/2 tsp kosher salt

Black pepper (to taste)

Vegetable oil

Grate the potatoes and onions. Using a food processor with grating disk is the fastest and easiest way to do this (also easy on the eyes if you're a weakling with onions). Squeeze as much moisture as you can out of the potatoes and onions. I just squeezed it out over the kitchen sink. Don't worry about trying to get it bone dry. Using a salad spinner would work too, like in that Good Eats episode where Alton Brown made potato roesti. However, I was lazy and didn't want to wash more dishes.

Then mix the salt, pepper, flour/bread crumbs, and eggs into the potato mixture. Heat up your pan of choice and pour in 2-3 Tbsp of vegetable oil. Drop in 2-3 Tbsp of your latke mix and flip when bottom is golden brown and delicious. Remove when second side looks good too. Serve with apple sauce and sour cream. I prefer the apple sauce.

Guitar Turkey

A little post-turkey Guitar Hero never hurt anybody.

Thanksgiving Eve

Must turn the turkey in the brine at 3 a.m.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Lovely

It's the middle of a November Wednesday, and I'm not at work. In fact, I'm ensconced in my bed with the shades up to let in the leaf speckled sunlight. One of my cats is napping in his kitty bed next to me, looking up briefly each time I sneeze with a little glare of annoyance. I'm not home because I'm sick, but because I need to use up the rest of my vacation days before I lose them a the end of the year. I just think I may have a touch of a cold, which is all the more reason to stay in bed and read. Perhaps I pushed myself too hard this weekend, staying up late and getting up horridly early to cook for Josh's birthday party. I was hanging out of my window at 7:30 on Sunday morning to cook chicken on the fire escape!

Glutton for punishment

Every year, I cook for two big football events: the Superbowl and the NFL draft. It appears I am in for a third this year, and perhaps every year from now on.

I've already planned to take Josh to Bliss Spa for some pampering as his job has been wringing him dry this semester. It was between the spa and making a reservation at a restaurant with a bunch of his friends. I was afraid that the latter would result in my getting stuck with a liquor bill, as I would have done a prix fixe thing so there'd be less confusion settling the bill, so I figured I'd rather spend a specific amount of money for the spa treatment instead.

However, I figured making a nice meal for the guys on Sunday wouldn't be that big of a deal, so I mentioned the idea to Josh and he was really excited about it, but said he wouldn't make me go to all that trouble. At work today, I decided that I would do it, and plan a menu for six people.

This is what I've got planned:
Appetizers: Onion dip with Veggies, Chicken Satay Skewers with Peanut Dip, and Spanokopita.
Main Course: Chicken Stew topped with Parsley Biscuits
Dessert: Chocolate Cake with Italian Buttercream Frosting

As everything is homemade and I have a very limited kitchen, I've got a timeline for when things are being prepped or made entirely before the party begins. I'm a little insane when it comes to planning these things. I love figuring out what order of preparation and what goes in the oven when. And don't even get me started on the shopping list. I love lists. Maybe I shouldn't reveal all my dorky tendencies.

Deep down, I think this event is just a reason for me to finally try my hand at spanokopita and Italian buttercream frosting. It's too late to change my mind though, as my evite has already been issued and I'm anxiously waiting to see if I'm planning too much food.

Perks for the poor

I don't make a lot of money, but I love my job and its assorted perks. I finally got to sit in prime seats after several times in the nosebleed section.

An evening with the Man

Last Friday, I went to Lincoln Center's Avery Fisher Hall for the first time, to see the New York Philharmonic (for the first time), conducted by none other than JOHN WILLIAMS! (Last year, I wished I was in Boston because Williams conducted the Boston Pops in a program chock full of his work.)

I was so excited about this concert, which was half Williams' work, and half music from Stanley Donen movies. I got to hear music from Harry Potter, Memoirs from a Geisha, Hook, and Jane Eyre. From the Donen portion, a huge projection screen hung over the orchestra. Donen, the special guest host, discussed the upcoming clip (such as Royal Wedding and Seven Brides for Seven Brothers) with Williams, and then they'd start the clip with original sound, and fade out the sound while the orchestra took up where it left off. It was absolutely magical.

The last item on the program was a Lucasfilms/Spielberg tribute, with matching film clips. It started with Jaws, segued right into Star Wars (cue thunderous applause), into Indiana Jones, and ended on E.T.. My hands hurt from clapping so hard that night.

The audience gave four standing ovations, and the orchestra played three Williams-composed encore pieces. The concert was supposed to last two hours, but turned out to be two and a half hours in the end. The first was the theme from Sugarland Express, second was Olympic Spirit, which was super exciting for me because I played it in marching band my sophomore year in high school, and third was The Mission (a.k.a. the theme from NBC News).

It was the best concert I've ever been to, and definitely worth every penny. If another opportunity to see Williams presents itself, I will go again, and this time Josh will go.

How's Eli?

I hate you and antibiotics.

Eli has finished his prescriptions and is still peeing, although of smaller amounts than he used to. He fought the liquid antibiotics a lot more than the last time he had to take them. I didn't think giving him a pill would be easier, but it was. He was a good little guy. I just tossed it into the back of his mouth and he would swallow it himself without my having to resort to holding his mouth shut and rubbing his throat. The liquid antibiotics though, were another story. He was spitting it back out with each dose and made a huge mess. Eli's still on the Hill's S/D formula, but he doesn't like it as much as the Wellness turkey canned food that Morty's eating. And Morty wants to eat Eli's food!

We took him to the vet yesterday for his follow-up appointment and routine vaccinations. The vet had to take a urine sample, and I thought they were going to squeeze it out of Eli, but it turns out they did it by cystocentesis (via a needle through the abdomen). One of the vaccines was administered through liquid nose drops and he was so good for the whole exam. The vet said that she'd never had such a good patient for that vaccine. Now I'm just waiting for the results of the urinalysis to confirm that the pH of Eli's urine is ideal for eliminating crystals.

Eli-Weli update

Eli's home!

I got a call from the vet this morning at work and she said that Eli's catheter was out and he was able to pee on his own. Also important, since Eli wasn't eating this past weekend, he was eating ravenously. I'm not surprised, because he was throwing up all Thursday and into Friday morning and probably hasn't eaten in three days. Eli's discharge was scheduled for 6:40 this evening.

Josh and I went to pick Eli up and speak with his doctor, who gave us Hill's s/d Feline canned food to help dissolve the crystals in Eli's bladder. Eli will be on this food for the next 6-8 weeks and even if he doesn't take to the food, we can give him non-prescription canned food. It's most important to increase his water intake.

The first couple hours home were nerve-wracking though. Morty was hissing at Eli, and swatted him a few time, most likely because of the way he smelled like the vet's office, and Eli had gone to the litter box three times in the first twenty minutes he was home. I panicked because one thing we're supposed to monitor is frequent trips to the litter box. Thankfully the doctor called back in just a few minutes and said that everything was fine because Eli was actually peeing in the box and not just straining due to a clog. So nothing to worry about with that! It's quite funny how Josh and I are jumping up every time Eli heads toward the bathroom. As for Morty, he should calm down within the next couple days as Eli grooms the smell of the hospital out of his fur.

Poor little Eli had part of his foreleg and his "crotch" area shaved, but he's got his trademark cattitude back! He's eating his food (and some of Morty's), stomping around the apartment, and even forgave his mommy and daddy for taking him to the hospital. Surprisingly, he gave us head butts and even purred for me. I'm so happy he's home, and we're going to keep such a close eye on him during the next couple weeks.

Eli-Weli in the hospital

Eli gave us quite a scare last week, and has once again proven to be a money pit. Not that we don't love him, and not that this may have been prevented by us.

On Thursday, he was vomiting repeatedly and we thought he just had a tummy bug. But that night, he was lethargic and not acting like himself. Eli normally meows and brrrs a lot, and exhibits lots of cattitude in his stomping little walk across the apartment, but there was none of that. At that point, I decided he'd go to the vet. Eli was even more lethargic the next day, and I was worried that he might not make it to the appointment I made for the afternoon. As I write these words, I'm so thankful that he actually did make it, because he very well could've passed away.

The vet, upon palpating Eli's abdomen, discovered that his bladder was extremely swollen and that Eli tensed whenever she was squeezing it, and believed him to have a urinary obstruction, and he would require immediate treatment and a few days in the hospital. She also gave us an estimate that it would cost between $1000 and $1200 for everything. It didn't matter though, even though the treatment cost almost a month's rent, because Eli is our baby and we can't imagine our home without him. In fact, in the few days he's been gone, we notice that it's a lot quieter and Morty is sticking to us instead of his usual hangout spots.

The vet's update on Friday evening told us that the catheter was working and that a lot of grit had been cleaned out and his bladder was draining. After today's update, Eli's urine is clear (no longer bloody), but he doesn't want to eat. I hope that it's just because he's in a scary place rather than a sign that he's really still not well. He's coming home tomorrow and I hope he gets better and takes to the prescribed diet that's supposed to dissolve the crystals that caused the blockage in the first place.

Apparently, Eli had Feline Lower Urinary Tract Disease (FLUTD), something that occurs frequently in male cats, but there is no exact cause. Crystals build up in the bladder and block the urethra, and since the urethra is narrower in males, this disease afflicts males mostly. The vet and a lot of my Googling has told me that it's most likely due to Eli being on a 100% dry food diet, which means that certain minerals build up more, and he's getting less water. I'm a bit frustrated with myself because we stopped feeding them wet food when they stopped eating it. We thought they were just growing out of it, but if I'd known about the high risk of FLUTD, I would've made greater efforts to keep them on a wet food/dry food combo diet like they were on when they were kittens. I'm also angry that I never got Eli pet insurance, and now I won't be able to have these medical expenses covered because even if I got insurance now, it would be a preexisting condition and they wouldn't cover it.

And the scariest thing is that urinary blockage in a male cat can be fatal if it isn't treated quickly enough. Most websites say that the cat will go into a coma and pass away due to renal failure within 48-72 hours. It's horrible thinking about how those four hours I was working on Friday may have been more vital than they actually were. And we're not out of the woods yet. Eli may block again if there are more crystals in his bladder, and he's high risk because he wasn't eating at the hospital, and that food is supposed to help him dissolve the crystals.

So please think good thoughts toward Eli, that he'll eat his prescribed food when he comes home, and that he goes back to being his tenacious and outspoken former self.

A birthday like no other

For my birthday, I took Friday off from work so Josh and I could get an early start down to PA to visit Annette and Mark for the weekend.

We dined at Cuba Libre on Friday evening, and the food made me want to find a great Cuban restaurant close to us. Sadly, there aren't any in Park Slope, but there are some I'm going to look at in Manhattan.

Yesterday, on my actual birthday, Annette and Mark taught me how to shoot a gun and were fantastic instructors on the basics and gun safety. I found out that I'm a real wuss and prefer to stay with the .22 caliber pistol because I found myself being afraid of the recoil that I knew was coming with the larger caliber pistol. I would definitely go again, but without the rednecks in the lane next to us rapid firing a shotgun at five yards and screaming "WOOOOOOO! That's a mean gun!" afterward.

After the range, we went to Ikea in this weird-named town and on the car ride, I suddenly realized how tiring shooting really is, and we'd been there for just over an hour. I've been lusting after these bowls for a while and I was determined to get them even though Josh kept asking, "Do you really need them" and "Where would you put them in our tiny apartment?" And guess what? On a mission to obtain a curtain rod and curtain, I came away with not only my desired bowls, but its accessory set, four white soup bowls (to replace our dumb flared lip ones), two big glass bowls, and two smaller glass bowls. Most of our china (if I can even call it that) is from a cheapo set we got for Josh's senior year at Rutgers and the rest is this horrible outdated set from Josh's parents. And we had swedish meatballs!

We made good time back to Brooklyn today and lounged about for a while, took a cat nap, and walked to Barnes and Noble so that Josh could stock up on his fantasy football research material, and I went because he said he'd buy me a book. Unlucky for him, he didn't specify how much I could spend.

Kitty in the sun

Life is really hard for kitties in the summer, lounging by the window in an air conditioned apartment.

My shoes go out!

So the whole reason I bought my new red shoes was so I could have appropriate summer footwear for going on a plant tour, lest I lose some toes in a tragic printing press accident. I was a little scatterbrained the morning of my departure though, as Josh is away visiting relatives (he's been gone practically a month with all his vacations) and the cats needed to be prepped for a couple days without supervision. A car service came to pick me up and as I was about to walk out, I remembered to fill the cats' water fountain. Whoops! That could've been really bad.

We had a good trip out to PA and when we checked in, I found out I was staying in one of their deluxe rooms because they were absolutely packed. My boss got the super deluxe room. It's okay; I roughed it in my gigantic room with the gas fireplace and jacuzzi tub. After a three-hour car ride, it was heaven to walk into this quiet, beautiful, air-conditioned room with relaxing classical music playing subtly from the nightstand. The picture really doesn't do it justice. I felt so bad that I was enjoying myself so much with gourmet food prepared by a local celebrity and lovely accommodations while Josh was sweating it out in Florida at his grandmother's place. His grandmother does not believe in using the air conditioning. I don't even want to imagine what it's like.

When I got home, the apartment was the warmest it's been all year, and the cats were stretched out on the floor to their longest extension, as though they had melted. Air conditioning on!

Like I need another hole in my head

Look! My first ballet flat purchase since elementary school! I'm not much of a flat shoe person, unless it's flip flops or sneakers (do those even count as shoes?), but I actually needed these shoes, and not in that half-assed rationalization way. I'm going on a plant tour tomorrow, and they have really strict rules about what you wear, meaning no jewelry or open-toed or high-heeled shoes. That left me with my sneakers and there's no way I'm going to wear sneakers and jeans in the summer, so I needed cute close-toed shoes without a heel that I can wear with a skirt.

I was a woman on a mission after work today: Buy 300 to ogle manly man candy and Hot Fuzz DVDs and then get ballet flats no matter what.

Success! And my new shoes were cheaper than my DVD purchase.

Done!

I'm done reading Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. I'm a bit sad that it's all over, but I can start rereading the entire series like I always do after finishing the newest novel. And then I'll read #7 again.

Do not disturb

The Harry Potter watch is at an end! Now it is time to hunker down and read the last new HP book.

Harry Potter Watch 2007

I ordered my copy of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows from Amazon for Saturday delivery. It is almost 3:30 and I still don't have it in my hot little hands. I'm a little worried and jump up whenever I hear what I think is our front gate (it's the neighbors' front gates). I've already gotten my Saturday mail delivery, so maybe they're going to do another trip with the Harry Potter overflow? The front door wasn't closed all the way, so hopefully my book wasn't stolen? I'm overwrought!!

Spoiling it

With all the brouhaha with the last Harry Potter book, I've been staying away from the news and much of the internet. I thought I was safe, but I opened up my Publisher's Lunch Deluxe weekly e-mail to find a bold blurb that pretty much answers that "Does Harry live" question. I was so angry because you'd think that an industry publication would be a little more sensitive to all of this. Or did they figure that it was a free-for-all now that the book's leaked out and the cat's out of the bag?

And the kicker? 1 1/2 hours later, somebody from Lunch Weekly e-mails everyone and warns against reading the weekly e-mail if you don't want the ending spoiled. It appears they also believe in "better late than never."

Thanks, Lunch Weekly.

Meet Wonky

This is Wonky, aptly named because he is very wonky. He is supposed to be a sausage dog, and when I sewed his body parts together, Josh said that it looked awful. I knitted him using Blue Sky Alpacas sport weight alpaca and this adorable pattern from Mochimochi Land. The pattern forced me out of the safety of my scarf-knitting limits, making me learn how to knit in the round, which uses a scary amount of needles at one time. It took me quite a while to get used to using four needles at once, but once I figured out how to arrange the needles and work, everything sped along. The body parts actually don't take too long to make; I just procrastinated on stuffing him and sewing the pieces together. And then I procrastinated some more about giving Wonky a face, having this weird misshapen pink hot dog hanging out in my knitting bag. A little creepy actually.



I embroidered his face on this evening and when I was done, I put him on the table for the first time, only to find that he tilts to his left and not all four of his feet touch the table at the same time. I also discovered that I embroidered his eyes on the front of his face, rather than the side like in the original pattern. I'm also rather unsure as to how his ears are of different lengths. Maybe I counted my rows wrong? But it's okay! His flaws are charming and I can say that his head tilt gives him a "quizzical brow," to borrow Elizabeth Bennet's expression. Can you tell I was watching Pride and Prejudice while giving Wonky a face?

I'm already working on a second sausage dog so that I can start linking sausages together. I hope to have at least three soon!

Brooklyn Squirrels

A squirrel decided to scramble all over our screen for a few minutes. Maybe he was confused.

Meet Winston

This is Winston. I made him out of two gloves. He is awesome.

He has a little necktie, as he has learned from his CEO that it's important to dress well so you can be noticed at work. However, Winston is but a lowly production assistant and can't afford any clothes besides the tie. All the better, Winston thinks, because he'll be noticed for sure!

I have nearly zero sewing skillz, but I was guided by this neat book, Sock and Glove and it gives instructions for sixteen charming little projects. And even if you're not an expert crafter, the little wonky flaws make your little softy so much more adorable. At first I didn't think Winston looked so great, but as each day passes, I like him more and more.

The essential wedding day emergency kit

I was in San Jose, CA for ten days for my beloved cousin Jessica's wedding. I was probably there earlier than I had to be, but the airplane ticket was so much cheaper going on Friday after work. Anyways, with me being paranoid, I prepared an emergency kit. It had a nail file, sewing kit, Tide-to-Go pen, and band-aids.

While Jessica was walking around the restaurant in her gown, which had been bustled up, I thought about advice that had been given to me by the Rutgers Bookstore merchandise manager. She told me that if I want a gown with a train, get one that's detachable, rather than one that bustles, as her husband stepped on her dress and broke the bustle so she was dragging her dress around for the rest of the night. And the same thing wound up happening to Jessica, although not to the same extent. One of her bustle hooks ripped and left the bustle all uneven.

So it was off to the bride's changing room to figure out how to fix the bustle hook before the first dance. I'm sure this is very riveting subject matter to those who don't care about weddings. But we couldn't use the sewing kit (from the hotel I stayed at for my last business trip) to fix the hook because it wouldn't hold up the weight of the train, what with our meager sewing skillZ.

There was only one solution: run to my mom, expert seamstress and maker of clothing. Within 2 minutes, my mom fixed Jessica's bustle hook with a length of hotel kit thread and needle. She had me thread the needle 4 times and she did this awesome thing where she braided the thread together and made a thin cord that she then anchored as a loop into Jessica's train, replacing the old bustle hook, and bang! It looked like nothing had happened.

So that just shows you that you shouldn't have a wedding without my mom there. Or just get a wedding gown with a detachable train.

His name is Wellington

I decided months ago that our next pet will be named Wellington. A tribute to two of Josh's likes: beef wellington and Wellington Mara, the former owner of the NY Giants who passed away in 2005.

A couple months ago, we found ourselves with a third cat (in very loose terms), as we haven't taken him in and don't feed him. Wellington actually scared me with his attention to our apartment when I was home alone one weekend. I walked to the kitchen for a drink of water during a freelance assignment proofreading a horror novel that involved a black and white zombie cat. And then there was this black and white cat peering at me through my kitchen window!

But Wellington, as I've taken to calling this stray cat, is around very frequently, despite my not feeding him, and Morty and Eli love rubbing against the window when they see him. Wellie is very polite and hasn't peed on our window, and he's even gotten used to me coming right up to the window to look at his handsome face. I'm a sucker for black and white cats, and a total sucker for pink noses. Morty and Eli have noses that match their coats, but that doesn't mean I love them less.

I also don't know if he's actually a boy, but as someone who made all her stuffed animals male, it's easier this way.

Hanami

As a reward for my dogged efforts to produce a manly feast for the manly men watching the manly NFL Draft, Josh took me to view the cherry blossoms at Brooklyn Botanic Garden as I've never seen a lot of them at once. It was so crowded because of the Sakura Matsuri (Cherry Blossom Festival).

After my lost Friday night and Saturday, I expected him to follow through on his promise to take me to view cherry blossoms. I thought it was going to be a romantic outing for the two of us, as spare time is rare for Josh as a teacher, and when he has any, he's usually spending it as he wishes to relax. I'm used to it now, but it doesn't result in fantastic weekends. So when Josh said today that we'd be attending the festival, I was so excited. Before we left, Josh made his weekly call to his parents so they'd know he hadn't died on the job, and to fill them in on our planned visit to the BBG, only to find out that they were already at the cherry blossom festival! Fantastic. My first romantic outing with my boyfriend in goodness only knows how long, and his parents and little brother are also present. They'd already been at the BBG since 10:00, so we figured that they'd be gone by the time we got there at 1:00 (a couple hours away), but they said they'd hang around to see us in person.

We met up with them after making our way to the main tent, where performers displayed various Japanese arts. I avoid those kinds of things because it's usually a lot of gawking by people who remind me of a woman I used to work with who asked me, "What do Chinese people eat for breakfast?" Anyways, as Josh's parents (excluded from my generalization about gawkers, at least, I hope) wanted to stay and watch the performances, so Josh and I were free to roam. I was blown away by how many people were crowding into the gardens, and not so surprised by the number of couples I caught making out in secluded areas (i.e. underneath the branches of a weeping willow). I guess they got the spring (mating season) fever. The clouds even broke after a while, making the visit even better.

In front of the conservatory, we found a large pool inhabited by a few ducks. We were privy to a territory dispute when a third male flew into the pond and the already-present males chased him out with much flapping and splashing of BBG visitors. It lasted about 5 minutes, with the interloper flying away with his feathers ruffled. There was also a wedding reception taking place in the conservatory, and while I was admiring the centerpieces, Josh pointed out that it wasn't a traditional wedding, as the groom and groom were enjoying their first dance. Traditional or not, it was so sweet and made me tear up, while Josh was saying that he'd never seen two men dance together like that in real life.

I also saw some lovely spring green tulips, my favorite tulip (and that's saying a lot as I don't relaly care for tulips). But eventually, we made our way back to the main tent so Josh could talk to his parents and let them know that all was well in his life and they had nothing to fret about in their stereotypically Jewish fashion. If Josh's mother is afraid I'm not feeding her baby properly, he'll be home next weekend for her to fatten up with horse-sized portions of salad and fiber. I tuned out for most of that conversation, and we left soon after that for our apartment and our own dose of Japanese culture, which consisted of several episodes of Bleach. We were in good spirits until Josh started grading American History essays and got frustrated with his students and their lack of ability to construct sentences, let alone cohesive essays.

And that was the end of a weekend that went by far too quickly.

Manday 2007

Today was the first day of the NFL Draft, a very important day to manly men. After all, who the hell would sit around for several hours on a nice day to wait for teams to pick their next overpriced rookie who might not even pan out in the long run? Josh describes draft day as "the most important day next to Election Day."

Most important day or not, there was a lot of food involved. We made the usual ribs, lasagna, and sweet chex mix/trash. We also tried out a number of new recipes. From Ina Garten, I made chocolate cupcakes with peanut butter frosting and a brown rice with tomato and basil salad and Josh made a big expensive seafood salad. I also made Giada de Laurentiis' artichoke pesto for an appetizer. Yesterday, we did a lot of prep. Josh put the dry rub on the ribs while I assembled the lasagna, made chex mix, and baked the cupcakes. Considering Josh would have to be more of a host, he went to bed after cleaning the apartment while I baked until 3:30 in the morning.

We woke up at 9 today to start cooking again, but once the guests showed up, the cooking was left to me. I didn't get a break until the guys left for football in Prospect Park and I got a little nap. After some of the party left, the remainder played poker, and Josh won $40, which almost covers the cost of that seafood salad.

A visit and some rain

Annette visited me this weekend! I'd been looking forward to her visit for such a long time, as I've visited her a few times. She came in on Friday and saw my office and picked up a ton o' books from the grand take-shelf tour. After work, the grand food tour began, as I took her to the places I've told her about. We indulged in steak frites at Les Halles. We had dim sum at the restaurant where I saw Mario Batali, picked up buns and iced milk-teas, went to Grand Central Market, and had Austrian comfort food at Cafe Steinhof. And on Sunday, we had bagels and then slogged through the storm back to Manhattan so she could go home.

And now it's still raining.

A cake for the boss

It was my boss's birthday yesterday and I decided to bring in a cake to celebrate. I originally planned to give the recipe a test run at my mother's belated Chinese New Year celebration, but my dad kibboshed the idea because one of the dogs in attendance has been known to steal food off countertops (big dog, esp. when on hindlegs). So I broke my cardinal rule about not bringing in food that has not been proven a success before. It would be easy to get around that standard if I were making cookies, but when it's a layer cake, you can't exactly cut a slice and try it out the night before.

I was extra worried because I'd never successfully produced a layer cake. I tried once when I was in middle school, but the top layer didn't want to stay in place, and it was awful and I stayed away from layer cakes ever since. However, this Ina Garten recipe really tempted me and I gave in. It was really easy to make and the layers baked perfectly. I didn't use her frosting recipe though, because using a raw egg yolk in frosting sounds gross, and I was making it the night before, and I didn't have pasteurized eggs. I used the Magnolia chocolate buttercream recipe instead and all was good. The layers stayed where they were placed, and the frosting didn't fall off the sides of the cake overnight.

At work the next day, my boss, being the low-key type, agreed that I'd just put the cake out and he'd get the first piece. Absolutely NO SINGING allowed. I didn't invite anyone to partake, well except for Jennie, who had advance warning, but a crowd showed up for cake, not even knowing that it was for a birthday. Everyone liked the cake and there was even a remark of surprise that the cake wasn't store-bought. And there was the usual, "Why don't you open a bakery?" comment. The very idea scares me.

So I guess my boss got what he wanted with a low-key birthday, as people talked more about the cake than the fact he was one year older.

Traveling in style

I went on a short business trip last week to a cover/jacket printing plant in Maryland.

To transport our group down there, the vendor hired a "limbusine," which (as you figured) is a bus with the trappings of a limo. We were supposed to have a lovely bus done in creamy colors with wood accents and huge leather chairs, but that bus was in the shop. We wound up with the stripper bus, which you could also call the prom limo on steroids. There were strobe lights, subwoofers and speakers beneath our seats, whirling red laser lights, and that fake stars-that-change-color paneling. And three TVs. The picture on the left was taken on our trip back to NY, which was a lot more subdued than our trip down to MD.

Sometimes, travel was made difficult because of the sheer size of our vehicle. It made me think of the time I went on a cruise and we had to take a tender to shore because the ship was so large it couldn't even dock at the island. I kept imagining little golf carts to take us from the bus to the restaurant.

Codpieces and suspender thongs

This past weekend was quite big for movies and DVDs. Josh and I went to see the 300 on Saturday morning. New York City movie prices are horrible and Manhattan theaters don't have matinees, so you wind up paying about $11 per ticket no matter what time of day you go. Luckily, we go to the movies in Brooklyn now and it's $7.50 per ticket before noon. None of those NJ "matinees are before 6pm" deals.

When Josh started saying that he wanted to see 300 a couple months ago, I said that I'd go to see the practically naked guys flex their muscles in leather codpieces. In the end, I was pleasantly surprised to find that the movie is really good, considering I thought SinCity was just okay. 300 has a better message for the audience, and we had a good crowd that day. It was probably too early for the teenaged assholes. During the end of one of the battle scenes, another viewer in the audience shouted, "SPARTA!" and we all cracked up.

After the movie, we went to Manhattan and picked up Borat (who knew flourescent green suspender thongs for men were so hilarious?) and the first 8 seasons of South Park.

Technical difficulties

My laptop is not at its best right now. It was on and open on my bed a few nights ago when the kitties decided to have a race around the apartment. The laptop wound up being on their track and their galloping claws ripped some keys off the keyboard. Normally, I would pop them back on, but they were yanked off so powerfully that the little plastic frames that connect the keys onto the board have been broken apart as well. Thank goodness for warranties!

Since I work, it's hard to get a service call, so I'm sending my laptop back to Dell this week. I'm also hoping they'll replace my LCD because it has that smiley face effect going on thanks to putting pressure on the top when the laptop is closed.

Posting will be scarce until the laptop is back.

No loitering

Yesterday morning, I was puttering around my bedroom before leaving for work when I looked out the window to see a teenaged boy outside our building on the sidewalk. He was leaning against the car parked at the curb, just standing. Every time I was by the window for the next 15 minutes, I checked to see if he was still there, and he was, staring at our building. I started to feel creeped out.

Then the weirdest thing happened. He reached inside his coat by his neck and pulled out a wriggling white rat. He held it, letting it crawl back and forth between his hands and then put the rat back into his coat on his shoulder, where the little fellow did a few laps around his neck. He took the rat out a couple more times after that, and the next time I looked out the window, he was gone.

Josh never saw the rat, but he said he locked the front door quite firmly when he left before me.

Julieree on Etsy!

My friend Julie has opened an Etsy shop! Check it out and just try figuring out how you can resist these lovely cards.

Happy piggy year!

While walking to my grandma's house today, I stopped at a Chinese supermarket for some chocolates to give to her. As soon as I stepped in, an older woman accosted me with a thick Russian accent and asked me if I "know English." I should've pretended that I didn't, but I'm too nice and said that I spoke English.

She asked me which vegetable is good "for two." She said that's what they say in Russian. I didn't think she meant she needed enough veggies for two people. I told her that I didn't understand Russian (duh). So she asked me for a recommendation and I pointed her to gai-lan, which is Chinese broccoli I think. Something like mustard greens? Whatever, I remember my mom always made them, so it must be good for you (as I didn't like them, and still don't). Russian woman then asked me if they have fiber and I told her yes. Then she said something that sounded like, "Good for semen?" And I got all skeeved out and said that I didn't understand what she was talking about. She asked me how she should cook the vegetable (she was actually probably asking me about steaming the greens when I thought she was talking about semen) and I'm amazed I didn't roll my eyes and scream, "It's a veggie! Do whatever you want to it! I'm not going to report you to the Chinese vegetable police if you don't prepare it the way a Chinese person would!" I told her to blanch it and put a little oyster sauce on top (like my mom does) and she looked at me dubiously.

Then she asked if it was good for salad and I told her no. I said that if she wanted a milder vegetable to buy bok choi and pointed her in its direction. As soon as her back was turned, I scurried off and figured that she was one of those people who think all Asian people look alike and wouldn't bother me again.

Nigella go home!

I see I'm not the only one who dislikes Nigella Lawson. She really talks too much and the food isn't astounding. One of the few episodes I've watched had her declaring her greatest fear is going somewhere and getting hungry. So she likes to walk around with a sandwich at the ready in her bag. It's this black bread sandwich spread with cream cheese and black cherry jam. I was so grossed out by the idea of this gooey sandwich being smooshed around in my bag for hours. Won't the cream cheese go bad?

And I can't stand the way she doesn't stop talking! If she kept talking and left off the overdescription, it wouldn't be as bad. It's like Food Network found out guys thought Rachael Ray was hot (she's not and she annoys me when she talks) and tried to do better by getting Giada de Laurentiis. Then they figured they'd get Nigella Lawson with her British accent and ginormous err... chest. Would saying bazongas be too crass? At least Giada makes good food and doesn't annoy me.

Near disaster on V-Day

So we had some pitiful excuse for a nor'easter blow through today. It was done by the time I left the office early (my bosses were nice and told me to go home).

When I got home, Josh asked me if I just wanted to get a pizza and I'm always for leaving cooking until the next day. Since our stoop hadn't been shoveled yet, it was really dangerous to go up and down the steps, as evidenced by my near slipping as I tried to get inside this evening. Our landlord put up a sign advising for us to exit the building through the garden apartment entrance. However, you were shit out of luck if you wanted to enter through those doors.

So Josh and I left through the garden apartment doors. Inside the vestibule, we couldn't open the door to the outside because it had been blocked by a buildup of frozen rain/snow. We turned around to enter the building again, only to find that the door had locked behind us (as it's supposed to do). Our keys for the main front door didn't work on the lower door, so we were stuck in a 4x4 foot vestibule. On Valentine's Day—not that Josh and I ever do anything for V-Day anyways as he eschews the Hallmark cultivated holiday. We also didn't have a cell phone.

But the craving for pizza gave Josh new strength and he shoulder-rammed the outer door into opening. We escaped the vestibule and have learned our lesson.

Take the dangerous stoop steps instead.

Superbowl par-tay

The party went well, for one that was planned just a day in advance. On Saturday night, I made chocolate chip cookies and Josh made the dry rub and put it on the ribs for overnight resting. The next day, I made the stuffed mushrooms and turkey lasagna. There wasn't too much food left over, so I think I'm getting better at figuring how much food to make for parties.

In addition to the standard chips and salsa, I made what I call sweet Chex mix, but I find that people from the south call it "trash" instead. Whatever you call it, the stuff is dangerously addictive. Josh always tells me that I'm not allowed to make it, but when I do, he's the one with the hand in the mix. I confronted him about it and he said, "I tell you not to make it because it's addictive! Chocolate? Peanut butter? Powdered sugar? All of those things are good! I can't stop eating it!"

Craftbar

Today, I found out Josh wanted to have a Superbowl party. Good thing I ordered two racks of ribs. We didn't have much advance warning, so we had to make the most out of today. However, we had just agreed to have dinner with Josh's parents before all of this was decided. They were supposed to come out to Brooklyn for dinner after they took in a Broadway show, but we moved it to Manhattan instead so I could pick up some ingredients for the party.

Josh's mom rejected Primitivo Osteria, our usual go-to place when we don't feel like spending big bucks, so I scrambled to find a place in the Union Square area that had an open table at 6 p.m. on a Saturday. I wound up choosing Craftbar, since Boss B went there a week ago and said it was great. Citysearch and Menupages show a lot of negative ratings about the place, in both food and service, so I got more and more worried that it would suck and Josh's mom would complain about spending all that money for crappy food.

It turns out I had nothing to worry about. I liked everything I ordered, which included the pecorino fondue with honey, the veal ricotta meatballs, and the brown sugar cake. I think I'd read complaints about all of those items, and I didn't find anything wrong with them. Josh liked his food, but he said that the portions were small. I thought the portions were fine. I was full, but not overly stuffed. Our servings at Blue Water Grill last night weren't much different sizewise. The entrée was the same; there was a little more of the sides at BWG though.

Ah well, at least Josh's mom didn't complain too much about the food.

Winter Restaurant Week 2007

Josh and I went out to Blue Water Grill for Restaurant Week tonight. It's our favorite restaurant, but it's too pricey to eat at often.

For our appetizers, we had the crispy oyster maki roll with tangerine remoulade and the crawfish chowder with corn bread croutons. For the main course, we both had the seared big eye tuna, which was served with edamame puree, Chinese long beans, radish salad, and yuzu vinaigrette. For dessert, we had spiced banana caramel sundae and chocolate raspberry cake with rasperry fudge ice cream.

The appetizers were the best part of the meal, followed closely by the entrée. The chocolate raspberry cake wasn't anything special; the sundae was much better. Our server was probably the worst we've ever had out of the many times we've dined at BWG. However, the service overall was still pretty good, if I had to compare it against all restaurants. We did enjoy the Tokyo Rose cocktail though. Very smooth and yummy.

Soup Days

I love comfort food for cold days. This weekend was no exception, as I made mushroom beef barley soup for the first time. I made a double batch and it took over three hours to finish cooking. There was enough soup for four nights of dinner (and Josh has HUGE portions) and lunches for one day. I'm a very big fan of making food with the intention of producing leftovers, so I don't have to cook several days in a row.

It turns out that the soup is better the next day and becomes a thicker soup because of the barley. Very tasty with some crusty bread.

Snow!

The kitties are happy to see snow again. This morning, we saw that snow has finally stuck to the ground and these fat, fluffy flakes are drifting down. It's mornings like these that make me want to stay in bed with a couple kitties and a good book.

Long weekend cooking

On Friday, I had a grand plan to make a fancy filet of beef bourguignon dinner. Josh has been taking a rough intersession course (a whole semester crammed into 8 days) that lasts from 5-9 pm after a full day of work. I got home at 6 and spent the next two hours cooking dinner. It turned out to be very tasty and nothing was really very hard. Unfortunately, I ate dinner alone, as Josh didn't bother to inform me that he was at a bar with some fellow Teaching Fellows and coworkers until he arrived home around 1:30 am. It's okay; he stumbled around the kitchen until he found the beef bourguignon in the fridge and heated a bowl for himself. I was amazed he managed the heavy pot without everything crashing/splashing to the floor.

I wanted a Sunday brunch this past weekend due to a weird craving for good pancakes or french toast. Josh refused to go to brunch, so I had to make my own instant pancake mix. I now have a stockpile of my own pancake mix for lazy Sundays. On Sunday morning, I mixed my "instant mix" with the buttermilk, eggs, and smidgen of butter. I also had only one nonstick pan, so I had to use my stainless steel pan in order to serve pancakes in a reasonable amount of time. I was a little wary of the stainless steel because I didn't feel like scraping encrusted pancake from said pan. However, I'd seen an episode of Barefoot Contessa where she made pancakes in a stainless steel pan. With a thin layer of butter, the pancakes didn't stick one bit! I was pleasantly surprised. The pancakes turned out lovely and fluffy, although our maple syrup sucked a little. I'm wondering if the blame lies in its organic nature or its Canadian origin. Give me Vermont maple syrup any day!

To pee or not to pee?

Josh and I went to my cousins' house to celebrate our grandmother's birthday this Saturday. Whenever we get together, we usually play games like Pictionary, Guesstures, or mahjongg. Since two of my three cousins have gotten laptops, they've taken to leeching off a neighbor's unsecured wireless signal. It becomes difficult to participate in a group activity when one or more people are fixated on their laptops.

Anyways, we wound up playing Pictionary because the grown-ups got to the mahjongg set before we could. On one of the rounds, Josh pulled a card and it was an all-play, so my cousin looked at it too. She said she couldn't do it because she didn't know what the word meant, so Josh thought we had an awesome advantage. Her teammate told her to use the "sounds like" method, but she didn't know how the word was pronounced either. I told Josh to help her out, so he did, and we lost that round.

What was that pesky word? Toupee.

Josh said to everyone, "This is why we had an advantage! She was probably wondering, 'What's a to-pee?'"

After dinner, we got a shot at the mahjongg set. Josh has been pretty determined not to participate in mj, but after 5 years, he finally gave in and started learning how to play. My mom even wrote out the numbers and symbols for him. In our second game, we noticed a few rounds in that Josh had an absurd amount of tiles in his hand. He should've had 13 tiles, but he had 18! That's an entire row from one of the walls you draw from! Jessica and I started cracking up when we realized. We kept laughing and laughing while Josh was sitting there with no idea of what was wrong or so funny to us. When we were finally done laughing, our stomachs hurt. It was awesome.

Squeaky Wheel

Josh bought me a gift card to Bliss for Christmas. He tried paying for overnight shipping, but it was taking forever, and it turns out they'd never shipped it. I canceled the order, figuring that we could save the $30 shipping fee and pick up a gift card in person. Then Josh made another order to surprise me, replacing the first. Late last week, the first order arrived, showing that the order was never cancelled and that if I didn't call soon enough and get someone who knew what they were doing, we'd wind up with a second non-returnable gift card. I checked Josh's credit card and it showed that there were three charges! I called right away to complain and when I got to a supervisor, he apologized, explaining that the statement was showing the temporary authorizations. He canceled the second order for me and then offered to send me free Bliss stuff for my trouble!

He wound up comping me the head-to-toe spa in a box, which actually costs $175. It arrived at my office today in a big blue box, less than a week after I complained! Josh says I really made out this year for Christmas: All-Clad roasting pan, Bliss gift card, and a box o' Bliss stuff. I can't wait to make my appointment!

New Year's Roundup

Going back to work today was awful after having over a week off. I really appreciated that time though, and used it to relax, see my family, go shopping, and just decompress (just in time for the new year).

This past Saturday, my brother came into Manhattan so Josh and I, along with some of our Brooklyn cousins, went out to meet him. Unfortunately, someone wanted to go to the Jekyll and Hyde Club. We had gone when we were a lot younger and it was fun then, but when you're over 12, the amusement factor decreases exponentially. The food is really expensive for your standard Applebee's type cuisine and they charge an extra $2.50 per person as an "entertainment charge." They're also pretty sneaky as they don't make their menu prices available on their website or on Menupages. If it weren't for the excellent company, I would've chalked the whole day up as a waste.

We all walked to Rockefeller Center to view the tree and take pictures like tourists, laughing as we got lost in the crowds and accidentally walked into the Radio City ticketholder jam. We didn't have any plans and wandered aimlessly in the area. The low point occurred when the idea of going to a Best Buy to play Guitar Hero 2 came up.

That night, I made a blueberry cake for Dave's NYE party. It was a hastily-planned affair, and everyone was supposed to bring something for dinner. Josh and I brought the only ready-to-go dish, my turkey lasagna, which Josh finally helped cook. Unfortunately, we made the lasagna at his parents' house the day of the party, and his mother kept comments like, "You don't shred the mozzarella? You use 9 noodles? I use 12. You don't use spices in your sauce? Aren't you going to put the ricotta on first?" I wanted to run away and Josh kept saying, "There's more than one way to make a lasagna, Mom."

The NYE party lasted until 4 a.m. I was bored for the last few hours when the guys were just playing XBox. At least Marc was there to provide instant piano music and "The Ballad of Dave." I wish I'd had a tape recorder that night.

Happy new year!