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.