Revisiting the Moon

Dinner at Piattini

2010-07-03T23:58:00.003-04:00

While watching "Best Thing I Ever Ate" on Food Network, Josh and I saw a segment with Donatella Arpaia raving about the gelato at Piattini. Since most restaurants we see on the show are located elsewhere all over the country, we figured we had to try this place because it's in our neighborhood in Brooklyn. Reviews on Yelp were very favorable, touting the service, great food, and perfect gelato.

We walked the twenty-some blocks to get there, and I was taken aback when I saw the front of the restaurant was completely empty. Bad sign. But the small dining area close to the swinging doors of the kitchen was nearly full. When we asked to be seated, it seemed like they had no idea what to do with us, and it took three different people coming by to tell us it would be a minute, that there's one table left. Half the restaurant was empty, but we got the ONE table left right next to the swinging doors to the kitchen. I was going into this with very high expectations based on the reviews and what I saw on Food Network, so I started worrying even more.

We had our menus, and finally placed our order. The bread was excellent, warmed on a grill with toasty grill marks to add texture. We had some issues with having water in our glasses. It appears that they were woefully understaffed due to the holiday weekend, or just didn't want to have more staff. We had to ask a couple times to have our water refilled. We got our appetizers quickly, Josh with his special of black figs with prosciutto. I got the baccala and potato pancake. While my pancake tasted good, I don't think it was worth $8 for one small patty half the size of my palm. Josh's saucer of freshly sliced prosciutto and two cut up figs was priced at $10. Our main courses arrived quickly as well. I had a spaghetti with spicy squid ink sauce and cuttlefish. It was great, just enough heat. Josh had the bucatini with pork jaw bacon and tomato sauce. Like mine, the pasta was perfectly cooked, having absorbed some of the flavor of the sauce, and the bacon wasn't too salty, and thinner than I expected (not in a bad way). I actually liked his dish more than mine!

For dessert, we shared pistachio gelato con brioche, basically, two scoops of gelato in a brioche bun. Very simple, but very delicious. The gelato was very good, some of the best I've ever had, but not by far, and the price tag of $8 was surprising. I was expecting $6 at most because we weren't eating in Manhattan. I've had gelato nearly as good from restaurants like Scuderia and Giorgione's.

So I think I need to go back to Piattini on a non-holiday weekend and see if the service is any better before I write it off entirely. The food was excellent, but pricey.

Salted Caramel Brownies

2010-05-25T08:12:00.003-04:00

Yesterday, this recipe was posted on The Pioneer Woman. As soon as I read Ree's entry, I knew I had to make them. I love fleur de sel caramels and pretty much anything with the sweet/savory combination. My friends and I wound up deciding on having a pizza lunch at work at the last minute and bang! There's my excuse to make these brownies and bring them into the office!

A couple notes on the recipe:

It says to bake the brownies 25 to 30 minutes. After 25 minutes, I pulled the pan out, and it was still wiggly. Upon wooden skewer test, the pick came out coated in raw batter. Clearly not ready, and it wound up taking about 37 minutes for me to get the brownies where I wanted them, moist crumbs clinging to the skewer, not completely clean. My oven temperature is accurate, thanks to the oven thermometer I go by. If the brownies were supposed to be liquid when I pulled them out of the oven, then I didn't notice any problems with how long I baked them because they were still chewy and fudgy in the end.
I looked at the original recipe posting from Charlotte and it had 3 TBsp of gelatin required. A lot of reviewers commented that the caramel was extremely rubbery due to the huge amount of gelatin. I can see why Ree altered the recipe to just 1 TBsp + 1 tsp gelatin. Ree didn't mention putting the brownies in the fridge to set, as the other recipe said, so I popped the brownies with caramel topping into the fridge for about an hour. I tried to slice them at that point and it was a HUGE mistake. I have very sharp knives, and when I ran the knife across the brownies, it dragged chunks of brownie and strings of caramel with the blade. I gave up and put the brownies back in the fridge overnight. In the morning, it was perfect, so easy to cut. Because the flavor is so rich, I cut them into 1 inch squares, like petit fours.

These brownies taste divine. Bake them!

Post-Wedding Photo Shoot

2010-04-06T23:50:00.005-04:00

Josh and I scheduled a post-wedding photo shoot back in January, setting it for a day during Josh's spring break. We felt that we didn't have much time to take formal photos with the craziness of our schedule and Josh's wish not to see me in my white dress until I walked down the aisle. By the time the ceremony even started, it was full dark outside, so we didn't have the opportunity for outdoor pictures.

We were so lucky with the weather today. There were a few snags on the way to the shoot, the big one being Josh forgetting his wedding ring, but luckily we weren't too far away from home to turn around to get it.

Josh had wanted to take our engagement pictures in Central Park, and I wanted to take them in Grand Central Terminal, and we couldn't agree, so we wound up doing them in Battery Park instead. For this photo shoot, we figured we'd go to Central Park so Josh would get what he wanted several months ago. We started the shoot at Bethesda Terrace, one of the prettiest attractions in the park, and ended with a shoot on a crosswalk outside of the park, with our photographer practically standing in traffic. I didn't realize that the cherry blossoms were already blooming, so we got to take some gorgeous pictures underneath a stand of them.

I think we got some really great pictures. I can see why a lot of couples do their formal portraits before the wedding. It was nice to take our time, and not have to worry about getting to the 120 guests waiting to spend time with us.

I also didn't have to worry about keeping my dress clean for a ceremony, because it was already done!

Chicago: Day 4

2010-04-03T23:27:00.002-04:00

Lake Michigan

We started our day with lunch because we slept so late (the bed was so much better than sleeping on a floor, and I needed to catch up on lost sleep from the past couple days). We set out to tackle the two remaining food goals on Josh's list: Chicago hot dogs and Chicago deep dish pizza. First, we headed over to Portillo's Hot Dogs. My cousin had warned us that there would be more condiments than hot dog in a Chicago hot dog, and he was right. A standard hot dog, for less than $2.50, comes with mustard, relish, chopped onions, sliced tomatoes, pickle, and sport peppers on a steamed poppy seed bun. It was a messy meal, but very, very delicious!

After that, Josh and I walked up the Magnificent Mile, which is really just like Fifth Ave in NYC, lined with stores that have way-too-expensive products for sale. We went up to Giordano's for pizza, but the place was PACKED. Absolutely insane. There was no way we were going to wait that long for pizza when we had dinner reservations at 6. So we swung over to Gino's East, figuring it wasn't as popular as Giordano's, and hell, there was a LINE to get INSIDE. So we called in an order to Giordano's and walked around until the pizza was ready (about half an hour because it's so deep). We picked up our small pizza, which weighed a few pounds at least, and brought it back to the hotel to eat. After all that anticipation, we thought it was going to spectacular, but it turned out to be very disappointing. The best part of the pizza was the sauce. The cheese was this very thick layer under the sauce and so bland. The crust was very thick, but not tasty. I thought it was a dough lasagna.

Dinner was at Roy's Hawaiian Fusion. They're not just in Chicago, and actually have locations all over the country. I had the prix fixe, and the best parts were the appetizer and dessert, not that the short ribs were bad, in fact, they were extremely tender and yummy. The ahi tuna sashimi was amazing. It was umami on a plate, sweet and savory and salty all at once. It was so so good. I could have eaten six plates of the stuff. The dessert was a strawberry cheese cake with kaffir lime essence. The crust was amazing, and the cheesecake was so light. Josh had the Alaskan halibut, which came with a vegetable roll. Nothing wrong with it, but nothing spectacular either. I thought my meal was better!

And so ended our culinary adventures in Chicago. We had a really great time, and the city and its people were so incredibly kind. The architecture of the historical buildings we saw was gorgeous (see above). We had the nicest bartenders and servers at all the restaurants we dined in, and we would be happy to eat and visit Chicago again!

Chicago: Day 3

2010-04-02T23:30:00.000-04:00

We spent the second half of our trip to Illinois in downtown Chicago, staying at the Hotel Sax in the River North area. The hotel was really great, a boutique establishment with fantastic staff and lovely decor. We booked our room through Priceline and got the lowest price, the "run of the house" rate, which meant that we didn't get to choose what type of room we got. We would be assigned any room that happened to be available. When we got there, we were going to be placed in a room on the sixth floor, but the clerk changed it to a higher floor with a river view without our asking. After a couple days of sleeping on the floor, a real bed was a very welcome sight for us!

We took a walk in the lovely warm weather that afternoon to scope out the area, and walked by Frontera Grill, only to find a line of a at least 30 people waiting for the restaurant to open. Josh didn't want to wait for a table yet because he wasn't hungry. We went back to the hotel, and Josh didn't feel hungry until nearly 7:30, which meant a 2.5 hour wait at Frontera. We put our names down and went to check out Roy's Hawaiian Fusion in the meantime, figuring that if there wasn't a wait at Roy's, we'd go there and try Frontera the next day. The wait at Roy's was an hour, so we went to a great wine and cheese bar/restaurant called Bin 36 in our hotel. They had an extensive cheese list, with prices starting at $2, and a great wine selection. A couple bucks would buy you a tasting of the cheese, enough for two people to split. It's not a lot of cheese, but if you want to try a bunch of cheeses, it's better to stay small and spend your money on a variety. There's a wine market inside the restaurant too, so if you like a wine, you see its bin number in the menu and find the number in the market, where each wine has an information card that you can take with you to remember for the future.

We wound up waiting just under two hours for our table at Frontera, and managed this by taking seats at the chef's bar, which is pretty much a bar in the area where food gets picked up. You don't actually see much cooking, and we did not see Rick Bayless either. Aside from that, our experience was excellent. You get a little dish of assorted roasted/spiced nuts (bottom left pic) and they're so wonderful. Spice, with a little kick, but no lingering burn. We ordered three appetizers, the Flautas de Carnitas de Puercocrispy (rolled tacos filled with Maple Creek pork carnitas, caramelized onions and black beans), serviced with spicy tomato-arbol chile sauce and arugula salad; Trio Trio Trio (a tasting of three ceviches: blue marlin, tuna, and shrimp & calamari); and Tostaditas (warm, just-made tortilla chips) served with two salsas (garlicky three-chile and roasted tomatillo with serrano and cilantro). They were all tasty, and generous portions. We did not come close to finishing the chips, and I wound up taking them back to NYC, and they were still crispy and tasty a couple days old.

For our entrees, Josh had Pato en Mole de Xico: red-chile rubbed Gunthorp duck breast with Xico's famous fruity, dark-chile mole served with Gulf-style white rice (studded with plantain and raisins), quick-cooked spinach, and plantain tostada (pic on left). I had Tacos al Carbon: wood-grilled chicken sliced and served with roasted pepper rajas, two salsas, frijoles charros, guacamole and homemade tortillas (pic on right). It was the first time we had mole, and it was fantastic, a mix of sweet, smoky, and savory flavors perfectly balanced to turn into a totally new taste.

For a celebrity chef who commands lines down the block for tables, the pricing wasn't bad at all. The bill came to $110 for all our food plus the three cocktails we had. We didn't have room for dessert because we were so stuffed!

Chicago: Day 2

2010-04-01T23:46:00.001-04:00

Our second day in Illinois started with brunch at a place called Wild Berry. They had these decadent dishes, such as strawberry cheesecake pancakes. I wasn't feeling like having something really sweet, so I got a skillet dish instead. It was really good, and Josh tried to be all slick, telling the waitress to bring him the bill at the end, but everyone heard him and started the "who's paying the bill" argument way early. In the end, I grabbed it and we wouldn't let it go.

After brunch, we took a walk around this large park/nature conservancy. If you're a resident of the county, your party gets in for free, but if you're from outside it, you have to pay $5. It was really gorgeous and sunny that day. However, the sun tired Josh out and he took a nap when we got back to my aunt's place. He napped for about four hours. My cousin and I went to Gurnee Mills, once famed as being a two-mile long outlet mall. It has changed since we last went there, and it's a hybrid of regular mall stores and outlet stores. I got a good deal on sunglasses at the Banana Republic outlet (Josh and I were squinting rather terribly at the park) though.

We went out for Chinese food that night, which turned out to be very mediocre. The regular chef was on holiday because of Easter and they were very short-staffed.

Chicago: Day 1

2010-03-31T23:14:00.004-04:00

My cousin's baby girl and a gigantic remote that is probably intended for the near-blind.

Josh and I took a trip to Chicago to visit my relatives and his friend from college. We planned to spend the first two days of our trip staying with my family and the last two days of our trip staying in a hotel in Chicago to see some sights and hang out with his friend while accomplishing some specific food goals.

Have a Chicago hot dog
Have Chicago-style pizza (NOT from Uno's, because those are all over the country)
Have steak from a steakhouse that is local to the Chicago area
Have dinner at Rick Bayless' Frontera Grill

We wound up accomplishing goal number 3 our first night in Illinois. My aunt and uncle took all of us to The Backyard Steak Pit in Gurnee. Apparently, my dad really liked this place when he visited a couple years ago, saying it was as good as this other place (the Corner House) we used to go to when my relatives lived in Wisconsin.

I ordered a ribeye steak, medium rare, but I think it leaned more towards medium. Josh's hickory-crusted bone-in ribeye steak was perfect though. The steaks did come with accompaniments, and it was a very casual place. I didn't think it was the best steak ever, but it was a pretty good deal for the price.

"Remodeled" Kitchen

2010-01-10T14:15:00.003-05:00

I love my kitchen. It's huge in comparison to most NYC apartment kitchens and cooking has been a pleasure during our time in this apartment. Josh and I went to Ikea the other week to shop for a cabinet to store our wedding china, and instead of buying a cabinet, we bought two kitchen cabinets and placed them back to back (after 2 days' worth of painful assembly) in the middle of the kitchen for ideal efficiency.

I liked cooking before, but with this new work space with fantastic storage, I wish I had more time to cook! Now the two of us can cook at the same time without stepping over one another. With more surface area, I'm able to do prep faster and I could even use half of the space to serve food! Our old kitchen island cart served its purpose well, and it's now along the wall (strange that we have enough room for that in the kitchen too) serving as miscellaneous counter space. We tried giving it away, but nobody has room in their kitchen for it!

No excuses

2009-12-21T19:13:00.006-05:00

Now that the wedding is over, there is no excuse for my crappy blogging!

I will start blogging more frequently; maybe that should be my New Year's resolution. Currently, I'm in California visiting my cousin and her family, most importantly their new baby girl who is absolutely adorable. I missed out on the blizzard by a day, despite the way I was tempted to accept the offer to take the next flight out for a first class ticket and $600 towards my next flight.

I miss Josh and the kitties though. I can't wait to go home!

Butterball

2009-10-16T20:42:00.003-04:00

After the late-night emergency room debacle on Wednesday night/Thursday morning, I caught a cold and still went to work Thursday and Friday. My bosses kicked me out early today and I have been spending the afternoon catching up on DVRed shows, but felt like I should be doing something productive.

I made butter.

Glorious fresh butter.

I remember shaking a jar of heavy cream in my first grade classroom, every student taking a turn shaking the jar and eating the butter we all helped make. Yes, I had to Google the directions, but they're pretty simple. Put heavy cream in a jar, fill it about halfway, and shake. The shaking will eventually create whipped cream that practically fills the jar and there's no more liquid-y sloshing, but you keep shaking and the sloshing returns because the butter has separated from the buttermilk. Pour out the buttermilk, and then pour in cold water to shake a bit, pour the (now) cloudy water out and repeat the rinsing until the water is clear. Take out butter and mix in salt if desired and you have fantastic, fresh, soft, and creamy butter.

I didn't have any homemade bread to do the butter justice, but it tasted pretty good on the store bread I did have. I plan to make a loaf of bread this weekend just because of the butter.

Updating the kitchen

2009-08-09T21:28:00.005-04:00

Josh and I finally unloaded the trunkload of bridal shower presents we received, and it made this huge stack on the dining table, so I set off on a kitchen cleaning spree (only got to half the kitchen, calm down) so I could rearrange the counter items and make room for the new food processor and toaster oven. I has been over a year since I had a toaster oven, as we chucked the crappy one we had for four years because it had the dumbest crumb tray (it swung out from the bottom on a hinge!) in history, and we didn't want to have a possibility of bringing roaches from our old apartment to our nice new one.

After much tidying up, here is our right-hand kitchen counter. I love that we have real counters and I no longer have to stack the toaster on the microwave like we did in the Park Slump apartment. I used the toaster to make broiled figs with fennel seeds and wrapped in prosciutto appetizer (see here for unedited fig photo), and the food processor had its maiden voyage when I made my turkey meatloaf. By the way, the 14-cup Cuisinart classic food processor is HEAVY. And the Boos cutting board from Annette and Mark was involved in the making of all of today's edible delights. It is a fantastic cutting board, the stuff of dreams, and I like to think that it makes me a better cook.

My least favorite episode of "Say Yes to the Dress"

2009-07-31T22:45:00.004-04:00

I watch "Say Yes to the Dress" on TLC, which features the Kleinfeld, the salon with the biggest selection of gowns in NYC, even after finding my wedding dress. My dress didn't come from Kleinfeld, although I did have an appointment there. The show makes it seem like the consultants and managers will be your buddy and lower prices if you make a sad face, but when I went, I found out that dress prices start at $2000, and they push you to purchase way before you need. My knot.com calendar was telling me I had until March/April to purchase a dress for a late November wedding. My consultant was pushing me to purchase the first week of January, saying that I was already late.

Perhaps that's the way Kleinfeld works, as so many of the post-purchase brides they show at first fitting talk about how they're not sure if they remember their dress, and worry whether they'll still like it, because it's been A YEAR since they saw their dress. I bought my dress elsewhere for less than $1000, and it has attributes that would sell for over $3000 at Kleinfeld. It's so ridiculous how some brides on the show want a ballgown but want to stick to a $2000 budget. One particular bride was told that if she wanted a ballgown, she'd have to up her budget, but she could've found one at a less ritzy salon easily.

My least favorite episode of "Say Yes to the Dress" is titled "The Art of Negotiation," where one bride, Melanie, bought a dress a year earlier, but cancelled it because she had second thoughts. For once, I took Kleinfeld's side. Melanie wound up choosing the same dress she purchased in the first place! Why didn't she come back to the salon and try the dress on again before cancelling the order and losing the 50% deposit she already paid? It turns out the dress increased in price from $5000 to $6300 since she first purchased it, and Melanie and her mom are outraged. They complain that they should've been told that the price would increase when Melanie called to cancel the order, that Melanie cancelled the order the way they told her she should. How was the store supposed to know that Melanie would come back and want the same dress again (crazy bride, anyone?) and that the price would actually increase? In the end, the store didn't want to lose the sale, so they discounted the dress down to $5000 and gave her a free veil worth a couple hundred bucks. But ha ha, Melanie pretty much paid $7500 for the dress because of the deposit she spent on the first dress.

A wedding in Flushing

2009-07-26T12:16:00.004-04:00

Josh and I attended our friends' wedding last night out in Flushing. The traffic was horrendous. A trip that should've taken only half an hour took an hour and a half. Josh kept saying that we were going to miss the ceremony, but we got there just in time to see the bridal party lining up.... from behind. As they departed, I realized that I should take some pics because there was no one else with this perspective of the bride and her father.

It was my first traditional Chinese wedding banquet for someone NOT related to me, and it was a lot of fun. I loved the ways they incorporated modern ideas, and it was so cool that their dog was allowed to walk around the ballroom during the reception. I do think that our waitperson was looking down her nose at us for not eating all the very traditional dishes. Hey, I did my part, eating double portions of jellyfish and shrimp in Japanese mayonnaise, but I draw the line at abalone.

The bride did stop by our table quite often and when she took a picture with us, she said, "You're neeext!!" and also shared the tip not to let the small projects slip by the wayside, or it will bite you in the butt closer to the wedding. I think I'd better get started on knitting Josh's yarmulke.

To change or not to change?

2009-05-30T14:13:00.002-04:00

I've been pretty frustrated with Verizon customer service over the last three months, and have found out that the early termination fee is prorated based on how many months you've been in your contract, so I'm seriously considering leaving for another carrier. That said, I've been looking at Sprint and AT&T as my replacement. I crossed T-Mobile off the list when I visited a store and all the phones were fake display models. I heard some bad things about their new 3G service, and the fact that you aren't allowed to try out the phones makes it seem like they're hiding something.

I hear tons of bad things about AT&T, but all my cousins have that service and don't have a problem, and when I had it for two years, I didn't notice anything bad. I hear really bad things about the iPhone, but it wasn't even on my list of phones because I want a keyboard. My brother highly recommends Sprint and his smartphone doesn't have problems when he's visiting me in Manhattan or Brooklyn. I'd hate to stay with Verizon because they have a monopoly on NYC - it makes them seem more evil to me in a "Ha ha, you have no choice" way.

Lo and behold, I discovered this site that shows users' cell phone signal strength and dead spots. It pretty much shows that no service is flawless in NYC. I'm thinking of a Blackberry Curve 8900 or the new Palm Pre from Sprint at this point, unless AT&T gets a new iPhone that has decent coverage, a realy QWERTY, and MMS capability.

Remembering SF

2009-05-14T16:54:00.002-04:00

We finally framed three of the photographs we bought in SF this past weekend. These were done by Sarka-Trager Photography and we actually met Richard Trager when we purchased the photos. I think these photos are my favorite souvenir from SF (as we've consumed almost all the wine we shipped back home), and every time I walk by, I think of that lovely day at the Ferry Building.

I can't wait to go back! But you know, gotta save money for the wedding and all.

Frozen yogurt at home

2009-05-11T22:38:00.003-04:00

Yesterday, Josh and I were shopping in Red Hook and on the way back, I begged for him to swing by Park Slope so I could buy some frozen yogurt from Oko. Oko's froyo is fresh and tangy like Pinkberry, but is made from Greek style yogurt, which results in a richer taste and consistency. The frozen yogurt was delicious, a large (I shared with Josh, so I'm not a total piggy) topped with strawberry, kiwi, and mango.

When I got home, I searched for a froyo recipe similar to Pinkberry and immediately, this one popped up in Google. The recipe is actually from David Lebovitz's cookbook, Perfect Scoop, so I'm not going to display the recipe here due to copyright issues. I'm explaining myself because I'm tired of people accusing me of plagiarism because they didn't bother seeing I linked to the actual recipe.

The recipe is super easy and requires just Greek yogurt (I used Fage) and granulated sugar. I skipped the vanilla extract because I wanted the plain flavor that I normally order at Pinkberry or Oko. I was concerned that the granulated sugar wasn't going to dissolve in the thick, cold yogurt, but the next day, the sugar was all gone, leaving me with a sweetened yogurt base to pour into my ice cream maker.

Twenty minutes later.... a dreamy, rich frozen yogurt. It's definitely not Pinkberry because it's way richer, so I think it's more like Oko. The results, topped with strawberry and a drizzle of honey, got an enthusiastic thumbs-up from Josh and my tastebuds.

It's so dreamy, it gets a fancy photo-edit-makeover!

Cupcake success!

2009-04-06T22:38:00.003-04:00

Josh and I split the cupcakes and brought them to work today. The recipe was extremely accurate, as I came out with 49 cupcakes (Bakerella said it'd produce about 50). The cupcakes were fine at room temperature, and I ate the last one with my afternoon tea, finding that it didn't seem as sweet as I remember from yesterday.

Josh says we're definitely going to make these for our annual NFL Draft Day party. I have plans to make it a little easier though, provided that I can find a football cookie cutter of appropriate size. I have a lot of ideas for flavor combinations and I can't wait to get started!

Bakerella's Cupcake Bites!

2009-04-05T16:50:00.011-04:00

I am addicted to Pioneer Woman's blog, and read about Bakerella's visit to PW's home for a baking demonstration. These little cupcake bites grabbed my attention and I spent the last week preparing and gathering supplies, determined to attempt them despite the fact I have a freelance project due tomorrow.

This is not a recipe that can be completed on a whim for instant gratification. On Friday, I baked the coconut cake, which was half of Ina Garten's coconut cake, poured into a rectangular pan. According to Bakerella, you can use cake mix and canned frosting, but I hate the way cake mix cakes taste. I figured that if my attempt was successful, it better taste good. On Saturday, I tossed chunks of the cake into the food processor in a few batches to get fine crumbs. Then I mixed in cream cheese frosting, also from Ina Garten's coconut cake recipe to get a sticky sort of dough, and rolled it into balls.

I couldn't find a cutter closer to what Bakerella recommended as ideal, although the one on the right is one of the substitutes she suggests. I would push a dough ball through the cutter, enough to form the "cup" part of the cupcake and push it back out. You can see the two different shapes I got in the picture above. The cutter on the right produced a better mound on top of the cup, but it was harder to get a clean release when I pushed the formed cake out. The cutter on the left, which was easier to use, was taller and a bit wider, so there wasn't as much left to form the mound. I will keep my eyes open for a better cutter!

Today, I did the dipping, using Merckens chocolate melting wafers. I had a lot of problems getting the coating right. No problems for the bottoms of the cupcakes, but getting the green coating to overlap with the brown without running down too much was a big issue. In the end, I let the chocolate cool a bit so it was thicker and would harden faster, which made the M&M and sprinkle decorating even faster. I managed by having Josh assist with the decorating.

We each ate one and it was delicious, very sweet though. I have a lot of ideas for future flavor combinations. You can avoid this whole two-color coating dance by leaving the cake balls in round form and dip them in one color, like little truffles. I left the finished cakes in the fridge, but just noticed that the green coating was starting to crack for some, so that's something to worry about. According to Bakerella, you can refrigerate if you like eating them cold, or store in airtight container at room temp.

Fried Rice

2009-02-21T19:25:00.018-05:00

Jennie asked me for my fried rice recipe a couple weeks ago. The terrible friend that I am, I still haven't written her back. Sorry Jennie! The problem is, there is no real recipe. It's more of a, "Put in as much garlic/scallions/eggs as you want" method. Feel free to adjust.

Mise en place:
Cooked rice (leftover rice from the day before is best because it's less sticky, but I rarely plan that far in advance for fried rice), scallions, garlic, white pepper, scrambled eggs (broken up into little bits), Spam, soy sauce, oyster sauce, chicken marinade sauce (Lee Kum Kee brand, totally optional. My mom puts it in hers and I recently got a bottle, but I'm not sure if it makes a difference).

Mince the garlic. I used about 5 cloves because I cooked 5 cups of rice for today's batch. Dice the Spam. I used the whole can, but you can use less if you like. I think you'd normally see roast pork standing in for the pig portion of fried rice, but I never liked that because roast pork can be harder to chew. Spam is just right. Slice the scallions. I used a whole bunch, white and green parts. Of course, adjust to your taste. My brother doesn't even like scallions in his fried rice at all.

I don't have a wok, and you might not either, but you can still make fried rice! I used the 8-quart stock pot that came in my Cuisinart pot set. I once tried using my Le Creuset buffet casserole pot, because it was more wok-like, but I made a big mess without the higher walls of the stock pot. I dumped in a few tablespoons of vegetable oil, heat at medium-low, and then tossed in the garlic. Let it sizzle for about 20 seconds (you don't want it to brown, there's still a bunch of cooking to go). I apologize for the crappy camera work; the kitchen doesn't have very good lighting, especially over the stove, and I was afraid of dropping the camera into the pot.

In goes the rice. Because I used rice that was cooked the same day, it was harder to mix in with the garlic. I felt like such a weakling because my arm started to hurt from tossing the rice around, trying to break it up.

After the rice and garlic have mixed together, add the soy sauce, oyster sauce, and chicken marinade sauce. I use just a little soy sauce and chicken marinade because I like the oyster sauce flavor more. As you can see, I put a big dollop of oyster sauce in. If you don't like oyster sauce, leave it out and add a little more soy sauce instead. Then stir to combine. I hope you have a strong cooking arm! I think this may have gone better if I used a shorter spoon.

Now that your rice is a tannish sort of color, add the Spam and scallions. I guess I'm not really frying anything, as much as heating everything up. Stir to combine and sprinkle in some white pepper to your taste. If it's just Josh and me, I make it spicier, probably using at least a teaspoon in this batch.

Now add your scrambled eggs. For this much rice, I scrambled 4 eggs earlier in the day after I made breakfast. I like to cut down on the amount of dishes I have to wash wherever possible. Stir in the eggs and you're done!

And there you have it! Easy fried rice! I like to add peas sometimes too, and would have done so tonight, but I only have one box and I need it for tomorrow's meal, smashed peas with turkey and ricotta cheese.

Surprise!

2008-11-25T23:37:00.000-05:00

I'm engaged!

Now to figure out how to have a wedding without going bankrupt.

I couldn't resist

2008-10-03T15:49:00.000-04:00

I've posted this picture here before, but I had to turn them into lolcats.

Four paws up!

2008-09-10T00:12:00.000-04:00

Morty and Eli are still satisfied with their new digs!

SF: Day 6

2008-07-25T21:36:00.009-04:00

When we first visited SF a few years ago, we didn't get a chance to visit Golden Gate Park, so this time around, it was a priority on our list. However, it took forever for a bus to come, and when one did, it was too full to even stop, so we wound up waiting for Jessica to get to the condo so we could all drive there. At that point, I was really missing my NYC subways. The park is huge, and we spent a lot of time at the Japanese Tea Garden because a lot of the other sites were closed.

Our last dinner in San Francisco came from a recommendation we got at the farmer's market. Actually, the craft market outside of the farmer's market. We were buying some photographs and the vendor told us about this non-touristy steakhouse that we had to try.

So Jessica, Janet, Josh, and I went off to Izzy's Steaks and Chops, located (appropriately) in the Cow Hollow neighborhood. It's a fun, casual place, definitely not one for hushed voices and dinner jackets. I went with the filet mignon medallions au poivre in a pepper cream sauce. The steaks come with two choices for sides and I went with Izzy's Own Potatoes (potatoes au gratin), and felt guilty about the unhealthiness of my meal, so I went with steamed broccoli as my second. Josh went balls to the wall and got the bone-in ribeye. Unlike me, he didn't care about the guilt factor of the meal, and went with Izzy's potatoes and the creamed spinach.

The steak was fantastic, and those potatoes were divine; I wished there were more. Josh was determined to finish his huge steak, and he did it. However, our plans to visit Crepes-A-Go-Go were thwarted by our overly full tummies.

SF: Day 5

2008-07-24T23:15:00.005-04:00

I just realized that I don't have a lot of photos from this day. Janet and Jessica came up from San Jose to spend the day with us and Janet brought her wiener dogs, Frankie and Freddie. We went shopping during the day, had ramen for lunch (sorry, no pictures taken, but was delicious), and J&J were going to leave late in the afternoon to return the next day.

However, Frankie (brown hot dog pictured above) wasn't feeling well, so Janet recruited Josh and me for dogsitters and left Freddie (brown and white hot dog) with us. It was fun, but a little hairy at the beginning because Freddie kept crying at the door. He has severe separation anxiety because his previous owner dumped him in an ASPCA drop box or something terrible like that.

Janet told me that Freddie must go out when he wakes up in the morning at the ungodly hour of 6 a.m. and you have a twenty-minute window to get him out before there's an accident. So the next morning, I woke up at 7:30 and realized Freddie never woke us up with his collar jingle that Janet said would occur. I smacked Josh and he took Freddie out, but came back saying that the dog refused to do anything. We figured it was because Freddie preferred ladies taking him to the bathroom, so I got dressed and we all went out again. Bang! Within 2 seconds of being outside, Freddie "dropped a deuce," as Janet is so fond of saying. Josh was pissed, of course.

SF: Day 4

2008-07-23T20:06:00.008-04:00

The day started off slowly, as we didn't really have anywhere to be until the evening. Josh graciously allowed me to go shopping in Union Square as I needed a scarf for our evening out. Breakfast consisted of one bowtie from Happy Donut, which claimed to be have the best donuts in SF. While I can't say it was the best donut in SF, I can say that it was one of the best donuts I've ever had. It was so fresh and tasty with the perfect glaze.

After shopping, we made our way down to Fisherman's Wharf so Josh could stare at sea lions for a while. I wandered around the wharf while Josh got his fill of sea lions, and finally hunger brought us to Boudin's Bakery. We ate at the restaurant upstairs, which is pretty pricey in comparison to the street vendors, but then again, it's a beautiful restaurant with nice views of the bay. The soup in a bread bowl is larger here, as it should be, with a cost double to that of the $6 ones outside. But being able to sit down and eat in peace rather than standing in the gutter with discarded half-eaten bread bowls made the cost worth it. Speaking of the leftover bread bowls, I wonder why all the city's homeless don't make their way to the wharf and eat all the sourdough.

After lunch, we snuck into the Boudin museum. Okay, maybe not "snuck," more like there was nobody at the ticket counter and I heard an employee tell someone it's free because there's no tour guide speaking. The museum smells of dough, which is appropriate as Boudin likes to toot its mother dough horn. Every day, bakers use a portion of mother dough (dating back to 1849) to mix in with the day's baking. The mother dough is refreshed with new dough too, so don't be too grossed out.

In the evening, we had tickets for the Giants vs. Nationals at AT&T Park. The stadium is beautiful, but a lot smaller than I'm used to at Yankees Stadium. It's right on the water, and home runs get hit into the bay. I was hoping to see the feat, but none went out that way. The evening was very, very cool, making me very happy that I'd bought a scarf (actually I bought two because I couldn't decide) and worn layers under my long coat. Josh was wearing a hoodie and a fleece jacket and we were still cold, but loving it! Just think: wearing jackets at a baseball game in July and shivering!

Because we weren't that hungry, we shared an order of famous Gilroy Garlic Fries. Click on the picture above to see better, but those fries are liberally sprinkled with bits of chopped garlic. They weren't the best fries I've ever had, but the garlic flavor was amazing. Each order comes with post-garlic mints. We followed that up with Ghirardelli hot chocolates and it was a fantastic night out.

SF: Day 3

2008-07-22T22:07:00.000-04:00

We spent most of the day at the Ferry Building, starting with SF's famous farmer's market. I found that the market there is mainly produce, whereas the Union Square farmer's market in NYC has a wider range of items.

I saw varieties of fruit I'd never seen before. We bought a bunch of strawberry peaches (pictured left - white flesh, very sweet) and were tempted to buy these HUGE peaches called sugar giants. However, we would've had way too many peaches to consume. Another cool thing at the market - the fruit vendors would have sample stations and they really made us want to buy everything. After the market, we browsed the shops inside the Ferry Building, buying fancy chocolate at Recchiuti Confections. While Josh was figuring out which box to get his parents, I bought a dark milk bar because I love dark and milk chocolate (even though dark is supposed to be better) and a small package of their fresh marshmallows. I've had a fondness for good marshmallows ever since my first one at City Bakery, where I find the only good thing is the marshmallows. I also whined a little when Josh was buying a big box for his parents and he gave in and bought me one fleur de sel caramel. It was great, just the sweet/savory hit I was looking for.

Lunch was at the San Francisco Fish Company, also located inside the Ferry Building. I had the oyster po' boy and Josh went with the jambalaya. The food was so good and we sat on stools in the small eating area enjoying the vacation happiness. Josh's jambalaya was perfect with chunks of seafood sprinkled throughout and a spicy kick at the end. For dessert, we shared a gelato from Ciao Bella Gelato. One scoop of a Mexican (or was it Aztec?) chocolate and one scoop of strawberry.

On our way back to the condo to unload our bag o' peaches and relax before dinner, we stopped at the artists' stalls outside of the farmer's market. One photographer recommended a steak house, off the tourist path, and it became our mission to eat there during the week. After buying a bunch of pictures that we probably don't need and will probably procrastinate on framing, we stopped at a Peet's Coffee on the way home. We shared a jasmine lime iced tea and I wondered why we don't have Peet's Coffee in NYC. Josh tells me they were edged out by Starbucks. How sad, because Peet's also sells Recchiuti chocolate!

Dinner was at the Slanted Door, one of SF's most popular restaurants. I started with the manila clams with thai basil, crispy pork belly, and chilies. Josh went with the much more subtle sweet white corn and dungeness crab soup, which was surprisingly tasty. I thought it was going to be too mild, especially after I saw Josh's bowl, but behind the mild-mannered exterior, the flavors seem more complex and I wanted to get my own bowl! The clams were good, but the soup was more special.

For our entrees, I got the cellophane noodles with fresh dungeness crab meat and Josh went with squid stuffed with a mixture of cellophane noodles, pork, and maybe mushroom. It's not on the menu anymore, so I can't verify. That's what I get for waiting around to do my vacation blogging. The Slanted Door gets really mixed reviews, but even non-enthusiastic reviews would recommend the cellophane noodles with dungeness crab. Maybe it's the crab again, but this is not a dish that punches you in the face with bold flavors. It tastes really fresh, and little bits of noodle have browned, so you get these layers of flavor. Josh's squid dish was pretty good, but I could sit around eating the cellophane noodles all day.

For dessert, we shared monkey bread with peaches and apricots. The first time I heard of monkey bread was Alton Brown's "House of the Rising Bun" episode. The monkey bread at Slanted Door had the texture of something I'd expect at breakfast, crispy on the outside and chewy/tender inside. It wasn't very sweet, but the natural sweetness of the fruit was more than enough. Josh and I shared my pot of Hong Kong milk tea, which was only $5 and was more than enough for two people. Actually, my lychee-infused black tea, at $2.50, was served in a glass along with a half carafe more! Seriously good deals on the tea!

We had a great time and the bill was surprisingly reasonable considering all the food we ordered. Josh said he'd be more than happy to go back again.

SF: Day 2

2008-07-21T21:59:00.014-04:00

For our first full day in SF, I figured it'd be the best day for wine country because we're still on east coast time and it won't be so hard to get up early. When planning our vacation, we thought we'd rent a car, drive out to Sonoma or Napa, rent bicycles, and then bike to wineries from there. Then when you think a bit, you realize it's a bad idea. Riding bikes in the sun, drinking wine, and then having to drive 1.5 hours back to SF after a bunch of tastings? Not smart.

We chose Wine Country Tour Shuttle for our trip to Napa. You are driven to Napa in a shuttle bus and visit four wineries, get a coupon for lunch, and then take the ferry back to SF, avoiding any of the afternoon traffic. You don't have to worry about drinking and driving an can fully relax, unless you have obnoxious tourmates like we did. Fortunately, the idiots didn't get fully obnoxious until they'd gotten a good deal of wine in them. Anyways, the tour group meets at the Ferry Building, which is a temple of deliciousness. Josh and I got there early because we're fast NYC walkers. Our friends told us to take the bus to the Ferry Building because it's over a mile, but we walked it anyways and it wasn't so bad. We had delicious ham and cheese turnovers from the Acme Bread Company. I was eying the pain au chocolat, but I figured I'd need a better base for the wine tastings. The turnovers were so crispy on the outside but tender and flaky on the inside, chock full of gooey cheese and cubes of ham. Every time we went to the Ferry Building after that, I wanted another turnover but I never had another one. I guess it's time for me to start another food quest for a good ham and cheese turnover in NYC.

We started our tour at Domaine Chandon, which produces sparkling wines. It was the most educational part of the tour, as we got to go through the wine making process. When we actually got to the tasting portion of the tour, I really wasn't in the mood to drink because it was just shy of 11:00. I was the only one who disposed of tastings in the "pour bucket." I'm not a very sophisticated wine drinker. I go for white wines of the sweeter variety, like riesling and chenin blanc. The sparkling wines we tasted at Domaine Chandon got drier and drier with each one.

Our second, and favorite, stop was V. Sattui Winery. We were given free reign there, but only had about 1.5 hours for lunch and tastings. The winery is lovely and I wish I'd taken pictures of the grounds, which look like an old Italian farm. The wine tour provided a $10 coupon per person and with that, Josh and I were able to get a lovely picnic lunch with an herb bread, salami, cheese, foie gras mousse, and fruit salad. The weather was slightly warm with cool breezes and the sun was shining; it was heaven. We later did tastings and loved the wine so much that we ordered several bottles to be shipped home.

Our third stop was at Rutherford Ranch, but it was very unimpressive in comparison to Domaine Chandon and V. Sattui because there really weren't any grounds to explore. It was a store and a tasting room, which felt like the living room of a contemporary house. The last winery was Andretti Winery, of race car driver fame. It was gorgeous and we did the tasting in the backyard, which was strung with globe lights, like you could have a huge party at sunset. The grape vines are adjacent to the backyard so we could actually walk amongst them, something we couldn't do at any of the other wineries.

After the ferry ride back to SF, we walked all the way to Fisherman's Wharf for a quick dinner of soup in a bread bowl. On the way over there, we saw Boudin Bakery, home of SF's famous sourdough bread. They have a huge window at the front of the building where you can watch the bread makers at work. You can smell the sourdough when you walk by, and there's also a museum inside, but we were too tired to go that day.

SF: Day 1

2008-07-20T23:35:00.005-04:00

Josh and I meant for this trip to San Francisco to be totally relaxing, with no pressure of doing the usual touristy things. We did those things several years ago on our first trip to SF.

We went out to Sausalito with our friends and had a small lunch at Scoma's. Small, not because I wasn't hungry, but because we had fancy dinner plans at Fringale as a thank you to those friends for letting us stay in their condo for the week (thanks Janet!). While walking by the water, we saw a man doing rock balancing. Those rock sculptures are not stuck together with anything and it's so amazing.

On the way back to SF from Sausalito, we went to the Marin Headlands, where you can take amazing photos of the Golden Gate Bridge (okay, fine, so we did a touristy thing, but it's not like we planned on it). After that, it was time to get back and walk the dogs and head out to dinner. The food is good at Fringale, but I'm not sure if it's worth the high prices.

Barely awake

2008-07-20T20:19:00.000-04:00

I'm a "better safe than sorry" kind of traveler. So for a 7 a.m. flight, you can imagine that I'll get up before 4. Josh, in order to guarantee a decent night's sleep, took a sleeping pill and wound up groggy. We managed to get out the door on schedule, at 4:15, and made it to the airport without a car accident. I had gotten only 3 hours of sleep, so I conked out during the middle of the flight for a while.

By the way, Virgin America is awesome. I love you, Richard Branson.

'Scu me, can I talk to you for a minute?

2008-07-13T00:53:00.002-04:00

My cousins just introduced this to me and I find it hilarious. Now when we hang out, we throw random quotes from the skit into our conversation. I was all skeptical over the funniness of the skit when my cousin was summarizing it and giving me the best lines while heading to dinner after the longest high school graduation ceremony EVER.

But yeah, it's that funny.

Own that ponytail.

Waterfalls

2008-07-12T17:37:00.002-04:00

Welcome

2008-07-06T17:52:00.003-04:00

We're pretty well settled into the new apartment, aside from a few piles that got shoved to the side with an "I'll take care of that later." The boys love the place and are adorably outgoing, watching me leave in the morning from the stairs. Eli still sleeps on my pillow at night, something I was afraid he'd stop doing with the shock of a new home. He still comes up to me at 11 every night and meows at me until I go to bed (usually not until much later).

Now to plan the housewarming....

No Teavana for me

2008-07-04T19:40:00.003-04:00

I was at the mall in my home town this morning, and visited the new Teavana shop that opened where my Häagen Dazs used to be.

I'd rather they kept the Häagen Dazs.

I have no problems with nice tea; I've been ordered from Revolution Tea for some time. Teavana was giving out samples of a couple teas and when I asked how they sell it (loose? bag?), the salesgirl roped me into the store and showed me the gigantic canisters holding the loose teas. She'd open a lid and then fan it in my direction. Yeah, smells good. Then she keeps firing her schpeel at me, while waving a huge can lid, about how they sell it at a certain price (i.e. $12.00 per 2 oz), but generally sell them in 1/2 lb canisters. Uh, how about you put the per pound price on the canister then? You don't need to be an expert in math to see why you're trying to make the price seem lower.

I said I preferred my tea in individual infuser bags and she got hostile with me, "So you're saying you like canned vegetables? You know, people are getting concerned with the preservatives in their food nowadays." I said that I'd been buying organic teas from Revolution for some time and I enjoy the convenience of the single serving. She saw that I was annoyed, and said, "But we have easy ways for you to make a single serving with loose teas!" I said no thanks, and walked out, shaking my head. If she hadn't gotten so uppity with me, I may have gone for some of the tea, which was very nice, but I didn't want to have someone lecture me like a timeshare salesman to guilt me into buying some very expensive tea.

Countdown

2008-05-25T15:01:00.001-04:00

We have fifteen days until we officially move.

I have not packed a thing.

I love frozen yogurt

2008-05-10T23:02:00.005-04:00

I have been on the hunt for the perfect frozen yogurt.

Pinkberry popped into the world a few years ago, and I didn't go because I didn't see what the big fuss was about. Then I went to visit Jennie and Julie and went to a frozen yogurt place on campus, where the yogurt was pretty good, kinda like soft serve ice cream, and started my quest for good frozen yogurt.

First I went to Oko in Park Slope. Aside from serving all natural frozen yogurt, the store also encourages you to think of ways to be more eco-friendly, with factoids posted on their bamboo walls. Their packaging is 100% biodegradable and compostable too! The first time I had their wildberry flavor, which turned out too sour, and I tried Josh's orange creamsicle, which was less sour, but still too sour to enjoy the whole thing. Tonight, we went again; Josh went for the walk because he didn't like his yogurt last time and I went with the intention of trying their plain yogurt flavor to compare with the other places I've tried. Turns out it's great, and Josh changed his mind about disliking frozen yogurt.

I also tried Pinkberry a couple weeks ago and got addicted. It's pretty close to my office, so it's easy to say, "I'm having a bad day, let's go spend $5.50 on frozen yogurt." I've restricted myself to one visit to Pinkberry per week, and I'm now having less iced lattes from Dunkin Donuts for my weekly treat as a result. I always get the medium original Pinkberry flavor with banana, strawberry, and mango on top. Because they charge so much for toppings, it makes more sense to order the medium, which includes 3 toppings. I learned that the first time I went, when I ordered a small with one topping and paid just a bit less than my friend. And I ran out faster and was sad. Pinkberry has two other flavors as well: green tea and coffee. I don't like green tea and the idea of coffee flavored yogurt grosses me out, plus these flavors are more expensive than the plain one.

Another place opened up nearby, called Yogurt Land, where you serve yourself and pay by the ounce. I went during the grand opening and served myself some cookies and cream, about a small sized portion at Pinkberry, and topped it with mochi, and paid $2.00. They have 16 flavors at one time and it's nice to pick out exactly what you want.

Pinkberry is my favorite followed by Oko. I guess I'll stop with the weekly Jamba Juice visits and go with frozen yogurt for the summer.

Productive weekend

2008-04-14T22:14:00.003-04:00

We hate our apartment. My upstairs neighbor is noisy and dirty. My downstairs neighbor his smelly and dirty. My floors sag and my bedroom floor has a big hole that I covered with a box. In the kitchen, you can get stuck to the edge of a board that's starting to splinter off if your pant lets are long (all of my pants). And let's not get started about the assorted bugs that dirty neighbors attract. Thank you, craphole apartment, for introducing me to roaches and water bugs (aka gigantic roaches). It's time to move on!

Despite the fact that our lease doesn't end until July, we've been looking at apartment listings for months so we could figure out how much we could spend to get a bigger place in an area that was safe and offered relatively easy street parking. After defrauding one scammer (wanted a deposit check for an apartment he refused to show because the keys were supposedly with him in Maryland), I made a couple appointments for this past Saturday. The first place was really promising and the second was a total dump with holes punched in walls, graffiti on walls and doors, footprints on doors from being kicked open, etc. And the previous tenants left all their food behind, so there were roaches. The landlords wanted the new tenants in by May 1st and the tenants would be responsible for fixing up the place and pay for the expenses with some sketchy deal where you deduct the total amount of renovation over 12 months.

We were all set on the first apartment because it was so new and gorgeous, but after Sunday brunch, I got a call back from one of my inquiries that I gave up on, thinking the apartment had gone to someone else. She wanted to know some more about us and after she figured we were normal people, she offered to show us the place in the afternoon. Poor Josh, after a day out on Saturday, he just wanted to play Xbox in his sweats. He hadn't been in them more than half an hour when I told him we had to jump on a viewing. After we saw the place, which is more than we ever thought we'd get, Josh didn't mind losing a couple hours of Xbox time.

I'm so excited to move, because I love our new apartment, but then I have to remember that we have two more months (technically) in our current place. Maybe if I speed the move through, I'll be able to spend most of June in my new place.....

I'm coco-nuts!

2008-03-31T22:26:00.009-04:00

Yet again, I broke my rule for bringing baked goods to work. I normally bring only tried and true recipes to the office, but for my boss's birthday, I wanted to do something special. I decided on a big, old-fashioned coconut cake. This is not something I wanted to practice beforehand because it's expensive to produce and makes a BIG cake. I dorkily recorded the process of putting the cake together, just in case you want to be bored.

Here's the first layer, on top of a foil wrapped cardboard cake round. The cake smelled so good because of the coconut mixed into the batter and it was hard not to cut a piece for myself. I had to be satisfied with the bit I cut off of the bottom to make the layer level.

Then came a layer of cream cheese frosting, which was surprisingly not too sweet. The problem I ran into while frosting was trying to figure out how much was enough. I didn't want to put in too much, because the top layer's weight might make it ooze out the sides, and at the same time, I didn't want to have a lot of leftover frosting.

And there's the top layer in place. It looks like a gigantic whoopie pie.

The cake isn't naked anymore! Turns out I could've put some more frosting in the middle because I had a lot of frosting left over.

I didn't want to make that big a mess or risk dropping the cake, so I gently pressed shredded coconut onto the sides. I probably could've gone with a heavier application, but I figured I was already dropping enough coconut.

It was a little taller than 4", so I had some problems with my cake box, which is 10 x 10 x 4. I just smushed the top icing down a little and put parchment between it and the box top. Thankfully, the cake was a huge success and fed 20 people! I'm definitely making this cake again.

'Nana Bread

2008-03-24T23:10:00.003-04:00

After tasting Julie's banana bread last week, I couldn't stop thinking about making some of my own. I got a copy of Julie's banana bread recipe, which comes from the Silver Palate Cookbook and bought a couple loaf pans (long overdue in my kitchen). So I made the loaf pictured above last week and then figured the next time, I could make some adjustments. Not that it wasn't good already, of course. The next time I made it, I added cinnamon (I was surprised there wasn't any cinnamon in the recipe) and a teensy bit of vanilla bean paste (not sure if it made a difference).

I've put Nutella on it, and when I ran out of Nutella, I put a little butter on with a swirl of honey. Yum!

Southern Comfort

2008-03-17T23:04:00.003-04:00

Last Friday, I left NY for a weekend mini break in Chapel Hill, NC, visiting Jennie and Julie!

Their new home town is so pretty and quaint. I suppose it helps that UNC was on spring break, so everything seemed really peaceful. I really appreciated the relatively TV-free weekend, as we watched only the UNC basketball games, and left the set off when we were home. In my apartment, if Josh is home, the TV is always on, even if there's nothing on.

I had some genuine southern barbecue at Mama Dip's and the biggest, fluffiest, tastiest biscuit EVER at Sunday brunch. Julie also baked a delicious banana bread while Jennie and I were out shopping for books that we really don't need. But we really do. We tried a used bookstore that even Jennie hadn't visited yet, and it had a romance section (lots of used bookstores are too high in the instep to stock romance) and a gentle giant of a boxer dog.

It took me forever to get home on Sunday evening though, with my original arrival time in NY scheduled for 8:00, my flight was delayed so boarding didn't start until 8:00. Add the backed up flights at JFK, and I didn't get off the plane until 11:00. I have the most wonderful boyfriend in the world who waited for 1 1/2 hours and didn't even get mad about it.

People at work who hear my description of the weekend (books, no TV, reading, and playing cards) probably think it was terribly boring, but it was just right for me.

Thanks for having me over, ladies. I can't wait for my next visit!

Weekend trips

2008-02-19T22:19:00.002-05:00

My favorite part of our weekend routine is food shopping at Fairway in Red Hook. Josh has been digging his feet for months, saying we can't go because Red Hook is a shady neighborhood. My friend was telling me that it's perfectly fine if you go in the daytime, so Josh gave in, and when we got there, he asked me why haven't we been going shopping there all along. Ha!

The market is right on the water, with a lovely view, and it's a really nice weekend thing for us to do together.

Farewell Wellington

2008-01-06T19:01:00.000-05:00

Wellington, or Wellie, as I've been calling him lately, has left his bathroom in my apartment.

His new mommy came by this morning to meet him, after a week of my telling her how sweet the little guy is. I was afraid that I'd cry when she said that Wellie was a wonderful cat. But I was a good foster mom and went through his checkup at the vet's, his remaining antibiotics and the canned and dry foods I'd been feeding him.

Then the time came for Wellie to go to his new home, where Morty and Eli wouldn't swat at him from under the bathroom door. I went to the bathroom by myself to pick him up for the last time, give him a snuggle, and back out of the room so he wouldn't see the carrier. Then his last memory of my hospitality was being stuffed into a carrier and holding him down so I could zip the top up.

Then he was gone, and my bathroom feels strangely empty when I walk by.

Happy new year!

2008-01-01T01:41:00.000-05:00

Happy new year, from my kitties to yours!

The cat who came to breakfast

2007-12-27T15:07:00.001-05:00

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

2007-12-27T10:34:00.000-05:00

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

2007-12-11T13:56:00.000-05:00

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

2007-12-07T11:41:00.000-05:00

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!

2007-12-06T10:21:00.000-05:00

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

2007-11-22T20:52:00.001-05:00

A little post-turkey Guitar Hero never hurt anybody.

Thanksgiving Eve

2007-11-22T01:35:00.001-05:00

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

Happy Thanksgiving!

Lovely

2007-11-07T12:38:00.001-05:00

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

2007-10-22T22:25:00.001-04:00

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

2007-09-20T07:49:00.000-04:00

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

2007-09-17T21:57:00.000-04:00

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?

2007-09-10T23:14:00.000-04:00

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

2007-08-20T21:36:00.000-04:00

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

2007-08-19T22:52:00.000-04:00

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

2007-08-12T20:52:00.000-04:00

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

2007-08-04T17:24:00.000-04:00

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

My shoes go out!

2007-08-02T23:33:00.000-04:00

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

2007-07-31T23:43:00.001-04:00

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!

2007-07-22T16:24:00.000-04:00

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

2007-07-21T16:10:00.000-04:00

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

2007-07-21T15:24:00.000-04:00

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

2007-07-19T17:15:00.000-04:00

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

2007-07-14T23:39:00.000-04:00

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

2007-07-11T19:27:00.001-04:00

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

Meet Winston

2007-06-21T23:42:00.001-04:00

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

2007-06-15T19:29:00.000-04:00

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

2007-05-21T21:27:00.000-04:00

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

2007-04-29T22:37:00.000-04:00

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

2007-04-28T22:25:00.000-04:00

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

2007-04-16T07:41:00.000-04:00

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

2007-03-28T08:00:00.000-04:00

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

2007-03-19T00:24:00.000-04:00

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

2007-03-12T14:00:00.000-04:00

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

2007-03-11T00:57:00.000-05:00

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

2007-03-02T10:45:00.000-05:00

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!

2007-02-23T07:22:00.000-05:00

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!

2007-02-19T22:16:00.000-05:00

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!

2007-02-17T23:39:00.000-05:00

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

2007-02-14T23:11:00.000-05:00

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

2007-02-05T11:05:00.000-05:00

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

2007-02-03T23:54:00.000-05:00

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

2007-02-02T23:43:00.000-05:00

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

2007-01-23T07:26:00.000-05:00

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!

2007-01-19T07:32:00.000-05:00

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

2007-01-16T21:25:00.000-05:00

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?

2007-01-15T14:46:00.000-05:00

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

2007-01-10T22:41:00.000-05:00

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

2007-01-02T23:20:00.000-05:00

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!

Finally!

2006-12-30T01:31:00.000-05:00

Boss B gave me a lovely gift card to Williams-Sonoma (yet more cooking gifts), so I decided to buy something I've been eyeing for the longest time. It's one of those things that I would never buy out of my own money because it's extravagant and it's not necessary to spend that much money on that type of item.

Here they are:

Yes, they're measuring cups and spoons, but they're not just any measuring cups/spoons. They're ALL-CLAD measuring cups/spoons! The cups look like miniature All-Clad pots! It's so incredibly cute and I'm figuring that these are the only measuring cups that could put a dent into an intruder's skull.

So I finally caved and got measuring cups. The spoons were a bonus, and I've now got 4 sets of measuring spoons. I guess I could toss the flimsy old metal ones as the increment impressions have worn away. My other set is the Williams-Sonoma narrow measuring spoons which fit into spice jars easily. They're awesome. I actually did not have dry measuring cups until I got this set. It's quite shocking, considering all the baking I do. I always figured that I was doing okay with the Pyrex measuring cups (which are really meant for liquids), and didn't have to buy dry measuring cups. I figured I'd register for them some day.

Thanks to Boss B, I don't have to wait for my unnecessarily fancy measuring cups! I've already used them for two recipes and they really do make the process a lot easier. I'm sure I'll be able to churn out 1000 cookies next Christmas, no problem!

From me to me

2006-12-24T01:20:00.000-05:00

Every year, I buy a Christmas present for myself. This year, I bought two, because I'm weak and have no willpower.

On the left is a goldstone necklace I bought at the Union Square holiday fair. The picture doesn't do it justice, as the stone glitters in the light. And on the right is an example of my strange obsession with finding the perfect Mary Jane style shoe. Yes, there are a lot of shoes in this style, but oftentimes, they're embellished with funky accents and odd color schemes. I like my shoes classic, so I don't have to throw them away after one season. My favorite pair of Nine West MJ shoes are 5 years old and I still wear them. Anyways, the new shoes arrived today and I LOVE them, despite the front being a bit too short to cover up my toe cleavage. I understand that some people find toe cleavage arousing, but sorry, I'm not one of them. If I wear stockings, it's not noticeable. The shoes are also strangely comfortable. Yay!

Bakefest 2006

2006-12-23T23:16:00.000-05:00

After last year's Bake-a-palooza, I realized I wanted to give even more cookie bags out atwork,stretching beyond my department and into different departments I deal with (like managing ed). This year, I made gingersnaps, rugelach (apricot and chocolate varieties), chocolate chip cookies, and chocolate-hazelnut cookies. I baked the gingersnaps and half of the chocolate-hazelnuts on Saturday (12/16) and the rest of the menu on Sunday (12/17). I didn't expect to bake the chocolate-hazelnuts twice, but Josh didn't give me the required number for his work gifts until after I finished my cookie ingredient math. If I hadn't gone back to make more chocolate-hazelnut cookies on Sunday, I wouldn't have stayed up until 1 a.m. packaging all of the gifts.

I baked almost 500 cookies last weekend. I made 47 cookie bags, 35 for me and 12 for Josh. I thought it was going to be a chaotic mess in my kitchen, but it was surprisingly organized. Things worked pretty well, thanks to my Christmas gift from Jennie and Julie, seen left. They got me the Williams-Sonoma set of three melamine mixing bowls. They are adorable and so very practical, with some rubber on the bottom, keeping them from sliding while in use. Thanks so much, Jennie and Julie!! I also had a system for putting cookies in the oven. You'd think that it would be better to have two trays going at once, but I found that the best way for me was to do one tray at a time. Using that method, I would have one tray in the oven, one cooling, and one being prepped with dough for the next batch. It made the whole experience much smoother.

In retrospect, I don't think I would've made the rugelach. It's a difficult cookie, especially when you're trying to make 12 dozen of them. I got a lot of compliments on them, which makes the effort worthwhile, and a bunch of people asked for the recipe too. It's fairly easy to make the dough; it's just a little complex to put the cookies together. Despite the availability of a decent rugelach recipe, I wonder why so many of the rugelach I eat are dry and bland.

Our department holiday party was on Tuesday, and I was really tired from baking so much over the weekend, so I said I wouldn't bring anything this year. I figured everything would be okay because I'd just given out so many cookie bags, but then a managing editor from an imprint I don't even work on was upset (jokingly, I'm sure) to find out that I hadn't provided cookies for her department.

Sigh. It appears I will be making 40 cookie bags for work next year.

Spicier!

2006-12-11T08:01:00.000-05:00

I ran out of cinnamon a few weeks ago and bought some at the local grocery store. When I opened the jar, it smelled so weak and not very cinnamon-like. Shows what you get for buying cheapo spices. My last jar was from a gourmet market close to wear I used to live in Manhattan. I was planning on going back there, but remembered that there's a Penzey's Spices in Grand Central Market. I had gone to bed at 10:00 on Friday night, so I woke up bright and early at 8 a.m. on Saturday, getting me to the market just after it opened. I've walked through the Grand Central Market a couple times, but never actually shopped there. I was delighted to find a Murray's Cheese and Li-Lac Chocolates there as well. The Penzey's staff is very nice and the prices are great. I got a bottle of Chinese cassia for $3.29 (The cinnamon you see in stores is really cassia. Real cinnamon - ceylon cinnamon - is rarer and more pricey.)! If you buy nicer spices at the supermarket, they usually cost around $5. I am definitely a Penzey's convert.

I got a pleasant surprise on Friday. My awesome brother bought me the Le Creuset Buffet Casserole that I've been drooling over for the longest time. It's kiwi green and so darned cute! I used it for the first time on Saturday and made chicken curry. This holiday season has been so good, giving me an All-Clad roasting pan and a Le Creuset pot! I'm already thinking about how I can turn some of my recipes into one-pot meals, like my chicken stew with parsley biscuit topping. Is it odd for me to want cooking and baking equipment instead of jewelry and clothes? Yup, it's pretty weird, when you look at other women my age.

My obituary will say...

2006-12-06T14:18:00.000-05:00

'What will your obituary say?' at QuizGalaxy.com

It's kind of creepy, since I like to bake so much. And I enjoy smirking.

A nice weekend

2006-12-03T12:41:00.000-05:00

Yesterday, Josh and I finally saw Casino Royale. It was pretty good. Definitely an improvement over the past couple Pierce Brosnan movies. After that, we headed into Manhattan. We meant to run a few errands, but the lines in Petco and Trader Joe's were too long. And then while in front of Whole Foods, Josh decided to go to Williams-Sonoma. I never argue with a trip to Williams-Sonoma even when you have to walk a few avenues and blocks to get there on a cold and windy day.

While I was there, I saw all these things that I want, but really don't need. I'll just keep them in mind for the day I have to register for my wedding... if I ever get married. Josh bought me the All-Clad petite roti pan (everyday roasting pan) I've been drooling over for the longest time. I'm very excited to try it out, so I'll be roasting a chicken for dinner tonight over fennel, carrots, and onions.

Cupcakes, cupcakes everywhere

2006-11-30T00:21:00.000-05:00

I've completed my assignment.

72 cupcakes for an office party. Well, I'm actually delivering 76 because that's how many fit into the boxes. I heard that the invitation went to 75 people, so I should be covering myself by delivering 76, and only 72 were ordered anyways. As you can see, I'm worrying.

I'm worrying because this assignment wasn't for fun - it was the first time I had been offered a commission to bake something. If it works out, somebody else could hire me to cater dessert (I hope in a smaller quantity).

The original order was 72 vanilla cupcakes with chocolate and vanilla buttercream frosting, all made from scratch. Last night, I decided to make about 2 dozen chocolate cupcakes for some variety as well. Let's make things more difficult and complicated! At least I didn't go forward with the red velvet cupcake plan. Maybe for the Christmas party though... Anyways, I used the Magnolia chocolate cupcake recipe. The batter very different from what I expected. It was really fluffy, almost mousse-like. The cakes turned out very soft, which is something I don't like in a cupcake because frosting becomes quite difficult. The vanilla ones were from an Ina Garten recipe and they were a bit more dense and easier to frost.

And then to make things more difficult for when I have to set up for the party, I had to have sprinkles, because if people are paying for cupcakes, they should get sprinkles, dammit!

Kitties meet Bingo

2006-11-27T22:26:00.000-05:00

*Burp!* Excuse me.

I brought Morty and Eli back to my parents' house (the house where I grew up) this past Wednesday. Bingo was very excited to meet any feline cousin, and was super excited when he found out that there were two kitties to play with. The cats were so upset by the car ride that it was best they be left alone in my room. When my brother got home, Bingo went nuts sniffing his bag, thinking, "Did YOU bring home a kitty too??!!"

Morty would back away and hiss at Bingo, and also hisssed at my parents. I was so embarrassed. Bingo never barked or growled at the kitties; his tail never stopped wagging. One time when Morty hissed at Bingo, I hissed back at Morty to discipline him, and Bingo barked at me in defense of Morty, even though the little bugger didn't deserve any help from Bingo.

Eli never hissed at Bingo. Now, Eli is a real scaredy cat, even on his home turf. If someone comes to the apartment, he will run behind the couch and stay there for a goodly portion of their visit. So when he was plopped into a brand new place with this waggy dog running around, he ran for cover.... except there wasn't anywhere to run in my room. He took to hiding under the blankets (all three layers) and inside pillow cases. Look at his unhappy face in the above left picture when I was taking pictures of him in his hiding place. They say cats can't make facial expressions, but I do believe Eli is frowning at me and glaring.

Despite Eli's scaredy cat ways, he left the room (with me supervising closely) and walked up to Bingo and sniffed his butt. That is very courageous for Eli. True, he ran back into the room when Bingo turned around, realizing that his much beloved kitty cousin actually stepped toward him. At home, Eli will take the long way around Josh, rather than entertain the possibility that he'll be in grabbing distance of Josh. However, Eli would jump onto a bed right next to Bingo with no problem because I think he knew that Bingo would not hurt him. I love the picture of him and Bingo looking out the window together. They're so cute it hurts! When the kitties were packed up in their crates, Bingo freaked out at the sight of Eli in the soft-sided carrier. He kept pawing at the sides and tried biting the top. It was like he wanted to free Eli. When my dad opened the carrier a little to let Eli poke his head out, Bingo was quiet and sat down, glad that Eli was out. As soon as Eli was locked back up, Bingo would start trying to rescue him again. Please note that this entire time, Bingo did not try to help Morty, who was sulking in his carrier.

On our last night, Bingo kept scratching at my door, so I let him into the room. Otherwise, I wasn't going to get any sleep and we had to leave early in the morning for NY. Bingo was good and jumped on my bed to sleep. However, he'd look up once in a while when one of the cats walked around. Overall, he was very well behaved. Bingo was actually instrumental in preventing something really bad from happening. The previous night, Morty had escaped and run downstairs to the living room, and my dad thought that I hadn't closed my door, which I didn't think possible. So the night that Bingo was in the room, he woke me up with his whining. I heard a click, and it was Morty opening the door! Apparently, he'd figured out that if he stretched out against the door and put his paws on the lever (thank goodness my apartment door has a knob), he could get the door to open. I grabbed Morty and put a doorstop to keep him in the room. I didn't hear anything else all night, and in the morning, everyone seemed to get along better. I even managed to snap this picture of all three on the same bed.

Of course, Morty has to be ensconced in the bed my mom bought them. Notice the way he's positioned in the exact middle of the bed, so Eli has to squeeze into the sides if he wants a piece of the bed their grandma bought them. From the way the picture looks, you'd think all got along after that, but Morty hissed a little while later and I put him in his crate early for the trip home. Hopefully the next visit will go better, but at least I know that the kitties can travel to NJ, even if they don't really like it.

My first turkey

2006-11-24T02:36:00.000-05:00

Morty ponders the Verrazano Bridge.

My cousin left on Tuesday morning, leaving me with the rest of the day
to make desserts for Thanksgiving. I produced two apple cakes (one for Josh's family) and chocolate mousse. Our plan was for a quick getaway from Brooklyn on Wednesday afternoon, so there would be no time for baking the next day. Unfortunately, I didn't get home as early as I expected on Wednesday because my grandmother was in the hospital with an infection. My bosses were quite kind and let me leave at 12:30 (I felt bad because I'd taken Monday and Tuesday off) so I could visit her. I left the hospital at 2:30 and wound up on the same subway car as Josh in Brooklyn (a very big coincidence). We left NY in good time, but Morty kept crying and going nuts in his carrier.

Before this Thanksgiving, I had never roasted a turkey before, and my parents were of no help as they'd never made one either. My brother and I turned to our mentor, Alton Brown, for guidance. For the first time in family history, the Thanksgiving turkey would go into a brine. I wound up getting up at 7 on Turkey Day to put the bird in the brine. However, I didn't think about how much two-plus gallons of brine with an 18 lb. turkey would weigh. I'm happy to say that I didn't break my back or drop the bucket. The turkey turned out fine in the end, despite setting off the smoke alarm during its initial browning phase at 500 degrees. Thankfully the 500 degree period was only for a half hour. Our turkey took two and a half hours to roast in total and we had white meat only, but it was the juiciest and most flavorful turkey I've had (white or dark meat). I am definitely brining my turkey from now on.

Aside from the turkey, my mom told me that I'd be in charge of Thanksgiving and do all the cooking while she'd wash my dishes. So the night before T-Day, I made a turkey lasagna per my parents' request. On the day of, I made gravy from scratch and roasted garlic mashed potatoes. It was a little daunting to be in charge of dinner, with my aunt asking me, "So should I make samosas now?" Luckily, I had a bunch of cousins for sous chefs. "Peel the potatoes! Mash the potatoes! Get me flour! Stir the gravy! Fondle these turkey gizzards!" Just kidding on the last one. Of everything I made, I think I liked the gravy the most, which had a base of onions sauteed in butter. It was so packed with flavor and utterly delicious. Mmm. Everything's better with gravy.

Running the kitchen turned out to be a nice challenge, and what self-respecting NYC foodie trapped in an inadequate kitchen would turn her back on a huge kitchen equipped with a six-burner Wolf range and matching exhaust hood (my stove doesn't have a hood and makes for interesting dances around the smoke alarm)?

Scarves

2006-11-20T01:16:00.000-05:00

My knitting skillz (of course with a Z) still limit me to scarves. I don't think it's a big deal since I don't see the need to knit sweaters or socks. I'll buy those! Maybe I'll get into hats soon, as I hate the ugly hat I've been wearing for the past few winters.

The three scarves are the projects I've finished most recently. The dark green on the left is Josh's, the middle one is mine, and the last one was a present for a friend. It's the "Cashmere Boyfriend Scarf" from Joelle Hoverson's Last Minute Knitted Gifts. It's an easy pattern that I didn't have any problems remembering, and it goes very quickly. I think I might make a fourth scarf for my father, as his birthday is coming up.