Spilled Grits

Marie Antoinette Bridal Shower

2009-10-13T11:00:00.000-07:00

Recent Eats

2009-08-17T15:08:00.000-07:00

I ate these deliciously sweet scallops and mussels in a basil broth with fennel and zuchini

Then I ate these local blueberries with bananas, honey, mint and lime juice

I also ate some super rich and creamy Pierre Robert with figs and more honey (from Oak Hill farm in Aylett, VA)

I ate this Grouper that I caught too.

This little thing is so cute that I want to gobble her up, but I didn't.

Oh, Crown Heights. How I love thee...

2009-07-22T13:13:00.001-07:00

Cupcake Heaven

2009-07-20T06:56:00.000-07:00

Our first catering gig was a success! We baked 75 cupcakes for a store in Park Slope and they were a hit!

Coconut Cake with Lime Cream Cheese Frosting

Dark Chocolate Cake with Milk Chocolate Frosting

Vanilla Cake with Strawberry Frosting

Strawberry Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

After we dropped the cupcakes off at the event, I had serious cupcake withdrawal. I've never not been around to see people enjoy my food. It felt weird, like I didn't finish the job. I was almost the weirdo who stands around at other people's parties asking if the food is any good. But I didn't do that, Elise dragged me out of there and we had a drink and toasted to our cupcake success!

Barbeque and Cherry Cobbler

2009-07-18T08:16:00.000-07:00

Six hours and a whole lot of hickory gave us a near perfect piece of pork shoulder.

The cobbler was much less time consuming, but just as delicious!

I love summertime!

yummm... pie...

2009-05-10T21:25:00.000-07:00

strawberry rhubarb pie

and

lemon custard tart

On the Farm

2009-04-04T07:58:00.000-07:00

spring ceaning

2009-04-04T07:49:00.000-07:00

I spent all of last weekend furiously cleaning out closets and fixing up Kjell's office area. And it payed off- isn't my new sewing area lovely?

I've been making lots of little things lately and am selling them on Etsy.com, so feel free to check out my store, FourWayBraid.

Stone Barns

2009-03-19T10:29:00.000-07:00

I am officially on my way to being a farmer! Yesterday was my first day at Stone Barns and it was one of the toughest things I have ever done, but I don't think that anything could have filled me with more joy.

I was really worried about getting there by 8am, as it is an hour or so away and I don't think I've been up that early in over a year. I also worked until about 1130 the night before, so I popped a couple of Tylenol PMs and hoped for the best. Five hours later I was up with some coffee and on my way. I was surpisingly chipper on the drive (which is beautiful and scenic- full of great views of the city, Yonkers, and dense wooded areas- I even saw some deer!) and arrived early enough to meet Padraic, the assistant livestock manager, and unload some lumber for a new barn. And so began the hardest day of work I've ever done in my whole life. Seriously.

I used muscles I didn't know I had, hoisting sheep and climbing fences, catching hens and collecting eggs from their roosts. I ran through the woods carrying 25 gallon buckets of pig feed while 600 lb sows hungrily ran after me. I collected hundreds of pale brown eggs from under dozens of Italian hens. I filled buckets full of water for geese to drink and flap around in. I attempted to hang new nesting bins for the hens (my carpentry skills are sorely lacking) and used a pitchfork to fluff what seemed like an endless supply of hay for a flock of sheep. I sat on the back of a sow in heat. I took 50 chickens to slaughter. I ate the most beautiful macarons with my lunch overlooking the lake. And I did all of this in one day.

I have never been more sore, but it was so worth it.

Updates

2009-03-11T10:27:00.000-07:00

Sorry it's been a little while, but I've been distracted by large amounts of snow, tales of economic woe, and a new job. But I've still managed to whip up a few things lately...

Pan seared Striped Bass with maitake mushroom risotto and lemon brown butter

Apple cider braised pork shoulder with fried oysters and fontina cheese grits

Parmesan pull-aparts

Blood Orange Marmalade

All of it was supremely tasty, but the bass was especially good because I made it with two of my favorite people, Sarah and Elise. Thanks for the help ladies!

If you put a plate of cupcakes in my face and yelled "away!," I would look like this too

2009-01-31T22:11:00.000-08:00

Last Days at FCI

2009-01-22T09:41:00.000-08:00

Check out all the rest over at my Flickr

class warfare dinner

2009-01-13T09:27:00.000-08:00

We made Bratwurst!

Then we ate chocolate souflee while we watched Twin Peaks!

Our dinner may sound conflicted, but it was super yummy.

Resolution Updates

2009-01-06T13:00:00.001-08:00

After six days, I have the following to report:

Have eliminated most of the processed foods in the pantry. Then Kjell came home with a box of Kraft Mac and Cheese. I told him he can't eat it in my presence. I'm sure he's fine with that.
Have made every meal I have eaten since New Year's (with the exception of meals made for me by other students at school). Including this delicious bread. It's incredibly easy and everyone should make it. We ate ours with some of this yummy champagne fondue.

Homemade turkey breakfast sausage is the biggest hit so far. Super easy, yummy, and Kjell can't get enough of it.
I have persuaded Kjell to donate at least 15 t-shirts to Goodwill! I feel that I deserve an award for this accomplishment.
With varying amounts of snow falling once a week or so, I have yet to explore any parks or forage for wild edibles, but have read a mushroom field guide online. I'm counting it as a positive.
Have consulted the composting experts and am buying a rubbermaid container this week to begin my own decomposition bin! Exciting!

Kjell and Kitty are pleased:

Daddy's House

2009-01-01T10:30:00.001-08:00

yum!

Obligatory New Years Resolutions

2008-12-30T14:58:00.000-08:00

I'm not usually one for resolutions. If I do make a resolution it's to party harder or something equally silly. But not this year! I am kicking it up a notch and making not one, but eight resolutions!

1) Eat food that an actual person made (preferably me)! That means nothing boxed or packaged. I am fairly close to living this way already, but I'm making an effort to make more of my own bread, cheeses, and snacks. If anyone has recipes to share, please feel free to leave them in the comments!

2) Stop buying junk. Clothes are silly. I don't need nearly as much as I have stuffed in my closet. Try to make some?

3) Donate all offending clothes/food to Goodwill/Food Bank.

4) Start composting!

5) Plant early with aforementioned awesome compost.

6) Volunteer with Red Hook Community Farms.

7) Explore parks more.

8) Learn to identify and forage for wild edibles.

Holiday Booty

2008-12-30T11:38:00.000-08:00

Whew- what a week. We drove to Virginia with snow still frozen to the hood of our car that was stuffed to the brim with presents, snacks and Elise. By the time we reached VA, the snow had melted, some of the presents were smashed up and Elise was still as chipper as ever. The trip was arduous, but well worth it- full of good eating, drinking, and much merriment! Our wonderful families were super accommodating of our nomadic habits, as we traipsed from house to house with luggage in tow. It was great to see everyone and to be a part of such lovely old holiday traditions- Christmas Eve with my Dad, Linda, and Brian, Christmas morning breakfast with Kjell's whole family, and Christmas afternoon with my Mom, Papa, Travis and Brittany et. al. There were even some new traditions; Midnight mass with Elise, Kjell, Karl and my Mom; Trash grabbing with T-Claw and PeePaw, and the fantastic Mekong dinner on the 26th. It was such a fun trip and we want to thank our families for making that happen!

On to what really counts, The Presents.

I am only highlighting the wonderful things that I got, I have no time for discussing other people's booty, only mine! HAHAHA! (not really, kjell got some awesome things including an office chair, external dvd burner and a brand new Macbook- Wha?!!! He did well, look how happy he is:

Papa also did well, he got a new bike, or rather trike- it's an all terrain tricycle! He's such a badass!

Now onto the important presents- MINE.

I really got hooked up this year! Cookbooks! Alinea! OMG!

Vintage FireKing Tulip bowl set! OMG!!111!

A Sausage Stuffer! ZOMG!!

A Stand Mixer! ZOMGG!!11!1!!

Not to mention a new camera (thanks Mom!), beautiful jewelry (thanks Ash, Kjell, and Elise!) crafty things (thanks Brit and Trav!) a membership to the Brooklyn Museum (thanks Barb and Gene!) a gorgeous Scottish scarf (thanks Elizabeth!) and many many other wonderful, thoughtful gifts! Everyone really went overboard this year and I want to thank you all! Happy New Year! I'll be sending everyone some sausages!

party food

2008-12-21T12:08:00.000-08:00

Christmas Party!

2008-12-21T11:51:00.000-08:00

So while Kjell was stuck in airports and Cleveland over the past few days (which is worse? lol) I was stuck in about 4 inches of snow trying to plan a party. All turned out well and Kjell made it home just in time to join the festivities.

Saturday Night Cocktail Party Menu

2008-12-19T15:10:00.000-08:00

Blood Orange Rum Punch
Bourbon Apple Cider
House-cured Duck Proscuitto wrapped dates with goat cheese and Stone Barns honey
Jerk pork on plantain chips with pineapple red onion salsa
Vegan Chorizo, bell pepper and spinach stuffed mini pitas
White Crudite with sesame miso dressing
House-cured bourbon smoked salmon on potato latkes
House-cured calvados striped bass on granny smith apple with radish and fennel
Assorted cookies
Homemade marshmallow smores
Dark Chocolate hazelnut toffee

I will post pics on Sunday!

Obama nominates Vilsack for Sec. of Agriculture

2008-12-19T12:41:00.000-08:00

This is a bummer.

2008-12-12T12:55:00.000-08:00

Please go sign this petition! Let's try and make real change happen in American agriculture!

from food democracy now:

Dear President-Elect Obama,

We congratulate you on your historic victory and welcome the change that your election promises to usher in for our nation. As leaders in the sustainable agriculture and rural advocacy community we supported you in record numbers during the caucus, primary and general election because of the family farm-friendly policies that you advocated during your campaign.

As our nation’s future president, we hope that you will take our concerns under advisement when nominating our next Secretary of Agriculture because of the crucial role this Secretary will play in revitalizing our rural economies, protecting our nation’s food supply and our environment, improving human health and well-being, rescuing the independent family farmer, and creating a sustainable renewable energy future.

We believe that our nation is at a critical juncture in regard to agriculture and its impact on the environment and that our next Secretary of Agriculture must have a broad vision for our collective future that is greater than what past appointments have called for.

Presently, farmers face serious challenges in terms of the high costs of energy, inputs and land, as well as continually having to fight an economic system and legislative policies that undermine their ability to compete in the open market. The current system unnaturally favors economies of scale, consolidation and market concentration and the allocation of massive subsidies for commodities, all of which benefit the interests of corporate agribusiness over the livelihoods of farm families.

In addition, America must come to understand the environmental and human health implications of industrialized agriculture. From rising childhood and adult obesity to issues of food safety, global warming and air and water pollution, we believe our next Secretary of Agriculture must have a vision that calls for: recreating regional food systems, supporting the growth of humane, natural and organic farms, and protecting the environment, biodiversity and the health of our children while implementing policies that place conservation, soil health, animal welfare and worker’s rights as well as sustainable renewable energy near the top of their agenda.

Today we have a nutritional and environmental deficit that is as real and as great as that of our national debt and must be addressed with forward thinking and bold, decisive action. To deal with this crisis, our next Secretary of Agriculture must work to advance a new era of sustainability in agriculture, humane husbandry, food and renewable energy production that revitalizes our nation’s soil, air and water while stimulating opportunities for new farmers to return to the land.

We believe that a new administration should address our nation’s growing health problems by promoting a children’s school lunch program that incorporates more healthy food choices, including the creation of opportunities for schools to purchase food from local sources that place a high emphasis on nutrition and sustainable farming practices. We recognize that our children’s health is our nation’s future and that currently schools are unable to meet these needs because they do not have the financial resources to invest in better food choices. We believe this reflects and is in line with your emphasis on childhood education as a child’s health and nutrition are fundamental to their academic success.

We understand that this is a tall order, but one that is consistent with the values and policies that you advocated for in your bid for the White House. We realize that more conventional candidates are likely under consideration; however, we feel strongly that the next head of the USDA should have a significant grassroots background in promoting sustainable agriculture to create a prosperous future for rural America and a healthy future for all of America’s citizens.

With this in mind, we are offering a list of leaders who have demonstrated a commitment to the goals that you articulated during your campaign and we encourage you to consider them for the role of Secretary of Agriculture.

The Sustainable Choice for the Next U.S. Secretary of Agriculture

Gus Schumacher, Former Under Secretary of Agriculture for Farm and Foreign Agricultural Services at the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Former Massachusetts Commissioner of Agriculture.
Chuck Hassebrook, Executive Director, Center for Rural Affairs, Lyons, NE.
Sarah Vogel, former two-term Commissioner of Agriculture for the State of North Dakota, attorney, Bismarck, ND.
Fred Kirschenmann, organic farmer, Distinguished Fellow, Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture, Ames, IA and President, Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture, Pocantico Hills, NY.
Mark Ritchie, current Minnesota Secretary of State, former policy analyst in Minnesota’s Department of Agriculture under Governor Rudy Perpich, co-founder of the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy.
Neil Hamilton, attorney, Dwight D. Opperman Chair of Law and Professor of Law and Director, Agricultural Law Center, Drake University, Des Moines, IA.

baking problem

2008-11-26T09:14:00.000-08:00

dark chocolate cupcakes with salted caramel frosting

I have a baking problem. I come home from a long, stressful day and I just want to unwind, you know? I think I can just bake one pie, take the edge off a little bit, but the next thing you know I'm spilling flour all over the floor and icing cupcakes and making caramel. It just snowballs. This week alone I have baked dark chocolate cupcakes (see above), butterscotch pumpkin pie, candied orange peel, whole wheat apple muffins, bourbon walnut pie, and choclate smores pie. I really need some help- Intervention anyone?

David's Mole

2008-11-25T08:51:00.001-08:00

Kjell has a regular bar customer named David who is always regaling us with tales of his native Guanajota, Mexico. David makes the best hot sauce ever- although the man is not playing, it is hot- so when the opportunity arose to join him for some of his homemade mole, we jumped at it.

David lives in an amazing ten room apartment in Park Slope, a relic from when The Slope was just another hard knock Brooklyn neighborhood. And while the rest of the building has slowly transitioned into a yuppie-fied co-op, David and his wife Carolina have been holding out as stabilized renters for 35 years. The apartment is a really beautiful space, with long hallways, original moldings and paneling, a maid's room, and stained glass windows throughout. Here's David in his kitchen, completely unrenovated, but with all kinds of homemade built-ins. I love a kitchen that actually looks like people use it.

We started with Huitalocoche quesadillas, which is a corn fungus native to Mexico that tasted a lot like mushrooms, and then had the wonderful turkey mole. My pictures do not do this food justice. Seriously.
Turkey enrobed in chocolate-y, nutty, spicy goodness, then drizzled with crema and cotija cheese. Aye Caramba, indeed.

2008-11-14T11:00:00.000-08:00

Last night, while Kjell was at work, I browsed through hundreds of cake designs and recipes on the internets. No reason really, boredom I suppose, but I'm telling myself it was research for future cake baking enterprises (even though I don't fancy myself that great of a baker.)

Anyway, I found some lovely cookies that have made me want to start painting again, if only to recreate these bodaciously beautiful, hand painted fat lady cookies from Highland Bakery in Atlanta. Look!

I love the draped fondant on this cake by Tuscon Arizona baker, Be Cheery:

She makes the cutest cupcakes and cookies too. You can check them all out on Be Cheery's flickr stream.

For hilarious cake disasters like these...

... be sure to stop by CakeWrecks, a great blog full of horrid cake disasters.

I'm off to make some cookies...

Currently obsessed with...

2008-11-13T13:05:00.000-08:00

Ashes and Milk, the most beautifully curated online store ever. The ceramics and stoneware are so gorgeous. Check these out:

Want.

America got it right! Thank God!

2008-11-05T10:23:00.000-08:00

girly weekend

2008-11-04T10:56:00.000-08:00

Being that Kjell was out of town this weekend, I rounded up my girlfriends and proceeded to have the best ladytimes ever!

Saturday night involved lobster mac and cheese; an autumn salad of yellow beets, apple, endive and pomegranate; prosecco and Baby Mama:

Sunday morning we did brunch with shirred eggs, bacon, sweet potato pancakes with blackberry ginger compote, and orange poppy seed poundcake. We watched a Jane Austen movie and then got pedicures. I don't think we could have been more ladylike if we tried!

Halloween 08

2008-11-03T10:21:00.000-08:00

Boo!

Obama-Lantern

2008-10-31T09:46:00.000-07:00

Caramel Apple Pecan Cake

2008-10-24T12:24:00.001-07:00

Recipe from Wendy Popp of Richmond, VA

cake:

Nonstick vegetable oil spray
3 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 pound firm apples (I use Macoun), peeled, cored, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1 cup (packed) brown sugar
1 1/2 cups vegetable oil
1 cup sugar
3 large eggs
3 teaspoons vanilla extract
3/4 cup pecans, coarsely chopped (about 3 1/2 ounces)

Caramel Sauce:

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
1/4 cup whole milk

1 cup brown sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray 12-cup Bundt pan with nonstick spray. Sift flour, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt into medium bowl. Transfer 3 tablespoons flour mixture to Bundt pan and tilt to coat. Set pan aside. Place apples and 2 tablespoons flour mixture in another medium bowl; toss to coat apples. Combine brown sugar, vegetable oil, 1 cup sugar, eggs, and 3 teaspoons vanilla in large bowl. Using electric mixer, beat until mixture is thick, about 4 minutes. Gradually beat in remaining flour mixture. Fold apple mixture and pecans into batter; transfer to prepared Bundt pan.

Bake cake until tester inserted near center comes out clean, about 1 hour. Transfer cake in pan to rack. Let stand while making caramel.

Melt butter in heavy small skillet over medium heat. Whisk in 1 cup brown sugar, then milk. Continue to whisk until topping is smooth and blended and comes to boil, about 5 minutes. Whisk in 1 teaspoon vanilla. Spoon 1/4 cup hot caramel topping over warm cake in pan. Let stand until topping is absorbed into cake, about 15 minutes. Turn cake out onto platter. Pour remaining warm topping over cake. Let stand until cool, at least 1 hour. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover with cake dome. Let stand at room temperature.)

Congratulations...

2008-10-23T08:22:00.000-07:00

Are in order for my brother and his wife! They're soon going to be a family of three! I wonder if I can learn to make gourmet baby food...

Saturday Night Yum

2008-10-19T15:02:00.000-07:00

Hooray for Fall!!

2008-10-17T12:30:00.001-07:00

Menu for Saturday Night

2008-10-16T09:58:00.000-07:00

Thus Always To Tyrants: A Virginian Supper

Smithfield Virginia ham, boiled peanuts, homemade butter

Legend Golden Ale

Chestnut soup, sherry, sage tuille

Veritas Viognier

Smoked trout, persimmon, arugula, horseradish

Barboursville Octagon

Pan-Roasted quail, winter squash, red chard, figs

“The Shockoe Slip”

Virginia Gentleman Bourbon, vanilla, molasses, bitters

Bourbon Bread pudding, apple-butter ice cream, peanut brittle, caramel

Homemade spiced blackberry brandy

I'm a busy lady...

2008-10-07T10:30:00.001-07:00

who sucks at posting here in any sort of regular fashion. But don't worry, loyal reader(s?-is there more than one?) I am trying to get back on track and hopefully have some new stuff up this week.

Some things I am working on:

planning my big menu project for level five
redoing the bathroom
scheduling and completing trails in kitchens around the city
making the perfect praline
watching my pumpkins obsessively to make sure they don't get stolen
worrying about getting the level four buffet out without having a nervous breakdown

Hope autumn is lovely for everyone back home!

ha ha...

2008-09-06T09:14:00.001-07:00

oh, by the way...

2008-08-26T10:27:00.000-07:00

I kicked my midterm's ass!

We totally surprised Gnarrie for her 27th birthday!

2008-08-26T09:17:00.000-07:00

Nathan took Heather to a movie and Elise, Sarah, Kjell and I set up the best princess themed party of all time on their back patio. Party City should hire us for utilizing their products in such a stylish princess-y fashion.

The cake is from Ladybird Bakery and was fantastic. Absolutely delicious; best cake I have possibly ever eaten, and super pretty. It was chocolate cake with vanilla pastry cream filling and vanilla buttercream frosting. So yum.

She had no idea!

Princess Gnar!

Nate and I fretted over the lights until they were perfect

Lighting the candles

Sarah being as mysterious as one can possibly be while holding a sparkler birthday candle in ones mouth

Why must Kjell ruin every great picture with a ridiculous face?

The Omnivore's Hundred

2008-08-22T09:17:00.000-07:00

From Clothilde at Chocolate and Zuchinni:

The Omnivore's Hundred is an eclectic and entirely subjective list of 100 items that Andrew Wheeler, co-author of the British food blog Very Good Taste, thinks every omnivore should try at least once in his life.

Here are the instructions:

1) Copy this list into your blog or journal, including these instructions.
2) Bold all the items you’ve eaten.
3) Cross out any items that you would never consider eating.
4) Optional extra: Post a comment here at www.verygoodtaste.co.uk linking to your results.

I've eaten 68!

The VGT Omnivore’s Hundred:

1. Venison - yummy*
2. Nettle tea
3. Huevos Rancheros
4. Steak Tartare
5. Crocodile - I have had alligator jerky though, and fried alligator at Caliente
6. Black pudding- somewhat appalling to me, but I would eat it
7. Cheese fondue
8. Carp
9. Borscht - the Borscht at Veselka is super yummy
10. Baba Ghanoush
11. Calamari - had some super calamari at Macondo the other night
12. Pho
13. PB&J sandwich
14. Aloo Gobi
15. Hot dog from a street cart
16. Epoisses
17. Black truffle
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes - thanks Uncle Larry!
19. Steamed pork buns***
20. Pistachio ice cream
21. Heirloom tomatoes
22. Fresh wild berries
23. Foie Gras
24. Rice and Beans
25. Brawn, or head cheese- I have had a pig's head terrine though
26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper - never by itself, but in salsas and stuff
27. Dulce De Leche
28. Oysters
29. Baklava
30. Bagna Cauda
31. Wasabi peas
32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl - I don't get the appeal of the chain restaurant style sourdough bowl
33. Salted Lassi
34. Sauerkraut*
35. Root beer float*** Kjell and I walk over to Blue Marble in Prospect Heights for the best root beer floats ever
36. Cognac with a fat cigar- have had the cognac, but not the cigar. They don't make sense to me; you don't actually smoke it, you just puff on it? Seems pointless...
37. Clotted Cream Tea
38. Vodka jelly/Jell-O - I'm assuming this is like a jello shot, of which I have consumed many while in college
39. Gumbo
40. Oxtail
41. Curried goat*
42. Whole insects - I don't think I would eat bugs. It would probably make me gag.
43. Phall
44. Goat’s milk - they sell goat's milk everywhere here! I'm about to start making my own goat's milk blue cheese!
45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more
46. Fugu- too risky
47. Chicken Tikka Masala
48. Eel
49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut*** love love love
50. Sea urchin
51. Prickly Pear - Does a martini count?
52. Umeboshi
53. Abalone
54. Paneer
55. McDonald’s Big Mac Meal
56. Spaetzle
57. Dirty gin martini*
58. Beer above 8% ABV
59. Poutine
60. Carob chips
61. S'mores*
62. Sweetbreads
63. Kaolin- clay? why?
64. Currywurst - this sounds very yummy to me
65. Durian - too scared of the awful smell
66. Frogs’ legs
67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake
68. Haggis - at the Celtic Festival in Richmond many years ago. not pleasant.
69. Fried Plantain
70. Chitterlings, or andouillette
71. Gazpacho*
72. Caviar and blini
73. Louche absinthe
74. Gjetost, or brunost
75. Roadkill- not happening. ever.
76. Baijiu
77. Hostess Fruit Pie - I loved these when I was a kid
78. Snail - At my junior prom I picked the most expensive thing on the menu, which happened to be escargot. I loved them! Thanks Sal!
79. Lapsang Souchong
80. Bellini
81. Tom Yum
82. Eggs Benedict
83. Pocky
84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant - one day...
85. Kobe Beef
86. Hare - same as rabbit?
87. Goulash
88. Flowers - Munford let me eat an orchid once
89. Horse - no thank you!
90. Criollo chocolate
91. Spam - spam burgers! Again, thanks Uncle Larry!
92. Soft shell crab
93. Rose Harissa - I think I have only had the regular harissa
94. Catfish - not really a fan of catfish. Maybe because it's so prevalent where I grew up?
95. Mole poblano
96. Bagel and lox
97. Lobster Thermidor
98. Polenta
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain Coffee
100. Snake- I feel like I may have eaten rattlesnake before, but am not sure. You'd think that would be something you remember..

***asterisks are things I really like

Andersons Take Manhattan! (and Brooklyn)

2008-08-20T08:58:00.000-07:00

While I'm pretty sure that the majority of my readership is the Anderson family, I will still post some of the lovely photos they collectively snapped while visiting us a few weeks back.

Here's Ben, Ashlyn, me and Kjell at Union Hall, where silly photoshoots abounded:

This is the only good shot of Kjell and I from that night as he made ridiculous faces in every other photo

Here's me at school:

Barb, me, Kjell, Ashlyn, and Ben at Miracle Grill:

And, finally, the Anderson fam on the Staten Island Ferry

Thanks for visiting guys! We had fun!

my hero

2008-08-14T09:29:00.000-07:00

Julia Child is the greatest - a phenomenal cook, and a strong, outspoken lady. Now we find out that she was a spy too? Do you think she stuffed tape recorders in her roast chicken? Traded recipe cards with invisible ink scrawled secrets? So cool!

Documents: Julia Child part of WWII-era spy ring

food porn

2008-08-13T12:15:00.000-07:00

Been cooking a lot lately. Here's the evidence...

five-spiced nectarine clafoutis*

*pre-baking, we ate it too fast after it was cooked for me to a get a shot of the nicely browned crust

seared diver scallops, rainbow chard with chorizo,almonds and heirloom cherry tomatoes, wild mushroom risotto cakes, lemon brown butter

Hoisin glazed pork ribs, ginger rice noodles, kim chee

chicken and vegetable coconut curry soup

Lots of yummy.

My cat likes flowers:

2008-07-25T09:55:00.000-07:00

and I am a big dork.

You Grow Girl!

2008-07-13T18:20:00.000-07:00

I have never been known for my gardening prowess (which hinges on the fact that I've never really had any space to actually garden) but since moving to Brooklyn I have grown (ha ha, get it!?) one hell of a green thumb. My patio was just a sad little expanse of concrete until a few months ago when I bought some cute teak furniture, hired a handyman to demo the giant piece of corrugated tin roofing material that was sitting out there (I still have no idea how a piece of farmhouse-looking roof came to be chilling on my nyc patio) and started to get my hands dirty by planting a beautiful container garden! Check me out:

We've got sweet-tart strawberries:

Sweet 100 tomatoes that taste like candy:

Fiery habaneros, which are by far my most prolific crop:

and fat, green, hot cherry peppers:

There are also a bunch of herbs and some regular tomato plants that Kjell's boss gave me (which Kjell left sitting behind the bar at work for like 3 weeks, but we saved them) a palm tree, a hibiscus plant and some lettuces!

End of self-congratulatory gardening post.

PS 1 Urban Farm and Fourth of July

2008-07-07T09:53:00.000-07:00

This weekend my best friend Erin finally got up to Brooklyn to visit and we had a blast. I didn't think we'd be able to pack so much good stuff into 3 days but we managed to go full tilt the whole time. (Yesterday, Kjell and and I recovered by ordering in and watching documentaries.) One of the coolest things we did was go to the kick-off party for PS 1, which is a contemporary art museum affiliated with MOMA. Every Saturday in the summer they have a big party in the courtyard of the building and they have an outdoor art installation as well. This year the piece is an urban farm.

Plants are planted in cardboard tubes on an angle and they arch over the heads of partygoers, at least 25 feet in the air. Underneath the "field" is a pool and fountain with stepping stones.

The music towards the beginning of the event was some really strange percussion stuff which inspired a lot of crazies to dance really oddly, but checking out the farm was entirely worth it. This weekend also included watching fireworks in the rain (and behind some trees, oh well) a barbeque on the patio, an evening spent traipsing around the Lower East Side, and First Saturday at the Brooklyn Museum (where Erin got to see Judy Chicago's landmark feminist piece "The Dinner Party," and she was super thrilled about it.)

That's Heather, me, Elise, and Erin looking a fright in the rain near the Brooklyn Promenade. And here's a video of the fountain outside of the Brooklyn Museum on Saturday night.

Sichuan Surprise

2008-07-01T10:10:00.000-07:00

So about a year ago I noticed this post on Chowhound. It intrigued me to no end- an underground "mall" in Flushing, Queens that houses a series of authentic Chinese food stalls that specialize in Sichuan cooking? Sign me up. I had entertained the idea of going up there and checking it out a few times since I moved to NYC, but the drive seemed harrowing and the train would have taken me forever, so the dream of a fully realized sichuan meal kind of faded away.

Flash-forward to Sunday night: Elise and I (she is always a willing participant in my borough crossing food adventures) went to the Unfancy Food Show in Williamsburg (which was kind of a bust being that it was raining buckets- those pics on the site were taken before the deluge) and then got motivated and drove up to Astoria to guzzle some brews at the Bohemian Beer Hall. It was there that we began to plan our adventure to Flushing. Amid pilsners and weisses and guys screaming "Espana!! Ole Ole Ole!" we planned our route to Flushing (with the help of lovely Erin who mapped it out for us all the way from RVA!)

The drive wasn't bad, but the smell of Flushing when we arrived was. It's so much more authentic feeling (and smelling) than Chinatown. I was literally the only white face for blocks (Elise is Philipino) so I knew we were in for an experience. We found our destination and I began to lament the fact that I did not come prepared. All of the menus are in Mandarin, nobody speaks English and I didn't bring the handy translations that were posted on the Chow boards.

Oh well, we would have to just watch until we saw something that looked good. We wandered around the stalls and picked the one with the biggest line. Luckily for us, after standing around looking really confused while the Chinese man yelled at Elise (I think he thought she would understand) a lady who spoke a little English decided to help us order. The only thing she could translate was "Chinese Burger" so we got that, and then she pointed at something else, deemed it "good" and we got that too. (Thanks Lily!) Here are the dishes we had from that stall:

The "Chinese Burger" was like a giant steamed pork bun, although I think the dough was baked? It had some crispy brown spots on it and it was filled with succulent pulled pork which was unctuous with fat. It was yum. The second dish was more interesting than the first, and yes those chucks of sponginess in the photo are lung. I don't know what type of animal's lung, but lung all the same. We didn't know what they were when we were served it (we kind of thought it was tripe or stomach or something? I didn't even think lung was an option) but it was still very good. The sauce and the noodles were cool in temperature and the lung was just a touch chewy, but the tiny holes in it held on to all of the sweet, spicy sauce just like a sponge!

After we ate at that stall (and got some Chinese Burger to bring home to Kjell, who was diligently working on a track) we went to the stall that had the best Ma Po Tofu, which I had read about on Chow and really wanted to try. Unfortunately for us, it was too hot in the mall and the ladies there could not make the tofu that day, but they brought us out a few other dishes that were very interesting. First was a cucumber salad smothered in chili oil and peppercorns and scallions. That was fantastic, then a beef special (?) that had all kinds of beef in it (intestine, stomach, tripe, etc.) a ton of vegetables, glass noodles I think, and more of that yummy, spicy oil. We also got this weird, gelatinous rice starch (?) thing that was also covered in the spicy oil. Overall it was super delicious, and a great adventure. I always have to get really psyched to do this kind of stuff, because it can be very intimidating to go somewhere that you don't know the language and aren't really aware of the food either, but Elise and I make a good team and hopefully we'll have more urban food adventures!

Check out the scene in the stalls, especially that guy on the right who is like "what the hell are you guys doing here?"

nerdy brown-nosing gpa update

2008-06-28T15:17:00.000-07:00

latest test- 100
latest evaluation- 98.5

what what!

Sisters are doing it!!

2008-06-27T09:42:00.000-07:00

This got me all teary eyed:

I love that little girls have some awesome female sports heros to look up to these days!

Coney Island Mermaid Parade

2008-06-26T08:53:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday, Elise and I were about to trek it up to the park for a picnic, but decided spur of the moment to hop in the car and see if we could catch the end of the festivities at the annual Mermaid Parade at Coney Island.

Wow. Those were some festivities:

There were lots of ladies with their boobs out, most of whom had boobs you probably didn't really want to see, like our friend pictured above. But some of the costumes were pretty awesome, such as these lovely 20's style showgirls dressed as each of the amusements at Coney Island:

I am not really sure why a bunch of freaks come out and walk in a parade dressed as mermaids once a year, but I think that it's some sort of tribute to Neptune or something? I am forgoing wiki-ing this because I am lazy (it's amazing that I am too lazy to type something into google! wow.) and I don't really care that much, I mean I got to see all the boobs already, who cares why they were there.

While at Coney Island one must indulge in a Nathan's hot dog, so Elise and I waited in line for 45 minutes (!!!) for a hot dog, some fries, and a warm Corona. It was all quite yummy (with the exception of the beer) but it was touch and go there for a minute while we waited on line. New York has a new law where fast food places have to post the calories of every menu item and it was such a turn off to see that a large fry had something like 950 calories!!! Ack! I just had to avert my eyes and shove the hotdog down my maw in caloric defiance.

On the pier there were a lot of Puerto Rican guys playing drums, dancing, and gambling (so many that I got freaked out and felt like the pier was going to collapse) and I took a few pictures of them. What is the game they're playing? Does anybody know? I wish I had taken a shot of the toothless, homeless looking guy who was teaching the whitest, most suburban looking, sunburnt middle aged lady to salsa. It was a ridiculous sight.

Camera-free Month Food Wrap Up

2008-06-23T08:08:00.000-07:00

Much food was eaten over the past month, but there was no camera cord to document it all! Triangle Cable source came through with the delivery yesterday(all the way from Raleigh!) and now you can be privy to some of the gluttonous highlights of our month...

First up, one of my feeble attempts at pastry, a somewhat "Ashlyn and the Green Daisy" inspired Genoise cake, with orange vanilla buttercream, candied orange peel, and crushed pistachios:

It was fun to make and decorate, but pastry really isn't my calling. I was pretty bored with most of our pastry lectures, although I did like to make the pastry creams and anglaises, and doughs were fun too. It's somewhat relaxing to just zone out while rolling dough, although you tend to roll a hole through it if you're too relaxed...

Ok, moving back to real food! Here's me with a duck that I broke down. I don't know why I am making that face but Kjell thinks it's funny:

...and rendering out the duck fat from all of the skin was a process, but well worth it- I have enough duck fat to last me another year I think. You just simmer all of the fat pieces in a little bit of water until the water evaporates and all that is left is yummy, unctuous fat!

Fry up some potatoes in that liquid gold right there and you'll have some happy campers come suppertime! (did I just become an old Appalachian grandma or something? The duck fat is mind altering, I tell ya!)

Here's the duck breasts I did- they're pan seared with a blackberry chile glaze, spicy sweet potato puree, fried plantain, glazed snap peas and quick pickled blackberries:

It was pretty good, although I overcooked the duck breasts a little. Oh well, Kjell didn't seem to care, he ate it in like 2 seconds flat.

I can't believe what a behemoth this post has become, but there is still more food! Anxious to use all the dough I made during the pastry lessons at school, I whipped up a few fruit tarts to take over to a friend as a housewarming gift. The small ones are blueberry lemon filling with different berries on top, and the big one has a honeyed goat cheese and rosemary filling, and it's covered in roasted figs that I drizzled with more honey. It was fantastic (and super easy.)

And finally, the last gratuitous food porn shot of the day, the striped bass that I made on Saturday night after a day at Coney Island (more on that in a later post)!

I have a class coming up at school where we create our own flounder dish building on techniques we've learned at school, so this was a test run, although it was striped bass, not flounder. It's olive oil poached fish with a yellow cherry tomato and nicoise olive confit, a vin blanc sauce, basil parmesan polenta, and zucchini "ribbons." This was a hit, although I might add something red to the plate and the sauce should be thicker. But I'm pleased with the frenchiness of it, but it still is summer-y and delicious.

Okay, thanks to all who made it through this monster of a post, and here's a little gift-

You're welcome!

for all you momma's out there

2008-06-20T11:17:00.000-07:00

Some lovely lady bloggers started a site where they repost emails from people's moms. It's quite a cute distraction from things I should be doing. If you feel the need for some distraction, here's the link:

Postcards From Yo Momma

new pics coming soon...

2008-06-20T10:41:00.001-07:00

I just ordered a new cord for my camera (after already buying the wrong one at Circuit City, and then being refused an exchange- Arggghhhh!) so prepare for an onslaught of new posts this week. Expect lots of pastry shots from school and fun "summer in new york" type stuff!

ps. I got my third skills evaluation from school and I've improved by a point- up to a 96.5! Holla 'atcha girl!

sorry...

2008-06-06T09:23:00.001-07:00

... That I haven't posted in forever but I lost my camera cord and can't upload any photos! Hopefully I'll find it or buy a new one by next week. I've been blogging over at chef to chef though, so check that out in the meantime.

heh.

2008-05-24T12:51:00.000-07:00

from CNN:

FDA warns of harmful nipple cream

laziness

2008-05-12T12:10:00.000-07:00

I'm sick today and it is raining and cold outside, so I've decided that I am not going to leave the house at all. I am currently wearing one of Kjell's old t-shirts, sweatpants and fuzzy pink socks and I don't plan on changing until I shower tomorrow morning. On the table in front of me are two bags of chips (I couldn't decide between the jamaican jerk flavor or the plain ones- so I am alternating) some salsa, a tub of mixed greek olives, and a glass of orange juice. The only productive thing I have planned is to figure out why our fridge is smelling so funny. (I think it might be this really expensive cheese I bought that I forgot to eat- whoops!)

While I begin a marathon viewing of 30 Rock, you guys can check out my new bio page at Chef2Chef here. I will have a few new posts on that blog every week, more culinary in nature than the ones here, starting this week.

Now, back to my chip buffet...

Look what I did yesterday!

2008-04-30T09:57:00.000-07:00

I helped Chef Candy at an event for Continental Airlines at the New York Public Library! That's me and my fellow level one buddy Paul up there.

We represented France and served a cold dish to about 300 people with 12 other restaurants participating. The flowers were super beautiful:

We served a Taylor Bay scallop ceviche with a macedoine of apple and celery on a spinach curry puree topped with yuzu-marinated trout roe:

It was very yummy. Here's me hard at work with Mindy and Paul:

I had such a great time! Afterwards, Paul and I went to Momofuku Ssam bar and ate a ton of meaty goodness. We had the Jonah crab claws with yuzu mayo, Berkshire ham from Surry, Virginia (What up VA!), steamed pork buns, and the three terrine sandwich (veal head, pig head and beef tendon). What a dinner! The sandwich was my favorite, I am actually salivating right now. mmmmmm...

why doesn't anyone comment?

2008-04-28T22:16:00.000-07:00

cuz you should.

The company that makes your soybean seeds also makes Agent Orange!

2008-04-28T21:30:00.000-07:00

If any of you read my earlier post on Monsanto, you will know that their vile treatment of small farmers and genetic manipulation of seeds does not rank highly on my happy-thoughts list. Well, last night Kjell and I watched the movie Michael Clayton and I immediately recognized the fictional villain company U-North to be eerily similar to Monsanto. So I am newly re-energized in my hatred of this vile company that forces farmers to buy their genetically modified seeds only to sue them for millions if they reuse the seeds from their last harvest. They also employed a ton of Bush administration EPA appointees (of course) as well as Fox news assholes. It is so frustrating to see these big corporations take advantage of hard-working people and then just watch it get validated by our government. I am so frustrated with that vicious circle. So, I'm gonna sit here and wallow in my contempt while you read this article about Monsanto in Vanity Fair.

What I did this week...

2008-04-28T12:24:00.000-07:00

I've got to leave for school soon (It's fish day!) but I think I have time for a quick post...

Remember the little black kitty that comes to my window and begs? Well, he's been coming more frequently lately and while my initial reaction was that he must like me a lot, I was wrong. There are four of these little black kitties living in my back "yard"!

Tricksters, the lot of them! They've taken it to a level previously unknown in kitty trickery- they've gone to the trouble to grow matching white beards!! It's dastardly behavior, really. Someone should get these guys off the streets!

Also, I may be late to jump on the Mochi train, but I am now all aboard it! Yummy glutinous rice cakes covered with powdered sugar (and usually dyed some unholy shade of pink or green) and molded around a sweet red bean paste. It's good stuff.

On Saturday, as I was walking to the Greenmarket, I noticed some children playing around the giant water fountain in front of the Brooklyn Museum. They were mesmerized by its synchronized water explosions:

And finally, Look! Here's Jesus on crutches!

That is all.

ps. I am doing something pretty awesome tomorrow with my Chef from school... Will tell you all about it on Wednesday!

Springtime in the City

2008-04-28T12:21:00.001-07:00

best ever

2008-04-25T11:37:00.000-07:00

amateurgourmet.com is one of my favorite food blogs- Adam is full of funny and unpretentious observations and recipes, plus he's one hell of a piano player:

this just makes my day!

Good News

2008-04-22T10:04:00.000-07:00

Starting in May, I will be blogging over at chef2chef.com about my culinary school experience! It's a really cool opportunity and they will actually be paying me! I'll let you guys know the links when I start posting next month! Exciting!

p.s.

2008-04-19T23:26:00.000-07:00

I have a whole frozen duckling in my freezer! I can't wait to play with it.

ciseler, concasser, emincer...

2008-04-19T22:34:00.000-07:00

School is in full swing folks, and I am batting a thousand! (yay for springtime baseball references!) I showed up on my first day trying to look tough and knowledgeable, but there is only so much toughness one can muster when wearing the ill-fitting uniforms provided. Nobody ever recognizes me outside of school because my hair is always crammed up into that little fez-like hat we have to wear. (I promise there will be pictures soon; I have not yet snuck into the kitchen to take any.) Our Chef is actually the head of the Chef-Instructors and she is fantastic. She's tougher than I could ever pretend to be and full of so much crazy information. She's like a walking Repetoire but with less French and more wisecracks. She's super petite, but she can shut down the douchebag dudes in our class who think they know everything with just a sideways glance. I love that our first level is taught by the toughest lady imaginable so that those aforementioned dudes don't go around thinking that they are any better than us ladies.

We started cooking on our first day of class (vegetable preparations a l'etuvee and a l'anglaise) and haven't stopped since. Going to culinary school is by far the best decision I have ever made in my life. I am surrounded by people who are just founts of information and are so enthusiastic to share their knowledge with you. It is really an amazing environment to be immersed in if you love food as much as I do.

Most of my classmates are career-changers, being that it's the evening class, and I find that to be a brave decision and one that I respect. Some of them are leaving very lucrative careers in fashion, finance, and publishing in order to pursue their dreams. They all seem to be somewhat enamored by restaurant life, but that's probably because they have never had to be involved in it. They'll get their fair share of it soon, once when we're in higher levels, sweating it out with twenty tickets flapping around in a hundred and ten degree kitchen wondering when you'll ever see the light at the end of the tunnel. Then, just when you get a glimmer of hope, a six top walks in. It's not pretty, but it sure is fun. And the beer tastes so much better afterwards.

So far we've covered stuff that I already have a basic working knowledge of like stocks, mother sauces, sabayons, and preservation techniques, but I feel like I've learned the best methods of preparation. Chef Candy always says that she wants us to be successful, and although there are many ways of preparing, say a buerre blanc, she wants us to do it the right way. The duck confit and gravlax demos have been the best so far, probably due to the fact that I know we get to eat them on Monday, but they were also super informative. Especially since I had some not-so-great duck confit with Kjell at our anniversary dinner (I won't spill on where though, because everything else was yummy) and I don't want to follow in that lead.

Sorry about the long post and lack of pictures, but I'll get some up on Monday (hopefully the duck and gravlax won't be inhaled so quickly that I can't snap a shot!)

Saturday Morning Flowers

2008-04-12T10:14:00.001-07:00

It's on like Donkey Kong.

2008-04-02T16:50:00.000-07:00

They spelled my name wrong, though. Whatevs, it's still on!

I am handy

2008-04-02T16:36:00.000-07:00

After my recent trip to Ikea, I did some minor assembly work and completed a few cool projects in the apartment that make me happy. Up first, the only dresser that Kjell has owned since he moved out of his parent's house (or so he says, it could just be the first one he will actually use - or else...):
I actually threw away the laundry basket he's been living out of for the past ten years. Britt 1, Kjell 0.

On to my awesomely organized hall closet. I have never had an awesomely organized anything, so this is truly awesome:
The next great feat of construction is a curtain I installed inbetween the living room and Kjell's office so I don't have to look at his junk and he can hide away in the dark and work on music undisturbed:
And here are the cool wall adhesives that look like I painted on the wall in the bedroom. A little feminine, but so what. Super pretty:

Tada! I am pleased with myself, obvs.

for Erin

2008-04-02T16:28:00.001-07:00

Touristy Weekend

2008-04-02T16:06:00.001-07:00

Rob and Rachel (Rob does not look that serious on a normal basis)

This weekend, my friend Rachel from Patina and her boyfriend Rob came to visit. Rob had never been to the city before so we did some touristy things that turned out to be quite fun. We rode the Staten Island ferry and took pictures of the Statue of Liberty:

We went to Grand Central Station:

Rockefeller Center:

And Chinatown, sweet sweet Chinatown:

How could you not have fun somewhere that advertises new big wangs? Doesn't everybody love a new big wang? I sure do.

We ate at Joe's Shanghai and sat at a communal table with Lauren Ambrose, the actress from Six Feet Under, and my favorite character from Can't Hardly Wait. She was with her husband and little baby (who was so cute) and was quite sweet. Kjell and I went back to eat there today for lunch and it was super good. The Crab and Pork soup dumplings are their specialty, and holy moly are they yummy.

Ice cream was eaten at the Chinatown Ice Cream Factory, and their Zen Butter (sesame seed and peanut butter ice cream) was the best I've ever had.

School starts on Friday, so wish me luck and cross your fingers that I don't chop one of mine off on the first day.

Pillow Talk

2008-03-26T12:59:00.000-07:00

On Saturday, I decided to take a trip up to the Union Square Greenmarket for a stroll and ingredient hunt. Little did I know that I was about to be showered with feathers and pushed around by lots of loud teenagers who were participating in the World's Largest Pillow Fight. Bummer.

It was ridiculous, but after I made my way through the throngs of idiots clutching deflated pillowcases, I was rewarded with lots of yummy stuff:

I should have bought the guinea hen, but instead I got some delicious pork from High Hope Hog farm and I served it with an apple (honeycrisps from the market) and onion mustard cream sauce. (It's a traditional Scandinavian preparation, Andersons!)

I bought these gorgeous tulips and they still look beautiful on my coffee table.

I also got some fresh cream from a dairy here in NY which I used to make butter. I love the little etching I did in them with my initials and the heart.

This summer, we are joining the Park Slope CSA (community supported agriculture) which delivers fresh produce from an upstate farm. You essentially buy a share of the farm and reap some of its harvest. I am going to see if I can buy cream from them and then make butter in bulk, with different salts and flavors. Honey butter, Balinese sea-salted butter, Pink Himalayan salt dusted butter, I could go on and on... Maybe people would want to buy it. I don't know of anyone who is selling butter at the markets. Hmmmm.

You Like Us! You Really Like Us!

2008-03-26T12:19:00.000-07:00

The two gorgeous people above are Nate and Heather, and guess what? They are our FRIENDS!!! We actually made some (awesome) friends! Ones that I like a lot! Not just sort-of-like-and-settle-for-friends! Nate is a bike messenger and he used to work with Kjell at Legend and Bottom's Up in Richmond, Heather is an actress and a nanny for a family in Manhattan. You can see her for a few seconds in that Ford Focus commercial set in Brooklyn (she's the one in the front seat), so I could even say she is my famous friend. Famous in car commercial circles. She will probably not be happy that I posted this pic of them because she decided that the dress she was wearing was really a nightgown. I think she rocked the nightgown well. The four of us went to a fantastic dinner at this amazing sustainable French restaurant here in Brooklyn called iCi last night. It was really a perfect little spot in the first floor of a brownstone. No pretension, only wonderful food and great service. Kjell flipped out over how fresh his kale tasted. Tomorrow, Heather and I are going to Ikea in New Jersey and then we are going to watch Lost. I am thrilled. Ok, that will be the end of my stalkery new friend post.

Here is Kjell behind the bar at Miracle Grill. So cute! And he makes a phenomenal blood orange margarita to boot!

Here is another picture of Kjell taken in the Lower East Side that he will probably kill me for posting. There is a feature interview of him in an upcoming magazine (I'll let him tell you which one, I don't want to jinx anything) and they needed a photo of him to accompany the article. So Kjell sends them a scan of a picture that I took on a disposable camera in Florida from a few years ago, ignoring my protests. Needless to say, the guy couldn't use such terrible quality pics, so we had to go out and have a Kjell photoshoot! (Much to his chagrin.) This is the pic we chose to use, mainly because Kjell looked like a serial killer in most of the other ones. They are hilarious, but he made me swear I would never show them to anyone. But this one's going to be in a magazine anyway, so I thought I could show y'all.

On the Homefront, I have a new friend (yes, another one! I am so popular!) who happens to be a cat. This kitty started showing up on our kitchen window sill a few days ago and I think I love him. Millie hates him though, she hisses up a storm while he just stares in forlornly.

I don't think he is a stray because he is extremely friendly, rubbing himself against the screen and meowing for attention. Plus he hangs out pretty consistently in a yard a few houses down from us, so maybe he is their outdoor cat. He is supercute though, and I have to restrain myself from feeding him or letting him in for fear that my crazy cat lady tendencies will take over and my house would become full of cats.

Pionta Guinness, le do thoil

2008-03-18T09:25:00.000-07:00

(A Pint of Guinness, Please)

Yesterday, Kjell and I watched the multitudes of Irishmen (and women) parading down 5th avenue in all of their kelly green splendor. I did not realize there were so many bagpipe groups in this city! There must have been at least 20 different pipe and drum outfits marching in the parade, which didn't bother me at all (I'm a sucker for some screeching bagpipes) but Kjell got a little tired of all the howling. I took a few pictures and a video:

This guy stood next to us near 86th street saluting each group of counties as they walked by. Right after I took this pic, some old Irish lady shouted as she was marching "Where's my Jameson?"

Central Park runs along the west side of Fifth Avenue, so we got to stroll alongside it and enjoy the views.
I did not realize that there are animals at Central Park, but it appears that they have some really hungry and brave goats.
Here's a video of some of the marchers and pipers:

After the parade I made an Irish inspired feast of stout glazed beef with wild mushrooms, creamed spinach, and Yorkshire puddings. Yum.

Tracey Ulmann Can Do No Wrong

2008-03-11T20:26:00.000-07:00

Isn't it weird how much she resembles Wanda Sykes as character 9? Yay for Tracey being back on tv!

Success!

2008-03-11T20:19:00.000-07:00

Thank you Richmond, it was fun!

Prepare Yourselves

2008-03-03T16:50:00.000-08:00

I will be coming to Richmond for a few days, so I expect every one of you to drop what you are doing and prepare to lavish attention upon me. Thank you in advance.

Super Saturday

2008-03-03T16:04:00.000-08:00

On Saturday, I promised Kjell a Brooklyn Pizza tour and we hoped to make it to two spots, Grimaldi's and DiFara's. We made it to both, but only got to sample the cheesy goodness at Grimaldi's, which is right underneath of the Brooklyn Bridge. We drove all the way out to Avenue J to try a slice at DiFara's, which ChowHounders speak of with reverence usually reserved for places like Per Se and Masa. We didn't eat breakfast so we could save room for the glorious pizza, and that turned out to be a mistake. The unassuming storefront that houses DiFara's belied the scores of people stuffed into the tiny spot. There was a line out the door and havoc inside. There was a little old man (I think his name is Dom?) slowly making pies and sliding them into the big oven, and another, younger guy taking orders. It was so packed and we were so hungry, that we couldn't stand waiting outside in the cold, so we left to try our second choice, Grimaldi's. There was a long line out of the door there too (we were stupid to have gone on a Saturday) but the wait wasn't too long, and the scenery was beautiful as evidenced by this picture I took:

That's Manhattan and some impending storm clouds. All the waiting was worth it because that pizza was super tasty! Crisp, yet moist crust with some crunchy charred spots, a tangy sauce smothered in creamy, fresh mozzarella cheese and dotted with whole basil leaves. Yum. Kjell and I ate a whole large pie and washed it down with some Brooklyn Pilsner. Perfect Saturday afternoon!

Later on we went to the Brooklyn Museum for First Saturday's. On the first Saturday of the month the museum offers free admission and lots of different programs from 5pm until 11pm. It was awesome! There was tango in the Gallery of the Americas, Brazilian funk in the main lobby, and lectures and curator talks all over the museum. The music was great, but the best part about the event was the diversity. It was very multi-ethnic and multi-generational with little kids dancing next to breakdancers next to ballroom dancers. We really felt like a part of the neighborhood and it's something we'll go to again and again. Here's some pics, sorry if they're a little blurry...

It was such a fun day, now we can't wait for people to visit us so we can show them all of our discoveries!

Food for Thought

2008-02-29T17:39:00.000-08:00

"Monsanto should not have to vouchsafe the safety of biotech food, our interest is in selling as much of it as possible. Assuring its safety is the FDA's job."
-Phil Angell
Director of Corporate Communication for Monsanto, the leading producer of genetically engineered seed, and the leading producer of the herbicide glyphosate (aka Round Up)

If you care at all about the plight of the small farmer, global hunger, and what is actually going into your body when you eat, please watch this film! It blew my mind to see the conglomeration of our food sources and the implicit relationships the government maintains with the huge companies who are driving the American small farmer into poverty. Some names you won't be shocked to hear that are involved in this are John Ashcroft, Linda Fisher (deputy director of the EPA), Clarence Thomas, Dan Quayle, and the always honorable Don Rumsfeld. Class acts, the lot of them...

It's available on Netflix to rent, or to watch instantly on your PC. I think it will really force you to consider a change in your eating habits and to think about exactly what it is that you are supporting when you buy your groceries.

in search of the great pumpkin...

2008-02-28T14:31:00.001-08:00

Is that not the cutest store you've ever seen? I haven't tried it, but it's not too far away. I have been sitting around dorkily assembling a google map of our neighborhood with places we have tried and places we'd like to try all dotted out on it. Google maps has so many more features than I could have imagined, it even has little icons like a fork and knife for restaurants and a shopping bag for markets etc. instead of those little red and blue point marker things. In other news, I am about to order a ton of chinese food.

brrrrr...

2008-02-28T08:04:00.000-08:00

On the train...

So I really am having trouble adjusting my body to the extremely frigid temperatures up here in ol' NYC. It is around freezing or below pretty much all the time here (and sooo windy!), and to a lifelong southerner who has rarely experienced temps below 30 degrees, it is a bitch. (I realize that those of you reading who have lived in Iowa, Illinois and other insanely cold places are laughing at my wimpy-ness!) I cannot wear enough clothes when I'm outside, but as soon as I walk into any indoor area (even the trains) I feel like a menopausal woman in the midst of a hot flash, wishing I could tear off the layers upon layers I've wrapped myself in in one fell swoop. Our apartment is one of those hot flash inducing places. Landlords generally control your heat up here, and I know I shouldn't complain about it being too hot, as some people I have met are using space heaters to keep warm while filing complaints with the housing boards against their slumlords, but it truly is like a sauna in our place. It has got to be around 80 degrees most of the time in here, unless it's really cold and then it gets down to about 70. (Warning: upcoming old lady moment) The heat is really dry as well, and I had to buy a humidifier to soothe our aching sinus cavities.

Onto more interesting topics, Kjell and I had a very fun, romantic and penny-pinching Valentine's Day. We went to see a movie with some of the passes we got for Christmas (Thanks, Andersons!) Before the Devil Knows You're Dead was pretty intense and altogether an excellent movie, but I'd advise against it as a Valentine's Day date. The theme of the movie is so depressing and bleak: everybody is a bad person. That's the gist of it. There are no redeeming qualities about any of the characters, but throughout the entire movie you are just waiting for somebody to be the good guy. It doesn't really happen. Anyway, we left the movie feeling bleak, but glad we had seen it and decided to traipse around the village for a while before heading back home. We walked by the impressive and artsy haven of St. Marks Church in the Bowery and there were several people doing various arty things on its grounds. Some were doing tai chi maybe? And another woman was video taping a seemingly innocuous birdbath unmoving for a while. We stood there for a few minutes and she didn't move a single muscle, not even to speak with her Deliverance-looking companion. I hope she got the shot? St. Marks Church in the Bowery is the oldest spot of continuous worship in NYC. Peter Stuyvesant built his personal chapel here in 1660 on what used to be his farm. Now the grounds of the church are like a little rural oasis of grass and trees (!) in the middle of the east village.

As we walked around beautifully dressed couples clacked down the street on their way to fancy dinners and shows, and we wondered where we could get a bite. This being Valentine's Day (aka Amateur Night in the restaurant business) we knew we'd have trouble getting a table anywhere, or paying for one for that matter. But we happened upon a little restaurant that I had read about in one of those books I got for Christmas, the Luca Lounge. They had a sign advertising an $11 prix-fixe menu for Vday and we were sold! 11 bucks is cheap for anywhere, let alone NY. The place was romantic and dimly lit and we got two courses each of passable Italian food, and a nice bottle of red wine, all for under $50!

It's cute isn't it? Here's a video of Kjell being silly after dinner. Some guy was yelling at him to "smile for the camera" and then something about the Chinese New Year:

We then attempted to sing karaoke at a bar called Planet Rose. It was packed though, and we drank more than we sang, but left in good spirits to take the train home. It was a fun night!

Last Saturday, we went to the Grand Army Plaza Greenmarket and it was wonderful! Being that it is the middle of February, I didn't expect to find anything great; the farmer's markets don't even operate in Richmond in the winter. I was pleasantly surprised though when I found beautiful apples, lots of hearty winter squash, cabbages, turnips, parsnips, gorgeously bright greens of all types, homemade jams, jellies, and preserves, and some awesome spicy green bean pickles. (I will be sending multiple jars of those home for my brother, who can eat a jar of pickles in about 10 minutes.)

This Greenmarket is the second largest in the city and is less than 5 blocks from our house! Yay! I am going to bake the delicious Idared apples I bought into a maple and apple bread pudding tonight. Yummy.

Onto the topic of jobs, which I haven't posted about, but only because it is such a boring topic. I am working at a lunch place in the Lower East Side called Tiny's. My friend Amanda from Richmond is a manger there and she needed some fill in help while one of the girls was in Tokyo. I agreed and it has become a pretty regular gig. Surprisingly, I actually like it, even though it is far from fine dining. The hours are good and flexible plus I can wear whatever I want (which can be daunting considering the fashion plates that are my coworkers, all hipstered out and such) and I get to work with my one friend in New York! I had intended to find something a little more high end before school started, but the money is good at Tiny's and it will allow me to work there and intern in a kitchen while I'm at school so I might stick with it. The place is patronized by a real rock and roll type crowd (David Lee Roth is a regular!) and it is really vegetarian-vegan friendly.

So there you have it, work. Boring. Kjell is bartending at this place Miracle Grill and waiting tables at- get this- a place called Sette! HAHA! But this one is apparently better than the one in Richmond. He's been training for a while, so no money has been made, but hopefully it will happen soon. He has also sent his resume out to a bunch of studios and will be doing the walk around Manhattan looking for studio jobs soon.

This is one of the best discoveries we have made since we've been here, Tom's Restaurant which is about 2 blocks from our house and serves old fashioned soda fountain drinks, breakfast all day, yummy burgers, and great egg-creams! The place has been owned by the same family since 1935 and the owner was there refilling my cherry-lime rickey as soon as it got even a tiny bit low. He was fantastic! There are pictures and memorabilia all over the space and teeny little tables decorated with adorable little plastic flower bouquets and bright red chairs to sit on. I love this place. I felt like I was in a movie from the fifties. Next time I'm making Kjell share a chocolate shake with me, then we can go to the sock hop.

Ok, I'm going to wrap it up if any of you have even made it this far. Here's a shot from the LES that mom took:

Log kitty loves NYC

2008-02-13T16:00:00.000-08:00

ok, so it is possible that I like playing with the video feature on my camera a little too much... here is a boring video to prove it. our cat is so dumb!

Back in Business

2008-02-13T14:30:00.001-08:00

We have survived the first week! After much hardship involving lack of internet and ambiguous rubbish removal rules we are finally living a (somewhat) normal existence again! Yay!

Our week began on Tuesday as we left Richmond in a Uhaul filled to the brim, and my little cavalier packed with me, the cat, and a yummy loaf of friendship bread (thanks Barb!). The drive was not bad, although there were these pickup trucks towing about three junkyard jalopies a piece on really jerry-rigged trailers in the DC area. Kjell and I tried to avoid them, but they drove right next to us for at least an hour while I constantly waited for one of the hunks of junk to fly off of the trailer and into my windshield. My paranoia ended when the idiot drivers pulled off of the interstate after they realized how unsafe their set-up was. At least I hope that's why they pulled over. Whatever the reason, I was glad to speed past the crazy trucks-of-death.

When we moved in, the neighborhood guys all stood outside their apartment buildings and watched. I wondered if they were laughing at me as I tried to help Kjell maneuver the couch through the front door. I am a terrible mover, by the way. I can't ever hold onto anything correctly, and then I end up dropping things and whining a lot. I'm fine with boxes and the like, but big furniture is not my forte. We managed though, and I'm sure that our little audience was surprised to see that we finished moving in in about two hours. Pretty good time!

We have almost finished unpacking everything, but there are still two boxes left in the hall. They are filled with stuff that you don't use often and probably don't need, but can't really bring yourself to throw away. I just ignore them. Kjell started setting up his music area as soon as we got here. I had to drag him out of there to help me put up shelves or he would have stood around pondering his acoustic situation all night. I think he has things worked out now though, he is actually working on music as I type. I made a little video of how the apartment looks right now, even though it's not fully finished yet. Kjell is weird in the end:

So far, so good! The kitchen is small, but functional. It really forces me to work clean and limit my dish usage (alas, no dishwasher!). The cabinets are big though, and amazingly, all of my equipment fits! I christened the stove with a huge pot of boeuf bourguignon which we are still eating three days later. It was labor intensive, but fantastically hearty and perfect for these cold, winter nights.

I took some pictures from a little walk Kjell and I did around the neighborhood the other day, we live within a few blocks of the Brooklyn Museum, the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens, and Prospect Park. It was like 5 degrees outside and the wind was blowing to high hell so we were pretty bundled up:

That's the Brooklyn Museum, and this is me looking a fool in prospect park:

Anyway... Then it snowed! This is our block:

And this is our apartment:

Last night, Kjell and I went to a party in Williamsburg that some people Kjell knew had organized. We felt quite special, as we were on the VIP list and didn't have to pay 20 bucks like everybody else. In theory, this party sounded awesome. It was at a club called Supreme Trading (I think?) and was a collaboration between DJs and chefs. There was a full buffet from one of the cooks at Spice Market with curried cauliflower, a slow roasted coffee-rubbed beef and gorgonzola taco, amazingly good charred rice with fresh mexican cheese, and these super yummy fritters (I don't remember what was in them, but they were awesome!) We came in and ate, met some really nice creative people and then listened to awesome 90's hip hop and old house spun by some great female djs. DJ Reborn is the only name I can remember, but they were both fantastic. Unfortunately, freezing rain isn't entirely conducive to partying, and turnout wasn't great. But we had a wonderful time and I hope that the promoters made their money, or at least enjoyed themselves! Here is the view of the bar and a pic of the food. It looks like a bunch of brown and yellow mush, but it truly was much prettier in person:

In other news, I tried to dye my hair darker blonde, and it turned gray instead. Lovely. I am about to embark on a wild ride of shampooing with baking soda as per the revlon colorist hotline lady suggested. Wish me luck.

Crown Heights Pics

2008-01-19T12:49:00.000-08:00

This is a great Flikr set with tons of pictures of Crown Heights, our new neighborhood.

We found it!

2008-01-19T09:48:00.000-08:00

And thank goodness that we did, as I was beginning to stress on a level previously unknown to me. It all started on Monday, when we decided to take a train to avoid the impending snowstorm (which never happened). Of course, our train was delayed and we sat cramped next to the bathroom on a chartered bus all the way to DC (Kjell was honorary bathroom attendant) where we then caught another train to NYC. This was the scene at about Trenton, NJ:

The food was no good, but eat it we did. This had severe repercussions, but I will get to that eventually. Here is an awesome sign we saw in Prospect Heights, Brooklyn:

Purposely to enhance your beauty. As opposed to accidentally enhancing your beauty. The half-man half-woman face combination is pretty scary too. Purposely to haunt your dreams.
Here is the first apartment we looked at. It is sideways, I know, but I am lazy and don't feel like fixing it:

The apartment was small, but brand new and renovated, and it had this supremely goth view from the bedroom window:

We really liked this one, but the landlord quoted us a different price than what was listed (a hundred dollar a month difference!). So it was back to the drawing board... What better way to drown our apartment hunting sorrows than in dripping hot kimchi and spicy korean fish cakes?

Hooray for Koreatown! Nestled in the heart of midtown Manhattan there are about three blocks of all Korean bars, restaurants, banks and businesses. We chose the restaurant with the least amount of white people and went to town. In the picture above you see spicy pork and pickled cabbage, kimchi, fishcake, tofu, preserved mushrooms, spicy squid and pickled radish. It was so yummy! Our waiter was the greatest, he put up with all of my requests for the most traditional dishes and then he brought us this traditional Korean wine. Which I definitely approved of:

After dinner we wandered around the neighborhood, which is reminiscent of Tokyo with high rises covered in neon signs advertising karaoke bars and acupuncturists. We decided to venture into one of these karaoke bars, but things were quite different than the American version. You walked into the building only to be instructed to walk up to the third floor. It was similar to walking into someones apartment, full of long hallways and dim lighting. Finally we reached this sign, which seemed promising:

As we entered, this petite asian guy asked us, "Karaoke? 30 dollar an hour." We were unprepared for this. The place looked like an opium den, and there were lots of tiny rooms where we could see lonely asians singing passionately to the bright blue monitors. We declined to purchase a room but asked if there was a bar. We were instructed to go down to the second floor where we encountered a similar scene, so we just called it a night. But there will be a day when I rent one of those rooms, we just need more than three people.

The next day as we were getting ready to leave the apartment we were staying in for more hunting, our host said he knew a guy who had an apartment across the way from his place in Crown Heights. We went to look at it and loved it! It's cozy and homey, and somewhat 70's in appearance, but the landlord said we could paint whatever we wanted and he didn't even do a credit check! So here is the only shot we got of it, later on that night:

It is a one bedroom with our own private entrance and a storage area under the main entrance stairs. There is an office area for Kjell and a little nook for me and my laptop. I'm going to install shelves in the nook for all of my cookbooks and we're going to try and make Kjell's office more soundproof with some thick fabric from Ikea (thanks Barb!). We are going to go up and paint on February 1st, then hopefully move in by the 5th.

This is our neighborhood, well, this is actually about three blocks away. Our block is all residential.
So it is a done deal! We are soon to be New Yorkers! Yay!

EPILOGUE

Do not eat train food. After we each ate a sandwich on the way back from the city, we both had severe food poisoning. I was seriously debating on whether we should have gone to the hospital. Luckily, 48 hours later, we are both fine and able to eat again.

ISO: cute apartment

2008-01-12T10:25:00.001-08:00

I've been digging around the internet all day looking for apartments and I finally feel like I've had some luck. Check it out:

http://newyork.craigslist.org/brk/abo/536687688.html
http://newyork.craigslist.org/brk/abo/536789080.html
These two are in the neighborhood we want to be in, but hardly anything in this area goes for under 2000 bucks a month (which is way out of our league).

This is Park Slope:

Pretty cute, huh? It's filled with lots of families and all of our "artist" friends (read: poor and cynical) think that it is too yuppie, but we'd rather be surrounded by families than crackheads. Families won't harass me when I'm getting off of the train late at night.

We have made a bunch of appointments already to see stuff this week, so I'll post if we find the ONE!

Moving Stress

2008-01-11T11:05:00.000-08:00

If I could beam myself ahead to three weeks from now, I would be a happy girl. I look at my apartment and cannot imagine all of my shit fitting into boxes and into one (!) moving truck. How in the world have we acquired so much stuff? And it truly is just stuff; I give you three examples: underneath of my coffee table there are stacks upon stacks of unread Nation magazines and Food and Wine etc., yellow shoelaces, pirate stickers, homemade coasters, a box of band aids and lots of other trash-worthy items. My family is responsible for the stuff on the dining room table as they love to buy things that are cheap and on sale (albeit useless) and give it to me. Typically, this stuff will languish in the backseat of my car for months (I found the Saturday Night Live edition of Trivial pursuit in my trunk the other day- it has been there since last christmas, unopened) until I either throw it away or set it dejectedly on the dining room table. So, on the table right now is a set of really 70's salad bowls, one of those mini vacuums called The Shark (?), a Magic Bullet blender set (which I am glad is in existence if only for the insanely bad infomercial where lots of white people are utterly amazed at their individual daquiris) and one of those hand crank mini-generators to charge things when the power is out? I think that's what its for (Should be good for all of those NYC blackouts). But the true coup de grace is this:

That insanely unorganized mess is my boyfriend Kjell's "room/studio". Yes, there are at least three computer monitors stacked throughout this space, as well as three bikes, a small tv, a keyboard/synthesizer, a record player, an empty plastic drawer set that I bought hoping that Kjell would actually put things in it, multiple pairs of Nike AirMax sneakers that look the same (black with white swooshes, mostly), three grocery bags (that I am aware of) full of odds and ends like computer cords and old cassette tapes that have traveled with him through the last three moves completely untouched and unpacked (!!!), two crappy office chairs, and tons of clean clothes that I fold for him only to see them strewn on the floor haphazardly because he was looking for his bike lock/wrench/other shoe/innertube/cd book/etc. I seriously get a sick feeling in my stomach whenever I walk into this room, it is that overwhelming.

I promise that I am not as disgustingly dirty as this post would have you believe! I am actually pretty nerdy about cleaning my house and making things pretty, and all that stuff, but I am facing a serious purge before this move. Which is looking like it's going to happen February first, yay! We're going to hopefully sign on an apartment this-coming week when we're in the city, which would also relieve some stress for me. It's good to know you have somewhere to live when you've already put in your two weeks notice at work.