My Life in Pink

Moving!

2010-01-10T13:44:00.002-06:00

Hey everyone!

I know I've been totally slacking on posting here, but one of my resolutions is to get better about that.

I've also decided to move my blog to (hopefully) a friendlier format. My new blog can be found HERE.

Hope to see you over there!

Where and What We Ate In Paris

2009-09-30T16:39:00.005-05:00

I anticipated eating to the point of bursting while we were in Paris and I was not disappointed. I pretty much wanted to eat everything in sight and just didn't have the time. We also discovered early on that when you go a cafe or restaurant, they get very worried if you don't finish your plate and assume that you didn't like the food. So from that point on we really endeavored to eat everything we ordered unless we were in very real danger of bursting. The French REALLY care about their food, the ritual of eating, and bread and pastry making have been elevated to an art form. This is a listing of restaurants, bistros, brasseries, cafes, and specialty shops that stood out for us.

Le Pain Quotidien

We came here for our daily cafe creme and breakfast almost every day. Their croissants totally rocked. I had my first soft boiled egg here. I now own 2 egg cups and had soft boiled eggs and soldiers for breakfast this morning. This is technically a chain cafe and I believe they may even have locations in the US, but totally didn't feel like a chain at all. And it was a 45 second walk from our apartment, so that was neat.

La Fermette

We were fortunate to be situated extremely close to the rue Montorgueil market street. A market street is typically lined with small specialty shops and will generally include at least one boulangerie (bakery), patisserie (pastry shop), boucherie (butcher shop), poissonerie (fish shop), fromagerie (cheese shop), fruit/vegetable stand, and flower shop along with assorted cafes and brasseries. This little cheese shop was our favorite on the street. They sold plates of assorted soft cheeses for 6 euros and are able to vacuum pack most purchases.

Le Palais du Fruit

It was truly a fruit palace and just a joy to walk by every day. Beautiful melons, bright and sweet strawberries, peaches so perfectly ripe the juices dripped down my chin.

Le Maison Stohrer

Le Maison Stohrer was opened in 1730 by the pastry chef of Louis XV and is one of Paris' oldest pastry shops. The shop itself is even classified as a historical building of Paris and is rumored to be Queen Elizabeth's favorite pastry shop. I wanted to live here. Not only did they have ridiculously delicious pastries and breads, but they also had prepared dishes, salads, pates and terrines that you could take away. Even if we didn't always buy something (because it was more expensive than other pastry shops), we would generally walk in almost every day and just look at what they had to offer that day. Chunky terrine du lapin, oeufs en gelee, escargots, ham carved right off the bone, salmon and leek quiche, not to mention the pastries like the Paris-Brest, mille feuille, eclairs, fruit tarts, macarons, and the baba au rhum. Nicholas Stohrer actually invented the baba au rhum which is a basically a sponge cake soaked in rum. We tried the Baba Chantilly which is the traditional baba topped with whipped cream and strawberries. It knocked us on our ass, frankly. I can appreciate that there are people out there that are devoted to the baba au rhum, but the alcohol was a little too overpowering for us. Nevertheless, a visit to Le Maison Stohrer is a MUST for anyone visiting Paris.

Breizh Cafe

Breizh Cafe is a creperie in the 3rd arrondissement that uses organic ingredients and organic buckwheat flour for their too-delicious-for-words crepes. It's also recommended to partake in their excellent cider in lieu of wine and their cider list is just as extensive as their wine list. We came for an early dinner and managed to sneak in without a reservation. The crepes were so delicious, in fact, that I totally didn't notice we were sitting a mere 2 feet away from Famke Janssen who was also enjoying her crepes with her little Boston terrier. This was also my first experience with French salted butter caramel. Oh. My. God. I'm in love. I need to learn how to make this immediately. And then bathe in it.

L'Ecurie

This restaurant was recommended by our Bike About tour guide and specializes in meat. Steak frites, to be exact. We only visited two restaurants more than once, and this was one of them. It was such a cozy little place and the proprietor was very welcoming, serving us complimentary house sangria as an aperitif. The steak was tender, perfectly cooked and flavorful. The frites were crispy on the outside and creamy on the inside. But the star of the show was the crazy delicious blow-your-mind-its-so-garlicky aoli that arrived with the bread basket. We ended up putting it on everything and even dipped our fries in it. They also serve their house wine by the pitcher and half pitcher. The demi-pichet was perfect for two people and a steal at about 6 euros. In fact, this place is really a hidden gem of value. They also have a prix-fixe 3 course menu for 17 euros with 5-6 options for each course. Add that to the cheap wine, complimentary sangria, delicious food, and complimentary calvados at the end of the meal...what more could you want?

L'Ami Jean

It was fantastic. See previous blog post.

L'As du Falafel

The best falafel I've ever had. L'As du Falafel is located in the Marais which is Paris' Jewish district. The streets are almost impossibly narrow and there is generally always a line outside this place. There's a guy that takes your order while you're in line and then you just hand the slip to the guy in the window who proceeds to bang out your falafel at incredible speed, tossing and stuffing cabbage, cucumbers, eggplant, hummus and yogurt sauce along with crispy, perfectly sized falafel balls. This was actually the other place that we visited twice. It's also a great budget meal coming to a total of 14 euros for 2 falafels and 2 drinks. We took ours to the nearby Place des Voges and hunkered down on a bench with them. Lovely.

Chartier

Chartier has been around since 1896 and was a soup kitchen in the early 20th century. Today, the harried servers still turn out budget priced meals that, while not certainly not fine dining, are definitely satisfying. I had my first escargots here and they were freaking amazing. It took great willpower not to lick the parsley-garlic butter out of the little escargot plate. However, I also had the worst green beans of my life here. Most of the meals we had up to this point had been served with some sort of potato as a side, but generally no other vegetables. Pretty much every restaurant offers salads, either as an additional side dish or entree, but you just don't see vegetables accompanying a main course. At this point, I was craving a green vegetable so badly that I ordered a side of haricots verts a l'anglaise, which I understood to be blanched green beans dressed in butter, salt and pepper. What I got, I think, were green beans out of a can. They were atrocious. It is a testament to my need for green stuff that I actually managed to get several bites of them down. That being said, the beans were really the only bad thing about the meal and it was a really fun dining experience.

This isn't an exhaustive list of everything we ate, mostly just the stuff I took pictures of :) I didn't manage to get photos of the amazing Berthillon ice cream on the Ile St. Louis or of our last meal in Paris at Le Boui Boui. Or any of the jambon sandwiches from Paul. Or the moules mariniere from L'Academie de la Biere (highly recommended, though). Guess we'll just have to go back! But the main thing that struck me about the food in Paris is something that you can't photograph. And maybe this was just me and the euphoria of Paris, but the food tasted more. That's really the only way to describe it. The fruit was sweeter and brighter, the bread was flakier, the butter was richer, the cheese was creamier. The chickens in the butcher case were unlike what you see here in the US with their puckered yellow skin and bluish veins. It made me realize just how processed a lot of food here in the US actually is. And the chicken tasted better too--more earthy, more chicken-y. The French may not have realized that they're not a world superpower anymore nor are they on the cutting edge of food cookery any longer. But they care and they are serious about their food. It's about more than just getting rid of hunger. It's about community, tradition, quality and seasonality. It was love at first sight!

Paris - L'Ami Jean

2009-09-18T15:17:00.010-05:00

What can I say about L'Ami Jean? We came to eat here halfway through our Paris adventure and it was far and away the best meal we've had yet and one I'll be thinking about for a long time to come. I had tried to make a reservation here before we left via email and never heard anything back. We happened to be in the area so I suggested we stop by and, at the very least, try and make a reservation for later next week. I had heard this place was notoriously hard to get into so I was not optimistic. However, when we arrived at the unassuming cafe, which was almost hidden under a pile of scaffolding, around 7pm, we were told that we could indeed be seated immediately provided we leave by 9pm. No problemo. We unbuttoned our pants and settled in with a lovely bottle of wine.

What followed was one of the best meals I've had in a long time. We decided to go for the 3 course

prix fixe menu which included a starter (entree), a main course (plat), and a dessert for 35 Euros. I couldn't understand much of the menu, it being in French and all, so I picked just picked some things and assumed they would be good. The waiters were very good natured about it all. Ben knew what he wanted for the main course, but asked the waiter to choose something for him for the starter and dessert and was promised a great surprise.

I still have no idea what I ate for the first course, but it was excellent. Some sort of savoury mousse with bruleed mushrooms on top, mushroom jus and a bright green parsley foam with accompanying toast. I don't even like mushrooms and I ate every single bit. Ben's first course surprise was a mushroom bisque with fresh herbs because, as the waiter said, 'tis the season. Also delicious.

For the main course I chose a filet of duck and Ben chose the "porcelet" which came three ways; a portion of roasted pork, blood sausage and a paper thin wafer of cured bacon. Both main courses came with a celeriac puree which was like mashed potatoes, only better. My duck was lovely, perfectly cooked and served in a delicious puddle of jus, but Ben's dish was definitely the better choice. The blood sausage (or pudding, we're not sure) was like nothing I've ever put in my mouth and the roasted pork literally fell apart as soon as you touched it with your fork.

Dessert, however, blew the rest of the meal out of the water. I ordered "le riz au lait", or rice pudding, hailed by the waiter as the "Best Rice Pudding In The World". I concur. It was served in a gigantic bowl (with its own wooden spoon) along side a fig compote and salted caramel beurre (butter). The rice pudding was spectacular. The salted caramel beurre was revolutionary. Putting the two together in my own little bowl with little crunchy almond bits created such an emotional experience that I almost shed tears right there in the restaurant. It was simultaneously new and familiar and so comforting I wanted to crawl inside the bowl itself and take up residence. I'm not really sure why they even have other dessert offerings, but Ben did have a refreshingly tart citrus mousse with some sort of nut brittle and homemade marshmallows. But the riz au lait really stole the show.

I would recommend this place to anyone coming to Paris, whether for a full meal or just for the Riz Au Lait. You won't regret it!

Paris - Pere Lachaise Cemetery

2009-09-12T13:50:00.016-05:00

We started getting into our rhythm today of waking up, heading down to the patisserie and grabbing some croissants and pain au chocolat then sitting and eating at a cafe with some coffee before the day's activities. Which is exactly what we did today before braving the Metro for the first time and making our way to Pere Lachaise Cemetery.

The cemetery is actually quite peaceful and extraordinarily beautiful. Shade trees line the avenues within the cemetery and many of the tombs and gravestones feature amazing sculptures. DO NOT try and navigate the cemetery without a map or guide of some kind or you may never find your way out again.

Our first stop was the Crematorium which contains about 13,000 little niches that house the ashes of the deceased. Navigating the Crematorium has its own challenges since many of the aisle and niche markings have been worn away. We did manage to find the little niche that houses the greatest opera singer of the twentieth century, Maria Callas.

Next was the resting place of clearly one of the most beloved residents, Oscar Wilde. The modernist angel sculpture was designed by Jacob Epstein and on the other side of the tomb is a short bio of Wilde as well as his epitaph which reads, "And alien tears will fill for him Pity's long broken urn, For his mourners will be outcast men And outcasts always mourn." Flowers and candles adorn the tomb as well as hundreds of kisses.

I took great comfort in the fact that a small golden-eyed cat, who was completely unperturbed by the cemetery crowds, was watching over the grave of France's Little Sparrow, Edith Piaf. You can see him in the foreground of the picture below.

You just can't go through Pere Lachaise without visiting the resting place of another beloved and iconic figure, Jim Morrison. The painted bust of Morrison that used to rest on top of the headstone has since been stolen by admirers and a metal fence now surrounds the grave. This was certainly one of the more crowded locations and there were many who were just lounging around, smoking and basking in the presence of The Lizard King.

In my opinion, one of the most beautiful gravestones was that of Frederic Chopin. The grave is said to always be adorned with fresh flowers, even in the dead of winter. Chopin's body is indeed here, but it is incomplete. Chopin had a terrible fear of being buried alive and his dying wish was that his heart be cut out and preserved in brandy. His request was honored and his heart is now sealed within a church pillar in Warsaw, Poland.

I absolutely adore the story of Pere Lachaise residents Heloise and Abelard who were at the center of a 12th century scandal. Abelard was a scholar who shocked Paris with his critiques of the Catholic church and Heloise was the daughter of the canon of Notre-Dame. Abelard was hired to be her tutor and, of course, the two fell in love. They fled Paris and secretly married, however once Heloise gave birth to their first child word got back to her father who. was. pissed. He sent a group of thugs to find Abelard and castrate him, which they did. Abelard retired to a monastery and Heloise went to a convent and the two never lived together again. However, the couple kept their love alive over the next twenty years by writing passionate letters back and forth to each other. They are buried together in Pere Lachaise and their tomb was built from stones of both Heloise's convent and Abelard's monastery. Alas, the tomb was undergoing some kind of renovation and was covered in scaffolding, but I took pictures anyway.

We visited other graves belonging to Gertrude Stein and Collette as well as the memorial tombs of those who resisted the Nazis and perished in the concentration camps. I would post pictures here, but my fingers are getting tired and it's time to go grab a drink at the Brasserie down the street...so maybe later. Tomorrow morning we're doing a Bike About Tour of Paris and we're really excited to see more of the city! More adventures to come!

A Lesson in Botulism

2009-08-25T20:46:00.005-05:00

Well. That could have been very, very bad.

I had planned to make a fabulous dinner of homemade spaghetti and meatballs and, of course, take pics and write up a blog about it. Did not go as planned.

I made the meatballs first and had them all set out just waiting to get pan fried. They were so pretty! The next step was to make the sauce. I had one can of whole peeled tomatoes already in the pantry and had bought one today at the store. You have to puree the tomatoes and then put them in a large saucepot with onions and seasonings, etc. My food processor isn't big enough to handle two cans so I opened the one I had bought at the store first. Everything went smoothly and into the pot it went. When I got to the can that had been in my pantry, I noticed the top of the can was puffed up. Some of you may already know where this is going. As I started opening the can, it literally exploded! Tomato juice spurted everywhere! It was on the cabinets, floors, countertop and me. I actually giggled thinking it was great fun that I showered my kitchen in tomato juice. I went ahead and pureed the tomatoes (which smelled and looked just fine) and put them in the pot with the rest.

It had been simmering for about 20 minutes when I went in to tell Ben about what I called "The Great Tomato Explosion" thinking he would get a kick out of it. He did laugh at first and then, being the genius he is, said, "Isn't that a sign of botulism?"

Me: Ummmm, I dunno. Is it?
Ben: I think so.
Me: No, I think it's only cans that are dented.
Ben: Are you sure?
Me: No. Let's look it up.

And sure enough, I found this passage on the USDA website relating to canned goods:

"NEVER USE food from containers that show possible "botulism" warnings: leaking, bulging, or badly dented cans; cracked jars or jars with loose or bulging lids; canned food with a foul odor; or any container that spurts liquid when opening. DON'T TASTE SUCH FOOD! Even a minuscule amount of botulinum toxin can be deadly." --Food Safety and Inspection Service, USDA

I did not add the bold print. That is exactly how it was written. Shit.

Now I'm thinking that I think I may have gotten a little on my lip or maybe even licked some off my finger. But I don't know. Was that from the first can or the second can? Oh my God, I can't REMEMBER!!!! And why don't I know this about puffy cans and botulism?!?!? I should know better, right?!?!

After wrapping up the meatballs for another day, I proceeded to disinfect/wash any item or surface that the death liquid might have touched. My entire pot of beautiful yet now infected sauce went down the drain. We ordered pizza. And I think Ben will remind me of this day for quite some time.

Blackberry Cobbler? Yes, please!

2009-07-03T21:39:00.020-05:00

I have fond memories from my childhood of visiting my grandmother in east Texas, picking dewberries, and then having my grandmother's friend/housekeeper/cook, Rene, turn out a so-delicious-I-can-hardly-believe-it dewberry cobbler. I had the day off from work today and had a hankering to cook up some classic Americana. So, along with burgers and potato salad, I decided to make cobbler. While dewberries are not really available in stores, blackberries are really close relatives. You can pretty much use any fruit you want, though.

Also, Rene made her cobbler with rolled out dough arranged in a lattice design. That's waaaay to artistic for me, and I actually like the aesthetic of this method better. It's more cobbley.

Anyway, let's get to it!

(I apologize in advance for the poor quality of these photos. I don't have very good light in my kitchen)

Get yourself about 1 1/2 lbs. (24 oz) of blackberries and give them a good rinse. Transfer to a large bowl.

Hello my darlings!

Pour 1/2 cup sugar, zest of 1 lemon and about 1-2 Tablespoons of lemon juice (juice of 1/2 lemon for those folks who aren't into measuring) over the blackberries. Give it a good stir...this will help the blackberries to start releasing their juices.

Next, we make the dough. Mix together 2 cups all purpose flour, about 1/4 teaspoon salt, 1 Tablespoon baking powder and 1 Tablespoon sugar.

Toss in 1/4 cup Crisco (that's right, I said Crisco) and 4 Tablespoons butter.

Using a pastry cutter, fork or two knives, start cutting the Crisco and butter into the flour mixture until it resembles coarse meal. This will take a few minutes and will require some elbow grease. Just be patient.

Once you kinda come into the home stretch, I dispense with the pastry cutter and just use my hands. That way you can really feel when it's done.

It should look something like this.

In a separate bowl, mix together 1/2 cup milk and 1 egg. Pour the egg/milk mixture, kinda slowly, into the flour mixture.

Mix in wet ingredients using a fork, your hands, or whatever mixing tool floats your boat. The end result should be a fairly sticky dough.

Back to the blackberries...pour those delicious beauties into a baking dish making sure to scrape all the sugary juiciness from the bowl into the dish as well.

Drop little clumps of dough over the berries until they're covered. It doesn't have to be fancy so don't go measuring out the clumps or anything. Irregular fingerfuls will do just fine. Shift them around and nestle in more clumps as needed and don't forget the sides and corners of the dish! If you don't use all the dough that's okay too.

Pat the clumps down just a teeny bit and sprinkle with more sugar. I used about 1 1/2 Tablespoons.

Bake in a 425 degree oven for about 30 minutes, or until golden and bubbly.

The result is a summer berry wonderland covered in a sweet biscuity topping!

Goodness, gracious. *drool*

To serve, you could just eat it straight out of the dish. I wouldn't blame you. But my recommendation is to spoon it into a bowl and add a few scoops of Blue Bell Homemade Vanilla ice cream.

*Note: If you're going with my recommendation, the Blue Bell ice cream is a MUST. Any other brand just will not do. If you happen to live in a state where Blue Bell is not available.....well...it just won't be as special.

Yes, ma'am! I can't even tell you how excited I was to eat this.

I have to tell you, I've been a little intimidated by cobblers in the past. For some reason, I thought it would be more complicated than it actually was. But it was very simple and straightforward...and only took about an hour to make from start to finish!

Enjoy!

*Cobbler recipe courtesy of The Pioneer Woman

RIP

2009-06-25T18:00:00.001-05:00

Michael Jackson
"King of Pop"
1958-2009

Happy Birthday Stella!!

2009-04-15T19:05:00.008-05:00

Today is my beautiful girl's 5th birthday!

For her birthday, she got a VERY special birthday treat. I think the label said "Meaty Femur Bone"...very accurate. It was meaty and gristly in a way only a dog could love.

She didn't quite know what to do with it at first...but got the hang of it eventually and carried it off to her favorite spot to gnaw on it a little before trying to bury it.

Happy birthday puddin' pop! You're a constant source of laughter and joy.

Vacation Day 5 - More Cheesesteaks with Some Rocky on the Side

2009-04-01T21:02:00.008-05:00

Yes, I am fully aware that I skipped Vacation Day 4. Day 4 mainly consisted of us driving back to Philly from upstate New York, stuffing pork pies and sausage rolls in our faces and then passing out. Nothing to really write home about.

We set out Monday afternoon to resolve the Ultimate Cheesesteak Debate. It was time to try Pat's and see which of the cheesesteak giants was actually the best.

Annnnnnnnnd the winner iiiiiiiiiiiiiis (drum roll)..........

Geno's by a very, very narrow margin.

I have to say that I definitely prefer the simple, authentic and unadorned facade of Pat's to the gaudiness and arrogance of Geno's. Ben and I also agreed that Pat's was more generous with the amount of meat in the cheesesteaks. But, what ultimately won us over, was the bread. Geno's bread was far superior to Pat's which was just a bit too chewy. We also thought that Geno's more evenly distributed the Cheez Whiz throughout the sandwich. They poured it on top at Pat's which didn't allow it to get down to the bottom and soak into the bread.

So there you have it. We have, very reluctantly, fallen into the Geno's camp.

We also tried to visit the Philadelphia Museum of Art since we heard there was a pretty awesome Cezanne exhibit. Alas, the museum is closed on Mondays so we just hung around and took pictures. Yes, these are the famous steps that Rocky runs up in the movie (insert theme song here). They even have a Rocky statue. A Rocky statue that is so popular, we actually had to wait in line to take a picture with it (hangs head in shame).

The museum

Close up of the super cool George Washington statue

Ben was being a little grumpy and refused, under any circumstances, to run up the steps like Rocky. Much to my dismay. I snapped this on the sly.

Ben also refused to pose with the Rocky statue. I had no such reservations.

And there you have it! A triumphant end to a pretty great trip. Aside from the weather being crappy in Philly. Seriously, is it ever sunny there?

Of course, we were enthusiastically greeted by Stella and the cats who clearly missed us. Although, we got a great report from our pet sitter and I'm really glad that we found such great gals to look after "the kids" while we're gone. Stella seems sooo much happier with this situation and the sitters really seem to care about Stella and the cats. Especially Jack...he's a charmer!

Vacation Day 3 - It's a bird! It's a plane! Yep, it's a Plane.

2009-03-31T19:35:00.013-05:00

Our final outing in NYC was to go have brunch at Balthazar which is a very "it" place in the Village. The last couple of times we've been to NYC Ben and I have tried to go there but, being the lowly plebeians that we are, could only manage to buy a couple of pastries from the attached boulangerie. This time, not only did we snag a table, but there was no wait! Sweet. The Eggs Benedict were totally worth the effort to drag ourselves down to the Village once again. I also happened to look over my shoulder to see Tyra Banks chowing down on something equally delicious I'm sure. Celebrity sighting #2!!

Next stop in our adventure was Ben's dad's house in upstate New York. One important fact about Ben's dad is that he owns a Piper Cherokee plane. That's right. A plane. A very small (and I later learned somewhat old) plane. Ben mentioned that he wouldn't mind going flying, but the weather didn't look too promising. Until we actually got to upstate New York where it was actually quite nice and calm. The idea turned into reality and when asked if I wanted to go, well, of course I said yes. **Mom, you may want to skip this part**

Here's the pilot Michael (aka Dad) pulling the plane out of the hanger. ONE person can pull the plane. That's how small it was.

Here's co-pilot Ben standing next to the plane (note how he's taller than the plane)

Passenger Sarah sporting awesome headphones

And we're in the air! Pilot and co-pilot dutifully monitoring the controls (well, the pilot was anyway)

My view out the plane window...the stately home kind of standing off by itself in the foreground is the National Historic Site of the home of FDR

Coming in for a landing! Eeeeeeeeeeee!

Made it back to solid ground safely! Here's a pic of me next to the plane looking very pleased with myself for being so adventurous

We were in the air for almost an hour and it really wasn't as frightening as I thought it would be. Not as rough or as choppy as I thought either...a pretty smooth ride actually. We flew up and back down the Hudson and got great views of the Mohonk Mountain House as well as the Catskills. Fun!

To wrap up this exciting day, we had dinner at one of the restaurants located in the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, NY. It was technically Ben's birthday dinner, but it was also a real treat for me to visit the CIA knowing how many incredibly talented chefs that I admire have passed through those doors. We also got a great table right in front of the kitchen so we could watch the student chefs all a-flurry with activity. The female pastry chef, in particular, looked like she was about to blow a gasket from all the stress that scooping ice cream can bring. Hee!

We were told that the students rotate working front of the house and back of the house over a six week period in at least two of the three main CIA restaurants. Most of the time, the students hate working the front of the house. Zey are CHEFS, dammit! But luckily, our waiter was very good natured about it all and very entertaining. It was a truly superb meal! If you get a chance, GO!

What a great end to the day! We still have two more days of vacation to go...what else could possibly happen?

Vacation Day 2 - NYC!!

2009-03-30T09:08:00.011-05:00

Friday morning we drove from Philly into Manhattan. I've ridden in cabs before in NYC, but didn't really freak out because I figured they were pretty experienced in dealing with NYC traffic. However, by the time Ben's sister had gotten us to our hotel I had ripped out a few chunks from the backseat...traffic was INSANE!!! Not just the traffic, but the way people maneuver around the traffic with not much regard to any other drivers or any traffic rules in general. After much honking and breath holding on my part...we made it!!

Ben's dad is the General Manager of the Sherry Netherland hotel...a very chi-chi boutique hotel right next to Central Park...and generously comped us a couple of rooms for Friday night. We woulod never have been able to afford to stay there otherwise, so this was a real treat! We had out own sitting room with a fireplace and turn down service that came with actual chocolate mints on the pillow. This pic is a view just outside the hotel down 5th Avenue. As you can see...it's just blanketed with people. As several people remarked to us...the tourists came out in droves *cough, cough* Silly tourists.

Our first stop was a light lunch at Grey's Papaya. Since we are actually in a recession, the only sensible thing to do was get the Recession Special which included 2 dogs and a delicious papaya drink. There are no tables or chairs inside Grey's Papaya, so we just stood at the metal counter and watched the people go by.
From there we walked down to a little shop in the Village called Myer's of Keswick (pronounced KEZ-ick) which sells all sorts of British goodies. On the way, we walked through a flurry of activity and at first couldn't really figure out what was going on. Then we noticed a familiar face sitting in a chair on the sidewalk and realized...this was a set for Law & Order Criminal Intent! Celebrity sighting #1...check.

Now fully stocked with pork pies, Cornish pasties, fruit pastilles, treacle pudding and other crazy British treats, we headed back uptown. Here's Ben and his sister Victoria waiting on the subway platform..
On the subway, we were treated to the familiar sounds of a mariachi band! But don't make eye contact...if you do you have to tip.
After dropping our bags at the hotel, we headed to The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA). We were in luck because admission to the museum is FREE every Friday from 4-8pm. Whee! Here are a few of the highlights:

A view of an Architecture and Design exhibit from the 2nd floor of the museum. Not sure on the details of the exhibit, but it had something to do with Kafka. Will update with more info if I can find it.

Piet Mondrian "Broadway Boogie Woogie" (sorry for the quality, no flashes allowed)

Picasso

By this time we were so incredibly exhausted, we didn't get through as much of the museum as we would have liked. There's always next time!

Finally, we ended our day with dinner at a great little place in Greenwich Village called Nomad which served French/Algerian/North African food. The food was really good and the atmosphere was super cozy. We asked out waitress to take a picture of the whole family, and then proceeded to take $1 from her tip because we all look so horrible in it.
Just kidding about the tip. But we did ask her to take another picture which turned out even worse than this one. Sigh. Oh well.

All in all...a great day! The weather was sunny and wonderful and we did everything that we had wanted to.

Day 3 pics and stories coming soon! A day which includes Celebrity Sighting #2 and I try something for the first time that's a little bit dangerous....

Vacation Day 1 - Philly

2009-03-26T18:59:00.003-05:00

Well, we made it to Philly to be greeted by the crappiest weather possible - grey, cold and drizzly. But we braved the weather and made out way down to South Philly to consume one of the most iconic foods of this region--the Philly Cheesesteak.

There is a fierce rivalry between Geno's Steaks and Pat's Steaks over who has the best cheese steak. Since we only had time and room in our stomachs for one cheesesteak today, we chose Geno's. But rest assured, a return trip to try Pat's steaks will happen..so stay tuned.

I was informed that the only proper way to eat cheesesteak was to smother it with onions and Cheez Whiz...commonly referred to as "whiz with". And you gotta go with the local lingo or they know you're a tourist. I gotta say---it was pretty frakking good. The bread was somehow crispy and soft and chewy all at the same time. The Cheez Whiz and the juices from the meat combined to form a magical special sauce. Together with an order of Freedom Fries...it was a perfect meal.
After lunch we waddled over to Reading Terminal Market which is like Disneyland for food. Row after row after row of all different kinds of meat, seafood, produce and restaurant stalls. After much searching, we settled on a dessert of fresh baked cookies, chocolate truffles and coffee. Annnnnnd, we're spent. It's been a long day folks and we've got lots of activities planned for tomorrow. We're heading into Manhattan with plans to hit Grey's Papaya, MoMA, Myer's of Keswick and dinner in Greenwich Village. I plan on taking plenty of pics so check back for new posts later this weekend!

Cheers!

2009-03-25T18:35:00.013-05:00

Howdy!

Today was a very busy day for me at work as I wrapped everything up to get ready to go on vacation, but couple of pretty interesting things happened!

First off, at lunchtime today I went over to Green Pastures and talked to their event planner about having the wedding and reception there. It went really well and I'm even more excited about it now! My favorite option right now is to have the ceremony out on their South Lawn and a Sunday Brunch reception. The gal that I talked to mentioned that one of the options for the ceremony is a ceremony in-the-round...which I think sounds fantastic! Not to mention a lot more intimate. I haven't actually been to a brunch at Green Pastures (cause I can't afford it...its pricey) but they offer pretty much the same brunch buffet for receptions at a MUCH lower price per person.

I was also talking to some girls at work today about the importance of having a wedding cake. My opinion is that it really isn't important at all. I'm not even really that into cake. However, they seemed to think it was pretty important. I can see if you're
having a very traditional thing where you really want the pictures of you and your new spouse shoving cake into eachother's faces and you have people coming who really expect cake then it might be important. But:
1) We're not having a traditional wedding
2) We may not take the traditional wedding photographs
3) There will be other desserts as part of the brunch buffet that cake will actually be superfluous.
4) Cake costs extra
But I also don't know what Ben's feelings are on the matter. He
might really want cake. In which case, I wouldn't be totally opposed to a non-traditional wedding cake...like maybe cupcake tower!

Cupcakes are something I could totally get behind. I also know there are other folks out there who would rather have cupcakes anyway.

What do y'all think? What elements of a traditional wedding are
too important to be left out?

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Moving on, last night my neighbor caught me as I was coming home to ask me if I wanted to go with her to see the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater at Bass Concert Hall. She had a friend who had gotten tickets and could no longer go. After I picked my jaw up off the floor...of course I said yes! Pass up an opportunity to see one of the most well known and well regarding modern dance troupes in America? No way.

In the late 1950's Alvin Ailey was the first person to really inject the African American cultural experience into modern dance. He really changed the way people thought about modern dance and he continues to influence modern choreographers. Needless to say...it was amazing!

The music for the first piece was comprised entirely of an a capella group that was also on the stage with the dancers and played a role in the piece. The second piece was a tribute to Otis Redding and utilized a lot of his lesser known songs. My favorite piece, though, was a classic. Since this was the 50th anniversary tour, they performed the "Revelations" piece which was originally performed in 1959 and put Alvin Ailey on the modern dance map. All the music used in the piece were classic Southern gospel hymns and the choreography dealt with all the themes you would expect: sin, prayer, fellowship and celebration of faith.
Fan. Tastic.

Well, that's all for now...but lots of exciting posts coming up! We're heading out tomorrow for Philly to visit Ben's sister Victoria and definitely plan on taking a day trip to Manhattan and doing some fun touristy stuff in NYC. There even may be some special birthday surprises for Ben :) Be on the lookout for tales of our adventures...and pics!

BTW...I don't know why the Green Pasture pics above are so out of whack. If anyone has any helpful hints about formatting and picture placement...bring 'em on.

Sunday Night Dinner

2009-03-22T20:35:00.022-05:00

A good roast chicken is a beautiful thing. Crispy skin, moist and flavorful meat, yummy juices...and its so easy! It's a perfect Sunday night dinner and you can use the leftovers for all sorts of things throughout the week. This particular roast chicken that I made tonight is a compilation of a couple different recipes that I have found over the years. Vegetarians--you may want to look away.

Combine 2 Tablespoons unsalted butter (softened at room temperature), 1 Tablespoon chopped fresh thyme, 2 Tablespoons chopped fresh tarragon, 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard.

Place 1 sliced onion, 3 smashed garlic cloves, 1/2 bunch fresh thyme, 1 large sprig fresh rosemary in a roasting pan. Toss with olive oil. Place rack on top of herbs and onions.

Reserve 1/2 lemon, 2 smashed garlic cloves, 1/2 bunch fresh thyme and 1 large sprig fresh rosemary. This will be your stuffing.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Remove any innards from your chicken, rinse and pat dry. Salt and pepper inside and outside of chicken. Stuff with lemon, garlic and herbs. Tuck wings under and tie legs together (or truss however you prefer). Sear chicken on all sides in skillet with olive oil. I've found this really helps seal in the juices while the chicken in roasting.

Place chicken on rack, squeeze 1/2 lemon over chicken and rub with herb butter mixture. Roast in oven for approximately 25-30 minutes per pound (1.5-2 hours for 3-4 pound chicken). Chicken is done when a meat thermometer reads 155-160 degrees (desired temp for chicken is about 165, but chicken will continue to cook while it rests).

Lemme tell you, the smells that will permeate your house while this chicken cooks...Lord have mercy. Glade should really package this smell in a spray can...it's the next million dollar idea!!

Anyway. Once the chicken is done remove it to a cutting board or plate. If you like, reserve pan drippings and use them as a sauce. You can discard the onions and herbs in the roasting pan. It is VERY IMPORTANT to allow the chicken to rest for at least 10 minutes before carving. This allows the natural juices to redistribute throughout the meat.

I mean, just look at that. Sooo pretty! One of my favorite foods of all time. Serve with your choice of sides...for tonight I went with a nice salad and sauteed asparagus.

Happy Cooking!

Finale

2009-03-21T11:51:00.002-05:00

The finale of Battlestar Galactica was....AMAZING!!! Perfect perfect perfect. They really didn't leave any major questions without resolution and wrapped everything up in a way that stayed true to core of the show. You can't ask for any more than that! Since I can't really talk about the episode itself, I've posted another of my all time favorite BSG scenes below.

This one revolves around Lee and Starbuck and is pretty representative of their entire relationship. They can't fight their attraction to each other but there are just too many obstacles for a romantic relationship to work.

Thank you to Ron Moore and David Eick for giving us the best frakking sci-fi show of all time.

So Say We All

2009-03-20T18:53:00.002-05:00

The final episode of Battlestar Galactica airs tonight. If you haven't discovered this show yet...what are you waiting for? Coming from someone who doesn't normally like sci-fi shows (that would be me), this is one of the best, most relevant and most consistantly amazing shows EVER. I will keep my promise of no BSG spoilers...but over the next few days I will be uploading some of my favorite scenes. This one, from Season 1, gave me chills.

Nama-what?

2009-03-19T09:50:00.000-05:00

I am obsessed with this season of Lost. Ben gave up on it citing too many questions and not enough answers...but I think this season has been one of the most satisfying since Day 1.

I think the main revelation of last night's ep was really about the not-only-geographical distance between Jin and Sun. As the show starts we see the Ajira flight which takes the castaways back to the island. We see Kate, Jack and Hurley disappear (transported back to 1977) but Sun was not among them. Why? She was on the original Oceanic flight. Why wasn't she transported with the rest of them? We also know that Locke didn't disappear and ended up with the Ajira folks on the beach. Initially, I thought it was because Locke was, you know, dead. But maybe he and Sun have something else in common that kept them with the Ajira folks.

Back with the castaways in 1977, an awkward reunion ensues between Sawyer, Jack and Kate. Only Hurley seems genuinely happy to see Sawyer again. All are sufficiently shocked to discover they have traveled back in time. Unlike Sawyer and Jin, Oceanic 6 haven't been skipping through time. Sawyer comes up with a plan to integrate them into the Dharma community that won't cause suspicion by having them pose as incoming Dharma recruits. Back at the barracks, Juliet finds new mom Amy, gets sub manifests, and coos over......Baby Ethan!!! That's gotta be surreal.

Backtracking just a bit....did anyone else's heart totally break at the look that came over Juliet's face when she found out Kate was back on the island? Although, judging from the preview for next week...she's gonna fight for her man.

After learning that Sun was on the plane, Jin rushes off to try and figure out where the plane went down. I kinda knew something was up when there was no record at the Flame station of the Ajira plane anywhere near the island...but I didn't really know what it could mean. What Jin did end up finding was Sayid. I definitely feel that the fact Sayid has now become a "hostile" will prove problematic for him. Will Sayid be the major character that's rumored to bite the dust this season?

We also learned that Daniel Farraday is NOT among those living it up in Dharmaville circa 1977. Sawyer ominously implies that something bad happened to him...but what? Suicide? Insanity? Did he turn the frozen wheel and disappear? I can't wait to find out!

Back on Ajira beach, Sun follows Ben into the jungle and Ben proceeds to convince Sun to help him get back to "their" island. Lapidus intervenes and tries to warn Sun against trusting Ben citing the large group of burly men with guns sent out to capture him. Not to mention all that other bad stuff that Ben did to Sun and her friends. Nevertheless, Sun tells Lapidus she has to trust him in order to find Jin. Or...not. Turns out Sun just used Ben to find the boats and then dipatches him with an oar to the head. Most revealing quote of the night:

Lapidus: I thought you said you trusted him.
Sun: I lied.

She really good at it. I wonder what else Sun has lied about? Hmmmm...

Now this is where it gets REALLY interesting. Sun and Lapidus find their way back to the main island (smokey, is that you?) and stumble upon a run down and apparently abandoned Dharmaville. Who is that ghost in the window? Jacob? No (or yes)...its Christian Shepherd who promises to show Sun where Jin is. In the trashed up intake room, Christian peruses some group photos on the wall ("1976, 1978...")...wait, wha? That's right. Sun and Lapidus are in a different time than Jin and the rest of the castaways. How in the world is this going to work out? Long journey indeed.

Back at Dharmaville, Jack goes to Sawyer's house for a powwow but doesn't seem to realize that Juliet is living there too. With Sawyer. Being very domestic. No wonder his aptitude test put him at "janitor" level. Sawyer is clearly loving his Dharma life. He has responsibilities, a leadership position, and is now responsible for saving Jack's neck. This could get ugly. Not to mention that Kate is now living next door to the happy couple. Awk. ward.

The final scene of the evening finds Sayid in a holding cell. The kid bringing him a sandwich kinda looks familiar. Hmm. Gawky. Glasses. Intense stare and fascination with hostiles. Could it be? Yep...its a pre-pubescent Benjamin Linus. I feel certain that Young Ben is just as manipulative as Adult Ben so I'm curious to see what role he will play in the coming events, especially where Sayid is concerned. We also know that Adult Ben took part in the Purge that killed all the Dharma folks so our castaways are safe for now.

Some lingering questions...

Does the action packed exploding van/gun fighting incident alluded to in the preview cause the devastation found by Sun and Lapidus? If so, does this mean the Purge doesn't even happen anymore? Will Kate and Juliet have an all out cat-fight over Sawyer? And when will Sawyer be shirtless again? Only time will tell. Or next week's episode.

To get more of your Lost fix for the day, check out Doc Jenson's Lost Recap over at Entertainment Weekly.

So, what did you think? Did you enjoy the recap...or was it totally boring? Should I do it again next week? Thanks for your feedback and for your warm welcome to the blogging community!

Options

2009-03-18T18:19:00.003-05:00

So Ben and I have been talking a lot recently about what we really want the wedding to be (well, I've been talking...Ben's mostly been listening and agreeing to whatever my favorite option is at the time). Do we want to go traditional? Do we want do a destination thing? Scrap it all at go to the JP? It all seems to hinge on how much money we want to spend on this and how soon we want to get married. Which really just raises more questions. Do we want to spend a lot of money on a wedding or spend it on a great vacation? Or a house? How important is it that our families witness the joyous event? Given that our families are scattered all over, this is a pretty important consideration.

We seem to have established that it is important to us that our families be there. So that rules out the JP thing. And probably the destination thing. So. That leaves us with putting together a somewhat traditional wedding. If we can come up with something that only costs, say, 5k or less, then it may be possible to get married by the end of the year.

My current favorite option is Green Pastures. They have peacocks! And good food! And they're cheap! We can have the ceremony and reception there! Its almost too good to be true. Next step will be to check availability which probably means that they'll be booked through 2010 and we'll be back at square one. Don't you love my sunny disposition?

In other news...I am so excited that Lost is back this week! Tomorrow I may attempt my first TV Recap and Lost analysis. Or I may not. Kinda depends on how mind blowing this episode is and how lazy I feel. In the meantime, here's this to tide you over. You're welcome.

Moving On

2009-03-17T19:38:00.002-05:00

So a co-worker put the bug in my ear that I should start a blog. She said simply, "I would read it." Really? Well, we'll see. But I figured that since all of my family and Ben's family are out of state it would be a great way for them to keep up with what we're doing...and I'm still not all that impressed with Facebook.

So, as the title of this blog implies, I have a pretty frakking great life right now. I live in one of the coolest cities in America. I'm recently engaged to a man I absolutely ADORE. I have a job I enjoy. A job period is cause for celebration, really. Good friends. Good family. All that good stuff. And I'm starting a new stage in my life as Ben and I move towards marriage, home ownership and, hopefully one day, parenthood.

So. You can expect this blog to cover all sorts of territory. Everything from wedding planning drama to what I like to cook and what I like to watch on TV to exciting travel anecdotes! This is my first blog so I hope you'll grant me some leeway here as I get my sea legs.

Here we go...

Day 1

2009-03-17T19:22:00.003-05:00

So this is the first post...really just testing to see how this all works.

Here's my girl Stella. Ain't she purty?

Here is a smaller picture of her-------------------------------->

So now that that's out of the way...on to the next thing.