Chicken Tikka Masala!

Tonight we made Chicken Tikka Masala (thanks to the recipe included on page 14 of this month's Bon Appetite mag)... I know, I know, given the whole "bar" thing I'm not supposed to be making complex food, but I figure that for the next three nights we've got take out planned (Chick-Fil-A, Dominos and Chipotle!) so I thought what the hey, I would make something fun tonight. Anyhoo, we started by making the first marinade for the chicken, let the chicken sit for 15 min. instead of 30 (as we were a bit short on time) then made the second, yogurt based marinade and let the chicken sit in that for over two hours. In the mean time I made the masala sauce. I added a bit of butter and cream to the sauce (heart healthy!) to make it closer to a makhani than a masala. I also cut up a couple of yukon gold potatoes, boiled them and then added them into the masala. After the chicken was done marinating I put the chicken pieces onto skewers (and can I say-- finally! a use for the wooden skewers that I've had in the cabinent for years... used to be I'd just break them up and use them like toothpicks to test when cakes were done!) and then attempted to "grill" them on the stove. My grill pan is rather small so I just sauteed them in a deep pan for 3-5 minutes or until the outside was a bit browned. Then I transferred the skewers to a tin foil lined baking sheet and roasted the chicken skewers for 15 minutes at 375. I also made some jasmati rice and this great frozen Naan that I found at WF. I put some rice in wide bowls, poured some of the masala onto the rice and then once the chicken was done removed it from the skewers and served it atop the masala. The Naan was a great accompaniment. Overall the result was good-- spicy, but not too spicy and the chicken was amazingly tender!

Thanks to Google...

Apparently, I was amongst those lawyers chosen by LSNY as a 2007 Pro Bono Honoree. Oddly, I only found out this by googling myself. Must have secretary start *OPENING* my mail.

File Under Ooops...

Last night we were going to have a rotisserie chicken from WF with couscous and a vegetable tian. When I brought home the chicken I put it in the oven to keep it warm (note at this point, obviously, the oven wasn't turned on... ) the chicken was still inside the plastic WF bag and the plastic rotisserie chicken dome that they all are packaged in. I proceed to sautee the onions for the tian and slice up the potatoes and zucchini and of course, pre-heat the oven. It is not until I go to put the tian in the oven AND I open the door and see a melting chicken that I remember that the chicken (package and all) were IN THE OVEN! The packaging looked like a shrinky dink gone awry. Luckily no plastic had gotten to the floor of the oven and nothing stuck to the rack, and thankfully they still had chickens when the Husband went to WF on his way home from work.

The First Rule of Fight Club

is never wake a sleeping baby. I've got Miss S. asleep on my lap and a) the phone rang (unfortunately the phone is in the kitchen I guess, regardless it's not within arm's reach so sorry to whomever just called!!) and b) I've lost the remote and I'm stuck watching "Make me a Supermodel".

Music Class...

Miss S and I go to a weekly music class for youngsters... she really seems to enjoy it and I thought it might be a good way to meet more moms in the nabe. Unfortunately we're on to music class #2 and the folks in this class seem to be just about as friendly as the folks in the last class, which is not very friendly. Truth be told I'm not much of a socializer myself but I try my hand at small talk and try to look friendly. At our first class of the new semester we had quite a mix in age range for the kids-- from babies Miss S's age up to 3/4 year olds. Basically, however, the class seems to be made up of generally two kinds of people: Snobs with babies and Velour Juicy Couture Track-Suited Moms with older kids who run amok during class. Possibly the moms with the toddlers (if they have a moment where they're not chasing said toddlers (i) around the room or (ii) trying to get them to stop beating the piano with small bongo drums) might be amenable to socialization, but the snob moms (including one slightly older botoxed looking mom and a mom with a Gucci baby bag) have formed a clique by class two and I don't think we'll be breaking down barriers any time soon.

I appear to have lost my opportunity with the Snobs with Babies group at class one by not having presented the right first impression. Sadly, I was in wide leg jeans and a cardigan, no jewelry (save my baby shoe) and unmanicured toes. For all they could tell I was some sort of unwed mother with little regard for nail care. In her defense, Miss S. had on a very, very cute "Baby Nay" matching top and pant set, but I did allow her to leave the house with socks from Target.

For class two I tried to up the ante and actually found myself dressing to impress at a children's music class. Dear god, what has my life become??? Regardless, I had on nice jeans, a cashmere sweater, scarfy-scarf tied all Parisian like and fancy "logo" belt, I even whipped out my own Gucci bag. I had on socks this time (as the toes remain unmanicured) and had pulled out both the straightening iron for my hair and loaded up on the jewelry. Miss S was all decked out in the latest matchy-matchy outfit from the Gap (with Trumpette socks, Target socks being relegated to the other days of the week).

On the one hand I could justify this and say that it's nice for a change to dress up (a change from wearing the same five outfits each week because I barely have time as a new mom to brush my teeth let alone crack the vault which is my closet) but on the flip side I think-- why the hell am I dressing to impress these people, and like they even care! I guess it's that "I-used-to-work-in-New-York-Type-A-Personality" Competitive Streak. Anyway, it didn't work. I guess I can go the intellectual route next week and wear my Phi Beta Kappa pin with my Cornell Law sweatshirt or I can just bake some cupcakes and try and win over the velour lounge wear set. Bring a tranquilizer dart for the toddlers and we may just have hit pay dirt.

Post Office...

How is it that I managed to spend $41 at the Post Office today? I didn't even come away with a commemorative stamp set or a first day issue. I thought if someone managed to spend that much in sheer postage they'd at least get a building named after them.

Facebook!

I have finally joined the ranks of all those folks on Facebook how this came about just proves that I am getting old. I finally decided to take the plunge after watching a segment about it on 60 Minutes (which leads me to the question, why the hell was I watching 60 Minutes??, This, coupled with the fact that I almost got sucked into watching "Comanche Moon" proves I'm getting old... I guess CBS figures they'll just keep making those damn Lonesome Dove tv movies until everyone in America has seen them at least once, but I digress). At first I was a bit reluctant about my Facebook entry. I didn't upload a photo, I didn't have too much information out there... I was going by the mantra always espoused by Dave about never having his photo on the internet. Then, much to my surprise, I saw that Dave has a very detailed Facebook profile page! How things have changed in this new digital age. Anyway, that gave me more comfort and I did upload a photo (though arguably I have to look for a better one)... we'll see how all this progresses. I've already sent out feelers to Thisbe and 5820 Mommy to join!

Uber-Cranky!

Today we coined a new word in baby-dom: Uber-Cranky. That's what happens when baby has pushed past the point of desperately needing a nap. Today this was brought on by far too much play with our Haba Fantasiesteine (aka "fantasy blocks") and Mr. Monkey, stuffed monkey courtesy of Grandma & Grandpa!

Other things to think about-- last night it was our anniversary (yay!) We had chocolate chip cookies (hot out of the oven) and watched the latest Harry Potter Installment. We had reservations at the local hoity-toity French restaurant, but alas it was not in the cards... anyhoo... Harry Potter 5? Both long and boring. Geesh.

3:10 to Yuma

Last night we watched 3:10 to Yuma... the Mom and Dad weren't big fans of it, but we enjoyed it. Sure, Christian Bale's character was a bit of a loser but Russell Crowe's character was pretty cool. Overall not a bad flick, though as always, leaving the question raised by the Dad-- have they really run out of good stories in Hollywood that they have to remake this??

Spoonula!

DMV...

As you might know I'm preparing for the Bar Exam. In addition to filling out an excessively long personal certification packet (including credit report information, to which I say, here's $30 just go order my credit report yourself!) I am now in the process of sending in all my goofy supporting materials. Among the required items are driving abstracts covering the last seven years of my driving history. To be honest this is the biggest reason why I didn't take this exam 8 years ago when I took NY-- I didn't want to have to go through the rigmarole of getting this! Fine. To get my NJ abstract I had to apply online for an identification number which was then mailed to me so I could apply online for the abstract. For NY, one has to call the "out-of-state" number (unless you happen to have handy your old driver's license number, among other information off of your old driver's license, which was most likely taken from you by the state where you have a license now, in which case you can order your abstract on the internet or by mail) 1-518-473-5595. For whatever reason, this number worked for the Husband, but I've been trying to call it since Tuesday. All it does is ring busy, unless of course it's after 4pm in which case it rings through to a message informing you that the office is closed. Yesterday (day three) I finally called the Manhattan DMV to see if they could get me in touch with some other person in Albany (they couldn't) but if I wanted to go to the DMV in Herald Square I could theoretically pick up the abstract in person. Yeah, okay. Today I called the number again. Same thing, busy signal. Over and over again. So I called 411 and asked for the main number for the DMV in Albany. They connected me to the insurance and traffic violations division which disconnected me after a few go rounds with the automated menus, including my not pressing any buttons and pretending not to have a touchtone phone in a vain attempt to be put through to a live person (or as live as anyone at the DMV can be). I noticed that the exchange on the phone number that 411 had given me was one number off of the exchange I had been calling, so I tried calling 1-518-474-5595. This gave me "a non-working number at the State of New York" and gave me a phone number for Directory Services at the State of New York. I called these people and plead my case. They connected me to the DMV's Division of Certified Records. The woman there, after much cajoling and her sounding like she wasn't surprised by the whole "phone off the hook" trick she put me through to another division. After hearing a long automated menu about insurance issues and car title documentation I finally reached Ron. Ron sounded like he was shocked that someone actually got through. He took down my information (after having to give him the first three letters of my first name and the first five letters of my last name, because obviously the rest of the letters are immaterial)and supposedly I'll be receiving both a fax and a hard copy by mail. Sure I will.

Random!

This morning the site was visited by a short person from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan seeking information about capri pant hemlines. Got to love Statcounter.

Shoutout to 410e9th's Nasal Passages

Here's to making a quick recovery! Feel better, 410!

Shuffle!

Taking a Cue from Ana

1. Put your iTunes on shuffle.
2. For each question, press the next button to get your answer.
3. YOU MUST WRITE THAT SONG NAME DOWN NO MATTER HOW SILLY IT SOUNDS.

IF SOMEONE SAYS "IS THIS OKAY?" YOU SAY?
Just a Girl - No Doubt

HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOURSELF?
Les Yeux Ouverts-- Beautiful South

WHAT DO YOU LIKE IN A GUY/GIRL?
Stayin' Alive – The Bee Gees

HOW DO YOU FEEL TODAY?
It's Not Right, But It's Okay-- Whitney Houston

WHAT IS YOUR LIFE'S PURPOSE?
Waiting for My Lucky Day-- Chris Isaak

WHAT IS YOUR MOTTO?
That's Life -- Frank Sinatra

WHAT DO YOUR FRIENDS THINK OF YOU?
Adios Muchachos -- Lester Lanin

WHAT DO YOUR PARENTS THINK OF YOU?
Cosmicgirl -- Jamiroquai

WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT OFTEN?
Here Comes the Hotstepper -- Ina Kamoze

WHAT IS 2 + 2?
3am Eternal -- The KLF

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR BEST FRIEND?
Linus & Lucy -- Vince Guaraldi

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE PERSON YOU LIKE?
Isn't it Romantic -- Derek Smith (Hannah & Her Sisters Soundtrack)

WHAT IS YOUR LIFE STORY?
Seasons of Love – Rent

WHAT DO YOU WANT TO BE WHEN YOU GROW UP?
Independent Women -- Destiny's Child

WHAT DO YOU THINK WHEN YOU SEE THE PERSON YOU LIKE?
Heroes -- David Bowie

WHAT WILL YOU DANCE TO AT YOUR WEDDING?
Guilty -- Barbara Streisand (if only! Where's Barry Gibb??)

WHAT WILL THEY PLAY AT YOUR FUNERAL?
Land of Canaan -- Indigo Girls

WHAT IS YOUR HOBBY/INTEREST?
Let's Get Loud -- Jennifer Lopez

WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST FEAR?
Escape -- Enrique Iglesias

WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST SECRET?
Memories Are Made of This -- Dean Martin

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR FRIENDS?
I Love The Nightlife -- Alicia Bridges

Select a Candidate!

Minnesota Public Radio's website has a Select Your Presidential Candidate survey. Take the poll and it will show you which candidate's views best match your own! Interestingly enough, mine showed that my views most match Rudy's... too bad the poor guy probably won't be in the race much longer. But, so much, too for the accuracy of this thing. Rudy shows up as my closest pick with Obama and Paul!?!? following??

Project Runway

How could they get rid of Kevin?? We love Kevin! Kevin looks like Joey Fatone! Kevin has been in the top 2/3 designers each week! Sure his outfit made his model look like an Indonesian hooker, but still! It's a travesty! I'm sorry but I think Ricky should have gone home. Ricky's outfit was really boring and he's been in the bottom from the beginning. Okay. That's all I have to say.

Sesame Street in the 21st Century

We watched Sesame Street this morning and Ernie actually used air quotes. I think that muppet is getting too hip for his own good.

Wigs and Weaves...

So on the latest episode of the Salt n Pepa Show S&P began investigating creating their own line of wigs and weaves. Then last week I watched a rerun of The View with a segment about, you guessed it, Wigs and Weaves (all about Sherri's hair options)... my thought: Weaves for babies. Maybe that whole Natalie Portman in "V for Vendetta" look isn't for you.

Another Big Day Out For Baby!

Today was an exciting day. We went to our first day of the new semester of Music Class (which is now populated with kids baby age through 3 or 4), then we wandered around downtown Princeton. It was a beautiful spring-like day. We hit up the post office first, then Chase Bank, then (while Miss Baby was napping) we got lunch from Panera and finally ending with passport photos! Now that we have passport photos for both Mom and Baby we're that much closer to actually obtaining passports (mine expires this spring... and it's certainly time to get rid of that old passport picture). After our excitement in the passport photo place (where we were charged a premium because "baby photo take longer") we then headed on to the doctor's office.... Miss Baby needed her flu booster and besides that she had been pulling on her ears a lot lately so I wanted to make sure there was no ear infection going on. Nope, turns out much like Edmund Hillary, Miss B is just tugging on those ears because they're there.

Update on Lemon Cake!

Okay, this stuff is really good. I used fresh lemons for the lemon zest and bottled lemon juice for the buttermilk/lemon juice combo which is added to the batter. I skipped the lemon and sugar syrup that Ina suggests that you pour on the cake but I did keep the confectioner's sugar glaze (though I only drizzled it on top-- didn't want the cake to be too sugary!) I used the parchment paper to line the pan as Ina suggested and it made it super easy to remove the cake from the pan. Suggestions/changes? Only that next time I might add some poppy seeds to the batter--but really this was super easy and very, very tasty!

Lemon Cake!

Despite the fact that we're supposed to be scaling back he cooking while studying for the bar, I can't really get too much done during the day. So, today we've made Ina Garten's Lemon Cake. I cut the recipe in half so we've just got one lone cake and I had a certain seven month old accompanying me in the kitchen. Miss Baby acted as supervisor which worked out well until she tried to wrestle the spoonula out of my hand. Now that we're waiting for the cake to emerge from the oven, I had on Fox News, Miss B, however apparently prefers Stargate Atlantis as she just changed the channel to SciFi. So much for trying to get young people interested in politics. Anyhoo, we'll let you know how the cake turns out!

In Response to Thisbe...

Hey there! Some of us republicans are fans of "America's Mayor"! Huckabee??? I don't know what kind of crack those Iowans were smoking but please, nobody with a name like Huckabee can get elected (let's not even discuss his politics, the whole christian right thing, yada, yada, yada). Romney?? He looks like a used car salesman. And lets not forget that Ron Paul just seems like a nut!

As for the Democrats, I'm glad you've indicated your hat is in the ring for Edwards. I can appreiciate that. As for the other Democrats?? Okay, Richardson looks too much like Horatio Sanz (and I'm totally suspicious of his relationship with Valero), Obama-- seems like a nice guy but I think I have more "presidential" experience because I was president of the National Honor Society in High School. I mean come on, how long has this guy been in politics?? And Hillary. She's just too frightening to even discuss. But again-- if nothing else, experience please?? 8 years as first lady really doesn't count. Eeouch. Its going to be a long road to November.

How Can They Aready Be Remaking

The Incredible Hulk???

And Practically Everybody I Know is a Lawyer...

Interesting article about the state of various professions from the NYTimes...

Illinois Nazis

Cinemax is showing The Blues Brothers! Yay, no commercials and full on cursing. "We've got both kinds, country and western!"

Hmpf.

Sometimes Miss Baby will wake up when I sneeze. Other times, like this afternoon, she can be so sleepy that she actually fell asleep in the car on the way home from Stop N' Shop (which is approximately 2 traffic lights from the house) while I was singing along (rather loudly) to "Seasons of Love" from "Rent".

As Always, More Random Thoughts....

This afternoon we watched Martha and it was a rerun of the "Babies Show". I have to say that I do truly admire Martha. After all the woman sleeps like two hours a night and then spends her days running her empire and at the same time masterminding carrot cake cupcakes and onesies stenciled with potato cut stamps (let's not forget that she climbed Kilamanjaro and of course manages all that animal husbandry up in Bedford.) As admirable as her stamina and creativity may be however, Martha really need to work on her people skills given that she's got a daytime talk show. Martha can be charming when dealing with men (case in point, Russell Crowe, David Letterman, etc.) but put her next to women, children and even dare I say animals and geesh! On today's "Babies Show" Martha had to hold a few tykes and she really looked like she was thinking.... "I have people I can pay to do this" Not to mention she seemed a bit ticked when one of the babies who was modeling a fancy stroller in the "mom's musts" segment wouldn't stop crying.

While checking my email this evening Ticketmaster reminded me that tickets will go on sale next week for "Je'caryous Johnson's Three Ways To Get a Husband" at the Beacon Theater. Which can only bring to mind the quote from "It's a Wonderful Life": "I been savin' this money for a di-vorce, if ever I got myself a husband!"

On the news tonight I saw Hillary Clinton's speech after the Iowa caucus and is it just me or did Bill Clinton look like a wax figure?

Flix was showing one of my favorite movies Seems Like Old Times. What can I say I'm a sucker for those Chevy Chase/Goldie Hawn movies.

Cultural Guerillas?

Apparently, people broke into the Pantheon in order to repair its clock...

What a Way

to ring in the New Year....earlier this afternoon one of the major networks rebelled against bowl game fever by airing Seal on Ice sponsored by Musselman's applesauce. Yes, Seal sang selections from his songbook live while people iceskated. I think Heidi must be behind this (as she does have her own line of birkenstocks and yogurt candy, so I think its fair to say that she's the queen of odd cross-marketing).

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year everybody! Last night we welcomed in the New Year with an exciting assortment of hors d'ouvres... including mini meatballs (with swedish meatball gravy for dipping), mini goat cheese and cojack quesadillas, toasted ravioli alfredo and Thisbe's favorite, mini hot dogs ala pigs in blankets. We also had our traditional three cheese fondue which we make every new years. Whoever bought us that fondue pot for our wedding can know we put it to good use at least once a year. Rounding out the evening was a chocolate fondue with assorted fruits. I liked the apple slices but I fear that my dislike for bananas was reconfirmed. Why is it that bananas always taste like rotting fruit? Anyhoo, I fear that for a while this may be the end of fancy cooking. I'm starting off the new year by studying for the bar exam (why is it that certain states which shall remain nameless fail to see the utility in a little thing we like to call reciprocity???). Eeeoch. I'm fearing that this may seriously cut down what little "free" time we have. But, worry not, after the bar we have a few new cook books to test out including Barefoot Contessa Parties! and Cooking with Jamie.

Palmiers!

Tonight we made Palmiers from the recipe in this month's Gourmet magazine. We cheated a bit by doing a Martha Stewart and using Pepperidge Farm puff pastry, but regardless these were super easy and really, really tasty!

Miss Baby's First Christmas!!

This picture not only signifies Miss Baby's first Christmas, but also her first Christmas present. Something's telling me in the future it will take more than a wooden rattle with some colorful circles attached to evoke that level of excitement!

Check It Out!

Its a map of the Rue de la Clef

Yet Another Reason to Hate Apple...

I got a new computer (yay!) and this evening I attempted to move my ipod library onto my new computer (since my old computer will no longer recognize that it is connected to the internet, yada, yada, yada). First problem? I find my iPod box, my iPod receipt, but no software cd. Okay, fine. The Husband asks whether I can't just download the software from iTunes. Indeed, I can. I do this... download the software. Then I figure since my iPod is essentially a flash drive and all 1000 songs are already saved to it I should be able to just plug it in to my new computer and have all of my songs transfer, right? Of course not. Nope, instead the iTunes software asks me if I want to "sync" my iPod with the newly downloaded software-- which would be great except that to "sync" it would mean that my iPod would be wiped clean. Yeah, that's right-- it's not that the content of my iPod would be transferred to my new library, instead the empty library would be transferred to my iPod erasing everything I've ever put on it. I'm sure this all boils down to copyright issues but can I just say out of the 1,000 songs on my iPod 99 have been purchased from iTunes and 901 songs have been downloaded from my own CDs. Hello! What copyright issues?? Now I have to go into my old computer and either a) save my iTunes library to a CD or DVD (which, mind you, my old computer can't burn, so that's a no) or b) do some sort of complicated thing where I save all of my iTunes library onto my iPod (FOR A SECOND TIME) and then use it as a flash drive to download it to my new computer. Why I can't just transfer the songs in their current state is beyond me.

Zoo Official

"cites low wall in Tiger attack" "and Tiger", as Husband noted.

Martha Stewart's Prison Crafts...

Who knew they have ceramics classes in prison??

I thought this was

funny...

Danger Will Robinson!

Today I was in the city with the Dad. I had bought tickets to Harold Pinter's The Homecoming because Ian McShane is in it and he's one of the Dad's favorites ever since the days of Lovejoy. We had a nice brunch and did some shopping about and then headed over to the Cort theater for the play. For those of you in the northeast you'll know that today was not the nicest of days weather wise. After leaving the play (we're not even going to discuss the content or summary of the play other than to say-- what???? what the hell was that all about???) we were heading back to the garage to pick up the wagon. It had started raining quite a bit at that point and at the corner of 50th and 6th (where far too much of my life has always seemed to converge!) we bought a $5 umbrella from a street vendor. Just as we were crossing from the southwest corner to the northwest corner a huge wind gust kicked up. The umbrella is caught up in the gale and I manage to hit myself in the forehead with the metal umbrella pole while simultaneously knocking my Burberry rain hat off of my head. At exactly the same moment the Dad's Borsalino "water-repellent, crushable" fedora is launched off of his noggin, landing in the street, rolling under a police barricade and trying to make its way across 6th avenue to Radio City (I guess it wanted to catch the final days of the Christmas spectacular). My hat ended up in a puddle (containing who knows what kind of city grime and antifreeze) and the Dad's hat rolled into 6th just far enough to gather grit and grime. There were no cabs, our umbrella was completely shot, our hats were soaked (and to add insult to injury somehow or another my shoes were leaking so my socks were wet-- don't remind me that I had two pair of wellies sitting at home safe and dry in my closet). All I can say is I've never been quite so thankful that the wagon has heated seats.

Note to Self.

When you have a six month old and you're going out to lunch, the first rule of baby lunch is: only order food you can either (a) eat with one hand (aka french fries) or (b) eat with a fork (a spoon is just asking for trouble). Case in point-- risotto appetizer, uses a fork. fork good. Turkey club sandwich: two hands, bad. I managed to eat half of one quarter of the sandwich and took three quarters home.

Season's Greetings from Sting

You buy tickets to one lousy Sting concert at Ticketmaster.com and suddenly you're enrolled in some fan website and you get emails like "Season's Greetings from Sting!!" I wonder if he knows how often I make his favorite pasta sauce???

Dangerously High Estrogen Levels...

So last night I watched back to back episodes of The Real Housewives of Orange County and then I watched Dreamgirls on HBO OnDemand (all the while while wrapping Christmas presents, etc.)

As for Dreamgirls, I do have to say, despite all the singing, it was entertaining, however, that being said, it couldn't hold a candle to Chicago. I know it was directed by Bill Condon and it was up for Best Picture, but it was just one or two steps above something you'd see on ABC's Family Channel. Chicago was one of the few movies I've walked out of thinking, "that'll win best picture"... (one of the other movies was The Departed, but there I was thinking, "it should win BP, but you know Marty Scorsese's record...." good thing it was broken, but I digress.)

It's already

December 18th... where has the season gone?? I just finished decorating the house yesterday which included 80 feet of natural garland (which I'm sure will start dropping needles in about five minutes or so), one large tree and two smaller ones (pictures to follow). One of the smaller trees has been decorated with our cat tree topper so it is officially the "cat tree", not to be confused of course with the real cat tree --being the six foot carpet and tree branch concotion which adornes our family room. I still have to make Miss Baby's stocking and manufacture candy for the Husband to bring to the office. Let's not forget about last minute shopping (egads!) and all that other good stuff. Looks like it will be a busy week.

Primer...

Anybody else seen this wacky indy movie about time travel? Thoughts, anyone?

Ever Have....

one of those moments... today I was in the family room and I was thinking about how I visited Mont St. Michel with the Mom and Dad back in college-- I'm not quite sure what got me thinking about this, but I was and then I thought about that weird movie with Sam Waterston that was filmed entirely on location at Mont St. Michel a la "My Dinner with Andre". About fifteen minutes later I put on the tv and while searching through the Guide I noticed that said movie, "Mindwalk" was on IFC. Now if only I could harness this power for something more useful....?

Here Again....

How Its Made:

Mozzarella Cheese and Pantyhose, compact discs and flourescent tubes....

Magnets, Cooked Ham and Crash-Test Dummies.

Pennington Quilt Works

Miss Baby and I visited the Pennington Quilt Works the other day (as they are located next to the Wooly Lamb in Pennington) and the store is *really* cool. I fear I may have yet another hobby approaching on the horizon. (Let's not forget the piano. I've made very, very limited headway on the melody portion of Eric Satie's 3 Gnossiennes and so far have down pat the first three measures of the bass part of Linus and Lucy, unfortunately that is by far the easiest part of Linus and Lucy. I have *a lot* to learn.)

Gourmet!

Okay so the newest issue of Gourmet came and can I just say, it has some wonderful goodies in there-- especially in the candy and cookie department. Palmiers, torrone, peppermint patties! Candy thermometer and hard crack stage here we come!!

ps. this month's content was so good it even made Padma Lakshmi's chutney recipes sound tasty!

The Great Debaters....

Yesterday we watched the Des Moines Register Iowa Republican Debates. The editor of the Register was the moderator (and may I just say, she seemed less than professional when she said that she'd try not to be a "bitch" about enforcing the time limits... a bit colloquial for a newspaper editor, no?) Fox News said that it was a bit interesting that Alan Keyes was permitted to attend as he doesn't have a campaign office in Iowa and apparently certain of the Democratic candidates were limited from participating in their party's debate today for the same reason. I'll tell you why Alan Keyes was allowed to participate--- because someone had to make Ron Paul look less crazy. Is it just me or is Alan Keyes like a bad Garrett Morris character?

PR

Its the new season of Project Runway. For the past few weeks I kept thinking that Sweet "P" had a mole on her face near her lip. I just now realized its some sort of piercing (and we have an HD tv). So far, I have to say I like Kevin, mostly just because he reminds me of Joey Fatone (and I just think its funny that there are two people out there who look like Joey Fatone).

Our Trip Across Houston...

Miss S and I took some pictures the other day when crossing Houston from the FDR to the Holland Tunnel...

Marmalade!

So today was our surprise party for the Husband's birthday. All went well and while the Husband did indicate that I had been "acting suspiciously" he did claim it was a surprise. As the party encompassed a gathering of friends I used this as a perfect opportunity to distribute jars of marmalade. What kind of marmalade? Orange marmalade! Jackie rightly inquired whether a search of the blog would bring up a posting about marmalade and I realized that I had completely ignored marmalade making in terms of food postings, so here goes!

So far I've made two batches of marmalade based on Ina Garten's recipe. The recipe is pretty simple-- 4 seedless oranges, 2 lemons, 8 cups (yes, 8 cups) of sugar and 8 cups of water. While the ingredients are simple, the act of marmalade making is a bit more complex (taking two days) but still, with the help of a candy thermometer, not too difficult.

First you need to slice the 4 oranges and 2 lemons very, very thinly. It's best if you cut the oranges and lemons in half and then in half again and slice them such that you're cutting the fruit so that each slice looks like a classic "fruit slice". Ina's recipe says that if you have a mandoline this process will be quick (the Husband wasn't quite sure why having a small stringed instrument would help....) and as for me, I've had a mandoline for years and years and still haven't figured out how to properly operate it.... so it was just me and my chef's knife. Make sure you put your fruit slices (and all of the juices) into a stainless steel pot (no flavor transfer). Once you have all of your slices in your pot, add 8 cups of water and bring to a boil. Once the mixture has come to a boil you'll add in your 8 cups of sugar, stirring until the sugar dissolves. Set aside your fruit/water/sugar concoction, covered, for 24 hours. The next day you'll bring your mixture to a boil again and then reduce to a simmer and continue simmering for 2 hours (stirring regularly). Also remember to skim off any foam that accumulates on top of your mixture. Once you've hit the 2 hour mark, next you'll increase the temperature again for another 30 minutes. You'll want to use a candy thermometer to confirm that the mixture has reached 220 degrees. The neat part is that the marmalade mixture will reduce quite a bit from your original 8 cups of water and much of the fruit will dissolve (even much of the orange and lemon rind!) During the 2 hour period your house will also fill up with a lovely orange scent. Of course, you need to keep your wits about you, otherwise after about an hour, and since I was no longer in the kitchen, I thought to myself, "gee, what's that citrus scent? Is the Husband brewing some of his orange tea? What *is* that?" then I realized, "HELLO, you're boiling 4 oranges in 8 cups of sugar..."

Once you've followed all the steps above it will be time to can! I can honestly say I had never canned anything before, and indeed I was never a fan of jelly jars-- specifically hating to eat at "Po'Folks" back in ATL as a kid because they served your drink in a jelly jar. Alas, feelings for jars aside, the Ball people seem to have the marked cornered on canning supplies. I had bought a 12 pack of Ball jars. After washing the jars you'll need to get them hot as in order for the jars to seal themselves both the glass jar and the contents need to be hot. The canning process turns out to be the one time it is good that our kitchen faucet puts out ridiculously hot water. I rinsed each jar thoroughly and (while holding it with an oven mitt) spooned marmalade into the jars... I made sure the marmalade was still at or around 220. Make sure to wipe down the mouth of the jar (so no marmalade is on the threads) and then seal tightly with your lid. Once the jars and marmalade cools a vacuum will be created and each jar will seal. I hadn't mentioned this to the Husband so he came into the kitchen and heard these popping sounds and wasn't quite sure what the heck was going on.

Marmalade will stay for up to a year sealed in the jar, once opened it needs to be refrigerated. For whatever reason (namely all the sugar?) once refrigerated the marmalade becomes rather stiff. When spreading after refrigeration you may want to pull the jar out of the fridge a bit before you're ready to use it so it can warm up to room temp and be easier to spread.

Leda asked whether we grew the oranges and lemons ourselves. Sadly, we didn't, but I am always mesmerized by the meyer lemon trees in the W-S catalogue. Just give me some time.

Moussaka!

On Wednesday we visited with Em and Max and Emily treated us to a lovely lunch from a local Mediterranean restaurant. I had moussaka which was *really* tasty. It was different from traditional moussaka in that it didn't have a bechemel sauce and it wasn't in a sort of stacked lasagna type format. It was eggplant in a very lovely ground beef sauce served over rice. I really enjoyed it, so I decided that I would try and make it myself for lunch on Friday.

Since the moussaka that I would be replicating didn't have bechemel I figured it would be pretty easy. Somehow or another I got a little off track.

I started with the meat sauce recipe that we used for pastitsio. I sauteed mire poix (the equivalent of one bag of pre-cut mire poix from Wegman's) in a little bit of olive oil, together with oregano and a bit of thyme. Once the carrots softened and the onions became translucent, I added one pound of ground beef to brown (breaking up the ground beef periodically so it is in very small bits). Once the ground beef browned I added one 14 oz. can of diced tomatoes, about half a small can of tomato paste, 1/4 of a cup of red wine, two bay leaves, salt, pepper, cinnamon and allspice (to taste). Then I let the meat sauce simmer for about 45 minutes. In the mean time I prepared my eggplant. I cut one large purple eggplant into disks, then cutting each disk into chunks. The eggplant chunks with seeds I tossed with kosher salt in a colander set to drain into a bowl. I left the eggplant chunks draining for about fifteen minutes, after which I rinsed them with water. Once the eggplant was ready I pan fried the chunks in a bit of olive oil until just golden brown. I then added the browned eggplant pieces to the meat sauce. (Now, all of that having been said, if I stopped at this point I would have been replicating the "not-too-traditional" moussaka from Wednesday, and it would have been accomplished in two pans and one pot (for rice)). But, can I stop here? Of course not. Now I decide, "well, maybe I'll go ahead and make the bechemel" Yeah, okay, that means dirtying two more pots. First I needed four tablespoons of butter melted, into that I whisked one cup of flour. While whisking, four cups of milk was heating in a separate pan, together with one bay leaf and a bit of all spice. Once the milk was heated I ladled in one ladleful of milk at a time to the flour/butter mixture, continuing to whisk. You may need to adjust the milk to flour/butter ratio to ensure that you have the right consistency. I prefer a bechemel that is less thick-- once you're happy with the bechemel, add grated Parmesan.

Now, at the time I had thought I'll just drizzle some of the bechemel over the moussaka... then I thought, "oh, gee, why not bake it in the oven?" So I set the oven to 350 degrees and got out one of my emile henry pans. I put one layer of meat/eggplant on the bottom of the pan and then drizzled over some of the bechemel, layered more of the meat/eggplant and then topped off with bechemel. Finally, I added some breadcrumbs on top. (You could melt some butter and toss the breadcrumbs in the butter and use that as the topping, but by this time I had used so many pots and pans I figured I would just use plain breadcrumbs!). I then baked the moussaka in the oven for about 20 minutes (until the moussaka was bubbly and golden on top). While the moussaka was baking I made some rice pilaf (out of a box, thanks to "Near East" foods....)


All in all I managed to use one large pan, one small fry pan, three pots, a colander, a big bowl and a baking dish. So much for a simple lunch.

Once the moussaka was done in the oven I let it stand for about 5-10 minutes and then served with the rice pilaf on the side. Good crusty bread or pita and some hummus would have been a great accompaniment. All in all it was pretty tasty, even if more complicated than the version which inspired it!

Please, don't do it...

To the person from Charlotte who visited the blog after querying Ask.com "where can I find a reindeer car costume?" whatever you do, don't buy one. If you must I guess you can put a wreath on the grill of your car (truly only acceptable if you have some sort of monster SUV) but, please I beg you, on behalf of your vehicle, be discreet.

Sports Unfiltered.

I hate sports (except for the Tour). I love Dennis Miller. The Versus channel has recently unveiled "Sports Unfiltered" hosted by Dennis Miller-- a weekly sports commentary show. Unfortunately, I'm hooked.

Moreos...

The Husband had been taking care of Miss Baby and he stepped away from the baby for a moment to get her bottle from the bottle warmer. He left her on our bed (safely secured with a mountain of pillows around her, making only one mistake.... she was within grasping distance of our bag of oreos.) He comes back and apparently she had managed to snag an oreo out of the bag and was gumming it quite contentedly and did not want to relinquish said cookie. By the time I got upstairs I was told we needed to change out Miss B's onesie (as indeed it was covered with oreo dust) and upon further inspection Baby even had a small oreo mustache and telltale oreo dust underneath her fingernails. Ah, the draw of refined sugar is a powerful one.

Royale with Cheese

Okay, so I don't mean to be politically incorrect, but I have to make a statement. Food establishments should refrain from staffing the order taking/cashier positions with folks who haven't yet learned to speak english. If you want to hire people who are still mastering the language, try staffing non-customer related positions like food preparation, clean-up (of course, provided that other staff members can act as translators...) but it's kind of problematic for customers if you give your order to a person who doesn't understand what you're saying. If I wanted to teach an english as a second language course I'd volunteer at my local library, when I want to order a sandwich I'm not looking for it to be a learning experience for all involved.

Case in point, every time I go to the local Panera it's a crap shoot as to what I'm actually going to get. The first time I noticed this I was with the Husband and we each got only half of what we ordered. I got the soup I was supposed to get but my sandwich was entirely wrong, the Husband got his sandwich and it was correct but his soup order was left off. I went back with the Parents and this time we got the reciept with our order and then had to proceed to work with the manager of the place to actually establish what it was we ordered (confirming that indeed we didn't order four soups, one sandwich and a half sandwich (for three people), but three soups and two sandwiches.

Tonight things got even better. We went to Burger King (admittedly, our first mistake). We ordered a king size number 9 (chicken sandwich, king size fries, king size coke), a king size number 4 (whopper, jr. with cheese, no mayo, no pickle, no onion, no lettuce, king size fries, king size coke) and a medium onion ring.

What did we get in return? Upon our arrival home it turns out in the bag was one King Size fry, one King Size Onion Ring, a chicken sandwich and a double Whopper (no cheese) with mayo, lettuce, tomato, onion and pickles.

I'm 32 and I couldn't tell you the last time I ate a hamburger, let alone a double hamburger. Burgers are all about the cheese, indeed it's really the only reason to eat them. So there I am and my cut of this bag of goodies is a double whopper and a king size onion ring. If I didn't have a heart attack after that meal I guess I'll be good for the next 50 years. What's further disappointing is that I've never ordered a Whopper before, certainly not a double one. I've always stuck to the Whopper, jr. Just like at McDonald's in my youth I only ever used to order the quarter pounder (with cheese). Then there was a long stretch where I wouldn't eat any meat so it was only McNuggets, then (since pregnancy, mostly) my burger order at McDonald's has been demoted down to just a regular cheeseburger. I have to say that I always envisioned that if I went for the giant burger it would be a Big Mac. (While Burger King's fries are very tasty, I'll always be a McDonald's loyalist).

"Big Mac is a Big Mac, but they call it Le Big Mac."
"Le Big Mac.... what do they call a Whopper?"
"I don't know, I didn't go into a Burger King."

Well, I do have a plane...

We didn't think it could get any better! Okay, so the Husband and I are total geeks. As everyone who reads this blog already knows we've seen the Code a bazillion times and counting. Finally when it seemed like STARZ! was going to potentially stop showing it (with almost Law&Orderian frequency) we even used up precious BestBuy rewards points to buy it on DVD. We watched the DVD, we even watched all of the extras, but nothing could compare to this.... last night I was up late working on Loan Documents and nothing good was on tv. I decided to order up The Code on Starz! on demand. So I've got it on in the background and early on I thought I heard Alfred Molina deliver a line somewhat differently than normal (because after all, we've seen it so many times we know all the lines).... then a while later the Husband starts watching and he notices new scenes. Yup, that's right. Starz! has some sort of "Choice Cut" director's cut edition with almost 25 extra minutes of deleted scenes. It was like watching a whole new movie! Things are explained, lines now make sense, Tom Hanks' acting is still bad, but what ho! It was a lot of fun!

Ironically,

during Austro-Hungarian week we've had a visit to the blog from someone in Budapest. However, they were, as usual, looking for "Sting's Favorite Pasta."

The Experience...

Is it just me or does Jeff Corwin really seem like a jerk?

What?!?

Dems cancel debate over writer's strike??? Okay, let's halt part of our political process because the WGA wants more money off of DVD and download sales?? I mean don't get me wrong, I support the writer's strike (even if I do think it's silly that Heroes' Dec. 10th episode had to be re-edited in order to serve as a "season finale") but I do think its a bit silly for the democrats to cancel a debate because they don't want to cross the picket lines. These folks aren't the teamsters, they're writers! And, what's with CBS not intending to televise this debate nationally, anyway?? Random!

Hungarian Goulash

Tonight's Austro-Hungarian speciality was Hungarian Goulash. I had roughly glanced at the Goulash recipes on Epicurious and then called the Mom while I was in line at Wegman's to get tips and hints from her Goulash recipe. The Mom's advice included brown sugar and a can of tomato sauce. From the Epicurious recipe (also the only Goulash recipe in the Gourmet Cookbook) I used the caraway seeds, beef broth, red pepper and potatoes.

I began by slicing up one yellow cooking onion and sauteeing it with a bit of garlic in butter and olive oil on medium heat until the onions were soft. Once the onions were translucent I turned up the heat and added in one pound of veal cubes (aka "veal for stew"). I browned the veal, added in one tablespoon of paprika and one thinly sliced red bell pepper. Once the veal was browned I added in a bit of cooking sherry to deglaze the pan. Once deglazed I added about 3/4 of a cup of beef broth and one small can of hunt's tomato sauce. At this point I added in 1/4 of a can (18 oz can) of tomato paste, approximately 3 tablespoons of red wine vinegar and one tablespoon of dark brown sugar. The I simmered the Goulash on low heat for about 45 minutes. During this time I sliced up three good sized butter potatoes and boiled the potato slices. Once boiled, I added the potatoes to the Goulash (together with a pinch of caraway seeds). Add additional red wine vinegar and brown sugar to taste-- you're going for a sweet/sour tang. I served the Goulash on extra wide egg noodles (with a bit of butter). It was very tasty and I was happily surprised that the veal remained very tender!

Next up: Wiener Schnitzel and Spaetzle!

Tricks of the Trade...

Need to put a baby to sleep? First, you need to have a sleepy baby. Either by bottle (aka food stupor) or by tiring out said baby via tickling, excessive playmat activity, driving in the car or the like. The add any one of the following elements: (i) Swan Lake, (ii) the noise from a hair dryer, (iii) the Beatles or (iv) the whirr of a vacuum cleaner.

Beaver, Rollo-- Road Hog!

Yesterday Baby G and I were in the WF parking lot and were almost plowed into by a woman in a gi-normous SUV. Now I'm all for SUV's but really.

I do have to complain about women drivers in the gigantic ones. I'm not talking your regular sized SUVs (i.e. the Pathfinder, Highlander, Cherokee, even LR3s, X3s, X5s and Explorers/Blazers)-- regular size SUVs are fine, people can drive them and not act like they're steering a tuna fishing vessel, but put somebody (especially these local WASP-Y "wear riding breeches and boots to the grocery store" types behind the wheel of any type of Escalade, Yukon, Durango, Navigator, Aviator, Excursion, Expedition, SUBURBAN and you've got trouble.

Here we were in the parking lot, going up *our* side of the lane and meanwhile I've got a big beige Escalade heading down the *middle* of the row as if it were going to ram the Wagon right out of its way.

Okay, note to drivers of vehicles so large they have their own zip code: let's not cruise the parking lot as if each row is "one way" at top speeds of 30mph plus.

Arachnophobia

Last night we were watching Heroes in the family room on the big sofa. The Husband was still in his dark suit from work and Baby G was asleep in his arms. I'm sitting next to the family unit and out of the corner of my eye I see a big giant black spider (and when I say big, I mean BIG) crawling on the Husband's knee. Being a girl, I of course start making hyperventilating screeching sounds about spider and baby, spider near baby!! Spider is on the move, going up the Husband's leg and he can't see it (blending with the suit)... in a split second I grab our tv remote and WHOOP! smack the Husband on the leg, killing the spider (which has now rolled up into a ball and fallen onto the couch cushion). I felt bad about whacking the Husband, but I had no choice! It was a tarantula in training heading for Baby G!

Austro-Hungarian Week!

This week is Austro-Hungarian Week. Technically, because of the dearth of Austro-Hungarian recipes on Epicurious, it will actually just be a three day week, but I digress. Last night we began a bit Germanic with Bratwurst and Warm german Potato Salad. I picked up the bratwurst at Whole Foods together with some really tasty hard onion and poppy seed rolls. I pan fried the bratwurst in a little bit of olive oil and when the bratwurst was almost done cooking I cut each link in half and added the beef broth, onions, apple cider vinegar and sugar from the potato salad recipe to the pan. Once the mixture reduced I added it to the boiled potato slices (and the bacon). I served the bratwurst on the rolls with some spicy German mustard.

Tonight we're going to try Hungarian Goulash and then we'll end with schnitzel and spaetzle.

Day 16....

Day 16 of the Stagehand's strike, come on, people! Broadway awaits!

Randomly, Some of My Favorite Movies

Amelie
Pulp Fiction
Manhattan Murder Mystery
The Da Vinci Code
Scoop
Ferris Bueller's Day Off
The Out-of-Towners
The Right Stuff
Reservoir Dogs
Max Dugan Returns
Bringing Up Baby
Everyone Says I Love You
Rushmore
Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House
Rear Window
North by Northwest
Charade
You've Got Mail
Ocean's Eleven
The Bourne Identity
Star Wars
The Empire Strikes Back
Moulin Rouge
Alien
Raiders of the Lost Ark
Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade
The Untouchables
Goodfellas
The Departed
Some Like It Hot
Annie Hall
The Philadelphia Story
A Christmas Story
Oscar
Reds
Tombstone
The Hudsucker Proxy
O Brother Where Art Thou?
The Royal Tennenbaums

Gravy Train!

Thanks to an article in New York Magazine last month (in the Design Issue) I got this really cool Gravy Boat the other day at Crate and Barrel. The picture on the website doesn't do it justice. It's really neat looking.

Butternut Squash Soup!

Tonight, as a precursor to Thanksgiving, I had planned to make Butternut Squash soup. Last week I had made Ina Garten's recipe and it was okay but not as flavorful as I was hoping. I have had Whole Food's BSS before and it was really tasty so I went on the WF website to checkout their recipe resources but none were too helpful. I also consulted with the Gourmet cookbook and Epicurious, from all of this I got some ideas and then put together my own recipe...

1 2 pound Butternut Squash
1 Green Apple (Granny Smith)
1 Leek (green and white parts) chopped
1 1/2 cup diced mirepoix
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 1/2 cans (14oz. each) of vegetable broth
1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
pinch of garlic salt, kosher salt and black pepper to taste

Sautee the leeks and mirepoix in the butter and olive oil on medium heat for about 10-15 minutes or until soft (with leeks and onions translucent). Add vegetable stock, salt and pepper. Cut up squash and apple into rough chunks and add to vegetable broth, increase heat to bring to a slow boil, then simmer until squash is soft. Add remaining seasonings (with additional amounts of seasoning to taste, if preferred). Once the squash is soft, puree soup and serve.

I served the soup with home made pumpernickel and rye croutons and grated Gruyere. (I made the croutons by cutting up Pepperidge Farm Pump/Rye swirl bread, coating with olive oil and baking at 350 for 12 minutes... I also added some grated Gruyere on to the croutons before baking as well).

The soup was very creamy (even though no cream or milk was involved) and the apples gave it a fresh, light taste.

Do try and let me know what you think!

Photo Op Part Deux

These are the pics that didn't get picked for the art show.... what do you think?

Sexiest Man Alive

People has announced it's latest "Sexiest Man Alive" and this time the winner is Matt Damon. Kudos to Matt... I understand that both George Clooney and Brad Pitt have been campaigning hard for him and after the success of the Bourne franchise, certainly honors are deserved. While I can appreiciate Matt as a sexy guy, I do think the title of "Sexiest Man Alive" may be a bit of a stretch. That's a big title to wear. It's not just sexiest man of the year or sexiest guy this week, but it's sexiest man alive. While Matt would win hands down between best buddy Ben Affleck (sorry Ben, but you just have too much of that fluctuating Mariah-Carey-Esque metabolism thing going on, and let's not forget Gigli), but really, for Matt Damon to be the sexiest man alive there would have to be some sort of giant sexy man catastrophe-- like all past winners would need to have been at some sort of sexy man convention which is then tragically wiped out by an asteroid. We'd have to lose Johnny Depp, George, Brad, Leo DiCaprio, Taye Diggs, the list just goes on and on. Let's not even go into the contingent of sexy men from the British Isles (hello Ewan, Clive and the new James Bond). Then, there's always Antonio Banderas. Sure he's been reduced to doing voice overs for allergy medicine commercials, but still!

Feng Shui

The Husband has a Kitchenaid Pro-Line Espresso Maker. We bought the first one in 2004, had to have it replaced in 2005 and just had to have the replacement replaced. Thankfully, Kitchenaid's 2 year warranty program is really great. The first two machines were bright red. Unfortunately, when I called to get the new replacement I was informed that they no longer make red, they only have pearlized gray. The Husband noted that it was too bad that they didn't have red anymore since we were trying to decorate the house with little touches of red in each room. It is true that it's a shame they don't make red anymore, but now our new decorating theme can be: "touches of things that work".

Valley Oil...

This morning (while watching Rachael Ray) I heard the oil truck pull up. These are the same people who came and filled up our tank at the end of April last year (because there's nothing like getting 250 gallons of oil for summertime). We've made plans to bring the family room online with the rest of the house's heat system (which means a conversion from oil to gas) so we're looking to use up what oil we have left and certainly not invest in any new. Unfortunately I hadn't yet gotten out of jammies, so I ran down the stairs, threw on my Uggs and one of the Husband's overcoats (it was the first one in the closet) and ran outside the house shouting after the oil man to stop pumping. I was quite a sight in my striped pj pants and giant men's coat. The oil guy stops the pump and gives me the bill for what had already been delivered. $39 and change for 11 gallons, per gallon $3.349. Upon coming back inside I realized somehow or another I now smelled like oil fumes. I figure easily I had about $1.50 worth of fumes permeating my outfit.

Greek Week Comes to an Abrupt End.

Last night we had yogurt baked chicken with spanakorizo and potato, red onion and caper salad. The spanakorizo (spinach with rice and lemon) was very tasty as was the potato salad. Unfortunately, the chicken not so much. The baked yogurt and onion mixture which surrounded the chicken was good, but the chicken breast that the Husband got was tough and didn't taste right. Mine was okay but not compelling enough to keep eating. As a consolation, we had rice krispies as a midnight snack. Tonight Spanakopita was on the menu but alas, my heart's just not in it. I think we're ordering from P.F. Chang's instead. Here's to hoping the Griggstown Turkey we're having for Thanksgiving has a better fate.

Photo Op!

I just got notification yesterday that one of my photos will be shown in the Between Heaven and Earth exhibition at The College of New Jersey! More details to follow!

The Sesame Street Personality Quiz...

You Are Cookie Monster

Misunderstood as a primal monster, you're a true hedonist with a huge sweet tooth. You are usually feeling: Hungry. Cookies are preferred, but you'll eat anything if cookies aren't around. You are famous for: Your slightly crazy eyes and usual way of speaking How you life your life: In the moment. "Me want COOKIE!"

The Sesame Street Personality Quiz

Sense Memory

Ever have one of those moments where you remember something based on a taste or a smell? Today we had tuna on fresh rye bread from WF. The smell of the rye (it was even still warm!) made me remember that I used to eat cream cheese on rye bread. Yum!

I'm not a Conehead!

Mom just knits my hats that way.

Quest for Fire!

This weekend the Husband lit a fire in the dining room fireplace! Miraculously no smoke entered the house! Woo-hoo! Looks like we'll be doing this fire thing more often.

It Continues...

Tonight's Greek Week fare was Pastitsio and Dolmades. I have to say, I did not come close to Leda's mom's Pastitsio, but for a first try it wasn't bad. The taste was authentic but the recipe didn't call for enough milk in the bechemel sauce so overall the pastisio itself was a bit dry in parts (ugh!) As for te Dolmades-- they turned out *much* better than expected! They did taste like the real thing, I just needed some avgolemono sauce on top.

RZR!

Finally, I have a new cell phone. I got a pink Motorolla Razor (like Thisbe's!), mind you, Dave has had a Razor for how many years now? I know, I'm behind the times. But it arrives and alas, no headset. Noting that, the description on the Verizon website said it would have a headset, but fine, whatever, I have a spare. However, my spare uses a regular old audio headset jack. Razor? There's no headset jack. None. Instead there's just a lowly data jack.

My first thought: No headset jack? Bluetooth? I can't get a bluetooth headset! Resistence may be futile but I can't assimilate! I did try to warm up to the idea of the borg headset, but I'm just too much of a luddite when it comes to cell phone technology. I'm still distraught over the fact that my Charlie's Angels Nokia from 2001 stopped working and that was five years ago! I was one of the last holdouts still using an analog signal. Don't even get me started about the battery life issues. Camera phone?? What for?? I always carry an Elph!

What to do? I'm at Target today and I manage to scrounge up a headset that uses a data jack. I probably should have bought two.

Greek Week Begins!

Tonight's dinner was Fassoulada (Greek Bean Soup) and Olive Bread. First off, let me start by saying that I should have read the Olive Bread recipe before jumping right in. I should have known something was awry when I thought to myself "gee, this is alot more yeast than I used the last time I made bread." Not to mention that there was so much "dough" I couldn't use the cuisinart but had to go instead with the Kitchenaid (plus dough hook) and even that was a bit overflowing. Yeah. That's because I had enough dough to easily make 20 rolls. The Olive Bread was pretty easy to make but for some reason the kalamata olives I used made the bread a bit bitter at times. Though, all in all, fresh baked bread (once you put a touch of butter on it) is always tasty. Also, though the recipe didn't indicate, I did bake the rolls in the oven with a cast iron skillet filled with water. This creates a steam environment which permits the bread to have a nice crispy exterior (a tip learned via the Cuisinart bread recipe).

As for the Fassoulada, it was easy to make and tasty. I started off with two cans of cannelini beans, a half a can of kidney beans, one can of diced tomatoes and two tablespoons of tomato paste. I added a bit of water (so that the beans and tomatoes were covered) and brought the soup to a boil. I also added in diced celery, onions and rough diced carrots. The recipe called for two bay leaves and a handful of chopped fresh flatleaf parsley. I simmered the soup (after it initially came to a boil) for about 60 minutes (or until the carrots were tender). I also added in mini pasta shells (because you can never have enough starch). Before serving I added salt and pepper to taste, together with a bit of oregano and a touch of balsamic vinegar.

Tomorrow's challenge--- Dolmades and Pastitiso!

Welcome to Greek Week!

I know its been a while since we've done a theme-dinner week, but it's back and this time the theme is Greek food! We're working with recipes from Andy Harris' cookbook, Modern Greek. We were going to kick things off tonight with Spanakopita, but we got lazy and decided instead to order a pizza. However, the pizza decision was cast after our 2 pound eggplant was already roasting in the oven. That being said, we did prepare Melitzanosalata (Eggplant Dip). This dip consists of 2 pounds of eggplant (roasted), garlic, a grated yellow onion, red wine vinegar, flat leaf parsley, olive oil and salt and pepper. I liked it (though the roasted eggplant was a bit more green than brown-- I would have preferred brown, so perhaps I needed to roast it for longer) but the Husband wasn't a fan. In case you were wondering the pizza (from Domino's) was okay, the chicken kickers, outstanding as usual.

So, for the rest of Greek Week we've got the following recipes on tap:

Dolmades (stuffed grape leaves) with Pastitsio

Spanakopita with Ktipiti (spicy feta and pepper dip) as an appetizer

Potato, Onion and Caper Salad with Chicken Baked in Yogurt with Spinach and

Fassoulada (Greek Bean Soup) with Eliopsomo (Olive Bread)

As usual, I'll let you know how it goes!

Check This Out!!

Whole Foods...

how do they stay in business??? Okay, I like going to Whole Foods. They have great humuus, really tasty crostini, that great mexican dip and the produce and meat selections are fresher than Wegman's, however, some aspects of their business model really confuse me. Take for instance, the type of folks they hire. Everybody seems well meaning and generally carefree. This is great for limited retail applications (perhaps a Starbucks, etc.) but in a grocery store? Case in point, I pick out a container of store-made guacamole. I didn't really notice until I went to check out that it didn't have a bar code (or any pricing information, for that matter). At check out my cashier flags down "Rotkar" the front end manager. He just shakes his head and waves his hand indicating "just put it in her bag." Yup, Guacamole not marked-- ever heard that joke "oh, no price tag, it must be free today!" well, apparently, at Whole Foods that's true. If it were Wegman's they'd have some sort of a code for guacamole by the pound or worse comes to worse they'd just not sell it to you and say it's your loss... WF? Oooops! We didn't mark it! Our mistake! Just take it!!

Then I had a dozen roses. When I picked them out in floral they were in a bucket marked $12.99. They rang up $14.99. Rotkar goes over to floral to check it out and in the mean time my cashier rings up the flowers at $12.99 and processes my AMEX. (Why she did this I'm not sure...) Rotkar comes back and says "$12.99 is for the conventional roses." (Mind you, I didn't quite see what was unconventional about the roses I picked out, but whatever). I say, "For $14.99 I don't want them. Can you credit me the $12.99?" The cashier explains that she already rung them up at $12.99 and processed my card. Rotkar says, "You'll take them for $12.99?" and I reply, "Sure." Done.

Granted, the bucket was marked $12.99, but still, no holding firm, no process the credit, no we'll just give you cash back... nope, go ahead, name your price!

Again, I'm not complaining, I got free guacamole and flowers at the right price, but the semi-hippie retail mentality just throws me!

Spoonula.

I hadn't actually heard Rachael Ray use the term Spoonula before (until just now). I thought it was just a joke.

Target....

Is it just me or does everybody drop a $50 (or more) every time you go in to Target? Sure, I go in to buy a box of Electrasol dishwasher tablets and I come out with four pair of seasonal baby socks, a monthly planner for 2008, various Johnson & Johnson baby products (on sale!), baby wipes (also on sale), antibacterial dish liquid (giant sized) and a toy cell phone (which probably works better than my real cell phone).

It's an S-N-P Thing Part Deux

So we're watching episode 2 of The Salt n' Pepa Show and Pep has brought a guy out on a double date with Salt and her husband. You have to love the following exchange:

Salt: "Red flag, red flag!!"...."So his woman stabbed him?"

Pep: "A guy hit me in the head with a can of paint, you know that story!"

Random Survey...

1. What were you doing at 0800? Sleeping, thanks to Nyquil.

2. What were you doing 30 minutes ago? Blogging.

3. What happened to you in 2006? 2006? What about 2007?

4. What was the last thing you said out loud? Hmpf. Something about brownies.

5. How many beverages did you have today? Too many ginger ales to count.

6. What color is your hairbrush? I've got one white clinique comb from ages and ages ago and then a Mason Pearson (tortoise shell colored) but I can't find that one.

7. What book are you reading? Ladies and Gentlemen, the Bronx is Burning.

8. What was the last thing you paid for? Baby outfit. Only moments ago.

9. Where were you last night? Same place I am now. Home!

10. What color is your front door? White. I know, I need a red front door, better Feng Shui.

11. Where do you keep your change? A) In the car: change purse that looks like an old coffee cup, B) At home: Change cup that looks like old coffee cup. I'm sensing a theme here.

12. What’s the weather like today? Surprisingly beautiful.

13. Do you want to cut your hair? That was last week.

14. Do you make up your own words? Of course! But my favorite word, "woobie", was not made up by me.

15. Name a friend whose name starts with the letter ‘A’. Why Ana, of course, from whom this (modified) survey was taken from... do pseudonyms count?

16. What does the last text message you received say? I'm not technologically advanced enough for text messaging. Do blackberry messages count?

17. Do you chew on your straw? Ugh. No.

18. Do you have curly hair? Sometimes.

19. Where’s the next place you’re going to? Short term: Doctor's appointment, Medium term: Greenwich, Longer term: Paris.

20. What was the last thing you ate? Brownies (see #5 above)

21. What’s the best movie you’ve seen in the past 2 weeks? Past two weeks?? I haven't seen any really good movies in the past two weeks. A few weeks ago I watched "Where Angels Fear To Tread". I wouldn't say it was good, but it was passable. I'm a sucker for those EM Forrester period movies. FYI: "Premonition" would certainly *not* fall into the "best movies" category, 2 weeks or longer.

22. When was the last time you did the dishes? Earlier this evening. Would be doing them now but I ran out of those little dishwasher detergent cube thingies.

23. Why did you answer and post this? Why not?

Catalog Favorites

You know you've hit the bottom of the mail barrel when you receive a catalog called Catalog Favorites: A Showcase of Catalog Bestsellers. Yes, the concept is that this is a compilation of the best selling stuff from other catalogs. The problem is what catalogs. This isn't the Neiman Marcus Wishbook. Hell, it's not even the LLBean catalog. This rag is truly giving the Lillian Vernon catalog a run for its money in the mail-order crap department. Case in point, on page 11 there is the Reindeer Car Costume Kit, because really, what says "Diminished Blue Book Value" more than a red nose on your car's grill and a pair of antlers. Then there are the Seashell and Fish see-through Toilet Seat Covers (because doesn't every home need one of these?), the suspect looking "massager" and the ever-classy "egg yolk separator" which is designed so that the egg yolk appears to be coming out of a nose. Finally, in the "marketing mystery" department, there is the personalized snuggy bear baby blankets-- a "Favorites Exclusive!" Can someone explain to me how this item can be a "Favorites Exclusive!!" if the concept behind the catalog is that its a compilation of products found in other catalogs??? Doesn't that whole exclusive concept kind of contradict the compilation of other catalog's merchandise idea?

All I can say is it is clearly getting on to the holiday season because in addition to "Catalog Favorites" my mailbox has been filled with inane gift catalogs. In the past week alone I've gotten the Wolferman's bread catalog, the Chicago Art Institutes's Gift Shop Catalog, something called "The Artful Home", CB2 (twice), Pottery Barn, Pottery Barn Kids, LL Bean, LL Bean Traveller, LL Bean Home, LL Bean Women (is there any category out there that the Bean doesn't target?), FLOR, DWR, Williams Sonoma, Williams Sonoma Home, Lillian Vernon, Lilly Kids, Lily Pulitzer, some weird food catalog I'd never heard of before that depicted all items as cartoons, M&M World, See's Candies, Land of Nod, Athleta (like I actually go to the gym), Acorn, Signals (since when did they become oddly religious?), Garnet Hill (which gave me far too many ideas about home crafts), Sundance, Art.Com, and many, many others that I can't even remember. How the hell did these people get my address and why isn't Al Gore trying to put a stop to all this wasted paper???

Annie Lennox...

On Saturday night the Dad and I saw Annie Lennox at the United Palace Theater. It was a great show (I was personally very excited about Thorn in My Side and There Must be an Angel (Playing with my Heart)-- yay eighties!!!) The theater was really beautiful, even if in kind of an odd location. Who knew?

What?

I need my caffeine fix just like everybody else...

Interesting....

I love to go on Statcounter to see where people are visiting the blog from, etc. As noted here in the past, I'm getting a *lot* of hits from "Sting's Favorite Pasta". Lately I've also, oddly enough, gotten hits for Tom Selleck's Avocado ranch, and at least one person looking for "vanilla scented garbage bags." Glad to help, everybody.

Happy Halloween!

It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown!















Miss S. also Halloween'ed as Elvis....







Elvis has left the building...












It's the hunk of burning love!

Bluto!

I love it when Baby G raises one eyebrow just like John Belushi in Animal House.

Postal Hijinks...

I went to the post office today to mail birthday gifties for 5280 Mommy and the Boy among other things. My usual post office closes at 1pm on Saturdays and since today there was a torrential downpour at lunchtime I wasn't able to leave the house until after the P.O. closed. That meant going to the Princeton Junction Post Office which is "open late for your convenience". This "open late" however is caveated by the fact that final mail pick up is always two hours before they close. Not to mention that the post office is then staffed specifically with people who really don't want to be there. Case in point. I get to the Post Office, package my goodies and then get in line. I'm 6th in line. There's one cashier and she's working out of the postal gift shop, rather than the actual postal window. All five people ahead of me have *lots* of stuff to mail. People keep getting in line. I realize we're going to be here for a while. Then we all kind of notice the loud talking coming from behind the "Passport Office" door. It's clearly a one way conversation (i.e. a phone call) and by the sound of it, not one related to passports or the post office. At about ten after four (yes, ten minutes *after* the post office closed) the manager comes out from the back to finally lock the front door so no one else can get in line (now I'm about third from the front) and she says to everyone in line how sorry she is that we've had to wait and that they close at four and that as we can see they only have one person working. To this I say, "what about the person in the passport office who's been on a personal call for the past fifteen minutes?" The manager looks at me a bit dismayed and says, "oh, no, she's handling passports." and I respond, "it doesn't sound like it." So with that the manager knocks on the door, is told to "hang on a minute" and then she proceeds to open the door and see one employee. No passport people, nothing being taken care of, just Maureen on her cell phone. Surprisingly, both the manager and the lone postal cashier thanked me. I guess Maureen does this a lot.

Snow?

While the drought continues they're making snow at Stone Mountain....?

Halloween Mischief...

The first Halloween. It's important. There are pictures to be taken, costume contests to enter. We ordered a standard issue pumpkin baby bunting costume for Miss S. But, another costume idea came to me in a dream (yes, in a dream) and I knew I had to make that one too. (Hey, nobody ever said you couldn't have two Halloween costumes). The costume will reveal itself soon (in pictures no less) but for now all I can say is hot glue and rhinestones are involved. It was very nostalgic as the last time I used hot glue and rhinestones was in high school. Alas, Ana and I bedazzled a jean jacket for our english teacher/yearbook advisor who was part of a country and western singing duo, the "Dixie Diamonds". Good times.

Big Days Out

Yesterday we ventured into the city and had our first trip to Central Park. The Hechsler playground was a nice surprise and Miss S. had quite a good time looking at all the other babies and toddlers. Interestingly the nanny to mom/grandparent ratio was probably 5 to 1. Heck, I think I only saw two grandparents total and about 5 or 6 moms/dads. Strolling through the wilds of Central Park avec Bugaboo only showed me that while my bicep strength has benefited from toting around 15 pounds of baby, the ye old respiratory system could still use some work. Should one really get winded pushing a stroller up over park's hills and dales? Probably not.
After CP, we had a lovely lunch with Dave at Brasserie. We had the Cuisine Rapide all around-- the french onion soup was tres tasty! Then we wandered about (noting that during the day we made the trek back and forth from BMW on 57th and 11th to the East side twice). It was good exercise, though I have to say that my style was a bit cramped once the ped I was wearing on my left foot developed a hole at my big toe which just kept getting larger and larger (encompassing more and more of my toes) until finally I removed it (in the elevator of the BabyGap flagship) and went sockless on the left foot. Ironically, by days end I ended up with a blister on the back of the socked right foot, while the sockless left foot was fine. All in all though, a good day was had.

Then, today we hit up Woodbury Commons with Thisbe and the Wee Kraken. We scored a very cute little a-line wool dress at Off Fifth and even a baby Burberry "Happy" scarf! Rounding out the shopping experience, we got some basics for the Husband at Brooks Brothers and also found a new puffy coat for yours truly. (To be honest there was an Andrew Marc puffy coat with rabbit fur collar and fur-trimmed hood that I *really* liked, but when I tried it on I looked a bit too much like I was part of the cast of The Day After Tomorrow. Instead I opted for a slightly less puffy and sans fur-trimmed puffy coat. I justified this by noting both that (a) I won't be needing to exclaim "we've reached a critical desalinization point!" at any time in the near future and (b) for the most part this winter I'll just be in and out of the car, rather than, let's say standing on the train platform freezing my butt off as an Acela speeds by at 70 mph.

Now, what have we learned? First, try and find peds that your toe won't put a hole in, second, traveling with baby has opened up a whole new level of mental mapping. Take, for instance, our city trek. One now has to know where all the elevators and good changing areas are within your particular city neighborhood. As an FYI, for those wandering about with Baby in the Big Apple, I have complied a short list of useful stopping locations in midtown (I never really expected that knowing where good bathrooms are would be so important, who knew?)

Obviously, first and foremost, a girl's best friend is the 4th floor ladies lounge at Saks. There are giant handicapped bathroom stalls (easily accommodating both mom and stroller), tables that can be used for changing and a very long banquette useful for feeding breaks.

Another helpful location would be the top floor of Barney's. While the folks in the Children's department are generally unhelpful, the bathroom on this floor is clean and well kept and has a stainless steel changing table. Also on this floor, outside of Fred's at Barney's is seating useful for bottle time.

Rounding out the Department Store destinations would be Bloomingdale's. The bathroom on the 8th floor (another children's department floor) has a good surface for changing (though I prefer the granite table outfitted with our skip hop changing pad rather than the designated changing area), and a giant handicapped stall.

I've found that restaurants typically are a crap shoot as to whether a changing table will be available and when in doubt, you can always try something on at Banana or JCrew or the like and use your time in the fitting room wisely not only for trying things on but also for changing and/or bottles, depending on locale and busy-ness.

Milk's Favorite Cookie...

At our four month doctor's visit, Dr. Sean tolds us that we could start trying solid food at any point between four and six months. So far we've tried rice cereal, oatmeal, sweet peas, sweet potato and applesauce without success. So I was figuring we'd give it more time and maybe Sophie would warm up to it. I figured perhaps she just wasn't too keen on the whole texture thing. Then we gave her an Oreo to gum. Texture clearly isn't the problem. I'm not quite sure what they put in the magical chocolate cookie goodness of an Oreo but it was a big hit. Additionally, oreo dust and baby drool is very adhesive combination.