I am pooped!

Tags

food, New York, postaday2014

Between working diligently on editing my essays and going into New York CIty with my mother today, I am pooped. I did have a very nice time walking around Columbus Circle with her and then walking up Broadway until we got to Citarella Food shop and getting some lemon sole and an array of fresh mushrooms; chanterelle, shitake and cremini mushrooms. Dinner is going to be very tasty tonight!

New York is a very beautiful city, though a little crowded, we felt like sardines in the subway ride home. LOL The building that has the Petrossian restaurant on the first floor is by far one of my favorite buildings in New York, the facade with its intricate carvings all along, up and down, from left to right is truly a testament of superb craftsmanship. The building itself is the Alwyn Court building built in 1907 in the Francois the First style with 14 rooms and five bath apartments. Those apartments are no longer with us, they were subdivided during the Great Depression. Imagine the luxury of 14 rooms and 5 baths in the heart of New York all those years ago! Wow.

What a show!

Tags

bands, dinner, food, music, postaday2014

My husband and I had a great time. When our son’s band came on “The Vanities” Zach, the lead singer/screamer, dedicated the set to my husband, which made my husband so very happy. So we were standing in the audience, beaming with pride and it must have been so apparent on our faces because after they were done with their set, three very pretty girls who were standing right in front of us turned around and asked us “You must be the parents of one of the band members” We both proudly said “yes the guitarist/singer on the left over there” The three girls told us “they are so GOOD” That was pretty cool.

While they were performing, quite a few guys were dancing and the dancing has certainly evolved from the slam dancing of my day. The dancing was really aggressive, arms whirling around really hard as well as the legs. It fit the music and I was wondering as I was looking around the crowd, most of which were dressed in conformity, even though they were dressing to make statements, where did all the angst and “anger” stem from? I was thinking probably their angst and anger stems from the power of being young and I mean that in the best possible way. When you are young that is when you should be railing against The Man and injustice as well as the “way things are just because they are”.The kids were dressed in the skinny jeans or Bermuda shorts, with either Pro Keds or Vans as sneakers and the many tattoos and piercings, none of which are inexpensive, so these kids were living within a certain means. I was thinking these things as we were driving home, just wondering where the audience was coming from and what appeal did my son’s band hold for them. It was a sociological stream of consciousness I would say and it led me to thinking back to my high school years of listening to Heavy Metal and Punk Rock, hanging out with my own group of friends, listening to the rebels and finding meaning and truth in the lyrics.

Arriving home, my husband and I got to work in the kitchen to prepare a feast for our tired and hungry musician upon his return. There was breast of duck, that my husband cooked perfectly and I made a morel mushroom cream sauce, accompanying the duck was a paillason de pommes de terre or a potato “straw mat” filled with grated Gruyere cheese, basically a large round hash brown filled with cheese, crispy on the outside and tender on the inside with the nuttiness of the Swiss cheese as a bonus. I had made the red and yellow bell pepper frittata on Friday.

All in all, a full day and a great one at that.

My birthday celebration in New York

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celebration, dinner, food, postaday2014

I had a fantastic weekend celebrating my birthday with my mother, my sister and her family and of course my husband and our children. We went to my sister’s and I just love spending time with my niece and nephew, they are growing so fast. Jack was with us and he is always a hit with them; he loves running and jumping with them and they love hugging him.

I took just a few pictures because I was busy speaking with my sister about what is going on with her and I was joking and teasing my niece and nephew, but we ate very, very well. My sister made this tremendous gaspacho, a cold soup of tomato richly flavored with garlic, I made a pig of myself because I boldly stated that I would finish the rest of the container and I did. It was absolutely delicious; the tomato wasn’t acidic or bland, it was exactly what a ripe tomato tastes like, only enhanced with liberal use of raw garlic. It was so good that I cleaned my soup bowl with my bread.

The next item on the menu was a light salad of greens and tomatoes topped with poached lobster and blanched new potatoes, dressed with my mother’s vinaigrette. It was very good, slightly decadent, but offset with the clean flavors of the greens and tomatoes.

What I was really waiting for was dessert; there was a Saint Honore which is the cream puff and pastry cream French idea of confectioner’s heaven, there were chocolate eclairs, my personal favorite and little cheesecakes.
Dessert was delightful and followed by coffee, really hit the spot. It was a wonderful family get together.

Hello Boston. We’re back!

Tags

Boston, food, food trucks, pictures, postaday2014

My husband and I arrived at the hotel just after twelve, after we put our bags in the room, we set out together; my husband for his meetings and me on the prowl for food. The pictures up above were taken in practically a 360 degree circle from where I started taking pictures; a relatively small radius of an area around the hotel. I can’t decide which picture I like best; my Vietnamese sandwich, the walkways near the water, the various snippets of gardens all around the South Station area, the Bon Me food truck where I got my Vietnamese sandwich which was seriously tasty or the picture of the back of our hotel framed against the cloudy skies.

My Vietnamese sandwich which is called Banh Mi reminded me of what my sister had prepared for us a few weeks ago when she had us over her house to celebrate our mother’s birthday. The one I had today was on a wonderful warm French baguette and the filling was very similar to what my sister had on the ones she made us. My sandwich had the daikon and carrot slaw in a tangy vinaigrette, pate, Bibb lettuce, a Sirachi mayonnaise and I chose the special Miso braised pulled pork as the protein. The results were finger licking, tastebud pleasing delicious. I inhaled the sandwich so quickly, I was starving, but still, it was so very good, each bite was intense and it didn’t get boring, the last bite was as satisfying as the first. That is how I love my food!

It may be cloudy in the Northeast, but the temperatures are so refreshing, it is 64 and breezy; to me this is a breath of fresh air from the 90 degrees in Virginia. I remember when I was younger embracing temperatures that went past the 80 degree mark, but those days are finished for me. Give me 60’s or 70’s any day of the week; all activities that I adore feel infinitely better when done under those conditions.

I love Boston so much!

Dreaming of France

Tags

family, food, France, postaday2014

I have been having the most intense dreams of France in various forms. My family as usual is featured front and center in my dreams, it’s almost as if these dreams are my way of visiting them because my dreams are incredibly vivid. The second thing that stands out so clearly is the food that we don’t have here. My tastebuds are yearning to connect with the most basic of sandwiches; the Jambon beurre, a slender baguette split in half, buttered and filled with a slice of fresh ham; how simple, yet so very delicious. This is part of the reason why I love sleep so much; I get to dream and for the most part, my dreams are a great place to visit.

I was looking through my Facebook pictures from the last vacation that my daughter and I took in France, and I got a little nostalgic. It was only two years ago, 2012, but my daughter has grown so much since that vacation. I think the picture of the daily market full of local produce, local cheeses and meats makes me the most nostalgic, add to that the Mediterranean sea to one side and the rocky hills to the other filled with fields of lavender, rosemary and thyme and it makes for a powerful calling card to anyone.

I think that the picture of the beach almost looks like a postcard; I could print it, laminate it and send it off as a postcard and no one would be the wiser. Before writing on WordPress, I wasn’t much of a picture taker; it has only been since I have found the need to write that I have found the power of pictures in adding to the story in terms of impact and feeling. I now look at the world around me searching to see if there is a picture in front of me or a story to tell, not only with words, but visually as well. I have to say that WordPress has opened up my inner world so much; I am very thankful for what WordPress has done for me.

Poor Jack with his upset tummy

Tags

food, ill, Jack, postaday2014

Our poor Jack, over the past week or so, he has been having issues with his gastrointestinal system. Our son, who was Jack sitting, described it not as diarrhea, but more like a raspberry jam like substance oozing out of his bottom. He took Jack to the vet, had them do all sorts of tests and what did we find out? That Jack, like so many small dogs, might just be prone to having bouts of this when under stress. We were concerned that perhaps Jack, who will eat anything, might have swallowed something that had perforated his intestines, but his x-rays were clean, the doctor is thinking that he responds to stress vis his intestines.

Now what is highly ironic is that our Jack, he who will eat anything, turns up his nose to his medicinal food, his pills and his powdered food supplement. I captured it quite nicely, I think.

Happy Saint Patrick’s Day

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food, postaday, Saint Ptrick's Day

Today is Saint Patrick’s Day and my hubby and I are in Boston, he has a million meetings and I’m sitting near North Station reading about what is going on in the world. Boston is a city that has always celebrated Saint Patrick’s Day with great enthusiasm, to say the least. It is known for its Saint Patty’s Day parade and its infamous pub crawl. I am not sure if Boston subconsciously competes with New York City, but it definitely gives New York a run for its money. Boston has always had a very large Irish population and they are fiercely proud of their Irish heritage, who can blame them, each heritage is to be proud of and cherished.

Over the days, way back when, when my hubby and I lived in New York City, we participated in the Irish pub crawl, but those days feel like they were a million years ago. Personally I prefer honoring Saint Patrick’s Day through an homage to some the food of Ireland; cabbage, corned beef and potatoes in the form of a nice Reuben sandwich, a twist I know, but it tasty one.

Daily prompt: Time after time

Tags

family, food, postaday2014, traditions

Traditions: we’ve all got ’em. They might be family dinners on special occasions, or having a particular kind of cake on your birthday (Jeanne Cake, natch), or popcorn at the movies, or meeting your friend for a 5k run in the park, rain or shine, every Sunday morning. What are your favorite traditions, large and small? What is it about your traditions that keep them going strong for you?

My baby girl loves tradition no matter how it conjures itself regarding our family; be it vacation spots, special desserts or anything that we do together as a family more than once. She has been disappointed more than once when we couldn’t honor certain traditions such as going to York Beach in Maine, but I always try to console her with dreams of making her own traditions with her own family when she gets older or that we can make new traditions ourselves as long as we are a family.

One tradition that I have to keep is getting her a cheesecake for her birthday, since she won’t be home for her birthday. I have never shipped a cheesecake before, it will be an interesting endeavor. I’ll also be making her her favorite cookies, just in case some mishap falls on the cheesecake. I will be sending the cookies out in another package, hopefully they will arrive intact. I am new to the delivery business, I’m not too worried because these are for friend and family, they won’t mind picking at the broken pieces and crumbs. lol.

I have another tradition that I like to keep going, every Christmas-time, I make the fleur de sel caramels that I drop off to my friend’s house the same day that she hosts her annual cookie swap. It is a days worth of work, but it is so worth it between the joy on her face when she gets her sweet present and the eight or nine dozen cookies baked, wrapped and then swapped while having coffee and laughing with good friends.

My favorite traditions always involve food and me making it, I love cooking and baking there is no doubt about it and that is a tradition that will endure for as long as possible I hope.

New York bagels

Tags

bagels, food, postaday2014, specialty shops

In the 1980’s when my parents first bought their house, a Bagel Shop opened up right across the street from us and we found Bagel nirvana. The shop owners were two couples and I remember for the first few years, they were at the shop morning, noon and night, doing everything themselves, trying to make a go of their nascent business. To this day, I have not had a better bagel than Astoria’s Bagel Shop’s bagel; they offer my favorite, pumpernickel and the whole range starting with plain, poppy seed, sesame seed, cinnamon raisin, whole wheat, onion, salted and the everything bagel. That is quite the variety, wouldn’t you say.

I often wonder what happened to the two couples. After the first few years, I noticed that they themselves weren’t coming to the shop anymore, they had solid, dependable people looking after the shop and I was happy for them, after all of their hard work and long hours, I wanted them to enjoy their time of leisure and I hope that the shop has financed a wonderful retirement for them.

I’m excited because right before leaving my mother’s house this afternoon to come back home, I went into the Astoria Bagel Shop and ordered two everything bagels with lox spread and my pumpernickel bagel with lox spread as well. For those who may not be familiar with lox spread, it is smoked salmon minced and mixed into cream cheese, it’s really good. That is what I’m going to have for dinner. Hooray for me 😀

Daily prompt: Sweet Sixteen

Tags

birthday, food, Italy, postaday2014, Venice

Write a post inspired by your sixteenth birthday.

It was August 7th 1983, my sister and I woke up in the hotel right off St Mark’s Piazza in Venice, Italy. I was very excited because here I was 16 and in Venice, one of the most intriguing cities that I had ever visited then and even now. The gondolas, the canals everywhere, the bridges leading one here and there and the works of art littering the entire city, literally turning your head to the left or to the right and BAM! a work of art. It was heady, spending my birthday in Italy surrounded by beauty and history with my family. I wonder if it means more to me today then it did thirty years ago; I don’t know because I distinctly remember feeling happy, anticipatory and excited on that day, walking around Venice with my parents and my sister. I was wondering what my present was going to be besides being in this glorious city. We took a ride on one of the gondolas and our gondolier was charming and very funny, he dropped us off somewhere and I think that it was at the restaurant that we had a spectacular meal with waiters wearing white gloves and the food was top notch, I remember enjoying everything and I remember my parents raving about how superb the cuisine was and that they had never had Italian cuisine at this level of expertise and talent. I don’t remember any desserts during this time in Venice which is surprising because at 16 years of age and my sister being 12, we were big fans of dessert so I don’t know how I can’t remember any dessert whatsoever but I don’t, maybe we didn’t have any to write home about, I’m not sure. I do know that we had fantastic pasta dishes and one really great calzone. What really stuck in my head was the walking, there was something to see at every turn, Venice was a visual feast and I hope to be able to go and revisit that grand city. The Italian sailors were definitely something, I remember I was wearing a very pretty white dress and a handsome Italian sailor caught my eye or I caught his, either way my mother put a kibosh on that one very, very quickly. I walked with my head turned the wrong way trying to keep eye contact with him for as long as I could, I’m surprised that I didn’t walk into something or someone. Lastly that evening my parents gave me my present and it was a lovely ivory bracelet with gold thread woven around the bracelet, I felt so grown up wearing it, I wore it for a long time afterwards. I treasure all of my memories surrounding my 16th birthday and that entire trip.