Cookin', Marryin'

Spent the day indoors with B&E, baked pies, made ice cream, ate around the kitchen. Spent the later part of the day at a wedding uptown.

BREAKFAST: 8:30am, 1 & 1/2 farmer's market cider donuts, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
Went in to the kitchen barely woken, and these were on the kitchen table, a gift from B. They went from the table to my belly by simply inhaling.

LUNCH TIME: 11am-2pm, 3 latkes at 3 different times, a small serving of parsley risotto, 1/3 of a freshly baked apple pie, shrimp chips, water, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5
Baked an apple pie for the Yom Kippur break-fast this coming Monday eve with B's family -- it's appropriate because I decorated the top crust with Jewish stars, of course. And why make 1 pie when it's almost the same effort to make 4. Made a pate brisee from the c-school book, and experimented with the apples. Farmer's market honey crisp, coated in a mixture of 2 cups sugar, 1/4 cup flour, tbsp cinnamon, tbsp salt, juice of one lemon and a tbsp of cider vinegar for sh@ts n' giggles. I've been thinking about the effects of vinegaring things a lot lately, and this seemed like a good way to work it into the sweet. From making the crusts to taking the finished item ended up being 3 hours, and during that, made creme Anglais to make some good ice cream to go with the pie om Monday.

DINNER TIME: 6:30-9pm, lamb chop lollipops, callimari, pizza squares, tomato and moz skewers, fried zucchini, a rice ball, a Sprite, a small plate of pasta, water, a few sips of wine, 2 bowl, hunger 4/5
B, E & I went to an uppercrusty Italian Catholic wedding on the Upper West Side for a friend of B's, who has some sort of uppercrusty position in the Food Network. So my expectations for something better than typical wedding fare was set a little bit higher than usual. The reception was at the Colombus House on 69th Street, and as I strolled in with Edie in a sling around my middle, I was brought to the side to have a tie put on -- old school don't mess around. I was hungry, and the cocktail hour was in full swing. For a moment I thought it would be more like an Irish Catholic thang, which means booze and not a lot else, but immediately I saw waiters come out passing trays.... of pizza! Woah.

The pizza was horrible, but it was the only non-good thing of the night. Most of the pizza was undercooked, flibbidy squares, with cloying dried herbs -- oddly, every 4th tray of pizza had slices of zucchini on them (which can give off liquid and make pizza even flibbidier) but the cook let these pies cook longer, the crust was crisper but revealed an oven cooking at too low a temp. The lamp chops were great, perfectly grilled and seasoned, the calamari freshly fried. We only got through the first course before we had to squire the baby away, but the pasta was wonderfully al dente, and the sauce bright and snappy. Not a small feat when serving 150+ people at once.

Brownie Adventure

This morning I went to the high school I'll be teaching culinary and put out samples of brownies while talking to kids on their lunch break. It was pretty intense, and I'm looking forward to classes starting in early October.

I made my fudge brownies last night, and put them next to some cheap Lil' Debbie bodega brownies. Yeah, it set the bar real low but it was cool to see a lot these kids eat both, having grown up on Lil' Debbie, and see their eyes light up when they tried a brownie that's actually a brownie and not an industrial concoction's idea of what a brownie is. I'm gonna write about it a bit more in detail on the newly reactivated Culinary School Confidential tonight...

I was a little nervous this morning, and as I was depanning the brownies, ate one and that did me. On the way back, I spent an hour at the restaurant, as momma-in-law had Edie covered.

I strained the chicken stock I made a couple of days ago, and rendered all the wonderful fat that came to the surface in a nice hard white disk. After filling 4 half gallon freezer containers, I still had a bunch of stock left, so I boiled it down by half, and now it's nice and jello-like and sitting in my fridge waiting for the proper recipe...

BREAKFAST: 8:30am, brownie, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5

PM SNACK: 2pm, half a Manhattan Special, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5

LUNCH: 3:30pm, 1.5 slices of streetza, green salad, cider, water, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5

DINNER: 7pm, hotdog, leek dumpling soup, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5
Boiled some chicken stock I made a couple of days ago and through in some frozen dumplings from the Korean Market and a little salt. Huh, not bad at all, and relatively healthy.

Gotta eat the brownie

Got to sleep around 3:30am, and woke up at 7:30 on the nose -- Edie knows nothing of insomnia (at least not yet), and REALLY knows nothing of someone ELSE'S insomnia! Ah, good thing I'm keeping a detailed record, I'll be able to use it to make her feel guilty when she's older.

On the way home from our big day out, I passed the kosher pizzeria on Grand Street and was tempted to get a slice, but just couldn't find the appetite. Feeling unusually tubby and out of shape this morning. Thinking of different ways to remedy this, but unfortunately not acting on it yet.

BREAKFAST: 8:30am, smoothie, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
Really good, but maybe a bit too sweet. Next time, skip the skimpy amount of vanilla sugar, just scrape a bean in. Organic milk, good yogurt, frozen blueberries, mango, cherries, fresh grapes, a banana, freshly ground flax, a pinch of sea salt, a large pinch of vanilla sugar. Remarkable how thick yet drinkable. New spice grinder has eliminated the grit from the flax.

LUNCH: 12:30pm, fried whiting, a little lemon potatoes, a little fried potatoes, 2 grilled shrimp, peasant salad, bread, water, spumoni-flavored ice, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5
Deep in Astoria with a friend, went to a really good Greek seafood tavern. The whiting was whole, bones and all, and with a thin batter shell that was cooked just right. The salad was made up of good tomatoes, cuce, red onion, feta, olive oil and oregano....oregano seemed to be on everything, in a good way. We went down the street to an old-school Italian sweets shop for the ice, almond flavored with bits of almond through out. There is a lot of good food in Astoria.

DINNER: 6:30pm, large bowl of homemade ravioli and pasta, 1.5 bowl, small handful of m&ms, water, hunger 4/5
Didn't have enough ravioli or spaghetti to make a meal, so whacked them together. Heated up some good olive oil, threw in some garlic for 15 seconds, tossed in some dry herbs, tossed the pasta, finished with grated parm, and BAM, a meal I would not serve another person but it was pretty tasty.

EVENING SNACK: 8pm, homemade brownie, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5
Made a sheet for samples at the table I'm hosting for this program I may be teaching in October. Had to eat one, make sure it wasn't off!

Food Day

What is Edie going to look like as an adult? I look at her now, and imagine a 5 foot, 7" baby -- a huuuuge head, stubby fat legs, flailing short arms, a protruding pot belly, short short hair with a swirly bald spot. And no talk, just crying, gurgling, cooing and her latest discovery, the raspberry a.k.a. the Bronx cheer. I can't help but think she's going to be a baby forever!

Spent a good part of the day at the restaurant, stuck around for a wine tasting, as L wants to put some expensive bottles on the wine list, so I got to taste a bunch of wines that would list at $80-$120. Indeed they were tasty, but I've also had $20 bottles that were just as good, just a bit less dependable.

When I got home, went into the process of cooking chicken stock, making dinner, eating then finishing frying off my latke stuff. All in all, a very foodie day. And Edie was pretty much strapped to my chest the entire day, only leaving the sling to make a special guest appearance for my friends!

BREAKFAST: 8am, good yogurt with honey, vanilla and cashews, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5

AM SNACK: 10:30am, 1 latke, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5

LUNCH: 12:30, 2 small slices tex-mex pizza, half a Manhattan Special, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5

PM SNORT: 2pm, equivalent of 1 glass of wine

PM SNACK: 3pm, large chocolate chip cookie, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
Left the restaurant hungry, wanted to avoid the McDonalds situation from last week. One high-quality chocolate chip cookie definitely has less calories and impurities than a McD's value meal, and I wouldn't be surprised if it had more nutrients...

DINNER: 6:45pm, large green salad, sauteed shrimp, 3 latkes, 2 ears boiled corn, 6 chocolate truffles, water, cider, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5

EVENING SNACKING: 9pm-3am, shrimp chips, 3 cold latkes, 6 remaining chocolate truffles, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5
This was both the cause and result of insomnia.

Hootin', Hollerin'

Dinner was satisfying, cooked up a dish that I wouldn't of known how to do before c-school. Brown a sausage in a little oil till nice n' crispy, deglaze with wine (sake), then add liquid & stuff (cider, apple slices and kraut), cover and simmer on low heat until cooked through. Came out pretty good. Made latkes to go with, very good but a bit greasy.

Did laundry and food shopping this morning, all with one hand, as Edie was in the sling being secured with the other. Went over to the local community center for a baby 'drop-in', which B was doing until she went back to work. Was a bit odd, talking about 'birth experiences' with the two other ladies there, but it was fun. My birth experience centered around leaving the hospital when it was time to push to try to find a piece of pizza.... if memory serves, all that I came up with was donuts, and by the time I got back, there was still another 45 minutes of hootin' n' hollerin' before the Edie was upon us...

BREAKFAST: 8:30am, toasted sesame bagel with cream cheese, water, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5

AM SNACK: 10:45am, left over samosa with chickpeas and roti, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5

PM SNACK: 1:15pm, slice of streetza, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5

PM SNACK: 4pm, cider, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5

DINNER: 6pm, green salad, pork sausage braised with kraut and apples, potato latkes, halavah, water, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5

Half Portion Future

I kinda did well eating through the day, keeping portions small, until dinner. I guess it's one of those heritage meals -- I used to get the same exact thing for many years, and it seemed all well and good, but sitting down in front of it today, I see the portion is just crazed. Mentally, I think it's normal, but getting down the last few bites was a bit of a struggle. Really, should the end of a meal be a struggle? Next time, gonna order a half portion, it's more than enough.

Finding myself really desiring caffeine lately, particularly Manhattan Special. Where did this come from?

BREAKFAST: 8:30am, smoothie, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
New blender, a little stronger than before. That's good, as all the fruit except the banana was frozen

AM SNACK: 10:45am, 2 lotus leaf wraps, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
From my fishball vendor by Seward park. Glutinous rice and ground pork is not every one's idea of a yummy breakfast, but it hit the spot.

PM SNACK: 12:30pm, cup of fresh apple cider, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5
From the Union Square farmer's market.

LUNCH: 1:45pm, turkey and cheese sandwich, cherry diet coke, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
Lunch at a sandwich shop with my friend C. Desiring caffeine for some reason.

PM SNACK: 3:45pm, 1 piece of plum ruggelah
Yuck. At my aunt-in-law's house. Tasted very in-lawish.

DINNER: 6:30pm, 2 potato samosas with curry chickpeas, roti, seltzer, halavah, 2 bowl, hunger 4/5
Picked up Hindi-friendly Indian food from a favorite taxi stand on Houston off A. As I was eating, realized it was a tremendous amount of food - probably could do with half. But for $5.50, it's a hell of a meal.

Vegetarian for a day!

B, Edles & I took the subway up to 42nd Street, hit up Ethiopian in Hell's Kitchen, then slowly wandered our way home, stopping through Times Square, Macy's, B's brother's house, Tompkin's Square and all bits in between.

BREAKFAST: 9am, apple, raw milk cheese, 2 soy sausage patties, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5
Not sure why I picked up this Morningstar-brand vegetarian sausage from the market, I guess I just wanted some variety, and real breakfast sausage is a bit of a production -- the fake stuff just needs to be reheated in the micro, unlike raw meat. Then again, the vegetarian stuff is not very yummy, but it is a pretty good texture.

LUNCH: 1pm, vegetarian Ethiopian, water, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5
Ethiopian was my go-to for a first date, if a gal wasn't comfortable with the strangish food and strangish method of eating, she probably wasn't supple-minded enough to be of continuing interest. It's not for nuthin' that B loves Ethiopian food!

PM SNACK: 2:30pm, street ice cream cone, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5

DINNER: 6pm, 1 slice streetza, small amount of buttery popcorn, ritz crackers with peanut butter, water, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5
Odd meal that never was. Got a slice at the place I like on Rivington on the way home, cooked the last of the popcorn at home for B but she was asleep by the time it was ready. Only hungry enough for a small snack after that.