PIZZABABY!!!!

NO PIZZAS WERE HARMED IN THE MAKING OF THIS PICTURE! (And it was at room temp when Edie mounted it. And she immediately got bathed and changed moments after the session was done! And she smelled like a pizza! And it was so cute!)

The original plan was to ride bikes all day, but instead I woke up late and spent the day with B & E and Mommainlaw. I'm working on a presentation for class, which involves selling an idea of a pizza restaurant. I'll be showing pictures of some of the more interesting pizzas I've made at home, but for some levity, I'll be slipping in some pictures of..... PIZZA BABY!!

The pizza was tossed off -- Wholefoods dough, a small can of cheap tomato sauce, a block of whole milk dry moz. I made a second one, with less sauce and cheese, grated with parm, sprinkled with sea salt and finished with good olive oil, which was actually pretty good -- the WF dough is annoyingly good, better than my homemade dough. Gotta work on that.

Got something cool working in the fridge that I set up yesterday. All aboudit tomorrow.

Gazooks, I'm looking at what I ate today...and how little I did. School is over this week, gotta hit some regular riding and yogaing, f'real.

AM SNACK: 10am, watermelon, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5

BREAKFAST: noon, pancakes, bacon, homefries, water, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5

PM SNACK: 1pm, donut, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5

PM SNACK: 3pm, dulce de leche ice cream, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5

DINNER: 6pm, homemade pizza, watermelon, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5

EVENING SNACK: 9:30pm, pistachios, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5

EVENING SNACK: 9:45pm, dulce de leche ice cream, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5

Good product

Spent a good part of the day helping my friend P move within Brooklyn. I'm glad I'm not in college anymore, and most of my friends who rent now hire professionals. We spent an hour with a sofa wedged in a stairwell before we bailed on the seller. Craigslist, it's a hell of a website.

BREAKFAST: 9:15am, bagel with cream cheese, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5

PM SNACK: 12:15pm, low calorie grape Gatorade, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
Good product. It still has corn syrup as the main ingredient, but has sucralose down lower. It's pleasantly mildly sweet, but doesn't have the cloying fake sweetness of a drink that is strictly fake sweet.

LUNCH: 2pm, 2 slices bad pizza, a slice of so-called "salad pizza", a Manhattan Special, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5
At a run-of-the-mill pizza restaurant in Staten Island. The salad pizza was a nightmare, a load of overdressed house salad and some marinated antipasto over an undercooked shell that was mush by the time I sat to eat it. The plain slice had a blanket of cheese that after 1 bite I peeled off in one and set aside.

DINNER: 7pm, 3 sea scallops, 2 ears corn, water, a little tiramisu and a little chocolate cake, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
Cooked a nice crust onto the scallops. Corn is finally in season. B was busy with feeding the E, so I cut the kernels off the boiled ears, HVS-style, so she could eat them with E in one arm. B is like the Swiss-army knife of mommas.

DINNER 2: 8:15pm, beef lomein, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
Still hungry, out for a walk with B&E, so I went for it.

Really Tubby

I hate to sound like 2/3 of the American population, but I'm starting to feel really tubby of late. I dropped to the lowest in a long time when I was in the midst of working 70+ hours a week at the restaurant, but for now that is over and another diet-controlling gig doesn't seem to be in the immediate future due to Edie Bebe and some other potential opportunities coming down the pipe.

I was surprised how I was jonesing for sugar last night, that was one of the first things I spied and got under control when I first blogging about my food intake. Now that I've finally gotten to the meat of the matter -- learning to feed Edie! -- I need to go back to the beginning.

BREAKFAST: 7am, good yogurt with honey, vanilla, cashews, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5

AM SNACK: 10:45am, marble poundcake, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
For old time sake, this was my default am snack for the first half of management classes, back when it was cold out. Sniff sniff.

AM TASTING: 11-noon, about half a glass of red, a hunk of gruyere, french bread, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5

LUNCH: 3pm, pepperoni pizza, cesar salad, water, rice pudding, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5
Me, B&E went to Lombardi's for lunch. Have ordered delivery, never eaten in before. Decent service, long narrow dining rooms. The pizza was MUCH better in person, with the coaly flavor much more pronounced with the original heat on the pie. Not a fan of pepperoni, that was B's thing.

DINNER: 8pm, green salad topped with fresh grilled shrimp, 1 bowl, hunger 4.5
Grilled some colossals in the grill pan and smoked up the whole house.

I fed her!

Felt good after 13 hours of relatively uninterrupted sleep. I only wish I could gift something like that to my wife, whose sleep has been anything but uninterrupted. I guess if it's gonna be interrupted, the cause being a healthy beautiful baby girl is a good reason. Then again, we're gonna go to bottle soon so maybe we'll be able to take turns with the interruptions sooner than later...

Soon, being today. I fed Edie B's milk from a bottle today. Holding her while she sucked and slurped from the nipple of the bottle while staring at me was pretty awesome. She sucked down a good 5 ounces in a flash, and her belch afterwards was pretty charming. Then afterwards we sucked on pacifiers together!

BREAKFAST: 7am, bagel with creamcheese, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5

LUNCH: 12:15pm, beef fried rice, 1.5 bowls, hunger 4/5
Went to my favorite dumpling shop and ordered something different off the menu, something I always see the construction workers chowing down on. Surprisingly superior to typical NYC takeout, was made with steamed rice, large pieces of thin freshly cooked beef, large bits of celery. It was less salty than typical take out fried rice but more flavorful.

PM SNACK: 1:30pm, small portion of eggplant parm, rootbeer, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5
A few hours hanging out at the resto, probably my last for a while.

DINNER: 7:15pm, cheese tortellini in garlic wine sauce, water, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5
Made a really tepid sauce, missing something, not sure what. Should look up a recipe.

EVENING SNACK: 10:30pm, choco yogurt thing, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
So close to no sweets today, oh well. Needed a kick to spend an hour grinding away on final project.

More out of me

Woke up with a whisper of a hangover, but felt fine. We took the bus to Edie's first movie in a movie theater, "Bruno", and I'm glad she's not old enough that I have to explain that to her. It was cold in the theater, and half way through she got cranky enough that she & B had to step outside.

After that, a quick pizza break and we hit up the pediatrician for a check up. Edie has gained an inch and 2 pounds, and is super aware, so no worries there. After eating some farro, I sat down to watch a bit of TV before getting into some school work and then it was 9pm, dragged myself to bed and then it was 6am. Guess drinking the night before took more out of me than I thought.

BREAKFAST: 9:30am, potato nick, pickled diakon, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5

PM SNACK: 1pm, pizza with fresh tomato, root beer, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
From PIE on 4th Avenue, not very good.

LINNER: 4:30pm, farro and sausage, water, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5

Wine, No Women and No Song

BREAKFAST: 7am, watermelon, .5 bowl. hunger 4/5
So wonderfully in season, sweet, firm, happy.

AM SNACK: 9:30am, 2 street donuts, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5

LUNCH: 12:15, brisket on rye, water, 1 bowl, hunger 3/5
Went back to R.U.B. on 23rd Street, not too hungry but just in the mood for a meat sandwich. After touring Blue Smoke last week, some smoked meat sounded right. Ordered the "classic" BBQ dish, brisket -- I'm usually not too psyched about this meat because of all the years I've eaten Jewish-style slow-braised brisket that was tough, stringy and all together unappealing. This however, simply put, was goyisha pastrami. Same cut, same slow cooking, except instead of being brined, encrusted and steamed, it seems it is brined then slow smoked, like a flavorful steam bath. Not as good as pastrami, though, to my L.E.S.-spoiled taste buds.

PM SNACK: 3pm, chocoyogurt bar, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5

PM SNACK: 4pm, softserve chocolate ice cream cone, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5
The first was eaten lying on the couch, the next after I came outside to meet B after her mom-group meeting thing. I prepped a salad and fed it to her in our park behind the building. She wanted ice cream, so we stopped by our local kosher grocery which has softserve. Wasn't craving ice cream, but was craving to eat with my B.

DINNER: 6pm, bread, grilled octopus, mousaka, a bit of sardine, a few bites of honeyed baked goods, a lot of white and red wine, water, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5
Class dinner with my management peeps at Peryali. Good food, good conversation, perhaps too much wine...

EVENING DRINKING: 9-midnight, lots of red wine, a bit of water
....but it kept on going. After spending 12 hours a week with these people for 9 months, it's easy to feel comfortable with them in this setting. We all dig food, and all like talking about it.

Getting minty with it

BREAKFAST: 9am, organic chex with the good milk, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5

PM SNACK: 11:45am, slice of crappy Earth Mother pizza, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5
This stuff is even worse reheated. The crust is really whole wheat bread, in the old 70s hippy style of too little leavening, too much dirt flavor. Fneh.

LUNCH: 1pm, bagel with cream cheese, onion, tomato, minted lemon aide, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5
Bunch of peoples & another baby over. I wanted to make bagels, B insisted on my going out and buying them. However, I did get to make something, inspired by the minted lemonade B bought for me from a local restaurant. A medium 12 oz cup of this stuff, watered down with too much ice, was $3.50. When I went to the market, everything (minus the sugar, ice and water) was $3.41....for SIX servings, not one. I made up the recipe based on method learned in school and from making gallons upon gallons of stuff at the resto:

Noah's Minted Lemonade Serves 6

6 lemons
1 lime
1 bunch mint
1 cup sugar
1 cup water
5 cups water and ice by volume

1. Remove all mint leaves from stem. Set aside the 6 best looking leaves. Mince the leaves.
2. Combine sugar, 1 cup of water and minced leaves in a small pot. Bring to boil, return to simmer for 2 minutes. Turn off heat. Let sit for 5 minutes.
3. While sitting, juice lemons and limes, strain out all seeds and pulp.
4. Strain minted syrup through a cheesecloth, squeeze out all liquid.
5. Combine syrup, lemon juice and 5 cups of iced water into serving pitcher, mix well with wooden spoon. Serve with the remaining ice cubes in the pitcher and one mint lead, shiny side up.

NOTE: The concentration INCLUDES the water from the melting cubes, so it may taste a little strong in the beginning, but mellows one the ice melts. You can add water to taste, of course.

NOTE 2: I used "vegan" white sugar so I guess this is vegan minted lemonade!!

The syrup step really makes all the difference in getting a great mouthfeel and an honest, strong but tasty mint flavor that is heightened by the acidity of the lemon.

PM SNACK: 5:30pm, Korean pickle diakon, a few Japanese sweet mochi rice snacks, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5

PM SNACK: 6:45pm, handful of pistachios

DINNER: 7:30pm, frozen pizza, orange soda, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5
Trader Joes brand, totally ass.

DINNER:

Bang-Bang is a No-No

Road 60+ miles with E and a friend up to Piermont. We left Greenpoint at 7, after snarfing some donuts I brought from my local, and hit it nice and hard -- both were stronger riders than me, which forced me to focus and push it a little. Drank about 80oz of water roundtrip.

BREAKFAST: 7am, 1.5 donuts, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5

LUNCH: 10am, 2/3 of a turkey bang-bang wrap, 20oz of gatorade, water, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
Yukky wrap, good idea, poor execution. Wholewheat wrap with nicely cut real turkey, cucumber, lettuce, cilantro, peanut sauce. It was sitting around too long, the sauce got too goopy and soaked the wrap and veg.

LUNCH 2: 1:30pm, fish taco, chicken empanada, chorizo deep fried thingy, fried green plantains, 1 beer, water, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
Pedro's in DUMBO. My two companions got one big dish each -- nachos with a ton of crap on it and a big-ass burrito. I decided to order a bunch of stuff from around the menu, and glad I did. I noticed as I was eating that while there were a lot of overlap in ingredients and spices, the thing that really made each little dish different was the cooking method -- the taco's innards were sauteed, the empanada was steamed, the plantains were pan fried (and pressed), and the deep fried thingy, was, uh, y'know. It really made for a nicely sized, but fully entertaining and filling meal.

PM SNACK: 3:30, watermelon, a little Gatorade, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5

DINNER: 7:30pm, cesar salad, 2 slices of Earth Mother pizza, orange soda, dulce de leche ice cream, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5
Ordered in from 2boots, fneh. The salad was a bit overdressed, but the pizza....they sent a wholewheat crust even though I did not ask for it, and in this thicker Sicilian style, the improper texture made by wholewheat flour really came through.

She sleeps like a baby

Woke up to B putting Lil' E on my chest so she could shower. There are few more cuter things to wake up to in this life.

BREAKFAST: 10:30am, granola with good milk, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5

LUNCH: 2pm, little fried meat perogis with sourcream, a cheese puff, mineral seltzer, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5

PM SNACK: 5:30, 2 ginger bread cookies, a small amount of dulce de leche ice cream, a little Gatorade, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5

PM SNACK: 6:30pm, 1.5 donuts, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5
B had some amazing donuts lying around from her big adventure outside, not able to resist...

PM SNACK: 8pm, watermelon, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5

A little more salt won't hurt

Went home after a brief grocery shop to chill with B&E. I churned my dulce de leche ice cream, which was weird....because after the super-sweet chocolate explosion I ate for lunch, the last thing I wanted to eat was ice cream. Funny, even though I had no appetite, the taste of caramel ice cream was still pretty rocking. But I think next time, a little more salt won't hurt.

The HVS came over for dinner and a vid, really great to see B enjoying herself and comfortable in the confines of our home and Lil' Edie on her body. Didn't hurt that we shared a big fruity bottle of sweet Lambrusco, bubbly and cold and made for quaffing easily with big greasy flavors. Made a big ol' vegan meal, fun playing and failing in one dish, being a lot better than expected in another.

BREAKFAST: 7:15am, organic cheerios with good milk, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5

LUNCH: 11:30pm, "shack attack", "shack-ago dog", 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5
Me, the teacher and a few fellow students hit up shake shack after the restaurant tour. My hot dog was surprisingly horrible. Vienna-beef hot dog is sickly pink, not much snap. They're going for a Chicago-style hot dog, but fail due to lack of balance: WAY too much salt. Tomato, cucumber, mustard, relish, pickled peppers. Not sure what, but something was just a hunk of salt, nasty. The poppy seed hot dog bun is cool, but doesn't justify the salt lick. The "shack attack" was good, a thick chocolate shake with dark chocolate flakes that give an interesting crunch and cubes of chocolate truffle which add another nice consistency. A bit of a one-note kind of sweetness, childlike, but the textures were very adult. When you order something like that, you can't help but expect one note.

SNICKLEDINNER: 7pm, green salad, deep fried tofu cubes with mung bean noodle stirfry, vanilla coconut vegan ice cream on vegan chocolate chip cookies, several glasses of Lambrusco, 1.4 bowl, hunger 4/5
Made a simple stirfry, but I need to review my method -- it tasted way too timid. However, I experimented with vegan deepfrying and it came out pretty good. First thing: instead of some nothing oil, I used vegetable shortening, hydrogenated palm oil. Not so healthy, but it does a deep fried item good. Batter, used wholewheat flour, double the recommended salt, double the recommended sugar, double the recommended baking powder, added a dash of cayenne, a dash of cumin. Cubed firm tofu, dredged in flour, dipped in chilled batter, into 350 degree oil for about 5 minutes. Crisp, ungreasy, flavorful, crunchy, airy, just right. Next time, heavier on the salt, heavier on some herbs and spices, maybe slightly smaller tofu cubes.

Wine Tasting in the Morning, Wine Tasting in the Afternoon

Yesterday I boiled a 14 oz can of condensed sweetened milk for about 4 hours. Today, I opened the can and put the dark brown caramel it produced into a couple of cups of whole milk and dissolved it with a pinch of salt and some vanilla bean scrapings. Tomorrow, dulce de leche ice cream!

Had a weird 5 hours at the restaurant today. Striving for clarity, still not sure if my future is there yet.

BREAKFAST: 7am, smoothie, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5

AM WINE TASTING: 11-12am, some bread and Gruyere, sips of 8 wines, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
Went heavy on the bread and cheese.

PM SNACK: 1:45pm, half a Manhattan Special, cookie, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5

PM SNACK: 2:30pm, sweet and spicy couscous with a few morsels of hangar steak, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5
Pizza chef brought in some home cooking, I sampled it. Reminds me of my farro and sausage. Candied walnuts were a nice touch, though jalapeno heat was a little unbalanced. Makes me think I should put raisins plumped in wine in my next grain-based stewwy dish.

PM SNACKS: 3:30-5:30, a wine tasting, slice of round, slice of Sicilian, half a meatball on bread, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
This is what happens when you hang out in a slow restaurant! Weird to deal with two wine tastings in one day, this time from a salesman trying to get us to carry his vineyard's line. And I'm not even a big wine fan, oof!

DINNER: 8pm, large green salad, Singapore chow mei fun, watermelon 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5
Mmmm, cold Chinese leftovers.

Sweet Battery Acid

Another day just chillin', with a nice trip by foot to the food market with B & Lil' E. Tomorrow, back to school and a meeting at the resto.

BREAKFAST: 10am, good yogurt with honey and cashews, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5

PM SNACK: 12pm, slice of streetza, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
On the walk to the supermarket with B&E, saw a slice joint around Stanton and Rivington I've never tried before. Open since 1963, worth a nibble. Strictly mediocre.

PM SNACK: 1pm, Diet Steaz Black Cherry, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
On the walk back from the market, drank this beverage. Even though it's marketed as "diet", it's sweetened with cane sugar, carbonated, and green tea several ingredients behind 'natural flavorings'. Very odd. Not bad, not particularly good, wonder what kind of logic went into it's marketing design.

LUNCH: 2:30pm, fresh potato knish, large green salad, chocoyogurt bar, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5
Picked up some Yona Shimmel knishes on the walk home. Shockingly bland, tasted like they used no salt in making the thing.

DINNER: 6:45pm, Singapore chow mei fun, shrimp toast, a few veg dumplings, a little sesame noodles, a sip of coke, water, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5
Snickledinner got cancelled, hopefully later this week. Ordered in comfort food with B and momma-in-law. Because we ordered enough, they sent a few complimentary cans of coca cola. As I had nothing else in reach, I opened pone up and sipped it. Wow, people like this? Sweet batter acid. Blecch!

EVENING SNACK: 9:30pm, watermelon, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5

Homed

Didn't get to sleep until after 5. Since I had to be up at 6 for school, skipped it. Felt blech, spent the day indoors on the couch and helping with Lil' E. Hope to be up ad about tomorrow. Gotta focus on school and the work sitch.

LUNCH: 12:30pm, small amount of farro and sausage, pickled daikon, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5

PM SNACK: 3pm, frozen beef patty, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
Kinda gross, but was taking up freezer space.

PM SNACK: 5pm, chocolate cheesecake brownie, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5
A treat from B&E's walk outside.

DINNER: 9:15pm, 2 hotdogs, a pickle, a chocoyogurt bar, water, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5
More freezer fishing. B got these gross yogurt bars from our local kosher place, what an error. I need to make some real fresh ice cream up in here.

Consistently Horrible

BREAKFAST: 10am, leftover pasta, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5

BREAKFAST 2: 11:45pm, a pickle, a slice of pizza, a chocolate-banana donut, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
Out doing chores, collecting some brunch items, ate around the 'hood. A pickle from the pickle guys, another mediocre slice from Vic's, then an interesting donut from the Donut Plant. Most of there donuts are uni-flavored. Vanilla glaze on the vanilla donut, chocolate glaze on the chocodonut, blueberry glaze on the blueberry donut, etc. They had a banana donut with a banana-pecan glaze, but they also had a chocolate-glazed banana donut. I had to try, and it's one of those things when the first bite makes your mind shout, "YES". It just works, the banana flavor singing harmony to the chocolate. Well done, Donut Plant!

BRUNCH: 1:15pm, half a bagel and cream cheese, small piece of potato nik, a pickle, a glass of white wine, too much chocolate ruggalah, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5

DINNER: 8pm, shrimp parm, a small amount of spag, green salad, water, Gatorade, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5
Ordered from a local pizza place I haven't eaten from in many years because the quality was crap. I ordered again for me and B on a whim, hoping they had changed....relatively low priced, HUGE portions and B couldn't eat even half her salad because she didn't like it. My pasta was a bit overcooked, and came with the equivalent of 2/3 of a loaf of Italian bread....stale Italian bread. One bite of B's pizza from them and...well, I won't be ordering from them again for another 6 or 7 years.

I do have to give them credit, they may have horrible food, but they make money because they are consistently horrible. There is something to be said for that...

Ride for the Bulgogi

Didn't really sleep last night, kinda wired from the evening at the restaurant. Took a few early stabs at sleep, but was pretty much on the couch until 5am, where I dozed off then woke at 6:30 to get my ride gear together.

Met D at the Manhattan Bridge and we rode up through the Bronx into Westchester, then Connecticut, then the rolling hills of Pound Ridge. Had a spectacular outdoor grilling session with a large and rambunctious (in the best sense of the word) Korean family who took their food VERY seriously -- judging from the spread, most dishes took more than 24 hours advance thought to set up.

Bulgogi done just right, miso-rubbed pork ribs that tasted like a clearly struck 100lb bell sounds, a coriander-rubbed salmon cooked just right, and whole shrimp grilled so the whole shell had a delicious crunchy char. There was an odd 7-layer dip I avoided, but the corn on the cob was gob-smackingly sweet. And on top of all that, I got to ride on a segway for the first time. I can see why they never took over the streets.

BREAKFAST: 7am, granola with the good milk, 2 good donuts, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5

AM BIKE SNACK: 11am, bag of munchos, water, 20oz of red Gatorade, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5

PM BIKE SNACK: 1:15pm, bag of sunchips, 1.5 fudge brownies, water, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5

LUNCH: 2:30pm, miso pork ribs, bulogi beef, grilled whole shrimp, grilled salmon, sweet corn, a shot of shuzo, a lot of water, blueberry pie, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5

Amazing 4th of July meal, hosted by a friend and her family who happen to be Korean, and are really into their food. The various meat and fish were all superior to everything I've had in Little Korea, the corn was shockingly sweet.

DINNER: 9:45pm, pasta with homemade sauce, sarsaparilla soda, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5
Stomach feeling a little acidy, a little hungry.

Chill morning, uptight evening

Chilled out with B&E in the morning, spent the later day slamming dough and cuttin' the cheese at the restaurant. Was it my swan song there, or the beginning of the long haul? I suspect the former, but we'll see Wednesday. Shnoogins! Tomorrow, I ride.

BREAKFAST: 9am, smoothie, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
Woke up hungry and queasy. This settled me well.

AM SNACK: 11:30am, farro and sausage, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5

PM SNACK: 1pm, watermelon, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5

RESTAURANT HAZE: 4-11pm, a few slices of pizza, a few glasses of lemonade, a ginger ale, a cream soda, a meatball with bread, water, 1.75 bowl, hunger 4/5

Mackin' & Snealin'

B went out with Edie to visit a friend, and I promptly fell asleep at 8:30 without dinner. I think I might be fighting a bug or something, as I slept for almost 12 hours. Looking back at what I was eating, maybe I've just been over tired.

BREAKFAST: 7:15am, organic chex with the good milk, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5

LUNCH: 12pm, 2 slices grandma pizza, 2 slices white brussel sprout & bacon pizza, 1 pint beer, water, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5
After class, went to a pizzeria the teacher wanted to check out. Was pretty mediocre, and crap service too. The brussel sprout pizza was interesting, and was cooked well and the cheese balanced, but the sprouts themselves were not fresh, cut in too big chunks, and kinda ruined it. The grandma pie was just a cheesy mess.

PM SNACK: 2pm, hazelnut ice cream, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
Was going by Jaques Torres and couldn't resist. Really good quality stuff.

PM SNEAL? MACK?: 3:30pm, tuna appetizer, ginger ale, 1 bowl
Working on a new menu time, conceptually it's good -- the star is a quality Sicilian tuna which is canned but is a cut above Starkist or whatever junk you see on TV. The execution with the minimal dressing and garnish needs work.

PM SNACK: 5:30pm, large piece of watermelon, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5

PM SNACK: 7:30, small amount of chocolate cookies n' creme ice cream, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5
B went to town on it, so rather than the salad I was about to eat, I gravitated towards cleaning out the freezer.

Morning Boozer

Had a midday nap yesterday, which made getting to sleep difficult. Edie was sleeping so beautifully, it would made me jealous if it wasn't for the fact it's so nice being next to her as she sleeps. It's like a zone of peace on her face, with the occasional storm of a dream of nipple or soft smooth warmness.

BREAKFAST: 7:15pm, smoothie, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
Dead tired, but desiring a smoothie. My coffee grinder died, so no flax. Good milk, good yogurt, banana, blueberries, grapes, cherries, pinch of sea salt, vanilla sugar -- I've been placing spent vanilla bean husks in plain granulated sugar in a sealed container, and finally found a use for it. 1 tablespoon of the vanilla sugar gave a solid 'nilla kick that really brought out the broad fruit flavors. It's very blue drink, I think I should start expanding it's pallet while a lot of fruit is in season. Any suggestions?

AM SNACK: 9:30am, chocolate almond croissant, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5
When I'm tired, I always eat heavier. Went to the Madeline shop on break and ate this chewy/crispy/chocolaty/buttery/almondy bomb. Really good, but just...a bit too much. Everything is just turned up to 11. I think they do a mini-version of this thing, which would probably be a more appropriate (and probably more authentic) version.

AM SNACK: 11-12:15pm, various sips of wine, french bread with goat cheese, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
White wine tasting at school, some of the wines were incredibly delicious and had to swallow instead of spit. The sweet and thick yet still good Sauternes got my mind going once again, I gotta cook with this stuff, except it's not cheap.

PM SNACK: 1:15pm, spag with one meatball, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
A pizza cook at the resto brought in some home cooked food, pretty good.

LINNER: 5pm, large green salad, reasonable portion of farro and sausage, half a brownie, cookie , 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5
B had a friend over who brought her a brownie from the Baked bakery. Nice balance of cakey and buttery.

EVENING SNACK: 10:15pm, ramen noodles, small cup of chocolate cookies n' creme ice cream, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
Got hungry after a few resto friends stopped by to give regards to Birdie and try my 'cream.

I don't know who is more beautiful...

I guess it would have to be B, because lil' Edie is looking a whole mess like I did when I was a biddy baby. When I was changing her diaper, I was reminded of the class in c-school where we had to properly truss a chicken and pork shoulder for roasting. Grabbing her ankles and lifting her butt in the air, its like the first step to putting the string under the chicken and tying the legs up! She's my little chicken, but more delicious. I just want to take her apart, dip her in buttermilk blended with fresh herbs, deep fry her in tallow, and eat her all up!!

Ummm, for legal reasons, let me state clearly NOT LITERALLY. You weirdo.

BREAKFAST: 8:30am, good granola with good milk, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5

AM SNACK: 11am, farro and sausage, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5

PM SNACK: 1:30pm, half a bagel and butter, pickled diakon, small piece of pawlet cheese, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5

This Korean pickled radish stuff is heavenly, and the soft cheese I picked up from the Unfancy Food show is wowzers.

PM SNACK: 4:45pm, 1 slice streetza, small cup of fudge brownie vegan ice cream, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5

Heavy weather, so B went home and I walked up to Union Square. Had a slice at St. Mark's and A, a slice joint notable for being my go-to slice joint when I worked in the music biz and the night my mom died. Totally not good, a big bed of cheap cheese. I went by Stogo, not because I particularly like their stuff, but I like how lightly sweetened it is and after all that bad diary, something defiantly not felt good. Also, it's something that's artisanal, compared to all the cookie cutter frozen yogurt places that have sprung up everywhere.

PM SNACK: 6:15pm, large wedge of watermelon, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5

This morning did a rare run to the local supermarket with a granny cart and picked up all sorts of stuff that's too heavy to transport by bicycle, like 40 lbs of cat litter, 2 gallons of Gatorade, and in particular a whole watermelon. Thought it would be too early in the season, but when I knocked it, it sounded pleasantly hollow but heavy for its size, its white splotch was creamy bright and only $3 for the whole thing. Tasted sweet and clean and crisp.

DINNER: 7:30pm, 2 shrimp tacos, a little Gatorade, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5

Mediocre Mexican ordered in.

First Comes Love, then Comes Fage, then...

BREAKFAST: 10-11:30am, various chocolates, cookies, small moz and tomato panini, brownies, 5 shots of various Manhattan Special products, 2 little cheese cake cups, a bit of duck sausage, 2 little wedges of Batali pizza, some things I forget..., 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
Spent the morning at the Fancy Food Show at Jacob Javits, officially on school business for the second year (last year I was in culinary, this year management), but I hope to be able to swing this every year -- all the new products, some established products, different countries showing off their culture, all on overload, most wanting you to taste a sample or talk about what they do.

Highlights: Manhattan Special had a booth, a company really hard to wrangle as a product buyer at the restaurant. I had some words with them, they promise to make some calls. Low and behold they have a whole line of different sodas, but I would of never known because no one ever tried to sell me on them.

Then there was the Metromint people from last year, which was quite shocking -- various mint-flavored mildly-sweetened waters. I almost barfed last year when I tried it, because I thought I was drinking some one's toothpaste backwash. I was sure they would be out of business by now.

Batali's brand was hawking a new pizza sauce, which tasted exactly like a thousand other jarred sauces. They were making pizzas on soft pita-like shells and baking them in a toaster oven. The only good thing about the sample is that it was heavy on the sauce, usually shitty pizza is heavy on the cheese.

In other pizza-related things there, there was a booth for a horrible nightmare some company is trying to bring to the freezer aisle:

Pizza in a cone, baked in your microwave in a box that keeps it upright. In the literature, one of the selling points is "acceptable taste and aroma", I kid you not. Yikes!

It was nice to see a booth/pavilion for Fage yogurt, what I call the "good" yogurt. I was happy to see it, and felt compelled to take a picture not because I'm a huge fan, but because it's one of the few foods me and B eat and love (though she eats the crappy fat-free version), and I remember when I was wooing her, we'd go food shopping in her neighborhood, like a trial run as a real couple. When ever we'd go, we'd always end up buying some Fage, and also talking about the prices of the stuff in various markets in the neighborhood. The foundation of my marriage was cemented thanks to Fage!

DINNER: 6:30pm, big green salad, homemade farro and sausage, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5

Made a recipe from c-school, one I really loved and was a joy to make again. Basically: brown sweet Italian sausage in olive oil, deglaze with white wine (my added step), then soften diced Spanish onion. Add a whole mess of tomato concasse, diced fresh fennel, cubed Idaho potato, a pound of farro and cover in chicken stock. Simmer for 30 minutes, add a pound of cooked red kidney beans, simmer for another 15 minutes. Finish with salt and red pepper flake. The fennel gives a nice flavor, the starch from the farro and potato thicken the remaining stock into a nice sauce, the farro itself a nice grainy flavor to contrast with the pork and fennel, all brought together with that wonderful mouthfeel that a proper stock gives.

Went a bit too far with the pepper fake, and can probably add more salt. Should have broken the sausage into smaller bits before I threw it in the oil.

EVENING SNACK: 8pm, chocolate cookies n' creme ice cream, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5

Day of Fun Food 1

Good day, maybe ate a little too much towards the end but had a nice relaxing day.

BREAKFAST: 10am, good yogurt with honey, vanilla, cashews, .5 bowl

PM SNACKING: 12:30pm, water, jerky, salted chocolate caramels, a little diakon and kimchi, smokey ricotta, half a whitefish sandwich on black bread, quarter of a beef pie, a few bits of pickle, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5
The Unfancy Food Show in Williamsburg was fun, very similar to last year's. Of note was Gerald's Jerky, who do a beef jerky like I've never had. I've read about the stuff, but never made it or even seen it. I've had Slim Jims growing up, and have seen those dusty plastic-wrapped sheets from tourist traps out west with lists of ingredients as long as any slim jim, but this was different. Tough and tender in a weird balance, spicey like pastrami but not so strong -- you can really taste the beefy steak flavor of the dried product. Wow. And the pickled diakon from the kimchi vendor was unreal. The white fish sandwichs offered from Marlow & Sons was shocking how good it was -- I thought it would pale in comparison to what Russ & Daughter's do, but with it's hearty black bread, thin slices of kiwi and fresh lightly dressed pike, it was just right.

Tomorrow, I check out other Fancy Food Show with school...

PM SNACK: 2:30pm, white wine spritzer
At home gettin' my drink on with B&E.

LUNCH: 3:30pm, poutine, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
Out to Pommes Frites with E, an echo of out trip years ago to Montreal. The fries were great, the cheese curds were good, the brown gravy was over-salted and tasted like it was made from bullion - yuk!


PM SNACK: 4:30pm, popcorn, cherry icee, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5
At the movies. Ahh, the taste of high fructose corn syrup, citric acid, artificial flavors, guar gum and if I'm lucky, pectin!

PM SNACK: 7pm, beef jerky

DINNER: 8:45pm, "homemade" "pizza", 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5
Had this pizza kit thing laying around a while, and happened to have some spare moz and parm from the last time I cooked pizza, so I thought I'd give it a whirl. Ewww! I followed the instructions, and the dough mix gets mixed by fork with water, rest for 10 minutes, then stretch into a pan. My dough was lumpy, wet and hard to work with. I got it on to a piece of parchment, but someone who isn't experienced would have a huge mess on their hands. The sauce that came with the kit was absolutely disgusting, tasting mostly like overcooked tomato paste and salt. There was a spice packet that came with it, but it was congealed into one dry brick that I had to discard. The main ingredient it was...nutritional yeast? Wha? I baked at the recommended temp of 450 for about 15 minutes, to get some color on the crust. Oddly enough, the crust tasted....freezer burned? What I thought was freezer burn on a frozen pizza kept to long was just poor quality and cheap fillers, I guess.

I'm all for making pizza at home and including the kids on it, but this is ridiculously gross. I guess kids would find it yummy, but shouldn't adults like it too?

Birdie's Big Adventure

B, Edie and I went out to Astoria so B could do her book club thing, and show off the Bird to her friends. I took a nice break at a mediocre Greek restaurant before I collected my clan and took Birdie on her first subway ride ever. N train to the F at 34th, to Delancey. Yay Edie!! She totally was, like, "This train ride is nuttin'. The N is a big bobby pillow and the F is a bouncy chair!" Look at the pic above, she's got my, "Betsy, stop being so nyih nyih nyih" look down!

Eating habits still off the charts, but I conciously pulled back on quantity today,

BREAKFAST: 8:30am, chocolate babka, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5

LUNCH 1: 11:30am, homemade mac n' cheese, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5

LUNCH 2: 3pm, grilled shrimp, rice, potato, salad, pita, water, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5

DINNER: 8:30pm. 1 hot dog, flax corn chips, homemade chocolate cookies and creme ice cream, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5

Michael Jackson ruined my childhood.

Spent the day with B and bebe, a couple of walks outside, mostly inside, a constant twirl of baby feeding, baby sleeping, baby pooping, baby crying, baby looking cute, and repeat.

On an food-unrelated matter, Michael Jackson passed yesterday, and it bothers me that my wifey is watching old Thriller-era videos on youtube. I remember I was 12 or so when that album was all the rage, and I was at summer camp, and they brought in this roller-skate truck and set up a roller disco on the tennis courts. The soundsystem blasted the whole Thriller album, and almost everybody was totally vibing on it, in love with that album, the soundtrack of the summer, the soundtrack of the year, the soundtrack of the decade. I didn't do sports, and I certainly wasn't going to roller skate, and on top of that I would NOT enjoy Michael Jackson. It was soon I would discover Madness and ska music, and find something equally as great and earth moving as MJ, but not shared with all those horribly boring Lawn Guyland kids at camp. I was such a moody snob!

I so would've thought my wifey uncool if I met her then. She probably would have thought I was terribly mean and unpleasant. I probably would havemade her cry. He he. Good thing I grew up, or I would've missed out on a hell of a good woman!

This baby-lifestyle thing is killing my diet.

BREAKFAST 1: 10am, good yogurt with honey, vanilla, cashews, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5

BREAKFAST 2: 11:30am, BLT on rye, homefries, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5

PM SNACK: 3pm, sesame sticks, chocolate babka, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5

DINNER: 8pm, sushi, shumai, gyoza, green salad, water, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5
Wow, seems like forever since I had some order-in sushi. Good, but I can see why I got sick of this stuff.

Babka baby!

Got sleepy again at school today, I totally blame Edie Bird. She should be arrested and convicted on the groups of unrestrained pooping, crying and being ridiculously cute. Spent a few hours at the restaurant with L, don't know yet if I'll be going back on a full time basis or just for graphics, but we'll see.

Didn't eat a proper lunch, and kinda crammed it in when I got home after 4 with all sorts of yummy stuff from the neighborhood. Well, there is always tomorrow to eat better....

BREAKFAST: 7am, organic cheerios with the good milk, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5

AM SNACK: 10am, 2 street donuts, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5

PM SNACK: 1pm, tuna and veg, half a Manhattan Special, .25 bowl
Working on a new appetizer with L, a simple tuna salad using a flavorful Sicilian fish, with leafed celery and olives

PM SNACK: 4:45pm, bagel and cream cheese, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5

DINNER 6pm, 2 hotdogs, potato nik, kimchi, chocolate babka, water, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5
Nathan's with the natural casing, most rocking. Went to my local kosher bakery for the nic and got seduced by the babka. I gotta take a wack and making this stuff.

Tired

Very tired this morning. I wish I could say it's because the bebe is oh so much work, but really B has that on lock down. I just got home late from spending some downtime with the HVS. Looking forward to some serious snuggle time with Lil' E, even more so when she doesn't need to be hanging on B for nourishment 2/3 of the day!

Went back to the restaurant, starting to talk things through with L, not sure where it's going yet.

BREAKFAST: 7:30am, good yogurt with honey, cashews, vanilla, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5

AM SNACK: 9:30am, 2 street donuts, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5

LUNCH 1: 12:45pm, pork chive dumplings, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5
A snack before heading over to the resto. This small dumpling joint was packed with construction workers, eating large plates of fried rice with bit of eat in it.

LUNCH 2: 3:15, burgers and fries, pickle, one and a half Manhattan Specials, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5

DINNER: 8pm, salad, a few bites of pizza, a spoonful of ice cream. .5 bowl, hunger 4/5

Geeked Out

Woke up and road out to deep Brooklyn for an interview at a community organization looking for someone to teach some high school kids about culinary arts and food once a week in the fall. Seemed pretty legit, liked the vibe, reminded me of the community center my mom ran for most of her career. Could be a lot of fun, and a good chance to put a lot of my training into practice in a broader way than just in a commercial kitchen.

Afterwards, swung by Ikea for lunch (surprisingly better than I remember), then home to chill with B and Birdie. Birdie is just so....cute. Her poohs are cute. The little whiteheady-rash on her face is cute. Her crying is cute. Her little cow-licks are cute. Gaaaah!

Practiced yoga with the HVS in the evening, with some good simple middle eastern fare after. Between feeling SO tight and out of shape during the class, then eating so well, made me feel that, ahhh, perhaps I should stop eating so shitty and get back on it -- can't use the bebe as an excuse forever, and B was getting on my case for eating these horrible beef patties out of the freezer. Tomorrow, I check in at the restaurant, perhaps I'll see what my future is there then.

BREAKFAST: 8am, organic chex with the good milk, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5

LUNCH 1: 12:30pm, Swedish meatballs, mashed potatoes, gravy, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
Weird being in Ikea earlish on a weekday in Brooklyn. I realized I've probably never been in an Ikea by myself, it was a very chill experience.

LUNCH 2: 2pm, 2 frozen Jamaican beef patties, a little gatorade, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
More comfort food from my youth, but unlike the Stouffer's french bread pizza, this was kinda disgusting.

PM SNACK: 4:45pm, homemade chocolate cookies n' creme ice cream, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5
Oh my, this is good. Just talking with the outgoing teacher at the organization I interviewed out, we geeked-out a little about homemade icecream together.

SNICKLEDINNER: 9pm, half a large falafel platter, water, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5

EVENING SNACK: 12:15am, 2 vegetable dumplings

Baby Cakes

Sleep is returning to the house. The baby still needs to be fed through the night, but B is starting to get her systems down and getting into a groove. While B showered, I held Edie on my stomach and hugged her a whole bunch. Wow, she literally smells and tastes so good -- if I could make a baked good that triggers the same attraction as a freshly baked baby, I'd be fantastically wealthy. Or in jail, as one should not bake babies!

BREAKFAST: 7am, organic cheerios with good milk. .5 bowl, hunger 4/5

AM SNACK: 9:30am, apple fritter, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
Falling asleep in class, dragged myself over to Starbucks for a sugar blast. Felt like eating something savory, but the only things around were either eggs from a cart or eggs in some form from McDonalds. Blech.

LUNCH: 1pm, big salad with a little sesame sticks, pasta with home made sauce and cheese, vegan chocolate ice cream, 1.25 bowls, hunger 4/5
Ate a lot, just was hungry, and figured it's better to have a big lunch and small dinner than the other way around.

DINNER: 7:30pm, stouffer's french bread pizzas, vegan donut holes, water, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5
Trashy stuff, but I grew up on it, and it's very comforting. When I was biking cross-country, I think this was the only pizza (that I enjoyed) while in the west.

Fadduh'z daze

I definitely feel appreciated by my wonderful wife and snugglebuggle daughter, but god I hope I eat healthier next father's day. When a day starts with a donut invasion and ends with a pizza explosion, well, uh, that's a good day, but not the basis of a well rounded diet.

Got out of the house and went to an open house with D in downtown Brooklyn. Maybe Edie will be a Brooklyn gal? Not that there is anything long with an LES gal.

BREAKFAST: 8:30am, 3 donuts, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5

Not my choice, but I woke up to B&E sleeping next to me, snuck out and there on the kitchen table is a big ol' sack o' father's day donuts! From my favorite donut shop! Gaaah!

AM SNACK: 11am, chocolate cookies and creme ice cream, a handful of chocolate creme oreos, .25 bowl, hunger 3/5

Made chocolate ice cream custard last night, so had to grind cookies and make this super-chocolate version of plain cookies and creme ice cream. Goooood

SNICKLE LINNER: 4-6pm, salsa fresca with flax tortilla chips, salsa-jack pizza, marg with procuitto and shrimp, small ramekin of choc cookies ice cream, water, glass of white wine, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5

The HVS swung by to help celebrate F-day with my gals.

Burger King sucks.

Check out all the ladies all over my house! Rufasina is slowly getting used to Birdie, and has begun snuggling on people while they hold the bebe, it's pretty cool.

Was going to ride this morning, but weather and bebes and family had other plans for me. Was nice getting out to the market and shoppin' for groceries.

BREAKFAST: 8:30am, organic cheerios with organic dead milk, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5

LUNCH: 12:30pm, Whopper Jr. w/o cheese, small fries, a few sips of diet coke, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
Stressed by life, wanted to eat fast, simple, no B.S. Haven't eaten Burger King since college, and there is one in my neighborhood I've never hit up. Mistake, BK is horrible, much worse than I remember it. Ordered the smallest meal possible, the soda was still 20z. Haven't tasted diet coke in a while, wow, tastes like sweet battery acid. The fries were surprisingly mealy and inferior to McDonalds, the burger was mayo-slathered, and not good mayo, either. The beef didn't really taste grilled, but it had that soy-byproduct flavor I became familiar with when I was in public school when I was a kid. The copy on the various collateral around the store was vaguely "clever" and snarky, like their advertising, trying to appeal to white males in their 20s, I guess. Weird, as most of the customers in the store were black and Hispanic families. At least McD's micro-markets, I guess BK just does one national message and hope for the best.

PM SNACK: 2:30pm, freshly made salsa fresca with flax seed corn chips, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5
Spent the afternoon prepping for tomorrow's pizza dinner...may experiment with a salsa pizza.

PM SNACK: 4pm, failed chocolate ganache, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5

DINNER: 5pm, salad, a little seaweed rice, a little mac n' cheese, a little grilled chicken, a little cooked spinach, a little whipped failed ganache, glass of white wine, 1 bowl
K came over to see the baby, made dinner of a few left overs and a swiftly grilled chicken boobie. Nice to put out a meal in a few minutes, while the hours that went into making it over the past week was maybe 5 hours.

EVENING SNACK: 11:30pm, dinner over again minus the wine and desert, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5
Writing this blog, I realized I was hungry!

Unexpectedly Wonderful Dinner

Woke up early to finish up a freelance gig, played with B&E, fell asleep on the couch and when I awoke momma-in-law was here looking after things and I had a craving for pizza. Some of B's relatives were visiting from out of town, and Edie magically slept through most of their visit. We strapped Birdie into our stroller and took her on her first stroll out of the house, to CVS and then to the green space behind our building. Her eyes were darting everywhere, it was quite amazing.

Still ate a bit too much, but more under control.

BREAKFAST: 8:30am, organic cheerios with organic dead milk, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5

LUNCH: 1pm, 2 slices of local streetza, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5

PM SNACK: 3:30pm, small slice of chocolate caramel tart, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5
Fortunately due to house guests, I was able to finish this without eating too much of it. But there's a whole other one in the freezer....

PM SNACK: 5pm, chocolate ganache, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
I doubled up on the heavy cream when I was making ganache for the top layer of the tart, so I put it aside and started over again, correctly. So this was 2 cups of heavy cream to 16 oz 70% dark chocolate. Cream brought to a boil, then chopped chocolate dropped in and stirred until smooth. When chilled, it's suppose to set to a nice solid consistency, but the high heavy cream would keep in mushy. I thought I'd drop it in the ice cream maker and see what came out, but when I dipped a spatula in.....it had the consistency of pudding!! Or realllllly concentrated hot chocolate. I tasted it....a bit gritty from chocolate not melted enough, but still over the top yummy. The kind of mess a home cook would make, but wouldn't dare serve to a guest.

DINNER: 9:30pm, mushroom seaweed rice with shrimp, water, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5
Granny has been in the house al day helping out, so there was no way I was gonna feed her left overs. Easy-ass meal to make, came out really good. Sushi rice, aramay seaweed, olive oil, minced shallot, salt and half strong mushroom stock (made from slightly off morels from the resto), all in the rice cooker, turn on and walk away. When that came up done in 30 minutes, took some shrimp out of the freezer, cleaned and deveined under water, dipped in oil and herbs de Provence and salt, into a blazing hot pan. Flamed up, which surprised me. After 20 seconds, tossed in some sake to deglaze so I could flip them without tearing them up, beautiful browning. After another 20 seconds, right onto the large bowl with a cute little mound of the pleasingly umami-infused brown-tinted rice with strings of soft green threads. Wow. I would pay money for this meal in a restaurant.

Nice when you just improvise with stuff that's been sitting around forever and just explodes is flavor. I was considering softening the shallot in a pan and toasting the rice before hitting up the machine, but I....was just too lazy. Glad I was, because it's simplicity is going make me want to make it again. Now I just need to get my hands on another 10 lbs of free morels...

Ruminations on Edie

It occurred to me last night that Edie looks like me. Someone recently joked that babies have evolved to initially look like their fathers, so they don't toss them out of the cave. I know back in the day people would not get too emotionally attached to their babies because they would often die -- sometimes, babies weren't even named until their 2nd birthday! That sounds like a reasonable allowance for high infant mortality, but judging by how Edie is thriving, we should have named her about 9 months before she was born, he he.

She has my mouth, as B has been pointing out multiple times a day, but I also see my father in her forehead and brow, my mom in the particular oval of her head. Looking back, the first day I was just too stunned to see the resemblance. She was all wrinkly, shaky, pointy headed and a little bit like one of those fake rubber baby models they use in the movies (like in "The Hangover" -- I doubt they had a real stunt baby bonk its head on a car door). But the next day -- once she was all cleaned up, a little bit calmer, and more filled out with B's wonderful breast milk -- I really held her for the first time and got to stare at her sleeping face, and I was reminded of my first date with B and how I just kind of fell for her within 60 seconds. I would have been a horrible old-world father, I'd be quaking in my boots from fear of bebe getting the plague or whatever.

As I already said, Edie didn't need to learn to feed; the moment she was placed on B's belly, she literally made a crawl upward and when her mouth was placed on the nipple, started suckling. I didn't even have any time to worry about it. What a stress it must be when babies are too zonked to know enough to get on the boobie.

We were given a "free" container of formula on our last day in the hospital, as well as a handy Similac tote bag. At the pediatrician's office, a whole mess of different formulas are available for sale. I imagine if B had breast issues or our kid was messed up enough to not breast feed, formula would be a plan B....but shouldn't it strictly be a plan of last resort? To give that crap away, like it was normal and inexpensive....nothing is less expensive AND valuable than real 100% freshly squoze boobiejuice! For all this concern for the mother and child, for all this regulation and pushy laws and intrusive prodding, why in hell is formula not being restricted like cigarettes and booze as something to be disdained and only used in limited appropriate circumstances that circumvent breast feeding? Am I being naive?

That said, I can't wait for Edie to get off the teat so I can participate in feeding her....making her food myself, the best pure mush in the land, then B can go do her thing and I can take Edie out and really see the world. Wooooo!

BREAKFAST: 7am, chocolate tart, .5 bowl, hunger 3/5
Needed to eat something healthier, but also wanted to test the tart I spent the afternoon making yesterday. Based on this recipe, E requested it for her birthday. I went out and bought tart pans. The crust was no biggy, but the timing....make the dough, refrigerate 30 minutes. Make the caramel, chill 5 hours. Make the ganache, chill 5 hours before decorating with grey salt. I doubled the recipe, but got 3 tarts out it, which made me wonder. The crust I under mixed, dry and crumbly, like a good tart crust should be. The caramel, the recipe calls for 340 degrees but by the time I got to 320, it started to smoke and smell burnt, so I pulled it and hit it with cream and butter (and some funky creme fraiche).

Between the burning smell, the pale look of the crust (not enough chocolate? Too much flour) and the curiously liquidy ganache, I thought it would be a disaster. Fortunately, the caramel set up perfectly - thick, gooey, sweet, rich and sticky in the right ways, really decadent. The ganache set well, too. The crust is a bit of a mess, but hidden well beneath the layers.

AM SNACK: 10:15am, munchos, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
Didn't want anything sweet. Had a craving for Doritos of all things, something I never eat, but when I went to the grocery and looked at the ingredients, my stomach changed its mind. Munchos are an interesting "potato crisp" product, made of dehydrated potatoes, various starches, and the very last ingredient is yeast. Light-ish.

LUNCH: 1pm, samosas in chickpeas, 2 roti, water, 1.75 bowl, hunger 4/5
Picked up some lunch to go at a taxi stand I like, as I was eating realized it was way too much food. I used to eat like that, I gotta avoid this trap. Baby makes me wanna eat!

PM SNACK: 2:45pm, small piece of homemade chocolate caramel tart, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5
The problem with having advanced cooking skills at home is that when you make something like this, it's hard to resist because it's so over the top decadent and delicious, relatively difficult to make, expensive to buy, and I unfortunately appreciate it waaaay too much. Hrumph!

DINNER: 6-10pm, a beer, handful of tortilla chips and a little fresh salsa, a bite of fried chicken, a little mac n' cheese, more chocolate tart, a beer, a glass of champagne, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5
Birthday for E. I fried chicken for her, using a c-school Southern fried chicken recipe, using half veg oil and half Crisco, people liked it though I'm not a fan. Got compliments from both friends and strangers on the fried chicken and the tart, which was nice but weird....I just don't take a compliment well, and when it's a stranger, it's hard to be obnoxious about it without coming off as a dick. With people you know, you can dismiss them and they know that you love them and it's not disrespect, but you can't assume that of strangers.

Stuffed

Twelve or so of my classmates and professor met at a student's family restaurant out in New Hyde Park. I tore myself away from B and Ediebird because this restaurant happens to be a pizza restaurant, and it was too tempting to pass up a tour of a large pizza operation.

After class, went grocery shopping, got home and cooked perogies for B and a friend of hers who was visiting and helping with Edie. Then I cooked my ass off, made 2 batches of proper mac and cheese, then 3 chocolate caramel tarts based on the Marlow & Sons recipe for E's birthday tomorrow. B's mom came over, so they had plenty of mac to eat as I geared up and got out.

I road over to New Hyde Park in Nassau, it was a good, if trafficky, ride, only 18 miles, but through the dirty car-riddled heart of Queens. Middle Village? Queens Village? Who thought of those clever names? Hollis sure is way the fudge out there.

Guy's shop is huge, practically half a city block, and a kitchen that sprawls over a huge basement. The food was pretty good, honest fare that makes no pretense to be anything other than what it is. A lot of the food (the bread, the moz) are made on premises, which is no small deal. It was fun hanging with the folk, but I avoided the booze and kinda wanted to leave early, and left at the first possible moment, but still didn't get home till 11:30.

I gotta start eating less!

BREAKFAST: 6:30am, granola with organic dead milk, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5

AM SNACK: 11am, brownie, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
On break from school, went over to the Madeliene Patisserie, this brownie was surprisingly horrible. Too much butter and sugar, not enough flour or chocolate, tasted like an overly sweet gritty butter cube with some mild cocoa flavor.

PM SNACK: 1:30pm, 2 spinach perogies, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5
Picked up some fresh perogies from the market, quickly sauteed half an onion in safflower oil with salt, boiled the perogies for 3 minutes, then pan fried them wih the onions, finished with some dried chives, surprisingly good. Gave 2 of my 4 to B in anticipation of dinner...

BIKE DRINK: 4-6pm, 16 oz of gatorade

DINNER: 7pm, 3 slices of different style pizza, 2 pieces bread, 2 glasses wine, fried calamari, various antipasto, pasta and sauce, veal rolatini, a few snippets of dessert, 1.75 bowl, hunger 4/5

Hiccups!!

After some of B's family visited in the morning to check out Birdie, we had a pediatrician's appointment. Edie gained a whole quarter pound since Saturday! She's my quarter-pounder! That's a good thing, B is doing a wonderful job with Edes, though when I tell her this, I don't know if she believes me. So I guess I have to blog about it to make it f'real. H'rumph!

Ridiculously cute moment of the day: When B put down Edwina (a nickname suggested by a relative who shall remain nameless), Lil E' had the CUTEST hiccups. Drinking milk too fast? I couldn't resist, I had to shoot some footage:



BREAKFAST: 10am, organic chex with organic dead milk, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5

LUNCH 1: 12:30pm, small piece of potato nik, kimchi, ice cream, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5

LUNCH 2: 3pm, falafel sandwich, fries, horrible grape soda, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5
After pediatrician, wandered with B, ended up at a Maoz on 8th Street. Falafel was good, the fries were fneh and the Fanta grape soda was kinda gross, more candy-like than grapey.

PM SNACK: 6pm, ice cream, .33 bowl, hunger 4/5

DINNER: 9:15pm, good peanutbutter on superhippy bread, water, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5

Edie vs. Rufus?

Woke at 6am with the idea of going back to school today, but just too tired and overwhelmed by what needs to be done....and leaving B & Birdie by their lonesome. I mean, look at that picture! Baaaaaaah!! :)

I fell asleep on the couch near the end of B's birthday celebration, and woke around 10pm. Got back to bed around 2am, and when I woke at 10am today, felt a little queasy but ok. Got a lot done -- made some business calls, laundry, organized the house, held Edie when she wasn't feeding or pooping, brought Rufus in to the vet, etc. Rufus has gotten a bit thin, but seems otherwise healthy. Vet thinks the turmoil of the baby has taken an emotional toll on the Ruf, but we have some urine and blood tests to come back to be conclusive.

AM SNACK: 9:45am, birthday cake, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5

BREAKFAST: 10:15am, toasted bagel with cream cheese, swig of gatorade, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5

LUNCH: 1:15pm, potato nik with mustard, kimchi, ice cream, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5

DINNER: 7:30pm, curry puffs, shrimp and tofu pad thai, half a ginger ale, some gatorade, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5

HAPPY BIRDIE DAY, B!!

Today is B's b-day! Above is the slide-show I assembled over the past couple of days, between cooking, snuggling with Edie, trying to keep things calm.

Woke at 7, churned cookies n' cream ice cream, made a yellow sheet cake using a buttermilk recipe that came out weird. Helped clean the house, a short stack of B's friends came over, along with her family, and a special guest appearance from the HVS. Edie got into her lap and slept like a peaceful lil' kitten.

BREAKFAST: 9:15am, cake, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
Made 2 layers, but the cake was off. Nice and moist, but overcooked on the bottom and under risen -- I think my baking powder or baking sodas are dead. I tried to depan one, and it crumbled, which is for the best -- less icky cake for people to eat. Good thing the ice cream seems to have worked out...

LUNCH: 2pm, asparagus risotto, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5

PM SNACK: 3pm, buttercream frosted cake, ice cream, half glass prosecco, almond cookie, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5

DINNER: 10pm, homemade pasta with oil, butter, garlic, salt & white wine, gatorade, water, ice cream, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5