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

Eating around Edie

Last night I slept like a baby. B and Granny B, on the other hand, slept with a baby, which is not quite the same thing. Fortunately, there is not much for Edie to learn about feeding -- she seemed to know what to do about 20 seconds after popping out of B's belly. We're very fortunate -- the new mom we were sharing a small room with (divided by a thin curtain) had a baby who was refusing to nurse, and it was just all stress.

Side note about our roomies: Then again, these maroons were also ordering in sushi the first night they were in, and I overheard her family talking about some new cooking show about master chefs, where the food was just soooo boring, and how Tom Collicio is not a chef, just a restaurateur, and Craft is just ok. I'm not a fan of Tom C., but Craft is a spectacular restaurant and despite the media hype, he's the real thing. And B said they were watching Fox News all night, figures.

From 7 to 9, B and Granny B slept and every once in a while I'd shuttle Lil' Edie back and forth from B's milk supply, checking her diaper and just lovin' her. I think my beard might be irritating her skin, I may have to do something about that soon.

We took E to her first pediatrician app't today, and everything went swimmingly. It was nice being out in the world with B&E, out in Union Square. We took the bus home together, Lil' E's first ride on public transportation!

BREAKFAST: 8:30am, buttermilk pancakes, Neiman Ranch bacon, apple cider, 1.5 bowl
B gently woke me at 6:45am, so I got into the kitchen. Felt like it was Army time, and an army can't roll if it's belly ain't full. I put on a big pot of steel cut oats, which I don't like, but B and GrannyB do. I laid out a slab of bacon in the oven, and mixed up some buttermilk pancakes from scratch.

I made attractive plates for the ladies, with the oats in the center with a little pat of butter melting in a pool in the middle, garnished with quarters of pancakes on one side and a strip of bacon on the other. I wolfed mine down while standing at the range, and fed Rufus a whole strip of bacon, which he wolfed (catted?) down.

PM SNACK: 3pm, 2/3 of a slice of streetza, slug of ginger ale, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
After Edie's app't, walked past a slice joint on University below 14th St, couldn't resist as I've never tried it. Very typical slice joint. Slice reheated, very not fresh, crust a little too dry, sauce way too acidy, cheese cheap tasting and too plentiful. Not very good.

DINNER: 6pm, big salad, deep fried shrimp, 2 ears of boiled corn, a teaspoon of kimchi, a small bowl of chocolate chips and cashews, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5
While B&E slept, I made myself dinner. I picked up shrimp from the market, but upon opening up, it smelled a little funky and felt a little slimy. So I made a simple batter with flour, milk, egg, baking soda and salt, and deep fried those lil' f@kers, just like any restaurant does with proteins that are a bit funky. Came out bleah. Method was on point, but batter needed more salt and more liquid to be thinner. Maybe some herbs or beer to amp up flavor. Corn was flavorless, not in season yet. I picked up some kimchi from the farmer's market but it was way too spicy and vinegary, gotta go to Little Korea and pick up some proper stuff.

Coming Attraction

Crazy day, everything good. Ediebird has come home to roost! Lil' E has been sleeping, suckling and pooping a lot. While she and the B have slept, I've been cooking up sweets for B's b-day on Sunday, and tinkering on the computer. For when people ask for pictures, rather than trot out some boring stack, trying to jazz it up.... here is the first crack at the first 15 or so seconds...

Chillin' with Birdie

Everything is great. Will be back on it tomorrow.

Bird's the Word

This food blog is temporarily interrupted by reality. 6 lbs, 14.8 oz, 20" long, Edna Berti Wildman. Edna after my momma Edna, Berti after B's grandma Bertha, affectionately referred to as Berti. I shall never call her Edna, that was my mom, but Edie, Edie Bird, Bird, Birdie, Boid, Edes, Ed, Bert, Bertrand, Bertholomew or perhaps MiniBets will all due just fine.


Not to state the obvious, but this blog will be taking a baby-centric spin, as that's where my life is going. The name of the blog was a foreshadowing of this event, btw.


She's like a mini me!!!!!


Monkey! Freshly squoze!

Ate a couple of bad sausage links and half a rubber waffle from the breakfast they served, later wandered out after Gramma B came and ate a bad slice of pizza, some potato chips and Gatorade. Running on fumes.

Edie has been furiously suckling on B, no issues there. The ultrasounds predicted 8+ pounds, so to have her come out under 7 was a bit of a surprise, but no worry -- it's clear in the first 12 hours of her time with us that she's all about gittin' hers. Very awake when not sleeping, very hungry for milk (well, it's all colostrum right now), and very shouty when awake and not gettin' none of that sweet B boobie. I can't wait to go bike riding with her! Eat pizza with her! Play her some ska music and dance around the living room! Conspire to play tricks om B! Double snuggle with Rufus!

I think I'm going home tonight per hospital regulations, but will skip the food blogging today. Will try to pick up the thread in a couple of days, folks.

Pizza and Baby Power

Not your average day. Had my first excellent steak sandwich, ate pizza on my bed while B contracted, and then we went to the hospital to give birth. Details to come. (Yes, I wrote most of this entry before I was a dad....)

BREAKFAST: 10am, glass of homemade lemonade, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5
Good, but I know I can make the best lemonade in the universe with some tweaking. A dash of salt, all brown sugar, make a simple syrup with it, yeah.

LUNCH 1: 11am, steak sammich, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
Sliced the palm-sized piece of beef from yesterday's dinner thinly. Still juicy. Microwaved for 10 seconds, just to get the chill off of it. Toasted some 100% whole wheat bread. Put on the good mustard from the pickle shop, my mistake -- steak this good and perfectly cooked needs no condiment. Still, perhaps the best steak sandwich possible. My mom and dad used to eat steak sandwiches all the time, from left overs from steaks they ate the day before, and they were always kinda gross. I wish they were around to share this sandwich.

PM SNACK: 12:30pm, glass o' lemonade

LUNCH 2: 2:15pm, green salad with olive oil, vinegar and salt, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
Made chopped salad with romaine, carrot, cuce, scallion, red bell pepper, white onion and some vine ripened tomato.

LUNCH 3: 4pm, 2 slices of local streetza, handful of chocolate rugula, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5
Back from the gyno, seems B is in labo rfer real, dilation and all that stuff. I picked up some slices on my block, some chocolate from the kosher bakery, then ate it in bed with the B while she had her contractions. Pizza and baby power.

LABOR SNACKING: 5pm-1am, a handful of chocolate rugula, a donut , water, I think that was it.

Tomorrow, a steak sammich.

Bebe is still FutureBebe, any minute now. Chill day, slept in, lolled around while B met up with her mom for another test uptown, food shopped, hung out with an out of town friend, met up with everyone for a nice dinner. Life is good for now, just need Bebe.

BREAKFAST: 10am, onion bagel and cream cheese, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5

LUNCH: 1:30pm, mashed taro treasure boxes, mixed gluten, mini lotus leaf wrapped sticky rice, mock shrimp dumplings, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5
Took myself to lunch at Vegetarian Dim Sum.

PM SNACK: 3:30pm, homemade lemonade, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
Added a little light brown sugar, think I'm gonna play a little bit more with that next time.

DINNER: 6:30pm, a couple of pieces of bread and butter, lobster bisque, a small bite of king crab leg, a few snippets of slab bacon, half a steak and fries, a bit of chocolate cake and creme brulee, half a beer, water, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5
Dinner at Balthazar with B and a couple of friends. The steak just looked too big, took home half of it. Previously I would of just eaten it and felt sick, glad I had the good sense to pause.

I want some Bebe Show now!

Went out, but B was too pregnant to go out, so I went home. We need to get this bebeshow on the road!

BREAKFAST: 8:30am, ice cream cone, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5

BREAKFAST 2: 10:45am, 3/4 of a bagel and butter, some Gatorade, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5

PM SNACK: 12:30, a little bit of bacon-studded chocolate

LUNCH: 3pm, fried chicken, various sides, water, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
This was supposed to be good fried chicken, I found it merely ok. I am not a fan of this food in general, though I do remember the fried chicken we were taught to make in c-school was quite fantastic. I guess cooking small quantities for yourself and on a restaurant scale are very different things. Which adds to the old warning: People who open restaurants only because they can cook at home are idiots.

PM SNACK: 6pm, ice cream cone, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5

DINER: 9:30pm. pizza with cooked sauce, ricotta, garlic, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
Made at home with Pillsbury dough out of a pressurized canister pushed into n aluminium a half sheet pan. Topped with marinara I made a few days ago, a few dollops of whole milk ricotta, fresh garlic, salt, pepper, oregano and olive oil. Baked according to label, 13 minutes at 425, came out pale white and flibbidy flobbidy. Baked at 500 for another 10 minutes, almost burnt on the edges, still flibbidy in the middle. The toppings made it ok, but the crust was weird -- even though it was baked from raw, it tasted like I was eating a cheap frozen pizza.

Long good day

Woke at 7, got out of the house by 8:30, met D at 9 in Brooklyn Heights, then we rode bikes down Flatbush out to the BQE bikepath and road out east into East New York before heading north up into the string of parks that dot Queens, up in to Flushing Meadows. We took the 7 train in, but I got out before Manhattan and road into Greenpoint, stumbled upon the Renegade Art Fair. Bought matching t-shirts for me and FutureBebe, with a rainbow and a bicycle on them. Got home, ate pasta, back out again for a nice walk with B to the movies. Met up with her friends, went to a mediocre but convenient dinner after. Walked part way home, then hopped in a cab. Once B safely delivered, hopped on commuter bike to Greenpoint to hang with friends, wandering around the nether regions of Williamsburg.

-Phew!- I'm glad I'm old, not single, and don't have to have nights like that too often after days like that! I'm dog tired.

BREAKFAST: 7:30am, smoothie, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5
Good milk, good yogurt, vanilla sugar, salt, banana, blueberries, cherries, grapes, freshly ground flax seed. I left out the kiwi today, and found it much more pleasant. Kiwi gives a sour kick that does make the flavor a lot bigger, but to my own personal taste, a little less pleasant. I guess I just don't like kiwi. I wish I could expound and explain exactly why -- I do like sour-tasting foods, but I guess in this context I want more of a straight-ahead sweet experience.

LUNCH 1: 11:30am, turkey and swiss with lettuce, tomato, onion mustard on rye bread, Manhattan Special, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
Out it Glendale, Queens, at a busy local sammich shop. Ride makin' me hungry

LUNCH 2: 2:30pm, homemade pasta with homemade sauce, Gatorade, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
Straight up carbs with an electrolyte drink, perfect for recovery after 40 mile ride in warm weather

PM SNACK: 4pm, chocolate hazelnut vegan frozen dessert, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
Pre-movie stop at Stogo, it really hit the spot despite me not liking their product too much -- it was cold, smooth and not very sweet, just what I was craving.

DINNER: 7pm, lamb schnitzel with one small potato, glass of cava, water, large scoop of chocolate peanut butter ice cream in a chocolate-coated waffle cone, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5
Dinner at the Smith, stupid menu, not very good food, slow service, but convenient. A little bit of everything, everything done not that well.

EVENING SNORT: 9:30pm, a beer, a bite of trendy but over salted burger

Today is National Donut Day!

Woke up after 10 hours of weird sleep. Dreamt that L opened a sandwich shop a few 100 feet away from the pizza place, with amazing brisket sandwiches. He was trying to woo me to run it for him. I would only do it if he promised to never be there. I was putting pizza aside for dependence!

I was out doing chores in the neighborhood this morning, when I walked past the local donut shop (with literally some of the best donuts in the world), and they had a chalk board out front announcing that today is, in fact, National Donut Day. How could I not honor that? Unfortunately, the man behind the counter is very familiar with my face, and asked me where I've been lately -- y'know, just working a lot, trying to lose a little weight. I asked him if there was an official donut of National Donut Day, to which he responded a little aghast, "That would be donut discrimination! All donuts deserve to be eaten equally." Really. Well, I think that Mexican churro should be discriminated against. Their churro is so authentic, you want to see if it has a green card!

BREAKFAST 1: 9am, organic cheerios with the good milk, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5

BREAKFAST 2: 10:45am, chocolate donut, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5

PM SNACK: 1:15pm, matzo farfel, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5
Wow! This was the last of the batch I made a few weeks ago, and dah-AM, is it tasty. Very rich, but so tender, moist, flavorful....it froze great, too. I still have a couple of quarts of chicken stock left in the freeze, but once that is gone, I can generate more schmaltz to farfel it up again...

Rufus went nuts licking the farfel bowl...


PM SNACK: 3pm, slice of streetza, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
I was on an errand that took me to the far side of my neighborhood, past a pizzeria that has been there forever and a day but always seemed just a little bit too...seedy. Off the corner of Essex and Grand, next to the Pickle Guys and across the way from a large high school, Vic's Pizza is a tiny space right out of the early 80s. As in, just recovering from the economic slump of the 70s, hasn't yet cleaned up and redecorated, but has a Ms. Pacman video game to keep up with the times. A large menu of simple Italian dishes on the wall, but no kitchen to be seen. Crappy 2 deck baker's pride oven. Lots of kids, a few Chinese locals, a parent and child, all huddled in from the rain. One man operation, a sullen quiet Hispanic guy. I see him take a large pie out of the oven, the crust as white as Clay Aitken. He starts slicing it and giving it to the kids, collecting money and giving change with the same hands - a major health code violation.

The pizza was undercooked, pale on the bottom, white at the crust, and was that rare combination of flibbidy flobbidy AND dry. And at $2.25, not cheap -- a dollar slice joint can get away with this quality, but not for the full throw. Well, I now know why I've never been there -- the quality of their pie matches their decor.

DINNER: 5:30pm, Ethiopian vegetarian combo, Haaagen Daaaaaz chocolate ice cream, Entemann's chocolate chip cookies, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5
B wanted to order in Ethiopian. I used to really like Ethiopian, but have fallen out of love with it since c-school. It just doesn't seem as original or interesting since then. But B wanted it, we got it, and it was pretty good. I picked up the Entemanns because of my emotional connection to them from my childhood, but compared to the homemade cookies I had just a few days ago, it makes me think why anyone would buy these craps. Tasted vaguely stale, vaguely chemically, vaguely fakey.

What keeps mankind alive?

Spent the afternoon after class at the restaurant, helping interview candidates. My gawd, some real bottom-of-the-barrel people, reminded me of the first few weeks of American Idol where the freaks come out and show their stripes. How does mankind survive?

Friends at the restaurant say I look skinnier, but I don't believe it. I'm not to anxious to stand on the scale and see what I weigh right now. I've been eating well since leaving the resto, so I'm sure my weigh is up, though my clothes are still a little loose.

Lunch weighed on me. I probably could skipped dinner, but skipping meals is lame, no one should do it, especially if you have a choice in the matter. Took a brief nap around 6pm, conked out around 11pm. Don't feel sick, just run down, I think it's still allergies.

BREAKFAST: 7am, smoothie, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5
Grapes, cherries, banana, kiwi, blueberries, flax, good milk and yogurt, vanilla sugar, pinch of salt. Kick total ass.

AM SNACK: 9:45am, 2 cart donuts, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5

PM SNACK: 1pm, 1 slice pizza, 25 bowl, hunger 4/5

LUNCH: 3pm, 3 hotdogs with mustar and kraut, small amount of oven fries, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5
Hotdogs today, burgers yesterday, pizza often. Staff lunch at the resto is not too high falutin'.

PM SNACK: 4:45pm, latte di mendorla

PM WATERING: 5:30pm, quart

DINNER: 9pm, asparagus risotto, .75 bowl, hunger 3/5
Not too hungry, but knew if I ate nothing I would feel funky the next morning.

She really IS glowing!

Of course, B can't just glow like a normal gal, she gotta toss off thick red and green bars that knock people over as she walks by them. It's quite startling.

Had a fun day at school, talking about the big picture P&L statements -- made business seem a lot more manageable from such a perspective. Gave a presentation about my ideal pizzeria, got some good (and strange) feedback, but I guess you need to check my other blog to hear all about it!

Spent most of the afternoon at the restaurant, doing some accounting tasks, taking care of the menus, signage, then spent a lot of time interviewing people for most positions in the place, interesting eye opener.

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

AM SNACK: 9:45am, chocolate almond croissant, water, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
A break from the cart/Starbucks school grind. A few fellow students directed me to a fancy pastry shop on 23rd that's the same walking distance as Starbucks. Sure, the croissant was $4, more than twice the cost of a Starbucks pastry and 4x the cost of a cart cake, but oh my gawd you get what you pay for. Redolent of butter and that wonderful 'brown' flavor -- caramelization, malliard reaction, whatever you want to call it, it has it. Tremendously satisfying. I needed two Starbucks pastries to get satisfied, at the cost of almost 900 calories. I imagine this butter bomb has more than 400 calories, but probably less than 900.

PM SNACKS:1-2:30, a few snippets of moz, ricotta calzone mix
Hanging at the restaurant in the quiet hours taking care of my remaining responsibilities.

LUNCH: 2:30pm, big hamburger on white bread bun, potato chips, pickle spear, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5

PM SNACK: 6:45pm, large swig of red Gatorade

PM SNACK: 3:30pm, snippets of 10+ different kinds of gelato, .5 bowl, hunger 3/5
A Brooklyn gelato-maker delivered samples for us to try, to swing us away from Laboratorio de Gelato. With the exception of his rather amazing pistachio, all of the flavors were inferior. And the white chocolate gelato, really, that just offended me on principle!

DINNER: 7:30pm, potato nik with mustard, half a glass of musty red wine, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5
Potato nik tastes like my dad. I miss my dad. B needs to drink more wine so we can get this bebe show on the bebe road!

I cook, B bakes

Went out with B in the morning around the neighborhood, went to the crappy diner on my block because it was convenient. B slept most of the day with her big ol' belly while I worked on a school project and prepped dinner for B and a visiting friend of hers. Made pasta from scratch, haven't done it in a long time. After resting, the dough was way too wet so I just wacked in a lot of flour as ran it through the rollers, came out fine. Made marinara with a food mill for the first time (at home), a much more refined sauce from the chunky stuff I've made up to this point. Went with a trio of deserts because I could. I imagine when BabyB is here, homemade trios of deserts may be a thing of the past.

BREAKFAST: 9:30am, BLT on rye with mustard, homefries, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5

AM SNACK: 11:30, potato nik, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5

PM SNACK: 2pm, a few chocolate chip cookies, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5

DINNER: 6:45pm, smoked moz with tomato and basil, fresh spaghetti with marinara and ricotta, a little cherry sorbet, a few chocolate chip cookies, cookies and cream ice cream, glass of white wine, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5

Allergies, my butt, kicked

Thought I was just sleepy yesterday, but today after lunch on a bike ride down from the Upper East side, my nose was an open tap, my eyes were itching and I felt a little bit...intoxicated. Ah, it's that time of year again! A handful of days a year when certain trees or plants are blooming, I get sick without feeling crappy -- runny nose, run down, maybe itchy eyes and throat, but mind remains sharp, mood is fine and I sleep nice and deep in addition to daytime naps. Good thing I'm spending most of my time just waiting for miniB to enter life's stage.

BREAKFAST: 6:45am, good granola with the good milk, .5 bowl, hunger 3/5

AM SNACK: 9:45am, 2 cart donuts, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5

LUNCH:12:30, fried shrimp, a little baked potato, a few french fries, large house salad with creamy Italian dressing, water, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
Met up with B and Momma B in the Upper East side after B's check-in with a doc. We went to the Upper East side's diner institution, Jackson Hole. Shrimp was surprisingly good, probably out of the freezer but big, shrimpy and delicious. Came with a lot of salad, and avoided the fries. In the end, felt good about eating diner food.

PM SNACK: 4pm, 2 scoops of cookies n' cream ice cream, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5

DINNER: 8:15pm, pint of pork fried rice, water, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5

Queasy

Very lazy day, barely left the couch and ate too much. The HVS came over to see the Big B in her native habitat, and I spontaneously made some pre-dinner lemonade. It's so ridiculously easy, and no doubts after making so many gallons of it in the resto. I had 2 lemons, so I juiced them, threw in about 3/4 of a cup of sugar, then topped it off with 3x or so water. Taste, iced, served. I Just needed a squirt of lime and a sprig o' mint.

BREAKFAST: 7:30am, organic chex with good milk, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5

AM SNACK: 10:45, crappy Wholefood trail mix, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5

AM SNACK: 11:45, baby carrots with a litte evoo and seasalt, .25 bowl, hunger 3/5
The crappy trail mix gave my tummy a bit of a queasy feeling.

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

PM SNACK: 3:45pm, cookies n' creme ice cream, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5

DINNER: 7pm, chive cakes, spring rolls, summer rolls, shrimp and string beans in brown sauce with white rice, homemade lemonade, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5

Cocaine may be a hell of a drug, but Cookies n' Creme, it's a hell of an ice cream

Woke up, checked to make sure B wasn't giving birth, then took off to Coney Island. There was a half-marathon my friend E was running in, so I was able to fly down Ocean Parkway without any cross traffic. After running 13.1 miles in the heat and humidity, all that E and her friend wanted to do was scarf hotdogs, so scarf we did at Nathan's.

I just wasn't hungry this morning, but the cherry sorbet I labored on was....good, not great, I think I went too far on the cherry brandy, which prevented the ices from setting up too firm and gave a very mild booze tickle to the nose. On the other hand, it's VERY cherry-like in a real cherry way, and where it didn't crystallize, it's so smoooove. Next time, less kirschwasser and more gelatine.

I explored further into frozen deserts today. Yesterday, I made cream anglais, the base for really solid vanilla ice cream. Pint of whole milk, pint of heavy cream, cup of sugar, 2 scraped out vanilla beans, husks and all, into the pot, brought to a simmer. The second it hit simmer, I tempered a little bit of it into 12 whisked egg yolks, then tempered the yolks into the dairy -- if you just dumped in the yolks, instant scrambled eggs. Kept whisking until it thickened, then immediately through a meal mesh strainer into an ice bath. Refrigerated over night. This in itself is an intense sauce that can be poured over pastry, bread pudding, cakes, etc, but it's real hero status is the "French vanilla" ice cream it makes when ya churn it.

But I didn't want to be so....vanilla, so yesterday I asked her what ice cream flavor she desired. She peeped, not totally proud of herself, "Cookies n' creme!" Ugh, what a low rent flavor! I guessed it was just vanilla ice cream with an oreo mix-in, so no biggie, better to keep the old lady happy then be an ice cream snob.

I got a pack of Newman-Os from the supermarket, which I never had before. They pretty much look and taste exactly like oreos, except they don't leave a fatty film in your mouth and don't give you the chemical tickle at the back of your throat. As the ice cream was churning, I pulsed the majority of the cookies in the food processor to get a nice mix of powder, small bits and medium bits. One thing of note: the vanilla 'creme' all but disappeared, powdered and bonded to the darker chocolaty bits. Weird.

So I poured the cookies into the vanilla base a few moments before it was ready to stop, and once fully incorporated, shovelled it into a container and into the freezer to set. Then I tasted the remains of the dasher and barrel....

Oh my. This is interesting. Not what I expected. This is actually really, really.....good. The 'creme' of the cookies was powdered, and then kind of decided to sing bass-harmony with the pure vanilla of the ice cream....the cookies gave a nice interesting crunch and texture to the otherwise silky ice cream, but rather than being like sand, added a nice simple cocoa note that's kind of like, ummm, a castrato singing high above the vanilla harmony. The cookies also raised the sweetness and saltiness level of the affair, making it so different than what it was before. I guess that's really are there is to it, just blenderize and mix in cookies. I gotta try this with ginger snaps, with cinnamon graham crackers, with all-chocolate Newman-Os in my special 3-Deep-Chocolate ice cream (with cocoa, milk chocolate, dark chocolate and a dash of espresso grinds), ohhh, the mind is racing. I'm writing this in the afternoon while B is asleep, I can't wait to feed her some of this, she's gonna shout, "BAMALAMA!"

Hours later: Yep, she shouted bamalama.

AM SNACK: 8:30am, snippet of cherry sorbet
BRUNCH: 11:15am, 2 hotdogs with kraut and onion, a small amount of cheese fries, 1 beer, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5

BIKE WATERING: 1pmish, 24 oz of water

PM SNACK: 2:15pm, cherry sorbet, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5

LUNCH: 3:30pm, asparagus risotto, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
Oh my. This is a dish that despite the snobs that say risotto is no good if it's not just cooked, it actually tastes better the day after. More moisture gets into the grains, the starchy stocky creamy sauce gets more so, the flavors just mellow into each other, and it doesn't hurt that after last night's dinner, I hit it up with more salt to make it beg to be eaten.

PM SNACK: 4pm, 6 or so Newman-O cookies, scrapings of cookies n' creme ice cream out of the dasher barrel, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5

DINNER: 9pm, vegan singapore mai fun, a summer roll, a few dumplings, a scoop of cookies n' creme, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5
Ordered in food with the bulbous B.

Cookin' like I mean it

Spent part of the morning making simple syrup for sorbet. Sorbet can be relatively easy to make with an ice cream machine, but not if you ain't got no sorbet syrup. Pint of water, on the fire stir in a mix of 11 oz of granulated sugar and quarter ounce of powdered gelatin. When it's all dissolved, drop in about 3 oz of light corn syrup, bring to a rolling boil. Pour into a clean container (any stray bits will cause crystallization), chill until ready to use.

When I got home from grocery shopping, I put my barefoot & pregnant wife to work depitting about a quart of cherries, which I then simmered in a quarter inch of water to loosen them up. Ran them in the food processor into a fine puree, and in the blender I placed the pint of gelatinous syrup, a dash of cinnamon, juice of half a large lemon, and a quarter ounce of kirsch...

I pulled this recipe from my c-school text, didn't make this one in class, I think I did lime sorbet then. The recipe calls for "kirsch", which when plugged into google comes back as a cherry brandy. After food shopping, I stopped by my local liquor store in the heart of the Lower East Side, and I ask the counter guy, "Do you carry kirsch?" To which he replied, "Are you making German chocolate cake?" To which I replied, "Nah, cherry ices from scratch." "Ah," he replied, turned around and pulled out a bottle of "Kirschwasser". Something tells me that if it wasn't the L.E.S., this would not of been so easy to source. Anyway...

Poured the cherry puree into the syrup mix, and blended for a solid two minutes. Poured through a fine metal mesh into a plastic container, which removed a surprisingly large amount of cherry pulp, and into the fridge.

Was hoping to catch a yoga class with the HVS today, but an hour before our cradle arrived and I made the mistake of immediately setting it up. After some frustration, I came to the conclusion that a key piece was defective, but by then I realized class was starting in 10 minutes... -sigh- ...third time in a row I flaked on a class, you think with me not on a work schedule I'd be less flaky.

Took my time making a massive quantity of asparagus risotto, kind of merging a Batali recipe, a c-school recipe, and just kind of winging it by eyeball. It came out very creamy and pretty good, though after eating a portion I had to go seriously up on the salt. Almost as an afterthought, got some chicken breasts out of the freezer, zapped them, coated them in olive oil, chili sauce and Worcestershire sauce, light salt, and off to the grill pan, where I got some nice marks going on. After all that, just didn't have the time or the space to make creamed spinach, maybe tomorrow.

After dinner, I got the cherry sorbet mix into the freezer barrel, but even though it took on air, it was way too loose to eat, needs to set overnight. -sigh-

BREAKFAST: 7:30 am, smoothie, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
Using what was left: a very ripe banana, good yogurt and good milk, heavy on blueberries and cherries, fresh ground flax, vanilla, salt, sugar. Came out good but without the grape and kiwi, definitely not as well-rounded.

I wonder how many calories are in this thing. Less than 3 hours later, I got hungry again...

BREAKFAST 2: 10:30am, toasted sesame bagel with whipped cream cheese, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5

LUNCH 1: 1:15pm, pasta with olive oil, butter, Worcestershire sauce and garlic, snippet of cookie dough, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5

LUNCH 2: 3:45pm, a couple small slices of artichoke pizza, half a diet Manhattan special, 1 bowl, hunger 3/5
I miss L's pizza, but this variation was not the best.


DINNER: 9:30pm, one and half grilled chicken breasts, reasonable scoop of asparagus risotto, small amount of crappy Wholefoods trailmix, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5
I'm glad I was able to cook my ass off AND resist overeating. In the past, when I cooked lots of complicated heavy food, I used the excuse to eat an extra portion. This time, I got a whole mess of extra portions into the fridge and freezer, 'cause when the bebe comes, I may not be able to take a night to cook in peace with my B as my personal dish washer...