Sweet Blog O'Mine

Category: Food and Drink

  • Raising the Bar

    Inspired by my recent cocktail class, I set out this weekend on a shopping excursion to pick up some components to improve my home bar.  Nothing major, just a few essentials — bitters, a bar spoon, some more glasses, and a key bottle or two.  Everything got a good workout in honor of the Mad Men premier last night, where @cocktailspirit and @halw shook up some classic cocktails for the rest of us to enjoy.  One such treat was the Park Avenue Cocktail (courtesy of John the Bastard):

    The Park Avenue Cocktail

    2   oz gin
    ¾   oz pineapple juice
    ¾   oz sweet vermouth
    ⅓   oz Grand Marnier (or orange curaçao)

    Shake and strain.

    The one more piece of equipment I need to improve my home bar (and the rest of the home) is an air conditioner that cools more than my bedroom.

  • What’s Cooking

  • Words of Wisdom, Take 2

    After seeing Julie & Julia this weekend I was once again reminded how much I admire Julia Child and everything about the way she lived her life.  Of course I then decided I wanted to write about one of my favorite Julia Child quotes and then realized that I already did.  Fine. Then I'll give you my second favorite quote — her advice on how not to lose a husband: the "three F's."  "Feed 'em, fuck 'em, and flatter 'em."  And my third favorite:  "Life itself is the proper binge."  And finally, a bonus quote, when asked what her longevity was attributed to, she answered, "red meat and gin."  Amen, Julia.

  • Saturday’s Adventure


    The pothole

    Lauren, Frank and I went off on another one of our adventures on Saturday when we took this rather circuitous bike route to City Island. We had a somewhat auspicious start, arriving on the West Side bike path just as the entire rescue forces of Manhattan had arrived to respond to the midair collision that had occurred moments before. Continuing up the path we witnessed a bike crash right in front of us. Next, Frank was nearly felled by an errant softball, and, for the coup de grace, I had my very first bike accident. First of all, I'm fine. There was no traffic involved. I was felled by this evil pothole (it's hard to tell quite how big it was — not sure how I missed it), and have some road rash on my left side and some very colorful bruises. After being tended to and cleaned off, I continued the rest of the ride, and we enjoyed heaping plates of seafood at Johnny's Reef, which tasted all the better for the 30 miles we had traveled to get it. You can find the pictures here.

  • Kismet Vacation

    Kismetwelcome

    Didn't take all that many pictures, but I captured some of the big meals including the grilled pizza experiment and the seafood extravaganza.  You can find them all here.

  • Beachy Thoughts

    My skin now gleams bronze.

    I have gotten my fill of sleep.

    Surrounded by friends,

    While enjoying the taste of home-cooked banquets,

    Watching the sun set alongside the lighthouse,

    And listening to the pounding surf.

    [PS, I am the lamest poet ever.]

  • Expanding the Repertoire

    Toys 

    Margarita

    As you may know, I love to cook.  And eat.  And write about food.  Lately, I've been writing a bit more about spirits and cocktails.  Although I enjoy drinking cocktails, my home cocktail making has been somewhat limited to a few standbys, and I've wanted to expand my horizons a bit and approach cocktail making with the same creativity as I use when I cook off the cuff.  With cooking, before you start creating dishes on your own, you have to have a sense of the basics.  With that in mind, I took a class at the Astor Center last night — Home Bar Basics. with Will Wilmot and Don Lee (who I interviewed for Serious Eats).  They taught us basic general formulas for three major families of cocktails and showed us proper technique for shaking, stirring, and cracking ice.  I need to purchase a few more basic tools and make some simple syrup, but then, let the games begin.  Anyone for a cocktail?

  • A Very Twitter Evening

    What better way to celebrate finishing a triathlon than with a few tweetups!  First, the Rum/Tiki Tweetup at Elettaria, followed by a night with @The_Nose tasting The Dalmore.  Luckily, the evening started early, so I was still able to get a solid night's sleep.  Thanks to @livethelushlife for organizing, and great to meet everyone!  I posted the few pics I took here, but @shotsandcuts put a bunch up here and here.  I love being a dork. 

  • Plums

    The CSA bounty is steadily growing.  Here's my portion (1/3) of this week's haul:

    CSAbounty

    Last year I was drowning in plums, and if this week is any indication, I think that trend will continue this year.  So, in light of that, and of John's mention of it, I now share with you my favorite poem about plums, "This Is Just To Say," by William Carlos Williams:

    I have eaten
    the plums
    that were in
    the icebox

    and which
    you were probably
    saving
    for breakfast

    Forgive me
    they were delicious
    so sweet
    and so cold

  • Breaking Rules

    Wtbsunset
    Sunset at Water Taxi Beach last night at last night's Good Beer Seal/Slow Food NYC grill-off.  Yes, I was supposed to be staying home, but I made an exception, and I still got plenty of sleep.  Staying in for the rest of the week, I swear.