You might not have noticed it, but there have been some big changes here over the past week. You can now reach this blog at www.sweetblogomine.com, so change your bookmarks. How exciting is that!?! You can also now email me at laren (at) sweetblogomine.com.
No, really, it’s sooo cool, isn’t it?
When did I become such a dork?
Had a great time at the Gothamist happy hour last night. Despite showing up somewhat late, I was able to chat with many of my fellow bloggers, some of whom I knew and some of whom I met for the first time. At one point, I was introduced to a blogger to whom I had linked in the past, not knowing who he was. When he was introduced to me by name and I saw his face, it took a moment, but then I placed him — we went to high school together waaaay back in the day. We spent a great deal of time catching up and reminiscing about who we were then and how our current lives are such an interesting contrast — I never would have pictured him the way he is today, and I’d imagine he might say the same about me. What about you? Would the people you knew in high school recognize you today, or is your current persona such a far cry from who you were then that you would be virtually unrecognizable?
And no name-dropping, but I wanted to give a shout-out the evil group of bloggers who kept me up way past my bedtime on a school night. You know who you are. . .
I have finished posting the pictures from this weekend, and I believe there are a few that need some explanation beyond what was written in the caption. First, a few were taken at a rest stop outside of the Poconos. This rest stop was like nothing I had seen before — it sold everything one could possibly want or need at a rest stop, from snacks to fireworks. As we debated whether or not buying our friend fireworks would break any laws, we ran into someone we knew from NYC. Small, small world. Before we left, I bought my very first taco from Taco Bell. And, although it wasn’t quite as nasty as McDonalds, as far as fast food goes, it will probably be my last. We opted out of a visit to the mobile chapel, and continued on our ride upstate.
My first day in the Finger Lakes region was spent wine-tasting. We visited three vineyards: Lamoreaux Landing, Shalestone Vineyards, and Chateau Lafayette Reneau. I brought back two bottles, a cabernet franc and a late harvest riesling, for my upcoming wine club society meeting, where we’ll be focusing on the Finger Lakes region (convenient, no?).
The remainder of the pictures are from Jeff’s house on the lake, where we celebrated the Fourth, had a mini luau, and had s’mores two nights in a row. This weekend I learned that s’mores, while they taste amazing, do not photograph well. They were so very tasty, chocolatey, and gooey, I promise. The final two photos are from the Big Dipper, where we stopped for barbecued chicken and milkshakes on the way home. Sure as hell beats Taco Bell any day. You can see the rest of the pictures here.
My traffic has been waaaay up over the past few days — many thanks to Alaina at NYC Eats and Hugh at Gaping Void for the link-love. I’m feelin’ it, baby.
I was up in the Finger Lakes region of upstate New York this weekend. While shopping at a local Wal-Mart for our 4th of July barbeque, I saw something that left me standing, mouth agape, in the midst of the freezer aisle.
Yes folks, that is a five pound bag. Staying in NYC looks better and better each time I leave. Once I recovered, I had a lovely weekend. A special thanks to Jeff for being an amazing host and showing me the sights. I’ll be posting the rest of the pictures soon.
After reading about Foodie back in September, receiving invites to the last few events and having scheduling conflicts each time, I was finally able to attend this past Sunday’s Spanish-themed Foodie at Gallery A in the East Village. I brought three of my food and wine-loving friends to enjoy the evening with me. After all these months, my anticipation and expectations were both running high, and I was not in the least bit disappointed. Joe DeSalazar, who runs the event, was as pleasant as he had been in our email correspondence, and after a few glasses of pear sangria, my friends and I each sat down at a large table, with a personalized menu welcoming us to our seats. We shared the table with about a dozen people, all of whom were very interesting and clearly shared our love of food and wine.
Each course was paired with a Spanish wine. The first course was a mint-marinated seared tuna with grilled peaches, which was light and simple, and goat cheese-stuffed figs with pecans and serrano ham. Despite my ridiculous aversion to goat cheese, I ate one of the two figs.
The second course was one of my favorites, a manchego corn flan with grilled zucchini, caramelized corn, and mint oil. The slightly charred corn lent a sweet, smoky contrast to the fluffy yet creamy flan — pure summertime. 
The next course matched sweet piquillo peppers with a stuffing of chorizo, bacalao, olives and chive oil. Every time I have chorizo, I ask myself, “why the hell don’t I eat this more often?!” The spiciness was a great contrast to the sweetness of the peppers. The wine pairing with the peppers was a 2001 Tempranillo called Telmo Rodriguez “G” Gago, which we nicknamed “Roddy G.” We decided it was most likely related to Ali G. It was also at this point in the evening when we played “stump the chef” in order to win extra wine. 
[Our challenge — what is the unit used to measure the “hotness” of a pepper. Any takers?]
Despite our increased wine intake, we forged on to the next courses. The Basque seafood stew was a medley of shrimp, mussels and monkfish in a ham hock broth, with green beans and aioli toasts. As you can see, I dove right in before I could even sneak in a picture. The broth kept the stew light enough for the hot summer evening. 
The last course, a grilled summer Cocido, consisted of a grilled lamb chop and a slice of pork tenderloin served on a bed of chickpea puree. We finished our evening with a rice pudding, with fresh fruit, toasted almonds, and a dark chocolate sauce, which was paired with a smooth, sweet sherry. A fabulous finish to an extremely indulgent evening. 
Join me, my friends, and Joe at the next Foodie event, which will be in approximately two months. Visit the Foodie website for details and to learn more about past and future events, and click here for more pictures.
As I mentioned earlier, I’m training for several events in the near future – Run Hit Wonder on July 22 and a biathlon (running/biking, not skiing/shooting) in September. Yet I’m still finding it tough to pull my lazy self out of bed in the morning to run before work. This morning, however, I found another reason to motivate — Run Against Bush. You buy a t-shirt, run with a group in your area if you choose to do so, and your money goes to support Kerry through the Democratic National Committee and voter registration intitiatives. You can sponsor me by donating, or get your own t-shirt, get out there, and run against Bush! [via Andrea Strong]
Was out at Coney Island for this year’s Mermaid Parade on Saturday. Strangely enough, I had never been before, despite the fact that it seemed right up my alley — you know, artsy, funky, boob-filled. So I headed out this year, and had a great time, and have since decided that I have to dress up next year so I can join in the festivities. I even ran into a few of the lovely ladies who blog while I was there!
And most importantly, I ate some great Coney Island boardwalk food, without overdoing it. I found a tiny taco stand tucked away between the fried dough and cotton candy vendors, and managed to have a delicious, spicy, and authentic pork taco, complete with cilantro, fresh lime, radishes, and crisp lettuce, all on a warm corn tortilla. I finished off the day with a half dozen clams on the half-shell, and their sweet brininess was sufficient to carry my Coney Island memories with me on the long F train ride home. Click here for the pictures.
Single in the city? Options abound, describes “simulated dates,” where you go on a date with a consultant, who then provides feedback on how you can make your dates better. Don’t think I’ve gotten to that point yet. Actually, don’t think I’ll ever get to that point.
Yesterday, the Mermaid Parade; today, Foodie; tomorrow night, a farewell dinner at Public; Tuesday night, graduation/open house for my self-defense class (feel free to come, by the way; click here for details) — when will I ever have time to post everything?! Sigh.
