v. 2.0
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Weekend Wrapup
Highlights of the weekend: visiting Nathan's Art of the Brick exhibit followed by margaritas and snacks at Añejo and setting sail with Bowmore on the Clipper City followed by a tasting and nibbles at the always wonderful Dead Rabbit. Many thanks to Brian and Scott for joining me! -
A Change Would Do You Good*
As you may know, I've got a new job, which I started a week ago. One of the many things this means is the opportunity to explore a new neighborhood. Almost every day since I started, I have been able to stroll around a bit during lunchtime and take mental notes of restaurants and stores in the new 'hood. Extra bonus — there's a greenmarket there every Thursday. Any suggestions for the Morningside Heights/Columbia area, bring 'em on!* In the words of Sheryl Crow
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Bird is the Word
Most often, when I make a roast chicken, I use the Zuni Cafe recipe, which I adore. This past week, I had chicken that was roasted according to Thomas Keller's technique (pictured above). It was also delicious. Now I'm wondering which one is better. Until I get to do a taste test closer in time, I turn to you, dear readers. Any preference? -
Le Grand Purge
Earlier this summer I had grand plans to get rid of all kinds of stuff in my apartment. I've lived here for over a decade, and when you don't have the impetus of a move, it's a bit of a challenge to go through your belongings with a critical eye and get rid of the things that you don't need or use. I'm in the process of some big changes and so, although I'm a bit behind schedule, I've set aside some time to start purging. I've set aside a particular section of the apartment for each day (living room, bathroom, bedroom, etc.) and have started to get to work. For example, in my bathroom, not only did I go through my cabinets and throw out a ton of stuff, but I cleaned the inside of my medicine cabinet, light fixtures, and every nook and cranny I could reach. In my bedroom I went through the storage bins under my bed, set aside clothes for donation, and cleaned out my jewelry box in addition to basic dusting, cleaning, vacuuming and mopping. Today I've tackled stacks of magazines and paper in the living room and am moving on to my office. The goal is to make room for new energy — not new stuff — and get rid of old, dead weight. Wish me luck.
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CSA Cooking
Just a partial list of what I've been making with my CSA bounty lately:
- watermelon feta salad
- green salads with carrots and beets
- cod with zucchini and basil
- Punjabi eggplant, potatoes & chickpeas
- zucchini bread
- baba ganoush
- feta & pecorino salad
- fritattas
Who wants to come over for dinner?
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Transportation Aggravation
Overall, I have been truly enjoying my Citibike membership. It's perfect for a trip across town, especially if it's not too hot out — if it's really hot and you need to be somewhere where you need to look your best (like a first date or something), it's sometimes better to walk to avoid showing up looking like a huge sweatball. Which brings me to last night. With about 15 minutes to make it to the West Village and a cool evening breeze blowing, Citibike would seem to be an ideal transportation mode. It was — it got me to Perry and Bleecker in good time with barely a schvitz. This would've been great except for the tiny fact that the rack at that spot was completely full. I then biked over to Christopher and Hudson — full. At that point, I had to pull out my phone and find another kiosk — Bank and Hudson. I biked up to it, down the (stupidly uncomfortable) cobblestone street to find one free slot at the kiosk. Hooray! I was still in the safe 5-10 minute late range, and a tad schvitzier than I would like, but good to go. Until the bike wouldn't dock properly. The green light wouldn't go on, no matter what I tried. I was not about to keep biking farther from my destination at that point, so I called Citibike customer service. After a bit of time on hold, the rep took all of my information (key number, rack location, bike number) and she let me leave it where it was. I strode in to the restaurant about 15 – 20 minutes late, sweaty, and pissed off. At the very least, I had a good icebreaker story to start off the evening.
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Flashback Friday: Leave It
Welcome to 1983. This has been stuck in my head for the past 24 hours. Side note: when I owned this on 45, the B-side was the a cappella version. It was most likely my first exposure to a cappella. #foreshadowing
