To add to the list of Things I Will Apparently Never Learn: If you are sick, it is best to take it easy and get plenty of rest, otherwise you will be sick three times longer than you would have if you just took it easy and got plenty of rest. Sigh.
v. 2.0
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Award Winner!
I'm proud to be part of the Serious Eats team — we won a James Beard award last night for best food blog! Woo hoo!
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Derby Day
Last year I missed the Derby for reasons I won’t bother getting into, but this year I am all over the juleps. My go-to julep can be found at Blue Smoke, and they make great ones at Eleven Madison Park (at least during the Big Apple BBQ Block Party). I usually drink juleps w/my good friend Rob, who is currently living in London, so I will be sure to drink at least one in his honor — I’ll be at Rye House for their Derby Party (after a bike ride and a run, of course).
The following julep recipe comes from Wild Turkey Bourbon Master Distiller Jimmy Russell. He’s been in the industry for 56 years and has refined his recipe over the years to come up with his version of the perfect mint julep — make a few and drink them regardless of whether or not you actually watch the race!
THE 56 JULEP
2.5 oz. Wild Turkey 101
3 sprigs of mint (six to eight mature-sized leaves)
1.5 teaspoons brown sugar
.5 cup crushed ice
In a traditional silver julep cup or double old fashioned glass, muddle two sprigs of mint with the brown sugar and one ounce of Wild Turkey 101 for a few minutes, crushing the mint leaves with a spoon. Add the crushed ice, the remaining bourbon, and garnish with sprig of mint.
In other julep fun, watch Jason Littrell make a mint julep in this video.
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Rant of the Day
Please stop sending me emails with that damn red exclamation point !. If it's that important, CALL ME — I get hundreds of email per day and no stupid red exclamation point is going to make me read your email first or drop what I'm in the middle of doing to handle whatever it is you're asking me to do.
Thanks for listening. Carry on.
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Nourishing My Inner Diva
As some of you know, I am a performer. Okay, maybe not for a living or anything, but I was involved in theatre and singing for, well, as long as I can remember, really. Chorus, stage band, musicals, a cappella, bands, cabaret shows — a constant parade of belting it out in front of an audience, from my youngest years to just after law school. Since then, it's been a little tougher to find a way to find performance opportunities. In NYC, either you do it professionally, or you do it catch as catch can. For me, when I'm jonesing for a taste of the stage, it generally means one thing — karaoke. Lucky for my, the city is filled with karaoke bars of every flavor, from private rooms to dive bars where you can sing to your heart's delight. Of course, given my nature, I prefer the more public venues to the private rooms, and I've recently discovered (thanks to @NYCBaby) the joy of live band karaoke, where you get up and sing with a live rock band backing you up. One good dose of "Goodbye to You" with Bunnie England & the New Originals (which I got in last Thursday) and my inner diva is rejuvenated for at least a few weeks (plus that particular song has the added bonus of getting rid of those clingy bits of ex-boyfriend remnants that stick around beyond their welcome). That said, I'm still hitting this up on Sunday, because hey — no one is going to nourish my inner diva except for me!
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Back on the Bike
Just got back from a 19.5 mile bike ride this morning. Man, getting out the door at 7:30 is rough for me — weekday or weekend — but I did it. I'm doing my part, now it's time to do yours. Donate to the Leukemia Lymphoma Society and support my triathlon training!!
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I am SUCH a Girl
Actually, I'm generally not one of those girly-girls. I do like to keep my toenails painted, but I'm not so great about manicures. I am by no means a shop-a-holic or a clothes horse and I can't handle spending a lot of money on purses. I don't tend to wear a lot of makeup, but do like the pop of bright red lipstick every so often. It's true that I like cute shoes, as long as they're comfy, and I think I look better in skirts and dresses than in pants, but I am not really all that girly.
Except that even though I've lived in New York since 1994 and I shouldn't be at all surprised after 15+ years, I still let out the most ridiculous girly gasp every time I see a rat. I suppose it's hardwired or something.
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Drop 10 Update — 5.6 Down, 4.4 to Go
#drop10beforetri This week I lost 1.8 lbs, putting me at a total of 5.6 pounds lost — more than halfway to my goal of losing 10 pounds before the triathlon. This week, I ate out a few times, went to a dive bar crawl and a cocktail event, but when I wasn't doing those things, and even when I was, I made very careful choices about what and how much I ingested. I also worked out a ton and am tearing through my case of seltzer.
I'm excited about this as it makes me realize that when I make conscientious choices about what and how much I eat and drink that it matters. It also makes me realize that I don't have to deprive myself completely in order to drop a few pounds. That said, I plan to work hard to make sure the scale continues to show progress in the right direction, and if I reach my goal before the tri (July 18th), I may go for five more. But let's cross that bridge when we come to it, shall we?
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Weekend Wrapup
Evoe "Cocktails de Paris" event with @Daisy17 & @Cocktailspirit followed by red sauce dinner at Bread Tribeca; First Skype to Skype call (free! yay!), workout, "The Foodie's Dilemma" Times Talks panel with Mom, featuring Bobby Flay, Daniel Humm, Alex Guarnaschelli and moderated by Frank Bruni, the 11th Annual Epicurian Dive Bar Crawl; a run in Astoria with Sara, tasting cocktails at Blue Hill, a quick nap, dinner at Choptank with @Cocktailspirit, and much-needed laundry.
To start your Monday off right, a cocktail recipe from Friday's event: the Twentieth Century Cocktail.
1 1/2 ounces Beefeater gin
3/4 ounce Lillet Blanc
1/4 ounce creme de cacao
3/4 ounce lemon juice
Shake with ice and strain into a cocktail glass. Serve with a lemon twist.
