sunning

What cat doesn't like sun? Some sort of freakish vampire cat? That would be weird 'cause how could you tell it was a vampire cat? Already has pretty sizable canine teeth. Guess I shouldn't use a dog-based adjective. Big fangs. Cat fangs. Way cooler than dog fangs. Unless it's like some Kujo dog and then it is best just to back off. So back to Chai. Not doing too bad. Really loving the new digs and the great southern sunlight. Perfect place for winter naps. Wish I could just hang with her all day. Ahhhh, nap. You might be able to see a bit of the lump on her lower left jaw. Such a trooper.

Moving In

Boxes everywhere but obviously Chai has found a wonderful spot to nap. Obvious who really owns this place.

string play

string play a video by peffs on Flickr.

Still has a little energy and spunk.

Compact Wildlife

Ran into not one but two beavers in my local creek. I've been visiting the small stretch of creek no longer than a quarter mile around Hooffs Run Bridge. I've seen a woodchuck, groundhogs, raccoon and baby, two big snapping turtles, two snakeheads, spawning blue sunfish guarding about 22 redds, many red-eared slider turtles, and countless other fun finds. My favorite are the frogs that squeak MEEP when they jump from the mud bank into the water when they feel my gigantic feet mucking closer to their shore. They sound just like cartoons or one solo note from the Knights Who Say Ni. I love my creek.

Vermillion

Yum. Lucky to have my friends G & J come into the Old Town area of Alexandria. It gave me a chance to try this neighborhood restaurant Vermillion on King Street. I had a Pimm's Cup and bowl of their daily soup - a chilled roasted red pepper puree with chive chive crème fraiche, pine nuts, little croutons & squash “crudo”. Delish. Can't wait to go back. Need to find someone who would like going for the Farm Table menu. Hate when they don't allow a "one".

Butterfly pose

I can't believe I got this shot. This butterfly basically just worked this flower to maximum effect allowing me to take many shots, this being one of my favorites. Wow. This is part of the rainforest exhibit at the California Academy of Science in San Francisco. I could spend all day there.

buttery perfection

Went to French Laundry for my birthday. More on that meal later. Just had to comment on the wonderful sugar butter biscuit cookies they send you home with. Perfect crumble crunch with a light coat of granular sugar. These are simply perfect representations of the traditional English butter cookie that typically can't be found in England as they've evolved to producing heavier, denser blocks. These are a balanced effort in lightness and richness. Any thicker, too much cake; any thinner, too crisp. Too fine a granular sugar and the sweetness would prevent the tongue from truly appreciating the butter cookie. Too large a granular sugar and they'd roll right off. I also tasted a hint of salt grains here and there perfectly enhancing the butter-sugar blend base. Behold the joys of a perfect short bread cookie. The bar has been set high. I look forward to any challengers but this one seems impossible to beat.

Blueberry Kuchen

Confession - I'm a chef only when the bargains or bounty call. This time it was the Friday organic blueberry sale at Whole Foods. Time to make blueberry kuken (that's the way it's spelled on her recipe). Mom has a great recipe I think she picked up when living in Germany. Maybe I should check on that family legend. But I don't want to find out it can from some 1960s issue of Good Housekeeping. I decided to use corn flour for the crust. I got it from Philipsburg Manor in the Hudson Valley and it didn't absorb the liquids as well as white wheat flour so I used that to firm it up. Overall the results were FABULOUS! I'm sticking with corn flour in the future. I t turned out crisp and flaky, blueberries sweet but slightly tart. Brought it into work and it went quickly at our group meeting. Need a bigger spring pan :)

buying habits revealed

I'm so cheap that all my Amazon "Recommended For You" items are free music downloads.

Cat Bed

.... otherwise know as that really expensive hand-knit sweater shrug thing I bought for myself this holiday season at Henri Bendel. Throw a million things on the bed and my cat will find the most expensive or new thing to take a nap on. At least she's got great taste!

Inhale DEEPLY

Just got my new eco-friendly yoga mat from Barefoot. It's natural rubber and jute. Did a few down dogs, pigeon stretching. Noticed my hands smelled like weed. You know, that weed! This might surprise some but I've never used weed. But this never stopped me from being able to smell weed from miles away. Weird. Maybe I can't tell weed from jute. Interestingly strange.

I just realized I come across as the biggest hippie eco-nut. I'm worse than Ed Bagley posting kambucha notes followed by a earth-friendly yoga mat high. Must go eat some red meat to balance the scales. Where'd I put my bottled water and fur coat? Nope, can't go that far without crumpling in hemp-loving heaves.

In Search of a Container

Brewed some green tea. Did a half-gallon batch to give the SCOBY something to eat. Felt that might not be a good pool for the baby SCOBY to survive on so I brewed a full gallon and bought a really stupid container - too big and round. The poor SCOBY would have to grow way too much. I obviously don't know what the hell I'm doing. YouTube videos and blogging may not be the best way to approach booching.

Home Again, Home Again ...

Have no idea when they took this picture of the Bolt Bus at 33rd and 7th Ave. since there is ALWAYS tons of traffic and mobs of people. But I have to give a shout out to Bolt for being one of the better bus services around. It costs so much less than the train but is safer than some of the Chinatown options. After a Megabus incident that left me stranded outside of the Lincoln Tunnel (bus driver - truck driver incident), I've been a Bolt regular customer. I also like not having to line up. Bolt boards according to groups; guess that's like Southwest Airlines except Bolt serves How-I-Met-Your-Mother cast-a-likes and SW caters to the support socks crowd. Bolt rewards frequent travelers (group A) by allowing us to board first. YEAH, window!

The Bolt ride to DC really depends on the driver. They can get us there early but some like to stop for a 'convenience' break. Ugh. I like the drivers who push straight through. I really don't need a bad fast food sandwich when riding with a mob of twenty-somethings. Free WiFi works about 60% of the time but I mostly like to catch up with friends on the phone or sleep.

This driver had to stop. He also sprayed air freshness, which is really a misnomer, in the bus thus making me flee the cabin to get some REAL fresh air. We got to DC a little late and I was home in time to start my first bath of kombucha. More on that in another post.

Back home in DC.

Brunch at Locanda Verde

Met Jeremy and Janice and Locanda Verde for brunch. Strangely I noticed I did the same thing last year with Violet. Is this going to be a tradition? I think not after the lackluster meal.

Cappuccino was good (illy) but too small. Gin fizz was a disappointing gin-meets-grapefruit-wedge bore. Can't order the special pastries from the menu grouping (zucchini bread, chocolate donuts, ginger lemon scone) so ended up with an ok savory cheese and bacon scone and a lackluster pumpkin bread. Couldn't even order pastries from the counter selection and the bar?! Bad form.

Janice's shrimp and grits were bipolar. The grits were delish but the shrimp were shellfishy - I spit mine out :O Jeremy and I split Uovo Modenese and the porchetta sandwich. Both were good but I've come to expect more than good from LV.

Looks like next year I'll have to find a new brunch spot ... probably in Brooklyn, argh!

SCOBY drop

Read a freaky scary fun article in the Washington Post on making kombucha at home. By Saturday night I'm picking up my first SCOBY from a guy in the upper UWS. Will I brew a wonderful magical elixir or grow Beelzebub in my kitchen? Time will tell.

New Year, New Blog Resolution

Since I mainly use this format to keep track of what the heck I do, what I like, and where I've been, I'm going to try to actually post more that a few things during the year. I have the crappiest memory and I like browsing my blog just to snap my poor gray brain cells into a reflective, colorful mood that only historical pictures and words can fake so well.

Rang in 2011 from my roof in NYC. Actually it is our building's roof but since I only get a view of the building shaft from my first floor studio, I seem to enjoy the roof more than others. I have also noticed I've been the only person on my roof for the Central Park fireworks three of the last five years - raining last year and freezing the year before. This year may have turned out the same way since I noticed I was first tracks across the snow still mounded into dune-like drifts. The tables were clear of snow so I stood on one thus avoiding frozen feet. About 5 minutes into the fireworks show I noticed a group of neighbors huddled just outside the back staircase door so I wasn't the only person from my building this year. Warm weather helped. Lots of celebrating on all the rooftops around our UWS space. I forgot my camera so the picture above was from 2009. Less clouds this year but basically the same view and same fireworks show with the exception of some weird ones that expand to showcase a smiley face - kind of creepy in my opinion.

Happy New Year! This one has to be better :)

DC Living

I almost forgot about my blog given new media like twitter and Facebook. But I like blogging for food, travel, and basic bitching about things like art and film. So bear with me as I go back and fill some things in.

1) I moved. I now live in DC.
2) I still bitch. No surprise there.
3) I now have more access to politicos.

I expect a little more bitching about government, mediocre restaurants and plays but less whining about stinky, trashy streets and rude people. Now I'm the rudest person in town, or pretty dang close.

Yes, I'll miss NYC. But luckily DC has good food sources. Haven't yet found restaurants worthy of mention but I'm in heaven over the cheese mongers! Cow Girl Creamery is a fav and their Mt. Tam is creamy, gobbley goodness. And that's right, NC bitches! Their DC shop is the only one outside of their California neighborhood. Yahoo! So until I find other foodies, I'll be content with good cheese. Wallace (and Gromit, perhaps) would be happy company.

Beautiful music

Hey Marseilles - can't get enough of you. I miss Seattle :(

Fitz & The Tantrums

I've been loving Fitz and The Tantrums since hearing them in studio on KEXP and KCRW. Finally my chance to hear them live in NYC and at one of my favorite venues - Mercury Lounge. It's a small red-brick walled rectangle of a place in the back of a bar on E Houston. I'll forgive them the crappy beer selection at $6 because their room sounds surprisingly great and the audio guys really work the sounds well.

Cheap Seats, a young and hip band from Philly, opened with a great sound reminding me of 60s pop meets jazzy retro band stuff with vague hints of OK Go. I like their live sound better than the more produced songs I've retrospectively listened to on-line. Very good use of brass - sax, slide trombone, and trumpet. The lead singer also acted as a rebel rouser, cheering the crowd on and trying to pull the energy out. Lots of tight vests, shirts, and Rat Pack paraphernalia gives good look. But it really comes down to sound and they were a great, tight-playing band I look forward to hearing more from.

In their owns words, Fitz and The Tanrums - "The sound is Motown and soul-influenced indie pop." I just love the energy and use of instruments. No guitar, just pure beat, organ keyboard, sax, sometimes flute, tambourine, and bass. It feels so good I dare you not to dance. Noelle has an amazing voice and compliments the sound of Fitz so well, again harking back to classic Motown. She also was working the crowd with Fitz to get everyone in a great place, lots of audience reaction and enjoyment at least up front. I've also found where I can hang with other skinny people and not look freakish - joining a band! Too bad I have no musical talent.




P.S. Rob, you missed a really great show ... and you're an asshole.

Silver Moon Pain au Lait

Serious Eats has sent me to some great and not so great places in search of cheap yummy NYC treats. Luckily Silver Moon bakery up on Broadway and 105th has always been a favorite. I used to live on 105th so it was both convenient and good. I mostly get the chocolate croissant or cinnamon roll. The former is always good. The later is oftern the best dang thing to bite into on a lazy weekend morning but on occasion they over-bake it resulting in dry disappointment. Never tried their Pain au Lait and I was expecting something bagel-sized. This treat is more like a small wreath loaf. I find the sugar crystals a bit too large to dissolve nicely when eating the bread but the dough, crust, and raisins are so good to make it worth the purchase. Raisins were a tad bit dry but that was OK with the only hint-like sweetness of the creamy bread. I'm a fan now. Luckily I don't live a half-block away now or I'd be a little too indulgent.