Archive for food

The most beautiful child ever born (biased much?)

May 9, 2008 · Filed under Léa, family, food

My niece, Léa (it’s pronounced LAY-ah, just like the Princess), who will be three this September, has finally started to really talk, in both French and English. My sister-in-law, P., speaks to her almost exclusively in French, while my brother, S., uses only English (well, very little French, and with a really horrendous accent). You can ask her, “Quest-ce va tu desire pour dessert?” and she will answer unabashedly, “Glace!” “Vanille ou chocolat?” “Chocolat!” Right answer, every time (that’s chocolate ice cream to those who don’t parlez). She can count, “One, two, threefourfive!” and then, “Un, deux, troisquatrecinq!” She is simply enchanting, I cannot stop drinking her in. My mother says that this is what it was like when I was her age. I positively fawn over her. I ask her, “Bisou?” and she plants one right on my lips. I cannot believe how amazing she is, and I’m not even her mother. She does high-fives, and says “Ta-da!” when she’s done something particularly cool, and throws her hands up over her head and exclaims, “Cowboys!” (my brother is a HUGE fan, don’t even start with me.) So here are two pictures of her, and her mother and father (you can totally see from where she gets her looks), and the two birthday cards she drew for me. Can you see the face on each? P. helped with the letters, but otherwise, it was all Léa.

We went for dinner at Hanada Hibachi in Mohegan Lake to celebrate my birthday. It was Léa’s first hibachi dinner, and she was appropriately impressed with the chef’s antics. He completely played to her.

Today is E’s (twelfth? thirteenth? I don’t remember which, I’m a bad aunt) birthday. We got her a nice pair of 5mm pearl earrings from W. She loved them.

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On turning forty

May 6, 2008 · Filed under G, culture, family, food, pampering, self-awareness, shopping, yarn

I am having a hard time reconciling the fact that Friday, May 2d, I turned 40. Where has the time gone? I’m not where I thought I’d be.

To that end, I signed up for a jewelry design class at the Westchester Arts Workshop, which is affiliated with Westchester Community College. It is a for-credit class, so it will add to my paltry and widespread transcript. Jewelry design is something I’ve always been interested in, more consistently that any other field in my life. I began at age eight in summer camp, making crude (at first) copper jewelry with Red, the scary (to everyone but me) and ancient Silver Shop teacher. She resembled quite closely the shrunken apple head dolls she made with other kids. With her permission (and that of my parents), I quickly progressed on to working in sterling silver, setting stones (in particular a large picture jasper for Nanny, my father’s jewelry-loving mother), forging a linked bracelet (which I summarily lost playing soccer), each link by hand, never fusing two links together but soldering each one individually. I was Red’s pet, and I worked in the shop a huge lot of the time I was there. Each summer I returned, for six years, to work under the wing of the ever-more wizened, sharp-minded old woman. I continued on in high school, taking Advanced Jewelry Design with Diana, the eccentric art teacher. It escapes me what I produced in high school. Damned Wellbutrin.

To celebrate my fortieth, my father and stepmother provided G and I with a weekend of decadence. A weekend at the Waldorf=Astoria (don’t ask me why they put in an equals sign instead of a hyphen), including the horrifically expensive room service (see photo to see what a $100 breakfast looks like. There are four tea bags there). An amazing dinner with them Friday night at Daniel. “Passing Strange” at the Belasco Theater Saturday night. “Walking-around money” to do with what I would. I had some plans for us in the in-between time; Bodies…The Exhibition down at the South Street Seaport with maybe an excursion to Seaport Yarn, more yarn shopping, perhaps at Purl (we didn’t get there, only Stitches East). My allergies were totally kicking my ass and G’s were as well, so we moseyed down to Battery Park after the Seaport to relax on the green. I conked out for an hour and a half while G read. An exhausting, but fun weekend.

Edited to add: This is what G gave me for my fortieth; the most amazing stop sign ever. 5/8 carat total weight in brilliant, baguette, and radiant-cut diamonds in 14k white gold. No one else is wearing one of these!

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Blood’s Bounty

January 10, 2008 · Filed under Holidays, food

Blood’s BountyThis is what the inside of my refrigerator looks like, well, at least one of the drawers. A few weeks before Chanukah we got a card from Blood’s Hammock Groves informing us that we were going to be the lucky recipients of a case of navel oranges, courtesy of my father and stepmother. The box arrived today (my poor UPS guy!) and after slicing into it with my old, dull Henckels, I retrieved a piece of Florida’s Most Pampered Fruit®. The thinness of the skin surprised me; I was expecting something much thicker and harder to peel. They simply are the juiciest, most delicious seedless oranges I’ve ever had! I was wondering how two people are going to get through them all, but I’ve eaten two already, and my mouth is watering thinking about them. And we can give a few to the neighbors. The good neighbors, that is.

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First snow

December 3, 2007 · Filed under G, Life in Peekskill, food, tv

The first one that stuck, anyway. The first one of which I got pictures. Here’s the view from my upstairs bath off the master bedroom, of our miniscule back yard:

Our tiny back yard

And here’s from the front door, of our porch out to the street.

Time to get rid of the pumpkins, I think

It stayed very cold all day, we kept the fire fed, and G made a delicious gumbo for dinner. We watched the recorded Lighting of the Rockefeller Center Tree (everyone except Josh Groban was lip-synching), and Heroes. I can’t barely wait for tonight’s season finalé!

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Dinner for six (sort of)

November 26, 2007 · Filed under G, Life in Peekskill, Zeke, family, food, grill

ZekealiciousTonight was our Thanksgiving redux, replete with grilled turkey, stuffing, gravy, mashed potatoes with cheese and sausage, pumpkin soup, and pumpkin bread. Everything except the bread (which I baked) was made from scratch. I can’t say enough about the stuffing. I’m a stuffing fiend, going so far as eating StoveTop for dinner, plain, when I was single. I’m lucky enough to have a husband who really puts everything he has into the dishes he cooks. You can taste the love with every bite. Joining us at our groaning table were our friends Josh and Tony, my sister, Carolynn, her husband, Tom, and their son, my adorable nephew, Zeke (in case you forgot what he looks like, here he is).

We all ate way too much (I have my nutritionist tomorrow morning, what an idiot girl am I?) and enjoyed each other’s company, and in the end, packed up all sort of leftovers to take to friends (I may feast on stuffing alone yet again!). The Clementines I picked up for dessert weren’t as sweet as I’d have liked, but edible. I’ll have another before bed, perhaps.

—–

On this day: Still good 2005

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Happy Thanksgiving!

November 24, 2007 · Filed under Hello Kitty, Life in Peekskill, Léa, Zeke, bipolar, cats, family, food, meds

First, let’s get the adorable kin pictures out of the way. Here’s Léa, manhandling her apple pie á la mode:

Léa Madeline, eating Mom’s apple pie

And little Zeke, slurping on his daddy’s head:

Zeke, licking Tom’s pate. Yummy!

Both youngsters were delightedly well-behaved. Léa even had some of G’s delicious Cheddar Soup (almost everyone else had seconds). We got home around 7 pm to re-watch the parade, since I missed seeing Hello Kitty Supercute and my sister informed me that she was definitely there. Meredith Viera even commented on her appearance, wrongly pointing out “her signature right-side bow.” If you’re looking at her it’s on the right, but it’s on Kitty’s left. Idiot wasn’t even paying attention. Oh well, she’s in the parade, that’s all that counts. I got all stupid and choked up watching the Rockettes and the marching bands. Why do I do that? A good day, all in all.

A few things to be thankful for:

My snoring husband, because this means that he is at home with me, lying next to me in our king-size bed with kitties akimbo, and is slumbering sweetly and peacefully.

The internet, for bringing friends to my virtual door.

My family, without whom I wouldn’t be as fucked up as I am, making life much more interesting.

Blogs, which a lot of the time, feel like group therapy, which in real life, I CANNOT STAND, but online, feel much less creepy.

My expensive medication, which is a lot less expensive than it used to be thanks to my new job and a fabulous pdoc who gifts me with samples, and allows me to live something like a semi-normal life. I’m striving for normal. I’ll get there someday.

My new job, which aggravates the shit out of me because they want me to be manic. But I have a job to aggravate me, and therefore, a steady paycheck with benefits.

Espresso. ‘Nuff said.

Tigger, who wakes me up at 5:30 am to pee by smacking my face, without whom I would not be here.

Pye and Harry, who have the awesome power to simply be and that is enough to make me smile.

Life is hard. Wear comfortable shoes.

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On this day: Thanksgiving morning 2005

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Cho. Co. Late.

November 15, 2007 · Filed under food

I love it with a passion. Hershey’s, Scharffenberger, Dove, Nestlé, Lake Champlain; most chocolate is delectable to my taste buds. J.K. Rowling offered proof that chocolate has healing properties (which it does!). Even the Barton’s Passover chocolate we used to hawk as kids in Jew School wasn’t too bad. But don’t, don’t you dare, neglect to add it to my morning mocha, or bloodshed may ensue. I was already five minutes down Route 9a when I took my first sip of this morning’s drug, and realized that the Chatty Cathy barista didn’t dose me with the very mochaness that I needed. My mocha sputtered and quit, leaving me high, dry, and exhausted at around 4 pm. I never quite felt the “kick” that I felt on Saturday. I’ll have to watch tomorrow with an eagle eye or risk lassitude and hebetude. Gotta keep this j.o.b. at least until something better comes along.

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Léa Madeline at 2

September 8, 2007 · Filed under G, Léa, family, food

my delicious niece, had her second birthday party today. She is, quite possibly, the most beautiful child on the planet. Don’t believe me? Judge for yourself!

Léa et Maman blowing out candlesLéa manger le gateauLéa et les cadeauxLéa et la bicyclette

She didn’t seem to recognize her Tata Lysa and Oncle Gary at first, but then warmed right up to us, leading me into her playroom to show me her stereo and cds and toys (my goodness, the toys!). We all had a wonderful time, devouring a buttercream-and-chocolate-mousse gateau with three tiny blue candles on it. She actually blew out the last candle and was taken aback when we all applauded (“bravo!”). She was particularly interested in the Play-Doh she received as a gift, going back to it again and again until we snuck it away from her so she could open more cadeaux. My mother and father were there (Grand-mere et Pop-Pop), as well as her French babysitter, Marie-Laurence. She’s saying more and more things, (“eat” and “cake”, although not together) and it’s just a matter of time until we won’t be able to keep up with her. As a bilingual child, she’s somewhat slower to put words together, but when she finally does, it’ll be a torrent. In two languages.

We had a nice time talking with Sam and Priscille after Mademoiselle went up for her nap, and stopped for dinner in Pound Ridge at an Italian restaurant called DiNardo’s. Spent more than we normally would, even on sushi, but the meal was a good one, and we won’t be doing it again soon.

New blog! Gary and I have a new photo journal called Cats, Sheep, & Penguins, that will catalog more of our lives together. Check it out!

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What to wear

September 3, 2007 · Filed under G, Life in Peekskill, food, work

As if tomorrow being my first day at the new job wasn’t enough, I’ve got to decide what to wear tomorrow, and the morning will come all too quickly. It’s already 11:47 pm, I really should be in bed by now, but dinner-cooking took all day long, what with slow-cooking the pork ribs and making the wontons for the soup and all. Who am I kidding, G did nearly all of the work, I did the cleanup. They were pork and shrimp wontons, with all sorts of other stuff in there — mmm delish! Back to my dilemma…

Closet full of choicesThere are quite a few pink tops in the new hoard, I think I’ll go with one of those and a pair of black pants and my new Dansko clogs (I’m bringing the old pair to switch into). “Pink is my signature color,” as Shelby Eatenton Latcherie (Julia Roberts) said in Steel Magnolias. And it is. I grew up in a pink-carpeted, pink-furnitured, pink-striped-wallpapered, pink-blanketed bedroom, and nothing has ever made me stop loving the color. Oh yeah, there were those years that made my grandmother cringe when all I wore was black, but I’ve always loved pink, always returned to my girly-girl roots. What’s your take on the ultimate princess color?

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Hold the applesauce

September 1, 2007 · Filed under G, food, grill, shopping

Herb rubbed pork, dinner 09/01/07Every time I hear the words “pork chops,” my brain instantly adds “and applesauce” with a Bogart-type inflection. As a child of the 70′s, life lessons as brought to you by The Brady Bunch are ingrained upon my psyche. G made a delicious rub for the pork (tenderloins actually) with a fresh herb “poultry mix,” garlic, pepper, and Jane’s Krazy Mixed Up Salt. Set for a few hours in the fridge, then warmed back up to room temp while I went out to The Westchester to get a parking pass and a new pair of Dansko clogs (I bought some Mary Janes, too). Grilled with some fresh garlic bread from the deli and mmm…tasty!

We went to Woodbury Common Outlet Mall yesterday and scored big time at the Liz Claiborne store. I needed a new wardrobe for work (I couldn’t get by with the four tops and one pair of chinos that I had in my possession pre-shopping) so I took some good advice and waited until the Labor Day sales kicked in. While poking around the Sigrid Olsen petites, a man came up to me and handed me a coupon for 15% off the total purchase. The sales associates who were helping also gave us a bunch of coupons for individual pieces. Squee! Saved a boatload and allowed me to justify spending the savings on an extra pair of shoes. With room to spare.

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