a quick trip...

Last Friday the bf and I made a trip up to Brooklyn for a long weekend.  We have both been to the city (New York) many times, and since his daughter lives there and my youngest is there temporarily, we've also been to Brooklyn a few times before, but this trip we decided we would spend all of our time in Brooklyn. We didn't go into the city at all.  

We stayed in the heart of downtown Brooklyn at the Sheraton.  A really good hotel and, compared to NYC,  very reasonable rates.  I would recommend it to anyone looking for a hotel in Brooklyn

We dined in Brooklyn - Williamsburg's Bliss Cafe (vegan) for Grilled Portobello sandwiches at lunch, then the abistro (Nigerian) in Fort Greene for dinner on Friday, where I had Pepe Soup, which was clams, mussels, and Vietnamese catfish in a fragrant lobster-coconut consomme, and it was beyond delicious. Saturday was brunch at a place called Char #4 in the Cobble Hill neighborhood,  where they had sort of "fancy" southern style food.  I wondered if anyone in Brooklyn could make decent grits, and now I know the answer.  Yes.  Yes, they can. With poached eggs on top. Yum. That night was Thai at M Shanghai in the Metropolitan area of town, where I enjoyed a Lobster fried rice dish unlike any fried rice I've had before.  Sunday brunch was at a "famous" Brooklyn restaurant called Junior's.  It was one of those places with 70's decor and lots of pictures of famous people who have eaten there over the years all over the place. Nothing fancy there, just good ol' soul food.  It was fun. One of the things I most enjoy about going up there (other than the fact that we get to see two of our favorite people) is the chance to eat things we may not get around here. It inspires me to come home and start looking for recipes, or to try on my own to replicate things I've eaten while there. The Nigerian food we had really has my wheels turning.  I wonder if I can find Vietnamese catfish around here?

And we shopped in Brooklyn. The bf's daughter had training on Sunday (for an upcoming 35 mile marathon she will be running in South Africa later this spring! Yup, that is correct. Thirty five miles.), and my lovey had to work, so we had several hours after brunch to spend on our own.  It was savagely cold (okay, I admit I am a weather wuss, but really, it was cold), but we bundled up and went out walking down one of the main shopping streets in Brooklyn.  We ducked into many of the shops (partly to warm up, but also because they had really cool stuff that we don't see around here much). One place apparently specialized in (old) animal bones, horns, and the kind of charts and diagrams that you might find in a biology classroom. Odd, but interesting.

All in all, although I think I ate my own weight in delicious food, I think I walked it all off! It was a fabulous trip. One we hope to make again.  Soon.

View from our hotel room on the 22nd floor, Sunday morning.  Snow was coming down, but melted before it hit the ground.

View from the other direction.

Just an odd building we walked past.  Upstairs; a Tyrolean cottage, downstairs; a  Dollar Store.

The bf and his favorite daughter. Isn't she beautiful? Oh, and a cow.

One of many adorable neighborhoods in Brooklyn.

Book Club!

I just realized that I haven't shared any book club choices lately.  Maybe because I haven't loved any of the recent choices.  All of them were okay, some were even pretty good, but I didn't LOVE any until last month's pick:

I'm always hesitant to recommend books (or movies, for that matter), because what consitutes a "good" book is somewhat subjective.  But this book has so many facets to it that I think it will satisfy many different types of readers.  In case you want just a bit of info on it, here's my very brief summary:

• It's a true story.  Most of the historic info was obtained from letters between many of the people in the book, or police and court documents.
• It takes place just before, during and after the 1893 Chicago World's Fair.
• It weaves together the stories of some of the most influential people involved with the Fair, who also happened to be the most influential people in the country at the time. Then there's H.H. Holmes - recognize that name?  He's the "Devil" in the book's title.  Maybe not influential, but definitely a historical figure in America.
• Some influential people in this country were indirectly involved or influenced, like Walt Disney (who wasn't yet born in 1893), whose father worked on many of the buildings on the fairgrounds.  
• The book is jam-packed with so much historical information.  The 1893 World's Fair impacted so much in this country, much of it that most of us are unaware of! 

In short, I found this book fascinating and will go out on a limb and recommend it. Let me know if you've read it and what you thought? Or if you've read this author's (Erik Larson)other book, "In the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror and An American Family in Hitler's Berlin"?  (Mr. Larson doesn't believe in short titles, apparently.)   My own book choice for the book club will be in April.  I'll let you know what it is, and will recommend it as well (I've already read it, of course, and loved it).

I haven't started my next book club choice yet, but in the meantime I'm reading "The Paris Wife: A Novel".  It's the story of Ernest Hemingway and his wife Hadley.  I've never been a big fan of Hemingway (a little too macho, I think), but this takes place before he wrote anything and became famous.  So far, so good, I would say.  About one fourth of the way through it I'm finding it very interesting.   I seem to be in a "historical" frame of mind lately!

all the makings of a perfectly wonderful day

So this was the timeline of my birthday yesterday:

6:00 am: Wake up to find a birthday card from the bf containing a gift card for amazon for the whole year's worth of book club selections for my Kindle.  The birthday card and knowing he remembered my day would have been enough.  And he's not done yet...

6:30 am:  57 Sun Salutations with a dear friend and yoga teacher. I guess to some 6:30 am yoga might sound like torture - 6:30 am anything is torture to some. For me it is the best way to start my day.

8:30 am:  Arrive at my office to find my chair, desk, etc., all covered with banners and glitter, and a Birthday crown sitting on my computer.  To be honest, not unexpected, as I have done the same thing to them on their birthdays.

8:35am - 4:30 pm:   Find facebook messages and ecards from friends and loved ones all day.  Love that.

8:30 - 12:30:  work, work work...


9:15 am:  Phone call and ecard from First-born Lovie.  She sent me a book on my Kindle, too.  What a love.

12:30 pm:  Lunch with  my office pals. The ones who are responsible for the banners and glitter.

2:00 pm -4:30 pm:  work, work, work...


2:10 pm:  Phone call from Second-born Lovie.  She's in Brooklyn right now and I haven't seen her since the holidays, so it was so good to hear her pretty voice.

2:25 pm:  Chipotle Chocolate cupcakes!  Woo Hoo! They were melt in your mouth devine! Oh and there were candles and singing, too.

4:30 pm:  Go home and get ready for the evening.  Little black dress (velvet - it is still winter you know, even though it doesn't feel like it!) with lace patterned tights and black boots.  And the bf wore a nice jacket with his jeans - I love that look on men!  I should have gotten a picture of the two of us.  We don't dress up often, but we do clean up okay.

6:00 pm:  Dinner at my favorite sushi place.  Ahhhh...it was incredible.  Then a little walk down the street to  our favorite cozy little piano bar, where a friend of ours tends bar, for a lovely glass of wine before the theater.

8:00 pm:  Another little walk (it was a beautiful night for walking) to Thalian Hall to see a local production of "To Kill A Mockingbird".  One of my all-time favorite books from childhood.  It meant a lot to me that the bf remembered that and got tickets to this. I give him grief sometimes because he doesn't always seem to be giving me 100% of his attention when I'm talking to him, and then he goes and proves that he does listen - at least when it really counts. And as is usually the case in this town, I was gratified to see it was a full house for this Opening Night.  Wilmington is very proud and supportive of our art community and I love that about living here.

10:30 pm:  Home for (more) cupcakes and dog kisses.

What a glorious day.  A big thank you to all who made it so.

The rest of the 2012 to-do list...

I admit it.  I am a hard-core list maker.  I love to check things off! Also, I find the act of making a list helps me focus on what I really need versus want. And being an avid DIYer, I have to keep in mind what's realistic. I don't usually share my lists with others, but I'm putting this one out there hoping that will motivate me (and the bf!) to finish some things.  The following is what I hope to accomplish this year.  It is by no means a complete list of what I'd like to do around this little cottage! All in good time...

• Re-do the front yard. I've got lots of ideas I'd like to try. One side of the front yard has a massive 80 year old Oak.  Although there is some Vinca (minor) and Liriope growing at the base of the tree, not much else survives the heavy shade.  Have to think about what to do there.  Any suggestions?  On the other side, while shady in the early morning, gets full sun in the afternoon. But not enough sun for roses (I know, because I tried.) So my idea for that side could include something like this, below.  It's a big job - turned out to be too big of a job for last summer - but one can hope, right?

I'm thinking a little less "patio".  Maybe something in the middle - a bird bath with lavender all the way around the base?

For the walk up to the front door I'd love to do these large pavers with gravel instead of the rocks they have here.

(These photos from Pinterest.)

• Finish the damn Murphy Bed that the bf has been working on - off and on, mostly off - for months now.  I am so looking forward to the bed in the guest room being out of the way so that I can use the room for other things (YOGA!!) when we don't have guests - which is much of the time.
• Paint both bedrooms.  They are the last two rooms that are the same as they were when I bought the house.  I don't mind their present colors, they're both just a little dark.  I'm thinking an "almost" white in the guest room, probably the same color as the living room.  It's a dark room (that massive Oak tree in the front yard is right outside the room, so it doesn't get very much natural light), so it could stand a little lightening up.  The master bedroom will also be lightened up, but I haven't decided just yet exactly which color.  I am thinking it won't be white, though.  Again...any suggestions?

I guess now I will have to keep you up to date on my progress, won't I?

The to-do list

As I mentioned in my last post, we recently finished one of the many, many items on my very, very long to-do list!

And here it is:

Some of you may not remember (who am I kidding - none of you remember, I'm sure!) what the hall floor looked like BEFORE:

That gaping hole is an air intake for the heating/AC Unit.  Terrible place for it, I know.  The dogs are scared to death of it, even when we put the metal cover back over it. Just something we deal with in an old house.



 I tried to cover it with a rug, and many of my friends have mentioned that they never noticed the floor in the hallway before, and didn't notice when we changed it.  But I noticed.  I hated that ugly white(ish) tile with the gray mottling that always looked dirty.  Well, it is dirty no more! It is now a warm and lovely cork flooring, same as what we have in the kitchen.  I had hoped that there would be salvagable oak flooring under the tile (fat chance, right?), and there was some, but most of the floor was tile backer board over plywood.  It would have been a lot more money and a MUCH longer time frame to install a new wood floor, so I went with the cork, and I really do love it.

So, what's next?  Hmmmmm...



On the (never-ending) to-do list....

This weeks project:

It doesn't look bad in this photo, but the finish was becoming faded and several places were worn thru entirely.  I've had this table for 20+ years - my children grew up eating at this table.

We refinished my old table.  I thought about painting it - and I might still do that one day - but once I sanded it down a little it was easy to see how nice it would look with just a coat of stain and a couple of coats of a Polyurethane finish.  We're on the fourth application of Poly, and I think that's gonna do it.  A couple days for it to dry and set up completely, and we can go back to eating on it.  Someday I hope the bf will make me a long, gorgeous farm table, but til then this table has lots of memories behind it.


Another item on the January "to-do" list:

Salvia, Sea Holly, Coneflower and Monarda seedlings-to-be!

Last fall I gathered up and saved seeds from some of my favorite plants I already have in the garden, with intentions of quadrupling my flowers without having to spend any money.  Wish me luck!

And here is what we did tonight:

An after-work glass of wine outside on the patio...

I am so loving this weather!  It was almost 70 degrees when I got home from work tonight!  Last year about this time we were shoveling snow.  This year I think we've had 2 or 3 days of less than 65 degree days.  So nice.  Thank you Mother Nature!  Come on Spring!

I'll be back in a day or two with the afters of the table and another item we crossed off the list last weekend.

Til then...peace, y'all.

Por favor, ven a cenar

In an effort to stay true to my intentions to write a post at least once a week, I will post a recipe!


This past weekend the bf and I hosted a dinner for friends who have just come back from a few months in Central America.  What were they doing in Honduras, Guatemala and San Salvador for a few months you ask?  That's just how they roll.  They're both retired (well and happily! and young!) and often spend several months at a time driving - yes, driving! - all over the continent.  Most years they spend at least a good part of the winter in Mexico and/or Central America, fishing, spending large amounts of time in hammocks (that last part may or may not just be in my imagination) and generally just living the dream.  My dream, anyway.


Anywayyyy... they came back to town just after New Years so we had a Mexican style dinner (as a former Californian I like to think I know my way around Mexican food, but I don't know anything about Central American food, although I suspect it's similar). Apps consisted of Ceviche with shrimp and scallops, and for dinner I made my favorite chicken enchiladas, cheese enchiladas and some Mexican style rice, and one of the guests brought an avocado salad.  It was all delicious, but the biggest hit of the night was the Flan we had for dessert.  I've made this before and it is incredibly easy, which of course makes it even better, right?  But honestly I was surprised at the reaction of my guests - they loved it and we finished it off quickly!


Flan

Ingredients

• 2/3 cup white sugar
• 1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
• 2 cups heavy cream
• 1 cup milk
• 5 eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. In a small nonstick saucepan, heat the sugar over medium heat. Shake and swirl occasionally to distribute sugar until it is dissolved and begins to brown. Lift the pan over the heat source (4 to 6 inches) and continue to brown the sugar until it becomes a dark golden brown. You may slightly stir while cooking, but continually stirring causes the sugar to crystallize. Pour caramelized sugar into a 1 1/2 quart casserole dish or a large loaf pan, and swirl to coat the bottom of the pan evenly.
3. In a blender, combine sweetened condensed milk, cream, milk, eggs and vanilla. Blend on high for one minute. Pour over the caramelized sugar.
4. Place the filled casserole dish into a larger pan and add 1 inch of HOT water to the outer pan. Bake in preheated oven for 50 to 60 minutes, or until set.

This is actually one of the "mini-flans" I made before.  I forgot to get a picture of the bigger one I  made for this dinner.

**A couple of notes:

When I made this flan before I used a large muffin pan and made 18 or so individual mini-flans.  This time I used the casserole dish and there was enough to make two!  Also, in the muffin pan it did set up in about 50 minutes, but in the casserole it took more like 75 minutes (maybe a little more). I would suggest just checking to see that it's "set", however long that takes.

It's important to bake the flan pan inside another pan with the hot water.  If you don't it will crack and not look very appetizing.

Flan can be made with a lot of "extras" - fruit, etc., but I made it plain and honest, and it was fabulous.