King Farm - Grass Fed Beef and Hay

The welcoming front porch and back porch. Wait! Is that one of those 5 gallon buckets?? No, not 5 gallons, but filled...with elderberries... Someone is looking for elderberry flapjacks...

After sorting through the elderberries, I added some sugar, and a little flour and cooked them on the stove top. My father said he liked them, but I thought the seeds were too bitter.

Mom helped me make salsa - she peeled aaalllllllll the tomatoes. I added purple onion, jalapenos, cilantro, freshly squeezed lime juice and a little bit of yellow bell pepper for color. Very pretty :)

We ended up with alot of salsa, and even left a few tomatoes for snacking!

Every Friday is fishday - we went to East Brady near the river and got some fish - yum yum :)

OK - ready for a ride back to the big city with that salsa, and a new refrigerator!

Street Fair Surprise!

I heard the bells ringing because the windows were open - A street fair was on our corner, and it was lunch time :) Rick got an Italian Sausage Sub with onions and peppers. I got a lamb soulvaki with yogurt sauce. Yum yum!!

Vento in the Meatpacking District

Vento in the Meatpacking District is noted on Open Table as a "Neighborhood Gem". After eating here tonight, I can appreciate why! Vento is at the corner of 14th Street and Hudson just where 9th Avenue ends - a beautiful triangular building with lots of outdoor seating overlooking cobblestone streets - though inside was beautiful too. The menu is affordable, with lots of tapas like dishes meant for sharing, pizza, pasta and other entrees.

We started with an amuse bouche - which I was very pleasantly surprised with - it was a mild fresh tuna salad - raw and diced with onion and maybe celery mixed with Isreali cous cous. It was very fresh and had a mild flavor. Rick didn't care for it, and it was a bit bland, but I enjoyed it. We ordered cocktails, and I selected the Summer Thunderstorm - a vodka martini with apple and cucumber, and Rick ordered a Grey Goose on the rocks. I wanted to try a few of the tapas - the Florentine Dip was high on my list, but alas - they were out. They were also out of the rotolini, a roasted sliced eggplant rolled with ricotta, mozzerella and tomato sauce. I must say I was disappointed. We tried the polpette, meatballs in a marinara sauce with a little cheese on top - they were wonderful! Made with a mixture of pork, veal and beef, they were rich and flavorful, and not too dense. Unfortunately our appetizer arrived before our cocktails, but not too much earlier. My cocktail was refreshing and very reminiscent of a summer thunderstorm - a nice flavor! At this point I think we moved to VIP status in the server's mind because we'd not been faring too well - he was very attentive, and the host was too, and they made sure we had everything we needed and more from that point on. We ordered a Siciliana pizza which comes with roasted eggplant, zucchini, peppers, goat cheese, marinated tomato, and basil. It was delish - A thin crusted pizza, which I prefer these days, and it didn't have the usual tomato sauce so it was very interesting! A really spicy kick! Even though Rick doesn't care for eggplant, and usually I don't either, don't let that deter you from ordering this dish - the eggplant was not at all bitter, and was peeled and cut in a jullienne. You can add chicken or shrimp or a number of other toppings as well.

For dessert we ordered a selection of gelatos - all 6 on the menu! You can get 3 flavors for $5 and they are made in house. My favorite started as the white chocolate chip, then moved to the caramel a la sel and ended up with the nutella with pretzels, thought the chocolate brownie was good too. Rick liked the Cherry Vanilla. When all the flavors arrived, the waiter brought us complementary champagne, which was very sweet.

Rick isn't sold on Vento, but I'm looking forward to my next visit!

Mini Kitchen in NYC

I'm starting to think about doing an upgrade to our kitchen. We have a VSK (very small kitchen) and all in all I think the space was designed pretty well. I've done a good bit of cooking as you can see from my blog entries, and I had to be very thoughtful about what I chose to bring in to this tiny space.

As we consider the project, I must say to my friends who do not live in Manhattan that I expect this project to be full of surprises. The coordination and approvals required will make this a very complex project, so I don't want to make mistakes if I can help it. The co-op board must approve the plan, and then the process of demolition and getting rid of the old appliances, cabinetry and flooring - securing a reservation on the elevator to remove these items, then bringing in new items, etc, etc, etc... Who knows if we will have to turn off the gas or water to make these upgrades, and whether it will affect our neighbors.

I'd like to focus on functional, long lasting and easy care items - countertops, backsplashes, flooring - anyone who has opinions about the materials you have in your kitchen, please post comments. I had a friend who spent a lot installing corian counter tops, only to be disappointed because they are so soft they are easily scratched. She put a cardboard box on the counter and later slid it off, and it it left big scratches. She wasn't happy.

Also - does anyone have one of those under mounted sinks? Do you find it difficult to clean where the sink meets the counter top?

Does anyone have cork flooring? Does it seem long lasting? Is it hard to clean?

We are lucky that since our kitchen is so small, it will cost less than most kitchen re-do's. Thanks for your suggestions!

Suzee's Asian Pear Crisp

Asian pears were at the farmer's market this week for $2/lb. Weight watchers counts 1 asian pear as 0 points - all that fiber you know. So I thought - hey! Maybe I could make a remotely healthy crisp out of these sweet nuggets. Definitely would up the fiber for my honey. Now, I'm not sure I would make this again - I really like apples - but it was a nice experiment.

2 asian pears, leave the skin on - cored and diced in bite sized pieces

2T cold butter, divided

3 T brown sugar

3 T flour, divided

3T old fashioned rolled oats

1T chopped walnuts

a few sprinkles of cinnamon to taste

Mix the pears with a teaspoon of the flour and place in a baking dish (I used an au gratin). Dot 1t of butter on top, and sprinkle the cinnamon and walnuts over as well. Cut in the rest of the cold butter to the brown sugar until the butter is the size of small peas. Mix in the remaining flour and oats. Sprinkle the topping over the fruit. Bake for about 45 or so at 350.

Suzee's Summer Breakfast Sandwich

This morning Rick was going to heat up left over pizza for breakfast. He's going to have a cave day today, so I suggested that he leave that for lunch, and I'd make an egg, tomato and toast breakfast. He thought about it and chose to have a fried egg sandwich. I made that for him, then made my much more delightful breakfast :)

Toast 1 slice of peasant bread lightly.

Spread with mayonaise

Layer thick slices of garden fresh tomatoes on the toast

Top with 2 eggs over easy.

Lightly salt.

Eat immediately.

The eating immediately precluded taking a photo of my deliciousness, but made it all the better to eat :)

Patroon in Mid Town East

We are having our second Labor Day staycation here in lovely NYC. The nice thing about this weekend is that the city is sure to be absolutely dead. Which means we can do what ever we want with out having to fight the crowds :)

This afternoon we went for a late lunch at Patroon, recommended as a restaurant with a roof deck. Since it was such a nice day, we thought we'd give it a try. It's nice to be up and above the traffic, though this deck was only a 2 stories up. The specialty cocktails weren't that special. I had the Mid-Town Kiss, a preseco cocktail with strawberry puree which all settled to the bottom of the glass. Rick had a rum lemonade cocktail with a sprig of mint that was very boozy. Lunch took a long time to come, but was tasty. I had the a special - grilled cod with a balsalmic reduction. It was fresh and smoky from the grill plated on a few lettuce leaves. I was still hungry when I was done. Rick ordered the special steak sandwich, medium rare. It was well done, but tasted good - I had a couple bites when my fish was done. Fries were good too. It was a nice, but pricey lunch. I doubt we will go back. But, if you want a quiet and outdoor place for lunch in mid town east, this place may be for you!