Working in Manhattan

So, I'm not going to publish the name of my company, but if I were in a cube near a window, here is what I would see:






In real life it looks more like this:

I told you Macy's was right across the street - here it is :)

Given the current business environment, I'm not sure how long I'll be here, but it's nice to have a pay check for now :)

Sevens

My cousin Judy just posted the answers to these questions, and invited others to do so as well. I figured I'd give it a try. You can too :)

7 Things I plan to do before I die

1. Live a life where I can have coffee with a friend at the spur of the moment
2. Go on a week long retreat
3. Bicycle in wine country in France
4. Sing in a cocktail lounge doing old blues standards with my friend Sherry
5. Host a pig roast/lobster bake and cook the whole pig/lobsters/clams/corn with help from family and friends
6. Record a Christmas CD
7. Guide a teenager when they are exploring who they are - enought to make a difference, but not so much as to irritate their parents.

7 Things I do now

1. Exploring New York City!
2. Working hard.
3. Guide adults when they may benefit from a new perspective
4. Reading lots of Fiction
5. Blogging!
6. Looking for fun employment
7. Meeting lots of new people

7 Things I can't do

1. Sleep through the night
2. Control my %^$#ing PMS
3. Stay focused enought to be a programmer
4. Run a marathon
5. Touch my toe to my ear
6. Do laundry on a weeknight (now anyway)
7. Fit in a size 8

7 Things that attract me to the opposite sex

1. Big broad shoulders
2. Kind thoughts and intentions
3. Letting me organize life, and taking control when I really want him to
4. The horizontal mambo
5. Letting me have the big half of the closet
6. Eating anything I cook and saying thank you for cooking it
7. huge hugs and kitty paws

7 Things I say most often

1. One day at a time.
2. It never gets easier than it is right now. (though this sounds pretty pessimistic, I actually say it when I'm committing to something new and positive)
3. Would you like to...... (insert chore I'd like done by someone else here)
4. You want anything while I'm up?
5. Want to go out?
6. Do you want me to pick anything up on the way home?
7. I love you.

7 Celebrities whom I admire

Ok I don't really admire any of them. They make me crazy.

Play if you like - let me know if you do :)

Bella Cucina

Tonight I came home and felt like a real New Yorker. I emailed Rick and suggested stopping at Bella Cucina on the way home. I've been having pasta cravings, and I figured they could take care of that.

What made me feel like a New Yorker was that after work, on the way home, I swung into this cute Italian place (that sports the same curtains I used to have in my house in Portsmouth) and sat at a 4 top in the middle of the dining room. It was pretty quiet around 6:30. We ordered drinks and looked at the menu. Rick had an early bird special - a garden salad to start and a slice of lasagne. I had a pasta craving as I mentioned, and red sauce wasn't doing it. I ordered the carbonara - yes I know - calorie city only beaten by Fettucini Alfredo. At least it has protien from the eggs :)

This is a place where you feel comfortable coming to eat alone, as well as meeting friends. One guy yells across the dining room (not really that big) "Hey! How can you be late? You only live around the corner!" He was probably 70 or so, and the seniors had a big table set up for them. It was cute.

But the fact that I didn't have to go out of my way for dinner - on the way home, no cooking, no cleaning up, and just what I was craving. That felt like a NYC benefit to me :)

OK now I need the chick to clean my apartment, and the chick to do my laundry.......

Tuscan White Bean Soup

We stopped at the Food Emporium after brunch and got some navy beans, and I found a beautiful slice of parmesean reggiano, and I got a packet of kielbasa (yeah, not Italian, and I thought maybe I won't use it in this dish, but I had a craving). And I found a nice fresh loaf of crusty bread. The Tuscan dish I'm trying to emulate has a good dose of extra virgin olive oil, and I have that in the pantry.

I was reading some health magazine and it was talking about salt. I was shocked to see how much salt is in canned beans - even if you rinse them like I do, it's like 1/2 a day's salt in one serving, which by the way is a 1/2 cup! So, that's why I'm going with dried. I sorted the navy beans and just used the directions on my package (only $1.79 - what a bargain!). I put them in a pot with some water, and brought it to a boil, took it off the heat and let it soak for an hour. After the soak I ran water around the pan and rinsed the beans, and refreshed the water in the pot.
I added a couple bay leaves, and simmered the beans for another 90 minutes. In retrospect, I would try them and see if they are cooked in an hour. I think they were over cooked at a total of 90 minutes.

I chopped 2 fat vidalias I had in the fridge, and caramelized them, and added them to the pot. I peeled and chopped a pound and a half of carrots, fried then up and added them to the pot. I added Thyme, Garlic Powder and Oregano. Don't forget to pluck out those bay leaves - I read somewhere cooking bay leaves with beans are supposed to help if you get gas from beans.

I did end up frying up some of the kielbasa, and added it to the bottom of our soup bowls. I ladeled the soup over them, and drizzled olive oil over the soup (not as much as they did in the show though!). I have to say - I was very surprised at the flavor added to the dish by the olive oil drizzle. I used my veggie peeler to put some curls of parmesean on top, thinking it would make it salty enough, but Rick did add more salt. While making the soup, I used my grill pan to make toast with the crusty bread.

I served this fabulous dish with a recommended chianti classico from Mister Wrights Wines next door. I'll admit, I paid more than I usually do for wine, but wow - really tasty :)

Cilantro's on Saturday

We puttered a bit this morning and then went out for a walk and lunch/brunch. Brunch is a national pasttime found in Manhattan - I think because everyone sleeps in on the weekend :) I wanted to hit the grocery store on our walk as I watched a Samantha Brown Weekend Getaway on TiVo and it was on Tuscany. I was craving a nice bean stew with some crusty bread for dinner (more on that later). And we figured we'd hit the Barnes and Noble on 86th as it's bigger than the one on Lex.

We went to Cilantro's on 2nd Ave between 88th and 89th, and it was quiet when we got there - only one other table was occupied. Rick was in the mood for more breakfasty type food, but I was up for lunch. Rick ordered a breakfast burrito, and it came with a glop of what I think was supposed to be hash browns. Hmmmm. Rick said they were cold. Hmmmm.

I ordered a brunch special as well - a fish burrito and there was a salad on the side. Sorry yours wasn't so good Rick, but mine was really good :) The fish was blackened with a nice warm chile spice - it wasn't so hot that you couldn't taste the fish, but it was enough to season the entire burrito. It was filled with fish, white rice, black beans, pico de gillo and sour cream. I think if I made this at home, I would take the chill off the sour cream before putting it in the burrito.

Rick ended up getting some hot sauce, and according to him, cold potatos taste good when they have hot sauce on them :)

Oh Crap.

I forgot to buy my father a birthday card until today, and his birthday is on Sunday. It's too late to mail it now, so I have to wait until tomorrow. I haven't been good with the family holidays - I feel like there really is no way it could be this late in the year - maybe since I wasn't working for a while, my stride has been broken. Gotta get that back.

I was just talking about the time he showed up at my condo one morning unexpectedly (and since he lives in Pennsylvania, you can appreciate this) and very early ( I was still in my bathrobe, but thankfully not still in bed) with one of those white plastic buckets - the 5 gallon variety. Layered in the very bottom of his bucket was just enough sour red cherries to make one pie. He picked the weekend right - it was Father's day weekend - and as soon as I opened the door, he asked me to make a pie. What could I say but 'OK'?

I don't have a cherry pitter and I've never pitted cherries. Nothing like a little cherry hazing to know that if you ever have to do it again, you'll get a cherry pitter. I used my little paring knife and cut the flesh off those nasty little pits. At this point I was really glad Mom likes blueberry pie. Sort 'em and toss 'em in the crust - done. I guess I was thinking of blueberries when I made that pie.

I brought the pie to my brother's house where the 'rents were staying and the Father's day BBQ was happening. After dinner I started doling out the cherry pie. My Father loved his piece, and my Mom and brother said they liked it too. I was looking forward to trying it as I spent so much time pitting those damn cherries. So, after serving everyone a slice, I served myself and took a nice big bite.

Ugh.

They lied!

This pie sucks!

I made it like a blueberry pie - only a 1/2 cup sugar - not like a rhubarb pie - a heavy cup of sugar - which would have been more appropriate.

very sour.

He said he liked it (course he always said he liked my burnt chocolate chip cookies when I was a teenager, too).

Now I just need to remember to call on Sunday. Happy Birthday Pa :)

Suzee's Spice Oatmeal Cookies

When I went home one night, I thought to myself, should I make cookies for people at work? Some times they are well received, but other times they are marking you as a supporter and not a strategist. My boss, a guy, made cookies literally the next day and passed them out to his friends. I got a taste, and I told him about this recipe.

This is Rick's favorite - he would love to have these every night :)

2 sticks room temp butter
1C packed brown sugar
1C ganulated sugar
1 lg egg room temp
1t vanilla
1 t cinnamon
1 t nutmeg (freshly ground if possible)
1 t ground ginger
1 t cumin
pinch ground cloves
pinch ground cayenne pepper
1/2 t baking soda
1 1/2 C flour
3 C oatmeal
1 C cinnamon chips

Pre heat oven to 375 degrees

Cream butter and both sugars until mixture is light.

Beat in the egg and vanilla.

Add spices and baking soda, then stir.

Gradually stir in flour.

Stir in oats and cinnamon chips.

Drop dough by teaspoonful onto ungreased cookie sheet.

Bake 10 minutes for each batch.

Let cool for 1 minute and transfer to a cookie rack to cool completely.

Cinnamon chips can be found at King Arther's flour website

http://www.kingarthurflour.com/

Enjoy!