Grocery Cart!

I bought a hand cart today for groceries. Todd felt it should be captured for the blog. This is how we do the groceries now.

Park Slope, Brooklyn

Here are a few pictures from our day in Park Slope.

Dogs of New York

I couldn't help but take pictures of these adorable dogs we passed! Most dogs in NY wear sweaters.

Weekend FUN!

My first official Culinary School "assignment" was due on Friday. We were supposed to turn in a one-page concept statement addressing our business idea and also present the concept to the class. (As part of my presentation, I brought in French pastries for the class - Treats always help people like presentations better, I've found). The concept statement consists of a brief intro, a mission statement, and then a description of the four major "products" you sell in a food establishment: the food, the service, the ambience and the "sizzle." I presented my concept statement and it was very well received by our class and instructor. I also got some great feedback and feel like I've come a long way in developing my business concept, just in the short time I've been here. From this point, we'll work on developing a menu and eventually, I'll write and present an entire business plan. There were some other fantastic business ideas presented by my classmates...I am surrounded by brilliance! Of course, once that was done, we were all ready to celebrate! We left school and went to this place down the street called Trailer Park (www.trailerparklounge.com). Todd joined us there when he was done working and got to meet all of my new friends. It was FANTASTIC! They had good burgers and decent, cheap margaritas. Plus, the place was decorated like a giant double-wide, complete with tacky women and all! It's right by my school, so I'm sure we'll be back...Saturday I had to get up early because I thought I might have a job (long story), but I ended up back at the apartment around noon. We took the tram into the city (picture attached) and thought we'd check out Bloomingdale's "50% off all clearance items" SALE, but it turns out that everything on clearance was about $150 or more, so even at 50% off, we're still looking at a $75 sweatshirt. Yikes! We had plans at 5:00, so we didn't stay out long before we went home to get ready for our evening. We had been wanting to go to this German restaurant called Rolf's which is known for it's outrageous Christmas decorations. Well, I'm glad we went Saturday because it really was a sight to behold. (And they take the Christmas display down on Wednesday to swap it out for Valentine's Day.) We went from there to the Lower East Side to meet a classmate of mine and her boyfriend for dinner at a place called the Stanton Social. Really trendy little "small plates" restaurant. Everyone loves to serve small plates here. For a big price. But, it was really happening, lots of fun and the food was pretty good. Today, Todd and I took the train to Brooklyn - our first trip there. We went to a little neighborhood called Park Slope. I really enjoyed it - there were lots of shops, little restaurants and the cross streets were lined with beautiful brownstones and lots of trees. Very charming. Tonight we ate dinner at home (balanced the expensive dinner last night by splitting a $1.59 can of Healthy Choice soup), did laundry and Todd had to do a little work at the computer. I tried my best not to distract him. Tomorrow I have an appointment with Bumble and Bumble University (a special hair college). If they analyze my hair and it passes the test, I might get to be a test dummy for their students and get free haircuts and highlights. You may not recognize me the next time you see me!

Food (the other kind) and Random Other Stuff

I haven't posted since Friday because I've been either a.boring or b.camera-less. I need to remember to post even if I don't have pics (although I do today!). Thursday night I went out with a group of about 10-12 people from my culinary class. We had dinner at Bobby Flay's restaurant Mesa Grill. I had the New Mexican Spiced Rubbed Pork Tenderloin. Yummy! I thought the food was great and the cocktails also (I was drinking Mesa Frescas which I learned about in Cabo last year - if you have never had it, go get one! Right away! This will be here when you get back!) Dinner was WAY TOO expensive though so I'm glad I went because I'm not sure I'll go back for that price. We went to a bar afterwards and ended up staying out pretty late and doing some dancing, etc. Yay, a night out! One of my classmates had a camera and you all know how I love to get my picture taken. Of course, by the time I arrived at class on Friday, the pictures had already circulated so people "spoke softly so my head wouldn't hurt." I said, "Give me a break folks, I'm a lightweight. Two drinks and I'm dancing!!" Which of course, it doesn't even take that! My weekend started great on Friday after class because I went to the MoMA for Target's "Free Fridays." What a great deal! Every Friday from 4-8 pm, you can get in for free. 0 dollars 0 cents. I'm really discovering all of the ways to see New York for free or cheap. Eating out is another story. But, anyway, back to the MoMA. It was very cool to see some works of art that have been reproduced so many times that you feel like you could paint them yourself (Starry Night by Van Gogh) and also a little intimidating. I wanted to ask, "Is this the real one? There is only one of these right? This isn't a poster? (Because I had a poster back in college and it looked very similar.) Some other cool things to see there were Dali's The Persistence of Memory ("the floppy clocks"), and tons of works by Matisse, Miro and Chagall, all of whom I admire. So, I did that (unfortunately by myself because I don't know anyone yet and Todd was still in NC) and then tried to save some money by eating in on Friday night. Saturday morning I took the train into the city and went back to the Union Square greenmarket (www.unionsquarejournal.com/greenmarket.htm). I bought a bunch of good, cheap produce (apples, beets, onions, lettuce, carrots) AND a wild boar shoulder. I discovered I love stewed wild boar when we were in Italy and have not really been able to have it since, so I bought the hunk of meat and decided I'd make it myself. Todd was coming back to New York on the 22nd, so I planned to make a special "welcome back" dinner for him. His plane was supposed to come in around 8 pm, so I'd planned for a 9ish dinner. He called several times from DC to say that his flight was delayed. Luckily, I'd done a lot of prepping and chopping, etc, and the meat was slowly simmering, but nothing was sitting on the table getting cold. I held off on finishing until he called from LaGuardia to say he was getting on the bus. Although he didn't get here until almost 11:30, we had a gourmet dinner right here in the apartment. Candles and everything! Here are some pictures of the food. Dinner was Red Wine Braised Wild Boar with Vegetable Ragu and a side salad with carrots, beets and kohlrabi. Some of you might turn your nose at this, but trust me when I say it was (courtesy of Joe Mauney) slap-your-momma-good! We have plenty of leftovers too, so please come on by if you want to try it. I got a chance to listed to one of the Venezuelan brothers speak today at the culinary school and I met with him to tell him I want a job. So......I have a job interview tomorrow at 10:00 at Tisserie. I'm even more excited about it now that I have met him and heard him speak. This week in class we're working on developing our written concept statements for our business. Mine has definitely evolved, but is coming together in a really solid way! If I previously shared anything about the name or theme of my bakery-to-be, it's probably changed. One thing that has not changed is that I DO WANT TO INCORPORATE PURPLE VELVET somehow into the color scheme! :) I'll present my concept to the class on Friday, so I'll let "Y'ALL" know how it goes.

Snow!

It was hard to sit through class yesterday with snow falling in front of me through the window, but once I got outside it had stopped and nothing had stuck. But, this morning when I woke up, there was snow on the buildings and all over the ground! Not enough to slow anything down around here, but it's pretty!

A Few More SoHo Pics

City Walk #12 (SoHo)

I began on Lafayette and Prince and passed Saint Patrick's Cathedral, which was built in 1815 and is surrounded by a beautiful (and intimidating) brick wall. I also passed another old church, Saint Anthony of Padua (the one with the statues). There were so many other interesting sights that I will attach more photos in another post.

City Walk #16

I got this great deck of cards called "City Walks" from my friend Kristen. It's a set of about 50 cards that detail interesting walks through New York, and most of them are a little off-the-beaten-path. Although they do point out the traditional tourist attractions, they are focused more on the local charm and some of the historic beauty of the city. Today I did several walks through Greenwich Village, SoHo and NoLIta. Walk #16 concentrated around Washington Square and New York University. I began at Sixth Avenue and West 11th Street and went east on 11th Street through one of the Village's most beautiful blocks. Close to 5th Avenue, there is one townhouse that stands out as much more "modern" than the others (see photo). A bomb built by members of the Weather Underground exploded in that spot in 1970, killing 2 people and destroying the original building. Going further to University Place, I strolled into Washington Mews, an cobblestone lane with charming converted carriage houses, now mostly owned by New York University. Then, down 5th Avenue to the Arch and Washington Square Park. The Arch was built to mark the centenary of George Washington's 1789 inauguration and has been a major landmark in the Village for many years.

Good Morning America!

I got to sit in the live studio audience for Good Morning America today! It was an early morning, as I was supposed to be in line outside the studios by 6:15. As a special surprise, Diana Ross performed on the show today. She sang three songs: “Lovely Day,” “More Today than Yesterday” and “The Look of Love.” It was also cool to be able to meet Diane Sawyer and Robin Roberts! The studio was very clean, warm and not crowded or crazy at all. I don't know how all of the behind-the-scenes people make it look so easy! Here are a few pictures from the morning...By the way, the temperature outside has dropped 10 DEGREES since 5:30 this morning. Me thinks it's gonna get chilly here!

Downtown

I went downtown today to see the Brooklyn Bridge, the South Street Seaport/Fulton Fish Market and Wall Street. It was a little dreary (weather-wise) today, but I stayed dry and did lots of walking. Here are a few pictures from the adventure!

Weekend with Todd

Despite the rain this weekend, we had such a nice time! Todd's flight was delayed coming in on Friday night, so we didn't end up leaving the apartment until around 10:00. We decided to find a place to eat and finally settled on a little Mediterranean/Italian spot in the East Village called Virage. It was cute, the service was very good (especially given that it was almost midnight) and the food was better than we expected! On Saturday, we spent the entire day walking around. We went as far north as West 86th Street and as far south as Tribeca. I took Todd to show him the Bouley Bakery, and we split a delightful and beautiful dessert called the Ispahan. It was a combination of rose-flavored, meringue-like cookies, pastry cream and fresh raspberries! Delicious! We walked down Canal Street through Chinatown and back to the apartment to get ready for dinner. We had dinner at a Spanish/tapas restaurant called Barca 18. The restaurant is part of a group of restaurants owned and operated by a New York restaurateur named Stephen Hanson . We talked about him in my classes and through my research outside of class I've found his philosophies to be right up my alley. He's very customer-focused and New York magazine said he's "made a science of pleasing people." Sounds like a great plan for running a business! We went out for (a couple) more drinks after dinner and got home late. It was so much fun! Sunday was a lazy day and, unfortunately, Todd had to leave to catch a 4:30 flight. Big plans tonight to catch the first 2 hours of "24."

Zabar's

I discovered food-lover's heaven this weekend in ZABAR'S (www.zabars.com), a humongous specialty food and kitchenwares store on the Upper West Side. Zabar's has everything you could imagine for the kitchen, bakeware like I've never seen before, dishes, pots/pans and the entire bottom floor is filled with meats, cheeses, nuts, prepared foods, breads, pastas, you name it! And the store is the size of a department store. We went there first thing on Saturday morning, in the rain, and it was a madhouse! We should have gone there last, because I wanted to buy some stuff, but didn't want to carry it around all day. Oh, and as a student at the culinary school, I get a 10% discount! Long live Zabar's!

First Official Visitors

My first official out-of-town visitors! Renu and Ajay stayed in NYC last night on their way back to North Carolina. I met them at their hotel after I got out of school. They were not far from my school and it was a nice walk through Madison Park and up Madison Avenue (pictures below). It was so nice to have them visiting and to get to be their (somewhat scattered) guide through the city. We went to different spots for dinner, drinks and dessert and took a stroll through Times Square also. We passed this barber shop, I contemplated the no charge shaving consultation, but decided that I knew the answer (Yes, it was time!) and took the photo instead!

We went to Carmine's for dessert and while we were pondering the choices (and how many we should get), the table of visitors next to us offered to let us taste some of theirs. The bowl the man is scooping from is their SINGLE-SERVING Tiramisu and the other photo is of the Strawberry Shortcake we split among the three of us. We still had more than a normal-sized dessert portion left over after all three of us had eaten our fill! They believe in large portion sizes! Today's class was GREAT (we played the "restaurant game") and I'm looking so forward to a nice, relaxing weekend with Todd here in the city. We have plans to see the Statue of Liberty (perhaps from the FREE Staten Island ferry), take some city walks, and enjoy the eats and drinks of Manhattan.