Orphan Thanksgiving

So it was Thanksgiving yesterday. One of my favorite holidays - the relaxed time with loved ones, no pressure to buy/think of presents, the EATING! Last year, we flew home. And then, a month later we went home again for Christmas. It was wonderful to get to spend the time with family and be home for the holidays. However, our pocketbooks did not feel so wonderful. So this year, we decided to stay in New York. Luckily, our friends Yee and Huy were also staying, so we decided to join together to have an orphaned Oregonians Thanksgiving. And now that we have our new apartment, there is plenty of room for four people to gather together!

On Wednesday, Neil and I headed out into the wet, Portland-esque weather to gather provisions and to check out the Macy's parade balloons being inflated. The day before the parade, they inflate all the balloons around 4 blocks on the Upper West Side, and they open the whole thing up to the public to watch. Christmas music was playing, it was cold and crisp out, and kids and families were everywhere, enjoying the gigantic balloons. It felt like a quintessential New York activity to take part in.

We saw Snoopy, the Energizer bunny, Ronald McDonald, a Smurf, Spiderman, Hello Kitty. These balloons are just gigantic, and the number of people it takes to get them blown up is crazy! Some fun facts about the balloons and the Macy's day parade - the first year they had a balloon they inflated it, but didn't have a plan to deflate it, so they just released it at the end of the parade. They continued the tradition of releasing all of the balloons at the end of the parade for a few years. They would give rewards to people who returned the balloons if they found them. Some were never found. Then, one year, they released the balloons at the end of the parade, and one of them got tangled in the wing of an airplane and it crashed. Macy's ended the practice after that. Some times the balloons still get away, though. They lost Garfield in 2005.

The wind was cold, though, so after the first block of balloons, we decided to skip the rest of the route and head out to gather our last-minute Thanksgiving provisions. We took a little Thanksgiving Eve tour of Manhattan and Brooklyn, to Union square for wine, West Village to go to Murray's cheese shop (where I didn't actually buy anything because there were SO many people there and all the cheese is held behind the counter. It was just too stressful), and Park Slope for a chicken and cheese, meat and olives. Everyone was out picking up their pre-ordered fresh turkey's from the meat shop. And even though the lines were long, everyone seemed to be in pretty good spirits.

Our Thanksgiving menu looked like this:

Appetizer: 

Cheese/Meat/Olives 

First course:

Butternut Squash and Apple soup
Buttermilk Dinner Rolls (I substituted whole wheat flour)

Second course: 

Chicken Bacon Roulades

Sauteed Brussels Sprouts with Bacon

Cranberry Cornbread Stuffing

Third Course:

Rabbit fricassee with Tagliatelle

Browned Butter Mashed Potatoes, 

Garlic Butter Roasted Mushrooms

Quick Sauteed Kale with Toasted Pine Nuts

Dessert:

Cranberry Upside down cake

There was also plans for an Apple Cider Cream Pie, but I totally killed the pie crust - burned it beyond recognition - so that got jettisoned early in the afternoon.

I decided to go "course-style" because we just don't have the space to lay all that food out at one time, and stuff gets cold. So this way, we ate a little bit, kept the other stuff in the oven, warming, and then got to go back for another round of warm food. Except for the cream pie, there was really no fail in the entire  menu, which was quite a victory for me - I almost always completely fail at something. Probably because all of the dishes were tried and true. The soup was the only real brand new recipe in the group.

We did a tour of all places that we've lived in our cheese plate. We had a Rogue Creamery (from OR) Crater Lake blue cheese that was the favorite, Humboldt Fog goat cheese from CA, a Talleggio which was a cheese that Neil had on a pizza when we first moved to NY and then a triple-cream cheese that had no connection to anywhere we have lived, but it looked super yummy.

All the food was pretty tasty but the standout for me was, surprisingly, the soup. This was the only dish that I had never made before and it turned out absolutely delicious. I think I could have eaten only that with the rolls for the whole meal and been perfectly satisfied. It was a little bit spicy, a little bit sweet, there were just so many layers to it. I usually have a problem with pureed soups, I need something to chew, but this one was quite thick and perfect with the dinner rolls to scoop it up. I anticipate making this soup a LOT this winter. One butternut squash made a huge pot, too. And I made it the Sunday night before Thanksgiving and froze it and it thawed perfectly. I linked to the recipe above, but in case you don't click it, because you TOTALLY should, here it is again:

I didn't bother with the gremolata, and I personally don't think the soup needs any garnish. There is just so much flavor already in the soup. I also just used ground ginger instead of fresh and I omitted the chili  and hit the soup with Sriracha sauce after I pureed it. That gave it plenty of spice, along with the curry powder.

spicy winter squash soup with apples & orange scented gremolata
1 T butter (or Smart Balance or olive oil, if you want something non-dairy)
1 small onion, diced
2″ knob of ginger, diced
1 large carrot, diced
1 birds eye chili, seeds removed & diced
1/2 t salt
1 t freshly ground pepper
1 heaping T curry paste (I used Patak’s Jalfrezi paste – curry powder works too!)
2 1/2 c cooked winter squash
2 apples, skinned & diced (I used russets)
6 c vegetable or chicken stock or water
a few shakes of your favorite hot sauce (optional)

In a large heavy pot, heat butter over medium-high heat and add in the onion and ginger, letting it sweat and get wilty – about 4 minutes. Add in the carrot, fresh chili, salt and ground pepper and stir around to get fragrant. Stir in the curry paste, along with the cooked squash and apples. Pour in the water or stock and give everything a good stir. Put on the lid and let simmer over low heat for 20-30 minutes, checking at the half way point to add in additional liquid if needed, and stirring occasionally.

Use an immersion blender to puree the soup and taste it to see if it needs more seasoning – I always add in some hot sauce here (vinegar based or sriracha, your call). Pour soup into bowls and top with gremolata. Makes 4-6 servings.

And now it's time to turn on the Christmas music and start getting ready for my favorite holiday!!! Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Soup dumplings...Mmmmmm

In September, my friends Yee and Huy moved here from Portland, increasing my pool of NY friends by 1/3. Even though I'm jealous that they get to live in Manhattan, I LOVE having them here, because they are super-awesome, super-fun people to have around, but also because they do thing like babysit nervous doggies for us while we move in a snowstorm. Also because they do all the heavy lifting when It comes to scoping out new, awesome places to eat, which, since I actually have to do work at work now (sigh), I don't have time to do on my own.

This weekend, they introduced me to Shanghai Cafe in Chinatown and this magnificent little gem of a food called a Soup Dumplings. Most of you worldly folks probably already know what these are, but to me, they were a mystery. How do you get soup to stay in a dumpling, for goodness sake? Wow, is all I can say. What a heart-warming, delicious little snack! Yummy meat, delicious broth, chewy dumpling. And it was dirt-cheap! Needless to say, I will be returning again and again.

Unfortunately, Neil couldn't join us. He found out that he has shingles this weekend and is quarantined from all people who have not had chicken pox, which is 1/3 of our friend pool here. Poor guy. But, it does give us an excuse to go back for more soup dumplings!!


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Change of scenery

I haven't felt much like blogging for the last few months, obviously. I switched jobs and started working for the Opera directly and as they are in a transitional period right now, leaving Lincoln Center, there was a LOT of work to be done and I worked more overtime than I have in a long time. So I wasn't getting out and about a lot, not exploring any uncharted NYC territory, and not really doing anything interesting to share with you. Life started to feel very much like it was in a rut, and there was just nothing interesting to blog about. 

But last weekend, we moved to a new apartment, in a different neighborhood in Brooklyn and, with that simple change of scenery, I feel inspired to write again. There is so much to tell you about now: it's Fall in New York, and just absolutely gorgeous, there is a new neighborhood to explore, I've had some friends move to the City and will hopefully be getting out and about more, even though Neil is still working weekends. The new apartment is absolutely fantastic - don't tell Neil but I have a little crush on it. It's two bedrooms so we actually have our bed in a separate room for the first time in three years. The other room Neil and I are sharing as a studio/craft room (Neil gets most of the space). Each room has a small balcony off of it, so I will be able to grow some stuff in small planters next year. The apartment has extremely high ceilings, maybe 12-15 feet high, and gets wonderful light. In general, I just somehow feel lighter in this place. I will not miss our old apartment at all. The neighborhood is very transitional, on the verge of gentrification, so not quite as nice as our old neighborhood but it also feels very exciting as you watch the changes happening. New restaurants and shops open every day and there is so much to explore. 

Here are a few pics of the new place:

The living space is tiny, but that's okay. Without the bed in the living room, we don't actually have that much furniture. It's a very comfortable size for just the two of us. 

The fall colors have finally come to New York. I met Neil in Central Park a few days ago for a lunchtime walk and was astounded by the vibrancy of the foliage in the park this year. I don't remember it being so vivid last year. 

It's also apple season. A couple of weekends ago, Neil and I drove upstate and went apple picking. It was a glorious fall day, with just a tiny chill in the air. Unfortunately, we were at the very end of the picking season and most of the apples were already off the tree and so we did more apple-gathering than apple-picking. But it was still a fun experience and the apple pie that I made from the apples was one of the best I have ever made. 

This last weekend was one of those perfect fall days, beautiful sunshine slanting in through the windows, crisp air but not too cold and, with the light streaming into the apartment and the windows opened, I was inspired to cook like I haven't been in a long time. I made a loaf of fresh bread, yogurt, the apple pie and I churned a batch of brown sugar ice cream to go with the pie. Then for dinner I braised a pork shoulder for carnitas. It felt like a return to myself. I haven't cooked like that since we left San Francisco. 

Sometimes you just need a change of scenery...

Runaway hobby

Spring has finally arrived in NYC! Blossoms on the trees, warmth in the air, asparagus at the market! About time. It has also brought with it quite a few April showers, which, in NYC, means thundershowers. I happen to love thundershowers. You don't really get those in the PacNW and I just love hearing the thunder and seeing the flashes of lightning through the curtains. Plus, usually when the thundershowers come, it's also pretty warm out, and there is nothing like a warm spring rain. With the smell of blossoms in the air. Ahh... I love seasons.

Even though the weather has been a lot nicer lately, I still haven't managed to get out much because I have developed a ridiculous addiction to sewing. I can't stop. Since I finished the tote bag, I have been on a pattern-buying, fabric coveting, sewing rampage. It's probably unhealthy, but I am completely obsessed. Here is the tote bag:

After the tote, I decided that I was ready to tackle knits (or stretchy fabric). Hmm... that wasn't my brightest decision, because even though the pattern was extremely easy, working with knits is not. They are slippery and slidey and flimsy and just generally not easy. The pattern was for a boat neck, long-sleeved t-shirt. I did finish the shirt but it's not really wearable. I mean, I could wear it, but it just so obviously screams "HOMEMADE!!!! AND NOT WELL...". You be the judge:

But I was not daunted by my shirt failure. At all. Because I was COMPLETELY hooked by that time. There is something SO magical for me about cutting out little pieces of fabric, making a few stitches and having it turn into a piece of clothing. I think in some ways, it's very much like making jewelry. You start with something flat and end up with something three-dimensional. So, I dove head first into a dress. With princess seams. And a lined skirt. And a zipper. And darts. And, lo and behold, after a week, and an entire day spent hemming, I turned out a completely wearable, super-comfortable dress. The fit is a little tight around the waist and when I wore it last Friday to work, after lunch I was a little bit uncomfortable. But, overall, I'm SO pleased with it. It's not hemmed yet, in this picture, so the skirt actually hits an inch or so above the knee now.



I found this super-cheerful linen at 50% off at the fabric store and although it does wrinkle, it's going to be really nice for summer days. I should probably also mention that this hasn't been ironed, so it no longer has a huge crease right down the middle. :)

One perk of working for the Opera and Ballet is complimentary tickets to the shows, and another perk, that I found out a couple of weeks ago, is that we also get invited to the Ballet's annual Spring gala. Us peons get to attend the cocktail hour and performance part of the gala, after which we are sent merrily on our way, while the glitterati get to stay and have a supper/ball. But that's fine with me - it should be a lot of fun to get all fancy and dressed up and rub elbows with other fancy people. Last year Sarah Jessica Parker and Natalie Portman attended.

Having no idea what one would wear to such an event, I googled some pictures from last year's event and realized that it is quite a dressy affair. For which I have ABSOLUTELY nothing appropriate in my closet. Me, not such a dressy person. And that's when the light bulb went on! I have successfully sewn and completed one, ONE dress in my lifetime - of course I should make my own gala ball gown, right? No problem. And of course I should pick a pattern that has a fitted, boned bodice and a gathered skirt even though I have never gathered anything in my life. Of course, this was bound to turn out to be an absolute disaster and I should have talked myself down off the ledge immediately. But I ignored my inner critic and tripped merrily off to Mood where I found some gorgeous wine-colored cotton sateen and set to work. And I'm very glad I didn't listen to my inner critic, because, in the end, it has turned out very nicely, if I do say so myself. I still have to hem the skirt and attach straps, but here is the progress so far:

It's a little bit hard to see because my iphone doesn't really take great pictures in low light, but there's some nice pleating on the overbodice, and the wrinkles in the midriff should ease out once I add the straps to hold everything up better. I actually like this strapless, but I'd need to add a LOT more boning to keep the thing up and Neil doesn't like strapless. So, straps it is!!

I'm just honestly glad that it's presentable so that I don't have to buy a dress at this point.

And so, this is where the last month of my life has been focused. I sew in the evenings when I get home from work, I sew on the weekends, sometimes I even find myself "sewing" in my sleep. It's completely out of control but I'm too far gone now. There's no going back. Next up - a shirt for Neil!

Happy Spring everyone!

What a difference a season makes

Wow, it's amazing how fast we changed from winter to spring here. My parents were visiting last week and there were a few blossoms and spring flowers here and there, but no leaves on the trees and basically, thongs were pretty bleak. This week, central park has just been exploding!! Blossoms everywhere, and today I noticed little green leaves popping out on all the trees. It's glorious and it's having a huge impact on my sense of well- being. I feel spring in my step, hopeful, excited about what the warm weather months will hold for us here. As I write this, I'm enjoying a lovely 60 degree afternoon in the park, listening to a great street performer and just feeling good about life.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

new hobby

I've been watching entirely too much Project Runway lately. I bought a sewing machine. It's just so amazing to see those people throw together such fabulous clothes in a day. So inspiring. And of course, I assume I can do exactly the same thing right off the bat, with no instruction, no experience, no fashion sense. :) But I just got that itch under my skin - the itch to do something and you just have no choice but to scratch it.

In my defense, I did do a little research before I bought the sewing machine, to see if it was actually something I would be interested in. I did a reconnaissance trip to Mood Fabrics - the fabric store that they shop at on Project Runway. Wow. The second I stepped in that door, I was done for. Three floors of amazing, beautiful fabric in every color, texture, print you could ever in a million years imagine. Every fabric I touched, I could imagine a piece of clothing. I'm pretty sure my eyes were actually gleaming. I immediately rushed right home and purchased a sewing machine. Without a second thought. And a few minutes after I bought the sewing machine, I checked my email and there it was - a Groupon to Mood Fabrics. $15 for $30 worth of fabric. It was a sign - it was MEANT to BE!

While waiting VERY impatiently for my sewing machine to ship, I browsed patterns online and picked out two. I figured that I would start out with a simple tote bag. Mainly because the one that I'm carrying my stuff around in right now is SO dirty it's embarrassing, but also because it's always advisable to start with something simple, right? Then I also found a pattern for a simple boatneck shirt. My sewing machine was supposed to arrive on Friday, but I wasn't home to receive it, so I had to send it to a Fedex location to hold, to pick up on Sunday morning. So on Saturday, I made the trek back to Mood to pick out my fabrics for the tote bag and the shirt.

I stood in the canvas aisle for an hour, at least. SO many fabrics, only one tote bag to make. I just couldn't decide. The people must have thought I was crazy. When I finally got my canvas picked out, I headed up to the jersey knit aisle, where I proceeded to stand for another hour. I was SO drawn to the stripes, and almost picked one out and then talked myself down from that ledge - it's going to be hard enough to create a shirt, much less try to do it while matching up stripes. So I just got a very nice grey jersey.

I picked up my sewing machine on Sunday, rolled out my fabric to start to make the tote and realized, hmm, I haven't used a sewing machine in 20 years, and the experience I do have is limited to trying to make one shirt with my mom helping me. A lot. So, I thought it wise to maybe do some practicing before jumping right into a finished project. I had a little bit extra of one of my canvas pieces, because they had swatched the end of it, so I cut out pieces to make a little mini-tote. I read through the entire sewing machine manual, got the bobbin wound and the sewing machine threaded, played around a little bit with different stitches, and then got to work.

Let me just say that the seam ripper is my best friend. I think that is going to be the hardest part, is getting the feel for the foot pedal. My seams were just kind of all over the place. Loose in some places, perfect in others. But in the end, I turned out a little mini-tote, which I'm using to hold my sewing tools.

 

It looks good enough to me, and I had a BLAST! I LOVE sewing! How did I not discover this hobby earlier? So next up, I'll get started on the actual tote, now that I've had a little practice. 

I've also been working on some jewelry, not finishing as much as I would like, but I have two pieces completed. 

In other news, it snowed this morning. Crazy. The weather channel predicted it, but I scoffed - snow in March, hah! Well, touche, weather channel. You win. Luckily it's a completely different kind of snow that the frigid, non-melting variety that we had on the ground for the entire month of January. There was about 1/4 of an inch of it, and it will be melted soon. That kind of snow, I can handle in March. It still feels like Spring. 

My parents will be visiting the first week in April, so hopefully I will have some NYC sights to share with you. We'll finally get out there and be tourists on your behalf! Happy Wednesday to everyone!

Cozy

It's super cold outside right now - a cold snap after high 50's this weekend - but there's a big pot of beef and barley soup bubbling on the stove, Neil is napping on the bed and it's warm and cozy in our little home. I guess I can handle a few more weeks of winter.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Beating the cold with comfort food

We've actually been having a little thaw here lately. It was 53 degrees here on Tuesday. Unfortunately, there was also a strong wind blowing, with gusts up to 30mph. So, on the one hand, I got to go out and walk through Central Park on my lunch break. On the other hand, I spent most of that walk blinking dust out of my eyes that the wind was whipping up in great, gritty clouds. 

 

Today it was 56 degrees, with no wind, and I walked from 79th St. back to work at 65th st. with a huge smile on my face. It gave me just a taste of what's to come - warmth!! And lots of it. I'm sure you'll tire of hearing me whine about the heat and humidity in August, but right now I say "Bring on that 90 degree weather". I'm ready for it!! 

Unfortunately, I've lived in the Pacific Northwest long enough to know a false spring when I see one, and I'm not fooling myself that the cold weather is past us just yet. And last week I had found a dinner that is a perfect remedy for a cold night. Comfort food - eggs, biscuits, potatoes and mushrooms. I got a couple of portobello mushrooms in my food box last week and was a little perplexed as to what to do with them. I grew up in a household where mushrooms were not common and I've only recently begun to truly enjoy and appreciate mushrooms. And I've never handled a portobello before! So I did what any smart person would do, I went to bonappetit.com and typed in Portobello. And back came, "Broiled Portobello topped with Creamy Scrambled Eggs". I had some buttermilk in the fridge leftover from making butter, so biscuits seemed natural and there were potatoes in the box as well. What could be more comforting and warming than breakfast foods? The mushrooms are broiled with olive oil, garlic, salt and pepper and, my lord, they are delicious. The egg is almost omelette-like in texture and you just plunk it down on top of the mushroom and devour. It was the perfect dinner on a super-cold night. 

Broiled Portobello with Creamy Scrambled Eggs

• 6 4- to 5-inch-diameter portobello mushrooms
• Olive oil
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 12 large eggs
• 4 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 1/2 teaspoons chopped fresh rosemary
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) butter

Preparation 

Preheat broiler. Line large baking sheet with foil. Remove and discard mushroom stems. Scoop out and discard tough inside centers where mushroom stems were attached. Brush both sides of mushrooms generously with olive oil. Place mushrooms, dark gill side up, on prepared baking sheet. Sprinkle mushrooms with minced garlic, then sprinkle generously with salt and pepper. Broil mushrooms about 5 inches from heat source until beginning to soften, about 5 minutes. Turn mushrooms over; broil until tender when pierced with knife, about 7 minutes longer. DO AHEAD Can be made 2 hours ahead. Let stand at room temperature. Before continuing, rewarm in 350°F oven until heated through, about 10 minutes.

Whisk eggs, 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese, chopped rosemary, salt, and pepper in large bowl to blend. Melt 5 tablespoons butter in heavy large skillet over medium-low heat. Add eggs to skillet and stir gently in circular motion with wooden spoon or heat-resistant rubber spatula, releasing cooked eggs from bottom of skillet and allowing uncooked portion of eggs to flow underneath. Cook until eggs are set but still soft, about 4 minutes total. Dot with remaining 1 tablespoon butter. 

 

Arrange hot portobello mushrooms, gill side up, on plates. Top with eggs, dividing equally. Sprinkle with remaining 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese, dividing equally, and serve.

We get to taste our beer this weekend! I can't wait and I hope it's not skunky!!

I apologize

I just wanted to say I'm sorry for not writing more interesting things about living in New York City. The truth is that it is just so cold here, I spend probably 95% of my time either in the apartment or at work. This is just not the weather for long walks or neighborhood exploring. Usually I'm just trying to get from the subway to wherever I'm going in the shortest amount of time possible, not even pausing to look up or marvel that I live in this cool city. January was just frigid. We had snow at least twice a week for the whole month and I don't think it probably got above 35 more than a couple days. We still have snow on the ground from Christmas, although it's on it's last legs now - the 3 foot high piles have subsided to mere inches now and the dogs are having to go to the bathroom on the bare sidewalk for the first time in a month. February has been a bit warmer and it hasn't snowed yet. It was 40 yesterday for about 10 minutes, then a cold front came in while I was at work and by the time I left, it was 20. This morning it was 17 degrees when I left for work and with the wind chill, it was supposed to feel like 2 degrees. Trust me, it did.

So, really, we haven't been exploring much, we haven't been walking or touring or leaving the apartment for long stretches of time. Frankly, it's starting to drive me a little bit crazy and I'm feeling a little bit trapped. At least in Oregon, if it stops raining for a few hours, you can go outside.

We have, however, been going to the ballet a lot, which is a nice way to get out of the house. I think I mentioned this before, but the ballet is set up more like a symphony performance. The season includes about 30-40 dances, each probably 30-40 minutes long and every night they perform a difference combination of 3 or 4 of these dances. So if you go on a Tuesday night, you will most likely see 4 different dances than you would if you went on a Saturday. It's actually really cool and good for those of us with shorter attention spans. They usually do a very traditional ballet, and contemporary ballet and then kind of a broadway/more showy ballet. A little taste for everyone.

Having only ever seen the Nutcracker before, I wasn't sure if I would actually like ballet, but it turns out that I do! It's just amazing to watch these incredible athletes who are SO strong, yet so beautiful and graceful. They flit around the stage looking effortless and weightless, and then you focus on their arms and legs, and you see how hard they are working, how much strength it actually takes to make these things look effortless and weightless. It's pretty astounding, actually. Swan Lake is coming up and, having seen Black Swan recently, I'm really hoping that we will be able to get tickets to that. But, I'm sure it will be a very popular performance and there might not be any availability for us free-loaders.

Hope everyone else is staying warm!!

Bottling

The wait was finally over last Sunday, and we bottled the beer. It was a little nerve-racking to take the top off of the fermented and hope that there was beer inside, but there was indeed - delicious, aromatic, amber-colored beer.

The first step was to go back to the home brew shop and buy a bunch more equipment. Bottling bucket, bottles, bottle caps, siphon tubing, racking cane, bottling cane, bottle tree. I won't lie to you, the setup for this hasn't been cheap. Its put a deep, $200 dent in my pocketbook. But it was worth it the second I took my first deep whiff of the fruits of our labors. We took the lid of the fermenter and looked down into that gorgeous, delicious liquid and the two weeks of babysitting the swamp cooler, swapping out frozen water bottles twice a day, it all seemed very worth it.

We ended up getting 22oz. Bottles because that's all they had. At first I was bothered by this, but with home brew, there's always a little layer of yeast at the bottom of the bottle, and it's probably better to pour it out of the bottle to drink anyway, so I got over it.

We came home and washed and sanitized all the bottles and hung them on the nifty bottle tree until it was time to put the beer in them.




Then we had to move the beer from the fermenting bucket into the bottling bucket. The bottling bucket has a spigot on it which makes getting the beer out of the bucket much easier. So step one was to transfer the beer. Easy right? Just hoist that bucket up and pour it out? Nope, turns out that getting oxygen into your beer is, like, the worst thing you can possibly do to it. So, instead, you must use a siphon to gently, gently suck the beer out of one bucket and into the other. The last time I used a siphon, I was about twelve and cleaning out my fish tank. To get that siphon to work, I used to submerge the whole thing in the tank and then slowly work all the air bubbles out of it. Somehow I didn't think submerging a whole siphon plus my hands and arms into the fermented beer was going to work for this, so I had to YouTube "how to use a siphon". Looked pretty easy on the video, but try as I might, in our kitchen, I just couldn't get it flowing. Luckily, it turns out that Neil has been hiding his secret talent as a siphon-starter from me all these years. He's a pro! He just looked at the thing and it started flowing!

Inside the fermenting bucket, there is all sorts of crap stuck to the edge, where the yeast bubbled up during fermentation. And then at the bottom of the bucket is an inch thick layer of yeast and who knows what else. You don't want this in your beer, so you use a racking cane attached the siphon to get the beer out, and leave the yeast behind. The racking cane has a little cap on it that keeps the suction about an inch or so off the bottom of the bucket.









Once the beer was transferred from the fermented to the bottling bucket, we attached the bottling "Thingy" to the spigot on the bottling bucket. I'm sure there is a technical name for it, but I'm just too lazy to look it up right now. Basically it's got a spring in it that when you insert it into the bottle, and push down on the spring, it releases the beer into the bottle. When you let up on it, the flow of beer stops. It's actually super-awesome. We then proceeded to bottle. I filled up the bottles and Neil capped em.

















When we we finished, we had 24 22oz. bottles and three 12 oz. bottles. Now they sit on the shelf and condition for 3 weeks and then we drink!! it's really hard to wait and wonder what it is going to taste like, so...we didn't! We siphoned a little bit into a glass and tasted the fruits of our labor. Wit wasn't carbonated, because the carbonation happens in the bottles, so it tasted totally flat, but if you looked past that, it was really good! Good flavor, good body, I think it is going to be delicious. But, we still have to wait two more weeks to find out for sure.

Next up, we'll be brewing a clone of Obsidian Stout, which is one of my favorite stouts.





Look at that pretty!!

Amber Ale

Last weekend, we took a trip down to ye old brewshop and picked up all the equipment and supplies to make our first batch of homebrew. I bought Neil a brewkit back in Portland about 3 years ago, but for some reason we never got around to making any beer. In San Francisco, our friend Alec shared some of his delicious homebrew with us and when we moved here, and realized there was a homebrew shop 3 blocks away from us, it just seemed like time to make some beer. Not to mention that the price of beer is RIDICULOUS here - $6/pint in bars and $10-13 for a 6-pack. Definitely motivation to make it ourselves.

For our first batch, we decided to do an Amber Ale. The process was really fun - the first step was to steep some malted barley in the GIANT brewpot, then we added more water, some malt extract and brought the whole thing to a boil. It's really hard to get 3 gallons of liquid to boil, let me tell you.

(bag with grains in it for steeping)

Then we added three different types of hops to the boil and different times. The hops smelled AMAZING when they went into the pot - so fragrant and delicious. The hops that you boil for the whole time give the beer it's bitterness, and then the other two additions add fragrance. We added Centennial, Willamette and Mt. Hood hops.

(hops pellets waiting to be added)

After all the boiling was finished, we cooled the wort in the sink, with ice.

Then we poured the wort into the fermenting bucket, along with 3 gallons of water and poured in the rehydrated yeast. We put the lid on, put the airlock into the lid, and let the yeast start to do its business. The next day, the airlock started bubbling!

That crazy setup that we have it in is called a swamp cooler because the beer needs to ferment at about 65 degrees, and our apartment is usually around 75-80 degrees. We don't have control over the temperature, so we had to find a way to keep the beer cool while it fermented. So we sat the fermenter in a restaurant dish tub, filled it up with water, covered the fermenter in an old t-shirt, and we swap out frozen water bottles twice a day to cool the whole contraption. So far, it seems to be working. 

So next weekend is bottling weekend and then I need to re-read by book to see how long it has to stay in the bottle before we can drink it!! I'm just praying that I didn't do something to ruin it somehow and that we don't end up with skunky beer. 

I wanted to leave you with a super-cute picture. Neil got a new coat this weekend, and it's basically made for hunting, so there is a pocket in the back of the jacket. When he tried it on at home for the first time, we realized that it would fit Lola and Swarley perfectly:

A walk in the park

So here's a general overview map of the 5 boroughs of New York City:

Manhattan is #1 (Blue), the Bronx is #4 (Red), Queens #3 (Orange), Staten Island #5 (Purple) and Brooklyn is #1 (Yellow). Brooklyn is on the very tip of Long Island, and that grey across the river from Manhattan is New Jersey. Before I moved here, I had absolutely no idea how all of the boroughs fit together, or how New Jersey fit into the puzzle. 

This is a close-up map of Brooklyn and all of its neighborhoods. We live in Park Slope, near Prospect Park. Brooklyn is huge. In fact, if it were a city unto itself, instead of being a part of New York City, it would be the fourth-largest city in the world. 

The sun was shining bright today, so we decided to take a walk around Prospect Park. That's the nice thing about winter in New York. It may be cold, but it sunshines a LOT. Coming from the Pacific Northwest, I kept waiting for the rain to start. For me, November means the start of 6 months of rain. But it never came. All we've had is sunshine and snow. And frankly, that's pretty great. 

It was a perfect day for a walk, warmed by the sun, cooled by the brisk breeze. 

Families were out sledding, bikers were riding the loop all bundled up in their winter riding clothes, people were running, walking their dogs, or just having a nice walk, like us. 

We even saw a person cross-country skiing.

In the rest of the city, the sidewalks are shoveled and the roads are cleared of snow by just hours after the snowfall. But in the park, they left the snow on most of the walkways. Walking there made it really feel like it had snowed. 

We did a two hour loop around the park and by the time we got home, we were ready to curl up and watch some football in the cozy apartment. Too bad the Seahawks got stomped!

Edit: Neil just pointed out that I got my facts about Brooklyn wrong. It would be the fourth largest city in the U.S., not the world. Fourth largest in the world is now held by Sao Paulo, Brazil, with appx. 17 million people. Brooklyn only has 2.5 million. Whoops! 

Reality

There are times when it strikes me as completely surreal that I live in New York City. Like today, when I exited the Not-for-profit conference that I attended, and found myself in Times Square, instead of Lloyd Center. Also, it was pretty cool that the Assistant Director of the FASB was our seminar speaker. (Only accounting nerds will probably get this. Charlotte, I expect a comment.) It's moments like these where it really hits me how exciting and crazy it is that I live here.

Although, I did run into my old boss from Portland while at the conference. My two worlds colliding...

Week in review

We've been back in New York for a week now, but it feels like so much longer than that, for some reason. We had such a wonderful holiday vacation, we got to go home for a week and although we both got sick, it caused us to slow down, rest, and really enjoy our time with family and friends.

After a leisurely weekend recovering from the colds, and just getting back into the groove of being in NY, on Monday, it was back to the normal routine. We met up with some friends who just moved here from San Francisco and we went to Ethiopian food, which Neil and I had never had before. It was very interesting - you eat with your hands, using flat bread to scoop up the food. The food was yummy, but it did kind of tie our stomach in knots for the next few days - I don't think we were used to the spices.

I got back into the swing of things at work and it was really nice to be back. The ballet season is starting now, and so I have big plans for us to attend. Ballet is different than Opera; with Opera, they do, say, three shows in a two month season. For ballet, they have 20-30 short ballets, and when you go on a certain night, you will see 2-3 of those ballets. It's like going to the symphony, where they might play 3 different 30-40 minute pieces. I have never been to a ballet besides the nutcracker, so I'm interested to see how it is.

Yesterday, we had our first major snowfall since we've been here. We missed the huge blizzard over Christmas - we got out right before it started and came home after it had been mostly cleaned up. It snowed for most of day yesterday, but unfortunately, it was a little too warm for the snow to stick and stay and by the time I left work, you couldn't even tell that it had snowed. But, it was beautiful while it was coming down. Our office has a big row of tall windows, and the snow was swirling outside of it in big, floaty flakes that made me feel like I was in a snow globe. I kept stopping work to go stand and stare. I tried to get a picture of it, but it's hard to capture something like that with a phone camera. :)

Last night was also a free night at the Whitney Art Museum, so Neil met me after work and we headed over the Upper East Side to attend. There was a line waiting out the door when we got there, though, so we decided to eat dinner and let the line subside a bit. The nice thing about New York is that it forces you to be spontaneous. When you're out doing something and your plans change slightly, or you don't really know much about the neighborhood that you're in, you are forced to try new things. I used to never go into a restaurant without first doing extensive research of their menu, their reviews on Yelp, etc. I hate wasting money on bad food. But I feel like, here, there is less risk, somehow, of getting bad food. I know it's out there, but we really have yet to encounter it. I think, without exception, that all the food that I've eaten here has been really wonderful. So, last night we wandered until Neil spotted a BBQ restaurant and it ended up being perfect. BBQ beef brisket on a chilly night hit the spot exactly. And Neil also got a 20 oz. goblet of beer that he enjoyed immensely.

By the time we got back to the Whitney, the line was gone and the galleries had really cleared out. The main show on display there was by a relatively unknown artist named Paul Thek, and it was really interesting work. He was a sculpture and installation artist, primarily, but he also did paintings and drawings. I thought his sculptures and installations were the most interesting pieces. He did a whole series called "Meat", which were wax sculptures that looked like pieces of rotting meat, encased in plexiglass boxes. There was something very appealing about them, even though they looked so macabre.

There was also a show of Edward Hopper on display. The Whitney has a large collection of Hopper's because his wife donated a huge number of his works after his death. I love his paintings - you can always tell a Hopper because they are so still, so contemplative, so quiet. Even in his scenes with people in them, I always feel as if everyone has paused, that there is complete silence in the scene, like he caught them in a moment where everyone had just stopped talking. There is always almost a sense a melancholy in his paintings. They make you stop and think, consider what just happened, what is going on in the lives of the people in the paintings. One of his most well-known paintings:

Do you feel it? The quietness? There is no noise in this painting. It's cool, calm, collected. And then melancholy lurks right below the surface. 

Here is one I've never seen before, but I get the same sense from it. I don't feel like those women are talking. It's like they both paused to think about something for a second, and that's when he caught them. Maybe it is something to do with the composition, the women are not really the focus of the painting, the focus is somewhere above their heads, on the coat hanging on the wall or the sign outside the window. But I find it very interesting. He had such a unique style, unique point of viewing all these regular scenes. 

Next Friday, it will be off to the MOMA for their free night. It's so great to have so many amazing art museums in one place. What a treat!

In other news, the Farmer's Markets have been very dreary places for the last few weeks. Food just doesn't grow here in the winter like it does in California. Obviously. And it's so cold to be out and about. So, for the next few months, I decided to join a CSA-type organization that sources its food from local farms whenever possible, but substitutes in a few greens and fruits from warmer climates like Florida and California. I got my first shipment on Thursday, and it included mostly root vegetables and squash from local New York farms, but I also got some spinach from Florida and some oranges from California. I haven't had an orange since we left California, and the tangerine that I had yesterday was SO good! I don't love that they have to come all the way across the country, but good citrus is SO yummy. I also got a rutabaga in the box - does anyone know what to do with a rutabaga? I have no idea. Some further research will be required.

Finally, my friend Gabby gave me this link yesterday, that provides a whole report and scorecard on organic dairies and milk. I found it very fascinating and horrifying to read about the co-opting of the organic label by mega-dairies and corporate farms. Basically they are continuing in their factory farm practices, calling it organic and getting away with it, because the USDA is not really interested in regulating the use of the term "organic". There was some very eye-opening stuff in the report and on the scorecard. Brands of milk that have such great reputations that, after some investigation, don't really live up to their rhetoric. Strauss milk, for one, in California, was scored quite low. But it's the gold standard in San Francisco. Interesting. How does your milk stack up?

Have a great weekend!