Oct 17, 2009

nyc, day 4, oct 6th

i had bought us tickets to intrepid over internet to avoid the lines. all well, except we were there bright and early so the line wasn't that bad to begin with






the ship's bell







can you believe they landed in this from the first moon mission??? looks like a tin can...







the amount of food served daily on the ship... i forgot, but it was tons for the 3000 member crew. no wonder they needed industrial size "kitchen aid"







flight deck







bridge




























certain someone and lockheed A-12 blackbird







wing tip of the above mentioned blackbird







tail view of the same







grumman F-14 tomcat







bell AH-1 cobra







by the time we were done with intrepid it was way past lunch time and we were very hungry. times square and red lobster weren't that far, so there we went







appetizers, i guess they must have a name, i didn't ask, probably crabcake of sort, definitely not diet food!







wood-grilled lobster, shrimp and scallops







lobster tail, shimps in 2 ways







had to take certain someone back to the hotel for a nap after this... went shopping around herald sq, took this on the way back to the hotel right after i met mr & mrs R (from work!) on 6th avenue, i had no idea they were in the city. it really is a small world





























went for an evening stroll together later in the evening, and for a "light" snack. the beer might have been enough, the lunch was quite heavy







late night traffic on w 23rd



Oct 16, 2009

A, this one is for you

since you have that all new fabulous kitchen! another one of my soups... vegetarian and very healthy, if you so wish. made this today and started with these, from left: sweet potato, celeriac, parsnip, longest white one is root parsley, cabbage, carrots, potatoes and leek





didn't use all of the cabbage, there's approx 1/4 of the whole, finely shredded, celeriac and root parsley chopped to ½cm cubes, 10cm of the green part of leek (trim the dry ends off), carrots and parsnips chopped to 1cm cubes, sweet potato on 1½cm cubes, potatos get diced at the last minute to avoid them getting brown (keep them in cold water), the spoon contains chopped lovage (5 leaves, if you don't find any, forget it, or use some other herb) and buillion (didn't have any of my own in the freezer). celeariac and root parsley are chopped smallest because they take longest to cook






this here is celeriac, it takes a little effort to clean before chopping, it tends to have sand and soil in it. this is the only root veggie that i don't use a peeling knife but a paring knife to peel







this is how it should look after peeling, no more sandy pockets






first take a big kettle (i use my almost biggest because i simply cannot make soup for just 2 persons, but then again, it's very economical to make a big batch and either freeze or take as lunch to work). put the kettle on hight heat, add 2 tbsp of rapeseed oil (the best for you, but olive oil works as well) and once the oil is hot, add cabbage, celeriac, root parsley, leek and lovage (if you're using some other herb, add it only at the end) and sautee them for a minute or 2 mixing the whole time, then add 1 liter / 4 cups of boiling water and some buillion (if using, you could use stock cubes or stock as well, i had veal buillion, but use any you like) and cook on medium heat for 10 mins

(OR, just dump the above mentioned veggies to kettle, add cold water+buillion / stock and boil on medium heat for 15 to 20 mins. i find that sauteeing the veggies first gives a more robust flavor)

after the first 10 mins, add carrots, parsnips, sweet potato and potato and continue cooking on medium heat for another 15 mins. for a very quick version, grate coarsly all the veggies, put to kettle, cover with cold water and cook for mins 20 mins and use an immersion blender to puree to liked consistency (with this version i usually add some cream cheese (light) to it)

the soup should look something like this. the red color comes from carrots and a dash of chili powder i added with the potatoes, however, chili is totally optional. i find that just a dash of chili doesn't give heat but a nice background taste. and notice, so far there has been no added salt. there is some in the buillion (if you make your own stock you can omit salt althogether, or use low sodium stocks)







now, everything before this was vegetarian (if you used vegetable stock) but i added these, frankfurters (light version i might add) to make soup more substancial. browned them quickly on a hot pan for some more flavor, but they are perfectly fine to add as is, cut to 1 cm slices. salt in this dish comes only from buillion / stock, frankfurters (if you used some) and the cheese, all of these you can omit. i find that the veggies taste better / sweeter when there is minimum amount of salt in it. using herbs (use your imagination) helps reduce using salt







had some parseley in the freezer so used that as garnish







bought some very nice aged appezeller cheese (not very heart healthy) to go with the soup and crisp bread, oh, and a glass of very cold non-fat milk







plated, so very tasty, if i say myself. fortunately, certain someone likes soups...






so, A, when you try this, let me know how it turns out!

Oct 15, 2009

regular life for change

while we were away there was big and ugly storm at the shack. certain someone's mom was house and dog sitting and had to deal with huge old birch falling down on power lines. fortunaly the falling birch didn't cut the lines, power company guys worked for 4 hours to clear the mess. this stub was left standing







this is where it broke







we'll be getting tons of firewood







since it was such a nice, sunny and crispy autumn day, i decided to "clean" the garden a bit. these were still green but not in their prime any more







took out all the potted plants and washed the planters for next year







don't i have a fancy potting shed? well, the mirror is from a hallway piece of furniture that certain someone didn't want in the house but didn't want to dispose of either...you never know when you might need it, oh yes, you never do







last crop of sage and lovage, these will be dried. i so need to move the lovage to another place, it's getting huge







one of the very few apples in the trees. i just might get a few apple pies out of them







the dog was basking in the sun



Oct 14, 2009

nyc, day 3, oct 5th

monday started chilly and windy but sunny. we walked the few blocks up from our hotel to this building. every time i've gone there before there's been a very long line, not now, maybe it was us being there bright and early. oh, they've hiked up the tickets from $13 to $20. they have made some improvements but $20 is a bit steep






view down to macy's







so much for anonymity







view to north







this birdy liked to pose for pics







lunch from street cart, his was sweet italian sausage roll







mine was falafel, which was way tastier than any falafel i've tasted before







city of new york has made some changes on broadway around macy's, so much better for pedestrians, looks almost european...







another view of empire state building







certain someone had to take a nap in the afternoon, i headed out and about and found myself at union square green market. this stand had dozen kinds of tomatoes







herbs







we met moushi (aunt of A) for dinner at chinese mirch, appetizers: gobi manchurian (cauliflower florets with fresh ginger and garlic) and fried okra pods with smoky chili seasoning and asian vinaigrette







our entrees: crispy szechuan lamb (spicy!!!), chicken manchurian (spicy!!!) and kung pao chicken (spicy!!), everything was very tasty, my poor stomach was suffering, though







soothing dessert of green tea icecream, pecans and fried figs, hmmmm. as i've mentioned, no flash in restaurants







met life tower at night







i had eaten (nothing new) too much and i had to watch 3 episodes of law & order SUV re-runs before being able to go to bed