thanksgiving in nyc

thanksgiving would be a perfect day to clean the awnings, no one on the sidewalks at 34th near empire state building







at macy's parade, i caught only superman's butt...







at the pond in bryant park, this little girl in pink jacket was trying, she was trying so hard, but she was very tired







peculiar looking salesperson (?) in one of the stalls at bryant park holiday market







his name is ziggy, he was very young







his name i didn't ask







at the rockefeller center, i'm pretty sure these people hadn't looked in the mirror before going out







part of xmas decorations at the rockefeller center







i quite liked this dedication on a central park bench







alice in wonderland in central park







my treat for the day, junior's cheesecake, they are supposed to be the best. i didn't go all the way brooklyn but got this at grand central. i thought i deserved this as i walked all the way from 39th to 77th street, in the rain

colors & bites

perfect shade of pink. all the colors are by courtesy of union square greenmarket merchants and their produce







honeycombs







cauliflowers







very autumnal







last time in nyc elizabeth told me about this place. as i happened to walk by, and it was lunch-time...







i treated myself to this artery blocking BLT...so good that i had to have fries with it...







pointy toes on staten island ferry







had i known any better i would have avoided this place, it was almost like new year's at times square. i can't believe the amount of people that went to see the macy's thanksgiving parade balloons inflated







after walking around, and around, to get away from the heavily populated area, i found myself at cafe lalo






my eggplant mozzarella sandwich wasn't very photogenic...this, on the other hand, was very tasty

views & pulla

monday morning at the shack...







manhattan skyline on tuesday evening, as seen from long island city







i wanted to make it look like the moon had popped out of the pepsi bottle but that would have required a dip in the east river...hmm, too cold!







was visiting friends the whole day yesterday, ended up experimenting with cream cheese, blueberries and pulla, quite nice if i say so myself...

the dog & other mischievous animals

i've been on leave for a week and it seems i haven't managed to get much done...well, i did pack for nyc but the forecast keeps changing as per new day! i'm tempted to pack just the bare essentials and shop as i need warmer or water-proofer...

on tuesday i had a brilliant idea of making popcorn the old-fashioned way (in a kettle for those of the microwave generation), the few that popped were quite nice. there were several (well, the most) un-popped kernels, one of which busted a tooth so bad i had to go the destist and get it "fixed". small fracture and instructions to eat soft foods and avoid hot/cold drinks for 2 weeks. just what i wanted to hear right before a trip to nyc and the horn of gastronimic abundance!!

there are villains around at the shack. this, namely the dog, is supposed to stand guard...but with the weather getting colder, and with the snow and all, he seems to think that he can spend his days on this comfy chair and not even look out...







this little bird has developed an un-natural affection to my car mirrors. or, could it be he is just a bit vain and need to check his feathers? the little bugger comes every day, several times a day, to admire himself on the mirrors







well, it is kinda cute, but i do not appriciate all the poop left behind







this creature comes to eat apples...







he seems to know where to find the best (there are still some hanging on branches)







meanwhile, what does the brave guard dog do? play with his stuffed toys, of course! this would be the rat...







...the teddy bear...







...and the panda, which also serves as a pillow







ps. the deer seem to have no scruples...during the night, they came all the way to the door...the dog blissfully unaware of them...

fresh from the oven

the november issue of bon appetit came yesterday. usually i browse the magazine thru and choose recipes to try...and never actually cook them. this issue had an interesting recipe for oatmeal muffins (interesting because it calls for blueberries, that i have a lot in the freezer) (thanks mom!)







the ingredients are pretty basic, but i didn't have natural oat bran (need to figure out what it is...), wheat germ nor pecans. the measures for oat bran and wheat germ are only 2 tbsp so i thought it was ok to leave them out. i substituted pecans with mixed nuts. i think there was one pecan in the mix!







this bear hasn't been doing too great of a job keeping my brown sugar moist, there are huge rock-hard lumbs in the jar. but the bear is cute...







the batter resembled spicy, nutty oatmeal...







...until i added the blueberries, somewhat peculiar color







but they looked decent once baked. i thought the amount of cinnamon would be too much, but its taste blends in nicely. also, i used muffin tins with large cups, i got 11 out of the recipe, magazine says it makes 8 large ones. i don't think the muffins need much else in them, might try once with pecans (although pecans aren't something i can say i like...)







one day last summer (there isn't a post of it yet) i made some tomato sauce. tomatoes were dirt cheap at the grocery store, figured it was time to try making my own sauce. i had pizza in mind when making the sauce, but as i was making dinner tonight i remembered the frozen sauce and decided to use some in my bolognese







by now, you all are using whole wheat pasta, right?







with the one cup of my own sauce i used one 400 gr tin of crushed tomatoes and some browned ground beef. i bought 800 gr of ground beef and browned it yesterday, but as it is so good right off the pan, some disappered...i didn't think the sauce needed any spices but ground black pepper might work great, as would fresh parsley, basil, oregano...







i let the bolognese cook for 15 mins before mixing it with penne pasta. served with grated parmigiano







ps. certain someone made the mistake of leaving a half-eaten muffin on a plate on a low table...the dog seized the opportunity...he seemed to enjoy the catch