Monday, September 29, 2008

Back In The New York Groove

Ace Freely sang it and I DID it this weekend. I ventured back from whence I came only one fortnight ago. I flew Delta to Laguardia which was awesome. It was a small plane which freaked me out at first, but it was such a relaxing new plane with tons of leg room that I chilled right out. They came around with a tray of snacks and the flight wasn't even half full so I got to stretch out a lot. Just a super time! No lines, no waiting at the gorgeous Marine Terminal.


Sam and I caught up over sandwiches. Then we ran some errands and went to Big Bar for drinks with Lacey and Hannah. I was so excited to see more than one friend in one place after my lonely two weeks in Chicago that I got really really drunk. Sam and I went home to watch the debates. I was really proud that Obama got tough and said he'd kill Bin Laden and crush Al-Qaeda. Way to go. He should have been doing that all along. That's what people want to hear. I slept through the last 1/3. When I woke up I haz hangover. But Sam mad me go out anyway! I'm glad he did because not only did I have a fun time with Adrienne and Chapman in Williamsburg, I also found a NEW flavor of Collisions Doritos (more on this later).

Saturday was day #1 of my performance "Throwing Things That Break" (which I'm considering retitling "The Mess I Made" (please weigh in)). The first performance was under attended, but it was good to work out the kinks with minimal spectators. Between performances Sam and I shared a sandwich and went to a bookstore. The second performance of the day went well. Erin arrived just in time to capture the "happening" on video. Other attendees included Adrienne, Chapman, Gene, Barbara, Emily, Luke and Aunt Audrey. Thanks for coming everyone!!


Saturday night was Sam's bday dinner at Pacifico. Very delicious and fun. Then I met up with the Chain for a slightly disorganized but enjoyable evening out.

Sunday was day #2 of performancing. It also went well and thanks for braving the rain to come see it all! Brunch at Superfine was not actually superfine. It was more like mediocrepassable. Sam and I took a walk to Red Hook to look at bikes. On the way we saw Jonathan Franzen at a bookstore. He was working on his MacBook. So now we know he uses a Mac.
 
Almost immediately after seeing JF we saw a DUCK KILLING FACTORY. The door of this no-windows building was open and duck guts were strewn all over the floor and there was tons of squawking. Sam said he had to become vegetarian and I said 'grow a pair' and he said, 'you're right.'


Then I went to Greenpoint while Sam napped. Hannah and I got crazy with some Bud Lights, Gossip Girl and the new Collisions Doritos Ranch/Pizza Cravers. Honestly, I was underwhelmed. The pizza flavor had some mild Italian inspired spices, but other than that tasted pretty much like regular Nacho Cheese. The ranch was also too mild and tasted like a sub-par Cool Ranch. Taken together the sensation wasn't anything to write home about, but it was something to write blog about.

After that I headed into the city to get a drink with Adam who had just returned from a posh Hamptons wedding. Adrienne and Chapman were cooking dinner, so we headed over after taking exactly two sips of our drinks. They made a chicken/rice thing and broccoli with lemon butter sauce. Adrienne prepared an amazing chocolate mousse dessert with homemade raspberry whipped cream. It was delicious. We talked a lot about deaf culture, circumcision and graphic novels. On the subway ride home, we saw Ronnie from Bravo's 'Make Me A Supermodel.' Sam said he would missed connections him, but I don't know if he actually did.


On the runway at Laguardia AIR FORCE ONE rolled by my window.

It was kind of exciting. Big police escort. I got home yesterday afternoon and had some Jew food with Mom and Dad.

Unrelatedly, this is my favorite song and video.


Finally, here is the most recent installment of Thursd-eggs c/o Snugget and Vanessa.

Leftov-eggs

You know what I love? Cleaning out the refrigerator. I love eating that one last caper floating in the bottom of the glass jar, squeezing out that last drop of yellow mustard, chopping up the final few leaves of parley. And so this week was Leftov-eggs. I wasn't born during the Great Depression but hell if ain't ready for the Greatest Depression!
 
Ingredients:

4 eggs
1 tablespoon cooking oil
1/4 onion
1/2 spicy chorizo (sometimes called Spanish chorizo)
handful of whatever cooked green vegetable you have lying around your fridge. We used charred kale and it was delish
salt and pepper

Heat tablespoon of cooking oil in a heavy-bottomed pan until fragrant but not smoking. While it's heating up, finely chop the onion and whisk the eggs with salt and pepper. Add onions to pan. It's ok if they brown. After 4 or 5 minutes they should be cooked through. Chop the chorizo into half inch pieces. Add them to the pan of onions. The chorizo is already cooked so the goal here is to just brown the bits and make them crispy. Once browned add the already cooked green to the pan to warm it all up. Remove from heat. If using the same pan for your eggs take out the onion mixture and allow the pan to cool for 2 minutes. Wipe out pan. Heat on medium with some butter or oil in the pan if you are not using cast iron or a non-stick pan.

Add eggs stirring constantly. They will start to firm up. Once they are cooked to your prefered consistency pile the onion mixture on top and serve.

Monday, September 22, 2008

Changes & Guest Bloggers Snugget and Vanessa

Since my last post, I've moved to Chicago for my fall semester abroad. I had a great going away party and an even better HELLO party upon arrival. Here are some pics.




I'll talk more about my big life changes later, but in the meantime, Snugget and Vanessa have graciously invited us join them in their latest culinary adventure: Thurs-deggs. Here Snugget describes how this genius idea unfolded:


This week an egg-shaped light bulb went off in my head. “We need a weekly breakfast to be excited about,” I thought. As it was Tuesday, and a day’s notice didn’t seem fair, I suggested Thurs-deggs. I like routines and plays on words, so this was eggs-actly what the doctor ordered. Plus Vanessa likes to cook and I like to eat. Egg-gain…perfect. So this Thursday we premiered Thurs-deggs, which will hopefully be a weekly egg-ccurrence featuring new and egg-citing or old and classic and all down right delicious breakfast egg-stravaganzas!

Sept 18: Breakfast Tacos

 

With little warning for the inaugural Thurs-deggs we had to make do with what we had in the old refrigerator. There was a jar of salsa, half an avocado and some small corn tortillas. Bingo, bango, breakfast tacos!

Vanessa hails from sunny Los Angeles, California, a city rich in Mexican heritage, so I had no doubt these would be very authentic.

Here is how she made them:

Thurs-deggs Breakfast Tacos (because burritos are too large when you're eating at 6:50 am)
Serves: 2

Ingredients:

4 corn tortillas
half an avocado, sliced
4 eggs (room temperature if possible)
Tablespoon of butter
4 tablespoons salsa
Sriracha (optional)
salt and pepper

Crack eggs in a large bowl and whisk for a minute or two until the yolks and whites are fully integrated. Place a small saucepan on medium heat and add butter. Let it slosh around. Once the butter starts to bubble but before it browns, add the eggs. Stir constantly, scraping down the sides and folding the eggs over with a wooden spoon. Before the eggs are completely cooked turn of heat. Continue to stir eggs. Now, turn on another burner on high. Place the tortillas on one at a time, flipping them over so they heat and brown evenly on both sides. Place two tortillas on each plate, evenly divide the eggs. Pile the avocado and salsa on top. Add Sriracha if you enjoy the spicy.