emerson

two childhood friends, a train-ride conversation and a shower

Once upon a five-twenty something train leaving Grand Central Station after a hard day's work almost a decade ago....two friends....one coming from her midtown, corporate office wearing her usual business attire and the other just making the train in her flip-flops and t-shirt having spent the day at the water park with her campers....talked like they always did for the entire sixty-three minute ride as they ventured to a place known as home.

On this particular day, it had been a while since these two friends had seen each other.  So there was a lot to catch up on...naturally.  One friend, we shall call her Danielle, mentioned that she ran into a certain boy from this place they call home and phone numbers were exchanged.  She didn't seem too interested in the prospect of this boy calling her.  The other friend, let's call her Liz, knew this certain boy came from a good italian family...so it was worth giving him a chance. No one really remembers, but chances are this conversation lasted about four minutes...not too long, because these friends only had fifty-nine minutes remaining on their ride to cover their important conversational agendas.  

Today, on this special day in July, these two friends met again in that place they call home to shower Danielle with gifts because at some point she became interested in that boy that came from a good italian family....so much, she agreed to marry him.  And like so many parties dating back to their childhood...there were friends and family giggling, endless amounts of food and drinks, children splashing in the pool, and unlike those train rides out of Grand Central, the essence of time was disregarded.  

Like all the wonderful times that brought these two friends together...whether it be for class, caulking the bath tub, a student council meeting, sweet sixteens, lunch, a drink, soccer practice, the births of their nieces and nephews, planning a prom and a ten-year reunion, getting tea, fixing the computer, filing papers at that midtown-corporate office, having a bottle of wine, birthday & graduation parties, crashing at each other's place, cooking dinner, installing wireless internet, catering gigs, key west vacations, "oh my god, how do I fix my iPod" tech support phone calls, happy hours on an expense account (something teachers know nothing about), learning about the anatomy of the eye, and those sixty-three minute train rides to that place they call home...they all must come to an end.  As this beautiful day fell into night, one friend hugged the other good-bye cherishing the past, looking forward to the future and thinking about Jean-Jacques Rousseau's words:  the more things change, the more things stay the same. 

The entire collection of Danielle's shower photos.

pup sittin'

The moonlight was shining as we caught fire flies.

Brother and sister showing some love.

Trying out some new tricks on the new bike.

Kisses for nanny.

Determined to ride.

finally

a day at the beach on this thing we call summer vacation

modern art for a day

I spent the day at MoMA recently and looked at the works of Picasso, Pollock, Van Gogh, Warhol, Jasper Johns, Kandinsky, and Matisse.  All of these pieces are part of The Collection.  

Also some pieces from the Shaping Modernity: Design 1880 - 1980. This exhibit was composed of a variety of interesting things from a Vespa, to a bubble chair, to lighting fixtures, to an antique car.  

an interesting perspective

check out the rest of the photos

angel hair and asparagus

I recently started reading memoirs having to do with travels in Europe, food and love.  This week I finished Lunch in Paris by Elizabeth Bard...the most compelling aspect of this book are the recipes that come at the end of each chapter.  I am now interested in adding a little french flair to the day to day culinary adventures in 3D.  

After a trip to the New York Public Library, I have moved onto I Loved, I Lost, I Made Spaghetti by Giulia Melucci...I am a few pages in but the author writes about all of the meals she cooked for her former boyfriends.  And like Bard, Melucci includes all of the recipes.  

I made one of the recipes for lunch today.  Asparagus sauteed with garlic, crushed red pepper flakes, white wine and angel hair pasta topped with grated pecorino romano.   

1 lb. of thin asparagus

olive oil

hot red pepper flakes

garlic (calls for one clove, I used four)

salt

1/2 c. of white wine

1/2 lb. of angel hair pasta

freshly grated parmigiano/perorino

freshly ground pepper

Cut asparagus into 1-inch pieces.  Saute garlic and red pepper flakes in olive oil until golden, then add asparagus, coat pieces with olive oil.  Cook for 5 minutes, then add white wine and cook for another 10 minutes, until asparagus are soft to your liking.  Cook the pasta in salted water.  Once done, add the pasta to the skillet with the asparagus and cook for about a minute on low heat.  I added some of the pasta water to the skillet to increase the liquid volume. Serve with grated cheese and pepper. Time: 20 minutes. Serves 2.

a midsummer night's independence day sunset

manhattan island.  looking west toward new jersey.  pier 54.

my kind of brooklyn

My father makes trips every few weeks into Brooklyn to see my Aunt Mary.  Usually I am working, so I cannot go with him.  Fortunately, summer vacation has opened up the opportunities for day time adventures that always involve eating.  Before getting me, he picked up Aunt Libby in the Bronx whose sons own a bread bakery.  Their bread can be found in Westchester restaurants and grocery stores. These are the same loaves of bread that my brother and I would eat in the grocery store as any good little Italian children would while my mother shopped. She had to embarrassingly give the cashier the empty bread bag in order to pay for it. 

some treasures from brooklyn

The journey to Brooklyn involved a trip to Coluccio's on 60th Street, a grocery store known for their cheeses, pastas, breads and all things Italian. Now Coluccio's has ravioli, but they aren't the best.  I was introduced to another gem....Pastosa's on New Utrecht Avenue...known to have the superior Ravioli. 

18 count box of love

breadsticks from the bakery

Once at Aunt Mary's, we had a delicious lunch coupled with desserts, watermelon and iced espresso over conversations in Italian.  I climbed the fig trees to find any ripe ones.  I picked string beans, fresh basil and mint.  All in all....a lovely day for family, food, and an adventure.

a worldly a-fair

In 1851, the world held it's first fair in London.  The purpose of this fair was to exchange cultural ideas, brand a nation, display technological advances, and promote tourism.  World's Fairs have delivered us such prominent city structures as Paris' Eiffel Tower (1889) and Seattle's Space Needle (1962).  New York City hosted the World's Fair in 1939 and 1964-65 in Flushing Meadows Corona Park, home to the Unisphere. I decided to spend an afternoon checking out this park and what remained of the World's Fair.  Much of the land is now used for recreational soccer fields, the USTA National Tennis Center, and the fountains that were once filled with water entertained skateboarders doing tricks. I spent the rest of my afternoon under a tree with sounds of laughing children in the distance, all while having Lunch in Paris.

unisphere: dedicated to man's aspirations toward peace through mutual understanding and symbolizing his achievements in an expanding universe - united states steel corp (1964)

standing 140 feet tall, weighing 700,000 pounds

the 1964 time capsule, 50 feet underground

my ride

dali's funhouse - dream of venus

mister softee has gone global

our epic return to the yard

"If you ever feel like you are growing up too fast, like many of you are, I ask that you return to the play ground and find the kid inside of you. You might just find me there because no matter how old we get, we all have a kid inside of us."

- words to her first class to see graduate ('04)

world cup soccer

this is how we watch it during the last week of school.

to be in italy or not to be....

with the school year ending, the world cup approaching and the lazy days of summer only weeks away...i cannot help but think about summer travel. when i first started blogging this time of year four years ago, i talked about my trip planned to europe. i find myself in the same predicament...the need to travel to italy. i could save my money, eat pizza and pasta while drinking wine in new york...but what is the fun in that?

being short and climbing tall

Here are my shortest students getting ready to climb their tallest. Zoe was confident, Raheem didn't want to think about it yet, Elving was scared for his life and Kevin was picking a weggie.

Stuffed Artichokes

Most people's only experience with artichokes has to do with a dip. I am fairly confident many of these artichoke dip loving individuals do not even know what an artichoke looks like. Personally, I can honestly say I have never had artichoke dip and never plan to, but I respect its popularity.

The artichoke is actually in the same family as the sunflower and typically found in the Mediterranean region. The artichoke that we eat is actually the flower bud of the plant and when allowed to blossom, blue petals are displayed. Most of our artichokes in the US come from California. If you do not know how to properly attack an artichoke, cleaning, cooking and eating it can be challenging. I enjoy seeing people look at an artichoke and thinking, "umm, this doesn't look like artichoke dip" or "what do I do with this?"

I have only eaten artichokes one of two ways. One, I enjoy them stuffed with bread crumb, garlic, olive oil, parsley and some cheese. Two, although not fresh, the artichoke hearts can be purchased in a jar and put in salads or breaded and fried. In my opinion, I love stuffed artichokes and like chicken cacciatore, I will not order it in a restaurant. My reason for this has to do with it being messy, but it is not uncommon to find stuffed artichokes on the menu as an appetizer in Italian and French restaurants.


I recently made stuffed artichokes, so here is the recipe.

• 2- artichokes: the leaves may have thorns, so be careful. Cut each leaf to create a straight edge and cut the stem short. Once you have cut each leaf, you can pull the artichoke apart, separating the leaves and creating space for the stuffing. Cut the stem to create a straight edge close to the base of the artichoke.
  
• Stuffing: in a bowl mix bread crumb, chopped garlic (lots), parsley flakes, and enough olive oil to create a paste.
  
• With a small spoon, stuff each leaf with the mixture created above. Try and push the stuffing it the leaves.
  
• Top the artichoke off with grated pecorino romano cheese.
• Place the artichokes in a covered deep pot with about an inch of water and steam for approximately 1.5-2 hours. They are ready when the leave come off easy when you pull gently. Be sure to check the water level and continuously refill when necessary.
  
  

Once the artichokes are done, it is time to eat! You are going to start at the base of the artichoke and pull a leaf off. You will notice the stuffing is on the leaf, unfortunately not all leaves will have kept the stuffing, but there is still something to eat on each leaf. Holding the edge of the leaf opposite to the stuffing, put the stuffing side in mouth. Do not let go of the leaf! Close your mouth to the point where your teeth are gripping the leaf and pull it out. Your teeth will capture the stuffing and the end of the leaf that is edible. Repeat for each leaf.


Please note: although the artichoke itself is rather large, the amount you actually eat is quite small and labor intensive. This may not be your food, but I can assure you it is tasty and good for you.

Chicken Cacciatore

One of my all-time favorite meals from growing up was my mother's chicken cacciatore. I would always request this as my birthday meal, along with stuffed artichokes and spaghetti. Since living on my own, I have been trying hard to perfect my chicken cacciatore to emulate my mother's and I think I am there.

In Italian, cacciatore translates to "hunter." This meal is almost like a stew, but the meal I grew up with is nothing like you will find in any restaurant. Upon their first glance, I've heard people comment, "that is not chicken cacciatore, Olive Garden's looks so much different." To begin with, Olive Garden tends to miss the boat on traditional Italian meals. (Jenny and Meggie....I hate to break it to you, but no where in Italy will you find plump breadsticks to dip is alfredo sauce and a giant salad served before the main meal. I thought you should know this now.) Typical cacciatore has capers, peppers, mushrooms, tomatoes, and a variety of spices. The dish is cooked until the meat falls off the bone and served over rice.

Just came out of the oven

The recipe I am used to is a little different. I am not sure if it is a Sicilian version or a family version, but it is one of my favorites.

• 2-chicken breasts, 4 chicken legs (any part of the chicken will suffice)
• 8-garlic gloves (ballpark figure....more is welcome)
• 5-red skinned potatoes cut in cubes (leave the skin on)
• 1-large onion sliced
• 3 cans of Delmonte tomato sauce
  
• parsley flakes
• salt and pepper, to taste
• Rice
  

Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees. Place the chicken, chopped garlic, cubed potatoes, and sliced onion in a deep greased baking pan. Pour the tomato sauce in with two cans of water to rinse residue out of the cans. Season with salt, pepper and parsley flakes. Stir the mixture to make sure everything is coated with the sauce. Cover the pan tightly with aluminum foil and bake for a good two hours. Stir the mixture after about an hour of cooking. You will know it is done when the meat is falling off the bone...this can be longer than two hours. Sometimes, I like to remove the foil after the two hours and broil it for a few minutes. Serve over a bed of rice.

I think I'm back...

I have had the urge to blog recently. Not because that there has been any great material to write about, but because I finally have time to write again. I looked back at my blog statistics to find that before I started my public health program (9/07), I blogged 117 times. Since then, I have only blogged 29 times.

Since finishing my public health degree, I have:

1. traveled through Spain with Roommate and a rubber ducky named Pato.
   
2. become an aunt to Sophia....child of Joe Ribods. My auntie duties have to be shared with four cubs now instead of three.
   
3. come to the conclusion that I am not sure where the last two years have gone.
   

sauteed tomatoes with basil, olive oil and garlic to be served over linguini

Needless to say, I have begun documenting what I eat through photos again. I am carrying my camera more with me these days...much lighter than binders and my laptop. I'm on a journey, not sure where exactly it will take me, but I anticipate summer vacation being quite interesting to say the least. Only time will tell....

Pizza

This was my first attempt at making pizza and it needs some work, but I think it went pretty well. The first one is broccoli rabe and grilled chicken and the second one is sauteed onions and mushrooms. All ingredients were fresh....no jarred sauce here!

Peppers and Onions

The foundation of almost everything I make.

A Dive You Won't See in Beijing

Key West Polaroids

When I tell people my roommate likes to go out with a Polaroid camera, they ask me if she has a digital camera. Her digital actually suffered a death due to being accidentally being dipped into a pineapple & vodka drink. This led her to grow fond of a Polaroid camera. We bring it out and get the same response every time. I always hear the snicker about a bunch of girls with some out-of-date camera. Soon after, they witness the instant gratification of a Polaroid....the noise heard when the shutter is pressed and the ejection of the photo. With a few shakes and some patience, you have yourself a masterpiece. They wish I never heard them make fun of us as they ask for their picture to be taken. She brought 20 boxes of film for the trip....here are a few shots!

Hula-hoop contest with tubes on the beach.

The group at Sloppy Joe's

Hmm, interesting.

The group at Sloppy Joe's on our prop night.

Papa Brett, Lil' Rach and Momma Ribods

The ladies in the pool at Parrot Key Resort