Notes On A Page

Food, of course.

Okay, maybe this rule only applies to me. And my sister. Who celebrated a very snowy birthday last weekend with lots of yummy eats.

We met up in New York for some sisterly birthday celebrations, which entailed walking, talking, and eating. All day long.

Most of the day was spent tooling around Soho and the Village, but my sister absolutely insisted that we go uptown for Absolute Bagels. I’m not one to turn down a good bagel, so I agreed.  

We split a plain bagel topped with Tofutti (non-dairy “cream cheese”), which turned out to be tasty and not a bad compromise for you lactose intolerant folks out there. If you’re around Broadway and 108th (or go to Columbia University), I, in all of my intimate knowledge of the bagelries of New York, recommend Absolute Bagels. Personally I’m just gonna buy some Tofutti next time I make homemade bagels.

I had wanted to take my sister to Crumb for some birthday cupcakes, but they were closed. (For being the city that never sleeps, New York sure feels pretty drowsy on Sunday evenings). We were saved by finding a Magnolia Bakery stand in the dining concourse at Grand Central.  

I bought us each two cupcakes. The birthday girl tried red velvet with whipped vanilla frosting and a pretty purple-topped white cupcake.

I went with the Hummingbird (banana and pecan cupcake with cream cheese frosting) and a chocolate cupcake with vanilla frosting.  

I am a true lover of cream cheese frosting, so the Hummingbird was the winner of the cupcake competition. It was like a moist slice of banana bread covered with cake frosting! So good.

We shared, just like Mom always told us. Even so we ended up with leftovers when we parted ways in Grand Central. Yum!

By the end of this post you will note that, even though I spent the day in fabulous New York with my fabulous sister, I have pictures of neither. To this I say: a beloved sister and a pretty city are forever; cupcakes and bagels are fleeting.

At any rate, here’s a charming photo of the two of us from yesteryear:

Looking back through my pictures from last week, I see that I have a lot of meals I never wrote about. I attribute this to the snow.

Of Eastern New York, Albany got the least amount of snow in terms of accumulation, but from Tuesday to Friday it was cloudy and snowing or raining every minute of every day. Talk about needing some motivation and Vitamin D.

I tried to brighten the days with some color in the form of fruits and vegetables. It’s amazing how thankful I am for an orange when the ground, sky, and everything in between is gray.

That particular lunch also featured leftover pizza topped with hot sauce and pesto for a little excitement (I’m not even kidding, sometimes pesto is the most exciting part of my day.)

Here is my confession: I found this slice of homemade pizza in the back of the fridge and I admit that I cannot remember the exact date of its birth. But it looked fresh and (more importantly!) SMELLED fine, so it was added to the lunch menu. You can ask The Boyfriend: I am extremely sensitive to smelly things. If something smells off (pizza, produce, milk, your feet) you had best get it away from me pronto.

The random bit of pesto was from a Real Simple meal The Boyfriend had made the night before: Cod with Beans, Corn, and Pesto.

As you may have heard, The Boyfriend has been making fish lately.

The recipe is meant to have green beans, but when the boy came home from the store he announced that green beans were nowhere to be found, so he bought peppers instead. I was nervous about how the peppers would pair with the fish. Peppers are so flavorful and full of zing, whereas green beans are much milder. I said nothing though, which is unusual for me, but I am wary to criticize the hand that feeds me.

Let me tell you: The Boyfriend is 2 for 2. First the tilapia, now the cod. Success, my friends, delicious and fishy success! I was surprisingly full, without even eating a single noodle or slice of pizza.

Dinner was accompanied by a bottle of wine from our nice neighbors downstairs.

Dessert was accompanied by an episode of Criminal Minds (you can sneak a peek at Gideon and Hotchner in the background).

Following in The Boyfriend’s footsteps, I made a comforting Real Simple recipe for dinner the next night. (*I accidentally just typed “foodsteps” instead of “footsteps” — it still works, right??) I found this recipe in the magazine a couple of issues back and it just spoke to me. Seriously, how good does Creamy Barley with Tomatoes and Greens sound? The recipe makes a big ol’ pot, too.

I hate to say it, but this was honestly a little bland for me at first. I ended up adding some smoked Cheddar to the pot, and I think I would recommend skipping the Brie all together in favor of a smoked cheese. I also added some red pepper flakes for a little zing. I will say that I am completely in love with barley though. It’s so comforting and has such a good flavor. Barley stew has the same qualities as risotto: warm, filling, and good for you. I do recommend this recipe, but just add that you should be open to added your own favorite flavors.

I don’t know about the rest of the blogosphere, but we Albanians have had a lot of snow and not that much work this week, so this Friday was easy to come by.

I have no problem with this.  Carry on, Lunch Break.

GOOP-y… This writer tries Gwyneth Paltrow’s GOOP cleanse on for size.  I like reading about these crazy cleanses. It constantly reminds me not to try them.

Bottles That Don’t Break the Bank.. TheKitchn reviews ten whites and reds that sell for under ten bucks.  Handy if you’re the sort who gets invited to dinner parties.

Locally Grown and Delivered… I love this concept.  This company delivers boxes of locally grown produce.  Each week a box of farm fresh fruits and vegetables shows up at your door.  Takes the guesswork out of finding a local farmers market (and, frankly, it’s a royal pain waking up early on Saturday).  Uncommon Grounds, purveyor of delicious coffee and bagels and provider of my lunch yesterday afternoon, interviewed owner Kirk Childress yesterday on the blog.

They say (and by “they,” I mean my mother) that you gain weight when you are happy in a relationship. I’m not sure if I buy into all that.

Then again, this was the sight that met my eyes when I walked through the door this evening:

That would be a slice of cheesecake from the one and only Cheesecake Machismo. How do I feel about Cheesecake Machismo? I would like to fill my bathtub full of their cheesecake and soak it in through my pores. I’m hoping one day they will hire me to be their personal cheesecake tester. Just hearing the word “cheesecake” bring me unabashed joy. Cheese? Wonderful. Cake? Yes, please. Cheesecake? WELL, IF YOU INSIST.

I suppose I should stop my drooling for a moment to mention that this phantom cheesecake was purchased and set ever-so-sweetly upon my desk by the one and only Boyfriend. I sent him a text earlier detailing the fact that I was having a crummy day full of gray skies and blue emotions. (I believe the text went something like “shmeh.”) And because he is wonderful he bought me cheesecake. Bliss.

The cheesecake was a good buffer to the other thing I came home to:

That, dear friends, is a large pot. Normally I would use such a pot to boil up a large vat of pasta, sprinkle it with a little cheese and pepper, and call it dinner. But on this day, we are using this pot to collect the rain that is falling from our living room ceiling.

Drop by drop…

This is the fourth or fifth leak we’ve had in the apartment since we moved in last spring. We’re all delighted, as you can imagine.

It’s been raining all day along in Albany. But yesterday it was doing a little something like this:

Albany finally got its snow.

Nearly everything was cancelled, so The Boyfriend, Roommate, and I clambered into the Roommate’s minivan and ventured to the Gateway Diner for a late breakfast. Speaking of why you’re fat:

When one’s city is blanketed in snow, one is left with no choice but to consume copious amounts of breakfast foods to cope with the pending hibernation/starvation of a snow day. You understand.

I can only hope spring will be here soon, at which point I will stop eating like a bear.

(P.S. I know the layout of this particular post is all distorted.  I have no idea why.  WordPress and Ecto are both being whiny children today.)

Blogging has been difficult for me lately. Because of this:

• 2 1/2 lbs sirloin steak
• 1 medium onion, chopped (I used red, but any color would work)
• 1 lb. mushrooms, chopped
• 3/4 c. flour
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. dry mustard
• 1/8 tsp. pepper
• 10 1/2 oz. broth (I used chicken)
• 1 c. sour cream or plain yogurt

Cut the meat into bite-sized pieces and toss with 1/2 cup of the flour, the salt, pepper, and mustard.

Put it in the pot along with the mushrooms and onions.   

Add the broth and stir. Cook on low for 6-7 hours, stirring every so often.

Before serving, stir in the remaining flour and sour cream.

Serve over cooked noodles.

Not the prettiest thing I’ve ever made, but the meat was so tender and tasty. Honestly, the stew would have been good (better?) without the addition of dairy. I don’t know if it’s because I used yogurt or because it was cooked differently than traditional Beef Stroganoff.

I was also so thrilled with the fact that there was only ONE DISH to clean when I went to serve dinner. It did look like this, though:

Not pleasant to scrub out. I, uh, wasn’t the one who washed this, but I’ve been told letting it soak for a bit helps get that cooked-on food off.

When all was said and done, I’d give my first experience with the slow cooker an A for effort and a B for taste factor. Definitely something I will (not be afraid to) use again!