Staycation Tuesday Reflections

"New Yorkers are born all over the country, and then they come to New York City and it hits them: Oh, that’s who I am." - Delia Ephron, said that.

Just noticed that yesterday's pic from Blogger app on Android was the wrong picture. I just fixed it a day late!... Yikes. Better get in the habit of double checking those kinds of posts in preview mode... Lord knows what I might publish by mistake!! Horrifying!

Yesterday was one of those great Staycation days ... Wandered around Greenwich Village... Including paying respects at the sites of the International Stud and the home of a famous puppeteer Rod Young... at 93 Perry Street. Visited a friend's new flat farther East on Perry Street... 300 square feet for $2400 a month. Oh Dear...

Wandered some more...

Stopped for a nice House Blend drip coffee at Roasting Plant table top.

 Soon after getting a Calendar of Events at The Center... Lunch at Benny's Burritos... Last time I ate there... My present waiter hadn't been born yet... Sign of age and wisdom: I ordered a mini burrito and a salad... That was more than enough...

“The most common way people give up their power is by thinking they don't have any.” - Alice Walker, said that.

Browsed Mxyplyzyk. Sat out in the sun in a couple of Village area parks down there: Abbingdon Square and Jackson Square...

 Had a another quickie meet with a new friend in Chelsea...

Walking back down his West 18th Street I stumbled upon a Chelsea branch of one of my favorite restaurants, Westville... Was craving their rhubarb pie, but not in season yet... So had a Mixed Berry cobbler and coffee instead...



Rest in Peace, Mike Wallace. I last saw him at opening night of Inherit the Wind in 2007. For a journalist, he seemed to very much enjoy the show biz spotlight... Posing for the Paparazzi. He looked more Oprah than Morley... He was a great, great journalist though!

By all means, marry. If you get a good wife, you'll become happy; if you get a bad one, you'll become a philosopher. - Socrates, said that.

Wanted posters for Wonderwoman are appearing on light poles all over Hell's Kitchen. I wonder what Wondermann thinks about this...

Easter Supper 2012

I've never been big on lamb...

Peanut Butter Hot Chocolate

It's not really on the menu, but they'll make it by request....

Peanut Butter Hot Chocolate.

Yesterday, at Shake Shack, outdoors at Madison Square Park.

Even the Madison Square Park squirrels liked the nutty way it smelled... One of them nearly climbed up my arm for a taste...

(I know, I know the picture is sideways as uploaded from my Smartphone.... I haven't figured that part out yet...)

National Ice Cream for Breakfast Day!

It really is National Ice Cream for Breakfast Day 2012.

Don't believe me? Google it...

Or see Days of the Year dot com.

The Coldstone Creamery dude was clueless as he prepared my modified Germanchokolatekake Signature Creation...

Enjoy your breakfast!

City Crab With Comments

Had lunch the other day at City Crab.

The one down near Union Square...

All the drizzled sauces look mighty pretty but they mask the delicate crab natural flavor.

Sooo... Next time? I'd order no drizzling...

Also, next time, I'd smuggle in my own saltines.. Gotta have saltines with Maryland Crab cakes...

As for the Maryland Crab Soup? Perfect... Although, it could have arrived steamier...

Gotta say the service was excellent...

A big improvement to my last visit a while back...

Happy National Peanut Butter Day!

Happy National Peanut Butter Day!

Here's five reasons why Peanut Butter is healthy, too!

1. It's Heart Healthy
2. It's High In Potassium, The 'Good' Salt
3. It Keeps You Full To Prevent Weight Gain
4. It's A Cheap Source of Good Calories
5. It Could Keep You Sharp (Peanut butter has about 4.3 milligrams of niacin per two-tablespoon serving, noted for preventing cognitive delay!)

Read the entire article.

Grom Hot Chocolate

Incredible. Rich. Smooth. Hot. I got the dark. Medium. $5.50. A perfect winter treat. Makes an ideal carrot on a stick to get through a tough winter work day! Fabulous.

The Big Cheese

Was at a high falutin celebrity holiday party recently and got to talking to the cheese man from Murray's Cheese Shop.

He's responsible for managing the cheese cellar where they age their cheeses. He's also quite the cheese connoisseur...

He directed me toward a special cheese on the cheese tray...

Cabot Cloth Bound Cheddar

You chip it off...

It's dry and magical...

An explosive sharp bite at first... Followed by a cooling and creamy after-taste...

I woulda walked right by it....

Perfectly paired with a fig jam... On a cracker...

The After-Christmas Re-Charge...

After the frenetic and intense stretch of work from September til now, I feel like I could stay snug in my warm little apartment for the next month...

Of course... That's not possible.

But I do plan to spend a goodly bit of time in here til I need to return to work next Tuesday...

Scented candles ablaze! (In safety glass containers, of course!)

And Nancy LaMott's Just in Time for Christmas in the background...

Plenty of sweet treats stockpiled in here... Holiday gifts, mostly...

To tell you the truth... A single slice of Tate's coffee cake (and it is extraordinary!) would be just as fulfilling a gift for me as a whole giant coffee cake... So, I concentrate on the pecans and the anti-inflammatory qualities of  the cinnamon spices and pretend it's a health food...

Then, there's the giant tub of Fisher's Popcorn... Ocean City's Finest caramel corn! Gotta make a sincere effort go slow on that! This is Medium... sez my bro... But it's a brown sugar and corn syrup monster to me! Fiber? Sure.

Peace Love Truffles are delightful handcrafted treats... Peanut butter is best in my book... Basil was most interesting... Orange clove was very good, though it doesn't need the orange clove sugar added... and I'm all for the Moroccan Mint sans the mint sugar... Chocolate has Oleic Acid, a healthy monounsaturated fat that's also found in olive oil.

Although a whole tin each of my father's Oatmeal Raisin and Toll House cookies are never enough...

Lapsang Souchong with all.

Site of the Week: Hot Sauces

Check out Hot Sauces.


And, if you can handle the heat... You can also follow Hot Sauces on Twitter.

You gotta love a chili fan site with the following disclaimer:

Disclaimer: I, Shane Jones, will not be held responsible for you being in pain from some of these sauces, I went through the pain too at some point in time. It just seems that now I have built up an immunity to hot sauces and crazy chillis.

Pass the Cholula, please...

Low Carbon Eating: Otarian

Went to Otarian recently for lunch on recommendation of Donner...

My first ever visit there.

Had the Laksa: Eggless udon noodles, tofu, carrots, zucchini, and green beans simmered in Otarian's vegan laksa sauce...

Also, a Very Berry cake...

Yes it was all very tasty and good!...

The dish and muffin together made up a "combo" and you essentially get a free drink... Or it's a few mere pennies difference... So I had unlimited seltzer with my healthy lunch...

Was feeling surprisingly satiated by that lil healthy lunch...

And now that I broke the Otarian ice, I want to try a bunch more of their other unique offerings sometime soon...

It IS nice to know that this meal contained no animal products at all...

Back when I was eating meat, I would have a Meatless Monday... Now that I'm not eating meat for several months now, (but still eating dairy and eggs) I may consider a Vegan Vednesday or a Wegan Wednesday, depending on your accent... LOL

Guest Blogger Keith: on Mushy Peas

Today's Guest Blog Post is written by Keith...

Here's his enlightening explanation for readers of Postcards from Hell's Kitchen:

Mushy peas are basically processed peas which are cooked for a long time with a little sugar and bicarb to make them go mushy.

A processed pea (I only discovered recently) is a pea once dried and reconstituted. They sell over here in cans and it's all we ate in my plebby working class upbringing.

They do have a different flavour to ordinary canned peas and they are bigger.

For years, mushy peas have been available in fish and chip shops and usually the nicest ones come from there.

Cashing in on this, is the brand of canned ones is Harry Ramsden's the brand I tried yesterday. Ramsden's is a famous fish and chip shop in Yorkshire which became so well known all over the UK, they now have a "brand" which is used under license on fish, chip and now pea related products.

I've been past the place but the line to eat there was so big, we didn't go in. Tried branded fish and it wasn't much to write home about and neither were the peas.

I took 2 cans of Batchelor's mushy peas over to Susan in either 98 or 03 and she never ventured to even open the cans. I tease her that when they demolished House of Chan in Chinatown, those cans are still there in the debris / foundations of the new building on that site.

I checked the calories and they aren't that much higher 100 gms gives 87 cals and frozen peas are about 65.

The extra does come from the sugar.

A lot of these old dishes are out of fashion and in some ways modern times has overtaken them.

When these things were common fodder for ornery folk, they would put a big batch of the dried peas on to cook for maybe 4 hours on a low heat and a stew in a pot on another.

Now, the cost of the energy to cook all this stuff makes something cheap and basic too damned expensive, the power to cook them costs more than the ingredients. Something I found amusing when the credit crunch hit, because TV was full of these ideas of using a cheaper cut of meat, but all cheaper cuts are cheap because they take a long time to prepare or cook or are (like liver) not to people's taste.

So now you know...

Editor's Note: You can read more of Keith's blogging goodness from across the pond on The Sturdy Soapbox. He calls attention to the following Wikipedia reference on Mushy Peas.

Rainy Afternoon In the Villages East to West

Much cooler than the last few days, but with the awful 96% humidity... It was still miserable. Especially in the subways... Summers in the subway are a reminder of what life is probably like in hell...

Nevertheless, I hopped the N train for a visit to Union Square.

Decided to wander way East to Avenue A for another visit to Westville for their vegan hot dogs. Had the sauteed kale instead of French Fries... And then they had Berry Rhubarb Pie ala mode on the Specials menu so I had that with an iced coffee... Perfect...

Still had some time before my NewFest screening, so I texted Lisa to remind me of the name of a shop nearby that sold some unusual colognes... She responded with Odin on East 11th. And I grabbed a bottle of Wonderwood...

Tried to finally get to visit the Obscura shop... But they were busy filming another episode of Oddities... So I couldn't get near the place with all the film equipment and texting crew blocking the entrance... Maybe another time... (I hope!)

Admired the architecture on the side streets as I walked westward for the NewFest screening at Village East Cinema...

Hated this film today, though. Haven't decided if I'll blog a review or not... See how I feel in a day or so...

Wandered past the Salamagundi Club, but it was too late to visit their gallery which closed at 6pm. I know I would've enjoyed the Max Ginsberg Retrospective show there. And City Life. Both shows are there til August 5...

So, maybe I'll get myself back down that way before they close...

Room Service Thai Lunch

Tried Hell's Kitchen's Room Service yesterday for the very first time. For lunch.

I'd walked by this location many times over the years and it was always full of folks in business attire... I always felt under-dressed.

I guess with the July 4th weekend so nigh, it was more casual...

So I ventured in...

Tried "Vegetable Spicy Basil" "Kee Mao" Noodle dish with the vegetable dumplings appetizer. I threw in a side salad for another $1.50. Food was fresh and tasty...

Dish was surprisingly full of tofu, so I think I confused the waitress when I ordered by asking about the difference between the Vegetable noodle dish and the Tofu one. She initially said the Vegetable one had no tofu and that's the one I ordered.

The giant flat Kee Mao noodles reminded me of Chow Fun... But I've learned that staff at Thai restaurants don't usually appreciate comparisons to Chinese food... LOL...

One of the businessmen dudes seated near me in casual Friday attire were eating cellophane noodles. I think I'd look for that one next time... I prefer my noodles firm not floppy like these broad noodles turned out... Although they were perfectly fine for the type of noodle they were. Just sayin...



Beautiful decor in there. They have a fabulous chandelier in an eye level plexiglass box as a room divider, focal point, conversation piece...

I also liked the Victorian mirrors on the ceiling idea...

Service was kinda arrogant. That's sorta the word for it, I guess...

I would go again though...

A Staycation Day in the East Village

Weather's been great. Low humidity. And low humidity's the key to a good summer day!

Found myself in the East Village after an early morning appointment near Union Square...

New York Film Academy Cafe at 3rd and Astor Place, was being gutted, as I tweeted... Was just there for iced coffee a few weeks ago. It was once a Starbucks a longer while back. What's next for that cool open faced space?

Was strolling along St Mark's Place at 11am... And the street was still quite sleepy... Zzzz.

Still, slipped over to the awake Moishe's Bakery for a chocolate cigar... It's rare that I'm within a mile of that bakery and I don't wander in for that traditional pastry treat!

Walked across St Mark's past my favorite Fun City Tattoo (Do I want another?)

And kept eastbound to the Theater 80 St Marks. Great to see that the property is still in such good shape... Good landlords and tenants keep the place looking great. said hello to the sidewalk signatures of Ruby Keeler and Kitty Carlisle. I had once known both of these deceased great ladies...

Tompkins Square Park for a shady break. And to answer some emails on the Sidekick. Whatever did we do before mobile handhelds? Jeezus

Good vegan hot dog platter with broccoli rabe and cherry tomato saute side (instead of fries, lol) at Westville East. Ave A / E 11th. Looks like I got there just in time as the website sez they will close for a week starting tomorrow...

Silly girl just refused a fritada she'd ordered cuz she didn't realize it's eggs, and she doesn't eat eggs... "The menu doesn't say it's eggs!" Well, duh, lady. Why don't you order an omelet next time? That doesn't say it's eggs either...

Keith tweeted that he wants to see more New York pics during the summer break... So a couple will accompany this post...

Hopped a train home and grabbed a nap before a Business Meeting for a Nonprofit that I belong to... Always hate those kinds of meetings!! But the work's gotta get done...

More Memorial Day Weekend

Humid and hot today already... And it's only 8:30am. Some people love this, of course... I hear them commenting about this "beautiful" weather... Me?... I pretty much just wanna kick 'em!

A friend on Facebook posted yesterday: "A beautiful day, perfect for going into a dark movie theater and watching horror movies." I concur completely!

Been eating a *lot* more vegetarian lately... Things I've learned already through trial and error?: Get the Low-Sodium Goya Beans... A tablespoon into just about any dish adds plenty of protein... The low salt rule was learned the hard way... "Oh, Boya!"

Already found a coupla good vegan dishes at my favorite neighborhood Indian Restaurant Basera... The Baigan Bharta eggplant and the Aloo Gobhi cauliflower potato thing... The latter was especially prepared spicy at the suggestion of the manager who had mastered the way I liked my Chicken Tikka Masala and Saag Paneer previously! Nice... Will try their Dal eventually... They have a dark and yellow combo dish... We'll see... And the Nan Bread is still fine!

Was all ready to try Otarian yesterday but the girl behind the counter was inept and/or had an indecisive customer ... Nobody else that worked there seemed interested in jumping on another register to move things along... So I exited... I can go bonkers in those kinds of situations and know it's sometimes better for me to just leave... After the deep breathing exercises fail!! LOL...

Also... Been steaming fresh greens and adding them to the side of whatever veggie dishes too... And have stepped up the stash of sweet potatoes to have on hand for a quick microwave...

Sat pm on a Saturday night and Meze Grill was closed??? LOL... Was headed for a Falafel platter... But nope... The guy waved at me through the locked door from behind his counter... "Helloo, there, Mister"... Then along came three women and a baby stroller...They were disappointed the place was closed, too... Never even occurred to me that a Hell's Kitchen restaurant would be closed at 6pm on a Saturday night?? Well, good luck with that business plan...

Woman at Chai Thai was encouraging me to try their Sauteed Vegetarian Duck dish with Chili and Basil Sauce next time... And I will. Wish I'd thought to ask her advice before I ordered the shrimp Pad Thai...

Am still doing eggs... And dairy... (Just for the record)

Have a good Sunday, Y'all!

I'm All Over the Place...

Woohoo! I just zeroed my inbox!! Been a looong time since that happened!!

I just did a batch of charity donations the other day... All to support friends who are doing marathons, walks, runs, and memorials... But, next time, I want to try out Givology.

I've been digging Hell's Kitchen's healthy and nutritious B-Bap Fusion Rice Bar lately... And I learned that I actually like Kimchi. 830 Ninth Ave., New York, NY 10019 Between 54/55th. New York magazine recommends: Wow meat dumplings, $5.50; spicy chicken b-bap, $8.50; noodle b-bap, $8.50; classic b-bap, $9... I'm hooked on the Spicy Chicken B-Bap myself w/ a side of Kimchi... It's all enuf for two meals... Seriously.

Need a good ophthalmologist? I completely recommend Dr. Joshua Beer.

Finally resolved a dispute with Virgin Mobile. Virgin Mobile is pond scum. They lied about the fact that I returned the modem and cancelled the plan well within the warranty trial period... Instead of wasting a minute on calling their sweet but helpless Customer Service reps in Manila, my advice is to just call your credit card company and file a dispute... That process still took months... And Virgin Mobile lied to the bank at every juncture to drag it all out... Save your receipts for the original purchase and your shipping return receipts til the credit card company asks for them... And that takes a while. Virgin Mobile are crooks! Virgin Mobile sucks! Is that enough search words?? LOL

I heart Field Notes.

How do you make a heart symbol in text? Alt + keypad 3 = ♥

On the agenda today... To start the eyeglass frames hunting expedition. Will start at Oliver Peoples on the UES... They don't open til noon!

Damn! I hate when businesses don't open til noon! I'm such an early bird! I like getting around before the traffic...

Hell's Kitchen Eats

Mark your calendars!...

The 2011 Ninth Avenue International Food Festival, May 14th and 15th. Taking place in this annual event will be Ninth Avenue local merchants serving an array of ethnic foods which are representative of the different cultures in our neighborhood. May 14th & 15th 2011, 9:30 AM - 6:30 PM, 9th Avenue, New York City, 42-57th St., Rain or Shine!!

Meanwhile, this past week, New York Post saluted some select Hell's Kitchen eateries:

“The whole neighborhood is changing. There’s a younger crowd who likes finer things. They used to go [farther east] or downtown — now they don’t have to,” says Eric Hara, the former Oak Room chef who just opened two new restaurants on Ninth Avenue.


More high-profile venues are on the way: In June, the forthcoming Yotel hotel at 570 10th Ave. will debut a fourth-floor restaurant called DohYo, with the largest outdoor space in the city. And an outpost of London’s Cantonese hot spot Hakkasan will fling open its doors at 311 W. 43rd St. in November. Meanwhile, the promise of a new 7 train terminal at 34th Street and 11th Avenue is luring prospectors farther south...

Lady Donothing's Corned Beef and Cabbage Recipe'

"i cut all the fat off the corned beef before i slice it. easy dinner to fix. boil corned beef. no simmer. take out and cover to get cool for slicing. add carrots. simmer about 1/2 hour or longer. how soft do you want the carrots? then add potatoes, cook another 1/2 to 45 min then cut cabbage up in wedges and add to pan and cook another 1/2 hour or until cabbage is to your taste. slice corned beef and put on top. serve from pan. leftovers are even better the next day.

"directions are on the package of the corned beef. buy thin ones -- not big thick fat ones.

"try it you might love it. do you like cabbage?????"

-- Lady Donothing, in an email about her St Patrick's Day dinner for sixteen people. I thought it would make an ideal guest post...

That way, too, I can search for it online when I'm in the mood!

Awareness Is An Answer

Made some Steel Cut Oats for breakfast for the first time ever!... MUCH more difficult than the standard Old Fashioned Oats in the microwave for four minutes... See this post.

But, as BMB pointed out... The flaky oats probably lack the same nutritional punch... That had never occurred to me before... Dr Oz is always touting oatmeal on the telly... And if you freeze frame the DVR and look carefully at his bin, it's always quietly marked "Steel Cut" oats...

Took 35 minutes to cook these babies... Dag! And the pot will need a good soak

Yesterday's paperwork mission was accomplished!

Well almost... Today, Thursday, is the run to Kinko's to xerox everything and the Post Office to stand in line to mail all these things... And THEN to pickup all the neatly sorted piles of receipts off the floor...

The floor is clearly the best place to organize tasks like this! Big pillow helps! Ralphie agrees!

Oh... And also on today's agenda: Some serious deep cleaning, and possible furniture re-configuration...

You gotta pull out the couch to clean behind and under it, so you might as well move it across the room to a new spot... LOL.

Here's a pointer to fellow bloggers (Newcomer Danny especially!): It's best to compose your Blogger blog posts when the posting window is on the "Edit HTML" tab... When you are in "Compose" tab the constant automatic system updates invariably interrupt what you are doing, and can add mysterious HTML instructions to the body of your post... So keep it on "Edit HTML" if you ask me... Put it on compose when you want to tweak your font sizes or re-size or drag/drop an image).

Oh and later: Gotta attend a monthly business meeting (at a non-profit) in the late afternoon... And will try *not* to pull out my hair... Or what little bit remains at this age... These business meetings are a complete challenge to my full inventory of personal defects... And I gots to be on my proverbial toes! Ahhh... Awareness can be a bear!