Things I learned in NYC, #1

Last weekend, I was in NYC for an all too brief yet thoroughly satisfying 24 hours. Here's what I learned:

1) Boredom on buses is incredibly difficult to cure. We were sitting in the traffic to enter the Lincoln Tunnel. I was trying to offer up my impatience and boredom for some friend's special intention, but it was so hard. When there is no where to go and nothing to do, boredom is all encompassing. Even when you say to yourself: "I'm not going to be bored and impatient" you just end up thinking about not being bored and impatient, which quickly turns into being bored and impatient.

2) Take my word: don't shop Broadway. After 25 minutes in line at Urban Outfitters, and another 15 minutes waiting under a soft-porn Calvin Klein ad on Broadway and Houston, I was ready to scream.

3) On the other hand, two blocks south of Houston is a charming quiet strip, called Elizabeth Street. It was quiet. It was dark. The restaurants had chalkboard signs on the street. All in all, charming. I felt like Iw as in a different city. We popped into Jo's, and had some delicious beers, mussels, oysters, and burgers, all quite reasonably priced. The decor was elegant but comfortable--marble topped bar, caramel colors leather booths, chalkboard menus.

4) Contrary to popular belief, the best nut mixes are not found at Trader Joe's. They are actually at Duane Reade drug stores. The Duane Reade drug store on Broadway and Houston also, fyi, smells like mighty fine curry.

5) Whiskey Sours--freshly made, with simple syrup and lemon juice instead of "sour mix"--are ridiculously good. Yet it is very difficult to find a good recipe online for whiskey sours. Even Emeril uses sour mix. ick.

Waltzing Matilda

Odd, isn't it, that the song that most affects me when I think of war and veterans and the cost of their service (and how little we remember) is an Australian one, and one rife with facutal errors at that. But it always makes me cry, so I'll share it with you today:



And The Band Played Waltzing Matilda by Eric Bogle. (My favorite version is June Tabor.)

The Desk

Why yes, I could write the next great american novel at a desk like this. (From Canadian House & Home via Delight by Design)

Cupcakes and False Traditions

"If nothing else, cakes ought to tell the truth."

--Susie Boydt in Financial Times (HT: The Guild Review)

The Wall

I have very few clear memories of political events from my childhood. I remember when we moved to Napa, watching news footage of desert storm in our new home (and thinking how pretty the new blue sofas went with the golds of the desert--what can I say--I was 7.) But I don't remember the significance of any of it, except that by then Uncle David was a chaplain for the navy, so we prayed for him.

I think Uncle David was with us on Nov 9, 1989. I vaguely recall looking at his lace up boots as we sat on the floor, watching the TV, and I suppose watching my parents celebrate. Did you celebrate, Mom and Dad? Were you hugging, or crying, or cheering, or too shocked to say anything at all? Were you overcome? Did you drag us out of bed to see it? Or were we up anyway?

As I said, Thomas and I were sitting on the floor in front of the TV, watching it. Were we scared? I don't know--I don't remember. All I remember is this: Dad crouched down in front of us, pointed at the screen, and looked us straight in the eye, saying: This is the most important event of our lives. Don't ever forget this.

And I never have.

Bronx Bound

Arthur Ave is my destination.

Today I am on my way up to the bronx, for a short (very short!!!) visit with Curry and BoyWonder. We're celebrating 25 years of goodness--that is, Curry's birthday--with a Mad Menthemed birthday party.

I'm taking the best bus ever cheap, clean, flexible (and it's bright red!). I told Curry that I was broke, and didn't want to do anything but hang out:

Curry: Ok. We can go to the botanical gardens maybe, and to the farmers market, and make pumpkin pancakce.
MEP: Basically, that sounds like the perfect day.
Curry: Oooh. Have you ever had a gimlet? You'll love them.

So, envy me friends. 12 hours in a bus is a small price to pay for a Mad Men themed birthday party and Curry's pumpkin pancackes. It may only be 24 hours in the Bronx, but they're going to be a great 24 hours.

Delightful #6

When I am their age, I want to look like this. Heck, I want to look like this now. From The Sartorialist.

Things That Make Me Happy

#1: Season 3 of Mary Tyler Moore on Hulu! Like this brilliant, What Do You Say When Your Boss Says "I Love You?"



#2: Soho's left-over caramel apple pie

#3: The sun being up before me.

Movie Review: Bright Star

Keats, with Fanny and her family

TITLE: Bright Star
DIRECTOR: Jane Campion
STARRING: Ben Whipshaw, Abigail Cornish, Paul Schneider
RELEASED: September 25, 2009, Apparition Films

I've been meaning to write a review of the elegant and intriguing Jane Campion film, Bright Star, starring Abigail Cornish and Ben Whipshaw. It is about Keats and his one love, Fanny Brawne. Going in, I knew nothing about them, except that he died of consumption before they could get married.

I haven't gotten to reviewing it because I am not sure what I think of it all. About halfway through, I was afraid that all the beautiful cinematography and the compelling imagery was for naught: this was just a melodramatic Romeo & Juliet love story (and you all know how I hate Romeo & Juliet). But it won me over; what was at first just the drama of young love turned into a deep, sensual (though--and Campion is at pains to tell us this--chaste), mature love.

Carrie Frye at Terry Teachout's About Last Night blog commented recently on Bright Star and I think she really hit the nail on the head:

It's a gorgeous and tough-minded film; I've seen it praised in a couple places for its "restraint" and while that feels like an appropriate description, it might, used in the context of a movie about John Keats's love affair with Fanny Brawne, leave a reader with the impression that Bright Star is a soft or quiet film, which it most definitely isn't. I think the restraint being praised is actually rigor; as if Campion had a bolt of silk and shot it through every yard or so with whalebone. Yes, it's beautiful, but it also stands up straight.

(She also discusses the costumes, which were amazing. I don't think any film can beat this for best costume. Not even Coco before Chanel) Do check out Dana Steven's review which Ms. Frye links to.

My two favorite characters, oddly, were not the lovers. Best of all, I loved Fanny's little sister, Toots. And, a pleasant surprise for all you Parks & Recreation fans out there, Paul Schneider can put on an excellent brogue, and wears plaid trousers and waistcoats very well. I loved his portrayal of Keat's dear friend Charles Brown. He is jealous, teasing, and even petty at times, but he was also fiercely loyal and generous beyond fault to Keats--and Schneider manages to convey all that complexity.

I will be glad to see the film again, when it comes out on DVD. I'm sure there are subtleties I missed, and I wouldn't mind listening to Whipshaw read Keats for a good long while (lovely!).

Abigail Cornish was pitch perfect as Fanny Brawne

But wasn't Keats blond? Ben Whipshaw as Keats

Novena of St. Mary Magdalene

Please join the Magdalene Sisters for a novena honoring St. Mary Magdalene. The relics (*tibia bone) of St. Mary Magdalene will be in Washington DC on Nov. 8th. The Novena begins tomorrow, Halloween, and extends to Nov. 8th.

Relics of St. Mary Magdalene in Washington DC on first North American tour
They will be at the Dominican House of Studies for public veneration

Sunday Nov. 8th, 2009
Mass: 11:15 a.m.
Veneration: 12:30 pm to 5:20 p.m.
Rosary: 5:20 pm
Vespers: 5:40 pm
487 Michigan Ave, NE
Washington, DC 20017

Hope to see you there!

Leaving Hearts

"Flirting," originally uploaded by Frederic Larson
I'm just about at the end of my rope, as far as missing California goes. Basically, every time I see a picture (even of LA) I want to cry. Loving San Francisco runs in the family. Only for Mom, she went there, and loved it completely (though I suppose having dad around helped). I know deep down she's a Pennsylvania girl, but she's pretty thoroughly Californian too.

As for me...well, I love lots of places. My favorite place to be on a wet spring morning? The Boston Public Gardens, facing that silly little fountain of the boy riding the turtle, with tulips blooming behind me. My favorite place for a summer night: any hillside, where I can see thousands of fireflies dancing through the air (and there are no fireflies in California). My favorite place to go ice-skating? The Smithsonian Sculpture Gardens, of course. I even love Florida--so long as it's early March, and I'm on the gulf-shore collecting seashells.

But I've never seen a place and fell in love with it the way I do every time I see those golden hills, or that fog bank. Tony Bennett might have been from Queens...but he was definitely on to something.

More 'Gourmet' Love

Ah! I have found the coolest site. CoverBrowser.com has of 450,000 magazine covers in it, including all of Gourmet. So I trolled through the years, and found the magazine cover that, quite honestly, changed my life (above). I'm not being hyperbolic, either. I saw this magazine in the store (July, 2006), and bought it immediately. It solidified, in photograph form, everything I love about food, color, fellowship, life. I know I sound ridiculous, but, its absolutely true.

Fall Flavors + Entertaining

Soho and I are hosting our first House Party this weekend, and, as a result, I have been clipping every autumnal recipe I find, and taking note of all the different ways to use fall foliage to decorate. Then I remind myself that, actually, I'm not a very good baker, and try as I might, I won't be able to manage entreating, plus music, plus keeping track of the kids, plus making fresh apple cider donuts all during the party.

But, oh, how I want to have apple cider donuts. Perhaps these cookies from EatMakeRead will satisfy the urge.

What else will we be serving? Well, it's not decided yet, but here are some options:

+ Mulled wine and cider for drinks.

+ Apple and Carrot shortbread plus Maggie's famous blackberry jam equals h-e-a-v-e-n.

+ This Butternut Squash Casserole is sure to please a crowd.

+ The necessary Cheese Plate will include seriously sharp cheddar, an aged pecorino or manchego, and a tangy blue, with membrillo, spiced nuts, and roasted onions as an accompaniment.

+ Roasted root veggies are surprisingly finger friendly, when done properly. A hearty crudité platter, if you will.

+ Then again, Caramel corn is the ultimate finger food. Perhaps that's all we need.

Hmmmm. Well, that's a start. Let's see what else we might cook up.


Side note: Fellow Washingtonians, take note of this excellent piece about the two local food magazines Flavor, and Edible Chesapeake

Nigel Slater: Tender

Nigel Slater is as scruffily wonderful on screen as he is in his writing. Can't wait for his new cookbook, Tender: A Cook and his Vegtable Patch, to come out in the US. It's gotten good reviews thus far. Oh...if anyone is in the UK and feels like buying this for me, I'd be so grateful.

By the way: my new favorite thing: braised cabbage. Preferably red cabbage, so that it stains everything in sight. Goodness. I love it. (I used the recipe in the Joy of Cooking.)

Where the Wild Things Are Movie Review

Hey all. Check out my Where the Wild Things Are movie review over at LLB.

Land Girls + the Queen

Goodness, this story makes me smile. The Queen has hosted a tea for the surviving members of the Women's Land Army:

Women who helped keep Britain supplied with food and timber during World War II have enjoyed tea with the Queen.

More than 90 veterans - dubbed Land Girls and Lumber Jills - joined Her Majesty, who herself served in the war in the Auxiliary Territorial Service.

The event - held in the Buckingham Palace ballroom - marked the anniversary of the Women's Land Army's (WLA) disbandment 59 years ago.

One former dairy maid, Dorothea Allen, told the BBC it was "very nice indeed".

I first learned about the Land Girls in 1998--the moviehad just been released, and our whole family was on holiday in England. I remember having Anna pose on fence posts in wool sweaters, hoping to capture the same mood. (Of course, at the time, I was totally scandalized by the movie, which has a literal roll in the hay.)

Anyway, tea with the queen sounds lovely. (HT: Sally Thomas)

The Way, #629

Oh, the power of Obedience! The lake of Genesareth had denied its fishes to Peter's nets, A whole night in vain. Then, obedient, he lowered his net again into the water and they caught "piscium multitudinem copiosam"--"a great number of fishes." Believe me, the miracle is repeated every day.

-- Jose Maria Escriva, The Way