drumroll please!

A picture of me I actually like! Is it possible? Take a gander, guys, these are few and far between. 

morning walk

i wasn't really feeling up to a big night out, which is what we all planned saturday night. after much prodding from the boy, i was like, ok, i'll go out for a drink and come home early. i'll just take the car to make it easy. cut to 2am outside the eagle and my trying to convince daniel that i am sober enough to drive home. yeah, i ended crashing at his place that night...

but josh needed the car in the morning, so the alarm went of at 8. as i walked the mile back to the car, the snow was falling in big, light flakes. everything was covered in a blanket of white. no one was up. it was amazing to see the city so quiet. i felt like i had the whole place all to my self. i walked from one edge of the south end to the other, passing many of my favorite cafes, bars and eateries while they were having their sunday morning lie in. i was sad when i reached the car.

when i used to crash in brooklyn all those years ago, i would get up at 7 am to take the subway back. before the churchgoers, before the nurses, it was just me and the waking city. i had that feeling all over again this morning. except this time, it was me in the car, the memorial drive bridge and a handful of hard core runners in the snow.

(of course when i had to go back across the bridge 3 hours later, all that serenity was gone, and it was bumper to bumper the whole way... ce la vie)

yeah, but will you use it?

so every time another kitchen gadget joins the kitchen club, i always wonder if it was worth it. we just rediscovered the juicer recently, but it sat in the cupboard for the last two years. the potato ricer was used the handful time times i made gnocchi (ok, twice) and apple corer/slicer was not all i hoped it would be. even the pasta maker, that i LOVED, was so. much. work. and mess. and time. 

but the electric pasta roller was probably the best purchase i have made (thanks to the MIL's gift certificate!) we have already used it a dozen times, most of them during the week. we have found that it takes about an hour, still long after a day of work/gym, but it is totally worth it. well, most of the time...

the ravioli last night was kind of a disaster. if you were forced to partake in my nyc ravioli nights, you know there is a learning curve with the pasta machine. i gave up on ALP a long time ago - gummy and bland - there was no texture. i moved to semolina (thanks james beard!) and found success; josh and i mastered the consistency and the ratios and how to work with the dough. when we ran out of the whole foods brand we were using, i finally got to use the semolina my wonderful sister/wife brought back for me from bologna! but the flour was so different, it was like starting all over again. so back to tough, dry, cracked dough. we rolled it out, but it dried out quickly, so by the time i made the filling, they were like cardboard. after they were filled and cut, they needed MAJOR surgery. cut to a starving me and josh sitting at the kitchen table, dip dip dipping our fingers in the water and then dab dab dabbing the raviolis, putting them back together. i looked at the table and it looked like a MASH unit. they all made it through their water-bath, but they were tough and chewy. now we know. 

the spinach fettucine tonight was fabulous! i cooked down some spinach and garlic, salt and pepper and pureed it into a nice green paste. mixed with some of B's semolina and an egg, and we had some nice fresh pasta - right from the machine to the pot. some cheese and done! this is def a repeat recipe. 

i say it's duck season and i say FIRE!

so my wonderful friend had me over for dinner last week and i was all set to take pictures of my first attempt at duck (well, watching someone making it at least). but as soon as i was about to snap my first pic, my camera ran out of batteries! curses!

so i bogarted hers and she was kind enough to put them up. check out duck a la sasha!

and for your viewing pleasure - ah memories:) 

basta pasta

well, to me there is no such thing.

even after we both went to the gym and got home past 8, we managed to make dough, roll it out and run it through the blades for some amazingly light egg fettuccine with a roasted tomato sauce. four ingredients (eggs, semolina, tomatoes and garlic - and oil, salt, spices, etc) and a plate of pasta you cannot find in any restaurant.

energy

i interviewed a tufts applicant today. he is in the top 10% of his class, plays soccer in the fall, track in the winter and baseball in the spring, and plays trumpet in the band, jazz band and orchestra. remember when we had that kind of energy? i do. sigh.

plated

my plating skills are just like my abs; the minute i work on them, i realize how out of shape i am. on my friday off, i decided to try my hat at plating. and boy do i suck. check out my couscous encrusted chicken with peppers, beans and pea pods. a donna hay recipe


meh. i could have done more with the peppers and next time i may leave the couscous off the plate. it's on the menu for tuesday. josh is way more artistic than me - we'll see what his take is.

today, i devirginized the new electric pasta machine! what used to take hours and hours and make a huge mess took a mere 30 minutes from flour to pot. i made a quick fettucine with mushrooms and chicken with a white wine and parm sauce. def have to play with the settings a bit, but so far, a success!

it was good, but a little herby. well herby because i didn't check the to make sure the oregano was on the dash cap. it was dash dash rosemary, dash dash thyme and then plunk oregano. a handful of fresh parsley and it actually came together quite nicely.

sadness

the pain of loosing a father is something i would not wish on my worst enemy. it's raw and bright and when you aren't thinking about anything, it is all you can think about. my only solace is that it will never happen to my sister again. i worry about how my mom  and josh will handle it when it happens to them and brace myself. but now it has happened to my youngest cousin. 18 years old. my heart is just aching for her.

Naw'lins!

Four days in New Orleans! Besides the work part, it was actually a lot of fun. Nice dinners with co-workers, making friends with jazz players, fending off drunk Buckeyes. The food really is amazing. I ate so much seafood (check out my yelp reviews for details). My favorite place was by far the hole in the wall we went to for dinner the last night. Pictures on the menu and everything! See my .mac page for all the pictures.

A and K and the menu with pictures!

I was taking a snap of the enormous bottle, but captured A unawares instead.

Oysters!

Nary a wine bottle in sight! Finally!

Oysters again!

I really couldn't get enough oysters. We all couldn't, really.

Gumbo - or the empty bowls... we inhaled them.

Fried but not greasy - how do they do it?

The inside of Casamentos. Ghetto fab and we loved it.

A laughing at the sheer amount of crab leg carcasses on her plate. She really ate a lot.

We walked around uptown a bit, but this was the only picture that came out. I loved all the balconies here. I wish we had more time to spend in the city during the day. 

Beer to go! I finally had my spring break experience.. at 26!

reunions!

Saw some old Sharon friends over the break. One group for after dinner fun and the other for brunch at my new favorite place.

wherever you find love, it feels like chriiiist-maaas!

the muppet christmas carol always gets me in the mood. these pictures are from christmas morning at our place and then after we went over the josh's mom's place for the day.

Josh got me a water kettle and a muddler! Mojitos - here I come!

Josh has been happy with the video game... so much so we may need another TV...

Melody's tree.

Josh, Jared and his girlfriend Roxanne in the sun. I like this picture, it feels natural.