I’m going to NYC!! While this will be my third time there, it will feel like the first time because the first time I was too young to remember and the second time I went to a wedding and left immediately. I didn’t get to do very much.

So after doing some research and asking for ideas, I have a list of places to eat and things to do. I know I won’t get to all of them but if I get to even one or two, I’ll be more than satisfied.

Food -

Not Food -

Cafe Asia, Peking Gourmet Inn, and Vegetable Garden.

On Saturday, we originally set out for a lazy walk through the city. This stroll turned into a 9-mile walk! We went by an artist flea-market at Court House, across the Potomac to DC, through Georgetown by the Capital Crescent Trail, to the shops along Georgetown, to Foggy Bottom, to the Watergate Hotel, to the Washington Harbour, back to the Key Bridge. Stopped by Cafe Asia for a snack which turned into dinner at 4:30 and then light grocery shopping on the way home. It was a good 5 hour hike and the couch never looked so inviting as it did when I fell into it at the end of the walk.

Then yesterday, we had Peking duck for Mother’s Day lunch. It was carved perfectly with the layer of fat removed, the wraps were freshly made, and it was delicious! Then we played Wii! According to Wii Fit, I’m 50! It’s a very fun game and I’m considering getting it. If you don’t have time to go to the gym or just don’t feel like making the trip, this is a great way to get some physical activity and have fun at the same time. It’s also a good group game too.

Onward to Vegetable Garden for dinner. Vegan fare. Pretty healthy, but only okay taste. I think we can find better vegetarian food at other restaurants that don’t only serve vegetarian. Indian or Thai places, for instance.

Ok I’m back to pb&j again this morning. Must give my belly a break before this coming weekend!

By my limited potlucking experience, there’s almost always too much food at potlucks because the guests bring enough to feed everyone and then some. For example, last night, our party of 8 people wound up with 64 portions of food at least. That’s a lot of food.
It was a small classmate reunion with a potluck at Crotchety Bichon’s house. Sheru is still crotchety by the way. We just leave him alone and he learns to put up with us.

I didn’t notice last night but just mentally trying to count how many people were there, I realized we were all Asians, all immigrants, except one guy. No wonder conversation steered to why-the-single-people-aren’t-married-yet. How kids back in the old country don’t have manners anymore and it’s the emigrants who retained the old-world customs in the new country. And only one of us remembered to bring wine! Our trusty young partier brought in one bottle of wine and said there was another bottle in her car if we wanted more. 5 minutes later, she offered that there were 2 more bottles in her car. We all know she probably drives around with a case of wine in her car, prepared at any moment to throw a party. Namaste!

Don’t be fooled by his lazy daisy, I-have-big-cute-eyes demeanor. He’s an attack dog.

Ugh! Ate way muy mucho. Belly-clutching, floor-rolling full. I went to Cici’s Pizza tonight. My first time dining at this pizza buffet. Yes, me and buffets are just bad news. The pizza isn’t great but its crispy crust and greasy pizza was just what I wanted. Not that frou frou Neopolitan-style stuff. I don’t know why but I’ve had a craving for junky pizza for a couple of weeks. Anyway, I lost count at how many slices I ate so you can imagine it was a good amount, maybe 9 slices. Some better than others, but the nice thing about this place is, you can try a slew of them. They just keep on coming. It hit the spot but uh… I probably won’t be having pizza again any time soon.

Went shopping afterward and turned this Thursday night into a Friday night. Home Goods for a lamp shade. Came out with a kitchen sink drain strainer. Then TJ Maxx for the lamp shade. Came out with nothing (yay!). Then Target. Came out with handsoap (non-antibacterial) and the lampshade (double-yay!)!! I stayed on task tonight. It’s 11PM and I’m still up (thanks to the 2 cups of Starbucks I had this afternoon, what was I thinking?!).

Two weekends ago, I made chicken curry. For the rest of the week, our place had the wonderful aroma of delicious curry even after it was all eaten. We’d become the bad neighbors who cooked pungent foods for our selfish taste bud pleasure! Definitely a negative externality. So every night after work, we’d open the windows to air out the place. I even boiled a bar of soap in water. Then this past weekend, I went to Costco for an industrial-sized bag of baking soda. I’ve placed glasses of it all around the place. The curry scent should be gone now, though I’m not sure because I have a cold and my nose is stuffed.

I love curry anything. This chicken curry dish was wonderful and even better the next day and the day after that. But given that whole episode, I might take a break from it, at least until the neighbors have forgotten about that incident. So you’ve been warned. Make this on a nice day where you can keep the windows open. Incidentally, I did have the windows open as I made this, but curry is all powerful.

• Chicken pieces (whatever you like)
• 1 Tomato
• 1 onion
• black pepper
• 3 Tablespoons curry powder
• 5 cloves of garlic
• 1 lemongrass stalk
• 10 sprigs of cilantro
• 1 teaspoon mustard powder
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon cayenne powder
• 4 tablespoons cooking oil

In a food processor, blend the garlic, lemongrass, tomato, half an onion, mustard powder, salt, pepper, cilantro, 2 tablespoons curry powder into a fine sauce.  Pour it into a bowl and marinade the chicken pieces in there for at least 2 hours.

When you’re ready to cook the chicken, use the 1 or 2 tablespoons of reserved curry powder, mix it with a little bit of water. Heat oil in a pan and pour in the curry slurry. Stir it around until the curry flavors get all over your walls and you can’t get the smell out for a week!

Slice up the other half of the onion and add it to the pan. Then add the marinaded chicken, sauce and all. If you need, add some water and let the chicken cook.

In a separate pot, add whatever vegetables you want. I had leftover celery so I tossed that in. I also added bamboo and carrots. Start cooking it for a few minutes. Don’t add water yet, the vegetables will sweat.

Pour in the pan cooked chicken over the vegetables. Cover it and let it simmer. If there’s not enough water at this point, go ahead and add it, but keep in mind it’s not supposed to be too soupy.

And tadaa!! So delicious.

Last night, we were lucky enough to leave work before the sun set. To take advantage of the extra time, we went to a local Irish pub for dinner and a couple of hours of stand-up comedy. There were about 10 or so comediens total. Some lasted a few minutes, some really fought for laughs. But hey, you gotta give em credit for braving the stage. The food was okay there. I had some lamb shephard’s pie and also tried some fish and chips. It felt like Friday for a few hours there.

I’ve never cooked lamb shanks before but we had one for the Seder and I wasn’t about to throw a piece of perfectly good shank away even if I had no idea what to do with it. It was mostly 2 big bones and when I see bone, I think stew and when I think stew, I think beans. Granted, it’s not exactly stew weather, now that we’re getting 80 degrees in the afternoons but what else was I going to do with the bones eh? I started this stew on Friday. Dried beans require a day in advance to cook thoroughly, and I don’t think you can overcook beans. They just get good and tender. This time, I used a mix of red beans, black beans, and garbanzos. Black and red beans always make my stews brown and dark. Next time, I might use garbanzos and navy beans (which are white, I don’t know where they got the name navy). Can you tell I stockpile beans in the pantry? I love beans because they don’t go bad, they’re versatile, and they are good for you. And it helps with the eating less meat thing. So I did one of those deals where I went hunting on the Internet for a recipe based on items I have on hand and found something close to what was a shank slow cooker recipe and modified it to fit my ingredients.

• 2 Cups of dried beans cooked a day in advance
• 2 Bay leaves
• Rosemary, thyme, oregano (about a teaspoon or so of each)
• Garlic powder
• 1 Cup of wine
• 1 Cup of orange juice
• Salt/pepper
• Parsley (1 bunch chopped)
• Carrots (get the baby ones and you don’t have to chop them)
• 1 Yellow onion diced coarsely
• 3 Stalks of celery chopped
• Lamb shanks

Start by washing the dried beans and cooking them for a day in the slow cooker in plain water.  The next day, put in the lamb shanks with the dried herbs.  Add some water so it mostly covers the meat.  Let it stew for another day so the meat falls off the bone.  Take it off the slow-cooker and let it cool a bit before putting it in the fridge.  After it’s chilled in the fridge for a few hours, you can easily scoop out the fat on the top.  Put it back on the slow cooker and add all the chopped vegetables and parsley along with the salt, pepper, orange juice, and wine.   Don’t add any water until your vegetables have cooked down because they’ll release a lot of water as they cook.  You might want to add more wine or salt/pepper or water or juice depending on the consistency and flavor you prefer.  I added a little more than a cup of wine and OJ each.  It’s a very hearty soup.  And delicious, even for this weather!

I got this recipe from the Internet. I can’t remember the URL, but the original recipe came from a guy named Arthur Schwartz.  Again, I only followed the ingredients and didn’t use the same quantities as the recipe called.  It came out delicious.  The slow-cooker really breaks down the meat so it’s fork tender.

• 4 lb brisket (second cut).
• 1 carrot
• 2 stalks of celery
• 4 cloves of finely grated garlic
• 3 sage leaves
• 2 tablespoons of kosher salt
• pepper
• 1 yellow onion, chopped.

Rub both sides of the brisket with salt, pepper and garlic. Throw everything into the slow cooker.  Juices will come out of the meat and vegetables and create its own sauce.  I made it one night before the meal.  Refrigerated it until the fat hardened.  Then I scooped out the fat.  Before serving, cut the meat perpendicular to the grain and put it in a dish.  Pour some of the liquids over it and put it in the oven at 350 F for about 15-20 minutes or until its hot.  Like anything else you can make in the slow cooker, it was easy.

Note to self: In the future, before any holiday meal, wear sweatpants. Last night, I was invited to a Passover dinner where I seriously ate myself silly, to the point where I turned down dessert at the end. Chocolate covered matzas, brownies, macaroons! I was muffin topping though and could barely breathe. We started with wine, matza, horseradish and haroset which is a mixture of chopped apples, nuts, cinnamon, and sugar.

There was also sweet cooked carrots and potato kugel. Gefilte fish, which I didn’t like the first time I tried it years ago, but this time with the horseradish, I liked it a lot. Hence the need for stretchy pants.

I also tried matza ball soup for the first time. It has an interesting texture which I enjoyed. A bit like stuffing, but it doesn’t crumble in the soup. Somehow it manages to stay together as you’re eating it. The brisket I started on Sunday turned out well, though maybe on the salty side. That’s what happens when you quadruple the amount of salt the recipe called for. I just didn’t think 3/4 teaspoon of salt was enough for 3.8 pounds of brisket. Next time, maybe a couple tablespoons of salt will be enough – depending on the size of the meat. Though it will be a while before I eat bovine again. I’ve had cow four times in four days now and it’s getting to be a bit too much moo. I could go for some more of that matza ball soup again though.

We had fun watching the Capitals practice last time so we headed that way again this morning to see another practice session.  Last time, there was maybe only half of the team because we got there late, but this time, the whole team was there including Coach Boudreau.  He actually took to the ice and did some coaching.  Laich came early and left early probably because he was still nursing an injury.  Towards the end, Alex Ovechkin and his teammates were goofing off, egging each other on trying to make fancy shots, and playing to the crowd which was surprisingly large.  It was a fun practice session to watch.

After, we went for a lunch of saltenas and soup.  It was chilly today so the hot soup helped thaw me out a bit.  Saltenas are pretty much empanadas and they reminded me of Australian meatpies.  Very tasty.  I did have my camera with me but I was too hungry to stop for photos.

Next it was off to El Chaparral Meat Market.  We got t-bone steaks and delmonicos for dinner tonight with friends.  Since the Whole Foods was next door, we went there next to grab the rest of the ingredients to put together tonight’s meal for our guests.  After all was said and done, we started with a tomato and bell pepper soup (I cheated and got it from Costco, it was good though!), then (served family-style) mushrooms cooked in a red wine sauce, spinach noodle kugel, mashed potatoes, steak, and for dessert, sweet mung bean soup and brownies from our guests.

After, we played Raving Rabbids on the Wii.

This counts as my 2010 list of things to do – entertaining friends.  I’d like to do this more often.  In fact, next weekend will be another set of friends.  I’m a bit worried though because this time, there will be two young children.  I hope I can make something they’ll eat.  Then again, I was a bit worried about this dinner too.  Cooking for others is kind of putting yourself out there.  At least it seems so to me.  I want my guests to enjoy the food and have a good time and I think we did tonight.