Two years ago, we ate our way through a weekend in New York City. One of the most memorable places we ate at was Mamoun’s Falafel. I would not shut up about it. Mamoun’s this, Mamoun’s that. You’d think he was my son! It was because of Mamoun that I set my Yelp star rating basis. A 5-star rating is if I would travel to eat there and by traveling, I mean not sleep in my own bed. Ad-Hoc, Kirala, and for these last 2 years, Mamoun’s all were well deserving of 5 stars. Well, I’m happy and sad to say that I have found a new falafel dealer by the name of Max. Max’s Kosher Cafe sells schwarmas and falafel and they are out of this world. We ordered a half falafel and schwarma and learned very quickly what a big mistake that was… just get the whole. Yes – learn from my fail. They will knock your socks off! We were visibly new to this as the guy asking us what toppings we want quickly realized we didn’t know what we were doing and proceeded to put something together himself. He knows what he’s doing because holy cow they were good. We went back and ordered more after quickly polishing off the first batch. I’m sorry I didn’t bring my camera, but we’ll certainly be back. Oh and they’re not opened on Saturday’s (Shabbat Shalom!) so keep that in mind.
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The Body Shop
These dang dong after X-mas sales are too tempting for me to resist sometimes. My latest purchase was a 50% off everything sale from The Body Shop. I think that’s as good as it gets there and I’ve been eyeing their makeup for at least at year, if not longer. So, I figured, since it was all 50% off, I was going to get everything I’ve been wanting to try and then some.
Radiant Highlighter – This wasn’t one of the things I’ve been wanting to try. I got it because everyone raved about it in the reviews. I had no idea what a highlighter is but reviewers said, apply it on your cheeks, nose, and maybe below your eyebrows. It’s supposed to give you a dewy glow. I’ve tried it twice this past weekend and haven’t noticed anything. So I’m starting to think women who obsess over makeup are losing their minds. Me included. I’m putting stuff on my face that’s supposed to make me look good but I can’t even tell the difference. And yet I continue to do it. On the plus side, it’s very easy to apply and doesn’t feel like I have anything on. It doesn’t look like I have anything on either. I wouldn’t get it again.
All in One Face Base – Gosh I haven’t used a makeup compact since I was in college. It takes me back to the days when I was interviewing for jobs and practiced applying makeup with my Cover Girl compact. I felt so grown up. This is the product I’ve been waiting for a year or so to try. I have no idea why I waited so long. I guess I have so many other items I’ve been trying. Bare Escentuals, Boots No. 7 and Neutrogena Mineral Sheers for example.
Baked-to-Last Blush – Not sure why I love buying blushes, but I do. I have 5 or 30 blushes and bronzers and I use them only occasionally. Now blush does give the healthy glow effect more than whatever highlighter. For my sallow skin, it works wonders, maybe that’s why I keep buying them. Then again, buying is just one critical step shy of it actually making a difference with how my face looks. I haven’t tried this one yet, but again, the rave reviews…
Eyeshadow Blender Brush – Half my makeup brushes are paintbrushes I got from Michaels. They work fine but honestly, I could’ve gotten a better deal and probably better quality at E.L.F. Still, I wanted to try this Body Shop model, which is supposed to be particularly versatile. We’ll see.
Shimmer Cubes Palette 07 – I had maybe 3 or so various Body Shop eyeshadows in mind before whittling it down to this one palette of four shades of color. On the one hand, I’m starting to think I ought to stick to matte colors for a more mature look. On the other hand (everytime I use this figure of speech, it reminds me of economists), I like sparkles and shimmer so eh, this is as young as I’m ever going to be. Shimmer me up! Again, I haven’t tried it, but the colors do look pretty and the 4 colors come in individual cubes.
The rest are just body washes and an eye makeup remover. I’m sure they’re wonderful and all but I probably just absentmindedly got them because of the half off sale. I seem to have gotten on a bit of a binge on eye makeup removers. I have 5 or so various brands and they’re all great. Basically, I can’t tell one from another in terms of effectiveness. Women, again, raved about this Body Shop one so I’m trying it.
Shrimp and Egg Pasta
It was going to be a frittata. Something simple. Something I’ve done before. But then I went online and found this technique where you temper beaten egg yolks with pasta water and then use the yolks to make a pasta sauce. Carbonara or something. So I veered off course and wound up here, which is a good place to wind up.
- Pasta
- Eggs
- Salt n’ Pepper
- Tomatoes
- Leeks
- Onion
- Herbs n’ Spices – Garlic, thyme, parsley
- Sugar
- A good bottle of white wine
- Shrimp
- Oil
- Butter
Chop and stir fry the tomatoes, onion, and leeks in some oil. The juices might get it very watery so cook it for a while to evaporate the liquids. Add the herbs n’ spices, salt, and sugar. Taste it to see if it’s tasty.
Add the wine. Add the butter.
Crack 4 eggs and separate the yolks. Save the whites for breakfast. Crack some pepper in there. Spoon in some hot pasta water into the beaten yolks while stirring to temper the eggs. This keeps it from cooking up into chunky eggs. It sort of has a creamy consistency.
I tossed my partially cooked pasta into the egg mixture to coat all the pasta.
Then toss the egg pasta into the vegetables along with the peeled shrimp. Once the shrimps are cooked, it’s ready to serve!
Serve it with the white wine that you cooked with. This was one of the bottles of white we brought back from last year’s Napa trip. So good!
Roughin’ it
Some people like camping, some folks, hiking. My idea of a good time has never included anything involving deprivation of running water or toilet facilities. Until recently, my life was just hunky dory in the running water department. Until two weeks ago when our one lone toilet broke! I can talk about this now that everything is back in order but our toilet was out of commission for 2 weeks! TWO WEEKS! I had to go to the lobby to use the loo and sometimes you just have to go now, now, now! In particular when you wake up in the morning. Everything is in working order now though and it’s even improved! Pull up for yellow and push down for brown. 
Genius! My life feels complete again.
Zeh-ism
Yeah, what he said.
In case you can’t make out the words:
There is delight in the hardy life of the open. There are no words that can tell the hidden spirit of the wilderness, that can reveal its mystery, its melancholy, and its charm. The nation behaves well if it treats the natural resources as assets which it must turn over to the next generation increased and not impaired in value. Conservation means development as much as it does protection. – T. Roosevelt
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