Chicken or Beef?

Photo courtesy Airlinemeals.net

Ahhh….airline food. You either love it or hate it. I happen to LOVE airline food, its one of the highlights of flying I reckon – the excitement of heading to the airport knowing you’re about to start on your holiday; the anticipation of getting on the plane and praying you don’t end up next to a smelly fat guy or a family with two howling toddlers; and of course what surprises lay ahead when you see the flight crew wheel the food trolley down the aisle.

Unfortunately nowadays being fed on any flight is pretty hard to come by, unless you’re on a long haul flight or lucky enough to be in business class. Gone are the days when even on a 2 hour flight you would be served a meal fit for a king, even in coach class. Now US domestic flights typically serve a packet of pretzels and a beverage, and that’s it.

But when you do get fed - bliss! Each course neatly packed into its own little container and beautifully presented on a tray. So compact, you would think there couldn’t possibly be enough food to fill you up, but it always does. Of course the presentation isn’t on par with bento boxes, but I think given the conditions its close enough for me.

In one of those “Why didn’t I think of that?” moments, the New York Times has published an article about a website devoted entirely to photos of airline meals. Ever wondered what the flight crew eat on flights? What cuisine is served on a first class flight from JFK to LHR? What they serve on Uzbekistan Airways? Well airlinemeals.net is the site for you. There are thousands of photos and you can contribute your own too, with the best photo of the week posted on the site’s main page.

I’ll have the chicken, thanks.

Random Pictures

Houses near Prospect Park in Brooklyn - Sunday afternoon



Our apartment building - I wish



The tree lined streets of Brooklyn



Car park in Manhattan - don't know why I took this, but it looks pretty cool

My Dilemma

After ordering take-out last night at Lassi, a terrific Indian place near our apartment, I got to thinking about the last time I actually prepared a home cooked meal. It took some working out, but I figured it was almost two weeks ago - flounder lightly floured and sauteed with some butter and lemon juice and string beans on the side.

I'd love to cook more at home on weekdays, but by the time I finish work and spend an hour at the gym, I'm too exhausted to go buy groceries to cook anything. I’m sure everyone feels the same way, no matter where they live. But it got me thinking, how often does the average New Yorker cook at home?

The problem with New York is that most apartments are quite small. The apartments you see in Friends do exist, but the rent is astronomical. The first apartment we lived in was tiny – over $2,000 a month for a space that could barely fit a two seater sofa and a coffee table. The kitchen (or galley which is probably a more accurate description) consisted of a small bar fridge, a sink and a cooker. The chopping board doubled as bench space when rested over the sink because there was no room anywhere else.

As a result we spent most of our time eating out, like most New Yorkers. It is more convenient to walk a block and pick up dinner than to wrestle with a frying pan in a space the size of a public restroom cubicle. There are so many restaurants, take-out places, bars and delis to choose from - if you ate out at a different restaurant every night for 5 years, you won’t visit the same place twice. Why? Because restaurants open and close down like there’s no tomorrow. I read somewhere that for every one successful restaurant in Manhattan, ten will close down within a year.

Now I don’t have a problem with eating out, I LOVE eating out. The problem I have is that eating out so often can’t be good for you. You can’t control the amount of fat or quality of ingredients that goes into your meal compared to preparing it yourself at home. I’ve asked friends about this and most say it is just more convenient to buy take-out than to cook at home. If pressed, they would eat at home once or twice a week – which means popping in the microwave a supermarket bought pre-packaged meal.

You would think a diet like that, mixed with drinking out three to four times a week would result in chubby New Yorkers, but the opposite is true. Americans are known for being larger than everyone else (in size and ego) - head outside of New York and parts of California and you’ll see what obese really means. But how do New Yorkers stay so slim? Is it really the hectic lifestyle, the competitiveness of working 60 hours a week and the stress that keeps people trim? Or is it because most people walk everywhere because they can’t afford a car, let alone the $800 a month to keep it in a car park in Manhattan?

So even though I love to eat out and will continue to do so, I’m going to at least try to balance things out…somehow…

Summer

A very balmy 83F (28C) today. Its as if spring only lasted a week. What better way to enjoy the warm weather than some yummy guacamole.

After having Mexican food in the States, I don't think I can ever go back to Old El Paso ready-mix you buy in supermarkets in Sydney. There is such an abundance of Mexican restaurants in Manhattan ranging from dirt cheap but bloody good to gourmet and hideously expensive, you're bound to find one that you like. Our favourite by far has to be Mexicana Mama located at 525 Hudson Street in Greenwich Village, a tiny place with only six tables (we have a tendency to like restaurants in tiny spaces) that's moderately priced. With daily specials, amazing salsas and magaritas that will blow your socks off, we've taken everyone who comes to visit us in New York there.

I created this recipe from trial and error as I was craving guacamole a few weeks ago (yes, in the middle of winter). You may think that one avocado is not enough, but trust me, its plenty for two people.

A perfect snack on a warm day. Icy beer optional.

Guacamole
1 Serving

1 avocado pitted and smushed
Half diced tomato
¼ cup finely chopped cilantro (coriander)
1 minced garlic clove
1 thinly sliced green chilli
Half diced red onion
Half lime juice
Salt & pepper

Combine all the ingredients and serve with tortilla chips

Getting Around

The C train out to Brooklyn

We headed out to Brooklyn last night for dinner to a neighbourhood called Fort Greene, about a 20 minute subway ride from Manhattan. Despite the many complaints there are of how dirty and crappy the New York subway system is, I reckon its a pretty impressive ride considering its over 100 years old.

The trains are relatively clean and they run on a regular schedule - there are usually trains every 5 to 10 mins, and for a flat rate of $2 you can go anywhere in Manhattan, the Bronx, Queens and Brooklyn. I guess the only bad thing I can say about the system is that the subway stations can get pretty unbearable in the summer, where the humidity underground is stifling.

Navigating the subway is pretty straight forward. All train lines are colour coded so you just pick your destination and find the corresponding train line on the subway map and off you go.

After dinner and a few too many drinks, we decided to catch a cab home. The cost of living in New York may be expensive, but I find the taxi fares here a lot cheaper than in Sydney. A cab ride from mid-town to the West Village where we live costs about $8, whereas travelling the same distance in Sydney would cost closer to $25.

The cab driver was getting a little ansy with us taking flash photography at the back of his cab at 1 o'clock in the morning, understandable I suppose considering it probably doesn't help his driving. But this is a pretty cool picture John took of a map of Manhattan found in every cab.

More soon...


Map of New York inside a yellow cab

Spring in New York

New Yorkers enjoying their first weekend of warm weather at Pier 45 near Chelsea

It felt as if spring sprung out of nowhere this last week. After months of cold, lousy weather, we had almost one full week of heavy rain. After the rain finally ended, so did the cold temperatures.

Add to that my new camera arrived in the mail and you can understand why I am in good spirits. My new toy is so damn sexy I can't stop playing with it (that sounds kind of kinky but I'm sure you know what its like when you get a new gadget, nothing else matters).

The only problem, as with all newer models of cameras of course, is that this one has more functions and buttons than I need. Nevertheless because its my gadget of the moment, I plan to read the entire manual. Whether I remember it all is another matter.

As I mentioned in my earlier post, I plan to take more pictures when I'm out and about. There have been many great photo opportunites that I've missed, and I don't know how much longer we'll be in New York for. So there is no time to start my online photo journal like the present.

Saturday night we headed over to the East Village for a late bite to eat. Natori at St Marks Place (8th Street) between First and Second Avenue is a tiny Japanese restaurant we've been to a few times before. The decor isn't anything to write home about and there are only six tables, but its roomy enough for diners not to feel too cramped. I would imagine this picture would make any sushi connoisseur cringe, but John had a little accident with the rice and the soy sauce.


Ooops

We had a sandwich at home for lunch on Sunday before we went out for our usual stroll. We headed over to Chelsea and walked along the Hudson River. The area there is really nice as the piers are now part of the Hudson River Park Trust, so there are plenty of places to sit and people watch.

From there we headed over to Soho for some window shopping and more people watching. I had a feeling we'd be seeing someone famous, but alas that was not the case (my closest brush with fame was seeing Sarah Jessica Parker shooting a scene for Sex and the City, now that was cool!).

Soho has a great mix of quirky stores and trendy restaurants, which means it also tends to get a little touristy. It was quite busy around there today but its still worth walking around and taking it all in. The true sign that spring has finally arrived is that many of the restaurants have opened up their windows and doors for sidewalk tables, a perfect place to sit and to watch the world go by.


Funky cafe in Soho


Prince Street - one of the main drags in Soho

With early evening coming, we stopped off at Cafe Dante on MacDougal Street for some gelato before heading home to mentally prepare for yet another week of work.