Dramarama

Last Saturday we had plans to go to the Lincoln Center near Central Park to watch a jazz performance. As the show didn’t start until 9.30pm, we stopped off at Fanelli Café in Soho for a burger and some beers. The burgers there are delicious, and they have been voted amongst the best burgers in New York. A thick juicy beef patty with the best hamburger bun I’ve ever had. Instead of the usual sesame seeds sprinkled on top of the bun, it’s got flecks of fried onions. The fries however are another story - a soggy, greasy pile of limp fries which barely fit the term "fried", but I reckon the burger more than makes up for it.

After the burgers, we caught the subway up to Central Park.

I had finally decided that I should bring my digital camera with me whenever I was out, since I’ve missed out on so many opportunities to take some great pictures around the city. So what happens the evening I decide to do that? Disaster!!

Even though it was only 8.30 on a Saturday night, the trains were remarkably empty. I thought to myself, “A-ha! Perfect photo opp!”. Unfortunately as I whisked the camera out of my bag, the train suddenly swayed and, grabbing the closest thing I could to support myself, I bang my hand (or rather my camera) against a nearby pole.

The camera hasn’t been the same since.

I can turn it on, I can change the settings, I can view the pictures taken before the accident. But I can’t take a damn picture with it anymore. I’ve been tossing up whether I should get it fixed, but since I bought it over two years ago for under 200 bucks I guess it would probably be cheaper to just buy a new one.

I had planned to take some pictures on Sunday as well, as I was going to make lamb chops for dinner. I guess bad things happens in pairs, because after our usual Sunday stroll, I headed to the supermarket to buy my ingredients and what do you know, all the stores had closed early because it was Easter Sunday! Since Easter wasn’t a public holiday here, I wasn’t expecting them to close early.

We decided to have a belated Easter Sunday dinner so tonight I’m making grilled lamb chops with rosemary & thyme. Spuds are roasting in the oven and lamb is marinating in the fridge. Unfortunately there will be no pictures of this fabulous meal, but I’ll be looking around this weekend for a replacement camera.

Happy Easter!

Didn't realise it was Easter. I haven't seen any decorations or Easter eggs around the city. Worse still, Easter Friday is a work day for me. Them's the breaks.

I suppose its not P.C to be celebrate Easter in the US. They don't call Christmas trees Christmas trees here, they're called community trees!!

Happy Easter anyway! :)

Back to Reality - Part 2

Sunset sail on the Appledore Schooner

We decided to stay at The Mermaid & The Alligator again as we had such a nice stay last year. We booked the same room as before - a lovely room called the Key Lime complete with our own porch.

Living in a tiny apartment has made me appreciate open spaces a lot more now, so it was nice to just sit on the porch with a book in the afternoon after a day at the beach.


Largo - permanent guest at the Mermaid & The Alligator

We tried a few new restaurants on this visit. As we had a 6am flight down to Key West, we were too tired on our first night there to venture far, so we went to a tiny Cuban restaurant for a quick bite of pulled pork and Cuban steaks before collapsing into bed by 10pm.

Day two saw us heading for the beach and exposing our pale pasty skin for some much needed sun. We stopped off at 5 Brothers Grocery, a family run corner shop to pick up some Cuban sandwiches for lunch at the beach. Roast pork, ham, Swiss cheese, pickles and a dollop of mustard and mayonnaise squished into two thick slices of Cuban bread. Just what you need after a swim in the crystal blue waters of the Gulf of Mexico.

Dinner was at 7 Fish, a funky little seafood restaurant which we've been to before. My appetiser of grouper with avocado sushi was delicious, as were John's fish cakes. Main courses were scallops, succulent with peas and mash; and curried grouper over rice. The food was so good there that we, or rather I, had to have dessert - yummy cheesecake with raspberries. We thought our first meal there last year was nicer, maybe because the element of surprise was gone. But still, overall it was a great meal.

After a morning swim on day three, we cycled to B.O's Fish Wagon, a shack (literally) with outdoor seating near the touristy Mallory Square. Their fish sandwiches have been voted the best in Key West and it's easy to understand why. Tender pieces of grilled or fried mahi mahi, lettuce, tomato on Cuban bread with their home-made Key Lime sauce. John had the grilled (his attempt at being healthy!) and I had the fried. The fish was melt-in-the-mouth tender, I'm drooling just thinking about it.

On our third night we went to Pisces, formerly Cafe des Artistes, where I have to say I had by far the most expensive dinner I've had in a while (even by New York prices). I had ordered their signature dish at the suggestion of our hosts at the the B&B; a luxurious lobster dish with mangoes and a Cognac and butter sauce. It was divine, but whoa did I get a surprise when the bill came. Let's just say next time I'll be a little more wary when the menu says "Market Price". :) We both agreed that John's entree, which was just as delicious, was far better value. A lightly floured filet of snapper served with sauteed vegetables and a butter reduction sauce.

Our last day in Key West was a day at the beach of course, lunch a simple sandwich. We then cycled to the wharf and hopped aboard the Appledore Schooner for a romantic sunset sail around the bay.



We decided to go for something light on our last night in Key West. So we headed to Origami, a sushi spot popular with the locals. Fresh salmon, hamachi, mackerel and eel - the freshest fish I've had in a long time all washed down with an icy cold beer. A perfect end to a near perfect trip.

It was when we were having this last meal in Key West that I realised that I hadn't taken any pictures of the food that we had. No bother, we will just have to do that on our next visit.

We stopped by 5 Brothers again on the morning of our flight to buy two more Cuban sandwiches. Even if the airline did serve a meal on the flight (which they didn't), nothing beats taking a piece of paradise home with you, even if it's in your belly!

Back to Reality - Part 1

Ah...the joys of post-holiday depression. I'm sure everyone goes through the same motions when they return from a holiday, especially from somewhere warm.

Flew into New York last night from Key West and back at work today. I can't help but stare out the window and think back to the long lazy days on the beach, the booze, the sunburn, the seafood ~ bliss! Even though it was only yesterday, it already feels like it was weeks ago.

The digital camera made it on the trip, but we only managed to take a few shots, none food related would you believe. I only realised this on the last evening when we were merrily chomping away on the freshest sushi I've had in months. Guess that's what sunburn does to my brain cells.

More to come...

Work & Play

Absolutely knackered from a hectic week at work, I am so glad its Friday tomorrow. Not just because it’s Friday, but because I’ve begun counting down the days until we go on holiday next week. We haven’t taken time off for a few months now, add that with the cold weather and anybody would be frantic with anticipation. Fingers crossed the weather will be good.

Made the Italian wedding soup again last night for dinner. It turned out ok, though I think I may have used a little too much parsley in the meatballs – I didn’t bother measuring the ¼ cup and in retrospect it was more like ½ a cup!! It really did take 20 minutes to prepare which was great, especially after coming home late from work. Though I have to admit I did have some help this time around.

Actually to be honest John did most of the cooking and I didn’t mind one bit. After all, he has to practice the skills he learnt from the cooking course we went to last week.

Cooking course??

Yes, a cooking course!

I thought it would be great to do a “couples bonding” kind of thing since we have both been so busy with work lately, so a few weeks ago I signed us up for a cooking course at the Institute of Culinary Education. They have a great Recreational Division that offers a variety of courses ranging from knife skills to lobster workshops. John had no idea about this of course *grin*, so last Friday I took/dragged him to a course called Easy Entertaining for Couples. Sounds kind of kitschy and I suppose in a way it was – 6 couples all in their 20’s and 30’s learning how to cook on a Friday night!

We made:
Crostini with Ragout of Oyster Mushrooms and Black Forest Ham
Mesclun & Arugula Salad with Frizzled Shallots and Sunflower Seeds in Raspberry Vinaigrette
Porc Mignon Roasted with Sweet-Hot Caramelized Shallot Glaze
Spaghetti Squash Carbonara with Smoky Bacon and Onions
Banana-Chocolate Chip Croissant Bread Pudding with Godiva Chocolate Liqueur

In a nutshell it was a good night, we prepared the food and milled about with a few glasses of wine, then sat down and enjoyed the fruits of our labour. The class was for four hours which seems long but wasn’t as long as I thought it would be, given that there was wine involved. My favourite dishes were the crostini and salad which I would make again. The frizzled shallots were fun to make and delicious. You can find more details about the course from the Institute’s website.

Unfortunately the photos I took didn’t turn out as well as I hoped they would so I’ll just post one for now.