Haiku Friday

Talking about prom
today at work. Guess it's that
time of year again.

Up-dos, long dresses,
lots of make up and limos.
Oh! And corsages.

My prom was fifteen
years ago. How old am I?
Thirty-two years old.

Brunch Menu

Babe and I hosted brunch last Sunday and here's the menu!
***
Ruthie's Sausage Breakfast Casserole

• 1 lb of Italian pork sausage, (then cooked, drained, crumbled) ** I use spicy.
  
• 4 1/2 cups cubed day old bread** I get the rolls from the grocery store that come in the bins. You can use any kind of bread.
  
• 2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese
• 10 eggs slightly beaten
• 2 cups milk** I use skim
• 1 jalapeno seeded and chopped
• 1/2 onion chopped
• 1/2 green bell pepper, chopped**I added this, Ruthie doesn't use it.
  
• 1 tsp salt & pepper to taste
  

Heat a skillet on medium high. Break up the sausage into chunks and cook, working in batches if need be, until browned all around.
Place bread in a greased 9x13 inch baking pan. Sprinkle with cheese, sausage and peppers. Combine the eggs, milk, salt and pepper.
Cover and chill overnight.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Bake covered for about twenty minutes, then take foil off and bake for another 20 minutes.
Eat with salsa.
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Ruben's Salsa
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Fruit salad
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Green salad with this awesome dressing:

• 1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and coarsely
• chopped
• 1/4 red onion
• 1/4 cup lime juice
• 1/3 cup honey
• 2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt, or to taste
• 1/4 cup packed cilantro leaves1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil

Put all the ingredients in the blender and mix it up! You will not be disappointing.
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Kim's Homemade Scones
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Mimosas, screwdrivers & seltzer
***
YUM!

Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday to frequent blog commenter, Nancygurl! Hope you have a beautiful day!!

Brooklyn Army Terminal

None of these are my pictures. I think all of them belong to my coworker Bethany. These are photos of the Brooklyn Army Terminal which I mentioned on Monday. We visited on a field trip on Friday. It's one of the most massive structures I've ever been in and should be the site of many scary movies. Check out the history here.

Numbers - a day late!

Since we last chatted, I:

1. Went on a work field trip to various points of interest in Brooklyn. We ended at the Brooklyn Army Terminal which is a giant structure out in Sunset Park - almost 100 acres! Wow. When Elvis shipped out for the war, that's where he left from. By the way, 54,000 people worked there at that time. That's a lot of people.
   
2. Took Babe out for happy hour at the Speakeasy, right by my house. $3.00 drafts. Only the best for my chachi.
3. Went to yoga, per uzh, on fifth and Sackett.
   
4. Went out for a pal's b-day. Checked out Royale on Avenue C & 10th. The burger was delicious. Oh, you know what it was called. A royale with cheese.
   
5. Had pals over for brunch on Sunday, 6 of us and a baby. That was lovely.
6. Watched two or three Yankee games. Man, do I ever love the Yankees.
   

Numbers - coming later!

I'm doing a project where I'm going through old pictures. I do this about once every four years, maybe 6. Okay, it's been eight. So as I find gems, I'll scan them and post them. The above are my uncles and my Grama is in the bottom. You can see from the dates, the top one is from May 1962 and the bottom one is from January 1965.

There's me and my sister, Ang. Heh. She's so cute.

One of my all-time favorite pics. Me and my Ma aboard some vessel to go to the Catalina islands. My Ma would like to title this one "My baby is having a baby." That's me. Her baby.

Haiku Friday

Babe and I went to
went to our first birthing class
last night, in park slope.

It was pretty good.
Lots of listening and some
talking to people.

Then we watched a film.
That shit was fucking graphic.
Excuse my french, please.

NY Mag

You guys know my love hate relationship with NY Magazine, and that I gave them up because they're so stupid. (You know, like when they called my neighborhood "Greater Williamsburg." Well, I tried to just not renew. Then I started getting all these letters in the mail and I thought for sure they were just trying to get me back. Then they started saying I owed them money, but I wasn't sure if that was true. But there were so many letters! So many! I finally decided I must owe them money, so I paid the $20.00 they were asking for.

Which turned out to be a renewal. Sigh. So, now I get NY Magazine again. Anyways, it's not all bad. Like this week, I learned about these rad pictures (like the one pictured here) that are actually of NYC, but lok like they are made of models. It's because of the camera that the photographer, Olivo Barbieri , uses. Enjoy!

Baseball

I've been to 9 baseball parks (in order of my attendance):

1. Chavez Ravine (Dodger)
   
2. PacBell Park (Giants)
   
3. The Coliseum (Oakland As)
   
4. Qualcom (Padres)
5. Shea (Mets
6. Yankees (Yankees)
7. Coors Field (Rockies)
   
8. Citizens Bank Park (Phillies)
9. Miller's Park (Brewers)

And that is all.

How about you?

Birthdays!

Happy birthday to my niecey poo Katherine today!!!
***
Happy birthday to Solana, too! I can't wait to plan your boda. Ha!

Nudie

I feel like a nudie today because I left my phone at home. What am I supposed to do without it?! What happens if I need to update my facebook status on the fly? What if I have to take a photo of something funny or obscure while I am out and about?

How can I text?

What if you need to call me?!

What about my email when I am at the doctor's this afternoon? What if someone emails me?!

It's like the late 90s all over again.

Numbers

Since we last chatted, I:

1. Went to the happy hour at the 8th Street Wine Bar with my work peeps on Friday night to celebrate our strategic plan. I of course didn't drink any wine, but this place was great! The people who worked there were so nice and the wine was a serious deal - $18 bottles - and the food was delicious! Thumbs up! It's sort of brilliant to go out and not drink. I have to tell you. For one thing, I had no hangover on Saturday, and for another, I remember everything. And when it is an office party, let me tell you, that can be a powerful tool!
   
2. Ordered takeout from our old standby Zaytoon's, which is one of the best food options in our neighborhood. Definitely the best for delivery.
3. Went to yoga on 5th and Sackett.
4. Went to a brunch spot at 999 Manhattan Avenue in Greenpoint. Papacito's was delicious! Not like California Mex, of course, but nonetheless totally delicious.
5. Watched the Yankees destroy the Rangers for the third game in a row. Hung out at a nice bar called Shayz Lounge for the afternoon. Go on Greenpoint! I can see why you were ranked fifth!
6. And, I just learned that it is the fiftieth anniversary of Doc Martens! Thanks, Ma! It's a shoe that meant everything to me when I was a youth. Happy Birthday, Doctor M.!
   

Haiku Friday

Me gusta baseball.
I think Jay-Z is suing
Big Papi because

Big Papi is a
Boston Red Sox. And you know
Jay-Z made Yankees

caps more famous than
a Yankee can, right? And that's
pretty darn famous.

Thursday

Dudes! I've had so many meetings today I didn't even get a chance to talk with you all at all.

Boo.
***
It's certainly a beautiful day here in New York City. The sun is shining, it's not too hot. I'd love to be sitting in the park drinking a tall glass of lemonade.
***
I am 31 weeks pregnant today and that means I have 9 weeks to go. 9 times 7 is 63. That's how many days (give or take) until my little buddy comes into the world.
***
I think most people who care about LOST are already on my email distribution list, but if not, here are this week's LOST links:

Watch with Kristin

Doc Jensen

THINGS I NOTICED - Everybody Loves Hugo

DJ Eleven

Ever since Tootsie came here about 6 years ago, I've been on DJ Eleven's list serve. He makes such good mixes - I love them! He always puts in his emails new mixes, too. Right now, I'm listening to this one: The Dude. Check it out! It's full of clips from one of the all-time best movies, ever, The Big Lebowski.

PSA: Census & A plug & Random news

Only 4 more days to fill out your census form! If you haven't received a form, click here to find out where to get one.
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Check out the NY Magazine top neighborhood rankings. They used data from my work and from that report I work on every year that we just released two weeks ago.
***
And this is totally nuts. Hate Man has been around Berkeley forever. He was an institution when I got there in 1995 and presumably still is. Well, get a load of this! Hate Man is actually a NY Times writer from the 70s! How about that, dudes?! He's definitely a crazy person. He used to lean on your for a cigarette. Like literally stand there and lean on you.
***

Numbers!

Since we last chatted, I:

1. Tried the burger for the first time at the Stoned Crow. I've been to the Stoned Crow a truckload of times, but never had the burger. Rumor has it one of the chef's from Corner Bistro works there. I'd say the burger was good, but not Corner Bistro good. But, there were no mice running around the floor so that makes it better than Corner Bistro in my book.
2. Went to a game night at a pal's house and played 80s trivial pursuit which is hard.
   
3. Made a batch of cookies for that game night - about four dozen I guess.
4. Went to a pal's baby's christening up in the 80s on Park Ave. and then to the lunch that followed. Fourteen babies were christened - how about that? Little buddies.
5. Did some laundry, per usual, and went to yoga on 5th and Sackett, per uzh.
   
6. Didn't watch a movie this weekend, but I watched three episodes of the Vampire Diaries. Kind of a good show, peeps.
   

Haiku Friday

Visited Wogies
last night for our annie din.
Patrons there for years.

Waiter almost fell
When I ordered a seltzer.
Then saw the belly.

Punched Babe's shoulder and
congratulated us. Cute
for our fourteenth year.

Anniversary

Babe and I have been together fourteen years today! We think that's the longest of anyone we know, besides our parents. Here are some photos that I think are hilarious. I'm sitting on Babe's lap in this one, in case you thought when we got together I was taller than him. Dig my overalls? They were Jojo's. I think one of us wore them just about every day.

I don't know how much my mom will like this one. This was a party at Jeff L.'s dorm. I couldn't do shots then, either. You can see the overalls a bit better, but you can't see the necklace as well.

I don't love this picture, but I thought it was nice that we weren't doing shots. Of course, I'm sure that's beer in those cups. This is the basement of Babe's frat. These were all taken in the spring of 1996.

Love you big guy!

Misc. Items

• Found the girl scout cookie table at NYU yesterday. Got a box of Samoas for $3.50. I declare that a steal! A steal I say. They have all kinds of new cookies, too. Como: "Thank you berry munch." I thought the Dulce De Leche were new, but maybe not? I've definitely never had one. I may have to go back today and get some to try. It's for a good cause, right?
  
• I can't believe the size of the earthquake that had in the great state of California. My peeps said it shook for 45 seconds. That is a long time, you guys. The last big earthquake I was in was 6.4 - the Northridge earthquake and that was also a really big one. This one, apparently, has left behind less damage than that one. Still, scary! Peeps got under the table. You know it's a big earthquake if Californians duck and cover. Most of the time, you just continue doing what you're doing during a quake.
  
• Baseball series started again and I couldn't be gladder. Ha! Gladder. I've got three games in the queue so far before the bambino gets here - one Mets game with work, and two Yanks games, including for the first time ever, Yankees vs Red Sox. Holy smokes! I can't wait. I got a pregnant lady Yankees shirt to wear.
• LOST was really a trip last night. We'll discuss later, after I send out the links. Really a trip.
• Reading a new teenage vampire series. Actually an old one from 1991. I'll tell you more about it as I read more.
  

Menu

Dude, Easter Feaster 2010 was a success!

Here's what we ate:

Appetizers

Sun’s Asparagus Recipe

2 cheeses

Deviled eggs

Carrots & celery to dip into roasted red pepper dip

Bread (Amy)

Olives (Amy)

Main

Honey ham

Roasted Chicken

Sides

Honey glazed baby carrots

Spinach salad (Rachel)

Penny’s pasta salad

Dessert

Carrot cupcakes

BON’s Apple Crisp

***
You can click the link to get the carrot recipe.

The roasted red pepper dip was this:

• Two cans of garbanzo beans, drained
• 8 oz of roasted red peppers, drained
• chopped flat leaf parsley
• lemon juice
• oil oil
• salt and pepper

Put everything in the blender and blend it. Delicious!

***
The asparagus was this recipe and it was a total success. I recommend.

• 2 lbs asparagus, medium to thick stems (not too thin)
• olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt, to taste
• 1/4 teaspoon fresh ground pepper, to taste
• 2 teaspoons butter (not margarine)
• 2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil
• 4-6 cloves garlic, peeled and sliced lengthwise into 3 pieces (amount of garlic to taste)
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce or Braggs liquid aminos
• 2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar

Oven to 400.
Snap the ends off the asparagus, lay them flat on the baking sheet. Drizzle with Olive Oil, salt and pepper. Bake for 8 minutes.
Meanwhile, heat up garlic, butter and oil in a pan. Let cook for five minute, don't let it burn!
Take that off heat, whisk in soy and balsamic.
Put asparagus into a new dish, coat with sauce, and toss in the fridge.

Eat.

You'd be surprised at how delicious this was!!
***

Numbers!

Since we last chatted, I:

1. Along with Babe, had 9 people over for Easter Feaster 2010. I'll share the menu later in the week because I tried some new dishes and you guys will love them!
2. Watched one teenager movie, per my weekly requirement. This time it was New Moon. So good. I read the books a lot, as you well know, and these movies are so much better than those books. Why? Because Stephanie Meyer can't write. And? Because the boys in these movies are just hotties.
3. Went out to a bar - twice! Friday night to the speakeasy above Five Guys on 7th Avenue South and Bleecker. Hung out with peeps after work. That was very fun. Saturday, walked around Boerum Hill with Babe and we went to that one bar on Court right by the Trader Joe's that we've been to before. Watched NCAA basketball.
4. Went to yoga, as usual, on fifth and Sackett.
5. Cleaned about 150 carrots.
6. Ate at least two carrot cupcakes.
7. Had a wonderful weekend, and a good time hosting our fourth Easter Feaster in NYC.
   

Happy Easter!

On Cumberland St., in Fort Greene, Brooklyn.

Haiku Friday

Polar opposites,
couldn't be more different.
This week from the last.

The sun is shining,
I am totally rested
and work doesn't suck.

Sad stuff still abounds.
But coping is easier
when I am rested.

Dude, fo reals?

NY1 this morning had a story about watchdog organizations that want Ronald McDonald to retire because he is fueling childhood obesity.

Oh, really?

Who's buying this food for their tiny children? Does Ronald McDonald come to your house with bags of fries and cheeseburgers, push the healthy meal some hapless parent has prepared off the table and force a child to eat a freaking big mac?

How freaking annoying is that, you guys? If you don't want your kids to eat McDonald's then don't buy it for them. Who's in charge here?

Honestly, a happy meal is not going to hurt your kid. When I was a kid, we had McDonald's like maybe once a month? I don't really know but it was when we had to go to the doctor or something, then my mom would take me through the drive through and we would get something. It was a treat. It wasn't a substitute for a home cooked meal.

I'm just saying, I don't think that freakish clown is the problem.