Gotham Gal

Once

I admit it, I am a sucker for previews.  You can tell a lot about a movie in a few minutes.  Obviously they are edited incredibly well to pull you back to the theater for the whole film but it is a quick glimpse of what is to come.

I saw the preview for Once a few times.  It completely appealed to me.  Two people meet on the street, both musicians, they make beautiful music together.  They also become really good friends. Do they stay together? 

The movie is a bit like a long music video of indie musicians.  The two main characters, Glen Hansard of the Frames and Marketa Irglova actually made music together prior to the film. 

The movie was given an award at Sundance this past year.  The film is really all about the music.  The collaboration of musicians, the love for music.  The music people write and why.  It was well done.  A true indie film.  The entire budget was only $150K which is quite remarkable. 

A real slice of life film.  It is sticking with me especially the song Falling Slowly.  I am listening to it as I write.   

Quick Light Summer Meal

It has been frenetic the past couple of days.  People coming, people going.  Late meals.  Emily has actually been the point griller.  I just send her a text message when I am en route.  Tonight we tag teamed.  I made the veggies, she made the shrimp while I went out for a pick up. 

The meal was a big hit.  Simple and light.

One medium sized zucchini per person horizontally down the middle
2 Italian tomatoes per person cut in half (the long way)
1/2 lb of shrimp per person peeled and skewered.
French feta cheese

Douse everything with olive oil and kosher salt.  Grill it on the grill.  I did the veggies earlier on and just kept them covered with tin foil to stay warm.  Emily grilled up the shrimp.  I took the feta and crumbled it all over the veggies.  Served them both up.  A light simple Greek influenced summer meal.

Johnette Napolitano

I was sent the new disc just released of Johnette Napolitano. 

There are some original songs and the covers a few songs too.  Her voice is sultry, song and intense.  My guess is she puts on quite a concert.  She reminds me a bit of PJ Harvey.  Those intense girl songs with lots of bravado.  If you like PJ or Bjork or maybe even Patti Smith this a CD definitely worth picking up and listening to.  Not exactly my cup of tea.  But, the single The Scientist that Johnette covers from Coldplay is excellent.  Her voice, the pauses, very acoustic is really good.  I will absolutely download that one song and put it on a playlist for the summer.  That is the beauty of music today.  Has the music industry got that yet?

Based on what I have read about Johnette, she has a pretty serious fan base.  Not surprised.  Her niche is a pretty hard core audience.  Unfortunately, that would not be me. 

The last band performance...

I know school is winding down when the performances kick in.  Today was the last band performance of the year.  A rocking version of "You Shook Me All Night Long".  Pretty cute.  What is cuter is the third grade kids and how they are completely infatuated with the 5th grade boys.  Now that is cute.

Ribs

Memorial Day weekend is not only a kick off to that summer feeling but a kick off to summer food.  The menu changes and some of our family classics are just calling to be made. 

The girls made gazpacho which is an old favorite.  They added mussels, scallops, shrimp and calamari to the soup.  They took each seafood and steamed in white wine and lemon in a medium sized sauce pan.  It only takes a few minute for each to cook.  Then they put it in the refrigerator for about 15 minutes to cool and let the flavors soak in.  They shelled the mussels.  Put a mix of each in the bottom of our bowls and poured the gazpacho over it.  The perfect summer meal. 

They also made strawberry sorbet.  We made jams and sauces every summer so out came the blueberry sauce which they poured over the sorbet.  Delicious.  This morning they attempted to recreate Pinkberry frozen yogurt.   Big success.  The ice cream maker has come in handy every summer. 

Chocolate chip cookies were made too.  We also hit up the Clam Bar which is our favorite lunch place in the Hamptons. 

But our all time favorite is ribs.   The first summer after Jessica was born, we rented a small house in Mahopac.  I refer to this summer as the summer I learned to cook on the grill. I probably made the majority of recipes from The Thrill of the Grill.

Ribs are one of the few things I have probably perfected.  The key is the slow cook in the oven all day long.  I stick to the rub from Thrill of the Grill, give or take some ingredients based on what I have but here is the gist of what I do.

I keep this mixture around and just add to it when it is low. 

4T paprika
4T cumin
2T sugar
2T kosher salt
2T pepper
1 1/2T chili powder

Mix this together  and rub all over the ribs.  Put the ribs on a cookie sheet covered with tin foil and put in the oven at 180 degrees for 6 or more hours.  Make sure the ribs aren't stacked but have their own space.  I have done as many as 8 racks and as little as 3.  I have cooked them as long as 8 hours.  When the ribs are done, or you are ready, take them out. 

Then fire up the grill.  Put the ribs on the grill, at a medium heat, otherwise they burn.  Lather them with your favorite barbecue sauce.  I am partial to Bone Suckin' Sauce.  Let them get crispy on each side lathered with the sauce.  Only about 3-5 minutes per side.  Flip is maybe twice based on what they look like or how crispy you like them.

I use a scissors to cut the ribs as seen in the picture above.  Just easier.  Serve them up....a total no fail recipe.   

For us, you can't have a complete summer without a few racks of ribs now and then. 

Second careers

Women tend to have more careers than men.  It goes with the territory.  Women bear children men do not.  Nothing will change that.  Although there are men who are partners and sometimes one of them decides to stay home so although the times have changed, there is generally one person who bears the major responsibility of the children and home. Some women continue to work and raise children at the same time, others go for the part time gig, others just stay home and never go back to work again while others stay home and then come up with second careers or just return to their original career. 

I have gone through a variety of careers.  Some I have been paid for, others I have not.  I'd say the majority of my careers have been interesting opportunities that have worked for me at that time. 

I am intrigued with people who start second careers, or third careers.  The majority of entrepreneurs I know have many careers but at the heart of the manner they are entrepreneurs just with different ideas they are executing on at the moment. 

I have two friends who have done an incredible job at second careers.  I give them huge kudos.  Funny enough, they are married. 

They are two incredibly smart people who have solid street sense which to me, accounts for the most smarts.  She started a clothing store on the Upper East Side which was very successful and sold it once they moved their family to the burbs.  For years she stayed home and did the Mom thing but she always had a serious passion for the theater.  She got involved in creating a theater program, after school, in the middle school and the in the High School.  Eventually she produced her own play locally.  This past year, her play was picked up by Fringe Festival to bring to New York City.  That is a huge accomplishment.  She is loving what she does, more than anything she has probably ever done.  She was able to follow her heart on the second time around.

Her husband, one of my all time favorite people, owned a chain of stores with his family.  He worked like a dog.  He has always dabbled in real estate, successfully I might add.  So many of his stores were in the buildings that he owned.  He sold the stores, kept the real estate and retired.  He is a pacer.  I can't imagine him retired and neither could he.  He became a fireman.  Every young boys dream, right?  He loves it.  He loves the people, the camaraderie and the life style.  His first year, he won Firefighter of the Year in his district.  Gotta love it. 

When I think of a second career ( or for me maybe it is my 5th ), I think about my two friends.  They are loving what they do.  Balancing their lives.  To me, it is no surprise the success they have found in their second careers because they are driven people who always reach for the top no matter what they do.  I give them huge credit for figuring it out.  On some level they are always trying to figure it out because I just think that is human nature. 

Building in New York

I have been through a variety of renovations and one tear down.  Along the way, I have learned a lot about rules, regulations, code, fabrics (indoor and out), and the process. 

We are about to embark on another project.  I am really excited about it because not only do I really respect and enjoy the people we are working with, on all counts, I like starting things from scratch. 

One of the frustrating parts of building in New York is working with in some of the guidelines of the city, and the wait for documents.  I appreciate the process but it is at times annoying.  Although that is probably status quo anywhere, the butting against your neighbors walls is something that one only gets to truly experience in urban areas. 

Where we are building, we are butting against an old building that has not been occupied in over 15 years.  How many of you remember the Gulf Coast restaurant?  It was quite the happening restaurant during its time.  Since it is been vacant since then, the building has completely fallen apart.  Almost looks like the pictures we see from New Orleans.  Here is where frustration with the city begins to take place.

Take a look at the pictures.  You would think the city would condemn the building.  My concern is that when we begin building our building next door and drill huge pilings into the ground, the Gulf Coast collapses.  But, what if it collapses one evening when 4 kids are sitting underneath hanging out?  Or what if it collapses when day when somebody is walking their dog?  That is my concern.  It doesn't appear to be a concern of the city.  Why?  I have no idea.

Once the city condemns the building, if the owner does nothing about it in 30 days, the city takes it down.  Smart, right?  I wonder how many buildings they have actually condemned.

Although we have contacted the owners numerous amounts of times asking them what they would like us to do.  We'd be happy to take it down for them, they refuse to talk to us.  Nice.

So, we are going to spend what it takes to insure that this building does not fall down while we are pounding the pilings next door. 

Why is it the city is so great on so many levels of getting stuff down but the building department is notorious for being the worst to deal with.  To me, our calling this problem out is preventive medicine.  Eventually that building is going to fall down and I hope that somebody isn't injured or worse killed and we all get to read about it on the front page of the Post one morning.   Why is it that tragedy is sometimes the only thing that changes the status quo. 

Orthodonture

Growing up we all had braces.  The technology today is quite different.  Pulling out teeth is not a must and starting early is best because it helps the ortho shape your mouth as you grow.  With 3 kids, I have become a pseudo expert.

When we were kids, we'd go to the ortho office and there was a procedure.  First you would sit in the waiting room.  Then you would sit on the long bench in the back room and then you'd get to one of the chairs that were lined up in a row ( no privacy ) for the treatment.  There was a door at the end of the room that none of the clients went into.  My Mom used to say that is where they keep all the money.  Now that we have 1 kid almost done with the ortho and 2 kids still in it, I understand what she meant.  The cost is extraordinary.

Yesterday Josh has some new fangled equipment put in.  I couldn't help but take a picture. 

Share our Strength,, Taste of the Nation

Share Our Strength, a national organization, not only has a great mission which is working to end childhood hunger in America, they put on a fantastic event every year.  Amy Becker, who I know, was the co-chair of the New York event again this year and she really did a wonderful job of making it a pretty seamless event.

Fifty-five restaurants participate in the event.  Each have a table, generally their chef is there and they give out small tastings from their restaurant.  The event took place at Roseland Ballroom on West 52nd street vs. Metropolitan Pavilion (last year).  Last year all the food was on china with silverware and by the end of the evening the place looked like an over flowing dishwasher.  This year everyone used the same white plastic plates with silver plastic utensils.  Elegant for plastic. Each station had a large bin next to them for garbage.  It worked beautifully.

I took Josh and Jessica because Emily and Fred were out on a date night.  They did Sushi Yasuda and Spring Awakening, we did Share Our Strength.  I promised Emily we'd go again next year and she would come along.

The restaurants that participated were Abboccato, Aquavit, Artie's Deli, Asia De Cuba, August, Blaue Gans, Blue Hill, Blue Smoke, Borough Food & Drink, Les Halles, Buddakan, Butter, Capital Grille, China Grill, Craftsteak, Cru, Dani, Dawat, DB Bistro, District, 11 Madison, Falai, Felidia, Fleur de Sel, Grammercy Tavern, Hudson Cafeteria, Jean-Georges, Kobe Club, Landmarc, The Little Owl, Marseille, Mermaid Inn, The Modern, Molyvos, Morimoto, Oceana, Ono, Porter House, Pure Food and Wine, Rickshaw Dumpling Bar, Riingo, Sapa, Savoy, Stand, Stanton Social, Suba, Sushi Samba, Tabla, Tamarind, Tribeca Grill, Union Square Cafe, Vermont Buter & Cheese, Vong, Wallse and Wild Salmon.  A serious list of restaurants.

I kid you not, we almost tasted everything.  At one point, Josh looked at me and said we must go home because I am going to puke.  You really must pace ourself at these events.  Jessica and Josh described each dish in detail to Emily this morning which was quite impressive.  I can't remember what today is so I am just giving the highlights.

Stanton Social (one of my favorite places) served a whipped potato goat cheese empanada.  Delicious.  Budakkan took an eggroll covering but very thin and made a long thin tube  with 1/4 inch opening and about 3 inches long.  Stuffed that with chopped raw tuna and jalapenos.  It was fantastic.  There are very few sweets at this event.  I'd say about 85% savory and 15% sweets.  Wallse was the most creative.  They served a chocolate lollipop.  A small beignet filled with chocolate cream and then dipped in a white chocolate.  Just pop it in your mouth off the stick.  The chocolate oozes down your throat.  This is the one place where we went back for more.

The other highlight was meeting Anita Lo.  She was at her Rickshaw Dumpling Stand handing out dumplings.  Jessica recognized her immediately.  "Are you Anita Lo"?  "Omigod, you beat Mario on Iron Chef and nobody does that". The people behind her counter clapped.  Jessica and Josh couldn't have been more excited.

Great event.  By the look of the crowd, they raised a lot of money for hunger and a whole new crop of patrons for the participating restaurants.

 

Keiko New York

Years ago my sister in law clued me in on Keiko.  I have been a loyal patron every since. 

Keiko, who used to be on Greene Street has moved, after 11 years into a new space at 123 West 23rd between 6/7th.  Keiko is the queen of swim wear. 

Buying bathing suits was never fun, at least for me.  Nothing fits exactly like I wanted to.  Keiko has changed all that.  She makes bathing suits for you.  She has a variety of suits from bikinis to one pieces but you can choose your color, choose your design and she measures you proportions and makes the suit for you.

For instance, I loved one suit but didn't want a halter.  No problem, she made me a different back. I wanted the leg cut to be a little lower, no problem, done.  I liked the suit with 3 different colors, can I pick different ones?  Sure. All different cup sizes too. 

Granted, her suits are not cheap but these days they aren't so far off the price of an upscale bathing suit.  It takes her a few weeks to make them.  Depending on your body, she might have one perfect for you in stock.

Prices range from about $130-$250 depending on the suit.  I have had some of her suits for years and they still look great.  This is not a one summer toss away. 

Small niche business but a find.