We got new stuff

This is the present that Mr. got for "us"! Is it too big? No, our apartment is too small.
We also got a much needed new desk and bookshelf. We were hoping that it would come before my parents visit- but it arrived the day after...
Sparks does not like to have his photo taken. He hears the camera go on and then breaks whatever inspiringly adorable pose he was in. This is a sneak attack- he is so cute on the couch. I know it is bad behavior to sit on the furniture, but he is six now and whatever.

Backing up...

Christmas was wonderful! My parents arrived on the 21st and I hadn't had a single break from writing papers, shopping, decorating and teaching...it was a sprint to the finish. The first full day, we all went downtown, because I had a particular gift I had to get at a coffee shop near NYU. We also walked up to Union Square for shopping and then onto Columbus Circle- that was very tiring and we ordered our favorite take-out: Saigon Grill. On Saturday, we still needed to finish up Christmas gift purchases and went back to Columbus Circle. Then we visited Mom and Dad's favorite diner and the Natural History Museum. It was very interesting, but after African Mammals and Marine Life, we had had it. The following day, I needed to work on Christmas dinner, so i parenti went all by themselves to Macy's and looked at the windows. That night we went to the Methodist church for a midnight candlelight service. It was beautiful and cozy.
The nice thing about this visit was that we went to see some parts of NYC that I had not been to and was longing to see: the Southstreet Seaport and Wall Street. We have been learning a lot about the history of New York via a Ric Burns documentary- so it was interesting to see Federal Hall and Trinity Church. We also went to the Drowsy Chaperone, which was great- cute story, good dancing/singing. Mom and Dad have seen more Broadway shows than I have and they thought it was one of the best. The last day we had brunch at Sarabeth's, a family tradition and then went to midtown. We walked in the rain with the crowds around the Rockefeller Christmas Tree and into Saks Fifth Ave- we also ended up walking ten blocks to Lord and Taylor. But Mom said that they were the prettiest windows and she found a pair of shoes she had been obsessing about. They left yesterday morning after a huge breakfast at our neighborhood diner. I think they are worn out by us, but we had so much fun. If it had been a bad trip I wouldn't so sad to see them go home.

I made Christmas Dinner

and no one got sick.

The Menu:
Turkey (which was free range from the Greenmarket and brined),
Apple-sage-sausage stuffing that Mr. made (totally incredible),
Potatoe Gratin
Carrot Vichy, Greenbeans, Cranberry sauce
(all the above were cooking improvisations)

Thank goodness our neighbor lent us her table and chairs. I also loved being able to cook for someone other than Mr. and using all our beautiful serving pieces from our wedding china! I made a homemade chicken soup on Christmas eve day, a few breakfasts and we had dessert and coffee almost every evening....
Isn't my dad cute!?!
Mr. got us a gigantic plasma screen TV and I got him lots of socks and underwear.
He also got me a big mama Kitchen-aid stand mixer!!! I have always wanted one, but we don't really have any counterspace for it. We still don't but who cares? It is awesome!

Mom and Dad hit the town

I told them that this would be a relatively relaxed trip- that they had seen quite a few things that are only necessary once (Empire State Building) in previous trips. It was nice to not feel the pressure to rush out of the house and not come back for 10 hours. They do take the Staten Island Ferry every time they visit- it is my dad's favorite thing. We stayed in our neighborhood a lot and ordered pizza delivery.
Ignore the fact that Mom's eyes are closed- this is a great photo.
Mr. getting all artistic on us.
Mom and Dad had to take photos of the traveling duck...at the Brooklyn Bridge...
On the Staten Island Ferry..

Phew

So I jut sent off my last paper! Hooray! My parents are en route, the tree is up and I can now concentrate fully on crafts and cooking....here is our wee little tree of peace and love. Many more entries to come, which will recap the last month.

Fall foliage

So in the spring I went crazy taking pics of every flower I saw. But during the summer and spring, I was too busy and not entirely inspired by the plants. But autumn has truly arrived and it has been really lovely. Despite the weather see-sawing between warm/balmy and biting chill, fall has been lovely. Here are some pics of Thanksgiving morning in Central Park.

The reservoir

Fall is finally here

This is the view out of our windows...you can see the "playground" of the school across the way. They have no equipment, just the tennis court which has no net and I think some basketball hoops. No wonder they just chase each other and scream their little heads off.
Here is the other view I always have...Mr. and Sparks' butt as they are walking in front of me.

How it turned out

School is still going well and I am busy, but now I have a little handle on it all. The class in the Bronx is really interesting- a little challenging. Mr. has grown a beard.

Here is how the garden turned out. The marigolds were sucky and the evergreen balls mysteriously died. Now we have the entire planter to deal with. The lower planter is really kind of pathetic and never grows well. Next year I am going to put in something like ivy for ground cover and begonias- cause they are the only thing that works...

Ooo, my cute baby!!! He is doing what he does best. Stealing socks for attention and then sitting on the bed to be petted.

Applesauce

So, no, I don't have a lot of free time. But this is really easy! And honestly, I usually don't care about applesauce. BUT, homemade applesauce is sooo good. You can only know how good it is after you make it and taste it.

So get a bag of local apples. Cut them and core them. I don't skin them....
Sprinkle with cinnamon, ginger, and sugar. Pour about a cup of water in the bottom. Roast for an hour at 375...
Then I use my handblender and mush them to desired amount of smoothness......yumyumyum....

So I was listening to this really cool podcast...

So I haven't posted for about a month, as I expected. Tomorrow is my first day to teach a class of kids...in the Bronx. It is a voice class and I should be fine and this is an arts high school, so supposedly some of the kids actually care about art. But, I am awake and a little nervous- but there doesn't seem to be that much I can do about it. I also have a conducting midterm test tomorrow and a class presentation on Tuesday. So there is not a lot of time to sit around and freak out about a class of kids. By the way, I think to be PC, I should refer to them as students or young people. I mean, honestly, they are all going to be way taller then me- calling them kids seems dumb.
But about the title of this post! I do love podcasts! Like LOVE with caps...primarily cause they are free. I actually attribute my new love of learning to them. I realized I could listen to class lectures from UCBerkley and MIT and newsshows from NPR and APM all while walking the dog. I also checked out cds from the library called the learning series, or something and have been listening to world history, the operas of Mozart, and philosophy, all while walking the dog! I also love this new podcast about New York City history- the Bowery Boys. So here is how you do it. 1. Go to iTunes 2. Click on podcasts 3. there are tabs for iTunes U which is all colleges that post their classes or Education or type in a search. 4. click "get this" button and it ends up on your iTunes page and you can drag it to your pod. I have enjoyed the most- UCBerkley (their special events page is good) and MIT. I also listen to news, food, and environment on NPR and speeches on APM. But my two favorites are Radio Lab and This American Life.
So now when you hear, like Mr. does, the daily, hourly, momently comment "I heard this really interesting podcast..." you can check it out.

First year

Why is this a tradition? Here is the piece of wedding cake we saved. It has been in the freezer and made the trip to Catskills in the glove compartment- doesn't that sound sooo appetizing? But it was really tasty! We loved our caterer.

The cottage we stayed in was near these beautiful farmstands in the Schohairie Valley.
And we picked raspberries- yum, yum, yum. We had a raspberry bush in our yard when I was a kid and I feel really nostalgic when I eat them.

Cottage

This is the little cottage we stayed in over the weekend. There were hammocks, a creek, and an outdoor shower! Totally dreamy.
On Saturday morning everything was covered in mist. Sparks was in our faces at 6am, begging to go out and play.
It looks like the set of a fantasy movie...

Catskills

We visited a friend who has the most beautiful farmhouse. She has many fields, a huge garden and tater patch, and this pond. This is Frankie, her pup- she likes Sparks. He is really ambivalent about dogs, weirdo.
But he loves, LOVES to swim.
And he would drive too, if he were in London....

Birthday

So , Mr. has the double whammy of a birthday and anniversary in the same week. However, first anniversary is paper and he was a little freaked out about those rules. So this is what greeted me on my birthday.We didn't have dinner reservations till 9:30 and I had to wait all day.Worth the wait. A new classmate is turning 22 tomorrow and I guess it is better to be a decade older if you are getting Tiffany.

Bye bye summer

For the last weekend of summer, we went to the beach. In NY it is hard to find a beach that allows dogs. So we went to Jersey. The northern-most part of the Jersey Shore is Sandy Hook. It has an Atlantic side and bayside- dogs are only allowed on the bayside. Sandy Hook also has some similarities to Governor's Island. At the very tip the there is a lighthouse and military outposts. The Coast Guard still uses it- but it has a similar ghost town feel to it. Empty buildings, morter batteries and a line of matching officers houses.

We had fun swimming with Sparks. But, he gets sooo excited and so restless, it isn't very relaxing.

School started yesterday and it was very exciting- all the classes I think will be challenging and interesting. It is strange to be in school again and I actually feel really out of it. My classmates seem to come from all over, some are musicians and some are young and have come straight from undergrad. The classes are very discussion based and it forces people to rather social. There is already a bit of reading and I still have two more classes today to start. I am not sure if I will have any time to blog or any time to do fun things to blog about. So I am off to read my assignments....

Market bags

Okay, I guess I am obsessed with bags...I have never been obsessed before. I usually function like this- get a bag (or a pair of jeans, or shoes, etc) I like and use it until it just falls apart. I have literally had to throw sneakers into a dumpster to tear myself away from the ragged things. So I have one purse and suddenly about 7 shopping bags! T. has sewn me half and I have knitted the other half. I have also made a number of them for friends and family. It is a very easy pattern- but I love to do it. In a small way, I feel like I really am spreading my personal battle against plastic bags, plus they are pretty.

T. sewed these veggie bags for me and I LOVE them!! They are for items that need their own bag, like beans and peaches. The work wonderfully and people think they are so cute- which they are.
This bag is for my mom.
I know you have been wondering why there haven't been more pics of Sparks lately. So here you are. He has no good reason for his absence- no big project he is working on...By the way, this isn't our couch. Ours is being repaired and this is the loaner they sent us. I feel like we may never see our little beige couch again. In revenge- we are allowing Sparks to sit on the mismatched thing and get his hairs all over it.

Booties

This is the Bootie of the Week gift for a friend of mine who is preggers with her first baby.

Governor's Island

Governor's Island is a small island off the tip of lower Manhattan. Beginning in the 18th century, while the British were in charge, the island has served a military purpose. It has a fort and "castle"- which was primarily used as a prison. It also has many houses for officers and large buildings that resemble dormitories. The Coast Guard returned the island to the city of NY in 1996. It is open to the public for 3 months in the summer. At this point, the development proposals look stalled and the island is rather ghostly. The ferry takes about 5 minutes and you are free to walk and bike about half the island. There are spectacular views of Brooklyn, Brooklyn Bridge, Downtown, Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty. But, the most interesting thing to me was the feeling that over and over time stopped. The castle looked medieval sitting right next to deserted 1960's concrete dorms. The fort is like walking into a Civil war museum and there are rows of Victorian houses for the officers. We just walked around and peeked into windows, to see empty rooms and debris. It felt like the set of a movie, in a small town that had all the residents sucked out of for some mysterious reason.


One of the amusing things were the Civil War reenactors. Here they are shooting their guns in front of the fort, with Manhattan in the background.
Through a window at the prison.
The library, through another window.

Food

Here is another fantastic greenmarket recipe: Peach Salsa. A couple of peaches, a couple of heirloom tomatoes, red onions, half a jalapeno, cilantro, salt and pepper. Chop it all up good and eat with chips!


Another summer challenge has been to try to shop at the greenmarket as much as possible. We have read the book "The Omnivore's Dilemma" by Michael Pollen and took quite a bit of it to heart. Just the idea that the food I eat was harvested in another country and then shipped thousands of miles seems so crazy. Not to mention if it was processed. The other thing we found particularly disturbing is industrialized meat- the sheer number of animals, the way they live and die, the chemicals that they use to keep them "healthy"...so we have been getting meat from the farmers market too. Besides if, in my heart of hearts, I want to support the small/family farms then buying directly from them is the easiest way.

Actually all this commentary obscures the fact that I love the farmers market, everything is beautiful and fresh! I bought a silly amount of blueberries, but I stuck them in the freezer and Sparks and I eat them like M&Ms. Then the other night I got the wild hair that I would mash them up with my hand blender, add a dash of agave and some milk- and I had quick gelato!
I have been trying the same thing with other fruit- peaches, cantaloupe? Not as good as the blueberries- besides that blueberries are really, really good for you.
Since the season has progressed and one can get so much variety at the market- I can make dinner that is 75%-99% market food. All the fruit and veggies, a lot of meat, and dairy. I make this extra effort because I think on some level it makes a tiny difference in our environment. But, really it makes a huge difference in me. It re-enforces what I find personally important. I don't mind going to the market to feel one step closer to the food I eat or spending a half hour with the animal (Sparks) I love most. And most of all I really enjoy cooking dinner from scratch nightly for the man I love.