My beau turns 32 today!
I love you.
Sam's 29th Birthday in Carriacou
For Sam’s 29th birthday we were in Carriacou, Grenada in the Caribbean. For his 30th we celebrated with his closest family and friends at Pasqual’s pizza on New Scotland. For his 31st (and 28th) birthday I can’t remember what we did, but I’m sure it was great. 32nd birthday – Lobster for dinner?
Josh, Shep, Kris, Alecia, Sam, me, and Ryan
Sam and his grampie - two years ago on his 30th birthday
While doing some after Christmas bargain shopping at Colonie Mall, Sam and I stopped to fuel up at PF Chang’s for the first time. I realize that this mall is the new favorite in Albany, NY, but I heart Crossgates Mall. I mean have you ever tried to exit the movie theater at the Colonie Mall- wanting to just go home and not wander through the mall being tempted by the pretty window displays – I mean what is up with the non-existent escalator to take you down to the first level. Clever, yes, but so inconvenient and annoying. Oh and there are no entrances inside the mall to the restaurants – you have to go outside if you want to eat at P.F. Chang’s or the Cheesecake Factory. Work with me.
Anyway, back to P.F. Chang’s – I ordered the VIP Duck. We told the waitress it was our first experience at the restaurant, and she suggested several house favorites – none of which we ordered.
VIP DUCK – A tender half duck served Cantonese-style and glazed with a sweet soy plum sauce. Served with (chive) flatbread, scallions and cucumbers (served with white or brown rice)
It was by far the best meal I have ever eaten at a chain restaurant – so simple and easy. There were few ingredients, yet so much flavor. Although I have never visited an Asian country I can only imagine this is a meal that you would find at a local restuarant (at least that’s what Anthony Bourdain seems to be eating). Except, I if you were eating this meal in China I doubt Celine Dion or Kelly Clarkson would be playing on the surround sound system.
Sam and I decided to recreate the VIP Duck. We found a whole frozen duck at the grocery store, but that is still sittng in our freezer because we had already defrosted a pork roast. Sam marinated cucumbers in mirin wine, which is sweetened sake, and he sprinkled a few black and white sesame on top. Our pork was coated with hoisin sauce and olive oil. We found naan, which is a South Asian flat bread that Sam brushed with olive oil and lightly toasted. All paired with a roasted garlic and olive oil couscous. Move over P.F. Chang’s.
I can only find two words to sum up the savory pork, sweet cucumber, crispy bread – mmm good. Next time we’re going to try the duck, although the fatty pork was an excellent substitute paired with the cooling cucumber.
I’m in a blog coma, and I can’t get out. New York winters are so depressing. I need to fly south for the winter!
Will post soon…
Every year millions of people make New Year’s resolutions and many of these resolutions involve a diet plan. Not me. Hours before 2010 began, I was enjoying a fabulous four course meal at an amazing restaurant with a dear friend.
The restaurant was packed, and even with our reservation we waited an hour for our table – no worries we were at the bar enjoying some tasty cocktails. For as long as I can remember, I’ve had to work on New Year’s Eve, ironically waiting tables (excpet for last year when I was in the Carribean and passed out before midnight). I empathized with the servers who ran around like chickens with their heads cut off; who felt as though they were a broken record when they explained a dish on the menu over and over; and when they to had to deal with upset customers because there were items on the menu the kitchen had sold out of. Needless to say, it was a wonderful feeling to be waited on.
All the dishes were modeled after a movie – check out the menu. I chose my meals based soley on how delicous they sounded because I only knew one movie from the dishes I chose.
First course: Chef's Salad with Duck Confit, Gruyere, Quail Egg and Russian (When Harry Met Sally 1989)
Second course: Beef Carpaccio with Meyer lemon, grana padano, fried capers, pink peppercorns and olive oil (Raging Bull 1980)
Third course: Miso Glazed Diver Scallops with Udon Noodles baby bok choy, beech mushrooms and green daikon (Tampopo 1985)
Fourth course: Egg nog creme brulee (off the regular dinner menu)
I was expecting small portion sizes for a four course meal, but we got a lot of food for our money. I was completely stuffed. (Whoever brought back leggings and spandex – I thank you from the bottom of my heart because I may not have made it out alive if it wasn’t for the elastic in my pants.)
The last seating received party favors and a glass of champagne with their meal ticket, feeling cheated I grabbed a handful of noise makers, which were conveniently located next to the exit – I grabbed a few on the way out. Good thing too because later when I got home I was hoping for loud fireworks across the street at Empire State Plaza, which I waited for but they never came – so we made our own noise with my stolen noisemakers.
Here’s to a Happy New Year in 2010!
HaPpY BiRtHdAy to me!
By Jenny Nyström
Not only do my dad and I work for the same company, but we work in the same building (before I was laid off early this year – my desk was ironically right out side his office). Now that I have been re-hired at the bank, I work on the other side of the building.
My dad is a “Chief Credit Officer” for commercial banking in NYS (I think that’s his title) – so he is high up on the hierarchy ladder, and customers and other clients send him gifts every year for Christmas, mostly food baskets filled with goodies. Maybe they’re hoping for a better interest rate on their loan?
Anyway, the mailroom delivered a package to my desk to day because it was addressed to “Churchill,” so without thinking or looking at who it was from I signed for it.
Then I opened the package – and ate the contents.
My dad is an extremely picky eater (he doesn’t eat anything green, and he doesn’t like turkey, so on Thanksgiving my mom always makes him his own chicken dish. It’s actually quite amusing.). Usually, when he receives these gifts he puts them on the communal filling cabinet, and the whole office has a free-for-all. My point being, he most likely wouldn’t have eaten the delicious chocolate covered pretzels that were gifted to him.
It said my name – I think that’s an honest mistake, right?
My great grandmother came to this country from Sweden during the Great Depression, and she married my great grandfather who came to America from Finland Norway. It being a depression and all – they were very poor, and they couldn’t afford any ornaments to put on their Christmas tree. Later in life when they had their four children, they decided to buy an ornament for each of their kids every year – so when they had their own families they would be able to decorate their tree. (Every year I hear this story, and I’m pretty sure that’s how it goes.)
2009 Ornament - a Swedish tomte (Christmas gnome)
Giving ornaments has become a family tradition because my Mor-mor passed this ritual to her three girls, and my mom continued it with my sister and I. Every year since I was born my mom gives me a new Christmas ornament, and on the bottom she writes my name and the year she gave it to me.
Decorating the Christmas tree is one of my favorite traditions because every year I dust of the box storing my ornaments and unwrap them, looking at each and remembering the story of why this tradition was started so many years ago.
God Jul – Merry Christmas
