Smorgasburg

I traveled to Brooklyn this weekend with my cousin, Sarah and her husband, Eric, and everyone's friend, Megan. I don't go to Brooklyn much, it's kind of intimidating with all those hipsters running around. I feel I need a trip to Urban Outfitters to even step foot off the train. However, a legendary food fair was calling my name. I had to go.
A friend at church told me about Smorgasburg. It's a large food hotspot for local Brooklyn restaurants, food carts, and food producers. They had everything from hamburgers to kimchi hotdogs to English toffee. There are loads of samples of foods to buy and hot foods to taste. It was fairly inexpensive too! Here is what I tried:
-A gordita (corn fried roll stuffed with barbacoa, radishes, hot sauce, cabbage, and cream)
-A few bites of a homemade pretzel
-A few bites of a giant ice cream sandwich with salted caramel ice cream between 2 delicious sugar cookies
-A bite of a s'more with homemade mallows and graham crackers
-2 waters (healthiest choice)
-1 mini cheesecake bite topped with strawberry balsamic jam
To say I was in heaven is a vast understatement. Also, to top that off, Smorgasburg sits on the edge of the East river with a terrific view of Manhattan. If you are free on a Saturday in NYC, please take a trip. You and your taste buds won't be sorry!
http://www.brooklynflea.com/smorgasburg/

A Plethora of Papers

On the subway in the morning there are free newspapers, the "AM NY" and the "Metro." They have a little news, celebrity gossip, crosswords, horoscopes, and lots of advertisements. Not great, but they are free and entertaining. Each stop has a person passing out these papers, some more aggressively than others. I have a man at my station now that is literally shoving that in my face quite rudely each morning. I am about to have a "Come to Jesus meeting" with him.
However persistent he is, I can't take another paper. I already have 3 facing me each morning. I have two first graders that bring me a paper each day. They strut in proudly with their delivery. It makes me smile and affirms my notion that first graders should run the world with their cheerful dispositions. And lately I have been taking one from this sweet man at my exit station. He is so positive, tells everyone to have a blessed day, and works very hard. The past two days he has given me a little wave. I think I am becoming a regular! :)
The sad part is that I don't read the papers. None of them. I read "New York Post" on my iPhone and watch the "Today Show" for my news. But, it's the thought that counts. Thank goodness for recycling!

Berserk for Brioche

Finally, after a rather harrowing month of March, I am on Spring Break! What a glorious holiday it has been with lots of naps, shopping, and an exquisite visit from the parents... and I still have a week left. Thank God for the French!! I apologize for my lack of writing lately. I hope to remedy that in the coming months.

A few weeks back, Pat & I took a bread baking class as Le Pan Quotidian in Soho. It was glorious! Three hours in a gorgeous bakery spent mixing, kneading, patting, and braiding bread. Each of us made 2 challah loaves, brioche rolls, and cinnamon rolls (my favorite). We were tired bakers by the end!

This is not bread for dieters mind you. Both breads have an almost even ratio of fat to flour, making them delicious you see. The brioche, a French bread, is made with butter, eggs, and flour. Again, the French bless us all. Challah (pronounced hall-uh, like the rap song) is a Jewish braided bread that is made with oil, eggs, and flour. This keeps it Kosher because there is no mixing of animals, i.e. the butter and eggs.

Braiding the bread was very fun. Pat had a little harder time, his hair was never long enough as a child. The dough was so rich that I came out of there with a natural moisturizing treatment on my hands. After 2 hours of working with the dough, watching it proof, and rolling cinnamon rolls, all the bread went into a marvelous oven. It came out twenty minutes later where we quickly plopped the steaming creations into paper bags and off we went. I am surprised there weren't people lined up outside because it smelled like heaven! I ate the yummy, rich bread the whole way home on the subway.

Thanks for a wonderful Valentine's present, Pat! I had a blast baking bread!

Famous Phrases

A few weeks ago, a fabulously funny and shockingly accurate video about New Yorkers surfaced and exploded on Facebook. Just go ahead and watch it, so you understand the post. Click here:

I have probably seen this video ten times and find myself laughing each time. I have heard someone say each and everyone of those lines, except "Oooh it's Pat Kiernen," which my boyfriend and I googled. He is a news anchor, but I didn't know him. I only watch the Today Show, I am a very loyal fan. Sans Pat Kiernen, on any given day, one can hear those lines being said over and over on the street. Other personal favorites of mine are:

"This place is huuge!" (The best compliment any NYer can receive about their matchbox size apts)

"I hate this place---ooh I love this place." (Very common feeling, it's a love-hate relationship at times.)

"All I have had to eat today is a bagel." (Wish that was more true of my life. I heart NY bagels. The secret is in the water. If you come visit, the bagel is on me.)

"I read that in the [Times, New Yorker, Time Out]." (Have to be legit about your news source. However, I do read the New York Post everyday. It's a fabulous source for news!)

"I want a dog. Oh, but it wouldn't be fair." (Essentially my trademark phrase. I want a dachshund pup so very badly. However, the fairness factor and the five story walk-up usually squash that dream quickly.)

Enjoy this silly video. It always gives me a good laugh. :)

The Look

It's obvious to almost every visitor to New York City. No one looks at each other here. People stare straight ahead as if on a mission to save the world. You don't make eye contact, a blank stare covers your face. What, there is a person dancing and singing "I Will Survive" off key on the subway? Nope, doesn't matter. People aren't staring or smiling or glaring or even acknowledging that poor singing fool. Nope. Blank stare. How? Why?

It took me awhile to figure out this enigma too. When I first moved here, I just smiled away at people. I said "good morning, have a great day." This is good in theory but can really be a problem at such a high volume. People start to look at you like you are a bit of a happy go lucky crazy person. The kicker was when an older man on the subway saw my friendly face and took that to mean it was ok for him to give me his business card and ask me to coffee. So...I decided to just follow suite and avoid contact.

Even though I have known about this social norm for awhile, I realized another extreme of it recently. Not only do the people not look at each other, the dogs have followed in their footsteps. I am in a bit of a dog obsessed stage right now, so when I go running in Riverside Park, I try to engage the doggies. I have had little success. I run by, beaming away, and they stare straight ahead. Only the unconditioned puppies will engage, thank goodness for them.

When I go home to Texas, I sometimes wonder why people are smiling at me? Then I remember that people from the south are so cheerful and I really miss that in NY. Even this week when I returned from Virginia, after a week at smiling, I momentarily forgot to put my "NY face" on. It's back, but I try to break out a smile every once in while, just to keep everyone on their toes.

Love, according to 1st Graders....

Love is when God created us.

Love is when you play with a pup.

Love is when I am in Luxembourg.

Love is when Ms. Thamer gives me a hug.

Love is when you care about someone.

Love is when God helps me and you.

Love is when my mom buys me chapter books.

Love is when people don’t fight.

Love is when my mom kisses my dad.

Love is when my cousins sends me emails about the beach.

Love is when my mom helps me with homework.

Love is when mom kisses me.

Happy Valentine's Day blog readers! Sending lots of love to you today!

Black is Back

Or maybe it never went away? Winter in Manhattan is a dark time, literally it's dark from 5 PM to 7 AM. Although we have been pretty lucky with only a couple sightings of snow this year, it's still quite chilly most days.
Besides the frigid weather, one reminder of winter is the color black. New York turns into a sea of black-black puffy jackets, black hats, black gloves, black scarves, black earmuffs, and black boots. As I write this today, I am wearing black boots, black jeans, and a black shirt. I did try to mix it up with a cream sweater but still I look like a goth, if truth be told. It's just amazing how monochromatic the city becomes for a few months with everyone bundled up in this statement color. Looking forward to a colorful spring and summer to emerge soon! Until then I will rest comfortably and warmly in the black abyss.

As I was standing in the new Apple store at Grand Central, I looked out over the sea of commuters and saw... Black is back!