A Beautiful Lady

I woke up this morning, and as I gazed at the clock wishing it weren't 6:30am already, I realized today was July 21st. My Grandma's birthday. So I just wanted to post a photo, and stop to remember a really beautiful lady. If she were still living, she'd be 103 today. And even though she's been gone a while, I still feel lucky to have had the time with her that I had.

Summer Stroll

Ralph's Italian Ristorante - 9th Ave (is Ralph an Italian name?...)

I was starting to feel a little cooped up today. It's been so hot recently here in the city, I've sadly spent many a day in air conditioned coolness (well, not sad for staying cool - sad for staying inside). Felipe and I decided to take a walk around the neighborhood this evening, and to take photos. I decided I would jack my ISO up as high as it can go (1600) and turn on the black and white and see if I could get some gritty looking grainy photos, but still find something nice.

We walked down 10th Avenue and then back up to the Lincoln Center. It was a really nice evening to take a walk, warm but still enjoyable with a bit of a breeze.


The Empire Hotel


Lincoln Center Plaza - There isn't a night that this plaza doesn't look nice.


L'Arte del Gelato - a cool treat for a warm night. It was nice to people watch, the tourists, the workers...


I was taking pictures of the silhouettes around the fountain, and wasn't getting a shot that I didn't have before, with a good frame. Then I realized that the light was perfect for portraits. And there was this woman there, listening to her music and watching the fountain intensely. She stood very still and very solitary among all of the tourists and other people taking a night stroll. I had to take a photo, and I hope she doesn't mind...although I was quite far away, and discreet at possible.

Well, they are grainy, and some have blurry spots, but overall I think I was able to capture a few good shots or what was a really lovely summer stroll.

Birthday "Fiesta"

Last night Felipe and I hosted a birthday "fiesta" (my birthday was last Monday - thanks to everyone for the well wishes!), and had a blast with our friends.

So I basically spent all day cooking and prepping the food, which was tiring but fun, and got to try out a few new recipes. Above you can see the table, all set and ready to dig in - except for some Carne Asada which was being prepared on our "grill". We had ground beef taco, chicken fajita, carne asada, black beans, Spanish rice, guacamole, a terrific and spicy tomatillo sauce that felipe made, and all the other typical taco fixings.


Chicken Fajitas


The Spanish rice - super yummy!

I got the recipe for the Spanish rice from Allrecipes.com, and it turned out super well.

Spanish Rice


Ingredients

* 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
* 1 cup uncooked white rice
* 1 onion, chopped
* 1/2 green bell pepper, chopped
* 2 cups water
* 1 (10 ounce) can diced tomatoes and green chiles
* 2 teaspoons chili powder, or to taste (I used 1 tablespoon and it came out well)
* 1 teaspoon salt

Directions

1. Heat oil in a deep skillet over medium heat. Saute rice, onion, and bell pepper until rice is browned and onions are tender.

2. Stir in water and tomatoes. Season with chili powder and salt. Cover, and simmer for 30 minutes, or until rice is cooked and liquid is absorbed.




The guacamole - also yum!

I got the recipe for the guacamole from Simply Recipes. Super easy to make, and delicious.

Guacamole


Ingredients

* 2 ripe avocados
* 1/2 red onion, minced (about 1/2 cup)
* 1-2 serrano chiles, stems and seeds removed, minced
* 2 tablespoons cilantro leaves, finely chopped
* 1 tablespoon of fresh lime or lemon juice
* 1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
* A dash of freshly grated black pepper
* 1/2 ripe tomato, seeds and pulp removed, chopped

Garnish with red radishes or jicama. Serve with tortilla chips.
Method

1 Cut avocados in half. Remove seed. Scoop out avacado from the peel, put in a mixing bowl. (See How to Cut and Peel an Avocado.)

2 Using a fork, mash the avocado. Add the chopped onion, cilantro, lime or lemon, salt and pepper and mash some more. Chili peppers vary individually in their hotness. So, start with a half of one chili pepper and add to the guacamole to your desired degree of hotness. Be careful handling the peppers; wash your hands thoroughly after handling and do not touch your eyes or the area near your eyes with your hands for several hours.

Keep the tomatoes separate until ready to serve.

Remember that much of this is done to taste because of the variability in the fresh ingredients. Start with this recipe and adjust to your taste.

3 Cover with plastic wrap directly on the surface of the guacamole to prevent oxidation from the air reaching it. Refrigerate until ready.

4 Just before serving, add the chopped tomato to the guacamole and mix.

Serves 2-4.


Tres Leche cake

I made a tres leche cake, recipe from Alton Brown, and everyone devoured it! It was super yummy (the pound of sugar doesn't hurt), but also very heavy!

Tres Leche Cake

Ingredients
For the cake:

* Vegetable oil
* 6 3/4 ounces cake flour, plus extra for pan
* 1 teaspoon baking powder
* 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
* 4 ounces unsalted butter, room temperature
* 8 ounces sugar
* 5 whole eggs
* 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

For the glaze:

* 1 (12-ounce) can evaporated milk
* 1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
* 1 cup half-and-half

For the topping:

* 2 cups heavy cream
* 8 ounces sugar
* 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the cake:
Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly oil and flour a 13 by 9-inch metal pan and set aside.

Whisk together the cake flour, baking powder and salt in a medium mixing bowl and set aside.

Place the butter into the bowl of a stand mixer. Using the paddle attachment, beat on medium speed until fluffy, approximately 1 minute. Decrease the speed to low and with the mixer still running, gradually add the sugar over 1 minute. Stop to scrape down the sides of the bowl, if necessary. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, and mix to thoroughly combine. Add the vanilla extract and mix to combine. Add the flour mixture to the batter in 3 batches and mix just until combined. Transfer the batter to the prepared pan and spread evenly. This will appear to be a very small amount of batter. Bake on the middle rack of the oven for 20 to 25 minutes or until the cake is lightly golden and reaches an internal temperature of 200 degrees F.

Remove the cake pan to a cooling rack and allow to cool for 30 minutes. Poke the top of the cake all over with a skewer or fork. Allow the cake to cool completely and then prepare the glaze.

For the glaze:

Whisk together the evaporated milk, sweetened condensed milk and the half-and-half in a 1-quart measuring cup. Once combined, pour the glaze over the cake. Refrigerate the cake overnight.

Topping:

Place the heavy cream, sugar and vanilla into the bowl of a stand mixer. Using the whisk attachment, whisk together on low until stiff peaks are formed. Change to medium speed and whisk until thick. Spread the topping over the cake and allow to chill in the refrigerator until ready to serve.

After stuffing ourselves, we played a couple of games. Oh how I've missed game nights! We did both Taboo and Apples to Apples - we had to keep it to games that the 10-12 of us could play together. Taboo took a little getting used to - agreeing on or understanding all the rules and such. Felipe was super on top of controlling the buzzer!







Thanks everyone for coming over and having some food and fun. I had a terrific birthday!

Congratulations Spain!

Way to go on winning the World Cup!

Vacation Catch Up - Family Picnic Day

My Great Uncle Marty and Me.

Sunday (June 27th) was our annual family picnic, which I look forward to every year. We have a fairly large family, I've recently finished the family tree for the descendants of my grandparents and it comes out to 95 people! We had driven in to Madison Saturday night and were staying with my aunt Miriam.

This particular day was a doozy for Felipe and I. We met some of my dad's friends at 9:00am for coffee before the picnic (this was early given that the night before we were up talking with my aunt until about 3:00am! - sorry aunt Miriam!) Right after coffee we went straight to the picnic at about 11:30am, and were there until about 3:45pm. I am not sure if I stopped talking the entire time. There were just so many people to catch up with. I'm working on this family history project and it was so much fun to share some of it with my uncles, aunts and cousins. Directly after the picnic we rushed over to the Oakcrest Tavern to meet my friend Asha and her fiance for dinner. By the time we got there we were pretty much spent. We mustered enough energy for a burger (for me), a brat (for felipe) and some cheese curds. The rest of the evening was spent recovering back at my aunt's home.

Here are some of the pics from the picnic.

Uncle Dave and my cousin Tony


Aunt Diane


Great Uncle Marty


A nice shot of Uncle Dave


Aunt Rosie and Aunt Diane


Uncle Bob, Uncle Marsh and Uncle Dave


Great Uncle Marty and Uncle Paul


Family Friend George Fabian, Uncle Bob and Uncle Ron


Cousins Mina and Cathy.

I wish I could have gotten more photos, but man - I just could not stop talking! maybe next year....

And a super special thanks to my Aunt Miriam for hosting Felipe and I while we were in town. It was super lovely to spend that extra time with her, hearing all sorts of wonderful family stories and going through piles and piles of photos...

Aunt Miriam with my cousin Greg's daughter Jenna.

Vacation Catch Up - A Day in Milwaukee

Bradford Beach, Milwaukee

We arrived to Milwaukee late Wednesday night (June 23rd) and went straight home with mom, it was good to see her after sooooooo long. Fortunately she ordered the good Wisconsin early summer weather, so the next day was shaping up to be beautiful. We slept in a bit and then drove in to Milwaukee to spend the day there.

We started out with a stop at the Milwaukee Public Market, were we got a bite to eat for lunch. We even got to catch the two world cup games going on.



We moved on for some coffee at Alterra on the lake. It was nice and warm, so a little iced coffee was welcome!


After coffee we took a long walk along the shoreline of Lake Michigan, going up to Bradford Beach. It was perfect by the lake - sunny and breezy. We even got to walk along the sand in our bare feet. A nice way to start the vacation!


After that we were off to meet our friend Laurence who was in town for business all the way from Paris (what a lucky coincidence!). We met her down in the Third Ward at a restaurant called Water Buffalo, where we sat and had dinner on a patio overlooking the river. It was such a beautiful evening and a nice time to visit with Laurence.

Unfortunately I completely forgot to get a picture of us with her until just after we left! But we ended up meeting her the next day after she finished work for a little shopping at the outlet mall nearby - so here's our photo in the slightly less scenic Culver's


Overall it was two very nice days in Milwaukee!

Happy Indepence Day!

This picture was take at the Westmorland park in Madison in 1986. You can see from left to right, my sister's friend, my older sister Mariam and myself. We always had so much fun decorating our bikes for the parade - crepe paper, balloons and mini flags! Then we would ride in the parade, and spend the rest of the day in the park, eating cotton candy (it was the only day of the year we were allowed that treat), and playing games.

Unfortunately Felipe and I don't have a bike parade to ride in, but we will be watching the fireworks over the Hudson later tonight! Happy Fourth of July to everyone! and watch out for mosquitos....