Last post of 2008

With much happiness, 2008 is finally over at midnight tonight. Can't wait to see this year go away.

Hope everyone has a great 2009. Doesn't have to be much better to beat 2008.

Photos of the Day

Well, we had a strange Christmas. It was just us and the cats. We ventured out tonight to Rock Center to see the tree. The mob was unbelievable and we didn't last long. I didn't even see the skating rink. We'll go back again before the tree comes down.

Awwww

For those of you who didn't see this on my Facebook page, here is a picture of Kitty sleeping in a box wearing his cone, or "hat" as Steve calls it. Kitty is actually very good when it comes to wearing this thing. At times it drives him bonkers. We take it off when both of us are home and can keep tabs on him. When we put it back on it only takes one of us to do it. He just stays put and waits patiently while Steve ties it on. At first, I was distracting Kitty with treats but now he doesn't need those to sit quietly. Such a good Kitty! He has to wear the cone until Friday.

Poorly timed discovery

I don't have long johns.

This is long john weather!

It's cold here. Really cold. Not as cold as Susan's 24 below a week or so ago in Montana, but it's cold. The wind chill right now is -1. But it's sunny and gorgeous out. I'll be braving the elements in about 30 minutes as I go out for a few missed grocery items. I have about a mile round trip walk to get the store (not the one I usually go to because the one I usually go to doesn't carry what I'm looking for). Will bundle up in my long johns, wrap an angora scarf around my face, boot up in my fleece lined warmest-boots-in-the-world boots, and pull up my heaviest wool knee socks. I bought a down coat a few weeks ago and I'm glad I have it. The cats are snoozing away in sunbeams right now.

If I'm not back in an hour, send out the St. Bernard's.

Kitty's Home!

The happy vet called this morning and said she was clearing Kitty to come home today. We went and picked him up around 2:30. We've had a little bump since bringing him home but it's minor and he's doing fine. He has to wear one of those cone collars to keep him away from his stitches, and it's driving him bonkers. He has tried to wash his face and can't and he rubbed his head against my leg but all I got was collar. Steve had him purring for a little bit. He has to wear the collar for up to seven days. He's moving around easily and doesn't seem to be in any post-op pain.

So glad he's back but Cleo is acting like she's never seen him before. He does look different with that collar on, so maybe that's what she's reacting to. She'll get used to him again.

More to come.

Snow mania & Kitty update

What is with all the snow all over the country? It's been snowing in freak places like New Orleans, Houston, Las Vegas, and Malibu!? It's snowing here today, but it's supposed to snow in New York. The snow is actually falling gently right now but it was blowing sideways earlier. Cars are already blanketed as are the rooftops. It's just starting to stick to the sidewalks.

Steve and I will venture out to visit Kitty at the hospital tonight. Yesterday afternoon, I noticed Kitty wasn't able to urinate. So Steve came home early from work and we took Kitty to the vet around 4 o'clock. They took him right away and sure enough, he was blocked. They treated him last night for the blockage and he came through that very well. Today, they took an x-ray of him to see if there was any more blockage or stones in his bladder. Yup, bladder stones showed up. So they have to do surgery today to remove them. This is costing Steve a small fortune (he does have the option of a three month payment plan for the surgery costs) but Kitty will be all better and then we'll do preventative care here at home to reduce the chances of this happening again. Cleo seems fine but so did Kitty until about 2 o'clock yesterday. Even though there are other contributing factors, they do eat the same food and drink the same water, so I'll be keeping an eye on Cleo. Kitty should be home by Monday.

Here are some pictures of Kitty enjoying licking the leftover whipped cream from my mixing bowl, and posing so handsomely.





Needless to say, we aren't going to Maine for Christmas. We won't be able to afford in-home care or boarding for both cats and we don't want to leave Kitty so soon after all this drama. Everyone is disappointed, but we'll go visit Maine next month.

Dinner at Harold's

Last night, I met up with six girlfriends for the annual holiday dinner. The dinner is in lieu of having to get gifts for everyone. My friend Donna suggested Harold Dieterle's restaurant, Perilla. Harold is the first season winner from Top Chef. All seven of us are Top Chef fans and all of us really like food, so it was easy to agree.

The restaurant is small with a bar on one side and tables on the other flowing into the back. The kitchen is closed, so we weren't able to watch Harold cook up, or expedite, our meals, but we did see him several times. Our table was near the kitchen and he popped out to check on things but didn't speak to any diners. Maybe he's shy. His face was flushed from the heat in the kitchen and he was wearing a white shirt and jeans. He also had a green half full-length apron tied around his waist. My bet is that he was expediting and not cooking. He also had glasses on which I don't remember from the show.

The decor is minimalist but warm. Along part of the wall are curved, orange booths. The orange is pretty much the only bright color in the otherwise neutral dark brown and cream room. Clearly the focus is on the food. Between the seven of us, we managed to cover the menu nicely with our selections. I opted to have an appetizer and a side dish for my meal, bypassing an entree. (Wait staff in NY has coined the term nontrees for people who order like I did skipping an entree.)

I selected the spicy duck meatballs because they were mentioned in just about every review I read for the place. The reviews said the meatballs were small, the size of olives. But the ones I had last night were more the size of Swedish meatballs. Not small. And very rich. I didn't taste that distinctive duck flavor but the meat was a lovely soft texture, but not mushy, and they were definitely spicy. At first. But the time I got to the last meatball (there were only 4), I realized in addition to spicy, they were very salty. Or at least the broth that was under them was salty. They were served with a handful of mint cavatelli, spinach, and a raw quail egg. I wasn't expecting the egg to be raw. When the server put the dish in front of me he suggested beating the egg into the broth, which I did. Can't say I really tasted the egg at all. The meatballs were good but the salt needed to be quieted down a bit. Two others at the table also ordered the meatballs. We all thought it was salty but really good.

For my second dish, I ordered the farro risotto with artichoke confit, Parmesan, and grapes. Yes, grapes. And they made the dish as far as I'm concerned. They added such a nice sweetness to an otherwise savory, rich, and under seasoned dish. I could have had a touch more salt or lemon or other seasoning. There was some parsley which tasted nice, but not enough. The Parmesan was obviously high quality and it was delicious in all it's melted glory. I loved the artichokes. The risotto was filling and I was unable to eat it all. It was a side dish on the menu but our server assured me it was plenty for an entree and people ordered it all the time as such. I ordered a glass of delicious Chardonnay (California, Hanging Vine, 'Parcel 4', '07) to go with the risotto. This Chard wasn't heavily oaked and tasted like pears and honey. Very easy to drink.

We had started the meal off with a bottle of cava rose from Spain (Llopart '05) because it was festive both in color and in bubbly. The wine and beer list is also nice. There are only about five choices each for red and white wine by the glass, so making a choice isn't overwhelming. The wines by the bottle is several pages and ranged in price. One of the beers they had by the bottle is the Green Flash West Coast IPA. We have a friend who works at that brewery back in San Diego. I couldn't believe the restaurant was charging $8 for a bottle. That's NY for ya!

Here is what my friends ordered and I tasted most of them:
Crispy calamari and red watercress salad
Lady apple and red romaine salad
Crispy Berkshire pork belly
Seared diver sea scallops
Roasted local beets and lamb prosciutto
Roasted bacon wrapped game hen
Braised elk osso buco
Black Trumpet & sheep's milk ricotta cannelloni (I almost got this instead of what I did get)
Roasted Brussels sprout leaves
Sauteed spaghetti squash

The cannelloni was accompanied by a deep fried egg. It was a soft boiled egg (I think) that had been lightly breaded and fried. It was soooo good and quite possibly the best thing we had all night. I think these are also called Scotch eggs but haven't checked. All the food was very good and all of us managed to clean our plates each course (except I left a little risotto). Portions were a nice size that were of manageable amount and plated on plain white bowls or dishes. Not much garnish other than some sauces or herbs.

By the time dessert rolled around, we were so stuffed but we endured and ordered two full desserts and then two orders of ice cream. We ordered the sticky toffee pudding and the brown butter bar. Both had interesting accent sauces that at first seemed like an odd pairing but mixed all together, they worked. The desserts were just okay but the ice creams were very good. We had two flavors - lemon curd and ginger. The lemon was absolutely divine. The ginger was good but could have used a touch more ginger. The flavor was very subtle. I had a glass of moscato with dessert.

Click here to see the whole menu. It's not a large menu and it is very seasonal. Prices are a bit high. We split the bill evenly seven ways and each share was $76. Not cheap. But we had good food and a really good time. We were there three hours, but I never felt we were waiting a long time for food and we certainly weren't rushed. The pace was very good. Our server was nice and unobtrusive but she was there when we needed her to be. She answered our questions and suggested wines confidently.

The music was the only thing that didn't seem to fit into this elegant and food-centric restaurant. It seemed like someones iPod was hooked up to the sound system because it was an eclectic mix of hits from the 70s, 80s, and 90s, with something from the 60s thrown in for good measure. I liked the music since I have most of the songs on my iPod as well, but it just seemed a little strange. The noise level did get pretty high at one point when every table was full, but I think we were having to talk loudly to hear over the other conversations, not the music. I hate it when music is too loud to talk.

I liked Perilla and would probably go back should the occasion arise, but with all the other restaurants in NYC to try, a repeat visit won't be anytime soon. It's definitely a special occasion place for my budget. I'd like to go back in a different season when the menu changes.

Post-Turkey Coma

Hope everyone had a nice and food-filled holiday. We did. My friend Reka can cook up a mean bird. She had a whole chicken and a turkey breast. There were only five of us having dinner together and an entire turkey seemed a little much. I completely ruined the stuffing but Reka was able to whip up a batch with a moment's notice. I've made the stuffing before to good results but this year I completely messed it up and wound up with a big ball of mushy goo. My mashed potatoes turned out beautifully creamy and smooth, so at least I didn't screw that up. And my cookies were a hit. It was a very nice evening.

I've been working at my new job all this week. But it's a little anti-climatic because I'm working from home. I was in on Monday to meet with my new boss, and we will continue to meet every Monday afternoon, but until there is space in the office for me, I'm sorta stuck working from home. Logistics are going to take a little time to work out. I also need to go talk to an accountant and figure out what the best way to go as far as tax deductions and how to pay freelancer quarterly taxes. I will have to pay estimated taxes by mid-January for the money I get paid this month. Ug. But at least I found a job. Things are rotten in the state of publishing. Yesterday was a black Wednesday across many companies - Random House, S&S, Thomas Nelson, and good 'ol Houghton Mifflin Harcourt - had lay offs. Big ones. News on the fall-out is still coming in so I don't know who was let go from HMH yet.

Not all news was bleak yesterday. Steve came home with some good news. I can be included on his insurance through work. That's a relief. We'll get me enrolled before the end of the year.

What else? Oh, Amy and new husband Gareth came up from Baltimore over the weekend. They were only here a short time but since I missed their wedding, it was very nice to see them. We walked the promenade and after standing in line outside in the cold for about 45 minutes, we sunk our teeth into pizza perfection at Grimaldi's. Steve and I love that place and it's a great place to take visitors. It's very Brooklyn not to mention it has arguably the best pizza in the city. It's sort of an In-N-Out of pizza. Just like In-N-Out has basic burgers and fries, Grimaldi's menu has pizza. That's pretty much it. You can get a calzone but why? No salads, no appetizers. Just pizza and soda and beer and wine (red or white, nothing fancy). I'm fine with the simple, concentrated menu. Who would want anything else there anyway? Their take out is always busy and pies (and leftovers) are put on a cardboard round and wrapped in white butcher paper bags. Old school. No pizza boxes here. The walls are adorned with pictures of the Rat Pack (we seemed to be sitting under the Frank Sinatra shrine), famous New Yorkers and Italians, and 9/11 memorial images. It's very crowded and even though the red and white checked tables are separated, it feels like eating family style with your neighbors. The music will range from 80s pop hits to Rat Pack to Italian opera. Very colorful place that attracts all kinds. Just like In-N-Out. The other thing that makes Grimaldi's special is it's location. It's under the Brooklyn Bridge. When the moon hits your eye, like a-big pizza pie . . . They guy working the line teased Steve about not letting him in. Steve was wearing his Red Sox hat. When we left the guy said in his Brooklyn accent, you can come back but don't wear that hat.

This weekend, we are going to get a Christmas tree. It seems a little early but we were so late getting pumpkins for Halloween that we don't want to repeat the mistake with the tree. We are also going to help a friend pack up salvageable items in her apartment. Her building had a fire about two weeks ago and her apartment sustained quite a bit of damage. Her kitchen is completely destroyed. But she and everyone in the building got out okay. We are also going to try to get to a museum. This weekend, and every first weekend in the month, Bank of America members can get into participating museums for free. Steve is with BofA so we can save $ on one admission. The natural history museum and the Met are participating so we'll go to one of those probably on Sunday.

Hope everyone is doing well!