Oscars Night, 2007!

Michelle and Christian are very into this. Thanks to them, I've seen more Oscars movie nominees than I ever have. Leading up to the event, they had online spreadsheets for us to keep track of movies watched and rated. We had voting ballots and there were prizes! The decorations were superb.

As it flurried outside, we piled together with out of town Yorksters Angie, Katy and Mike, in Michelle and Christian's cozy Park Slope apartment on their huge and comfy couch. And enjoyed great food and wine, of course. M and C are dependable and serious with the wine - nice reds from various regions that they had picked up at neighborhood wine store Big Nose, Full Body. I had two from Spain and Australia, one a bit spicier than the other and both going nicely with the range of cheeses, meats, crackers, spreads and fruit.

In the spirit of Best Picture nominee Babel, I had made a well-received cous cous with chickpeas, almonds, dates, curry and cilantro. And for dessert, our hosts made the diner breakfast Olive ordered in Little Miss Sunshine - Waffles a la Mode-y. Mmm. Scoops of vanilla ice cream on warm, toasted waffles - especially the cinnamon mini waffles - is just goooood. We thought of all sorts of possible toppings, but the fundamentals were perfect.

And after watching the special past-Oscar winner montages, my movie list has grown ever longer.

Big Nose, Full Body
382 7th Avenue (between 11th and 12th Sts)
Park Slope, Brooklyn
718-369-4030
www.bignosefullbody.com

Cous Cous Salad with Dates and Almonds
www.epicurious.com

The Smith Street Pub Crawl

The idea was born with Erin. It was sheer brilliance: Smith Street - one evening, many pubs. Erin and I thought we might have a handful of friends coming along for the crawl, but crowd estimates came in around thirty! From a range of friend circles of the in and out of towners - great for mingling and good clean fun. Well...

The line up was as follows:

Brooklyn Social Club - Ladies were very lucky to get in. This bar used to be an Italian men-only club. Very chill with nice red tin ceilings. I will go back for their specialty drinks on a non-crawl night.

335 Smith Street (between Carroll and President Sts)
Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn
718-858-7758

Zombie Hut - Again with the ceilings - this one was bamboo. A giant fish tank, a fireplace and board games are among the other amenities. They have a range of fun and potent drinks, including a tropical fruit one you can drink with giant straws from a flaming volcano. Very clever. Played good tunes!

216 Smith Street (between Douglass and DeGraw)
Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn
718-875-3433

Angry Wade's - A Bar. Slightly dingy and with free popcorn. Decor: nicely tacky modern poster art. The table in front of the fireplace is prime.

222 Smith Street (at Butler St.)
Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn
718-488-7253

Camp - Five Stars! S'mores!! S'mores!! And martinis with s'mores! The bartender lights your marshmallows on fire! Smells like a camp fire inside! Log cabin interior with fireplace, kayak, and huge, wall-sized photo of the woods in springtime. I will go back here when it's not so crowded and indulge in everything sweet and gooey. DJ playing danceable music (but no caberet license).

179 Smith Street (between Warren and Wyckoff Sts)
Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn
718-852-8086

Vegas - Do not be fooled by the name. Very un-Vegas - i.e. no running lights, marquees, gambling or showgirls. Roomy with nice red-velvet couch areas, pool table and a first rate juke. Although, it did not have my favorite Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton duet. Sigh.

135 Smith Streets (between Dean and Bergen Sts)
Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn
718-875-8308

Boat - On the list, but we never made it because it was packed. No sign, orange door. Neighborhood bar. Kind of cramped, long and narrow, with a small loungeable area in back. Great juke box. It's just...likeable.

175 Smith Street (between Warren and Wyckoff Sts)
Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn
718-254-0607

It's obvious that the Smith St. Pub Crawl is already a Brooklyn classic. We've already had several requests for a similar event along 5th avenue. Duly noted! Thanks Erin, for your fantastic choices!



(Our sense of Accomplishment)

Food of the Rainbow

Broken bones, surgeries and casts do not stop Alix and I from making our famous meals. Although we had a brief hiatus, Alix is recovering nicely and we are back in the saddle. She even has a clever wheelie chair to scoot around the kitchen! On Friday we chilled out with some white wine and caught up on the week before starting that night's dinner: sweet potato and corn chowder, ginger-orange vegetable stir fry, and, of course, a mixed berry tart.

All dishes were low maintenance and all vegan. Bonus: we ate all colors of the rainbow with our whole foods - red pepper, sweet potato, yellow squash, sweet corn, green beans, broccoli, sprouts, and berries. The USDA says its wise to eat a colorful variety of fruits and vegetables for the biggest punch of vitamins and nutrients. Plus, it's aesthetically pleasing.

Alix mixed up a great soy sauce dressing for our stir fry - freshly grated ginger, zested and juiced clementines, fresh chopped garlic, and a splash of vinegar. Add more juice and zest for a citrusy zeal. We tossed the dressing in our vegetables and rice and chowed down, while checking out the seed catalog for Alix's up and coming summer kitchen garden!

Oh, yes, and all evening we enjoyed a terrific, inexpensive Cabernet-Sauvigon from her neighborhood wine store, SIP, and talked until three in the morning about everything from snow days to travel plans to Ishmael. Food with Alix is a fine, fine experience.

SIP Fine Wine
67 5th Ave (and St. Marks Place)
Park Slope, Brooklyn
718-638-6105
www.sipfinewine.com

www.5aday.gov

Presto! Pesto!

I'm not in Italy yet (this summer, E!) but I can try to cook like I am. The Italians have put some lovely ingredients together, with incomparable results. Fresh basil, garlic, olive oil, garlic, salt, parmesan and pine nuts. What is like pesto? Nothing. Put in the food processor and hit go. Mix into pasta al dente.



Let us appreciate the little green textured flecks up close.



I recommend comparing several recipes for the correct ratio and variations of ingredients. Search pesto alla genovese for the classic recipe. Dream in shades of green!

"Stoup"

Is it soup? Is it stew? No...it's stoup! I did not coin the term. Rachael Ray did. But it's a very good one and should be cooked up more often. Seth and I made a delightful stoup of chicken and italian sausage for the presidents birthdays. The first time I made this meal was in sunny San Diego with my cousins. Auntie was working, so cousin Mike and I had to feed Marc and Graeson. They were very happy when we sat down to eat, and I still remember Graeson's full mouth with little bits of tortilla chips spraying out when he said, "Mmm, this is good."


As you can see from the picture, the aroma of stoup also had an interesting effect on Seth. He became rather enamored with the pot of bubbling potatoes, peppers, beans and chicken...I've never seen this happen before in real life, but I did just recently see the movie Like Water for Chocolate, and know that when cooked with love food can have strange and wonderful effects on people...

This stoup is quite easy, can be made in one pot, and should necessarily be topped with cheese and crumbled tortilla chips.

Chicken, Chorizo and Tortilla Stoup
www.foodnetwork.com

Like Water for Chocolate (Como Agua para Chocolate)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0103994/

Superfine and the Brooklyn Winter Hoedown

String Bands + Food and Drink = a good weekend. The 3rd Annual Brooklyn Winter Hoedown was held this year at Superfine. If ever New York has you feeling claustrophobic in tiny bars and restaurants, might I recommend this spacious, likely former warehouse in DUMBO. It's a bit hard to pin down the theme: huge and colorful abstract art, long strands of blue bulbs and giant paper lanterns hang from the ceiling. With its hewn wood floors and barn high ceilings, Eric thought maybe the theme was "Whaling Town." It could be true - we spotted quite a few whaling types there for the shows and food on Saturday.

I spent both Saturday night and Sunday evening this weekend among the yeehaws and cowboy boots, soaking in the bluegrass and string bands with some snacking on the side. Sunday I had a superfine burger with jack and all the fixings, and delightful little shoestring fries, along with the day's special brown ale. I also had one divine bite of Nick's Ginger Creme Brulee. Genius.

Superfine boasts about its seasonal menu, local ingredients and grass-fed beef. That makes me feel mighty fine. And it must be true because the menu is written on a dry-erase board that changes and travels from table to table. What a great reason to go back for the Bluegrass Brunch held every Sunday!


By 8PM on Sunday, full and happy with a table full of fun friends and my favorite Brooklyn string band playing, I declared that I shall learn to play the banjo. You never know what the food effect may be.

Superfine
126 Front St (at Pearl St)
DUMBO, Brooklyn
New York
718-243-9005

The M Shanghai String Band
www.mshanghaistringband.com

Sotto Voce

, a little Italian place in Park Slope. Warm colored orange and brick walls, with black and white photos hanging - it's very simple and friendly. Abby and I met there for Sunday brunch. If you cannot decide between pasta or more typical brunch fare, you don't have to! While some brunch menus are spare, this one is a huge list and would be good for any food mood. I had a giant plate of smoked salmon on toasted bread with cream cheese, tomatoes and capers. Mmm, salty and filling. Abby's challah french toast was a delicious-looking mountain of fluffy bread and fresh fruit. We chatted about updates in life, school and travel and determined our next Brooklyn brunch spot after Abby's spring tour of Europe's fashion capitals!

Sotto Voce
225 7th Ave (and 4th St)
Park Slope, Brooklyn
New York
718-369-9322
http://sottovocerestaurant.com/

Sundays with Lucia

I met Lucia for a sweet Sunday afternoon treat at the Cocoa Bar in Park Slope. We have met there on many occasions, searching for the answers to life and finding...chocolate. I guess that makes sense.

I have already briefly mentioned the wonders of that place, but it deserves another mention. Even the teas are somehow magically infused with chocolate. We both drank Orange Bliss, a black tea with the aroma of chocolate and smooth taste of orange. Lucia made the serendipitously wise selection of the Sweet and Salty Cake, a chocolate layer cake with fluffy chocolate mousse-like icing and a mysteriously good micro-layer of saltiness between the cake and icing. I'm going back for breakfast tomorrow, perhaps for some coffee and truffles. Mmm, if that were only true.

The Cocoa Bar
228 7th Ave (between 3rd and 4th Sts.)
Park Slope
Brooklyn, New York
718-499-4080
www.cocoabarnyc.com

Salam Café

Nathan is one of the best people to go out to eat with. He will make with you the same eyes closed, half smile expression of "Oh, THIS is good," when eating something notable. We went to Salam Café, a Northern African-Middle Eastern restaurant in the West Village. All the tables are made of lovely mosaic, and the ambiance is laid-back and cozy - lots of curtains, mirrors, colorful lights and wall hangings.

Our waiter kindly left me the menu after ordering so I could take the perfect picture of the copper relief bearing "Salam," or "peace" in Syrian, he told us. Oh, peace it was. We started with the slightly tangy homos (hummos) and toasty pita. Nathan declared it was the best he'd ever had. For dinner, he had the Moroccan cous cous with shrimp, and I had the vegetable Ouzi, a phyllo "pastry" filled with rice and raisins, zucchini, eggplant, carrots and spinach. When I asked the waiter how to pronounce the name of the dish, he said, "It's easy. "Oozey." Ouzi is easy and delightful - the flavors were incredibly subtle, all melded together, and I wish I would have asked which spices were working the magic. Cinnamon, tumeric, cumin, ginger, pepper, paprika, anis seed, parsley, coriander, saffron and mint are the basis for Moroccan cooking [Wikipedia].

Out came the dessert special - a vanilla mousse-like almond and pistachio layer cake, with a plop of cinnamon ice cream and two little dark truffles. Ahhhhhhhhhh.

Afterword, we walked down the cold and windy 6th Avenue to the V Bar, one of my favorite places in the city. It's a small wine, beer and coffee bar that is the ultimate comfortable, casual hangout. Muted globes of light hang from the ceiling, the side wall is lined with books about theater and philosophy, and couples and friends gather around a long, high table with with tall bar stools. I normally go on a Sunday evening, when it's not empty, but not too full either. This Friday it was packed and it was a challenge for Nathan and I to have our typical philosophical and theoretical discussions - but we still managed to have a good talk about what "home" is. For the sake of the food effect, home is simply good food and good friends. Nathan stuck with his fave Belgium, Lindeman's Framboise, while I tried two reds - a peppery Cannonau and a more sweet Rioja. Mmm, good night, New York.


Salam Café
104 W. 13th St. (between Sixth and Seventh Aves)
West Village, New York
New York
212-741-0277

V Bar
225 Sullivan St. (between W 3rd and Bleeker)
West Village, New York
New York
212-253-5740
http://vbar.net

Sister Stew

You can eat pineapple in February! After all, the groundhog told us that spring is almost here. Thus, in anticipation of brightly ripe summer fruits, I highly recommend the pineapple carmelized and with toasted coconut over vanilla ice cream. That was the dessert Teresa and I made on chilled February evening in Delaware. You can do other things with pineapple too, such as wear it as a fancy hat (example in picture).

Teresa and I had spent the entire day in our pajamas lounging and talking about everything before starting the pineapple project (Why should sisters ever have to live far apart?). And before our tropical dessert, we made a sisterly stew to buffer the coldy wind outside. After all, when you've been immobile for hours except for your storytelling, idea sharing, news updating mouth, your belly needs something warm inside. We opened a bottle of Pinot Noir from a vineyard in France that's been around since 1725. I know virtually nothing about wine, but figure a vineyard that established must produce something good. It was delightful to sip as I put together this very easy and completely vegan soup-stew [recipe adapted from vegweb.com]

Ingredients:
vegan sausage (e.g. the Gimme Lean brand)
garlic
some mushrooms, potatoes, carrots and onions
barley
vegetable broth or boullion cubes
herb seasoning of your choice (I used oregano, pepper and rosemary)

1) Boil potatoes, mushrooms, carrots and barley in broth until soft.
2) Saute and brown onions, garlic and vegan sausage. Add seasoing.
3) Add "meat" mixture to broth mixture.
4) Ladle in large bowls and breathe in wintery stew aroma.
5) Chow down

Oh, how I did not want to leave my sister for anything. But we shall eat together soon.

Barcade

Twenty-five cent arcade games and happy hour beer. Is this the food effect? Oh, yes. Edwina, one of Erin's friends, planned this after-work outing in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. When you get off the train at Lorimer, the neighborhood looks very un-neighborhood, as though you were dropped off in a random bridge, highway and warehouse land. Although, I did see an large organic market along the way. This is the juxtaposed character of Williamsburg - you can actually watch it in transition from post-industrial to quarterlife crisis hipster-crunchy. Walk tentatively down Union and enter Barcade - a huge, open space lined with arcade games of the 1980's. That night I stuck with Frogger, Donkey Kong, and a promising-sounding "Moon Patrol".

We ordered two giant pizzas from an un-known place, that were plainly and cheesily good. I know the sauce was lightly infused with fresh basil. The box is pictured in case anyone can identify the place - it claims:


Someone there takes great pride in their beer selection, because strewn on the bar are papers with approximately thirty brews listed and described. Those I tried (in order of preference):

Brooklyn Smoked Weissbock: Brewed by the Brooklyn Brewery in Brooklyn, New York. German-style Weissbock has a strong wheat and and banana aroma with flavors of smoked malt, toffee and baked bread. (It really did taste like all of those delightful things)

Climax ESB: Brewed by Climax Brewing in Roselle Park, New Jersey. American style ESB is amber in color with light hop aroma and flavors of sweet orange, toasted malts and biscuits.

Dogfish Head Raison D'Etre: Brewed by Dogfish Head Craft Brewery in Milton, Delaware. Deep mahogany ale brewed with beet sugar, green raisins and Belgian yeast. (I am attracted to anything with beets!)

The bartender was very nice and good-humored and let me sample whenever I looked daunted and baffled by the menu.

Environmental bonus: the establishment claims it is powered by wind!

Barcade
388 Union Ave (between Ainslie and Powers Sts.)
Williamsburg, Brooklyn
New York
718-302-6464
www.barcadebrooklyn.com