Monthly Archives:

September 2013

Monday Meeting Recap

Here we are again, reconvening for a Monday morning recap of the previous week, because before we get on with new business we must revisit old business and put it to bed. And sometimes old business is a like a bad baby that just won’t go the F to sleep when it’s supposed to. Anyway, out with the old and in with the new, and let’s try not to throw this bad baby out with the bathwater in the meantime.

The mother of all summer recaps was a beast to post, given its endless list of links and references, but I gave you two booty shots for your wagging tongues.

Who knew it was possible to improve upon the vesper? The dogwood tried, but couldn’t touch it.

My Dad and I celebrated our Virgo natures.

It was a good week for those who like to eat (namely myself) with this plum oatmeal crisp, an outstanding tamarind fish curry, and one insanely good fig-arugula-goat-cheese pizza.

The Hunks were in effect, thanks to the shirtless efforts of Kit Harington, Godfrey Gao, and Gerard Butler.

Lemongrass. That’s all. Oh, and cock.

And the start of fall. It’s an under-rated season. That’s why I love it. 

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Classic Fall Shots

It’s a photo-heavy day of posts, mainly because I’m in travel status and returning from Boston today. These are a few of my favorite photos from fall.

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Couscous & Cock

This was my virgin couscous attempt, and I’m not quite sold. I think they cooked a tad too long, with a tad too much liquid. In fact, they were moist enough before adding the ¼ cup of lemon juice the recipe called for, but after a bit they soaked it all up. The Israeli couscous used here is a bit larger than the usual couscous. I used a recipe found online that called for fresh parsley, fresh rosemary, and fresh tarragon – only the rosemary was lacking from the garden, but the tarragon I had planted was so feeble I asked Andy to pick up a bunch of that too. Both the rosemary and tarragon are powerful additions, so use sparingly (I like a lot of flavor, but I might cut back on each in the future.) Along with chicken broth, some scallions, and salt and pepper, it made for a flavorful dish, perfectly complementary with the lemon rosemary chicken rotisserie that they had already cooked at The Fresh Market.

As for the couscous itself, I’m not head-over-heels in love just yet. Between this and the quinoa, I think I’d give the quinoa the edge. Of course, it may have been my over-cooking that ruined its chances, so I’ll try again in the future. The fact is, when it comes to supportive side dishes, I’ll always be a Filipino steamed rice queen at heart.

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The First Day of Fall

For most of my youth, fall signaled nothing but bad things: the start of school, the final days of freedom, and the end of playing outside. As I got older, and a return to school meant less children under shopping foot, I embraced the season. It gets a bad reputation, mostly from the end of it, when it does turn rather dismal, but it starts off in a blaze of flaming glory. Witness these scenes from a recent trip to Faddegon’s – and welcome to fall.

Apples and gourds, pumpkins and squash, mums and asters – this season is alive with color and texture. A feast for the eyes and the nose, and once the cider kicks in the tongue too.

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The Summer of 2013

Is there a sadder phrase than ‘the last day of summer‘? Perhaps ‘the last day of fall’. Or maybe just the term ‘winter’. At any rate, we’ve reached the technical end of the sunny season, but before delving totally into cashmere and corduroy, let’s take one final dip in the pool – a last remembrance of the highlights that the summer of 2013 provided. It was, after all, a Summer of Love.

It began with a return to a family tradition: a trip to Broadway with my Mom to see the season’s best shows. In this case, it was the spectacular Tony-winning production of ‘Kinky Boots‘ and the equally-spectacular (and equally-Tony-winning) revival of ‘Pippin‘. If forced to pick a favorite, I’d go with the Boots. Somewhere in that weekend was a birthday dinner with Suzie too.

It was the summer of Gatsby too, as JoAnn joined us for a Gatsby-themed party, and some summer dishes.

Cocktails are always called for, especially in the heat and sun of the season. A few notables were this cherry muddler (which effectively got me over my aversion to muddling) and the vesper, but also some Bloody Marys, a pina colada, this lychee concoction, the tequila cranberry cooler, a gloriously chilly limoncello delight, and a classic lavender drink.

The twins continued their quick growth – both physically and mentally – just beginning to talk up a storm, and entering their ‘Why?’ phase.

I finally got to meet my #1 stalker (and trust me, it takes a stalker to love one).

One of the happiest highlights of this summer was visiting Portland, Maine for the wedding of our friends Lonnie and Eric.

Madonna laid low while editing her MDNA Tour DVD, but The Madonna Timeline continued, with some memorable trips down musical lane, including ‘Crazy For You‘.

There were some noteworthy fragrances perfect for the summer season, including this gem from Hermes, and this new one from Tom Ford. (But don’t forget the Rive d’Ambre!)

Music fueled the more moody posts on here, especially with songs like ‘Life in Mono‘, ‘Carry On‘, ‘Misty‘, ‘Darling Be Home Soon‘ and ‘Verdi Cries‘.

Hard to believe, but this also marked the year of my 20th high school reunion. Again, don’t do the math.

Throughout it all, the weather stayed largely hot, with a decent deal of sun, perfect for getting naked in the pool, day or night, and comparing my naked ass then with my naked ass now.

This year marked my premiere on Instagram. (So far only one of my pictures was banned…)

Summer is also the season of shirtlessness, and the many Hunks that paraded through the hot days included the likes of the following:

There was a holiday memory in the midst of summer, and I managed to get myself kicked out of Starbucks without even trying.

It was also the summer I started to cook, in earnest, and just in time for a kitchen renovation this fall (good timing as always). It was all about the FRV (fish, rice, vegetable) trio, much of which was done on the grill. Favorites included a quinoa salad, these super grilled scallops, a raspberry-based summer salad, some figs, a lemon dijon vinaigrette salad, bitch-slap brownies, and the simplicity of a poached egg.

In July this website hit a major milestone, at least for a personal blog.

And in August I celebrated my birthday at The Mount, Edith Wharton’s estate and gardens, where it began and ended with the written word.

Finally, there was always magic to be found on summer weekends in Boston. The college kids were away, the air was warm, and the tree-lined streets of the South End offered shade and romance. It was a time of Freedom, sunsets, and quiet mornings (and evenings) in the condo.

All in all, it was a good season, but it’s time to say good-bye. Hell, after last summer’s dismal showing, it couldn’t be anything but better. Here’s looking forward to a fabulous fall.

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Back to the Beginning of Summer

The two plates pictured here are the two dishes I made when my friend JoAnn visited early on in the summer. The season had just gotten underway, and everything was fresh and new. In honor of that, and to put this summer officially to bed, I made those dishes again. One is a simple plate of heirloom tomatoes, sprinkled with olive oil and white balsamic vinegar, then dusted with almond slivers and chives, and a liberal sprinkling of salt and freshly-ground pepper.

The other is a salad made of arugula and thinly-sliced fennel, dressed with a Dijon vinaigrette (that also utilized the magic ingredient – white balsamic vinegar). The original version had been topped with a grilled chicken breast for a more substantial meal, but on this day I wanted something lighter.

As much as I love the start of fall, I’m also hesitant to let this summer go. It was a good one, filled with friends and fun times, lovely stretches of heat and sun, and trips to New York and Boston. But this is the stuff of a more-detailed summer recap that will be coming up later. For now, enjoy the salad – one last time.

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The Pool at Summer’s End

It always takes on a sad aspect now. Certainly not as sad as when it gets covered, and laid to rest, but pitiful – for its coldness, its pockets of dirty leaves, and the way it stays so still when the pump is off. This is the pool at the end of summer. The memories of bright sunny days, of laughter and splashes, of cool midnight swims are all that remain now. Will it be enough to sustain us through the fall and winter? It has to be.

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When in Doubt, Infuse the Vodka

After a season of strong growth, particularly in this hot and humid year, our stand of lemongrass is lush and full, three feet tall and just as wide. There would be no way for me to use all the stalks, so when a friend suggested infusing vodka, well, that seemed the best way to keep it going through the fall and winter. I will freeze a lot of the stalks too, as lemongrass is not always readily found at the next door Price Chopper (like most things that people want).

I’ve done several vodka infusions, but this lemongrass is one of the better ones. (Fruits should only be done in short periods of time – try a few raspberries and watch how quickly the color drains from them into the alcohol.) Lemongrass holds its color and form for far longer, the stalwart stalks holding on for weeks, making for a gloriously-slow burn, and a delicious lemon-tinged taste. I like the stems as both stirrers and garnishes. This simple cocktail was just some ice-cold lemongrass-infused vodka (steeped for at least two weeks) and a bit of bubbly ginger soda (NOT ginger ale, ginger soda). It’s both refreshing and bracing, perfect for the warm days and cool nights we’ve had of late.

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One for the Foot Fetishists

Tomorrow I’m headed back to Boston to see two of my good friends – Kira and Alissa (and Alissa’s daughter Sophia) – and to greet the fall season in my favorite city. It’s also a good opportunity to set the condo up for the next few months (such as re-stocking the basics and cleaning the floors), as I’ll be spending a wee bit more time there once our kitchen renovation begins.

For now, though, a weekend with friends, easy-going and comforting – the way fall should begin.

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Who Gives A Fig?

Last month I had an amazing pizza in the North End of Boston. It had a crispy, thin crust, a spattering of goat cheese, some figs, and a topping of fresh arugula. Not traditional by any means, but all the better for it. It haunted me, as much for its taste as for its simple rustic charm, and when I found a few similar recipes online I decided to try my hand at it.

Now, I’m not good with dough, especially pizza dough. It’s so… messy. And sticky. And it doesn’t ever do what you want it to do. I’m not one of those people who likes to “play” in the kitchen either. Aside from the occasional piece of pasta thrown at the wall (for what purpose again?) I don’t really mess around. So, rolling out the pizza dough was my least favorite part of this whole pizza-making process, and one I did rather poorly. I wanted thin crust, but this thing just puffed up like the stay-puffed marshmallow man. It wasn’t pretty – at least, it wasn’t quite what I was after. But that was the only part that didn’t work.

I assembled this version with goat cheese, some mozzarella (we had to use it up), figs, and arugula, but I added some bacon as well, and finished it off with something that, in my humble opinion, surpassed the original: a balsamic honey reduction that was both sweet and savory, and a veritable orgasmic explosion for the taste-buds.

There’s something about a wine or vinegar reduction that is magical. I don’t know the science of it, or why it works so well, but it’s sublime. And on a pizza like this, well, it’s beyond good. Obviously, it couldn’t quite recapture the exact alchemy of the North End original (that was truly a special event), but it came close, and brought me back to the freshness of a summer day, when a weekend in Boston was laid out before me, and I had nothing to do but soak it all up.

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A Tamarind Moment

This dish was an eye-opener and educator for me. With it, I learned that curry is not a spice unto itself – it’s actually a combination of several spices – coriander, turmeric and cumin. I always thought curry was, well, curry. (Told you I was a novice in the kitchen.) I also learned how good tamarind and coconut milk tasted together – particularly when topped by fresh cilantro – and how easy and quick it was to cook a piece of white fish (in this case tilapia) in such a simmering sauce.

Baby steps, folks. One day we’ll look back on this and laugh, like one might at mistaking cilantro for parsley.

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The Dogwood Cocktail

The Chinese dogwood is a small tree known mainly for its white flowers (bracts, actually) that show up, perfectly-timed, just after the American dogwood finishes blooming. It’s on the late side of the spring bloomers, lingering into June and holding up well even in that first flush of hot days. It also makes an excellent cut flower – a branch or two can make a sculptural arrangement with the slightest effort.

Less-known is the charm of the fruits that eventually follow the flowers of the dogwood. They start out small and green, before maturing into a strawberry-looking fruit that marks a second, if less-showy, period of interest. This fruit has been reaching its peak over the last week or so, and the tree is once again a show-piece of the garden. Given that this was a banner year for dogwood blooms, the fruit was also excessive, so I did a little research to determine if something could be made with them.

Surprisingly, not many bother with the dogwood fruit, and after tasting one I can see why. The skin is tough. The pits (about two or three per fruit) are hard. The flesh of the fruit, while blandly sweet (a cross between an apricot and a raspberry, with much less flavor) is mealy, its texture at first decent before breaking quickly down into something more difficult to chew – and none of it worth the trouble of the rough exterior and the bothersome seeds. From most indications, the only viable option for the fruit – for it is plentiful in its production – is a jam or jelly, when it has been boiled down and macerated enough to elicit the bit of flavor it holds, and to amend it with copious amounts of sugar and spice. I’m in no way capable of making a jam or jelly – certainly not one that requires sterilization of jars or that whole nonsensical scene – but I can do a simple syrup, say, for a cocktail. In fact, it’s a specialty.

For this one, I boiled one part sugar to one part water (a true simple syrup doubles the amount of sugar, but I abhor too much sweetness) and then simply squeezed the fruit out of its shell, dumping the whole mess into the simmering water. I kept boiling time to only about ten minutes, as the flavor seemed to take a slightly off-turn the longer it went, then I let it cool and strained it through a sieve before refrigerating for an hour or two.

For the cocktail, I kept things exceedingly basic, choosing a base of Bulldog gin – a birthday gift from my boss – and just the slightest bit of dogwood syrup, strained through a paper towel to keep things clean. (I’m still reluctant to embrace the heavily-colloidal suspension so many muddled drinks result in.)

Garnished with one of the fruit pieces, it looks slightly better than it tastes. Don’t get me wrong, in desperate times or for something different to try just to say you’ve tried it, this is a neat thing. And any time you can make something with ingredients from the front yard it’s worth an attempt. Once, though, was enough. And vodka may have been the better choice in the end. (To be honest, I had the most fun picking the berries off the tree than any of the other steps – including drinking it – and that’s rare.)

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Madonna’s New Secret

This may be one of the first times I have ever said something like this: I’m actually not super-excited about the next Madonna project. Hold up, that’s not entirely true – I was equally unenthralled by her children’s book series. And this new one is certainly more interesting than that, based on this image alone. However, if Madonna’s going to preach about how innocent people are unjustly imprisoned, well, I’m already aware. Who knows if that’s what she’ll be doing, but based on the teasers it looks like prison plays a theme in the new project – a short film directed by Steven Klein (whose artistic alchemy with Madonna ran its course years ago). Maybe I’m a bit moody, maybe I’m a bit demanding, but I’m hoping she has some kick-ass music to go along with this, or I’ll be thoroughly unimpressed.

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The Plumble

If you’ve seen ‘The Drowsy Chaperone’ you know that I did not make up the title of this post – some drunken diva did, which only makes me love it more. It works here, when one needs a spicier name than ‘Plum Crumble’ for the deliciousness you see before you. Since plums have been in season, I gave in and bought a bunch of the prune variety, and did the only sort of baking I do, which means a crumble. (I’ll never be a baker or a candle-stick maker.)

Next time, if there is a next time, I would opt for using the larger plums in this recipe, as the smaller prune plums were more work to prepare. A crumble is very forgiving though, hence its favored (only) status in my baking repertoire. I also loved how the rather yucky and non-descript color of the flesh and skin turned into this gorgeous vermillion shade during the baking process.

The recipe is from Martha Stewart, bless her heart (and I mean that in the Southernmost way) and it works quite well. For someone more versed in baking, I’m sure a crumble (or in Martha’s words an ‘oatmeal crisp’ – I’m probably wrong about the whole name, actually) is a joke. For me, it was a triumph. Give it a whirl.

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