Tria

Yesterday, Auden and I went for a stroll in the freezing cold cos we had cabin fever.

Grabbed some coffee at Verb (which, ugh, people, how 90s are you?), bought Gerald a book by Mr. Gainsbourg at Spoonbill, popped into Whisk (ran into a super old bud from Miami, totally random), and then headed down to Tria.

Ever been? You should go. I was always a fan of Blue Canary Vintage at Artists and Fleas, because Valerie, the owner, was always so nice and had curated such a nice collection of goods, including a massive vintage Ferragamo shoe collection. With her success there, she and 2 other pals from Artists and Fleas, Georgia and Ryan, opened up their own shop. It's effing brilliant. I want it all.

I went in, because Gerald bought me a necklace from Georgia's collection, and although it's super cute, it's totally not my steez, so I wanted to exchange it. I didn't find anything just perfect, but I wasn't really interested in shopping and was more entertained talking to Ryan who is fantastic, charming and makes some of the most gorgeous hats I've ever seen. Not even kidding. I wish I had the balls to wear some of the pieces that she makes. Maybe soon. Maybe for summer.

If yr ever on Grand, pop on in there, because it's all gorgeous, reasonably priced and run by 3 amazing ladies.

Oh My Frittata

After an afternoon of play and snacks at Mamalu with Auden, I decided to pop into my fave grocery store, Urban Rustic to pick up ingredients for tonight's frittata (and what will be tomorrow's breakfast if there's leftovers.)

If you've never been, you should. Yes, I'm going to make another list. Here's why:

1. Almost everything there is local and sustainable. If it's not local, then it's at least organic and still sustainable.
2. They run on wind energy.
3. They make effing awesome sammiches, burritos and omelettes. Their omelettes are huge, come with a protein and 2 other add ins, a salad and toast and costs $6.50. All local. All yum.
4. Did I mention they deliver?
5. Did I mention they do online grocery delivery for a freaking dollar. Yes. One. Dollar.
6. Four words: French Apple Pie Granola
7. They carry the whole range of Mast Brothers chocolate. (you should be sold on just this fact alone.)
8. They have a cute little eat in cafe, and during the summer they have an outside offshoot by the dog run at McCarren where they grill sausages, both carcass and non-carcass.
9. A massive assortment of vegan desserts that do not taste vegan.
10. They sell organic vegetables grown by high school kids in a local Williamsburg school's farm.

Everyone there is always so nice, that it makes it an even better experience. It's like good karma all around.

So if you get a chance, go, cos you should support yr local food scene. If yr by the park and need a really good latte and a sammich and maybe some eggs and prosciutto for later...go. You'll thank me. Your welcome in advance.

Sugar Free Again, Day 1

Apparently, sugar free gives me mondo bitch face. I was tired. I wasn't sugared up. Everyone thought I was angry, cranky or annoyed. I was none of it, just tired.

I survived, tho.

On the menu for tonight:
Roasted local yellow zucchini and leeks
Shaved fennel salad
Baked tofu

I'll tell you how it turns out.

Oh, and my new favorite website: 101cookbooks.com . Ch-ch-check it!

Eff Cookies.

Okay, so that whole "blah blah blah, look at me, I can eat all the cookies I want and not get fat" bullshit is dunzo. This bitch has gained like 5 lbs in I don't know exactly how long, but it is unacceptable.

It's fine tho, cos it's all about health right now. Health. Health. Health. This is the Healthy New Year.

What that means: I'm going back on the sugar free diet. Oh yes. It's gonna be great though, because for Christmas, my dearest husband got me sessions with a personal trainer as a gift. Sweet, lovely husband. This also means that back fat go bye bye. This is most exciting and riveting.

My plan to lose 10-15 lbs: (Yes, I do have it to lose, it's all on my waist, I just hide it well, I promise.)

-Get the damn trainer on the phone. He's been on vacation for a week.
-Start menu planning. (I already have this week's food planned!)
-Drink less. I need to de-Proseccofy my life a bit.
-Be super supportive of my friends who are also looking to be Health. It'll help me. Sharing is caring.

I'll start posting recipes as I come across them. And if I get a little ambitious I may even take pictures of my food. But as you can see from the lack of pics on my blog, I'm a lazy bitch and the chances of that happening are slim to none.

Here's to Health. Here's to the end of back fat forever. Here's to wearing a bikini in a few months and making people very very angry. :D

Happy Health Year, betches.

My friend's Wren

My upstairs neighbor Mary has started a gorgeous little line of hand knit baby dresses and sweet candles called Wren. Seeing as I have a big mouth, I had to share.

When Mary asked if she could borrow my child one Saturday morning, I knew she must have been up to some goodness and ran upstairs to see what she had going on. After measuring Auden for reference, she showed me what she was up to. Perfect little dresses, with perfect little bows. I started picturing a little girl with some ribbons in her hair and colored tights and mary janes, having a tea party. I will admit, it made my ovaries ache a little. (No, not anytime soon, get over it, don't even ask.)

As of right now, she's only got dresses, so Auden can't be a little model, but the second she gets to her baby boy line, I'm SO snatching it all up.

Christmas Wishes, the selfish edition

1. A new bag. My purple plastic one is all kindsa tore up.
2. A new winter coat. I haven't bought a winter coat since fall 05.
3. My apartment to be magically reorganized and purged exactly how I want it.
4. To own no extra crap.
5. That junk mail would go away. It clutters my life and is not very green.
6. At least one Le Creuset piece. Either casserole with lid or grill pan.
7. A cleaning person to come once a month and do all the things I don't wanna.
8. Magically self folding and hanging clothing.
9. Milk spills to not stink on clothing.
10. Baxter's poo to smell less like, well, poo.


Oh, and in unselfish wishes:
Happiness and health for my family and friends, plenty of non Elmo or Barney toys for Auden, new boots for Gerald, boyfriends (or at least several hot sexy dates) for my single friends, and peace on earth, goodwill towards man.

Whatchoo want from Santy Claws?

Thankswormy Dinner

Gerald and I are both pescatarians. Actually, I'm pretty much vegetarian, save for when I cave at the sight of a Dumont crab cake, or you put some Sweetwater calamari in front of me. I lost my ability to eat shrimp during my preggers. Sucks, I know. I'm forever scampiless, which is a shame because I make it effing amazing.

Anyhow, Thanksgiving for us has always been a seafood feast: king crab legs and the aforementioned scampi. This year, I wanted to switch it up a bit. Make it less Florida-y and a more seasonal. I decided on cod, since that doesn't gross me out, and parsnip mash and roasted seasonal vegetables and a pumpkin pie. It was perfect. It was going to be so easy.

We made our annual trek to Whole Foods in Union Square (which was surprisingly empty...). There was no line in the seafood department, and the very friendly fishmonger got me 2 8-oz fillets. Picked up 2 lbs of parsnips, some garlic and a clamshell of local seasonal veggies that included some purple and orange cauliflour, peculiar broccoli and other yummies. Perfect!

I made my cheater's pumpkin pie using organic pumpkin pie mix from a can and a premade graham cracker crust. Shh, don't judge. Then, it was time to peel and chop my parsnips. Mixed that with all the cloves of garlic from one bulb and some Portuguese olive oil and salt and pepper, and threw it all in the oven for 20 minutes.

While that was roasting, I decided to prep my seasonal vegetables. Opened the clamshell...and ew. And by ew, I mean, the orange cauliflour had peculiar smelly brown spots all over it. There went that idea. I had an acorn squash that I kept forgetting to use, so I found a great recipe for a savory version that had a chile lime vinaigrette. I prepped the squash and improvised a smidge on the vinaigrette, since I didn't have fresh chiles and used the piri piri oil I made last month instead. By the time that was over, it was time to mash the parsnips and let the acorn squash roast.

So far, my timing was really on point, and I was feeling really organized. When the squash had 10 minutes left, it was time to cook the cod. I seasoned each side with just salt and pepper, put some more Portuguese olive oil (it tastes way better than normal Italian olive oil, I swear) in the pan to heat and then gently eased the cod onto the heated pan.

What a feeling! My parnsips were plated, my vinaigrette was ready, the squash was almost done and cod was 5 minutes away from perfection. I revisited the fish to make sure it was cooking nice and evenly and noticed something....disturbing. There was something moving. On my fish. There was something small and thin and whitish squeezing it's way out of my fish. What. The. Fuck. Is that a fucking worm? Am I crazy? Is there a worm in my fish? No, for real, what the fuck is that?

I couldn't call Gerald over, because he was trying to get Auden to nap. I was starting to panic. Whole Foods sold me rotten seasonal vegetables and wormy fish. Thanksgiving dinner was ruined! I did a quick google search. I typed: worm in fish. Lo and behold, my cod had...codworms. Apparently, this is normal. Apparently, almost all white fish have worms. We just don't know about them because fishmongers use a technique called 'candeling' before they sell us fish to get all the worms out before we freak the fuck out and throw the shit away.

So, I removed the now dead worm out of the fish and threw it away. And we had our Thankswormy cod that was delicious. Although, I must admit, I was overanalyzing every piece that went into my mouth. And, full confession, I lasted 5 bites and gave the rest to Gerald. I swear I just felt little things squirming in my belly.

Let this be a lesson to you: worms in yr fish are okay, as long as they're dead. And all your fish have them.

Bon Apetit, and Happy Thanksgiving, y'all!