If you live in New York City and aren’t a member of Groupon, you’re missing out. They offer daily deals on events, classes and services in and around the city. I heard about it last time I got my hair cut. My stylist was listing out all of the offers she’d taken advantage of, and when she said “Bollywood dance classes,” I was sold.
Sadly, I missed the Bollywood dance classes, but I couldn’t resist the introductory class at New York Circus Arts. I’ve been obsessed with aerial silks ever since Evan and I saw a burlesque performer at One Eyed Jacks in New Orleans do an amazing silks act, and then a week later, there was Pink at the Grammys. I thought about who on my IM list would immediately agree to do something so nutty with me, and who would be good company. Summer, of course. A few minutes later we were registered and ready to go. Our class was this past Saturday.
Now, the first thing you need to know about me is that I’m a klutz. Like, if they offered courses in being a klutz, they’d just send me an honorary degree — I wouldn’t even have to show up for a class. Summer admitted she was looking forward to some klutzy hilarity from me. I did not disappoint.
First, our sexy teacher Gino announced that we’d be doing handstands. Now, I’ve spent the better part of my adult life avoiding doing handstands in yoga classes, so I wasn’t terribly excited about this development. But I had signed up for circus school, so I was going to be a sport and get my circus on, upside-down.
And then not only did I fall when I attempted to do my handstand, but I managed to bring down Gino with me. Awesome. Summer was in stitches.
Next we moved on to trampoline. I’m not sure if this is because, as women, we tend to be polite and accommodating, but despite the fact that we were not situated in any sort of line, we went in exactly the same order that we went in for handstands, and that was to be our order for the entire day.
I watched each person get on the trampoline and was puzzled by the look of panic that came over each face after the first jump. Then it was my turn, and I immediately understood. This wasn’t the small, round trampolines of our youth — no, this was powerful, and when you take that first jump, you have a “whoa” moment, wherein you realize that you’re getting a lot more air than you bargained for or know what to do with.
We did some basic stuff — jump, sit, stand, do a somersault. Then Gino did a demonstration of jumping, then sitting, then twisting your body around to the other side, then sitting again, then standing. Everyone laughed, and there were some “yeah right”s thrown in for good measure. One by one, every member of the group more or less failed.
Then it was my turn, and I too, more or less failed, with an emphasis on the “more.” I went the extra mile, though, and landed and then skidded on my elbow, tearing it open. It immediately began bleeding profusely.
One I got the bleeding under control, we moved onto pairs juggling. Summer and I had some issues, as you can imagine a partnership between someone who is 5′11″ (Summer) and someone who is 5′4″ (Me) juggling together might. Still, we considered practicing and taking our act on the road under the name “Pink Glitter.”
After juggling, we did some trapeze. Here are some heinously unattractive pictures of the two of us doing that:
See the big bandage on my elbow?
After trapeze, we moved onto aerial silks, which I had been looking forward to all afternoon. I quickly realized that I have no upper body strength. None. Zero. But if someone were to hoist me up — first Gino and then Summer, I could manage to get myself inverted.
After the silks, we were done. The intro to circus arts class was tons of fun, and I’d recommend it to anyone. And it made me realize that, while I was something of a daredevil in my younger days, I’ve gotten too cautious in my old age. I need to push myself more, get out of my comfort zone, do things that make me nervous or in some cases, terrified. Which is why I’m going to sign up for the aerial silks course, the full-length one, despite the fact that I have an often crippling fear of heights.
But first, I’m going to bulk up to the point where I can actually do a push-up or two. And maybe I should warn the teacher than I’m something of a danger to myself and others.
Friday night, I had a few friends over for a Mexican-themed dinner party. As often happens when I entertain, I got so caught up in cleaning and cooking and making sure everyone had something to snack on and something to drink that I forgot to take pictures of my food. But lucky for me, there were some leftovers. Here’s what was on the menu:
Appetizer: Chips and guacamole (Brenda has requested my guacamole so often that whenever she’s coming over for dinner now, I just automatically add it to the menu)
Entree: Two types of tamales: cactus/queso fresco (vegetarian) and chicken/tomatillo with yellow rice and refried beans on the side
Dessert: Flourless chocolate/chili cake with rum-flavored whipped cream.
Here are a couple of pictures:
The aforementioned tamales.
Full disclosure: I made these a couple of days later because I’m tweaking the recipe, but they’re essentially the same cakes.
Jeff and Reshma brought this wine, a Terra Noble Gran Reserva Carmenère, and it was divine. I’m not a wine connoisseur by any means — I know that I like wine, and that sometimes I’m given terrible wine that I don’t like, and that it’s usually a chardonnay, but I don’t really know much about it. When I took the first sip of this, though, I said, “Oh wow, this tastes like bacon.” And any wine that tastes like bacon is a-okay in my book.
Overall, I was pleased with how everything turned out. I’m such a perfectionist, though. After a dinner party, I’m always nitpicking myself, and thinking of ways I could have done things better.
I’m having a Sri Lankan-themed dinner party in a few weeks, which I’m psyched about because Sri Lankan food is my favorite food of all. If you live in the NYC metro area, and haven’t had Sri Lankan food, go to Sigiri — it’s cheap, byob, and delicious. Once it gets warmer, I’m going to be doing a Staten Island Sri Lankan food tour, because Anthony Bourdain says the Sri Lankan food out there is amazing and if he says it, it must be true. (It’s not just Anthony Bourdain — Staten Island is known for their Sri Lankan food.) And I’ll remember to take pictures on both occasions. Hopefully.
And finally, a word about comments. I’ve been getting inundated with spam and have tried out a few different things to make it stop. If you have any problems leaving comments, please let me know and I’ll do some more tweaking.
How are you celebrating Nebraska’s anniversary? I hope with steak. Oh, did you need a recipe for that? Here’s one. With creamed spinach, even.
It took me a long time to get on board with the Bloody Mary. Years, even. Every few months, I’d order one at brunch, hoping that it would click, that I’d be able to appreciate this early afternoon beverage that was beloved by so many.
One day, I ordered the Bloody Mary at Bar Toto to wash down my eggs di parma with. When I took that first sip, the skies opened and the angels sang. Finally, I understood the appeal of the Bloody Mary. I also understood that all of the Bloody Marys I’d had previously had been pale imitations of The Real Thing.
Now, I’m obsessed with Bloody Marys. My favorites in Brooklyn include the aforementioned Bar Toto version, as well as the ones served up at Sidecar and Alchemy. Incidentally, those are also my three favorite places for brunch. The house-cured corned beef at Sidecar is unreal.
I’ve also been trying to perfect my own Bloody Mary recipe. I’ve made some good ones, but they required so much tweaking that didn’t get written down that I have no idea how I made them. This past weekend, Evan was all, “Make me a Bloody Mary,” and I was all, “Make it your own damn self,” and he actually did, instead of waiting for me to decide I wanted a Bloody Mary and make him one, which is what he usually does. And it was delicious. I am hereby relinquishing weekend Bloody Mary duties.
I love squash soups in the winter, but find that they aren’t always hearty enough to be a complete meal. When I make them at home, I add my secret ingredient — red lentils. Not only do they make the soup more filling, but they also punch up the color. Here’s the recipe for the one I made for lunch today:
Acorn Squash Soup
Serves 4-6
Ingredients:
1 medium acorn squash
1 tablespoon unrefined coconut oil
2 shallots, minced
1 1-inch piece of fresh ginger root, grated
4 cups vegetable stock
1 13.5-ounce of coconut milk
1 cup red lentils
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon sesame oil
Kosher or sea salt
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Pierce squash all over with a sharp knife. Place on a baking sheet and roast, turning occasionally, until a fork goes into the flesh easily, about 40 minutes. Set aside to cool.
2. Heat coconut oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add shallot and cook, stirring occasionally, until just beginning to brown, about 3 to 5 minutes. Add ginger and cook for another minute.
3. Add stock, coconut milk and lentils and bring to a boil. Lower heat to a simmer and cook, stirring occasionally, until lentils break down, about 20-25 minutes. Stir in cayenne pepper.
4. Cut squash in half. Scoop out seeds, and then rinse and dry them. Scoop out the flesh and add it to the soup. Season with salt to taste and simmer for about 5 minutes.
5. Toss squash seeds with a pinch of salt and sesame oil. On a baking sheet, roast in oven until crispy and lightly browned, about 6-8 minutes.
6. Blend soup in a standard blender or with an immersion blender until smooth. Garnish with seeds and serve.
SnOMG, you guys! It’s like a winter wonderland out there! Here’s the scene from my porch in Brooklyn:
And another:
The trip to Philadelphia and Atlantic City for this weekend has been canceled due to inclement weather. We’ll go in March, though. So what to do instead? I’m thinking soup.
It’s a new week, and that means it’s time to forget about the wine, cupcake, grilled cheese and bacon transgressions of yesterday and start fresh. And starting fresh, to me, means cooking a bunch of healthy food so later in the week when I’m feeling lazy, I don’t shove pizza in my face. I started with this: a super easy salad that isn’t really a salad (my favorite kind).
Shrimp and Lentil Salad
Serves 4
Ingredients:
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup fresh dill, finely chopped
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 cup roasted red pepper, diced
1 cup cucumber, diced
1/2 cup shallots, finely chopped
2 cups cooked lentils
8 ounces cooked shrimp
Directions:
1. Whisk together the lemon juice, mustard, salt, pepper, dill and olive oil.
2. In a large bowl, mix red pepper, cucumber, shallots, lentils and shrimp. Toss with dressing. Allow flavors to meld for at least 15 minutes before serving.
1) Does Con Edison live on my street now? Because they’ve been camped out here for about six years now.
2) Is this particular Con Edison truck driver an egg enthusiast? Because if so, I can get behind that. Eggs rock. Did you know they’re the only truly perfect source of protein? It’s true. And if this particular Con Edison truck driver is not just an egg enthusiast, is he or she moonlighting with the American Egg Board? And if he or she is moonlighting with the American Egg Board, won’t Con Edison frown on their company-branded truck being used in such a manner?
3) What point is this particular Con Edison driver trying to make about bacon, exactly? Is it on par with the egg? The perfect accompaniment? A food so delectable that it needs no words, no context? A cuisine onto itself?
4) Did a random egg lover vandalize this particular Con Edison truck with his or her important message of breakfast? Was he or she working alone, or with a separate bacon lover? Or did the egg lover vandalize the Con Edison truck first, and then a bacon lover came along, felt bacon needed to be represented in any breakfast-related graffiti, and added to what was already there?
5) Would you have even more questions if you saw the other side of the truck?
Because I do. And I plan to spend the remainder of the afternoon loitering in the proximity of this particular Con Edison truck until I get some answers.
Linus sent me this wonderful video today. Here’s the description:
A video made in stopmotion for competition AdobeYouGC. The simulation of a tutorial which shows how to make the lovely butter cookies with the new Adobe Photoshop Cook! Whole set was made with cardboard and with kitchen utensils.
Adobe Photoshop Cook from Lait Noir on Vimeo.
