Pizza!

187/365
July 8, 2010

Okay, so finally a post about one of the best cooking classes ever. On a whim, I decided I needed a break from school classes and signed up for a pizza class at the Brooklyn Kitchen. This is one of the best decisions I've ever made. A couple of guys from a popular Brooklyn pizzeria showed us some tricks to making NY-style pizza in a home oven. We've had many home-made pizza's now and I even made some while visiting my folks in Arkansas. Pizza right out of the oven is unbeatable.

Before cooking:


After cooking:

Cary Brothers

186/365
July 7, 2010

Excuse the poor point and shoot shot, but I rarely lug my main camera to watch bands play unless they are playing a short walk from home. A friend wanted to see Greg Laswell so we joined. It turned out that one of the opening acts was the Cary Brothers, who you might know for their song "Blue Eyes" on the Garden State soundtrack. There were three acts and they were all basically the same guys, just different leads. A fun show in the far corners of Williamsburg.

A much needed haircut

185/365
July 6, 2010

I had not had a haircut for at least a year and half, so I decided it was time. Luckily, our friend and neighbor just finished school for such things and is very good at it. She came over and cut my hair in our kitchen. I don't love pictures of myself so the only reason I'm posting this is because it was my only picture for that day. Months later and this cut still looks good.

Craig in our 6th Ave rental

184/365
July 5, 2010

An average evening for Craig, watching smash videos online.

Sunflower

183/365
July 4, 2010

Just a close-up of one of the many sunflowers we've had in the house this summer. Some came from the CSA, the rest from the farmer's market.

Inside the Old American Can Factory

182/365
July 3, 2010

This is a building that is now used by lots of artists for studio space. I've been in part of it a couple of times, but this night we went to watch short films on the roof. It was a really nice night and a large crowd showed up for the films, and even people in the nearby hotel came out on their balconies to watch. This shot is in a dark hallway, where I went on a scavenger hunt for a bathroom. It's a charming building.

My microplane

181/365
July 2, 2010

I don't know why I did not buy one of these sooner. It's great for grating garlic, nutmeg, ginger, onion, lemons, etc. AND it's easy to clean. If you cook much with any of those ingredients, get a microplane grater/zester.

bike closet

180/365
July 1, 2010

One of the points of our current rental that helped hook us was the under the stoop storage. We wanted an easily accessible spot to store bikes without having to drag them through the house, which is hard here since they don't actually fit through the hallway. It's outside but our bikes are protected from rain and snow, and behind a locked gate, so perfect. The house we are trying to buy also has stoop storage. Every bit of possible storage is used in NYC.

Moving?

179/365
June 30, 2010

We have been looking at places to buy all around our neighborhood and nearby for a while. For a year or so, I knew too much information on every available property in the area over a certain size. We saw condos and coops and strange things in basements and I showed Craig the movie "The Money Pit". We went to tons of open houses and finally found a place that seemed like our best option. We've had an offer accepted on the home that goes with this door. If all goes well, there will be many, many more pictures of the house in the future.

CSA

178/365
June 29, 2010

This week's share included cherries, snapdragons, a sage plant, broccoli, kohlrabi, green onions, garlic scapes, kale, radishes, snow peas, and some other greens.

Hot, hot, hot

177/365
June 28, 2010

A whopping 86 degrees in our apartment at 9:30pm. I told you it was hot.

Yards

176/365
June 27, 2010

The views from our deck.

Our place is on the avenue and the look out the back is pretty much straight down the middle of the block. This shot is over the tops of lots of backyards.


Looking north to a well-kept yard.


Looking south to a somewhat neglected yard. They only use it for clothes drying.

A magical cooling bed

175/365
June 26, 2010

It's not really magical, but it is great. It's a dog "cooling" bed. You fill it with water, which is good at pulling heat away from us (to put it really simply) and it keeps the dog (or me, if I happen to lie on it) cool. This summer has been far warmer than our previous 5 summers here and Shep has been miserable, hence the bed.

The Waffle building

174/365
June 25, 2010

This is supposedly the southernmost building on Manhattan (the street number is 1) and it happens to be where Craig's office is located these days. I think they are on the 33 floor or so, with another floor or two above or below. We always describe it as the "waffly looking building" when trying to help people pick it out from the other tall, grey buildings.

I'm not on a boat

173/365
(Taken June 25)
June 24, 2010

I was in Battery Park (I think I went to Craig's office nearby to take him something he needed, but I don't remember why I was there). There were lots of boats out on the water and I wished I were on one of them. I'm now determined to get a group of friends together for a boat tour either up the Hudson or around Brooklyn for a few hours. If not this summer, next! There are options from 6 people up to huge groups.

Taco Salad

172/365
June 23, 2010

A tasty dinner inspired by the CSA greens.

Another CSA share

171/365
June 23, 2010

The CSA share for this week included: a mixed bouquet, kohlrabi (yeah, I had no idea what that one is either), strawberries, kale, bok choy, spinach, lettuce, and garlic scapes. It was a very greens-heavy week.

Produce department

170/365
June 21, 2010

A market around the corner from us has been revamping the store. Part of that includes changing the store name to Smart and Healthy, which I think is funny. I wonder if people feel healthier for shopping there (it's just got the regular stuff). One thing they did is add this outdoor area for produce. You'll pretty much only see produce in sidewalk stands at groceries here.

The city, in an effort to encourage people to have and choose healthier foods, makes it pretty easy for stores to get permits for sidewalk displays if they only use the space for produce. (See, I learned *something* in school). Space is hard to come by here, and grocery stores tend to have small aisles and use every bit of space to stock as much as possible. Being able to add space outside is important to store owners, and in areas where there is little fresh produce, the residents gain more food options. I also think a nice display makes the stretch of sidewalk look nicer.