Where Am I and What Day Is It?

Here we are again. The end of another month in New York and it just dawned on me that it's about to be fall. My schedule is so focused on school and house guests that I almost never know the date, just if it's a school day or one to be spent preparing for the arrival of a good friend. Today is both as I have class tonight (on flans and custards) and my BFF Donna arrives at the crack of dawn tomorrow on a redeye from San Diego. Mike and I are equally excited about her arrival as she is like family, having lived in the apartment across from us for nearly 4 years in San Diego. We spent several nights a week preparing and eating dinner together and we can't wait to do more of the same here. I expect a fantastic weekend of eating well with a little karaoke in the mix. Mike's excitement level probably just dropped a notch. With that said, I will now share the gems unearthed and pearls of wisdom picked up in my most recent 30 days in New York.

1. My latest regular guilty food pleasure is a ham, cream cheese and mushroom crepe from the crepe window downstairs from our apartment. It has replaced the pain au chocolat from Amy's Bread, which replaced a daily salt bagel toasted with cream cheese from pretty much anywhere.
2. The steps to our apartment are brutal, but at least it allows me to have guilty food pleasures. (Just now realizing I would probably be a size smaller if I didn't allow myself guilty food pleasures. Nah, not worth it!)
3. Pastry has been fun in class, but the measuring and precision are so not my style. I like to be able to fix things if I mess them up by adding a little seasoning (or a stick of butter). With pastry, if you mess up, it goes in the trash and you start over.
4. We learned how to make puff pastry dough in class on Wednesday (my first attempt ended in the compost bin with a sticky thud), which we froze and will use in class on Monday. I am interested to see how it turns out and if the difference between the commercially prepared stuff is considerable. Roll, turn, roll, turn, rest, roll, turn, roll, turn, rest, roll, turn, roll, turn. No thanks.
5. French pastries have too many egg yolks. Our ladyfingers tasted like eggs, our eclairs tasted like eggs, and quite frankly, I don't like it. To be fair, once you soak them in Marsala or fill them with pastry cream it works, but I say dial it down a notch on the egg yolks already.
6. Lunch at Jean Georges is seriously the best fine dining deal in the city. Well given that I've been to probably .05% of New York's restaurants, I am basing this on what I know so far. I've been twice now with guests and am planning on taking Donna there this week as well. It's a perfect, perfect, perfect dining experience.
7. On a completely different scale of what makes a good deal, Mamoun's falafel is my new favorite bargain. $2.50 gets you a pita stuffed with lettuce, tomato, tahini sauce and the most perfect falafel I have ever tasted. If you've had the crusty, dried out variety and think you don't like falafel, you've got to try these. They are perfectly crispy on the outside, moist and tender inside, and flawlessly seasoned and spiced. YUM.
8. We stumbled on a food cart in Washington Square last weekend that is a revelation and I am thrilled that it is 2 blocks from our apartment. $6 gets you a dosa, a delicate, lacy crepe made of rice and lentils then filled with spicy potatoes and veggies. I will be visiting the Dosa Man now regularly and it just might take my cream cheese laden crepe's spot on the regular guilty food pleasure list although it would be minus the guilt.
9. The Union Square Greenmarket is THE BEST! I am kicking myself for not getting there sooner because it is huge and full of the seasonal deliciousness that gets Mike & I all excited about home cooking. I am definitely taking Donna there this weekend to inspire us for whatever meal we decide to make as "a family".
10. The most consistent thing about the weather here is that it is totally inconsistent. This is an adjustment coming from the land of perpetual sunshine.
11. The brutality of high heat humidity seems to have waned for the time being leaving me to wonder how long the nice weather will last before it either becomes unbearably hot or unseasonably cold. These are new emotions and I would prefer not to have them.
12. I love thunderstorms. They happen so frequently here but I am not tired of them yet. We like to sit on our window ledge together and watch the show. One of my friends here put it beautifully saying that it's one of the few things that make NYC feel small.
13. I have become a night owl. Between not getting out of class til 11pm and needing 2 or 3 hours to wind down and the post class camraderie, my schedule is out of wack. I sleep late then stay up late and can't figure out how to break the cycle or even if I really need to.
14. I just figured out that instead of spending an hour handwriting recipes on index cards for class, I could shrink them at a copy shop and glue them to the cards. Thank you Korean Spiccoli for saving me 84 hours of wasted time over the next several months. I am a moron for not doing this sooner.
15. I miss my nieces and nephews so much. My eldest niece started kindergarten this week and I am so sad that they are growing up 3,000 miles away. Luckily, we will see two of them over Labor Day on our visit to Buffalo. Sigh.
16. Mike found Charger fans here in Manhattan and we are so excited about it! I don't know what this says about me, but one of the things I knew I would miss most in San Diego was Football Sunday, either going to the games or watching them with our fanatic friends. Mike found a spot where 40 or so fans get together to watch the games every weekend, complete with Charger banners and custom beer pong table. YAY!
17. The Patriots still get the prize for most annoying fans with the biggest mouths, which is not something new that I have experienced while living here I just wanted to take a moment to share my deep abiding hatred for New England and the droves of donkeys that it produces. Monique, you are not included, we both know that this is directed at Chris. That is if he ever stopped starring at the poster of Tom Brady over his bed to read my blog.
18. Being busy is taking it's toll. I'm either too fried to come up with 30 things that I've learned this past month or I am getting dumber and less clever. I am going to go with fried and called it a day at 18. Plus, Donna has arrived (flash forward 24 hours) and we have lots of things to see and people to annoy. If you've ever spent time with us, you know why some people might find us annoying or just childishly silly (tap dancing in circles).

Happy Weekend!