Twenty Ten: A New Year & A New 30

Remember me? I know it's been a while but what can I say? I got caught up in the holiday hubbub and now that the confetti has finally settled, I've got a lot to share. So I am going to kick off 2010 with a special 30 things I've learned, done or seen in the last 30 days of 2009 as well as a few things I am hoping to do see, learn, or in some cases, never again repeat in 2010.

1. The holidays in New York City were inspiring. Walking to work or school with the Rat Pack singing me Christmas tunes via iPod allowed me to look at the crowds, grinches, and scrooges through rose colored glasses. My Christmas cheer level was at an all time high this year.



Salvation Army Rock Stars

2. I did 99% of my shopping online and I think that was about 80% of the reason my Christmas cheer cup was overflowing. No fighting crowds, no standing in long lines, no buying gifts that aren't exactly perfect but you just need to get the hell out of the store. Just me, a cup of eggnog, and my laptop. (Contented sighing).

3. We had our first snowstorm in New York on Saturday the 19th. We got close to a foot of snow and it coated the city in powder and temporarily hid the grime and garbage. It was lovely. Here's a pic of Mike and I walking home from a holiday party in the Village.



Note: This photo was taken just a short while after I slipped and landed so hard on my bum that I couldn't sleep on that cheek for 3 nights.

4. Speaking of holiday parties...my class threw one at a Korean restaurant in the East Village on blizzard night and I am confident we as a group will never be allowed back. I haven't seen such madness since my last San Diego State frat party. It was like letting a group of caged animals loose. I feel a mixture of shame and amusement just thinking about. Mom, you'll be pleased to know that I did not do any of the following: break a chair, break glasses, lose my dinner, or get carried out unconscious. I did acquire a bruise the size of my face on the previously mentioned cheek, but I maintain that had more to do with the snow than the Soju we were served.

5. We spent Christmas in Buffalo with Mike's extended family, although I feel like I am equally a part of the family after our three years living there. They are a great bunch of people best described as very loving wise asses.

6. Mike's aunt made her traditional Christmas Eve feast for us which consists of a mountain of jumbo shrimp cocktail, beef tenderloin, lobster tail, twice baked potatoes and peppermint cheesecake. This in addition to the 4,000 plates of cookies and sweets she put out for us and following the couples massage she booked for us upon arrival. Needless to say, we were spoiled!

7. We spent Christmas night at our good friends, Trisha and Mike's home on Lake Ontario watching the Chargers - Titans game. We showed up in full Charger gear (complete with my new lightning bolt earrings that Santa put in my stocking) and they were very good sports. Mike #2 yelled at the TV right along with us and Trisha cued up the San Diego Super Chargers song and drinks every time the Bolts scored, which was often.

8. We had a chance while in Buffalo to reunite with my all my old co-workers and their significant others (well in one case, two of them have become significant others) for wings at the Anchor Bar and drinks at our favorite bar on Allen St. It's kind of smelly but it's our favorite because it has a photo booth and we probably spent $20 trying to cram ourselves in there. Good times.

9. We made a Sunday trip up to Niagara-on-the-Lake, Canada for wine tasting and lunch at one of our favorite wineries, Vineland. It's been several years since we have been up there and I was even more impressed with the quality of the wines. Especially when you consider the bone chilling cold and wind, it's amazing what they are able to produce.



Note to Elaine: You will notice the lovely scarf I am sporting in this picture. Thank you so much for the gift and encouraging words, they are very much appreciated.

10. We were welcomed back from Buffalo with bone-chilling, face-numbing winds. The wind just seems to scream down the streets and smack your cheeks leaving them red and stinging. Yaaaay...

11. It was 76 in San Diego yesterday. Yaaaay...

12. Winter just began. Yaaaay...(crying quietly)

13. We spent New Years Eve on Long Island with some good friends continuing our tradition of a multi-course tasting menu paired with wines and beers. It was awesome as usual, although it did make me miss our San Diego friends who have shared the tradition with us previously.

14. The Chargers are going to make my head explode. They are playing so well that it's hard not to look at where they may go, especially considering that they fell to 2-3 after a Week 5 loss to Denver that looked nearly impossible to bounce back from. I was ready to break up with them and was grateful for the bye week and some time apart to evaluate our relationship. Now here they are, teetering on the brink of greatness and getting ready to deliver the biggest gift a fan could ever hope for or to lay a playoff egg and punch me in the gut again. So exciting, yet excruciating. Inhale. Hold. Exhale.

15. I've mentioned before that school is flying by, but today begins the final phase of my education. I will spend Levels 5 & 6 cooking at L'Ecole, the school's highly regarded restaurant. I'm excited and ready to get some experience cooking for real people. We rotate our way through 5 stations over 6 weeks Garde Manger (appetizers, salads, soups), Poissonier (fish), Saucier (meats), Patissiere (Pastry), and Entremetier (Daily Special and Vegetarian Entree). I start on Entremetier tonight and am grouped with 4 others on this same station. I'm sure I will have more to report on my newest endeavor. Stay tuned.

16. While Level 3 was intense and focused on whipping us into shape in regards to timing, organization and cleanliness, Level 4 felt like something of a vacation. There were several nights when are prep work and cooking was complete and we took on extra projects making cookies or curing meats for fun. There were also nights where we spent a good portion of the time goofing off and trying not to get caught. In short, going from Level 3 to Level 5 would have made more sense. We were focused and disciplined and now it feels like I have to ready my head, sharpen my knives and put the pressure back on.

17. Level 4 made my pants tighter. We had more down time than any other level and therefore more time to eat and plenty of leftover food to take home. I'm almost looking forward to the lack of time to eat in the restaurant kitchen so I can zip up my jeans without laying down.

18. I've been trying to walk instead of taking the subway whenever I can to combat the Level 4 side effects. This wind chill though makes it pretty unappealing. I hate that the forecast includes words like "bitter", "bone chilling", and "17 but feels like 3".

19. I know I said in this post that I would try to only write positive things about winter in order to not allow myself get in funk, but it's haaaaard. Wah.



The best way to look at Winter

20. Okay, I just realized that since I have to get through at least another 3 months of this weather, I better find a silver lining quick. Hmmm...it's nice to not be soaked in sweat when I'm walking around. Now it just happens as soon as you walk indoors in 13 layers.

21. That wasn't very successful. Okay here is actually a silver lining. Mike got me one of those faux fur lined wool hats with the ear flaps and chin strap for Christmas. It's like wearing Uggs on your head. Toasty warm, but not very attractive. I love it.

22. Looking ahead to 2010, I do have a few hopes, wishes, and plans for the new year and decade for that matter. First is that two sweet little babies continue to grow and become healthier. Let's hope that when they turn 1 in April that we will be there to give them hugs and kisses and celebrate their being cancer free.

23. With two-thirds of my education under my belt, let's hope that the my career path and next step come into clearer focus. My plan is to work in a restaurant kitchen here in New York for at least a year before we decide what and/or where is next. Not knowing what the future holds is both exhilarating and anxiety inducing, but I know that whatever it is, I have the best possible companion for the journey.

24. Speaking of companions, Mike's zest for beer is gaining steam, if that is possible. He brewed his 3rd batch in November and it is finally ready to drink. He calls it 3rd Street Stout, named for our location. He brewed an Oatmeal Stout and then divided it into 3 batches. He left one as is, added Gorilla coffee (a Brooklyn coffee roaster) to the second, and to the third he added coffee that he had steeped in bourbon. They are all very good, my favorite being the regular Oatmeal Stout, although if I am in the mood for an eye opener, the bourbon coffee stout definitely has a caffeinated kick.

25. I'm looking forward to the next batch, which I get to pick the style and I am leaning towards some sort of Belgian Ale. You never know, someday you may just find us with a brewpub of our own.



Inside the Brewery, aka our kitchen

26. Another wish for the New Year is for square footage. We'll see once I am finished with school and have a job if we can afford a larger apartment, but something tells me making $11 an hour as a line cook is going to inflate our income only enough to find open spaces on a weekend getaway to Connecticut. Sigh.

27. As far as plans for 2010, we'll be doing some traveling in celebration of milestones. There will be births: a new niece and beginnings and additions to our friends families. There will be birthdays: two little fighters with something big to celebrate. There will be weddings: summer in San Diego, yes please!
And there will be house warmings: a Paris apartment, don't mind if I do.

28. The other travel plans I'm banking on is to win one of the 14 contests I entered to win tickets to the Super Bowl, which of course the Chargers will play in and win. Oprah told me if I visualize it and make a collage about it and stare at it, it will happen. She was right about all those books, so she better be right about this.

29. Another very important plan for 2010 is to get my hair cut and colored. My BFF Donna used to do my hair in San Diego and she was out here in August and that was my last cut and color. I don't think I will find anyone who compares to her and I have been putting it off. It turns out that I have a startling number of grey hairs that went previously unnoticed under the constant coloring. I can't put this off any longer...

30. In all seriousness though, I am looking forward to another years worth of memories, lessons, challenges, and triumphs. Happy New Year!

Nothing Interesting Happens In This Blog

I've been lacking inspiration lately. There are times when I sit down with my laptop and tap my thoughts right onto the keyboard and the page magically fills with a cohesive account of my experiences. And then there are times when I sit down and stare at the blank screen willing it to be filled with something readable. On those days, I am usually tempted to create a complaint filled blog that virtually whines when you read it. If I were to peck on the keys on one of those days the result would be organized something like this:

Introduction: Poor me doesn't have enough money to live in this fantastic city.

Body: I'm tired from being so busy with work and school and friends. Nothing new, exciting, or glamorous happened to me in class or on the weekend.

Closing: Waaaaaah.

So I sat down today determined to continue my weekly updates with a clever, engaging little tale of life in the Big Apple. But I got nothin'. And I realized that the reason for this is that our life here has become pretty routine. Now that our steady stream of visitors has dried up, we actually have time on our hands to do chores, do Christmas shopping, write Christmas cards, and catch up on Tivo. So the thoughts that are running through my head involve football, bills, and "The Situation" on the Jersey Shore.

(Side note: If you have not watched this trainwreck of a show on MTV (Jersey Shore), you are missing out on the opportunity to be assaulted both verbally and visually and to have your sense of decency ripped to shreds. The premise is much like the Real World, but in this case 8 Italian-American twenty-somethings move in together for the summer on the Jersey Shore. I am sure there are young adults of similar ethnic makeup that don't spend all of their time either A) in a tanning bed, B) applying hair product, C) punching someone in the face at a bar or D)calling themselves classy while wearing booty shorts and a top that can only be described as a cloth necklace, but MTV failed to find one to put on the show. Oh and "The Situation" is a nickname that a cast member gave himself because his six-pack abs are such a situation. You couldn't make this stuff up.)

So as you can see, life is pretty boring. But boring in a nice, calm way. We put up a Christmas tree last weekend while the first snow fell outside and promptly melted. (It is flat on one side which is good for two reasons: it fits snug up against the window and it was cheap because it's deformed.) We pulled off wins with our fantasy teams. We ate meat loaf last night. I mean, seriously, I got nothin'. So I won't bore you with any more details of our leftovers and chores, but just know we are happily plugging along, getting ready for the holidays and in the full throes of Charger playoff anticipation. I will now return to HBO on Demand and a meatloaf sandwich. Have a great weekend!

30 Days: The Wistful Holiday Edition

This most recent 30 days ticked away without me even realizing another month had gone by. And I may have prematurely declared the honeymoon over. With the holiday season in full swing, there aren't many places I'd rather be filled with cheer in than New York City. Well, there are a few (Mom), but if I can't be home at least I can walk on over to Rockefeller Center and see the Christmas tree I've only ever seen on television. So in honor of our most recent month in New York and in the spirit of one of my favorite times of year, here is the holiday edition of thirty things I've discovered, experienced, observed or would like to share.

1. The crisp fall air is invigorating. We've had our coldest stretch of weather this season (in the 40's) and it's just perfect for walking around this magnificent city. Cold enough to make your cheeks rosy, but not so much that it bites.
2. Walking to work is the perfect way to start my day. I put holiday tunes on my ipod and head past the arch in Washington Square that is now occupied by a giant Christmas tree. It's impossible not to be in a good mood.
3. If you are a park, plaza, department store, building with a large lobby, or a bank in Manhattan, it is illegal to not have a giant Christmas tree.
4. The Salvation Army bell ringers here are not the downtrodden bell ringers I am accustomed to outside of the grocery store or mall in the 'burbs. The quartet (yes, there were 4!) outside of Grand Central had an acoustic guitar, were fully miked, and singing (and ringing) Feliz Navidad. Brilliant.
5. There are so many things that I've seen on TV (like the Rockefeller tree lighting or the Macy's Thanksgiving parade) that I've thought "I have to do that at least once while I live here". There's a part of me that thinks it is a necessary New York experience and that I'd be a fool to pass it up. It turns out that most of these events require a serious time investment to even get in a position to have a sliver of a view and involve an epic battle with a crowd of irritable people all jockeying for position for this one moment in time that is supposed to be a fond memory for lifetime. My decision is that I will keep the 12 hours of my life I would have spent waiting and watch it on TV...again.
6. We toured the window displays at Macy's and Saks last weekend as well as the holiday train display at Grand Central. It made me realize that the thing I love most about this time of year is being able to grab onto a little piece of that sense of wonder and magic that I had as a child.
7. I play holiday music constantly from the day after Thanksgiving until Christmas Day. I don't get tired of it and it makes me realize what a freaking sap I am.
8. I took great care in decorating our apartment as I wanted it to reflect who we are and our own personal style. I don't like kitsch, country crafts or clutter, yet for some reason at this time of year, I find it perfectly acceptable to hang a Santa Claus doll on our bathroom doorknob that plays Jingle Bells when you wind him up.
9. I think I might be dangerously close to wearing a light up reindeer sweater.
10. Given that we have no chimney to hang our stockings by with care, I've hung them above our TV on a shelving unit framing a second Santa doll whose legs dangle off the ledge of the shelf rather adorably.
11. I might be wearing a headband with mistletoe attached.
12. My favorite Christmas albums are Christmas with the Rat Pack, John Legend's NBC Special, The Carpenters, and some Old Navy jazzy compilation that I picked up probably more than a decade ago since I've known it longer than I've known Mike.
13. I knew our apartment was not big enough for a Christmas tree, but it is just now sinking in how much I will miss having a tree. I love sitting with all the lights off but the ones on the tree with a favorite CD playing and a cup of hot schnocolate. This year, I'm afraid, will be my first without a Christmas tree EVER.
14. I just decided that it would be a complete travesty to not have a tree. I will be buying the 2 footer that I saw at the Union Square Greenmarket and balancing it on an ottoman if I have to, lights, ornaments, and all. Tiny apartment, I am putting my foot down!
15. Oh and if you don't know what hot schnocolate is, it's hot chocolate with a splash of peppermint schnapps. Love it.
16. I also love egg nog. I will be picking some up tomorrow.
17. As we all know, real estate in Manhattan is worth more than gold, so you don't see vast parking lots outside of a big box retail store with an area sectioned off for Christmas trees. So just where do you find a Christmas tree in Manhattan?
18. It turns out that Christmas tree lots are much like those Spirit Halloween stores that seem to pop up everywhere in unused retail space that you never actually noticed was unused until you considered buying a sexy devil costume. The Korean deli sells Christmas trees, CVS sells Christmas trees, some guy set up shop on what looks like an island in the middle of 7th Avenue...basically they get in where they fit in.
19. Having lived far from home in years past and now doing it again, I realize that so much of making Christmas feel like the Christmas you know is recreating the familiar in a new setting. How could I possibly have considered not cramming a tree in here?
20. (Visualizing getting poked in the eye by an errant branch and breaking my nose on a manger scene.)
21. (Shaking it off and recommitting.)
22. This year we are making a triumphant return to Buffalo for Christmas, where we spent three memorable holidays seasons. The first was the most difficult, but Mike's Aunt Maureen and Uncle Ron helped us establish new traditions during our time there and I am soooooo looking forward to the butter poached lobster tail and filet mignon that follow the mountain of shrimp cocktail and directly precede the parade of butter cookies, cakes, candies and Niagara Ice Wine.
23. (Realizing I must make a point to buy gifts for the cats and pretending it's normal).
24. Although we have our new traditions, I will miss the ones I have with my family back in California. The one I will miss the most? My sister and I recounting the sleepless Christmas Eves where we spent hours drawing maps that would guide us to our stockings at the allowed time of 6:00 am. We lived in a ranch house in the shape of a T, so we were either severely directionally challenged or inherited our father's compulsion for always having a gameplan.
25. I'll miss the twinkle in my mom's eye that tells me how happy she is to have the family all together, however briefly.
26. I'll miss my dad's carefully orchestrated feast from pancakes to clam dip to turkey to pie. I probably won't miss the DVD of their photos from a second Alaskan cruise set to music...
27. I'll miss examining every ornament on the tree and each accompanying memory that it invokes.
28. I'll miss watching my beautiful nieces and nephew giddily opening their presents from Santa and watching the faces of my family as we all share in their glee.
29. (Shaking off the melancholy and returning to the present).
30. Clearly, I love the holidays. They remind me of a time filled with magic, excitement, sharing, and love. I love that this time of year has the power to soften the edges of the harsh reality of life with its bills and work weeks and depressing evening news. I love that it makes you nicer to the important people in your life and to the people you don't know at all. I love twinkle lights, the smell of pine and spice, greeting cards from old friends, holiday parties, and Christmas Vacation (both the movie and the time off). I know I'm oozing Christmas sap here and I know not everyone shares my warm fuzzy feeling for this time of year, but I hope that each and everyone of you recaptures some of the magic that December has to offer. If not, I will personally burn you a copy of Christmas with the Rat Pack and send you the makings of hot schnocolate. Cheers!

Big Grateful Bellyache

I have spent the last 4 days in a perpetual state of gluttony. I vacillate between a kind of euphoria that comes from savoring the bounty of rich foods spread out before me and a state of discomfort and shame for not putting my fork down sooner. Mike and I set out on a walk today motivated by the prospect of getting some air in our lungs and our blood pumping, as well as taking in some of the quintessential New York holiday sights. Before I continue, let me explain how we arrived at the moment when we knew it was time to close the fridge and put on our walking shoes (or knee high suede flat boots, in my case).

I'm now in the throes of Level 4 at FCI, which means we spend two week rotations in Buffet, Family Meal, and Production. Family Meal involves preparing the nightly dinner for the entire school based on a loosely followed, oft interpreted menu, while Production, as the name implies, produces food product (stocks, carefully butchered meats, etc.) to be used in the adjacent restaurant kitchen. Buffet is the most creative, offering students a chance to plan a themed buffet menu to be served to the school's chefs and lucky students on the final night of the two week rotation. My groups theme was a fall harvest menu and the final night landed on Thanksgiving Eve. There were two camps in class in terms of this twist of calendar fate: one that bemoaned the bounty of food on the eve of one of the biggest eating days of the year and the other, glass half full types, that celebrated the opportunity to do a little training (and stomach stretching) for the main event. I fell in between the two camps due to my natural tendency to both complain and look on the bright side depending on who I am talking to.

Our buffet was a success featuring nearly 30 items that ranged from housemade sausage and pates to an array of roasted and braised meats (the favorite being the braised pork cheeks), and also included a variety of autumnal side dishes and desserts (roasted brussel sprouts with bacon and pumpkin chocolate bread pudding, anyone?). Below is a photo of my buffet group and Chef Tim, a favorite chef-instructor known for his hilarious stories about private cheffing for some of Manhattan & Hollywood's elite.



The buffet produced a lot of satisfied customers and an unexpected quantity of leftovers. Being that I cannot stand to see good food go to waste (and that FCI is forbidden by law from donating food to homeless shelters because they are a teaching institution), I singlehandedly tried to rescue much of the food that was destined for the compost bin. I packed container after container of potato and cauliflower puree, corn pudding, turkey roulade, poached pears in red wine, country pate...the list goes on and on. When I volunteered to take home the cornucopia of gourds, pinecones and leaves, my classmates took their usual teasing of my food hoarding ways to new levels.

"SERIOUSLY?! It's a leaf! You can find them on the ground!"

"Can someone get her a box? There is no way she can carry all that home."

"I hope you have a big fridge..."

The last comment actually made me take pause and realize that my fridge was currently filled with the makings of a Thanksgiving feast for 12 even though we were only having 2 others over. What can I say? I have a thing for abundant turkey leftovers. In addition to the remnants I had pilfered from the buffet, the Family Meal group had offered me a pork roast and pork loin that I could not refuse. Oh...and some squab pastrami, the novelty of which I would not pass up. I managed to cart everything home in an oversize cardboard box, armed with a plan to Tetris my fridge into a state of maximum food capacity.

I made it work with some repackaging and tossing of rarely used condiments. By 1am I was tucked in bed with visions of my holiday table dancing in my head. Most people think that given my obsession with food and my enrollment in a prestigious culinary institute that I would put out a spread ready to be photographed by Gourmet (RIP). That assumption could not be further from the truth. While I experiment with exotic flavor combinations at home and I am being trained to plate classically fussy food at school, the sanctity of Thanksgiving tradition is something I don't mess with. My parents are fantastic cooks and there is a rich history of savoring long meals with an over abundance of food in my family. I cannot turn my back on the flavors that make Thanksgiving feel like Thanksgiving to me. I may occasionally be tempted by a chestnut puree or an Indian spiced turkey, but I would so miss the sausage stuffing and simple pan gravy that transport me back to Thanksgivings past.

So while I try to spend the next week walking off the creamy mashed potatoes and kick off the season of giving, I will leave you with a post Thanksgiving list of what I am most thankful for. For Mike for being so wonderfully supportive, hilarious, loving and fun and for being the one I get to come home to every day. For my family for instilling in me the value of the shared meal. For my friends for sharing meals and laughter with me. And for TUMS for mildly masking the pain and discomfort I am currently experiencing. Happy Holidays!

The Honeymoon is Over.

I knew when we moved to New York that there would come a time when I was homesick. I figured it would happen early on when we had no friends and were in unfamiliar territory. I waited for the loneliness to set in but we were so busy exploring the city that it never came. I expected bouts of frustration at not knowing my way around and irritation with navigating foreign grocery aisles, but I was so busy marveling at the volume and variety of exotic and interesting food that it never came either. I figured our honeymoon period would come to a screeching halt when the bad weather set in and leave me longing for 75 degree November days in San Diego. That too has not happened because the fall here has been absolutely gorgeous. And yet, slowly but surely, the Big Apple is losing its shine. For the first time since we've lived here, aside from the occasional fleeting thought, I find my mind wandering back to California and wondering what our friends are doing at that exact moment. When I realized that I was having recurring thoughts of life back in the Golden State, I had to ask myself "Why?!". I am still loving school. I've met some really fabulous people and made some wonderful friends. New York is an amazing city and there are endless opportunities to sate my inner gourmand. So why are visions of palm trees and gridlocked freeways dancing in my head?

It took some self analysis and reflection, but I think I've figured it out. It's true that this city offers more food, art, culture, diversity and nightlife than any other city in the country, but when you walk into a market and begrudgingly hand over $50 to pay for the makings of one meal, you feel a little beaten down. When you spend more in quarters on laundry each month than you did on your entire gas & electric bill in San Diego (which included the washer and dryer that was conveniently located in your apartment and not down three flights of stairs and around the corner), you start to think about what you would do if that money was still in your pocket. The bottom line is well...the bottom line of my bank account. The Big Apple is the most expensive damn apple I've ever eaten.

When you eat an expensive apple, the natural progression of thought is to ask yourself how good that apple really is and if it justifies the cost. Let's say that the apple is one of the best that you've ever tasted. I'll go with Honey Crisp because they are my favorite. The rosy pink and lemon yellow skin is gleaming. When your teeth break through to the fruit, sweet and tart juiciness hits your tongue and zings the back of your cheeks. The texture and flavor is a revelation of the origin of its name. When you eat this apple, you understand what tempted Eve and you know you will come back again and again. Oh, there's one more thing, you now have to pay for your apple and it costs $100. So I could beat this analogy to death a little more, but I think you understand where I'm at. I want the apple but I have buyers remorse after eating it.

This doesn't mean I intend to pack up and head back to California as soon as I graduate. (I need to interrupt myself for a second and say that if a few years back someone had told me that I would want to move back to San Diego or the Bay Area in order to save money I would have rolled my eyes and rattled off all the reasons why California living doesn't come cheap. And it doesn't. It just happens to feel that way when you are afraid to walk into a swanky bar for fear of paying $20 for a martini.) I digress, we have no plans to leave Manhattan any time soon. We plan to squeeze as much out of this city as we can...and then we will turn tail and run back to sanctuary of the sunshine and the slightly less horrifying cost of living. So now that the novelty of New York has worn off and the cold reality of being a Manhattanite has set in, Sinatra's words mean a lot more. If I can make it here, I'll make it anywhere...I'll just have a much happier bank account. Now, excuse me while I go blow an entire paycheck on a carton of eggs and my dry cleaning.

Diary of a Mad Fan

A Pre-Game Stroll Through Central Park

I've been intending to document our first ever attendance of a Chargers away game since it occurred the Sunday before last, but I am just now getting around to it. I cleared my schedule of laying in bed catching up on Tivo and I am ready to share this tale of triumph in enemy territory. First of all, my sister and brother-in-law came to town for a visit which was directly influenced by the prospect of a game at Giants Stadium. They are not actual Chargers fans, but they support our habit and root for them mainly out of fear for our mental health on Mondays. We actually ordered Chargers beanies for them and had them sent a few weeks in advance of their trip so they would have some gear to demonstrate their loyalties, not knowing that it would be a balmy 70 degrees at the Meadowlands that day. We took the bus from Port Authority early to meet up with the Charger tailgate that was planned by a group of New York Chargers fans that we are acquainted with through the Charger bar, MJ Armstrong's. We had been seeing Bolts fans all over the city throughout the weekend, high fiving as we passed of course, and it was no different at Port Authority. The winds changed, however, when we boarded the bus and a chorus of boos erupted in a sea of Manning jerseys.



As a football fanatic, I can handle ribbing, taunting, and heckling. I expect it going into an opponent's stadium. Part of the fun of being a fan is trash talking and bragging rights. I mean, let's be honest, if and when your team ever wins the Super Bowl, the big game, the championship, isn't the best part of it the fact that you get to gloat about your team reigning supreme for 7 months before you have to relinquish being called "The Champs"? Maybe not for all, but for me, it's what you want and what you hope for and the only way you can shut up all those Patriots fans or Steelers fans or whatever stupid franchise that has had more glory than any one team should have bestowed upon them. (Seething and grumbling).

Anyway, we arrived at Giants Stadium (poor Jets) and met up with almost 300 Charger fans in full gear causing a huge ruckus with the Giants fans tailgating nearby. It was fantastic. The group of Bolts fans were loud, rowdy, and exactly the kind I would hate if I were the home team.



A group of maybe 40 of us paraded through the parking lots blaring the San Diego Chargers fight song and chanting at the mostly dumb struck and disgusted Giants fans. At one point, I got named parade master and was shoved to the front of the pack to show off my Chargers poncho with pride. I have to admit it was both frightening and fun, with pretzels being thrown along with insults and lone pockets of Chargers fans high fiving and cheering us in our brave march through G-men territory. It was all in good fun though for the most part. There were a few drunken idiots (cough, Jersey, ahem), but it was good natured overall.

That was until we got to our seats. I won't go into gory details but there was a crowd of hecklers behind us that could not have been more of a Jersey cliche (with their ripped off sleeves and head bandanas, Springsteen much?) that made the game unpleasant. My sis and brother-in-law were not only troopers, but at times defended our honor and Mike's blue mohawk. As the story has already been written I won't tell it again, but watching Rivers march the offense down the field like nothing was standing in his way (I'm talking to you Giants D) was a thing of beauty. We could just feel that they were going to pull out the win. I don't know if it was the electricity of the team or the anger brewing in the fans around us, but when Rivers sailed that pass to the back corner of the end zone right into Vincent Jackson's hands...it was the perfect punctuation on a perfect day. (Insert sound of needle scraping across record here with visual of Mike's Charger head band being ripped off his head, thrown 20 rows down with fighting words exchanged).

We left Giants Stadium with a win minus a headband and with renewed excitement about our season. I know that my friends who could care less about football and sports are reading this (if they haven't checked out already) and rolling their eyes, but for us, it was a glorious day. So, like any tumultuous relationship, I will keep going back for more because the good times are so good and they manage to wipe away any memory of the bad. And that is why I am a football fan and will remain one until something terrible happens...like Eric Mangini. I promise to be back soon with something more universally appealing, but until then play this a few times for me.



Happy Bus Ride Home

Halfway to My Tall Paper Hat

Today I'm standing at the halfway mark of my culinary education and by standing I mean propped up in bed watching Glee, drinking diet Sunkist and eating chocolate chips out of the bag because I'm classy like that. Last night was our much anticipated, somewhat feared midterm which accounts for 50% of our Level 3 grade. The curriculum for this level focuses on discipline, timing, and refining your skills. We rotated our way through 16 recipes organized like the stations of a restaurant kitchen: Garde Manger (Apps, Salads, Soups), Poissonier (Seafood, its sauces and garnishes), Saucier (Meat, Poultry, its sauces and garnishes), and Patissiere (Pastry). There were 4 recipes for each station and we had an opportunity to cook each of them at least once and some of them over and over and over again. There was the much maligned Oeufs Poche dish, which is a poached egg with hollandaise sauce served over a bed of perfectly petite cubes of vegetables with so much potential for disaster: broken sauce, overcooked or broken yolks, undercooked whites, ugly knife skills...the list go on. There was the familiar old friend: Poulet Roti Grandmere, literally translated to roast chicken with grandmother garnish, which consists of potatoes turned into cocottes and cooked 3 different ways until they are a crispy, golden brown, meaty chunks of browned bacon, mushrooms sauteed in bacon fat, and pearl onions glazed and caramelized to perfection. We made this dish every class for weeks and every class we would all say "I don't know if I can eat anymore Grandmere!" while gnawing on a drumstick. There were the dishes that had so many components that getting your four required plates to the chefs hot and on time seemed like a cruel joke. I'm talking to you Barramundi with Lobster Sauce, Steamed Mussels, Poached Shrimp, Fennel Compote, Potato Cocottes, and finely chopped Parsley, Chervil and Tarragon. COME ON!

For the midterm we would be drawing a station number which corresponded to the two dishes we would be required to execute for a panel of judges. We're evaluated in the kitchen by a chef-proctor on cleanliness, technique and timing and then we are to walk our plates down an endless hallway to a room housing the judges where we present our food to be evaluated on presentation, flavor, seasoning, etc. We've been told repeatedly by our chefs and Level 4, 5, & 6 students that the midterm is more difficult than the final, that we will screw up, that we should be scared but we shouldn't freak out, that our dishes won't be perfect so we must not make stupid mistakes, that our stations better be clean, and on and on and on. So there were definitely nerves at work as we sat around waiting for the clock to display the time when we could enter our classroom and try to piece together what we might be cooking.

"Surely he wouldn't give us the egg, right? They say the chefs only pick the egg if they want their students to fail!"

"If I get beef bourgignon I am just going to turn around and walk out and plan to do Level 3 over again."

"If I get skate and lemon tart, I am golden!"

Well, I got skate and lemon tart and I was golden. I also lucked out and drew one of the later presentation times which gave me a full extra hour to prep before my skate was due. There were a few minor hiccups with my dishes: my skate needed a little more color and seasoning, my stupid potato vapeur (a larger version of a cocotte) didn't have clean enough edges, and my tart dough was a little uneven on the bottom due to a mishap during blind baking. I had no major missteps and turned out some food I am proud of.

The evening didn't end at the judges table though. It ended at some pizza joint in the East Village around 3:30 after a few solid hours of karaoke with my school pals. Who knew a classically trained musician's go to song would be Bust a Move? As I climbed the stairs to my apartment, I had that glowy feeling of contentment that comes from having good people in your life and from doing things that you are happy to put your name on. I'm not talking to you bacon pizza at 3am, but I'm pretty sure we will meet again.