Thanksgiving has always been a time for reflection. I guess it has something to do with the fact that my birthday circles it or it circles my birthday, this or both. Either way, it’s that time a gain.
I moved here on October 1, 2008, which means this is my fifth anniversary of Halloweens, birthdays, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years. I wrote a piece on my first year here and feels like its time to check in and see what I’ve accomplished and what I haven’t, along with what there is still to do.
The first year was spent getting my footing. I had no job and was living on a friends couch. Not what you would call ideal at 40. I left a good job, an apartment I loved and a brand new car. The number one question one gets asked is, why did you move here? Best opening line/conversation starter and the most New York thing you can do. Me? Like most people they want to change and or reinvent themselves. I wanted adventure, change, attend culinary school, to grow as a person and live somewhere else, other then where I grew up. A.K.A., get out of dodge.
Over the years there have been many ups and downs. These are to be expected. But what is not expected is which ones they are. I have really grown to like living in Brooklyn. There’s so much here, that honestly no one needs to ever go to Manhattan. Would I live in Manhattan again. Yes. My small stint in Hells Kitchen was just a taste. And it still lingers in my mind. How resilient I am, surprised me and made me stronger and more secure in myself. Do I still have insecurities? Yes. Too many to count. But I am tough and can get through what I need to. NY teaches you that or you leave. I call this place the most conveniently inconvenient place to live.
I have come to travel more then ever in my life. From up and down the eastern seaboard to New Zealand and back. I can’t wait for the next adventure. I’m in a relationship that has also tested my strength, tolerance, patience, challenged my creative side, opened me up to be silly and expanded my ability to love. Not bad considering I was no where near wanting or needing a relationship when I came here.
My friendships and family are stronger then ever and I wouldn’t change them for the world. From landing with no job and couch surfing to my first Halloween in the emergency room and getting stitches from bashing back gay bashers, to having more jobs in five years then in the last twenty and knowing I can walk into almost any job and get it done, I can truly say, I am a New Yorker. In as many ways as I have grown I feel I have a lot more learning, sacrificing and good times to come. Life is a series of challenges and not all are fun and clear as to their objectives, but I am ready to march on and see where it takes me. Like the song says. “I will survive.” Or, as we say here, welcome to New York.
Summer beach camping has ended. Our last big blow out was Labor Day weekend. We made staples like Spam Musabi’s, doctor hot dogs and macaroni salad, cheapest eggs and bacon. But what camping weekend would be complete without some new menu items?! We added Spicy Teriyaki Ribs with mashed potato’s and chicken mole with rice and black beans. Well the beans didn’t quite make it cause the tab on the can broke and we couldn’t open it! But we did take the left over ribs and add them to our Ramen for lunch on Sunday. I also juiced some cucumbers and ginger to add to our cocktail’s. My favorite mixer this season.
We did try to continue the faux sports pictures but I forgot the volleyball so we had to settle for a found tennis ball. Not the same thing. But the high fashion did return. Complete with runway walk editorial photo shoots.
No beach day or camping weekend would be complete with out our trusty axe’s. With our Halloween show coming up in October we figured what better time to practice then sitting on a beach for 4 days? Granted that is what beach ukulele camp is for!!!! Next is wilderness camping!!!! Can’t wait!
It’s been a while since I’ve been in the food industry. I had forgotten how it can be. Intense, more about Exciting, exhausting all at the same time. My next career step was to continue in the opposite direction, which was a corner office working M-F. I am not opposed to that or have totally given up on it. Of course my idea of an office job be would be working for a food magazine or food channel. But have found myself standing behind a counter making coffee and selling pies. Which will eventually lead to running a food truck. This is where the real challenge comes in. I have bar backed, tended bar, waited tables and bussed them as well. I have worked the gamut of fast food. The worst is the drive thru window. It takes nerves of steal to put up with the people that come through there. Maybe that’s why fast food is really for the young who can bounce back after 20 irate customers in a row. Thankfully the service I am now providing has a pleasant clientele. It’s not fast food, although it is fast. The pies are flash frozen and delivered to us and we cook them and serve them. The coffee is espresso based. Which means I get to make you a nice cappuccino or flat white. This is for the person who wants to stop say hi, have a conversation and not just grab and go. Of course some people are happy to not stay and talk, which is also fine, but we are not McDonald’s, you don’t get it in 30 seconds. To me this is key. It will be interesting to see how this translate to a pie truck. I suspect it will be faster pace then the shop and our clientele wont hang around for too long. Most will be going to work, getting lunch or possible late night snack. All of this is good. In a way it will be like Bartending again. But instead of cocktails it will be coffee and pies. Not a bad gig to have. So the next time your craving coffee and pie, I will gladly serve you. I sound just like Flo from Alice! But don’t expect me to tell you to “kiss my grits!” Unless you want me to!
Last Sunday we had a very intimate cabaret on the beach. It was (us) Sonic Uke, ambulance Uke Goldberg and Gio from The War Ponies. We all met at Riis Beach and after a few beers, illness some Popeye’s Chicken and a dip in the ocean we started the Cabaret. We even had a couple captive audiences, a few Radical Faeries and later a dear friend of the cabaret, Mary. We sang our usual set and added a couple new songs including our ode to Riis, a.k.a., “Cha Cha Beach” titled By The Sea. Ted & Gio played with us as well as a song or two of their own. Gio even tried to teach us Meatloaf’s “I Would Do Anything For Love”. Although he was right, for us to learn all 9 minutes of the song would take more then a couple lessons on the beach. By this time Uke Goldberg had left us to perform on Fire Island. But we still had a blast. Sadly the day came to an end and the rest of us packed it in and went home. But, we managed to capture some of it on film.
The weekend started with a bang. It being 4th of July and all. It was our friend Kirks Birthday and I attended his celebratory bbq bash where he made his Great Grandmas Fire Engine Red Cake and we enjoyed fireworks through a chain link fence. Only in New York can this be enjoyed. Well not entirely enjoyed but the company was wonderful. I then went home and took the late morning train to meet up with the beach crew for the rest of the weekend.
As usual we hit the beach bar for a quick arrival drink, abortion then headed for camp. The weather was amazing and for lunch I brought egg salad sandwiches. Great for the first day. The rest was spent soaking in the sun, swimming in the ocean and playing the ukulele. When dinner came around we were very excited to bust out the newest crazy meal we had thought up. Meatloaf sliders. Yes that’s what I said. They were a huge hit!! And really worked out great on the beach. We accompanied them with coleslaw. Which didn’t work out as well. But you can’t win them all.
The next day was the usual breakfast, eggs, bacon and potatoes. What wasn’t the usual was that our friend Naoum decided to join us. We were beyond thrilled. We picked him up a the dock and sang the New Zealand welcome song Haere mai. He arrived just in time for lunch which was our Spam musubis. We then constructed a kite made from the mylar balloons we found on the beach. It took a while but well worth the effort. For dinner we went for a classic, bacon wrapped hot dogs and macaroni salad. needless to say there was nothing left. The night was spent having cocktails and playing our favorite card game.
Our last day was lazy and spent doing what we do best. Breakfast, swimming, sunning, playing the ukulele and making beach pizzas for lunch. Sadly it had to end so we packed up, flew the kite one last time, hit the ferry, grabbed the train and headed home for Chinese food and a movie.
Peel and slice carrots into rounds, store set aside
Chop celery, and set aside
Chop bell pepper, set aside
Chop tomato's, set aside
Dredge meat in flour
In large frying pan on low/medium heat melt butter
Add meat for about 1 minute or till outside gets brown then remove and set aside
Salt and pepper as you go along
Saute onions for about 3 minutes
Add carrots and celery
Add a drizzle of olive oil
Put meat back into pan cook for about 5-10 minutes till meat is cooked through
Turn burner to low
Add just enough corn starch to thicken and make a sauce
Salt and pepper to taste
(at this point a nice addition would be a bay leaf)
Add garlic, bell pepper and tomato
Let simmer for 20 minutes
Add more cornstarch if sauce starts to get thin
Notes
The measurements are all totally from my usual guessing of what sounds good to me. So please feel free to experiment and change them to suit your culinary needs. Although I do say that I liked using the chunks of meat instead of the usual ground.
We just finished our second beach camping trip and are continuing the grand food experiment! On Friday night Karlo Meria treated us to a mash up of pot stickers/dumplings. We gobbled them up quickly, but we all agreed they need a little tweaking before the next attempt. Of course our new staples Spam Musubi and Beach Pizza were must haves. This time we used beefsteak tomatoes and added some onion on the pizzas, while the Musubi got a little extra rice wine vinegar.
The other dish that was a resounding success was, Shepherd’s Pie!!! As with most food we bring camping this was made before and frozen. This is a great trick because you use the frozen food as ice to keep the rest cold. Then by the time you use it, it’s thawed out. The recipe I used was literally off the top of my head and a little of what can we add. The only thing missing was frozen peas and if Jason has anything to say we wont forget them again.
Our next camping trip will be 4th of July weekend. I wonder what we will come up with for this one!!!
Our last blog was about Beach Pizza. This one is about the other lunch we had while camping. Spam Musubi. What is Spam Musubi? It’s kinda like sushi. You basically take sushi rice, information pills Spam and wrap it up in Nori Seaweed(the kind used for sushi). Simple right? It’s also fun to make. Of course you can add extra ingredients just for fun. We thought it was time to challenge ourselves and try new recipes for our camping trips and this is one of them. It worked out so well it has become a staple in our lunches.
Fry Spam for a couple minutes on each side till it gets a little crispy
Put them on a plate to cool when done
When rice is done let it cool
Heat a dry frying pan for Nori
When hot, Use tongs to heat nori on both sides till it starts to get bright green
About 30 seconds on both sides or till its a little flexible.
Don't over cook or it will be no good
Grab Musubi maker
Lay the Nori on a plate
Place maker in the middle of the Nori
Using your hands add some rice(about the size of a large meatball) inside the maker.
Evenly spread it out
You can use more if you like
Press rice down
Drizzle some plum vinegar
Add a slice of Spam
Sprinkle a little rice seasoning
Add more rice on top
Press rice and Spam down
Slide Musubi maker up an away
Wrap the seaweed around and use water to seal
Lay them seal side down
Put in container or zip lock bag and refrigerate
Now you have perfect camping lunch
Notes
This works best with a Spam Musubi press. You can get them for less than $10 on Amazon or Houserice.com. Some people use soy sauce, we used plum vinegar.
Adapted from when we were camping. We used leftovers but you can make it at home with a frying pan or a frying pan on your electric grill. I prefer cast iron.
Ingredients
8 sandwich rolls
1 Hot Salami or hard cured meat of your choice
1 package of Campari tomatoes
8 oz of Irish cheddar cheese
Instructions
Cut rolls in half lengthwise.
Cut tomatoes in half, ask set aside
Slice cheese, advice set aside
Slice salami and set aside
Put 4 slices of salami in pan or on grill
Cook for a minute or two on each side
Put 4 tomatoes in same pan or on grill skin side up
Cook for about a minute
Turn tomatoes over
Cluster tomatoes and salami together with a couple slices of cheese
Cook for a couple minutes, capsule cheese should just start to melt
Put half of a roll on top and cover for a minute or two till cheese melts
Take spatula and remove from grill or pan and plate bread side down.
Do not smash tomatoes, as the juice is key to keeping sandwich from being dry
Careful this can be a bit messy
So you may have to scoop melted cheese that tries to slip away
Serve immediately.
If you have a big enough pan or grill you can do more then one at at time
Just be careful to keep ingredients in separate clusters for each roll
Notes
You can add some fresh cut Basil on top at the end or some hot sauce, Kalamata olives, or thin sliced red onions.
Beach camping has finally arrived. A little late, but it is here and we are so excited!!! Here are a few pics from our little adventure. Hope you like them. And for those of you who want to know. Our first night, we had salmon steaks, asparagus and mashed potatoes for dinner. Our second day, breakfast was scrambled eggs, bacon and new red potatoes boiled in sea water. Lunch we had Spam musubi, dinner was vegetable chilli that we added hot salami to, with a side of grilled corn and for desert, Jello chocolate pudding cups!!! Our last day if we have any leftovers we incorporate them into the meals. Breakfast was the usual eggs and bacon but with mashed potato’s. For lunch we had grilled cheese with cucumber and cherry tomato sandwiches. But, since we had left over salami………… Jason grilled the salami and cherry tomatoes, put some cheese and bread on top for amazing upside down grilled sandwiches!! Of course he was nice enough to turn them right side up when it was time to eat – just like mini beach pizzas !
With our first camping excursion over we look forward to the next. So until then we will post more of what summer in NYC is all about.
We got a late start on camping this year. Mother Nature was not on our side. But our first outing was amazing and on Monday I had the sore hips to prove it!!! We started off early in the morning on the train, viagra buy then hit camp somewhere around two-ish, more about gathered fire wood, pills set up our tents and celebrated with a glass of wine. We even made a make shift DJ booth for the ipod! The next day we headed out taking the scenic route and finished with our tradition of eating Chinese food. After sufficiently filling our bellies we were ready for the train ride home with the joys of another camping adventure behind us.
Make sure the fish is as fresh as you can get. It really makes a difference.
Juice citrus( I prefer lime)
Chop fish into small bite size pieces
In a bowl add fish and juice
Cover with plastic wrap or put in a zip lock bag, healing
Chill in fridge for at least and hour or more. The longer the better.
Chop onion and peppers into small pieces, set aside
Chop up cilantro and set aside
When fish is done combine with veggies, cilantro in serving bowl
Serve immediately
*Version 2
When fish is done rinse in a colander and put in serving bowl
Add veggies and cilantro
Add coconut milk, stir and serve.
*Version 3
When fish is done rinse in a colander and put in serving bowl
Add veggies and cilantro
Grate coconut and use a piece of cheesecloth to squeeze out the milk
Add coconut milk to fish and veggies
Serve immediately
Notes
The measurements are approximate. Make sure there is enough liquid(juice) to cook the fish. I like to use a zip lock bag so the juice gets everywhere, and put it on a flat surface in the fridge. Halfway through the marinating process turn the bag over or if using a bowl, stir it at least once. Also when we were in Fiji the chef told us that when they don't have citrus they use white wine vinegar. We haven't tried it but if your going to, rinse the fish off after and use coconut milk.
Spring is here, although it took a while, we are seeing the signs everywhere. People are out and about. Eating on the sidewalks, lounging in parks, riding bikes and doing anything they can to be out in the world. We here at Houseofzeta.com have been prepping in our own way. We have made a few batches of beer over winter, collected some recipes to try out and put the up the BBQ. We made our annual trek to D.C. for the Blossom festival, planted new flowers, signed up for the bike share and put away our winter clothes. It is time to start fresh and get ready for summer!!! Here is a quick easy recipe, that we have made many times and is a staple at our rooftop bbq’s, but now with a South Island twist that we learned when we were in Auckland and Fiji. So enjoy and make it all summer! Your guest will love it and never get tired of it!
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