Wednesday, March 23, 2011

New York - The Library















Today it snowed... it is the end of March; that is not supposed to happen! It rained a lot too, and hailed. All in all, a rather horrid day. But all the same, I ventured out to do some shopping and then set off for the New York Public Library on 42nd Street. Completed in 1911 on the site of an old reservoir, it is a fortress of a building, with a beautiful reading room on the top floor. Here is a picture that I took on the sly from my seat. It is blurry, but that's because I was nervous someone was going to stop me! It’s also the building where Carrie almost gets married to Mr. Big in Sex in the City.

As part of my New York education, I have been dedicating some of my time to reading books about the place, and so I dragged ‘A People’s History of the United States’, by Howard Zinn with me to the library. It made me fall asleep. Quite embarrassing.

The evening was spent battling the weather with Charlotte trying to find a suitable dinner venue for her birthday... It ended randomly with alex joining for a game of ‘The Settlers of Catan’ during a thunderstorm in the offices of The Art Newspaper, accompanied by a bottle of champagne found in the fridge. Charlotte had lost the keys to her house and so we diverted to her office to find them, and decided that was as good a place to play as any...

New York - an interlude














A card for the Rosens, to thank them for having us to stay a few weeks ago in upstate New York. We spent a wonderful weekend whiling away the time in the country, antiquing, cooking, drinking, playing board games and looking after the dog and the baby... Most importantly, we were introduced to the best game in the entire world - The Settlers of Catan. It is our new obsession.

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

New York - Tuesday 22 March 2011 (dinner)















A feast for Alex and Olivia:
  • A very mini (according to alex) rib eye steak
  • Chimichurri sauce (too vinegary)
  • Roasted garlic and parmesan cauliflower
  • Asparagus
Alex was still hungry after... Olivia was a little too!

www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Chimichurri-Sauce-107159
http://allrecipes.com//Recipe/roasted-garlic-cauliflower/Detail.aspx

New York - Tuesday 22 March 2011 (cards)













Elephant baby card for Vics



















Balloon card for Charlotte

New York - Tuesday 22 March 2011


I have decided to revive my blog to document my life of leisure in NYC before alex and I head back to London. This is partly to stop the laziness - now that I am going to be writing my activities down, I actually have to do something! But more than that, it is a way to remember how I am spending my free days, and to record the meals I am cooking, my little artworks and my NYC activities...

First up - lunch today. Chicken and veggie stir-fry with rice. Not very imaginative, but needed to use the leftovers.

Monday, August 17, 2009

Abu Dhabi Day 17 - Monday 17 August 2009


I think something in the frankfurters put me over the edge last night… I got hardly any sleep. No more franks! Tonight’s meal is spinach with chicken, mushrooms and spring onions!

Abu Dhabi Day 16 - Sunday 16 August 2009


Living in suburban AD has been terrible for the health. Although the alcohol intake has been much reduced, I have now started eating things like frankfurters, mars bars and instant noodles on a regular basis. This is partly due to laziness, as 50% of the time I cannot face preparing real meals when I get home from work, but also because cooking for one person is never as appealing. I am now familiar with all the processed food brands in the frozen and refrigerated sections at Carrefour. Last week in the supermarket I noticed the contents of the basket of the 30-something year old, single, expat man behind me – it was remarkably similar. Pre-packaged food, nuts, chocolate… plus about 5 packs of Marlboro Lights (which thankfully I haven’t been driven to yet).


So, in order to encourage healthy eating, or at least more diverse meals, I have decided to photograph dinner each day. Here’s the first! Thai noodles with veggies, egg, and YUK beef frankfurters (there were two left, which I had to use up, and I still have 3 unopened packs in the freezer – there was a promotion!!).