Happy Birthday, redux

Got together with Steph to do a belated birthday celebration. We ended up at Gemini's Diner, my dear old haunt, where I once again enjoyed a chicken salad triple decker on wheat, no pickles. SO good! Still the best chicken salad in town (even on their off days.)

After, we walked to Steph's car to find an actual pie shop. A pie shop! Most of them mini pies, with sweet pies and savory pies. We of course did a healthy bit if Sweeney Todd singing afterward.

Yes, I'm old, but that just means more celebrations!

Errand Sunday

Spent most of today cleaning and running errands with Mi Cariño. Did manage to take a break and have some Belgian Waffles with pumpkin spread and Nutella. Can't say I was crazy about that combo, but it was okay.

Happy Fourth of July!

Took a short vacation from work, grabbed my mother, grandma, my niece Chanti, and Mi Cariño and took the bus up to Massachusetts to visit my brothers. It's the Fourth of July! I usually spend it up there and this was the first time that Mi Cariño was coming along, so I was nervous as hell. To say the least. But it ended up being a most excellent "long weekend."

Most afternoons were spent in one of my brother's backyard, hoping to avoid the mosquitoes. Mi Cariño and I also got to take a trip to Boston with my oldest of friends, Fabi, to enjoy some hanging out time. On the Fourth itself, we drove around to see the town's fireworks and then stole away to find some delicious local ice cream at Jaylee's Ice Cream and Go Kart Store.

Gotta love spending time with the family. Happy Birthday, America!

Touristin'

On our last day in Richmond, we tried to get it all in. As soon as work finished, we hightailed it to the Capitol Building.

It's a beautiful structure, and we climbed all the steps to the top before we saw the little sign that said that the entry was now at the bottom of the hill.

The security people were very nice though, and let us in even though they were 5 minutes away from closing time. We even had a tour guide take us around! He was very knowledgeable, but I guess that's his job to be.

After getting our history on, we headed to the downtown area, to Weezie's Kitchen - don't forget it's St. Patrick's Day and it needs to be celebrated! Actually I had completely forgotten it was St. Paddy's, but it was nice to see all the green. Weezie's is almost like a diner, and I was not wowed by their service (or their prices) but their food was okay. I chose the Meatloaf, smothered in mushrooms and gravy, with a side of mashed potatoes and veggies.

After we ate our fill, we walked down the street to the Byrd Theatre. This place is great: tickets are 2 dollars, always, and they have an organist that does a little show before the movie starts.

We also had the chance to see a local dance school do a special St. Paddy's day show, with their students doing traditional Irish Dancing. Had no idea there was a big Irish population in Richmond (or at least big enough to warrant an Irish Dancing School.)

To support the theatre we bought some appropriately sized popcorn, and attempted to enjoy The War Horse. That was tough. I think I really would've enjoyed it as a play, but as a movie it felt way too long and complicated.

To reward ourselves for sitting through that entire movie, we enjoyed some of Bev's Homemade Ice Cream across the street from Byrd. I chose a "Girl Scout" Cone: Samoas!

All in all, Richmond was a great place to visit. A short visit.

Day Trips

So: Ida, Steph, and I finally were able to find a day when we were all free and so we piled on Steph's car and drove to Norwalk, CT for some friends time. It was just like old times, but it also wasn't - we've grown in the past four years, changed... I think however, that the core of who we are as people remains the same and thus... the Aquarium!

But before that there was brunch at Chocopologie, and at brunch they were delicious mimosas. Alas, I deleted all of my pictures of this day except for one.

I followed that with a Croque Monsieur, even though I was afraid of what the eggs would taste like, with their country potatoes. The whole thing was pretty tasty, but I don't think I would try that plate again. Not because it wasn't good, but it just didn't leave me day dreaming of it.

After spending some good time just chatting, we made our way to the Aquarium and in a last minute decision (and because we'd had a late start) we decided to actually bypass the aquatic animals to see animals on the IMAX screen - especifically "Born to be Wild," the movie.

It was adorable! Awesome! Fun and sweet, and completely awe inducing. I don't have enough big and good words to say. My only complaint is that it was too short - I wanted more! It was great to watch it on an IMAX screen where it was all nice and purty and SO big.

After, however, we couldn't just call it quits and so we headed back to Chocopologie (although pool was considered) for dessert. We began it with some chocolatinies. And just in case that wasn't enough chocolate we shared some chocolate fondue

It was all just too much chocolate for me, so I took it easy. Can't say that I'm worshipping at the altar of Chocolatinies, but it was a good new flavor to taste!

We finished the wonderful day by having some italian, and playing the board game "Broadway Star!" - Spoiler: I didn't do too badly, so maybe there's hope for me and Broadway.

Barbecue and Drivin' part deux

At the end of our recording day, we had to drive back to Kansas City and it was my turn at the wheel. I tried not to think about it too much, telling myself when I did that I had done it before, and just because this time it would sneak into night time, there wasn't going to be a difference.

This time the drive was faster since I wasn't so afraid to hit the gas pedal. I chose my "buddy," a small truck that  looked to be heading in my direction and just stuck with him, and that helped a lot. Jackie was also helpful in letting me know when to change lanes and why.

Happiness didn't last long though - there was more traffic on the way in than out, and when we entered Kansas City itself things were moving a lot slower for me. To boot, night sort of creeped up on us, and having never driven at night time I totally freaked out: I couldn't see the cars behind me, all I saw were two points of light and they blinded me, and I couldn't see the actual lane lines. So I pulled out as soon as I possibly could, did some very dangerous driving in the process, and handed the car to Jackie, who I assume was okay with it since she wanted to remain alive.

As a reward for a long day we went for some BBQ at Oklahoma Joe's. The place is a legit restaurant, but it's also a gas station, with novelties for sale out front. There's no table service, and it was nice and crowded thanks to the presence of a filming crew - apparently some kid who had accepted a football scholarship was having some BBQ in front of the cameras.

I didn't mind one bit. I went ahead and chose the beef brisket with a side of creamy slaw and some white bread toast.

Although the brisket was a bit cold, it was quite delicious and I didn't hesitate on dispatching that rather quickly.

After, we headed over to Brookside on Naomi's recommendation, to have some custard at Foo's. We had to drive around quite a bit, and we were lucky that we arrived just as the owner was reopening the doors.

It being November the place wasn't crawling with people, but we were lucky to have somewhere to sit and eat. We were lucky that we had the chance to get the history of the place from the owner, a woman in her 50's, who was quite nice and friendly. I had the Butterpecan Concrete.

She added cookie dough and it was perfect. If you go to KC, you should always make stopping at Foo's a priority.

Somewhere on the Prairie

Made it to Fishers, Indiana! Have to admit, not many choices outside of chains in the town, but tomorrow we'll spend the night in Indianapolis proper and so I'm hoping that there'll be more to eat.
But last night was great, regardless! We had (guess what?) Thai! Yes! Enter Jasmine Thai Restaurant, stuck in the middle of a strip mall area

We began the evening with Salad Rolls with peanut sauce

I followed that with Tofu/Vegetable Pad Win Sen, which was spicy glass noodles with eggs and garlic, broccoli, carrots and what not.

Even though there was a yogurt shop next to the Thai place, dessert was taken care of by one of my participants, who earlier in the day after their interview and after she had left, came back to bring me a lemon bar!

If you think the picture does not look appetizing, let me disabuse you of the notion right quick.

On the way back to the room, I had fun looking at the license plates around me. Indiana has many, MANY designs for their license plates, when it seems like most States have two. This license plate "garnish" however, won the game.

In case you can't see it: the holders say "Burger" on top and "In-N-Out" on the bottom. Winning!

Of Rainy Days With Tons Of Food

Thursday found me working in the Chinatown area of Flushing in Queens, NY. Although I had packed my Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich, it felt like a crime to be there and not have some Chinese food, so during lunch hour Carolina and I walked a couple of blocks til we found Sunway.

The place was very clear and spacious, with Ikea like furniture. The menu was HUGE. The only hard part about it is that even though all items were in English  (and I have no idea if it was Mandarin, Cantonese, what) there were no descriptions of the dishes. I latched unto the idea of Soupy Noodles (they have a whole section) and basically just asked the waitress if there was anything with thin noodles in soup with tofu and vegetables. She hooked me up with some fried tofu dumped in soupy noodles and veggies and this is what I got:

Ah yes, I forgot to mention, you also got complimentary tea with every meal, which was perfect on a rainy day. The soup was huge and delicious and it was hard not to inhale the entire thing. My co-worker had some un-soupy noodles that were to die for as well.

We finished the meal by having pan-fried vegetarian dumplings for dessert

They were perfect. And Hot. And I kinda liked that they brought things as they were ready - the soup and the noodles were done first, and the dumplings last.

Later, after the workday was done and I braved the madness that was the 7 and the E trains during the evening rush hour, I found my way to another part of Queens: Forest Hills. There I visited sweet Cesar, who in true Gay Fashion was holding a dinner party.

Since we were all busy having fun eating and joking with each other, I forgot to take pictures of the food. We had, however, short grain rice with gandules, and pernil with a green salad. It was a very simple yet delicious meal. Afterwards we helped our hosts flip their mattress (I'm not kidding) since the thing was a gazillion pounds and it took about 5 of us to carry it. Having worked off our meal we retired to the living room to enjoy the fire and the company of Idina Menzel, Cesar's puppy.

Eventually it was time to head home and Cesar was kind enough to give three of us a ride. However we took a detour on our way to Bed-Stuy, and stopped by Japanese Restaurant Miyako in Williamsburg for some dessert. My flash wasn't working so I'm sorry for the picture darkness. We had red bean and green bean fried ice cream with tea

and deep fried banana with whipped cream

I was very proud of me in that I only had a taste of each. They were tasty, though!

Rain and all, the day was pretty great. It makes me wish I had a car - despite the traffic in the city, it's kinda great to go home and not have to wait for trains and get to enjoy some loud music as we drive.

Welcome to Bahston!

So I spent a weekend in Boston, thanks to work. Here's the view from my hotel room in the downtown/theater area. It coincided with the JETS vs. Patriots Game, which was interesting. The fun thing, though, was to catch up with Fabi. We went for Thai food, because we both love it.

The steamed veggie dumplings were a beauty, and it was nice not having to do any dunking since the sauce was directly on the dumplings. Also, they practically gave me a salad with them, which was very nice and tasty.

I, yet again, had the tofu pad thai. It was alright. The thing that set it over the top is that since the pad thai arrived almost at the same time as the dumplings, I just dumped the dumplings (pardon all the aliteration) over the pad thai. It was a great combination and it made me very happy.

The next day, in preparation for the football game, we stopped by a local Dominican place and got ourselves some chimichurris.

These are a little different than the one's I'm accustomed to, but it was still pretty good. I should've listened to Fabi and taken a pic with the sandwich in half. I don't have an eye for these things. I have a great taste for them though.

Afterwards, we snuck into an Irish bar and posed as Patriots fans, rejoicing quietly when the JETS beat the crap out of them. To celebrate, I broke the diet thoroughly and we had ourselves a brownie sundae.

The brownie could've been warmer, but the sweet taste of victory lingered, so all was good in our book.

The work weekend was great, specially since it ended with homemade food by Fabi's mom. It's nice to get your lunch delivered.

White rice, red beans, some delish beef.

The only thing missing was visiting some Hahrvard Bar to spout craziness with the students, ala Good Will Hunting. How do ya like them apples!

Miércoles

Made some new friends Wednesday night. We went to Caracas in Williamsburg, to enjoy some Arepas. But first, tostones mochimeros.

This is your regular fried plantain, but topped with mojito mayo and white cheese. Very tasty.

For the entree, a "Los Muchachos" Arepa.

Their arepas are made out of flour and stuffed with grilled chorizo, spicy white cheese, jalapeño and sauteed peppers. Quite delicious.

For dessert we drove to the city and stopped by Rice to Riches. It was my first time there.

Very cute, filled with funny signs all over the place, such as

and

Very cute. But at least the rice pudding backed it up. We "shared" a Cinnamon and Hazelnut Rice Pudding combo.

A girl worth fighting for

Went to my Abuela's house for Sunday dinner and to visit with my uncle, who's here from the Dominican Republic. We had a nice walk over to Grandma's house, but did not run into a wolf, which actually was kind of disappointing.

Abuela made some Salmon, White Rice, Ensalada Verde (your regular lettuce, tomato, onion, broccoli, please don't give me avocados deal) and black beans with auyama. (That's pumpkin or your basic winter squash for you, anglos.)

Dessert was courtesy of Tio, who brought it from the D. R.

I know it looks a little suspicious, but don't be deceived - this is REALLY better than what it looks like. It's called Jalao, and its Coconut and Honey Candy and it's super easy to make. Literally, it's just dry ground coconut, honey, and a smidgen of oil. I used to make these all the time as a child, and it's great fun to do so because they're gooey and sticky. You boil your ground coconut with the honey, stirring often. After 2 to 3 minutes, you turn the stove off, you let the gooey goodness cool a little, and then you make little balls. The oil is literally just to place it on your plate or cookie sheet so it won't stick too much. You can eat it cold or just room temperature. The only other Dominican Candy that's even easier to make than this one is dulce de leche cortada, (and granted, this might be a Caribbean Candy instead of just a Dominican one.) If you'd like to know, dulce de leche cortada means "Ruined Milk Candy." And you take your Milk that has gone bad/sour, you boil it with sugar, a cinnamon stick and a bit of lemon rind and you've got yourself delicious goodness. I often got in trouble for "souring" the milk on purpose (pour some lemon on it and it's screwed up right quick.)

But back to the present. Jalao? Really good! My nephew and I finished the day by first watching Mulan as the "adults" talked and lounged. That's right. Mulan. I love me some Mulan. I will sing "Be a Man" at the slightest provocation, and "a girl worth fighting for" is not far behind. But even Eddie Murphy couldn't drown out the "adult" talk, so Nephew and I took a breather and went to the park.

Not bad.

Austin Pride

Friday! Our last full day in Austin. Work was a DRAG, despite some very cool stories of activism and writers. But we got through it, packed up our equipment and headed to our hotel to drop it all off. There we met up with Ben before heading to North Austin for some Thai. Chow Down recommended Titaya's.

When we got there it was chock full. Our waiter was a trip, with what we decided was an exaggerated "work" accent that made everything she said come out in a sing song. In any case, appetizers: Spinach Dumplings. (Because one must always have dumplings when one can.)

BTW, those are bits of fried garlic on top of the dumplings, not peanuts. It made for an interesting and yummy change of flavor. One of these days I'll be able to go to a Thai restaurant and not order Tofu Pad Thai. This was not one of these days.

It was delicious - I cleaned that plate gladly. During dinner we entertained ourselves with World Cup chat. Ben and I disagreed over who sang the official World Cup song this year. For some reason I thought it was Daddy Yankee. Ben said it was Shakira. We bet ice cream. Matt spurred the bet on, knowing the answer full well as he was looking at his iPhone. I should've known better. If you must know, Shakira sings this years' official World Cup Song. Stoopid South Africans, choosing Shakira. We drove to Amy's Ice Creams. All three of us got scoops of Coffee Oreo. I paid for Ben's.

One lick of that and I didn't care one bit about losing the bet. It was fracking awesome. I didn't eat the napkin out of pure luck, cuz I sure ate everything else.

Dessert taken care of, the boys decided to meet up with their friends and head South. Luckily, the Long Center was near our hotel so I chose to stick around town and walk to listen to some music. Austin Pride is this weekend and one of the many activities was an outdoor concert.

Chick at the front was pretty friendly and kept calling me Ma'am, which I thought was funny. For 10 bucks I got to buy this general admission bracelet that if I had stayed around Austin for the weekend would've gotten me into several events.

It was all good. There was more space than Lesbians, and there were mostly lesbians, which I expected since three women were scheduled: Robin Smith, Tribella and Patrice Pike. DJ Chris Cox was scheduled at 11pm, but as you know by then all the lesbians will be beddy-bye and the boys will take over. There were a lot of them - just not enough to fill up the area. The VIP's got to sit at tables set out for them. The rest had to make do with lawn chairs and blankets. I used a blanket from my hotel. I feel kinda sorry for my cleaning lady.

Having missed the first two acts I waited for Patrice Pike, who was one of the grand Marshall's for the Austin Pride Parade on Saturday, but whose music I had never heard. She was scheduled to start at 10pm - but didn't. Her music was good but nothing to go crazy about to be honest. Frankly I was more interested in the dynamics going on around me: There were very few women of color present, which surprised me a bit because, hello, Austin TEXAS? I didn't stay for the whole show one because again, Patrice Pike: feh. Two: Not a very friendly bunch. While waiting for Patrice to show up I made the rounds and attempted to establish eye contact with several groups in an effort to introduce myself but it didn't fly. I guess that lesbians are lesbians, even in a town as friendly as Austin. Three: flying back to good old NYC way early in the a.m. y'all, where I got some lesbians that do want to meet me. I think. They might just be trying to act nice. But nice is good. I wish I could've stayed for more of Austin Pride's festivities, though - Saturday morning they had a Pet Parade going on. How cute is that?!

Seven C's

Sunday! Not  a bad day considering it was working in a weekend. I began the day by treating me to some breakfast: two eggs sunnyside up, hash browns, toast.

Our last day of recording went by really smoothly and quickly. The weather was great. We got lunch to go from Kavarna. I forgot to take a picture of the actual food. I had the rabbit, which is a sandwich of lettuce, tomato, onions, cucumbers in a light vinaigrette. This came with some kettle chips, and we shared a white macademia cookie.

We celebrated the end of the trip by going for frozen custard, which apparently is pretty big in Wisconsin. In case you don’t know, frozen custard is ice cream… richer and creamier. We drove out to Zesty’s, listening to the Glee soundtrack (I’m sure to Matt’s concern).

Zesty’s has an old soda shop type of feel, with great colorful decoration on the walls. They also sold your regular French fries and burgers fare.

We both chose to have the Seven C’s, which I learned consists of chocolate custard, cashews, caramel, cookies, chocolate chips, and chocolate fudge nuts. I ordered one scoop and Matt ordered two, but we received two and three scoops respectively. Score!

Sinfully delicious doesn’t begin to cover it. The hardest part of it all was having to stop myself from eating the full two scoops.

For “dinner” and since we had taken care of desert already, we headed to Titletown – a brewery a couple of blocks from our hotel. (Don’t drink and drive, kids!) Great crowd was there. Can I say that Green Bay probably has more bars/pubs/breweries per capita that New York City does? One in every block friends, one in EVERY block! Almost. In any case, the locals were friendly and they didn’t mind that we asked to have the tv’s showing the Mets-Yankees game. We tried several of their beers, with my favorite one being the “Irish Blood” something or other. Great after finish.

After several drinks, cursing out Jeter and drunkenly making the lame joke that Feliciano Rodriguez is probably Alex Rodriguez’ cousin some food was ordered. We had the fried cheese curds as appetizers

and the bison burger as my main entrée. The burger was a bit rare for my taste, but I was just tipsy enough to not care.

And then the Mets win! 6 to 4. Closer than I’d have liked, but a win is a win.