Sunday, March 28, 2010

North of the Border

We're just back from a fairly tiring and work-filled week in Toronto that was made all the more fun by the company of antipodean friends and others from across the pond. It was my second time in Toronto, and I still didn't make it up into the CN tower, and instead have to make do with a photograph from the ground.


We spent a wonderful evening with Simon's uncle and aunt, who treated us to a fantastically tasty Indian meal at Nataraj (Bloor Street West near Brunswick). We were joined by Simon's cousin, whom he hadn't seen since they were 10! We spent another great night in a microbrew bar called C'est What, on Front Street, near Church.

While I had a great time in Toronto, perhaps the best part of our journey was the flight back to New York. It was a crystal-clear night and the sodium streetlight landscape was breathtaking. The view of the city as we circled to get in line for landing in La Guardia was better than any tourist helicopter ride could ever provide - the city buildings shone and sparked and the streets flowed with the lava of car headlights. I was gutted not to have my camera. There's just no leaving New York, as the song goes.


In the crafty realm, we have five pairs of friends who are getting married and at least five friends who are having babies this year! So I need to get my skates on... I spent the past few weeks ordering several tons of fabric (Simon was gobsmacked at all the packages coming to the door!), and have just started to get cracking. Above is the wool for a snug baby hoodie (see my ravelry projects on the right) and the beginnings of New Wave Quilt, the pattern for which comes from the incredibly creative and generous Elizabeth of Oh Fransson! And I'm slowly-but-surely nearing completion with Molly's cardigan, using the cover pattern from this book - I just hope it'll fit, seeing as I intended to finish it several months ago!

Saturday, March 20, 2010

St. Patrick's Day Shenanigans

Green shamrock cookies (that were a bit of a failure aesthetically but tasted good nonetheless), a green Empire State Building, the company of good friends visiting from far far away, and several too many beers all added up a fantastic night (despite the sore heads the next day).


I really wish I had more time to post on here, but the last few weeks have been crazy with deadlines and other pressures... hopefully April will be easier! We're off to Canada for a few days now...so hopefully I'll try a Canadian post!

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Success!

Both the race and brunch were a success! Both Simon and I knocked a couple of seconds off our best paces (his a whole minute faster than mine!), and there were happy bellies after delicious boozy french toast, eggs with spinach and mushrooms, winter fruit salad (which I was initially nervous about, due to the presence of anise, but it was amazing and I will be making it again very soon), and of course, Bloody Marys. 
Overall though, the favorites were the Morning Glory Muffins. The recipe (below) is from Joan Nathan's The New American Cooking, a book I picked up a couple of years ago and just love. There's a fantastic mix of recipes from a range of "ethnic American" cuisines (mexican, asian, jewish), as well as a lot of American favorites that I wasn't familiar with before moving here. The recipes were gathered from chefs and bakers all over the US, and each recipe is accompanied by a tale of its origins. Morning Glory Muffins originated in Pam McKinstrey's Morning Glory Cafe on Nantucket. Given that many of Pam's customers were holiday-makers heading out on their boats, the deliciously moist muffin was designed to still be good the day after baking. Enjoy!

Morning Glory Muffins
from "The New American Cooking" by Joan Nathan
2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
1 tbsp ground cinnamon
2 tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
1 ¼ cups sugar
½ cup unsweetened shredded (desiccated) coconut
½ cup raisins
2 cups grated carrots (I put in 3-4 big ones, it's usually more like 3 cups..)
1 apple shredded/grated
1 cup canned crushed pineapple, drained
½ cup chopped walnuts or pecans
3 large (organic, cage-free) eggs
1 cup vegetable oil
1 tsp vanilla extract

Makes 12

Heat the oven to 350 degrees (F), and grease/line a muffin tin. I only have a 6-cup muffin tin so I bake in two batches.
In a large bowl, sift together the flour, cinnamon, baking soda and salt. Stir in sugar, then the coconut, raisins, nuts, carrots, apple and pineapple. Mix well.
In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs with the vegetable oil and vanilla extract. Add to the other ingredients and stir well. Fill muffin cups with the mixture.
Bake for 35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the centre of a muffin comes out clean. Cool muffins in the tin for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a rack for cooling.
Eat! I'm sure I don't have to tell you that, as well as being a delicious breakfast, the muffins are really scruptious served hot with a scoop of vanilla ice cream!

Saturday, March 6, 2010

Adam's Frapeze

We are so exited... amidst some crazy ctrl+r'ing this morning Simon managed to get us two tickets to see Atoms for Peace (or, Adam's Frapeze, as Simon had thought). I was shaking so badly that I messed it all up, but thankfully Simon was cool as a cucumber!


I wanted to post last Sunday about how productive my weekend was.. mostly because I didn't do any *real work* but now a whole week has gone by it doesn't quite feel like as big an achievement! Well, at least I finished off one project (Tibetan prayer flags for baby Will), and almost finished two others (quilts for James and Sean that have been sitting half-done on the ironing board for almost a YEAR!). Plus I made some very delicious chocolate souffle cupcakes and a carrot cake (from this fantastic cookbook).

This weekend? A 5km race tomorrow morning followed by brunch in our place... I am determined to fill everyone with of Bloody Marys to help make a dent in our huge vodka stockpile!