What have we been doing all this time??

Mark Bittman shows us how to roast a turkey in under 45 mins.... looks really good too. I'm definitely going to have to give this a try sometime. Check out the NYTimes article.

Thoughts on turning 40

What does it mean to turn 40? There are wiser than me that can tackle that question. However, there is one thing that it has meant to me: Turning 40 has reminded me of what a wonderful family I have. God has so blessed me.

A Kinder Gentler Nation

Tolerance fails T-shirt test

Brave, brave girl...
Catherine Vogt, 14, conducted an experiment in political tolerance at her Oak Park middle school and learned some valuable lessons. (Tribune photo by Nuccio DiNuzzo / November 12, 2008)

Want to make a change?

The Obama campaign has wasted no time in ensuring they continue their momentum - encouraging Americans to actively participate in their movement for change.

Behind the scenes with Barack

Super cool!

The Obama campaign posts an 82-picture Flickr set of candid shots from the night of the election. The Creative-Commons-licensed pics show the candidate and his family in their hotel room while the results were tallied, and then heading to the stage for his victory speech.

So it's come to this

I read an article in the NY Times today which addressed a societal problem that has bothered me for some time now - the pervasive lack of common courtesy amongst strangers. Here's a synopisis:

Op-Ed Contributor

All Apologies

By HENRY ALFORD

Published: November 10, 2008

I sometimes find strangers’ manners so lacking that I have started engaging in an odd kind of activism. I call it reverse etiquette: I supply the apology that they should be giving me.

I question the author's solution; however creative it may be. Still, I suggest you check out the full article.

Support your local arts

We went to Curtain Call yesterday afternoon for the first time. It's a local theater group here in Stamford. We saw Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None. I remember reading this story, along with many other AC mysteries as a child. There was a period of time that I was completely enamored with AC. Seeing the play reminded me why. The story was very engaging & smart.

The Curtain Call organization is made up of local actors. The theater was an intimate space where patrons were encouraged to bring their own picnics & enjoy the show. It was a lot of fun & we'll definitely consider going back.

I learned that Alec is a big murder mystery fan. Now I'm tasked with finding more for us to go see. It should be fun.

The El Charritto Truck

Never thought I'd consider eating at a food truck in Stamford, much less blog about it - but here I am.... I saw an article in the Advocate a few weeks back about this particular food truck. The article discussed about how the couple that runs it is basically putting everything they have into this endeavor. The food is so good that there's been buzz online.

Curiosity killed the cat & I just had to try it out - but when??? So Alec called me to say that he was going out for bevvies w/some colleagues & would be home late. Ah ha! At last my chance had arrived! Scrap the dinner plans, I was headed straight to the famous taco truck!

They weren't kidding... this stuff is the real deal. I'll definitely be back.




photo by A_W_Taylor

Happy Birthday Alec!

We celebrated Alec's birthday last night at Restaurant Jean-Louis in Greenwich:
The food was very good & Alec was served a special birthday dessert.

We had lively discussion around the current presidential race and the various hot topics of the day. Alec came home with a bag full of birthday loot. A good time was had by all.

The Omnivore's Hundred

The Omnivore’s Hundred from Very Good Taste

Rules of the game:

1) Copy this list into your blog or journal, including these instructions.
2) Bold all the items you’ve eaten.
3) Cross out any items that you would never consider eating.
4) Optional extra: Post a comment here at www.verygoodtaste.co.uk linking to your results.

The VGT Omnivore’s Hundred:

1. Venison
2. Nettle tea
3. Huevos rancheros
4. Steak tartare
5. Crocodile
6. Black pudding
7. Cheese fondue
8. Carp
9. Borscht
10. Baba ghanoush
11. Calamari
12. Pho
13. PB&J sandwich
14. Aloo gobi
15. Hot dog from a street cart
16. Epoisses
17. Black truffle
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes
19. Steamed pork buns
20. Pistachio ice cream
21. Heirloom tomatoes
22. Fresh wild berries
23. Foie gras
24. Rice and beans
25. Brawn, or head cheese
26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper
27. Dulce de leche
28. Oysters
29. Baklava
30. Bagna cauda
31. Wasabi peas
32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl
33. Salted lassi
34. Sauerkraut
35. Root beer float
36. Cognac with a fat cigar
37. Clotted cream tea
38. Vodka jelly/Jell-O
39. Gumbo
40. Oxtail
41. Curried goat
42. Whole insects
43. Phaal
44. Goat’s milk
45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more
46. Fugu
47. Chicken tikka masala
48. Eel
49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut
50. Sea urchin
51. Prickly pear
52. Umeboshi
53. Abalone
54. Paneer
55. McDonald’s Big Mac Meal
56. Spaetzle
57. Dirty gin martini
58. Beer above 8% ABV
59. Poutine
60. Carob chips
61. S’mores
62. Sweetbreads
63. Kaolin
64. Currywurst
65. Durian
66. Frogs’ legs
67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake
68. Haggis
69. Fried plantain
70. Chitterlings, or andouillette
71. Gazpacho
72. Caviar and blini
73. Louche absinthe
74. Gjetost, or brunost
75. Roadkill
76. Baijiu
77. Hostess Fruit Pie
78. Snail
79. Lapsang souchong
80. Bellini
81. Tom yum
82. Eggs Benedict
83. Pocky
84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant.
85. Kobe beef
86. Hare
87. Goulash
88. Flowers
89. Horse
90. Criollo chocolate
91. Spam
92. Soft shell crab
93. Rose harissa
94. Catfish
95. Mole poblano
96. Bagel and lox
97. Lobster Thermidor
98. Polenta
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee
100. Snake

So I'm at close to 75%, not bad....

All Star Game - Yankee Stadium

I didn't go, but Alec & Stew did. They have some great pictures from this historic event:

All Star Game 2008

July 4th pics

Soooooooo, this is just slightly delayed.... but here are pictures from our Independence week holiday in Boston. Boston is a most excellent place to spend this particular holiday. I highly recommend that you spend 4th of July there at least once in your lifetime. Enjoy!

Boston July 4 2008

Lucky number 13!

That's how many of us gathered in the Mayan Riviera section of Mexico for Thanksgiving week. Roll call included: Me, Alec, Dad, Chris, John, Tracy, Jack, Natalie, Jennifer, David, Erin, Sean and his girlfriend, Karen. (Karen was a total hit, btw. What a real find she is. Sean is a very lucky man.)

I came away with no photos of the whole gang. It's hard enough for us to all get together in the same region. I'm not about to try to tackle the enormous task of getting us all in the same photo frame. I'll leave you with this lovely shot of the beach at Tulum, the Mayan ruins we visited on Wednesday. This pretty much sums up the week.

Shape your butt!

So, I've been doing some healthy thinking lately. I say thinking because, until now, I've not really done much acting on these healthy thoughts. OK, maybe I'm being a bit harsh. After all, I finally arrange to see a GP for an annual check up (it's been 3 or 4 years since I've done that) - everything is splendid, btw. But I've been thinking for a while now that my daily walks just aren't cutting it. I need to do something more. Running's out, of course, since my knee pretty much turned against me about 5 years ago. Nevertheless, I'd been thinking of doing some sort of group class type of exercise. That means I need a gym membership. For me, the choice was easy (which is a very rare thing) - all my girlfriends are members at LA Fitness. And, oh, btw... I walk right past it during my morning walk every day. So, I finally got off my duff & signed up yesterday. Now, here's the kicker.... the group class schedule has a cycle class at 0545 (ouch!). Lucky for me, the time just changed this weekend. So I took advantage of the fake time - talking myself into believing that I was really getting up at 0620, not 0520. It worked - at least today it did! So, I'm proud to announce that I took my first spin class today. No surprise - it totally kicked my butt! But, that's what it's supposed to do, right? Anyway, hopefully I'll be able to keep my motivation going (I'm counting on my friend, Laura, to harass me into continuing) & before you know it, I'll have a new set of hot cross buns! :)

A sweet ride

I finally signed on the dotted line for my next car. We won't be getting it until Feb, when my current lease on my RAV4 runs out. I'm very excited, though. My new C30 will be one of only 8000 in the US for 2008. You can go to the Volvo website to learn more.
Oh, & did I mention that since they partner w/IBM, I got a nice little discount, too! Yippee!

Newport, July 4th

So, I'm a bit behind on posting - as usual! Hey, at least I'm consistent!

Actually, things have been pretty good lately. Although I'm as swamped as ever at work, I've been getting LOTS done - which leads to a great sense of accomplishment. That's much better than the usual feeling I have of slogging through the bureaucratic sludge of working lots and accomplishing little.

I've got 2 major projects going on right now that are close to completion - which means they are both about to go through the executive review phase. Why does everything always happen at once??? Anyway, I'm very pleased to finally be at this phase. So, hopefully I'll be able to announce that all's done & I'm off working on the next big thing (which is likely to be the beginning of the update to the projects that I've just completed! Ugh!) Anyway, I'm going to try to enjoy this moment before I get back to the dull drums too soon!

Speaking of dull drums (not that is was dull), but since I'm using my sailing terminology here... I thought I'd share this fantastic photo of the Pell bridge that Alec took during our recent trip to Newport, RI (July 4th weekend).
If you'd like to see the whole album, you can find it on my new facebook site (I can't believe I've actually joined that network - but so far it's been fun): http://tinyurl.com/2se6h3

USS Winston S Churchill (DDG-81)

So this post is a couple of weeks late. But, hey, at least I'm finally posting something. We had a fantastic Memorial Day weekend, which was kicked off on Saturday by a ship tour of the USS Winston S. Churchill (DDG-81). The gang included Alec, his parents, his aunt Ursula & Uncle Bart, and our friends Dianne, Leslie, Ruth & Richard & Richard's girls, Allison & Jessica. Those last four aren't in this picture, as they were off touring another ship at the time we snapped this little beauty. Touring the ship was awesome, as expected. It really gave everyone a good idea of what life for some of America's finest & bravest must be like. I think everyone walked away with a renewed appreciation for our soldiers and sailors. One of the best parts of the tour was our very special tour guide, LCDR (SW) Steve Murley. It was awesome to see Steve again. He's so enthusiastic! He was very kind to give the gang a private tour of the ship.

After the tour, the younger crowd all went to lunch at a great little restaurant in Manhattan called Vespa. The food was very fresh & the backyard garden made me feel like we were in a special secluded little hideaway.

After lunch, Steve & the girls went for a tour of Dianne's fantastic new office in the Time Warner Center building at Columbus Circle. (Alec had to go get his haircut - too bad!) What a view of Central Park that girl has! Amazing. She's a very lucky woman.

That evening, Alec & I had dinner with Alec's family (those mentioned above) and good friend Bob Surace. It was a fantastic day, all around.

Di had so much fun that she and Deb met up w/Steve the next day for the sunset ceremony on the USS Wasp (LHD-1), which is an altogether different kind of ship. I would have loved to have gone, however Alec & I were off celebrating our first anniversary.

We spent the afternoon at the La Prairie Spa at the Ritz for couples workouts & massages - which makes for very happy munchkins! Alec & had a wonderful dinner at Bar Americain (Bobby Flay's most recent of his NY restaurants - which I'd been wanting to go to for over a year now). We stayed the night at the Ritz & then came back north the next day to play tennis at the Mount Kisco Country Club.

So... life ain't bad! Hope your weekend was as much fun!

The natives are restless

Living in a newly minted condo complex comes with some special problems - namely the creation of a brand new condo board. It would appear, that everyone that was elected to our board last March had very little or no condo board experience. Thus, not only did they have no precedence for how to conduct a meeting or run the board & make decisions at our condo association, but they had no experience from anywhere else that they could capitalize upon. This has created several problems, which I shall not go into, so as not to end up in a law suit for slander or some other such thing. However, let it be known that there have been several things that the board has done that has resulted in a general uprising in our building.

The good news is that there is a possible light at the end of the tunnel. General elections will be held in March. Some of the concerned association members held a meeting last night to discuss the several improprieties in question & to put together a strategy for the elections in March. I don't know if it will work. I certainly hope it does. In any case, I'm glad to see that we're trying to do something about it and I'm happy to be a part of what hopefully turns out to be a good solution to the current situation. In addition, it was really nice to have met some of my neighbors!

Dogs & their people

Dogs are nice. I love dogs. But I despise dogs that are undisciplined & untrained. Really, it's their owners that I don't appreciate. These kind of people are doing a disservice to society - who have to deal with a menace and to the poor animal that they have taken into their home. In most cases there is only one excuse - LAZINESS. People train your dogs & discipline them! After all, I'd like to be able to sleep. Do you hear me, you inconsiderate upstairs neighbors???? Grrrrrrrrrr.

Rainy post election day

So the elections are over (mostly). Still there's a couple of cliff hangers for the Senate, which hopefully will be resolved by the time I return from MEXICO!

That's right, I'm off to the warm, sandy beaches of Cancun. Gonna meet some family to celebrate Dad's 65th and kick back for a few days. I can't wait. The only sad thing is that my dear hubby couldn't join us. Poor fellow has no vacation left. :(

It'll be hard to have fun, but I'll do my best. Hehehehe.

I'll be back late on Sunday. Hopefully, I'll have some fun things to share.

Adios till then!