Slicin' up Eye Balls

If there's one thing in the world I love the most, it's the road trip.

Last Saturday SB & I drove out to Long Island to see Pixies in Huntington on their Lost Cities tour.

Thank God for the GPS otherwise we'd still be driving in circles down there! Waayyyy too many parkways and highways and bypasses down there for this suburbanite.

We stayed at the Executive Inn in Westbury, it was perfectly cromulent.

Pixies were better than amazing!!!! They performed "Doolittle" in it's entirety. Great great stuff!

The next day we hit up Trader Joe's, though they are essentially the same, each store offers a little something different to the patrons. Damn, I love Trader Joe's!

We took the Taconic Parkway home, beautiful drive w/ no cars. This weekend reeked of awesomeness!

Oktoberfest

Last weekend Sexybeast & I went camping to Moreau state park near South Glens Falls. Since we knew we were going to miss Wolf's Biergarten's Octoberfest, we decided to have our own little party at the camp ground.

First night, we could not get the fire started....stupid freshly cut wood that was completely soaked!

The next morning it started to rain when we awoke & all Sexybeast had on his mind was COFFEE. I was heartily looking forward to Kahlua and hot chocolate only to discover that we had forgotten to bring drinking implements. SB was very emphatic that we find a dine & STAT. I would have settled for Dunkin' Donuts but off to find a diner we did. Garmin gave us some bad directions and we got turned around before we found Maude's Kitchen. I la-la-la-LOVED this place. It was fun and quirky and I got a great recipe for hot buttered rum. The curtains were old aprons! So cute. All the coffee cups were mismatched and every table had a kitchy set of salt & pepper shakers. I highly recommend the hash browns....not a hint of grease & a pleasant taste of paprika. SB was happy w/ his sausage gravy & wanted to have gravy at every meal. It was not to be though :-(

I could not wait for a shower! The bathrooms were very spacious and clean. BUT the water was c-c-c-c-COLD. Freezing. It was awful! I had about 2 minutes of hot water & then back to COLD.

To kill some time while it rained, we saw an amazing exhibit at the Hyde Museum of children's book illustrations. Sendak, Di Paola & Steig...OH MY!

Lunch at Davidson Brothers Brew Pub. Great service, great food & according to SB great beer. I had a glass of pinot grigio & chocolate w/ Godiva liqueur & Bailey's.

A real fire courtesy of Hannaford!

Then relaxing by the fire & reading. The rain did not bother me in the slightest.

SB consumer many franziskaners while we prepared the feast. Pork schnitzel, red cabbage & spaetzel w/ gravy. The cabbage was out of this world good! Fresh from our garden and brown sugar combats the cabbagy bitterness.

Proust!

Cheese!

This post is dedicated to Jon in Albany because he has good taste

I made some amazing low fat mac n' cheese last week which I got from this site. I made some modifications. Enjoy!

1 1/2 cups of yr fave pasta (I used whole wheat penne Barilla)

2 tbsp butter (Smart Balance in my case)

1/4 C flour

1/4 C diced onion

2 cups skim milk (all I had on hand was 1%)

1 C broth (Better than Bullion veggie flavour)

2 cups low fat cheddar (my preference is Cabot 50% fat free)

a dash of S&P

1 1/2 cups of broccoli florets

1/8 C Parmesan cheese

1/4 C breadcrumbs (Panko all the way!)

cooking spray

1.Preheat oven 375 degrees.

2.Cook yr pasta & broccoli together in boiling water for about 7 minutes or so.

3. Melt butter in a skillet. Add onion on low heat for 2 mins , throw in flour & cook for another minute. Add milk & broth w/ a whisk, get the flour & wet ingredients nicely mixed. Crank the heat up to med-high & boil for 5 mins or until it's thick. Salt & pepper it.

4. Remove from heat & add the cheese. More S & P. Mix the cheese w/ the mac & pour into a casserole dish coated w/ cooking spray. Sprinkle w/ the breadcrumb like substance & parm.

5. Bake uncovered for 15 minutes (20 if you have want a crisper top).

Cheesy, tasty & full of fiber!

Meat ya Later!

SexyBeast & I had a chance to check out the 4th Annual Festival of Meat. SB was in heaven! There was clams, pulled pork, suckling pig, steak & chicken wings. Plus an array of potato side dishes, corn on the cob & fried Twinkies. $25 for the whole lot.

SB was even more impressed the Elk's Club's bar, $3 for gin & tonic. He got THRASHED!

Overall, it was pretty good. I didn't have any of the porks or the clams and the steak could have been bloodier.

The Two Headed Baby is Alive

Last Friday, SexyBeast & I went to the Altamont Fair. I haven't been since I was about 19 and heavily under the influence.

I used to love the fair.....the flip flop in my tummy when I got on a scary ride, eating hot dogs w/ peppers & onions, trying to win awesome posters of Duran Duran.....and later on pics of Sebastian Bach from Skid Row.

There was mud everywhere.

We skipped all the stupid crafts & smelly barn animals & went straight to the food vendors.

Hee hee! Aunt Flo's! SB & I were curious about the fried Kool Aid but we both came to the conclusion that some things should never be fried. That delightful pile of powdered sugar dough yummyness is Red Velvet Funnel Cake. Tasty but there was nothing red velvet about this dessert....pure red dye #5 babies! SB contented himself w/ fried Oreos "hmmm mmmhhmmm soft n' melty"

One important fact I learned is 38C's & ride harnesses do not mix. I thought my boobs were going to be flat for the rest of my life. Rest assured everything is fine in Hooterville.

I didn't quite recapture my youth but it was a damn fine time.

I Scream, You Scream, We all Scream for Dairy Products

I am pleased to announce that Kitchen Aid ice cream attachment works!

As it turns out, though, ice cream making is a big project. First of all, the freeze bucket has to be frozen for at least 16 hours prior to any dessert making. Also, for most recipes, the mixed ingredients must be chilled for most of the day.

And after all this, SB & I have been enjoying caramel pecan ice cream.

Next: gelato!

Hall o' Famer

It's no secret that summer is my favourite season, the hotter the better I say. I also say the wetter the better but that's a story for another time.

Anyway, SB and I are lucky enough to live close enough to some amazing campgrounds on the banks of cool and refreshing lakes. This past weekend we shot up to Glimmerglass in Cooperstown.

Last year we stayed at the rustic sites, roomy area but port-a-potties and 10,000 miles away from the showers. This year we stayed at a site a few feet from the facilities but smaller sites right on top of each other. I preferred having neighbors.

We spent all morning at the beach, swimming & reading. Not at the same time of course! Then lunch in Cooperstown @ Alex & Ika. I had the open faced chorizo sandwich & mixed green salad. I'm such a sucker for a home made vinaigrette. SB had a hanger steak and fingerling potatoes. WOWIE ZOWIE! I cannot recommend this place enough, peeps. And the sangria! Oh the sangria! They make it w/ port, I could have had 5 of those suckers.

Then more fire. Music. Uno. Laughter.

Disaster Area

I don't know about you but I had a great Memorial Weekend! I had some amazing beer, Saranac Summer Brew (it's a shandy!), relaxed w/ some great friends and BEST of all we had some great great great food.

SB busted out our new chicken roaster for the grill. There's even a tiny pan that holds beer, so we can still have beer can chicken. SB used a super secret rub & WOWEE, it was incredible.

SB also barbecued some ribs, finger fucking lickin' good man! I provided the sauce, the key ingredient is Doctor Pepper. I wish I could have scored some Mr. Pibb but that's life.

And to top it all off, our friend (let's call him Stoney) made his world famous pepperoni and sausage Stromboli. I can't knead dough to save my life, so any chance I can get some home made baked goods, I am all over that shit!

Good eats!

Thunkless

The return of the Thursday Top Ten!

http://www.bethszimmerman.com/

Today’s topic is …. Your Top 10 Summer Foods! We all know that when it’s over 100 degrees outside (thank you Oklahoma) and the air conditioner is working overtime … nobody wants to do much baking … or cooking for that matter. So what do you eat when it’s just too hot to cook?

1. Corn on the cob...grilled of course w/ lots of black pepper and Smart Balance

2. Cold iced tea w/ fresh mint, this works out great for me since I have an iced tea maker.

3. Shish kabobs/spiedinis....meat and veggies on a stick. We need more foods on sticks!

4. Berries, berries, berries

5. Peaches and nectarines

6. My special low fat tortellini salad, I found it in "Cooking Light" 7 years ago and now it's a standard in my house and at parties

7. Coronitas in the lake. I'm not a huge beer fan but DAMN nothing beats a cold one on a sweltering day

8. Potato salad....a teensy bit o' mayo, bacon and peas. I'm deprived of this unless I visit my mother as SB thinks mayo is Satan's spooge.

9. Ice cream

10. Sangria...I have secret recipe but shh! it's a secret.

Nein ich bein

SB and I went to Schnitzel-Fest at the German American Club in Colonie. Colour me surprised as I had never known there was a German American Club, let alone it was on some random side street in Colonie.

Anyways we get there @ 7, just as the oompa band took the stage & oddly enough there was no to greet us at the door to take our money.

So we belly up to the bar, a total old man bar if there ever was one. SB was really excited to have a few liters of Franziskaner.

I partook of some Stella, not German but close enough

There was some confusion about the schnitzel part of the evening. Apparently, you had to RSVP & no where in the Metroland did I read about that. We were frantically told that we had to be served last and there was only pork left. No problem! Except the chef asked if we wanted pork or chicken.....and nobody really wanted to seat us, so we sat at the bar......and they tried to serve us somebody else's schnitzel.

It was damn tasty! We also got some green bean salad & a healthy scoop of mashed potatoes & some steamed mixed veggies. We some how got the shaft on the bread.

It was a really nice meal. I also forced SB to polka for half a second. And we saw old men drink nasty liquor. Here's some high lights, "I'll have a Beefeater's with......Beefeater's." "Did you run out of Johnny Walker Red?"

Non-Stop

It's Tuesday and I'm already wiped out!

The weekend was super packed w/ lots of goings ons. Friday night, I went to a Wine, Whine & Dine party. I only knew 2 people there including the hostess but that did not stop me from having a good time. And not a forced good time either, this was GEN-U-WINE. I came home at 2 am.

Saturday, I got my hair did.....at 9 am. Ugh! I felt like poopity poop but at least I looked fabulous. I unfortunately did not get a nap in before we went out again to our friends' home for "boiled" dinner. The corned beef was sooooo delicious, I think it was the cloves that did the trick. Another late night.


And yet, my old tired body did not want to sleep in. Grr!

Pi Day, or March 14th (3/14), happens to be SB and mine dating anniversary. That's right, bitches, we celebrate 2 anniversaries! We had kicked around the idea of going bowling before going out to eat. But something about going on a date to the bowling alley in the early evening on a Sunday seemed depressing. It's much more fun to go to 11pm Rock n' Bowl. Bring on the black lights, classic rock & cold Coors Light!


Anyway, we headed off to The Standard. I've great things about the food & service and it seemed like the perfect spot for a special occasion meal. We stared off w/ a Manhattan for him & a glass of Prosecco (sparkling white wine) for me. SB was highly annoyed that his drink was $10. Agreed! Since I'm trying to slim down for the wedding, I forewent the fried yummy apps for a pecan, endive & bleu cheese salad. It was great but there was sooooo much of it. I probably only ate 1/3 of it. I also a little taken aback when our server asked if I wanted the rest of the salad in a doggy bag. Uh....not so much, thanks. SB had shrimp lollipops in a panko & coconut crust. SB proclaimed it tasty, though he was worried about poking his eye out on a skewer. For my main, I had lamb chops, a baked potato & broccoli. Now, normally you can only have one side but I really wanted more veggies. I expected a charge for the extra food but $5.50 for broccoli!? Come on! SB wanted braised baby short ribs but they were all out :-( So, he settled on a black pepper crusted filet w/ garlic mashed potatoes. SB really likes his crust! I took dessert to go. I like the idea of snuggling up on the couch in my jammies w/ a sweet treat.

Chocolate cream tartlette, think about that while yr driving to work!

A Small Opening

Last week (and part of this week too because of inclimate weather!) was Restaurant Week here in the Electric City...that's Schenectady not Scranton, PA.

After polling a few peeps and perusing the menus, SB & I decided on checking out Aperitivo. We've never been, mostly because it's flipping expensive! And just for grins and ha-ha's my parents tagged along as well.

The decor was a bit '80's, exposed brick and a long bar. The place was packed! Right off the bat, the hostess didn't acknowledge us, I understand she was on the phone but she could have made eye contact or something.

Sadly for my mother, both the mussels and salmon were unavailable.

For the apps, there was a choice of Caesar salad or warm mozzarella over polenta. I'm a bit meh on Caesar salad because a: it's usually swimming in dressing & b: they used anchovies in it. Blech! I went w/ the polenta which is odd because I don't care for it very much. Well, now I'm completely won over. Guess I never had it prepared correctly.

For our mains, SB & I had the sausage and broccoli rabe pizza. The crust was amazing, thin & crispy, almost like a cracker. It had a great heat from the red pepper flakes as well. So so tasty! My parents had the rigatoni and Gorgonzola. Unfortunately, they let their plates sits and re-fired them because the pasta was completely dried out. I think this had to do w/ a lack of help in the kitchen.

Dessert was apple cranberry crisp, it was a bit dry. SB had the tiramisu, which he inhaled.

All of this for the low low price of $20.11. See you next year Restaurant Week!

BBQ

Both SB & myself had Veteran's Day off & I decided we needed to go on Wednesday night. This coincided w/ the grand opening of Dinosaur BBQ in Troy. We met up w/ Albany Jane to enjoy some good grub.

It was so crowded that we had to make own parking space. In yr face establishment!

Upon entering Dinosaur, you get smacked in the face w/ the smell of smoke. It's incredibly awesome.

There is a mighty fine selection of beer.

I had the chicken (BIG thumbs up!) and it came w/ 2 sides. I chose the greens, which were very acidic almost like a sauerkraut, & mashed sweet potatoes. But they brought me cole slaw, (HATE HATE HATE) & unfortunately, they ran out of the sweet potatoes. So I substituted baked beans, holy crap, they were spicy & had bits of pulled pork in it. SB wanted brisket and pulled pork & Albany Jane ordered the sausage and pulled pork. Oops! No more sausage....no more brisket. They both had ribs.

The service was great and the waitress was incredibly apologetic for having to refuse our requests.

I'll be back.

Gustar o No Gustar?

For months, I have been going back n' forth over which fast food Tex-Mex I like better, Chipotle or Moe's.

Both use fresh, tasty ingredients. Both will customize yr order. I do give Moe's a slight advantage because they have cilantro.

However, I was at a training today w/ catered taco bar from Moe's. I prefer hard tacos because white flour tortillas tend to get too chewy for me. I could have had a "salad" but those GIGANTIC taco shells are the devil. Anyways, I had one chicken taco w/ pico de gallo and one beef taco w/ mild salsa. The chicken had great flavour but it was dry. It might have happened en route to the training facility but I can't be certain. The real issue was the taco shell was dry and crumbly on my chicken taco and the salsa completely moistened and dissolved on my beef taco. I had to eat them w/ a fork!

I am now in love w/ Chipotle.

The Voice of God

Last week, SB & I had date night. A leisurely stop at Van's Vietnamese for my usual summer rolls. SB had the spring rolls. As I wasn't in a pho mood, I had the grilled lemon grass chicken. Moist and delicious!

Onto Barnes & (Ig)Noble for a tasty treat. I wanted a Vivanno but they have a limited menu at the B&N Starbucks. So I reluctantly settled for a gigantic chocolate chip and peanut butter cup cookie & perused the magazine section.

And the best was saved for last, Laurie Anderson at EMPAC. For those of you not in the know, Laurie is a musician, artist and inventor. I got her seminal and groundbreaking CD "Big Science" the autumn of 2001. To say it resonated and scared me all at the same time, would be an understatement. I got to her perform that following year. It was all spoken word, though in my eyes it seemed like storytelling. Dark but funny.

This time around, Ms. Anderson was show casing her new live piece "Delusion". She played her electric violin (which she invented!) & synthesiser while small film clips played in the background. She spoke about death and punctuation and the decline of America. What freaked me out was her scary voice modulator! It sounded like a demonic god. Oh and I should mention, Laurie has a voice like molasses. Slow and deliberate.

It was the first time I had been to EMPAC. It's like being inside a piece of modern/post-modern sculpture.

Check out her new CD "Homeland"!

1492

SB & I went to the Amherst/S. Hadley/Northampton area of Mass for the long weekend. We almost didn't go because I couldn't find a cheap hotel room. But thanks to hotwire we stayed at the Howard Johnson's for 57 clams a night.

It wasn't even worth 57 buttons! Ugh! The shower had two heads in it for some reason. You had to have a degree in engineering to turn the fucking thing on. The staircase reminded me of an M.C. Escher painting, yes indeed, there was a staircase to nowhere. The continental breakfast was terrible too! And I'm not one to complain about free food. There were bagels but no bagel cutter. Thank God SB always keeps his Leatherman on him. And when they run of coffee, they run out of coffee. Stick w/ the Lucky Charms.

On to the good stuff! We had an excellent dinner on Saturday when we arrived, at a place that I cannot remember the name of. Sorry! It was the first time I had mulligatawny, I'm staying away from fried apps.

On Sunday, we headed into Northampton to take in the sights. Did a bit of shopping at the used CD store Turn it Up, the thrift store, the book store. And we ended up sitting in the town square enjoying a Starbucks ( I had a chocolate Vivanno) & reading. Check out some of the great pics I snapped.

Sorry for the weird layout, blogger is being a whiny bitch!

My middle brother was supposed to meet up w/ us on Sunday but it was logistically impossible. So, in honour of my birthday, (Oct. 21st in case yr keeping track) he sent me a gift certificate to Northampton Brew Pub. SB got the sampler of beers and a full pint of the Pumpkin Spice. I had a really great tart hard cider. For nibbles, SB had some fancy nachos and I had a chorizo jalapeno thin crust pizza. The layout there is awesome, we sat outside on the 2 tier deck. Just gorgeous! I highly recommend the place.

After a full day of mogging around, we had a late dinner in Amherst at Pasta e Basta. It was a cute restaurant but the food was meh. My meat sauce had little flavour. Still, plenty of places left in Amherst that we have not eaten at yet.

Because of the awful breakfast a the hotel, we ate at the Route 9 Diner. Oh my Goddess! It was truly spectacular diner. SB had challah bread French toast & I had potato latkes. They were crisp, flavourful & not greasy at all. They were so crunchy I am thinking the latkes were rolled in corn flakes before they were cooked.

And of course we had our pilgrimage to Trader Joe's!!!! We got some cider, soybeans, taquitos, amongst other various delicious things. We got the Cha Siu Bao for the first time. They were so awesome!!! SB was drooling and murmuring, "MMMHHHMMM *GRUNT GRUNT* PULLED PORK!"

Can't wait for next trip there!

Wunderbar

Last weekend was Oktoberfest at Wolff's Biergarten in Albany. I love Oktoberfest! A celebration of food and booze?! Sign me up. Plus October is an awesome month, my birthday is coming up soon.

OK, so it cost 7 clams to get in. Then, you have to buy booze tickets. And unfortunately, I did not like their choices of beers on tap. They smelled like old socks. Thankfully Wolff's was open & I purchased a cherry lambic. It was $12! The hell?

For lunch, SB had the schnitzel, French fries & kraut. I had knockwurst, mashed potatoes & beet salad. The beet salad was amazing, crisp & slightly acidic.

We also got free schwag! Gigantic cheap plastic beer steins & little teeny beer stein shot glasses.

We had a great time w/ my brother & sister-in-law, couldn't have had better weather. We'll be back next year, Wolff's!

A Tale of Two Thais

If you recall this post , I was expounding on the virtues of Bangkok Bistro & Martini Bar in Sch'dy. I've never been disappointed by any of the meals I've had there....ever. Good size portions, great bartenders & SB can eat sushi up until 3 am (though sometimes w/ disastrous results!).

My oldest brother recently turned 41 & at his request, had the entire family get together for Thai food. We went to Blue Spice Thai in what was formerly Garcia's next to HoJo's in Colonie. Let's compare and contrast.

Decor goes to Blue Spice. Bangkok was a German Brahaus 40 years ago & it has never been updated. Blue Spice is light and bright and has this really awesome section of tables where you sit on long cushions and you have to take off yr shoes.

Service goes to Bangkok. We asked for chopsticks 20 times....they never came. And the entrees did not come out all at the same time which does not normally bother me but there was a long lapse and other peoples' meals started getting cold. I've never had this problem at Bangkok.

Food is a complete draw! The food is excellent in both places. I was going to have the basil curry again just to see if there was any difference but Blue Spice makes theirs w/ mushrooms & tempura eggplant. Blech blech!

I give Blue Spice a big thumbs up but I prefer Bangkok. The choice is yrs.

Labour Intensive

Man, oh man, do I loves me some 3 day weekends!

This year, instead of going away, my dear dear close friends (& their 3 y/o!) came to visit us and our "new" house.

It's fun to entertain a 3 y/o, we spent most of the weekend at the neighborhood playground.

The above pic is my friend, not me., FYI.

SexyBeast is King of the World! I too also made it down and over the twisty rock wall o' doom. I had a panic attack and almost didn't make it! Believe, even though this is an elementary school playground, that shit was hard to finish. This got me thinking, SB and I are going to hit up our local rock climbing wall facility.

We also had some kick ass Thai food. I like mine spicy spicy spicy! And Bangkok Thai's green basil curry did not disappoint. I had a Dirty Girl Scout and my friend had a Bikini-tini.

We also hit up the Schenectady Farmer's Market. It's tiny but it's great & I think the prices can't be beat. If you live the upstate NY area, do yrself a favour and pick a container of gluten free non-dairy potato dip by Zorba's Natural Foods. I got the horseradish and dill flavour. HOLY WOW!!! So freakin' good!

I leave you all to ponder this:

Soused

Hey, when did uploading photos on blogger become such a pain in the asshole?! I had a carefully planned, witty post all set and blogger is being a complete and utter asshole.

Here's some pictures of me and SB and his friends in Lake George. I'm crabby!

"Cheech" is SB's other nickname.

SB made brisket & ribs.

I'm really full of meat!