July 31, 2010

Area is wide open without the artists and vendors.



Hydrangeas.



Crowded at 11:00 a.m.



Real nice day.



Blurry shot, I hadn't tasted anything yet.



Union Square Whole Foods now sells Growlers. Picked up two small ones.



Greenport Harbor Ale: ABV: 5.3%.



Blue Point Oatmeal Stout: 30 IBUs ,5.2 % ABV.



Heroes and Villains: Inside the Minds of the Greatest Warriors in History by Frank McLynn is right up my alley.



The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot looks real interesting. Science, racial politics, and human interest.

July 24, 2010

Beer for the weekend is from Trader Joe's, Mission St. Brown Ale. The brewery is Firestone Walker but the label says Steinhaus Brewing Company. Will have it with Quesadillas - Scallops, Corn , Tomatoes, Onion , Three-blend cheese, and Black Bean spread.



Of course, Restaurant Week is extended until September 6. Revised participation list due out on Monday. Some good ones drop out but most stay in.



The New Amsterdam Market is open today. Down at the South Street Seaport. Today is City of Water Day.



They were giving out Edible Manhattan at the New Amsterdam Market. In the latest issue was a terrific interview of Brooklyn Brewery Brewmaster Garrett Oliver.



Hot and not too crowded.



Sunflowers look good.



Union Square was wide-open as the Artists were cleared out by a City Rule which has been upheld by a Federal Court Decision. The Artists are pissed.

July 21, 2010

Real nice piece in today's NYT by Eric Asimov on Chiantis. I always look for the Black Rooster, gallo nero in Italian, on the bottle of Chiantis. I used to have a T-Shirt of the bird. The Black Rooster is the symbol of The Chianti Classico Wine Consortium.

July 18, 2010

I still eat Bialys every weekend. A local supermarket has a doughy, reasonable facsimile of what a real Bialy tastes like, so I go with that. The name bialy is short for bialystoker kuchen (Bialystok Cake.) Bialystok is a city in Poland. Zero Mostel's character in The Producers was Max Bialystock. Watched it the other night, great line:
Leo Bloom: Actors are not animals! They're human beings!
Max Bialystock: They are? Have you ever eaten with one?



Got to thinking about the past and where do I find the best Bialy. Of course, it is Kossars. It is still there on 367 Grand Street. I will have to make a visit. This is dangerous because once I have the real thing, I will not be able to eat what I am eating now. Kossars used to have an outpost on 14th Street between Ave A and Avenue B. They sold retail if the baker wasn't busy. Ah, Bulkas - a submarine shaped big bialy. I used to go to a Deli and pile on sliced meat for a super hero. I haven't had a Bulka in over 25 years, that will change shortly. I will also hunt down Mimi Sheraton's The Bialy Eaters.




Coming up soon is Summer Streets 2010. NYC temporarily closes Park Avenue and connecting streets from the Brooklyn Bridge to Central Park to motor vehicles and open it up to people on three consecutive Saturdays in August (August 7, 14, & 21).
New this year is Dumpster Pools: Macro-Sea re-fashioning clean, unused shipping containers and transforming them into code-compliant swimming pools.



Coming up on August 22nd is the Hudson River Park BBQ and Blues. Beers include Sam Adams, Coors Light and Blue Moon.



July is Good Beer month. So says the Mayor.



Hot, time for frozen Margaritas. This stuff is good, pour in a bottle of Tequila, put in freezer, wait .... Drink, er slurp.

July 17, 2010

Bright sunny day at the Greenmarket.



Not too crowded.



Bought my first Tomatoes of the year.



Peaches still a little small but very sweet.



Whole Foods beer room featured Peak Organic Brewing Co. from Portland, Maine. Picked up Amber Ale, ABV: 4.9% IBUs: 37, and Maple Oat Ale, ABV: 6.7% IBUs: 26.



PBR was $7.99 a twelve pack. The beer is very popular but I never understood why. Now I know, $7.99 a twelve pack.



Shore Dinner tonight.Luke's Lobster: A Taste of Maine for $20 : small lobster, crab, and shrimp rolls with two empress claws, a choice of chips from Ms. Vickie's and a choice of soda from Maine. To which I add: Corn on the Cob from the Greenmarket, left-over Hash Browns from Smith and Wollensky ,and a Greenmarket Salad.



Bought four Empanadas to complete what I hope is no cooking the rest of this hot weekend.



Today's NYT Crossword Blog Wordplay has an Across Lite file of the very first Times puzzle from Feb. 15, 1942. That cued something from HMS Pinafore above. The puzzle is a hoot. What a treat !

July 16, 2010

Golf Trip. Had to visit Davy's Hot Dogs, 14 Howard Blvd. Mount Arlington, NJ. Breakfast on the way, lunch on the way back.



Tough course, played pretty good in that I now play once a year. My drives were usually straight and over 200 yards.



Ah, Cattails Typha latifolia.

July 13, 2010

Smith and Wollensky this week. The Restaurant Week Surf and Turf will be ordered. Next week, Hill Country.



The Pitmaster:
Cornbread with Ancho Honey Butter
Plus
1/4 lb Lean Brisket, One Pork Spare Rib, One Beef Rib
Quarter All Natural Chicken (white or dark meat),
Any Two Good Eatin’ (8oz) Sides
Plus
Ice Tea, Lemonade, Fountain Soda or Lone Star Beer!

July 10, 2010

Overcast and waiting for the rain. Pretty crowded for 9 a.m.



All over town, women wearing fedoras.



Sour Cherries.



My favorites: Blueberries in high season.



Bit of a flood at 15th street or as it is now known:Lee Strasberg Way. The theater in his honor is at 115 Lee Strasberg Way.



Dirty water.



What a mess !



The latest reads, this one looks interesting.



A follow-up to A Colossal Failure of Common Sense ,which I read in January , on the collapse of Lehman Brothers.



I usually take a Management course every Summer but the one given this year is too Geeky. I 'm pretty adept at systems but the course looked horrible. This book will substitute for not going.



I watch Big Brother. It is like watching Lab Rats in an experiment. The cast this season is a complete set of Loons.