Foiling the Skeptic

I should know better than to ever doubt the kids. They wanted to make the Charlie Brown Christmas tree outside and I told them it was harder than they might have thought. They didn't care, they wanted to do it and get it done before mom got home.

It getting late and I had to make dinner, but I figured if they wanted to try, go ahead and learn it the hard way.

Well, half an hour later, sure enough, they got it done, and did a beautiful job. A made sure to tell me that it wasn't such a big deal, and I'm glad for that. Shame on me for being such a skeptic.

Until the next time, thanks for reading, and thanks to N for the pic.

Pumpkin Soup Fiasco

We had a crazy Martha Stewart's worst nightmare experience the other day. We've been making soup almost every day, and it tends to be the usual cast of characters, so we decided to branch out and try something new. We perused our choices and came up with pumpkin corn chowder. It was easy enough and we like pumpkin soups.

Well, first off, we had very little corn, but maybe enough to make the soup. I went to BGs and they were sold out, so I had to go with what we had. We made the soup and I emptied the contents of the pumpkin can in. A was curious what pumpkin tasted like, so we both gave it a try, and was it good. It tasted like pumpkin pie, and once the soup was going, it dawned on me why. I had mistakenly used a can of pumpkin pie mix, not prepared pumpkin. Consequently, the soup, which contains lemon, was sickly sweet and kind of funky.

A thought it was okay, but I couldn't eat it, and with about an hour and a half to go before supper time, I made an executive decision to make it again. The problem, of course, was the corn. I talked to B at BGs and he said they would get more corn in tomorrow, but he had canned corn. I could have gone to Price Chopper, but that's a production and would have involved packing the kids up and driving over. Finally, I decided to try Mike's Store, which better known for killer sandwiches and snacks, but not so much for groceries. I decided to give them a call, and sure enough, they had frozen corn. Score.

I got the corn, we used the right pumpkin this time, and the soup was killer. In fact, mom even said it was one of her new favorites. I love when that happens. Just goes to show you what a little effort can do for you.

Until the next time, thanks for reading.

Sick as Dogs

We have been wrestling with these colds and I think I’ve been coughing for about five days straight. It’s a total bummer, because I can’t sleep. For the past three to four nights, my sleeping has been punctuated by serious coughing fits that wake me up. Consequently, I get about five hours of interrupted sleep, and feel all the worse the next morning.

To add to the suffering, everyone is sick, so in addition to all of my whining, we have to worry about the kids being sick, as well. For whatever reason, the girls in the house haven’t been hit as hard, but the guys are getting slapped around. N and I have had it bad, and we were a bit worried about N at one point because he started spiking a fever, which has since subsided, but we still worry. Parenthood, what an adventure. Fortunately, we have plenty of chicken stock so we can keep the matzo-ball soup flowing.

I was ready to break out the big guns and take a serious opiate based cough syrup (they make this stuff), but you need a prescription. There is a OTC brand called DelSym that literally knocks you out, and that would have to do, but we didn’t have any of that, either. We used to have some, but we got rid of it because felt it was like it was taking dope, the effects were that severe. I sure could have used some last night, though.

In the meantime, I’ll do a few shots of vodka and chase it with some orange juice, just for the vitamin C.

Thanks for reading, and thanks to Andrzej Pobiedziński for the pic.

Things We Do For Africa

We are preparing for our big Africa/iKODI benefit, and since R is on the board, our involvement is perhaps more than the average Joe. This, of course, means that yours truly will be working hard over a hot stove for a day or two, which is okay, because it’s for a good cause, right? A little hard work is a good thing when you're trying to provide clean water and an education for kids in need.

This year, in order to raise more funds, they decided to sell food in addition to the raffle and donations. This, of course, is right up our alley since we’re food-vending mongers after the infamous Grateful Dumpling adventure of last summer. In fact, one of our dumplings is very reminiscent of Northern African food, so we decided, with some trepidation, to make them. We also made yam stew and two types of desserts.

This entailed going into the basement and unearthing all of the market equipment. It is way too cold to cook them outside, so I won’t need the stove, but pots and oil and utensils will have to be located. Ah, the memories.

We ended up making about 130 dumplings, and doing just one batch is reasonably painless, though it sure did rekindle some memories, both good and bad. I am still not clear how we managed to pull off the farmer’s market. The amount of time and effort that it took was enormous, but that explains why we got nothing else done all summer. After making them, however, I don’t have too much of an inkling to do the Winter market any time soon, and I feel sort of bad about that, but not too bad. I’m waiting for PR to invent the Rube Goldberg Dumpling Maker that will make him a hero, en par with Genghis Khan, in the Asian sub-continent.

Until the next time, thanks for reading.

Reflections on the Big Apple

Okay, I had all these grand notions about blogging on our trip, but it turns out that the high-speed internet in the room was anything but. This, of course, meant that I would have to blog after the fact, which is fine, but not as ideal as writing in the heat of the moment.

We had fun in NYC last weekend, and I wanted to touch on the trip. R arranged everything, and it was nice to see our old stomping grounds. The kids love the big city, though I get a sense A gets more into than N, maybe because she’s a native, or because she’s older.

As is the case whenever we go to the Big Apple, finding a hotel is a chore. If you want to spend the big bucks, then it’s no big deal, but we’re talking around $500 a night for a hotel. Outrageous. Our problem is that we tend to decide to go at the last minute, and then it’s a struggle to find deals. We could have stayed in New Jersey, but that’s just not the same. If you want the NYC experience, then you really have to wake up on the island of Manhattan, along with all of the dirt, noise and grime. It’s all part of the experience.

What seems to be a new trend is getting short term rentals on apartments. I’m not sure about the legality of it all, but landlords are apparently willing to rent out a room for a few days, and they price them below hotel rates. It also opens up more opportunities to stay in different areas of the city, rather than the touristy spots like Times Square. You don’t get the stale continental breakfast with the nasty hard-boiled eggs, but it forces you to go out and have the real New York breakfast experience, i.e, bacon, egg and cheese on a roll, or a bagel with cream cheese. We knew the drill.

The room we got was on the Upper West Side, a stone’s throw from the Museum of Natural History and Central Park. The UWS is also chock full of restaurants, so we were not for want of eats. We also decided that we wouldn’t eat foods that we could get at home, so no burgers and fries and all that good stuff. Needless to say, we had options.

We ended up eating a lot of Asian food, Vietnamese one night, Chinese Shanghai dumplings another. We did Cuban food for brunch, and had assorted NYC faire, including bagels and Krispy Creme donuts. One thing that struck me about the city, both uptown and downtown, was that the Asians seem to be taking over. Everywhere I looked there were Sushi bars, and if not sushi, then some Asian theme restaurant. This was especially true downtown in my old neighborhood, the East Village. Funky Asians everywhere. My cousins both moved to NYC, and I’m guessing they must fit in to that demographic: young, hop Asians who are into design or graphics.

The room we had was on Amsterdam Avenue, and we got the quintessential New York City view of a wall and our neighbor’s window. The place didn’t get much light, but on the bright side, it was quieter. If our room faced the Avenue, it would have been noisy.

The city was also freezing cold, which in turn aggravated our sickness. I think both N and I got worse because of it. I was way too cocky, figuring that I was a Vermonter and New York was balmy compared to what we have up here. Boy was I wrong, the city was freezing, and because I came unprepared, I suffered for my sins. The room was fairly warm, but you begin to realize how much you miss having a nice roaring fire to greet you in the morning. Then again, in NYC, you don’t have to pay for the heat.

R had also arranged for tix to Cirque du Soleil at Madison Square Garden, and that was an amazing show, though they seemed to have toned it down a bit. Me and N were coughing throughout the program, but we were hardly the only ones.

We thought about going to a Broadway show, but I’m convinced that Broadway is a total scam. The tickets are so expensive, and they offer economy seats, but they must be limited because you can never get them. We actually went to the box office, and the tickets were going to cost about $150 each! That’s $600 for a family of four. I just couldn’t bring myself to do it, and wondered how any family can afford it. Then again, there are people in New York where that’s a drop in the bucket.

Even off-Broadway shows are pricey, and they always sell out. We looked at a couple of shows downtown, but again, it was going to be around $400 for all of us. What a crazy world it is. We ended up doing free but fun stuff like hanging out in Central Park and heading down to Chinatown and checking out the insanity of downtown while eating a killer meal of soup dumplings at Joe’s Shanghai, a must when you visit the Big Apple. The kids also got to get another stuffed animal to complement the ones they got on the previous trip to NYC. So very Chinatown, if you ask me.

When you really get down to it, kids probably have more fun just playing in a playground than sitting through a 3 hour Broadway show, which is probably a bit grueling when you're 7 years old. Actually, it can be grueling if you're 37 years old, if you ask me.

All in all, we had a great time, but were happy to be back in Vermont. I have to confess, NYC is not as fun as a tourist, but is more interesting as a resident. Somehow, everywhere I looked, it was about shopping. Consequently, it’s lost a bit of its allure for me. I enjoy going to more manageable cities, especially European ones, where the emphasis is not so much on shopping. Sure, it’s there, but in NYC, everything is on a much bigger scale, especially the stores. I guess that’s the American Way.

Until the next time, thanks for reading.

First Night in the Big Apple

Our first night in NYC and we had to get into NYC mode from the get-go, which meant damage control from the beginning.

First problem, our cell phone didn't work. We were excited about the fact that we finally had one and could use it in the city to call the landlord of the apartment we were going to rent for three days. I'm guessing the service we get is exclusive to Vermont, and did not apply to NYC. Whatever be the case, it was a bummer, and now we had to find a payphone and use it with all the noise of the city. Anyone who has spent time in the Big Apple will tell you that using a cell phone is always an adventure. It took us about four tries, and about $2.00 in quarters before we finally got in touch with the guy.

Ah, NYC, it felt good to be back in the jungle. We walked to subway and rode it uptown to the Upper West Side, and from there, it was only about three blocks to the flat. The place was fine, clean and best of all, quiet. We were on a busy avenue, Amsterdam, but because we were facing the back, we were sequestered a bit from the noise. This, however, meant that our room had a glorious view of a brick wall, as well as our neighbors window. This last point was punctuated by the fact that our neighbors were a bunch of guys who loved to watch football and scream and high-five each other. I felt like I was in college all over again.

It was a bit late, but were in NYC mode, which meant late nights and late mornings. Besides, we were hungry, and you realize that when it comes to eating, you can't beat NYC, not just in terms of availability, but in terms of selection, as well. Ethnic food galore. We resolved to eat foods that we couldn't find in our small town in Vermont, so our first stop was a Vietnamese noodle shop just down the street. We did the NYC thing and got take out, and then ate in our cozy little flat.

After eating, it was bedtime and a big day in the city. We were beat, not to mention nursing colds that would soon develop into serious afflictions, but that's life in the big city.

Until the next time, thanks for reading.

Escape to New York

We went to the Big Apple last weekend, and we did it using a new method of transportation. In the past, we've flown, drove, and taken the train to the city, all of which have their pluses and minuses. Flying is nice, but way too expensive, and getting on a plane is hassle for just a short flight unless you're flying on Stress-Free Airlines. Granted, checking in at Lebanon Airport is about as easy and stress as it gets, but it still requires security and checking in.

The train is a great way to go, but for whatever reason, they came up with the most circuitous route to NYC. The train goes all the way through Western Massachusetts and takes over eight hours. Way too long, even though I love train rides.

Driving is perhaps the best option, but first off, entering into NYC is not for the faint of heart. Driving along the West Side Highway or the FDR is literally taking your life in your own hands, it's that crazy, and you have to make split second decisions about off-ramps and exits while doing about 75 mph. It's too crazy, and then there's the problem of parking your car in NYC, which usually entails extra expense.

Well, now there's a 4th option, the bus. Dartmouth Coach offers a bus ride to Grand Central Station, and it's reasonably priced and on one of their luxury buses. Now I'm not the biggest fan of bus rides, but it does beat driving into the city, and it's way more affordable than flying and much faster than the train.

We decided to give it a go, and the drill is the same as taking the bus to Boston, it's just a little bit longer of a ride. One thing I noticed that was different that they valet park at the bus station. In the past, we just pulled in and found a space, but this time they roped off most of the spaces and made us pay to valet. I was a bit incensed, except that the guy who was working the valet service looked like a WWF wrestler, and I'd already made him made by not following the rules.

Either way, it worked out fine, and the bus ride was a bit long, but on the whole a good way to go. They provide snacks and water, and two movies, even though I'd seen both of them. I personally enjoy just looking out the windows, and we brought along the Macbook so the kids could watch videos. There was also wireless internet on board, which I still can't figure out how they manage.

My only complaint is that the overhead light was too dim, and I couldn't read my book, but that's hardly a reason to make a fuss. Then again, I always manage to find a way.

So it's thumbs up for the Dartmouth Coach into NYC. Also, it drops you off at the Yale Club in the city, which is reason enough to take it.

Until the next time, thanks for reading.