Drive In: Triple Play

We went to the Drive in on Friday and saw three movies. First on the line up was the final Harry Potter movie. The movie was dark. I don't mean somber or twisted, I mean there was a lack of lighting. I didn't see the last movie, but I don't feel like I missed much. It was a typical Harry Potter movie. I find the Harry Potter characters all rather annoying. I'm neither sad nor glad to see them go.

Captain America was the second movie of the night. Ross and I really enjoyed this one. The fighting was awesome, and like Nicole, I really liked how he beat up his enemies with the shield. He had a lot of strength, and a lot of heart, but no real supernatural powers. This was a fun movie. Ross really liked Red Skull.

The third movie of the night was Crazy Stupid Love. I'm glad we were able to stay awake for this one. Steve Carell didn't get on my nerves with a bunch of Michael Scott-like manerisms. I kept expecting Julianne Moore to have a Boston accent because of her stint on 30 Rock. We both liked the movie.


Of the three movies Harry Potter was the worst. Captain America was much better than Thor, but not as good as X Men First Class. Crazy Stupid Love, hmm. I think I might have liked it the best of the three. I found a theme linking all three movies--shirtless guys. Ryan Gosling was sexy, and Chris Evans looked fake--it was a little too much. Ross says that this was our sixth trip to the drive in this year!

My First Go at Risotto

I'm not sure why I had not made risotto before. Probably because it takes constant attention. Last week I decided to finally give it a go.  I was going to use all vegetable broth, but the broth was very strong, so I used about half broth and half water. I liked the end result, it just came out salty.

Bacon and Cheese Risotto

1 diced onion
oil
3 slices bacon, cooked until crispy and finely chopped (I used low salt Turkey bacon)
3/4 c. arborio rice
2 1/2 c. liquid (very hot) -- Liquid can be broth or water or combination
1/4 c. parmesan cheese

1. Saute the onion in oil until soft.
2. Add rice and toast for 2-3 minutes.
3. Add bacon and stir.
4. Add liquid a little at a time, stirring constantly and cooking off water before adding more.
5. When all liquid has been absorbed mixture is creamy stir in cheese and remove from heat.

I made this again last night--without the broth and without the bacon. I added lots of rosemary and basil from the garden. It definitely wasn't salty last night, and it had a very different flavor without the bacon.

NYC: Day Three

On Sunday morning we had breakfast at Financier. I was really attracted to this place because it was so bright and crisp compared to everything else in New York. I had almond brioche and Ross had some kind of apple pastry. We shared an extra large latte. It was nice to just sit and chill. It kind of reminded me of Italy.

We checked out of the hotel and headed to...where else....the bakery for some sweets to go. Then we headed up to the bus stop. The bus stop was different from last time. It was at a different location and with a different set up. They had us waiting in long lines. It was hot. The sun was blaring. I had my new white hat and my umbrella to shield me. Ross went and got us some lunch while I waited in line. When he got back they asked if we wanted to get on an earlier bus. We jumped at the opportunity to get out of the heat. We came home and Bailey yelled at us for leaving her again.

NYC: Day Two--Even More

After the High Line we went back to Infinity Shoes to buy my boots. I think I broke the record for how much I've ever spent on a single pair of shoes. I'm sure I'll get as much use out of them as I did my other pair of Miz Mooz boots. I love all my Miz Mooz shoes and I always get compliments when I wear them.
We dropped the boots off at the hotel and rested up a bit for dinner. We decided to eat in Midtown so that we could go to Del Frisco's for dessert. We wanted to go to Del Frisco's at lunch, but it was closed. On the way to dinner we were drawn into St. Patrick's Cathedral by the organ music:

After dinner we went into Del Frisco's. We sat at a cocktail table and a cute little cocktail waitress--from Texas--brought us the dessert menu. We were very saddened to see that the lemon cake wasn't on the menu. We asked, and the waitress said they have it, but it just isn't on the menu. Whew! Crisis averted! Bring me a gin and tonic and slice of lemon cake! The slice of cake was ginormous. It was bliss. Again, I need to write an ode to that lemon cake.

We took a cab back down to the financial district. We were too tired and it was too hot to mess with all the subway disruptions. After a shower we passed out.

NYC: Day Two--The High Line

The High Line is an abandoned, elevated freight line on the West side of Manhattan that has been turned into a public park. The weather was much better on Saturday, so we headed over to check it out after we were done with the street fair. Ross said he wasn't expecting a finished walkway. The whole thing was really cool. There was a roller skating rink set up below the 30th street entrance, but there was no way were were going to do that--our feet were already too sore!

This is what the undeveloped part looks like--there are are plants growing on the abandoned (since 1980) railway.

The developed part of the High Line has lots of different kinds of plants and flowers.
Some parts of the walkway have the old rail lines exposed. Oh, and the guy bending over in the forefront of the picture is getting a drink of water from a talking water fountain. The water fountain talked about how important hydration is...blah, blah, blah.
It was hot and people were congregating in the shady areas. We bought a lilikoi/sugar cookie ice cream sandwich and took a long break in the shade. The ice cream sandwich was excellent. The cookies had just a touch of salt, which made it awesome. That's me on the steps in the white hat. That break really helped to re-energize us. We kept seeing people with paletas coming from the other direction. When we got to the stand the line was really long. I'm glad we got ice cream--there was no line!
The grassy areas were closed for restoration. I can totally understand why. The High Line was really crowded. When the grass areas are open I'm sure they really take a beating.

I really enjoyed the High Line. I will definitely go back. I hope that the city is able to acquire the rest of the line and continue the park.

NYC: Day Two

After breakfast (pastries), we walked over to ground zero just to see how things have changed since November 2009. There are a couple of buildings that have sprung up. Here are a couple of photos so you can see the difference.

November 2009:

July 2011:

We took the subway up to the street festival on Avenue of the Americas. It wasn't that cool. There was a lot of fair food, and the same stuff (Chinese imports) for sale on every block. I got something from a Turkish food stand for lunch. It was really tasty. Kind of like a Turkish burrito. I found a booth with printed T shirts that I really liked, but I decided to save my money for boots. Ross liked the sculptures at one of the booths. See photos:

We went back and Ross bought the Wall-E sculpture. I bought a 5 dollar scarf at the booth next door.

NYC: Day One

We headed up to NYC on Friday morning on the Megabus. We didn't take a suitcase. I took my big purse and Ross took a back pack. That's it. Ross was very impressed with how little I packed. We arrived in NYC around 12:30 I think, and we were very hungry. We took the subway down to Chinatown and ate at New Green Bo. They have great steamed vegetable dumplings. We got an order of those and eggplant with garlic sauce. It was just the right amount of food. Then we walked in a big circle looking for the bakery we like in Little Italy. Okay, let me mention now that it was very hot, and very humid. When I bit into that cold, cream-filled lobster tail I was in heaven.

We walked down to the financial district and checked into our hotel. After a short rest we headed up to the theater district to enter the Book of Mormon lottery.

Look at the crowd! There were so many people! Everyone entered to win $32 tickets to the show. We didn't win. Someone else named Brown won.

We left and went down to 34th street for some shopping. It rained. It was hot and humid and icky sticky. I looked at shoes in Macy's. We went to Infinity Shoes and I fell in love with a pair of boots. We stopped by La Bella Ferrara again for more pastries and then dragged ourselves back to the hotel.