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Finally, focaccia

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Finally.

It took two weekends of tweaking, combining and adapting recipes, but I finally settled on a Concord grape focaccia (inspired by schiacciata, but less desserty) we couldn’t stop eating. Gil did his damage to it while I was away at work, but each night before bed, I stood at the counter nibbling on tiny pieces that always added up to the one large piece I should’ve just cut for myself at the start.

Apart from the focaccia, I didn’t really do any cooking last weekend because I was working on my first (paying) portrait shoot! Last winter, Cara Packard, the super-talented owner of Cara Linn Cakes, hired me to take some promotional pictures for her business. She’s getting married next month, so her sister did a little sleuthing to find me and arrange a surprise bridal portrait session in the city. I had a great time working with someone so natural and relaxed in front of the camera, and found that taking pictures of humans is even more fun than taking pictures of food. Go figure.

a few bridal pictures and focaccia recipe after the jump

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Not a food post

A few days ago, the Freakonomics blog of the NY Times posted a piece on the economics of street charity. The specific question posed didn’t make a lot of sense to me — it asked how you would divide $10 between a hot dog vendor and a beggar — but I found the answers interesting and diverse enough to read on. Perhaps not surprisingly, several of the answers were over-intellectualized, though you could certainly tell how each respondent felt about street charity.

Those of you who live in NY or any other city that requires a lot of walking know that you encounter many such requests everyday. I walk over a mile to work, starting at the Port Authority, and if I gave money to every person who asked, I’d have nothing left for myself. So here’s how I determine who gets it:

1) I always give to women. Life on the street has to be difficult enough, but doubly so for women. Even if stories of homeless women being forced into sex for favors or protection from homeless men aren’t true, women are physically smaller and have a more difficult time defending themselves if things get […]

Back

…sort of. Sorry for the disappearing act, but we’re putting out the biggest issue of the year at work. That’s not to say I haven’t been cooking, but when there’s too little time to collect my thoughts and nothing but disappointing pictures to post, there doesn’t seem to be much of a point.

Anyway, I took this picture on the way to work a couple of days ago. There isn’t a LOT to recommend 9th Avenue besides a lack of foot traffic, but sometimes the sights are worth it. No, it doesn’t compare with the Official MI Husband‘s reflection shot, but he’s a master. I still have much to learn.

I think the banner was stolen

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From left to right, the bread pudding offerings on the table: Garlic, Chocolate, Old-Fashioned, Capirotada Mexican, Cinnamon Roll, and Ms. Edna Lewis’ Famous

The Bread Pudding Spectacular of 2007 wasn’t much of an event, really. A few lonely slivers of quivery pudding made their way to the table as my friend and I looked around the store. After making my purchases, we dove right in, taking our judging responsibility with all the seriousness it deserved. We sampled, compared impressions, encouraged a couple to join us, and cleaned the store out in the process. But really — don’t you HAVE to sample each flavor before making a sound judgement? Yeah, I thought you’d agree.

I was surprised by how well the garlic bread pudding worked. It had a hint of sweetness without being overly garlicky, so I’d bet roasting (or maybe simmering?) was involved in some way. As far as savory bread puddings go, it was nice, but very one-note. Everyone else thought the chocolate was the best, and it was very, very good, but no Café Matisse. (I’m a spoiled little brat, I know, I know.) The old-fashioned took first […]

I believe there will be a banner that says, “Welcome, Amy!”

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Those of you who check out this site from time to time may know of my obsession with bread pudding. It’s all I can do NOT to make one every weekend with whatever variants of bread and fruit we have lying around, but I’ve been health-conscious of late. I don’t think we’ve indulged since before Passover, which is far too long for someone like me.

So when I read about Broadway Panhandler‘s Bread Pudding Recipe Exchange Week Taste Off this morning at the always-informative Megnut, I could barely contain my excitement. Meet me there Wednesday? It’ll be amazing. I always imagined myself as more of a BBQ judge, but only because I didn’t know bread pudding competitions existed.

Check out the recipes link in the right column for a few of my favorite bread pudding recipes.

Update: Attend the Taste Off at your own risk. (via The Agitator)

Surya Namaskar

It isn’t all rat droppings and squalor here in the West Village, you know. In fact, there are several establishments I’ll miss like crazy when our office moves to the Flatiron area next month: Ottomanelli Meats (where the old guys shamelessly flirt with me as they satisfy my dry-aged and hanger steak cravings), Murray’s Cheese (where the conversations are less flirty than oddball, but they really know their stuff … and give huge samples!), The Lobster Place (for the freshest seafood and made-to-order takeout sushi), Amy’s Bread (for, um, bread & sandwiches), and Rocco’s Pastry Shop (cannoli, ’nuff said). And they’re all on the same block! My years in the West Village have been a godsend for me, culinarily speaking, and I love shopping at specialty stores for the best ingredients for my meal.

But there aren’t many restaurants I’ll miss for lunch. You can find decent Thai in the neighborhood, but all Thai is decent, really. It’s just rarely transcendent. I’m not knocking it — that uniformity is a large part of it’s appeal, in my eyes. The Japanese place next door is […]

How to win friends and influence health inspectors

I’m sure most of you have already heard about the rodent issue Taco Bell/KFC had in the West Village. It was pretty disturbing to hear, since my office is only a couple of blocks away and I’d stop once in a while to satisfy my Bellian cravings. No, I never saw rats, but I’m sure it’s only because my attention was focused on the equally-scary clientele.

Since then, I’ve noticed a few other nearby places shuttered, too. First Sammy’s two doors down, then John’s Pizza around the corner, and now Risotteria — a much nicer place I always thought, and one of the few restaurants in the neighborhood that caters to people in need of gluten-free dining. Not content to go down without a fight, Risotteria posted signs in every window:

What’s that? Can’t quite make out the sign:

9th Avenue sights

Posted a new set of pictures taken on my walk to work last Friday. Click on the image below to see them all.