Falafel and French food

Given my carnivorean tastes and dislike for beans, I just had my first falafel sandwich today. I had heard good things about the balls of ground up chickpeas at a place close to work on Broadway (think it's called Broadway Cafe) so I went there. The guy behind the counter constructed the sandwich by first cutting an end off of a pita to open it. Then he threw in 3 falafel balls (they look like browned meat balls) and put it through the commercial toaster oven. When the sandwich came out, he drizzled some loose tan-colored sauce (tahini) over it, then piled on a chunky salad of cucumbers, green bell peppers, and tomatoes and he finished it off with more of the tahini on top. Somewhere along the line he added hommus too.

There was a lot of salad to get through at the top (I usually dislike raw vegetables), but the tahini and the crisp pita bread made it easy. Then I got to the falafel. With all the spices and density of the packed ground chickpeas, it was quite enjoyable. The tahini (though a bit bitter on its own) made everything a bit creamy, kinda like adding mayo to sandwiches. Towards the bottom of the sandwich, I think I got the full experience of what everything should taste like: each bite had some pita, falafel, salad, and tahini, where the salad cooled down the spices in the falafel, and the wet tahini held everything together yet juxtaposed the crispiness of the pita well. All in all, I'd have this again and IF I was forced to be a vegetarian, this would make it on my menu (next to the vegetarian duck). Speaking of which, I've not had meat all day!

But chew on this, my other food story! Last Wednesday, since we were let out early from work for Thanksgiving, I had a long leisurely lunch on the LES at Lucien. It is a charming little French bistro on 1st & 1st, complete with French waiters and a table of patrons taking a very loooooong lunch (actually it seemed like they were just on the aperitif part of the meal b/c I didn't see them have anything but wine). They also decorated the place "very French" -- the waitress explained that they like to decorate with eggs when we inquired about the odd (stationary) ferris wheel-like rack on the counter that held over a dozen eggs on display, like a bunch of egg cups combined. But I digress -- the food was worth writing home (or to the public at large) about.

I ordered a bouillabaise, my standby, since I just love seafood. If only I had brought my camera, since the presentation was so nice. Besides the usual shrimp, clams, mussels, and white fish (probably cod) arrayed around the plate, there was a half lobster in the middle of the dish. As the waiter brought it out, all we could see were the antenna and part of the head, little did we know there'd be a body attached! All the seafood was well-cooked (nothing overdone) and to dip their fresh, crusty bread in the soup was quite tasty. It was a bit of a bother to have to disassemble a lobster sitting in reddish liquid when you're wearing a white dress shirt, but they made it easier by cracking the claw in all the strategic places (but still keeping everything intact for presentation purposes) and also providing a lobster fork and a bowl to discard all the other shells. I think the bouillabaise could have used some more flavor from the sea (besides salt) -- it definitely wasn't very complex and full-bodied to me. But thank goodness for the dessert, the real piece de resistance (isn't it always?).

Before I get to the end of the meal, though, I'll add that my companion had the duck, which was also presented beautifully -- it had height and sat on a bed of wine infused beets and some spinach. I didn't taste it though, so I hardly remember anything else about it except that my companion really liked it too. And while we were enjoying our respective dishes and conversing, the owner/manager came over to us (he was sitting on the table with the loungers) and asked how we liked our meal. I thought he was just an over-friendly Frenchman, or perhaps jovial from the wine, but then he asked if he could buy us a glass of wine. We turned him down (being the polite Asians that we are) and proceeded to eat. Later on, someone else from the table approached us and asked if we'd like a drink -- he'd pour it right from their table. But we just couldn't but instead, tried to get dessert out of him, which he just laughed about. Oh well, we tried.

But good thing that didn't deter us from ordering dessert. We got the apple tarte tatin with cinnamon ice cream. I'm not one for cooked apples, so I wasn't expecting much. I'm also not a huge fan of cinnamon but the melting ice cream next to the hot apples infused just the right amount of spice, while adding a smooth creaminess from the ice cream, much like a good dollop of whipped cream would have provided. The apples were sliced very thinly so that it wasn't mushy at all; the layers of it added a bit of crunch and fresh apple-ness but were also cooked to just melt in the mouth after a few bites. The absolute best part of it all was the thin, caramelized sugar coating on top, with the same crunch and crackling of the sugar between your teeth as with a creme brulee top (also on their menu). Ooooh, was it good!

LUCIEN: B

Birthday wording

Been thinking of how to do FIL's 70th birthday invitation. Here's some stuff for the charrette bin....

Age is opportunity no less than youth itself. --Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

A man is not old until regrets take the place of dreams. --John Barrymore

Grow old with me! The best is yet to be. --Robert Browning

To be 70 years young is sometimes far more cheerful and hopeful than to be forty years old. --Oliver Wendell Holmes

Youth has no age. --Pablo Picasso


You are cordially invited to attend
a YEAR Birthday Party
for NAME
DAY
TIME
LOCATION
ADDRESS
CITY, STATE

You are cordially invited to attend
a YEAR Birthday Party
honoring NAME
DAY
TIME
LOCATION
ADDRESS
CITY, STATE

Please join us for a
Birthday Banquet
in honor of
NAME'S
YEARS Birthday
DATE at TIME
LOCATION
ADDRESS
HOSTS

A Golden Birthday
Celebration
Please join us
NAMES
for a birthday party
in honor of our dear friend
NAME
who will turn AGE
on DATE
at TIME
LOCATION
ADDRESS
CITY, STATE

And here's some stuff from Mark Twain's own 70th -- dang, did ppl know how to write back then!

Paint inspiration

I was surfing today and somehow came across this on the design*sponge site:I think it is a great way to transition colors from space to space and it seems pretty DIY-able. Not sure when/where to use this, or if I could even find a design that I like, but I will tuck it away for the future.

Also, I've always liked the idea of having a chalkboard wall. Here's a way to make custom colors of it. All you need to do is mix up the following:

3 teaspoons acrylic paint
1 1/2 teaspoons glazing medium (water-based)
1/2 teaspoon powder tile grout

Or from everyone's favorite Martha:
Custom Colors: How To

Start with flat-finish latex paint in any shade. For small areas, such as a door panel, mix 1 cup at a time.

1. Pour 1 cup of paint into a container. Add 2 tablespoons of unsanded tile grout. Mix with a paint stirrer, carefully breaking up clumps.
2. Apply paint with a roller or a sponge paintbrush to a primed or painted surface. Work in small sections, going over the same spot several times to ensure full, even coverage. Let dry.
3. Smooth area with 150-grit sandpaper, and wipe off dust.
4. To condition: Rub the side of a piece of chalk over entire surface. Wipe away residue with a barely damp sponge.

Mango/peach smoothie

My co-worker is a vegan and she suggested this smoothie:

frozen bananas
frozen peaches or mangoes
vanilla extract
honey

For 2 ppl: add water to 4 cup line in blender and blend. I've never tried smoothies sans milk, so this will be interesting. Once we unpack everything (including our new blender/food processor), this will definitely be on the list to break in the blender. This ought to be a good breakfast item as well!

Plastic bags & more

A friend forwarded me an email with these very clever advertisements. I could say something about the portrayal of women and body image, but for now I'll just say that I don't see the point of the one about strangling the old man. What could they possibly be trying to sell? Any thoughts?

Learning weekend

This weekend, MIL and I sorta bonded over the sewing machine. I guess all her nitpickiness and exacting standards (to the way she wants things, not necessarily always the best way) pay off when she's teaching or trying to impart wisdom (often she'll just come across, somewhat annoyingly, as a 'know-it-all'). I don't have a sewing machine (yet!) and I've just started learning how to use one, so I really appreciated her help with hemming my jeans. I can sew by hand without many problems but the machine is a different story. Even by hand I've found hemming pants tricky (especially when you try to do the hidden seams -- no idea what that's really called) so hemming pants by machine = very daunting task (and yet not worth the $10/pair of pants at the tailor, imo). But this weekend I saw that it's not so bad, even kinda fun. I'm not sure if I can remember all the steps but I can't wait to try hemming on another pair (maybe pj pants, since there's less at stake there)!

Despite all the bonding (and there wasn't a whole lot) I still don't know what to call her.

Politics stink!

I hate political season, especially when it gets down and dirty. What makes it worse is Crazy Nag at work has to bring politics into the office. I thought she'd stop after the presidential elections back in 2004 (she's a staunch Republican) when she would defend her favorite candidate to me every day. All the mudslinging from the politicians or even the comments that the mostly liberal Democrats at work would utter, she'd come up with a retort but only unleash it on me. Lucky me! And I think no matter what side you're on, you gotta admit, Bush ain't the shiniest apple in the barrel (if you watched any of the debates back then for even a brief instant you'd know) but she refused to acknowledge it by refusing to watch the debates.

I think she was pretty good last year, but today she comes up to me and rants for a while about Democrats offering flu shots to those who register for their party, how that's unethical, blah blah blah. I haven't heard about this previously so I can't say that I've made up my mind about the issue but I wish she'd just keep mum about it and let me be!! Actually I think my defense mechanism has been built to oppose her no matter what, even if I agree with her (or maybe that's the devil's advocate in me). And since that was a convenient segway for her to bring up politics, she asked her friend to bring over a political cartoon that made fun of Kerry. I think I would have found this humorous in any other context but b/c she brought it up, I reserved any show of emotion (I know, not hard for me to do) and wished her to go away.

Now, her friend is also a Republican but she doesn't push it in anyone's face. Why can't Crazy Nag do the same?! Oh the stories I could tell about this Fox News-loving woman!