Cooking and not...

So I've been cooking, and not...

Michael and I have been to The Village Grill, Joe's Shanghai and The Blackwater Inn.  The grill is on Yellowstone Boulevard near the Little League fields.  We had gyros and soup.  Average, nothing to write home about, certainly not overflowing like Fontana, nor as tasty. But local and easy to sit and eat and leave.  We went to Joe's Shanghai in Flushing with Jill and Lenny.  Soup dumplings of course; just pork and pork and crab; young chow rice; pork and string beans in black bean sauce and prawns and scallops in garlic sauce. Yum! And because we went early, we just walked in and sat down...priceless :)  Michael and I also went to The Blackwater Inn last week (used to be called The Old Brog) on Metropolitan Avenue.  Beers; shepherd's pie and chicken Caesar.  Their shepherd's pie used to be better, but you can walk in and sit down. 

Lately I have a thing about waiting for a table. Pisses me off.

Jesse is home and I have also been cooking:  Chicken soup, chicken cutlets, shrimp in a garlicky marinara over linguine.  Tomorrow is pork roast with sauerkraut; salt potatoes (small white potatoes, boiled in a pot of water with a TON of salt) and Brussels sprouts.

Saturday is Glenn and Eileen's annual ornament exchange party and I am bringing Old Bay wings.

Sunday I am doing nothing :)

Since Monday

Monday night, Jesse ate with us again. We had steak, cous cous and Greek salad. He left Tuesday afternoon after an hour or so of Target shopping for odds and ends that he wanted to take back to school. I miss him and will be very happy to have him home (and the rest of our family) for Thanksgiving!

Tuesday night Michael and I went to Joe's Shanghai in Flushing with Jill, Lenny and Brett. Of course we shared everything: 2 orders of pork and crab soup dumplings, moo shu chicken, shrimp and scallops in garlic sauce, shrimp fried rice and scallion pancakes.

Wednesday night I made chicken cacciatore with broccoli rabe on the side. After dinner we went out to Syms near Roosevelt Field to pick up Michael's suits that were altered so he would have them in time for Sarah's sweet sixteen party Friday night. After Syms, we went to Chili's for Presidente Margaritas (the only margaritas I like). Fun! A mini date night!

Tonight we are eating all the leftovers in the fridge (plus salad).

Friday is Sarah's party, Saturday is The Counting Room in Williamsburg with Dina and Dmitry and Sunday is the new location of Dinosaur BBQ uptown with the Wisners.

Woo Who...

Quickly

Today Michael and I wandered Chinatown for a few hours. Great vegetables, fruits and fish all over the place.

We had lunch at Joe's Shanghai on Pell Street: Soup dumplings, fresh spinach with garlic, moo shu pork and clams with black bean sauce. We sat at a communal table with a guy who looked like a young Donny Osmond and three women visiting NYC for the weekend from Texas.

Tonight we went over to Barosa, but the wait for a table was too long so a few doors down they have their own take-out place. So we placed our order and took it home: Calamari Barosa (calamari in red sauce in a baked pizza dough-fantastic) and Barosa chopped salad (an all time favorite).

Hoping the warmth will stay but reality says no.

Looking forward to Spring and planting on my terrace: Tomatoes, fresh herbs, flowers (that have no scent). It's a great thing!