Shorty Wanna Ride With Me

Rain storm hitting Jersey and coming over the water

Sister's Shish Kabobs...Mmmm!

It's not a gang, it's a cluuuuuub!

My ex-manager got a bike and started riding to work.  He was so excited and I was happy to share all my little bike-isms, as P did with me all those years ago when I started.  How potholes are scary at night, that you never let cars bully you out of your lane.  Why you always get flat tires in the rain and what streets to avoid at all costs.  How falling is inevitable and to stay away from school kids as if your life depended on it, because it might.  He parked near me for weeks and sent pictures of the bikes together and shared his daily routes to work.  It all wore off fairly quickly and he began driving more to work again but it was fun having a biker gang of two for a short spell.

Veggetti and Meat Sauce

I love the clean taste of Veggetti and meat sauce but if you're hankering for the more starchy stick to the ribs pasta feels, you can add a little butter to your pan after everything is combined heated and the you've turned off the burner.

Son of Tomatillo Turkey Stew

Son of Tomatillo Turkey Stew

This was a cross between a green chili and a pork stew.  Lighter and less fuss.

Ground turkey, fresh tomatillos, hominy, carrots, turkey broth, fresh thyme.

Trekked to work today in the snow and muck.  Had to leave the bike at home.

Sick and Twisted

This morning I was still feelin' a little low, not sick too much but tired. I wasn't up for our usual Saturday brunch at a fun cafe' to chat it up over coffee. P's understanding of this and was just as happy to have breakfast served to him in bed (if I did everything that is). What a sweetheart!

So sometimes you have ideas and sometimes life throws you curve balls. I had made the chimichurri sauce and was marinating the cheap steak bites for a supper over white rice and some mustard greens sauteed in garlic. That was for last night. But the night I had made the vegetable beef soup, mother nature was cookin' up her own soup of rain and high winds, and lots of lightning thrown in. Matter of fact it was a downright tornado they think, here in Brooklyn. I was already off my game, nursing a small bug and then suddenly the skies turned black, like really quickly and I knew my Lee Goldberg weatherman would have the skinny so I tuned in and sure enough, some monster storm was heading our way, di-rectly. It came alright. I wish I had pictures but truth be told, I was a little scared to be near the windows and what I did see was sort of freaking me out. I just remember the BREAKING NEWS alerts on TV and looking out seeing 'swirling' rain mixed with what looked like fire embers but turned out to be leaves. It was over as quick as it started. By the time it was all calm, I was done. My brain was fried, my knees were sore, my head was sweaty and I was done.

In hindsight I feel I could write a whole book on living in NYC post 9/11 and how since we've had a few scares (bomb threats & having to evacuate buildings, Anthrax, the big black out and walking with the entire city and by every building abandoned just as it was the second the lights went out, everyone with the uncertainty in their eyes that this was not terrorist related) and although every single thing turned out to be just fine, like this weeks storm, it can still scare the CRAP out of you in a way that nightmares about living in a post-apocalyptic world can scare you. Anyway, I think being away from P during that storm, knowing how quickly bad things can turn ugly in this city and not to mention how great my imagination works when drumming up just what ugly might look like, I think I just got wiped out these last two days.

So....very long story short, I didn't make my planned supper last night. I woke up and had the marinated steak with poached eggs this morning instead. I'm still tired but am back on the grateful train and just happy to be here alive and healthy with my ever lovin' man and two cats, a few key friends and loving families, with a job and bikes, etc.....










p.s., I was a whole lot calmer than these asswipes at least....