Forever You'll Stay in My Heart

I was so excited about eating juicy turkey burgers made on my Emeril grill pan that I was shocked how dang gorgeous and tasty my corn zucchini salad came out.

It was like eating spring!  When the neighborhood starts to blossom and all the restaurants begin opening their outdoor gardens and patios, it feels like another place entirely.  

Spring is so dang miraculous, I tear up just looking at the buds on the trees.  I mean this year I was sort of thinking, what if it never comes again?  What if spring just stopped happening?  I mean, there is no guarantee.  And sure the winter could have been a lot worse (and probably will be next year) but that was some scary shit.  Gloom and doom on already depressed faces.  Hardships were that much worse in the grey.

March went by and no signs of change.  Then when half of April came and left without hardly a trace of spring, then everyone sort of went into a sort of auto-pilot mode.  You did what you had to do but you could barely stand being cold and without sun or color.  Nothing was funny any more about the cold lasting.  It was just like waking up to bad news every morning.  And sometimes it was accompanied by freezing rain.

So, me I'm celebrating because now I no longer feel spring is a right.  It's a damn miracle and who knows how many of these we'll see in our lifetime.  Dozens and dozens I hope but they'll never lose their magic for me.

Spring comes in food too!  The bright green snow peas, the grape tomatoes bursting with sweet juiciness. Yellow and white corn and the summer squash lightly sauteed in garlic infused olive oil.  The warmth of the sun on a plate!

If We Took a Holiday, Took Some Time To Celebrate

It was Sunday morning and I rode into work soaking in the sunlight on my face even though it was still very windy and cold.  It was Easter and I wanted to celebrate even though I would be doing it by selling kitchens all day.

 It was Passover, it was 420, it was spring break, Easter and I figured we'd have a semi-calm relaxed retail day.  I mean who would be here today shopping for furniture?   But when I opened those double doors into the store, I saw everyone.  That's who would be here today shopping.... everyone.  Everyone and their two little toddler aged kids.  It's kind of ignorant to want peace in retail.  I know that but a lot of things are so over the top in New York.  It's the mixture of quantity of people and different cultures, languages, ways of shopping, unbelievable impatience - so hard to explain how it's so incredibly different but it is.  There seems to be an unawareness or respect for each other within each's individual realities.  No one is orbiting around the same planet.  And maybe I was kind of upset that on this beautiful holiday this was the thing all these people thought to do was to go out and shop?? I don't want to understand that world.

 I kept my zen for one customer and then some one sent me down the wrong path.  I struggled to keep any holiday joy myself.  The only thing that got me through was that I would be out of there early enough to try to have a little celebration at home.  I left P with the list that morning.  I wasn't attempting anything big at all since I had to work early the next day.

Turkey-Veggie burger patties with roasted asparagus.  For snacks hummus, crudites, and baked veggie chips.

But for dessert, a nice big slice of Red Velvet Cake to share from Touch of Velvet and a huge vat of popcorn.
I'm no better than those schmucks shopping.  I too am living in my own world and struggle with just about every facet of life but I'm giving full permission right now to shoot on site should you ever see me shopping at a big box retailer on Easter Day.

Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough

Okay I thought, here we go, finally the big storm of the season.  I don't want winter to end before I get my big grande finale.  All these bullshit storms have just been nuisances. A Nor'Easter is a storm you can count on for dramatic weather.   It was my day off and I was ready to document the whole event again.  I had no real need to leave the house and the demons must have taken the day off that normally lurk around me on my days off.  I saw P off to work and treated myself to poached eggs over spinach and tomatoes with turkey bacon.

 

One of my favorites.  And so I timed it so the eggs were puuuurfectly creamy and delicately soft.

At first light it looked very promising.  It was all starting to stick and look all mucky out.

 

Then they said public schools were open and that just seemed wrong.  It was really blowing out there and seemed very slippery.  Deblasio is due some rookie mistakes but this one might have been avoided by just looking out the window and giving an update.  It was still before 7am so he has plenty of time.

I patiently watched the news waiting for his conference.  Bloomy would have been out there first thing with his calm, let-me-spell-it-out-for-you-less-smart-people voice with his trusty department of sanitation commissioner by his side.

Okay so now we're at 8am and it's snowing giant white flakes and it's too late, the kids are already all over the news looking like they're walking through a blizzard. No mayor.

I turn on music and drown myself in documentaries lest the demons find me idol.  That's their favorite time to attack.

It snows all day but somehow it just doesn't seem that impressive.  Nothing looks a lot different one hour to the next.  Perhaps its melting.  Kind of a bummer but it's still wicked weather and fun to be inside.

It's turned to sleet, a wintry mix they call it.

Well shit, I guess ground turkey burgers are in order.  I made some extra turkey bacon to top them for a special treat since we're not eating the buns.  Ground turkey, onion, garlic, grated carrot, mustard, thyme, rosemary, and oatmeal was used with one egg to bind the burgers. I also added s&p and a dash of Worcestershire sauce.

Served with cold salad and steamed whole edamame.

Later it turned to pouring rain and we heard some thunder and saw lightning which was a switch.  Couldn't call it thundersnow since it officially turned to rain.

Yep.  Basically just raining now. 

Pouring actually.

Overnight they say it will turn back to snow again and give us a few new fresh inches.  That seems unlikely.

But likely it was.  Sure enough, it snowed and in the morning it was cold and in the sun it felt like you could feel spring in the distance.  But in the shade those sidewalks were pure slick ice and the snow mounds could go either way depending on where you stepped.  

An event but not an eventful one.