Highlight of Memorial Day Weekend

Did I forget to mention that I found Amish ROMANCE NOVELS in Bird-in-Hand. Or was it Intercourse, PA? Well in any case it was in the big farmer's market, or to be more precise in one of the craft shops.

ROMANCE NOVELS! Amish themed. They looked great. I wanted to read on, but I thought people might judge me...

Night Owls

I haven't been a participant in the New York Nightlife scene in ages. Maybe I'm too old, or maybe I'm just too Brooklyn these days, but the thought of maneuvering the crowds of the LES or Meat Packing just doesn't thrill me. However, sometimes I just want to dance. DANCE!

And we did just that yesterday! Amidst a sea of the well heeled crowded of the Gansevoort (well except the girl who was wearing a tight orange spandex shirt and tight tight black leggings and tan beyond belief) we danced and danced. But where there is a sea there's sharks, and obviously I've been out of this scene so long that I forgot how aggressive men can be at these places. I wouldn't even say that they were ballsy, just obviously playing the game of numbers, and hoping, just hoping that they'd see one girls heart melt in her eyes and she felt hear this magical words:

"Now, (with a sultry glance under a dark strong brow), did you copy Rhianna's haircut, or (long dramatic pause), did she copy YOUR'S"

Wow, that's hot. That's impressive, his quick wit, the celebrity comparison. Flattery at its finest.

But nothing, and I mean nothing can every top the following type of exchange. Be sure that it'll happen at least once in an evening:

- "Hi, so where you from"

> " California"

- "No where are you really from"

> "Um I'm really from California"

- "No I mean I live in Australia but I'm from Mauritius"

>"Well I live in New York, and I'm really from California"

- "Well where are your parents from"

> "California"

- "Oh I mean where are your grandparents from"

> "California"

- "Really?"

I guess it's universal.

But I gotta say, being out with good friends and dancing like maniacs kind of makes it worth at. And what do you think we talking about the next day during afternoon Sunday coffee? Our jobs? NO! Just how down right hilarious people and social interactions can be. My friends and I should write a book.

But that leaves one question left unanswered. Where in this beautiful city exists a place that's not packed with B&T, that's not packed with desperadoes or confident-less attention seekers. Is there a place in the city where one can have a good time, dance and not have to wait in a line or get molested walking to the bar? Is there?

Give me a suggestion and my friends and I will check it out.

Secret Ingredient

Just can't get enough

You know what quite possibly has made my chowder better. A sprinkle of truffle salt to finish it...mmmm

Tomorrow is my work's chocolate tour that I've been organizing. 23 people are going and we only planned for 18 people to show up, so maybe five of us will drop out because of our crazy work schedules. Or perhaps I'll convince everyone to show. mmm chocolate. Since we're going on this chocolate tour, us women get to wear casual clothes, or rather jeans to work. There is no way in hell that I'm going to wear my skin tight jeans to work in this weather, so I'm opting for a casual dress instead AND my Amish hat and Barcelona espidrilles. Take THAT corporate America!

And finally...after three hours of slaving away (okay okay maybe it was only two), ALL of my crabs have been properly cleaned, deshelled and picked. There are now three Ziploc bags full of meat in my freezer. I'm thinking crab cakes, crab chowder, crab tacos. But not this week. I'm detoxing, and gorging on fruits and veggies for the next few days.

Tilghman Island, Maryland

When you have an abundance of crabs...

Stop it people. I've had to hear crab jokes all week long. You know you like my crabs. You know you want my crabs. I have plenty to spare, and I've been sharing them with my friends, my roommates, everyone who is willing to take some crabs off my hands.

I recently received a slew of top secret Maryland crab recipes from my dear ol' Auntie, who was incidentally born and bred in Maryland (or was it born in D.C. hmmm). And one day I shall make said recipes using the what could be pounds of crab meat I've lef

t to pick from my crabs (only 40 left).

But tonight for dinner I got the biggest craving for crab chowder. I think my all time favorite soup could be New England Clam Chowder, but maying it's any creamy based soup, because this chowder was damn good. It's certainly the best chowder I've ever made: good creamy consistency, an obscene amount of crab, well cooked potatoes and celery and simply spiced. Harmony.

Below is the recipe, and unfortunately, since I cook based on taste and smell and look and feel, I don't really have a precise recipe (surprise surprise). So here's my best guestimate:

Kiyomi's Maryland Blue Crab Chowder

10 or so Maryland Blue crabs, de-shelled and meat picked (about 1 1/2 cups of meat, packed)

16 ounces of vegetable stock

About 1 1/2 cups milk

1/2 cub cream

2 large potatoes or 5 small potatoes, peeled and cut in 1cm cubes

4 stalks of celery, cut on the diagonal

1/2 large white/yellow onion, diced

2 large cloves of garlic

2 Tbs butter

2 Tbs flour

cooking sake (or white wine)

Salt

Pepper

Bay Leaf

Place peeled and cubed potatoes in a quart pan filled with water. Turn on heat to medium high and let boil until potatoes are soft. In the meantime, cut other vegetables. In a medium stock pot, melt 1 tablespoon of butter over medium heat and saute onions until translucent. Add garlic, celery and bay leaf and stir for a few minutes. Once everything begins to brown, deglaze pot with a generous splash or two of sake and stir. Add in vegetable stock and turn up heat to medium high to achieve a light boil.

In a separate quart pan, melt the remaining 1 tablespoon of butter and create a roue by stirring in the flour and letting mixture cook. Slowly incorporate milk and stir until mixture thickens. Lower heat if mixture begins to boil. Stir in a few ladles full of broth from the vegetable mixture to the thickened milk and then pour the liquid back into the main pot.

Drain potatoes and add them to the mixture and let simmer until soup reduces and thickens. Mix in crab meat and cream. Season to taste.

Serves 4

Road Trip 2011: The Summary

When the only radio music choices available are Country or Christian rock, you know that the true road trip experience has begun. We ate at what could possibly be the most random restaurant in the world, chatted up some local color, and said hi to the Amish, Mennonites and other 'Plain People' in Lancaster County. I even bought an Amish inspired hat, which fits my head (size 7 5/8 sigh)!

I kept channeling Psycho...Psycho meets 35 flavors of chicken wings

It's kind of creepy how much my face looks like a sticky bun in this photo

After a quick stop at Hershey Park in Hershey, PA to ride the free Disney-esque ride that simulates the chocolate making process with half of the 1.3 billion Indians in the world (it rivaled those encountered at Niagara Falls), we drove to Chambersburg to bunker down for the night. Sadly, the only place open for 'food' was Ruby Tuesdays, which kind of completed the road trip experience. I cursed Guba's name as I once again got 5 ounces of crap broccoli cheddar soup.

Pure chocolate-y goodness

What really awed me, was the number of kids staying at the hotel. I guess I'm too

used to business hotels. This particular one was geared more towards families...families with kids playing in sports tournaments. It brought be back to the good old days playing in the Japanese Basketball league.

Finally after some shopping (sparklers were bought for the summer!) and a wave 'hello' to Gettysburg, we finally made it to St. Michaels, which is on the skinny peninsula part of Maryland. Quaint. It was really quaint.

Monday morning the real fun began...crabbing. The video says it all. Four hours and two bushels of Maryland Blue Crabs later, we called it a day and out our whole catch steamed. I REALLY wanted to bring live crabs home. I REALLY wanted to bring live crabs to work. But Captain Russell (letsgocrabbing.com) dissuaded me from what would surely have been a folly. Instead, I brought back two coolers full of cooked crabs--at least 100 of them. WTF.

But it's so worth it. I'm in crab cholesterol heaven.

Memorial Day Weekend and Soccer

WE ACTUALLY WON! What a great feeling, winning the last game in the regular season. And I almost scored a goal too...if only my foot would actually connect with the ball. SIGH! So instead of playing the first place team in the finals, we're playing the second place team! Maybe we have a chance...

Memorial Day weekend is upon us and thus starts the Great 2011 Road Trip filled with back roads, forests, crabs...mmmm crabs. Final destination crabs. Also those crafty Amish are going to be involved, along with a quick stop at Hershey's! To round out the trip I'm going to the HIGH GROUND, Gettysburg, to see eighth grade social studies come to life (or not).

Way too tired to be at all witty and must wake up in 5 hours. Time to shower and sleep. Pictures to come after the weekend.

Tuesday Night Dinner

Ever since I heard the partners of my company were going to Istanbul, I've been dreaming about the tavuk (chicken) kabobs and tomato 'salad' with bread I ate in a little alley way restaurant near the New Mosque. I literally search this place out when I found myself back in Istanbul for the day after a experiencing a travel detour between Egypt and Italy (but that is another story).

Today that craving intensified after hearing all about the Istanbul trip this morning, and coming home I decided to bust out the Turkish chilis I purchased from the Spice Market in 2009 (oops). End results:

Chicken: I regret not using these chilis before. They're freaking good now, and I'm sure they were much better two years ago. I usually like chicken thighs, but realized a while back that the consistency of thigh meat just doesn't do it for this style of cooking. This time around, I used skinless, boneless chicken breast cubed in large 1 1/2 inch sections. I let that marinate in the chilis, olive oil, ground coriander and salt for awhile, and then seared the meat on both sides in the skillet. I actually ended up semi steaming them since I put the lid on the pan in an attempt 'lock in the moisture'. I then finished the chicken off in the oven for five minutes and let rest.

Sauce: What a freaking epiphany I had in making this yogurt sauce. It was a perfect complement to the chicken and really simple: yogurt, thinly sliced red onion, salt, cumin, and maybe cayenne pepper. Refrigerate and done! I forgot lemon, which I was going to put either in the sauce or on the chicken to give the dish a little acid, but oh well.

Bread: I've become a master at making dough. I'm way too impatient to ever become a great baker, but I've learned my lesson and now I 'proof' my yeast (or is it 'proof my dough'?) in a 1/3 cup of hot water instead of the full cup. My dough actually rises every time! And is so damn good. I just use a conventional dough/bread/pizza dough recipe and cook it in a hot pan on the stove. MMM oh and don't forget salt or else the dough tastes like crap.

Now if I can only figure out how to make that spicy tomato puree that should go with the chicken...

New Years 2011

Did I ever tell you about my New Years? The following photos explains it all. Actually, they don't, but unless you want to listen to one of my 15 minute monologues about random events in my life, then be satisfied with the pictures.

Retrospective: India Auto-Rickshawing

Ah India. After literally four months to the date since I've returned from India, I'm finally ready to share (or maybe I finally downloaded my pictures from my camera :) ).

And one of the most distinct memories I have of India are of the auto-rickshaws. In every city, there is a different etiquette: Mumbai and Pune (I believe) is by the meter, Hampi it's half as much to Hampi than it is from Hampi because the driver gets another 100 rs. from the guest house owner. If the owner doesn't pay up, then according to the driver the guest house is 'out of business'. What a racket! 'Okay please horn" "Okay please sound" painted on the back, the yellows and greens, and painted flowers. And of course the crazy driving that makes so much sense.

What I realized while in India is that if a foreigner ever attempted to drive, they'd probably cause a 50 auto-rickshaw pile up; there are local traffic laws that they just don't teach you in driving school. For instance: when faced with oncoming traffic at night, stick one arm out of the auto-rickshaw on the side the car is passing. This is because these little putt-putts only have one headlight, like motobikes, but are a lot wider. One becomes appreciative of these little rules, and how surprisingly well they work, after riding around India this way...

#6 - 10 of series 28 Hope

the rest...

The Vagabond is Back

Phew okay I know it's been a long, long time, but what can I say, life gets in the way of writing, as it does for many other things too: reading, apartment cleaning, laundry doing...

But I've officially completed (successfully) my second course at FIT. This time a photography course (film, what else) with darkroom instruction.

After a verbal spar with the photo guy, some wheeling and dealing, I managed to get my photos printed in time, albeit a bit purple. My prof said they printed my black and white photos on colored paper. How dare they. But at least I got a CD of my photos too.

Below #1-5 of my series "28 Hope" (all right reserved © Kiyomi Hayashida)