• Last Books Read

    (T) This Perfect Day - Like a blast from the past, I felt like a 10 year old again reading this 1970 Ira Levin sci-fi. How life might be if everything around us was controlled to be efficient and healthy. Surprisingly, nakedness and sex plays a big role...
    ***

    (T) In Defense of Food - Eat food. Not so much. Mostly plants. An informative read on why Westerners spend so much time trying to eat right and almost always get it wrong.
    ****

    (T)Are You There Vodka? It's me, Chelsea - The ramblings of Chelsea Handler. Pretty funny. Good candy.
    ****

    (T) Namesake - I didn't enjoy this book. At all. I do now crave Indian food.
    *

  • Last Homemade Meals

    (K)Rice & Beans - Kelly makes great, classic Brazilian food

    (K) Striped Bass and Greens - With ginger and onions and includes microwaving the fish. It's damn good.

    (T) Split Pea Soup - A classic. So easy. So good.

    (T) Braised Pork Belly - A My first experience making pork belly. Super simple. So rich. So cheap. Why we pay so much for this in restaurants is beyond me.

  • Latest Restaurants



    Enoteca Barbone -Still awesome Italian/Babboo rip-off. I really like the owner, prices and pasta.
    ****

    Slurp - New Vietnamese restaurant in LES. We were the only ones there. Comparable to Compuchea, but better and cheaper
    **

    SavorNY - A FoodCandy article on the wall! Tapas from around the world. Pretty good
    ***

    Taisho Yakitori - Best in groups, Taisho is maybe my favorite restaurant in the city, currently.
    *****

    Clinton St Baking Company - An LES brunch favorite, the pancakes and crab cakes are some of the best we've ever had, but the line outside on a weekend make it something only worth it on the weekday.
    ***

    Chickie Pig's - Literally across the street, Chickie Pigs servers up thin, oval-shaped pizzas in a brick oven. Focus is on the crust and not the toppings.
    **

    Banjara - Finally! Good Indian. Embedded in the 6th St Indian madness is Banjara with delicious curries, dosas and samosas.
    ***

    The E.U. - A new chef prepares European comfort food including a thick and rich cassoulet, braised short ribs and Chicken and Dumplings along with a wide assortment of european beers. Very good.
    ***

    Falai - Modern Italian. Homemade Pasta. Creative Dishes like Beet & Lobster Risotto. One of the best meals had in NYC so far.
    *****

    Cafe Glechik - A Ukrainian cafe in Brighton Beach known for their dumplings. Try the veal and the Siberian.
    ***

    Rosario's Pizza - A tourist favorite of the LES, we read about this in one of our guide books. Pretty good pizza, but nothing special. Stay with the cheese.
    *

    Trattoria Spaghetto - Also mentioned in our guidebook, this Italian eatery actually turned out a better than expected lunch.
    **

    NY Noodletown - A decent Chinatown stop for Shrimp Wonton Noodle Soup. Reminds me of Canton Wonton Noodle House in Seattle
    **

Vacation with the Sales in Panama City Beach

Kids

From left to right: McKenzie (6), Addison (2), Ethan (2), Nicolette (4), Lauren (3)

Aren’t they the cutest?  Unfortunately the blue eye dynasty ends with me, as my more powerful, dominant Asian genes will prevail

So on Friday night, after dinner, Dawniel, Cyrill, Dies and I headed back to the LES and had a drink. By the time we got home, it was 2am, and Diesel decided he wasn’t going to bed lest we’d miss our 4am wake up call. So there he was, playing video game, while I took a short nap. At 4am, we left with our bags and took the subway to JFK for four days with his parents, brother and family and sister and family.

In total there were five kids plus 2 more (friends of the family) under the age of six. We had lots of fun with all the kids and look forward to next year’s trip!  More pics of the kids here.

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