Wednesday, May 27, 2009

urban garden


on my fairly long commute to work every morning from the upper east side to chelsea there is a little strip of 28th street that is just gorgeous & awake. i feel like alice wondering through wonderland. 

                            

huge bouquets of peonies wrapped in brown paper may just be the prettiest thing i ever did see. 

pastie magic



pastie: a staple in the welsh diet. a basic creation of potatoes and canned (yes, canned) corned beef within a pastry shell.

my challenge was to make the best darn pastie a welsh-man has ever tasted.


the american (although haphazard and completely unhealthy) perfected version of a traditional welsh meal.

6 small potatoes - peeled if desired, cut and boiled until soft
1 small yellow onion - diced
2 cloves garlic - minced
5 TBSP olive oil/butter
2 tins corned beef (beware - looks v.gross)
1 cup milk (i used whole - more fattening ingredients usually make for a better meal)
salt & pepper to taste
2 packages sainsbury's pastry mix
1 egg - beaten


- saute garlic & onion in small amount olive oil/butter until soft. about 2-3 minutes on medium heat.
- add cooked potatoes. add milk as needed.
- add corned beef and remaining tablespoons of butter.
- mix ingredients well. you may need to add more milk here; mixture should be very creamy (which means inevitably fattening) thicker than a stew, not runny at all. reduce heat to low.
- add salt & pepper to taste.
- while mixture is simmering, follow instructions for pastry mix (very easy, just add water)and form 12 big, flat, round discs with pastry dough.
- place large spoonful of corned beef/potato mixture on one side of pastry disc. fold over other side. pinch around edge to create seam.
- brush pastry parcels with egg wash.

bake @ 350 for 25 minutes, or until pastry is golden brown. makes 12 small pasties, or in my case 7 small ones and 1 mammoth pastie.



*this recipe was tasted, tested and approved by a certified welshman. mmm! mmm! good!





Sunday, May 17, 2009

zac v. ann



A terrible, totally embarrassing NYC moment happened recently. Two silver linings: thank goodness I wasn't alone & thank goodness there were no surrounding fashion police as we would have for surely been arrested. 

Location: SoHo (out of all little pockets/neighborhoods in manhattan, SoHo is the WORST for this catastrophe)

Partner In Crime: Elizabeth - beautiful, bombshell-esqe blonde who is commonly found in a perfect little black dress 

Disaster: We had passed an Eileen Fisher; I commented that when I am in my 50's I think this brand would suit me. E had replied that she felt the same way when she was in her early 20's about Ann Taylor. The conversation continues on AT and we convince each other that we probably both have a cardigan or two in the back of our closet. In the midsts of my confession that my favorite pair of white pants are from AT who passes us but....Zac Posen. 

ZP - the aaaaahmazing designer who instantly increased my Gwyneth obsession with perfectly feminine, glamorous peach-cinnamon chiffon 2007.

Yes, it was Zac Posen passed us just past the corner of W.Broadway & Prince, with a gorgeous model I might add, as I am confessing to a pair of white AT pants as my go-to summer item. 

(Perhaps a third silver lining; I forbid the use of the word "slacks")

E & I are still recovering.



wellies, gloshes, rainboots, oh my!



dear weather,

i am not very happy with you. the past week here in NYC has been severely gloomy. you have been sending us heavy grey skies and left us with puddles along every sidewalk. you have also been very inconsistent; varying degrees of wetness falling between drizzle and pouring rain.

as far as the eye can see are intertwining streams of umbrellas. colliding colors of umbrellas popping up out of subway exits and apartment buildings. umbrellas are bad for the flow of human traffic.

depressing. even kathie lee is more popular than al roker this week.

to add to your gloominess are the awful wellies that we all must rely on. they inevitably ruin newly ironed pants as we stuff the hems in. "fuzz up" the back of tights. kick up muddy water onto the back of whatever one is wearing.

in addition, no one really looks good in a good pair of hunters - besides, of course, kate moss at glastonbury with the help of some sequins.

please go. perhaps visit the south of texas. i hear they currently have a D4 drought intensity.

sincerely,

lee