Eatspiration & Translation

July 15, 2012

Two-Handers

I’ve only recently started to give a damn about breakfast. I really only have one requirement for a good breakfast: a runny egg yolk situation. However you wanted to create an allure around that, I was cool with, but even with that requirement, not too much blew my mind, it was just something pretty nice that I could eat while enjoying a heavily-horseradished-bloody with friends. My complacency, however, was just recently blown out of the ever-lovin’ water.

I am oh-so-stupid-lucky to have found myself a boyfriend who is not only utterly fascinating to team up with in the kitchen, but often-times does better with off-the-cuff “what do we have in the fridge” situations than ones that take planning and time. On his first visit here (he lives in Chicago), he made us a breakfast that I’m now dubbing a “two-hander”, that just about changed my whole attitude towards the meal. It can pretty much consist of any amalgamation of what you want, but involves making a real, lunchtime-style sandwich with eggs.

Gone are the days of bacon egg and cheese, friends. This thing was two poached eggs on grilled brioche with beefsteak tomato, sauteed garlic scapes (I didn’t know what these were until about 2 months ago when I saw them at the market and thought they looked so wonky that I had to figure them out -- they’re like scallions if scallions did acid with Tim Burton and Mario Batali), and grated aged gouda. Like I said, a lunchtime sammy with eggs. I looked at it and went catatonic, and then took a bite and looked at Toph with childlike wonderment. My day was made and we hadn’t even left the couch yet.

Since then, I’ve been kind of obsessed with trying it different ways, and even made one for myself for dinner tonight. That’s right, they’re so damn good, I’ll even eat breakfast for dinner now.

My favorite so far, not to toot my own horn, has been my own. Before a day trip to Stone Barns a couple of weekends ago where we took a tour learning about wild food and ecology (go, do it, it was amazing), I whipped up maybe the best breakfast I’ve ever had. Behold:

To be fair, Toph poached the eggs. I was running a little slow taking care of my accouterments, and he gets cave-man-cranky when his hunger hits a certain level. On the grilled toast I spread some curried garlic scape ricotta that we had used the night before to make some incredible stuffed zuchinni flowers. Then I took juicy vine ripe tomatoes and tossed thick slices of them, along with slices of pear and some pea shoots, in a white balsamic vinagarette that I'd whisked up. E voila. All of this -- the depth of the curried g.s. ricotta, the vibrance of the marinaded tomato, sweetness of the pear, the green crunch of the pea shoots and the deep golden molten ooze of the egg yolk (I prefer Kinderhook Farms free-running, free-nesting chicken eggs) -- combined in the most joyous symphony of flavor my tongue has ever seen before noon. I am converted, and even if you didn’t need converting, do yourself a favor, open up your fridge, and make yourself a two-hander with whatever-something-like-this you can. You’re welcome in advance.

May 21, 2012

A Swift Escape, A Breath of Fresh Air, A Happy Dog.

Last weekend I went on a camping trip that a friend invited me to and I brought Toby along for some much deserved and long overdue frolic-time. We set out on Saturday morning for Harriman State Park, about 45 minutes north of the city, and hiked a mile into the woods through rhododendron and pine forests, over wooden foot bridges, and past marshy pockets to Breakneck Pond, where there was an abandoned summer camp complete with cabins, boathouse and dock. It sounds and looks like the set of a horror movie, but seeing as I wasn’t a.) the harlot hooking up with the Casanova, b.) The Casanova, c.) the stoner getting blitzed out of his mind, d.) the hopelessly not-outdoorsy girl relying on her boyfriends wits, and had dog to walk out of there with to boot, I figured I was the most likely to survive the ordeal (moral of this story: know your horror movie law and abide).

Anyway, as soon as we set out, Toby was the most excited and happy pup in the world. He bounded down the trails in reckless abandon, barreled into the lake after some geese before we even had a chance to put our packs down, and peed on everything. He even swam a quarter mile across the lake to say hello to a fetching Chesapeake Bay Retriever named Jack, who I too met, sweaty and panting, after sprint-circumventing the lake in hot pursuit of my mutineer.

The trip was great, views were amazing, but mostly I was so happy to see my pup so happy. He was truly in his element, and I absolutely need to take him on these little off-leash breaths of fresh air more often. Here are a few shots from the overnight!

Freedom!

Excursion!

Didn't even get my pack off.

Snake Sighting. Securing the perimeter.

Vibrant nature.

Post-swim dock loungin'.

Dock at dusk.

Is this real life?

Rejuvenating.

Reflecting with reflections.

Tuckered Toby.

p.s. I promise to be posting better quality pictures soon. I’ve acquired a big girl camera, downloaded lightroom, gotten lessons from photog friends, and am dedicated to a good photograph now!

April 22, 2012

This is what life is about.

I recently returned from my first trip to Mexico, which I can safely say was one of the best trips of my life. It was for a friends wedding in Xochitepec, a small village in the countryside, about 2 hours from Mexico City. I am so grateful that my first introduction to Mexico was not only with incredible friends for an amazing event, but was organized by two master-planner adventurers and foodies who took us to places so gorgeous and delicious that I found myself stopping in my tracks every two hours to double check that it was all really happening and I hadn't just stumbled into a fabulous acid trip. I’m also equally as grateful that said introduction to Mexico wasn’t the typical booze-soaked, tourist laden beach vacation that everyone thinks of when they think Mexico, that caters so much to the tourists that you miss out on any authentic experience of the country. This trip happened to be overrun with photographers (we’re a creative bunch, as hell-bent on capturing moments of our time together as we are about creating them), so there are thousands of pictures of the 6 days we were there. Luckily we’re all decent editors (I say we as if I was taking big girl pictures, alas, I was instagram or bust that vacation, but I’ve learned my lesson and stepped up my photo game with a Canon G12), So rather than go into a novel about what happened while I was down there, below are some of my favorite moments from our time their. It's safe to say that if the photo is great, I probably didn't take it.