tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-349595772009-06-02T20:45:08.375+14:00<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/gourmetpeasant/396056353/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/164/396056353_e1f6fbad07.jpg" width="500" height="173" alt="Logo #2" /></a>Madelinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10990120035211323980noreply@blogger.comBlogger182125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34959577.post-49115628224014272692009-01-17T05:24:00.002+14:002009-01-19T09:23:08.023+14:00

I'm telling you man, it's like...in the future, everything's just gonna be done my humans.I sure as hell better have a Robot that makes me my coffee before you find me making coffee for my Robot. It's evolution baby...

Madelinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10990120035211323980noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34959577.post-874621440374935152009-01-16T08:10:00.006+14:002009-01-16T10:43:06.119+14:00

It was like one of those scenes in a movie where all the actions of one or of many all add up to an unavoidable brush with fate; sometimes a chance meeting with a future love, or an unlucky encounter with tragic outcome. Only destiny decides whether it is the former or the latter. Lucky for these two,it was a glorious communion, the coming together of two magnificent parts that resulted in one

Madelinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10990120035211323980noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34959577.post-3739320973391484752009-01-07T05:40:00.004+14:002009-01-07T06:14:21.604+14:00

When I arrived at the Laundromat last week, I was surprised to find it packed full of people - not usually the case on a weekday morning. "Everyone wants to get their laundry done for the New Year" said the owner. Apparently having all your laundry done before the New Year is an established New Years tradition, one that I had never heard of before, "I never knew about it either till I had this

Madelinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10990120035211323980noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34959577.post-71503812239393544912009-01-03T20:09:00.006+14:002009-01-04T07:31:48.591+14:00

Midge Some say that I should give it up, my peculiar fascination with coffee Robots... Maxwell & Marcus I say, its hard thing to kick when, everywhere I go, I am tormented by gangs of cool looking robots.

Madelinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10990120035211323980noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34959577.post-27927395623971397392008-12-08T10:47:00.005+14:002008-12-08T12:29:30.240+14:00

To think,after two of my guests canceled, I was concerned that I would to have too much wine for Thanksgiving ...Thankfully my friends were courteous enough to suffer through the extra bottles of wine. Hope it wasn't too much work guys; thanks to your dedicated wine guzzling, not one bottle remained.

Madelinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10990120035211323980noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34959577.post-63226418112061268962008-12-07T08:45:00.005+14:002008-12-07T09:09:06.129+14:00

Thanksgiving at my place is full of all sorts of traditions, some not as conventional as others; for example this one in which I spank the turkey before seasoning it. Its hard to say how long this practice has been in effect or, how it got started in the first place, but it has become quit the Thanksgiving ritual and, I like to believe, it contributes to the overall tenderness of the

Madelinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10990120035211323980noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34959577.post-4363652115383988532008-11-26T08:51:00.016+14:002008-11-27T06:14:54.945+14:00

So what do you plan on doing?It is the customary question one might receive when discussing future travel plans and, a question to which my uncustomary response, “I’m going to eat,” has earned some curious looks and quit a few giggles. I assume this is because people think that my answer is in jest and, although I am not entirely earnest, I’m not exactly joking either.Ben and I were headed for

Madelinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10990120035211323980noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34959577.post-1613492670490964972008-10-16T04:29:00.003+14:002008-10-16T05:23:16.004+14:00

A few weeks ago I visited my mother and, as always, she sent me back to the city loaded down with specialty chocolates, Tahitian Vanilla, Vietnamese Cinnamon, and an array of pastry flour. Upon arrival, it was straight back to the grind and so I placed my bag of goodies on a shelf in the kitchen, and immediately forgot about them.The bag was rediscovered this past weekend during a clean up after

Madelinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10990120035211323980noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34959577.post-35545330689592740102008-10-01T04:27:00.000+14:002008-10-01T04:28:26.788+14:00

Madelinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10990120035211323980noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34959577.post-41891571858451312412008-09-24T04:21:00.005+14:002008-09-24T05:02:39.972+14:00

Sometimes getting lost is a pain in the the behind, and others it's merely a stroke of good luck. The other weekend, on our way upstate to visit my mother, Ben and I were so involved in conversation, that we not only missed our exit off the Thruway, we continued onward to miss a second exit. It turned out to be a fortunate mistake for, due to our extended tour of the NY State Thruway, we ended up

Madelinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10990120035211323980noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34959577.post-5314853998945676512008-09-22T04:12:00.006+14:002008-09-22T06:15:55.931+14:00

Growing up in NYC, I have become very much accustomed to change. Neighborhoods grow, hot spots come and go, and landmarks that once stood tall, crumble and fade into the infinitely transforming landscape. In fact the changing scenery is so constant, that much of the time it goes unnoticed until one day, you walk by an Emigrant Savings bank without giving a thought to the fact that it was once the

Madelinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10990120035211323980noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34959577.post-65118175567870991612008-08-30T04:45:00.002+14:002008-08-30T08:10:07.636+14:00

Being a bartender, I certainly get asked a lot of questions; some of them funny, some stupid, and some of them just out right offensive. Still, I can always count on LJ to ask an interesting and unusual question now and then. Do you ever have homicidal fantasies? was the one he asked a couple of weeks ago. Now LJ is not the most gregarious of men, opting rarely to participate in conversation with

Madelinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10990120035211323980noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34959577.post-41112374785156882712008-08-21T05:28:00.004+14:002008-08-21T06:27:15.218+14:00

So where exactly have I been? Let me see, it has taken me the last few weeks just to get through France, making pit-stops along the way in Bordeaux, Burgundy, The Rhone, Alsace, and the Loire. This past Saturday I spent zig-zagging across Italy and somewhere around Tuscany had a minor panic attack for there were so many miles, and countries, yet to cover. Sunday through Tuesday I spent half my

Madelinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10990120035211323980noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34959577.post-57043982535863525622008-07-31T03:57:00.003+14:002008-07-31T04:06:53.759+14:00

As the titian sun sank serenely into a blossom of blushing clouds, I peddled hastily in a race against time and temperature. I was on my way to a dinner party dedicated entirely to the egg and was fearful that my contribution, ice cream, was on its way to becoming soup.When Chicken Boy (Ben) initially uttered the words, ‘egg-fest,’ I had no idea what to expect and must admit that the first images

Madelinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10990120035211323980noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34959577.post-49930923962610378472008-07-12T05:26:00.005+14:002008-07-13T06:22:11.730+14:00

"Bacon is hot right now," so says James Norton, blogger for Chowhound's, The Grind. And who can really argue with him with July 7th being day one of Salon's week long series of stories dedicated to the Pork Belly. Sarah Hepola kicked off the event with her article Bacon Mania, in which she ventures to answer the question, 'Why are Americans so batty for bacon?' Now I am a professed lover of

Madelinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10990120035211323980noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34959577.post-46351903588166137302008-06-28T01:41:00.005+14:002008-06-29T00:02:31.599+14:00

In the early am, as I stumbled about my kitchen preparing coffee, I blabbered on and on to Ben about my dream of one day owning a Coffee Robot. Ben is of course no stranger to my pipe dream and has indulged my banter with an even balance of genuine amusement and patience. " What if you just had a coffee machine that was an alarm clock?" he asked as I put the water up to boil and heated two mugs.

Madelinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10990120035211323980noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34959577.post-41413855590301439752008-06-14T07:50:00.002+14:002008-06-19T05:04:27.571+14:00

I admit it, I am utterly inept at refrigerator maintenance. In the lonely depths of my refrigerator, lettuce will slowly wither away unnoticed for weeks at a time all the while unused lemons and limes transform into fossils and blue cheese becomes a whole lot moldier that it was ever meant to be.My roommate and I are familiar enough with the ins and outs of our untrusty fridge that we know which

Madelinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10990120035211323980noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34959577.post-50121684482269866332008-06-12T04:34:00.005+14:002008-06-12T05:45:39.128+14:00

All little kids like Peanut Butter and Jelly right? Wrong. When I was a little girl I was wild about Peanut Butter and could not seem to get enough of it, but was in fact scared of Jelly. You see, as a young girl I was what you might call texturally challenged in the eating department, anything too slimy on my plate and I was liable to cry. My slimy food issue was further complicated by my

Madelinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10990120035211323980noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34959577.post-67781594611202750372008-05-28T08:32:00.007+14:002008-05-28T10:00:35.019+14:00

In the past, when pursuing a boy, I have relied a great deal on my abilities in the kitchen. This method has always worked well for me, I mean, who doesn't like it when someone else cooks good food for them? Recently however, I have found myself in a bit of a quandary in the wooing department. How do you woo a boy who can compete with you in the kitchen? How do you entice a boy who candies Cherry

Madelinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10990120035211323980noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34959577.post-49478195674293805382008-05-23T06:04:00.006+14:002008-05-23T07:10:41.043+14:00

Just this past week, I was introduced to a dangerous and habit-forming substance. It was such a luscious experience that I have found myself feverishly longing for it morning noon and night. My mind has been seized on it and can think of little else.It all started when Ben, yes the one with the chickens, came over to my place with sack of chickpea flour in hand. “Have you ever had Madhur Jaffrey’

Madelinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10990120035211323980noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34959577.post-27147215754934717882008-05-19T08:17:00.005+14:002008-05-19T17:56:01.282+14:00

Some things you just don't grow out of. So much has evolved between my mother and myself over the years, cake batter is not one of them. Not once during my childhood did my mother fail to give me the mixing bowl of cake batter to lick clean.And not once, might I add, was I negligent in my duties as dedicated bowl licker. As you can see from this picture of my recent visit, this mother/daughter

Madelinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10990120035211323980noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34959577.post-39675460327818967162008-05-17T04:38:00.005+14:002008-05-17T06:22:12.018+14:00

Everyone, meet Beulah. Though she may look familiar to some, to most of you she probably looks like just another chicken; but don't be mistaken, she is no ordinary chicken. Beulah is no backwoods yokel, preferring the urban refuge of her Red Hook home to the humdrum existence of country fowl.For the minor fee of surrendering her eggs to owner Ben Peikes, Beulah affords a lifestyle of which only

Madelinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10990120035211323980noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34959577.post-63645974873970835432008-05-07T04:05:00.006+14:002008-05-07T05:01:48.588+14:00

Its my day off, and as I drink my coffee and stare out the window at the glorious spring day rouse itself from its chilly morning slumber, I can't help but wonder, is there such thing as leftover bacon?This weekend I made a grand brunch for my roommate and friend. There was salad, there was French Toast, Scrambled Eggs and Mimosas but, most importantly there was lots and lots of bacon. Between

Madelinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10990120035211323980noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34959577.post-45145140232140245732008-05-02T06:39:00.004+14:002008-05-02T06:45:38.081+14:00

The first time I tasted mole poblano I cried. I had been living in Mexico at the time and the woman I was staying with happened to be an amazing cook. She could make just about any type of food, Thai, Chinese, Italian, and of course her native cuisine, Mexican. I’ll never forget that first bite of that rich nutty sauce, a sumptuous wrestling match of smokey and sweet. The tears that welled up

Madelinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10990120035211323980noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34959577.post-50035788750235871412008-04-18T13:05:00.007+14:002008-05-17T06:28:17.597+14:00

(cup cake, I meant I'll never bake another cup cake)As I push ever-onward with dismantling furniture, packing boxes, and coming to terms with how much crap I actually own - clearly I packed this box prior to my morning cup of Joe - it dawned on me that, due the poor planning of me and the roommate, we will be without internet for at least a

Madelinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10990120035211323980noreply@blogger.com2