There's No Biting on Tuesdays

Hadley

Taking a break in my cooking to start a little mini series about losing my beloved dog and getting a new puppy. Mostly for me to get my feelings out but I hope the words resonate with some of you as well. When I got my first ever dog, 15 years ago, I kept a puppy blog (long since abandoned) for the first year of her life. I was endlessly fascinated with how she grew from week to week but it was also the place I got to express my fears and frustrations with raising a puppy. I didn't promote it or expect anyone to read it. But a few lovely people found it and reached out to express similar feelings. There are more social platforms now and blogs are less popular. But, again, this is mostly for me. If you're following along on the new journey, I'd love to hear from you.

Dark Streets and Lighted Windows

All you Rear Window fans will understand why I love looking at windows. James Stewart's character watched his neighbors' lives through their windows while he sat in front of his, nursing a broken leg. But, most of the time, when I look out my own window or walk around in New York City, I can't see inside the windows. They're too high up or too far away or the shades are drawn. But they fascinate me for different reasons. I wonder, when I see a lighted window, who lives there and what their life is like.

Summer Party in the Big City (with Bourbon Peach Fizz Cocktails)

No back yard to hold the summer party? We big city types are not fazed in the least. Sure, we can take our picnics to the park but since New Yorkers spend so much time vertically, we love holding our parties up high.

Life in the Big City - Spring in My New York

Lately I've had several out of town friends plan visits to New York and, of course, want to know where to go and what to see. In a city like this, there's no short answer to that question because you could plan dozens of trips and never see the same things twice. And I appreciate that tourists do what tourists do, just as I do when I'm a tourist in another state or country. Still, it hurts my heart to think that anybody's view of my lovely city goes no further than Times Square and the Naked Cowboy.

Life in the Big City - A Little Fall Housekeeping

When you were a kid, did you ever press leaves between paper to preserve them?  I haven't done that in years but, looking at all the pretty leaves lately makes me want to save them.  When we strolled through the park yesterday I found myself picking up some nice ones that had kept their shapes.  In fact a few years ago, Brian and I took an autumn vacation in Vermont and an absolutely perfect leaf somehow ended up in our car.  It was so lovely that we left it there and it lived in the back seat for a couple of years.  I used to love looking at it.

Life in the Big City - Autumn in New York

"Don't you love New York in the fall?  It makes me wanna buy school supplies.  I would send you a bouquet of newly sharpened pencils if I knew your name and address..."

Life in the Big City - Memories of Maine

OK, we've been back for a week and I don't think I've stopped complaining about my post-vacation blues for a minute.  There is one more fun event coming up, though, before I say goodbye to my beloved summer.  We like to close out the season with a Labor Day party filled with great friends and great food.  And, since I'm really looking forward to that, I'll probably shut up about Maine now...or soon, anyway.

Life in the Big City - Road Tripping

The Hungry Couple and their furry sous chef are hitting the road!  This will be the third summer that we've vacationed on the coast of Maine and our second time staying in the same gorgeous lakeside cottage.  I look forward to it all year and it is definitely one of the biggest highlights on our calendar.  I love road trips no matter what and I always pack us a fun picnic lunch.  This year I have an idea for an interesting sandwich and I'll share it with you when we get back.

Life in the Big City - Happy Birthday to Me!

Today is my birthday.  It's one of those 'big" birthdays that causes people to give you cards that say "you're blah, blah years old now" and buy you gag age gifts and arrange for waiters to sing to you in restaurants where waiters shouldn't be singing to you.  I don't know about the cards and gags but I've already warned those closest to me that, if I'm accosted by any musical waiters, they will swiftly find themselves divorced, de-friended and disowned.

Life in the Big City - East End Style

Montauk

Wow, it's been over a month since my last installment of Life in the Big City.  I guess we're on slow summer time around here.  Once again, the "big city" was abandoned over the long 4th of July weekend as we headed out east.  For those of you not familiar with New York, the eastern tip of Long Island is sometimes referred to as the east end or the south fork and encompasses the Hamptons and Montauk.  And Brian and I set aside one of the weekend days for a little road trip.

Life in the Big City - Summer Style

I hope you enjoyed the first installment of Life in the Big City a couple of weeks ago.  No sooner do I start bringing you along with me through my days in New York City though, when summer hits and it's time to head out of the city.  OK, so technically it's not summer yet, but Memorial Day weekend is the unofficial start to summer for big city folks.  For us, long summer weekends mean getting out of the hot city and heading to the south shore of Long Island.  Out there we're a couple of minutes drive from beaches and marinas but, best of all, is the nearly two acres of grass and woods right outside our door.

Happy Memorial Day!

Welcome to our unofficial start of summer.  The start of long weekends out east near the water.  The start of steaks grilling and frozen cocktails chilling.  The start of a happy me.  For Manhattanites, in general, Memorial Day weekend is the start of summer cottage rentals and weekend beach house shares.  Many corporations let folks out early on Fridays so they can get on jitneys and trains to start their weekends away.  The bustling city is much quieter in summer.

Life in the Big City

Today I'm starting a new feature that I hope you'll enjoy.  I always try to take you behind the scenes of how our recipes and cocktails were inspired and you've seen plenty of cameos by our furry sous chef.  But, as I'm going about my days, I always have my camera and always have the urge to bring you all along with me.  The big city, for us, is New York, specifically Manhattan.  It's a small island that's also the financial and cultural capital of the world.  The most visited, most filmed, most crowded, most populated, most crazy place on earth.  I was raised here. I hope you'll like sharing a bit more of our lives.  Weekly?  Monthly?  Don't know yet.  Life happens...  Enjoy!

Our Weekend

We went about our lives on Friday, working and getting ready for a nice weekend during the holiday season. I made a delicious soup and fun grilled cheese croutons and shared the recipe with you. All was well and life was normal and we were still blissfully oblivious to the tragedy that had unfolded that morning in a Connecticut school. But slowly the news started creeping in and we learned about what happened. We spent Friday evening sadly watching the news.

An overlook across the Hudson River, where we always stop.

On Saturday we headed out for a drive upstate that is usually a Thanksgiving weekend tradition. We'd had to postpone it this year because we'd both been down with flu that weekend. And so we headed out on a nice, clear day. This drive is steeped in romantic tradition for us and we had the Christmas music playing in the car, as we always do and we held hands, as we always do. But we also talked about the tragedy. Trying to understand, trying to make sense of it and maybe holding hands a little tighter.

Capturing the Color

Though spring officially began at the end of March, for me there's something about the first week of April that fully brings on the feeling. It's typically when the trees are flowering, enveloping us in their dazzling, albeit brief, beauty. Tulips spring up all over the city in a multi-colored show and restaurateurs set up their outdoor tables. Manhattanites adore being outside and any eatery with a sidewalk cafe license is sure to draw a crowd.

Dances with Luggage Carts

Those of you who don't live in Manhattan would have no idea what chaos to expect on Memorial Day evenings, or for that matter, any long summer weekend. Oh sure, you might imagine or have heard of terrible traffic problems coming back into the city. But the scramble to unload cars, find a luggage cart to deposit all your belongings and leave it to begin a desperate search for parking can cause harried doorman to have fits of nerves.

A Long Time in Coming...

We've been waiting for Memorial Day weekend almost since the end of last summer.  Sure, there were some fun autumn events and winter holidays to distract us.  But once New Year's Day came and went we started crossing the days off the calendar.  Not that we want to wish parts of our lives away but this winter was so cold and snowy and dreary and long...  Spring came late this year so there wasn't even that to cheer us up.

But at last, summer has come.  Maybe it doesn't officially arrive until June 21st but, at least here in New York, it unofficially arrives on Memorial Day weekend.  That is when summer shares in beach houses begin, corporations start their summer Friday hours and long lines can be seen waiting for the Hamptons Jitney to take them out to the south shore of Long Island.  For those of us blessed enough to have access to a home out there, Memorial Day weekend marks the start of summer grilling, frozen blender cocktails, time spent by the water and a happy doggie chasing her ball on acres of green grass.  It means farm stands and sweet summer fruit and relaxation.  It means happiness.  And we've been waiting a long time...

A Day in the Life

One of my friends has been taking a photography for blogging class and she inspired me to recreate one of their assignments. This is a day in my life, chosen at random and told in pictures with a minimum of written explanation. Obviously not all days are identical but this one was fairly typical of a weekday/workday for me and it was great fun doing it.

Sundays by the River

The last Sunday in February brought the tiniest hint of the possibility of spring. This year's groundhog did not see his shadow, the traditional sign of an early spring, but I'd assumed it was because there was so much snow on the ground that he refused to leave his den! But perhaps he was right after all.

Thoughts of Summer...

It's the middle of January, the dead of winter, cold and dark. Here in the northeast, we're having our fourth snow storm since Christmas with another forecast for the end of the week. I don't like winter under the best of circumstances and this one is shaping up to be particularly egregious.