Christmas Cookies

 

At times, Jen makes it easy to visualize her having her own TV show. I can't decide whether it would be more at home on The Food Network or Comedy Central, but it would be entertaining none the less. Maybe she just needs her own network like Oprah. While baking some chocolate/mint Christmas cookies this evening she randomly announced, "they should be hard on the outside and soft on the inside, like an old turd." Her less than appetizing comment did nothing to dissuade me from wanting one of those poo-colored treats. They're delicious.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas! We spent a lot of time in the wintery, snowy weather this weekend, but not as much as we could have. Our calendar was pretty booked. We decided against going to our church's Christmas Extravaganza on Friday night because of the frigid weather (and taxing work weeks). We had also reserved a Zipcar to drive to a friend's game-playing party on Saturday but had to cancel when the news about the snow storm made our trip to New Jersey seem unsafe.

An old friend of Jen's from Florida is now married, pregnant, and lives just a couple blocks from us. Their holiday party on Saturday was too close to home for excuses so we did make it out to that. We got there and back without getting too cold or wet, but many couldn't make it or were very late due to public transportation-related issues. 'Tis the season for over-indulging, and I did just that at the party. But it's ok, we ate very healthy today and hit the gym to make up for it. Anyway, enjoy a few of the pictures we took this weekend!

Recipes Gone Wild

While flipping through Twitter during my lunch break this week I came across this article/recipe from Greenpointers.com. Greenpoint, Brooklyn is actually closer to our old neighborhood, Long Island City, Queens, than our new one in Brooklyn. While living in LIC I loved running over the Polaski Bridge, taking in the views of the NYC skyline and Welcome to Brooklyn sign, into Greenpoint, Brooklyn and then back to LIC, Queens. I hear Greenpoint has recently experienced a surge of young people (and the gentrification that comes with them) thanks to the HBO show Girls that is said to be set in Greenpoint.

Anyway, considering our own recent squirrel-in-bird-feeder incident and Jen's love of baking, this article seemed to hit home with us. The muffins sound right up our ally too. We haven't made them yet but plan to and we'll let you know how they turn out...

Posted by Libby V
The other day I got an alarming series of texts from my friend Camille. She had just baked a batch of muffins, cooled them, and set them on the countertop in ziploc bags while she stepped out to run some errands. Upon returning home, she entered her kitchen and glanced around. Something was wrong. Granola crumbs littered the floor. She heard a rustling, and surveyed the room. It was then that she locked eyes with her intruder— a fat squirrel, having entered through the open window, now huddled under the kitchen table, seemingly trying to calculate the probability of successfully dragging a Ziploc baggy full of muffins and a package of sprouted chia-goji berry granola out the window without being eaten/killed/captured and/or losing his loot.

After a tense moment of deliberation, the squirrel decided none of it was worth risking his life (maybe scones, or croissants, but not muffins), and the li’l’ guy dropped his bounty and darted back out the window. Camille stood in the crumby aftermath, stunned. Of course Greenpoint squirrels want to munch on whole-grain muffins and sprouted chia seed-goji berry muesli. It’s a wonder Mr. Squirrel wasn’t doing a juice cleanse, or perhaps he was trying to squeeze in a grain binge before an upcoming detox. Camille was only more stunned to find him BACK on her windowsill a few days later as she ate her morning toast at the kitchen table, his paw pressed against the glass as though to say…Hey pretty lady, you got any more muffins?

Hey—Squirrel’s gotta look out for number one. Winter’s coming, and if you’re a forager (like our neighbor, Mr. Squirrel) you know it’s time to store a little extra energy for keeping warm. It’s also time to turn on the oven and make your home smell like toasted wheat. I asked Camille to share the recipe that Fats Squirlio couldn’t resist. A timeless classic in the world of muffinology—The Morning Glory Muffin. We used to get these at the grocery store all the time when I was a kid. Much like carrot cake, these muffins are a sweet and irresistible treat, but also have some real nutritional goodness, like vitamins A and C (thanks to the carrots, apple, and OJ). She found her recipe in the King Arthur Flour Whole Grain Baking Book. If you make them, then you can share them with friends, or squirrels, or squirrely friends. Whatever you want. They’re your muffins! 


(Squirrely) Morning Glory Muffins
Makes one dozen

Ingredients:
1/2 cup raisins
2 cups Whole Wheat Flour (or a 50/50 mix of white and wheat if you want them a little less hearty)
1 cup brown sugar
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups peeled and grated carrots 1 large tart apple, peeled, cored, and grated (or leave the peel on; your choice)
1/2 cup shredded coconut, sweetened or unsweetened
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1/3 cup sunflower seeds or wheat germ, optional
3 large eggs
2/3 cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/4 cup orange juice

Directions:
1) Preheat the oven to 375°F. Lightly grease a 12-cup muffin tin, or line it with papers and spray the insides of the papers.
2) In a small bowl, cover the raisins with hot water, and set them aside to soak while you assemble the rest of the recipe.
3) In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking soda, spices, and salt.
4) Stir in the carrots, apple, coconut, nuts, and sunflower seeds or wheat germ.
5) In a separate bowl, beat together the eggs, oil, vanilla, and orange juice.
6) Add to the flour mixture, and stir until evenly moistened.
7) Drain the raisins and stir them in.
8) Divide the batter among the wells of the prepared pan (they’ll be full almost to the top).
9) Bake the muffins for 25 to 28 minutes, until they’re nicely domed and a cake tester inserted in the center of one of the inner muffins comes out clean.
10) Remove from the oven, let cool for 5 minutes in their pan on a rack, then turn out of pans to finish cooling. Wrap any leftovers airtight, and store at room temperature for several days; freeze for longer storage.

About Libby V Libby VanderPloeg lives and makes work in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. She grew up in Michigan on the edge of the Great Lakes dunes, and has lived in Chicago, New York, and Stockholm. Her work comes out of her deep affinity for storytelling, music, letterforms, printed ephemera, and wildlife. None of these works could have been made without the world's finest brioche and several good, strong cups of coffee.

Our Big Blessed Moving Day

The morning of our move, after tossing and turning all night, we got a call from the movers letting us know they were in route.  After doing more cleaning, packing, and pacing than I would wish upon anyone, we found ourselves standing at our front windows waiting and watching for our movers to pull up on the street below.

About ten minutes later, a box truck, much like the one our movers described on the phone, double parked in front of our building and two obese, slow-moving  African American males lazily slid out of the vehicle.  These two gentlemen not only seemed to be taking their sweet time, but might not even be able to safely negotiate our steep and narrow flight of stairs.  At that moment, considering our movers were billing us by the hour, Jen and I looked at each other and said, “Oh sh*t.”

While frantically trying to talk each other down from hysteria and the conversation jumping from the importance of not judging a book by it’s cover to what we pictured them to look like in our minds, the doorbell rang. Dreading what was about to ensue but knowing I had no choice, I buzzed them in.  Jesus take the wheel.

I opened the door and there, to our surprise, stood the complete opposite of what we just witnessed downstairs: a fit, forty-something white guy and his big, strong assistant. But… you’re not… where’d you guys park?

It turns out the guys we saw out front were delivering to the vet or bar next door, thank God, and our movers had parked a block up. What our movers lacked in personality (they wouldn't even answer simple moving-related questions with more than one or two words) they made up for with their hustle. There was no parking on either end of the move and it rained almost all day but they made it work somehow, and in under five hours. They definitely had some experience under their belts and did a great job overall. Even things we were hoping would break (so we would have an excuse to throw them away, i.e. hand painted nativity set of biblical proportions) survived the move.  Note to self: Less newspaper next time.

So now we’re getting settled into our new South Slope, Brooklyn apartment. We’re discovering things we love about our new pad everyday and the neighborhood is full of so many great things that it’s kind of overwhelming. Yesterday our new couch was delivered and our internet was set up (so thank you for your patience in waiting for a new blog post). I’ll be posting pictures and updates on the apartment soon, so don’t go too far. 

Home Hunters

The weather this weekend was pretty dreary so we spent much of our time indoors sorting through apartments listings on craigslist, and websites like it. For the apartments we really liked, and that had a move in date of July 1^st, we requested more information, pictures, or tried to set up an appointment to view them during evenings this week or the weekend. Tonight we met a broker who showed us a no-fee apartment in Park Slope, Brooklyn (the fee is paid for by the owner/landlord). You may have heard of Park Slope. It’s well known as one of the most beautiful and overall quintessential Brooklyn ‘hoods... and the rents represent that.

The one bedroom we viewed was currently occupied, a common situation in NYC considering apartments in good areas are never vacant for long, if ever. It can be a little awkward to walk around judging everything right in front of the current tenant, but is good because you can see how livable the apartment is, already full of furniture (and junk).  We had to be quiet while we were in there because the tenant’s newborn baby was sleeping. Although it was very cool, the real deal-breaker in this place was the tiny, metal, spiral staircase that lead to the bedroom and bathroom upstairs. Not only did both Jen and I almost bust our asses trying to going up and down, but there’s no way Pup would even attempt it. We asked the new Mom if she minded the stairs and she replied, “Ya, I tripped on the last step and almost fell on my face while I was pregnant.” Great.

It was a great place overall, in a nice area, and we met a nice broker in the process (a rare find), but it was not the one for us. So onward we go with the search for our next temporary home...        

Back to Reality

It turns out that having an actual license to practice PT (as opposed to a temporary one) can get you a lot of work in this city. I let my employment agency rep know that I had been offered a full time position but would like to fill the time until my start date with per diem work (part time coverage here and there). It's a good way to make some money because the pay is typically great and it'll keep me sharp until I start full time in a couple weeks. I just finished two busy, somewhat chaotic, days at a nice nursing home in Brooklyn. At the end of my second (and last) day, the rehab supervisor offered me spot on Saturdays if I ever wanted to make a little extra money on the weekend. It was nice of her to offer and we'll see, I might take her up on that occasionally. Later that day I was scheduled for more coverage on Monday and Tuesday at a different Brooklyn clinic.

I think things would be much easier if we lived in Brooklyn. It's where most of the job opportunities for me seem to be coming from and living there would put Jen a lot closer to the Fed as well. Our lease here in LIC is up late June... lots to think about. The commute from LIC to most parts of Brooklyn is over an hour, which I could not do every day. Especially if buses are involved and they usually are. They're a nightmare to travel by, in the morning especially, thanks to NYC traffic and the lines of obnoxious high school students at almost every stop that seem to purposefully hold things up so they can be late for school. Ugh! I guess that's enough b*tching...

While taking Pup for a walk near the LIC Wyndham Garden hotel this week, I spotted celebrity chef Rocco DiSpirito doing some filming  at the hotel restaurant for what looked like a reality show. After some online research it seems they were shooting for Bravo's new show, Rocco's Dinner Party. We don't have Bravo (or cable for that matter) but according to Bravo the show will "take competition beyond the kitchen by giving highly skilled chefs a shot at providing a perfect, memorable evening for Rocco and a few of his celebrity guests." I'm a sucker for reality shows and remember his original show, The Restaurant, was very entertaining.

Hey Look, It's Doug Stamper

This Saturday we spent the majority of the day at open houses in Brooklyn. We aren’t looking for a specific apartment yet, but just trying to get an idea of what neighborhoods (and streets within them) we like and the kind of apartment we can afford in each. All in all we saw a lot for one day. Later at home, Jen effortlessly whipped up a map on the computer, using color-coded stars to keep track of what we thought of each apartment and its location. So efficient, that one.

While strolling through Park Slope we spotted actor Michael Kelly who plays Doug Stamper on Netflix’s political drama, House of Cards. He was in cruddy clothes unloading boxes for Housing Works, Brooklyn from the back of an older Toyota Highlander. It was like US Weekly’s section, “Just Like Us.” They make donations! Jen said she would've never recognized him (She remembers the names but I first recognize the faces). In a world of mediocre writing and acting a good show like House of Cards is rare and refreshing. It may be one of the best shows I've ever seen… the major networks could learn of few things from it. I’m already done with the first season and anxiously awaiting more episodes. Come on Netflix.