Fleet Week in the 'Hood

Some serious ships parked across from our house over the weekend. Ten ships from eight different countries, and we managed to see five of them before succumbing to hunger and sunstroke.

Speaking of hunger, apparently it was lunchtime when we arrived, because the galleys were all bustling--the Mexican ship smelled like Mexican food, the British ship smelled like fish and chips and the French ship didn't smell like anything, but I did see a quart of heavy cream when I peeked through the porthole.

Surreptitious photo of French sailor aboard the Etoile.

The Cuauhtemoc from Mexico.

Aboard the Cuauhtemoc overlooking the Japanese Shirane (more on that in a bit)

The RFA Argus--the biggest of the bunch.

And finally onboard the Shirane--in a helicopter!  You wouldn't know it from this picture, but Finley was thrilled.

I sort of loved the Japanese ship.  There was a definite language barrier so their display was helpful, if also hilarious.

Thanks to them, I had this stuck in my head the rest of the day.

And of all the boats that we saw?  This was the biggest baby-pleaser.  That little police boat alone would have made his day. 

As for the parents, we both agreed that the Cuauhtemoc was our favorite; the Mexicans seemed like they were having the most fun.  Though the Shirane was my favorite for thorough presentation.  And the Canadian sailors on the HMCS Iroquois (not pictured, sorry!) saluted me, so extra points to them!  Really, they all stood out in their own special way, and I would have more to report if the Mexican restaurant down the street hadn't been calling my name. 

Big thanks to Fleet Week for showing up at my front door!

Friends/High Places

Thanks to some New York tourism connections, Andrew got a sneak peak of One World Trade yesterday.  It's too bad his tour coincided with the dreariest day we've had in months.  So much for visibility.  But he said that it was cool to see clouds rolling through the unfinished building.

Love of my life, that one.

All that and this ended up being Andrew's favorite part.  Union stickers in the elevator.

Unrelated

Remember this?  This article has all of the information that's missing from that crazy documentary.  My curiosity is sated; all is right with the world. 

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Radio Lab is the best.  I'd forgotten that I listened to this episode about language, so I listened to it again last night.  It was just as great the second time around. 

There was a time where I thought I'd make a blog post out of all of the words that are in Finley's repertoire, but I've abandoned that idea.  I know I'm going to forget more than I remember.  Still, I try to make a game of it with him--asking him to name various things that he knows.  Inevitably I'll run out of words to ask him and say "hm . . . what else do you know?"  To which he unfailingly responds: "moo."

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Finley skinned his knee for the first time last night.  This is because he is almost officially walking. 

Coney Island Baby

Andrew ran 13.1 miles and ended up in Coney Island, so we decided to meet him there.  The good news/bad news is that he ran so fast that we didn't get to catch him in action.  Drat.

Finley hadn't been to this part of Brooklyn before.  He's too little for all those crazy rides, to be sure, but I think he's reaching the point where he might appreciate the aquarium and maybe even a Cyclones game.  Anyway, we'll have to take him back to really experience it.  Someone was so desperate for a Nathan's hot dog that he waited in line for an hour and a half.  An hour and a half for a hot dog after running 13.1 miles.

So yes, we saw very little of Coney Island, but quite a lot of Nathan's.  Not the neighborhood's best side, I'll tell ya.

Sometimes You Just Need to Make Yourself a Pie

 

Just because.  Apple.  The filling turned out pretty decently; it was the crust that I had trouble with this time.  Usually it's the other way around.  Fillings have variables, but crusts I can make pretty consistently.  My downfall this time was to second guess my method.  And my method is food processor.

After reading a couple of opinions about how food processors are unnecessary when it comes to pie construction, I began questioning my worth as a pie baker.  I use a machine to make my dough.  This makes me a pie-making failure. But here's the thing: my food processor makes really amazing pie crust.  Me clumsily trying to drizzle in water while mix, mix, mixing makes for tough, unpleasant pie crusts.  I'm sure I could overcome this shortcoming with practice, but why bother?  Sometimes machines are better (and, bonus! most of the time they're faster).

So, when I'm not suffering from self-doubt, my crusts are totally decent.  I started off a few years ago with the crust from this recipe (the filling is nice too; I usually pull this recipe out around the holidays). I know people can get snobby about the fats that they use, but I stick with all-butter because shortening: blech, and having any of those fancy goose fats or pig fats on hand is too complicated.  A couple of years later I started substituting vodka for water because I heard that America's Test Kitchen recommended it and I haven't looked back. 

Here's my heavily annotated pie crust recipe.  You'll notice that I'm a bit neurotic about keeping things cold. This is because I conveniently crave pie on 90 degree days with 200% humidity.  Add a hot oven and it's easy to see how every little bit of fridge time helps. 

Flaky Butter Pie Crust

2 1/2 cups of all purpose flour
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, fresh from the fridge
1/4 cup cold water
1/4 cup cold vodka

1. Get your water and vodka in a measuring cup; add an ice cube if it isn't cold.  Stick it in the freezer.
2. Get your butter from the fridge and cut it into cubes.  Stick it in the fridge.
3. Get out your food processor* and toss in your flour, sugar and salt.  Give it a few pulses to mix everything up.
4. Retrieve your butter and chuck it into the processor.  Pulse a few times, but don't go too crazy, it'll get more chopped when you . . .
5. Take out your water/vodka combo and drizzle it through the feed tube of the processor, whirring away all the while.  Keep blending until the flour starts pulling together.  Check and see if the dough will hold together without too much of a crumble.  If you need to, add more cold water a tablespoon at a time while blending. Repeat until you have a dough that looks like it'll hold together.**
6. Unroll two sheets of plastic wrap and divide the dough between the two. Use the plastic to mold the dough into a ball and then flatten into a disk.  Wrap tightly and throw in the fridge for a half hour or more before rolling.

*There are perfectly acceptable methods that involve pastry blenders or even your plain old hands.  I'm sure the internet can tell you all about them.

**I usually end up using the whole half cup--the genius of the vodka is that a little extra water isn't going to toughen things up too badly.  I more often end up needing more water and have been known to discover this after I've taken the dough out of the refrigerator to roll, in which case a small spray bottle of water comes in handy.  Just spritz until it holds together (hat tip to Alton Brown).

Thoughts on getting it all together:
So here's where you'll have to take off on your own.  Getting the crust rolled out easily will probably take some trial and error--heaven knows I'm still pretty clumsy with a rolling pin.  Do have plenty of extra flour on hand to de-stickify things, and try and roll from the center out instead of rolling back and forth.  I use a silicone pastry mat which is helpful.

Crimping edges isn't my strong suit.  I'm just now figuring out that too much dough on the edges makes a sloppy mess, so keep it trimmed to a half inch from the plate edge, roll the top crust under the bottom, and crimp with your fingers or a fork.

Finally, do not skip the egg wash.  It will make your pie beautiful.  The original recipe I linked above calls for an egg yolk and a tablespoon of heavy cream, but you can use a whole beaten egg with a splash of milk or water without any problem.  And add air vents.  I feel like that's an easy part to forget, so don't forget.

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So there you have it.  Go forth and make pie!  I, on the other hand, have the burden of a seven-pound block of milk chocolate sitting on my kitchen counter that I need to deal with.   You can go ahead and start playing your tiny violins now.

Sown

My little garden is already off to a better start than last year. I haven't had any dry days or spider mites to test my commitment yet, but things have begun to grow well before the onset of summer.  Success!

In anticipation of an extreme mosquito season I have planted three varieties of marigold.  I'm also growing some Ageratum because the internet told me that mosquitoes can't stand it.  Otherwise, I'm sticking to herbs, string beans and cucumbers.  Not glamorous, but boy are we going to save money on thyme.

Hurtling towards Brunch

No better day than Mother's Day to tempt fatal injury upon your wee one.

We survived.  Finley even tolerated the helmet once we got moving.  Our first adventure was largely on a protected bike path, so there wasn't much that could go wrong; it gave me a good mile or so to get a feel for my little addition.  The remainder of the journey, though, was pure cobblestone torture.  Poor little dude (later in the day it also became clear: poor me!).  We had some moaning and groaning, but we made it.  And only slightly sweaty!

The weather here has been uncanny--beautiful weekends, and then rain, rain, rain all week.  I don't have much desire to venture far at the moment, but this bike set up is so liberating and the weather so conducive . . . at least I'm a lot less nervous about the whole thing.  This could make our summer a lot more interesting.

Lazy? Who, Me?

Maybe I'll have something more substantive next week. 

Have a lovely Mother's Day! 

We Saw Plenty of People, But

We Went on Vacation

I don't even know where to begin.  Five plane flights, four cities, thirty-five family members, as many friends as we could fit in and at least one new molar. . . we're still recovering over here.

Tough Life

I've had people insist that they've never seen Finley cry. I thought I should take a picture to prove them wrong.

 Foiled. My sad turkey kept smiling for the camera.

Books and Covers Sans Judgement

Have you watched any Ted Talks?  I go through phases where I watch them nonstop and then I quickly forget that they exist at all.

There isn't a specific reason why I'm signalling this one out.  It happens to be the last one I saw that I liked and I guess it's just a good example of the sort of randomness that's out there that can become really, really interesting.  Usually even the most out-of-left-field topics are fascinating at Ted.  This is no exception.

Also, a confession for you: my New Year's resolution was, in fact, to read more.  I have been successful (though "more" is an incredibly low bar, so please don't think I'm bragging), so this subject is actually much more relevant to me than it used to be.

Stranger than Chicken

There are so many ways to watch this documentary that you have no excuse not to.  "The Natural History of the Chicken" might be more aptly named "A Small Sampling of People Who May or May Not Have Given CPR to Poultry"--I'm not sure why I'm insisting that you experience this.  I guess I need the company.

Stream on Netflix, buy the VHS for $24.78 on Amazon or make your way through all six parts here: