Right Bach Atcha

Even on a day off I'm still at this thing... To get in the mood for Monday's scene, I picked up The Cello Suites by Eric Siblin last week and am reading it while listening to Bach's cello suites on You Tube.

Brie-lliant

I came home to Anna's kumquat marmalade. We enjoyed it with brie on toast! She pureed the thin, edible skin into it and it was amazing!

The Moment We've All Been Waiting For

Yesterday was the first day of shooting! Nothing like ending a cold shoot day with a hot crepe filled with fresh lemon juice, caramel and Grand Marnier...

Office Lunch-

--- Ain't so office bad.

Here is my seafood tempura dumpling. And there is my gelato dessert: pear & vanilla and lemon sorbets.

The Eatalying Ensues...

I've moved on from the fish to the gelato. My reward for a long Saturday's work:

Apricot & amaretto and sweet milk gelato

Riddle Me This

Why are my bests at that place on the left while I'm at that place on the right?

Monkfish Liver with Venetian Rice and Dates

I might as well call this the What-I-Ate-At-Eataly blog... Touted as the "foie gras of the sea", I enjoyed this dish with a glass of Fruiliano (a white wine that the waitor remarked was a good choice because it cuts the thick flavor of the fish with its acidity, but really I just chose because it was the cheapest). It was either this or the smoked sea bass with jicama and blood orange... Considering the snowy ambiance from the photos below, you may be able to get why I went with the cozier, richer choice.

Subway Snow

I love gazing out into the city when I get out and onto the subway from my street.
I love it even more when everything is frosted with snow!

Planning Ahead

I made brussel sprouts for lunch tomorrow. I know this recipe sounds gross, but it turned out to be very delightful. I steamed the brussel sprouts and then sauteed them with olive oil, sea salt, pepper, dill, lime, honey (until they glazed over) and a dash of Sriracha... Not bad!!!

Hazelnut

I sent some Chocolove to Snickero, and he was kind enough to take a picture of the poem for my collection. I love that it's by Thomas Moore:

A Day Off Means...

White bean salad on rye toast...
Apple cider with rum, cinnamon and cloves...
... And working from home.

1/7 wonderful

Quote of the Day: "when you realize that the entire structure was made out of the love that shah jahan had for his wife mumtaz, you can only choke on air. it is the tomb that shah jahan built for his wife upon her death, and took 22 years to complete. today they both lie there, and it has become the most recognized building in the world, one of the seven wonders.

...and they say muslim men don't treat their wives well!!"

- Sabeel Yosef at Three Letter Words

After A Storm

Things are where they shouldn't be, but that's where they're supposed to be.
People do things indoors.
The world is a prettier place.

First, second, sixth, seventh and eighth photos by Snickero

Go Fish!

The great thing about working across the street from an eatery as divine as Eataly is that friendly visitors won't get upset when I can't stray too far for a lunch break. Marcel is in town and joined me for a fishy lunch, in the best way possible, at Il Pesce. It was a little on the pricey side, but insanely delicious. I enjoyed...

Scallops with sea salt, olive oil, pepper, lemon and parsley


Pesce crudo trio (This was like... WHOA)


Also whoa- Smoked trout with flakey crust and lemon over a bed of lentils

Photos taken by Marcel's iPhone

Tights!

These tights have been making me soooooo happy! The calf deficiency .... Not so much.

Centrifugal

Some people remain in the circle until they die, others smash to pieces at the end of a long fall. The latter (my group) always retain a muted nostalgia for the circle dance. After all, we are every one of us inhabitants of a universe where everything turns in circles.

(Milan Kundera, The Book of Laughter & Forgetting, 66)
Another old white guy... Sorry, gals.

It's Choco Poem Time Again!

I'm still in the mood for shmaltz. I love these poem surprises! Here's the one I got today:

Three Letter Words

Travel along with my darling Sabeel over at Three Letter Words. She recently set off for India... on New Year's Day to be exact. What a way to start the decade. I won't be able to enjoy therapeutic shisha nights with my North African sister, but we'll remain connected via blog world.

Thanks, Snick

I debated whether sharing my gifts online would be too braggy, but while ruminating on the role of privacy in this instance, wondering if I should provide a sacred space for them far, far away from the Internet and all, I quickly remembered that the visto part of my blog title is there for a reason... Keeping something that made me so happy undisclosed should then make me reconsider my entire blogging game! Reimbursement is in store. And the Snick better beware!

My beautiful card and beautiful book (how did you know Walden is one of my favorite books? ) and beautiful sketch:

Merci beaucoup to a saintly Snickero:

The universe is wider than our views of it.

Direct your eye right inward, and you'll find/A thousand regions in your mind/Yet undiscovered. Travel them, and be/Expert in home-cosmography.

At a certain season of our life we are accustomed to consider every spot as the possible site of a house.

-Henry David Thoreau