Brooklyn Cuisine (2)

And I carry on the series of recipes from "Le Vrai Goût de New York" (Real taste of NY). Tonight I tried a new one : Farfalles with cereals from Yum Kippour "Kasha Varnishkes".
For 4 people :
250 grs of wheaten bread buckwheat (gruau de sarrazin) , 1 egg, 2 onions, salt & pepper, 400 grs of pastas farfalles, 4 table spoon of corn oil, 25 cl of chicken stock.
Mixed the whisked egg and the buckwheat. Cook this mixture in a large frying pan for about 10 minutes. Then transfer this mixture in a salad bowl and pour over it the boiling chicken stock. Add salt and pepper and forget about it for the next 15 minutes.
Peel the onions and cut them in thin bits. Brown them in hot oil. Cook the pastas "al dente". Strain the kasha and cook it for a few minutes with the onions. Add some more salt and pepper if need be. Finally add the pastas. Mix everything thoroughly.
To be served warm as a starter or a side dish.

Kasha Varnishkes

Brooklyn Cuisine (1)

Everybody is always cooking in this house. So I have to do it too ! I made my ever famous Ratatouille. Just a quick reminder : it's a vegetable stew made of aubergines, courgettes and tomatoes. Very slow cooking in very thick pan with olive oil, salt and pepper.

Ratatouille

Landlord and plumber

Last night our landlord came round with our next door neighbor to fix definitively the shadow pipe at the back of the stove. I only realized he was our landlord through the conversation : I thought he was the plumber ! And we didn't know the other chap was our next door neighbor until after he left. So we didn't have a chance to have a proper chat with him.

Central Park : Jackie Onassis Reservoir

City Hall / Brooklyn Bridge (2)

City Hall / Brooklyn Bridge (1)

Usher

All right for those who are not English native here is the definition from "The American Heritage" dictionary : "One who escorts people to their seats, as in a theater". In New York, in some theaters, they have this "usher program". You are a usher for free and you see the show for free too. And it is a nice way to meet dedicated theater lovers i.e the other ushers.
R. , one of my room mate told me about it. So yesterday I went round different theaters and I'm hoping to get at least in a couple of programs.

Bryant Park

Washington Square

Times Square 42nd Street

Slumdog Millionnaire

I watched the Academy Awards last night. Slumdog Millionnaire won 8 Oscars. I actually wanted to see it before I came but anyway I went this afternoon to a huge showcase cinema in the Theater District. 25 screens on 6 floors. One of my room mate was telling me that this place used to be a Drag Queen Theater. Hence the painted ceiling.
Slumdog Millionnaire is really a very good film. Mooving, breath taking, very nice music and dancing at the end.

Showcase Cinema 42nd Street

Evolutive American Cuisine

The other night I went to this fancy restaurant in West Village : Perilla. See : www.perillanyc.com Fully packed by 7:30 ! I had to seat at the counter. Music at full blast. Cosy atmosphere. Well you name it : the IN place to be ! As the food it was nice. I suppose something between French and Italian cuisine. A bit overpriced though. I paid $ 53 for 3 courses and a glass of sparkling water with lot of ice of course.

Manahattan Bridge

Tiramisu

Now... don't tell my dietitian : I had a tiramisu AND a hot chocolate !

Little Italy (1)

Little Italy (2)

Maison de la France

I went to Maison de la France (see :http://us.franceguide.com/) on Madison Avenue to leave some leaflets for French Help Services and www.magellangue.com/. A company which offers cultural visits in South France combined with learning French.

Trump Tower Atrium

Chiropodist

They are not really chiropodist here rather podiatrist. They are proper doctors but can do basic foot care as well. I found one by chance at the top of a store. It's very professional and very clean. They wear disposal gloves. You don't have time much to chat as they work on 15 minutes appointment schedule. And it costs $ 60.

President's Day and Brooklyn Botanic garden

Yesterday was "President's Day". It's a Bank Holiday although according to people around me it is and it isn't depending on your boss... See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/President's_Day for some definition.
Brooklyn Botanic garden was among the public places opened on this day. I went back to it and spent most of my time indoors... I mean in the conservatory where it's nice and warm and you can have a bite in their "terrace café". For more info and photos see www.bbg.org/

Brooklyn, Rockaway Park (1)

Brooklyn, Rockaway Park (2)

I went right down at the bottom of the A line to see the Ocean again. You actually get off at the station to find yourself on a shopping street and the Ocean is at every end of the street. See http://www.thebrooklynrail.org/streets/july03/beaches.html for an interesting description of the main NYC beaches.

Brooklyn, Rockaway Park (3)

East Village, 4th Avenue

East Village Tea Room

Still on the spirit to promote French help Services I found a Copy Center to duplicate leaflets. Right in the middle of The Village. Once the job done I strolled along the streets.
I soon got pretty cold so I went to have a hot ginger tea in a Village-Asian Tea-Room. Very "cool". Small wood squared tables with stools. Teas, milk shakes and sushis on the menu. Mostly people in their 20's & 30's. While I was there - and starting to fold the leaflets - I witnessed a young lady explaining her knitting to one of the waitresses, girl-friends chatting away about their valentine's...

Broadway Junction

Chinatown, Canal St

Jewish Style Caramelized Cauliflower

I went to Chinatown today because - following one of my room mate advice - there are very nice food markets down there. I wanted to get vegetables to do a "ratatouille" see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ratatouille . There was a strong cold wind blowing so I went into the 1st covered food market I saw. In fact a organic grocery store with a eat in /out deli. I found very nice stuff including teas, soups... but not much vegetables so eventually I got a cauliflower.
I'm going to do a recipe from "Le Vrai Goût de New York" by Jean-Louis André & Jean-François Mallet. Here is my free translation :

Set oven at 200°. Wash the cauliflower and break it in small pieces. Dispose them in a shallow oven dish (preferably one in clay), add olive oil, salt and pepper. Mix it well. Leave it in the oven for about 45 minutes. Watch it and when the browning process starts low down the temperature.
It's supposed to be a starter but it's lovely too with your main dish.

Chinatown, Broadway

Library & Printer

I went to the library the other day to have some documents printed. O. left me his printer but until today I couldn't make it work. Anyway. So I had to get a membership card. It's free. They accepted my French ID and when they asked "do you have your address written somewhere ?" I just said I knew it by heart and that was that ! No need to produce like in France a less than 3 months utility bill !

Brooklyn Botanic Garden (1)

Brooklyn Botanic Garden (2)

Brooklyn Botanic Garden (3)

Near Penn Station

JASA job (1)

I went yesterday for an interview with JASA. I have been accepted as a volunteer. They are giving me a great latitude. Basically I can do whatever I pleased in their Day Centers in Brooklyn : sing, get people involved in the singing, do small talks on whatever cultural topic... There is a possibility as well that I could lead groups to outings like concerts...
I'm wating to hear from the directors of those Centers.

St Francis of Assissi

Dreams from my father

I'm in the middle of Obama's "Dreams from my father". It is very interesting. Way beyond politics. About identity, coming into terms with his own origins and how to try to make things happening...

Volunteer Fair

Today I went to a volunteer fair. "To keep in the spirit of Obama's election. Our Nation needs you" It was held in a Jewish Center a stone away from Brooklyn Museum. I met there a friend of a friend of O. , the person I'm sub-letting the room to. He couldn't help me directly on what I was after but was very welcoming. Well what am I looking for ? Entertaining elderly people... singing to them maybe ?
There is an organization called "Jewish Association Services for the Aged" http://www.jasa.org/index.html . I met one of the lady in charge and she told me to email her and then we could arrange an appointment for an interview.
To be followed...

Brooklyn Museum

Long Beach : The Ocean (2)

Long Island and Singing

All right ! All right ! I didn't tell you about my will to sing ! More specifically I had this idea about 2 weeks before leaving Montpellier to apply for www.singforyourseniors.org/ . I took singing lessons, went to a training day on a Sunday. And when I arrived here I sent an email to "Sing for your seniors" to offer my services. No answer so far. Nevertheless I found a Voice teacher through one of my room mate. S. is in Long Island. To get there from Brooklyn you have to go up town to Penn Station and get on the Long Island Railway. S. is a very good teacher. She gave me invaluable advice. And then it turned out that she'd like to learn French. So next week we are going to do an exchange : Voice Lesson versus French Lesson !

Long Beach : The Ocean

I saw Long Beach

What about it ? It is indeed a long beach !

Long Beach : the beach

Long Beach Public Library

There is an amazing thing inside this station : books are on display "courtesy of Long Beach Library" with this notice : "please take out a book and bring it back later on". It's a free service for any train commuter.

Long Beach Station

Frozen pipes and phantom pipes

One of the things my room mates said to me on my 1st day was : "please make sure you let the kitchen tape drop all the time..." because the pipes outside are likely to freeze. This morning it nonetheless froze... No more water in the kitchen. I have done the washing up in the bath. At least you have a lot of room...
Then this afternoon there was a geyser in the kitchen. A phantom pipe had bursted from behind the stove. B & Y. were our ship's boys on our crazy boat. As it happened our captain, R. was out. His 2d J. called a plumber who fixed it temporary. He's coming back tomorrow to sort it all out including the frozen pipes.

Cell phone story

Last Monday I bought a cell phone. I wanted a Iphone but you have to sign up for a 2 year contract and have a Health Insurance Number. I just got a "Pay as you go" basic phone. Today as I was chatting away with an American friend who's living on the French Riviera, all at a sudden the phone went dead. It said "you are very low on credit". It was actually a in-coming call... Anyway I went to a $ 0.99 store to buy a top up card. I followed the instructions and then it said : "you need to register a credit card on line for your 1st top up. O.K. So I did. Then it said "we are having trouble with your top up please phone up..." Well how could I phone up without a phone ? And it was no way I was going to get my... frozen on an outside payphone ! I borrowed one of my room mate's phone to contact the provider services. And I must say I was impressed by the efficiency of the operator. It turned out that there was one digit I hadn't figured out from the pin # of the top up card.

Salon Créatif du Cheveu / Notting Hill

Today I had an appointment at the hairdresser's on Madison Avenue near 78th Street :
www.rudolfovalentin.com ; Rudolfo is one of my friend's brother. The salon is on a 3d floor and the elevator opens directly into the creative worshop for the hair. You're welcomed by the receptionist with Valentino's dog on a lead.
Rudolfo Valentino immediately saw what needed to be done on me. "Too many colors" he said. I am blond with some dark hair still showing and a grey and dark bear. So he ordered his staff to harmonize my head by darkening my bear and cutting my hair so as to have a nice balance between blond and dark... Real professionalism !
On my way to Valentino's I came across a very nice bookshop : Crowford Doyle Booksellers, 1082 Madison Av E 81st Sreet. It reminded me of Hugh Grant's shop in Notting Hill... all wood paneled... old fashioned look. And you can tell that the staff is dedicated to their job... they are not just "selling books" if you know what I mean... They have avery nice selection too.
I bought an American dictionary and I know now the right address for books... what a relief !

Rodolfo Valentino is still alive !

Madison Square Garden

Central Park (1)

Manahattan in the snow (1)

Promoting French Help Services in NY (1)

I went down - I should say up really - to visit the Maison du Languedoc Roussillon in Manhatan. They are not opened officially so you won't find them on the web. For general info about the concept see www.maisondelaregionlanguedocroussillon.com
They have a prime location uptown on 5th Avenue 53d Street only a block away from MOMA. The person in charge was very helpful. Although they can't directly give me a hand to promote French Help Services I left with a couple of contacts to follow up. I will as well drop some of our leaflets.

Maison du Languedoc in NY

DAY 1 IN BROOKLYN

I arrived yesterday as planned around 4:00 p.m. at the house I'm going to stay for the next 3 months. At the airport the custom people had difficulties to believe I was going to be in the States for so long without any intention to look out for work... and that I had found the accomodation on craiglist... at the end I had to show them the email from O. who is sub-letting me the room !
The neighbourhood is a mixture of middle class and workers.
As for my room mates they are a nice bunch of lively and friendly people :
Y. is a student of Art from Japan, her Leica camera follows her every where even within our home. B. is a young chef from Minesota specialised in Mexican cuisine and looking for a job. Bruce is a musician devoted as well into writing and reading. R. is a lawyer currently back to studying. He has to seat an exam at the end of the month. J. is an attorney in the City. And finally but not last the 2 cats B & M who are observing us all...

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