MOMA Family Festival

Cleaning up my computer . . seeing what applications I use a lot.

Thinking I can still use Google Picasa to share photos AND update this blog.

Here's some pictures from last week's Museum of Modern Art Family Festival.

Fun times after dark with

MOMA just open to family members. Smartly avoided most of the bad food there this year and had dinner beforehand at Billy's Burger Bar. Looked at some art, made some art, ate cotton candy, and hung out on the dance floor.

 

 

 

Superbowl Chili Cook-off!!

So, it has been a few weeks already since the Green Bay Packers (yay, Aaron Rogers!) beat the Pittsburgh Steelers (boo, Ben Rothlisberger!), but I had to write about our family's big win in the Superbowl Chili Cook-off hosted by our BFF Morgan.

Last year, Morgan and Matt made yummy ribs, but there was way too much work involved, so we decided to do chili this year, and Matt and I took it VERY seriously.

We started off by

boasting, then realized we better work on our recipe, which was always good but pretty basic - just start with onions and spices, brown the meat, and add canned tomatoes, beans and some cut up peppers, a little stock and beer - voila! With rice, and toppings, this was always more than good, but was it championship? I didn't think so. . . .

Did some recipe research and thought I hit a winner when I found this

recipe from "Cooks Illustrated." They seemed to have tested every type of meat, bean, spice and special addition!

http://www.cooksillustrated.com/video/default.asp?newVideo=y&docid=27075

Not sure if this link will work (you probably need to copy and paste it in your browser), and it is only up for a few months on the Cooks Illustrated site, so check it out while you can!

The meat was Delmonico steak from Marlow & Daughters in Williamsburg - cut into 3/4" cubes. I knew we had a winning recipe when we called Marlow & Daughters to

order themeat, told the guy about the recipe, and he said it sounded right to him - a veteran chili cook-off, winner, a butcher, and a Texan!! Besides adding a bit of cornmeal, cocoa powder and molasses during the cooking, the other secret was to used toasted dried chili peppers and to make a paste out of them in a food processor. Of course, we also used dried beans this time around instead of canned. It took Matt and the kids a couple hours at Fairway to assemble all the required stuff!

It smelled good right away, looked nice and chunky once the onions and chili paste were cooking, then a bit soupy once the tomatoes, beans, and liquid were added. However, after cooking on the stove, it went into the oven for nearly two hours and the meat simmered and added lots of richness and flavor, so by the time it came out, it was looking good!

The competition at Morgan's was pretty tough, as we knew it would be so we stopped bragging before we got there. There was some veggie chili, two variations of yummy green pork chili, and a dark earthy venison chili made by Morgan's son, Calvin. Our friend Theseus was the impartial organizer of the voting process. Each chili got a letter and everyone had to rank their choices in order from one to six. A spreadsheet was used to tabulate the chili with the lowest number of points - quite complicated. Theseus noted that the "exit poll" showed our chili

-- Letter B, was pretty empty when all the eating was done, and this proved valid when we edged out Ellen's Bon Appetit green chili to be the winners!! Calvin came in third, and our kids were only disappointed that first prize was a bottle of Salt Lick BBQ and a fancy bottle

of wine instead of the iTunes gift cards given to 2nd and 3rd place.

So, if you want some good chili - get good meat and make your own chili paste!

Suggestions for next year's Super Bowl Menu would be welcome. Sliders? 7 Layer Dip?

Happy Holidays from Orlando!

Wishing everyone a very happy 2011, and offering some tips to follow for visiting Orlando with a family over the winter vacation:

TIP #1: Don’t bother getting tickets for the Magic Kingdom or staying in the Magic Kingdom area unless your kids are big Disney fans. We

hear the parks fill up fast and the traffic getting to Disney is insane!

We took Yamini to “Downtown Disney,” a shopping and entertainment area and got her a princess makeover - hair, nails, makeup, a bag of stuff to keep -- all for $56. Total deal, unless you go and buy the ugly princess dresses.

TIP #2: Get the multi-day passes to the parks you like, because the price isn’t much more and then you feel more free to come and go. We did 2 days at Sea World and a 7 day pass to Universal. (Best tip - stay at one of the Loews Hotels on the Universal property, then you get a free Express Pass on the rides and you can walk or take a mini boat ride to the park.)

TIP #3: Get to parks EARLY. We got shut out of Universal Islands of Adventure one day. Next day we got there by 8am and there were 5 minute waits for some of the rides! If you wait in a long line with your kids, Universal has this nice "kid swap" area, where one of you can go on with the kids, the other person holds the bag, jackets, etc, and then the other adult can go on, so the kids get two rides without waiting in line twice.

Best roller coasters, ranked by my family:

1. Manta (at Sea World) - you are strapped in and the seat then moves up, so you are horizontal. It feels like you are flying!! So beautiful.
   
2. Tie between Hulk and Dragon Challenge (kids like the blue cars better on the latter)
3. Rip Ride Rocket
4. Kraken (at Sea World)

Other awesome rides - Ripsaw Falls (great log flume with Dudley Do-Right jokes) & the Mummy (small roller coaster, but in the dark!).

For those of you (like me and Trevor) who are into Harry Potter - there were huge lines for everything!! But, the stuff we saw was pretty well done . . they have lots of cute details like the shops from Hogsmeade and Daigon Alley, etc. The Butterbeer and Pumpkin Juice were good!

At Sea World, don’t miss some of the shows - we got to see a new Baby Shamu at the killer whale show and cracked up at the corny Seal and Otter Show, “Clyde and Seamore”! :)

TIP #4: Try not to eat any full meals in the park or on International Drive, unless you like Chain Restaurant food. We ate breakfast in the room or at WAFFLE HOUSE (yum). We at lunch at Whole Foods (10 minutes from Universal) and we ate dinner in downtown Orlando or the Winter Park neighborhood. On Xmas Day and New Year’s Eve, we made dinner in our time-share.

Best Orlando restaurants:

• We love Houston’s (aka Hillstone Grill). It is in a beautiful setting here and has great food, drinks and service.
• Old School Steak House - Linda’s La Cantina -- checkered tablecloths, great salad and awesome steaks!
• Four Rivers Smokehouse - great variety of BBQ to eat at outdoor picnic tables (BYO), yummy BBQ sauce and very friendly management!! Our faves were the brisket, St. Louis ribs and pulled pork, but the chicken was pretty tasty too!
• For desert, we went to Jeremiah’s (an italian ice and soft-serve stand), Mochi Frozen Yogurt (YUM!), or for the peppermint milkshake -- Chick-fill-a!!

TIP #5: If you are in Orlando for your whole winter vacation, remember not to spend all your time in the parks. We slept late, played mini golf, went outlet shopping (didn’t buy much), and relaxed in the room reading, doing homework, watching TV, and hanging out with each other! Happy New Year!

December in New York City

The holidays are always hectic but fun in NYC.

On some sunny days, the boys

headed off to the basketball courts with some old friends to run around. Battery Park City is pretty throughout the year, but when the crowds start to thin in the winter time, it can be particularly peaceful.

Also in December, I always try to take my Global History classes to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. School can be a little crazy right before the winter break, and it is nice to get

out of the building during the holiday season and to look at some of the wonderful museum pieces from the different time periods the kids need to know about.

In the Middle Ages, we found some nice items for the Christmas season -- my favorite somber wood carving of the Virgin & Child, and a little tiny crib for Jesus that people used to keep in their homes or castles!

This year, in the Egyptian Wing, one of my students found these hidden shelves with some items from the pharaohs' tombs. . On one shelf were the tiniest little animals carved out of beautifully colored stones. It is amazing how much time you can spend at the Met and still discover new things!

And of course, what holiday season would be complete without some kind of musical performance. The kids in my school chorus did a wonderful show, but the Downtown Community Center really outdid itself this year.

. .They combined all the after-school dance programs into one huge Nutcracker with many different dance pieces.

There were over 150 hand-made costumes and a full dress rehearsal the day of the performance. Yamini was lucky enough to be Clara in the opening scene, and she got to turn the pages of the big "Nutcracker" book on the stage!

Finally, on the last weekend before the vacation, we took Yamini to see

the Mark Morris version of the Nutcracker ("The Hard Nut") at the Brooklyn Academy of Music.

Our seats were awesome - obstructed view right over the orchestra pit - only a tiny bit obstructed, but we

could see the dancers so closely!!

The snowflake scene was just so beautiful -- male and female dancers leaping across the stage, as bits of snow flew up from their hands and sprinkled down on them while they danced. Pure joy!

Six Month Recap

It is now just after Thanksgiving, and we realized that we are sending out holiday cards that identify this blog . . .and we have not added anything to it in over six months!!

(Bad, bad bloggers . .)

So, for those of you checking in, here’s what we were up to in the second half of 2010:

-- Lots of Fun in NYC

Saw some musical performances (Jason Derulo,

Jakob Dylan, Avett Brothers), went to new

(and old favorite restaurants (Pulino's, Big Wong, Shake Shack), went to lots of museums, little league and Yankee games, and the US Open (Vamos Rafa!!).

-- More Fun in PA

Jumped on the trampoline, hung out with grandparents, aunts & uncles, and cousins Jackson, Darby & Flynn, went to lots of carnivals, ate lots of ice cream and other good food, nursed the occasional frog that showed up in our backyard.

-- Rites of Passage

Trevor & William graduated from

PS234 and moved on in September to two different middle schools. William is in Chelsea, Trevor in Chinatown and both are with old and new friends and doing very well.

Polly died peacefully in her sleep this November, after almost 15 wonderful years with our family. We were really sad and we miss her, but we are happy that she had such a good doggy life and was such a true and loyal member of our pack!

-- Summer Road Trip

We packed the whole crew in the car and made two stops at the Jersey Shore (Ventnor and Avon-by-the-Sea), then drove up to Maine for some picturesque views and good lobster, and back down through bucolic Berlin, NY on the way home. In each spot with stayed with close family and friends (thanks to all our hosts) and the kids had a blast.

-- Happy Holidays

Enjoyed Halloween in New York, Thanksgiving in PA and also celebrated some Indian (Hindu) Holidays like Ganesh Chaturthi (see the little elephant) with Yamini and the members of our NYC "Mixed Masala" group (some of whom have a “Desi” mom or dad, some of whom are also adoptees from India). For Christmas and New Years, we are off to Orlando with Matt’s parents, so we will be sure to post from sunny Florida!