Birthdays & Saturdays [Things I Love]

So I've been MIA from Sleeping Venus

for the past week, because I've been in midtown

full time, everyday working for Paper Magazine

I can sum it up with: rotten flowers,

hunting for the perfect shade of chartreuse taffeta,

Excel, desperately trying to get Marc Jacob's assistant on the phone,

holding real life prison letters from Michael Alig (I die)

and wanting to have Pinkberry for lunch everyday with an empty wallet

oh, the life of an intern

but onto other things

like all the lovely things that happen on Saturdays and birthdays

and all the wonderful noms and sights

the things I love:

Good restaurants!

like Risoterria, where I went on my bday

(I'm 19, I'm nearly a dinosaur, even though 19 is one of those really liminal ages...)

it is on Bleecker Street,

which is easily becoming my new favorite place

not only did I get to have all my favorite foods on my birthday

(a momlet, ice cream, pizza)

but the pizza was brick oven,

mozzarella, asparagus, and white truffle oil

and white truffle oil just makes everything sexy

did I mention this restaurant gives you free one and a half feet long breadsticks,

yes, breadsticks,

I'm totally smitten with any place that gives free bread

anyhow, this pizza was mind blowingly delish

and I want it every single day, desperately

Candy!

not just any candy though, my new obsession is grapefruit gummies

and my not so new obsession is basically anything from Economy Candy on Rivington

it's so authentic, and its one of the only places where I can find

vintage goodies

like Sixlets and Bottle Caps

its also one of the only candy places that doesn't feel gourmet & overpriced

so it makes me feel really nostalgic

I'm dying for a little lunchbox tin from there

so I can tote my peanut butter & jelly sandwich and my apple to work everyday in style

what's better than good restaurants and candy?

getting Thai takeout to eat at Tompkins

so romantic

since it was just impossible to squeeze in pad thai on my birthday

I had it the next day, and it was everything I wanted

a lunch special from Tara Thai on First Ave

a sunny day in the park

bull dogs with chubby paws

and lots of pup watching

why is it that lime tastes so good on pad thai?

it really gives it a depth of flavor

(everyday I consider going to culinary school instead of Vassar)

one day I'm going to own my own food joint

it will happen, even with a Sociology degree

and it will be made possible

by all the hours I spend watching the food networking and food joint hopping

I can't even tell you how many ways I know how to prepare pork loin

my fave recipe is for an herb crusted pork loin

but I'm a vegetarian....

I also love getting free ice water at Starbucks,

and it's even better when it belongs to someone else

sorry William, but this girl was so thirsty

thanks for helping a sista out

And it's totally awesome when streets in the city happen to look like Europe

I could sort of feel like I'm in Delft, or Harrlem

maybe even Tuscany, if I squint...and ignore all the cabs

Lastly, I gotta love Washington Square Park

street performers and the wonderful sounds of doo wop,

fleetingly beautiful sand art by Joe Mangrum (he is amazing),

botanical garden worthy flowers

eccentric couples

frolicking children,

and that refreshing fountain mist

are more than enough to keep me smiling all summer long.

The Humble Beginnings of an Aspiring Food Critic

I never had an Easy Bake Oven

and what girl didn't want one?

I pined over those bite sized chocolate cakes

sprinkled with glittering pink sugar,

dreamed of frosting 

my own cookies and 

mixing my own brownies

even before that in pre-K,

I hung out by the plastic lavender and

baby pink, and cream kitchen set 

that was missing various tiny metal pots and pans

but still had a few plastic food items

the standard fruits and maybe a carton of eggs

I would spend my play time there

pretending to whip up omelets, drinking pretend milk, 

and gossiping with my friends,

you know, the normal business

of a 4 year old on the Lower East Side

I hated the school lunch, they served me liver once

who gives liver to a 4 year old?, I felt like a puppy

being forced to eat a can of chow

so the little kitchen was always a 

better alternative to

the miniature lunch tables

when I got older my dreams of 

cooking never left me

I spent a lot of time at my grandma's house,

complete with plastic covered fabric couches, 

a collection of stuffed animals from 

various rip-off Coney Island games,

a menagerie of Technicolor bulldogs, 

goofy lions, and teddy bears,

a crazy old chihuahua named Snoopy,

and no cable,

no Hey Arnold, or Rocko's Modern Life, or Real Monsters for me

nope, I settled down with the Food Network

watching Emeril Lagasse do his thing

I sat down in front of the TV with my Play-doh and followed his recipes

making tacos and seafood with the various colors I had

shaping reds and greens and blues

being careful not to mix the colors and essentially taint them forever

I would roll out little balls of pretend pizza dough

that would leave the sweet memorable scent 

on my hands and under my finger nails

which totally beats out the Easy Bake Oven 

now I watch Iron Chef, and Chopped not pretending to be a chef

but to pretending to be a food critic, skilled and versed in describing the 

multifaceted tastes of food

I'm pretty obsessed 

what a great life it would be 

to sit around saying things like "oh yes, this tastes a bit gamey", 

and "that really adds a kick of flavor", "this presentation is very rustic"

or "the hint of lemon adds a depth of flavor and brings out the saffron"

you know, great stuff like that

I'd travel around tasting bits of every country & culture while taking notes

on flavor, and plating design

make-believe never gets old

but hey, who knows, maybe one day I can work for the Zagat

dreams may not always come true

but I still love the smell of Play Doh.