Tuesday, February 26, 2013

Morning Power Walk

It's been a looooong fall into winter...with rivers surging, skies thundering, and transformers lighting up the sky.  The days short with dark nights made for hibernating and staying in.  Is that why the Oscars were so boring and felt like forever last Sunday night?

But, have you noticed that the sun is coming up earlier in the mornings and the sunsets are stretching past 5PM? Exciting stuff to be springing into spring soon.

I went for a power walk this morning, this is one of the things I saw.  A tug boat exiting the JC marina into the harbor with Liberty State Park on the right. LSP is a haven for nature lovers in the middle of urban Jersey City. It holds the old Central Railroad terminal, this is where the Europeans that were processed @Ellis Island took trains to their final destinations in America. Although closed to the general public, there is a bridge that connects with Ellis Island. Ferry service shuttles passengers from the park to Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty.  LSP also has the best view of Ms. Liberty's red thong. ;-)...and it's home to Liberty House Restaurant and Maritime Parc... The footbridge that links my neighborhood to the park has been down since Sandy. It was a rickety old thing, but functional. There was a lingering putrid odour from the low lying water which made me think they dumped bodies there.  The wood planks rattled when one rode, ran or walked over it. I fantasized that they would rebuild the footbridge more along the lines of the romantic Bow Bridge in Central Park.  But that may be out of character or perhaps unrealistic with today's economy.  If we get lucky we might have a new footbridge by the spring. Come to think of it, I rather miss that little footbridge now.

Thursday, February 21, 2013

On after work cooking & good wine

It's hard to cook after work, especially if you're in advertising, work late & like to get in a workout.

A good solution is to plan, but, this might not be so easy if you like to cook local, fresh & are not near walkable grocers.

I was lucky tonight. Out by 6ish, which meant I could still local shop @my Korean grocer on Grove & pick up an interesting bottle of wine @my local wine shoppe: Jersey Wine & Spirits on Jersey Aveneue. For almost no $$$, I made a lovely vegetarian quinoa with garlic, onions, tomatoes, carrots, italian parsley, and lemon zest and lemons. A nice accent of coriander seed grounded the dish. No pix of this, although I did brown it in the broiler with some panko & looked beatiful. For my eyes only.

I do have a pix of this lovely Fiano wine.  Gosh, what can I say. It starts out so innocent..a little floral maybe...and then it goes into this minerally world and ends up nutty which reminded me of the hazelnuts I always ate during the Xmas season when I was a kid in Cuba. Am I exagerating...I don't think so...try it!