NYC Day One: Hit The Ground Running

Going to our friends T & R's wedding in New York provided us with the perfect excuse to finally make our way over to the East Coast. It was mine and Scott's first time visiting, so we definitely wanted to make big embarrassing tourists of ourselves! We booked the red-eye on Virgin America (they had some low fares going on at the time!): left SFO at 11pm to arrive JFK at 7:30am.

The flight was restless, unfortunately. Take note, Virgin America flyers, that everyone will get excited over the free satellite TV on board, and that there will always be that one person that will find stand-up comedy very entertaining, thus filling the cabin with roaring laughter, fully damning whatever chance of sleep you thought you had going on. Also, take snacks, because they don't feed you unless you pay up $8 for some hummus and veggie sticks.

Finally, we made it to the Big Apple. Or the borough of Queens, at least. It was about $60 and a harrowing 45-minute cab ride later that we made it to our hotel in the Flatiron District, the MAve hotel. Check-in wasn't until 3pm, so we dropped off our bags and met up with our friend Verlee and her husband, Josh. The four of us had planned a walking tour of NYC with Real New York Tours. We really wanted to make sure we saw as much as possible in one day without having to go on a big bus tour with 50 other people. Going on this walking tour allowed us to be really flexible -- we were able to take our time in some neighborhoods (the ones with food and shopping, specifically) and explore places that most other guided tours overlook.

Led by our awesome guide Jimmy, a born and bred, yoga-trained liberal New Yorker with a nicotine habit, we ventured out into Manhattan.

We started with exploring the neighborhoods right by our hotels:
Flatiron District and Gramercy Park


The Flatiron Building (where 23rd St., Fifth Ave and Broadway meet)


Madison Square Park, home of the Shake Shack (we will revisit Shake Shack in a later entry)

Then we made our way downtown. First to the Financial District...


New York Stock Exchange at Wall Street


Federal Hall (where Kevin James met Will Smith on "Hitch")


Scott and his day-old stubble looking less-than-interested in the historical economic babble going on.


Tourists!

And Ground Zero...





Then we made our way uptown, and saw lots of things that I'll just randomly put here...








For the "Friends" fans


For the "Sex And The City" fans (I guess they got tired of people sitting on Carrie's stoop)

We wrapped up the tour at Strawberry Fields...



But there was still SO MUCH of New York to see. Too bad we all looked like this...


So exhausted!

So we made our way back to our hotels. However, during our tour, we did manage to stop by Gray's Papaya (two hotdogs and a drink for under five bucks!). While I enjoyed the hotdogs and my piña colada drink (and their miniature size!), my husband grumbled about how the $1.50 hotdog and drink special at Costco was so much better than Gray's Papaya.





We managed to cram a lot of sights on our first day. But with a full day of walking and virtually no sleep the night before, we were ready to crash. At 6:00 pm. In New York City. We didn't think it was a big deal. We had an equally full day planned for the next day -- a picnic in Central Park, strolling in Greenwich Village, and walk across the Brooklyn Bridge. But when "Hurricane Watch" came on the evening news, we knew that our plans would have to change...

So tortured.

Sunday night, I made banana bread with cinnamon crumble topping. I started baking kind of late and the damn thing takes an hour to bake, 30 minute to rest in the pan, then it needs to get turned out onto a cooling rack to finish cooling. Anyway, it was already 11:30pm when I put it on the rack and my husband was already in bed.

Monday morning, I see that a huge chunk of the loaf has disappeared. I didn't think it was a big deal. Scott probably got hungry this morning.

As soon as he came home from work Monday evening, the following conversation occurs:

S: I hope it was ok that I took some banana bread.

M: Of course it's ok! Why wouldn't it be? I made it for you.

S: Well, I wasn't sure if you were going to bring it to work with you or who it was for. I just knew that I wanted some for breakfast. And then it was really good, so I wanted some more for my morning snack at work. I stood in front of the banana bread this morning and thought, "She might get mad at me for taking some, but she could get mad at me too if I didn't take any, so if she's going to get mad at me either way, I may as well get some banana bread out of it." So I took some.

M: That may have been the saddest story I've ever heard. I don't get mad at you all the time.

S: As sad as it sounds, I make all of my decisions based on what would make you mad the least. I'm tortured.

//end scene

Hurry! Before time runs out!

With less than three weeks before summer's end (though, one can't really tell based on the scorching temperatures we've been getting lately), I plan on taking full advantage of whatever precious time I have left with summer produce. I'd mentioned the peach cobbler previously, but here's another summertime favorite: Tomato Bruschetta.

It's so flippin' easy, you don't even need a set "recipe." All you need is the usual cast of characters:


Fresh tomatoes (I used different colored tomatoes because it looks purty) and fresh basil (the amount is to taste really, but I happen to LOVE basil). Not pictured: salt and pepper to taste.

So you chop all these up and put them in a bowl. Unfortunately, you have to leave them alone for a little bit so all the flavors can marry. Waiting is the hardest part of the process, but it's totally worth it.


I guess I could've chopped these up smaller, but the knife I was using at the time was complete crap.

While you're waiting, take a loaf of your favorite bread and slice it into 3/4" thick pieces. Throw the bread slices onto a grill until they get nice and crispy and get delicious-looking grillmarks. Then take a clove of garlic and rub it on the surface of the toast. Since the surface is rough, garlic gets nestled into the little nooks and crannies on the toast.

Once the bread is toasted and garlic-rubbed, top it with the tomatoes. And then you get this beauty:



I opted to top the bruschetta with a little bit of olive oil and some Fig Balsamic Vinegar from The Girl and The Fig. The balsamic added a tart sweetness to the plate, pairing deliciously with the juicy tomatoes.

Suggested wine pairing: Castello Di Amorosa Pinot Bianco, but if you're nowhere near Calistoga and are looking for a more commerically-available option, the Robert Mondavi Fume Blanc would be my next pick.