Tuesday, March 20, 2007

Pink Lady Stops for a Chat


Pink Lady Stops for a Chat, originally uploaded by miyarotstein.

I couln't resist taking this picture from across the street. Welcome to Williamsburg.

In Search of an Urban Paradise


Brick, Steel and Glass

Two weeks ago, as we were on the endless search for event spaces, we landed in the too-cool-for-school haven they call B-Burg. And it is, by the way still way too cool.
We took the L all the way out to Montrose. I'm sure that is 5 stops too far on the L for most of you. We landed in an industrial lagoon. Marooned between treeless streets. We saw some amazing old warehouses, beautiful, urban, scrawled with years of graffiti. We checked out an amazing space that serves artists and performers, it houses dozens of old vending machines and arcade games. The fixtures were reminiscent of a well worn high school albeit not one I attended. The rooftop had a fantastic view of the city, smoggy and grey.

Presence of Urban Color

We hopped back on the L and headed back to Bedford St. in search of Oslo, a coffee house known for their artisanal brew and trained baristas. Wandering the streets, we happened upon some magnificant warehouses whose exteriors were wrapped with beautiful murals and vibrant color.

After my visit to San Francisco, urban art has been on my mind. I carry my camera in my bag, preparing myself for my next encounter with unforseen hidden treasures hiding in alleys and lonely city streets.

This building on Roebling St. was covered with amazing art. I couldn't help myself...

Monday, March 19, 2007

A fine day for baking

As you all know - or those of you living in the neighbouring village of Manhattan and environs, we here in Brooklyn were blessed with a little late winter, early spring festival of ice, snow and general unpleasantness. In order to get myself out of this winter doldrums, and in spite of this weird arbitrary Daylight Savings nonsense, this past Sunday evening I decided to try my hand at baking something warm and carb-o-licious. Indeed, it was adventure with yeast. Why bread? because I am a shitty baker. Then why even try? Well, because my attempt at baking rugalleh has failed pretty miserably and I was feeling a little low.
I know I can McGuyver-up a meal in minutes from a can of artichoke hearts, some garbanzo beans and a handful of dried mushrooms thanks to my amazing mother. No sweat. Baking, well, lets say that baking at our house was one of 3 things. Passover sponge cake, the famous 1 bowl apple cake and the cheesecake (later turn tofu-cake). My grandmother, of blessed memory, won no blue ribbons back in Poland. So there. A challenge.
A packet of yeast, some warm water, sugar - set for 10 minutes. 3 cups of flour and some salt. That's it! knead, place in a greased bowl, covered with a damp towel, in a warm place for an hour. To make this breaded concoction even more delicious, I decided to add to it some curry vegetables I cooked up as the dough was rising. Diced onions, carrots, red pepper, potatoes and a zucchini flavored with cumin, cury, garam masala, fresh garlic, salt and pepper. See what happened!!