Put on the Glasses

I am finally going to post the pictures that I took of Ikea in Red Hook right before Brian's birthday. Red Hook is a section of Brooklyn that is about 45 minutes away from us by subway. Then we either have to take the bus down to the water where Ikea is located or walk for about 20 minutes. The above picture is facing the Ikea from the water. They made a nice little park and had interesting sculptures. It was dead quiet when we were there because it was early in the morning. Here is another picture of Ikea with a bit of the water. They have a lot of tables and chairs set up for eating and sitting in the sun. Here is Brian in front of the water. We had a fun day that day, as evidenced by Brian's post about all of our new furniture. Ikea is far enough out of the way, however, that I do not plan on visiting again until we need to make another major purchase.

Meet our new pet, James Tiberius Fish. He is a betta from Petco. Brian and I were at Petco picking up a case of Livia's favorite Tuna Feast when Brian and I started looking at fish. I swear, when Brian gets an idea in his head, nothing can stop him. So, we went home with a case of food and a new fish. We named him James Tiberius fish after Captain Kirk. His name has a double meaning because not only do we love Star Trek, but Livia's namesake, Livia Augusta, was mother to the Roman Emperor Tiberius. It was too perfect. We just call him Tiberius. Brian had hoped that Livia would be fascinated by Tiberius. Unfortunately, she doesn't even notice him. We have even gone so far as to set the cat in front of the bowl and point her face at it but all she does is sniff and walk away.

I finally took the time to make saurbraten. My mom has been talking about this recipe for years, telling me that it was excellent. It is a roast that is marinated for three to four days. Then it is slow cooked. Finally, you make a sauce out of the drippings and the leftover marinade. Above is a picture of Brian while we were sitting down to dinner. This is what the meat looked like. I am a bit disappointed that all you can see is the sauce. I don't know if the meat came out perfectly because I haven't ever eaten it before. I do know that it was delicious and the whole roast vanished within 24 hours because Brian and I couldn't get enough of it. If anyone wants the recipe, just let me know!

Livia's new thing is to sit on top of whatever Brian is working on at his desk. Here, he was trying to correct tests. She jumped up on his desk and sat herself right on top of the papers. Despicable. She also finds pens offensive. If they are on a desk she likes to knock them onto the floor. I don't know where any of my pens are anymore. Crazy cat.

One of the things that I have been meaning to post about is the gift that Brian and I bought for each other for Valentine's Day: a vacuum coffee pot. As you can see above, it is a scientific looking contraption that you put on the stove. The grounds go into the top part and the water in the bottom. As the water heats up, the expansion forces the water up into the top chamber with the grounds. When the water is almost all sucked up to the top, you remove it from the heat and set it to the side to cool. You stir the grounds to get all that good coffee taste into the water and wait while the water moves back into the pot below, leaving all those grounds behind! It is a clever contraption and makes very clean and refreshing coffee. I think I am still partial to the French press (the only coffee I honestly know how to make; drip is a measuring mystery to me) but this coffee was as good and much more fun to make. We are planning to use it on special occasions!

I saw this while I was taking a walk. I love this kind of graffiti. It was on the outside wall of a factory in the industrial part of Greenpoint, Brooklyn. It made me smile.

I saw this mural when I was walking the other day and it made me laugh.

Lately, Brian and I have been trying to do a better job of using all of the leftovers in our kitchen. We have been getting very creative with adding spare veggies to eggs in the morning and picking recipes that include what we already have at home. My favorite use of leftovers, however, has been making fresh croutons. Last weekend, Brian made me his mom's Chicken Almandine (it was delicious). The recipe involved cutting the crusts off of bread before making bread crumbs. I felt guilty throwing crusts so we saved them for croutons. To make the croutons I just cut the bread into 1/2 inch cubes, tossed with 2 tbsp melted butter and dried basil (you can use any herb). I spread them in a single layer on parchment paper. Finally, I baked them in a 375 degree oven for 15 minutes. They were delicous. They were significantly better than the store bought kind. Plus, the ingredients were all things we already had around! Hooray!

The other day while I was walking, I finally was able to enter a new park on East River that always seemed to be closed when I would walk by. There was a nice beach, beautiful views and plenty of railroad logs to sit on. I guess that they built the park on a site that was used to transport goods from New Jersey rail cars in the late 1800s. Above you can see construction crews hauling equipment off of a barge nearby. The Williamsburg Bridge is in the background. This is what they are constructing. They are huge apartment buildings on the water. This construction is a point of contention in the community because they took the place of many old factories and they loom above the whole neighborhood. I cannot imagine how busy my neighborhood is going to be after all of the tenants move in. Although, if the rent is reasonable, I might be tempted to move. :) I've been having fun walking for exercise now that the weather is nice. Hopefully you will se many more pictures from my ...

I have been lazy because of Linux. I have so enjoyed the Ubuntu OS on the desktop computer that Brian and I built, that I decided to install it on my laptop. I still have Windows XP on my computer. Brian partitioned my hard drive so that it is like I have two computers. I can choose to boot up to Windows XP or Ubuntu when I turn on my computer. It is awesome. However, the transition from Windows to Linux has been more difficult that I thought. First, my wireless card wouldn't work. Then I couldn't figure out which photo viewing program to use. Then my computer was having issues connecting to the network in our apartment. All in all, it was a headache. However, I am sticking with it, changing my laptop habits and learning to use Linux. The benefit of using Linux is the programming functionality. Brian is teaching me how to program in Python (the programming language) and I have had fun using the command line to install programs, such as my precious Google Picasa Photo ...

Last weekend, before the large snowfall hit our city, Brian started what I am calling "Garden Project 2009" (it sounds nice and official). If you recall, last summer, Brian cleaned up a big part of our backyard and made it possible for us to put out a table and chairs so we could barbecue and relax. This summer he is taking the project beyond the little patio (read: old slab of broken cement) and into the area we avoided last summer. In the process, he found all sorts of weird things. The above sign is a remnant from the parking lot that existed on the property when I moved into the building. I love grammatically incorrect signs, especially when they are metal signs. Someone should have caught at least one of the mistakes. This picture is of Brian during the clean up. I still want to know what a checkerboard painted plank of wood was for. Also, beneath that you can see the lid to a toilet tank sitting atop a rotting wood chair. Here is the frame of a bicycle that is...