My Birthday: Part 1

I had a terrific birthday on Saturday. Since we saw so many things and I have been lacking photos for this blog, I have broken up the day into a series of 5 posts.

First, the day began with Brian making me breakfast:

I couldn't finish all of it. In the picture you can see the keyboard Brian snagged off the street for free a couple of weeks ago. It's nice (I'm using it now, as a matter of fact).

After breakfast, we headed on a bus to Prospect Park in Brooklyn. Prospect Park was designed by the same man, Olmstead (for those who read Devil in the White City like I did), that designed Central Park.

We found a historic marker showing where the line of defense was on August 27, 1776 in the Battle of Long Island. I thought it was pretty cool:

Here is a picture of the Long Meadow in Prospect Park:

It was quiet in the park and a perfect day for a walk. Finally, here is Brian in the park:

More posts to come this week including Grand Army Plaza, the Botanic Garden and the Brooklyn Museum.

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Spareribs, Sauerkraut and Dumplings

For Valentine's Day this year I cooked a dish that reminds me of home like no other. It's a family recipe that my Mom knows by heart and my Dad gets on special holidays. Spareribs, sauerkraut and dumplings: Here's my plate before I started inhaling it. Not everyone likes it. I didn't like it until I was an adult and came across a very similar dish in the Czech Republic. I craved home-cooked food at the time and I instantly became obsessed with the dish. The tricky part about the recipe is that it wasn't really written down. My Grandmother, Anita, wrote a copy for my Mom a long time ago but my Mom has since changed parts to simplify the recipe. This is the recipe that my Mom told me and I adjusted on my own. For the Dumplings: These are the dumpling when they were boiling, as they start to get done, they float to the top of the water. 3 c bread crumbs (about a half of a loaf dried on a tray for a day and broken up in a food processor) 3-4 c grated r

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Halloween Project 2009: Zombie Box

I love zombie movies. My first date with Brian, I made the poor guy watch Dawn of the Dead and Shaun of the Dead . A while back I saw a photo of a glass case that held a fake shotgun that said "in case of zombies break glass" (click here for my original inspiration). Of course, I wanted one. However, they were a promotional item for a videogame. Plus, the shotguns were fake, not at all useful if zombies actually were going to attack. I tried to see if I could buy one of those fire cases that hold fire extinguishers and fire blankets and just adapt it. Those boxes, it turns out, cost at least a hundred dollars. I decided to take matters into my own hands and build myself an emergency box to prepare for the zombie apocalypse. I bought a frame for a few bucks from a discount store and hand painted the glass: The objects surrounding the glass were part of my "cat deterrence system." Oddly it worked. Livia prefers to sit on my paper projects anyways. I built a

Put on the Glasses

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