Bruschetta

I love movies.  I'm a creature of habit, and if I like a movie (and own it), I usually watch it over and over again.  One of those movies is Julie & Julia.  It's sweet.  There's a minimal of swearing.  No violence (unless you count killing a lobster violence), and it's the success story of two women. 

So I watch it often.  And every time I watch it, I get motivated to cook.  Not that I want to cook my way through Julia Child's cookbook mind you (or any cookbook for that matter), but maybe one or two recipes. 

Tonight I took the bull by the horns and decided to make Bruschetta.  Now, as ridiculous as this sounds, this has been on my mind for quite a while, but it intimidated me.  Even I'm laughing at that thought now that I've actually made it.  From scratch no less--well, not the bread, but maybe I'll make that from scratch next time.  Amazingly I had all the ingredients except the tomatoes.  But...right down the road from me is this awesome roadside stand that sells all kinds of wonderful produce--you know, I've mentioned it before when swooning over the great sweet corn they grow and sell.  So I hopped into the car and went for tomatoes.

After purchasing the tomatoes, I took a short ride to see if I could find some photo ops for an assignment that's due soon.  No luck, but I was psyched about the Bruschetta. 

Long story short:  the Bruschetta was soooo good.  If I had only known.  In the movie, Julie Powell is cooking with butter and she says, "Let me say this, is there anything better than butter?"  I've adapted that: "Let me say this, is there anything better than Italian food?"

So.  If for no other reason, today was a success because of a simple thing like Bruschetta.

 I Was Inspired

Yesterday I had to go to Caroga Lake for something.  I grabbed my camera thinking that I might come across an interesting photo op on the way home.  Well, I did come across an old, abandoned factory.  So I stopped and spent some time there--unfortunately there was no way to get inside.  Sigh.

When I got home, I decided to go for a walk with my camera.  Usually I don't care if I have my camera when I walk around Glen.  Years ago I took so many photos of the town that I thought I'd be happy if I never took another photo in this place.  But yesterday...yesterday I was inspired.  The next three images show a sampling of what I saw.

A stop at the Glen store for some fresh baked Italian Bread, and I saw these apples on the porch.

And as I walked into my driveway, I saw my quilt hanging on the clothesline and realized that I wouldn't be seeing this sight too much longer.  I love drying clothes on the clothesline, especially in the spring and fall, when the temps are still a little cool.  The scent of the dried clothes is wonderful.

I might have been inspired, but I'm not saying that any of these are keepers.  Just fun and it was a kick being excited enough to want to take photos for a change.

It's Been Years

When my children were young I used to sew a lot.  I made shirts and pjs, curtains and dresses, even simple quilts. I even made a wedding dress for one of my daughters-in-law.  It came out fine, but through the process I kept wondering, "what was I thinking when I volunteered to do this?" But one of the things I really enjoyed making for gifts was crib sheet/blanket sets out of flannel.  

It's been many years since I've done any sewing at all.  My interests shifted, my hobbies changed, and lately I can barely bring myself to take the lid off the sewing machine.  But one of the women in church is having a baby soon, and we're hosting a baby shower for her.  Hmmmm, what to give that would be a little different, but fun and useful?  Oh yeah, so I dusted off that memory of flannel crib sheet/blanket sets and will soon dust off the sewing machine and do something creative. 

I'm looking forward to the process--just not the cutting of the fabric.

 Eastern State Penitentiary

Monday I accompanied seven friends to Eastern State Penitentiary in Philadelphia, PA.  I've been trying to get there for about two years, and finally all the stars aligned perfectly for the trip that day.   

On Display

Our group took a fieldtrip to the New York State Museum today. Amazingly, there were 5 of us on this trip, which hasn't happened in a long time. It was great to have us all together.

The occasion was to see the display of photographs for the "Wish You Were Here" exhibit. The Museum has been taking submissions from the public of their images of "landscapes" of NY. Three members of our group had their images on display. Hooray and congratulations to you, Trish, Jayme and Bridget (and Bridget's husband).

Jayme and Trish showing their images.

Bridget with her image.

One of my favorite exhibits at the museum is this subway car. It takes me back to my youth since I grew up in the Bronx and spent much time riding to various places on the subways.

Another favorite, although sad, exhibit is the permanent 9-11 exhibit. This is one of the fire engines that was involved that fateful day.

More From the Brooklyn Bridge

This first image was taken in Bryant Park while we were resting and waiting for the bus.

Can't think of the name of this fruit, but it's one of the exotic ones. Several vendors were selling them on the bridge on our walk back to Manhattan. They looked yummy, but I was still full from lunch.

The next image is of the Manhattan Bridge as seen from standing on the Brooklyn Bridge.

Saturday in NYC

Last Saturday I joined some friends on a bus trip to NYC. It was one of those beautiful days when you can falll in love with wherever you live, even the city. The bus let us off at Bryant Park and we quickly found the subway that would take us to the

The idea was to walk across the bridge. Even though I grew up in the Bronx, I don't think I ever saw the Brooklyn Bridge and I was eager to make the walk, especially after seeing photos that some of my other photographer friends had taken.

The walk is 1.3 miles according to one of my walking partners. It seemed to take us forever because every two feet I had to stop and take some more photos, in addition to the fact that there must have been a million people (well...that might be a slight exaggeration) who had the same idea that we did. The foot traffic was amazing, not to mention that the walkway was divided into two parts--one for walkers and one for joggers and bicyclists. Take my word for it, you don't want to stray into the cycling lane for even a second. Those people were seriously into their sport and they didn't slow down even if there was someone walking in their lane.

There's a sweet little park on the Brooklyn side of the bridge, and the photo below was taken from there.

While in Brooklyn, we stopped at a nice pub for lunch, then headed to the park where we got ice-cream and took some more photos. Then we walked back to NY--in record time I might add since we were tired by then and not as interested in taking photos along the way. We took the subway back to Bryant Park and spent some time just sitting at the tables, people-watching. The next photo is of a building across the street from the park.

For those who remember the Jackie Gleason show, I guess this phrase has become a landmark for Brooklyn.

The next photo is of a building that's part of Pace University. Those curves are not painted on the facade, they're part of the structure of the building. So interesting. (I still haven't figured out why my photos won't enlarge when you click on them, so I'm sorry you can't see this image larger).