Stages

Tonight's dinner was by no means the most beautiful thing I've thrown together. In fact, really not many of my meals have the "presentation" aspect that so many budding chefs can pull off in their studies of and preparations of food. But I figured that because I've seen it done on other blog pages, and because I've got a handful of things to say that relate to preparing dinner, that I might just include a few pictures of my preparation process tonight.*To begin with, our weekend was nothing short of fabulous. My dear, talented, sweet, amazing and beautiful (additionally insert every other positive adjective that might describe one human and then some) friend Lauren has composed the music for yet another show for Waterwell. Well, she is their music, and as far as I am concerned, and always has been. No other composers compare. Nevertheless, we had tickets for Friday's performance of The King/Operetta, which was a musical arranged around the last year of Martin Luther King, Jr.'s life. First of all, the theater is located in a rather posh corner of New York City. We took a cab to Bleecker and 7th and hopped out and right at Barrow Street's corner, which juts off of Bleecker, is the theater. We wandered into the place to retrieve our tickets at Will Call and the kids running the place were positively mad with frenzy (is that redundant?) because another show was to begin at 7.30 and they were trying to make sure people were seated for it. Our show wouldn't start until 9.30. Once we got our tickets, we wandered into a bar and had a beer, then went to another place down the street where we met Alison and Scott for appetizers. Then we all went collectively to the show. It was fantastic - we showed our tickets at the door, and the usher led us right to the front row, stage left, where we had what I would term VIP seats (thanks, Laurenina, a million!!!) And the show was really just fabulous. Lauren is brimming with talent, as is her cast. Without going into a lengthy summary of the show itself, seeing as I'm the World's Worst Critic because I basically love everything I see, smell, hear and touch, and think, and do, etc., I will just say, if you are a New Yorker and you have one free night in the next month and a half, GO SEE IT.*

The above photograph marks stage two, the addition of diced tomatoes to the mushrooms, green pepper, onion, garlic and chicken. This piece of work is titled (based on someone else's recipe) Chicken Cacciatore. I've had plenty of types of Chicken Cacciatore in my days, but never one doused in curry powder, as this one was, which added a different twist to the whole thing. Interesting.*So Saturday we traveled to work and met up with some friends of mine from book club, Laura and Brian, who are extremely into the project Craig and I are working on (again, I don't talk work here) and so we took them on a tour of what we're up to. Also along for the adventure: Ken, another fan, and Daniel, also a fan. The tour went well - we had run of the place because no one was working this weekend, so that was nice. I think everyone involved really enjoyed themselves, so Craig was the Grade A Tour Guide, which made me proud. After the tour, we headed back in the direction of Astoria and hit the Bohemian Beer Hall, or the Astoria Beer Garden, as we call it. We've been there a couple of times and it is such outrageous fun - for New York, the amount of real estate that the owners have is quite amazing (most bars and restaurants in New York are slim and maybe seat roughly 50-100 people, at best, and this beer garden sits well over that). Anyway, Laura and Brian are a couple that is completely compatible with us. I've really only been with them twice, for two book club meetings, but spending time with them away from book talk and with Craig was just incredible. They are just a bit younger than us, in their late 20's, and both so intelligent and clever and fun and interesting that we really spent a great portion of the day getting to know them and their stories. Craig and Brian were basically made for each other, as guy friendships go, which was sealed shut by the fact that they both like Pearl Jam and have played some weird war game in their childhoods called Catfighting and Catapults, or Crossfire and Catapults (I know I am not spelling Catapults correctly, but I wouldn't know the first thing about how to spell it, or even look it up!) or Crossbows. Something. It took them huge descriptive narratives to explain it to Laura and I, and we still never quite caught up. But after that revelation between the two of them, it was like they were cut from the same cloth regarding everything.*We left Astoria around 9 and we had invited them to our place for a while. They were sincerely willing to come by (any old excuse would have worked on us, if they didn't want to come over) so we headed back to the UES and stopped for beer. Laura and Brian are likely the most suited couple for us that we've met since moving here. They're just so likable, and so easy-going, and smart. Those are good traits to find in friends. So we loved having them over. We loved hanging out with them, in general.*Today we ran errands. I'm in the habit, now, of writing a grocery list early Sunday mornings, going to the store, getting all of what's on the list, and then I don't have to return to the store the rest of the week. After that we went to Bed, Bath and Beyond and spent a gross amount of money on things we supposed we kind of needed, such as the CuisinArt food processor that is such an exciting toy for me, and the new bath towels, and the new pillows, ice cube trays, drapes for the bedroom, this, this, and that. It really is a good thing we don't have kids right now, and aren't even planning on any anytime soon. We're just kind of lazy with throwing money around. This lifestyle definitely won't last forever.*
So, here is the finished product (yes, it's wheat pasta) and I guess it was alright. The curry seemed to lessen the spice factor versus what it claims it might do (increase amount of spice), but the dish overall was fine. Craig and I both love anything ontop of pasta (we're even growing accustomed to wheat now).*There are just a few things I want my eventual kids to understand. First of all, time management is the key to all of life. I've spent my Sunday mostly doing things I wanted but there were other things I wanted to get done that have been shoved aside because of errands and dinner-making and what not. Next: really, really have a dream. Have one early, so that you have plenty of time to pursue it. My friend Lauren has been the most successful pursuit of a dream that I've ever personally met, because this has been a lifetime achievement situation for her. She is booming here in New York, in music, in theater. She didn't come by it easily - it takes work. It has taken her longer hours of work than I've ever been committed enough to devote to something, which is why she has achieved what she has always wanted. And I am so proud of her, constantly.*Don't accrue debt. Just don't.*And here is my biggest problem: my thoughts are like blueprints for a building, spread across my mind, constantly being re-designed and re-organized. But the building never gets built. I never have had the chance to peer up at the spire ontop of my building. There aren't the opportunities for me to gaze out windows I made happen. To my eventual children, have the chance to gaze out of your own windows. Be smart early. Don't let opportunities sail past because other circumstances seem to conquer you. Be smart. Be certain.*