My friend LT came for a brief visit from sunny California. You remember him, right?
He flew into JFK and I went to get him at 6AM on Saturday. The drive there and back wasn’t bad.
I drove through Staten Island rather than take the Holland tunnel; I didn’t want to deal with driving through Manhattan. Traffic wasn’t bad at all, and it only took me an hour to get there. It was a lovely drive across the Verrazano bridge and back.
His visit was a short one, but we managed to squeeze in some nice meals, drinks, and talk of Tuvan throat-singing*. We also enjoyed the weather, chasing Nina around, and we even cut down a superfluous tree in our backyard and re-hung some fencing.
Now I need to buy a chiminea for all the firewood.
I was in Puebla, Mexico last summer and while there I was introduced to sangrita. Sangrita is similar to bloody-mary mix but it’s meant to be sipped, as a chaser, along with a tasty tequila. I found a recipe online and modified it a bit to suit my tastes. Here’s how I make it:
- 32 oz. of Clamato
- 4-5 limes
- 2-3 TBSP of OJ
- 1/2 TBSP horse raddish
- 1/2 TBSP celery salt
- 1 tsp Tabasco
- Pepper to taste
Mix everything together and place in refrigerator for a day or two (or just drink immediately– who has time to plan their drink chasers days in advance, right?). Make sure you buy some decent tequila to accompany the sangrita– I like Patron (green label).
We also had burgers, home-made cole-slaw, and strawberries and cream for dessert. I made the whipped cream myself, and it came out very good. I think making it myself from heavy cream, vanilla extract, and sugar will be the only way to go from now on– no more Reddi-whip for us.
LT and I are both fans of spicy food and hot-sauces. I gave him a bottle of this great sauce that a friend of mine from NY makes. I must take a moment to plug my friend Christopher’s hot-sauce. I know Christopher from when we worked together in Selkirk, NY. He would make this out-of-this-world pepper sauce for all his friends at work to try– y’know, as a hobby. Well, apparently after years of people telling him he should bottle and sell the stuff, he decided to do just that. This hot-sauce is so thick and hearty, you can eat it on a cracker with a slice of cheese and there are few things better. Don’t worry, it’s not one of these how-much-pain-can-you-take macho hot-sauces either– it is really tasty (and it comes in ‘Mild’ for all you capsaicin-phobes). It’s a little tart, a little sweet, a little spicy, and well, delicious. It’s perfect for pizza. Because of the sweetness, I am not crazy about it with Mexican food, but there are those who swear by it. Check out his website and buy a bottle or two ten at www.christophersfoods.com. It’s made in Upstate NY, and a couple of bottles would make a great gift for any spicy food aficionado in your life.
Traffic on the way back to JFK was a complete nightmare– it took about 3 hours to reach JFK– this was on Sunday at 4PM. LT missed his 7PM flight home and had to get a seat on the flight out the next morning at 9AM. So with a night to kill, he took the opportunity to roam around Manhattan (bars) getting in adventures– y’know, like Caine from Kung-Fu. But hey, this blog only covers Cati’s and my adventures… go find his blog for his adventures. ;)
* Ok, back to the Tuvans– the sounds these guys make are downright other-worldly; it blows my mind a little. Check it out:
LT and I, with our confidence bolstered by the tequila, practiced our harmonic overtone singing. We discovered how to quickly annoy everyone around us– even Nacho left the room. I think we’re ready to start touring.
Check out the Tuvan Simon and Garfunkel over here:
