family recipe

 
this is my dad's recipe from actor tony danza from 1996 or so. i remember him making it for us when out at the house when the girls were little: angel hair pasta with clams, tomatoes and arugula. you sauté garlic in olive oil, add the tomatoes (it calls for plum tomatoes, but i used very flavorful and large cherry tomatoes from canada that were available at trader joe's), a little clam juice, the clams and then the arugula. you can cook the pasta while these items steam. i used thin spaghetti from raffetto's as i always overcook the angel hair pasta so that it falls apart. it was my first time using the thin spaghetti and we really liked it (of course it was homemade pasta from raffetto's which made it extra good).

(cricket had to be put away before i opened the jars of clams - he is ridiculously incapable of keeping his nose out of fish or meat).

chanda and greg were very hungry and couldn't wait to dig in.

missing my dad and mom just suddenly comes over me unexpectedly. i was watching abbot elementary a few weeks ago and two of the characters were discussing their grief over missing their mothers, "it's just the unexpected random moments . . "

walking milly

it was very warm walking around today . . milly was really panting and i was sorry i forgot to bring the bowl i carry around to fill with water on hot days . . also, i was very excited to hear a baltimore oriole today! i identified it on my merlin app. it was the first time i ever heard one.

finally relaxing in the shade . . 

(the cherry trees are so beautiful)

treat time . . 

tuesday morning

 
this was a delicious loaf of bread i bought from the whitney museum's cafe. it was especially good with the muenster cheese and (lots of) butter. this is actually a photo from march.

lately i've been feeling so tired in the mornings . . i get out of bed and feel exhausted. there's just so much going on, and if we're not in the midst of the horror, then we're exhausted from trying to stop it in our small and large ways.

more spring blooms and aunt cindy in london

the dogwood trees are in bloom. they're so beautiful. it's been cool in the morning, but warms up to 75 by afternoon, especially with the sunshine.

my cousin has been in london for easter holiday. morgan sent a photo today. cindy will be heading home tomorrow, but "was happy to see the kids!" it looks like they had another lovely day for getting together before she heads back.

sunday - poem, brunch, dinner

our neighborhood pansies trembling in a march wind . . 

----

brunch at hungry llama cafe this morning . . . we arrived right before the crowd and were able to grab a table.

is greg looking sad because he is having just a muffin?

it was such a beautiful morning and all the cherry trees have been in bloom.

----

dinner this evening - i made butternut squash/carrot soup which i haven't made in ages!

an afternoon in queens

 
greg and i drove to queens today to have lunch with korrina.

i'm still in the amazement stage that spring is here . . 

the queens' trees are all turning green . . 

and queens' flowers have been planted in all the sidewalk gardens . . 

one of our favorite places . . 

jasmine green tea and coffee . . 

korrina is teaching herself to crochet lace which is not easy as she's left handed and there aren't many left handed crochet tutorials. i remember trying to teach her to knit when she was a child . . she managed to take my instructions and invert them for herself, but i think that was easier with knitting as you're using both hands. 

we began with the citrus salad . . 

my chana gwaramari - spiced black chickpeas, sunnyside up eggs, tomato achar, chili oil.

greg had chicken sekuwa - nepalese style chicken bbq served with bara, pickled radish and tomatillo sauce.

korrina had a whole baked eggplant which i cannot find on the online menu and so cannot supply more detail. it looks like it has a yogurt sauce. it was very good and she had it with a slice of their homemade sour dough toast. they sell loaves of their bread and we bought one and sliced it in half back at her apartment. 

going for a walk around the neighborhood after lunch . . 

oh . . the lilacs!

a photo korrina took during the week of patience and fortitude, nypl's lions, amidst the pale green leaves at the schwarzman research library.

heading home on the bqe . . 

reading house of the seven gables . . 

working on a baby blanket for milly's owner (she's due in may).

zuzu on her special perch . . 

and wash on his.

cats and a knitted crown or cowl

i sent this photo to chanda. she's been cat sitting for a friend (at the friend's apartment) with an elderly cat and has been missing pluto.

here he is with crazy pal cricket. if you ask me, they look like they're up to no good.

here are some photos of the test knit i did:

the yarn is by the wandering flock in the color way holograph dreams. the designer is denise bayron of bayron handmade. i tried to take particularly nice photos of chanda wearing the cowl as denise is using the testers' photos of their finished objects in her digital pattern pamphlet.

the sweater chanda is wearing is by the same designer (she knitted this several years ago in quince and co's osprey yarn).

the cowl also makes a very nice headband. denise is calling the pattern cashmere crown and it's a beautiful and fun knit. you can find it here on ravelry. i highly recommend it and you can support an independent knitwear designer!