Winter wonderland

On Martin Luther King Day, we were blessed with an incredible snowfall, the second of the season, which is pretty rare for NYC these days. We celebrated, true to our Upstate nature, and thoroughly enjoyed our snow day.We headed straight for Prospect Park. It was very wet snow, and not at all chilly, so it clung to the trees and outlined the various ponds and lakes with delicate precision. My favorite spot in the park is near the Audubon House where swans, ducks, and geese hunker down for the winter.These kids were so excited, but they could barely walk for all their layers. It was adorable watching all the tykes getting hauled around on sleds, their parents doing all the work. We saw one dad pulling a string of kids on a single line uphill. The babies were just lying back and enjoying the scenery. Seems like things have changed from when I used to go sledding...After our romp through the park, we bought some fresh tulips for the table and cozied up at home with some homemade Indian food (courtesy of the Moosewood cookbook) and a snowy salad. More recipes and photos to follow.
(The tulip vase is a vintage milk glass piece I picked up at a thrift store in Philly...trying to build my collection Martha-style. Also, the tablecloth is a vintage, hand-embroidered piece from the 1950s I got at a garage sale some years back. It really charms up our living/dining room).

Snowfall salad
On a bed of arugula or mixed baby greens, place:
1 pink grapefruit, peel removed and segments detached from membranes
1 avocado, cubed
1-2 oz. feta cheese, crumbled (my favorite is the creamy French feta)

Dressing
Whisk together:
2 parts EVOO
1 part fresh lemon or pink grapefruit juice (from the remaining core)
A squirt of Dijon mustard (about 1 tsp for a 2-person salad)
A pinch of dill seed, cumin, or other spices which match your main course
Cracked black pepper and sea salt to taste

This light salad was a delicious accompaniment to the Indian meal (with echoes of mustard, cumin, and citrus in the dressing) and the crumble feta topping matched the snowfall outside. The citrus and avocado are decisively wintry flavors, which really rounded out our snow day.

After dinner, we snuggled under a huge quilt and watched Mongol, a Chinese film about the rise of Genghis Khan, which I highly recommend. The epic storytelling and incredible scenery made it a memorable treat. Yes, it was a pretty awesome snow day in Brooklyn!

At last!

Sooo overdue for a new post...

My apologies! From the feasting and the gifting and the fretting, I have been otherwise overwhelmed and entirely negligent in posting. Here's what I've been up to:

• Eating three Thanksgiving meals (my mom's house, my dad's house, Alex's house), each of which brought incredible creativity and tradition to the table. We won't talk about how my pants didn't fit for weeks after...
• Hosting our housewarming party (where both the PB buckeyes and the Double Chocolate cookies made featured appearances).
• Celebrating several cozy Christmases and Hanukkahs at home in the snow with all my loved ones.
• Toasting the new year with a house full of friends and yummy pizzas (and too many open bottles of champagne to finish after 12:00 had passed).
• And finally, applying to law school.

In the words of Prince Humperdink, "I'm swamped!" But thankfully, aside from the arduous doing of taxes and submitting of financial aid applications, I am mostly done with the hard part of that process. Mostly done, but not all done. (Another PB reference). This means that, once I find my camera, charge it, and locate the connector cable, I will once again resume posting recipes and thoughts on the culinary mishaps in my kitchen. Until then, my apologies for the severe lack of both posts and pictures!

Happy New Year!