NYC, Days 2-3

[oyceter]

We had a relatively uneventful Thanksgiving; we made mashed potatoes and green bean casserole and bought rotisserie chicken and pumpkin pie from Whole Foods. The mashed potatoes went fairly uneventfully, until I decided to add some of the half and half we bought for the green bean casserole. I opened the carton, poured some out, and then heard the plopping noise several very solid bits of cream made.

My sister and I looked at each other. "Uh oh. Is half and half supposed to do that?"

We took turns sniffing at the carton and scrutinizing the December expiration date.

Thankfully, we managed to get the bits out of the potatoes and found a grocery store still open on Thanksgiving.

The green bean casserole actually turned out well, despite all mishaps. The flour/bread crumb/onion mixture clumped, so it was less a breaded onion slices mix and more a random raw onions and lumps of flour and bread crumb mix. Sadly, half an hour in 475 degrees didn't make the onions any more breaded, and the top was turning a little black by the time I checked in for the third time. Also, my sister couldn't find her oven mitts, so we ended up using random curtain cloth she had lying around.

It is very difficult getting round, handle-less casserole dishes out of the oven with folded curtain cloth. Come to think of it, I probably should have swathed it around my hands for better grip, but knowing me, I would have ended up tripping on the meters and meters of cloth and dropping the casserole.

See? I find these things out so you don't have to ;).

The water for the green beans also took forever to boil. After it did, I blanched them, then got my sister to help scoop them out. She goggled at the water. "No wonder it took so long to boil, dork! How much water did you put in there?"

"Um. Alton Brown said a gallon! He said they would taste better!"

"That's like two gallons! Uhhh! Stupid!"

We then proceeded to make barely a dent in our four dishes (it was just the two of us) while watching kdramas on the computer. Then we saw Enchanted, which starts as a hilarious take on Disney fairy tales and then ends up being much less hilarious as it gradually falls into genre tropes. Also, they had Idina Menzel in the cast and she doesn't even sing! I was so sad.

Today, I got to see coffeeandink! We had ginormous, apple-loaded pancakes, corn dogs and tater tots at a diner (I forgot the name, but it had cute colored lights and happy flower wallpaper). We both waxed rhapsodic about the delights of deep-fried food, food on a stick, batter-coated meat, and the wonderful combination of all of the above that is the corn dog ("It's a hot dog! In batter! Deep fried! On a stick!" *blissful sigh*).

Despite all of Mely's attempts to segregate the savory from the sweet, I can now tell you from experience that ketchup and applejacks pancakes do not go together.

We then hit the Strand, Forbidden Planet, and another used bookstore around her apartment, where I was extremely restrained and only got $50 worth of books (I thought it was $60, but it was even less than that!). Mely found the new Margaret Mahy, which I wasn't aware existed and now must see if my library has.

I got:

• Raphael Carter's The Fortunate Fall, which is sadly not about angels and demons but was highly recced by Mely


• Elizabeth Scott's Bloom, recced by Mely and gwyneira


• Margo Lanagan, ARC of a short story collection


• Vanyda, The Building Opposite, a past rec by Mely


• Takemiya Keiko, Andromeda Stories, because it's Takemiya Keiko! I have never read her, but I am sure I will like her and want to support her!


• Random volumes of Please Save My Earth. I am hoping these are not the random volumes I have at home. I suppose I will find out when I get there. It will be a surprise! (aka, I need a database of what I own)

We talked a great deal about manga, feminist manga and the tragic lack thereof, almost feminist manga, Yuki Kaori, mongoose/snake romances (ok, just one), and the surefire way to express your affection by offering your beloved your flesh to eat.

Now that I have been watching kdramas, I am also certain that other surefire ways to express your affection are: 1) giving your beloved a piggy-back ride (peeing due to drunkeness optional), 2) pretending to have no emotional IQ whatsoever, making gruff remarks and assuring your beloved that you do not and will never love him/her (please tell me if you find a woman expressing her affection this way, because I want to see it), 3) running away for three years without ever telling your beloved why, 4) whapping your beloved with a handbag, or 5) getting into an entirely too complicated false relationship that you have to maintain no matter what.

Then I went to Alice's Tea Cup with my sister, where we had 3 scones (pumpkin, vanilla berry, chocolate banana), 2 teas (oolong, chocolate mint), 2 sandwiches (chicken, tea egg salad), and 2 desserts (cookies and chocolate mousse). The chocolate banana scone was absolutely divine; crunchy on the outside and soft and fluffy on the inside, and it went perfectly with the chocolate mousse spooned on top instead of preserves.

We then went home and watched about five straight hours of kdramas. I am amazed and now see how my sister managed to finish the entire Nana anime about two days after I sicced it on her, along with Coffee Prince and Ouran (each finished about two days after I sicced them on her). I am now trying to get her to watch Princess Tutu.

Posts to come on the kdramas!

Comments

[rachelmanija.livejournal.com]

...I need to just take a week off and do nothing but watch piled-up TV.

[oyceter]

You do! Though I think you should start with Damo. It has wuxia! And sword-fighting! And two stoic and honorable companions who grew up together (the hero and the heroine)! They fight side by side (ok, and also each other) even though their social status keeps them apart! She solves crime for him! He teaches her swordfighting!

And did I mention the sword-fighting? And the companionship between the hero and the heroine?

[rilina.livejournal.com]

Hee! Yes, you do!