Monday, December 28, 2009

The List

As we approach 2010, some people will make lists of accomplishments. Others will make lists of places they plan to travel or of things they want to be different in the new year. I might make those lists too, but I thought it was also important to make a New York pizza list-- my favorites and my plan of attack for the second decade of the new millennium.

Erin's Top 10 Pizza List

1. DiFara-- for Dominic DiMarco, his buffalo moz, snipped basil, full bodied sauce and grana padano

2. Anselmos-- for a flavor similar to DiFara, plus salad on the menu and plenty of seating

3. Artichoke-- good slices from their square and round pies, bold flavor and a mean artichoke slice!

4. Johns- for complex, sweet-ish sauce and a great atmosphere

5. Lombardis- for serving free raw garlic with their pies (and for not allowing the guido behind me in line to bribe his way to the front)

6. Grimaldis- good dough; some consistency problems but who can beat the coal fired oven and atmosphere that reminds you of an Italian pizzeria from the movies

7. Arturos- solid pies with a good selection of toppings and fairly easy to get into with a group

8. Bens- for the tomato slice

9. Lucalis- great space and good technique; needs some spunkier spices in the sauce (or salt in the cheese) to stand up to the charred crust

10. Fascati and Joes (tie)-- great slice places, not fancy but solid and consistent. So glad that Fascati is in my neighborhood and Joes has a top West Village location.

In the coming year, I will visit:
1. Totonnos in Coney Island...as soon as it reopens
2. Lucalis and L&B Spumoni Gardens again-- Matt says Lucali should be higher on my list; We both think we need to give L&B another try when we can order a slice and eat outside.
3. Motorino-- We hear good things
4. Co-- Expensive, are pizzas for one or two people? But some of the reviews make it seem like it's a top choice

Sunday, December 27, 2009

Merry Christmas

We had a wonderfully relaxing Christmas.

Dinner was lovely as always


With gingerbread votives on the table


After dinner, we went for a walk in Newtown. Sorry Katie, the Gap isn't open today

Merry Christmas from my family to yours

Saturday, December 26, 2009

Final Snow Storm Photos

Snow tube from DC works just as well in NYC!

Prospect Park was packed with snow revelers

Demonstrating how to make Italian rice balls...

...or getting ready to hit me with a snow ball? Both actually:-)

big smiles for the snowy day!

Sunday, December 20, 2009

Pre Christmas Snow Storm '09

Mother Nature and Santa teamed up in a fine way last night. 10-12 inches of snow were waiting for me when I woke up.

From XC skiing to an urban snow angel, I was having lots of fun by 7:30am this morning. As I laid in the snow at the end of the Promenade, enjoying that I had just made a snow angel, I noticed that a woman and her cocker spaniel were looking at me. When I sat up the dog ran over and sat on my lap. The woman expressed relief that I wasn't dead. (Guess that's the risk of an urban snow angel;-))

Off to Prospect Park for more skiing this afternoon.

I'm trying a photo slide show through Picasa for the first time. Let me know what you think. You can pause the slide show or click on any of the pictures to see them enlarged.


Saturday, December 19, 2009

WAHOO

Santa brought me my early Christmas present, SNOW!!!

Things were a bit dicey earlier tonight as Matt and I drove home from visiting his parents. North of the city, the snow didn't start until about 7pm so I was getting nervous. Was the storm a bust? But by the time we headed south after dinner, the snow had begun in earnest. We didn't see a plow for 25 miles, saw 3 spin outs, 1 accident and we might have done a bit of fish tailing ourselves. But Matt did a great job and I am back home getting my XC skis ready for tomorrow morning. Oh yeah!!!

Friday, December 18, 2009

Snow Baby Snow

The weatherman is predicting 6-10 inches of snow for NYC Saturday into Sunday. Snow baby snow! I've been a good girl this year so I really feel that Santa should help bring me an early Christmas gift;-)

I am jealous of Katie who will get 1-2 feet in DC, but I'll take my 6 inches. Definitely enough for some XC skiing on the Promenade or Prospect Park!!

Stay tuned...

Wednesday, December 16, 2009

DEE-TROIT

I had a marvelous visit to Michigan last week to see Granny and Grandpa and meet my new cousin Katherine Grace. Family, snow and wonderful food, what more could a girl want:-)

OPA!! We went straight from the airport to Greektown for some awesome Greek food. Why Greek food in NYC is so different than Detroit, I have no idea!














Santa was selling pointsettias at Eastern Market!



Katherine Grace, 3 months (with red hair that would make Grandma Trisha proud)















Katherine Grace












The cousins
















Granny and I made gingerbread votives (complete with stained glass windows made from melting Brachs' butterscotch candies.) They smell great and look lovely with glowing candles in them.

Sunday, December 13, 2009

Santa Con

Matt and I headed out yesterday afternoon for a bit of pre-holiday fun. We felt very hip checking out a gallery in Chelsea. German artist Christopher Thomas had his black and white New York photos on display. We were very impressed! (Unfortunately the works of art were just a few thousands of dollars above our gift limit for each other for Christmas;-))

Next we were off to the Union Square Christmas market. This is always a holiday favorite of mine and the market was packed! I'll be back some day after work for a mug of gluwein (albeit nonalcoholic).

The day was to conclude with a chai from the MUD Truck. But Matt convinced me to walk through Washington Square Park on the way to the subway. Good decision...

Throughout the day I/we had been seeing Santas-- a dozen in the subway (where I really thought they were sharing a 2 liter bottle of cranberry ginger ale just because the find it tasty like me...until I thought about it).

And here...




And here...




And here...



On the subway, I had asked Santa where he and his other Santas were going. He said Saturday was Santa Con(vention), a charity pub crawl that has taken place for a number of years. Early on, people would gather on the steps of the main post office. But as it has grown and grown, people start from all of the boroughs and work their way into the city.



No sooner was I commenting that we had seen at least 75 Santas, then we came to the park that was filled with HUNDREDS of Santas! Yes, alcohol was definitely involved and the police were starting to arrive. But it was awesome nonetheless. Only in New York!

Saturday, December 12, 2009

Happy Birthday

It only seems right that my first post in a long time should be to celebrate a new little life.

Welcome to the Taylor Family Peter James, born December 12, 2009. What a blessing! Congrats Niki, Corey and Charlotte!!