A Pizza Snowstorm Miracle

2:30pm, I call Maggie at DiFara pizza to see whether she and her dad plan to close early because of the snow. "We'll be open unless something major changes. 7pm, 8pm, we'll be open," she says.

Game on! The subways are messed up but Matt and I will not be defeated.

The question of the night, how crowded will DiFara be?

7:45pm, the Q train pulls in to Avenue J in Midwood.

As we wait to cross the street, we see no line and few people inside. I can tell that Matt is about to break into a full run to get in there.

We open the door and... VICTORY IS OURS! 2 girls are seated enjoying a pie, a couple has just finished and ONE GUY is waiting for a pie.

Mark the date--On February 25, 2010, we were enjoying the best pizza in the city just 10 minutes after we placed an order!

It was almost like we were at Bizarro DiFara, something felt off without hoards of people. We were probably looking back in time to DiFara 1999, before it registered on the Zagat radar.

So how was the pizza? Marvelous as usual! The perfect balance of cheese, sauce, basil and grana padano. The crust was perhaps a bit thicker than normal, which was enjoyable and the charing was perfect.

Dom even gave me a little laugh and flashed a smile when I told him that I'm going to pray for a snow storm every time I come to visit him.

Remarkable storm, remarkable pie, remarkable night. Oh DiFara, we love u!!

Martha Show

Matt's mom and sister got tickets to attend a taping of the Martha Stewart show today and were nice enough to invite me to come along. As a girl who has been an avid Martha fan since childhood this was a major "good thing."


Craft area. Today Martha was felting soap with Gary Marshall who was on to talk about his latest movie Valentine's Day.


Garden segment-- how to prep your garden for spring and how to construct a hoop house.



Prep kitchen. Martha made an awesome looking chocolate triffle. Unfortunately no samples:-(




Preparing to make breaded pork chops.










The Martha Groupies








This was amazing. 2 minutes before the show went live, a producer comes out and sat in one of the chairs. She seemed like something was off. Before you know it, she's got a measuring tape out checking the table height. It obviously wasn't going to be to Martha's liking so there was a team effort to change the height of the chairs.



Taking a couple questions at the end of the show. I love her!!

Vinegar Hill

During a less snowy time, Matt and I headed northeast from Brooklyn Heights, past the Manhattan Bridge, to visit the little neighborhood of Vinegar Hill. The area gets its name from the 19th Century Irish immigrants who named it after the Battle of Vinegar Hill in Ireland (against those pesky British!)

It sits next to the Brooklyn Navy Yard, so one of the most notable fixtures of the neighborhood is the old commandant's house, which looks like White House North and still has an old 1950s (I'm guessing) car parked in the driveway.

Now it's a "we're cool because we're just slightly off the beaten path" neighborhood that counts a ConEd substation, restaurant of the moment Vinegar Hill House, a Japanese antique importer, a new condo development and a pita bread bakery among its neighbors.

Grab a tea in Dumbo and head for Vinegar Hill some day. Definitely worth the walk!

Snow Day

LOVE IT!

The Men of Brooklyn Heights

Me and My Snow Angel

PA Snow Storm!!

Storm #2 this year. I'm a happy camper!