Old School Technique

Further Evidence for Genique....

Truth is, I simply wanted to play with video and see how it works.

The Doubters

Pies for Gavin's Momma
Ping-Ping and I visited my friend Genique last night. The conversation bounced around from one subject to another until it landed on the subject of my cooking. Genique just laughed "Him? Cook? Wahahahahahaha..." She simply refused to believe that I could make anything. "I just cannot see it" she bellowed. Today, I decided to kill two birds with one stone - making some berry pies and giving her some blog proof. We got the blueberries and raspberries from Trader Joes, against my better judgment.


I got some mini pie-pans from a store on Atlantic Ave - didn't feel like making a giant pie.

The berries juiced up nicely after a bit of flour and sugar.

Yep, real butter in the crust - shortening is for suckers.

Handled as little as possible to keep it flakey.

I have stubby little fingers, so funny to see on film.

The three pies waiting for their lids.

Cutting off the excess with an oversized knife.

Just before the oven.... These slits proved to be less than good...

Fresh outta the oven. So juicy, spilled over a bit. We ate ours with ice cream - oh yeah. Hey Genique, your mini pie is here if you want it. I'll give you a few days to come get it - otherwise "GET IN MY BELLY!!"

Update: the last pie was consumed!!! Sorry Genique - too slow to respond, wahahahahhaa

The Pathway

To Her Heart
It ain't money or being funny, it's pancakes from scratch with blueberries. Right Ping-Ping?

Spring has Sprung

Brooklyn Botanical Garden
What better way to skip work than a visit to the BBG? It was a splendid day in the BK.

Everything was bursting forth.

Dear allergies, say hello to a field full of flowers....

Magnolia trees are amongst my favorites.

The resident artist was prowling around a fresh canvas, taking it in from an assortment of angles.

The humans weren't the only ones taking in the rays.

P.S. - Allergies, deal with this....

The cherry blossoms weren't at full peak but a few were kicking off.

A peek into the Japanese garden.

Inside the Japanese garden, looking across the pond.

Easter for the Untalented

I Am Speaking of Myself, Of Course
We gathered around the old kitchen table, with our fancy new egg painting kit and did our best. I created a Mr. Grumpy Businessman, with tie and everything. Sal created the nice blue egg with the curvy lines over Mr. Grumpy's shoulder.

Puffin got pretty creative - she did a wonderfully colorful Puff egg.

She also made a flower egg, but my camerawork left her high and dry - this one is a bit out of focus.

Cat-Side Visit

They Own the Place, Really
I am spending the weekend at my cat's house. Yep, you read that right. A nice place, lots of comfortable furniture and a friendly maid, also known as my mom. They treat her ok - all she has to do is pay the bills, feed them whenever they meow and let them sit on her lap. The co-owners, Shakespeare and the Inkster share the territory and the maid equally. Shakey likes to sit in the windows from the second floor and survey the kingdom.

The Inkster tends to be a little more laid back. Naps are his forte. Here he is on the maid's bed, doing one of his cutesie moves.

A Picture's Worth 2,000 BlogWords

Drawn to the Strange Recipes
Found a recipe for chocolate chip cookies that includes mesquite flour here. First, we had to locate some mesquite flour, which ain't too easy. We found some in a vitamin store on the North Side that looks like it used to be an auto parts store. Next, off to Wegman's to get some chocolate bars. I prefer to cleaver my own choco chunks over buying bland chocolate chips. They looked great coming out of the oven. Day one they tasted way too "mesquitey", after a day they started to taste better....

How Do You Know You're Back in NYC?

It's Simple, Really
Just take note of the ponytailed guy, sashaying by with a hand truck in his polka-dot tights, multi-colored mushroom jacket and powder-blue Chuck Taylors...

Gotta love the Apple....

Myakka State Park

Looking for Gators and Other Things
We took a hike in Myakka State Park so PingPing could see some gators. We weren't disappointed in the least. There were quite a few swimming about in the river and we got a few shots. They looked totally disinterested in the goings on about them.

After our gator shopping we took a hike on the nature trail which weaves through the forest. As you can see, the palms are abundant.

One of the interesting things to do during the hike is climb a wooden tower that was erected to allow for the study of the tree canopy. The tower rises 75 feet, punching through the top of the forest. It was a bit nerve-wracking up there - you can feel the tower sway and move as others make their way up the stairs towards the top.

I was fascinated by the stuff that grows from the tree limbs (I forget the name of it - perhaps my Dad will add that in the comments section.) It hangs softly like fuzz and sways in the breeze.

Further along our walk we caught site of a hawk sitting on a low branch. I took a shot from afar that came out a tad fuzzy. I tried to get closer but he hustled away before I could get a clearer shot.

I took this close-up of some tree bark because I thought it would make a nice desktop picture for my laptop.

Near the end of the hike, PingPing got excited and motioned for me to come quickly. She noticed a strange looking animal foraging - she'd never seen an armadillo before. She waded in to get a close shot.

Backyard Hustle

Oasis in More Than One Way
My dad's backyard is somewhat unorthodox. First of all, there is no grass - none. Matter of fact, he is anti-grass and anti-lawn. It's a long story but the gist of it is - grass is a pain in the ass and sucks up a lot of water and a lot of your time, so screw it. Seemed wierd to me at first, but I have to admit - it has sunk into me and I think it makes sense. If I ever have a lawn, I am going to plant invasive bamboo and let it take over. My dad sticks to plants native to Florida.

Speaking of invasive, he planted some kind of pond-loving plant in his pond and it took over. He is slowly hacking it out and spreading the remains on his garden.

He has some good stuff growing in the garden. Peas, tomatoes, cabbage, etc. This cabbage shot is actually from the front yard - he grew it inside a pot.

Ditto for the broccolli. Unfortunately, we just missed the peak of the orange tree production. He has an orange tree that gave off hundreds of oranges. He told me he had fresh-squeezed for weeks.

The West Coast Got Keys Too...

Lido Key
We took a ride over to Lido Key to take a walk on the beach. The sun was amazingly strong for early spring. Puffin and I took our trademarked shadow photo - this time against crushed seashells.

The three of us walked along the beach, looking for sand dollars and shells. The surf was abnormally active - my dad says that it normally looks like a lake. I managed to catch a shot of him as he cruised ahead of us.

This beach is not normally known for having a lot of seashells or other detritus, but apparently the currents changed recently. Not only were there tons of shells, but also many small sea urchins.

As a result, lots of these guys were hanging around. This group was taking a break. Many others were trolling the surf, pecking at the frothy remains of spent waves.

Leggo of My Gekko

They're Taking Over...
According to my Dad, Gekkos were first brought into Florida by Cubans and sold in drugstores as pets. You can guess the rest.... A couple of them got loose, met up in an alley and created a few thousand Gekko babies and on and on and on. This part of Florida is covered in them. They're tiny, cute and harmless. They scurry around leaving a swirling wake of rustled leaves and climb trees to sun themselves.

Apparently, they are very territorial. Each Gekko owns a small patch of my Dad's backyard and stands vigil to chase off potential interlopers. Each morning as I sat out on the deck, sipping my coffee, I enjoyed watching them dart around.

Pop Art

I Mean That Quite Literally
My pops, a life long scientist, has turned to his artistic side. As soon as we drove into the driveway, Puffin and I noticed that the garage doors had a number of colorful drawings on them.

Turns out, while nursing a bad back, Pops took out some colored pencils and released the creative hounds. Pretty cool.