November Round Up

November round up in mid December? Oy it has been a rough and busy month! Between work events, Christmas shopping and decorating and resting from the former, something had to give and that something was keeping up with posts :(

November 2012 brought long hours at work but also amazing experiences:

One of the biggest highlights of the month, was our soccer team Roosevelt Island Tigers crowned Fall League Champions!

Colors of Autumn in Roosevelt Island: 

The Roosevelt Island skyline at dusk:

I also decided to start on an entryway revamp, while not complete, a mirror and an additional coat rack make a big difference. 

Before

After

I had the opportunity this year to invite my mom, Ces and my bestie KP to watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade from the office. With the parade route changing this year to go down 6th Avenue, we could not ask for a better view than my 4th floor office. 

Ces and I also hosted our first Thanksgiving; dinner included mixed greens with apple cider vinaigrette, herbed turkey breast with homemade cranberry sauce,  braised green beans, cheesy mashed potatoes, warm apple pie and lots of wine. 

Cranberry sauce in progress

We ended the night with a heated game of Monopoly.

We took advantage having my mom in town to get my favorite part of the holidays started....picking out the Christmas Tree. We bought our tree waaay to early in the season as Thanksgiving was early this year and by now its actually kind of dead, but since Ces and I are travelling for Christmas its not a huge deal that it won't be perfect by then.

Christmas tree shopping in NY is an experience especially when you have to
take the subway to take it home; however weirder things have happened on a
NYC subway. 

Our bright home

We also brought out our Nativity set gifted by my mom. The set has been in the family for years and was made by artisans in Mexico. 

Of course the front door had to get some holiday cheer as well. 

Hogar: Gallery Wall Done Right

Hello and happy Friday!

Gallery walls have become the hot trend lately, there is no better way to express your individuality and display memories than to designate a wall as your personal gallery. When I went to visit my brother a couple months ago, I was very pleasantly surprised by his cozy apartment and extremely impressed by the gallery wall(s) he had created in his room.

I love the variety in sizes and shapes and also love the mix of street art, posters, postcards, photos and handwritten notes that make up his wall and surely remind him daily of his adventures in Africa, Thailand, New York, Mexico and France just to name a few. 

Unbeknownst to him, I too have been slowly creating a gallery wall for our living room. Currently displayed we have a shot of Ces' mustachio birthday and pictures that remind us of our trip to Turkey taken on a hot air balloon, the Toptaki Palace and in front of the New Mosque. 

That's our gallery wall as it stands today, I am itching to add a fauxidermi deer head above the mirror to complete the look. I've been digging fake animal heads for a while and especially since I saw one gorgeously displayed here I'm currently lobbying the Ces for approval, heck I'll even settle for the rhino head :) 

La Fonda Del Oso: Lemony Chicken Saltimbocca

Pretty much the only thing I like about Mondays is that Yahoo posts its dinner recipes for the week and its guaranteed that I will want to try and make at least one. Last week I tried their Lemon Chicken Saltimbocca recipe and truth be told it really does take only 20 minutes!

Ingredients I used: 
7 chicken tenders
14 fresh sage leaves
7 slices prosciutto
4 teaspoons olive oil
1/3 cup chicken broth
Juice from 2 lemons
1/2 teaspoon cornstarch
1 cup basmati rice

While the rice is cooking place one sage leave on the chicken tender and wrap prosciutto around it to secure.

Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium heat and cook chicken for 3 minutes each side or until done. Remove from skillet.

Stir lemon juice, chicken broth and cornstarch in a small bowl, add to skillet with 1 teaspoon olive oil and boil for 1 minute or until sauce slightly thickens. Serve chicken over rice and spoon lemon sauce on top. 

A couple observations I made with this recipe, salt is not necessary (as required in the Yahoo version) because the prosciutto is salty as it is. I also found that 2 sage leaves was too strong for our taste buds  so when I make this again I will definitely stick to 1 sage leave per chicken tender.

Enjoy! 

Weekly Chicome {11/5-11/11}

This was an exceptionally fun week!

{1.} The highlight of the week by far was Ces' anniversary surprise, he took me to see the renowned Mexican circus Circo Hermanos Vazquez. I had not been to the circus in at least 20 years, it was fun to be a kid again and by the end of the night my cheeks were hurting from smiling so much :)

{2.} Also on Sunday, we checked out Mano a Mano's Day of the Dead Event. Dia de los Muertos or Day of the Dead was actually celebrated last weekend, but because of the power outages surrounding Hurricane Sandy, the event was postponed to this weekend. This year's theme was honoring women; the altar and performances all incorporated the theme. We had a great time listening to Mariachi Flor de Toloache, eating quesadillas de bisteq, tacos al pastor and elotes asados. 

{3.} Another highlight of the week was winning the semi-final game in the RI Youth Soccer League, we are getting pumped and ready for this weekend's final match. 

Players giving their best warrior face before the semi

{4.} Tuesday was election day - I am so thankful to have a voice in this country. No matter who your candidate was or the outcome, being able to chose freely and peacefully is something we should all cherish. 

Election day @ PS 217

{5.} The first snow storm of the season, totally getting me in the holiday spirit! 

{6.} Treated Ces to Skyfall on opening day. Though I'm more of a rom-com fan, Bond delivered an adrenaline packed blockbuster. 

{7}. Last but not least, Happy Veteran's Day to past, present and future heroes!

Foodie: Bordelais Style

I enjoyed my trip to Bordeaux a few weeks back so much that I still have a couple more Bordeaux posts left in me. This time, I want to share with you my brother's culinary skills, streets snacks encountered along the way and the great meals we had in his town.

Fed spent two week's worth of  his grocery budget on
cheese, olives and spreads

He made these white wine mussels with pomme frites
for our first dinner 

Midday snack: prosciutto wrapped melon

Traditional Bordeaux dessert, a sort of mini bundt cake 

Razor clams @ Le Petit Commerce

The first time either of us had tried them, loved!

Tuna steak

Don't remember what Fed ordered 

A not so healthy breakfast  

Olive tasting! 

Weekly Chicome {10/22 - 11/4}

Because Sandy cut off power and my willingness to write, here is a 2 week roundup: 

{1.} On Thursday 10/25 Ces and I celebrated our two year anniversary :) Our tradition is to get each other a gift, tickets to see something or go somewhere and dinner. This year I decided to make dinner, on the menu: Autumn Chiller, spinach salad with apple cider vinaigrette, balsamic glazed pearl onions, veal meatballs in red wine sauce and for dessert, hot baked nutella and cream cheese sandwiches. I only remembered to take pictures during dessert.

{2.} Pretty roses from Ces 

 

{3.} Roosevelt Island Halloween Festival & Parade: We got to see some of the kids from our soccer team all dressed up, enjoyed a drum line performance and partook in some fun Halloween activities.

 

{4.} First ever Roosevelt Island Pet Fair where miss Chloe took some professional pet photos for free!

{5.} Finally beating our toughest rival on the Roosevelt Island Soccer League, we tied the first match, lost the second match and won our third match of the regular season. Something tells me we will face off again for the final!

{6.} Pre-Sandy brunching, we checked out a new place on the lower east side called Rayuela, Ces and I both ordered the lamb burger with a poached egg on top which was delicious! 

{7.} Finally I cannot be thankful enough because during and after Sandy we were safe, dry and warm.