Winnie's Day

Today is Winnie's birthday.  We have been celebrating together for so many years...too many to count!  Even when our lives became busy and we could only touch base once or twice a year, we always did birthdays!

For my birthday in March, we attended the Wendy Williams Show and then had lunch at Ruby Tuesday for my freebie birthday burger.  As luck would have it, today we went to Wendy Williams.  It was a great show...a surprise visit from Chaka Khan who gave away a scented candle from her new line of products and Charlie Sheen who promoted his new show "Anger Management" along with two of his co-stars, Brett Butler and Shawnee Smith.  There was also a post tape with Romeo Miller.  And because we did Ruby Tuesday on Sunday - we had lunch at Georgio's up the block from the show.  Later we met up again to catch a sneak screening of "Ted"...adorable bear but not for kids...there's....teddy bear...sex!  LOL  But surprisingly - especially to me...I enjoyed the movie A Lot!!  So irreverent but hilarious!

Today in Wendy's audience

A note of interest:  Winnie has been to Wendy's so many times, the whole staff knows her, including Wendy herself!  In turn, they know me too.  While waiting in line, we met another regular...a lovely, funny young lady from Jamaica named Lenesia.  We've since attended the same tapings a few times and have become friends. She was there today too. She likes to have pictures taken and she recently emailed this to Winnie.  You just never know who or where you might connect with someone.  Kind of nice.

I Am A Tree

Winnie enters a lot of contests and wins quite a bit.  Two weeks ago, she won tickets to 2 off-Broadway shows and invited me as her guest.  Lucky me!!

Last Sunday we saw "Revisiting Wildfire" on the UWS and then afterwards walked down the block to Big Nick's and had eggplant parm heroes.  Delightful!

Today, we attended a one-woman show called "I Am A Tree" - production was held on 46th Street between 9th & 10th Ave in a church.  Last week's show also used a church's theater space.  I was impressed with the actress' talent...she did the whole show alone with no intermission nor loss of voice!

Winnie's birthday is on Tuesday and she received her free birthday burger certificate from Ruby Tuesday's.  Since we were in the neighborhood, it was the perfect opportunity to take advantage of the offer.

Winnie's Triple Prime Bacon Cheddar Cheeseburger
French Fries and Grilled Zucchini

My Boston Blue Triple Prime Burger
Grilled Zucchini & Sweet Potato Fries

Complimentary Red Velvet Birthday Cupcake

A Calzone Memory

When I was working at the World Trade Center - a place I called home for 10 years, I frequented many restaurants, cafes and eateries.  There was a sushi place on John Street that Ronna and I would lunched at every paycheck week.  Kathy & I met at Burger King on Liberty once a  week when she was also employed at the WTC.  Winnie & I would dine at Wolf Delicatessen.  I would meet friends at "The Corner" inside 5 WTC.  Or The Greenhouse located in the Marriott.  There were Chinese fast-food, salad bars and burger joints.  Even a regular hot dog stand that I knew so well, he would give me two hot dogs in one bun. It was literally a smorgasbord.

One place that remain in my memory is Majestic Pizza on Cortlandt St. - right next door to Century 21.  It is basically a hole in the wall.  No tables and chairs - just some counter space.  On a nice day, people would just take out and sit in Liberty Plaza Park or what is now known as Zuccotti Park.  My co-workers at Home Lines would buy the delectable spinach sausage calzone or slices of cheese pizza and bring it back to the office. The spinach calzone was a huge hit.  The filling was a stuffing of creamy spinach and melted cheese and bits of Italian sausage.  It was also not always available.  If you arrived too late, it would be sold out.  And with a set lunch hour, there wasn't always time to wait for the new batch.  That would be disappointing especially if you had your heart set on it.

Yesterday, when I needed to deliver something to Nikki who is now working in the Wall Street area,  I took the opportunity to stop at the pizzeria and after 25 years, to have that calzone!  It was early...11am and so I took it unheated and to go.  I could smell the pizza dough wafting from my tote and hoped that it would be as I remembered.

The place looked exactly the same.  Exactly.  Amazing.  Since everything around it is different.

When I got home, I cut the calzone in half and heated it up in a toaster oven.  I know...not the same as a pizza oven.  As I looked at the filling, it didn't quite look the same.  And in all honesty, it isn't.  But my memory could also be fuzzy.  It is 25 years ago, after all.  But my my, it was still pretty tasty and satisfying and although the price doubled from the last time I ordered it, it was nice to know, some things change but can still taste the same.

Janice

Today I received some very sad news.  My Aunt Janice has passed away.  She was not really my aunt.  In fact I don't have any aunts or uncles since both my parents were only children.  But I always considered her a member of my family.

Back in the mid 50's, when my mother reunited with her father in Montreal, my grandfather made arrangements for her to share a room with another young lady.  My mom was probably 21 or so.  My mom's new roommate would turn out to be Aunt Janice.

The story:  My mother was picked up at the airport by her father.  They went back to his place where he cooked for her.  She assumed she would be staying with him but he said no, he found her a place to live with a young lady similar in age but in the meantime since everything was so new - he reserved a hotel room for her to stay a week while she got acclimated.  On her second night in the hotel, there was a knock on the door.  She couldn't imagine who it could be considering she didn't know anyone there and when she opened the door, it was Aunt Janice with my ex-mother-in law, Barbara.  My mom and Barbara knew each other when they were 15 and attended school together in China.  When they finished school, they parted ways and lost touch.  As it were, Barbara relocated to Montreal with her father.  At the time - the Chinese community was small and everyone knew everyone else.  Barbara knew Janice and when Janice told her that she was getting a new room mate and said my mother's name, Barbara exclaimed "I know her!"  Aunt Janice upon meeting my mother at the hotel, told her to pack up and to start staying with her that night.  And thus a life-long friendship began.

The "girls" spent a lot of time together the following months but things started to change soon after.  Aunt Janice moved to NYC.  My mother moved to Toronto and Barbara was engaged and would eventually settled in NYC also.  Aunt Janice met someone in NY and became engaged and a big wedding was set.  My mother was to be a bridesmaid.  When she arrived in NY to attend the festivities, Aunt Janice's fiance had a friend pick her up at the airport.  That friend was my father.  He was instantly smitten.  The rest is, as they say, history.

I have lots of "aunts" or "aunties" but Aunt Janice was pretty special in my eyes.  She was younger than the other ladies and she was also very trendy and stylish.  She spoke English.  She was fashionable and beautiful.  I will always remember seeing her one night when she came to NY for a visit.  She must have been in her late 40's at the time.  She wore leather pants!  A friend of my mother's wore leather pants!  And she looked fabulous!  Need I say more?

She didn't visit NY much.  She divided her time between Florida and Montreal where her mother still lives (she turned 100 this year).  And my mother didn't have regular communication with her.  Maybe once or twice a year and it would be decades between visits.

So it was with wide-eyed disbelief and wonder when the weekend after my father passed away and we were all numbed with grief, that the very first person to call the house was....Aunt Janice.  No one knew of my father's passing.  It had only been about a day or so.  My mother hadn't wanted to make any calls or announcements.  It was merely by chance that Aunt Janice called to say she was in town.  Just down the street.  It had been years and years since they had seen each other.  When I picked up the phone and asked who was calling and she answered "Janice" - I felt as if I had been given a gift.  I didn't know how to comfort my mom and felt she needed to speak to a contemporary.  My mother gave her the news and Aunt Janice immediately came to the house.  It seemed apropos. It started and ended with Aunt Janice. I am so sure my dad somehow had a hand in this!

I will miss you.  Rest in peace, Aunt Janice.  (Jan. 1939- Feb. 2012)

Aunt Janice's wedding day to Diamond Lee

4 Generations
Daughter, Jannie - Granddaughter, Jeanette, Mother & Janice

Dinner with the Woo's

Today is Stan's birthday.  Happy Birthday, Stan!  And Sunday is Father's Day.  The Woo's decided to combine the 2 occasions and have a family dinner.  And because Stan's mother is superstitious and doesn't believe in celebrating anything after the fact,  the dinner was scheduled for Wednesday - last night.

Nikki had mentioned this dinner to me on Sunday when I saw her.  I was happy to hear that she was planning on attending.  I got a call from Julia on Monday with an invite.  So yes, I still get an invite despite the fact that Stan & I are no longer married and he's married to someone else who is also at these dinners.

It is an extremely strange situation.  And then not so strange.  After all, I have known the family all my life.  It was even mentioned in passing last night when Stan's mom reminisced about the first time my mother brought Baby Me for a visit.  As soon as we stood on the threshold of their Brooklyn apartment, I went into hysterics.  So much so, my mom had to leave so there wasn't a visit at all.  Hmmm....was that a sign of things to come?  LOL  And then she talked about the 10 years we all lived in the same building in Chinatown. Quite a history.

We had dinner at Mr. Tong's which happens to be in walking distance to me located on Queens Blvd.  The site has changed hands many times and when Stan & I were still married, we used to frequent the place a lot although it was "Queens Dumpling House" at the time.  I didn't realized it but it is now Mandarin cuisine.  Which means "spicy" and spicy it was.  But tasty and thankfully, not all the dishes.

We started off with a cold jellyfish appetizer since Nikki said she had a craving for it.  And a cold smoked fish appetizer.  And as with most appetizers, they get eaten up as soon as it's served because everyone is usually so hungry.  This was no exception so I didn't get a chance for a photo.

Clams in Black Bean Sauce

Hot Spicy Shredded Beef
(Spicy enough that I couldn't eat it)

Chicken and Mushrooms

Peking Pork Chops

Fried Salt & Pepper Whole Shrimp

Sea Cucumber with Bamboo Shoots and Mushrooms

Fish Head Soup with Jelly Noodle Casserole

This last dish...the Fish Head Soup is what made me realized we were in a Shanghai restaurant.  It brought a flood of memories since my dad LOVED this soup.  When my sisters and I were young, my parents would have dinner out once a week.  Sometimes it would be at Shanghai Village which was located above our store.  My dad always ordered the Fish Head soup which is spicy so we never ate it.  For us, he would get  the "Sizzling Rice Soup" which I loved.  The Fish Head soup was always made & presented  in an earthenware pot as it was last night.  It was a huge "blast from the past" for me.

Happy Father's Day to my Daddy...xoxo

So Nice, So Nice...Had to say it Twice!

Brunch with Nikki & Tom today. This was a Mother's Day treat for me! Again...it's never too late!

I love where they live in Brooklyn...the area is peppered with small delightful bistros, cafes and eateries. Today we were patrons of "James"...located in Prospect Heights - tucked amidst brownstones and apartment buildings. It's small...cozy...seats around 35-40 people if that many.

Stock photo

  

I parked across the street even though typically it's difficult to find parking.  Nikki & Tom walked from their place and met me there.  

I had already looked at the brunch menu and knew I wanted the "Crepes Parmacotto, Manchego, Marjoram" - translation:  ham & cheese savory crepe.  I have been having a real urge for crepes and don't really see crepes on menus unless it's a crepe specialty place.  I even  thought about making my own!  So this fit the bill.  Nikki & I shared a platter of "Herb Fries" and we both ordered ice coffee.  Everything hit the proverbial spot.  So good!

Nikki had : Blackberry Stuffed Brioche French Toast.  Very pretty, right?  Unfortunately Nikki was disappointed because she was expecting full blackberries to be between the french toast and not the "jam-like" spread.  I tasted it and thought it was pretty good.  

Tom was very hungry and debated between "Lemon Ricotta Pancakes, Blueberries, Mint" or "Beef Burger, Vermont Cheese, Brioche, Fries"...in the end, the burger won out and I personally thought it was the right choice! Yum!! (Those are our fries in the lower left hand corner - really good!!)

There's nothing like being a mom but it really is so easy being a mom to Nikki.  Thanks, Sweetie....xoxo

Arigatou Gozaimasu!

The title means: Thank You Very Much in Japanese.  Because I had a Birthday lunch today.  Yes, you read that right.  And yes, it's June 5th.  About two and a half months after my birthday but if someone wants to celebrate...who am I to say "no"!  LOL

Winnie had wanted to treat me to a special sushi birthday but due to scheduling and then not feeling well...etc...it didn't happen until today but it was so worth the wait!

We went to Ichi Umi - a beautiful "all you can eat" Japanese / sushi buffet located by Herald Square.  I have heard of this place which is a block long - entrance/exit goes through 32nd to 31st St.  And I was pleasantly surprised by how beautifully appointed it was. Dark wood, with the traditional pristine, minimalist Japanese lines of design.

At the entrance

We arrived around 12:30 and  at this point, it wasn't crowded.  But it became busy as time passed.  We asked for ice water and green tea which was served immediately and constantly refilled . I started with sushi.
  

Buffet Set Up

Assorted Sushi - chefs try to keep up with the demand

My First Plate: assorted caviar / various sushi & rolls

For my second plate, I went with the "hot or cooked" food.  For the first time, I tried "Chicken Katsu" which I have seen on the menus many times, always wanted to sample but sushi always won out.  It is crispy fried tender boneless chicken with a delectable lightly garlicky seasoning.  I will be adding this to my repertoire. I also tasted their yakisoba, crab cake, sweet potato tempura, portabello mushroom over steamed fish filet and a clam concoction.  All gobbled up happily.

A server came by with a cart filled with fixings for the above.  First, a spinach & corn puree soup.  Then a cold soba noodle in a light dashi broth.  Both were refreshingly delightful.

I went back to my love of sushi for the 3rd plate.  But included edamame and the classic sesame seaweed salad.  The tuna and salmon sushi pieces melted in my mouth like butter.  There was also tile, tilapia, unagi and roe...the list goes on.

More of the Chicken Katsu but now over a small amount of white rice and I had to try the beef teriyaki freshly put out and cooked to my liking. 

Desserts were an array of fruit...watermelon, strawberries, apple, blueberries, etc and tiny cubes of assorted cakes, slivers of apple pie and puff pastries and cookies - "amuse-bouche" sweets, if you will. But I barely had any more room!

Dessert Buffet

Thank you to my BFF....for a most enjoyable and decadent treat !!

(Now it's your turn this month! :-) )