Thin, Crispy, Chewy, Chocolate Chip Cookies

This batch is from a recipe that I found from Sunset Magazine. My verdict? Hmmm a bit too thin and sweet for me. This was the first time I used all the sugar the recipe called for and it spread out super thin and was definitely crispy, but not chewy at all. Do you have any favorite chocolate chip recipes to share? I'd like more chewy but not cakey. (I've tried the Martha Stewart version already.)

Old Friends

Maggie is in town so she invited all the girls for a mini reunion. We had brunch at Orange Cafe, on the LES. I ordered this amazingly tasty tuna on ciabatta sandwich and we all shared some dessert.

Home-made Tomato Sauce

Geoff gave me a jar of home-made tomato sauce last week and I immediately used it in a pasta. Flax penne pasta and jar of artichokes from TJ's, one fresh tomato with Geoff's sauce, amazing!

Nymphoto's good company

Erasure copyright Lisa M. Robinson

Nymphoto has been in amazing company lately. Check out the "Conversations" with Lisa Robinson and Susana Raab.


Bolivia copyright Susana Raab

Potato Salad

With the abundance of potatoes from the CSA, I've had to get creative with them. I stir-fried the potatoes with string beans, a red pepper, scallions (all from the farm) and sprinkled some parmesan on top.

Tidbit

Thomas has a show in Germany, titled Family Life, up until October 4th. There's a great portrait of Domingo and Gabriella. Miss them. Also check out the New Smyrna version of Paradise (36).

I was on Horse Hunting and The World's Best Ever's Picture of the Day last week.

Betel nut girls

I saw these images of betel nut girls from Taiwan in the back gallery of Yancey Richardson and found out that they were done by Masato Seto. He was born in Udon Thani, Thailand (a place I've actually passed through), to a Vietnamese mother and Japanese father. Interesting. He grew up in Japan and studied with Daido Moriyama. Betel nut girls are a bit of a specialty and weird tourist attraction from Taiwan. They even have a wiki entry. These girls sit in a small booth, with lots of mirrors, glass and flashing neon lights. They sell their looks along with a box of betel nuts, a stimulant that many truckers chomp on. Anyhow Reagan Louie also did a series with betel nut girls . I thought about photographing them until my cousins told me about their ties with the mob and how my camera would be stolen and I would be damaged.





(images from Yancey Richardson)

Dedicated to feasting

I spoke to some relatives in Taiwan last week and it definitely sparked a glimmer of desire to see everyone and spend time with them. While that's not entirely possible, this article from the NYTimes, Feasting at the Table of Taipei, made me really happy and satisfied some of that desire. Matt Gross does an excellent job of describing the food of Taiwan. Unfortunately he doesn't venture outside of Taipei where most of my favorite stalls and restaurants lie.

Following the Chinese food trail

My friend Teresa recently sent me this NYTimes article about finding Beijing in Flushing. Flushing is an area in Queens, New York that has long been a second Chinatown in NYC. This article highlighted a bunch of places I had never heard of and some food I was not familiar with. With my friend Liu in town, we ventured forth with our appetites.

There is a download-able map from the NYTimes article. We tried the Dan Dan noodles at Golden Mall (no.9) and their version of the wontons in hot sauce. Both really good and spicy (food is from Sichuan and the peppers they use are of the numbing variety). I really wanted to try no. 13 but Shi Hong Mall was closed for renovation so we headed back to Golden Mall. We picked no. 11 from the list and proceeded to order dumplings (10 for $2) and a bowl of vegetable handmade noodles. The texture of the dumpling skin and the noodles were perfect. The dumplings were perfectly juicy as well. (This is coming from someone who avoids dumplings for fear of having a bad one.) The stall across from no. 11 sold Xi'an lamb sandwiches with cumin and red onions. ($2.50 for one.) I really liked this as well (not too much meat, which was perfect for me, and lots of cumin.) For dessert we hit up no. 1 on the list, a huge bowl of red bean ice for $3.75 big enough for four people. It wasn't anything special but did quench my thirst and put a sweet taste in my mouth.


This is Liu eating his third dinner. I did not partake in this meal.


Red bean over shaved ice.

On Travel

From Pico Iyer, travel provides the "luxury of leaving our beliefs and certainties at home, and seeing things. . . in a different light, and from a crooked angle."


Machu Picchu, 2002

I've been planning a trip back to Peru with Machu Picchu very much on my mind.

Dreaming of a German Shepherd

I had a dream about owning a German Shepherd. It's the kind of dog I want to have one day. I decided I need to spend more time on my ongoing series, Inventory of Mortality, a series that is based on my relationship with my father. I am slowly building images into this series. The work will be very different from my other landscape based work. I spent two days working on the images below, I think they will be a diptych.

The Lightship Frying Pan

Anna just told me about the Lightship Frying Pan, a decommissioned lightship docked in the Hudson River, next to Chelsea that has a restaurant. It sounded interesting and since I had planned a day of gallery hopping with friends, we decided to check it out when we finished our rounds. It was a great suggestion! We totally dug it and had a ton of fun. The food is on the pricey side but you can't go wrong with the hot dog that's under $3 (I unfortunately don't do hot dogs), the old bay garlic fries ($3.29 for a large portion), or the pizzas ($8.50-$11). The views are amazing and it's child friendly.

Grilled Cheese

I loved grilled cheese. This version features Ezekiel's sesame bread, farm fresh tomatoes, mozarella and parmesan cheese. The salad is composed of red leaf lettuce that I'm growing on my windowsill, a beet, and a yellow pepper (both from the CSA).

Apple Oatmeal Muffins

We got our first batch of apples this week from the CSA. So I decided to make something yummy & healthy for breakfast with them. I found this Apple Oatmeal Muffin recipe from Cooks.com. My changes: 3 cups of chopped apples, whole milk, and five minutes extra bake time. Turned out yum.

Know what this is?

Not sure what this is but I got up close and personal with it in Pittsburgh (July). Leave a comment if you can identify it!

Conversation with Sasha Wolf

Head over to the Nymphoto blog to catch the conversation that Nina and I had with gallerist Sasha Wolf a couple of weeks ago.

Also, come hang out with us tonight at Sasha Wolf's Gallery for the opening of Guido Castagnoli's work of Provincial Japan.

(image from Sasha Wolf Gallery)

Up the Yangtze

My friend David mentioned the documentary, Up the Yangtze, in passing a couple of weeks ago because he knew that I had a bit of a thing for the Yangtze River. By then, I had already missed the screenings in NYC. Since I knew I was going to be in Pittsburgh over Labor Day weekend, I made plans to see it there. Wow, am I glad I did.

It's an amazing film that follows the life of a 15 year old girl. Her family lives on the banks of the river in a shack, which will soon be flooded. Her parents, unable to provide for her schooling, sends her to work on one of the luxury cruise ships on the Yangtze. It's an amazing view into her life, the changes that occur through the course of the film and an insight into the lives of the people directly affected. I loved the opening scene where the ships are rising in the locks and passing through, a great metaphor for the movie. Go see it if it's playing near you.

(photo taken by me in 2006. Sinking Down, Gezouba, Yichang, China)

Rib Fest

I spent Labor Day weekend in Pittsburgh and on Sunday went down to Heinz Stadium to hang with the crowds for the Rib Fest. To be honest, I've never really had American ribs before. I barely eat pork, don't like to gnaw on bones, hate Chinese ribs, and don't like my meat sweet. The first stand I tried was a testament to why I don''t like ribs and never had the hankering to eat ribs. After strolling around and eating some other non-healthy festival food, I tried Smokin' Joe's. Much better, meat was actually hot, tasty, juicy, flavored... pretty good. Well, I've filled my rib quota for the year.

Version II of Eggplant Lasagna

I remade the eggplant lasagna and changed the oven temperature to 350 degrees (so that it's more than lukewarm! This was a pain in the behind because I was starving.). I also took some photos so you could see what it looks like.