"$6 is a great deal!"

 
, exclaimed the 9 year old hiking with his father. This raises two important points, 1) Apparently children only pay $2 to enter, while adults pay $4. 2) Mount Monadnock is cheaper than a movie, a sandwich from panera, and a root canal--making it an ideal weekend activity.

Mount Monadnock is a 3,165-ft mountain in Jaffrey, New Hampshire at Monadnock State Park, which containins 40 miles of hiking trails. There are several trails from this area that lead to the bare rock summit of Mount Monadnock. At the summit, you can see "100-mile views to points in all six New England states" (nhstateparks.org).

The most direct route, and therefore steepest trail, is the White Dot trail which is 1.9 miles from parking lot to summit. It contains a lot of rock slabs amongst the forest vegetation. There are several spots on the way up that make me think that I should be supervised by an adult before continuing on. This includes rock faces on which you could easily lose your footing or cracks and hand holds that just aren't big enough to have a firm grip. As you may have noticed, while I love to hike, my opportunities to do so are typically limited to flat surfaces in the suburbs. Whereas, Mount Monadnock is not the most dangerous mountain ever, but I could have easily managed to break a limb.

My friend and I went on a 50 degree day and I was fearing for my life a little bit because it definitely is cold and windy up at the top. However, the hike is pretty challenging and a great work out meaning you are sweating your cahones off by the time you get there. While we thought it was pretty daring of us to go on that blustery day, there were about a million people  because apparently a sunny autumn day is actually ideal. 

 

As you can see, there was quite the gathering at the top. The top is all rock and there is plenty of room to spread out so there wasn't a time where it felt like it was a big crowded nature party. One can still experience the serenity one wants when at the top of this mountain.

 

 

 

The way down was less challenging for me, though a different task altogether. At the rock faces you must choose whether to slide down and hope your extended foot hits that crack that you are aiming for to stop yourself. Or, you tend to be propelled down the hill faster than you'd like. Overall, however, it is less physically demanding to the point that you forget the physical challenge that you faced just an hour ago on your way up. Like with childbirth.

It took us about 2 hours up, 1 hour back and 30 minutes in there somewhere for resting, chatting and eating some PB and J's. Totally worth the EIGHT dollars (Amy failed to pass as 9 year old).

Inappropriate gourds

 Tis the season for football and to facilitate my attention span of watching football I like to invite friends over and do things during the game. Therefore, pumpkin carving. We had a BYO-pumpkin policy. In addition to buying our two pumpkins, Adam and I picked up an inappropriate gourd. See if you can spot it in the photos! 

 

 

I made stars and moons and patterns on my pumpkin because whatever. This is such a halloweeny photo, what with my very scary kitten. And no, she is not the inappropriate gourd you have been hunting for.

 

 

The sick dragon design was done by our friend. Jealous?

Still no inappropriate gourd?

This is side one of Adam's.

 

 

This is side two.

It can be interpreted as: a man with a can of beer and a bar graph. Or, a giant picking up buildings that he has set on fire. Adam would prefer the latter interpretation.

This was done by our other friend. Jealous?

The whole bunch. 

Now do you see it???

HOW ABOUT NOW

Pizza in the mornin' pizza in the evenin'

This weekend was our local art Open Studios, meaning local businesses and homes displayed local artists' works from 12pm-4pm for viewing and purchasing. Most locations that I've lived in have done this and I try to catch it every year. In the past, I've bought postcard-sized prints of artwork because it's cheapest that way and still pretty to frame. 

Recently my husband suggested doing a "pizza tour" of our town meaning try every pizza shop in a 5 mile radius that we would ever potentially order pizza from in order to have some data to back up our decision. We tend to order from one place because it's definitely good, but there are plenty of places equally as close by that we've either written off as sketchy or probably bad. It was time to test our hypotheses.

In order to make our day more well rounded, we opted to combine feeding our bodies with feeding our souls with art. And by that I mean alternated art exhibits with pizza exhbits. The following are the highlights of our pizza walk. Note: I have absolutely no photo documentation of the art we saw, nor will I comment any further on that part of our day. Meaning, our pizza walk was way better than the art I saw this year.

On the itinerary:
Oversized Pizza
George's Pizza
Natick Pizza
Pizza Plus
Pizza Peddler
Theo's Pizza
Natalie's Pizza Kitchen

Adam and I both brought notebooks. We ordered one slice at each place and split the slice. You will notice that as the reviews proceed that we begin to comment on different variables based on the experiences of previous slices. In sum, various factors that came to be important emerged from the data as it was gathered rather than us having entered the process with a preconceived, rigid theory.

While I opted to include a quantitative measure of the pizza along three dimensions on a scale of 1-5 (Crust, Cheese, and Sauce), we both were sure to include qualitative commentary and ratings of intangibles.

In addition, we brought along two items in order to provide some scale: Gilligian of Gilligan's Island. And for inter-rater reliability, Boba Fett of Star Wars

Oversized Pizza
 

 

Cost: $2/slice

Jessie:

Crust: 4

Thin, crip outside, ideal doughy inside, could be a little thicker

Cheese: 4

Good amount, "over cooked"--in a good way, burned taste, I like it

Sauce: 1

very little, not even judgeable

Size of slice was not mind blowing despite their ad, "Biggest slice for $2." It's only like 2 Gilligans.

Adam:

• Slices are not oversized
• Smaller crust
• good consistency though
• doughy
• Could have a little more sauce
• Somewhat on the thinner side
• Generally unimpressive due to hefty claims of grandeur
• Flies and uninviting interior of restaurant

George's Pizza

 

Cost: $1.25/slice

 

Jessie:

Very small, not hot

Crust: 3 

Bland, standard thickness which is not my ideal, no doughyness

Cheese: 3

Bland, nothing notable, though ideal amount

Sauce: 1

Very ltitle, not judgeable

Faster service, which is appreciated after Oversized Pizza

Adam:

• Good thickness
• Good ratio of cheese: bread: sauce
• Could have slightly more sauce
• Crust thick, but could be a little less crunchy
• Slice very small, but cheap
• Could be a little more flavorful (sauce)
• Didn't offer to warm up
• Good interior, inviting, CASH ONLY

 As you can see, Adam and I have totally opposite opinions on this one. George's was one of my least favorites because it was boring and I prefer thinner crust than he does whereas he liked this ratio. In contrast, he did not like Oversized Pizza at all because of the thin crust and because of "the bubbled, uneven crust and cheese"--which I deemed charming and a sign of homemade-ness.

Pizza Plus

 Cost: $2

Jessie:

Perfect size, flavorful--would surprisingly eat again

Greasy, floppy, cold but for some reason I don't mind this time, Crisp end of crust, thin

Crust: 2

For floppiness

Cheese: 2

For greassiness

Sauce:1 

For lack of

Because I think I enjoyed this pizza more than the total score reflects I am adding 1.5 bonus points. The poor scores may reflect a deep seated bias that originated when we first moved in 2 years ago and our landlord said, "Never go to pizza plus", despite it being the nearest to us.

Adam:

• Size normal
• Very thin
• Tasty spices/good flavor 
• Not warmed up
• Crust-small but pretty solid
• A little greasy-took away from flavor 

Natick Pizza Palace

Does not sell by the slice
Adam and Jessie: FAIL

Pizza Peddler

 

Cost: $2.13

Jessie:

Squat, but ideal size

Physically attractive, perfect temperature

Cheese: 5

Ideal consistency and amount

Crust: 4 

good thickness, crispy; but lack of doughyness plus 1-2 burn splotches 

Sauce: 3

good amount, but lack of flavor (spice)

   

Adam:

• Good thickness
• Served warm
• Tasted a bit reheated-->I bet would be more natural if a whole pie were purchased
• Good amount of sauce
• Could be a bit spicier
• Similar to Lando's
• Crunchy crust-some burn
• Very nice and welcoming interior
• On the expensive side
• Attractive presentation

Theo's Pizza

 

Cost: $2.14

Jessie:

Nice interior, great music (Katy Perry)

Good scent, good flavor

Smallish

Precut!

Crust: 3

Thick, yet soggy?? Good crisp end

Cheese: 3

Too much

Sauce: 4

good amount and flavor

Adam:

• Pre-cut for sharing--nice touch
• Thicker
• Lots of sauce
• Bottom very soft-Greasy all the way through?
• Similar in taste and appeal to Acton HOP
• Crust OK
• Interior very appealing->Not what I expected based on outside 

Nathalie's Pizza Kitchen

Cost: $1.87

Jessie:
...Getting full
Excited to see my old friend, Nathalie's Pizza
Can't beat price : size ratio
Consistency and text of cheese and crust ideal
Crust: 5
The flavor! Usually not something I've noticed. Texture!
Cheese: 4
Sauce: 3
Less flavor than I had expected

Adam:

• Good presentation
• Served warm
• Good ratios
• Not the thickest slice, but holds up very well-> Not floppy
• Quality crunch, but not a crunchy slice
• Subtle flavor
• Good doughy crust--could be a little bigger

WHAT A DAY! So, ultimately, Nathalie's won and this is the place we go to anyway so if you want a be a jerk you could say that our day really accomplished nothing.
However, I sure did learn a lot about my pizza preferences and this makes me a more cultured person.

Adam and my hierarchy of pizza did not agree except the top two, which is all that really matters:
1) Nathalie's
2) Pizza Peddler, with the qualification that we order a whole pie because apparently the slice tasted "reheated" (I have no idea what he's talking about.)


  

Jessie & Giada starring Meryl Streep

This Fall I signed up for two cooking classes offered by Keefe Tech's Continuing Education programming. I chose cooking classes because beyond studying cookbooks and googling cooking times and temperatures, I do not feel that I have much mastery in something that I love to do. I chose Italian Inspirations and Indian Kebabs, Chaats and Tandoor because I knew I would learn about two types of foods that both me and my much more picky husband already enjoy. I can make a decent chicken parm and a curry chicken (compliments of my Mom's recipe), respectively, but I don't really know a lot about other dishes, typical ingredients, or methods of cooking that are common to Italian or Indian cooking.

The teacher of the Italian course was Laura Ziman who:

hails from NY where she was a chef for over 20 years. She graduated from SUNY Purchase with a degree in Art History and then was off to Paris to attend La Varenne, the acclaimed cooking school. She owned the first gourmet food shop/restaurant in Albany, NY, the Unlimited Feast, and has been teaching cooking classes to all ages since then. When she is not cooking, Laura teaches art at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. 

 

There were 11 people in the class last night and we were making 4 dishes in three hours: Eggplant parmigiana, tortellini with squash filling, arancini (fried rice balls), and zuppe inglese (a cake layered with custard, etc.). 

We informally broke into four groups and began working on our dish while Laura circulated, instructed, and gave some background on the dishes she chose. When there was waiting time while things cooked, we all could watch or work with the other groups.

I told my two fellow chefs that I wanted to make anything besides the cake. This is because I came here to learn how to make things that I can eat for dinner, not for breakfast dessert.  We volunteered for tortellini's first, which I  consider a major triumph. I really was dreaming of making tortellini's because a) we like to eat those in my house b) I've watched Giada make ravioli's a million times with a time-lapse video editing  that makes it look effortless, even though I was certain it was impossible for normal people.

First, we made chicken broth which just required boiling chicken thighs with some onion  for two hours

 

Then we made the dough: 2 cups of flour, 3 eggs plus and extra yolk, 1 tbsp of oil, salt. You make the flour into a little well and then having beaten the eggs you add the equivalent of one egg at a time into the flour and incorporate it in

 

 

When it turns into a doughy pile, you knead it until it's soft and then let it hang out in saran wrap for 30 minutes

Before hand, we had peeled and chopped up a butternut squash and some onion, added some olive oil and baked until it was soft and browned

 

Then you take a masher that is approximately the size of either your head or a wildebeest and mash the squash/onion plus one clove of mashed garlic, chopped sage, nutmeg, and salt and pepper

When our dough was done resting, we used the pasta roller beginning at the thickest setting and rolling it out thinner and thinner until the second to thinnest setting. We had three long segments of dough

 

Then, we cut the dough into squares of approximately the same size (not really), and put a small forkful of filling in the middle. To make tortellini, you fold the square diagonally across, forming a lump of the filling at the bottom of the triangle you've made. Then you fold that lump over and then put the little legs together. As we did this we had cups of water to dab at the edges to help keep the dough stuck to itself.

My first tortellini was Barilla (or Stop and Shop brand, depending on your mood)-style perfection

 

The very last tortellini I made looked like a rejected vomit McGee

We then boiled half the tortellini at a time in water + salt. As they rose to the top--about 7-8 minutes later, we transferred them over the chicken broth that we had made (chicken removed). The tortellinis were then served in the broth

All of the dishes essentially came together at the same time and were set out and we all made plates and enjoyed our winnings.

Eggplant Parmigiana

Arancini

Zuppe Ingleses (Laura told me off the record that this was supposed to be a bit more puffy looking)

 

I enjoyed the process of the class itself as well as the specific dish that I got to make. I probably won't make homemade tortellini frequently, but I know that I can if I want to.

 

Super fast jellyfish

On October 6, 2010 I had the privilege of seeing the Gorillaz perform live at the Agganis arena. The Gorillaz have performed (not toured, PERFORMED) about 21 times total. So, as you can imagine, their latest Escape to the Plastic Beach World Tour is a pretty big deal. When a concert is a big deal, and it isn't always, I buy a tshirt. So, notably, I bought a tshirt AND a poster.

The Gorillaz started in 1998, though my husband would dispute this because their first song came out in 2001. So, anyway, in 1998 Damon Almarn and Jamie Hewlitt created both the Gorillaz music as well as fictional world filled with characters and adventures. The four "band members" are the cartoons 2D, Murdoc, Noodle and Russel

 

The music itself is a mix of  Hip Hop, Pop, alternative rock, and electronic. In addition to the front man vocalist Damon, there are usually a billion musicians on stage plus notable collaborators. For example, the track listing for their latest album The Plastic Beach is as follows

1.	"Orchestral Intro (Feat. sinfonia ViVA)"	1:09
2.	"Welcome to the World of the Plastic Beach (Feat. Snoop Dogg & Hypnotic Brass Ensemble)"	3:35
3.	"White Flag (Feat. Bashy, Kano, & Lebanese National Orchestra for Oriental Arabic Music)"	3:43
4.	"Rhinestone Eyes"	3:20
5.	"Stylo (Feat. Bobby Womack & Mos Def)"	4:30
6.	"Superfast Jellyfish (Feat. De La Soul & Gruff Rhys)"	2:54
7.	"Empire Ants (Feat. Little Dragon)"	4:43
8.	"Glitter Freeze (Feat. Mark E. Smith)"	4:03
9.	"Some Kind of Nature (Feat. Lou Reed)"	2:59
10.	"On Melancholy Hill"	3:53
11.	"Broken"	3:17
12.	"Sweepstakes (Feat. Mos Def & Hypnotic Brass Ensemble)"	5:20
13.	"Plastic Beach (Feat. Mick Jones & Paul Simonon)"	3:47
14.	"To Binge (Feat. Yukimi Nagano)"	3:55
15.	"Cloud of Unknowing (Feat. Bobby Womack & sinfonia ViVA)"	3:06
16.	"Pirate Jet"

(wikipedia.com)

Let us break this down
Snoop D-o-double G --No introduction needed

So dapper! This, of course, is just a video screen during the concert and not, in fact, an 100 ft snoop dogg guest appearance.

Bashy and Kano and the Lebanese National Orchestra for Oriental Arabic Music (featured on the track "White Flag")

Bashy and Kano were actually there

Mick Jones and Paul Simonon: from the band, The Clash (They were actually there, as well)

Lou Reed: from the band, The Velvet Underground

Mos Def: hip hop artist

 

Bobby Womack: now a solo artist who's musical style ranges from R&B to Rock and Roll to Gospel (He was actually there)

 De La Soul & Gruff Rhys: Hip hop artist and Welsh musician respectively. (De La Soul actually there)

As shown, there were always a million people on stage and there was the screen showing a combination of the actual music videos or an animated story related to the song being played. It was a very engaging and magical show all around.

Let us conclude with another picture of Snoop