Almost official

I sent in my application for a business license today. We'll see what happens. Though I will be pretty bummed out if I can't get the name I want and have already have my heart set on.

At least I can finally obtain business legally in Sacramento County.

Current Confusion: EuroRail, et. al.

First, I'd like to admit that M and I are considering a whirlwind 2-week stint in Europe. (Seems to be the trend this year... first NYC, now Europe in the off-season.)

Planning the trip, while all still concepts, seems to be fairly easy. Except for the trains. I do NOT understand this system at all. No matter how many times Rick Steves' can lay it out.

First, you can buy EuroRail passes for different countries, not including the Great Britain area, which is a completely different ballgame. You can purchase them for any number of trips in a certain month, or buy a monthly pass for unlimited travel in a country (I think). Then you can buy combo run passes that allow you a certain amount of travel days in anywhere from 3-5 countries. But with these passes, you can only buy first class tickets. However, if you are traveling in a party of 2 or more, you can get a 1st Class Saverpass, which is the same prices as a second class ticket. And then of course, if you want to travel from a country to another country, say France to Italy, you need a completely separate pass AND a reservation, but you can get a discount if you are a EuroRail pass-holder.

OMGWTF???

Seriously, the amount of time spent trying to figure this blasted system out, you could have rented a car and drove to France. Or at least flown. I don't mind country hopping by air. Get us there a lot faster than a night train. Although the "Harry Potter" approach to traveling seems quite appealing.

Continuing the search for the perfect solution...

Banana Flat-Bread

To cut back on the calories and sugar, I decided to take on Hungry Girl's recipe for Banana Bread. The recipe cuts out things like butter, real eggs, white sugar and white flour. My problem arose when the bread, which looked great coming out of the over, practically deflated after cooling. It could have been that I needed more time in the oven. Or it could have been that I used a glass pan over a non-stick (which seems to cook better in our oven.)

At any rate... it's okay. I feel a little better about eating it. However, it's a little soggy from the bananas. And without further ado:

Ingredients:
1 1/4 cups whole-wheat flour
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup Splenda No Calorie Sweetener (granulated)
1 1/2 cups mashed ripe bananas (about 3 bananas)
1/2 cup fat-free liquid egg substitute (like Egg Beaters)
1/2 cup no-sugar-added applesauce
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. salt
Optional Toppings: no-calorie spray butter, Cool Whip Free

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, combine both types of flour, Splenda, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon (in other words, all dry ingredients). In a separate bowl, mix together the mashed bananas, egg substitute, applesauce, and vanilla extract (all the wet ingredients). Add this mixture to the bowl with the dry ingredients, and stir until just blended. Spoon batter into a large loaf pan (about 9" X 5") sprayed with nonstick spray. Bake for about 50 minutes, or until a knife inserted in the middle comes out clean. Allow to cool slightly, and then cut into 8 slices. If you like, spritz with some spray butter or spread on some Cool Whip Free. MAKES 8 SERVINGS

Refer-a-blog: Photoshop Disasters

Because my fellow design cohorts can sit and view this site and both laugh and hang their heads in shame. Don't worry... we've all been there I'm sure.

Photoshop Disasters

Ugh... hold the salt!

M and I tried a Paula Deen recipe for pork chops tonight. Boy... it was like eating a salt lick. The recipe calls for sliced chops with 1) a light coat of House seasoning, which is mostly salt, 2) seasoning salt and 3) Jerk Seasoning mix, which also contained a lot of salt.

Proceed with caution in this recipe. I'm sure you could cut out the House Seasoning and be fine.

Dora's Jerk Pork Chops
2 pounds boneless pork loin
House Seasoning recipe follows
Seasoning salt
Jerk Spice, recipe follows

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Slice pork loin into chops about 3/4-inch-thick. Coat lightly with House Seasoning and seasoning salt. Coat with Jerk Spice, being sure to cover all sides. Bake until cooked through, about 30 minutes.

House Seasoning:
1 cup salt
1/4 cup black pepper
1/4 cup garlic powder

Mix ingredients together and store in an airtight container for up to 6 months.

Yield: 1 1/2 cups

Jerk Spice:
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon ground allspice
1 teaspoon brown sugar
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon dried, crushed Scotch bonnet pepper
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon dried chives
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme

Combine all ingredients in a bowl until well-mixed. Store in an airtight container.

Yield: 1/2 cup

CRAP! How did I miss this??

I can't stand sob fests, so I skipped most of "Idol Gives Back" last night. However, apparently I missed the So You Think You Can Dance? alum out-perform the current Idol crew. Dang it! I missed me some Pasha, Benji, and every other talented boy from that show. Err.

You can view the craptastic quality video below. Or download it on Itunes. Some proceeds go to charity.

I Followed a Trend...

I had a credit from a Macy's return, so I broke down and bought a pair of Crocs. I know, I know... they aren't all that cute and trendy as hell. And lord knows I don't need another pair of shoes. But I wanted something I could do the following in:

* Slip on to walk to the mailbox, but not worry about walking through someone's muddy sidewalk. Nor burn my feet on hot cement through my cheap flip flops.

* Garden - because flip flops aren't practical and my gym shoes are too expensive to tramp around in the mud casually. (Running through mud is okay...)

* Walk around in Disneyland - because this is apparently what all the Disney freaks wear in the summer at the park. We'll see... my feet are picky.

* Wear socks with non-closed shoes - because I'm a nerd. But this will help in early spring when it's not warm enough to wear the flip flops, but too warm for my fuzzy slippers.

And really, do I need another excuse to buy shoes I can run over with my car or walk through rivers and NOT have them fall to pieces? I think not.

New York Diary Part 6: The End

Fast forward to 5:20 am Sunday morning. M and I roll out of bed, pack our last minute belongings and head downstairs to check out. Our ride is already downstairs. We grab a bagel for breakfast and say good bye to NYC.

Some key notes:
* Flying home on an early Sunday is actually a pretty good idea. There is virtually NO one on the road, so even a taxi fair would be cheap.
* The main Jet Blue terminal at JFK is terminal 6. Our driver saw the first possible Jet Blue terminal and stopped there.
* There were only 3 working bathrooms in the JFK women's bathroom. So go early.
* Your flight back to the west side will probably be A LOT longer than your flight in. Our flight home was about 7 hours. It was quite strange to arrive back at SFO at 10:45 am when our flight home took off at 8:00 am in NYC. The head wind was just terrible.

M and I had a blast in NYC. I don't know if we'll return any time soon, but it was still nice to experience it.

Dinner Inspiration - or M's New Favorite Meal

M loves this new chicken dish I found in the Rachel Ray book. So I thought I would share.

Honey Nut Chicken Sticks

* 2 pounds chicken tenders
* Salt and pepper
* 1 cup all-purpose flour
* 3 eggs
* A splash milk
* 2 cups honey nut flavored cereal, such as Honey Nut Corn Flakes
* 1 cup bread crumbs
* 1 tablespoon sweet paprika
* 1 tablespoon poultry seasoning
* 2 tablespoons grill seasoning, such as McCormick brand Montreal Poultry Seasoning
* 1/4 cup vegetable oil (eyeball it)

Preparation

Pre-heat oven to 400°F.

Season chicken tenders with salt and pepper. Place flour in a large, shallow dish. Coat chicken in flour.

Beat eggs and milk in a shallow dish. Combine cereal, bread crumbs, paprika, poultry seasoning, grill seasoning and vegetable oil in food processor. Transfer breading to a shallow dish.

Place a nonstick baking sheet near chicken breading station. In batches, take flour-coated chicken and coat in eggs, followed by breading and place on nonstick cookie sheet. When all the chicken has been coated, transfer to oven and bake 15 minutes, until evenly brown and cooked through.

Cool and serve, or pack up for a picnic! This chicken may be served hot or cold.

*Note... cold chicken squicks me out, so I prefer these hot with some jasmine rice on the side.

New York Diary Part 5: The $18,500 Question

Saturday was our last full day to explore all the landmarks we wanted to cover in our short trip. Since we explored most of downtown on Friday, we decided to head uptown.

Central Park: Our subway dropped us off right in front of Central Park West. We avoided the zillions of runners and started making our way to the east side. Note: definitely bring your running shoes. Sadly, we didn't see the Great Lawn or Strawberry Fields, but this park has a TON of fun looking playgrounds. If I were 10, I'd totally dig this place. But M and I proceeded to walk along, avoiding more runners and bikes and falling roller-blading kids.

FAO Swartz and The Apple Store: First, the Apple store in NYC is underground and crowded as hell. But you get to take a glass elevator down and all you see above ground is a giant Apple symbol on glass. Very cool if you are an Apple fanatic. Next door is the best toy store on the planet: FAO Swartz. Granted, the Toys R Us is pretty neat, but this was a must see as well. The piano from Big is still in the store, but is heavily guarded and can only be seen in action when there are scheduled demos. There are stuffed animals galore. An entire section devoted to Harry Potter collectibles. (No, nothing came home with me, sadly.) And there were lego sculptures of Spongebob, Chewbacca, and, yes, Hagrid, Harry, Ron, and Hermione. Nice.

Tiffany's: M and I continued our path down 5th Avenue and stopped at Tiffany's. Not just any Tiffany's... THE Tiffany's. We had to experience all four floors of fine jewelry goodness. Our stroll through the diamond floor went something like this:

M: "Am I reading that correctly?"
Me: "What?"
M: [points to shiny tennis bracelet in a glass case] "Does that really say $18,500?"
Me: "Well, yeah."
M: *groans*
Me: "Maybe there is a discount floor..."

Sadly, there wasn't a discount floor. So we left to find something to eat.

Carnegie Deli: Even if you can't stand meat, you should eat at this deli in NYC. (Okay, if you are a vegetarian, maybe you should skip it. But still...) Much like Sardi's, there are pictures of all the celebrities that have passed through this little restaurant. (Except they are actual photos and not freaky sketches.) The restaurant is so packed that the staff has to guide you along the way to your seat... and then you get real comfy with strangers. How this restaurant would fare in a fire, I'm not sure. But they survive somehow. Order a big pastrami sandwich. But you can probably split one meal between 2 people. And the cheesecakes are MASSIVE. CD is cash only, so be sure to have enough for the food and tip. Maybe you'll spot Woody Allen.

Top of the Rock: The Rockefeller Center is a good alternative to visit if you don't want to wait in line for the Empire State Building. It's the same view and probably about the same price. Here, M and I were skyrocketed to the 67th floor of the building and froze our behind off looking down at the city. We managed to see the Statue of Liberty from our view as well as St. Patrick's Cathedral, Times Square, and the Brooklyn Bridge. And the other good thing about the Rock: the NBC studio store is on the bottom floor. So you can grab all the Dunder Mifflin shwag you want. And since it's still cold outside, the ice rink is still open and still busy. However, I'd stay inside and grab a coffee.

Some other sites worth noting in this intermission: Grand Central Station was busy and big. Strawberry is a really cool, Forever 21-like shop for everyone over 21. The Chrysler Building isn't apparently open on weekends. And walking from Central Park to Times Square is a HAUL. Take a freakin' subway.

TKTS Experience: Mental note - The TKTS booth is a madhouse around 5 pm because all the shows are looking for last minute attendees. It's cash only and popular shows generally don't get discounted. The attendant looked at me like I had 3 heads when I asked for Wicked tickets. Avenue Q wasn't much of a discount either.

Serendipity 3: (Note, there isn't a 1 or a 2... don't ask.) M and I were starving, and since all the Times Square restaurants were booked, we decided to head Uptown East. Serendipity 3, the coffee bar, ice creamery and restaurant from the movie is near Bloomingdales between East 2nd and 3rd. It's also not as easy to get into as the movie makes it. I also wouldn't expect service with a smile, either. A table for two at 6:30 pm was going to take an hour and 45 minutes. At that rate, you better home it's worth it. Luckily, there was Patsy's Pizza on one corner, and Dylan's Candy and Dessert Bar on the other. We put our name down at Serendipity and figured we would return for dessert. We were glad to experience traditional, NYC style, pizza. And then Dylan's was a diabetic nightmare. So much chocolate and brightly colored confections. (If you can grab them, get the chocolate covered grahams.)

Finally, we check back into Serendipity and our name is almost up. We are escorted, quite literally, about 20 feet behind the registration desk. It's THAT small of a parlor. No wonder seats are a commodity. And the lights scream "we have a short somewhere... please fix." But maybe that's part of the charm. After being ignored for 10 minutes, we finally get water. Luckily we only asked for a Forbidden Broadway Sundae, which was heavenly! But we couldn't finish it. Sad. S3's specialty is the Frozen Hot Chocolate. Often served to couples with two straws. (Everyone say "aawwwwww!")

We left within a half hour and headed back to the hotel early to pack and prepare for our early-ass departure the following morning.

Dear John [Mayer],

How is it that this seemingly simple song can tug at my heartstrings? *sigh*

Take all of your wasted honor.
Every little past frustration.
Take all of your so called problems,
Better put 'em in quotations.

Say what you need to say (x8)

Walkin' like a one man army,
Fightin' with the shadows in your head.
Livin' up the same old moment
Knowin' you'd be better off instead

If you could only...Say what you need to say (x8)

Have no fear for givin' in.
Have no fear for giving over.
You better know that in the end
It's better to say too much, than never to say what you need to say again.

Even if your hands are shaking,
And your faith is broken.
Even as the eyes are closin',
Do it with a heart wide open.

Say what you need to say (x7)

Say what you need to, Say what you need to...

Say what you need to say.

One More: Design Plug

Shirley and Jody (my buddies from another post) changed their minds on the design after it was submitted. They decided on a different path and theme, and this is what I came up for them. Oh how I wish I could draw... but the floral patterns are actually dingbats for a font I found on Dafont.com. You should definitely check it out if you are slightly illustration-challenged, like myself.

New York Diary Part 4: A Coffee Conundrum

While in New York, we realized that Starbucks (even though a store could be found every quarter mile) was not the sole stakeholder in the East Coast Coffee industry. Surprisingly, Dunkin' Donuts coffee is quite well received over there. In fact, some east coasters think that Starbucks is *gasp* overrated and their grounds taste like they've been burned. (However, us west coasters apparently have a similar take on Dunkin, which is why they failed miserably in this time zone.)

So M and I took it upon ourselves to try the opposing coffee brand. Granted, we did visit quite a few Starbucks and I did order my traditional fru-fru latte here and there. However, as we rushed out our hotel room on Sunday morning with nothing but a bagel, and the choice of DD coffee or nothing at all, we tried the coffee.

After sitting in the airport, sipping our first tastes, M exclaims, "I don't know what the big deal is. It's nothing special." Since I only had milk and Splenda in mine, I concurred because I rarely drink non-expresso'd beverages. But desperate times call for desperate measures. And getting up at 5 am is a desperate measure. So we continue drinking, blah blah blah. Finally, toward the ends of our cups, M exclaims again, "You know, this is pretty good coffee, now that I think about it."

So there you have it folks. A west coaster's mind has been changed. I have a feeling I'll be buying a lot more coffee at Target now. (Since I can't seem to find it anywhere else.)

Hopefully Smart N Final picks up on the DD trend and I can buy this crack... er... coffee in bulk.

New York Diary Part 3: The Fair Weather Aiken Fan's Guide to Spamalot

Let me preface by saying that going to New York right now was based on a couple ulterior motives. Besides being one of the few times that I could actually steal away from work for a vacation, it landed a little too conveniently (according to M) during Clay Aiken's stint on Broadway. Well, I figured, it's Monty Python; not a traditional musical a la ALW, so M might actually like it; and I get to see my long standing guilty pleasure play a petrified knight with a musical theater inclination a little too well. In my mind, EVERYBODY wins. So whether or not you care the Idol 2 finalist is in the show or not, it's still a really silly production with traditional English humor, sight gags, and an entertaining cast. And if you really can't stand the guy, or his overzealous female fan base (that announces their presence every time the guy moves), well, wait until after May 4th. [/Aiken nerd mode]

So what is the musical all about? To be quiet honest, it follows the original Python movie quite religiously. Except for maybe the ending, the obvious rips from Fiddler and Phantom, and all the singing and dancing. So if you want to prepare yourself for the zaniness, watch the movie first. But do it after a cup of coffee. I kept falling asleep after the Black Knight scene for some reason. (After 3 attempts, I finally saw the whole thing.) There is a plot there, but you are sidetracked a few times by conversations about weight ratios of African Swallows to Coconuts; Sir Lance-a-lot's "dark secret;" French taunters; and how you simply can't be successful on Broadway without any Jews. (Seriously... there is a whole song about it.)

I had some other favorites from the cast that easily stole the show. Tom Deckman, who plays everything from the Historian, to Not Dead Fred, and Prince Herbert, was hysterical. Easily delivers some of the best punchlines in the musicals. The other one to watch for is David Hibbard, who plays Patsy, the coconut-banging sidekick of King Arthur. Watch for him during the "Laker Girl" scene. And one of the latest imports from the London cast is Hannah Waddingham, who plays "The Lady of the Lake." She does one hell of a Cher impersonation in the Camelot scene. Watch for her "Diva's Lament."

So should you see it? Sure! It was well worth the Telecharge price we paid AND they do sell tickets for the show at TKTS. If you can see in on a weekday, there are really GOOD deals out there.

Intermission: Refer-a-blog

A coworker passed this blog link on to me.

Stuff White People Like

Now, before you get your panties in a bunch about going "there," read it. It is actually rather amusing. Especially if you are bored... or shop at Target, own an IPod, buy organic, love sushi, or drive a Prius.

I figured since I've been procrastinating and you're probably bored with all the OMGNYCAWESOME!!!11!! that I'd break the monotony of the blog.

New York Diary Part 2: I [heart] NY

Friday greeted us with cold and slightly nasty weather. It was overcast and had just begun to rain. But since there was a lot to do and see, we grabbed a quick breakfast of bagels, cold eggs, and cinnamon rolls and braced ourselves for the day. Here's what we saw:

The site formerly known as Ground Zero: As much as the wounds still sting, "Ground Zero" is moving forward. The large gap in the skyline was full of construction crews, machinery, and cranes diligently moving the future project forward. We saw bits and pieces of it the former site, as well as some vendors selling 9/11 kitsch, but all in all, it didn't have the same impact as it once did, if that's the right word. There was just a more positive energy running through it, rather than a mournful one. Though, the lone surviving stairwell was still present, which was a little surreal. And the old subway stop is a bit of a memorial site, which was pretty neat to see.

Financial District & Wall Street: After a quick stop at Century 21 (which is a must-shop, but have patience), we headed to Wall Street. On our way, we entertained the idea of going to the McDonald's on Broadway down there. There was a rumor that it had a piano player, doorman, and table service, but it looked like a normal McD's to us. So we passed. What they don't mention about Wall Street is that it's kind of hidden. So keep an eye out for it. First on the block is the New York Stock Exchange, which is where my Roth IRA and M's 401K goes to work every day. Since it was mid-day, there wasn't much to see. But there was a lot of police activity EVERYWHERE on Friday. No idea why. Wall Street also had its very own Tiffany & Co. So of course we had to stop by and take a peak at all the pretty gems we can't afford.

Chinatown, Little Italy, Tribeca, and SoHo: We kind of breezed through these parts. Mostly because we were tired and I didn't feel like buying counterfeit jewelry. Though I will say that Chinatown had a shop with pashmina scarves, 3 for $10. It was the best deal I could find considering all of the shops were selling the exact same thing for more. I know they probably aren't the real deal, but who cares? They kept me warm. We got lost looking for the C train station (which we never would have found without asking), so we managed to wander on the border between SoHo and Tribeca. For some reason, I felt like I was walking through downtown Oakland. I'm sure either part of Manhattan is fine, but this area wasn't. Lesson to be learned: know where your subway stop is.

Nap time: Best part of the day ever! Even though our hotel room was crammed and the bed was as hard as a rock, when you are tired, you don't care. ZZZZZzzzzzz...

Sardi's: After our hour long power nap, M and I primped and headed off to dinner. Sardi's is apparently a bit of a Theater District favorite. It's right across the street from Shubert Theater (where Spamalot is) and it's full of characatures of a variety of celebrities. Including Kermit the Frog. Which by the way, THIS was the restaurant Kermit visited in Muppets Take Manhattan. I originally thought that it was Hollywood Brown Derby, but I guess different restaurants have the same "characature" concept for their wall decor. But I digress. We made a reservation, but we probably didn't need one as it was pretty quiet for a Friday night. There are two stories. The bathroom has a tenant to turn the faucets on for you at the sink. You are served your food by a "team" of waiters all dressed the same. And the prix fix menus can easily feed two people split. Was the food good? It wasn't bad. We had salmon for an appetizer, crab cakes for the meal, and a chocolate mint ice cream creation for dessert. The coffee is GREAT! If you order single entrees, it might get expensive. But we sat next to a couple from NOLA who apparently dines at Sardi's every time they visit NYC. They love it. So I'll recommend it.

Spamalot: Really needs a blog post on it's own. So I'll review it tomorrow. I'm exhausted.