Obama for dessert!

These delicious treats are from Eleni's in the Chelsea Market. Happy Inauguration Day!

Farewell ThinkFilm

Thursday I went to ThinkFilm's last party. It wasn't as fun as the one we did for the Agronomist, but foodwise, this one was better because there was so much of my favorite kind of food. Free food! The movie was Good. Viggo Mortenson is the star of the film which is set during the Holocaust, so the venue was the Jewish Museum. The museum has fantastic views of Lower Manhattan and the deck houses the outdoor rock installation by Andy Goldsworthy. Espirit Events catered and their food is all Kosher. And nothing says party and Kosher more than pigs in a blanket! The blanket was actually made out of a phylo instead of a bready dough which was then sprinkled with sesame seeds, thus making it a bit messy. Sternos were keeping the chafing dishes warm, so the layers weren't especially crispy, but it didn't matter, those salty bites hit the spot. That same phylo and sesame seed combination was wrapped around mashed potato in little triangle shaped knishes. There were also some sliced turkey wrap pinwheels. The veggie display was particularly nice. They weren't just on a plate with dips in the middle. Instead, real baby carrots and other crudite were arranged vertically in glass vases for dipping into three mayo based dips and big bowls of baba ghanoush and hummus.
So many of these kinds of parties skimp on the sweets. This is a mistake. Serving fruit is nice for your guests as a palate cleanser. Very important since the hummus contains garlic. And while segregating people is wrong, separating your fruit is attractive and allows people to choose what they want, thus avoiding the waste that can occur with a mixed up fruit salad. There were some lovely desserts including cheesecakes, which was a nice tie in to one of the props in the movie. My favorites were the petit fours. In this time of recession, I hear the holiday party is being scaled back, so it was really nice to let loose and live a little. Thanks for the good times, ThinkFilm.

I wish I was here

But I'm not, so I'll make up something to look forward to as I reminisce about my vacation in Argentina. Liza is back on Broadway! Holiday parties are upon us! I'll be wearing elastic waistband pants this season because of all the amazing steak I ate in Argentina. My visit to the doctor today was more like Catholic confession. Forgive me, Dr. C, it's been more than 3 years since my last appointment. I've been eating steak and fried potatoes and drinking wine every day for the last week. But I just couldn't help it. Everything was just so darn yummy and cheap! One of the favorite steaks of the trip was a suggestion from the fantastic book The Authentic Bars, Cafe's and Restaurants of Buenos Aires . El Palacio de La Papa Frita is on a tourist filled shopping street but besides us, I only saw one other table of tourists. The rest of the folks were families and businessmen. The book is great because it tells you what the restaurant is known for and as the name says, the palace is known for fried potatoes. The papas souffles are amazing because they're almost a cross between a potato chip and a French fry. Somehow they are puffed with air, so the outside gets crispy while the inside is creamy and potato-y. It's not a clear way to describe something, but it's the best flavor of the thing itself. That also goes for the steak, the bife de chorizo. That cut didn't have the bone on it, but it was still sooooo flavorful. We split the steak and the waiter cut the meat with a spoon it was so tender. The juices pool on the plate and mix with the egg yolk in such a way that makes a really nice sauce. There's no need for ketchup when you have that stuff to dip into. Might sounds gross if you don't like eggs, but I love eggs and I loved that meal. Two drinks, an appetizer of provoleta (cheese layers with ham then grilled), the steak, and the potatoes was 100 pesos. In American dollars that's about 33 bux. In NYC, the steak alone would cost you that much! If you go to Buenos Aires, you will be on Ave. Corrientes because it's near all the tshirt shops and you should eat at the Palace.

Taking Woodstock Wrap Dinner

I've been upcountry for the past couple of months working on the new Ang Lee movie, Taking Woodstock. It's over now and in my time of unemployment I'm left with tons of food pictures and some stories. If you like this one and if the Beatles don't sue me for using their song, I'll make more.

Voter Fraud Begone!

I'm really glad to be back in the city so that I can vote, but I just got a case of anxiety listening to a radio show about election fraud. This morning started out great though. My dentist said my teeth were boring, there were no cavities and he gave me an election day discount. The sun was shining, birds were singing. When I got to the polls, kids were crying, there were lines. There was yelling. Miraculously, I didn't have to wait, it took me 2 minutes to vote, but I walked out a little disappointed. I wanted to get to know the people in line, make faces at the babies. Talk about the excitement. Then there were no stickers that said I voted, so I couldn't get any of the free stuff that's being given out to voters. Starbucks coffee, Ben & Jerry's ice cream, Krispy Kreme donuts, vibrator at Babeland! Now I'm back at my messy apartment trying to figure out how to organize all the pictures I've taken of food from my last job this summer.