as we may blog

Ate crab. Maggie and I decided to go big and stay at home for Christmas dinner. The menu: snow crab legs, artichokes, and sweet potato fries. A duet of Hitachino Nest ales complemented our meal.

Brewed beer. This one is an imperial wheat stout. I made a yeast starter for the first time, which created such a vigorous fermentation that it blew the stopper off the top of the carboy on the first night. The blowoff tube I rigged up to handle the excess CO2 provided quality entertainment for two days straight… if you’re a fan of fart jokes, that is.

Raced Buddy. I had a lovely New Years in frigid New Hampshire with Maggie’s family. In spite of the temperature, I wanted to spend a little time in the wide open spaces of rural New England so I went out with Buddy out a couple of times. We raced him up the driveway in near-zero temperatures—while it’s humbling to be beaten by a dog, it’s perhaps even more humbling to have to catch one’s breath for a solid ten minutes after the defeat.

…while Tony enjoys a New York slice

Nothing brings back the memories of the Kenwood Elementary cafeteria like today’s lunch. I keep looking over my shoulder, waiting for my mom embarrass me by stopping by and asking how my day is going in front of all my friends.

Also: ask me about my plan to completely eliminate litter in NYC by establishing an above-equilibrium price floor on 25 cent bags of chips!

Has a meal ever stayed with you for days after the fact (setting aside for the moment the Italian sausage sandwich at the 1/2 Mile Bar and Grill)? The Red Hook ball fields provided us with just that sort of feeling last weekend. Fresh, spicy, filling, and cheap Mexican/Central American street food. Everyone should go—if a chance to see the underside of the BQE isn’t reason enough to visit Red Hook, then surely this is, uh, another good reason to visit Red Hook.

And now the bastards want to take it away:

The city, eager as ever for the fat stacks that only a bidding war by commercial concessions can offer, has given the vendors notice that their Temporary Use Agreement, the permit given to them by the Department of Parks and Recreation, won’t be renewed. The city wants to open the parks up for concession bids, which will almost certainly mean an end to the makeshift food stalls that have been operating there for over ten years.

Save Soccer Tacos has info for NYCers to voice their displeasure. Thanks to Iain for the links.

Chorizo huarache with everything

This is one of the more informative pieces I’ve read about the construction and ongoing use of the Alameda-Weehawken Burrito Tunnel.

By the time the burritos reach Cedar Rapids (traveling well over a mile a second) they are heated through, and anyone who managed to penetrate into the tunnel through the Cleveland access shafts would find them ready to eat.

Link swiped from kottke.