TUNA WITH PONZU SAUCE

Yesterday was an unseasonably warm day in NYC. Myrna and I took a long walk which included a trip to Chelsea Market. The tuna at The Lobster Place looked really good, so I got a small piece for dinner. It was easier to make than you think. I seared the tuna on both sides for a couple minutes, sliced up some red onions and cilantro and poured ponzu sauce over it. A few days ago I was at Sunrise Mart in the East Village and bought the bottle that had the most Japanese writing and the coolest design.

SALTIMBOCCA

Kim and Phil came over for dinner tonight so I made Saltimbocca. It's really easy and it's always a crowd-pleaser. You can use chicken, veal or pork pounded really thin. The guy at Citarella pounded the pork cutlets for me. I dredge each cutlet in flour and then put a slice of prosciutto on each one with some sage leaves tucked underneath. You can also use a toothpick to stick it all together but it will stay stuck even if you don't. After the pork is lightly browned on each side, I make a simple sauce by squeezing a bunch of lemon juice in the pan to scrape up all the brown bits, add a little butter and some capers. Pour the sauce over everything and garnish with a few thin slices of lemon. I used these cool wooden scissors Ford brought me from Mexico to serve everything up with. There were lots of left-overs that I think will make a nice breakfast with some scrambled eggs and toast.

ROCKMEISHA

Rockmeisha is half a block from my apartment but for a long time I never noticed it and didn't even considering going there. Amy told me they have excellent ramen, so Kim, Phil and I went there last night. It really is good. It's an Izakaya restaurant, lot's of small dishes and things to eat while drinking beer. I loved being there with my friends.

VEGETARIAN POT PIE

Kat and Tracy came over yesterday and we made vegetarian pot pie. We trekked to Lifethyme in the freezing cold and got some vegetables (parsnips, turnips, frozen peas, celery, potatoes and tarragon) I already had some mushrooms and carrots. On the way back we ran into a frozen Bill and Barbara who visited earlier and brought me a selection of jeans to try on from Raleigh Denim. They were visiting NYC to celebrate Bill Ryan's birthday-Happy Birthday Bill! When we got back to my place Ruby was there, she had spilled honey all over her self making "better than sex" tea, that I had gotten as a Christmas gift. (It's a blend of Roobios tea, chocolate and peppermint). We arrived just in time for kickoff of the Giants v. Packers game. Kat and Tracy did all the work: cutting up vegetables, sautéing, and rolling out the dough. The pies turned out great (although I would have liked it a little soupier) and were a perfect thing to eat on a bitter cold day while watching a great football game... and they make for some good leftovers.

CORIAN TABLE

I miss working. I liked creating environments, working with others and changing a space to become something it wasn't before I started. For the past few weeks I've been "working" on my apartment. I've always wanted to have a large table where people could eat, I could work on projects and sit with others and talk. I had this table made. It's big. It's got solid walnut legs and a Corian top (which is usually used for kitchen counters) I found this light at PW Vintage Lighting and today Tony installed it for me. It's sort of like a pulley, it's counter-balanced so you can adjust the height of the light as you desire, and you can pivot it around to where you need light most. I bought two more chairs on Etsy that should arrive in the next few days. They don't match the ones I have but I think they'll look good. They are simple, white, wooden chairs sort of in the Windsor chair style. I really like it, I feel like I've changed the environment in my small apartment pretty drastically.

HAPPY NEW YEAR

Ruby, Matt, Myrna, Joe and I enjoyed a quiet New Year's Eve in my apartment. Ruby made lentil soup and we watched Louis C.K.'s new stand up performance from The Beacon Theater. Since it's been so hard to eat, I'm now getting nutrition through TPN (Total Parenteral Nutrition). It's like an IV but it has a pump which drips a milky solution through my port. It takes about 12 hours so I start around 7 or 8 and sleep with it through the night. Tonight we had an unusual occurrence. Instead of the milky solution going in the port, blood started coming out. I called the on-call nurse and she said to re-prime the pump. We drained the liquid into a tupperware container and it looked like this:

Which reminded me of the ecko logo.

MERRY CHRISTMAS

I came down to North Carolina to celebrate Christmas. Andrea and Mac threw a party for my family and friends. Phil was in charge of decorations. Andrea made my all time favorite, ham biscuits. She also had a giant pile of ham and sausages, and some cheeses she brought home from a recent trip to England. We had Zuppa di pesce, with clams, shrimp and wild striped bass and crusty bread to sop up the broth. Outside, near the wood burning oven, Mac set up a clam and oyster shucking station. We utilized last years gift: Clam Rams, to open the raw clams. My nephew Zach figured out how to use it and tried his first raw clam, he liked it.