Heidi's Journal

08/16/2010 13:28 #52458

Maggie Cassella! Stand up comedy @ Ninth Ward
Category: events

Toronto-based stand up comic Maggie Cassella hits the road (a bit) and tries out the city next door in the country next door - Hello BUFFALO!!! She has performed Because I Said Soâ„¢ for 20 summers in Provincetown, as well as in a whole mess of other places in North America. One show only Wednesday August 18th, 2010, at The Ninth Ward at Babeville, 341 Delaware Avenue, Buffalo, NY. That's right, Babeville!!

For tix and info: Tickets at all Tickets.com outlets including Tops Markets, Babeville Box Office (M-F, 11am-5pm), charge by phone 888-112-6000 and online at $15 in advance, $18 at the door.

(no, joan rivers won't be there)

08/15/2010 19:13 #52456

Pesto
Category: eating in

I don't have any basil to make pesto with this summer, but I know other (e:peeps) do. It's so yum. A suggests that I shouldn't ever give out my true recipes to preserve the specialness of what I make, but I do anyway.

Pesto

2 c fresh basil, tightly packed *
2 T pine nuts **
2 large cloves of garlic, peeled
1 T lemon juice
3 T+ extra virgin olive oil
1/2 t. salt
1/2 t. nutmeg
1/2 c. Parmesan cheese, freshly grated
2 T. Romano cheese, freshly grated

Mix all but the cheeses in a blender or food processor until fine. Mix with cheeses in bowl. Eat.

spinach can be substituted for some basil
walnuts can be substituted for pine nuts, but pine nuts are highly recommended.

libertad - 08/16/10 15:15
It is amazing. You just get the whole nutmegs and grind em up.

heidi - 08/16/10 13:32
Oh wow, fresh nutmeg???!!

libertad - 08/16/10 13:26
I probably will buy them at the COOP to start since I don't really use them at all I could just buy what I need. Now I got to see if (e:mike)'s Mom still has some basil for me from her garden. I have a nutmeg grinder that I love any opportunity to use.

@(e:jason), I made it before without the pine nuts and it was great so now I want to try it the other way.

janelle - 08/16/10 13:01
You get a bag of pine nuts at Price Rite. $6 for about 6 oz.

jason - 08/16/10 12:51
Libertad, one more thing for you, if you omit the pine nuts you have the french version, pistou, still very legit!

jason - 08/16/10 12:47
Yes, the co-op does have pine nuts in bulk! I bought some just yesterday when I made some pesto for my linguine. When you enter, go straight all the way to the back right corner. They're around $35 per lb.

heidi - 08/16/10 11:36
(e:libertad) - Tops & Wegmans have smaller quantities - 4oz probably. I've never checked the coop to see if they have pine nuts in bulk. I use pine nuts on salads, pierogies, tostadas & other stuff. Yummy!

(e:janelle) - the nutmeg adds a nice bit of depth to the pesto while the lemon juice adds a touch of tang and some preservative to reduce browning.

libertad - 08/16/10 11:13
I was just at Guercio's and noticed they had pine nuts behind the counter and I was shocked at their price. It was $17 for a pretty good sized amount but I would only use a small portion of it. Any ideas where to get these in smaller quantities?

janelle - 08/16/10 10:34
This is very close to my recipe. I made and froze three cups recently. But still have plenty of basil for more freezing. I think for my next batch I will try your recipe. I like the sound of nutmeg and lemon juice.

08/14/2010 13:00 #52441

Mezza
Category: eating out

A friend and I went to Mezza for dinner last night. I should have taken pictures because the presentation was beautiful. (e:paul);51969 Paul's review

Fatayer (spinach, cilantro, lemon juice, garlic, olive oil on a pita-type pastry): my favorite item.
Tabouli: excellent
Falafel: it was boring, dry, and the wrong texture - much more finely ground ingredients which made it feel like a dry potato. The tahini lacked flavor.
Warak Anab (stuffed grape leaves): served warm, the rice was mushy. It felt heavy. Couldn't taste the mint.
Beef shwarma (Lana's choice): she said it was dry but tasty. Came with nice side salad and choice of potatoes. Lana got the spicy cubed potatoes, but she said they were just seasoned, not spicy.
Beer selection: nice I didn't review the wine list. They have a full bar.
Service: attentive, friendly
Atmosphere: we couldn't get a spot on the patio and we were seated on the 1.5 floor. Very pretty place.

Mezza website

The menu didn't quite have enough explanation of the words used so it took a while to figure out an order. There's only one vegetarian entree and it's for two people ($24.99), and wraps seem like lunch food, which is why I went with the selection of mezzas.

08/12/2010 08:00 #52419

first sign of the end of summer

sigh*

jenks - 08/12/10 16:26
Oh my god you are going to make me cry.
My summer doesn't start for real until tomorrow. don't tell me it's over!!

paul - 08/12/10 12:13
(e:fing) tried like every rotation on his droidX and they all seem to work. Try again.

paul - 08/12/10 10:18
Or maybe it is a sign of intense global warming and everything will just fry to a crisp.

I fixed the category bug in the android app but you will need to update the app. I am not sure why your image did not rotate. It is weird because rob is on the droidX and I think his looks normal. I set it to send me debugging info everytime someone posts from android so I can see what I it is sending. Try another and we can see.

tinypliny - 08/12/10 10:05
I don't want this summer to end. It has been perfect in terms of the weather.

heidi - 08/12/10 08:27
Picture didn't rotate! And the category field didn't show even tho i entered one. Thanks for the category field in the app!

08/07/2010 13:33 #52389

Roommate?

I hate my apt management company and want to move out of my cute sunny 1 bdrm apt. when my lease is up at the end of the month. I've already given notice. I found a nice two-bedroom (dog & cat friendly, central air) in my neighborhood. And then my roommate option backed out. So I either need a new roommate RIGHT NOW so we can get the apt Monday or I have to find the elusive 1-bdrm or big studio that I can afford that's still metro walkable. Anyone got ideas? Roommate?

sigh*

libertad - 08/08/10 12:30
You can contact (e:ladycroft) for the number of her old landlord. She was really happy with him.

heidi - 08/08/10 12:07
Yeah, this sucks. It's the second housing solution to collapse this week, which is very disappointing and discouraging. The timing is so harsh. I've got some stuff lined up to look at and I'm trying to stay positive about it. China Cat is a lot easier to accommodate than Nisha.

(e:libertad) - No way am I moving into your building with the reports you've given of it! :-) But thanks for thinking of me.

(e:tinypliny) - your building is definitely too expensive, but thanks!

libertad - 08/07/10 23:58
Here is the worst journal about my apartment. I hated reading it because that was such a shitty time. I doubt most people have an experience like this one when they move in.

:::link:::

libertad - 08/07/10 23:53
You could also see this journal for more about my building.
:::link:::

libertad - 08/07/10 23:49
Also, I happen to have OK neighbors. You never know what you might get in a place like this though. See this journal if you didn't already...http://estrip.org/articles/read/52218/I_hate_crappy_landlords

libertad - 08/07/10 23:47
You might consider my building but the management sucks really bad. The price is right and they will fix things but only after having someone show up without calling first. They are so unprofessional that I would rather live with the smaller problems then deal with that shit. If you want more details email me. The unfortunate thing is that the price is under what comparable apartments in the area are going for. I also really like the location, the lay out of the apartment itself and that it was fairly clean and painted when I moved in. They also do the floors each time someone moves out too. Animals are OK.

tinypliny - 08/07/10 21:24
Oh man. That's a tough spot. I could help you locate studios/1BRs if you like. Let me know. The big studios in my building start around $650 and up. Would they be in your range? I could ask my manager if there are available spots. If you'd like to call/write to him directly, he is Jeremy (Phone: 716-886-5300 Email: jmitchell@bmgapt.com)

metalpeter - 08/07/10 15:50
You are in a tough spot, if you didn't have the pets I would say just get some other 1 bedroom place (Haven't looked but I assume there are a ton), but with pets good luck on finding that. Is it possible that since the roommate backed out at the last moment (hey 2 going in on one place is the reason you 2 went with this place) that you could get a little bit of money from them, just as a way to buy you some time to find another roommate. That would be the right thing for them to do, it really would. If I knew of anyone looking for a place (I know no one really) or a good place I would let you know but I don't. I wish you luck..........