Suit Up

Sun is my sustenance and I'm not going to lie, I'm feeling a little malnourished. The prospect of summer is the only thing getting me through this last month of school and the lack of sunlight in New York City is turning April into a crusade. There were two beautiful days this past week but now it's grey and rainy and lame. Even though it's not quite warm enough yet, I've collected some sought after swim suits, because the least I can do is prepare.

Maaji

MIKOH

BECCA                                                Maaji

Maaji                                                 Zinke

L*Space

L*Space

Juicy Couture                                            Maaji

Tavik

Tavik

Acacia

Tart Time

There will be a fitness post soon to follow, but for now let's talk about food. Shamefully I think I did more damage this Easter than at Thanksgiving. The meal included assorted olives, salamis, cheeses, turkey, roasted potatoes, spinach gnocchi, asparagus and for dessert, pastiera napoletana. I wish I had pictures to share of the feast, but the savages took to the platters before I could get my phone out.

Naturally, in order to prepare for the Romagnoli banquet on Sunday, I began increasing my intake on Friday. I spent the morning baking tarts with my friend, Tania (who deserves complete credit for these tasty recipes). We had originally planned on one tart, but what's better than one tart? Two tarts. Plus, sweet and savory is always the way to go. So, we ended up making an apple tart and a spinach tart, and thankfully I had friends to share them with because they were both deadly.

Dough (makes enough for two tarts):
  1 cup butter

  2⅔ cups flour

  1 tsp salt

  ½ cup ice water

The dough can be made ahead of time because the crust is flakier if it's chilled. The easiest way to make it is with a food processor: pulse all ingredients together, adding the ice water in increments, until the mixture resembles chunky crumbles. As long as all of the ingredients are well incorporated, it will hold together when pressed into a ball.

Separate ball into two patties and chill for 20 minutes (or longer).

Roll out patties on floured surface until they are about ⅛-in thick and press into two 11-inch tart pans with straight edges, not angled outwards.

Spinach tart filling: 

  1 pkg. chopped spinach, thawed

  1 large yellow onion, finely sliced

  3 pieces bacon, finely sliced

  1 cup gruyère cheese, shredded

  ½ cup white wine

  ½ cup milk

  1 egg 

  black pepper, to taste

  salt, to taste

Sauté spinach, onion, and bacon in lightly oiled pan on medium heat until onions are wilted, about 10-15 minutes. Add salt, to taste.

In a separate bowl, whisk together wine, milk and egg.

Cover bottom of tart with spinach mixture, top spinach mixture with the shredded gruyère and finally, pour wine mixture evenly over top. Top with ground black pepper. Bake at 425° F for 20 minutes. 

Apple tart filling: 

  3 large apples, sliced nice and thin

  ⅛ cup sugar

  ⅓ cup cream

  cinnamon, to taste

Arrange thinly sliced apples starting on the outer edges of the tart, moving inwards like a spiral. Sprinkle sugar and cinnamon over top. Bake at 425° F for 20 minutes. Turn oven off, pour cream over top and let sit in oven for 15 min or so. Indulge.

 

Throwback Thursday: Caribbean Business

After a very long Easter break (and break from blogging) it's finally time for another post. It's such a tease going home so close to summer vacation because it makes coming back to school and writing papers that much harder. However, it usually just takes a bit of wishful thinking to get back into the groove of things. About this time last year I pushed through the end of school eager to begin my summer job. I can say with total confidence that I had the nicest gig a gal could ask for. My stepdad's GIS mapping business, LeadDog Consulting, hired me to drive around eight islands in the Caribbean (Antigua, Guadeloupe, Dominica, Martinique, St. Vincent, Bequia and Grenada) and take street-level images with cameras that were mounted to the rental car. Unfortunately, I don't have the same employment set up this year, but I imagine I'll have an equally nice time as Vermont summers are always beautiful. So, with hopes for a great summer, here are some pics to show how amazing the last one was.

As a side note, just in case you ever find yourself in need of the tastiest and hottest hot sauce, Erica's Country Style is the way to go. When I was on St. Vincent with my working buddy, Trevor, we had a few drinks with Erica, and let me just say, she is one spicy lady.

Palazzo Chupi

    You can expect to see the unexpected in New York City; characters and stores worthy of second glances. I regret not taking a picture of the man dubbed Chandelier and his friend King Charles V…or was it the VI? Chandelier had a head full of dreads that he habitually spray-painted gold, and King Charles was a wandering man with nothing but a rocking horse and a portfolio of amateur photographs. I had been putzing around NoHo with a couple of friends and when we came across these two, a quick chat was too tempting to pass up. Before ending our amicable conversation, I managed to touch one of Chandelier’s metallic stalactites (I honestly have no idea what prompted me to reach out) and purchase a King Charles original print for $1. I asked the King if he would sign the back with a personal message and indeed he did: “I like pizza”.

But I digress, on a completely different note, while I was walking down W. 11^th in the far West Village, I was awestruck by the site of of a massive pink complex looming over its’ neighboring apartments. Palazzo Chupi, the name that is printed on the front of the building, is a set of residential condominiums designed by artist Julian Schnabel. Schnabel has received both praise and protest for his lavish design that is debated to be a work of art and a homage to himself. 

The 50,000 sq ft structure includes a triplex, two duplexes, two single-floor residences, an indoor parking garage and a swimming pool. Before Schnabel discovered the building through artist Roy Lichtenstein, it had acted as a stable and a perfume factory. These days, Palazzo Chupi remains relatively vacant save for the duplex that Schnabel occupies. Apparently Richard Gere purchased one of the single-floor residences for $12 million a few years back but never moved in...I think all that pink left him chupified.

Here are the shots I took:

And now for some Chupa Chup access only pics:

via here

Last but not least, the artist himself: 

Julian Schnabel via here