Zeno's Bar & Grill
Friday, June 29, 2007
Et tu, Ben?
Either my music taste is getting really bad, or Muzak is getting really good. Last month, I blogged about my multiple Feist encounters on Muzak (Urban Outfitters, Lululemon etc.)
This month, it was Ben Folds. At Von's!
O, what can it all mean?
--Melanie
Wednesday, June 27, 2007
Slap a Headband on My Skull and Call Me a Sushi Chef
People! It was good. Really, really good.
Lesson learned: you can make truly tasty sushi at home.
We made ebi (shrimp) and tuna nigiri sushi, plus spicy tuna rolls and california rolls. We even had masago (orange smelt eggs) for garnish. And it was all seriously delicious. We have a really good Japanese market nearby, so I look forward to branching out into things like quail eggs and ikura (salmon roe) next time.
However, I wouldn't say that I'll never eat sushi out again--in fact, it has only made me more intrigued. I can't wait for my next trip to the sushi bar so I can steal all their moves.
--Melanie
Labels: food, learning new things
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
From Pinatas to Maguro in 10 Easy Steps
Finally, after years of kids' birthday parties, my husband and I have learned how to throw a party. Simple: you just send out the invitation and the rest falls into place by the time the designated date arrives.Martha Stewart we are not, but the logic is inescapable.
And this is how we wound up inviting twenty or so of our nearest and dearest friends to a sushi-making party scheduled for mid-July.
I should mention here that neither my husband nor I has ever made sushi in our lives. But we've eaten a lot of sushi in restaurants, so, hey, we figured we were emininently qualified.
There was that tiny moment of terror after hitting the send button on the Evite, I'll admit, but by then it was too late.
Did I mention we invited more than 20 people to this thing????
Actually, we're doing okay. So far, the process has been very educational. I've learned the difference between true, traditional Maguro (bluefin tuna) and the more widely available version that passes for Maguro at many sushi restaurants, and in a few weeks, at chez moi (yellowfin tuna). I've discovered where to find raw fish, flying fish roe and dried seaweed in my town (no, not at the beach.) Still looking for a good, reasonably priced set for serving sake to that many people.
Tonight is our trial run at making a batch of the stuff. For the record, we do not plan to use a human, naked sushi platter. This is, after all, real life and not the movies. Even though the naked sushi plate thing is apparently practically mainstream (even our beloved NY Times has reported on it.)
Wish us luck!
--Melanie
Monday, June 25, 2007
Teach and Grow Smarter!
Are you a Norwegian male who is the eldest sibling in your family? Well, good news: scientists have discovered you're smart.That's according to Dr. Petter Kristensen and Dr. Tor Bjerkedal, the authors of a recent study on IQ and birth order. There have been several recent articles on the study--most notably in the New York Times last week. The difference in IQ between older and younger siblings is small--only a few points, but this apparently can make the difference between being a B student, versus hanging in with an A average by the skin of your teeth.
Parents, don't despair for the futures of your younger children, however. The effect is, of course, an average--and there are families in which the effect is absent, or even reversed, with the youngest sibling scoring highest on tests.
One interesting take home message that I got from all the press surrounding this study was that we should encourage our youngest kids to teach other children--whether that's an older sibling or a younger friend. One theory argues that the very act of teaching helps children consolidate and reinforce their knowledge--thereby raising the IQ's of those older kids who tend to take on that "teacher" role.
Hey, maybe it works for adults, too. Actually, this reminds me...I've been reading a really 
interesting book about mental function and aging--it's called "Living to 100" and it's a fascinating study of centenarians and what they did to survive beyond age 100 with their mental faculties largely intact. The take home message there: music. I'm seriously thinking of taking up an instrument. Of course, there are other effects, but music was an interesting common thread that seems so accessible. Can't change those pesky genes or go back to a pre-industrial, non-processed food diet too easily, can we?
interesting book about mental function and aging--it's called "Living to 100" and it's a fascinating study of centenarians and what they did to survive beyond age 100 with their mental faculties largely intact. The take home message there: music. I'm seriously thinking of taking up an instrument. Of course, there are other effects, but music was an interesting common thread that seems so accessible. Can't change those pesky genes or go back to a pre-industrial, non-processed food diet too easily, can we?So now all I need to do is learn how to play an instrument and then teach it to someone else. I'll live to 100 with a high IQ to boot!
--Melanie
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
You Get the Idea...
Wow, a lot happens in almost a month - End of school, a new phone, a ballet recital, book club, a trip to Florida, a Philip Glass concert, a visiting relative...
I'm not sure why the end of school became so busy for me, but it did. I think because there were so many one off things to my schedule that I had to remember. Lucky for me my old beloved Razr phone died and I got the new Moto Q which has a QWERTY keypad and a calendar built into the phone.
Piper's ballet was cute, but LONG! Her song lasted for all of 45 seconds, but we had to stay for the entire 90 minute performance because they wouldn't let us backstage to pick up our kids. I really need to find a new place for her to take lessons. You'd think by the way they act they're training the next Anna Pavlova, but believe me, from what I've seen of their long term students (and it was a LOT) they ain't. Can you say out-of-sync (with both the music and each other) after ten years of lessons.
Book club was at my house. We read Veronica by Mary Gaitskill. I really enjoyed it though it was a bit too racy for some of the other members. It was about a former model with hepatitis C. It was incredibly well-written and her use of description was amazing.
Next month we are reading Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro. It was so good that I finished it already and book club isn't for another month. I'll probably read one of the other picks that got voted down: Drop City by T.C. Boyle.
Two days after book club we were on the 6am flight to Fort Lauderdale to visit my father-in-law. His wife of 57 years passed away in February, so he is obviously sad and lonely, but seeing his grandkids cheered him up a bit. The kids had fun and we saw wild iguanas stalking the grounds of his retirement home.
Returning home it was errand, errand, errand with kids in tow preparing for the visit of my grandmother. We were able to take a break on Wednesday evening and (finally) go to Ravinia (a beautiful outdoor concert venue) to see Philip Glass. His new work, Book of Longing, puts music to a selection of poems by Leonard Cohen. We had dinner at a restaurant on-site before going in and I was nervous we would be late. I didn't want to miss a single note. My husband reassured me that if we did we would hear it again, and again, and again. The concert was wonderful and it was exciting to see Philip Glass actually there.
The next day my grandmother arrived. It's great having her here, and she'll be staying with us for the next two weeks, so it might be a while before I'm able to update again. Luckily Melanie's been great about posting, so I'll see you all at the end of the month!
--Kelly
Thursday, June 14, 2007
The Joy of Free Time
How do you spell relief? Um, well, frankly: T-H-E- E-N-D O-F T-H-E B-I-R-T-H-D-A-Y S-E-A-S-O-N
All three of my kids have their birthdays between April 28 and June 8. That's a lot of parties all piled up on each other. Plus, this year we had a first communion, and a relentless progression of recitals, talent shows, field trips--not to mention more thank you notes than you could shake a stick at. Not that I'm complaining exactly. These were all nice, happy events. But there's definitely a price paid when all your free time is sucked up searching for engineer hats on a Friday afternoon because the ones you ordered from Oriental Trading are scheduled to arrive the day after the party.
However. These things do come to an end, and this week for the first time in ages, I found myself actually able to get some work done. I even cleaned up my office.
--Melanie
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
Bookins Delivers!
Holy Cow! It really does work as advertised. I almost fell over when I got my first "order" for a book about an hour after listing it. Within my first day of membership, I unloaded four old books and got the first--and only--book on my "wish list" so far. Sweet! 
Now I need to spend some time adding books to my list to use all the points I've earned. Any suggestions? I've noticed is that the books tend to be a bit older--probably because the newer ones can be recycled for cold hard cash via Amazon Used. Still, I got "Intuition" by Allegra Goodman, which came out in hardcover in '06, so that's not a hard and fast rule.
--Melanie
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
Possibly the Greatest Thing Since Sliced Bread
What do you do when your used Michael Crichton book is only worth a penny on Amazon used? If you're trying to live up to a New Year's Resolution to maintain a steady state equilibrium in the book department (Books In=Books Out), like I am, you turn to the amazing book trading site, Bookins.com. It's a great idea for people who live in small houses--and good for the planet, too. You enter the ISBN numbers of your unwanted books. They're worth points that can be used to make fair trades with other people's used books. All you pay is $3.99 for postage. Picture me as Scarlett O'Hara, bosom heaving (okay, skip that part if you want)..."As God is my witness, I'll never be hungry buy new books again!!!"
--Melanie
Monday, June 04, 2007
Vintage from the Garage
Who knew it was possible to whip up a batch of tasty Viognier in one's garage? After attending a wine bottling party this weekend, now we know: it can be done...and with style.
When we were first invited to our friend's party, we weren't quite sure what a wine bottling party would entail--and not even sure how to dress, although in the end we decided to go with clothes that would mesh well with a splash of Pinot here and there. I do think my brown top had a certain Je ne sais spill wine all over me quoi.
What we actually did during the party was to transfer the finished product from glass carboys into 600 bottles, adding corks, bottle toppers and labels. I was particularly proud of my labeling prowess. Those babies are on there STRAIGHT! And my husband enjoyed operating the torture machine-looking device for corking the wine (see picture) which is more challenging than it looks.
600 bottles of wine, and that was the easy part, compared to actually making the stuff. All in all, it only took a few hours since there were so many people working together. The best part? We got to take home a bottle of each kind of wine!
--Melanie
