Every Day of Summer

I've been on a kick of doing more brain activities lately. It's mostly thanks to that book I mentioned awhile back, The Brain That Changes Itself. It got me super aware of my brain and how it will go dormant if it's not used. There are some weird activities I do, like trying to teach myself to be ambidextrous. That's fun. And worthy of a headache! I bought myself one of those pads like they had in kindergarten with the lines for learning how to write and each day I write, in block letters, one letter of the alphabet lowercase and uppercase. Eventually I'll graduate to script, but for now the handwriting is enough. Is it weird to say that I can feel my brain hurt after I do a full page of handwriting with my left, not right, hand? Maybe I'll never be ambidextrous, but I am trying!

But one of the "fun" things I'm doing as a brain activity is taking a photo a day. It may not seem like a brain activity, but for me the connection is trying to remember each day. I've been forgetting things, things I shouldn't and I'm so paranoid about amnesia or something to that effect that I want to try this photo project.

So for every day of summer, I take 1 photo. And in looking at that photo, I want to remember not just that photo and why I took it, but what I could remember from each day off my memory. Yes a journal helps with this too, but my photos at times can speak more clearly that I can so I'm allowing them to be the voice. And then the memory.

With the first week of summer over, I'm including my photos from this past week!

And the recap: 

Day 1 - I had a doctor's appointment early in the morning on 57th Street and got to the city a lot faster/earlier than expected so I walked along Central Park South and snapped this photo. The day started out so promising, then took a downward spiral once work kicked in and the crazy started. It was the beginning of what ended up being a long, stressful week. 

Day 2 - It was a hot day, but I had a little downtime to take a walk during lunch so I walked along the piers by my office for some fresh hot air. And I also was on a mission to get lemonade, but none would be had since the stand wasn't set up yet at Chelsea Piers. I sat on the bench and snapped that viewpoint of the Empire State Building, with my office building & the sanitation department building being the two buildings in the foreground. Despite the heat, there was a nice breeze coming off the water. 

Day 3 - I love fruits and am good about eating them in the summertime. This was my first day of bringing fresh fruits to work. Donut peaches are my favorite. And then blueberries are next. A perfect way to start the day is just prepping food. I find it relaxing and on this day at work, I needed all the patience I could take! 

Day 4 - The weekend! It was a ridiculously beautiful day and on an early morning walk to the market, I came across this boat in a backyard for a house that's around the corner from my apartment building. There's something very country about this house - it has 2 lots of land (unheard of in the city) and looks like a barn. I never noticed the boat they have though until this walk. I didn't have my phone on me to snap a photo since I'm trying to make more of a habit to leave my phone purposely at home on the weekends, so I had to pass by a little later in the day to take the photo. 

Day 5 - It was an unexpected day at home. I wasn't feeling particularly well so I had to cancel plans with my friend Evan. I ended up clearing out my two book cases of any book I decided I would never read a second time and bagged them for charity. Two bags later, I sat down on the couch and decided to start a new counted cross-stitch project. Doesn't matter I have about 5 others in the work ... new ones are always more fun. I am notorious for not finishing projects. It's a miracle I have been able to keep my job. 

Day 6 - After a beautiful weekend, I left my apartment Monday morning to rumbling thunder and some serious lightning. I hate lightning. I basically hide from it, but couldn't while I was waiting for my train which was heavily delayed due to the storm. It wasn't a fun commute, but by the time I got to the city the downpour had stopped and it was a normal rain. I snapped this photo on 34th Street from a cab. I liked the red umbrella among the darkness. 

Day 7 - What wouldn't a photo be without some young love? I found these two lovebirds on my train platform. They were making out in a very weird way - basically just their lips touching. Not moving their lips or heads and I'm imagining there was no French kissing happening either. Just touching lips, lingering. I wasn't the only one who noticed. Everyone was pretty much trying to figure out what they were trying to do except for that guy in the background on his phone. He seemed oblivious the whole time. It was a particularly romantic morning though, so I guess I can't blame these two for whatever form of kissing they were doing. It was a cool morning that warranted playing hooky and walking in Central Park then having lunch at a French restaurant. I did none of those events and just went to work. Ha! 

Week 2 is well under way and progressing nicely in the photo department! 

Lip Stain

I have been trying to make more of an effort lately to wear lipstick or lip gloss and I recently bought the new product by Yves Saint Laurent: lip stain. It's awesome. Lip gloss that stays on like lipstick, how wonderful! I highly recommend. I have #9 & #12. Yes, it's a bit pricey, but oh so worth it. It'll be the only lip color you use. 

Craft Time: Learn A Craft Kits

I've done a few of these "Learn A Craft" Counted Cross-Stitch kits. They're easy and a small enough project to do in a weekend, or sometimes up to a week. My aunt passed away a couple of years ago and happened to be working on this kit. Her daughter, my cousin Cathy, asked me to finish it. I finally got around to it and am happy with the results ... I think Cathy was too. Naturally, the kit involved cats. I'm not a cat fan at all, but they seem to love me and find me wherever I go...

Learn a Craft Kit 

The result - - I added a backing so the canvas holes weren't so apparent. And a bow so it could be hung. As you can see, the gray cat (or the third wheel as I like to call it) looks like he's sticking out his tongue in my piece, as opposed to yawning in how the kit did it. Oops! I like to think he was just getting back at the two love birds, er cats, who were ignoring him. 

Pineapple Upside Down Cake

My father's favorite cake is Pineapple Upside Down. I'll admit, it's one of my favorite's too. Up until yesterday, I always baked them from the box - it was out of habit. I hardly make anything from the box these days, so I decided to make it from scratch for Father's Day. After an exhaustive search online and through cook books, I ended up putting together a recipe from a little of this and a little of that. It turned out surprisingly good. I have to tweak some measurements I think and what pan I use next time (I should've used round!), but this is a fairly decent recipe to use in the meantime: 


Pineapple Upside Down Cake


1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
2/3 cup packed brown sugar
2 cans of pineapple rings in the juice (reserve juice) - should be 8 total
8 maraschino cherries (or more for decorating)
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
2/3 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 cups of reserved juice from pineapple rings 


Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 


Pat the pineapples dry with a paper towel. Reserve the juice from the canned pineapple, should be 3/4 cup. 


Stir together melted butter and brown sugar. Spread mixture evenly in a well buttered 9 inch round cake pan. Add pineapple rings and place cherry in the center of the pineapple. 


Sift together flour, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon. 


In a large mixer, cream sugar and butter until light and fluffy. Add the eggs on at a time, then add vanilla. 


Add the flour mixture, alternating with the reserved pineapple juice. Beat well after each addition. 


Spread batter evenly into the prepared pan. 


Bake for 45 to 55 minutes. Let cake cool in pan for 15 minutes once done. 


Invert the cake onto a plate and serve the cake warm or at room temperature. Add ice cream or whipped cream if desired. 

A Pie Video

My friend Jessica sent this video along to me a couple of weeks ago: 

I laugh every time I watch it. I really like Michael Cera - he's just so adorable and funny. And now that he sings about pies? Swoon even more!

In Season: Blackberries

I've been searching for blackberry recipes since they are in season. I'm not a fan of them raw, so I need to have them baked. I had the same issue with blueberries until about two years ago when I could finally stomach the taste of them raw. Weird, I know. I'm hoping blackberries grow on me. For now though, I'll eat them baked. 


Everyday Food always lists recipes by what's in season so when their latest issue arrived last week, I figured I'd find something in there for blackberries. Sure enough ... 


With Father's Day this past weekend, I had a good excuse to make muffins - - blackberry oat bran to be exact. They were excellent! Here's the recipe: 


Blackberry Oat Bran Muffins
from everyday food


1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2/3 cup oat bran
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda 
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp fine salt
6 tbsp unsalted butter, room temperature
2 large eggs
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 cup buttermilk**
1 1/2 cups chopped blackberries


Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line 12 muffin cups with liners. 


Whisk together flour, oat bran, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. 


In a large bowl, beat butter and 1/2 cup sugar on high until light and fluffy. About 6 minutes. Beat in eggs and vanilla until combined. With mixer on low, add flour mixture in 2 additions, alternating with buttermilk and beat until combined. Fold in blackberries. 


Divide batter among muffin cups and sprinkle with remaining 1 tbsp of sugar. Bake about 20 to 25 minutes. Let cool in pan for 5 minutes then transfer muffins to rack and cool completely. 


**I hardly ever use buttermilk when baking. I'll use a "substitute" which is 1 cup of milk and 1 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon - combine and let stand for 5 minutes

Turks & Caicos

I am now officially 30 - eek! I still feel 12 sometimes, but also feel 72 other times. Maybe 30 is just right.

To ring in my 30th year, I wanted to do something different, not just the same ol' birthday dinner, so I went to Turks & Caicos. I needed a vacation anyway so why not combine the two? Well, I think every year I want to do a vacation for my birthday! Why not?!

Turks & Caicos is a beautiful island, well islands I should say. We stayed in Providenciales, or Provo as the locals call it. It was nothing shy of extraordinary. Beautiful beaches and water in all kinds of turquoise and blues. Friendly people, cute shops - it was really so ideal. I'll return for sure since it was a 3 hour plane ride and felt very safe. Oh and the food ... the food was magical. So was the coconut ice cream I indulged in. Yum!

Here are some photos of the trip (because even on an island with just water & sand, I still managed to take 200+ photos):

The Sands - our most excellent resort (with a welcome rum punch drink!)

The Turks & Caicos Island Map

View at lunch at Hemingway's Restaurant

View from under the beach umbrella

Laying in a hammock

View looking up in the hammock

View at dinner at Bay Bistro

That delicious coconut ice cream!

Morning beach walk

Ahhh pure beauty

Sea Star Sighting!

Empty beach in the morning 

My most favorite picture from the trip. This was an abandoned dock at an abandoned hotel on the beach. Naturally I'd like to buy that hotel and stare at this dock every day... 

Birthday rum punches!

This was the exact time of me turning 30, 12:35pm. I may not have had such a big smile if it weren't for the amazing pool, sun, and island I was in! 

This trip was really special and memorable. I completely detached from anything going on in "reality" and just lounged around. It's pretty hard for me to do nothing, but I somehow found no problem in doing that on this trip. It felt liberating! Every morning would consist of a walk on the beach, then a trip to town to walk around the shops, then back for lunch, relaxing on the beach, then the pool, then shower, then dinner, then drink. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. And Repeat. No desire to do anything but that list of things, every day. Already dreaming of a return ...

Pie #3: Blueberry Cream Cheese Hand Pies

Well, this was a humbling experience. After a couple of successful pies and all around success with my baking lately, my attempt at hand pies pushed my confidence down. Way down. How disappointing!

I came across this recipe in Everyday Food thinking that a hand pie would be perfect for a trip to the beach over Memorial Day weekend. I had frozen blueberries in the height of blueberry season last year so I had to find a recipe to use them up so this fit the bill. Also I really love blueberries and liked the fact that I could bake a small treat (less calories and all that good stuff).

So I embarked on making the dough, from scratch. Then attempted to assemble the hand pies. That's when everything turned to the toilets. In my attempt to "fold" as the recipe so easily instructed, I realized something was very wrong with the dough. It wouldn't spread without tearing or fold without tearing or crumbling. Rather than waste all this stuff, I proceeded and just made little cups instead of pies.

This is how it turned out:

Did someone say blueberry wreath? Yea, I didn't think so...

But they actually came out good! And they ended up being a good beach snack:

So here's the thing - I still had a ton of blueberries in the freezer + this cream cheese filling I made for the recipe. I hate throwing things out so I decided to take a little walk to the store, buy dough, and make some blueberry pies for an airplane snack. 

I should just stick with store bought pie dough because then everything comes out perfect. Exhibit a: 

And exhibit b: the result: 

They don't look that beautiful, but they at least look like a hand pie, are triangle in shape not a circular, and were perfect to throw in a treat bag and eat it on the plane: 

They were quite delicious. The dough - perfect, of course. I don't know what to tell you to do if you decide to make your own dough to ensure it comes out normal and not wreath-like. I do feel like this pie was a cheat in the end, but I made an attempt at the dough so I'm not completely discounting this pie! I am 3 months behind on this project so I have to get a move on it!