western tizzler's Profile

Battra92 is right-- just go live in Cali and you can buy everything at the farmer's market, including your olive oil, nuts, cheeses, eggs, meat, fish, and cheese 52 weeks/yr. I made weekly TJ's runs for yogurt and milk (and wine!), and bigger supermarket runs once a month or so for bulk items like grains and pasta. But I lived off of the farmer's markets. And it didn't require any planning-- just show up and buy what inspired me.

But now I just moved to NYC from the Bay Area, so I don't know how much I'll be able to avoid the grocery store. Apparently, you can't get fresh, local fruits and veggies here all year long. And nothing really grows in the winter. Is that true??

Tangentially, if any of you ATers know of great markets in uptown Manhattan, I'd love to hear about them!

i use mason jars and these cool 8"x8" porcelain tiles i got from turkey. clustering things on trays and tiles always makes them look organized. i'd LOVE a vanity. i think of it as the one place in my and mr. tizzler's shared apartment that i could let my inner 13-year-old girl's decorating tendencies wild.

you people are speaking my language! i just moved into a new apt last week and the previous tenant had not done ANY of these things, so i spent 3 hours last night scrubbing basically every non-small appliance on this list/comments section (fridge, range/oven knobs, oven door/interior, overhangs and undersides of my awful ugly formica countertops, cabinet doors, backslash).

Other things to pay attention to cleaning:
- top ledge and handle of dishwasher
- if you can push the stove or fridge around, move them and vacuum or sweep up the debris that accumulates on the side of them.
- fridge handles. these can get DISGUSTING. the previous tenant in my unit left hers so grimy they are basically stained gray, plus so many people touch them, they can get germy.
- sink -- grime can accumulate around the drain and splash up on the sides, plus a shiny, spotless sink really makes the kitchen look sparkling.

These are so hideous! I wish they would go away.

Ft. Greene Park in Brooklyn! LOVE.

Also, Dolores Park in SF. So amazing on a warm, sunny day. If I were a kid who went to Mission High School, I think I'd have a serious truancy problem with Dolores Park right next to me.

+1 on Rock Creek, but when I lived in DC my favorite park was Meridian Hill (?) in U Street.

I love dinner parties where I can be a part of making the party happen, like helping put the finishing touches on a meal or bringing something (besides booze) to share with everyone.

I think it's especially helpful for people who are more shy or introverted-- gives them something to do or to connect over instead of getting anxious about making small talk. I notice when I host, everyone asks if there's something they can do to help. So either we all like to pitch in, or our mammas raised us to be polite!

Love the menu idea and traditions ideas, too. It makes me reflect on those things that my friends/fam do before sitting down to eat that I don't even notice.

I love this thread! I hope the Seattle and Denver meetups go well :)

I'm about to move to Harlem after 6 years in the SF Bay Area and am lucky to have a few close friends already in NYC. I'm totally going to take advantage of the connections I already have to try to meet new people.

My first move will be to have a housewarming party, invite all the people I know in NYC (which is like 10), and then ask all of them to bring a few people who they think are awesome. Just another version of getting friend recs from people you know-- maybe more appropriate for the extroverts among us :)

My goal is actually to build (or luck into) a group of friends, though. I've so loved having a group here in CA and would love to establish the same sense of community in NY!

Wow, I'm surprised that so many of you are anti-dishwasher, or ambivalent at best! I live alone, cook a lot, don't have a dishwasher, and so wish I had one. It literally would give me back hours of my life every week. (I've calculated it.)

I also think dishes get cleaner with a dishwasher (provided you don't have a crappy dishwasher) because you can use really hot water.

To those of you who are cooks and say dishes aren't a big deal because you clean as you go-- do you do a mise en place ahead of cooking? I ask because I don't always clean as I go, and I think it's because I usually prep as I go instead.

Oh my goodness, I made something just like this (minus the meat) the other day! It was AMAZING. I used St. Andre triple creme brie (from TJ's), fig preserves, and this spicy asian green that I can never remember the name of (tastes like mustard greens, but milder, and it's skinny and has watery stems like arugula).

FYI, I actually toasted mine open-face in the toaster oven, as my panini press (the Breville) is a pain in the behind to clean and I didn't feel like dealing with it. It was still delicious!

Excuse me, roasted garlic tomato puree? What is this recipe and can you share it?? And is this something you use as your straight-up sauce, or as the base for sauces and soups?