Governor's Island

On Saturday we took our second trip to Governor's Island for our friend Cara's birthday. This year we opted to take the ferry from Brooklyn, which was great - I'm a sucker for free things. Instead of renting bikes this year, we just walked around the island and were able to take in a bit more - I'm also a sucker for reading historical and informational placards ha.

The island has seen many changes over the years from being one of the first settlements of the city, to a US army post, to a coastguard base, to a national monument.

On our walk, we met a man who had lived on the island when he was in elementary school while his father was in the Coast Guard. He was showing his wife and teenage daughter around, telling them about life there.  What an experience that must have been.

This year, some lucky high school students will have the opportunity to attend New York Harbor School in a renovated building on Governor's Island.

Personally,  I think it would be an ideal location for a college campus. The old military buildings built in the 30s are just beautiful and very reminiscent of university buildings.  And seriously, how awesome would it be to go to college on an island with views of the statue of liberty and the Manhattan skyline? Apparently NYU agreed with me...and have been in talks about a satellite campus on Governors Island...dangit, Chris, you went to grad school too soon!.

 

The island will be changing even more in the coming years, with plans to create a waterfront park and encourage development. I think great things can be done with this special place, but I sincerely hope that they preserve the historical landmarks and maintain the serenity of the island.

Menu - Week of August 8th

I'm starting to get lazy with the menu planning again, but here it is for this week:

Sunday: Spinach salad

Monday: Eggplant sandwich

Tuesday: Chickpea Chicken

Wednesday: Spinach Salad / Mozzarella Panini

Thursday: Dinner out and a movie

Friday: Veggie Bowls

Saturday: Homemade Gnocchi

Along the Hudson

I work just a few blocks from the Hudson River, so when it's nice outside I like to walk over there with my lunch and a book and enjoy the sun and water.  After doing this for a while I got an itch to walk the entire length of Manhattan along the Hudson...it can be done (almost) entirely by walking either through a park, on a walking trail, or on a boardwalk. Some of the parks, such as Riverside, have been around forever.  But a lot of the amenities have been part of a recent effort to renovate the waterfront and make it more pedestrian friendly.

So one Saturday I took the subway up to 96th street, walked over to Riverside Park, and then walked down the island all the way to Battery Park.  Here are a few photos from my journey.

Riverside Park and a pretty sweet place to play little league baseball

The Intrepid and tennis courts at Hudson River Park

Free kayaking and an amazing view

Some kids playing ping pong in Battery Park City. The new ferry terminal, on the right, is just gorgeous.  Seriously, this picture looks like a rendering to me. 

I took a break to go inside the World Financial Center (yay public restrooms) and peeked at the progress on the World Trade Center Site.  The tower is coming along, albeit slowly

Pretty hydrangeas south of the WFC, and finally I'm able to see the Statue of Liberty!

Woohoo!  I made it to Battery Park and took the subway home with very tired feet.

Nutty Barley Bake

We tend to cook the same things over and over again so for the past few weeks we have been trying a couple of new recipes each week. We usually look for recipes either online or in magazines even though we have about a dozen cookbooks on our shelf.  Well, last week Chris found a great recipe in our Taste of Home cookbook, Nutty Barley Bake.

It's a really easy recipe, but quite flavorful, combining barley with onions, nuts (we used pine nuts and almonds) and beef broth. It's a very pretty meal too because the parsley and green onions rise to the top when it bakes...unfortunately we didn't take any pictures. We ate it as the main meal for dinner one night and then reheated the leftovers the next night as a side to chicken. Like most things, it tasted better the second day. I would definitely recommend the recipe and we'll likely make it again soon.

The recipe is available from the Taste of Home website here.

Menu - Week of August 1st

For the most part, last week's menu planning was a success.  The only day we deviated from the plan was on Friday when we opted for Joe's pizza instead of Le P'tit.  Swell Season, the couple from the movie Once, was playing a free concert in Prospect Park and we didn't want to miss any of it, so  we took our slices of Joe's to the park.  Here is the plan for this week...with a couple of repeats:

Sunday: Salad (Same as last week - spinach, feta cheese, tomatoes, olives, capers, roasted red peppers, red onions, and chick peas.)

Monday: Pulled pork - cooked in the crockpot and served on rolls

Tuesday: Nutty barley bake - new recipe from The Taste of Home cookbook

Wednesday: Chicken stuffed with goat cheese, sun dried tomatoes, and pesto

Thursday: Grilled cheese with bacon, avocado, and tomato

Friday: Dinner out at Le P'tit Paris Bistro (Since we didn't make it there last Friday)

Saturday: Bean Burritos

Marathons, Half Marathons, and 1/26 Marathons

Last weekend Chris ran the Queens half marathon...yep...Queens. Believe it or not, aside from the tar plant that he had to run by in the July heat, he said the course was rather beautiful. Ever since running the Brooklyn half marathon in May with his brother Zac, Chris has been considering a full marathon. Tomorrow he's going to sign up for the Kiawah marathon in December...which is pretty crazy! I'm very proud of him and how well he's done!

Inspired by Chris's success, I've been attempting to run myself. I hate to say it, but I couldn't even run a full mile when I first started. The loop around Prospect Park is just over a 5k and it's marked by every 1/4 mile. I started out running a 1/4 mile and walking a 1/4 mile around the loop. On Wednesday I was able to run the 1st mile, which was very exciting! I hope to be able to run the entire loop someday.

Here are a few pictures of Chris and Zac before and after the Brooklyn half. I should note that Zac ran that thing in 1:23:12...absolutely insane!

Menu - Week of July 25th

Once again, we are attempting to menu plan for the week. Chris did a great job last week and we even tried out a new recipe that I found in Real Simple. Evidence can be found on Chris's blog. So it's my turn this week and in keeping with the spirit of trying new things, there are three new recipes on this week's menu. So here it goes:

Sunday: Salad (New recipe inspired by a salad that Chris had at a restaurant last week, this salad has feta cheese, tomatoes, olives, capers, roasted red peppers, red onions, and chick peas.)

Monday: Rigatoni Peperonata (New recipe found in Real Simple that uses many of the ingredients used in Sunday's salad. It should also pair well with white wine...it is The Bachelorette night after all.)

Tuesday: Chicken Paprikash (New recipe given to me by our friend Emily that uses the crockpot! And smoked paprika!! Also, it's reminiscent of When Harry Met Sally..."waiter there is too much pepper on my paprikash.")

Wednesday: Bean Burritos (The Jaynes household staple.)

Thursday: Hamburgers and Baked French Fries (It's been a while since we've braved using the oven in this heat, but I'm craving fries, so be it.)

Friday: Dinner out at Le P'tit Paris Bistro (This cute bistro opened up at the end of our block last fall and we have yet to check it out. So we will on Friday.)

Saturday: Veggie Bowls (Sautéed veggies from our farmer's market mixed with chickpeas and topped with goat cheese.)

Yay I did it!