Jen Keenan
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Posts posted by Jen Keenan
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I wanted to share something with fans of the show and its cocktails. A woman called Dyna Moe has been making Mad Men illustrations for a while now and they're charming.
Here is the main Flickr site.
Here is a printable invite in which Salvatore offers you canapés.
On this placemat, period drink recipes are being served up by Sally Draper.
On this one, Sally is offering you cocktails, tutu-clad.
I just love her work. (And so does Matthew Weiner!)
Um...my parents didn't really have parties. My mom had one or two for her nursing school buddies but everybody just drank beer. So don't ask me or my hypothetical children to bartend if you want good cocktails
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Yay hummingbirdkiss! My mom was a nurse and I attribute my lack of germ paranoia to that.
That being said, because I have a relatively small maw, I have taught myself to break the big chips and can only hope that's good enough for everyone. I try not to entertain those who would freak out over the possibility of human contact. And I love the new, smaller-sized chips!
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You have an excellent memory! The old Woolworths has since become a Five and Dime, but the institution of Frito Pie has remained intact.To bring it back to food ... FRITO PIE!!!!
I had some great drive-in Frito pie in Taos, that's all I remember about it. That dime store sign in your photo - does that mean some kind soul has opened a restaurant where the old Woolworth's used to be? That gives me all kinds of hope.Memory, schmemory. It's FRITO PIE. One of those recipes I occasionally try to Google and fail. Why? Because everyone else makes with with red chili. Sorry, Texas, but Frito pie made with New Mexican green chiles is so much more delicious. To me, anyway.
What excellent news! I'll be sure to remember it the next time I move around America for a year and stop in New Mexico for four months...ummm...
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You are a much nicer person than I am!
Last week, I was trying to relax at the end of a long day with a simple cocktail and a salad at an Italian place in town, and the obnoxious, drunk woman next to me asked if I would join her party in song and belt out 'Happy Birthday' to her husband. My response was a blank stare punctuated by a crisp 'no'.
There's probably some evolutionary significance to this, but now that I think about it, it is nearly always a woman who asks for directions or a photo. Which is a smart instinct, because thanks to the scammers and sleazeballs that populate New York, I immediately ice down any male who looks like he's about to approach me. Drunks of either sex are to be avoided! I don't blame you one bit. But regular tourists, they're cute, and they spend lots of money here. I will go back to liking them when these bloody holidays are over.
To bring it back to food ... FRITO PIE!!!!
I had some great drive-in Frito pie in Taos, that's all I remember about it. That dime store sign in your photo - does that mean some kind soul has opened a restaurant where the old Woolworth's used to be? That gives me all kinds of hope. -
Thanks for saying that! I own about forty old manual cameras and used to repair them when I was in college, but this is my first digital camera. I bought it last month so that I could do this blog, and pretty much learned to use it properly a day or two before starting. I had never even held one before I bought this one!
Well I am shocked! Mainly because I've been working in midtown Manhattan for years and "would you take our picture?" is as common as "how do I get to ___". So ages before I owned a digital I had to learn how to use one.
It just goes to show that it's more important to have a good eye than a fancy camera. And you, lady, have a good eye
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What about Esca? If someone were taking me out for a treat before or after the theater that's the first place I'd suggest. Mainly because I haven't been, want to go, and am too cheap to take myself.
Of course, if you don't like fish, well, then you'd better keep looking.
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Favorite bits were between the Stone Barns visit and the D'Artagnan one. Least favorite, definitely the 'let's get the kids to act bratty and swear in front of innocent strangers' shtick. Kids swearing is only funny if it's entirely natural or completely fictional. And no, I never thought I would become a snob about children and foul language.
Elie, I've noticed the Travel Channel is slapping their stars' names on all their shows now. Perhaps if you used "Anthony Bourdain" instead of "No Reservations" as your keywords your DVR would pick everything up.
And Tony, nice gravy! But there are no chefs in my family (despite what my brother thinks of himself), my mom's gravy was perfectly delicious, and most people know that poultry gravy just isn't brown. Or don't they?
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I do think the network might be listening a little or maybe it's the writer's strike but Two Dudes Catering is not on the line up any time soon.
Reality show jobs aren't union jobs. That's why their writers are not on strike, and why the joke is that from next week on it's all-reality, all the time.
Which, um, makes me wonder - did Emeril write "Bam!!!"? And if not him, what unsung hero came up with that one? And what is he or she doing now?
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Whoops! There goes another one of my poor vocabulary choices. 'Sanitary' was the word that popped into my head when I imagined cold, impersonal service (or lack of, really) and over-packaged, robot-produced food things lined neatly up on shelves. I didn't mean to imply my market was any cleaner than those - who knows what went on in the back room at the A&P?
Women in my family tend to be shy so we love non-interactive shopping. My mom would have loved Fresh Direct even more than I do. Small markets I can handle, e.g. the Thai Grocery in Chinatown, esp. when I know exactly what I need and can't get it (or recognize it) myself. But enough about me!
So I guess what I was trying to ask was, have you always been an adventurous shopper, or did you have to train yourself?
(Oh, and I used to have chef friends who went dumpster-diving at Trader Joe's long before it had a cool name. The only creepy part, really, was the fear of getting caught and lectured by the employees. The food was quite fine - just broken.)
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All of Carroll Gardens used to be considered as Red Hook until it started becoming gentrified in the 80's. BTW, Ferdinando's lies within your definition of Red Hook.
That is a fascinating thing I did not know! It's especially interesting considering the backlash against people trying to apply the Red Hook label to the Columbia Waterfront district - which used to be part of Red Hook? I guess it's kind of like the Clinton / Hell's Kitchen name war - the developer types want the nice name and the dive bar types want the cool one. One of my friends used to live in Red Hook and LeNell's, now, that is an amazing place to go if you like bourbon.
Nina, you don't seem to be at all intimidated by ethnic markets or factory settings. Were you ever? Some places I can handle and some just scare the crap out of me. It's not my fault I was raised on sterile supermarkets
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I use a non-stick pan and just film the dough (rather than the pan) with extra virgin olive oil. It seems to need at least a modicum of oil to crisp up properly.
Thanks Anna N. That sounds reasonable. I just have to remember to take a deep breath and repeat: "olive oil is good fat, olive oil is good fat, olive oil is good fat..."
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Please forgive me for restating the obvious, but have the topping lovers tried using a lid? It took me a little while to figure this out but I do it now when I reheat leftover pizza in a skillet. Precisely because the dang cheese wouldn't melt!
The idea of making fresh pizza in a pan is just lovely. Has anyone tried doing it without the extra oil?
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Yikes! That sucks! Just as I was warming up to your condiment collection. You have me beat on pickles, but my mustard could take yours out easily (it's at least half a shelf). I have two open jars of capers in there too, and I was totally relating to your need to keep them visible.
I really hope it doesn't affect your work! Maybe you could post from Ozzie's down on 5th Ave. in the Slope...or somewhere equally cozy...access is free from the Mac stores in Manhattan, but oy, what a zoo. Good luck!!!
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BK represent! This Boerum Hill gal is already enjoying your blog. Do you ever venture across (the) Atlantic? Brooklyn is so overwhelmingly huge; I'm looking forward to getting to know another area I know so little about, despite living so close.
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Mmmm. Dumplings. I'm afraid that's more Eastern/Southern European thing. We've got something called pontšikud, which are deep-fried curd cheese 'dumplings', but I doubt I'll be eating them this week. I promise lots of nice looking cakes and pastries, however!Will we see some dumplings? I'm not even certain of the naming for them in Estonia. This is exciting, as it's a part of the world we hear so little about.But, whatever you cove, I know it'll look good (as good as it tastes!).
Cheers,
peter
Ooo! Then I have a question, please. My mother's family is Latvian and one of the only things we were allowed to know about (we're Americans now, we will eat American food) were pierogs. They are heavenly, crescent-shaped savory buns with pork, bacon and onions baked inside. Do Estonians do something similar? And if so, any chance of seeing and/or hearing about it this week?
Good luck blogging Pille! -
I think I'll take Batali's word over the New York Post's rumor mill. Thank you Pat Kiernan!
"I’m taping two episodes of Iron Chef America in a few weeks. I’m the best Iron Chef, why would I quit? And why would I threaten the network? Molto Mario’s been out of production for two-and-a-half years. We have a fine relationship."
Speaking of fine, they're rerunning all sorts of old Food Network classics like Molto Mario on Fine Living. I had no idea they were related.
Ruhlman alone will get me to watch Next Iron Chef America, which may actually get me to start watching Iron Chef America. I have trouble getting into it, it's not as enjoyable as the subtitled originals on Fuji TV.
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Want to tell us the story of that PA dutch sign hanging above the kitchen door?
That is all I can think of right now. Your log cabin leaves me agog.
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Tracey,
1) Pork roll is da bomb! We didn't eat out much when I was a kid. Mom would fry it up at home and serve it with an egg on an english muffin. Mmm, I want one.
2) My favorite thing about AAA was the free maps. Pulling into random AAA offices in random cities and picking up maps for the next leg of the road trip. Way before WiFi and Internet directions. Good times.
3) I have temped all over the country and I have to say, temping in New Jersey was incredibly enjoyable. Even though there were weeks of boredom here and there, the variety was impressive! So many different corners hiding so many different industries. I hope that your work is steady enough to keep you on the road but still varying, from time to time, so that you don't forget you're a temp. Ruts are bad!
Thanks for the nice blog. You have made me quite homesick and reminded me that I still wish the state slogan was "New Jersey: It's All About the Back Roads".
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Okay, okay, I was one of the 50.
Waves, have you found the Midtown Lunch blog yet? Zach has pretty eclectic taste and there are a lot of commenters and tipsters who obviously appreciate that someone is making the effort to see that we all have more interesting things for lunch. I don't know how else I would've found out about the new Popeye's on 40th between 7th & 8th - three chicken strips, a side and a biscuit for four bucks! And as soon as I get my courage up (or, more likely, get someone to hold my hand) I will try one of those back-of-a-deli Korean places and get me some Japanese rice balls from one of those stores on 41st.
But mostly, the prices around here depress me so much I brown bag it a LOT. Perhaps that's your future too...
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MizDucky,
I was inspired by your experiments when I was shopping yesterday and I picked up some light garlic & herb Laughing Cow cheese. Despite my need to cut back on fats I feel like I would die if I couldn't have cheese, and I like your idea of a flavorful compromise.
Regarding your lovely soups, I have a father with weight problems, heart problems, gout and a bit of the IBS. His home diet is not the most adventurous although I know he loves foreign flavors (he introduced me to many of them). Your philosophy about meaty flavors vs. all that meat plus lots of other good things has also inspired me to gift them with an Asian cookbook. If he can work out flavor additions that won't wreck his tummy, you will have helped make yet one more diet more happily delicious!
Thanks for blogging
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Has anyone caught Uncorked with Billy Merritt yet? He's very popular in my comedy world, but I was wondering what the Food People thought.
Between that and Daniel Boulud's kitchen parties, it's got me really wishing I had HDTV. Gotta go see how much them things cost...
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Now what are "tanos"? That's not an item I've run across yet. Always looking to learn more stuff ...Lovely blog, Ellen, I lived in Mission Hills for a few months many years ago, and it's amazing to see how much I did not get around to seeing. Sigh, if only rolled tacos and tanos were on your diet. I am learning much more this way - thanks!On my first visit to San Diego my then-boyfriend made sure we went to Rubio's for fish tacos and to Mission Beach to get tanos - after a ride on the Giant Dipper of course. It's just flavored, shaved ice with a little ice cream surprise in the bottom of the cone. Probably not worth going out of your way and maybe not even still there? It's just memorable to me because it was my first taste of that west coast seaside magic
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As much as I love the idea of Math Streets, I must mention that Euclid is also a type of tree (named after the man?) As MizDucky remembered, there is a Euclid Avenue in Brooklyn. As I look at it on a map, I see it is near a Hemlock Street, a Pine Street, and a Chestnut Street. How boring, sorry!
Lovely blog, Ellen, I lived in Mission Hills for a few months many years ago, and it's amazing to see how much I did not get around to seeing. Sigh, if only rolled tacos and tanos were on your diet. I am learning much more this way - thanks!
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Welcome back to blogging, Megan! I was otherwise occupied when you did your last one but I read it, and am quite looking forward to this week.
As for suggestions, my first one is that you go to Pegu Club! Is it even allowable to do a NYC foodblog without a trip?
Part of me wishes you would photograph the inside of one of our run-of-the mill, crappy regular supermarkets we have in New York so people don't think we live in some foodie fairyland where there's a Fauchon and a Lobel's on every block. Good food takes work here! Hmm, thinking...
Inexpensive food recs in London
in United Kingdom & Ireland: Dining
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I was just there in March ... what do you consider good? Biegel Bake is in a very hipster neighborhood. Media professionals during the day, party goers by night, and it's utterly swarmed by street art aficionados of a weekend afternoon. If murals and vintage shops are your kind of thing, you could make Shoreditch one of your tourist stops. Or a night out. Friend of mine went to get bagels after a night of cocktailing and had a great time chatting with the Londoners (including cops!) who were in the queue.
Many museums have respectable dining options. Thanks to Rick Steves, I can also tell you that lots of churches also have "crypt cafes" that will keep you fed cheaply. Hopefully you'll have booked a hotel or b&b that has breakfast included. I only ever needed one other "main" meal per day after that, with maybe a snack. Pubs, pie and mash shops, Pizza Express. St. John is both Arguably Good and Reasonably Priced. We spent twenty pounds per head at places like these, and the one time we splashed out (at Quaglino's) it was forty.
Is that at all what you are looking for?