eG Foodblog: Megan Blocker - Food and the City

[Megan Blocker]

Let's see your brulee tool, Megan! (I use a huge propane torch)

←

No probs, Susan...I actually have this model, which was a Christmas gift this year from my friends Nick and Louisa. I'd heard mixed things about it on eGullet, but it's worked perfectly for me. I love playing with fire!

Actually, when I called Louisa to say thank you, she mentioned that she was a bit apprehensive about giving me the torch, because I have a tendency to be a little...accident prone. You might call it clumsy. In fact, I have had two clumsy moments since the beginning of the blog - I smashed a water glass on the first morning, as I was on my way out the door to meet my mother for breakfast. This is why I buy the $2.00 water glasses from Pottery Barn.

Then, as I was cutting up the sweetbreads, I dropped my knife , but it landed, without incident, a few inches from my feet. I rarely cut myself while cooking, but I manage to break stuff (not bones - glasses, plates, etc.) all the time.

It's funny, too - I feel so graceful and in control when I cook, and then it's all "blam!" There goes a wine glass...

[FabulousFoodBabe]

Anything people would like to see me eat for lunch or dinner tomorrow?  I'm thinking of making breakfast for dinner tomorrow night, in celebration of Gilmore Girls - I feel like they would eat breakfast for dinner.  Pancakes or french toast, people?  Let me know what you think...

←

Pop Tarts, of course! (Untoasted, in honor of season 1 when the toaster broke and Lorelei compared it to living in hell ...)

Megan, this is a great blog. I'm enjoying looking at your life from up this way. You've got quite a gift! Your blog is making me miss a couple of things about being 25 again and one is the ability to whoop it up all night and recover in a few hours. Keep on going, girl!

Fab.

[Megan Blocker]

Here's what brings it home:  when I was about 23 - so not that much younger than you are now - I threw a dinner party for some friends.  It was a fondue party.  There were dipping sauces.  I've forgotten most of them: they were good, so not worthy of a story.  One sauce, however, called for 3 cloves of garlic, chopped finely.  I started on the first clove.  I peeled, and chopped, and peeled, and chopped, and peeled and chopped some more.  Then the second clove.  Finally, partway through the second "clove" of garlic, I decided enough was enough, and I stopped, and made the dipping sauce with that half-amount of garlic.

Everybody, including me, took one taste of that sauce and politely left it alone after that.  I've never had anything with so much garlic heat, before or since.

You've figured out by now, I hope, that what I thought was a clove of garlic was actually a head of garlic?  Whew.  That was a LOT of garlic.  

I look at how you cook and eat, and your age, and how I cooked and ate at that age, and I think: you're at least 10 years ahead of me on your knowledge, your savoir-faire.  How wonderful!

Way to go, girl!  And great blog!  Thanks!  

←

Smith, that is such an awesome story...I mean, I love garlic, but I don't think even I could have eaten that fondue sauce.

Thank you for the compliments. It's so nice to hear that you all think I'm on the right track. I have a tendency to think I'm way behind when it comes to most things in life, so if my cooking skills are doing ok, that's one less thing to worry about.

And thank you, Lucy and Rachel - I've loved doing this blog, and I'm so glad you enjoyed reading it...both of you are such wonderful writers, and having both of you say you like what I've been doing is very flattering. And, Lucy, I'm glad you liked your chicken Milanese, too!

Edited February 28, 2006 by Megan Blocker (log)

[Megan Blocker]

Anything people would like to see me eat for lunch or dinner tomorrow?  I'm thinking of making breakfast for dinner tomorrow night, in celebration of Gilmore Girls - I feel like they would eat breakfast for dinner.  Pancakes or french toast, people?  Let me know what you think...

←

Pop Tarts, of course! (Untoasted, in honor of season 1 when the toaster broke and Lorelei compared it to living in hell ...)

Megan, this is a great blog. I'm enjoying looking at your life from up this way. You've got quite a gift! Your blog is making me miss a couple of things about being 25 again and one is the ability to whoop it up all night and recover in a few hours. Keep on going, girl!

Fab.

←

OMG, Pop Tarts!!!! Maybe those can be the starter...

Thanks, FFB - next time you're in New York City, I'll be sure to share some recovery tips with you. Till then, repeat after me - water, ibuprofen, sleep, water, ibuprofen, Diet Coke. I'm telling you - magical.

[Abra]

It's been a lovely blog, Megan, and like the others, I echo the general amazement at your level of sophistication and energy in matters foodie. Thanks so much for all your efforts this week. It's been a blast.

[Katie Nell]

Anything people would like to see me eat for lunch or dinner tomorrow?  I'm thinking of making breakfast for dinner tomorrow night, in celebration of Gilmore Girls - I feel like they would eat breakfast for dinner.  Pancakes or french toast, people?  Let me know what you think...

←

Pop Tarts, of course! (Untoasted, in honor of season 1 when the toaster broke and Lorelei compared it to living in hell ...)

←

OMG, Pop Tarts!!!! Maybe those can be the starter...

←

No, I think pizza with tater tots on top with a side of pop tarts!!!

[I_call_the_duck]

Anything people would like to see me eat for lunch or dinner tomorrow?  I'm thinking of making breakfast for dinner tomorrow night, in celebration of Gilmore Girls - I feel like they would eat breakfast for dinner.  Pancakes or french toast, people?  Let me know what you think...

←

Pop Tarts, of course! (Untoasted, in honor of season 1 when the toaster broke and Lorelei compared it to living in hell ...)

←

OMG, Pop Tarts!!!! Maybe those can be the starter...

←

Sausage wrapped in pancakes, tied together with bacon. That's what Luke made for Rory when she left for Yale. Gee, I'm such a geek.

Edited February 28, 2006 by I_call_the_duck (log)

[racheld]

Anything people would like to see me eat for lunch or dinner tomorrow?  I'm thinking of making breakfast for dinner tomorrow night, in celebration of Gilmore Girls - I feel like they would eat breakfast for dinner.

Glad to see you like our GG's--we love all three generations. Anything involving stacked-up sweet stuff..pancakes, waffles (Eggo's in their case), muffins or doughnuts. But be sure to make lots of substitutions in the recipes.

Endless coffee in a cup big enough to bathe a baby in.

Eggs in any form. Devilled eggs, even---you never know when a snarky person will be driving by.

I don't want this to be over. Stay another week

Edited February 28, 2006 by racheld (log)

[Rebecca263]

Gilmore Girls breakfast tribute: Pancakes with sausage AND bacon AND potatoes, toast AND a danish, with lots of butter and lots of coffee, of course. *sigh* I miss me some Gilmore Girls.

[Megan Blocker]

Sausage wrapped in pancakes, tied together with bacon.  That's what Luke made for Rory when she left for Yale.  Gee, I'm such a geek.

←

Holy crap. I think I'd have to run that one by the cardiologist. And I don't even have a cardiologist. Yet.

That said, I do have some fingerling potatoes left from Saturday night...so maybe a homemade hashbrown/mini-latke could be in the offing. Keep it coming, people, keep it coming.

You guys are amazing.

Edited February 28, 2006 by Megan Blocker (log)

[I_call_the_duck]

You'd better let me know next time you're in town, sneaky miss!

Will do. We’re actually in town at least once a month getting our NY fix.

Ooh, and for the petless New Yorker, you can always visit a dog park. I used to spend part of my lunch hour oohing the puppies at the nearby dog park.

I used to do this all the time when I worked on Madison Square Park!

←

Went there too. My husband used to work near the park, so if I was having lunch with him, we’d go there. It also gave me an excuse to go to the pre-Shake Shack hot dog cart.

Yes, I've discovered that the trick is to go into Pegu with only an hour or two left before your dinner reservation...it's the only way to make it out alive.

←

I would beg to differ

←

I agree. That only gives you less of window to drink, which means you have to cram in more drinks in a shorter period of time. *hic.*

My sandwich was pulled duck confit, and was served on ciabatta with three-sprout salad, young pickles, and garlic-pommery mustard dressing (I don't like boiled eggs, and asked that they leave them off).  I loved it - the pickles gave a nice crunch, and the dressing was delicious.  The duck was moist and flavorful, and the bread had stayed resonably crispy and even warm on its trip over from Lexington.  I was not surprised that the sandwich was so good, given my earlier experiences at Starwich.

However.

I was really disappointed with the service.  We ordered at 12:30, and our sandwiches did not arrive until after 2:00.  And when the delivery man finally arrived, he had no change whatsoever.  I would much rather have spent ten minutes walking there and back than waiting an hour and a half for lunch.  Plus, they put an egg on the sandwich, even though I asked for none - there was only one, and I get the feeling that whoever made the sandwich realized that the order said "no eggs" and took off what they'd put on, but missed one.

I will definitely go back to Starwich, but I don't think I'll order delivery again.

←

That’s one good looking sandwich. Could the weather have affected delivery, since it was so darn cold that everyone was ordering in? I went to my local deli for lunch yesterday, and they were so swamped between take-out orders and deliveries that it took a long time to get my soup. In fact they forgot about it, and I had to remind them. (Hey, it's just ladle into a cup and put a lid on. Not that hard.)

I love your dinners. I don’t think I’m allowed to have a brulee torch. I was eyeing that exact one at Williams-Sonoma once, and being a self-proclaimed klutz, was not-so gently steered away.

[srhcb]

One sauce, however, called for 3 cloves of garlic, chopped finely.  I started on the first clove.  I peeled, and chopped, and peeled, and chopped, and peeled and chopped some more.  Then the second clove.  Finally, partway through the second "clove" of garlic, I decided enough was enough, and I stopped, and made the dipping sauce with that half-amount of garlic.

Everybody, including me, took one taste of that sauce and politely left it alone after that.  I've never had anything with so much garlic heat, before or since.

You've figured out by now, I hope, that what I thought was a clove of garlic was actually a head of garlic?  Whew.  That was a LOT of garlic. 

←

A friend of mine, Michael, whose family operated an Italian restaurant, was going to make his mother's famous sugo for his college roommates. He called her on the phone and faithfully recorded her recipe.

With much fanfare, he set out to prepare for a spaghetti feast at the frat house the coming weekend. Although he'd worked in the family restaurant since he was very young, he'd never been entrusted with making sauce, so he was careful to follow his mother's instructions to the letter.

Unfortunately his handwriting wasn't very clear, and when setting up his mise en place he read 5-6 cloves as, yes, 56 cloves! (He says he remembers thinking this was odd, but diligently counted out exactly that number of cloves.)

You can only inagine how the sugo might have tasted, which is all anybody did at the time. The sweet clove smell so thoroughly infused the frat house that everybody was afraid to even taste the sauce.

Michael called his Mother for advice. He read back the recipe he's copied down. When he came to "56 cloves" she exclaimed, "Michael! That was supposed to be five or six cloves. My God! Pour that sauce out before somebody eats it!

So, although the frat house spaghetti feed ended up with just a slightly doctored Ragu for sauce, enough wine and beer was consumed along with it that the dinner was deemed a huge success.

In addition, the lingering clove odor precluded the need to burn any insense to mask the fumes given off by another uniquely pungent botanical product popular with college students of the times.

SB (and Michael and his family are still in the restaurant business, reputations intact)

[Chufi]

Hey! I'll be watching the Gilmore Girls tonight too! Ofcourse, we are probably many sesaons behind, and your evening does not coincide with mine anyway, but still, I'll be thinking of you!

I love love love this blog. I've been trying to think what's so special about it. I think it's the feeling of hospitality that runs through it.. even while you are showing us your city, they way you see it, the way you love it, I feel like I am actually visiting you, and getting to know you.

And the pictures are really, really beautiful. That picture of the finished chicken with the salad on top.. wow.

Thank you Megan!!

[Megan Blocker]

Too bad about the delivery service, Megan.  (I wonder if Spiro is reading.)  Anyway, I would probably react as you did, since it was good -- continue to be a customer, but not for delivery.  Unless, you contact them about it and perhaps they would comp. you, and you would try again.  The sandwich insides looked like they were tucked in there nicely, instead of hanging all out.  So, well constructed and good tasting... sounds good!

←

Could the weather have affected delivery, since it was so darn cold that everyone was ordering in? I went to my local deli for lunch yesterday, and they were so swamped between take-out orders and deliveries that it took a long time to get my soup. In fact they forgot about it, and I had to remind them. (Hey, it's just ladle into a cup and put a lid on. Not that hard.)

Definitely a possibility, Karen...the weather could have caused the delay, but it certainly shouldn't have caused the lack of change or the mess-up on the egg - and I also forgot one thing, which was that the food came without a receipt, and the delivery guy had to call the shop to find out what the price was. Given the incredibly high level of service I've experienced in their stores, my guess is that the kinks in the delivery service just haven't been worked out yet.

I did call them to check on the delivery, and they were very nice about it...but no offer of a comp. Then again, I'm too nice, and would never let them know how mad I really was. That's the thick-skinned, overly proud Yankee in me.

Edited February 28, 2006 by Megan Blocker (log)

[Jenny McClure]

I have thoroughly enjoyed reading this blog. Thanks Megan!

We (my husband & I ) are heading to New York for Easter. This blog is going to be a fantastic reference point. Last time we couldn't get reservations for Babbo, so we went to Casa Mono instead. We really enjoyed it. Hopefully we can get a table for Babbo this time. We will of course have to stop in Pegu Club for some cocktails beforehand, in your honour.

Are there any special events or parades etc that happen in the city over Easter?

Thanks again for putting so much time into a really fantastic blog.

Jenny

[Megan Blocker]

I have thoroughly enjoyed reading this blog.  Thanks Megan!

We (my husband & I ) are heading to New York for Easter.  This blog is going to be a fantastic reference point.  Last time we couldn't get reservations for Babbo, so we went to Casa Mono instead.  We really enjoyed it.  Hopefully we can get a table for Babbo this time.  We will of course have to stop in Pegu Club for some cocktails beforehand, in your honour.

Are there any special events or parades etc that happen in the city over Easter?

Thanks again for putting so much time into a really fantastic blog.

Jenny

←

You're very welcome, Jenny - I'm glad you're enjoying it!

As for Easter, yes, we do have an Easter Parade. Here are some details for you to check out...basically, it's an opportunity for people to wear crazy-ass hats in public. There's also an egg roll in Central Park, which is probably really fun, and beautiful, given that it's near Bethesda Fountain, one of my favorite spots to have coffee on a spring morning.

Oh, now I'm sad that I didn't take you all to Central Park...

Definitely try for a Babbo reservation - they're relatively easy to get, especially in the middle of the week. Just try to call the first or second day they're available (they only book a month in advance), and you should be fine.

Edited February 28, 2006 by Megan Blocker (log)

[Megan Blocker]

Have you visited the Central Park Conservancy at 105th & 5th?  It's a little off the beaten path for tourists and New Yorkers alike, but it's a genuine oasis within the oasis of Central Park, and I'd like to see what it looks like this time of year.

←

As for Central Park Conservancy - yes, I have been, but only once! :  Almost two years ago we had a gorgeous early summer day, and my friend Miles and I walked from 77th and 3rd up to 105th and 5th - and ran into a high school friend of mine on the bridle path in Central Park! The Conservancy was beautiful, and I can't believe I haven't been back. It was relatively crowded, since it was the first really nice day that year, and since it was a Sunday, but I can imagine how peaceful it might be on a day like today...

So, Miles has just chucked me upside the head (virtually, via email) and reminded me that I'm thinking of the Conservatory Garden, not the Central Park Conservancy, which is actually the not-for-profit group that looks after the park. Oops.

[I_call_the_duck]

Have you visited the Central Park Conservancy at 105th & 5th?  It's a little off the beaten path for tourists and New Yorkers alike, but it's a genuine oasis within the oasis of Central Park, and I'd like to see what it looks like this time of year.

←

As for Central Park Conservancy - yes, I have been, but only once! :  Almost two years ago we had a gorgeous early summer day, and my friend Miles and I walked from 77th and 3rd up to 105th and 5th - and ran into a high school friend of mine on the bridle path in Central Park! The Conservancy was beautiful, and I can't believe I haven't been back. It was relatively crowded, since it was the first really nice day that year, and since it was a Sunday, but I can imagine how peaceful it might be on a day like today...

So, Miles has just chucked me upside the head (virtually, via email) and reminded me that I'm thinking of the Conservatory Garden, not the Central Park Conservancy, which is actually the not-for-profit group that looks after the park. Oops.

←

Yeah, I meant the Conservatory Garden. My bad.

[racheld]

I've just been reading the last day's worth to DD, who just came home from her early shift at her bakery. She's gonna read it all later today.

THEN she came over and waved a wedge of fresh warm focaccia under my nose, reciting "olives, thin onion, brushed with garlic butter before baking, scatter of seasalt."

They gotta get us a drool smilie!! Or at least a swoony one.

[Megan Blocker]

Oooooh, fresh focaccia! Would that I worked near a good bakery...

One of the best meals anyone has ever made for me was in the middle of one of the oddest hot spells (in the 90's in April) on record in New York. We had fresh-baked focaccia, roasted asparagus and peppers, the most delicious aioli to dip it all in and spread it all with, and a gorgeous bottle of icy wine (don't remember what) to wash it all down. God, that was good.

I'm off now to grab lunch at Europa Cafe, just up the street...may do a little window shopping, too. I think a salad is in order, given my breakfast (which I'll post tonight!) and the anticipated pancake-hashbrown-maple-syrup-covered-Gilmore-Girls themed food orgy I'm now undertaking for dinner.

Wow, you people are terrible influences.

Edited February 28, 2006 by Megan Blocker (log)

[Rebecca263]

Megan, I think that it would be great if we could just give you a head cam and mike set up for whenever you leave your apartment for an outing, or go into the kitchen to make a meal! We could all just watch, every day, as you go about your various food related activities... it would be great fun, and once in awhile you could look down, and we could compare shoes for the day, too!

[monavano]

Megan,

Your blog has been a treat to watch unfold. Your generosity and conviviality shows through the pages. I felt like I was right along side you in your ventures.

Thanks for all your lovingly tendered photos and missives.

Cheers,

Monavano

[Megan Blocker]

Megan, I think that it would be great if we could just give you a head cam and mike set up for whenever you leave your apartment for an outing, or go into the kitchen to make a meal! We could all just watch, every day, as you go about your various food related activities... it would be great fun, and once in awhile you could look down, and we could compare shoes for the day, too!

←

If you gave me a mic, this is what you would hear:

"Damn it, Blocker."

"OK, what should we do next?"

"Ouch. Oh, f*$%."

And a lot of humming and singing. Yes, folks, I talk to myself. A lot.

[I_call_the_duck]

Yes, folks, I talk to myself.  A lot.

←

As long as you don't expect a response, you're good to go.

The voice inside my head is usually "la-dee-dah-dee-dah". Not that bad you say? No, but not good if you're holding a very sharp implement.

[Darcie B]

Megan, thank you for this uplifting and lovely blog. My spirits have been very down this week (I lost the orange kitty in my avatar to unknown causes) but your blog is helping to ease the hurt - and that is saying something, since I didn't think anything could.