Friday 5ive- August 5, 2022

Welcome to the Friday 5ive, a weekly post featuring five things that caught my attention this week. It really is the Dog Days of Summer, this heat is crazy, even for August.

1) The Beach Club Book Club had our annual meeting at the beach club of one of our members. We read Adriana Trigiani's epic family novel, The Good Left Undone, and had a lovely luncheon. Our discussion of the book led us to talk about our own families, and the things we don't know about them but would like to.  Matelda, the protagonist of the novel, would have been pleased with us as one of the best quotes from the book is "Families are only as strong as their stories".  

Our host Kerry and her sister Kathy shared that their grandmother worked in vaudeville. She showed us photos and letters, and they even have a poster featuring their grandmother hanging on their wall. It was fascinating. We talked about the things our families have handed down, and many of those are family recipes, which we share in books, on printed tea towels, and wall hangings. Our desserts kept with the theme, with Italian cookies, cannolis and sfoglia (a nod to the Italian characters) and Scottish shortbread (in honor of Matelda's father, Scottish seaman John Lawrie McVicars).

Mary Beth printed two quotes from the book to inspire us, and she brought prosecco to toast to Matelda before we adjourned. Kerry even gave us each a lovely pin with our initials on it to commemorate Matelda's family business,  designing and creating jewelry. It was the perfect ending to another delightful Beach Club Book Club meeting.

Toasting to Matelda and Adriana Trigiani

Two of our favorite quotes from the book

Italian and Scottish-themed desserts

A jeweled initial pin was gifted to remember our discussion 

2)  As I was doing my laundry at 6:30am, it occured to me how much we depend on our phones for everything. The laundry room in our building now has an app (Hercules Mobile) that allows you to pay for your laundry without having to use a laundry card. You can start the washer and dryer with the app, refill the app with your credit card (and not have to worry if I have $20 in cash to refill the card), and the app will notify your phone when your laundry is done. It is also supposed to give a room status update so you can know if there any machines available for use, but this has not been working as of late. 

And speaking of a card I no longer need, you can use your phone to pay for subway rides. Every subway station now has Omni pay, so you can open your Apple wallet or credit card and tap and pay for your rides. This is all very convenient, as I hate digging around for cards in my wallet. However if I lose my phone, well I guess I won't be able to do laundry or go anywhere. 

When the app works, this is a great feature

3) I saw on our local news this morning that certain branches of the New York Public Library will be having a Dance Party on Saturday, August 6th. The Webster branch where the bookstore I volunteer is located is not on this list, however we at the Book Cellar will be having an all-day Dance Party while we sell books. Shall it be Disco, 70s, or 80s music tomorrow?

4)  I binge watched all eight episodes of the wonderful Uncoupled  on Netflix this week. Neil Patrick Harris is amazing as an almost-50 year old gay man who, on the night he throws a huge surprise 50th birthday party for his boyfriend of 17 years, discovers his boyfriend has moved out of their apartment. He is completely shell-shocked and turns to his friends (the fantastic Brooks Ashmanskas as an artgallery owner, Marcia Gay Harden as an Upper East Side divorcee, and Tisha Campell as his partner at a real estate firm) for help. Now that he is back in the dating scene, he finds it's a different story now that he is not in his twenties. If you liked Sex and the City, you'll love this. (It's created by Darren Star who did SATC.) It's poignant and funny and the New York setting is breathtaking. 

5) It was another busy week, but I managed to I read two books. Katie Gutierrez's novel, More Than You'll Ever Know, is one that true crime fans will want to read. Cassie writes about true crime for a website, something that she wishes paid better. When she comes across a newspaper story about a woman who was married to two men at the same time- one in Laredo, Texas, one in Mexico City- and one of the husbands killed the other one nearly thirty years ago, she wants to find out more. Lore was married to Fabian and they have twin sons. Lore has a good job at a bank, and she travels to Mexico for work frequently. Fabian's decorative ironwork business runs into problems as a recession decimates his business. He moves from Laredo to Austin to try and save the business while Lore remains home with their teenage sons. When she meets Andres in Mexico City, she is entranced by him and falls in love. How she ends up married to two men at the same time intrigues Cassie who manages to get Lore to agree to tell her story so Cassie can write a book about her. Gutierrez writes a compelling story, and she puts the reader inside the heads of these two intriguing women. It's a fascinating character study as well as a mystery, and the truth of what exactly happened the night of the murder consumes Cassie, as well as the reader. See if you can guess the ending. (Bonus- you'll be able to practice your high school Spanish.)

Jean Meltzer's new novel, Mr. Perfect on Paper, tells the story of Dana Rabinowitz, a third generation matchmaker. She updates her family's business when she creates the succcessful J-Mate, an app for Jewish people looking for a marriage mate. Dara has General Anxiety Disorder (GAD), and one of the only things that calms her is listening to a police and fire scanner app. When Dara and her bubbe (grandmother), 90 year-old Miriam, appear on Good News, a national afternoon show with a small audience, Miriam embarasses Dara by sharing a list Dara made called Mr. Perfect on Paper.  The list is an extremely detailed description of the perfect man for Dara. Their segment goes viral much to Dara's dismay. The host of Good News, handsome single dad Chris Steadfast, decides that the only way to keep his show from being cancelled is to set Dara up on dates to find Mr. Perfect. Dara reluctantly agrees, knowing the publicity will help her company. Dara dealing with her GAD elevates this romantic novel, and as someone who isn't very familiar with Judiasm, I appreciated learning about the history and culture. (I also liked Meltzer's first novel, The Matzah Ball.) My full review posts on Tuesday.

Have a safe, healthy, cool week. Don't forget, you can support independent bookstores (including the Book Cellar) by buying books on Bookshop.org.

You can find this post and other food-related posts on Weekend Cooking at The Adventures of An Intrepid Reader.  

Friday 5ive- May 28, 2020

Welcome to the Friday 5ive, a weekly blog post about five things that caught my attention this week. Monday was Memorial Day, and although we couldn't have big family celebrations, I hope you were able to grill out some hamburgers and hot dogs and maybe catch a viewing of Saving Private Ryan on TV.


1)  While out walking my son and his girlfriend's dog Otto, I found this small monument in Pelham Manor, a tribute to the men who fought in the Battle of Pelham in the Revolutionary War.

2) Last week we celebrated a belated Mother's Day, and this past weekend we celebrated a belated St. Patrick's Day. I always made a big St. Patrick's Day dinner when the boys were growing up, and my oldest son says it is his favorite meal of the year. I made the traditional corned beef and cabbage with carrots, Irish champ mashed potatoes, pistachio bread, and Irish bread pudding. It turned out really well, and we all enjoyed it.

Corned beef, cabbage and carrots

3)  With no Broadway (and who knows when it will come back), I have been watching performances online. Last week, Sally Field and Bryan Cranston performed A.R. Gurney's Love Letters as a fundraiser for The Actors Fund. The show is about an artist, Melissa (played by Sally Field), and a politician, Andrew (played by Bryan Cranston), and the letters they exchanged over 50 years. It was so moving, Sally Field was just phenomenal, and Bryan Cranston is great in everything he does. It makes me wish I could have seen Sally Field on Broadway when she was in The Glass Menagerie. 

4)  Speaking of fundraisers, John Oliver, host of HBO's Last Week Tonight started a fundraiser for the United States Post Office. The USPS has been having financial problems for awhile, and the pandemic has made it even worse. People depend on the USPS for many things, including absentee ballots and medications, and if you are a fan of Oliver's show or you get mail, you can buy the stamps here. I've met Mr. Nutterbutter a few times, so he is my favorite stamp. If you have a birthday coming up, look for Mr. Nutterbutter in the top right corner on a card from me.

5)   I read two books last week. Kimberly McCreight's psychological thriller A Good Marriage begins with Amanda being brutally murdered in her home.  Her husband Zach is arrested for her murder and he reaches out to Lizzie, a woman he briefly dated years ago to represent him. Lizzie is not a criminal defense lawyer, but Zach convinces her to help him. Lizzie has her own marital problems, with an alcoholic husband she doesn't trust. Amanda was murdered following an annual neighborhood party where men and women pair up with people not their spouses for sexual encounters. Did this have anything to do with her death? It's a twisty story, going back and forth between the days leading up to Amanda's death, the grand jury investigation, and Lizzie's own investigation. No one is exactly who you think they are, and there are plenty of secrets, suspects and red herrings here. I did find one plot twist a little too much to take, but fans of the Lifetime Channel movies will want to read this one. 

Now is a great time to read Mary Kay Andrews' Hello, Summer. When the news agency where Conley has just landed a job goes out of business, she heads home to the small Florida Panhandle town of Silver Bay where her sister Grayson is the publisher/managing editor of the local newpaper that has been in their family for years. Times are tough for print newspapers, and Grayson may have to sell the family business. When Conley witnesses a car accident where the local Congressman is killed, she digs deep into what really happened, and ends up "digging up dirt" and angering many in the tight-knit community. There's romance, small town life, and if, like me, you grew up wanting to be Brenda Starr, Hello, Summer is a perfect novel to read at the beach or on your front porch. 

I hope you all stay safe and healthy.

Friday 5ive- May 22, 2020

Welcome to the Friday 5ive, a blog post about five things that caught my attention this week. There seems to be more and more people out and about in NYC as this shelter-in-place continues on. Grocery and drug stores have honed their customer policies and in general people seem to respect the rules. (The exception was last weekend when young people were congregating outside bars at night on the Upper East Side- that was a problem.)

1) We got to spend time with our kids, and one night we played a game called The Contender that my daughter-in-law bought for us all to play. It's a card game similiar to Cards Against Humanity, but geared towards presidential politics. Cards have quotes from presidential candidates, and you have to come up with the best answer from your five cards. What I found interesting was that there were many names of candidates that I was unfamiliar with, and our family follows politics closely. It's a great game for fans of history and politics, entertaining and informative. We had so much fun! (There were a lot of LBJ and Nixon quotes as those two are very quotable.)

2)  While upstate with our kids, we celebrated a belated Mother's Day with a barbeque. The day started with my son's girlfriend making me Avocado Toast and it was so delicious! I can't pick out a ripe avocado to save my life, but she has the knack for choosing the best ones. 

Avocado Toast

For dessert, the kids picked out a wonderful vanilla cake with blueberries and strawberries and whipped cream frosting. They found it at DeCicco & Sons  grocery store. They also picked up some rainbow cookies that were tasty too. My crafty daughter-in-law made me a beautiful card with her Cricut. It's so pretty!

3)  On Wednesday night I watched the concert performance of Bombshell by the cast of the NBC's gone-too-soon show Smash. The show, about the mounting of the Broadway show Bombshell based on the life of Marilyn Monroe, ran for two seasons in 2012. In 2015, a concert performance of Bombshell, with the original cast was held in NYC and that was streamed last night as a benefit for The Actors' Fund. The performers, including Katherine McPhee, Megan Hilty, Christian Borle, Brian d'Arcy James, and Leslie Odom Jr. are amazing. Watch it here for a limited time.

4) The Book Expo that was scheduled for this week was cancelled this year due to COVID-19. One of the opening events is the Editors' Book Buzz, where a selection of editors share one of the books they are most excited about publishing. Cameron Esposito hosted a Zoom event on Wednesday with six editors and it worked wonderfully. Usually we are in a packed room with hundreds of people and it is difficult to hear, but on Zoom, we could see each editor clearly and up close as we listened to them talk about books. I loved the format! I will post about the event next week, and every book there has been added to my TBR list.

5) I'm a big fan of J. Courtney Sullivan's books, and her upcoming novel, Friends and Strangers, is another home run for her. It's about a woman (who with her husband and new baby moves from Brooklyn to a college town community upstate) and the young college student she hires to care for her son while she writes her next book. There is so much in this book- class, economic equality, marriage and family issues- it's fantastic. Fans of Kiley Reid's Such A Fun Age will enjoy it, I liked it even more than Reid's book. A full review will post soon. 

I just started Hannah Mary McKinnon's Sister Dear about a young woman who finds discovers a family secret that sets off a dangerous chain of events. My full review will post on Tuesday. 

I hope you all have a safe, healthy and happy Memorial Day weekend. 

Cooking in a COVID World

Now that we've been sheltering-in-place for over eight weeks, there's some common themes- we've all been reading, binge-watching tv and eating.

I don't know about you, but I have made a homecooked meal almost every night since mid-March. (March 14th to be exact- we ate at Ocean Prime on Friday, March 13th for our Lenten fish.) I've made some really great meals, and there have been a few clunkers.

One of my favorites was a Panera Copycat Chicken and Wild Rice Soup, a recipe I found on Pinterest. It was very good, and a terrific way to use up rotisserie chicken. I love a good soup, and since it is barely hitting 39 degrees on May 9th in NYC, I may make it again tonight.

Chicken and Wild Rice Soup

My husband enjoyed Clinton Kelly's Chicken Thigh Osso Bucco, which has a rich flavor profile and is easy to make. It was such a big hit, we've had it twice already.

The latest new recipe I made is one I saw on Rachael Ray this week- Greek Sheet Pan Chicken Dinner. It was a good way to use up salt potatoes that I got from a Wegmans' InstaCart order, and it was so easy to make. I added Tzatziki with Pita and Zucchini Croquettes from Greek Eats restaurant (their takeout procedure was so easy- order and pay online, go to the restaurant and a bag was sitting on a table with my name on it, pick it up and go) and we had Greek night. No ouzo, though, wine instead.

Greek Sheet Pan Chicken Dinner

Shake Shack is one of my special treats, and Goldbelly had a special on their website- $49 for eight burgers. They send you the burger patties, rolls, American cheese slices and Shack Sauce. I followed the directions to a T, and I have to say, it was even better than getting them at the restaurant! The meat mixture from Pat LaFrieda makes all the difference. We loved it so much, we may have to order it again.

Wilbur and Cindy Lou

We really miss barbequeing, and one of our friends dropped off sausage that she grilled at home. She bought some bread from an Italian bakery and we had the most delicious sausage sandwiches. It was very kind of her and she even brought her basset hounds Cindy Lou and Wilbur to do the dropoff.

Grilled Sausage

This post is part of Beth Fish Reads' Weekend Cooking.  If you have anything related to food, cookbook reviews, novel or non-fiction book reviews, recipes, movie reviews, etc., head over to Beth Fish Reads and add your post. Or, if you want to read food related posts, head over to read what some interesting people have to say about food.
This is Beth Fish Reads' last post as host of Weekend Cooking. I have enjoyed reading all of her posts and everyone else's who has linked up to her post. Marg from The Adventures of An Intrepid Reader will take over Weekend Cooking hosting duties next week and we thank her and wish her well. 

Hunkering Down

This post is part of Beth Fish Reads' Weekend Cooking.  If you have anything related to food, cookbook reviews, novel or non-fiction book reviews, recipes, movie reviews, etc., head over to Beth Fish Reads and add your post. Or, if you want to read food related posts, head over to read what some interesting people have to say about food.


So now that we are prepared to hunker down, we have to make sure we have enough supplies on hand. That can be tough in New York City, where you generally go grocery shopping everyday because you can't carry too much walking from the stores.

I made a Costco trip two weeks ago (it feels like two months ago, so much has happened), so we have enough cleaning supplies and personal care items. Early last week I felt like I should stock up on some canned goods (soups, fruits, peanut butter, etc) so we have enough there. I wish I had more room in my freezer, but alas.

Grouper from Ocean Prime

We just found a great Lenten Friday night restaurant, Ocean Prime, near Times Square, where it was mobbed two Fridays ago and completely empty two days ago.  They have an amazing Florida grouper that they serve with some lobster, peas and the best gnocci I have had outside of Italy. I hope they make it through this. It will the last restaurant outing we make for the foreseeable future.








My husband got a frother yesterday so he could make cappuccinos in his Nespresso and he is delighted with that. It will be good to have a special treat.

We also got treats from William Greenberg Desserts because we are trying to support local businesses when they need it most. I tried their homemade cherry PopTart, which was tasty, but needed more a bit more cherry filling. They are on Goldbelly, where you can order from great restaurants all over the United States if you want to help restaurants, and maybe send some treats to people who can't get out of their homes.

I hope you all have enough supplies on hand and special treats. Read books, bake cookies, play card games, work on puzzles, knit, exercise and catch up on all those TV shows and movies you say you wanted to watch. Be safe and healthy, and be kind to each other.

The New Milk Bar

This post is part of Beth Fish Reads' Weekend Cooking.  If you have anything related to food, cookbook reviews, novel or non-fiction book reviews, recipes, movie reviews, etc., head over to Beth Fish Reads and add your post. Or, if you want to read food related posts, head over to read what some interesting people have to say about food.


After we finished our fun and exciting experience at Mission Escape Games last weekend (my first time doing one), we headed over to the newest edition of Milk Bar. I've been to the Milk Bar near Union Square, but this one is a much larger space and is called their Flagship Store.

When you walk in, a greeter leads you to the display case and gives you a menu. You move along in a cafeteria line, past their famous cookies- Conflake Chocolate Chip Marshmallow, Blueberry & Cream, and my favorite, Compost Cookie. The Compost Cookie has everything- chocolate chips, butterscotch chips, potato chips, pretzels, oats and coffee. It's so good!

They have their famous Milk Bar Pie, their delicious cakes (Birthday Cake is popular) and their seasonal Pumpkin Dulce de Leche. Their truffles (Birthday Cake, Chocolate Birthday Cake and more) are a big take-out treat.

Birthday Cake Slices

New to Milk Bar are their savory treats. They make Pepperoni Bombs, Bagel Bombs, Italian Hero and Eggplant Parm Bombs. Each round, pillowy pastry has a filling inside that's just enough for a snack, a little less than a meal. I had the Pepperoni Bomb and quite enjoyed it. I also tried their seasonal Turkey Croissant, filled with turkey, cranberry, and herbs. It tasted just like Thanksgiving!

Truffles and Savory Bombs

This Milk Bar features a Build-A-Pint for $15, you can choose your flavor of ice cream and add toppings. Next time I will bring one of those home for dessert.

They also carry soft serve ice cream, milkshakes, milkquakes (shakes with add-ins) and  flavored lattes. One of our group got the Apple Pie soft serve and it had a wonderful apple flavor, topped with brown sugar and cinnamon.

The display case of cakes is a sight to behold, filled with so many gorgeous cakes that are sure to taste as good as they look.

Cakes as far the eye can see

They even have classes there where you can learn to bake your own Milk Bar cake to take home.

If you are fan of Milk Bar, or of bakeries in general, make sure to stop by Milk Bar Flagship in New York City, not too far from Penn Station.

CBS Sunday Morning

This post is part of Beth Fish Reads' Weekend Cooking.  If you have anything related to food, cookbook reviews, novel or non-fiction book reviews, recipes, movie reviews, etc., head over to Beth Fish Reads and add your post. Or, if you want to read food related posts, head over to read what some interesting people have to say about food.

One TV show I have always enjoyed is CBS Sunday Morning. Now hosted by Jane Pauley, they cover a wide range of topics in several short pieces, including the arts.  This week's episode (November 10th) had many stories that caught my eye.

One was about the book Joy of Cooking. A young married couple, John Becker and Megan Scott, are tasked with testing 1500 recipes for an updated edition of the classic cookbook. That is some task!

The original Joy of Cooking was written by John's great-grandmother, Irma Rombauer, in 1931 after her husband died at a young age, and Irma had to raise her young family during the Great Depression. Irma's daughter Marion Rombauer Becker then collaberated with her mother on another edition, then Marion's son Ethan took over the family business. Now his John and his wife continue the family tradition.

Joy of Cooking 2019

It's a great story and you can see it here. They even include links to three recipes from the new cookbook- Mushroom Confit, Roasted Mushroom Lasagna, and two brownie recipes.

They also had stories about the new cast of The Crown, a Steve Hartman story about a nurse who took in an adult autistic man who needed a heart transplant (nurses rock!), and a moving piece about Mary Whyte, an artist whose latest project, We, The People, consists of 50 portraits of veterans (one from each state) and their stories.  It's a beautiful story and I encourage you to click here to watch it. It made me want to hop on a plane to Charleston to see it in person.

You can see twelve of the portraits here and buy the autographed catalog here. Proceeds benefit the Patriot Art Foundation. It would make a wonderful gift for the holidays.

ArchCare Gala Tasting

This post is part of Beth Fish Reads' Weekend Cooking.  If you have anything related to food, cookbook reviews, novel or non-fiction book reviews, recipes, movie reviews, etc., head over to Beth Fish Reads and add your post. Or, if you want to read food related posts, head over to read what some interesting people have to say about food.

Each October my husband hosts the ArchCare Foundation Gala at Gotham Hall in New York City. The foundation provides services for the frail and elderly in the archdiocese of New York. This year they raised over $1.4 million that evening, a huge success.

Before the gala each year, we attend a tasting at Gotham Hall to choose to menu. We begin with the floral centerpieces, and this year we chose this beautiful autumn arrangement.

We tasted some of the appetizer choices, including a clever meatloaf & mashed, a white truffle mashed potato ball topped with meatloaf. Our other choices included a confit of duck on a crispy sweet potato hashed brown topped with aleppo pepper- orange jam, coconut shrimp beignets, with a carrot-ginger puree and bonito flakes topping, and for the vegetarians, eggplant "meatballs", and figs in a blanket with goat cheese and poppy, coriander-maple topping.


For our first course, which was plated when we sat at the tables, we chose a salad with citrus (clementine and blood orange slices), cucumber oil poached tomato and goat cheese bon bons (so tasty!)  drizzled with a citrus vinaigrette.

Our entree was grilled filet mignon & butterflied lobster tail, served with a tiny twice stuffed baked potato, asparagus, crispy onions and a bordelaise sauce.  Our vegetarian choice was a delicious pumpkin and wheatberry "risotto", that had roasted apple, thyme, goat cheese, wild mushroom and spiced pepita. I thought it was fantastic.

For dessert, we had a flourless cocolate fondant cake, with burgundy-macerated currants and topped with a vanilla chantilly.

A view of Gotham Hall from the balcony

The table