Stranded in NYC

I am stranded in New York, with it's 11 inches of snow, but there are so much worse places to be stranded. I am, luckily, not stranded in an airport, a pirate ship, or on a desert island. I am stranded in beautiful, snowy, picturesque Manhattan.

I had planned to be here one night anyway, to catch up with my best friend from college and some others; but never expected the adventure and snowy hijinks!

The food, however, I had high-standards for.

J picked the restaurant - Public, just a short walk from my hotel (blessedly short, which the walk after dinner was NOT).

The restaurant has that whole "New York" thing going on. Trendy decor, b-list celebrities, adorable waiters and waitresses, and good food.

Last night I began with Kobe Beef TONGUE.

Yes! Tongue, my first foray in to offal. It was delicious. It was accompanied by crispy chickpeas, middle eastern spices and babaganough (actually, it was hummus, but I'll forgive them mixing them up).

J had the Tazmanian Trout Tartar with Daikkon and a raw quail egg on top. SO DIVINE!

For the Mains I had the lamb on goat-cheese polenta (pictured below), and J had the venison. His dish won for taste, though mine, with it's citrus-y saucing, was prettier. I'd never had venison before and his was AMAZING! J also ordered some brussel sprouts for us that were much tastier than the ones I had at the ball 2 weeks ago (which were my first taste of brussel sprouts ever!)


Our bottle of Mt. Difficulty nearly gone, we plowed through dessert (for me) and a spanish cheese tray (for he). SO GOOD!

Then out in to the snow to go to meet friends at Odessa but..wait..oh no! We had lingered too long over our dinners and were a full hour late, and by then the snow had chased them home! J made the best of the situation by ordering HOT CHOCOLATE and CHEESE PEROGIES for me since I had been walking about in the snow in nothing but layers of sweaters (my coats are all in Baltimore - for what do I need with Winter coats in Egypt?) and my wool pashmina, which left me looking not unlike a little old Eastern European woman in a babushka lost in the snow.

Best of all, I got to spend an entire evening with my very very good friend and today I get to do it all over again!

Meet the Felukeleles!

My friends are entering the Bushman World Ukelele Video Contest. They filmed their song in the Khan-el-Khalili. I feel that it not only captures some really fab uke playing, but also the true spirit of the Khan - the friendly shop keepers (including my bag man that supplied many of your Christmas presents!), the crammed shops, and the bustling atmosphere.

Watch the video, love them, and, from Jan 1 - 4, please vote for them! I will post information on how to vote as soon as it becomes available!

I'm so buying a uke over the holidays and signing up...

Today we took our students to Wadi Degla for a clean-up and picnic.

The Wadi (dry valley that floods when it rains) is only 15 minutes from my home, but a complete contrast to the nearby Nile and surrounding plains. It was so absolutely beautiful that I had trouble concentrating on the task at hand (picking up garbage). I was simply overwhelmed by the beautiful bluffs rising on either side of the Wadi.

The sky was alternately grey and blue as the rain-clouds would occasionally gather. We were hoping for some light rain so we could see the waterfalls and rushing stream created in the Wadi during storms. The kids climbed all the way to the top of the Wadi on each side (I made it half-way up on one side but did not have the moxie to climb to the top today).

Suppose I should add a walk in the Wadi to the list of things to do with visitors :)

Weather?

The weather has been very unusual in Cairo the last few weeks: regular spurts of rain are falling from the ever-cloudy sky. The wind that accompanies the cloudy skies is cold and damp and leaves me reminiscent of fall in Baltimore . . . albeit far dustier.

Don't be fooled, I'm not speaking of a prolonged all-day rain that leads to muddiness and movie marathons of Jane Austen films; I'm speaking of regular rain, almost daily, that gets the road just wet enough to make the oil and dust slick. Many of the rainshowers are so brief, in fact, that if I hear it falling from my office and walk to the end of the hallway and out on the balcony to enjoy it, it has often already stopped by the time I get there.

Still though, the cool weather is pleasant for lots of things: felucca-ing wrapped up in sweaters and sassy santa hats, shopping in the Khan on a cloudy Friday morning for Christmas gifts, and most of all: making soup.

Right now my third soup of soup season (which only started a few weeks ago) is on the stove. It's my second chicken noodle attempt, which will use up the last of the semolina noodles I picked up in Rome. I also made chipotle-chicken-chickpea soup from memory, but forgot the very important ingredient of Tomato Paste and put too much chipotle in. Next time I'll make it work. For now, I need to figure out how I'm getting all these xmas presents (a certain little girl, and a certain sassy lady are getting a stockings full of Cairo) back to the states without going over my baggage weight allowance!

It's December

It's December 1. I'm sitting on my balcony in the fading light, barely feeling a chill through my thin sweater. Yesterday, I felucca'd on the Nile, all the way down to Helwan on a stiff breeze and under clear skies. We watched the sun set and the full moon rise.

life is good.