Happy New Year!

Here's hoping that 2009 is a much better year than 2008!

Alison and I have had an excellent post-Christmas and New Years. I returned to Philadelphia on the 28th, and then we headed to New York on the 30th. We stayed at Jennie's for the night. Since Jennie was out of town (boo), we enjoyed the comfort of her awesome Tempur-Pedic bed (yay). We went to an Alvin Ailey performance, which is our Christmas tradition. For the first time, we did not choose a night in which they performed Revelations (their signature piece). It seemed incomplete without it, but it was great to see three completely new pieces. I thought Suite Otis was too short, but I had a great time, as always.

After Alvin Ailey, we went to eat dinner at Alta, a fabulous tapas restaurant in the village. We have been before, and wanted to go back again. We had grilled quail & spaghetti squash, flatbread with mushrooms & ricotta, chorizo-wrapped shrimp, and pork belly. It was excellent. I have no idea why I wasted more than 10 years of my life not eating pork. But I am well on my way to making up for it. After dinner, we went to ChikaLicious, our favorite dessert spot in the city--in addition to amazing food, the owner (Chika Tillman) is adorable. Unfortunately, the main dessert bar was closed, but ChikaLicious Puddin' was open across the street. They were out of their cupcakes (boo), so we shared a bread pudding and an adult chocolate pudding.

The next day, we just had time to grab brunch with Jen & Andrea at Cheryl's in Brooklyn. Then we headed back to Philadelphia to celebrate New Year's Eve. This was the first year in a while that we have not celebrated New Years with friends in NYC. But we had a great time anyway. We made guacamole with pieces of pear, grapes and pomegranate seeds (we were dubious too, but it was great). We also made sausage-stuffed mushrooms and what Alison has dubbed our "mini-bruschettas". I think they are better called "pizza bruschettas," since bruschetta is mini by definition. I came up with them when trying to make a point to Alison that stale bread could be useful for a great many culinary delights. The recipe is at the end of the post, in case you would like to try it out yourself.

Today we ate breakfast, drank mimosas, played trivial pursuit, demolished the remaining bruschetta & guacamole, baked cookies (and ate them), and gave the cat a bath. Now it's back to work as usual.

"Mini Bruschettas"
1/2 lb mozzarella, diced
2 vine tomatoes, diced
2 cloves garlic, pressed
fresh basil, chopped (to taste)
a pinch of sea salt
a dash of olive oil (maybe 1/2 tbsp)

1 french baguette, cut into 1/2" slices (best if stale)
balsamic vinegar

1. Preheat oven to 350
2. Mix the first six items together in a bowl. They can be covered and stored for 1-2 days if not used all at once.
3. Pour a little balsamic vinegar in a bowl (@2 tbsp)
4. Slice the bread and lay flat on a baking sheet (if there are remaining pices of bread you don't want to use, they can be frozen in a freezer bag).
5. Spoon topping onto bread--basically as much topping as will fit.
6. After each bread has topping, spoon a small amount of balsamic vinegar on each, to taste.
7. Put in oven until cheese is melted (@8 minutes)

Voila! Best eaten with white wine :)