on why chickens make me happy

And so we’re back…

a long but insufficient excuse

We’ve been gone too long — I couldn’t remember our wordpress.com password.

Here’s a short explanation why, though  it’s not a real one … the real one has more to do with laziness, with collective angst about the future, and with the amount of time second semester college students spend in bars.

We last posted a month ago (less one day).

The month has been challenging, in exciting ways, difficult ways, and scary and sad ways. What follows is  a list of the more fun ones — but part of our hearts are at home right now with the people we love.

Since then, one roommate has traveled to Berlin,

one to New Orleans,

one to Paris,

two to Greece,

and two to Far Rockaway.

Since then, we have discovered the joy of duty free.

Since then, the contents of our fridge has dwindled to its current state (maple syrup from our CSA, bright pink broth Sami made with beets, butter, ketchup, 2 PBR tall boys, yogurt, a large quantity of souvenir cheese, and half a bag of lettuce)

Since then, one roommate got the ultimate full time job – can’t give more away, she’s got to do this post!

Since then, one roommate got a part time job researching and writing about something we all love.

Since then, we’ve cheered for the Healthcare bill, and stopped planning rushes to nasal drip specialists etc. to squeeze the last drops out of our plans. (Except nobody told Nic — she is currently at the eye doctor.)

Since then, one roommate has logged 200+ miles of bike training, not including commutes to school.

Since then, the roommate who sometimes tags along has logged about 40.

Since then, after ceaseless berating — one roommate has finally purchased a helmet.

Since then, the last of the roommates passed their colloquii after much diligent preparation.

Since then, our relationship with the bartender downstairs has evolved, especially after he chatted with one roommate’s mother and played game of banana grams on the floor.

Since then, one roommate earned a killer never-have-i-ever point.

Since then, at least one more roommate has developed a fanatic appreciation for Taboo.

Since then, one roommate kugeled around the kitchen all weekend to prepare a seder for a Swede, a South African, a Frenchie and two Stahls but not Val.

Since then, we have received threats of various levels and sincerity about our blog’s paralysis.

Since then, one roommate turned 22 dressed like it was 2001, and was on a beer run during her birthday song.

Since then, we sang again!

Speaking of singing … we’ve hosted several sing alongs in the past weeks.

Since then, we’ve cooked dolmas twice, chocolate peanut butter cupcakes, flourless, dairyless chocolate cookies, egg salad and vegetable barley soup.

Since then, we’ve eaten a whole cheesecake.

Since then, we made hard choices and pared our tupperware collection down to several dozen.

Since then, we’ve hosted more than 12 guests, including 3 Couchsurfers — from Germany, Rochester and Montreal — and 2 old friends who feel more like 6th and 7th roommates.

Since then, two roommates planted 4 rows of carrots.

Since then 4 of us left for the weekend, but the remaining roommate wasted no time finding replacements.

Since then, one roommate got to be the cool older sister, changing the date on a bus ticket among other bad-ass crimes.

Since then, we’ve collectively purchased 6 bus tickets to Boston and 4 to DC.

Since then, two families met for Easter with minimal dysfunction and a great game of charades.

Since then, a Crop to Cup opened a shop down the block, but we still sometimes go to Henry’s Express.

Since then, we’ve seen the sun come out, the days get longer, and the ice cube trays get re-filled three times as often.

And now we’re back, maybe sporadically, but we really don’t have much else to do anymore … so we’ll be filling you in over the next few days about some of the stories above that beg for expansion.

Samoas, Interrupted

If there’s one thing I’m certain of in this life, it is that Samoas (aka Caramel DeLites) are the best Girl Scout cookie. Yeah, I said it. Thin Mints aren’t adventurous enough, Tagalongs make your mouth feel all weird if you eat more than one, and the others don’t have names worth remembering.

That is why Emily and I decided to make our own Samoas one lazy afternoon. Sounds like a great idea, right? If only we knew then what we know now.

Ulysses S. Grant Battles St. John The Divine, Or, I Go Uptown

Yesterday I did two things I rarely do: I went uptown, and I went to a museum. To generalize, à la Carrie Bradshaw, there are certain New Yorkers who keep abreast of cultural goings-on, who go to gallery openings for reasons other than free wine and breathlessly follow the progression of and revolving doors at the Whitney Biennial. And then there are the rest of us, who only go to any of the above when visitors are in town.

“So I’m thinking we start at the Met, then the City Museum of New York, then St. John the Divine, and then Grant’s Tomb…” he trailed off at my falling face. It was such a gorgeous day, after all, almost shirtsleeves weather, finally spring.
“Maybe not the Met,” I said, as we stood on its wide cream steps. “It’s so huge; it deserves its own day.”
So we didn’t; we took off through the hills and greens of upper Central Park, stopping to sit on the Copywriter’s bench and watch the tail end of a hockey game.

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a sweet return

Whew! We have been missing in action over here, but not for the wrong reasons. Every winter this point in the semester seems inevitable – the weather remains stubbornly cold, cloudy heads and stuffy noses come and never seem to go, classes begin to drag. I can’t speak for everyone, but I’ve generally been exhausted and/or cold for the past few weeks. But it looks like the sun is out today, I’m taking the morning off, and we have spring vacation in a week. To Paris! To Greece! To Berlin! To New Orleans! The five of us will be around the world in a matter of time, and hopefully writing about it here. And on the topic of worldliness, I have Italian cookies to share with you.

we’re samissin’ you, amanda

Radio silence from 111 today, but here’s a sound bite and picture from Amanda Sperber:

Prize-Winning Samosa Pie goes International!  I made 2 in my flat in London for a dinner party using kale instead of spinach.  Fun Fact: did you know that in the UK they cut right to the chase and label vegetable shortening vegetable fat?

Dear Amanda, can we hire you as our London Correspondent? Love, 111.

202 days too many

Today marks 202 days that my friend Josh has been held in detainment in Evin prison in Tehran, Iran. In July of 2009, Josh was hiking with his two friends Sarah and Shane in Iraqi Kurdistan, an autonomous region that has not seen violence or unrest since 1991, when they mistakenly crossed the border to into Iran. Since then, they have been held mostly in solitary confinement and denied contact with friends and family or access legal counsel.

chili today hot tamale

“Go to the drugstore. Biggest sale of the year on chocolate!” _____ e-mailed, urging me to take advantage of post-Valentines day sales. This is what love looks like in America. Hundreds of heart shaped boxes of chocolate, available starting Monday for drastically reduced prices.

But this is what love looks like to me right now. My new cast iron pot. Dan gave it to me. (obligatory aww).

Here is our super bowl chili in my new pot. I don’t want to talk about the chili (because it’s the secret recipe of Gabe, the chef at Dickson’s) and because there is still about 1/3 of a gallon (read: really big tub) sitting in our fridge and I can’t even look at it anymore I’ve eaten so much of it in the past week. (But if YOU want some, we’ll be selling it soon, come by!)

But the pot. I can talk about the pot forever. Most cast iron pots look pretty traditional and old fashioned. This one is Copco, a brand that was created in the ’60s because there was a “market niche for cast iron cookware to be fashion forward in color and shape.” How funny is that? Mine looks like a UFO. I love it.

Dan got it off Craiglist, from a man who lives in his neighborhood who was selling a really large collection of cast iron cookware. People think Copco is a Danish company because of the designs and because they had a production facility in Denmark for awhile. But it’s not. A company called Wilton purchased Copco in 1984, after the company had basically ceased to make cookware because of Le Creuset’s success. Instead, Copco now makes colorful teakettles, picking up on another trend. So they’ve got that going for them.

If you are ever looking for the way to a girls heart, a pot is a good option. Practical. Long lasting. Pretty. Probably will have a high rate of return (for your tummy).

Oh yeah one more thing about the pot … the lid itself is a little enamel coated iron skillet! Future plans for the pot include turkey soup, bread pudding, palak daal (the list goes on).

on winning hearts and minds

There’s something really very wonderful about baking, and that is you can never bake only for yourself. I’ve made cookies and cakes before in which yes, probably, I could polish off one lonely evening or a day the refrigerator is lacking. And after living in smaller apartments with less people I’ve often found that tempting. But now living with four other people, we bake and cook for each other. Which is good because cookies are never meant to be eaten alone.

snow day

No recipes today. Snow day pictures…