Orhan...

I love grape leaves..

Also, befitting my Eastern European heritage i love me some cabbage rolls.
Although the taste/flavor profile is totally different than those for Grape leaves...

More earthy..???

i want some of those...where is the party again?

I agree Orhan, those look quite tasty. My mouth is watering just looking at them.

Probably my last post of 2007. I wish everybody a happy and safe New Year.

Where is everybody today, its rather slow here.

Ha! I posted the image for the last TC page of 2007... Marvel at how awesome I am!

I am at work..

Again i will be the last to leave..

Sucks to be the new guy.

Hurrah for the New Year!

Let's change your screen name to Living in Marvelous Awesomeness, LiG!

I'm actually leaving my computer now to go to the bank and post office. Sorting out taxes on the last day of the year sucks, but at least I'll be entering 2008 feeling somewhat confident that I won't get slapped too badly in April.

Will ring in the New Year in front of the TV as usual - I'm not much of a New Year's fan. No champagne in the house, but thanks to my dad's enjoyment of buying booze I have the following: spiced rum, regular rum, Tanqueray, Maker's Mark, vermouth, bitters, wine, beers, and orange curacao (?). I'm sure I'll manage something festive by about 10:30 after I get the offspring to bed.

Big kisses to ALL of TC at the stroke of midnight! I'll raise my glass for a fantastic 2008 for us all.

Have a safe and happy new year folks! Catch ya in '08.

Sarah Hamilton: they're all on Facebook being fabulous with one another

Well, the bosses have decided to close the office and let everybody leave, so I guess this means I'm free to stop pretending to work and go home.

You, too, can be on Facebook. Everyone can! And it's less about being fabulous and more about being silly. But it's fun, anyway.

Hi everyone! I hope you are all well, and I invite you to join in my mantra for 2008....Best Year Yet! I've got big plans for myself, so we'll see.

See you next year! (I'm sorry, I can't stop myself....it's too easy.)

i decided to go with cabbage version since i couldn't get, from tehran market, imported turkish grape leaves which are thin and less salty. and, since it is winter.

here is the process;


steam the cabbage and peel off the leaves with forks (takes some getting used to)


the mix; olive oil, browned pine nuts, 2 onions really finely chopped, 3 cups of medium grain white rice, currants, salt, black pepper, cinnamon and teaspoon of tomato paste sauteed together for 5 minutes mixing continuosly in that order. brown the pine nuts first than add onions and add the rest once onions are cooked. you can chop some fresh dillweed if you like.


put a ts of mix into the leaf


close


fold right


fold left


roll once


roll twice, you're done


stack


stack another level and add couple cups of water


cover with left over leaves to retain the steam and the flavors and cook for about 45 minutes until rice is soft

i am waiting as i type to get them cooked so i can take the puppies for a walk. i don't trust tina with this.

"i asked cabbage leaf "what you want to be?" and cabbage leaf said i want to be rolled"- ali acerol

i VOW i will become a sketchup ninja master in 2008! Until then I think I will consume large amounts of fire water! Happy Happy Everyone!

looking good orhan!

thanks mighty! happy new year.

mrs snook is busy making a fine meal as we await guest....I'm such a slug....lit the fire, walked the dogs and tranfering some floppy disks
to more recent media....a project I will post someday at flicker....however the client would most likely sue my ass if I posted it at this time.....waiting for them to pass on.

Orhan that was beautiful. I am a terrible cook so I think that picture instructions, like the ones you just posted, work really well for me.

I know I said I would see you next year but I'm still here. It's still early in LA :o)

yeah it is, DubK! I've barely begun to get ready for going out tonight.

Happy new year, all.

I had dinner with this dude as a strange hollywood moment:



the menue was:

amuse buche
blue point oyster, lemon granita, salmon roe

First
Maryland Crab Cake, Hollandaise, Tarragon Egg Salad
Fume Blanc, Ferrari-Carano


Second
Seared Chilean Sea Bass, Ancho Corn Chowder
Tarragon Gremolata


Third
Foie Gras Cone, Black Licorice, Rhubarb Jam
Pecan Nougatine
Sauternes, ??? (thanks to the awesome waiter)

amuse buche
cassis shooter with raisin molecular bubble

Fourth
Certified Angus Beef Tenderloin, Black Truffle Foam
Garlic Roasted Root Vegetables
Cabernert Sauvignon, Sequoia Grove, California


Fifth
Roasted Chestnut Souffle, Valrhona Jivara Chocolate Sauce, Candied Chestnuts

sorry no pics- but this was our best meal of 2007


the foie grass was a little too sweet for my taste, and my wife didn't care for the sauce on the sea bass (ok, I felt guilty eating the fish) - but excellent presentation, service and great cooking. not as much love went into this as orhan's cabbage rolls, but...


HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

opps too many glasses of whine, the first glass was this:

not the fume blanc...

Happy New Years, everybody!

In addition to being the first day of 2008, this also marks six months to the day that I moved back to NYC. Time flies when you're having fun.

Wow, first to post on TC for 2008. Hope everyone had as excellent an evening as I did. I spent it with a tight knit group of friends who I barely know, but welcomed me with open arms none the less. Left with a feeling of warm fuzziness (the effects of the alcohol had worn off by then so I know it wasn't that) and with them asking when they'd see me next. Very nice. 2008 already had promises of being a good year. Yay!

some how archinect missed this drawing of the cracks of the guggenheim


Happy new year!

Hey all.
This year will be big.
Some changes, mostly consolidation.
Hopefully, some professional progress.

And to all of you..Much love and all the best.

Happy New Year! I'll spare you the details, but I spent last night in the Gamble House, with a bunch of men (no shenanigans, unfortunately for me!). We then got up this morning and watched the Rose Parade, where I saw mdler fake playing the banjo! I'm trying to get the photos up, but until then, can you seriously imagine having a pajama party in a historical landmark? It was surreal.

crappiest new years ever.

Started feeling nauseous about 5:00 as I was leaving work (hadn't had a thing to drink). went home and munched on some food, then went to the airport to pick up female who allows me to associate with her. plane is late, and by the time she sees me I'm eyeing where the trash cans are in case things can't be suppressed.

Turns out, female is sick too (nasty cold) and just wants to crash. festivities are blown off, female goes to bed and I get some water and saltines. At some point I went to bed.

I slept through new years and felt crappy all day today. yay me.

Yikes, manamana. Sounds almost like my Christmas Eve last year.

I hope you feel better soon.

Did the Holiday with the HBO Series, "Rome" Seasons one and two.
It was a good place to be cause we have had some nasty weather over the past week.....Now I guess it is time to go back to work on projects for 2008.

You'll have to check out the picture on Flickr to see it better, but here is mdler:

Wow, that actually looks like a place that's... warm.

I have a date with Martha Stewart tomorrow evening. Seriously, I met her at a party the other night, and her name is Martha Stewart. Stay tuned.

hi all

thanks for the very cool name suggestions Liberty Bell and Wonder K, and clarifications jump. In the words of manamana, i'll ask the female what she thinks - my heart goes towards Liebeshaus; we'll see what it is in hawaiian.

Orhan...you have my mouth watering with that delight; send a couple over?

for the cat lovers

Oh and I was sick post-New Years, and what was supposed to be a quiet day after turned into more drinking and bad fried chicken with the (ahem) female sick as a pea for the night and much of this morning.

Oh and I'm back at work, and I really don't know why. There is another cool cruise ship (actually its a mega yacht used for cruises) out at the bay, which really looks inviting on this grey day.

and here's the missing link from the previous post; which is really meant for Wonder K[itty]

Aww, manamana, at least 2008 can only go up from here, right? Hope both you and the ladyfriend were able to enjoy some time together feeling better before she flew off.

WonderK types I'll spare you the details about a pajama party with hot men in the Gamble House, WTF?!?! You know the details are what we are all interested in!!

barry: were you actually able to enjoy dinner with that bizarre celebrity in the same room? I mean I was a huge fan of Motley Crue back in the day, but now, ick. Though I guess that's mean of me to say, for all I know he's as charming and gentlemanly a dinner companion as one could wish for. I'm sure he has great stories to tell, perhaps even some as risque and daring as a pajama party at the Gamble House?!

OK, here I go catching up on all my email correspondence of he last two weeks. Later TC.

after over a week of being disconnected, i'm not even going to try to catch up. any threads that are really interesting will rise to the top again, i trust.

hope everyone had a wonderful time over the holidays.
let's make it a great '08! (things can only get better, right?)

Wow, Steven, welcome back to the land of the living! Where've you been?

Welcome back, Steven... I was just thinking we hadn't seen you in a while.

thanks.

our holidays:

drove 14 hrs to virginia with my wife, our 2 1/2 yr old, and our 10 mo old.

14 hrs is a long drive.

then we stayed here for several days - http://www.norfolkrotunda.com/ .

very cool, right smack in the middle of downtown norfolk. we had a 1050sf loft, all outfitted in a very modern way.

norfolk, by the way, is a wonderful downtown; much nicer than when i was growing up around that area.

christmas 1 - christmas eve at my wife's sister's
christmas 2 - christmas at my dad's
christmas 3 - christmas at my grandmother's (30 people for dinner and gifts!)
christmas 4 - 27th at my mother's
christmas 5 - 29th at my mother's husband's daughter's

on the 27th we moved from the rotunda to my mother's house in smithfield va, rural, overlooking the pagan river. very different environment from the rotunda downtown, but nice and relaxing.

drove back the 14 hrs on new year's eve, arriving back home about 20 mins before the ball dropped.

First day back at work since before Xmas. It's a little strange being back, but at least I have something to keep me occupied for most of the day. I was scared there would be nothing upon my return.

mana and atechno - hope you both are feeling better.
Steven - Do you get a vacation from your vacation? Sounds like that may be in order.

I had homemade pierogies last night at a friend's house. Man were they tasty. What I wouldn't do for some more of those treats...

Funny that you mention the parade WK. I turned on the TV as I went about my business and actually saw his float drive on by. Tried to find mdler, but they didn't show it long enough to get a good look.

@ Tuna...

Growing up with a mother of Polish/Ukranian descent i must say nothing beats homemade peirogies...MMMMMM

Especially with sauteed onions and peppers..to put on top along with sour cream and dill


I finally learned how to make them myself a year or so ago..

Got the recipe down just before my grandmother died...Would have liked to get her opinion of my attempt at re-makign her classics.

lb- I became immune to celebrities during my life in hollywood. so I didn't even blink when he walked by, while ms. tk's jaw hit the floor. I exaggerated slightly, they were in the private dining room, and only saw them in as we were all walking in.

atechno, glad you're feeling better.

now that most of us are back, where's Vado?


the food of the day is the hummus that my israeli co-worker made, yummmy!

(I want to learn to make perogi's)

uh, where's vado?

Check his Facebook page.

And regarding details at the Gamble House....honestly nothing crazy happened. Just some champagne and a movie. Sorry I'm not more interesting. I will work on that for 2008!

beta, isn't vado out visiting ex-gf/future-wifey?

Sounds fine to me, DubK. My new years had maybe a little too much drama going on. And hangovers that last until dinnertime are not so pleasant.

So it's about 5 degrees outside, and I can't get my house - even the kitchen, which is right next to the mechanical room - above 65 degrees. I usually keep the thermostat set at 68, I'm thinking I should turn it down to 65 just to save some money, as even at this temperature my gas bill is going to be outrageous!

How I dream of a high floor apartment with utilities all paid...I'd spend winter lounging in a Tshirt.

So I guess the question is: should I start drinking to keep warm? ;-)

LB - I've got the space heater running so my house feels nice and warm. You and the fam can come over, I've got some Bailey's and hot chocolate :o)

In other words... yes it's okay to drink to stay warm.

Christmas is officially over at my house. Finally put everything away this evening. My dining room feels empty with the tree gone. Now if only the cookies would disappear. I hate throwing food away, but I think I might do it just to get them outta here.

Ha, tuna, we always have a space heater in Angus' room (he cannot stay beneath covers, ever) so the whole family may end up in there tonight! Stay warm yourself! And jump, I feel for you out there in Japan - when my partner spent a semester studying in Kyoto he said he could regularly see his breath in his apartment!

Between this and Archinect Travels I'm ready to move back to Phoenix. Except I suspect it has already peaked and I want to move to wherever the next place is going to be.

What? Another Archinect Travel episode... gotta run.