Wednesday, September 10, 2008BrunchMy friends Peter and Val stopped by my apartment for brunch this past Saturday. I enjoy having friends over for brunch on the weekends. It's a great way to start the day: I get up early to straighten up the house and clean; I cook a nice meal with friends; we all enjoy a leisurely meal with nice drinks; and we still have the rest of the day to enjoy. I tend to make and gather an excessive amount of food for brunch. You can see Peter and I sitting before the brunch table. We enjoyed croissants, beignets, and French bread from Almondine, an assortment of jellies and jams, eggs benedict, grapes, melon and prosciutto, raspberries and blackberries, prosecco, bloody marys, coffee, and orange juice.  Eggs Benedict can be a bit difficult to make. The hardest part is trying to make sure everything comes together at the same time, especially when you are preparing the dish for multiple people. I've written about making Eggs Benedict before. One item I should note: fresh eggs are very important for this dish. Not only do they taste better, but preparing the poached eggs and Hollandaise sauce is much easier with fresh eggs. Despite the challenges in preparing Eggs Benedict, it is worth it: this is a luxurious dish. It's easy to make vegetarian- and kosher-friendly: just swap out the Canadian Bacon for cooked spinach (Eggs Florentine) or salmon. It's not possible to make this dish vegan-friendly.  Well before my friends arrived at my house, I took a walk down to Almondine in Dumbo. The baker at Almondine is Hervé Poussot, formerly a pastry chef at Le Bernardin. The story of Almondine is that it was opened with Jacques Torres of Jacques Torres Chocolate. (His store is across the street.) Almondine has the best croissants in Brooklyn if not all of New York City. The breads, pastries, and cakes are also amazing. I have only been to a handful of bakeries that compare to Almondine. If you are in DUMBO, I definitely recommend stopping by there, and if you are not in DUMBO, it's well worth the trip. Brunch with friends is always a lot of fun. I've made these dishes for other friends as well, and I'm always happy to have people over. [Thanks Val for sending me photos of Peter and the food!] Monday, September 08, 2008Spider weaving and eatingI haven't seen the spider in my window since the rainstorm this past Saturday. However, I did catch it weaving a web the other day. I think I pushed my camera a bit to the limits; macro mode can be a bit difficult to use.  Here is the final image magnified and over-sharpened:  I also captured some images of the Araneus diadematus (Cross Orbweaver) eating a fly. I've decided to just link to the images, as some folks might be a bit squeamish: Sunday, August 24, 2008Spider over BrooklynA spider has been hanging outside of my picture window. Spiders eat mosquitos, so I'm glad it is around. Tonight I tried to catch it so that I can release it in the garden. There's a huge storm coming tomorrow, and I wouldn't want it to get washed away. It was too fast for me, and scampered up to the top of the window. Does anyone know what kind of spider it is?   Update: After a little bit of searching on the web, I think it is safe to say that this spider is a Araneus diadematus, or Cross Orbweaver. See more photos at BugGuide.net and Wikimedia Commons. Waterfalls The Waterfalls project by Olafur Eliasson is pretty, but not necessarily as impressive as I thought it would be. I think the view from the East River looking into Brooklyn is fairly attractive even without the additional public art. York Street Station York Street Station, the last station in Brooklyn on the Manhattan-bound F train, has an oddly repetitive and subdued quality. Thursday, June 26, 2008Ayveq the WalrusAyveq, the walrus that I wrote about earlier, passed away this past Sunday. Which makes me a bit sad. You can read the announcement on the NY Aquarium web site.Friday, June 20, 2008Time lapse photos from the Brooklyn Botantic GardenDave Allen, BBG's Web Manager, created some interesting time-lapse videos.Cherry Blossoms Cranford Rose Garden [Link via SportsShooter.] Labels: Brooklyn, time-lapse Sunday, June 15, 2008Brooklyn Bridge 125th AnniversaryFor the 125th anniversary of the Brooklyn Bridge, New York City arranged for special lighting shows and a fireworks display. I had a prime view from my window and took many photos.I plan on printing these images and making a framed triptych.           Labels: Brooklyn Wednesday, May 21, 2008Brooklyn Bridge lighting previewLast night, I noticed strange lighting on the Brooklyn Bridge. A quick 311 call informed me that they are preparing for the 125th Anniversary of the bridge tomorrow!If the weather is nice, I will be on my roof taking photos.    Labels: Brooklyn Sunday, April 13, 2008Sunset from my apartmentLabels: Brooklyn, time-lapse 
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