here are five (of many) reasons to visit the electric city:

the best bread you will ever have in your life. it’s crusty on the outside, and perfectly dense and chewy on the inside.

cheese, george! cheese!

the hard to locate sausage store with the very helpful and sometimes cranky cast of characters behind the counter.

the cherry danishes (that have become less cherry and more danish) .

vale cemetery. the vandalism and violence are up at night, but peaceful walks are in full force during the day.

i wanted the feeling of living somewhere else, so we hopped in the car and headed toward my old stomping grounds – the capitol of new york state! yeah, i totally drive to work in albany everyday, and we eat at our favorite mexican restaurant there once a week. but this was different, i wanted to feel like a tourist. it worked!

holy cow, where in the heck did i go? did i forget about blogging? i hope everyone had a wonderful thanksgiving spent with special people. skfl and i hit the road with my parents and visited my brother and his fiancé (they got engaged two days after we did!) in cambridge, massachusetts. after every visit, i get the urge to pack up and leave new york’s capital district in the dust. there are so many interesting restaurants to check out and beautiful routes to walk a dog! hmm.

back to the visit. my bro. and co. worked so well together in the kitchen. there appeared to be no stressful times while they gracefully put together a partially vegetarian friendly meal for skfl and me. i’m not a fan of turkey, but had no problem scarfing up that savory sausage dressing, and crispy bacon on the apple and squash soup. my parents brought an apple pie from the hawthorne valley farm store in ghent, ny. i think it was a real treat for my mom to purchase a pie for a change (and it was lovingly made with spelt flour – very tasty). she did continue on the tradition of her mother’s banana bread recipe. it is one of my favorite things to eat on this planet (even when i substitute fake shortening for the lard). skfl and i whipped up some renayto (my healthy-ish risotto) late the night before. it really went well with the meal. score!

i’m grateful and thankful to have been able to make the trip with my folks and skfl. i think it meant a lot to my bro. and co. to have a crew to share the holiday with. i have never been a fan of thanksgiving, and that all changed this year. a road trip always seems to snap me out of a solid funk.

i think i was more productive with my “life stuff” when i was gainfully employed. sitting here tonight, i can’t figure out where the hours have gone in my post employment life (of two days). i’ve definitely been spending time going after interesting sounding jobs and picking the brains of people whose businesses i admire. i don’t know that i have anything to show for it though.

the alarm no longer goes off at 6a and i’ve been letting myself sleep in until 830a. i also get my morning dose of one on one at 9a while eating cereal and drinking tea. (i did work with a tv on in my office for 8 hours a day and am not ready to leave all of those shows behind just yet)

it has been unseasonably hot in upstate new york this week. why did this have to happen after the air conditioner got stored away for the year? and why did i think it would be a great idea to head up the very steep congress street hill yesterday to hang out at prospect park with mae? by the time we got up to the park, we were ready for food and a nap.

i was hoping to do a fun photoshoot with my muse otherwise known as the monkey, but that didn’t last once the exhaustion kicked in. a quick call to skfl to see if he was heading home for lunch (aka could swing by and pick us up because he was a few blocks away, but was unable to leave at the time) combined with my even quicker pack up of our stuff, led me to leave something behind.

as we were halfway down the hill, it hit me – where is the monkey??? oh there is no way i would have left him on the picnic table. or was there? my mind was racing. should we turn around and head back up the hill to find out, or keep going and hop in the air conditioned car and drive back? we went with the latter. (yes!) i was so afraid we would bump into a familiar face and have to cut the conversation short to go find my tiny plastic monkey that got left behind after a park themed photoshoot. luckily, mae and i made it home without seeing a friendly face. we got out of the car and found the monkey eagerly awaiting our return. all was right in my little world.

i think i just figured out where all of those hours have gone.

it’s apple picking season! i hit the orchard today with my sister and her awesome kids. apple picking with children is such a wonderful thing. they were so eager to help and really wanted to climb the ladders, so all i had to do was follow behind and try to focus the lens on their very quickly moving limbs.

i requested macouns and golden delicious and they hit the trees with open bags. we somehow managed to end up with an even ten pounds for the skfl/nene household. the total was only $6.50! i’m starting to become more budget minded now that employment is not in my very near future. the only other thing that clouds my mind is not having health insurance. i realized that when my eleven year old niece wanted to take my picture on the ladder. i reluctantly said yes while i thought about my second broken arm (a jumping out of a tree mishap in the fifth grade), and muttered “what if i fall? i don’t have health insurance.”

when i was little, the trees seemed so tall and it was such a thrill to climb the ladder. why let that stop me now? the trees at this orchard were pretty tiny, but there was still something very exciting about picking an apple that i would later consume. or add to a bunch of other apples eagerly picked by those sweet kids, knowing that they would go into a delicious pie filled with love. the love and nourishment that will help fuel me for this next chapter in my life. i have a feeling it is going to be one of the best apple pies i ever make.

we hit the local food festival at indian ladder farms in altamont yesterday. skfl waited in line for cider donuts while i wandered around, trying not to stumble over all the children. i was also trying to walk off the mad irish toast from a lovely breakfast at the miss albany diner with my blog buddies. (yeah, i’m trying to up my cool factor. during these uncertain times with no employment in site, i find comfort in such things.)

i swooped in as skfl reached the window and got a sneak peek into how they make the donuts. i’m not a fan of the cider donut, but can appreciate the need to wait in line for such a seasonal treat. he picked up a dozen to bring to work and forgot the bag on the prep table at home. luckily, the lovely mae did not feel the need to hop up for a morning snack.

more photos can be found over here.

i had a wonderful day at the saratoga wine and food festival. a few highlights:

drinking really delicious and expensive sake (and trying to take photos afterward).

chit chatting with madonna’s dad about michigan’s scenery.

meeting joseph carr and learning about his wine.

doing a shot of olive oil and talking about my colon.

going back for more lobster and filet mignon sushi with cream cheese and some other stuff rolled in tempura flakes and fried. wow!

you can see more photos here.

we just got back from a much needed stroll with my folks after stuffing ourselves at muza (the new polish restaurant in town). i am not cut out to eat too much of that type of cuisine. everything was so delicious and flavorful, but too rich for me. way too much meat, potatoes and oil for a gal named renée. i am feeling very slow right now. muza is such a cute and tiny space and my mom remembered that she got her hair cut there 45 years ago! we ended up sharing a few laughs with the couple sitting a table away.

i love a restaurant where the seats are close and the patrons are open to talking. it reminds me that we are all in it together, so why not get to know each other and share stories. i think my new favorite thing to find out from couples is how they met. as it turns out, my parents met at a bar!!! how wild and exciting. skfl and i met at an electronic music performance at a synagogue in woodstock (something i had no interest in attending. oops. i was in it for the dinner at one of my favorite restaurants up the road). the couple we chatted with tonight met at an italian american festival at the community center. i guess you never know where you will meet your love, or if it will even last. thankfully my love and i will be sticking to each other the way these potatoes are sticking to my ribs. did that work? ah, what the heck. i’ll leave it in. hee hee.

thanks for the fun dinner and walk, mom and dad! xo

i don’t really have anything to say (although i somehow just managed to send out a ton of emails), so i’m sharing a few random photos from the past few days.

i just rediscovered the podcast directory on npr’s website. i grabbed a bunch of the food related stories for my long car rides to work. it’s a nice way to learn and get inspired without sitting through the local radio banter. i’m thrilled to see so many options available! american public media offers the splendid table, a show i’ve been meaning to listen to for quite a while. tomorrow morning i will be able to make that happen! i look so forward to lynne rossetto kasper’s weekly newsletter. it’s always jam packed with wonderful recipes and useful tips.