The Big Apple!

A couple of weeks ago, my friend Shannon and I had the best vacation in NYC.  It was truly wonderful - such a perfect blend of history, culture, and beauty!

I picked up a copy of Chronicles of Old New York: Exploring Manhattan's Landmark Neighborhoods by James Roman while on 5th Avenue.  If you haven't been - or if you're planning a return trip - I highly, highly recommend it.  With 25 chapters on New York's history and nine walking tours, it's the perfect guide to help you truly appreciate what you're seeing.  And it's small enough to fit in your purse - or man-bag!

Incidentally, we just missed the UFO by one day...

We stayed at the Hilton on 6th Avenue and Broadway, across the street from the Empire State Building and Macy's and just a few blocks down from Times Square.

The Empire State Building as seen from our hotel room.  Props to Shannon for being a Hilton Diamond Club member!

Another view from the 29th floor of the Hilton.

The first day we explored the Wholesale District, Madison Square Park, Union Square, the Finanial District, Ground Zero, Soho, and Times Square and saw "The Lion King" on Broadway.

Shannon enjoys the world's best pretzel stuffed with feta cheese, rosemary, and olives in Madison Square Park.  (I had one too!)

The Flatiron Building by Madison Square Park

The farmer's market in Union Square

Beautiful architecture...

McDonald's in the Financial District has a pianist!

The beautiful and historic cemetery at Trinity Church which received it's original charter from King William III of England in 1697.  Members of the First and Second Continental Congress worshipped here, and Francis Lewis, signer of the Declaration of Independence, is buried here.

Trinity Church as seen from Wall Street in front of Federal Hall

Federal Hall, America's original Capitol where George Washington was innaugurated in 1789.  The Bill of Rights was signed here in 1791.

The view of Federal Hall and Trinity Church from Wall Street.  Can you imagine a time when Federal Hall and the church were probably the most grandiose buildings in town?

Construction at Ground Zero

A picture taken by sticking my hand through the chain link fence.

Mmmm... New York City pizza!

The So Good jewelry store in Soho - fun jewelry at great prices!  It was sensory overload!

Check out this gold bathtub in Soho.  I was going to get one for my house, but it didn't include a built-in t.v.

The second day we went to the Statue of Liberty, Battery Park, the Meatpacking District, and Chelsea.

The beautiful Statue of Liberty.  It's almost enough to make you respect France.  Almost.

The Brooklyn Bridge.  The footing of the bridge rests on the same site where George Washington rented a house when living in New York while serving as our first President.

"The Sphere" in Battery Park originally stood in the plaza of the World Trade Center and was meant to symbolize world peace through world trade.  It was damaged in the September 11th attacks and is now displayed in Battery Park.  (Click on the link to see what it used to look like.)

Note damage to "The Sphere"

Chillaxing in Greenwich Village at 7th Avenue and Grove Street just around the corner from Marie's Crisis Cafe where Thomas Paine and other colonial patriots used to unwind.

A peaceful tree-lined street in Greenwich Village.  Hey, is that Carrie Bradshaw??

The smallest house in New York at 75 1/2 Bedford Street.  It is 10 feet wide and sold in 2010 for just over $2 million.

"Door art" on Cornelia Street in Greenwich Village

Catching a ride on the subway...

...with the dead rats.  Rodenticide.  Who knew?

The third day we went to the Empire State Building, Macy's on 6th Avenue & Broadway, Central Park, Park Avenue, Rockafeller Center, and Hell's Kitchen.

Views from the Empire State Building.  Note the Chrysler Building to the left side of this picture.

Cool shadow.  Our hotel is in the sunlight at the bottom of the picture just to the right of the Empire State Building's shadow.

The view looking up the Empire State Building from the observation deck.  I think it looks like some kind of futuristic capitol buidling from this angle.

Macy's had cool, old wooden escalators on the upper floors.

Pretty view of Central Park. 

"Where are the people jogging?  That's what you always see in the movies.  I want to see some people jogging!"

What Shannon remembers most about our visit to Central Park!

Hmmm...  This led to a classic Shannon-on-the-go moment involving a pair of wet flip-flops.

I guess I shouldn't laugh considering I bit the dust on the set of Salem's Place when we were out in L.A.!  Anyhow, this was consumed at The Mean Fiddler in Hell's Kitchen earning us our street cred before we left.

Cool cityscape

What a fantastic trip - I can't wait to go back!  Thanks to Mom and Dad for the airline miles, and thanks to Shannon for the free hotel rooms - you guys are the best!!!

End of the Season Harvest

We may have our first freeze tonight, so I got with it and harvested almost everything that was left in the garden.  I did leave one habanero and one pepper plant in case it doesn't freeze because of course it's going to warm up after tonight, and I thought I'd take chance it with a handful of stuff in the event that I can eeck out a bit more of that vine-ripened flavor!

Peppers galore and a handful of tomatoes 

I've read mixed reviews about pulling the entire pepper plant and letting it ripen inside.  I don't have high expectations, but I thought I'd give it a whirl.  Peppers will continue to ripen even off the plant and in the collander, so if nothing else, pulling the whole plant makes it easier to hang on a rack and ensure better air circulation while they do their thing.

I'm preserving many of these by freezing, drying, pickling, and some other stuff.  I thought I'd share and take a few to work to give away, too, begrudingly...?

Here's the habanero plant I pulled.

Incidentally, the Jiffy pellet in which I started the seed held up well and proudly displayed itself when I pulled the plant up roots and all...

Jiffy pellet - "Hello again!"

Peppers!

I haven't posted in a while, but I have been taking pictures!  So...  I'm going to see if I can start getting caught up now that's it's cooling off (we may have our first freeze tonight!), and I'm getting things wrapped up with the garden for this season.

Here are some of the beautiful, delicious peppers I've been harvesting.

These haven't been washed yet, so they have some water spots on them.  Pictured here are Costa Rican Sweet (red, upper left), Pablano (green, upper right), and Habanero (orange, lower right).  There are also a handful of tomatoes - Roma (long) and Sun Gold (cherry).

All of these were started from seed from Burpee except for the Romas which were leftover from last year's Wal-Mart seeds (which are just fine too, Burpee just has some unique varieties).

Costa Rican Sweet pepper

Costa Rican Sweet peppers make a good substitue for bell peppers.  This was the first year I grew them, and I was really happy with the production levels.  I got many more peppers than the bells I've grown in the past.  The flavor isn't particularly distinctive, but they're good when you want a sweet pepper, and a bit of char helps bring out the flavor.

Pablono pepper with a handful of Sun Gold tomatoes

Pablanos have become my standout favorite this year!  They have a distinctive, almost pungent flavor and more heat when they are green (my preference) than when they are red (also good but sweeter).  They are fantastic in omlettes!

Habanero peppers

Habaneros are known for their smoky flavor, but frankly I'm not sure my palette is discriminating enough to detect this - I mainly find them hot!  But good hot!  According to Burpee, the habanero is 100 times hotter than a jalapeno, so be careful when handling.  The habs in the upper portion of this picture have been sitting in my collander for a few days and have ripened more developing a deeper orange hue.  The lower ones were just picked tonight (to escape the freeze) and still have some green on them.

All of these have been super easy to grow here in Lubbock.  Stick 'em in the ground, and just add water.

Seriously.