sarah in nyc

 Sunday, my sister and I went to Brooklyn to visit our cousins. I admired this art-deco architectural ornament  before we went upstairs to visit our cousins. After our visit we continued to Angela Restaurant in Boro Park home of excellent food and ugly décor. We hadn't been since before Covid and we were greeted with hugs from the owners. I think that I finally figured out the proper way to order a meal there. You don't ask for a menu. You say that you want soup ad then you are given choices. We both chose the soup with beef pelmeni the is garnished with fresh dill. We could have ordered soup with noodles but I don't know how it could have been any more delicious than the soup with pelmeni. We were then told to select from a variety of meats all grilled on the charcoal grill at the front of the store.  We were given a choice of salad made with fresh or pickled vegetables. We chose fresh. The bits of grilled meat arrived as they were cooked. W ate each skewer of meat as it...

 Yesterday, my dear friend S gave me a gift for Thanksgiving. She cooked the entire feast, and invited our family. My only task was to enjoy the delicious food. My sister who joined us  for the cooked most of the meal for tonight, leaving me with relatively little to cook tonight. Our challot are stuffed with either poppy seeds or bits of dried apple. The chicken is vaguely Thanksgiving themed, at least in my head flavored with apple butter, two diced apples the arils of one pomegranate and mustard. There were spices involved but I am typing too fast to remember which ones. I made cranberry sauce. Your elementary school child can make it as well. Wash a bag of cranberries. When I was a kid the bags sold had a full pound of berries now the cranberry bags only hold 12oz of berries. Add to a microwave sage bowl with sugar. I added 4 T because a cup (as suggested on the package ) seemed excessive. I also added two cloves and some ginger. You can add flavors that you prefer. Orange...

Cathie is a longtime friend from my long-time sewing list. Yesterday, she asked about how to construct a shrug. So this post is the answer to her question. 1. Super Easy Tube  Shrug Fold a 45 inch wide fabric in 1/2.  The finished height should be wider than your upper arm. So let's pretend that you start with a rectangle that is  45 inches x 14 inches and you folded it in half  Stitch  the open end from the selvedge most of the way to the center of the fabric. Do the same from the other selvedge. Turn the fabric right side out. Then slip your arms into the shrug from the center unstitched section. The unstitched section will comfortably slip up around the back of your neck and down to about bra-strap height on your back.  If the shrug falls off your shoulders stitch a few more inches into the center of the fabric. If it is uncomfortably small unpick a few inches on each side.  Once you like the fit you can hem that open center section. If you wish you...

 This post is being organized into more or less three topics. Topic 1 Nature in the Neighborhood   The trees in Spare Change Plaza, the entry to our subway station, have lost their leaves but the roses are still blooming up a storm. I took the photo below from the east side of Broadway. Spare Change Plaza  is sometimes beautiful and sometimes overrun with vermin and street people. Often it is both at the same time. I guess par for the course for the neighborhood. Across the street from the subway station is the old public bathroom which is now an art space. I think that this little building is most beloved by the local pigeons.  I am now going to segue into topic 2. The ugly orange building behind the art space/former public bathroom houses a thrift store. The thrift carries a mix of clothing and home goods. I satisfy my need to see STUFF by stopping in and looking around. I often play a game with myself to see if I can identify objects of real quality among the drek...

 As I start writing this blogpost I am hoping that I can make it about three different topics and still have it hang together in a reasonable way. Let's see how I do? A couple of weeks ago I had gotten an email from someone who used to make tallitot but had gone on to other pursuits. A tallit she had made several years ago had needed some repairs. She wondered if I would be willing to do them. I was. Below is the tear. After carefully inspecting the tallit I found a matching spot that was about to tear on the other side of the tallit I mended both the actual tear and the about to tear bits with what is essentially a fabric bandage. Some of the identical silk fused over the break. This stabilizes the rip.  We also decided to cover the area with gold braid. The braid acts as camouflage but also strengthens the weakened area. We then decided to line the tallit. This is another trick that provides strength and an extra bit of pretty to the tallit. We had ordered two different drap...