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Posts from the ‘Catching Up’ Category

Apr 1

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Catching Up in March/Springing Ahead to April

I think the early spring thaw has gone straight to my head. For weeks now I’ve had Astrud Gilberto’s Tristeza (Goodbye Sadness) playing on a loop.  Suddenly, everything seems so easy – seeing friends, making plans, getting around the city.  Even though winter has snapped back just a little, no one can take away the feeling that only light layer, ballet flat days are ahead of us.  But before I can get to the chicks and bunnies, I need to catch up on March. Read more

Oct 31

Catching Up in October


I usually use my catching-up posts to link to things I’ve read, but this October I thought I’d focus on what I’ve seen…Now that the vampire craze has given way to zombies, I hope the mad scientist is the next ones due for his close-up. I’ve never been a fan of Hollywood horror, but I started out the month with the new Almodóvar, The Skin I Live In, and loved it. It always feels so right when his latest arrives in fall – an over-saturated season to perfectly mirrors his over-saturated films. Set somewhere between Frankenstein and Hitchcock with the voice of Concha Buika (above) piping through, if you don’t think you could live there, then you haven’t seen the house. Read more

Aug 31

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Catching Up With Summer

Charged with closing out the summer season, August is a month made up almost entirely of Sunday nights. Starting with a protracted political debate and market free fall then ending with an earthquake/hurricane double punch, August never seems to play fair. Yet when I looked through my accumulated links and clips, I was surprised by how happy I’ve been the last few weeks – taking advantage of the markets, going the long way around to the city, catching up with friends, cooling off in refrigerated movie theaters. Maybe it was the goodbye atmosphere but there was something to fall in love with around every corner. Here are a just a few, starting with… Read more

Jul 31

Catching Up in July

During the summer, it’s easy to drift into your own world enjoying long days and longer weekends, but there was an intensity to this July that didn’t allow for easy disconnect. There was tragic and terrifying news , too soon goodbyes, and on a personal note – friends facing unthinkable and unexpected challenges. On the other extreme, I got to spend last Sunday at City Hall with two other friends who’d just won the literal lottery, allowing them to make it official after 27 years on the first day that it was legal to do so in New York City. Swinging between high anxiety, deep sympathy, and pure excitement, I couldn’t say the news has been all good or all bad but the past few weeks, I’ve been constantly reminded just how fragile it all is, or maybe it was the heat making everything tremble. Read more

Jun 30

Catching Up in June

This May, I took this picture at the Festival of Ideas for the New City along the Bowery. The season was just getting started and its been forward motion since then. With both spring and the summer solstice behind us, it seems like a good midway point to get a clear 360° view, looking backwards and forward at the same time. Belongings, an amazing New York times piece by Sam Dolnick did just that when they asked a group of immigrants to describe a single object they brought with them into their new life and what it means to them now, appropriate as we head into 4th of July weekend. For a much more tongue in cheek but no less interesting take on the immigrant experience, there’s Chingo Bling’s talking tamales. Read more

May 31

Catching Up in May

I wasn’t really excited about summer (too hot, too soon) until I finished my run this weekend and stopped by the Grand Army Plaza greenmarket on my way home. Seeing some chives in full bloom, I asked the vendor how they could be used. Holding on to the stem, he gently twisted off the light purple puff at the top and presented me with a handful of blossoms – suddenly I could see weeks mint tea, ripe berries, fat peaches and green tomatoes spreading out before me and couldn’t wait to get started. But, before I get lost in the corn fields, I wanted to catch-up on some articles that popped up in May. Read more

Apr 30

Catching Up in April

The last few weeks, I’ve had some unexpected travel. The trips themselves were planned but it was unexpected how quickly the intervening weeks flew. Feeling like I’d hardly been home when it was time to pack up and leave again, it didn’t help that the entire city is coming out of hibernation so every weekend offers competing to dos, openings and events. Back from Puerto Rico after Easter, I missed the beach but was comforted to find Cobble Hill in full bloom. I had the chance to do a little virtual traveling as well and put up a few more posts on Devour the Blog including camarones al chipotle and torrejas with lavendar and honey syrup with more to come. Read more

Apr 1

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Catching Up in March

March has been such a whirl that I made it all the way to April before I could stop and catch my breath. It started well with my first contribution to the Cooking Channel’s Devour the Blog  and it was great to see so many of you making the jump. A new post on stocking my Latin pantry went up yesterday with more to follow. I laid my cupboard bare (well I straightened it up first) so I hope you’ll visit the site again and let us know what’s in yours.  I also wrote a piece about Latin American staples - Running with the Grains -  for Marcus Samuelsson‘s Food Republic that combines two favorite obsessions – seeking out new ingredients and running till I just can’t anymore.  A new site covering everyone from Junot Diaz to Michelle Bernstein (who also helps spices up school lunches here), I was thrilled to be a part of their launch this week. Read more

Jan 31

Catching Up in January

If it was only the cold or the snow or the rain, it wouldn’t be so bad, but having all three, all the time, has begun to drain my reserves.  Most mornings, I wake up to the weather man letting me down easy – it’s just going to be a light freezing rain or just below twenty but with a windchill factor in mid-misery – couching it in the gentlest terms so I know he’s serious but don’t get too hysterical.  I’ll complain but if I’m being honest the snow and slush provide the perfect excuse to crawl into my over-sized shawl/undersized afghan, stream Netflix, dog nap, and catch up on my reading. Read more

Dec 31

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Catching Up in December

I briefly considered skipping my catching up post for December.  The new year came on to quickly after the chaos of the blizzard and it had been a relatively quiet online month before that.  Still, counting out the grapes for this year’s countdown, I realized I couldn’t end the year on an incomplete.  Though I normally pull together stories and links from other sites, when I unexpectedly received my wordpress report card reviewing my year online, I thought it would be a good opportunity to catch up on my own.  So in lieu of the twelve grapes I’ll be throwing back at midnight to welcome in 2011, here’s a quick catch-up list of the most popular posts from each month (with a few of my favorites mixed in) of the past year. Read more

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