I LOVED New York!!!

As I posted earlier, hubby won a 1 night trip to NYC with tickets to watch the New York Rangers play the Toronto Maple Leafs.  We got there on Porter airlines - and had a terrific experience.  Once we landed and cleared customs, it was off to our exciting whirlwind adventure. 

We took an airport shuttle to the Port Authority bus terminal which was right across from our hotel, the Westin Times Square.  I really like Westin hotels, I sleep so much better in their Heavenly Beds than I do in any other hotel bed (I think it's because they use duvets like I do at home, not scratchy blankets).  We checked in (we were lucky and got early check-in), got settled and hit the town!  We were hungry, so first stop was lunch - we had it at some Irish pub near Rockefeller Centre - good, but nothing to gush about.  Then we started walking about - and I was getting a little stressed out because we didn't have a plan for what we would do until the hockey game started (and I like having a plan).  So we were walking and deciding what to do when a woman from CBS walks up to us and offers us free tickets to watch a taping of the David Letterman Show.  Are you kidding??!!??  That is soooooo NY, just walk around and stuff happens to you! It was around 1:20, and we had to pick up our tickets between 2-3pm at the theatre, so we decided to start walking that way. 

We stopped at Banana Republic and they were having a terrific 50% off the lowest ticketed price sale - WOOOHOOOO!!  I as usual, didn't find much, just a t-shirt and a sweater but hubby scored 2 shirts, 1 sweater and a pair of pants.  And for all of that, we paid $80.  Wow, the US sure does know how to have a sale, we suck at sales in Canada - and with the dollar at par, well..... it was quite a buzz!

We made our way over to the Ed Sullivan theatre - naive me, had it in my head that we would just waltz up to the counter and pick up the tickets...... WRONG!  There was a line up halfway around the block, it was 2:40 before we got our tickets - which left us 40 minutes to run the 10 blocks back to our hotel, get dressed and be back for 3:30.  The show starts taping at 4:30, but they ask you to be there an hour early.  So, a mad dash back to the hotel, threw on our clothes for the evening and some makeup and made the mad dash back to the theatre - I can't remember the last time I walked that much!

The show was great - I will do a quick post on that later on.  But after that it was another "walk" to Madison Square Garden.  What a great venue, sadly the Leafs were slaughtered 7-0.  But, if they had to lose, it was neat to be there for a game where the NY fans were so excited.  On the way home we stopped off for a quick bite - at a sushi restaurant.  Then we went back to the hotel and crashed in absolute exhaustion! 

Hubby worked from the hotel all the next day, so I ran out in the morning and got us a couple of coffees and breakfast paninis - I felt so NY, running out to buy breakfast - and not in my car.  I read my book in the hotel for about an hour, but then I decided to brave the winter weather and head out.  I wandered the streets, spoke to some interesting characters, and bought a couple of trinkets for the kids.  My wandering took me through the old garment district.  Many books I have read in the past took place in the early 1900's in the garment district, and the area looked just like I imagined it.  Lots of old little buildings squished together, specializing in something very specific, like beads, or silk flowers - I really enjoyed myself.  After a few hours out in the cold, I headed back to the hotel where hubby was still hard at work - but it was time to go.  Caught the shuttle back to the airport, and had another terrific Porter flight home. 

Thank you AM640 - we had a wonderful time! I have been to NY before, but always with a purpose - I really enjoyed just wandering the streets without any real agenda.  This trip motivated me to travel back to NY some time soon and perhaps stay a few days in another part of town, and wander those streets!  It was such an unexpected and appreciated little trip!  Proof that there are still "good" surprises out there awaiting us all!

It truly was flying, refined....

Hubby and I just got back from a brief but very fun trip to Manhattan.   Hubby won a trip for 2 to NYC for 1 night, with tickets to go and see the New York Rangers play the Toronto Maple Leafs - it was such a great surprise!  He registered online to be an AM 640 Insider, and I believe that means he gets his name put into all the contests they have - and low and behold, he got a call to say he had won this trip!  It was all very fast, we had to book 2 days off work (which hubby didn't really manage to do - he had to work a lot while we were away), get childcare lined up, and off we went!  A whirlwind 30 hour trip to NYC!
I will have a few posts about our trip, but first I wanted to talk about our flight - because it really is worth mentioning. 

We left very early in the morning to catch our flight on Porter  - which flies out of Toronto Island Airport.  I have never flown on Porter, nor have I ever flown out of that airport, so I was a bit apprehensive about all the logistics.   You see, we live in the west end, and getting to Pearson International airport is quite easy - we take a cab, or have my parents drive us, it takes 20 minutes.  But getting to the island airport during rush hour meant taking the transit system.  So we had to drive to the GO Train, take the GO Train, grab the free airport shuttle at union station, then get on a ferry to get to the island airport, so that we could catch our flight.  That's right, 5 modes of transportation...... I was a bit stressed about us making all of our connections and whatnot - there were 5 distinct opportunities for things to go wrong and delay us catching our flight....but it all went very smoothly!  We made every connection seamlessly without waiting, but there was a lot of running around.

Now, my friends make endless fun of me because I used to insist on travelling business class wherever I went.  I hate the way the passengers in economy are treated like cattle - in fact, I call economy class, "cattle class" - because that is how the big airlines treat you.  But since having children, and not having the elite status on the airline which allowed me to frequently upgrade, I have been relegated to "cattle class" - and since then, I hate flying.  Porter's motto is, "this is flying, refined." And they mean it - it was so civilized!  A real throwback to the day when taking a flight was an event, not the stress filled uncomfortable, evil necessity it is today. There was no business class, they treated everyone like they were in business class.

The little snack we got on our flight came in this cute little box.  Notice the real glass..... so civilized!

I can't say enough nice things about Porter - seriously, that is what air travel should be like.  They were so nice and helpful and the lines were short (since we got there early, they put us on an earlier flight - and we didn't even have to ask!).  While you wait for your plane, you have comfortable lounge with free hot and cold beverages and snacks (much like the frequent flyer elite lounges at other airports, minus the alcohol).  Once you are on the plane, they actually give you a small meal.  Not a bag of pretzels, but a nice little meal, with a drink (served in a real glass, you know, the breakable kind). On the way there we had organic fruit yogurt and a muffin, along with tea or coffee.  It was fabulous!   For us though, getting to the airport during rush hour was a bit too much effort, and our proximity to Pearson means we will likely fly out of there in the future (I'd better start learning how to moo).  But I would highly recommend Porter Airlines, especially if you live in the central core of Toronto, or in the east end. If I ever have a flight that doesn't coincide with rush hour, I will definitely fly Porter.
The only other downside is that they are prop planes, not jets - so the ride is rather loud.....but that's ok - you can enjoy your book or newspaper instead of talking to the person next to you!  Since I will likely be stuck flying on other airlines, I can only hope that Porter's excellent service raises the bar for the entire industry....... a girl can dream.....mooooooooooooo.

I look forward to telling you about the rest of our trip.

My Love/Hate Relationship with Garlic

I love using garlic in recipes, but I find garlic to be a pain in the rear.  I can't stand peeling it and mincing it, and the cleanup associated with it.  Especially when a recipe calls for only 1 clove of minced garlic, seriously?  Now if I needed more than that, I could get the energy up to peel it and lovingly mince it, but for just 1 clove - NO WAY!  This aversion of mine has lead to quite a bit of time being dedicated to figuring out ways to avoid this unpleasant task..... and the other side effects of dealing with garlic.  Thought I would share them with you, and if you have any ideas, please share them with me!

Frozen Minced Garlic

Several years ago, grocery stores came out with this neat product of frozen minced garlic (I don't like jarred minced garlic, so I was excited to see a frozen product).  They are rather expensive, but I bought them since they are sooooo convenient.  Whenever a recipe calls for a clove of minced garlic, I go into the freezer and pop out a little cube.  Easy Peasy.  My friend Edith (who was going through a particularly frugal time in her life) let me know that she had bought a few of them, and saved the containers.  Once she had a few saved up, she bought several heads of garlic, peeled them, and then minced them in a big batch in the food processor.  Then she took the minced garlic and spread them into the container, and put them back in the freezer!  I have done that a few times, I find the containers are good for the initial use, and then 2 refills before they start to break apart and need to be replaced.  One of our local grocery stores also sells packages of pre-peeled garlic in their produce section, so on a day when I know I will be refilling the trays, I go out and buy those to make it even easier!

Garlic Peeling Tube and Mini Slap-chop thingy.
One of the best inventions ever is the little rubber tube used to peel garlic.  You simply pop the unpeeled clove in, roll/rub the tube on a counter, and out pops a peeled clove.   Terrific!  I use it all the time - I even find it easier than smashing the garlic with your knife and slipping the peel off.  The other gadget is relatively new for me, and I haven't decided if I like it or not.  It's sort of like a mini slap-chop, and it nicely minces about 3 cloves of garlic (it's also a lot of fun to vent your frustrations by pounding on the little thing).  The reason I am not sure if I like it or not is that there is quite a bit of clean-up (taking the thing apart and cleaning the different components), so it's really not worth the cleanup for just 1 clove, but then it can't hold much more than 3.....
But I will share an organizing epiphany with you all..... I used to keep my garlic in the cupboard, my peeling tube in the drawer with my other little gadgets, and the mini-slap chop in another cupboard with my other chopping things (like the food processer) - SILLY!  I realized that these are single function items (I only use them for garlic), so I now keep them together in a little dish - the garlic, the peeler and the slap chop - so I don't have to go to 3 separate areas just to peel a clove of garlic.  Really, some things are just so obvious, I sometimes wonder how I manage to get myself dressed in the morning......

Rasp

These handy rasps originated in the woodworking shop and over the last few years have migrated into the kitchen.  It is terrific for "mincing" garlic - well, I guess it makes more of a paste than a mince.  I do like to use these but I find that since a garlic clove is so small, I often end up grating my fingertips!  But, it's easy to clean and I especially like to use it when I need a clove of garlic for salad dressings, or any other dish where I may not want actual peices of garlic.


Garlic Press

To be honest, I had almost completely forgotten I own this thing.....and I wonder why I don't use it more.  It's pretty easy to clean, it makes a fine mince/paste, and I have heard that you don't even need to peel the clove.  It may be worth giving this old relic another shot.





Stainless Steel Soap

This has nothing to do with preparing the garlic, but once I have gotten over all the hassel of peeling and mincing, I really don't like the smell it leaves on my hands.  Rubbing your hands on stainless steel takes away the smell - it's incredible!  I usually just rub my hands on my faucet or sink as I am washing them, but when they are extra smelly I get out this stainless steel peice that's shaped like a bar of soap, so I can rub it all over my hands and get rid of the smell.  It was a neat little stocking stuffer my hubby got for me a few years ago, and it lives in the area underneath my sink, ready to handle those really stinky garlic jobs.  I am sure that hubby bought mine at my favourite overpriced kitchen shop, but my mom just told me that she got hers at the Dollar Store!

Bad Breath

Sorry folks, no tips here other than to make sure everyone around you eats garlic as well, so nobody notices that your breath smells like garlic!

So, anyone out there have any great tips for handling garlic? One thing I haven't found a quick solution for is the smell it leaves on my cutting board.  I find I have to clean it with a paste of lemon juice and salt - a bit of a pain..... any suggestions?