Thieves

I never thought I'd say the following words in NYC, but... A squirrel stole my lunch. That's right. A squirrel. Thieving rodents.

There I was, volunteering at Jackie Robinson Park in Harlem (yes, I know who Jackie Robinson is- my dad was skeptical but I at least have some sports knowledge) with my ward for New York Cares Day. We were busy scraping and painting the benches so I set my grocery sack by the rest of our supplies to wait for lunch time. After a few hours we decided it was lunch time so I headed back to grab my lunch from the supply pile. On my way a couple people from the ward hollered to me that we had leftover food from breakfast which I declined because I had lunch. Or so I thought.

Upon arriving back to the supply pile I discovered a hole in my bag. And a hole in my sandwich bag with my peanut butter and honey sandwich half eaten. And my tortilla chips completely gone- bag and all. Apparently squirrels are not into eating healthy, they just prefer junk food (can't say I blame them there).

Now you know, in NY you don't just have to watch out for human thieves you have to watch out for squirrels too. Go figure.

Scraping off the old paint and getting ready for the fresh new coat!

Spring... Where'd ya go? I miss you so...

Spring came to NYC. Unfortunately then it left again :( BUT on the days that it was here I made sure to take advantage of it by eating lunch outside at the park. Along with about a billion other people. I'm pretty sure everyone within walking distance of the park was at the park eating their lunch on the day it reached 80- yes 80- degrees.

 



Today was cold again. Yuck. I'm ready for spring- real spring... with warm weather, capris, sandals, and lunch at the park every day- and most importantly NO JACKET!!! Yeah, I'm ready.

Easter Ham and Conference Crepes

I decided to put our living room/kitchen to good use and invite people over for Easter and General Conference. I think we can call both weekends a success!

First up, Easter. Easter means ham. I've never made a ham and I wasn't sure if I wanted to try. But I figured I might as well learn sooner rather than later so I gave it a shot! Since there were only going to be three of us I didn't need to get a big ham (which is practically all the stores sell), so I went looking for a small piece. When I could only find giant hams I was tempted to ask them where the piglets were ;) Just kidding, I wouldn't want to eat a piglet. Just a small portion of a large full-grown ham. I don't think they would have appreciated that question. Luckily I found what I was looking for, and since the small ones don't come with a glaze I made my own.

The small portion of a large ham. Studded with cloves and ready for the homemade honey glaze!

I let the ham sit in the glaze overnight and it turned out surprisingly good if I do say so myself. In addition to the ham I also made my Aunt Marilyn's potato casserole and homemade rolls, and green beans (you have to have a vegetable!). My friend Veronica is a pastry chef at Bouchon Bakery and she brought us delicious brownies, a chocolate bunny, and truffles. Yum. It was a fun night, and a great Easter.

The surprisingly delicious ham.

Homemade rolls. Yum.

Pretty flowers for Easter. So excited for Spring!

Scripture study in the park at one of my favorite reading spots :)

For conference I continued the fun from my college days (girls of 305!) with conference crepes. We had lots of yummy toppings for the crepes, plus my mom's poppyseed bread (one of my favorites).

Poppyseed bread.

Yum. And aren't they pretty?

Nutella, peanut butter, strawberries, sugar... Does it get any better?

 

 

In between sessions we went for a walk in Central Park. I love NYC. I mean how great is that- two spiritually uplifting conference sessions and a walk in the best park ever? Pretty fantastic!

 

 

My roommate Suzanne on the right, and my friend Veronica in the middle.

 

I'd say we did a pretty good job of taking care of all that food ;)

 



Empty shelves and lines out the door

Only in NYC do you have lines out the grocery store doors...

 



That line goes past the Bank of America and wraps around the corner. Small grocery stores. Monday night (always the worst for grocery shopping here). Nice weather. And unfortunately this next picture all contribute to long lines:

This is the grocery store around the corner. It's closing... and the shelves are all becoming empty :(

Although I do most of my grocery shopping at TJ's it was nice to have the grocery store right around the corner for last minute items. Hopefully something good goes in- rumor has it there will be another drugstore. We already have a billion of those around here so I'm hoping for something else. Until then I'll enjoy the close-out sales- I've been stocking up on spices at half price :)

Sometimes I do miss my car...

Seating in my apartment is limited, and since I was having people over for brunch on Sunday we needed a few more chairs. So I took a trip to Target in Brooklyn to get some inexpensive folding chairs. Getting there wasn't a problem... But it would have been very nice to have a car on the way back. Bet you've never hauled a couple of chairs on the subway from Brooklyn to the Upper West Side! Well, I have. Luckily the chairs are very light and not bulky, and the first train I was on from Brooklyn to Times Square was practically empty so I parked my chairs and my groceries (did I mention I also had a full Trader Joe's bag to carry?) and read my Architect magazine until I transferred trains and it wasn't bad at all. Once I transferred to the local train it was packed and I was very squished. Not so fun. In the end, I made it home with the chairs and the groceries all in one piece. Not even a broken egg.

Two chairs and my groceries. On the subway.

 

4 lbs of strawberries. Yum. And they smelled delicious (and made my cubicle smell good)!

Apparently in Brooklyn they don't "throw" pillows, they "toss" them.