radio silence

sorry folks. but my real job is about to swallow me whole (just call me 'guppy') so the kitchen and i have become virtual strangers, i'm afraid.

just let me get through these next two weeks of photo shoot mayhem and then i hope to be back here again with recipes and rants a-plenty.
in the meantime, a few scenes from the past couple of weeks. there's no plot or story line here - just random notes and a gentle nudge to get yourself to a deli by the name of rossi, up in poughkeepsie ny, just as soon as you possibly can.

one of the highlights of these past weeks was the friday my favorite brother (pictured below. more or less) graced #619 for an overnight visit. which meant i fried the obligatory doughnuts on saturday morning. for some unknown reason i used a recipe other than grandmother's, and the doughnuts were barely edible - and certainly not photogenic - which is the reason i have no pic to share. but i will share with you the screen shot of the offending recipe (at least they spelled 'doughnuts' correctly) so that if you ever come across it you will remember these are the ones you do NOT want to make, and will instead come back to this blog and search for the version lani's grandmother made.
the screen shot:

the (anonymous) bro, toasting my doughnut-frying efforts:

six days - and 92 work hours - later, i headed to ny in a seat with this view:

then spent the next few days staring at this sort of stuff:

during which time i was also fortunate enough to make the acquaintance of this sweet lady:

 

...and was somehow able to convince her to come back to north carolina with me.

but the biggest thrill derived from spending a few days in ny, was discovering this little gem of a deli in poughkeepsie    (here's a map):



and a link:
www.rossideli.com

rossi is a deli like no other. in the whole wide world. forever and ever amen.
i first arrived at rossi's on a blazing hot sunday afternoon - weary and hungry from the day's travel. outside the shop i noticed an older man bustling in and out the front door and then around to the back. he was topless but for the bit of red apron that covered the mid-third section of his gray-haired chest. shorts and shoes were his only other garments. i entered his dimly lit store and quickly realized it was not open for business. mr. rossi appeared from the back and announced "we're not open today....you come back tomorrow!" "but i came all the way from north carolina",  i protested. so he brought me over to the beverage frig and said, "you need a drink. pick something, what you want?" so i allowed as to how a gatorade might be just the ticket for a day such as we were experiencing, and he pulled it from the cooler for me. when i went to reach for my wallet he said, "no, no. you don't pay me. you just come back tomorrow!" so i did. and the day after that and the day after that. and i told him i would move to poughkeepsie just to be nearer his shop. he laughed.
if you are ever within 90 minutes of this place, YOU MUST STOP IN. they bake their own breads for the paninis, made with meats and cheeses like you've never had. artichoke hearts the size of avocados and breakfast sandwiches that leave you unable to think of anything else the rest of the day. no pics. so shoot me.

after a week away, i came home to a couple of surprises.
the first:

and the second:

poor, poor Duckie. struck in the wee hours of the morning while resting peacefully on the street in front of our house. the offending driver left the scene without a word (or his right rear fender!) such is life.

until next time......