never B4

Fat Thursday in Warsaw Poland

I’ve heard of Fat Tuesday and even celebrated it many times.   Yet, it took visiting Poland for me to learn about Fat Thursday. 

My visit to Poland (another Never B4) last week was extremely brief, 2 days in Warsaw tacked on to a 10-day trip in Hungary.  Unfortunately, I didn’t get to see much of Warsaw, not only because of my short stay, but also because it snowed the entire time I was there.

I did get a chance to learn a bit about Fat Thursday though and more importantly, indulge in a few of the delicacies that Pols cherish only on this holiday. 

Before I get to that, here’s the scoop on Fat Thursday:  it is a Catholic feast holiday that celebrates the last Thursday before Lent (40 days of fasting).  It’s a movable holiday and the only thing consistent about its date is that it’s always a Thursday.  They say it’s different from Fat/Shrove Tuesday but honestly, the only difference I saw was that there was more eating and less drinking.  

Speaking of eating, Fat Thursday is the day that Pols gorge themselves on 'pączki' (pronounced: pontchkee) and faworki.  

 

The first is essentially a donut with a fruity filling and a sugary glaze on the outside.  Platefuls were served at the office and I happily joined the feast.  

My feasting continued into the evening with a wonderful meal and then a plateful of pączki, another Polish Fat Thursday pastry that reminded me a lot of the extra pie crust bits my mom used to bake for me and may brother’s and sisters when we were too young to indulge in a full piece of apple pie.  The Polish version was coated in confectionery sugar and delicious, albeit way too plentiful for one person to eat. 

 This picture is about the size of the portion I received for dessert!

Even though I didn’t get the chance to see much of Warsaw, I’m glad I got the chance to experience these special Polish treats.  

As for Fat Tuesday, I think I'll skip that feast this year.  After all these pastries, 40 days of fasting sounds pretty good to me right now.

 

Found My Christmas Spirit in Germany

I don't know about you, but I've had a hard time getting in the Christmas mood this year.  The economy stinks and the nightly news is depressing.  Both, I've told myself are good reasons for being off my Christmas game.  Yet, on Friday night I realized they're not and I have the Christmas Market in Stuttgart Germany to thank for pulling me out of my stupor.

  For more pics click here

I was in Germany for my last business meeting of the year and on Friday night my goal was to switch into high shopping gear. With less than a week to go before Christmas, I still hadn't bought a single gift for anyone (a nagging bit of evidence that reminded me of flagging holiday mood).  So, I set out on a mission to buy.  I prepared myself for crowds of desperate last-minute shoppers and bitterly cold weather. I secretly hoped for an
assortment of unique gifts that would solve my problem of not knowing what to buy anyone this year.

I found none of that. Don't get me wrong, there were crowds, the weather was bone-chilling cold and the assortment of gift possibilities were more varied than any Christmas market I've ever been to in NYC (that's for sure!).  Yet the crowds were not desparately shopping or desparate at all.  They were, if I dare use the word, jolly.  They, unlike me, weren't on a mission to shop.  Their mission seemed to be to meet up with friends, family and colleagues and warm themselves with Gluhwein, grilled sausages and laughter.  The chuckling groups stood in the warm shadow of wooden houses that made up the market.  All the houses were decorated with twinkling white lights and fir trees and those that didn't offer wine and sausages sold other delictables like soft German pretzels, sugared nuts, chocolate-covered bananas and strawberries on a stick and even chocolate-covered gingerbread molded into heart shapes.

Every now and then, one or two people from the chattering groups would break free from the cirlce and browse the neighboring houses.  They might pick up hand-carved wooden ornaments, creche figurines, a candle of odd geometric shape or hand-painted glass ornaments. Or, they might watch in awe as a market vendor demonstrated a Ronco-like device slice and dice every vegetable imaginable. 

Buying was relaxed and certainly seemed secondary to the social goal of the night.  I regretted being alone but being alone didn't make me immune to the draw of the social setting.  I lined up for a sausage and wine and quickly discovered that the groups were welcoming as well.  I chatted with a few toursits from London and shared a laugh with a family from the outskirts of Stuttgart.  Then, I broke free from the circle to browse the other houses while I sipped the rest of my warm wine. 

Instead of searching for gift inspiration, the setting reminded me of a few things people had been looking for.  I found two of those things at the market and made a list of where to find the others when I got home. I also found a collection of unique ornaments made from tree bark for our christmas tree at home.  In the midst of it all, a men's choir seranaded us all with what I guessed were German Christmas caroles and I laughed as giddy kids climbed aboard the tiniest ferris wheel I'd ever seen.

   

A chill set in on my 20-minute walk back to the hotel but I'm happy to say the warmth and holiday energy of the Christmas market hasn't faded yet. I still have some gift shopping to do and I wish the markets and shopping malls in NY put the social atmosphere first like in Germany. I know they don't so my plan is to make sure that the remainder of the shopping I have to do is tied to some other fun activity first.

I wish everyone a Merry Christmas, Happy Hannukah and overall Happy Holidays!

***
Some of you have asked me whether I'm planning to end this blog at the end of this year. When I started, I set out to do one Never B4 thing each week for one year.  Since I started at the end of January, I plan to continue until the end of January 2009.  So, I have a little more than a month left which means 5-6 more Never B4's.  If you have any suggestions for my finale, please post a comment because I'd love to hear your ideas. 

After January 2009, I do plan to continue a variation of this blog but I'll give you more news about that in the coming weeks.  Stay tuned.

***

Have a comment or a Never Br suggestion?  As as always, I'd love to hear from you so click on the headline above, scroll down and add your thoughts in the comment section at the bottom of the page.

    

Farming New York City Style

Remember the Green Acres sitcom?  Honestly, I don't. However,the show's theme song comes to mind frequently when Dave and I weigh the pros and cons of moving out of NYC:

Green Acres is the place for me.
Farm livin' is the life for me.
Land spreadin' out so far and wide.
Keep Manhattan, just give me that countryside.

New York is where I'd rather stay.
I get allergic smelling hay.
I just adore a penthouse view.
Dah-ling I love you but give me Park Avenue

...the chores.
...the stores.
...Fresh air.
...Times Square.

You are my wife.
Good bye, city life.
Green Acres we are there.

If Eva Gabor had seen what I saw this week, she would never have suffered the pains of leaving NYC for Hooterville in the Green Acres show. If she was living in NYC now, she could zip downtown like I did and see green houses, wind mills, tomatoes vines and even pumpkin patches "spreading out far and wide" (ok not that wide) on a barge docked on Manhattan's lower westside.

Urban farms, like the one on The Science Barge, are the brain children of the non-profit organization New York Sun Works and the purpose of building such an urban oddity is to test a theory that urban farms can be bountiful without being a drain on the city's water, power supplies or budget.  In other words, could they be self-sustaining, productive, environmentally friendly and low cost, all at the same time?

It appears the answer is "yes!"  The Science Barge has been a great success, producing it's own energy with solar panels and mini windmills, recycling waste and water, and producing what appears to be a bumper crop of basil, tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers and now even pumpkins.  They even raise worms and fish (Tilapia) on board, both of which I learned play important roles in keeping the operation going.  The worms eat the mulched remains of the staff's food.  Some of those worms are then fed to the fish and then the fish waste water (which is nutrient rich) is used to fertilize the plants. The majority of the food is being donated to City Harvest, except for the fabulous looking basil which has been sold at the Union Square Green Market. (Gotta get me some of that!)

The barge will close the end of this month but only because New York Sun Works is moving on to their more preferred location - a rooftop in Queens.  Queens is only the tip of the iceberg lettuce in the rooftop farm plan.  The company's research identified a bounty of open rooftop space across New York's five burrows, enough to host farms that could potentially feed 20 million people.  With food costs and contaminations on the rise, it's exciting to think growing our own, doesn't mean we need to be like Eva Gabor and say "good bye city life!"

COMING SOON:  An update on my mascot - SAHARA!

Have any thoughts or comments you want to share?  If so, please leave a comment.  I love hearing what you think.  Simply click on the headline above, scroll down and fill in the comments area at the bottom of the page.

Enjoy Labor Day Weekend Like Never B4

Your other option is this: you could use your 3-day "end of summer" weekend, to do the things you've always done, the ways you've always done them.  That's the easiest thing to do, for sure.  But after 8 months of doing 1 new thing every week, I can guarantee you that if you do something this weekend that you've never done
before ...

1. You'll get your mind off work
2. You'll be a little less focused on the fact that summer is coming to an end
3. You'll have something funny, bizarre or maybe even a bit provocative to to talk about at BBQs, picnics or at work on Tuesday. 

Why am I throwing the Never B4 ball in your court?  It's because I've received emails from many of you and they seem to fall into 1 of 2 categories:

• You want to know how I get my Never b4 ideas.  This makes me think you want to try something but you're not sure where to start.
• You say that my antics are inspiring you to do X, Y or Z but you haven't found the time to do them yet.  This leads me to believe that maybe you're setting your sights too high for your first Never b4.

So, here's a smattering of attainable Never b4 ideas that don't take a lot of time, energy or prep time but they do pose a challenge.  Take one on and you'll feel good about yourself and you'll find your weekend just a tad more interesting:

Grill Something on Your BBQ that You've Never Grilled Before
Here are some ideas that aren't on the typical BBQ menu:  BBQ Pizza, BBQ Nachos, BBQ Artichokes, BBQ Garlic.  

Enter a Contest You've Never Entered Before 
A cooking contest, a drawing contest, a singing contest (check out a local karaoke bar) or start your own contest among family, neighbors or friends.  For example, "who can go the longest without talking" contest or "which family on the block can go the longest without driving their car" contest.

Share Something About Yourself That You've Never Shared Before
Take or make a video and post it on YouTube. If you have a political opinion and if you've never voiced it before, email or text message one of the Sunday morning talk shows.  Create a Facebook page and list your favorite books, music or movies to share with your friends (or create and email Amazon, Netflix and/or iTunes
recommendation lists to your friends).

Do an Activity You've Never Done Before
Take the coins piling up around the house and donate them to a charity...or as Gretchin Rubin did, use coins instead of bills for a day. Get up and watch the sunrise.  Explore a part of your hometown you've never visited before.  Try a sport you've never tried before.  Go to a nude beach. Tell at least 3 jokes you've never told before. 

Whatever you choose, you won't be alone because I will be doing something new myself this weekend.  Very soon, I'll also do a first for this blog and seek out guest bloggers to share their Never b4 stories.  More to come on that soon.

Good luck with your Never b4's. I hope you'll share your successes with us all next week.  In the meantime, happy Labor Day!

If you have other Never b4 ideas or comments you want to share, please leave a comment.  I love hearing what you think.  Simply click on the headline above, scroll down and fill in the comments area at the bottom of the page.

  

 

Country Odd, City Odd

It's Fiddlehead season in Maine and in New York City a mysterious Telectroscope has surfaced under the Brooklyn Bridge.  Had I ever experienced either of these oddities?  Definitely not.  Was I curious?  You bet!  And since I was in the right place at the right time for both (yes, it was a busy travel week), I figured, why not? 
 
For the past year, people in Maine have told me how great Fiddleheads are to eat.  "They're sort of like asparagus,but different" I was told. "And they're only available for the first few weeks of May so you have to grab them when you see them."  So, I watched for the roadside Fiddlehead stands and asked for them every time I was in the grocery store. Yet, they were no where to be found. 

While I waited, I did a bit of research on this mysterious "delicacy" and learned that these seemingly innocent f-heads have actually poisoned people!  If I didn't want to get sick, I needed to make sure I bought the Ostrich Fiddlehead.  For me, that ruled out the fly-by-night fiddlehead stands and the taxi drivers that I learned traded in these coveted greens at the airport.  If I was going to try the curly-cue fern sprouts, I'd only do it if a grocery store chain was willing to stand behind them.  Putting my trust in a chain of stores is a false sense of security, I know, but it was a good way for my cautious side to quell my curious side. 
 
To the chagrin of my cautious nature, the Fiddleheads appeared in the vegetable section of Hannafords Grocery the day before I was going to make the 8-hour drive from Bangor to NYC.  They looked like the Ostrich type so I ignored the gastro-threat they posed for my long car ride and scooped up a bag for dinner.  I boiled, buttered and salted them as instructed by the web and word of mouth and dug in with high hopes.

I tasted butter...salt...and something like spinach (definitely not asparagus) but with a hint of dirt.  Having grown up under the tyranny of 2 big brothers and lots of boys in the neighborhood, I've eaten enough mud pies to know the taste of dirt.  If you're into dirt, Fiddleheads could be for you but they're certainly off my diet unless someone out there
can convince me otherwise.  The good news is, they didn't get me sick or jeopardize the ride to NYC where I stumbled upon oddity #2 -- the Telectroscope.

To picture the Telectroscope, think of a giant, old-fashioned looking glass.  Now, imagine it hurtling out of the sky and crash landing on the pier below the Brooklyn Bridge, embedding itself half above the pier and half below it. 

If you can picture that, you may be on the same wavelength as Paul St. George who built the Telectroscope to look through underwater tunnels on the floor of the Atlantic Ocean and enable people in New York and London to see each other in real time.  A twin Telectroscope sits on the shores of the Thames, near the London Bridge and like me, passers-by stand in front of it, wave and write messages on mini white boards.  ("What time is it there?" was a popular white board question and it seemed to indicate that I wasn't the only one that questioned whether this stunt was real.)

The idea for the Telectroscope came from the Victorian Age, when Paul St. George's great-grandfather/inventor sketched out the designs for an apparatus that would
enable people to have visual communication across the ocean, via underwater tunnels that were yet to be built.  The great-grandson and builder/artist behind the Brooklyn/London
Telectroscope would like us to believe those tunnels were built and that he's brought his great grandfather's invention to life.  I'd like to believe it too, but in this day of video conferencing, web cams and satellite imagery, I tend to think a bit of modern technology has helped bring the Telectroscope to life. 

Regardless of how it's working, if you're in New York City and have a message for someone in London...or you just want to see what's happening across the pond at the very moment you're in New York...or you just want an excuse to go over to the Brooklyn side of the Bridge (maybe for Pizza or ice cream) then I recommend checking out the Telectroscope.  It's better than having a Fiddlehead, that's for sure. 

Have a comment for this city mouse (funny, serious or otherwise)? Click on the headline above, scroll down and share your thoughts in the comments section.

Click here for more pics of the Telectroscope and here for more Fiddlehead pics.

A Drop In the Bucket

I swear I had the idea for this blog B4 seeing the Bucket List movie!   In fact, I saw that movie completely by chance just 2 days ago -- in Roswell, NM.  (No.  I was not abducted by aliens and taken to this movie against my will.  But it certainly wasn't a movie I was desperate to see, either.)  I expected it to be sappy, oozing emotions the way the butter machine oozes gag-inducing "flavor" into bags of unsuspecting popcorn. 

I'm happy to say, I was wrong.  The movie was funny and heartwarming but surprisingly it  de-motivated me.  It actually made me think of walking away from this blog idea.  I was afraid that everyone would think I copied it, creating nothing more than a cyber Bucket List.  Well, let me address that right from the start.  I DIDN'T get the idea from the movie.  But I won't lie to you or myself.  This blog IS in the same vein as the movie in that the things on Jack Nicholson's and Morgan Freeman's bucket list were things they never did before.  And it has the same sort of Carpe Diem theme. 

HOWEVER, this blog is a "drop in the bucket" (sorry, couldn't resist using that expression) compared to the movie.  I plan to do one reality-sized thing each week that I've never done before.  In other words, things that won't require a Hollywood budget, leaving my husband for months on end or taking my life in my hands, although, I admit the sky diving idea is tempting. 

And unlike the movie, I don't have a pre-planned list.  Each week, I'm simply going to think of something new that I haven't done before.  It could be as simple as eating kale for the first time (which, by the way, I did last week and I liked it), trying a new sport or activity (snow shoeing intrigues me) or telling a completely absurd life story about myself to a stranger (oh wait, I did that already in college).  My point is, I'm going to be lighthearted and spontaneous with my Never B4 things.  That means I'm also taking suggestions.  So please feel free to pitch ideas whenever you have them.  Or, if you want to join me by doing your own Never B4 thing each week, write in a let me know how it's going.