Liam about to wake up or maybe not
Chelsea Morning
Woke up, it was a Chelsea Morning
And the first thing that I heard
Was a song outside my window
And the traffic wrote the words
It came ringing up like Christmas bells
And rapping like pipes and drums
Oh, won't you stay
We'll put on the day
And we'll wear it 'till the night comes
Joni Mitchell
Walk To Chelsea from Penn
It is autumn and the daily temperature range is huge. If you are out for the day, you can experience winter, spring, summer and fall in a 12 hour span. And I did. I am headed downtown to The Food Network Festival, Sunday of Columbus Weekend 2010 in Chelsea, NY-see link for more info
http://www.nycwineandfoodfestival.com/2010/
our demo is with the Neelys, Food Network hotties, at 12 noon
However, since the NHP LIRR train is only once an hour, I must be on the 9:35 am to Penn. I am meeting my Peridot Pal at Starbucks on 16th and 8th Avenue. My train will deliver me to midtown about 10:15 am, so I plan to use the extra time to walk from Penn at 31st-about a 20 minutes or so, and go slow to max the time usage.
My outfit is a mix of several seasons and as I walk I see that everyone else has done the same.
I am not sure Tim Gunn
would be able to stand it. I can just hear him "Walkers, gather 'round, it is not working, make it work!"Or maybe, these unique outfits are or will be fashion, after all that is how a trend begins-folks mixing, matching, short and wide, covered, uncovered-
I see thigh high leather boots with skimpy shorts, sorbet color scarves looped around necks many times, with more total material than the tank tops and leggings they are garnishing. Woolly hats and denim jackets paired with flip flops and diaphanous inverted cupcake-wrapper skirts.
Sunday morning in Manhattan has a different feel. Those I encounter on my walk through Chelsea are not workers; so the pace is slower. Lots of groups pulling suitcases towards Penn. Dogs on walks- sniffing and sitting- tied to poles outside bagel shops and delis. No. I do not like the tying to poles. Saw this several times.
Dogs should not be left alone on the street.
On the sunny side of 8th-where I choose to walk- there is a shingle jutting from a store with one word "puppies." The puppies are displayed in the store window-squirmy creatures lumped together in each end of the window-their bodies indistinguishable from one another, unattended-this also disturbs me. and I store this visual away for future investigation. Before Liam, dogs were just part of the NYC scene, I would have thought that cute for the passersby, now I think-puppy mills or animal cruelty. Dogs are now a highlight and a concern, part of my pack.
Food Network Demo at 14th and 9th
We have tickets for the Neelys-see next link to check them out. Their Food Network show debuted with the highest ratings of any FN show when it came on in 2008. They hail from Tennessee, Liam's home town. I try to get him in the blog even when he is not physically with me; it is his blog after all.
http://www.foodnetwork.com/down-home-with-the-neelys/index.html
I meet my pal and we line up for our Neely demo. We are given Whole Food paper bags for the samples we are going to receive at the end. The crowd is buzzing but not boisterous. It is a 40 minute cooking demo on an early sunlit Sunday, not a dark Springsteen night concert, so I expect a low key, possibly sleepy gathering. As we file in, the crowd gets its buzz and it seems like the Neeleys are generating some heat. We have a brief pep talk by a Food Network warmer- upper and then the Neelys are out. Bruce watch out! This audience is rocking the house for the Neelys
Gina Neely is strutting and playing and Pat is cooking. They mix up some hush puppies, drop 'em in hot oil. The crowd seems to heat up as fast as the oil. The Neelys intersperse their cooking with questions from the audience usually answering with risque remarks. Many less y'all's than expected and many more "Hey babes."
Catfish is the main course and Pat cooks it while Gina takes more questions. It is over too quickly. The Neelys finish frying and hang with the audience, offering life philosophy-cooking together is love and Gina's tip for weight loss-being around food makes her want to eat less-she is noticeably svelte
Rocco is up next but we do not have tickets.
A fun, time.
Next, Tribeca- Brunch
Marc Forgione's restaurant in Tribeca-Reade near Hudson.
Why?
He was reviewed by the NY Times, food critic Sam Sifton, in the Dining section last week http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/06/dining/06rest.html?scp=1&sq=marc%20forgione&st=cse
and is currently competing to be the next Iron Chef- Marc, next shot
airing Sunday nights on the Food Network.
See one of the current Iron Chefs-Bobby Flay
In recent years I have become aware that plate is not only a noun, but a verb. It may have always have been so, but Plating is an important element in the judging of an Iron Chef event. Plating is an active word, a verb-to plate. Plating too early is bad, but plating too late is dismissal..
We arrive at 2pm for brunch.
I have "Bacon, Egg, cheese"-Parmesan popover,scrambled eggs, sun dried tomato, applewood smoked bacon
with chile sauce -go miners!we have a side of spicy butternut squash home fries layered with skinny Parmesan strips
washing it down with some red wine.Had we not had our syrah red, our cholesterol levels would have shot up precipitously. Delish. Salty, bold, big, spicy, heavy-almost too much of many sensations, but just short of that.
I was full for a very long time.
And I did not show my friend's meatless dish, did not photograph well. No offense to the baconless.
The restaurant is open, woodsy, airy, light infused, loud- brimming with fun and diverse in its diner composition
-families, singles, groups, a gay convention, couples, friends.Our tip (there were 5's under the ones) rests on the ad for Iron Chef-see next pic
Iron Chef Sunday Night
Later that evening of a karmic date 10/10/10, our eponymous restaurant chef became the winner for the night's "Next Iron Chef" with his spin on Chicken pot pie.
http://www.foodnetwork.com/the-next-iron-chef/index.html
and of course it was our presence and toast to Marc's success at our brunch that ensured his victory that night.
Liam had a boy day with Daddy Paul, which seems to involve sleeping,
snoozing, lazying 
on different couches 
and on colorful wraps
Woof, woof.
