To write or not to write

Hey! I remembered that I had a blog and I decided to pass by. Many things happened since the last time I wrote here. The biggest change is that I've moved back to Brazil. So now comes the dilemma to either continue with this blog or to silence forever. 

I originally started the blog to distract myself and share some ideas of activities to do with kids, books to read, visits to go with them, etc. The problem is that P has started school full-time now. So we don't really have time to do much during the week. I have plenty of time on my own though. And could maybe share some of my "adventures" in this big city. Not sure how many readers I have that would be interested on that. 

Let's see which way the wind is blowing.

Galette des Rois - A French Tradition

On the Epiphany day (January 6), it is a custom in France (as well as in other countries) to serve a cake known as "The Kings' cake" (Galette des Rois). There are some variations of it. In Provence, for example, it is made of brioche and in Paris it is made of puff pastry with marzipan or almond cream, which is the case of the one shown in the picture above.

A figurine (la fève) is hidden inside. The cake is then divided into equal pieces and the lucky person who finds the fève becomes "king" for a day and receives a paper crown. 

I wanted to introduce the tradition at home for some time, but I couldn't find a ready made galette. I even looked at some recipes, but since I'm not a great cook, I was fast discouraged. However, this year I found out that the cake is actually sold in many French bakeries here in New York. And, since traditions tend to evolve with time, nowadays, the galette can be found during the whole month of January. So if you like the idea, you still have a whole week to buy yours.  

We bought our first one last weekend. P didn't understand really what was going on and F was absolutely overexcited about the perspective of being king of the house for one day. Unfortunately for him, I was crowned Queen. Which made him extremely frustrated. So the next day, I had two figurines and two happy kings (not very educational, I know, but it is supposed to be fun). 

Ice skating in NY - a new rink

Temperatures have dropped vertiginously here in New York. Thus, I thought that an ice skating subject would be perfect for today. Although I wouldn't recommend anyone to go now with these inhuman temperatures.

Everybody probably heard of the traditional open-air ice skating rinks in New York (Rockefeller Center, Central Park and Bryant Park). However, there are a few others (usually smaller ones) spread around the city. Last week, as I was walking in the Meatpacking District, I discovered this one, just at the front door of The Standard Hotel, on west 13th street. 

We took the kids over the weekend and they loved it. It's not as charming as the other ones, but I thought that for younger kids it was just perfect. Small, not very crowded and they have a few (too few actually) plastic penguins that the kids can hold while skating. That is really useful for the newbies. And, I was almost forgetting, it doesn't have that annoying music playing all the time.

They also offer some classes on a first come first serve basis. You can then grab a snack at their "Après Skate" cafe or plan to have lunch at the Standard Grill afterwards. Make sure to reserve in advance though, cause it's really crowded. 

F holding one of the penguins

A new puppeteer

Mesdames et Monsieurs, the show is about to start! Our puppeteer now is P. 

If you are looking for puppets from classic children stories you may find some kits at Lakeshore. We have the "Three Little Pigs" and "Goldilocks and the Three Bears". It's great for the kids to train on how to tell a story that they already know. Although, they usually end up making one of their own, which is extremely amusing. 

F was really into it last year when he was learning "Nursery Rhymes" at school. And now it seems that P is tired of just being a spectator.

Visiting the U.N. headquarters in NY

This week, I finally went to visit the U.N. here in NY. 

The visit is interesting not only because of the importance of the building in itself and its history, but, especially as a reality check. We know that there are tons of problems in the World and that as much as we wished to solve them all, it's not that easy. So, even if the U.N. is sometimes (at least I do) seen as this huge, bureaucratic machine where "important" people meet to talk and talk for endless hours and nothing seems to be solved, it's important to be reminded that without this organization the World would probably be in a worst shape than it is today. 

Our guide was the first to criticize the whole system and the inefficiencies involved in it, but she also said something very important. For her, as a staff of the U.N., if she knows that another child went to bed, fed and safe today, then it is a victory. She's right, big changes come from an accumulation of small victories.

I was extremely moved by the visit and by some facts and figures that I learnt. Did you know that some mines are manufactured to look like "yo-yos" and are then dropped on the streets, so that kids can pick them up, thinking they are just toys, and then they explode? Did you also know that it would take around US$4bn/year to feed 66 million children that are undernourished? If that seems a lot of money to you, then you should know that countries around the world spend approximately US$2bn/DAY in military expenditure? 

There are plenty of ways to help. But I found out that they have a very nice bookshop and gift shop, in which 100% of the sales proceeds are donated to the U.N. They sell toys and books for kids (the same found at Amazon or other toy shops). The variety is not huge, but if you happen to be in the neighborhood and need to buy a gift, it is a nice way to help (no need to pay the entrance to access the store). 

Also, another fun way to make the children help is through the website Freerice.com. It is an educational game and for each right answer, the organization donated 10 grains of rice through the World Food Programme.

P.S: The Visitors Centre will close in April for renovations that will take between 2 and 3 years. So if you'd like to see it as it is now, don't wait too long.

Also, I don't recommend taking young children. There's nothing interesting for them to see there, the visit take approximately 1 hour and strollers are not allowed. 

Happy New Year

Hope you had a great start. We had a nice break and are back to our real life. 

Happy 2013! 

Another Christmas tradition: Angel Chimes

The other day I saw in A Cup o Jo, another Christmas tradition that we used to have in my house when I was a child and that I had completely forgotten about: Angel Chimes. How could I? It is the cutest thing to see.

The heat from the candles make the little angels turn around and ring the bells. The sound is lovely. The kids were mesmerized. 

This is our newest Christmas tradition.

Book of the week - The Nutcracker

I was looking for a nice children adaptation of the famous story "The Nutcracker" to introduce it to my boys. And the other day I found this one. In each page there's like a mini-theater in which the characters appear as if they were dancing. 

I found this adaptation a little complicated for F who's 5 years old (P, of course, was just interested in the pictures). He enjoyed a lot the book, but when I finished reading, he looked a little bit puzzled and hadn't really understood what had happened to the Nutcracker. So we went back page by page and I just retold the story with my own words. But I still think the book was worth it, because of the rich illustrations and the way it was nicely written.

Maybe next year I can take F and P to see the ballet, now that they have been introduced to "The Nutcracker". 

Advent Calendar 2012

Last year, I got a little bit frustrated about all the great ideas of Advent calendars that I was finding on the web. It's not that we were out of them (we had 4), is just that I wanted something more special and not as commercial as the ones we had.

So, this year, I decided to create my very own Advent calendar. And, I must say, I'm really really proud of myself. For someone, that didn't even know how to switch on a sewing machine last year, I modestly think that I did a good job.

Hope you like it!

The Weekender - Amazing video on Sandy's visit in downtown Manhattan

Hurricane Sandy on Bikes in NYC from Casey Neistat on Vimeo.

By watching this video I just feel that I was in another place when Sandy passed by. Unbelievable that this happened in the same city I live in! My streets were, of course, dirty and wet, but nothing compared to that.

Have a nice weekend!

What to do with the kids now?

With almost every school in New York closed, parks closed and almost any outdoor activity out of the question, it will be hard (but not impossible) to find ways to entertain the kids over the coming days. Here is a short list of some ideas on where to go with them. Hope it will help!

Museums:

• American Museum of Natural History - reopens Thursday November 1st;
• Children's Museum of Manhattan - reopens Thursday November 1st;
• Moma (they offer some family programs over the weekend) - opened normally;
• The Metropolitan Museum of Art - reopens Thursday November 1st (they offer some daily family programs, check their website for date and time);
• Whitney Museum of American Art - reopens Thursday November 1st (they also have some family programs);

Shows/Theaters/Concerts:

• The New Victory Theater - reopens Friday November 2nd;
• Puppetworks - normal showtimes on Saturday and Sunday;
• Movie Theaters - most of them are operating normally. Check Fandango for more information;
• Jazz at Lincoln Center - Family Concert: who is John Coltrane - Saturday at 1pm and 3pm;

Happy Halloween!

We've survived Hurricane Sandy. Not sure I'll survive Hurricane F&P inside my house. F's school is closed for the rest of the week and there are good chances that P's school will do the same. The city is in total chaos. But we were very lucky and our region was not affected.

Since all our Halloween plans have been cancelled for the day, we are now trying to find alternatives. Most of the traditional parties in the city have been cancelled as well. The best bet would be to do the trick-or-treat in the building, but the kids are not very excited about this alternative. We may head to one of F's friend's building or we may try, like we did last year, East 78th street.

Anyway, Halloween started early this morning. The kids decided to wear their costumes as soon as they woke up. This year P decided to be the lion he didn't want to be last year and was happily roaring all around the apartment.

Since we were forced to stay at home during the last few days, we baked and decorated some Halloween cookies that F was suppose to give to his friends at school today. We'll have to postpone that. In the meantime, take a look at the cute cards that we ordered from Meema Design for this Halloween.

Hurricane Sandy: How to help!

Not everyone was as lucky as we were. 

So if you want to help, here are nice options to do so: 

• To volunteer send an e-mail to: nycservice@cityhall.nyc.gov with your name, e-mail address and borough. Someone will contact you.
• The red cross is also looking for volunteers and donations: http://www.nyredcross.org
• Another way to volunteer: http://newyorkcares.org
• Volunteer sign-up: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dG5JTldNeTRMTFhPTVFYWE1rYl9CWnc6MQ#gid=0
• Other ways to donate: 
• https://donate.salvationarmyusa.org/disaster; 
• http://www.aidmatrixnetwork.org; 
• http://www.thethinredline.org/relief-fund.html; 
• http://feedingamerica.org; 
• http://www.worldvision.org; 
• http://%20www.savethechildren.org
• To register for assistance: http://www.disasterassistance.gov

There are also other ways to help out locally. If you live close to a shelter, check if they are in need of clothes or toys for the kids. Some of them had to flee their houses and didn't have time to take their belongings with them. I'm still looking around my neighborhood, but a friend has already told me that in the upper west side, there is a shelter at Louis Brandeis high school (west 84th street), where there are kids between 3 and 10 years that would very much appreciate anything to distract them (crayons, paper, stickers, toys, books, etc) and there is another one at Hunter College.

List of shelters in New York: http://www.nyc.gov/html/misc/html/2012/hurricane_shelters.html

If you hear of any other ways to help, please let me know, so that I can keep updating this post and we can try to reach out as many people as we can. 

Thanks!

The Weekender - Colorful fall

I haven't made up my mind yet on wether spring is my favorite season in New York or fall is the winner. Both seasons are so colorful. It's like living inside a painting. And biking in the middle of all those changing colors is absolutely priceless.
Have a wonderful weekend!

Cheese factory in Manhattan

How cool is that? While you're choosing your cheeses, you can take a look at how some of them were just made at this new branch of the Seattle based cheese store Beecher's in the Flatiron district. 

The shop offers a wide variety of American artisan cheeses and charcuterie. There's also a cafe where you can buy freshly made sandwiches or just have a cup of coffee. And a restaurant downstairs called "The Cellar" (haven't tried it, so can't tell you wether is good or not, but it seems nice).

Cooking with Children: Easy Apple cake

Last weekend we went apple picking and returned home with 10lbs of apples. So we decided to try a very very easy apple cake recipe that came in one of the kids' French magazine. It is a really easy and fun recipe to do with the kids.

So put on your apron and write it down (or print it out):

You will need:

• 3 apples
• 3 eggs
• 125gr of butter at room temperature
• 1 cup of sugar
• 2 cups of flour
• 2 teaspoons of baking powder

Instructions:

• Peel and cut the apple in small cubes 
• Mix together the eggs and the sugar in a large bowl 
• Add the butter, the flour, baking powder and finally the apples. Mix everything well (you should have a very sticky dough). To make it more fun, you can ask the kids to mix everything with their hands. We did it and that's why we don't have pictures of the other steps.
• Cover your baking pan (I chose a square one) with a baking sheet
• Bake for 40min in the oven, previously heated at 360F.

I thought the cake was a little too sweet for my taste. So I would maybe put a little less sugar next time.

Hope you like it!

Book of the week: One

Let's reintroduce this section with a very nice book that P received for his birthday recently.

One, by Kathryn Otoshi is a great book for young children. It has simple but really nice pictures and it's a simple story. It teaches them about colors, counting but also, in a very subtle way, to respect other people differences.

Thanks Fernanda for the great gift!

Farming in New York

About a month ago, we took the kids to Stone Barns Farm. Like many other farms in the region, they offer educational programs for kids and adults and hands on farming experiences. On that day, the kids participated in the "Gardening" program and picked-up some fresh carrots. There's also an egg collecting program or a cooking class for kids (they pick their vegetables and then cook them). The kids had a really great time. They loved their "gardening" experience. They had a chance to breathe some fresh air, run around, see some animals and enjoy nature. 

The farm is lovely and is located at only 45 minutes drive from Manhattan. There's a nice restaurant onsite (Blue Hill at Stone Barns), but it's not recommended to go with young children, since they only serve multi-course menus. The coffee shop - Blue Hill cafe - serves light snacks and fresh baked goods. I would have liked to have an intermediate option, though. We are not huge fans of doing pic-nics and we missed being able to sit at a table and have a good (even if simple) meal, especially with those great surroundings. 

***

There are many other farms that offer different kind of activities according to the season. Last weekend we also went apple and pumpkin picking at Hank's farm in Southampton. 

I think it's a great way to teach children about farming, especially when it involves seasonal, fresh and local products. You can even cut your own Christmas Tree if you want!

Coming soon: an easy easy apple pie to cook with kids!

Columbus statue - up, close and personal

Commissioned by the Public Art Fund, Japanese artist Tatzu Nishi had the brilliant idea of bringing Columbus Statue, situated on top of a 75 feet high pillar in the middle of Columbus Circle, closer to the public, through his new installation "Discovering Columbus".

How did he do that? Well, he imagined how it would feel to have the statue in the middle of a modern living room with one of Manhattan's most privileged views. So, after climbing 6 flights of stairs, you find yourself in a nice penthouse feeling living room, all build up around the statue, which is standing in the middle of a coffee table.

Not to be missed! And pay attention to each details in the living room. Even the books were strategically chosen. You may find funny titles as "The silent body" or "Look up". The wallpaper is also full of details and irony, depicting all the symbols that represent modern America.

The question that I kept arising in my head when I was up there was: who's discovering who? Did Columbus discover America or are we discovering Columbus (as the title of the exhibit suggests)?

***

Other controversial exhibits worth seeing nearby:
Andrés Serrano's "Body and Spirit" at Edward Tyler Gallery
Sally Mann's "Upon reflections" at Edwynn Houk Gallery

Greenmarket Farmer's markets in New York

Farmer's markets locations in NYC - Click here to get the full map

I've already mentioned this in past posts, but one of the aspects that I really like about New York is the occasional "small town" feeling that we get while living in this big metropolis. I already have my "neighborhood" habits established. I buy cheese at my local cheese store, fish right next to it, flowers at the corner of my street and do my groceries a few blocks from my house. I'm always passing by someone I know (sometimes, just from the neighborhood, we may not have met properly but we always greet each other). Each neighborhood is like a mini town, with its local coffee shops, supermarkets, dry-cleaners, restaurants, shops, and sometimes even a local open air market. 

The most famous one is in Union Square, but there are others all across town on different days of the week. There you will find only local and seasonal produce coming fresh from farms located in the region. The one closest to my house has a very nice European feeling, with its fresh flowers, seasonal fruits and vegetables picked a few hours before, the freshest fish that was just caught during the night, baked good, jams, home-made granola and so on. 

If you are curious to know more about the Greenmarket Farmer's markets in New York, check their website. 

It goes without saying that this is another great activity to do with kids. And since we are on the subject: coming soon, a trip to a local farm!