last day in rochester

Today was my last day of vacation in Rochester. The only plan was to drive to Cayuga lake and visit a few spots. Simple enough. Mom and I headed out to Eastview mall area for breakfast, but the place was closed... only Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. So we hit up Denny's which turned out fairly good. We were hungry. As we walked out, Neko Case song was playing. Which is worse, her song playing at Denny's or me eating there? We took the thruway to exit 40, totally boring road. We decided to take a different route home. Our first stop was Mackenzie-Childs. A very expensive ceramic factory, I was unable to afford the doorknob wine corks. The garden was real nice and it was good to stretch our legs. Then we started down the east side of Cayuga. (Brief interruption here... mom is making pesto sauce right now... oh my god! It smells amazing!!!!) We next stopped at King Ferry winery for a tasting. I ended up getting two bottles, that end up not fitting in my suitcase. Oh well. Mom got 1 bottle for herself. After that we continue traveling south on the east side of Cayuga lake. During this whole trip we listen to my iPod favorites playlist. Probably not all the kind of music my mom likes, but she tries to enjoy a few of the songs. There is nothing like driving country roads with the best tunes ever playing on the radio. We make a brief stop in the town of Aurora, there isn't much, but we grab a drink and snack at this little lunch spot. It had a back deck over looking the woods and lake. Super cute. Just as we left the lunch crowd was coming in. We decided to make a straight drive to Ithaca to get to Moosewood restaurant for our lunch. We park and go to where Google maps says it is, but we are actually at the back entrance (no sign). Funny that we had to ask for directions. It is set in this indoor shopping mall, not like those ugly suburban malls. Checked out the bookstore and Japanese goods shop and stuff. Got to the restaurant and asked to be sat outside. Our server lady comes up for our drink order and announces her name is Emily. Mom and I always get a kick out of meeting other Emilys. She is real nice and tells us about her husband going to Cornell University. I got the Apricot Ale from Ithaca brewery, it was totally yummy. It was a tough decision because it was so hot and yet I was real hungry. In the end the food was delicious! We walked around a bit more and then headed off. We still a lot of driving to do. As we made our way north we chatted, listening to more awesome tunes. We saw this one billboard of some politician, his face was so washed out he looked very creepy like. Mom said he looked like a vampire. We had been discussing True Blood, deciding what would happen next. It was a good laugh to see a vampire running for office. Up near Seneca Falls we turned off from the lake to stop at an Amish market mom likes. We knew they were not really Amish, more like Mennonites. There was a great selection of goods, mostly made by them. I got jam and mom got some stuff. Then we headed out to try to be home before it got dark. We also decided to take route 5 and 20 home instead of the thruway. There were quite a few traffic lights, made me wish the car was a manual transmission. That can be a lot easier to roll to a stop and such. I only really miss driving stick-shift, I do not miss driving an automatic. We knew we had to stop at BJs for pine nuts for the pesto sauce, but figured we would stop in Greece near mom's house. But there was one on 5 and 20, so we swung in to get that shopping done with. Right next door was Red Jacket Orchards. The apple juice from there is all over the place in NYC, kind of like premium apple juice. We had to stop there as well. Not a very big place, certainly been there a long time. We tasted a bit of their apple juice out for sampling. I picked up chocolate covered pretzels. Around 6:30 we made it home. Unpacked the car and started supper. Mom put her bottle of wine in the freezer to have with dinner. I cleaned the table on the deck and started up the candles to keep bugs away. After dinner we had mom's neighbors over and Ted's friend Gary stopped by for dessert. The wine was excellent and the pesto sauce was of course the best ever. I hardly wanted the day to end, knowing that in the morning I would be getting on a plane to fly back to Brooklyn. It was one of the best days of my life. There is nothing like hanging out with my mom, driving back-roads on a sunny summer day. Now that is a vacation.



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50 bands

In no particular order:

1 Mighty Mighty Bosstones
2 The Jets
3 Blue Man Group
4 Busta Rhymes
5 Moby
6 Si*Se
7 Neko Case
8 Death Cab for Cutie
9 Missy Higgins
10 Erykah Badu
11 Rage Against the Machine
12 Wu Tang Clan
13 Dios Malos
14 Yeah Yeah Yeahs
15 Vertical Horizon
16 Pat McGee Band
17 G. Love and Special Sauce
18 Back to Blonde
19 Dar Williams
20 Violent Femmes
21 Dido
22 Big Bad Voodoo Daddy
23 Phish
24 George Clinton
25 Ani Difranco
26 David Byrne
27 Jesse Cook
28 Christian McBride
29 Dave Matthews Band
30 Alanis Morissette
31 Tori Amos
32 Goo Goo Dolls
33 Jon Bon Jovi
34 Porno for Pyros
35 Fun Lovin Criminals
36 They Might Be Giants
37 Bauhaus
38 Sarah McLachlan
39 Barenaked Ladies
40 Rusted Root
41 Stabbing Westward
42 Nerve Circus
43 Lords of Acid
44 Thrill Kill Kult
45 Space Hog
46 God Lives Underwater
47 Jill Scott
48 The Cardigans
49 Lisa Loeb
50 Fiona Apple

pesto

I will admit it. I'm not the best cook in the world. Mostly cause I do other things besides cook. Like important things... homework, movies, read, stuff.

Buitoni: This one is OK for store bought. It is not overly powerful, yet is enough to remind me it is pesto sauce. Perfect for those quick weekday meals. Add parm cheese to it to help it along.

Santa Barbara:

Contadina:

Freshdirect: I expected more, but there was a terrible after taste. Something was off and weird and certainly not pesto. The sad thing is it was my roommates' first try at pesto, and now he doesn't want to try it again.

Fairway: It was a very simply done pesto, nothing fancy. Walnuts were used, but that's ok. It was good and I would buy it again.

Rawstar: I have only stopped at this place a few times, it is vegan and nothing cooked over 90 degrees. When I saw pesto pasta I knew I had to try. What I forgot was to cook pasta the water has to be hot (over 90). Well the pasta was actually strips of cucumber. Strange, right? Yet so very very tasty. I got to taste the pesto with a light clean addition. They added a little red spicy sauce on top of the pesto, it added the perfect flavor to it. Plus I was able to eat everything on the plate without getting totally bloated and fat. Even was able to stuff some dessert in my mouth too. I will actually try that same thing at home some time.

Park Slope Co-Op: Got to try this cause a friend works there, otherwise I may never had the chance. It was delicious and tasty. Just like pesto should taste.

Mom's: The best for last. There is nothing you can compare to basil picked from the garden, olive oil brand that she has used since I was in her belly (yes I believe she fed me enough olive oil while I was in her womb to get me hooked), and then everything added together allowing the smell to fill the house. She don't use measuring cups. She don't know exactly how much it is (a pinch, a drizzle, a scoop). I just got to experience mom's pesto sauce this past August. We sat on the back deck with the pesto on pasta, salad, fresh baked bread and a bottle of wine. We gabbed and laughed, the little fire in the chiminea keeping us warm. As with any Italian meal, it's not just the food, but the experience.

books

4 ordered at local bookstore
2 picked up street for free
1 bought at a stoop sale
2 bought at a flea market

Now where do I put them all?

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