This is the link to the published article. Sorry about all the ads and other extraneous stuff which was added by the publication.

https://www.goworldtravel.com/mexico-citys-coyoacan/

No recipe folks. Have a nice Margarita or elotes or a taco….while you watch the Olympics.

Alice Liddell aged seven

Victorians eroticized children even as they considered them total innocents which may have been very convenient for Charles Dodgson, aka Lewis Carroll. Scholars dispute if Carroll was a pedophile but it is generally acknowledged that his relationship with Alice Liddell, her two sisters and other young girls was unusually intimate. Dodgson may have wanted to marry Alice, one of her sisters or perhaps her governess. Despite many theories nothing has been conclusively proved but one thing is clear: Carroll’s 1865 novel, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland has never been out of print, has been translated into 174 languages and is an endless source of enjoyment in films, art, ballet, opera, musical theater and theme parks as well as board and video games.

Using Wonderland: Curious Nature as a theme, the New York Botanical Garden’s current exhibit attempts to bring it to life. Some of it is wonderful like the White Rabbit,

White Rabbit at the exhibit

(although he’s green as he’s made of plants), in the center of a pond and the rabbit footprints that lead visitors from area to area (which are on a paper map- better had they been painted on the paths.) The exhibit at the Mertz Library, focusing on mind-altering plants like mushrooms and depicting the Victorian interest in science, includes four mini-dioramas and some material from Charles Darwin but would have been even better had more works been included.  The day we visited, the “high tea” served in various locales featured sandwiches on stale bread and lacked the promised clotted cream and jam supposed to accompany the very dry scones.

My “tea’ came in a paper bag with a plastic glass of weak iced tea

The New York Times raved about the exhibit:

www.nytimes.com/2024/04/24/arts/design/new-york-botanical-garden-wonderland.html

but my friend and I gave it a B minus feeling there should have been more Alice-related items to see and far more comprehensive signage directing visitors. We noticed these odd-looking plants but thought only that they were peculiar and not set out to “stop and interact {with}. ” (My interactions with plants were limited to getting them into the ground, weeding, watering, and cutting them. We rarely spoke.)

It was a glorious late May day and the garden was  uncrowded. That alone was like tumbling down the rabbit hole. The exhibition runs until October 27^th; if it sounds like fun, try to bring a child along. A young companion won’t be jaded and will likely find parts—or all — of the exhibit terrific.

Get into your own Wonderland with:

Crimini mushrooms

Mushroom Risotto

4 tablespoons  olive oil

1½ pounds mixed mushrooms, chopped

¾ teaspoon sea salt, plus more to taste

Freshly ground black pepper

1 medium yellow onion, chopped

2 garlic cloves, finely chopped (or less or none; I’m impossible about garlic)

1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves

1½ cups uncooked Arborio rice, rinsed

⅔ cup dry white wine

5 cups warmed vegetable broth

½ cup grated pecorino or Parmesan cheese plus more for serving

Chopped fresh parsley, for garnish

Heat 2 tablespoons of the olive oil in a Dutch oven or large, deep skillet over medium heat. Add the mushrooms, ½ teaspoon of the salt, and several grinds of pepper and toss to coat. Cook, stirring only occasionally, for 8 minutes, or until soft and browned. Remove from the pan and set aside. Work in batches if necessary.

Wipe out the pan and return it to the heat. Add the remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil, the onion, and the remaining ¼ teaspoon sea salt. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 to 8 minutes, or until softened. Stir in the garlic, thyme, and rice. Let cook for 1 minute, then add the wine. Stir and cook for 1 to 3 minutes, or until the wine cooks down.

Add the broth ¾ cup at a time, stirring constantly and allowing each addition of broth to be absorbed before adding the next. With the final addition of broth, stir two-thirds of the sautéed mushrooms into the risotto. Cook until the risotto is creamy and the rice has a slight al dente bite. Stir in the cheese and season to taste.

Top with the remaining sautéed mushrooms, garnish with parsley, and serve with more grated cheese.

Maybe it only makes an impact if you watch? Do so: https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-1-d&q=i%27m+late+song#fpstate=ive&ip=1&vld=cid:15cd8ae8,vid:Q93VrYOXSe8,st:0

A friend and I went to see Behind the Mask: The Art of Women Who Weld at The Culture Lab in Long Island City. So cutting edge (or torch) I hear you saying. LIC always seems like it will be a huge trip but from the Upper East Side it’s two simple subways and a short walk, the  trip total about a half- hour  (friend opted for the ferry.)

The free exhibit has about twenty-five works on view, all interesting if not what you might like in your living room, (although there are a few I would welcome.)  Culture Lab operates in a large converted warehouse with two galleries, a theater and an outside venue and is open Thursdays through Sundays starting at 5 PM. There are concerts every Saturday night, dance and comedy presentations, and opportunities for artists to participate in many ways. For more: https://www.culturelablic.org/

We didn’t partake of the Culture Lab offerings for sale (wine, chips, soft drinks) but went to Cyclo, a Vietnamese restaurant a short walk away. https://www.cyclolic.com/

Summer rolls with peanut sauce

The place is very popular with good reason such as delicious food, charming young women servers and reasonable prices  We shared Vietnamese summer rolls and a bahn mi on perfect, crispy French bread,  a must for a good bahn mi. (A woman at the next table was eating pho, the quintessential Vietnamese soup, but that’s a hard dish to share.)

Pho

And now, food as art. This particular recipe is filled with nostalgia. When I was a kid, my parents sometimes hired a waitress when they had large parties. Barbara, the waitress, always made these penguins to decorate the passed hors d’oeuvres plates. They were fascinating then although I don’t expect anyone to make them now—the age of passed food has itself passed and guests for dinner can mean ordering in Chinese.

Herewith,

Barbara’s Penguins

large ripe olives

6 hard-boiled eggs

12 small baby carrots (or pieces of regular carrots)

For the penguin heads, attach one olive to the top of each egg with a toothpick. For beaks, cut six carrots 1/2.in from the pointed end; attach the flat side of a pointed piece to the center of each head with half a toothpick.

For the feet, make a lengthwise cut through the remaining carrots; place flat side down in pairs (trim carrots if necessary). Place a toothpick in each carrot; press an egg on top of each pair.

For flippers, cut the remaining olives lengthwise into quarters; attach one olive quarter to each side of eggs with half a toothpick. Cover and refrigerate until serving.

Inspired to make egg penquins (eggguins)? Learn to weld? Visit Long Island City? Why not all?

Playbill cover for Encores!2024

As in Once Upon A, not the kind from Caspar or Tempur-pedic.

I saw the original show with Carol Burnett as Princess Winnifred, the performance that brought her well-deserved fame. (I’ve had a long affinity for her as people used to tell me we looked alike or ask if I was her. Back in the day there was a sort of resemblance; now she’s been nipped and tucked so that she no longer retains her essence. On the other hand, she’s 90 so she can do whatever she wants.)

No one ever claimed that Mattress, the one Broadway success by Mary Rogers, was a staggeringly great musical but it was fun.  (As is Mary’s book, Shy, which is highly entertaining and gossipy but also very sad. Her parents, Richard and Dorothy weren’t even remotely snuggly and that, combined with Dick’s depression and Dorothy’s haute approach to life didn’t add up to a cheery childhood.)

The Mattress revival at City Center is well-done with a terrific cast including Sutton Foster (very carefully avoiding Burnett’s approach) and J. Harrison Gee of Some Like It Hot fame as the Jester with more numbers than this role usually gets which isn’t a bad thing. His eye and lip glitter aren’t bad either.

And now to food. Searching for “foods to eat in bed,” I found lots of recipes, all of which require cooking. My view of bedroom food is that it should be easy to throw together, portable and not likely to end up all over you, your sheets or the floor. When stuck I used to rely on a peanut butter, Swiss cheese and mayo sandwich, a fave of my first husband’s. Unless you’re on the anti-mayo wagon, don’t scorn it. No need for a recipe: take a piece of decent bread, (side note: bought a loaf of supposed sourdough at Pain Quotidian recently which was ghastly but has ended up as delicious bread pudding), spread with Hellman’s Mayonnaise (no substitutes please), a healthy dollop of your preferred PB  topped with one or two slices of Swiss cheese, preferably one like Finlandia as opposed to those reduced salt versions that lend a new meaning to bland.

Bedtime snack

That’s it. Grab a napkin and you’re set. While you munch listen to Shy, sung here by Sutton Foster.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CswHHvTbeV8