Cream Cheese brownies

Yum! simply add a package of cream cheese to a box brownie mix and behold! Cream cheese brownies.

The Urbane Cat

Behold jynx. She's sleek and sexy as oh so elusive. The supermodel of cats, if only she like being photographed. I realized that Jynx has been with us for 6 years and I have maybe 3 photo's of her. This is her usual perch while I'm blogging.

Urbane Gardening

It's a rainy, chilly May morning here in NYC. My garden seems to love it though. Behold: My Urbane Garden.

Subway life

As a New Yorker you spend a great deal of time underground. Waiting for or riding on the subway. Sometimes I miss the views I had as a driver in Los Angeles or San Francisco. One thing that is fun, is to observe the great art installations that are set up in random Subway stations around the city. One of my favorites is the Canal street station on the AC line. It is very Alfred Hitchcock and they seem to watch yor every move.

Memorial Day 2009

and a fine NYC Memorial day it looks to be. Yesterday was unbearably warm, just a taste of the oppresive NYC summer that is to come. Maybe summer would be more bearable if this were my dining room?

Strawberry jam filled cupcakes

Ok.. I cheated. I used a boxed cake mix. Made 24 cupcakes. When cooled, I used an apple corer to cut a hole in the middle of each cupcake and filled the hole with the strawberry jam. I placed a piece of the cupcake that I had removed to cover the jam and frosted them with tinted icing. DELISH!

Fresh Strawberry Jam

1 quart fresh strawberries

1/2 cup sugar

2 tbsp lemon juice

Hull the strawberries and chop in a food processor. Cook chopped strawberries, sugar and lemon juice in a saucepan , stirring frequently until bubbles cover entire surface (9-10 minutes) and the mixture begins to thicken. Pour into jars, let cool and store in the refridgerator, will keep approx 10 days.

Memorial Day Weekend NYC 2009

Saturday. Beautiful day today, very warm and sunny. We took the subway to Canal Street and walked up Broadway. Lots of tourists. Whats up with those who have to stop in the middle of the sidewalk to talk on the phone, wait for their friends or look in a shop window? Hello! get the hell out of the way. Thats why NY'ers get the rap for being rude... we're just pushing the tourists out of our way.Jumped back on the subway, got off at 14th St. grabbed some lunch and then walked through the Farmers Market at Union Square. Picked up a box of fresh strawberries to make fresh strawberry jam (recipe to follow) and some strawberry jam filled cupcakes. We walked through Madison Square park, hit Bed Bath & Beyond and jumped back on the subway home. Nice to be home....

In the beginning...

URBANE: Pronunciation:
\ˌər-ˈbān\
Function:
adjective
Etymology:
Latin urbanus urban, urbane
Date:
circa 1623
: notably polite or polished in manner
synonyms see suave
— ur·bane·ly adverb
So thats the definition of Urbane. Well some will argue that I am far from notably polite or polished in manner. I am who I am and I love the word. I use the word Urbane as a play on the word Urban. Which pretty much decribes my life at this point. Stay tuned as I hope to grow this blog into a lifestyle website, sharing my point of view with those who care to know it..

Mark