Farewell LA...for now!

Hey blog watchers! I'm sorry I have been so remiss in posting to the blog. I have a one word excuse for you...holidays! I left LA on December 17th (thanks to my Aunt Julie for her frequent flier points!). I was set to return on January 7th but instead I will be extending my stay in NYC until the strike ends. Hopefully sooner rather than later.

Here is a vlog with me and my buddy Erin Buckley. It documents our last days in LA. Enjoy!

A Christmas Vlog montage is in the the works! Patience is a virtue!

Cooking Time With Joe!

That's right, Blog Watchers, the first "Cooking Time With Joe" segment. I couldn't ignore all of the comments any longer! You win! Everyone has been begging me for some of my old recipes from back in the day. Well, I'm doing it one better; an instructional video. Maybe this will be the first of many? What do you all think?

Thanks to my great friend, Erin Buckley, I am able to bring you a step-by-step guide on how to make my "east-coast famous" Baked Ziti. I adapted the recipe from one I saw on the Food Network years ago. I hope you all make it! It's really delicious and a great addition to any pot luck, awards show or birthday party!

The video is in two segments. Be sure to watch both! The complete recipe follows. Get cookin'!


PART I


PART II



Baked Ziti Recipe:

1 pound dried barilla plus penne
Kosher salt
1 pound fresh mozzarella, half cut into 1/2-inch cubes and half thinly sliced
1 cup freshly grated pecorino romano, divided
Pinch red pepper flakes
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 1/4 pound spicy Italian sausages, casing removed and crumbled
1 medium onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
3 1/2 cups whole, peeled, canned tomatoes in puree, (one 28-ounce can), roughly chopped
2 Sprigs fresh thyme
6 leaves fresh basil
3 tablespoons italian parsley
Freshly ground black pepper


Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.


Bring a large pot of water to a boil, salt generously, and boil the pasta a minute or so less than directed. Drain. Set aside.

Heat the oil in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Cook the sausage until beginning to brown, about 3 minutes. Add the onion and garlic, stirring, until lightly browned, about 3 minutes more. Add the tomatoes and the chopped herbs and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer, covered, for 10 minutes. Stir in the salt and season with pepper, to taste.

Toss the cooked pasta with the marinara sauce, cubed mozzarella, half the pecorino cheese, black pepper, and pepper flakes. Transfer the pasta to an oiled 9 by 13-inch baking dish. Cover the top of the pasta with the sliced mozzarella, and sprinkle with the remaining pecorino. Drizzle the top with some olive oil. Bake until lightly browned and hot, about 30 minutes.

Enjoy!

Thanksgiving!

'Tis the Season

Hey there Blog Watchers! Sorry it has been so long since my last posting. I went to Ann Arbor, MI to celebrate thanksgiving with some of my family. My sister Mary, my brother-in-law Ken, and their 3 kids (Magda 9, Elinor 5, and Liam 2) hosted a wonderful holiday. In attendance were my father, my brother, Mike, and his new wife, Shannon, and my brother, Tim, and his life partner, Sascha, and their new son, Leo. There was a lot of great food, drink, discussion and debate. We took several jaunts into bustling downtown Ann Arbor, a few of us went ice skating at a local rink and we even put on Elinor's version of American Idol. Quite fun. Thanks to Mary and Ken for hosting the event. Mary has been fighting a nasty case of something so it was even more of a feat for her. We tried to be as much help as possible with the kids. They're a handful!


I will be back on the East Coast for the holidays. My Aunt Julie generously offered me a flight home using her frequent flyer miles. I will be flying in to Newark on Dec. 18th and fly back to LA on January 7th. 3 whole weeks! I can't wait. I hope to see lots of friends and family in that time. I will be going to Maine on Dec. 21, 22 and 23 to visit my Mom for Christmas. Then, I will be in Bethel for Chritmas Eve and I think in NYC with my brother Tim and Sascha's (his partner) family on Christmas Day. I am thinking about going to Boston for New Years but that is not set in stone. We shall see.


I just found a video of the Fuel for Life commercial that I dubbed this fall in NYC. Its pretty hilarious to hear my voice come out of a european model's mouth. I couldn't embed it here but I've included a link. Enjoy.

I am also trying to put together some footage from Michigan for the blog. Check back soon for that.





Here is the address to watch the commercial. You need to cut and paste it in your browser.

http://commercial-archive.com/node/141000

Los Angeles!

Portland, OR!

Portland, OR

Hey there, Blog Readers!

I wish life was more exciting and I had more things to blog about. Sorry. I got back from Portland, OR on Sunday. That city is amazing. I really liked it. It is really clean and has such a good energy. There are so many different neighborhoods, each with their own vibe. And tons of great restaurants. I wish I had more time to try them. My friends Jesse and his fiance Silvana gave me the grand tour. We got to spend the day with their amazing son, Silas. Quite a bundle of joy! I also got to visit my friend John and his Wing Shack he recently opened. Delicious Wings.

To see pictures from the trip just click on the picture of me on the plane.

Change of Plans!

Hey Blog Watchers! I got cheap flight on Priceline, so I am flying to Portland, OR. The road trip will have to wait. I'll still try to video blog though.

Talk to you soon!

Exciting News!

Hey Blog Watchers! I've got some sad news and some exciting news. First, sad. I drove Celia to LAX this morning so she could catch a flight back to NYC. Boo. She has to go back to do a workshop of "Saved", the musical she is doing in the spring at Playwrights Horizons. I miss her already. Having her here was like having 100 friends!

Exciting news. I think my wanderlust has gotten the better of me. I am thinking that for my big birthday this weekend I am going to visit my two best friends from high school, John and Jesse, in Portland, OR. I will be stopping on the way in San Francisco to visit my other best friend from high school Jeremy.

ROAD TRIP TIME! Get ready for some video blogs!

I MISS CELIA!

Movin' on In!

Hey Blog Watchers! So, we arrived Tuesday night and have been trying to get settled these last few days. The fires created some incredibly bad smog up in these parts but we are okay. Hopefully others in southern cali will soon have their lives back to normal.

We couldn't ignore the desperate pleas to not stop blogging; so here y'all are! Enjoy!

The Last Leg

Vegas/California Slideshow!

Viva Las Vegas!

Inside the Grand Canyon!

Canyon Cabin!

PHOTOS!

Petrified/Grand Canyon

Check out these photos from the Petrified Forest, Grand Canyon and Route 66. Just click on the photo to see the whole album.

We stayed in a great lodge just off the rim of the Grand Canyon last night. Then this morning we had breakfast at another lodge and then bundled up for our hike. We took the visitor's bus to the South Kaibab trailhead and hiked about 1 mile down the canyon. It was so beautiful! We are getting some free wireless at a hotel in town and we are hoping to find a cheap hotel in Vegas tonight. We will keep you posted!

VIDEO #2

Video #1

Petrified Freezing Forest!

Check out the video blogs in order. Amazing! Will post pictures later!

Grants, New Mexico!

Huge Pancakes! HUGE Disappointment! See picture!

Mountain Top!

Sorry the sound is so bad, blog readers. It was really windy, but we wanted y'all to see the view from the top. I got a little emotional as you can see in the video.

We've had some technical advice from Celia's brother, Andrew. Check out his blog at:

http://www.andrewkeenanbolger.com

Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks National Monument!

RECOGNIZED!

PICTURES!

Santa Fe!

Check out some of these pics, folks! Notice especially the ones from the laundromat and the almost IDENTICAL blue shirts.

Lots of other great photos! Check 'em out.

Loretto Chapel!

Santa Fe!

Palo Duro/Amarillo

Hey Folks! Things are heating up on Roadtrip2007! We left Amarillo yesterday after leaving our mark on Cadillac Ranch. We soldiered on through New Mexico; heading straight for Santa Fe. We booked a "nice" room on priceline for cheap. It wasn't "nice". Thats okay. We got dinner at this great New Mexican restaurant called 'The Shed' in downtown Santa Fe. The food was really tasty and spicy. We headed back to our palace hotel and fell quickly asleep. This morning we did some laundry (see the pics of all my blue shirts!) We also got the oil changed and washed.

We headed to downtown Santa Fe, which is pretty cool. LOTS of turquoise! We had lunch at Tia Sophia's which was really good. Then we walked to the Loretto Chapel to see the Miraculous Staircase (see video). Next we drove about an hour to Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks National Monument. It was amazing! So beautiful. See the videos.

Now we are sitting in the lap of luxury. We bid on priceline, more successfully, and got a room in the Albuquerque Hyatt Regency for $50! Nice job, Celia. We are going to see a 10:10 showing of 'Into The Wild' tonight. Yay!

The car has already travelled 3000 miles from when I got the oil changed in Cape Cod! Crazy, right?

The Morning After

Mary and Bridie!

Palo Duro Canyon!

Hey there blog readers!

We camped last night on the bottom of Palo Duro Canyon with my sister Kate, her friend Patty and my two nieces and nephew. It was a lot of fun but FREEZING! And tons of flies. The canyon itself is really beautiful. We woke up freezing cold and took a short hike around with the kids. Then we headed out and made our way to Cadillac Ranch on the outskirts of Amarillo. We left our blog marking. Amazing. On our way to Santa Fe!

Deep in the heart...

OF TEXAS! Not really. Outside of Amarillo.

We are parked as close to the side of this cheap motel to pick up their wireless signal so we can give this video to you, Blog Readers!

So stop nagging us! We have been getting so much feedback; "more! more! more!". We hear you ;-)

You're Welcome!

Drove straight through Oklahoma today. One stop at the national route 66 museum...lame.

Driving

Another Video Blog for all of you blog readers!

Clinton Library!

Here we are in the elevator of the Clinton Presidential Center! Amazing!

Tennessee/Arkansas!

Tennessee/Arkansas!

Arkansas, Arkansas I just love old Arkansas!

Hey blog readers! Finally! We have access to the World Wide Web! I'm so sorry about the delay, blog readers. Celia and I have been getting SO much feedback begging for more frequent posts...WE"RE TRYING!

So, we left Asheville, NC on Tuesday morning and raced through Tennessee. The last 20 miles of the Blueridge in NC was beautiful! The foliage finally started to represent. The Blueridge lead us right into the Great Smoky Mountains. Very impressive. Very beautiful and more crowded than the Blueridge. After leaving the Great Smoky Mountain Park we entered dreary Little Pigeon, TN; the biggest strip mall I've ever seen. We wizzed right by Dollywood; no time to stop. Then we rushed through Knoxville, Nashville and Memphis. We did stop at the pictured Interstate BBQ just outside of Memphis. It was recommended in our Lets Go Roadtripping Book. We got some drive thru there and drove to Village Creek State Park in Arkansas. We had arranged earlier in the day for a 2 BDR cabin in the park. It was the most expensive place we have stayed thus far! $99! It wasn't worth it, unfortunatley. The cabin wasn't nearly as interesting as the one in Virginia. Totally non-descript, a little like being at my best friends house in middle school. Check out the pictures. The BBQ was delicious, however. This morning we got up and drove directly to historic Hot Springs, AK. Hot Springs is famous for their hot spring mineral bath spas. Celia and I got the full service at the oldest one there, open continuously since 1912. It was weird. From there we drove back to Little Rock and got there just in time to visit the William Jefferson Clinton Library. It was amazing! Unfortunately, Bill wasn't there. Where will Hillary have her Library? Can't wait to visit that one. We stopped in Fort Smith, AK for some creole food. Delish. We just arrived in Sallisaw, OK. We are staying at Sallisaw Inn for only $45. I talked down the owner lady from $50. Nice, right?

Check out the photo link and videos!

Take it easy on all the comments, blog readers! I only have two eyes!

Grandfather Mountain!

Rocky Knob Cabin #20!

Introducing Celia!

Finally! We made it to an area with WiFi today! I'm sorry blog readers. I have been getting so many comments and feedback from everyone on the blog about how badly you want updates quicker. I'll try my best.

Celia and I drove from DC to Meadows of Dan, VA on our first day of driving. We drove all the way down Skyline Drive and then connected to the beautiful Blue Ridge Parkway. We stayed at the rustic "Rocky Knob Cabins". See the video for details on everything.

On our second day we drove again down the magnificent Blue Ridge Parkway. We made a stop at Grandfather Mountain in North Carolina. It is the highest mountain peak in the Blueridge (5,964 feet!). It was amazing and there was a mile high swinging bridge we crossed after a half mile hike. Really beautiful. Unfortunately, the foliage this season is not as magnificent as usual due to some drought stuff or some such thing. I don't know, look it up.

We continuted on the Blue Ridge to mile 385. We then found our way to Asheville, NC and the cozy (and cheap) ArtHaus Hostel. Its only us and some crazy older lady here tonight. We had dinner at some Jamaican/Mexican restaurant (yum), very filling.

Please check out all the videos and photos. There are some beauties there!

Skyline/Blue Ridge/Asheville

WASHINGTON DC!

Washington DC

Here are some photos from my 2 days in DC and Shannon and Steve's wedding. Shannon and I grew up together in Bethel and also lived in DC at the same time for our first 2 years of undergrad. Her and Steve have been a couple for 9 years! It was a beautiful wedding and a lot of fun.

I am picking Celia up from Union Station at 1:30 and off we go. We are taking Skyline Drive and the Blueridge Parkway through Virginia until we get to our cabin around midnight. I think I'll be away from posting for the next day or so. I know how upsetting this is to you, my readers. Sorry.

As always, by clicking on some photos you will be linked to the whole album on Picasa. Check it out.

So, I left for DC at about 1:00 PM Friday afternoon. I drove with my friend Lea. She made a wonderful travel companion. We arrived at the Hotel Helix (amazing and hilarious) a little after 6:30. I tried to find cheap parking in the neighborhood but was unsuccessful. We then went for dinner with Lea's sister, Lacy, who lives in Adams Morgan. Then we went and met up with our friend Shannon, who is getting married, and the rest of her wedding party. They were at The Tombs in Georgetown; the bar that is depicted in the movie St. Elmo's Fire. Crazy.

Going Away Pics!

Well, readers, as promised here are some pics from my last two nights in NYC. It was a really great time and thanks to everyone for coming to say good bye.

Click on the photo to see more photos from that night!

Going Away Pics

Au Revoir!

Well, folks. I'm heading out. I want to thank everyone for a great evening last night. I will be posting pictures of the night ASAP. I hate keeping you all waiting. I know how often you all must click on my BLOG hoping and praying for more juicy posts!

I booked a cabin off of the Blue Ridge Parkway for Sunday night. They're called the Rocky Knob Cabins. Looks rustic. Yikes. I hope Celia doesn't mind.

Expect some interesting pictures from there.

Bridie Falls Down

Watch the first video below this one before watching this one. It's much funnier that way. Enjoy!

Hilarious

This is my niece Bridie. We were at a playground on Cape Cod. Check out the second part as well. Very cute.

Farewell Crispo!

Crispo!

These photos are from my last few days at Crispo. I have worked there for the last three summers. It is a great place to work with delicious food. It is located at 240 W. 14th St. NYC. I recommend it.

The last week there, all us waiters were experimenting with the cross eyed waiter routine. Very fun. Enjoy the pics.

Click on the photo see the whole album.

Disco Dancing

Here is a fun little dance starring my friends Emily and Elliot! Enjoy!

Bring a CD!

Hey Everyone!

If you are planning on coming to the farewell get-to-gether on Thursday night bring a mix CD Celia and I can listen to on the road trip! Only if you have time, of course.

See you then!

FAREWELL PARTY!

I am so excited that my Blog has really taken off! So many visitors!

As I mentioned earlier; I am leaving NYC on Friday. I'm hoping to get to see friends here for a farewell gathering at The Gaf on Thursday night. It is a little Irish pub on 48th Street and 9th Ave. (between 9/10). They have darts there, and Big Buck Hunter and I think maybe Photo Hunt too. Come see me off. I should be there around 9:30. Hope to see you all there!

Mike and Shannon get married in Cape Cod! 4 days until Road Trip!

Mike/Shannon Wedding Weekend!

Mike and Shannon tied the knot this weekend on Cape Cod. It was an amazing weekend and really beautiful celebration. Click the picture of Mike and Shannon to view the entire picasa album of my photos.

While in Falmouth I had the oil changed in my new/used 1997 Honda CRV. I bought it from my Yale roommate Charlie. It only has 117,200 miles on it! However, its in great shape.

I'll be packing my belongings up this week and deciding what won't be making the trip to LA. Then Friday I will be leaving for Washington DC to attend my childhood friend Shannon Spillane's wedding in Georgetown. The wedding is on Saturday. Celia, my road trip partner, will be meeting me in DC Sunday afternoon and off we go. We will be travelling down the Blue Ridge Parkway through Virginia. Look for some beautiful photos from that leg of the trip.