Cooking and Exloring The Park

We made tamales tonight. They were pretty good, and that was even with some fudging of the recipe since I didn't have exactly all the right ingredients. Maya enjoyed kneading the dough with her hands, soaking the husks and making the fillings...it was a fun little project and I will definitely make them again. We also recently made a hominy soup that turned out well (Italian turkey sausage, green chiles and a lightly spicy tomato broth) and a really yummy Thai peanut chicken with rice noodles. Can I tell you how much I enjoy having a stocked kitchen again after a couple months in an extended stay hotel?
Also discovered that Oscar Mayer has nitrate-free bacon. I am so happy to see a mainstream brand name take the chemicals out of their products.
When we aren't in the kitchen, we have been mainly exploring Central Park. I am astounded by the variety of environments we find. We can walk to a lake with fishing, 3 different playgrounds, trails in the woods, a pond, large meadows and all sorts of paths. There is a very steep hill near our end of the park and a road that has heavy bicycle traffic nearly all the time. Also not far away is a swimming pool and recreation center. It is incredible to have it all so close and walkable. The kids can go pretty far on their scooters, and they are pretty easy to fold up and take onto the subways, so that is nice. I truly love having the park right across the street.
Just discovered a Bally's gym that is 1.4 miles away with childcare, yoga, pilates and aerobics classes, and I can transfer my membership without cost for one more year. Yay! Can't wait to work out again.
Nothing else particularly insightful or profound to write about tonight, so I might as well head to bed. Nighty night!