Sweet Blog O'Mine

Category: Food and Drink

  • Because I Am Tired and Lazy

    I am not going to go bother with the details about my weekend.  As usual, it’s really all about the food roundup, so I might as well get right down to it, starting with the amazing lunch on Friday at Aureole to send off the lovely summer associates who kept me out so late the night before.  Dinner was at Mercadito with Jenn and Emilia followed by nightcaps with Jeff, who came down from upstate and joined us late at Otto and the Stoned Crow.  Saturday was brunch with Cori at Clinton Street Baking Company (love their huevos rancheros, despite the hour-long wait), shopping, nap, workout, the 40-Year-Old Virgin, dinner at Banania Cafe and drinks at the bar down the block with Tom (no idea what that place is called — can anyone help me out?  It’s on the corner on Smith Street in Carroll Gardens).  Sunday was more shopping (I am soooo sick of my current, very limited "business casual" attire — had to get some reinforcements), more working out, then dinner and Napoleon Dynamite with Roopa.  I will now leave you with these mouthwatering pictures from my lunch at Aureole . . .

    Oysters

    Softshellcrabs

  • Beauty is in the Eye . . .

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    Am I the only one out there that thinks Katz’s Deli is actually quite beautiful?  Particualarly when the neon glows subtly as the sun begins to set. . .

    Am moving in slow-mo today from a very late night at karaoke with work folks.  When you’re trying to impress people at the new job, how can you leave when partners insist that you stay?  Rough life, I tell ya.

  • Coolness

    136_3609Coolness is being mentioned in the New York Times.  Again.  This time, a little less directly.  I’m going to be on the "distinguished panel of expert judges" for the Vendy Awards (don’t forget to vote for your favorite street vendor!)

    Additionally, coolness is finally getting your hands on the ramps you pickled back in May because you finally got your ass in gear and posted the story on Gothamist.  And now, to actually taste them . . .

  • Walking Down the Aisle

    [Not that aisle.  Please, people.]  Sometimes I forget that food shopping is not as fun for everyone as it is for me.  Although I adore Fresh Direct for its convenience, I love the act of deciding I’m going to cook a meal, making a list of what I think I need, then walking through the Union Square Greenmarket and Whole Foods and getting everything on my list plus at least five other things I didn’t realize I needed.  On Monday, I decided I was going to make pizza and a salad inspired by the one my friend Melissa brought to my recent dinner party (it was so good!).  Starting at one end of the market, I picked up some gorgeous yellow and purple plums (which had nothing to do with anything I was making) and sungold cherry tomatoes.  I then met my dining companion, Tom, who had just survived a somewhat harrowing experience at the post office.  Clearly he was in no mood to share my ridiculous enthusiasm for shopping during what they kept referring to over the PA system as "crazy night" at Whole Foods — the line looked atrocious. "We could just go out," he suggested.  "It moves fast!" I assured him.  We headed downstairs and ticked off the items on my list: arugula, hearts of palm, prosciutto, artichoke hearts, mozzarella, avocado, lemon, crushed tomatoes, and more.  I’m still getting to know the Union Square store, having spent much more time in the Chelsea branch, which resulted in us wandering in circles a little bit, and we had no luck finding pizza dough until, in a flash of genius (which comes out every now and again), I thought to ask at the brick oven pizza counter upstairs.  For $1.99 I got enough dough to make two pizzas, although we somehow used it to make one.  When we finally attacked the line, it did move quite quickly, as I predicted, and we were off to cook.  Tom survived the experience, even without getting a "cranky snack" in line (as in a snack one eats when one gets cranky).  "You can get anything you’d like to eat while you wait — even the Scharffen Berger."  Dinner was delicious — arugula salad with hearts of palm, sungold cherry tomatoes, artichoke, and lemon/olive oil dressing, and pizza with prosciutto, artichoke hearts, kalamata olives, and a tiny bit of fresh basil, grown on my windowsill.  Well worth the trip, in my opinion.

  • Summer Bounty

    Wing_kei_noodle_co_1I strongly encourage all of you to go to a burlesque show if you haven’t done so already, whether you’re on a date or not.  Not only were we treated to tunes from the New Orleans Jazz Vipers, but we got to see some fabulous ladies parading their goods with a healthy dose of flair, glitter, pasties, creativity, and laughs.  I’d have to say my favorite was Nasty Canasta, if only for costume creativity — she did her routine to Harry Belafonte’s Day-O, and let’s just say that bananas and tarantulas were represented.

    After burlesque it was on to Tapeo 29, which I’d like to hit again — we were so late that we were only to enjoy their late-night menu, which consisted of nuts, cheese, chorizo, and olives.  "We’ll take it all."  Finally, we topped of the evening with a pit stop at Winnie’s for a karaoke fix (because, really, isn’t everything better with a little karaoke?).  On our walk there we passed the Wing Kei Noodle Company, where they were hard at work after midnight on a Friday, making noodles.  It simply radiated whiteness out onto the street.

    Saturday was spent shopping for the evening’s dinner party.  For some reason, it is literally impossible for me to stick to a shopping list when I hit the farmer’s market or Whole Foods.  So I’ve got the few ingredients I need to make the main course (fresh pasta, yellow and red tomatoes, basil, mozzarella, garlic), but so many other things catch my eye and make it back home with me.  Blueberries, corn, an out-of-this-world lemon artichoke pesto, tomatillos, cilantro, jalapeno.  Sigh.  We had an absolutely amazing dinner party, with Vivian supplying antipasti treats from DiPalo’s, Melissa bringing a salad complete with peppery arugula, hearts of palm, artichokes, pine nuts, and  sungold cherry tomatoes (I had bought some of those, too), Jenn rounded out the meal with fresh berries and homemade whipped cream.  Jenn and Melissa also took care of the wine, which was the educational component of the evening.  It was old world vs. new world wines — we did two blind tastings of the same grape, one old world (Europe) and one new world (everywhere else) and decided which one we preferred in each pair.  The new world won both the whites and the reds, but we drank the losers anyway (god forbid anyone should feel bad about losing).

    Sunday night Matt helped me eat the leftovers (I still have some, mind you, but that’ll be dinner on Tuesday night).  It’s always good to know you have friends around to help you out in these situations.

  • Even More Geekiness

    Utter_dorkinessThanks to all for your suggestions and input.  I’ll let you know how it goes (and I may actually wait a month or so to do this), but one thing’s for sure: I will NOT buy a Mac.  I’m just a PC gal, and that’s the way it goes. 

    In other total dork news, I stopped at Staples on the way to work yesterday morning and purchased a little clip with a retractable elastic to hold my ID badge — this way I can hold the badge up to the reader without either a) unclipping it from my clothing, or b) contorting in some weird way or stretching my shirt/jacket/sweater/dress in order to swipe the thing.  It’s amazing how such a small thing changed my entire day.

    Finally, and hopefully a little less dorky, here are the pictures from this weekend’s festivities.  An extra special thanks to Kim, who not only cooked a Thai dinner to die for, but who, with some assistance from John, brewed a batch of blackberry wheat beer that we broke out on the beach on Saturday evening.  Amazing.

  • Not Bad for a Self-Portrait, Huh?

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    Taken on the rooftop of Daisy May’s BBQ, where Adam Perry Lang showed me and Jen his garden.  Not only was he gracious enough to take the time to show us around, but he gave us each a beautiful aromatic bouquet of herbs and lavender to take home and throw in the tub.

    A reader commented the other day that he gets tired merely reading about my social life.  Trust me, I’m pretty exhausted by the end of the week, and I sometimes feel like I never leave myself enough time to get everything done that I set out to do.  But that said, I love every minute of it.  Other things I did this week (outside of the new job — which is going quite well, thank you) that haven’t yet made the blog: lunch at Pampano Tacqueria with Christie, dinner with Jenn B. at Diablo Royale, dinner with Ali at Bar Jamon, a very sweaty yoga class, two other trips to the gym for cardio, a little quiet time at home (really, Dad, I swear!).  And tonight, back to the beach.  I’m already getting tired, but at least I know there’s a nap on the beach (and hopefully the new hammock that John claims to have put on the deck) in my very near future.

  • Whew.

    To start off: Gothamist makes Forbes’ Best of the Web!  Hooray!

    And now, for the ridiculously fun weekend recap.  Friday night, after a trip to the spa for a little microdermabrasion (I know it’s froofy, but my skin felt soooo soft the next day), I met up with a fairly significant posse from the beach house.  Chip had friends who were having a rooftop party in Hell’s Kitchen, so after a quick taco at Tulcingo Del Valle, we headed on up and enjoyed the view.  In line with my small world issues, within five minutes of chatting to the one non-beach-house person I spoke to that night, I discovered that we knew three people in common (I’m telling you — I know everybody).

    dogs?Saturday was brunch at Home with some of the fabulous ladies from the beach house (we can’t get enough of each other), then off on a wild adventure in the Rockaways with Alizinha.  Through the magic of the interweb, she and I were invited to a party by the Gurgling Cod and his wife, the Cinetrix.  They were coming down from Beantown just for the occasion — a birthday party and a pig roast (that’s two pig roasts this month, if anyone’s counting).  My friend Rick of Rick’s Picks was there as well (bearing his Windy City Wassabeans — yum). After a very, very long ride on the A train, we made it out to Rockaway Beach and had a grand old time: wading in the ocean, playing darts, drinking pina coladas, eating well, and meeting new people.  Thanks to Jen (the birthday girl) and Rob, our very generous hosts.  In organizing our ride back home, I somehow managed to convince one of the partygoers to come with me to Williamsburg, where I was to meet up with the Lovely Miss Katie for yet another rooftop soiree.  After a ridiculously long car ride and finding the right address on the wrong street, Tom and I wound up at the Levee instead.  We were joined by Manhattan Transfer (thanks, Dodgeball!), and lazily decided to stay put rather than track Miss Katie’s party.

    Blue Crab Fest at Bar MinnowBut the next day, it was rise and shine and back out to Brooklyn, this time for the blue crab festival at Bar Minnow, where the Lovely Miss Katie, Nikki, Scott, Mike, Rob and I gorged ourselves and made quite a mess.  Instead of subjecting people on the subway to our crustacean-spattered selves, we opted to air out at the Gate and the Patio Lounge, enjoying some of Park Slope’s finer outdoor establishments, perfect for an afternoon beer, a pitcher of sangria, and plenty of good company and hysterical laughter.  Pictures from the Rockaway Beach party and other random pics are here.

    As if all that wasn’t enough, we ended up on Scott’s roof making grilled chicken tacos with grilled pineapple salsa, and finished up the evening watching Adam Perry Lang make his Iron Chef debut.  When I finally made it home, I slept like a baby. 

    After this weekend’s food festivities, I took advantage of the one-week pass to Equinox that I was given at my new job and went to a spin class after work, which kicked my ass all over the place.  Did I really do that several days a week at 6:30 am at one point in my life in the not-so-distant past?  Sheesh.

  • To Tide You Over

    Here’s Adam preparing a kobe beef mini-burger — my first-ever exposure to kobe beef! It was delicious, as was everything else.

    Started writing a very long post based on someone from my past I bumped into yesterday, and haven’t had time to finish. Hope these pictures from Wednesday night’s party can tide you over for a bit.

  • Beach. Fun. Food.

    139_3970Blah. Blah. Blah.  For those of you who aren’t in the beach house, this might be getting tedious, but for the rest of you, here are the pictures!  Thanks to all for a great time, Greta for a kick-ass dinner (I seem to be photographically obsessed with the beauty of the antipasti plates), and Yael, Jimmy and Laurie for letting us crash the karaoke party in Saltaire and for the generous handful of drink tokens.  We won’t thank you for the headaches we had Saturday morning.