Keeping it kosher

After passing a pleasant couple of hours at Gina’s on Sunday, we all motivated and set out on the three-block walk to Kareen’s house for her combined birthday and going away party. The boys were appropriately effusive:

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Kareen is leaving for grad school in Israel this week, and we are sad to see her go! But not too sad to pose in classic NYU girls formation:

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(Photo courtesy of Gina. Left to right, starting in back: Wife, Gina, Kate, Kareen, me)

And definitely not too sad to celebrate in her honor with lots of food 😀

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In addition to the tables of snacks, Kareen had some trusty men manning the meat:

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I kept things light for my first plate since we all know how crazy I go when it comes to party food.

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I had salad, marinated veggies, chips, hummus, and fresh salsa:

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And then the protein medley began:

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We did a good job of sharing each new thing that came off the grill so that no one ended up suffering from meat overkill (except for maybe Chris who, according to Gina, made Monday a salad day — I almost fell over from shock when I heard that — to make up for Sunday). There were chicken wings, lamb ribs (?), pepper steak, morningstar “chicken” patties, pepperoni, and various other parts of the chicken. All kosher of course!

This skewer was a hit, as you can see from Kate’s starving glare in the background:

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And Gina’s eventual attack:

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Wife went wild over the veggie burger:

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Ted showcased his superhuman strength in an uncharacteristically creepy moment with a beer can:

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And the princess of the ball kept herself busy with a funnel:

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I admired the scenery, as usual:

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Also as usual, I got way too excited about the food, like the dazzling array of watermelon, strawberries, and cherries:

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And this perfectly charred cob! Corn was in short supply, so I had to share the kernel love of course.

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Someone who was after my heart had the brilliant idea to skewer kosher marshmallows.

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And the equally brilliant though somewhat misguided idea to throw them on the grill alongside burgers and hot dogs for a toasting session.

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Ummmm, I’m so glad I was not the one responsible for cleaning that grill at the end of the night!

And then, what’s a night in expansion-land without cake??

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Chocolate mousse birthday and bon voyage cake, to be exact.

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I had a whopper of a piece, alongside a white sugar rose:

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And a rare concession to the power of flash in the name of capturing the full density of this masterpiece:

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For the even more kosher and dairy free in the bunch, there was a thing called “pie nuts cake.” No one knew what that meant or what it contained. Cinnamon and nuts were pretty safe guesses though.

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At around 9:45 (wayyyyy past my Sunday night bedtime), I told Wife that I needed to be removed from the situation before I accidentally ate all of the pie nuts. Fireworks were set off illegally in our honor (ok, maybe they were in Kareen’s honor):

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And then we continued with our law-breaking streak by squeezing too many people into Wife’s car for the ride home. I sat in the middle on top of the seat back that had been lowered to make room for Ted’s workout bench. (Yes, Ted travels with his workout bench. How else do you think he’d be able to develop those superior can-crushing skills?)

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Sigh, I wish summer could last forever (minus the summer classes).

Have you witnessed/taken part in any law-breaking lately? And what was the reason for the last party you attended?

14 thoughts on “Keeping it kosher”

  1. brandi says:
    Reply

    i love the marshmallows along side the meat – awesome.

    law breaking lately? No.

    last party? hm….is it sad that I can’t even remember the last party I went to? I’m old.

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  2. Christina says:
    Reply

    Chocolate Mousse cake is one of my favorites! Looks like a great time 🙂

    The last party I attended was a 4th of july bash. My graduation party is coming up soon though. Yay!

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  4. Hallie says:
    Reply

    Man, kosher food is SO much better now than it used to be! I remember back in the day, anything labeled “kosher” automatically meant GROSS to me 🙂

    Hmm…well a few months ago I got a ticket for talking on my cell phone while driving. Stupid thing to do, but I sure learned my (expensive) lesson on that one!

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  5. Gina Boland says:
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    What a good overview of the party! Yay! I believe Kate and I could smell some law breaking smoke at last Thursday’s movie! And Kareen’s party was of course the last party I went to, but now I’m looking forward to the block party!

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  8. biz319 says:
    Reply

    Wow, that is a food coma!

    I once worked with a woman who could only eat kosher food. So I bought all new utencils, cake pan, etc.

    When I presented the cake she said “did you bake it in your oven?” My answer: ‘Yes!” Her reply: “I can’t eat it because you cook meat in your oven!”

    She enjoyed the thought though!

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