I may not have been taking tons of pictures of my own food this summer — sometimes, it’s just too complicated to switch back and forth from food-hands to camera-hands during a spate of high-level culinary creation — but I have definitely been cooking! One major facilitator of the photography situation, however, is pre-made food that lends itself nicely to a semi-homemade approach. (Just call me Sandra Lee, haaaaaaaa.) Thanks to the Foodbuzz Tastemaker program, I wound up with some tasty and free meal enhancers.

The first treat that arrived seemed slightly discouraging from the outset:

Things started looking up after I needlessly used tongs to dissemble the packaging safely:

Woohoo! Something I would absolutely never buy, as I can easily make it tastier and healthier from scratch, but a delicious treat all the same:

The strawberry pizza made an excellent quick dinner after a late night at work:

I was especially impressed by the chunks of real fruit, even though the pizza itself splintered into a number of little pieces before I even opened the box:

The mixed berry pizza survived the postal service intact and was delicious as a decadent weekend breakfast:

In conclusion, the fruit pizzas were wonderful, and I recommend them if you are craving one but do not want to make it from scratch.

The next free sample involved like a million different kinds of hamburger and hotdog buns from Nature’s Pride. I rarely eat hotdogs and hamburgers and never cook them myself, so the bread found its way into other uses.

French toast made with CSA eggs and blackberries:

Cheese, CSA egg, and CSA pesto “panini” (thanks to the good ol’ George):

Bread is bread. It was good.

Side note: While I’m talking about CSA eggs, check out the variety that came in one of our half dozen batches:

That white one was HUGE! I let Erik have the giant one 🙂

Finally, this chicken and four-cheese ravioli also made an excellent last-minute dinner:

Actually, the dinner ended up not being so last-minute, as I again channeled my inner Sandra Lee and went semi-homemade with pasta sauce made completely from CSA tomatoes and garlic and balcony basil:

Obviously I covered the whole thing in cheese shreds. Sarah portion; Erik portion.

Conclusion: free food = yay! I will never turn down a free thing, though my preference is always homemade. Sometimes I wish I had a professional photographer, because I still cook tons but often don’t have the energy or time to be photographing everything along the way. I will have to work on Erik to get on top of this job!

While on the topic of this summer-gone-by, I would like to mention a few more fun (and free!) adventures in which I was able to partake amidst all the studying.

There was one day when I biked out to Gina’s house in Marine Park and joined her and her in-laws for an excursion to Riis Park Beach in the Rockaways. At the risk of repeating myself, this is the best NYC beach! Just inconvenient enough to get to that it is not covered in trash but convenient enough that it is an excellent choice for a day- (or even an afternoon-) trip.

Gina’s mother-in-law Pat Shannon is after my heart, as she is an excellent cake-maker and pre-event food planner. When I arrived at Gina’s, Pat Shannon had the makings of a beach picnic spread across the kitchen table. I assembled my sandwich with smoked turkey, honey ham, roasted red pepper, tomato, mustard, and a sandwich thin:

This sandwich + grapes = perfect beach lunch.

Later that same week (I think), the Beach Boys were playing for FREE at Coney Island:

Gina, Kate, Erin Gunn, and I made the loooong subway trip down to see them, primarily motivated by the presence of a special guest star. He’s right there in the middle of this picture, the only one wearing black. Can you guess who??

How about now?

It was John Stamos!! Uncle Jesse in the flesh!! He apparently joined the Beach Boys for their tour this summer, and this was his first night with them. He spent the night running around the stage and playing every instrument, clearly super excited to be up there. We certainly did not mind seeing him!

And neither did these zillions of people in the audience with us:

A little bit later, John Stamos took the spotlight to sing his famous ballad from Full House days, “Forever.”

It brought tears to my eyes, let me tell you! Remember this?

I was not the only one moved, either:

Awww, Full House. That used to be my favorite show!

Because the spot was so crowded for this show, we never had a chance to hunt down food. One the way to the train after, though, I sniffed out a nearby Mister Softee and made sure to get a cone before we got on the train! A girl must have priorities.

As the final free event of the summer that I will feature today, Gina, Kate, Kate’s cousin, and I managed to snag a spot on the lawn of the Elevated Acre for a free showing of The Muppets Take Manhattan. This movie scarred me as a child, but I was willing to give it another shot as a “grown” 28-year-old.

Let me just take a moment to gush about this location, a lush green (albeit fake) lawn nestled on top of a downtown Manhattan building amongst the skyscrapers:

A short walk up a few stairs …

… takes you to THIS view:

While waiting for the movie to start at sundown, these two serenaded us with some smooth instrumentalizing:

I ate a hefty portion (cough, two bags, cough) of the free popcorn provided at the event … plus the rest of the food I had left from lunch: veggies, wheatberries, ground turkey, pesto:

Finalmente, the sun began its descent …

… and the movie was able to start!

I must admit, the movie was not nearly as sad and heartbreaking as my internal 4-year-old recalled. In fact, I loved it!

As much as I complain about having lived in New York for toooooooo long, it’s pretty unbeatable for free and accessible summer events! Now that I have no homework/classes/studying taking up all my “extra” time, I should start devoting more energy to finding fun free winter things. I can’t believe I am thinking about winter already! Once again, 2010 has been the year of the vanishing summer. I probably know the answer already, but tell me … did your summer fly by as fast as mine??

Well, hello!! I realize an unforgivable amount of time has passed since I last blogged and that this failure on my part is a serious inconvenience to the five of you who still loyally check for an update every day. However, I have a totally legitimate reason for my disappearance, as I was busy studying my brains out for my master of social work license. Last Friday, after way too many months of anxiety leading to way to many ulcers (literally), I officially passed the four-hour exam and now have some exciting letters to tack on to the end of my name: LMSW.

What? Did you say LMSW?

Yes, I said LMSW!!!!!!

Ahhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!! Now, for the first time in three years, I do not have a to-do list that involves homework or studying of any sort.

This weekend, I relaxed 😀

I also reminisced on the vanished summer of 2010 which, though it involved 92% studying, also involved 8% high-quality fun.

Back before my bike got stolen (Yeah, my bike got stolen. Here in my perfect, beautiful Brooklyn neighborhood in the wee hours of a rainy summer morning, some really nice, friendly, community-oriented person took a crazy steel-cutting tool and sliced through the chain like butter.), Erik and I set out to explore Governor’s Island.

I have lived in New York for 10 years and Brooklyn for over five, and I love how there are still new places for me to discover!

We rode through Brooklyn out to the Water Taxi stop for our free lift across the harbor and arranged ourselves in the bike line:

The view was gorgeous from the ferry …

  

… but the views from the island were even more stunning!

Eaters by nature, we started scoping out the lunch options pretty soon upon arriving, weaving in and out of little side streets and through historical brick tunnels to inspect cafes, vending machines, and food carts.

We decided on a cute little food stand featuring local (as in grown on a little farm on the actual island!) and organic produce:

By the time we got to the stand, unfortunately, most of the food was gone! I guess that’s what happens when you wait until 3pm to eat lunch on an uninhabited island that shuts down at 7pm nightly.

I ordered a cup of homemade fresh pineapple ginger drink (yummmmmmmmmmm!) …

… and the last scraps of food on the grill, involving toasty chicken crumbs over a mountain of sauteed cabbage:

We enjoyed our feast with a view of Lady Liberty in the background:

The food was delicious, and it was enhanced by the scenery and the company:

When we finished eating and digesting, we loaded ourselves and our bikes back onto the ferry.

We weren’t ready to call it a day yet, so we took advantage of the water taxi’s close proximity to Red Hook to hit up the best grocery store in the world:

Before picking up an exciting array of treats not regularly available in the little bodegas and food stands of our Brooklyn neighborhood, we took a scenic stroll through the Fairway grounds. Red Hook seems to have recently learned to play up its naturally beautiful location with brilliant landscaping!

After our stroll, we purchased Fairway goodies, loaded up our backpacks, and huffed and puffed and pedaled our way home. Sigh, I miss my bike! And summer! Needless to say, this was a beautiful, relaxing, energizing day in a sea of stress.

I will be back soon with more. Thanks for not forgetting about me!

July 4th weekend involved more than a national holiday around here — it was Penno’s wedding!! I gave a little overview of the lead-up activities in my last post, and now it is time for the recap of the actual wedding … my favorite type of post 😀

At 10:30 on the morning of the wedding, all of us bridesmaids had to meet in the bridal suite for a day of primping. We got our hair done in twos …

… while Penno tried valiantly to make herself eat breakfast …

… while we all downed as much champagne as possible with the help of Mrs. Penno …

… which led to silly-faced self-portraits:

Once all of us common folk were fully haired …

… it was time for the bride to get her primp on!

We managed to finish the beauty day around 3:00, just in time to catch our party bus to the wedding site in Sharon.

As you can see, we were quite heavily made up! I don’t think I’ve worn that much make-up in my whole life combined. The process was fun, however, and I will take the make-up artist’s word that it will all work out for the best in the professional photos.

The spot Kerri and Seth chose for their wedding was beautiful! It’s only located about 45 minutes from where I grew up, but I’d never been to or even heard of Saphire Estate until the wedding planning began.

A very in-charge lady met us at the bus and herded us inside and up the stairs so the bride could complete her final preparations:

We were not necessarily the easiest bunch to keep on task:

Everything looked so pretty, and we I couldn’t stop taking photos:

  

We had a special room upstairs designated for dressing Kerri in her gown and for killing the hour + until the ceremony. We worked on de-stressing. We may have done that with water …

… but we may also have done that with champagne:

When we were sufficiently loosened up, we worked on inserting Kerri into her gown:

We invited our photographer buddies to partake as well:

Lindsay did an admirable job of strapping Kerri in:

And then there was some mother-daughter time:

And snack time:

And funny faces time:

Ting really led the charge on the champagne front like the trouper she is:

Meanwhile, we had to install Kerri in front of the air conditioner to keep her nerves on ice!

The ceremony progressed without a hitch (since I was in it, obviously) and was quite perfect and touching. Ting and I did some photography of our own while waiting for the bride and groom to finish their first formal husband-and-wife shots.

I found my date and admired his stunningly perfect color-coordinated tie:

And then I was herded away again so we bridesmaids could officially enter the party. I had the distinct honor of being the only bridesmaid with two escorts 😛

… though I’m not sure how intact my honor was after our entrance dance:

After our totally classy entrances, we all stood back …

… so that the royal couple could steal the show for their first dance!

Course #1 was an aesthetically pleasing salad structure:

Alongside delicious warm bread with a side of flower-shaped butter:

I was glad to see the royal couple partaking in salad as well. Too often, they don’t have time to eat a bite!

After the salad, I went exploring and came across this:

Only the most elegant wedding cake I have seen in my life! (And I have seen many wedding cakes, if that is not already clear.)

Stunning!

Shortly after my discovery, Kerri and Seth approached the magic table …

… and fed each other some elegant cake, elegantly of course:

I was jealous that they were eating cake already! But the rest of us had many other steps to take before we were unleashed on the cake 😀

Some of these steps included watching Kerri and her daddy dance:

Others included demolishing my dinner, which consisted of chicken breast stuffed with goat cheese and spinach, topped with a sun-dried tomato cream sauce (but that is just a guess!):

Enjoying the bride’s dazzling beauty:

Discovering the chocolate-covered brownie on a stick present at every place setting:

Eating the chocolate-covered brownie on a stick:

Stocking up at the chocolate fountain:

With pineapples, strawberries, bananas, Oreos, and Nutter Butters:

Finally, the cake slices were presented! I had a slice of each flavor: strawberries & champagne and pineapple-coconut:

After hours and hours of crazy dancing …

(photo courtesy of Lindsay!)

… we allowed the Kerri and Seth to escape through a maze of sparklers!

Congratulations to the happy couple! I’m so honored to have been included as a bridesmaid, and I feel incredibly lucky to count Kerri as one of my oldest friends 😀    

Over the past monthish, I have had the lucky opportunity to devour three (actually, probably more that I did not document) very delicious meals that cost me absolutely no money and no prep time.

The first meal took place at my agency’s annual mission retreat. We spent a whole day reflecting on the mission of our work and, of course, eating. Here’s the line for lunch:

And the buffet:

I loaded up with a big salad and a veggie burrito:

That only looks like only half a burrito, but don’t worry — I went back for the second half. And more salad. And more salad. And more salad.

Near the end of the day, dessert made its appearance. Tres leches cake and fruit salad:

Munchy munchy munchy:

I had lots of fruit and two small plates of milk-drenched cake crumbs like so:

Any work event that ends in cake passes the test in my book 😀

Event #2 took place July 4th weekend up in Massachusetts, where I was for Penno’s (ok, she is not Penno anymore, but that is what I will keep calling her!) wedding.

Rehearsal dinner involved a set 3-course menu at Skipjack’s in the new Patriot Place (a fake world constructed around Foxboro/Gilette/Patriot Stadium full of endless ways to spend money):

All fakeness aside, though, I loved my strawberry daiquiri!

And my arugula salad with goat cheese and grapefruit:

I ordered the salad instead of the lobster bisque (because, hi, I was planning to fit into my bridesmaid dress!) but I had a spoon of the bisque, and it was delish:

Erik ordered the Gingered Sea Bass for his entree …

Some others at the table ordered the Fresh Maine Crab Cakes:

But I ordered the obvious winner (not evident in this photo, unfortunately, grrrrrrrrr blurriness): Wasabi-Crusted Salmon!

Dessert was a very refreshing Mango Sorbet with Raspberry Coulis:

Along with many many bites of Ting’s Warm Chocolate Bundt Cake:

There was, of course, even more food involved in Penno’s actual wedding, but we will discuss that at a later date!

In the final event of this post, Erik and I went over to my dad’s house the morning after the rehearsal dinner for a lovely outdoor brunch:

My dad and Rae Ann had put together a beautiful feast!

Turkey sausages, freshly charred on the grill:

Fruit salad dressed with key lime yogurt:

Quiche Lorraine (?? I cannot keep track of all these silly quiche names):

… plus a banana walnut muffin and herby tomatoes:

It was the perfect rehearsal dinner recovery brunch … and the perfect brunch in general. Erik and I had a lovely time relaxing and eating and listening to music and chatting with my dad and RA for the rest of the morning until it was time to dive back into some more wedding action 🙂 Stay tuned for the report …