A week ago Friday night was my office’s Volunteer Appreciation Party. It would not be an exaggeration to say we have nearly as many volunteers as employees, so this was an important party to attend! As 5:30 approached, I started peeking out the window to the playground-turned-party-patio down below:

I told the ladies it was time to get moving, so everyone snapped into action!

The party was still in its very early stages …

… but that meant plenty of appetizers to go around!

I took my allotted two shrimps and some chips and salsa …

… and hit up the bar for some red wine:

And found some mixed nuts to devour:

I eavesdropped on a very important conversation about the World Cup …

… and then it was time for the speeches:

The volunteers posed, but this is not even all of them. I told you there were a lot!

Finally, we got the green light on real food:

I loaded my plate with Inginia’s delicious avocado-heavy salad and some homemade taquitos and enchiladas:

These are amazing and I want to move to Mexico right now.

Dessert was pretty spiffy, too:

Chocolate, chocolate, chocolate:

I started out with only one piece, but as my glass of Bordeaux mysteriously continued to refill itself all night (ahem ahem, Raymundo), I lost all control and grabbed more every time I walked by!

I was not the only one enjoying the beverages, though! Here’s Belkis in a rare compromising position:

Thank goodness we had some dancing time to facilitate digestion! Camila and Martha got it started …

… while Erik and Danilda hijacked Jose’s DJ booth:

When we started to worry about getting noise complaints from the surrounding apartment buildings, we decided it was time to pack it in. Erik blew on his magic wand, and everything cleaned up. It was a miracle!

The Sunday before last, Erik and I had a very important social engagement honoring this styling guy:

Henry is Erik’s first cousin once-removed, he lives two blocks away from me, he let me study him for my final grad school project, and he turns one year old this month! To that effect, Erik and I suited up in our Sunday best and headed to church for Henry’s baptism.

Apparently, baptisms were very popular that day. I’m not sure what the standard is (this was probably my second time in church for a reason other than someone’s wedding), but about 7-10 babies were being celebrated! Henry got his swim on and kept a smile on his face the whole time:

And within moments of being released, he and his pinstripes were off and running. No one could keep up!

Following the service, Erik and I snagged a ride with Erik’s Uncle Jim out to Staten Island where Uncle Jim and Aunt Lois had prepared a phenomenal post-baptism first birthday soiree at their HOUSE (capitalized because it is a real, live, free-standing house, and such structures excite me very much after 10 years of NYC apartment-living!).

I walked in and saw veggies, and my heart sang. I beelined for the sweet red peppers and tzatziki yogurt dip.

I admired the dinner table …

… but I did not touch it because it was not yet time!

I contented myself with the gorgeous display of appetizers: spanakopita and sweet meatballs with currants, mmmmmmmm!

I also took a stroll out back and cried over the garden that is not mine:

Lois’ veggies are well on their way!!!

(I stopped crying over how impressive the garden is when Lois gave me a big bag of fresh picked salad (including romaine, arugula, and mesclun) to take home with me.)

As soon as I saw full plates making their way onto the patio, I ran inside to assemble my own with string beans and veggies, apricot-glazed (I think?) chicken, onion foccacia, and lots of fresh fruit:

Look at those colors! The hallmark of a perfect meal 😀 I had seconds, obviously.

We digested on the patio for a while. I admired babies. (Surprise!)

  

There is so much space at this house!

When the raindrops started to sprinkle down, we moved inside for the best part of any birthday party: cake time!

Henry came out for a quick cameo to appease the singing crowd …

  

… and then he was whisked off to bed while the rest of us pounced!

The cake was chocolate with real strawberry slices between the layers and buttercream frosting. I got my corner piece:

The party wound down around 6 or 7, and Lois packed up a whole grocery store of leftovers for us to take home: ham, green beans, potato salad, fruit, cake … not to mention my fresh-picked garden salad. We didn’t even have to go shopping for food since Monday’s lunch was taken care of:

When Erik and I got home from the party, we went for a brisk walk around the neighborhood in an attempt to work through some of the extra belly weight we were carrying around after that feast. Nighttime in the Slope is unbeatable … except for, maybe, nighttime on a beach 😛

  

    

Recently, Erin Gunn Brennan came down to the Slope so that we could have a girly Saturday. Mike was camping and Erik was working, so we got pedicures 😀 We supplemented the beautifying with food, of course.

Erin had been craving balls, so we trotted across the street to Hanco’s for lunch and bubble tea. I got a green salad with shrimp and crispy onion flakes and a honey green tea with balls:

I love Hanco’s salads. They’re so tasty, and I always feel satisfied at the end.

Erin got one of the famous Vietnamese sandwiches:

After our pedicures, we wandered around a bit in search of an “official” dessert. That’s when I remembered Sun In Bloom! I ate at SIB with the ladies months ago right after it opened (and I also ate there last year when it was still Organic Heights), but since both of those delicious meals, I’ve read about SIB’s brilliant raw desserts multiple times courtesy of Diana. Diana is no longer volunteering her time and talents and SIB, but I was sure some of her skill had rubbed off. We were not disappointed!

Erin and I split a mini chocolate/vanilla mousse cup and a mini strawberry cheesecake:

   

Plus a vegan chocolate chip cookie:

I must say, we left SIB completely stuffed. Those tasty tasty desserts were a meal in themselves!

The other noteworthy piece of Erin Gunn’s visit was this:

As a graduation gift, Erin brought me the fanciest, most intricate, most exciting goodie box of Teavana treats:

These are the most beautiful teas I have ever seen. I could not stop photographing the vibrant colors.

Mate Vana:

Rooibos Tropica:

Rooibos Sweet Amore:

(yes, look at those rosebuds!)

And Earl Grey Creme:

What’s more, the process of steeping has never been so exciting.

After putting the desired amount of tea in the little magic pot and letting it steep sufficiently, you just place the pot over a glass/mug and apply gentle pressure. The tea comes right out the bottom through a strainer, leaving the leaves behind as it exits!

  

I’ve been letting it out directly over ice mostly, as weather has necessitated cold beverages. Yay for fun new tea accessories! Thanks, Erin!

P.S. Another new exciting kitchen gadget arrived this week, thanks to my credit card points: a “free” food processor! Let’s hope I don’t burn it out within the week …

A couple Friday nights ago, I convinced Erik to go to Water Taxi Beach at the Seaport with me. According to the website, entry was free before 7pm and we’d be able to salsa dance all night!

We arrived at 6:07 and were informed that free entry only lasted until 6pm, grrrrrrr. I used my calm, angry voice to explain that the website was very clear about there being no cover before 7. The guy eventually let us in for half price, but I was not happy! We went to the bar to order drinks …

  

… and I asked Erik to get me a strawberry daiquiri. He returned to me with what was very clearly not a daiquiri. I brought the drink up to the bartender and told him I needed a daiquiri and not the lukewarm cup of syrup in my hand. He told me that they did not have daiquiris, even though the menu very clearly said, “daiquiri.” I gave up and went back to the table with my poor excuse for a strawberry margarita. I’m only smiling on the outside here:

I was annoyed about the cover and annoyed about the lack of strawberry daiquiri … and I got more annoyed when I began to see others with tall, slushy, fruity drinks that very clearly resembled daiquiris. I worked hard on my $10 cup of syrup and tried to relax as I enjoyed the view …

    

Sigh … pretty views can always calm me down.

I got hungry and ordered a $3.50 (eye roll) corn on the cob.

I was still hungry, obviously, and went back for an order of fish tacos. After shelling out $6 more and waiting 15 minutes, I ended up with this:

Due to the clear “s” in “fish tacos,” I had been expecting more than one. However, I ended up with one teeny piece of fried fish on a doubled tortilla, topped with shredded cabbage. Are you kidding???

On top of all of this ridiculousness, the DJ was not playing salsa, and no one was dancing. We cut our losses and left, significantly more broke than we had been upon entry. Not an easy feat, believe me!

The next day, I consoled myself with my own delicious food. Much cheaper and wayyyy more satisfying!

Spiralized zucchini noodles with coconut-sweet potato sauce:

Mmmmmmmm!! To make the sauce, I whirred together a baked sweet potato, unsweetened SoDelicious coconut milk, coarse sea salt, basil, oregano, and freshly ground black pepper.

In all honesty, the deliciousness shocked me. I was blown away!

I also made a fancy breakfast of french toasted Eli’s Pecan Raisin Loaf (rescued from the office conference table, of course) drizzled with molasses and served with sliced fruit:

I have absolutely no use in my life for over-priced entry to fake beaches with stingy food. I have much more use for feasting on homemade masterpieces.

That picture makes me so happy. As I said, pretty views always calm me down 😀

Ooooooh boy, welcome to Monday. Happy Memorial Day! I’m so glad I have today off to recover from the weekend!

It all started on Saturday evening. Clare left town, so Erik and I took over the balcony with a bottle of wine:

We took turns posing with the ivy:

I brought out the unsweetened dark chocolate, because dark chocolate and red wine must be paired:

For you, Heather:

I spent some time admiring the behind-the-scenes view of Brooklyn brownstones:

;

And then it was on to course two: cheese, crackers, and cards!

I sliced the rest of our Dubliner, and we devoured it with Carr’s rosemary crackers (the best) and IKEA cardamom crisps (don’t laugh — you must try them!):

Proof of the deliciousness:

When sky started spitting, we packed up our intense card game of Speed and headed inside for dessert. IKEA cookies (I actually don’t normally do my grocery shopping at IKEA. Mom brought the cookies for me when she visited last week!) and Sopranos:

We had biiiiiiiiig plans for Sunday, so we got to bed at a reasonable hour and set our alarms for 8:00 …

The day began with a filling egg, arugula, and tomato tahini scramble, accompanied by cardamom crisps with guava jam:

Post-breakfast, we suited up for a …

… BIKE RIDE!!!!

In addition to all manner of IKEA goodies, my old bicycle (circa 1997?) also happened to arrive last week with mom and John. With the bicycle in mind, I had concocted an elaborate beach (obviously) scheme for our 87 degree Sunday. I sent Erik to the bike shop around the corner for a rental, and we were off!

Of course, I did not calculate mileage or anything ahead of time, but I did have a map of NYC bike routes, and they seemed to complement my plan perfectly. We started off riding along Prospect Park, merged onto Ocean Parkway, and took the Pkwy all the way to our first brief stop: Coney Island.

Upon arrival at Coney Island, I realized that I had taken the same route on foot exactly one year earlier for the Brooklyn Half. Awww, memories.

Anyway, we arrived at Coney Island at 10:02 a.m., and apparently bikes are only allowed from 5:00 to 10:00. So, five police whistles later, we were back on our way to the ultimate destination: Riis Park!

I knew about Riis Park from my impromptu trip there with Gina and Kate last year, and I’ve been thinking about the trash-can-free shoreline ever since! The beauty of Riis Park is that it is not as readily accessible by public transportation as, say, Coney Island.

As soon as we arrived around 11am, we peeled off the sweaty bike clothes and jumped in!

OK, perhaps it was more like a tiptoe:

The water was FREEZING!!!!! Literally, it was an ice bath. It took me 20 minutes to get feeling back in my toes. After baking out in the sun for a little while longer, though, we were eventually able to work our way all the way in and play in the huge waves. It reminded me so much of summers on the beach in RI when I was little. Amazing!

Erik had a specific time to get the bike back to the shop, so we left the beach at 1:30 with a plan to find lunch (we had picked up 3 pears and 3 oranges pre-beach and inhaled them all) along the way.

We ended up stopping in Sheepshead Bay, a neighborhood in Brooklyn that I’ve never visited due to my dependence on the MTA. The bikes really do open up a whole new world! As we rode through Sheepshead Bay, I kept repeating, Where are we? Florida? How did we get to Ft. Lauderdale? The sidewalks had little blue ocean waves tiled into them, and there was a yacht club, for heaven’s sake!

Anyway, I had noticed Halikarnas on our way to the beach and had been fantasizing about eating in that upstairs window since:

At first, the host refused us the upstairs due to lack of A/C, but we insisted … and won!

I was ravenous (and Erik was more so), so we were thrilled when this glorious basket of sesame bread arrived with a zesty dipping sauce:

Black and white sesame seeds, so exciting!

We posed with our bread and dip and the yacht club:

Our waiter was worried about the lighting, but I told him the scenery was the only important part anyway.

We also got an order of babaganouj to accompany the bread:

  

Mmmm, best ever, I promise!

Next, we split the Halikarnas salad that came with char-grilled shrimp, roasted peppers and tomatoes, and arugula:

This is how I felt when that salad arrived:

I was really in heaven! Bike, beach, char on my veggies, arugula … I almost cried! Instead, I posed with the hanging flowers:

For our final course, we split the grilled Turkish meatballs.

Another winner!

I took two of the meatballs and half the veggies and doused it all with yogurt sauce:

  

Sadly, the teeny piece of hot pepper I took was tooooooooo much and completely exploded the fire in my mouth. After I extracted the bits of pepper out of my mix and recovered somewhat, I could only eat about 2/3 of my plate because I was stuffed. 😦 We didn’t even have room for dessert!

Anyway, we got back on the bikes around 3:30 and, by this time, sitting was starting to become decidedly uncomfortable! My lips were burny, my skin was burny, I couldn’t sit, I was covered in sand, I was hot and sweaty, I was way too full, and we still had over an hour left to bike! We finally made it home just before 5, and in perfect time for Erik to get the bike returned.

I took a shower and napped and started thinking about mojitos. I wanted to go here for the outdoor movie and frozen mojitos, but it was wayyyyyy too packed when we arrived. Instead, we wandered around until we landed at Bogota, one of my favorites!

We immediately ordered a pitcher of mojito:

We started out not hungry at all, but about 1.5 mojitos in, I started eyeing the complementary plantain chips that we had not yet received. The busboy brought some right over!

Erik ordered the chicken quesadilla with black beans, sweet plantains, cheddar cheese, pico, and a big side of guacamole. He insisted on sharing, and I gladly took half:

This was the best quesadilla EVER! It’s that salty-sweet combo, can’t beat it.

Meanwhile, the mojitos were getting to me. I think I might be allergic to mojitos. Sometimes, they make me break out in big red splotches all over my chest and back and face. This reaction was taking place last night.

I started chugging water and eventually abandoned the mojitos altogether after my second one. Quite sad because mojitos are my favorite drink! Erik had to pick up the slack:

The people next to us had gotten the dessert sampler that looked amaaaaazing, but Erik ordered a second quesadilla accidentally, and we no longer had room for the whole spread of tres leches cake, coconut flan, dulce de leche wafers, and churros 😦

We settled for just the churros:

  

They came with a dark chocolate sauce and a dulce de leche sauce. Heaven!

On the walk home, Erik got the hiccups and had to meditate them away. The camera made him self-conscious, so he turned around:

The end!

Oh, and I just checked the mileage for our bike trip … 40 miles!!!???!!! No wonder I can’t sit down today!