Well, the whirlwind never ends around here! The past couple weeks month has been crazy. At the end of April, I headed up to Massachusetts for Kerri Penno’s bridal shower and bachelorette party. ‘Tis the season!

The bridesmaids (including me!) put on the bridal shower at Luciano’s, a swanky Italian restaurant and event spot near where I grew up. As we mingled, the beautiful smell of baking bread began to waft through the room until these stunners arrived …

Tomato-garlic-herb focaccia:

Warm gooey cinnamon buns:

Is it breakfast or lunch? You decide!

We started with salads …

And then chat-chat-chatted until the buffet began to grow and grow and grow:

And grow!

The bride began the food line:

And her loyal servants followed closely behind 😀

Brunch was a delicious medly of fruit, eggs, sausage, pasta, saucy seafood (including crab and lobster!), and chicken:

After eating, Ting and I got a little wild with the cinnamoon buns (and whatever mamosa-ish drink it was that kept coming around) and started dunking the sugary bits in our coffee:

Heaven.

After brunch, we looked at the shower cake:

And at the impressive rolled chocolate floral arrangement on top of it:

We looked, but we did not touch … because it was time for presents! And presents and presents and presents:

And then, finally, the cake was mine for the taking, mmmmmmmmmm 😀

After the shower, Ting and I drove back to Boston to have our own little pre-bachelorette party at her apartment while we “got ready” for the main event that night. We toasted nearly empty red wine glasses and had to fill them up again immediately:

(Pretty apartment.)

And then, full wine glasses in hand, we made our way up, up, up …

… until we were floating in the sky!

(or maybe just on the roof)

Wine in reach, obv:

Having grown up so close to Boston, I tend to take it for granted, but it really is such a pretty city!

Cheers!

And naptime …

Thank goodness for those peaceful five minutes. We had quite the wild night lurking just moments away!

Bachelorette party to come …

Are your springs/summers full of nonstop wedding festivities?

My office recently celebrated the retirement of Lorraine after 18 years working in the early childhood department of the agency. It was a bittersweet affair because we will miss her tremendously (and already do!). For the occasion, the “decorating committee” transformed the baby gym into a swanky lounge!



I was in charge of the chocolate fountain, of course! Please admire my handiwork 😛



The spread of hors d’oeuvres was staggering.



The table kept growing …



… and growing …



… and growing!



Ta-da!



Finally, the guest of honor made her appearance amidst much hugging …



… and greeting …



… and schmoozing …



… and laughter …



… and general fanfare!



Here’s my plate with veggies, pico de gallo, guacamole, fresh herbed mozzarella on parmesan toast, sushi rolls, and bean dip:



Just imagine the guacamole times about 30, and that’s probably how much I ate!



The crowd went crazy!





My favorite kind of assembly line:



Belkis demonstrated proper chocolate fountain procedure:







Sam just posed:



I ate:



Deborah and I found Lucia’s sangria!

The crowd gathered for Lorraine’s speech …

… while I embarked on super critical cake-cutting duty!



Lorraine, we will miss you … and thanks for giving us yet another marvelous opportunity to celebrate in style!

So, we left off in early April … which leads perfectly into Easter! Normally, I would have gone up to MA for a Passover-Easter combo of events, but between school and other travel plans, I couldn’t make it work. Enter Plan B: traditional Easter celebrating with Erik! We headed up to Harlem for the Easter Sunday service:

Probably my first full-length church service ever (except for some weddings perhaps?). I was mostly fascinated by the exposed brick and stained glass!

And the cupcake tower downstairs that accompanied Easter brunch:

While waiting for the ready signal on the food, we took a tour of the garden:

We got back inside just in time for locally baked red velvet cupcakes, aka the appetizer!!

Pretty eggs:

Here’s cupcake #1:

Cupcake #2:

Inside:

Cupcake #3:

I could not keep my hands off the cupcakes!! Luckily, I had a very willing partner who helped me eat half of each 😀

A quarter-dozen cupcakes in, the brunch was finally ready. I loaded up with a crispy corner of mac & cheese, collard greens, and BBQ chicken:

And then it was time for Easter dinner! You didn’t think I would stop at brunch, did you?

Erik and I headed out to his aunt and uncle’s house in Staten Island, where we received a welcome tour of the garden, complete with chives and oregano that had just started to sprout:

Space like this in NYC always blows my mind. Everything was so peaceful:

We hung out on the patio with Prosecco and cute boys:

And cheese and crackers!

Erik’s Aunt Lois is a master entertainer and seasonal decorator, as you can see from the dining room arrangement:

We started with a delicious asparagus, fennel, and orange salad:

Between courses, I nibbled on the Easter candy basket that was screaming my name:

More centerpiece action:

Dinner was scalloped potatoes (I took a couple crispy mini-pieces since we all know I’m not a potato girl), ham with pineapple and cranberries, and green spring veggies:

This ham was amazing. The pineapple and cherries had gotten caramelized in the oven — it was like eating candy!

When dessert arrived, my jaw dropped to the floor.

We had rhubarb cake and a lemon cheesecake-ish pie:

Both beyond delicious and refreshing, especially the lemon pie!

Mmmmmmmmm, perfect day. I feel so lucky to have been invited! I love visiting people’s real houses, especially in this city where they are so few and far between.

Which would you choose: city apartment or suburban house?

Hellooooooooo! I’m back for a moment because … dun dun dun … I finished my last paper of my grad school career, ahhhhh!!!!

This is an enormous relief, as I have been in grad school for three endless years. Of course, I still have a month left of classes and my school duties do not officially end until my second and final graduation ceremony has taken place on June 3rd, but the constant stress of unfinished assignments hanging over my head has been banished!

So, I now have a moment to recap some food memories from the past few weeks, if anyone still cares! I remember a beautiful sunny morning in early April when my fruit bowl made me smile:



And there was a weekend when Erik and I made a visit to Istanbul Park, a newish Turkish restaurant here in the Slope. He ordered this gorgeous Turkish gnocci which I loved:



Display mode:



I ordered the Sultan’s Delight with chicken (smoked eggplant puree with Kashar cheese and heavy cream. This is what arrived at my table:



We posed with our food and bottle of Turkish wine.



But wait! Go take another look at my food. Do you see cheese in there? No. Cream? No. Eggplant? No.

They had brought me sauteed chicken instead of the Sultan’s Delight!! I am so glad I alerted our waiter to the mix-up, however, because here’s the beauty that arrived to replace the saute:



Mmmm, that smoked eggplant puree was one of the best things I’ve ever tasted. In fact, I ended up leaving behind most of the chicken and just concentrated on the scrumptious mush.

And the best part is yet to come! In apology for the dinner confusion, the waiter brought us complimentary baklava for dessert:



Mmmm, crispy layers of phyllo with pistachios and honey and walnuts. I almost cried!



The check came in this adorable box:



I was half hoping we would find candies inside, but no go. Just the bill!



In another memorable April weekend moment, I found myself inadvertently cocooned in purple during a homework session:



Purple shirt, purple blueberry crackers with cheese, and purple Bayley assessment!

In other random April Brooklyn news, Erik and I also tried Okeanos, another newish restaurant in the Slope. In all honesty, the food was lackluster, the decor was lackluster, the service was lackluster, but check out this presentation!!!

That’s the summary of my random April tidbits. I should be back shortly with a more in-depth examination of other important food experiences of this past month.

What are you examining lately?

Two weekends ago, we remaining NYU girls in the city finally managed to determine a time, date, and location when we could all meet. Because all of our schedules are crazy and opposite, this type of star alignment only occurs once every six months, at most 😦

We attempted an auto-timer group shot to mark the momentous occasion:



And we’ve found a system that works — wine and cheese at rotating apartments! This time, we met at JQ’s place in the West Village — last time was Di’s apartment on the UES. But what really inspired me to break out the camera was this crazy cocktail that wound up in my hands courtesy of mixologist extraordinaire JQ:



Prosecco with hibiscus flowers!!!! Don’t they look like little origami swans in my drink?

The beautiful and colorful array of healthy snacks that just kept growing and growing with plenty of crudites supplied by JQ, strawberries and baby pickles (that I brought!) …



… Di’s famous ricotta + rosemary + black pepper + honey dip …

… and more!

Once we had stuffed and wined ourselves silly, the night sort of devolved into an impromptu Photobooth extravaganza with the help of my Gorillapod securing the camera to the back of a chair and a self-timer programmed to take 10 shots in a minute and a half.

And then we listened to songs on youtube and danced around like lunatics.









I got back to Brooklyn a little after midnight and bumped into this random boyfriend of mine at the 12th Street Bar & Grill. Erik and Clare had stopped in there for a drink, but something quite noteworthy was underway.



The people at the next table had brought in a pizza, and I’m not exaggerating when I say it looked like the most delicious thing to have ever alighted on earth. They noticed Erik ogling the pie and offered up a slice!!

Brilliant generosity of this caliber just does not happen in Manhattan, let me tell you.

All in all, a satisfactory evening!

Do strangers ever offer you food?