What’s all this marriage stuff about anyway?

Friday afternoon, my siblings and I headed over to the cottage where our brother Chad was getting ready for his big day:

The girls and I held down the fort and nibbled on fritos while the boys lived out a high-anxiety cuff-links drama of sorts.

Once the cuff links situation was resolved, pre-wedding photography was able to resume.

Chad went off to collect his bride, and the rest of us headed down to the beach (the site of my early morning runs!) to stake out the perfect wedding location:

And then the family photos commenced. Kids:

Left to right: me, brother Mark, sister Emily, brother Chad, new sister-in-law Laura, sister Allison, “cousins” Charles and Rob.

Bliss …

Bliss continued …

See the couple looking slightly stressed directly behind me to the right? That would be the baby’s parents wondering where their two-month-old son went. Just kidding … sort of.

As soon as I saw my brother’s best friend walking down the beach steps with baby Jack in his arms, I immediately transferred veil-holding duties to my sister and beelined straight for Chris with a “sogoodtoseeyouagaindoyouwantmetoholdyourbaby?”

Successssss 😀

After the ceremony, we headed up to La Playa for cocktail hour … which was a dinner in itself!

I had a few bites here and there (including a couple slices of that incredible pizza), but my hands and attention were otherwise busy with baby!

Once inside, I found my seat and marveled at my luck:

A straight shot to the six wedding cakes!!!!!

But first, I happily sat through a delicious salad with gorgonzola and walnuts:

And my entree: local crab ravioli with prawns in a tarragon butter sauce with julienne veggies.

This was amaaaazing. I definitely picked the winner!

The other option was this osso bucco with citrus glaze and risotto cakes:

I wolfed my meal down so I could go and kidnap this little guy again:

Just kidding. I asked permission first.

Jack got hungry for his mama just in time for the cake cutting …

Seriously, between the cakes and the baby, I wasn’t sure I was still awake. This sort of thing only happens in my dreams!

There was a multi-layer chocolate cake, a coffee cake, a carrot cake …

Almond cake …

Cinnamon cake:

And raspberry-lemon cake:

Chad and Laura opted for cinnamon for their first slice:

And then I swooped in for one of each.

Almond, coffee, and carrot:

Cinnamon, chocolate, and raspberry-lemon:

They were terrible:

The raspberry-lemon and carrot were tied for my favorites.

Post-cake, I ordered myself some Earl Grey to try and quell the sugar shakes:

The tea that arrived was fancy and robust:

Murphy was particularly impressed with the leaf on the end of the pyramid bag and insisted on hand modeling:

He also insisted on me eating more cake and posing with it.

And then, tragedy struck. All of the unmarried ladies were rounded up for the bouquet toss, whether they were interested or not. I strategically placed myself at the back of the pack and pulled my big sister Allison in front of me with the command, “Block me, Allie. Keep that thing away from me.” Next thing I know, the bouquet comes sailing straight for my chest (ummmm, big sister, what happened to your job???), where it decided to lodge itself. This had to be the most passive, hands-free bouquet catch ever. I almost broke out in tears. The offender:

Seriously, if it were up to me, I would skip the whole marriage thing and just continue poaching other people’s babies for the rest of my life. Oh wait, it is up to me!!! 😀

How do you feel about the bouquet toss?

One week ago today, I set out from Brooklyn for my foray across the country to attend my brother’s wedding in Carmel. I flew to San Francisco via Chicago, so a normally 5 to 6 hour trip took me 10 hours … but I did not mind because the groom-to-be used his frequent flier miles to make sure I could be present. (Thanks again, Chad!!) The other reason I did not mind:



I did not actually buy anything from this cafe, but just seeing the name of it in the Chicago airport made me happy, especially considering what was to come my way in terms of cake. (More details on that in the next post.)

Anyway, I landed at SFO around 5:30. My sister Allison’s friend Amanda was conveniently driving down to Carmel at that time to visit her family, and she had offered to pick me up for the 2-hour drive. We had a great chat all the way down, and she provided me with excellent historical background on the region … such as the high quantity of artichoke farms. (Thanks, Amanda!)

My evening arrival in Carmel meant I missed the first part of the rehearsal dinner. Luckily, my dad was able to temporarily fill in as food photographer and snapped this shot of my brother Mark preparing his contribution:



I am so sad I missed this appetizer! Mark made grilled polenta bruschetta with goat cheese, tomato, and pesto:



Mmmm, that picture makes my jaw ache. I can’t believe I didn’t get to taste it!

Luckily, however, my sister’s boyfriend Murphy was on call at the grill and jumped to attention when he saw my protein-starved, travel weary face. He threw a big pile of smoked meat on for me and gave me a rundown of the various rubs (one was a green herby rub, and one was a spice rub … I think?) and smoking techniques that he and my sister had used for preparation.



I went to catch up with my siblings and some other family. Next thing I knew, Murphy reappeared with a big plate full of meat that included the most enormous chicken breast ever and a hunk of pork tenderloin. I made a quick run inside to hunt down the final remnants of produce in the form of fennel salad and puttanesca sauce:



To eat dinner, I parked myself at this table full of cheese, crackers, hummus, carrots, and every other addictive finger food in the world:



After cleaning my plate and most of the table (with some help from Murphy and Emily, thank goodness), it was time for dessert! My siblings’ mom, Alice, had made pumpkin cheesecake:



Mmmmmm, it was delicious and fluffy and light and perfectly spiced. I had many “slivers.”

I found blow pops lying around and compulsively ate one (in the company of brother Mark, stepmom Rae Ann, and siblings’ cousin Charles):



I also found these deliciously iced sugar cookies and split one with my sister Emily:



Ummmm, I felt very full by the end of all of this.

The next morning, I started texting my brother Mark at 7:30 am to get some running plans underway. He finally replied at 8:30, and I met up with him and Charles shortly thereafter for a glorious few miles on the beach alongside the dolphins and sea lions. Mark, being 6’3″ and triathlon-fit, could have lapped me like 10 times, except he dropped for 30 upside-down pushups off the edge of the cliff every time he reached the end of the beach first and had to wait for me. Caaaaahraaaaaaaaazy.

When I got back to the room I was sharing with my dad and stepmom, the continental breakfast was waiting! I had apple juice, a perfect blueberry muffin, and a little fruit cup:



Can you spot the dad?



Once I pulled myself together, a bunch of us headed out for a stroll up and down the quaint streets in search of brunch.

We wound up at Little Swiss Cafe.

I looooooooved the decor (as usual). Check out the room dividers cleverly camouflaged as shutters with landscape paintings in the background:



I ordered an Earl Grey tea with honey and milk, my favorite cloudy morning beverage:

I was NOT hungry because I had eaten so much the night before, so I looked at the lighter options.

Ummmmm, $3.50 for half a grapefruit???? If I wanted a whole grapefruit, it would cost $7? That is CRAZY. Sadly, I was craving a grapefruit and nothing else would do. My dad stepped in and offered to treat me, so I overcame my aversion to $7 grapefruits and graciously accepted 🙂



And I made sure to get every penny’s worth out of it!

In between bites of grapefruit, I took advantage of my multi-tasking brother’s distraction to have a bite of his Belgium waffle:

(Mind you, he followed his waffle “appetizer” with eggs Benedict for a second breakfast course.)

I also had a bite of my stepmom’s avocado (hiding under the scary hollandaise):



And my dad’s steak:



Because I finished my food way faster than everyone else, I had time to inspect the local artwork. Do you notice anything off about this painting?



Zoom:



I swear the artist strategically placed two fried eggs, sunny-side-up, in the flower pot. What do you think?

Last week was short but crazy. I was only at work through 1:00 on Wednesday because of my trip out here to SF for my brother’s wedding, and I’m also in the process of a slight job change within the agency, so I had lots of loose ends to tie up — and fast!

Monday morning started out with the realization that I had half a block of silken tofu left in the fridge that was on its way out. A rescue mission was in order. I immersion-blended the tofu with a pile of freshly grated ginger and about six sunsweet prunes while sauteeing one of my CSA pears in canola.



The caramelized pears went on top of the quick tofu pudding for an atumnal pear-ginger mess. I ate half and found it the perfect way to start a chilly October (!!!) day:



Upon arrival at work, Deborah plopped this canister of excitement down in front of me:



Mmmmm, cookie sticks in chocolate frosting. Not complaining!



Deborah also procured a hunk of champagne cheddar from Danilda, so I enjoyed a few slices of that on top of Belkis’ apple wedges:



Lunch of the week was a CSA salad made from romaine and arugula and topped with caramelized rainbow chard and baby bok choy that I had sauteed with olive oil and a bit of molasses:



(Love that natural park sunlight!)

On the side, I had CSA butternut squash and radish fries that I had sliced, marinated (olive oil, cinnamon, nutmeg, sea salt, and cayenne for the butternut squash; olive oil, balsamic, sea salt, and coriander for the radish):



For a pre-karate dinner, I had a defrosted eggplant and ground turkey casserole of sorts that has been hanging in my freezer since mom gave it to me a couple months back. I pepped it up with tons of my fresh CSA pesto, and microwaving it made my office smell like a pizzeria. The Pizzeria, to be exact. (Mmmm, I haven’t been there since college. And apparently it is closed now! SAD.)



Erik and I went to karate, and I did not get beat up this time, woooooooooot! I just got really confused at the rapid sequence of blocks, punches, and swirly hands and became even more convinced that I would be burnt toast in the case of a surprise attack.

We hopped on the subway after karate (yay for F train buddies! the commute goes so much faster with company) only to get stuck downtown due to smoke in a Brooklyn station further down the line. After waiting for 20 minutes with no sign of subway service recovery, we were forced to walk across the Brooklyn Bridge (AGAIN) on the clearest night ever. Darn.



We hopped the C on the other side and took it past the smokey station to transfer successfully back to the F. Sure, I got home at 11:15 instead of 9:15, but I managed a Hollywood-style stroll in the process. Sometimes train drama can be a good thing.

Tuesday morning, following more pear-ginger tofu perfection, Belkis gave me a little wedge of her bran muffin:



And she also supplemented my lunch with some steamed batata:



Then, Rosey shared around little hunks of her dad’s famous homemade authentic Puerto Rican dulce de coco:



Just looking at that picture turns my mind to mush.

Also, some Satanic person shared lots of freshly baked and buttered French bread with me:



After work, Jose, Erik, Erik’s friend Wes, and I went around the corner to Orbit to watch the highly anticipated (ummm, who am I??) Twins-Tigers game. Honestly, I was on the edge of my seat for a good chunk of this game as it went to 12 innings! Or maybe being on the edge of my seat had to do with the fact that I kept reaching across Erik for his fried calamari:



With cocktail sauce and chipotle mayo, mmmmmmmmm …



After a hearty egg sandwich breakfast early early Wednesday morning, I zipped up to work by 8:25 because I had a million families to meet with before I left for vacation. After meeting with my first mom of the day, I joined our weekly department meeting to this sight:



Ahhhhh, more warm and buttered French bread!! Apparently, my agency has gone out with the cake and in with the bread. Still delicious, but no less damaging to my chances of fitting into that bridesmaid dress, ack.

Accompanying the bread craze is a donut craze, perpetuated by Deborah. She is determined to bring us all down with her and keeps showing up at the office with half dozen boxes of Dunkin Donuts. I can’t say no. I need serious help.



A minute later, I received a gchat from Erik that he had picked up some cactus for lunch. I was at his desk in negative 5 seconds:



One bite of cactus and roasted onion later, I was off and running on my way to Brooklyn to pack, back uptown to the Upper West Side for class, and back to Brooklyn for the night … for a grand total of six hours on the subway in one day. Can I win an award??

Thursday morning, it was time for escape from the city, part 10,007. Wedding updates to come soon …

Have you ever eaten anything that used to be prickly?

Mmmmmmmmmmm …



Last Sunday morning, I woke up bright and early to throw some laundry in a machine at the laundromat and then take off on a crisp, fall run. I got in about two miles before I had to flip my clothes, but it felt so good that I went back out for another four while my stuff was in the dryer. I love it when accidental runs happen!

I had brunch plans after the run and the laundry, but I couldn’t help treating myself to a little pre-brunch treat: a jumbo Medjool date stuffed with homemade nut butter and 70% dark chocolate …



Mmmmm, can I just eat these for every meal the rest of my life??? Sadly, I can’t! There’s too much free food in the world, and I need to save belly space to rescue it all. On a mission, I headed into the city for an NYU Alumni Homecoming brunch. Yes, that’s right. NYU does not have a football team but couldn’t stand being left out of Homecoming season. The solution? Free food.

NYU held brunch in the fancy student center that opened up in my last year there, probably just to rub in my face everything I missed by such a narrow margin. Like this view:



(Psssst, that very park is where I graduated on a blistering hot day in May 2004.)

NYU has always done buffets well, and Sunday was no exception:





I made about four trips back and forth from the buffet to my table because I didn’t want to miss anything! My tablemates were strangers and therefore unaccustomed to my bottomless pit of an appetite. I got some glances. But I bet they wished they were bold enough to do the same thing …



Kate arrived a little bit later, so I was able to go up for even more food with her 😀 The buffet included various pastries (bran muffin, mini scones, apple fritters, danishes), fruit (grapes, berries, watermelon, pineapple, other assorted melons), quiche, sesame crackers with jaw-achingly delicious goat cheese spreads, arugula and grape tomato salad, and bowtie pasta salad with pesto and sundried tomatoes:







I stayed just long enough to eat. As soon as the plea for donations begin, I scooted out of there … and not just because I am poor. I had a date with some Brooklyn babies!!



I’ve mentioned before that I used to be a director for SCORE! Educational Centers. Occasionally (i.e. not often enough!), I am able to pull myself together enough to coordinate plans to visit with my old coworkers. Deana and Karimah made their blog debut back in March, much earlier in their coincidentally almost identically-timed pregnancies. I haven’t been able to see them since then — I even missed both of their baby showers due to the craziness of my summer session and all of the papers I had due — and apparently enough months have passed that two perfectly formed children now exist :-D. Karimah had Zuri first in mid-August …



And Deana’s AJ followed about two weeks later:



These two had better watch out — their moms are already plotting the wedding!

I got to spend a good chunk of the afternoon snuggling with Zuri and AJ while they snoozed on my chest. Holding sleeping babies is my favorite favorite favorite activity in the world. I even like it more than eating, if you can believe that. Deana and Karimah, thanks for sharing your perfect bundles with me!

Since we all met up at Deana’s mom’s house, we also got to experience some of Deana’s mom’s famous home cookin,’ like this shrimp and sausage gumbo with fresh cornbread:



Mmmmm, eating that was fun, too. But not as fun as holding the babies!

What is better than food for you?

Sometimes, I just can’t stand the thought of doing what I should be doing. In those instances, food and friends come in very handy!

A couple of weeks ago, Vani, Diana, and I finally managed to coordinate a meal at Rawstar, Brooklyn’s newish raw restaurant. The restaurant is kind of in the middle of nowhere, and it had a very islandy, tropical feel.



We started with an eggplant rollatini appetizer:



Mmmm, these were good! As soon as these snacks arrived, I knew we were in for a treat of a meal. I don’t mind spending money on food when I know I’m getting something special that would be tough to recreate on my own. These rollatini fit the bill.

After giving the menu a serious study, we made our dinner selections. Here’s what the girls got:



You can see their respective reviews here and here. Obviously, they enjoyed it and ate every last bite (except for the bites they gave me!).



I ordered the veggie pizza really had no idea what to expect from raw and vegan pizza.



The crust was nutty and grainy, and it was topped with some sort of raw cashew “cheese” and a brilliant selection of veggies, including pineapples and olives. Once again, I really felt like I was eating a serious treat. Plus, it was only one slice of pizza, but it was definitely satisfying and filling. I want a dehydrator!

For dessert, we ordered the coconut banana cream pie to share:



This pie was delicious, but I also think it would not be challenging to recreate at home. Next time I go, I want to try the cheesecake or see if there’s a different dessert that would be harder to raw-ify.



Then last weekend, my friend Vinny made an impromptu trip down from MA to help me out with a certain project I was working on. Friday night, we checked out this new bar/cafe called Provini right around the corner from my apartment. I had actually just gotten out of an NYU reunion-related event that involved platter after platter of fancy appetizers (no pictures, sorry!) and an open wine bar. I generally don’t like wine, but I may have had four glasses of chardonnay. Sometimes, you’re just in the mood! Since I’m not used to drinking wine, I didn’t want to do anything crazy at Provini that would taunt one of those rhymes to come true. I asked for a dessert wine, but then the bartender got all excited and asked if we’d rather try something we’d never tried before. Enter this:



The bartender invited us to take a sip and asked if it reminded us of anything familiar.



Vinny and I both agreed that the drink had a definite caramel essence. That was when the bartender confessed it was actually dessert beer. And it was delicious! We each ordered a glass.

I had already eaten at the NYU event, but Vinny ordered the homemade linguini with fresh basil and tomato sauce:



Yeah, there was no way I could resist that. I had many many bites:



We followed the pasta with a chocolate souffle:



Ohhhhh my goodness, it was warm, gooey, molten, and everything I ever wanted in a chocolate souffle.



I had to pop out of bed early the next morning for some errands involving the subway:



(I think that the Carroll Gardens subway station might be my favorite underground stop because of that view alone. This picture doesn’t do it justice.)

When I got back home, I processed my CSA produce and then divided everything in half so Kate could come and collect her portion later in the day. The full share included butternut squash (!!!), pears, apples, green beans, cabbage, baby bok choy, rainbow chard, romaine, and arugula:



Once the produce had been successfully processed, Vinny and I headed out for brunch in the Slope at Scottadito, a lovely little organic Italian restaurant:



I love the attention to detail in this restaurant and their ability to carry a theme/motif throughout the whole place, even down to the cement tables outside:



It was a nice day, so we sat outside. Inside looked so cozy, though! I’ll have to remember this for winter:



Our spot:



First things first. This amazing rosemary focaccia bread arrived for us with a red pepper dipping sauce:



We dipped and dipped and dipped and dipped. We dipped so much that Vinny mastered the art of dipping without looking:



Vinny also mastered the art of sipping orange juice like a lady:



We decided to split two brunches. Yay, I love when fellow eaters will go halvsies with me! The more I can taste, the better.

We ordered the Florentine poached eggs (well done, of course) with the Hollandaise (which I don’t like) and the pesto (which Vinny doesn’t like) both on the side:



And we ordered the French toast with mixed berries:



Here’s my slice, mmmmmm:



This was like the thickest, moistest, densest French toast ever.

And here’s my plate of poached egg with all the pesto and all the salad and a teeeeeeny bit of potato (I’m working on the potato aversion, slowly but surely!):



We hung out a bit more after brunch, and then Vinny took off to return to MA, and I returned to the papers. I am so lucky to have friends who can just swoop in and distract me from stress at the perfect moments!

Who distracts YOU?