For the Love of Fresh and Local

If you haven't seen the article about Alice Waters in this week's NY Times, ....read it now! There's also a fabulous video on 'how to work a market' from Ms. Water's trip to NYC's Union Square Green Market.

It's Summer in Brookyln

My life has taken a turn towards chaos, positive chaos, but it is crazy nonetheless.


Brad and I have been very busy this Spring turning what were my independent design projects into our own business. About two weeks ago we moved into our new office space here in Brooklyn! My daily routine no longer includes sitting at my desk in our apartment, but instead, a pleasant 4 minute bike ride to the office, where we have set up shop. The space feels really productive (we share it with some friends who also have a small creative business) and has enough room for us to collaborate. We're still in the process of decorating and organizing, but soon I'll post photos and our new website.

The approaching Summer months will continue to feel hectic due to our frequent weekend travel plans. It seems half of our friends are getting married this summer, which calls for us to leave town often. I also have bike training and a few upcoming centuries I plan to ride. One of the travel precedents we have set early on this season is camping and I couldn't be happier. With so much work and goings-on it is nice to occasionally go away and unplug - no computer or cell phone and lots of outdoors is just the cure for stress relief. So far our camp outings have included the Catskills, complete with a hike to a waterfall, and just this past weekend, Fire Island (photos to come). Late Summer and early Fall are guaranteed to host a few more.

Something about New York Summers makes makes everyone hyper-social and we are no exception. As the temperatures climb we find ourselves attending more and more parties and hosting more frequent dinners in out beautiful back garden. Which brings me to my final topic in this post, the food. For anyone who has been around this blog you must be asking by now if I am still cooking. Well the question is not if, but what - we have been cooking and eating like crazy!

The farmer's market and our local CSA have kicked into gear and I just can't get enough of the start of this season's bounty. I am reading a book by Barbara Kingsolver called Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life, that is making me more aware than ever of the importance of eating locally and seasonally. I am excited about my own efforts to make a little difference doing something I love and today I found out that have been awarded the role of Recipe Coordinator for this year's CSA season. Each week I'll be collecting four new recipes for our members based on the offerings from the farm. For anyone who has been saying that you just don't know what you'd do with all the goodies you find at the farmer's market, well, I'll have the answers for you. As soon as we have the recipe archive up and running I'll be sure to link to my collections from this blog. But in the meantime, here's a little teaser recipe to get you started:

Fresh Pea Soup
(makes a lot and freezes well)

3-4 pounds peas, shelled (reserve peas and shells separately)
8-12 cup water
2 tablespoons butter
3-4 spring onions, including stalks, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 medium potatoes, peeled and chopped
handful basil leaves
salt and pepper
juice of 1 lemon

In a stock pot, cover pea shells with water and bring to a boil. Allow to simmer for about 40 minutes. Strain shells and discard, reserving broth.

Melt butter over medium heat. Add the onion and reduce heat to medium-low, and cook, until soft for about 10 minutes. Add the garlic and potatoes and continue to cook for 5 minutes longer.

Add 4-5 cups of reserved broth and peas and bring to a gentle boil over high heat. Reduce heat and simmer until potatoes are tender when pierced, about 15 minutes. Stir in basil and cook for 2 minutes longer. Salt and pepper to taste and allow to cool slightly.

Working in batches using a blender/food processor, or with an imersion blender, pure the soup until smooth. Either boil to thicken or add water to thin to desired consistency if necessary. Stir in lemon juice and serve.

*This soup goes down even smoother with a dollop of basil on top. It is delicious served either hot or cold.

Enjoy!

Fire, Wine and Sunshine

Outside it is pouring rain again in Brooklyn, as I am sorting through my recent vacation photos. Over the past few weeks/months design business has been good. Steadily increasing and so good in fact, that I am moving my little operation out of the house and into a studio/office here in Brooklyn in just a few weeks. I can't wait! But that's a topic for another time. Business has been so good that I desperately needed a vacation.

Brad and I headed out to San Fransisco, home of Amanda, for a camping, wine drinking, sunny, adventure filled week. We also marked out 2 year wedding anniversary while we were there, but that too is a conversation for another time. We flew out Thursday night and on Friday morning, after stocking up with more food, beer and wine than we would ever consume, we headed to Big Sur with Amanda and her gang of friends. Over the next three days a music festival took place at the Fernwood camp ground where we stayed, but we didn't pay much attention to that. We were too busy playing, feasting, drinking, hanging by the fire, doing yoga on the beach, hiking and enjoying the epic scenery of Big Sur to stop and listen to the music. It was a fantastic weekend.


After we returned to San Francisco on Sunday night, Brad and I unpacked, repacked and headed out the next morning to wine county. But not before loading up on pastries and espresso at Tartin, mmmmmmmmm. Over the next two days as we traveled through beautiful, sunny Napa and Sonoma valleys, the stress of my Brooklyn life could not have been farther away. We spent the days going from vineyard to winery to vineyard, having a blast collecting a case, bottle by bottle, of our favorite wines to bring home. In between the drinking, we ate! The first day we had lunch at Mustard's Grill and then dinner at Cyrus (thanks to a reservation from John Holdredge, who also entertained us and shared his delicious wines earlier that evening) before falling asleep with very full bellies at a bed and breakfast in Healdsburg. The second day we picnicked on deliciously local, gourmet sandwiches while looking out over Lake Sonoma as we made our way through Dry Creek and the Russian River Valley on the recommendations of our new wine country friends. We hit a farmer's market in Sonoma and treated ourselves to some Tamales en route back to the city. That night we gathered Amanda and headed to Berkeley for a wonderful dinner at Chez Panisse. A most memorable finale for a really great trip.


Did I mention we had breakfast at Tartin AGAIN, before heading to the airport Wednesday morning? (WATCH THIS VIDEO!) Yes we ate a scone.

We finally returned to find this article in the Times, after trying to spotlight Organic and Biodynamic wine makers for out own collection. Fantastic!

You can view all the trip photos on my flickr stream HERE!

Finger Lickin'

Yesterday Brad and I celebrated Easter with friends by hosting yet another BBQ dinner party. Armed once again with the recipes from last year's New School class, we called on our food-loving friends and organized a pot-luck style feast. As the menu pulled itself together over the coarse of the last week, my excitement grew. I worked up the biggest appetite I could, but none of us were prepared for the belly buster this meal turned out to be.

•Green Salad
•Cornbread
•Roasted Veggies
•Deviled Eggs
•Coleslaw
•Buttermilk Biscuits
•Fried Chicken
•Collard Greens
•Mac and Cheese
•Barbecue Brisket
•Souffléed Cheese Grits
•Strawberry-Rhubarb Cobbler à la mode
•Peeps and chocolate bunnies and things


Can you believe anyone ate all that? Neither could we and some of us even had seconds! We washed it down with plenty of beer then laid back and watched a Brooklyn-lovin' screening of The Warriors on our digital projector. What a day, Happy Easter!





Oven Barbecued Brisket
serves 8-10

for the barbecue sauce
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
2 tablespoons dry mustard
1 tablespoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
3/4 cup tomato purée
1/2 cup cider vinegar
3-4 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon minced garlic

for the brisket
5 pounds "thin cut" beef brisket in 1 or 2 pieces
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 large onion, halved lengthwise and sliced

1. Preheat the oven to 325˚ and make the sauce: Mix the dry ingredients in a medium saucepan. Stir in the remainder of the ingredients, and simmer slowly until slightly thickened - about 20 minutes.

2. Dry the brisket thoroughly with paper towels and salt and pepper. Heat oil in a large sauté pan over moderately high heat. Brown the meat about 3 minutes on each side.

3. Tear a piece of aluminum foil 3x the length of the brisket and lay it on a baking sheet. Spoon 1/2 the sauce onto the center of the foil then lay 1/2 the onions on top. Lay the brisket on the foil and then top with the remaining onions and sauce. Fold the foil over the brisket and crimp the edges closed to prevent leakage. Cut a second sheet of foil and wrap a second time.

4. Bake 2 1/2 hours. Let rest briefly then carefully open the packet and let the sauce run onto the baking sheet. Slice the brisket thinly across the grain and transfer to a platter. Spoon the sauce and juices to cover and serve. (I like to make a little extra BBQ sauce and serve on the side like gravy!)

*Brisket can be prepared up to 4 days in advance. Reheat in a heavy covered pot in a 300˚ oven, adding a bit of water if the mixture looks dry.

Like A Message From Above

For those of you who check this blog regularly, you might be starting to wonder what I have been doing besides riding bikes. Well, the cycling and fundraising have been keeping me busy, and in addition, working for myself as HM Project has begun to be quite a lot of work. Business has been flowing in, it's almost overwhelming at times, but great to have so many design projects in the works.

In the past week or two, having little time outside of work and biking, I have begun to feel uninspired about dinners. My usual routine of reading cooking magazines and books in my downtime has been sacrificed and I have been opting for quick and easy. Just the other day I had realized there were no dinner supplies in the fridge and just couldn't call up the creativity for a menu for that night, when I came across this article in the week's NY Times Food and Wine section. Titled, In Case of Emergency, Extract Sausage From Freezer and Enjoy, it was as if a little food angel came down from heaven and snuck up behind me at the computer.

The article begins by talking about what cooks keep on hand in case of emergency. My answer to that poll would in fact be sausage. I love sausage. I am forever collecting it from the various sources I have available to me in all forms – chicken sausage, sweet Italian sausage, African brand sausage and most recently wild boar sausage to name a few – and freezing it for future use. I forwarded the article to Brad, who occasionally claims that he is "sausaged-out", asking if it sounded good for dinner and he responded, "Wow, did you write that article?"

Well, no. I didn't. But that night I did make the recipe, and as I just enjoyed the leftovers for lunch, it occurred to me that this little gem really must be shared. So, for those of you who will read this blog post when the article is no longer available, the recipe is below. But I do recommend that you read, and then cook!

Chorizo with Sweet Pepper and Onion Stew and Fried Croutons

Time: 1 hour 15 minutes

5 garlic cloves
3 tablespoons sherry vinegar
3 tablespoons olive oil, more as needed for frying
2 pounds spicy fresh (uncured) chorizo, pricked all over with a fork
1 8-inch baguette, sliced about 1/4 inch thick
Kosher salt, to taste
1/4 teaspoon sweet paprika
1/4 teaspoon smoked or hot paprika
2 large red onions, halved lengthwise and sliced
2 Spanish onions, halved lengthwise and sliced
2 green bell peppers, sliced
2 red bell peppers, sliced
2 pints grape or cherry tomatoes, halved if large
1 cup chicken broth
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 bay leaf
1 bunch cilantro, leaves chopped.

1. Mince 4 garlic cloves and reserve. Mince remaining garlic clove, put it in a small bowl and cover with 1 tablespoon sherry vinegar.

2. Heat 1 tablespoon oil over medium-high heat in a very large skillet or Dutch oven. Add chorizo and cook until browned all over, about 7 minutes. Transfer chorizo to a plate.

3. Add as many bread slices to pan as will fit in one layer. Cook until golden on both sides, about 2 minutes. Transfer croutons to a plate and sprinkle with salt. Heat a little more oil in pan and repeat with remaining bread slices, frying them in batches if necessary.

4. Heat remaining 2 tablespoons oil in pan. Add both paprikas and let cook for 20 seconds. Add onions and reserved 4 cloves minced garlic and cook until limp, about 3 minutes. Add bell peppers and sauté until onions are golden and peppers soft, about 7 minutes. Add cherry tomatoes, chicken broth, black pepper and bay leaf to pan and bring to a simmer. Cut chorizo in chunks and add it to pan along with any drippings from plate. Reduce heat to low, cover pan, and let cook at a low simmer for 25 minutes. Add remaining 2 tablespoons sherry vinegar to pan and simmer uncovered, until stew thickens slightly, 5 to 10 minutes longer.

5. Remove bay leaf and stir in reserved garlic-vinegar mixture and cilantro. Serve stew topped with croutons.

Yield: 4 to 6 servings.

Because I Think Everyone Can Cook

My friend Alexis can't cook, or so he says. He eats dinner with Brad and I often and I think the majority of his meals come from restaurants or kitchens of friends if he's not eating instant oatmeal. On the rare occasions where he has been inspired to cook and shared the experiences with me, he has described the food he makes (and eats) as terrible, awful, and at times, inedible.

The other day, after many work hours, Alexis joined Brad and I for a quick weeknight pasta dinner. This pasta is so easy that I think even the most terrible and incapable cook could do it justice and it only takes about 20 minutes. But don't get me wrong, this aint no poor man's pasta - I could eat this all the time because it is delicious. So, go ahead. Give it a try.

Pasta with Sausage, Garlic and Greens

1 lb box pasta (penne, rigatoni, farfalle, or campanelle all work great)
1lb spicy Italian sausage, casings removed
3-4 Tbls olive oil
1 Tbls hot pepper flakes (give or take depending on your taste, I like mine spicy)
4 cloves garlic sliced
1 bunch kale, swiss chard or broccoli rabe, coarse stems removed and cut up into 1-inch pieces
1/2 cup chicken broth (or water)
salt and pepper
fresh grated parmesan for serving

1. Heat a pot of boiling water. Cook pasta to al dente and drain.

2. Meanwhile, in a large skillet heat oil and brown the sausage, breaking it up as it cooks - about 3-5 minutes. Add the garlic and hot pepper flakes, stirring until fragrant (about 1 minute more).

3. Add the greens and toss/stir until the color brightens and they are all wilted (about 2 minutes). Stir in the broth or water and cover. Allow to steam about 3-5 minutes more, until greens are tender.

4. Uncover and season with salt and pepper. Stir in the pasta and distribute to bowls. Garnish with parmesan cheese and serve.

You can do it!

Very Potlucky Indeed

This is Brad's interpretation of potluck, sent to friends as inspiration along with an invitation titled "Do ya feel potlucky, punks? Well, . . . do ya?" to join us for a birthday dinner party this past Saturday:


And this is what actually happened:


Not bad, huh? Not bad at all.

Now I know what you're thinking, "Yummy, where are the recipes?" This little appetizer is not featured above, but it sure was a hit and I highly recommend it for your next food gathering:

Brad and Heather's Salmon Corn Cakes

Corn Cakes:
1 cup yellow cornmeal
1/4 cup flour
pinch baking soda
generous pinch of salt
2 Tbls cream cheese
1 egg
3 Tbls buttermilk
4 Tbls fresh or frozen corn kernels
canola oil for frying

Topping:
4oz fresh smoked salmon
créme fraiche (or sour cream)
small handful of chives, chopped

1. Mix cornmeal, flour, baking soda and salt in bowl. Crumble cream cheese in another bowl and beat in egg and buttermilk. Stir this into the cornmeal mixture and add corn. The batter will be stiff.

2. Heat 1-2 Tbls oil in a frying pan and drop tablespoonfuls of batter, flattening them with the back of a wet spoon to form silver dollar sized rounds. Fry 2-3 minutes per side until golden.

3. Transfer the cakes to a platter. Slice the salmon into 1"x3" strips and fold on top of cakes. Top the salmon with a dollop of créme and sprinkle with chives. Serve to your happy guests!

Today's Forecast Is Cloudy, But Happy

You'll have to pardon me. I'm suffering from a food hangover this morning, never mind all that wine . . .

Yesterday I celebrated my 27th birthday, and what a day it was - appropriately sprinkled with lots of birthday wishes, including 2 flower deliveries from both my family and Brad's and even an ecard from my Allstate agent!

Both Brad and I took the day off from work and all things practical, and started it off with blueberry pancakes. After a leisurely morning we made our way over the the Brooklyn Museum for the Ron Mueck show. In the evening Brad took me out for an awesome birthday date. We walked over to one of my favorite girly boutiques in the neighborhood where I got a new dress after trying on many. And then . . . we went to dinner for a meal that can only be described as epic.

Al Di La is one of our neighborhood favorites that we save for special occasions and last night's 4 course Italian extravagnanza was nothing short of amazing. We had wine paired to each course and the menu included truffle ravioli and cuttlefish risotto with squid ink to mention just a few. I hope every year's aging will taste so good.

And did I mention the fun hasn't ended? We're hosting a birthday potluck dinner party on Saturday night. What a great occasion for a fancy new dress.

It's Good To Be Home

During the month of December, Brad and I were traveling for a total of 16 days out of 31. We returned home on the 2nd of January, and after all the food we consumed in restaurants while out of town, I wanted nothing more than to cook and eat at home.

While the weather has yet to be as brutal as one would expect from a New York City winter so far this season, it has been consistently grey, wet and now finally cold. So, as you can guess, the food I've been craving has consisted mainly of soups, stews, hearty pastas and chilies. This pleasantly spicy Chickpea Soup with Arugula was a goodie from my January issue of gourmet, as was this stewy beef recipe I found while scouring online last week. I had some success with pulled pork this past weekend using a the BBQ sauce Brad learned last year, but the biggest surprise – easy, delicious and sure to be a repeater – was this vegetable chili I adapted from a recipe I found on epicurious.com.

Do not fear, this is simple and sure to please. The bulgur is a pleasant and healthy addition, that gives you that thick "meaty" texture you crave in a good bowl of chili. We ate it with cornbread because Brad had made some the night before - but you don't need much more than a salad for a great meal that will warm you from the inside.

Spicy Vegetable Chili

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, chopped
2 carrots, peeled, thinly sliced
1 sweet potato, chopped
1 large poblano pepper, seeded, chopped
3 large jalapeño chilies, seeded, minced (about 4 1/2 tablespoons)
5 garlic cloves, minced
2 tablespoons chili powder
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 1/2 teaspoons ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 28-ounce can crushed tomatoes (fire roasted if you can find 'em)
4 cups chicken broth
2 15-ounce cans black beans, rinsed, drained
2 15-ounce cans kidney beans, rinsed, drained
1/2 cup bulgur (cracked wheat)
2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
salt and fresh ground pepper
1 cup freshly chopped cilantro

1. Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in heavy large pot over medium-high heat. Add onion, carrots, sweet potato, poblano and jalepeño and sauté until onion and carrots are almost tender, about 8 minutes.

2. Add garlic and spices and cook, stirring until spices are fragrant evenly coated on vegetable, about 2 minutes more.

3. Add tomatoes, broth, beans, bulgur, white wine vinegar and salt and pepper to taste. Bring to boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and cook, uncovered, until bulgur is tender and mixture thickens, stirring often, about 20 minutes.

4. Stir in cilantro and ladle chili into bowls to serve.

It's Been Too Long Since This Blog Has Seen A Recipe!

My oh my it is good to be home. Brad and I returned late yesterday afternoon to our little apartment in Brooklyn, and it sure does feel big. Eight days in a little hotel room with nothing but restaurant food and home feels like a palace. We had a good time in Miami, saw lots of art, furniture design and more art. We attended the occasional party, drank a few cocktails, had a day on the beach, some time by the pool and watched plenty of bad TV.

Brad did a bit of shopping while we were there. He couldn't help himself in the presence of fashionable men's boutiques and brought home a few great new wardrobe items. I on the other hand brought home a nasty case of strep throat. After fighting it for the last few days of our trip, the plane ride did me in. Brad returned to work today and I happily spent the day in bed hoping to sleep off the last of it. So, despite my complete and total exhaustion with mediocre restaurant food, I am not so inspired to cook tonight and thought to fall back on one of our very favorite frozen meals, yummy homemade veggie burgers.

Veggie Burgers

*One of the great things about this recipe is that there is lots of room for experimentation (or error).

4 carrots, grated
4 parsnips, grated
1 large or two small sweet potatoes, grated
1 large onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped
4-6 tablespoons olive oil
1 egg
1/2C bread crumbs
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 teaspoon coriander seeds
1 teaspoon fennel seeds
1 teaspoon caraway seeds
1 teaspoon sesame seeds
sea salt
freshly ground pepper
1 handful parley, chopped
1 handful cilantro, chopped

whole wheat English muffins
good cheese and Dijon mustard for serving

Combine all veggies in a large bowl and toss with 2 tablespoons of olive oil. In batches, pulse in a food processor adding oil as needed to process until coarsely chopped and moist. Return mixture to large bowl.

Mix in 1 egg, breadcrumbs, seeds, chopped herbs, salt and pepper. Use your hands like you would with any burgers to mix until well combined. If the mixture is too moist, add more breadcrumbs.

Form the mixture into balls, and place on a non-stick backing sheet. Press flat with the palm of your hand to form patties. The mixture should yield approximately 8 burgers.

Bake for 30-40 minutes, or until the patties are soft and golden brown. Serve on a toasted English muffin topped with some good cheese, like goat or sharp cheddar, and Dijon mustard if you'd like. Goes great with a big mixed green salad.

Layer any uneaten burgers is a flat container with wax paper between them and freeze. To cook, simply place the frozen burgers in a 375˚ oven until warmed through, about 20 minutes.

Delayed Turkey Time

Close call. . . but we pulled it together and I was thankful!



Our oven got fixed at 11am on Thanksgiving morning and still many more obstacles lay ahead. Brad and Heather's Thanksgiving bonanza, featuring guest chefs Steve, Shamus and Masako, felt like the meal that might never happen right up until we sat down to eat after 8pm. Half of our party faced obstacles getting to our house on time, and when Brad finally drove to pick up Masako and her pies because she could not get a car service to answer her call, he got lost driving in the rain and disappeared for an hour while a roasted turkey was already resting on my counter!

But eat and eat well we did. The menu featured a 17lb. herb roasted, farm-raised turkey, sausage and cornbread stuffing, sweet potato pureé, brussel sprouts with bacon and apples, creamed spinach, parsnip pancakes, a salad with roasted squash, goat cheese and pumpkin seeds, cranberry chutney and gravy that flowed almost as freely as the booze. As if all that wasn't enough, we topped it all off with pecan/pumpkin and apple pies, Irish coffees and ice cream. It was goooood.

Happy and fed we were in the end, and the celebration went on past midnight. Thanksgiving is truly the best American holiday - good food in the company of good friends. We'll continue to enjoy our leftovers into this coming week and I have some turkey soup in the works. Soon I'll start dreaming of next year's feast.










Oh, and since I feel like I should share a recipe, here's something even better - the secret to my perfect gravy. It's not really mine, it's Martha Stewart's and you can find it here. You won't believe the results and your guests will be impressed, I promise!

In the Moment

Because it was in the fridge . . . how's this for a salad?

Rainy Night Fall Salad
greens
shaved fennel (1 small bulb + veggie peeler)
handful of fresh dill sprigs
roasted acorn squash (400˚ tossed with olive oil, salt, peper and rosemary till tender)
lemon honey vinagrette (olive oil + white balsamic + blob of honey + splash of lemon juice + salt and pepper)

Well I'll tell you - it was delicious. Try it some time.
Goes great with a good October Fest!

Pet Names

Reading back through my previous blog posts I came to the sad realization that it's officially been A WHILE. Already the summer farmer's market season is passing and I have been cooking with butternut squash again. The apples are abundant and so are yummy delights like spinach and fennel. If you thought I had fallen off the food wagon, you are very wrong - it was simply the blogging wagon, my friends. Last night we had a little impromptu dinner party with friends and I made a great dish of braised beef. All you need is a 3.5lb round roast and the following ingredients to have a good time:

Coffee and Orange Braised Beef with Cinnamon

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1.5 cups brewed coffee
1 cinnamon stick
2 teaspoons packed brown sugar
3-3" strips orange zest (use a veggie peeler)
cilantro (optional)

Preheat your oven to 325˚

In a dutch oven sauté the onion for 5-6 minutes until golden. Add garlic and stir for 1 minute until fragrant. Add coffee, orange zest, cinnamon stick and brown sugar. Bring to a simmer.

Meawhile, heavily salt and pepper roast. Place in simmering liquid and cover tightly. Bake for 3.5-4 hours until the roast is very tender (be careful of the steam when you lift the lid). Remove roast and slice. Return to pot and toss with braising juices, then served with orange wedges and chopped cilantro.

I served this with creamy polenta and there was lots of excitement around the table. You can thank the back page of my most recent Gourmet if you decide to cook up this magnificent recipe. I might also mention that I have been doing quite a bit of 'inventing' in the old kitchen. Yes, that's right, recipes of my own. Only problem is I haven't been posting them here, so many of them may have been lost to the moment - I'll work on that.

***

I had been thinking of how to break the ice that has frozen over this blog - and what better than a top-ten list of the most exciting events that I haven't blogged about? But, while I edit that list, here's another top ten to entertain you:

Francine's Best Pet Names

1. Snuggle Bug
2. Puppy Face
3. Pony Head
4. Francy Pants
5. Señora Pantalones
6. Frankelstein (aka "Frankels")
7. Frankelstilsken
8. Frankelpuss
9. Franks and Beans
10. Francois

Untraditions

One of the nicest things about being newly wed, is creating newly traditions that we intend to carry thoughout our time being wed. For example, during our Christmases together Brad and I have created our own little tradition of going out to a big restaurant meal on Christmas Eve, prior to the start of a series of family dinners - the inaugural of which was a huge Christmas Eve Sushi dinner!

In that spirit, today Brad and I hosted The Great American Barbeque Easter Dinner for my parents and our good friends Josh, his sister and Megan. In lieu of the traditional ham, we opted to recreate an elaborate menu of barbeque dishes that Brad learned during the cooking class that he recently attended at The New School.

The menu included the following dishes, which we made from scratch - sauces, spices and all, and was a feast in every sense of the word. But what better than an easter spent with family and friends, when everyone goes home with not only a full belly, but a goody bag of yummy home-cooked BBQ for days to come?

The Great American Barbeque Easter Dinner Menu:
Spicy Boiled Shrimp with Red Remoulade
Soft BBQ Dinner Rolls (the interactive fun is when you have your dinner guests help you roll the fresh biscuit dough :)
Wilted Slaw Salad
Oven-Barbequed Brisket (hours and hours in the works my freiends, and worth every minute!)
Scalloped Tomatoes
Souffleéd Cheese Grits (by far, the CHEESIEST)
'Real' BBQ Spare Ribs (spice rubbed and served with special rib sauce, mmmmmmm. . .)

Dessert:
I wish I could give Megan's creation more due credit, but it involed lemon meringue, almond flour cake, whipped cream and fresh rasberries - and I think everybody licked their bowl!
***


The weather Gods graced us with a warm afternoon to drink and enjoy those shrimp on the patio, and the perfect setting for an after dinner walk in the park.

And of course, of all days, I forgot to take pictures . . . But here are some photos of the booty, when we returned home from the grocery store, more than 24 hours before the meal, and started cooking!