One Saturday Night

Meeting a friend I have known for over 30 years is a wonderful reason to celebrate.  Meeting a friend I've known since elementary school to discuss life changing events, well, that simply requires a cocktail and for me, the signature drink of a choice is a Cosmopolitan.

As we talk about the twisty turns of life with it's ups and downs, mysteries that cannot be explained and the fabulous destination wedding of her sister's, we enjoy a meal which for me begins with a salad without dressing.

I tried the bacon and cheddar potato pancakes.  The inside was lush and delicately soft potato with cheese and bacon - what combination could be any better in an appetizer? 

Though my friend is quite active and disciplined about keeping physically fit by frequently participating in boot camps, she does treat herself to bacon cheeseburger with fries on this particular Saturday night.

We talk about life.  We try to make sense of things we will never understand. And best of all, we find a few reasons to laugh.

I had the Mako with yes, more potatoes and mixed vegetables.   The fish was quite firm and steak-like, the sauce a creamy pool to swipe the potatoes through before stabbing a piece of fish to create the perfect bite.  It is impossible to finish the meal and yet we are far from ending our time together.

We meet a friend at the bar once the meal is over and we talk some more.  Sometimes when life strays away from the path you thought you were on it's best to have some great friends to talk it over with, offer support and guard you through to the next part of the journey.  It was more than a Saturday Night, it was an opporunity to be Fed Well for the soul and the memory of it keeps me feeling full.

Was it the toxoplasmosis talk?

Let's see, where were we... a group of coworkers out to lunch at http://www.haciendadonmanuelny.com/

Hacienda Don Munel

Again, I have a regular favorite and rarely venture out to order something else.  I LOVE the beef burritos!

We start with warm and crispy chips served with chunky, fairly zippy salsa.  We are all careful to pour our salsa into a separate dish to avoid double dipping (which happened in the past, but the offending colleague has since moved to Thailand).

Ah, the beef burritos are heavenly.  The meat is tender, well seasoned and soft.  The shredded beef can be the subject of food dreams. 

I also love a second helping of chips with the guacamole and sour cream.  I rarely eat the rice and beans but bring them home to a son who loves them as a late night snack.

One coworker orders the vegetable quesidilas.  They are not what I expected, but she is happy and though she is not a vegetarian loves the feeling that she is making a healthier, guilt-free choice.

Chuletas a la Diabla - well, I don't like too much heat in my food, but for one coworker, spice is a perfect choice.  She requests the sauce be served on the side so she can control the amount both for flavor and sogginess purposes.

And for my vegetarian friend and next door neighbor co-worker, the vegetable burritos. 

We talk about the spicy pork chop diner moving into a house in the area with her boyfriend.  She shares stories about the various wildlife she has seen including devilish groundhogs, deer and the former residents honey bees.

Somehow the conversation segues to the parasites found in cat feces and how toxoplasmosis is considered to especially be a threat for pregnant women to be concerned about though none of us are pregnant (that I know of).  My vegetarian buddy recites a bit of news from the Internet on the subject which basically includes this bit from Wikipedia, "Toxoplasmosis is a parasitic disease caused by the protozoan Toxoplasma gondii.^[1] The parasite infects most genera of warm-blooded animals, including humans, but the primary host is the felid (cat) family. The parasite spreads by the ingestion of infected meat or the feces of an infected cat, or by vertical transmission from mother to fetus. A 2001 study found that direct contact with pet cats is probably a less common route of transmission to human hosts than contamination of hands with cat feces by touching the earth, and that "contact with infected raw meat is probably a more important cause of human infection in many countries"  (source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toxoplasmosis)  How fun!!  Yes, cat poop is perfect lunchtime conversation... 

Simultaneously, the pair of men at a nearby table ask to move and relocate to the far side of the restaurant from us.  Was it the toxoplasmosis talk?  Were we laughing too much?  How could we have possibly offended them so much that they felt the need to move across the room?

The empty table with chips is where our nearby neighbors started but all the way to the far left corner of the photo, against the wall a slice of arm is visible to where they repositioned themselves.

The deviled pork chop loving coworker couldn't resist asking the waiter why the men moved.  Turns out, they were simply cold.

Street Fair - Food and Fun

A local town, a street fair and the guarantee of food truck cuisine - my Mommy and I were in!

Though it was a brutally hot Saturday, we made our way through the crowds and kept an eye on the ever darkening, cloudy sky.  Crafts, leather goods, designer impostor bags, jewelry, toys, face painting, rides, all lovely but none of it was anything that really interested us.

For whatever reason, I am drawn to the heart shaped stones.  Not sure if it is necessarily for romantic purposes or simply the idea of a heart shaped stone.

I have never before seen "Soggy Bandannas" for sale.  While I am no grammar expert, does anyone see anything wrong with the sign?  Doesn't matter.

Moments before deciding we must need a bit of fuel, I spotted a fresh lemonade truck - a small was $5.00.  Am I cheap?  I decided I didn't need a designer impostor lemonade and kept walking.

Soon my mother came upon a home made fudge tent.  She recognized the proprietor and happily made an immediate purchase.

A few more feet and we found the falafel/gyro stand.  Woo hoo!  One of each please! 

Beef Gyro for Mom and falafel for me.  We walked to my Aunt's yard for a bit of a picnic and were both quite happy with our lunch choices.

A friend of my Aunt's soon arrived with two plates of "cheese ribbon fries."

Designer handcrafted potato chips drizzled with melted orange cheese sauce.  The chips were as crisp as they look and though quite tasty, I'm a sucker for more salt.

And what better way to display bottled water for sale than with a platter of freshly cut lemons and limes as well as ice.  I didn't buy it, but it made me want to as I told myself I wasn't thirsty as much as I was attracted to the "fancied up" display!

We were at the far end of the Street Fair when the fat and juicy first rain drops began to fall.  Car Show participants scrambled to put up soft tops and some left immediately.  I protected my camera the best I could and headed for home with Fed Well memories.

The Return of Scallion Pancakes to Jade in Suffern, NY

http://www.jadebistro.net/

When I first started working with the 300 +/- people at "The Company's" Global R & D, I welcomed the vast differences of coworkers backgrounds, ages, education levels, life experiences and cultures. I was introduced to foods and traditions I would never have any other chance to experience and while the simple Scallion Pancake may not seem like a life altering event to many with various simple Chinese take-out restaurants in their neighborhood, I was one to sort of stick with the items I was mostly familiar. Branching out may mean trying a different version of Four Seasons or Happy Family.


One day, a group of us went to lunch with our Director who often shared stories of her past employment in food related industries including Kraft and Pepsi (ok, she somehow worked it in to every conversation) and she ordered Scallion Pancakes to start.

I couldn't wrap my head around what was to come. Would they be like a potato pancake, a breakfast pancake, a knish? Would they have shoots of green onion sticking out? Aaackk!

When the plate was set in the middle of the table and my nose not only accepted but welcomed the warm blend of aromas from gentle oniony to the familiar whisper of fried food.  I waited to see what the proper etiquette would be for eating the new found treats - did one pick them up or use the fork?  Well, the jury is still out as my table mates were divided about the correct procedure.  However, the one thing I knew for sure was that I had found a new top 10 favorite food.

The Director has since left.  The restaurant underwent a major renovation and revamping of the menu which eliminated our beloved appetizer.  We would still go, a smaller and smaller group, and find new favorites.  I am guilty of having the shrimp with rice noodles (that I eat with a spoon and fork in a quasi-Italian fashion) so frequently that the waitress simply brings the spoon without my request.

This past Friday, a smaller more intimate gathering of myself and just 2 coworkers ordered a plate of Scallion Pancakes.  Our lives have changed vastly.  I am going through the most transition right now and try to walk a balanced line between a wildly and ever changing range of emotions.  I find comfort eating with my friends and being reunited with a wonderful food.

Rehearsal at Stony Brae

A special time, a special occasion and the eve of a special day requires celebration.  The tradition of the wedding rehearsal dinner is alive and well, the experience is personalized and tweeked to suit. 

The feeling of a custom made event should be required for all of those preparing to enter into marriage as the needs are as individual as the union itself.

Yes, the location was incredibly convenient from the church...

 http://www.cragsmoorstonechurch.org/

But, if need be, we certainly could have traveled.

The entrace and walk way were welcoming and well kept.  I wanted to go in, wanted to know and see more, to continue, to dine and start making a new memory.

And so, our party of 13 is seated in the upstairs dining room, We are family and friends, longtime relations and new acquaintances joined by a religious man and his wife.

We were given regular menus and the listing of specials. 

http://www.stonybraeatcragsmoor.com/Menu.html

A cocktail to begin - the Cragsmoorpolitan - not just a dressed up girly martini, but one with meaning for the area.  Cragsmoor was once known for its blueberries and so to offer a drink with a nod to the area's history is more than appropriate and so I make my selection.

 

The bride and her future mother-in-law decide on the Castaway.  We are all happy with our decisions. 

I offer a toast of happiness and we peruse the dinner choices.

I decide to skip an appetizer as I hope I will instead be leaving room for dessert.  However, my older nephew, seated on my left, opts for a fresh Caesar salad. 

Conversation ranges from one end of the table to the other and the edge of sitting in the middle allows me to let my attention wander from one topic to another.  The young men at the left speak with the religious man about his birthplace (Southeast Asia), the lack of ethnic variety in restaurants in the nearby geography, tattoos, professional athletes in baseball, football and basketball, moving from New York city to the country and the beauty of the area we are currently dining.



My homemade Tagliatelle is not for the whimpy of apetite.  The dish is hearty and filling with ample amounts of mushrooms, red bell peppers and topped with a bit of micro greens.  Quite a successful plate of which I am forced to take half home in order to leave room for sharing a dessert with my younger nephew.

He orders the cheesecake with caramel sauce on the side (he's not sure what it will taste like).  The cheesecake was prepared in an individual mold and so the shape is a pleasing change and makes the portion size a bit more manageable.  I am only able to have a few forkfuls before pleading of being absolutely full.  He did dip a forkful of cheesecake into the caramel sauce but the verdict is still undetermined.

A lovely local spot to which I am sure we will return, but not without remembering The Rehearsal Dinner. 

Not Hangover or Bridesmaids - reality at Torches on the Hudson

The tradition used to be for the future groom to gather up his male friends for a night of drinking before the wedding.  Over time, brides-to-be wised up and asked the gentlemen to move the bachelor party celebrations away from the wedding date to ensure fewer hangovers at the alter.  As evolution continued, women began to embrace this custom for themselves and movies like "The Hangover" and "Bridesmaids" pushed the envelope for creative outings with as much debauchery as possible.

Doesn't mean that is what everyone wants.

My sister, a few friends and our mother went out for a nice meal and a few drinks.  Simple.

The menu included a long selection of beverages and one of the specials of the evening was the Pear Cosmo.   Here is the menu description:

Torches Grey Goose Pear White Cosmo:

Goose Pear Vodka shaken with Cointreau, fresh lime and white cranberry juice

served with a pear slice.

Sold!

Smooth and delicious.  Not too strong and alcohol tasting.

To start for 3 of us - the Seafood Chowder with crispy garlic croutons.

I never imagined it would be a giant, seemingly never ending bowl of luscious and creamy silkiness.  While I very much enjoyed the croutons, I may have preferred smaller cubes as they were difficult to halve with the spoon and a whole one felt like I was cramming too much food in my mouth.

I seem to order an appetizer as an entree more and more.  Since most restaurant portions sizes have grown, and Torches is no exception, more than enough food is offered and sometimes it can cut my expenses in half.

The Filet Mignon Quesadilla described on the menu as:  Filet Mignon tips, melted onion, shaved cremini mushroom, Swiss cheese and horseradish dip was perfect.

The beef was tender and soft, the blend of onion, mushroom and Swiss is classic and familiar as a take on a Philly Cheese Steak and the zippy sauce kept things interesting!  After about half my serving, I simply opened the tortilla, peeled it away and simply ate the filling.

The night continued further along the waterfront.  Stories were shared, the ladies wished the future bride well and no one lost a tooth, had their face tattooed, found a baby or a tiger, but memories were made just the same as the ladies were all Fed Well.

Not Just Any Friday Night

I met my sister for one of her last wedding dress fittings and tried on my matron-of-honor dress as well.  We decided that although we will be getting together with a few others tomorrow for a "Girls Night Out," we went out for dinner, just the two of us.


What to have?  The menu is pleather bound and full of pages of choices and yet like a woman's overflowing closet, somehow seemed empty.  I had reviewed the white board of specials before we were seated and had decided on the crab cakes appetizer as my entree with a salad.

Though the crab cakes seem a bit small in the photo, they weren't a bad size for an appetizer.  Full of real lump crab meat which made the difference for me.

My sister's meal was a cajun pasta dish with chicken, mushrooms, scallops and shrimp.  The photo, well, either I need a new cell phone or it needs a tremendous cleaning.  I don't understand why some shots are just ok and some are simply horrid.  Sort of like life, some days are great, wonderful, fabulous and others well, not so much.  True, both are memorable and sometimes you get both in one day.  This week I have been hanging on a swinging pendulum riding from the lowest low through simply content and then all the way over to pretty angry.

Nice to unwind and share it all with an understanding sister who patiently listened.  Cheers to sisters, the first best friends...

It's a Whiskey Sour and though I can never finish it, it was the perfect cocktail.

Spontaneous Lunch Date with the Mr.

For the first 20 years or so of our marriage, my husband rarely called in sick to work.  Though he does work for the U.S. Government, it is not the postal branch so I could never understand his devotion to making it in regardless of blizzards, illness, etc.  It has only been fairly recently that he has felt comfortable taking days off (and he has banked hundreds of hours of paid leave) and so on a recent day when I worked until noon we met for lunch at "that Italian chain restaurant."


The Mr. typically avoids chain restaurants.  We only went to one for a time when our younger son worked there but I will never see the inside of many unless I go with friends.  Luckily we have a wide array of privately and corporately owned eateries in the area and once in awhile I can coax him into the seafood chain because I can't help the way I feel about those amazing little biscuits!

We looked over our menus and I skimmed it at least three times before realizing nothing was screaming out, "Pick me!  Pick me!"  I go with an old classic - the soup and salad.  For the Mr., the chicken parmesan with spaghetti.

Pasta e fagioli.  Pasta and beans.  The waitress is trained to describe it back when ordered, "That soup is like chili with pasta."  I assume this is to help clarify for diners who are shocked when they receive their soup?  I just love soup and this style is clearly in my top 12 favorites regardless of the season or that it is a beautiful pre-summer day.

Ah, the never ending salad bowl.  Some love the dressing and I'm not saying I don't like it, but as readers may remember, I prefer a dry salad.  The crisp, fresh vegetables are what defines a perfect salad so I try to take my serving from the top and leave the wet bits behind for the Mr. who prefers his a bit on the drippy side of the scale.

Breadsticks.  Warm.  Sinful carbs.  Bits with the soup, pieces with the salad and though I am full, I still eyeball the basket.

After lunch a quick trip to his second least favorite place on earth, the mall.  I need pretty shoes for my sister's wedding.  Mission accomplished.

Though this lunch date may seem a bit every day, the special part was being able to call him at a moment's notice and simply meet for a meal.  And by the way, we used a gift certificate thoughtfully given to us by our nephew and his fiancee.  Thank you both.

With the mall errands behind us, we arrived home and pulled two chairs and an ottoman from the patio set down into the shady part of the back yard and talked a bit while the clouds rolled by.

Family Sunday Dinner in Almost Summer

Sometimes the hardest part of preparing a meal is deciding what to make.

Actually, many times the hardest part of getting out of a food rut is also choosing a new food to help get out of the hole.

This weekend when I was going grocery shopping my older son gave me several dinner requests.  Two involved chicken, but that's fine - one was for grilled chicken and the other for version of chicken and mushrooms.  Sunday was a perfect time for the grilled chicken.

With bruschetta.

It's really just chopped tomatoes, salt, pepper, splash of olive oil, pinch of garlic powder, sprinkle of oregano.  The family prefers it on toasted bread (which I actually grilled) and I mixed the tomatoes in everything  I piled it on the grilled eggplant planks.

The chicken was grilled two ways, some with a dry rub and a few with Sweet Baby Ray's barbecue sauce.

Macaroni salad - the photo version includes the chopped and seasoned tomatoes.

A crispy and fresh tossed salad.  I always eat mine without dressing and though I am sometimes teased or given strange looks, I like and enjoy the taste of the vegetables.

A quick flick of the wrist and a mini-watermelon is scooped into a bowl.  It's one thing to say we need to include more fruit and veggies in our diet, but the quickest and best way to ensure it happens is by actually putting it on the table in easy to eat servings.

The other side dish, the conversation, well, it was mostly about the week ahead and our schedules.  Work, play, and when the family will gather again. 

The memorable chat was before the meal when my older son asks how things are prepared, how much of what goes in the tomatoes or on the chicken and how long does it cook...  Someday it will be his turn to provide, prepare and independently be fed well.

Friday Co-Worker Lunch - Topics include the Celebrity Divorce Pool & Drew Barrymore's Wedding

Being fed well is often thought of as having had a good meal, and while this remains true, the primary thought does not have to center around the food but instead the company and the overall atmosphere.

Every other Friday I leave my job at noon.  On the weeks I work a full Friday I often have lunch at either the local Chinese or Mexican restaurant with coworkers I enjoy chatting with voluntarily.  This week we thought we would venture out of the routine and head to Smash Burger but instead we went Chinese.

My day job is for a global cosmetics and personal care product company and while I have seen lashes sold for car headlights on the web, I find it funny that two cars in our employee lot feature these after market add ons.  Here's a close up view. 

My role in the company would be to determine if panelists find these lashes to make their eyes look bigger, feel soft and last all day.

One of the group needs to stop off at the local Post Office and so we wait and admire the landscaping.  Whenever I see daisies, I always think of my sister and so my mind is momentarily derailed as I escape the conversation and retreat into my own thoughts for a moment or two (when will my dress come in, how will it fit, what will I say for my toast - have I changed my mind) and then I snap back into the discussion about the weather.

While waiting for a food, we almost always start by talking about our celebrity divorce pool.  Some may have death pools, but we thought that may be a little strong so instead we each picked ten celebrities we think are likely to get divorced this year and so far, none of us has had a score.  Around March we thought it may be bad karma to only be betting on bad news so we added the celebrity we think would be most likely to get married in 2012 and one of us picked Drew Barrymore.  Ok, yes, I did, I had the first point on the board!

We also discuss things like; the Beckham's - is the way they are presented in the media in any way close to their true personalities, Jennifer Aniston crying about having her man stolen only to show up in Justin Theroux's life and possibly hurt his long term lady friend in the same way, and what motivates straight men to dress up as women.

I am almost ashamed to post this sad picture of my amazing shrimp with rice noodles.  Sometimes my camera phone simply does not cooperate and when looking at the tiny screen I have a hard time judging if the image will be acceptable or not.  Here is my lame representation:

Here is a beautiful photo I found at http://www.naampruitt.com/2012/02/16/spicy-noodles-with-shrimp/

So yes, we indulge in more than our share of celebrity gossip, rating movies, actors and actresses.  I confess.  I look forward to these breaks from reality and having a great meal as well truly makes me feel Fed Well.

Calamari for Kids and Celebrating Mommy's Birthday

Crispy calamari rings are the perfect starter for any birthday celebration, aren't they?

I remember the first time I snuck the tasty rings by my nephews without really defining what they were eating.  Deep fried, dipping sauce, finger food - what else does one really need to know?

Now, they are at least a close to second to mozzarella sticks for them though they are a current first place winner for me.  The two different sauces are both marinara, one with hot red pepper flakes for a bit of extra zip.

Out for pizza for my Mommy's birthday - three New York pizzas to satisfy the 10 of us and our varied tastes.

Sausage,

Plain,

and the veggie!



We talk about our days, about making the Little League playoffs, traveling and airports, weddings, the generous servings on plates that pass by for other diners in the restaurant and staying in touch with childhood friends.   Conversations are also shared about going fishing, portion control and the end of the school year countdown.

The pizzas are mostly eaten, only a few slices to wrap, since we all want to save a little room for something sweet then join in for a round of Happy Birthday singing.

I have the blondie sundae special, the blondie was warm with bits of melting chocolate and nuts.

One nephew orders the chocolate and peanut butter pie,

the Birthday Gal orders the raspberry brulee,

(cheesecake with raspberry sauce and a flame shot over the sugar on top),

and other desserts not pictured included the brownie sundae and a slice of Snicker's Pie.

No arguing, no fussing, no fighting, smiles all around - what more could my Mommy ask for in a Birthday dinner?

For Your Audio Pleasure - served with a side of Neil Diamond

Taking a closer look at childhood memories reveals we learn so much more than we appreciate at the time.  Perhaps that is the real reason we hold on to those experiences from long ago.  If I look closely enough, I can tie food to almost all of my past experiences as far back as 4 years old.  Eating dinner at a friend's house revealed a planned and seated dessert course as if we were in a restaurant.  We were rewarded with chocolate pudding in fancy glasses on plates.  My mother would have skipped this step out of practicality, "Why wash another dish that no one is going to even use?"  Agreed.


One of the first school friends of mine who joined us for dinner had never before eaten or seen french fries.  We were all amazed and talked about it for years.  What child in the 1970's has never had french fries?  The modern answer, "a healthy one."


I remember the smell of fresh lobster in a boiling pot of water drove me outside as a young girl.  I had never experienced the overwhelming strength in the aroma of seafood before and though I grew to love most fish with or without shells, I was put off for a while by this first experience.


Parents may complain of children being finicky or picky eaters, well, I had my preferences.  Pasta was to be coated in butter, never sauce and a bowl of white rice with a butter was also a favorite.  My passionate relationship with carbs has hardly diminished, but now I have moved to include multi-grain or wheat pasta with a variety of sauces.  Rice is brown and served with vegetables.


A few years older, I had dinner at my friend Michelle's.  Well, an entirely new experience had evolved.  Wine for the adults with the meal.  My family never drank any alcohol.  And, dinner music.  Purposely selected music to accompany you for your dining pleasure.  We all just sat around and talked about our day.  Crass?  Were we poor?  Of a lower social class?  Nah, just different.  The music was just the background, the family still spoke, but I couldn't take my attention off of the stereo.  I knew other television families sometimes gathered around the tv during dinner (we never did that either), but this certainly made an impression.  Years later I worked with a woman who also deliberately paired music with the evening meal and her range was from classical to modern to suit her mood.


With a family of my own, we would only choose music once or twice a year during dinner and the television is either turned off or muted.  We do enjoy a soundtrack at parties, but I tend to let the music take all of my attention if it plays during dinner.


So for the memory of my first dinner at Michelle's house, enjoy a snippet of Neil...  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2w-_Vtttrfc