This post is a bit out of order. I’ve been photographing every meal, but with my new full-time job, heck if I can’t find the time to blog. So here you go, the week before last, which was our second week living in Boston.
Here are some of the recipes: Rita’s Lasagna, Parmesan Chicken Goujon, Pasta with Tomatoes & Tzatziki, Salmon Baked in Parchment, Baked Greek Shrimp with Feta and Tomatoes
Tonight we celebrated my mom and dad’s birthdays with an epic pasta-making enterprise and meal. The lousy weather provided a perfect backdrop for the monumental task of making fresh pasta for 17 people (or maybe it was 15).
Shane spearheaded the operation with help from pretty much everyone in some way or another. A lot of the meal and prep is not pictured because I was totally obsessed with documenting the pasta-making process.
Not pictured are the three racks of ribs Shane had pre-smoked at home on Thursday, two types of homemade barbeque sauce, Ronni’s delicious salad, the preparation of Chris’ sauce, and dessert prep.
Inconsistent documentation aside, it was a delicious meal and a grand time was had by all. Happy Birthday mom and dad!
It was just us ‘youngsters’ today. We spent the day walking, exploring our new/old neighborhood, looking at wildlife (turkeys & bunnies), and realized that we are not going to get fat. Our 5th floor walk-up apartment has been replaced by a house at the tippy top of a steep hill.
Oddly, this is not just my old neighborhood, but Shane’s as well. One of his first apartments when he emigrated to the US, was a very short walk away from where we’re living now.
In keeping with re-living/re-discovering our past, we ordered pizza from Pino’s, which has been around for as long as I can remember. We ate outside on a threadbare tablecloth which I remember fondly from my childhood. Nice.
Tonight my mom took the dinner reins with a delicious Marcella Hazan frittata, homemade shrimp cocktail and (of course) an amazing salad. You might recall that Shane doesn’t approve of eggs for dinner, but even he gobbled up the frittata. And I don’t think he was just doing it to be polite.
The recipe for Frittata with Onion, Tomato and Basil comes from Marcella Hazan’s Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking.
For dessert we had Drumsticks!
With everything that’s been happening, I’m not sure if I mentioned that we’ve moved in with my parents. It’s a long story, but here we are. You may have noticed an increase in white tablecloths.
The cool thing about this arrangement, dinner-wise, is that we’ve naturally fallen into a pattern of taking turns being responsible for meals. My parents were both out this evening, so Shane and I cooked.
It’s very hot and muggy. Naturally, I thought to make one of my favorite hot weather meals, Warm Macaroni Salad with Zucchini, Corn & Goat Cheese, and a salad. Shane felt the meal wouldn’t be meaty enough, and added a grilled steak to the mix.
We’ve been in our new, temporary digs for a week now. I haven’t had time to post because we’re running around registering for school, opening bank accounts, interviewing childcare providers, going to the Cape and who knows what else. Frankly things are hectic.
Here’s the (not very thorough) week in review, in pictures.
I have a plan for how I’m going to keep this blog going once I start my job. Stay tuned!
I felt like I should post this dinner—even though it was just pizza takeout and a tomato salad—because it was the last in our apartment in Jackson Heights. Here’s to change and new adventures?
Everything’s all a-shambles over here. The dining room table is pushed up against the wall, instead of over by the window. The computer and packing supplies are strewn across it. For the past few nights we’ve pushed things aside and squeezed in amongst packing tape and labels to eat dinner.
Rose does not like this, and I can’t really blame her. Tonight, I set us up on a side table over by the window, where we belong. A pile of boxes topped with a tray held the food. It was squishy-cozy, but felt much better than eating by the computer and the wall.
In an attempt to further placate Rose, we had “free night.”
Our penultimate vacation dinner was one of multiple pastas and salads. Fresh clam pasta about which Drew said “Am I overdoing it with the clams this week?” And everyone replied “No!” Pasta with the Drews’ home-jarred sauce (with or without sausages) and the Drews’ pesto on the side, in case you didn’t have enough pasta-topping options.
Somebody made delicious garlic bread, and I don’t know who it was.
My mom made two salads, a sweet and a salty. The sweet salad had golden raisins, blueberries, feta and orange. The salty salad had arugula, tomatoes and lemon zest.
Also there was a hurricane.
In other tumultuous news, The Steady Table is moving in a week and a half. After 14 years as New York City residents, we’re moving on—eeek!
More on this later, but just so you know, it might be a while till I post again. We’re only giving ourselves 9 days to pack up.
Tonight was the annual early 4th of July fireworks display on Little River. To be ready in time for the show, we had an early dinner of meats, salads and potatoes.
For cocktail hour there were fresh caught clams, on the half shell and casino-style.
Shane brought smoked pork chops up from the Empire Market in College Point. The boys caught bluefish in the morning. To make things extra meat-festy, Drew threw a steak into the mix.
Rita rocked my world with three delicious salads. A romaine and tomato salad with chives and crushed chick peas. An escarole salad with anchovies, croutons, parmesan and almonds (loosely based on this Marcella Hazan recipe). And a “buffalo salad” made with napa cabbage and Frank’s Red Hot, which was very popular with the men.
Shane’s potatoes baked on the grill were extra moist and delicious for some reason. I don’t know what he did.
Weirdly, the amazing firework display at close range, didn’t wake the baby. Happy 4th everyone!