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Friday, December 14, 2012

Adventures with Travey

On this cold December day...how about a summer flashback?

When I was prepping for my Spain trip, I woke up one Saturday and walked from my place to the South Street Seaport (I went the long way around Battery Park, so I think it was a good four-mile warmup). Travis met me at the water, and we rode the free Ikea Ferry to Red Hook for lunch and urban exploring. We sampled what is supposedly "the best" key lime pie at Steve's Authentic Key Lime Pies. Then we pretended we were at the beach and feasted at Brooklyn Crab, where Travis channeled his hometown roots to show me how to eat crabs like a Maryland native.

Reflecting on this is a bit bittersweet, as you may know Red Hook sustained a lot of damage in Hurricane Sandy. I just looked at the website for Steve's pies, and they are back in business after a rough couple of weeks, with more repairs to come. The crab shack looks over a huge Fairway supermarket that I believe was completely flooded, with all of the inventory discarded.

Here's hoping Red Hook is returning to normal and sunnier days like this one last August are in store again...


















Dinner at Marea

Adam and I decided to treat ourselves to a phancy weeknight dinner recently. We hit Marea on Central Park South and scored two great seats at the bar right before it started to fill up. 

Each of us opted for the four-course prix fixe. The menu was rather overwhelming, so I just asked the waiter to choose my dishes. We added on this starter, which is one of their signatures: 


RICCI: sea urchin, lardo, sea salt

I didn't take my camera, so all of these photos are from their website. This was my main course:

CAPESANTE: seared sea scallops, roasted cauli ower, capers, endive, currants, bagna cauda


However, Adam and I both agreed his roasted guinnea hen with porcini, sunchoke, brussels sprouts, pearl onion, and apple blew the scallops out of the water. When the waiter tells you to order the guinnea hen at a seafood place, you know it's good stuff...

Other dishes included
POLIPO: grilled octopus, smoked potatoes, pickled red onions, radish, chilies, tonnato


FUSILLI: red wine braised octopus, bone marrow



SPAGHETTI: crab, Santa Barbara sea urchin, basil

Our desserts were:

SEMIFREDDO DI NOCCIOLA:
piedmont hazelnut, dark chocolate, grapefruit, anise mascarpone
CROSTATA DI MIRTILLI:
huckleberries, ricotta crema, candied squash, sicilian pistachio, lemon sorbet


Should have snapped a photo of those, as I couldn't find the images on the website. Nevertheless, the Huckleberry tart was the clear winner in the dessert category. Definitely a big weeknight splurge, but it was truly a memorable meal and just such a treat! Adam is a wonderful dining companion, always up for anything. We have another special meal planned for Tuesday, and I will try to do a better job on photos, not to mention more timely posting...

Monday, October 15, 2012

Highland Homecoming

Dorothy was right...there's no place like home!

If you don't know what's going on with my mom, you can check out the CaringBridge site that Leigh Ann and I set up. Since she was diagnosed with liver and bone cancer on Oct. 2, I have been eager to be by her side, but Leigh Ann took the "first shift" last week and accompanied Mom to the oncologist and PET scan. 

We swapped out at the Tallahassee airport on Saturday afternoon. 
I was very excited to get into Mom's refrigerator and sample some of the treats her friends had been dropping off, namely what my sister had told me was some most excellent pimento cheese from our friend Janice. Sadly, it was all gone! However, I enjoyed some fantastic quiche (Mom would like to give a shout-out to Angel's new catering business...thanks, Mary Howard), and our friend Gail dropped by with some chicken artichoke pasta. I went for the first of what will be MANY King Street jogs to burn off a few of the calories I'll be taking in.

Saturday night, our Highland Avenue neighbors "Miss" Betty and Mr. Billy had us down for a wonderful grilled supper of pork chops, pineapple, sweet potatoes, vegetable cous cous and brownies. Miss Betty even set the table with fine china, silver and antique glassware. She has been our #1 angel in the past two weeks.
Sunday morning, I woke up to a text from Ranie, Miss Betty's daughter and my friend since were were babies. "Are y'all up? I made pumpkin waffles. They're still warm!" 

What a way to start the day! They were divine -- light and fluffy, with the perfect amount of pumpkin and spices. 
After that, we went to church, where my mom's family has always sat on the front row. The best part of this is that you get an unobstructed view of the children's sermon! Miss Betty's three grandsons (Ranie and Jason have Benjamin and William, and Philip and Joann have Andrew) were quizzed on what they'd been learning about the creation story -- what God made each day. I was quite impressed by their correct answers. The preacher's favorite part was when they were asked what happened on the seventh day, and someone shouted, "Church!" During his sermon, the pastor emphasized the fact church is not just a place, it's a relationship and a community. Amen to that. 
After church, we made a quick stop at CVS to pick up some prescriptions and some Halloween goodies for the boys. Mom has a cute tradition of stashing treats for all three of them in the pumpkin on her stoop...Ranie texted me this picture last week when they got their first surprise. I hope they like what I picked out for them this week! 
Lunch was a real treat. Miss Virginia, our special surrogate mother/grandmother, had us over for a quintessential Southern Sunday dinner of roast beef, potatoes, cabbage, to-die-for corn pudding, okra, tomatoes, and HOMEMADE rolls. Dessert was vanilla rum pudding with a nutty crust. Amazing! 
We lingered around the table until after 3 o'clock, laughing and telling stories. (My friend Barbara told me she bet my time here would illustrate the quote, "Laughter through tears is my favorite emotion." She was right.) The only thing that could have made it better is if my sister had been with us. 

After lunch, I went to the Winn Dixie and ran into one of my favorite people, James Scott, who worked on my family's farm for around 40 years. He loves to remind me and my sister how he remembers the days we were born. When I told him about Mom, he said, "Tell your mama to eat ice cream! Chocolate ice cream. Not vanilla! I had cancer too, and I ate chocolate ice cream, and it cured me." 

I told him that was one prescription I was sure my mama could follow. 
My Winn Dixie mission was to pick up ingredients for Maple-Pecan Sundaes with Candied Bacon. (You have to lower your foodie expectations a bit when shopping at the WD...I think I will keep a running list of the things I haven't found there. This trip, it was Nabisco's Famous Wafers and candied ginger. I knew the ginger was a bit unlikely but thought the cookies were a safe bet.) 

I spent an hour in the kitchen making candied bacon and reducing maple syrup, then we headed out for supper with our other beloved neighbors, Mark and Patsy. Yet another tasty meal...they had a friend who was visiting, and we entertained each other retelling some our favorite Quincy stories, complete with impersonations. 
The sundaes were a hit! I was a little worried about serving something so experimental, but the flavors paired together really well. The cinnamon and the ginger in the maple syrup gave it a hint of fall, but given the fact the north Florida highs are still in the 80s, it was cool and refreshing. Mom thinks this would make a good Christmas gift, so go ahead and get your orders in now...
We are blessed beyond words to be surrounded by so many friends who love my mom and are lifting her up in prayer. Mom spent nearly 30 years teaching at a small private school, a job that offered limited financial rewards but abundant relationships and meaningful connections. She was tickled pink last night when one of her students posted on Facebook this picture of her daughters reading a Spanish book from Mom. 
Photo: Weezie and Ginger learning a little Spanish with the help of an old gift from Miss Cheryl Snipes Smith.

I find strength and encouragement in all that love, along with these words from our affirmation in church yesterday: 

We are not alone, we live in God's world. We believe in God: who has created and is creating, who has come in Jesus, the Word made flesh, to reconcile and make new, who works in us and others by the Spirit. 

We trust in God. 

We are called to be the Church: to celebrate God's presence, to live with respect in Creation, to love and serve others, to seek justice and resist evil, to proclaim Jesus, crucified and risen, our judge and our hope. 

In life, in death, in life beyond death, God is with us. We are not alone. Thanks be to God. 

Tuesday, October 9, 2012

Peggy + Charles!

I'm back from an action-packed wedding weekend in Charlotte. Peggy grew up next door to my aunt in Charlotte. We first met when she stayed with me while visiting Duke, and we became close buddies when we were both single in Charlotte. She is my favorite walking companion!

The weekend started with the bridesmaids' luncheon at the lovely home of a dear family friend. It was a warm, sunny day with prefect Carolina blue skies, so we started off with pomegranate mimosas on the back terrace, them moved into the living room and dining room, set up with pretty tables and fresh fliers. Lunch was a crab cake with mustard sauce and roasted asparagus, and a salad of mixed greens, pickled onions, citrus, pine nuts and feta. We had lemon meringue tarts with berries for dessert. It was all so tasty, and the pastry crust was outstanding!



I was a little sleepy after my champagne kicked in, but I had to scoot over to my friend Karey's house for a fashion 911. When I unpacked on Friday night, I realized I'd left behind in NYC one of my daytime dresses! Karey's closet saved the day.

Wardrobe crisis solved ("Yikes! I had to wear my wedding brunch outfit to the bridesmaids' luncheon!" #whitegirlwoes), I did take a power nap before I dressed for the rehearsal at Christ Episcopal Church.

The rehearsal dinner was at the Charlotte City Club. We sipped cocktails as we watched the sunset and then moved into the dining room for dinner, which included both shrimp and petite filets. Dessert was pecan pie and pecan maple ice cream. At dinner, I was seated between the groom's brother Boyce and Peggy's "Spanish brother," Vicente. He stayed with her family for two months in both 1994 and 1995.

Boyce gave me a sweet shout-out during his toast and said if I hadn't introduced him to Peggy, he wouldn't have been able to introduce Peggy to Charles. The toasts were full of photo props, nicknames, memories, and all the other good stuff that mixes laughter and tears.

After dinner, we moved upstairs for more cocktails with a bigger group of friends. Leigh Ann got a gold star for making it out despite the fact she had a big morning planned at the gym to continue her marathon training.

The wedding day was picture perfect, bright and sunny...one of those days that makes October a killer month for weddings. A number of families co-hosted a fabulous brunch with a host of Southern delicacies. The brown sugar bacon-wrapped pretzels were the best part, and that's saying a lot because everything was divine!

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The wedding service was lovely...both of the officiants had known Peggy and Charles in high school, and the homily was very meaningful and funny. This line really touched me: "The Gospel in a nutshell is this: We are fully known -- all of our warts, wounds, and wonders -- and yet we are fully loved. That is the Gospel of marriage as well."

I managed to get in and out of the lectern to read the Gospel without twisting an ankle in my impractical-yet-totally-fabulous silver heels. The passage I read (John 15) says God is the vine and we are the branches, and we must remain connected to Him in order to thrive. Peggy gave me a perfect keepsake gift, a beautiful pewter box engraved with leaves and branches. Inside, it says "friendship is a sheltering tree." Charles designed monogrammed cuff links and studs for the groomsmen, inspired by an antique Art Deco plate that belonged to his grandfather.

The reception was a huge party at Charlotte Country Club. Food highlights were fried oysters, goat cheese tartlets and melt-in-your-mouth beef tenderloin sandwiches. In addition to the regular bars, they had a room set up with some of their favorite California wines. I had a blast catching up with friends from church and book club, and Peggy's Spanish exchange student Vicente was a great dance partner in his Air Force dress blues. I even got to shake my booty with Peggy's sweet daddy, Dick.

Cheers to the happy couple!