sunnyside up!

(leave your worries on the doorstep)

sunday veg-out

Our Sundays generally feature two regular events: RJr’s weekly physics/calculus tutoring, and televised Italian Series A soccer.  We schedule the tutoring around the soccer, depending on which match is most interesting to R.  This week there was no question we’d be watching the live broadcast of the Inter/AC Milan game (2:30 EST).

The soccer schedule also dictates the type of midday meal I’ll serve. I decided on things that would be easy to transport into the living room and eat without having to mess with too many utensils — just in case meal time ran into the beginning of the game.  I made an onion and goat cheese tart using the onions FOB gave me last weekend and the recipe given to me by NR.  Also, a spinach and mushroom quiche — presented as spinach and mushroom pie so as not to offend the sensibilities of my real men.  Everything turned out great, but at some point I really do have to learn to make a decent pie crust.  The one I used for the quiche was frozen, and it was slightly sweet and a little mealy.

While the guys watched the game I dozed in the bedroom.  I hadn’t really slept well the night before (I think I was still a bit shocked by the news that my kids are going to have a new, much younger sibling before long), but I couldn’t really get a good nap in either.  Too much stuff spinning around in my head.  Very thankful to have had the Monday holiday to unwind a bit more.  Very thankful for Pink Martini’s encouraging “Hang on Little Tomato” — found the audio available on YouTube, below.

they used to tell me I was building a dream

weekend recap

An eventful weekend, beginning with Saturday morning’s rush to catch up with preparations for dinner as I did not get to the ragout as intended on Friday.  I spent too much time trying to fix my cake, which came out perfectly (thank you Duncan Hines) and left me feeling hopefully about my baking skills — until I tried to frost it with cream that I hadn’t whipped up stiff enough.

I kept hearing that song, “MacArthur Park” in my head — the Richard Harris version, not the Donna Summer, although I love that, too — the part about someone having left the cake out in the rain.  (Truly, there never was a more bizarre pop song.)

Anyway, the cake tasted great (I sandwiched more strawberries and sliced bananas between the layers) and was a hit with my guys.

This Saturday, “my guys” included AZ, who is always great company and is very non-judgmental when it comes to things like cake aesthetics and being misinformed about the quantity and quality of beer we had on hand.  Good thing he picked up some Jenlain at the Superior Market on Queens Blvd on his way over.  They are truly superior when it comes to beer selection.

On Sunday, a trip up to Pleasantville to see our young friends, FOB & WW.  The invite came about after I filled in a Facebook meme, “25 Random Things About Me,” and noted that I like hiking and don’t get out of the City enough.  FOB read that, and although I wouldn’t generally describe her as “angelic,” her invitation to join them for brunch and then a “winter walk in the woods, weather permitting” was certainly sent by the cosmos.  It fed so many neglected personal hungers — the need for exercise, for fresh air — and fresh faces and ideas!

FOB & WW have made a really lovely home in a quirky old house (cir. 1850) on a woodsy hillside.   You can feel the love and warmth in that place the minute you step through the door.  FOB served us coffee and yummy muffins (clearly NOT Duncan Hines)  and a perfect veggie fritatta, and caught us up on all the news of her sprawling family.  WW spoke mostly of emergency response plans to various disaster scenarios — a favorite topic, touched off by a comment on the disocvery of the source of the maple syrup smell plauging New Yorkers in recent months.  Then we moved on to public health and food safety issues, which led to a less worrisome conversation about locally grown produce.  The couple struck a deal with a local farm whereby they receive a box of fresh vegetables every other week.  I benefitted from FOB’s not liking onions and took home a bag full of lovely yellow and red onions and a handful of cipollini.

After brunch, as promised, a not-too-strenous walk in Rockefeller State Park Preserve.  We hiked the Eagle Hill trail, spotting families of deer foraging in the melting snow, up to the highest point from where you have a view of Pocantico Lake.  It’s been a week since I smoked my last cigarette and drawing a deep breathe of that crisp/clean air was my first reward to myself.  Thanks a million, FOB & WW, for the your gracious hospitality.  Therapeutic — and great fun.