surf's up!

another hot and humid nyc summer evening - a day AND night at the beach certainly would have been a refreshing way to spend this sunday supper. but despite the weather, it was a festive and full of food!

started off with some garlicky fava spread and tropical agave roasted cashews...


...but perhaps much more importantly a giant batch of thirst-quenching and absolutely delicious dark-and-stormys.





as it goes, friends and food arrived and it was most certainly time to eat, drink and be oh so happy!


DINNER MENU
rachel & josh's fish tacos with red cabbage-apple slaw
melinda & sean's penne & rock shrimp in spicy tomato sauce
nick's shrimp in garlicky gravy
justin's crab salad
austin's spicy black beans and rice
clemence & nora & friend's chips and guacamole
stephanie's watermelon and avocado salad
jakenna & conor's veggie kabobs & strawberry-spinach salad

BEVERAGES
dark & stormy's by josh
beer courtesy of eve & greg, amy, justin
wine from amanda, clemence & friends, robbie & dana, april
champagne generously gifted by antonio
capri sun thanks to justine
and ice a la erica





once dinner had been devoured, it was time to just chill...
...well we tried, it sure was hot! but we were still happy.




and then - of course - didn't wait too long before we were onto dessert!!


DESSERT
rachel's peanut butter & jelly loaves
april's fruit salad and meringue
amanda's watermelon
robbie & dana's "ice-cream" sandwiches
clemence & nora & friend's chocolate covered cherries





i'm pretty sure nick enjoyed the little loaves...


... every, last, bite.

birthday brunch!

what a truly special day! a bit confusing yes, a sunday supper on a saturday, and brunch for dinner. but as it was my birthday i felt entitled to mix it up!

it was an incredibly hot and humid summer day - fortunately i made some tasty tangerine-mezcal margaritas to cool us all down, and had some other beverages waiting on the side...

i readied my apartment (complete with bday flowers from some building buddies) and myself and before i knew it we had a most incredible spread of my favorite foods:

brunch menu - round 1

kate's frittata
rachel's scrambled eggs & maple-pecan little loaves
eve & greg's smoked salmon, mini bagels, cream cheese & capers
jamie and matt's vegan donuts and cinnamon buns
jade's fruity and nutty granolas
todd's fresh fruit salad
ruben's watermelon

john & friend's proseco
rachel's tangerine margaritas
ethan & caitlin's champagne
april's sparkling rosados

after popping a bottle of bubbly and a quick toast - we all dug in to this incredible feast!

but it wasn't long before plates were cleaned off!!! good thing we had more... and good thing more guests arrived - with more and more food!!

yes that's right, that's exactly what it looks like. my dear christina came with a basket in hand complete with a portable waffle-making station - sweet as sweet can be :)

brunch menu - round 2

christina's waffles, with whipped cream and berry compote
ali & friend's bread, cheeses, bresaola and fig spread
lauren's bread, cheese and fig spread
conor & jakena's crawfish and pasta salad

rachel & david's wine
andrew's wine
erica's beer

it was a happy happy day - for me and for my friends. made happier by the incredible array of sweet treats

dessert menu

ethan and caitlin's godiva chocolate sampler
amy's varsano chocloate sampler
amanda's cherry clafoutis
ruben's peach pie

what a wonderful way to celebrate!!!! feeling so loved and so grateful. the absolutely best way to start off a new year, the last year of my twenties - the first year of the rest of my life!