MY BELATED BIRTHDAY SLASH PETER’S ACTUAL BIRTHDAY PARTY / RECIPE: HERBED LAMB KEBABS, September, 2014, Orient Point, NY

First off, let me apologize for my long blogging hiatus. Let’s blame it on a combination of Mercury Retrograde and being crazy busy at the restaurant. Now that my ruling planet isn’t sucking the life force out of me and my bar manager has returned from her month long vacay, I promise to be posting again at least once a week. AND share more recipes! So let’s begin with a belated post about my belated birthday / my roomie Pete’s actual birthday party at his family’s home in Orient, NY!
If you remember from earlier posts, I lived in the Hamptons for about 6 months while the boyfriend was farming in Ammagansett. It was the worst!
It was so over crowded and expensive, it would take 30 minutes to drive to the beach, which often, you’d have the pay for! We never went out, barely went food shopping, TG we had unlimited free vegetables! I haven’t been back since. The North Fork is the other side of the end of Long Island, kind of like the Hamptons, but it doesn’t suck. The beaches are rocky (which makes for great photos!), the houses are quaint and even during the busy season you still feel the small town country vibes. Orient Point is the very last town on the North Fork. It’s an adorable little village with great antiquing, little shops and it’s quiet! It’s a popular vacation spot but has yet to blow up. Though as I’m writing this I can feel it getting more and more popular. There are already Brooklynites that have moved out there, notable my favorite little sandwich shop/ microbrewery (my dream establishment), Fork and Anchor. The popular Brooklyn pie shop (and one of my favorite cookbooks) Four and Twenty Blackbirds even has a pop up shop there! The Treiber;’ have a sprawling but cozy and impeccably decorated home they allowed up to co-opt for the weekend. I was excited to have our friends come enjoy the Trieber’s beautiful country home and check out a part of Long Island many of them had never been before!

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DINNER FOR TWO (PLUS SPENCER) / RECIPE: SUN GOLD BUTTER, August, 2014, Bushwick, Brooklyn

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This past Sunday the boyfriend and I had tentative plans to join some friend’s out on Shelter Island. But after driving to and from the Hamptons the day before for work the boyfriend just wasn’t up for it. Though I was slightly bummed, I understood his plight (especially since I’m a big unlicensed 26 year old loser), I got over it (though forced him to take me to the beach the very next day). He made up for it by bringing me to my favorite Sunday shopping spots: The Cooper Park Farmers Market and The Meat Hook! We bought way too much food for just the two of us (mostly tomatoes) and prepared a decadent dinner. Luckily, I ran into my oldest friend, Spencer, while running out for some pink wine and I forced him to join us. As per usual we had a lovely roof top BBQ and I finally got to make SUN GOLD BUTTER. Continue reading

FARMER’S MARKET FEAST / MY FIRST ROOF BBQ, July 2014, Bushwick, Brooklyn

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I’ve been feeling really guilty lately about not buying local and/or organic. Two summers ago I lived on a farm with my (then farmer) boyfriend and puppy. (Just to clarify, it’s the same boyfriend, he just now has a different job). We picked our dinner from vegetables he grew with his is own hands (plus a few others). We always had farm fresh eggs and always ate “in season”. And it was all FREE. But now, as a struggling twenty something living once again in New York City I find it ridiculously expensive to eat fresh, seasonal and local. I take advantage of the low cost meat and produce at our neighborhood Bizarre Grocery (gotta love Bushwick). They have a butcher on the premises and the produce is pretty fresh and more importantly reasonably priced. This place is GREAT when we’re hosting a larger party and looking to keep our food costs down. But last Monday I decided to make a small intimate dinner for my roommates and a few friends. So I broke my pattern and ventured to the Union Square Farmer’s MarketContinue reading