lunch and dinner with friends

after my afsc action hour (which happens at noon every friday), i met greg at the cafe up the street for a honey whipped latte and avocado toast (he worked from home today and had left before me to have lunch).

i couldn't finish it all and brought it back home for tomorrow.

the beautiful afternoon sky (i was walking home from the grocery store) . . 

marisa called on wednesday to say that she and tsering were in town and they were going to try and visit lizette thursday afternoon. unfortunately, there was a tunnel fire that day on the long island rail road and they weren't able to take the train out to manhasset, so we might all go together in the car on sunday. this evening they came over for dinner. i made risotto with asparagus and they brought cheese and charcuterie (tsering always picks out the most delicious cheese - tonight they brought a stilton and appenzeller along with prosciutto and calabrese, all from zabar's uptown).

and strawberry jam tarts . . 

it was so nice to get together (photo by chanda).

sunday poem and dinner with friends

pastoral

something in the field is

working away. root-noise.

twig-noise. plant

of weak chlorophyll, no

name for it. something

in the field has mastered

distance by living too close

to fences. yellow fruit, has it

pit or seeds. stalk of wither: grass-

noise fighting weed-noise. dirt

and chant. something in the

field. coreopsis. i did not mean

to say that. yellow petal, has it

wither-gift? has it gorgeous

rash? leaf-loss and worried

sprout, its bursting art. some-

thing in the. field fallowed and

cicada. i did not mean to 

say. has it roar and bloom?

has it road and follow? a thistle

to prick, fraught burrs, such 

easy attachment. stem-

and stamen-noise. can i lime-

flower? can i chamomile?

something in the field cannot.

by jennifer chang (from new jersey, teaches at u of t, austin)

----

after much straightening, organizing, cleaning, shopping, cooking and setting up, we were ready for guests. 

trying the cheese, i believe . . i picked up a challerhocker which is a swiss appenzeller, and old farmdal, which is a gouda (from murray's). i did not get a photo of the lasagna! and it was such a project, but it came out very well. i did a mix from my giada delaurentis recipe and samin nosrat's "the big lasagna," so it was vegetarian: spinach with a mix of fresh parsley, basil and oregano, lots of ricotta and parmesan with a mix of béchemal and marinara sauces. i followed giada's baking time (45 minutes, 375 degrees). 

it was nice to catch up with victoria and to see vjosa and her son, who were supposed to visit several years ago, but there was sickness or plane delays and they didn't come. none of us could remember what the situation was, so it must not have been dire, thankfully. actually, victoria is staying at janet's, so she's just around the block.

they brought the cutest cake . . it's called a jellycat fresh cream cake from the ann tremet bakery. for years i have not understood what this store is about, as the cakes have a very different flavor and texture from other local bakeries, so i searched the name online and this is what i found.

i'm not sure what the filling was, but the icing was fresh cream.

and they brought lilacs, which the cats have (so far) left alone (knock on wood). (oh, and i did not go out to brooklyn for the yarn crawl.)

it was a nice evening.

knitting and dinner and rain

almost done with this baby sweater . . today i set the second sleeve in. tomorrow i'll sew it up along with the left side seam. the right side is already completed; then i'll block it and sew on the buttons. it was such a hot and steamy day! i went shopping for taco fixings (it just happens to be taco tuesday) when it began to rain and did not stop. greg came and helped me carry things home as they weren't delivering and i had a lot of jars and cans.

chanda is helping greg beautify his taco for the photo . . 

chanda's friend was here for dinner (they both helped get dinner on which was nice) . . it felt good to have a guest. she was interested in borrowing a fun and light book to read. i recommended jacobin's daughter since she said she liked history and felt like reading a romance. it's a book my parents gave me for christmas when i was about twelve or thirteen years old. it's fun reading these old books again . . i just finished re-reading a beautiful, early edition of black beauty that my sister gave me for my birthday. 

it's still raining and i can hear thunder in the distance . . there is a very cool breeze wafting through the window . . tomorrow it's only supposed to reach 72 degrees . . today it was 91! it'll feel chilly if it isn't too humid.

coffee and dinner

 
i did a lot of walking today . . first to meet korrina for coffee before she began work, and second to visit sacha and charlotte for dinner in brooklyn (coming home in between) . . 

the beautiful fig tree in front of the cafe . .

besides sitting down for coffee and perusing shawl patterns on ravelry (she's searching for something for the two skeins sitting on the table), i was picking up keys from her that i had left at the house when we were there together. i also managed to do an incredibly graceful flat out fall on the floor of the cafe while maneuvering between other patrons sitting in chairs packed too tightly back to back . . 

there's a very nice thrift store across the street with well priced clothes . . korrina found a black cotton dress for $9.

maybe i've posted this black cat before? i'm always surprised to see it.

i stopped at mcnally jackson on the way home as the book i had ordered was in (in my mother's footsteps).

----

in brooklyn now . . 

pookie the cat . . they have another cat adopted just four weeks prior who was still in hiding mode underneath their kitchen sink. they lost their sweet bunny half a year ago (he was quite old), but still have one adorable little mouse who poked his up from the little basket he was in. all these years sacha has been able to keep two little mice on a single shelf attached to the wall in her bedroom. however, she thinks the new mouse may have gotten one . . pookie is missing a tail and doesn't jump at all which is why they think it might be the new cat. (the new cat is very sweet but also very shy.) she may have to figure out something else for the mouse.

the chef busy preparing dinner . .

the menu and a delicious grapefruit lime spritz . . 

charlotte made the most delicious salad with black beans, red peppers, mango, avocado, cucumber and a delicious dressing.

greg met me afterwards (he had taken a walk on the esplanade) and we went home together.

babysitting and dinner with clyde

i was out early this morning to watch aurélien at the playground while kendall sat in the car as the street cleaner went by, and sairy, her nanny, attended a special caregiver meeting at aurélien's preschool. i took this photo of him climbing over the bars, and he lost his grip immediately after and crashed to the ground. he was rather upset and i thought i had totally messed up the morning by taking pictures and not watching him properly, but thankfully he calmed down.

caregiver gloria was very good at making sure the children took turns pushing and riding, and also made sure they steered properly. as a parent my patience with this hot wheel car would be very short (later when talking with kendall, she concurred with this sentiment - that many of the parents wanted this hot wheel car to disappear).

 

afterwards, i walked to joe coffee on 13th street, just east of fifth avenue for a decaf mocha, and then went to michael's craft store to look at picture frames. clyde gave us one of his drawings years ago and i've always meant to frame it. morgan called while i was there and i sent a pic of this cute bulldog advertisement. morgan just moved with harley to a new apartment in soho and there is currently a lot of drilling in the street below them as the city is installing fiber optic cable. one of their new neighbors relayed the information that the wifi wasn't good in the building, so i think they're both happy that in a few months they will have new service.

i picked this frame for the time being as the drawing is an unusual size and wouldn't fit in anything i saw. i'm considering eventually having a custom frame made. i think clyde calls this drawing space bunnies.

peonies and eucalyptus from korrina and chanda . . they smell wonderful. i love the scent of eucalyptus.
 

the dinner crew, along with clyde's friend paul whom he has been staying with for this visit.

 

we had hamburgers and hot dogs (korrina cooked them so they came out perfect) with the infamous dilly brown rice salad from the cookbook, feeding the whole family, along with a green salad. 

korrina and i sat and talked for a bit after everyone left (chanda has one last paper to finish for school by midnight tomorrow). she has a bag filled with groceries from trader joe's on the bench beside her as she stopped to shop on her way over. they have the best prices these days; everywhere else has become so expensive.

cricket and zuzu wandered back and forth sniffing everything and jumping up to lick the plates in the sink. i've given up trying to keep them from doing so. everything goes into the dishwasher anyway, though it hasn't been working very well (the door has trouble locking in and the dishes sometimes are still gritty after a cycle). i have to go start it now and i hope it doesn't give me any trouble.

dinner out

i finally returned my library books today. i first put in some laundry with lucia that she had to do, then walked to see chanda and then to the library . . and then back to chanda for a detox she made me (sparkling water, honey, lemon, a cinnamon stick and cayenne pepper). 

lucia spent a lot of time on the computer and the phone trying to "check in" with the airline (as people do these days, even though they aren't at the airport!). she was on hold for several hours and then finally learned that they were having technical difficulties and everything would be done at the airport anyway. her flight had been changed to a later time and they were finally on their way around 4:30 pm, after consolidating their packing and washing a pretty dress they had found for moriah at the thrift store by their old apartment.

i had a very fun and early birthday celebration with kendall and janine at pastis on gansevoort street. pastis's food is incredibly delicious. we had mussels, lamb tagine and the freshest steamed green beans with butter (along with chunks of warm homemade bread), followed by chocolate mousse that they had asked the server to bring with a candle. 

 

it was an early meal and i liked coming back outside to a still bright sky and a leisurely walk around the neighborhood.

chanda sent a pic of pluto having dinner with his roommate melvin. she says they are both very messy eaters.