Totally Slacking Off

That's what I have been doing with this blog.  I admit my laziness.  It's summer. That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it.

We've been out to eat tons:  Lobster Joint in Greenpoint, Sunswick in Astoria, Sato in Forest Hills, Agora Taverna in Forest Hills, Keuka Kafe, a wine bar, in Forest Hills, Don Peppe on Lefferts, Dirty Pierre's in Forest Hills, El Quijote in the city, Gypsy Wolf Cantina in Woodstock, Cafe Ole in Astoria. 

Especially liked Keuka Kafe, it's on Queens Boulevard past Ascan Avenue towards Union Turnpike.  Nick, the bartender/host/waiter was great.  Jill and I sat at the bar, had wine and appetizers and loved it.  Salmon carpaccio with mango salsa was totally yummy.  I must have more.  So much on the menu I want to go back and try.

Grilled octopus at Agora Taverna is still my favorite.  Went to dinner with Jesse and he loved it also. I had shrimp saganaki appetizer and he had seared scallops.  We shared octopus, salad and soup too.  Fun!

Tonight I am going with Jennie and Barbara to Barosa, then we are going to the casino at Aqueduct.  Never been and hope to strike it rich at the penny slots :) :)

June

I've cooked some...Asian pork burgers with corn cole slaw.  Burgers were ground pork (very underrated, even if i don't eat it much), scallions, ginger and rice vinegar.  Slaw was green cabbage, carrots, leftover corn on the cob (cut off, of course), mayo, sour cream, sugar and vinegar.

Also summer chili and corn bread.  Chili had no meat.  Pinto beans, frozen corn, stewed tomatoes, portobello mushrooms, onions, garlic, jalapeno peppers and 3 tablespoons of homemade adobo seasoning.  Cornbread had scallions and jalapenos.

Tried my hand at oatmeal raisin cookies from scratch.  Not bad :)

Made ham dinner for Brett.  Spiral ham, just gets warmed, ziti with pink sauce and mesclun salad with goat cheese, beets and bacon.

Went to Ithaca/Cortland for orientation.  Had a nice time.

Since home, been to Dani's, Don Peppe's and Barosa.

Almost 4th of July!!!!

Summer on My Mind

May 1st is the day that we can open up our cabana.  No services at the club except for open bathrooms (quite the necessity).  So naturally I've got summer on my mind and that includes grilling and drinking :)

The new thing at our cabana this summer will be vodka infused with fresh fruit.  I've been reading up on it.  We had pineapple vodka at Agora on Austin Street last week and it was GREAT!  Just cut up pineapple in a glass jar, covered with vodka and left to steep.  Ice in the glass and voila!  Just got a recipe for strawberry vodka too.  (http://www.davidlebovitz.com/2011/06/strawberry-vodka-recipe-infusion/). Totally do-able.

Speaking of Agora, we were there last Friday night with Jill and Lenny.  Their grilled octopus is really good! We had a great time.

Prior to that on Wednesday, Michael and I had haircuts and then stopped at Don Peppe's on Leffert's for the obligatory salad, baked clams and linguine with white clam sauce.  So...if you were never there before you wouldn't notice the difference and it would be fine, however, since we have been going to Don Peppe's for over 20 years (had Michael's 30th birthday dinner there) we noticed.  Here goes:  The salad had exactly 4 olives in it and was mostly iceberg lettuce (tasted great however); the baked clams were good but had too much bread crumbs in the sauce and not enough garlic (Carmine's are better) and the plate for the full order of linguine is smaller than it used to be.  Wine still comes in blank bottles, but no more juice/water glasses, now served in small, cheap wine glasses.  All in all, would go back with a crowd, but no rush.

I am going to El Quijote (yeah) tomorrow night with my new friend Christian whom I met during jury duty and Michael is going bar hopping with Joe.  Friday night we will be at Blacksmith's tavern in Smithtown for a happy hour (s) in memory of Tracy (Glenn's sister); Saturday night we are trying a new Greek place in Astoria (Ovelia Psistaria Bar) with Dina and Dmitry-review to follow and Sunday is Louis' 20th birthday party out at Leslie's.  Looking forward to a great weekend with friends!!