After Wednesday

Thursday night I went to El Quijote on 23rd Street with my friend Christian from Jury Duty. It was as good as always.  He'd never been there and he liked it a lot.  A large pitcher of red sangria to share :)  Garlic soup, salad and lobster for me :)  salad and arroz con pollo for him.  Two cafe con leches and we were done.  Yum!

Friday night Michael and I went to Dirty Pierre's with Jill and Lenny.  We tried to get into 5 Burro (again) but the wait was too long so we wandered to Dirty Pierre's and waited 15 minutes while having beer and margaritas.  We had:  clams with chorizo (never had before, they were yummy); portobello mushrooms topped with roasted peppers and fresh mozzarella and white cheese empanadas.  More beer, more margaritas and even a cosmo! Then we had goat cheese salad, jerk chicken and a burger.  All good and we had a great time!

Saturday night Michael and I went to Ovelia Psistaria in Astoria with Dina and Dmitry.  None of us had been there before but we would all go back.  Out waitress was Erica and she was terrific!  We had:  Tzatsiki; grilled kalamata; saganaki and village salad (typical Greek).  Everything was really good.  We shared a bottle of Greek Syrah (very good) and Michael had two frozen mojitos that were amazing!  For dinner we had:  Garides ovelia which was sauteed shrimp wrapped in roasted eggplant baked in tomato sauce and broiled with feta and rice on the side; stuffed chicken breast with kafteri cheese and creamy tomato ouzo sauce; and grilled octopus with lemon potatoes.  All yummy, all around.  Dessert was:  Yogurt with sour cherries and fried dough balls (similar to zeppoles) but with honey drizzled over the top.  So sweet!  I had Greek coffee too.  Loved the whole evening, food and friends!

Sunday was Louis' 20th Birthday party and as always, good food, good friends and good times! Thanks Leslie!  Always our pleasure to share your special occasions.

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!!

Ferrara's and Shanghai Cafe

Yesterday afternoon I picked up Michael from work and we went to Ferrara's to get Easter bread.  It's our usual before-Easter run.  They make the best egg bread (think Challah) with whole eggs-in the shell-baked right in.  We bought a round seven egg bread to bring the Creutz' for Easter and three 3 egg breads-one for Denise, one for Barbara and one for Chris.  Other than the fact that the place was FULL of tourists and the line moves like a snail, it's always fun to be there.  Their pastries are beautiful!

After getting the bread, we walked to Shanghai Cafe at 100 Mott Street.  Our new place for soup dumplings.  So we had...soup dumplings, scallion pancakes, moo shu pork and veggie fried rice.  Next time no fried rice, too much food, and no scallion pancakes, almost no taste.  But those dumplings are yummy! $25 for dinner for 2!

We went to the Deluxe Meat Market after dinner at 79 Elizabeth Street.  They sell meat (really) and bags and trays of dumplings and mini buns and all sorts of everything Chinese.  They have bins of swimming eels, hopping frogs and other such delicacies (vomit). But I am sure there is a market for them...Stopped for decaf espresso and drove home.  Good day!!

Note:  Last weeks boring food:  Cutlets and salad turned into chicken francese and beet/goat cheese salad; and turkey something became turkey/sundried tomato meatloaf.  I discovered tubes of condiments from Amore in the back of my fridge and used them all:  Garlic paste, tomato paste and herb paste.  They were great additions. If I only remember I have them next time...

Happy Easter and Happy Passover!

Weekend with Friends

Friday night Michael and I went to Fontanta (gyro joint on Francis Lewis) with Lenny, Jill and Brett.  Casual and fun, good food:  Philly cheese steak; chicken wrap, Greek salad with gyro meat; chicken souvlaki and gyro combo platter with rice and soup; fries, hummus and fried calamari. Yum all the way around!

Saturday night Michael and I went down to Jill and Lenny's apartment with Steve and Sue Boyle for drinks and dinner.  Drinks were:  freshly made margaritas; ketel one with cranberry; and beer.  Manchego  and Gruyere cheeses, crackers and thinly sliced pepperoni along with homemade pigs in a blanket went with the first rounds of drinks.  Dinner was linguine carbonara; salad and bread.  Earlier in the day I made chocolate chip cookies to bring; some with dark chocolate, some with white chocolate and some with both. Everything was really good!

Sunday afternoon Michael and I went to see Steve and Lori's girls (Michelle and Alyssa) in the play Into the Woods at the Levitown Hall.  I am not in love with the director of the studio, but the kids love acting and the play was fun.  Afterward we went to dinner at Il Vizio (http://ilvizioristorante.com/ristorante/) in East Meadow with Steve, Lori, Maria and Carla.  We had wine, and more wine...then we ate like there was no tomorrow:  Caesar salad; franchese style mozzarella balls and stuffed portobellos with Gorgonzola and I don't know what but they were from heaven!  Next we had:  Lobster ravioli in a pink sauce with shitake mushrooms and chopped shrimp (unbelievable); stuffed shrimp with crab meat (equally unbelievable); pork chop with cherry peppers; gnocchi with eggplant; and spaghetti with peas (me, I asked for it, it is not on the menu).  Dessert was one tortoni (I had to have it).  We laughed and had a great time! Thanks!

This week at home is not as exciting as the weekend, food wise, anyway :) Last night was mushroom and spinach ravioli (from Fairway) with homemade mushroom and onion cream sauce and a side of Brussels sprouts with pancetta (ok, maybe a little exciting).  Tonight will be chicken cutlets and salad and tomorrow is turkey something (I haven't gotten there yet).

PS:  Jury duty was finally over on Friday.  We found the defendant guilty of manslaughter in the first degree and criminal posession of a weapon in the Fourth degree.  All very interesting and I will miss my new jury friends very much :(

Marianella's and Bare Burger

Last Friday night, Michael, Jill and I went out and headed to Austin Street.  Our destination was 5 Burro, and we even left our name for a table for three even though the stated wait time was THREE HOURS.  Of course, we were not actually going to hang around the sidewalk for THREE HOURS so we went to Marianella's Taqueria near the railroad station for margaritas.  Michael and Jill had two each and I had two beers.  We also shared nachos, guacamole and empanadas.  The food is nothing to speak about, but the margaritas were good.

Now that we had drinks in us, we looked around for food and didn't bother going back to 5 Burro.  We ended up at Bare Burger which is a new place on Austin Street.  Of course, they had no liquor license (boo hoo), but we stayed anyway.  Michael ordered turkey burger sliders.  Jill and I shared one, and we all shared french fries and onion rings.  Hopefully they will get a license soon so we can go back.  Michael wants to try different burgers next time.  The wait staff is really nice, and even though it was crowded, we didn't wait for a table.

I am still on jury duty...seems like forever...and have been cooking this week:  Turkey sloppy Joe's (Michael seems to like them) with salad; Old Bay chicken wings with leftover salad; panko breaded cutlets and tomorrow is chicken sausage with broccoli rabe and farfalle.

Another Week of Jury Duty and Dinners

Today was my twelfth day of jury duty at Queens criminal court in Kew Gardens.  The other jurors and I have become friends. We play crosswords and other games while we wait (and wait (and wait) (and wait) (and wait) for court time to catch up with reality time.

Dinners this week have been:  Turkey burgers and Greek salad; chicken sausage, penne  and broccoli with garlic and oil; chicken marsala with sauteed spinach; and leftovers.  Tonight is undecided as are Saturday and Sunday.
Monday is back to jury duty.  Have a good weekend :)

Last Week

Jerk Chicken

Monday was chicken cutlets with panko breading, baby spring mix with goat cheese, beets and dijon vinaigrette.

Tuesday was chicken sausage, peppers, onions and a wedge salad on the side.

Wednesday was a flat iron steak with carrots, butter and rosemary and portobello mushroom caps.

Thursday was Jerk chicken with sauteed broccoli and cauliflower with garlic, oil, red pepper and bread crumbs.

Friday night Michael went to see the Jerry Garcia band at Brooklyn Bowl and I went out to Leslie's for pizza, and to see her dad, Bruce, since he just had a stint put in and he's doing very well!

Saturday night...how can I explain this without peeing in my pants?  Michael and I had a coupon for Piccolo Italia on Metropolitan Avenue.  It's the only reason we went and we'd never go again.  Picture walking in to an Italian restaurant and the only Italians there are Michael and possibly myself :)  The host was Indian (possibly), the servers are Indian and Russian (maybe), the tablecloths are green (yes, it was St. Patrick's Day but still), the guy singing, yes singing with a microphone no less, is Indian with a screaming Kelly green sequined vest--and he's singing--wait for it--Frank Sinatra.  Can you believe we actually witnessed all this and still sat down?  Anyway, cold antipasto was iceberg lettuce topped with sliced salami and ham, cold tomatoes with mozzarella cheese and a handful of jalapenos (seriously).  I ordered a pizza because I was afraid of everything else and it was just as good as Stoufer's frozen.  Michael had chicken cardenalle (some made up name) with red peppers in a cream sauce that was not too bad.

We did leave immediately after we ate.  The singer was killing us, we couldn't stop laughing.  Needless to say, just walk on by.  We did note, however, that a few doors down, a Turkish places will be opening soon and that we will definitely try.

Have a good week!