Progressive Dinner

Kyle would tell me to "stop apologizing" but I can't help it. I suck at blogging this month. SUCK. And I'm sorry. But look, another blog post! I honestly feel like I am doing injustice to myself when I only blog once a week. But it matters to someone right? Mom? You care, right?

Okay, enough of that. In the interest of moving forward, and knowing that one snowy day in January I'll blog about New York City and 30 meals I've made between now and then, this post is about the progressive dinner we attended this past weekend in our neighborhood. Fun times with fabulous Minneapolis friends. Aside from a few slim pickin's, most people I spend social time with now live within walking distance of our house, which makes it easy to travel from house to house, enjoying numerous different courses and beverage accompaniments.

Things started at our place, and being busy (read: behind schedule) hosts, I didn't take any pictures at our house. Kyle made baguettes and gougères, and I made a terrine with veal, pork ricotta and ham as well as wild mushroom crostini, and alongside, champagne.

We then treked it one block north to Talia and Jay's apartment.




Jay didn't come to our place as he was at home making their baked mac and cheese prepared in individual baking pans and muffin tins. Amazing. Delicious.



Armed and Ready


Great detail by Jay. I love the scallions, and I really could never pass up extra cheese sauce




Talia gets excited


Making our way over to Danielle and Chuck's, we had to first load up our pockets (and a hand or two) with cold beer on the porch






First we had to cross the tracks


and then make the two block walk down 2nd


I got kind of involved in a conversation about video games (don't judge me) at Chuck and D's and didn't take any pictures there. I will also blame this on my leaving early to help Becky with her roasted chicken. Danielle made gorgeous rustic tartes and they were served with boozy homemade chai (courtesy of Criste). Where the hell was my camera? I think this is when I first had some brandy.

Becky had never roasted a chicken before and was roasting TWO leading to certain amounts of nervousness. They turned out better than you could ever imagine, juicy and tender with crispy skin and perfectly browned veggies, I could swear she was a seasoned chicken roaster... but she did need help carving.



Amanda had clearly shown up by this time, as I actually got to star in a few pictures here


Becky was the only gorgeous soul who adorned a Mad Men costume. It was really a great idea for the weekend before Halloween to all dress up, but alas my lack of Joan dress (god, I could SO pull that off), or spanks for that matter lead me to wear a simple red dress. Becky went all out and found the most amazing outfit at Via's. Check out this head piece.



MEAT!


In her vintage housewife glory


Amanda didn't dress up. She just rocks vintage day in and day out.




Next up was dessert at Katrinas. She made TWO, apple pie and pumpkin bars. There was definitely brandy in my coffee at this point.





Claudia's house was meant for after-dinner drinks and games. If you haven't experienced 3-D chalk before, to quote myself "it rulz". More brandy.



You do need to wear the magic 3-D chalk glasses to truly get it though


I'm sure Zach wrote something inappropriate




And then... we played "writey-drawy-foldy". Essentially the premise is to write out a sentence. Any sentence about anything. Then hand it to the person to your left (you're sitting in a circle). Everyone then receives a piece of paper with a sentence written on it and underneath make a drawing depicting the sentence they read above. Then they fold the sentence under before handing the paper to the person to your left so that the person they are handing it to cannot see the original sentence. They then write a sentence depicting the picture that you drew while you draw a picture depicting the picture the person to your right drew. Get it? It's like an alcohol induced game of telephone on paper. And it is amazing.





The game ends when someone realizes the piece of paper that is in their hands was the one they had originally. Very rarely is it remotely similar to the original sentence, but it is pretty awesome what people come up with.





The best part may be going through the train of thought of 10 or so people as you describe your sentence and its path to the whole group.













Happy Progressive Dinner Everyone! Leave the brandy at home next time.

Anniversary Weekend

Kyle and I celebrated our 2nd Anniversary this past weekend. Last year we took a little holiday to celebrate in Western Wisconsin, and were planning a similar concept until Kyle came up with the brilliant idea for us to stay at home and cook fabulous food all weekend with no distractions. So cook we did.


First, we studied


Kyle made bread


We had ravioli for lunch


None of those wonton wrappers for us! We DID live in Italy after all


I'm a little embarrassed about our non-fluted pastry cutter


But it did taste pretty damn good


What is romance without a steak dinner?


Kyle baked some more! This time, brioche


And then we made croque monsieur for breakfast


And because I'm me... some foie gras torchon, even though they weren't very pretty....


They tasted damn good with some truffle salt sprinkled on top


Things I didn't spend the time to take pictures of: the copious bottles of wine consumed, and two other lovely baking projects of Kyle's. Fortunetely, we still have all of the bottles and left overs of the other two projects, so I have more material to post this week (oh, plus the New York pictures, squash soup terrine, and numerous other files clogging up my hard drive).

Week of Eating: NYC Day 1

The only significant meal I ate my 1st day in New York was at Jean George. I woke up incredibly early for my flight in, had breakfast at the airport around 5:45am central, and had 2:30 reservations at Jean George for lunch in NYC. After a very humid and warm trip from JFK to UWS (Yeah, for all of you non locals? uh, the Upper West Side, like, duh.) I was ready to be treated well. Jean George has a $30 lunch special: any two entrees for $30.


Foie Gras Brulee with Pistachio and Dried Cherry


Sautee of sweetbreads with arugula and pickled peaches

If you order Foie Gras and Sweetbreads and you order a glass of chardonnay you might as well just write "asshole" on your forehead. I ordered a lovely Alsatian Riesling to compliment my dishes. And dessert? Oh no... I'm sure I don't... what's that? you have a cheese CART?



Done and Done. And a glass of Côtes du Rhône to compliment. Great. Thanks!



My very reasonably priced meal all of a sudden became a $100 lunch for one (including tip, thank god).


Now I know what you're thinking. I took pictures in this place? Well I certainly wasn't going to, but then EVERYONE ELSE was. It turns out fabulous cameras are as common as hot dogs in NYC, so while I VERY quickly (and sneakily I might add) took the pictures of my entrees (I hadn't yet worked up the courage to shoot my lovely assortment of amuse bouche) I flat out said "screw it" when they wheeled out the cheese cart. It was gorgeous, and honestly? Everyone is a tourist.

My server was lovely. A Florida native (and FOUR years younger than me. What would I do if I had a gig like that at the age of 23? I'd think I was the shit. That's for sure) we chatted about the service industry for a while before he had to depart (oh wait, split shifts DO suck and I'm very happy to have bid "adieu" to waiting tables).

Oh and the food. Was. AMAZING. Just do yourself a favor, get a glass of ice water and enjoy this place for $30 next time you're in Manhattan.

But be aware. I made reservations 3 week in advance for lunch, and they only had an 11am and a 2:30, so it apparently fills up pretty quickly.