adventures in pitasitting

Mama Sando, Matt and I had a pretty exciting and busy BK Saturday last weekend. Filled with great food, long walks, and two adorable pupsters, there was much fun to be had. We touched Ditmas Park, Prospect Park, Park Slope, Prospect Heights, Fort Greene, and back. I had yet to visit the Brooklyn Flea and was pleasantly surprised by the plethora of great foods available. Can’t wait to get a bike in the next weeks to ride there throughout the summer.Speaking of summer… yay for Memorial Day Weekend!

{bffs}

{mama sando trying out the goods}

{peetsters}

[ahh suki}

{mm so glad i’m not a veggie anymore}

{refreshment for a sunny Saturday}

Fun times this weekend with our first picnic of the year in BK. Lots of food, folks, games, kids, and dogs really made it a special one.

{ puppies}

{cupcake station}

{finished product: martha’s lemon cupcake and epi’s lemon cream cheese frosting - DELICIOUS}

{luckylu’s honey glazed gluten free friend picnic chicken - phenom }

{lots of lovin goin on}

{croquet}

{colors}

{lil peet}

{more pupsters}

This weekend I was invited to be very adventurous and go to Harlem. I’ve never been there before. Since I love being a tourist in my own city, I jumped at the chance to get delicious bbq at Dinosaur, and walk around. The weather was great, as was the company. A true treat! Here are some sightings on our walk:

{ empty plate }

{ walking }

This past Saturday, after the trek across the BK Bridge, yet before the good times at Sycamore, James and I went to what was just rated by NYMag to be NYC’s best cafe: Iris. It was definitely heaven. The decor, coffee (Stumptown), food, ambiance.. all of it was wonderful.

Its a cafe that is definitely off the beaten path and would be considered a destination location if you don’t happen to live on the small and beautiful street Columbia. Its a neighborhood place - designed simply and wholly to be just that.

With its tin roof and brick walls, modest decor, and friendly bench sitting outside, it was a great place to sit down after walking a few miles. I would love to go on a rainy day and read a nice book. Although, there were no couches, so it might not be as comfortable as my living room…

Since I was “carbing it up” for the big race on Sunday, James and I ordered only that: biscuits with fresh blackberry jam and a cheddar and bacon scone. I got a simple cup of french pressed coffee to go with.

Pita was a bit restless and I didn’t want her to disturb all the nice people enjoying their cups of joe, so we ate quickly and left. I hope I get to revisit soon to try out their salad/sandwhich/soup selection. I’m sure they will only inspire and be completely incapable of disappointing.

Iris Cafe 

20 Columbia Pl
(between Joralemon St & Atlantic Ave)
Brooklyn, NY 11201
(718) 722-7395

Another busy busy weekend for me in NYC.

Friday: Comedy night, tater tots and margaritas at Trailer Park, darts and beers at Tempest (not the coolest bar on the planet, but they do get all the leftover pizza from the pizza place next door when it closes, so the free pizza really took this bar up a notch), my first experience at Gray’s Papaya (it was revolutionary). Saturday: baking cookies and rice krispie treats, clothing swap, scrabble and coffee during the monstrous rain on saturday, free tickets to Million Dollar Quartet (with wine in plastic cups and a straw aka super classy), drinks at Syc. Sunday: breakfast at P.Rose’s, 10 mile run, wine and mimi’s at Syc with MC & Viv…

All in all, a fabulous weekend with lots of laughter and great company.

{ mmm tater tots and mango margarita.. they were all out of canned champagne.. darn. }

{ my favorite game.. darts. I played a Canadian in what must have been the closest match in history. Let’s just say that America was finely represented in this match. }

{ my first gray’s papaya. enough said. }

{ toasting a great evening with our papaya smoothies }

{ a delicious spread of Shannon’s quiche, John’s Bakery bagels, delicious red grapes, and baked goods by me for the clothing swap.}

{ smitten kitchen’s crispy salted oatmeal white choc chip cookies & salted brown butter crispy treats }

{ rose mango mimosas }

{ coffee and scrabble. a perfect saturday activity when its raining literal cats and dogs outside }

I went over to P.Rose’s for a lovely sunday breakfast. She was cooking pancakes, which I thought would be the perfect fuel for my 10 miler in the afternoon. Turns out, it was! My run was fantastic and got me super confident for my half marathon next Sunday. They were a perfectly crisp & delicate fluff of goodness.

P.Rose’s delcious ricotta cheese & blueberry pancakes..

3 eggs, separated

1 tsp baking powder

a pinch of salt

1/2lb ricotta cheese

2/3 c milk

1/2 c. flour

separate eggs and beat whites until stiff. in another bowl, mix other ingredients well. fold in egg whites. cook on hot griddle. enjoy!

{ pita being a good girl at p.rose’s as we devour many pancakes }

1.

{ Comedy night with Danny at People’s Improv Theater }

2. Clothing Swap at Shannon’s. Will be making my favorite:

{ Smitten Kitchen’s Crisp Salted Oatmeal White Chocolate Cookies }

.. and will be attempting these:

{ smitten kitchen’s homemade oreos }

3. Running this:

{ it’s my last run before the big race, so I’m going to make it as fun and enjoyable as possible. can’t believe its only one week away! }

4. Enjoying a nice weekend of rain by staying in, reading, and cooking. Can’t wait!!

We have started a new weekly tradition. Its pretty fabulous because it includes delicious food, tasty wine, and (most importantly) great company.

Each Sunday evening, we are having Sunday Suppers at PRose’s home. PRose makes the main course, Lisa of LuckyLu brings the sides, I bring the Vino, & Pita eats the things dropped on the floor. Johnny joins and !voila! A great time to be had by all.

Yesterday’s Menu:

• Roasted Pork Shoulder with a Spiced Caramelized Onion and Apple Marinade
• Sweet Potato Puree
• Mustard Greens
• Cole Slaw

Wines (all are available at T.B. Ackerson’s on Cortelyou):

• William Cole Alta Viejo Pinot Noir 2008 - Chile
• Liveli Passamante Salento Negroamaro 2007 - Italia
• Fess Parker Lot 71 Frontier Red Wine - California

{ Pork Shoulder - perfectly moist. It tasted much much better than this picture gives it credit for. }

{ Trio of sides }

{ My Plate }

{ Food + Wine }

Hello all!

As my computer still needs to be taken in, I have to do another round-up of my weekend in photos.

NY was blessed with beautiful weather (in low-mid 40’s!!), so much of it was spent outside. P.Rose, Pita, and I went on a 5 hr walk through Park Slope and Prospect Park enjoying Gorilla coffee (my fav coffee in BK), brunch at Get Fresh (pretty bad service, but great Mexican Brunch options), and delicious street car artisanal ice cream:

{ Pita outside Gorilla Coffee }

{ mmm Strawberry & Vanilla for me & Earl Gray & Chocolate for PRose}

{ Beautiful Prospect Park }

{ One More Shot }

{ Stray Dog - JK! }

What is a weekend without some day drinking and take-out at Syc with MC & DrC ? We enjoyed our new favorite Mexican food in Ditmas Park: Los Mariachi’s shredded chicken burritos. This is my new favorite takeout place (besides Mimi’s, ofcourse) in the ‘hood:

I was also personally blessed this weekend by being invited to two dinner parties in Ditmas Park. The first was with Shannon & friends: a dinner-and-a-movie special honoring none other than the Great Tina Turner and the movie-based-upon-her-book-I, Tina: What’s Love Got To Do With It. It was all sorts of fabulous:

{ Table Set Up. Menu: Baked Gouda Mac-n-Cheese, Rice and Beans, Homemade Blue Cheese Dressing Salad, Sage Corn Bread, and Ike Turner is the Devil’s Food Cake — all completely delicious }

{ Shannon’s cake - the best thing I’ve ever tasted }

{ mmm Cake & Coffee }

My second dinner party was at PRose’s with Lisa of LuckyLu & Johnny. Lisa made us the most delicious Quinoa Meatloaf, Potato Gratin, Brussels Sprouts, and Spinach. It was all to die for.

{ Brussels Sprouts - my fav }

{ vino from T.B.’s }

{ um… YUM }

{ One more shot, because it was that good }

{ Pita trying to get in on that action }

Yesterday I went to Coney Island for the first time, albeit it was during my run and I was pleasantly surprised to see such a lovely boardwalk for me to run on. It was also fun because, as a native So-Cal’er, I’m used to beaches. I kinda grew up on them. But I have never seen a beach with snow all around. Quite the unique experience.

All-in-all - a fabulous and fun filled weekend!

So, my computer broke last Thursday night. It just decided to not work anymore. Which is terrible, when you have a blog to attend to!

Lots of things happened this weekend too (it was three days and all!). Instead of posting ten different times, I thought I’d take you all through my weekend all at once.

The Snowpocalypse revisited:

{ Midtown }

{ Ditmas Park, BK }

{ Home }

{ Preparing for Beautiful and the Damned }

{ Me workin’ the door. Photo by Rose Callahan Photography }

{ PRose and Myself. Photo by Rose Callahan Photography }

{ All the ladies! }

{ One more shot }

{ Vivi & Pita at Syc }

{ mmm delicious beers are Syc - MCCrizzle’s first ones to us “on the house” }

{ Freshly backed & delicious crispy salted oatmeal white chocolate chip cookies. Recipe via smittenkitchen }

{ Wine, Cheese & Crackers for the Spinsters Vday evening }

{ The entire spread }

{ The little lovebug }

Party time here:

Run this:

Spinster V-Day Dinner:

Bake these:

Crisp salted oatmeal white chocolate cookies via smittenkitchen

As you all know from yesterday, I baked my very first cake from scratch for my friend Shannon as her birthday party was last night. I was very excited since I actually didn’t mess it up too bad and it looked like a cake.

Around 10pm, we got to 773 on Coney Island Avenue with cake in tow. Shannon was pleasantly surprised and that was the whole point of the cake in the first place.

Everyone was saying how great it looked and I was thrilled for the positive feedback.

We all drank, sang karaoke, danced… it was a great party.

About an hour into it, someone showed up with a very large box. What was inside was shocking:

The most perfect four layer chocolate cake with peanut butter frosting I’ve ever seen. It had hand shaved & curled chocolate and peanuts for decoration.

They sat it right next to my mom-and-pop cake. I felt like I was a general store on Main St. compared with WalMart or even better, Target. There was no competition. Who was to become my Cake Nemesis kicked my ass.

Here’s another view of how our cakes measured up together:

And that wasn’t all my Cake Nemesis (C.N.) brought. His cake was accompanied with an entourage of also perfect cupcakes as well:

They had too fancy of a name to recall, but they were delectable.

The irony of it all was perfect. I was just thankful it wasn’t another home-y cake like mine or one from the box. I mean, this cake was perfect. Open opening it up, the layers were completely even and wonderful:

Mine didn’t look even close to that, so I’ll spare you the photos. One layer was far bigger than the other.

At the end of the day, both cakes were great. Mine was cute and homemade. C.N.’s was professional and full of flavor. I must note that C.N. is a professional chef and has a Kitchen Aid mixer. Two things I cannot claim.

And, at the further end of the day, Shannon had a great birthday party filled with so much fun and laughter. It was a great night. So, C.N., my hat’s off to you. Well done.

This weekend is one of many festivities: Shannon’s bday party & the SuperBowl. I committed making some snacks for the SB party at Sycamore and also wanted to bake Shannon a cake (I’m really testing my luck here as I’m hoping she doesn’t look here before she sees the cake in a few hours).

I made up my mind to bake a cake from scratch for two reasons:

1. I wanted the cake to be special, because Shannon is awesome.

2. I wanted to prove to myself I could do this (yes, a very Julie/Julia kind of proving myself).

I quickly sent a distress call to my friend, baking enthusiast, and fellow blogger Amanda of MandaCooks asking for some advice. She sent to me to SmittenKitchen and her recipe “Best Birthday Cake” which sounds like it can’t be too bad, considering its the best and all.

**disclaimer - if you click to the recipe link, please don’t think my cake will look as pretty as that**

First thing this morning, Pita and I schlepped (this is the BK) through the snow to Met Market and got all the ingredients for the cake as well as cookies for the SB party. I wanted to start early in case I couldn’t make it work and disaster ensued. I got some FunFetti Pillsbury mix, should there be an emergency situation.

From there… we baked… and baked… and baked…Its exhausting stuff!

I gotta admit, things didn’t go too terribly wrong. Sure, I made some mistakes and  some quick thinking adjustments. But, as a whole I’d say I did pretty good. We’ll see when we all try the cake later tonight.

See for yourself:

Ingredients!

Butter!

MandaCook’s Dark Chocolate Cookies!

Cake batter… mmmm….

Letting Pita get in on some of the action. Homeslice loves butter.

MandaCook’s Monster Cookies!

The Best Birthday Cake!! Yellow cake with chocolate-sour cream icing.

I was invited last night by my good friend, Shannon, to go to a show with her. Naturally, I said yes and invited another good friend, Andrew (who I’ve known since Jr. High School) who I like to call Peetree (which he hates, obviously). The three of us met up at Sycamore and trekked to Gowanus’s very underground and intimate venue Issue Project Room to see Meg Baird with Chris Forsyth opening.

The stairway to get to the venue. Love the lights.

Andrew and I both sported the flannel, because we were going to an underground show in Brooklyn and wanted to fit in. However, we found it terribly hard to fit in when you walk in laughing and accidentally spill three beers (Anchor Steam - which is like a sin to spill) throughout the course of the evening, even in a flannel.

The starting guitarist was probably great in certain circles, but we unanimously thought he would be only great if you went on some kind of drug. The highlight was absolutely Meg with her folk tunes and beautiful voice.

Continuing our adventure, we went with Shannon to a party in Greenpoint. We decided we needed a little pit-stop to get some food. We stopped at Vegan Foodswings in Williamsburg which serves only vegan-inspired fast food. Its a dream come true kind of place.

Vegan Slider and Corn Dog

Vegan “Metal Fries” with buffalo wing sauce and soy blue cheese dressing = heaven

After scarfing down the deliciousness, we headed to a Polish dive bar in Greenpoint and enjoyed watered down $2.00 Budweiser in chilled steins (always a plus) and really watered down dirty martinis with a very fun bunch of characters/hipsters including other Sycamore loyalists and Lost playing on the big screen TV (wish this place was next door).

Yes a fantastic impropmtu adventure indeed! Can’t wait for more!