Lately… Week of May 6, 2014

I can’t complain when my week is bookended by celebrations for people I adore. My nephew Jonah’s 4^th birthday party was on Sunday. Always a fun time at my sister and brother-in-law’s place..especially if Jonah is performing for everyone. He’s quite a character, that kid.

Seeing some very dear friends visiting from Boston was a treat followed by a girl’s night out with a few other dear friends. This group is a bunch of foodies who know a lot about food and wine..they are “in the business,” if you know what I mean.  So, to say that we were all thoroughly impressed with our experience at The Gander is no small feat. It’s not surprising as Recette, Chef Jesse Schenker’s other place, is one of my favorite restaurants. This place is a completely different, but an equally satisfying, experience. Dishes like sea trout tartare and halibut with morels, artichokes and caviar are not upstaged, but certainly share the stage with a killer dessert menu.  They had me at banana parfait with saffron, caramel and coconut. But why would we stop there? We went for the whole shebang.

 

A visit to the kitchen by Nate’s pre-k class got us over the midweek hump. Kids this age are just so curious and inquisitive. And cute too. This is Nate with a best buddy.

In the world of plants and trees, there was a lot of change. Those cherry blossoms that we had been waiting so patiently for gave us only a brief rendezvous. And just to rub it in, they blanketed our sidewalks with about a kabillion petals. The natural pink shag carpet was so lovely (just ask one of the many people who stopped to take photos).

 

The “farm” has transformed into a whole new place. We even had our first harvest… baby mustard greens and spinach. Has me pretty excited for the bounty to come

   

And just when I thought my week couldn’t get any better, it ended with a surprise 45^th Anniversary party for my parents. Attended by their nearest and dearest friends. We hosted it at our house and a great time was had by all. It was a celebratory night replete with fake mustache selfies and couples cake cutting!