mum
my room.
sometimes
when all of my practicing is finished for the day
and all of the dishes are clean,
i lie in my bed,
close my eyes,
and imagine that my little room
isn't in new york city anymore,
but that instead, it's part of a little house,
on a farm,
in the middle of nowhere.
i imagine that if i were to open my window,
i wouldn't see all of the yellow taxis
or my corner bodega...
rather i would see an endless field,
and the sun setting.
if i were to open my door,
i'd find mum, fixing dinner
{in a beautiful kitchen}
for all of our most favorite people.
...it would smell of rosemary
and all of our most favorite people would be scattered about,
sitting on the porch,
playing with the puppies,
sipping wine,
discussing,
smiling,
laughing...
but then i really do hear laughing
{and it is roomies}
and i'm reminded that reality is sweet, too.
xoxo
yeh
week 2: macaron cafe
in mum, restaurants, new york
"did you go to macaron cafe yet??"
reads the almost daily text from mum.
"...no, mum, i have work to do."
"what about now?"
"...i just ate"
"ok, well you must go tomorrow because tomorrow is tuesday and you know that that's croque monsieur day."
"i told you, I HAVE WORK TO DO!"
typical, typical banter.
and there was no stopping it.
i mean, i knew what i needed to do to stop it.
i could either lie,
tell her i went and that it was fine but her sandwiches were better {which would end any and all interrogation}
or i could just go to the damn macaron cafe.
i really didn't have any reason not to... except that it's in midtown.
spitting distance from penn station.
oh the horror.
uh oh, i'm getting a text from mum...
"did you hear?? midtown lunch just said that macaron cafe puts bouchon to SHAME!
OHHHH SNAP!"
relentless, that woman.
anyways,
things got brutally out of hand last tuesday.
it started with a phone call.
not a text, but a phone call.
"soooo.... whatcha doin today?"
"probably gonna go to costco, and then to yoga... maybe practice"
"oh. and macaron cafe?"
"nope, no time for that."
"isn't today--"
"CROQUE MONSIEUR DAY. I KNOW. I REEEEALLLY KNOW. AND I REEEEALLLY TOOK THAT INTO CONSIDERATION WHEN I WAS PLANNING OUT MY DAY. BUT I'M SORRY, IT'S JUST NOT IN THE CARDS."
two hours later, on a walk, circa 88th and amsterdam
phone rings, guess who.
"how was costco?"
"ummm, brian couldn't go, he needed to practice. so i didn't go either."
"PERFECT! YOU CAN GO GET A CROQUE MONSIEUR!"
&p;!@*^&p;%$#@)(*^%$#@
FINE.
*click*
she was right. it was time.
i googled the number, i called, and made a reservation.
not for a table though,
but for a croque monsieur.
tell me that's not cute.
it was all because when i called, monsieur croque monsieur told me that, oui, today is croque monsieur day, but they only have "un, deux, trois.... FOUR CROQUE MONSIEURS LEFT!"
so i should probably get there soon.
meaning, i couldn't walk there, i'd have to subway it.
meaning, i had no choice but to brave penn station.
i survived.
monsieur croque monsieur greeted me and asked if my croque monsieur would be for here or to go.
i looked around the hot pink closet sized cafe at the two teensy tables,
"but, monsieur, there's no place to sit"
he motioned to an itsy bitsy stool squeezed between an already full coffee table and a wall, as if to say,
"duh, look at ze perfectly good square foot we have rezerved for you!"
i cracked up a bit, and took a seat.
a few feet to my right was the oven used to heat my c.m.
within minutes, i was served up this piping hot beauty:
and ohhh it was decadent.
the way the béchamel sauce OOZED out from between the freshly cut ham
and the freshly baked {crusty, yes, very crusty} bread
ohh and the melted cheese on top,
how it crackled with every bite!
ah! if i wasn't so closely smooshed up against total strangers,
i would have licked every last drop of béchamel off of the plate!
i had an orangina to wash it down.
and for dessert,
i took home a variety of french macaroons...
which i must restrain myself from raving about just yet because when midtown lunch compared them to bouchon's, my initial reaction was
"oh no you DIDN'T"
and then i promptly decided that i'd be comparing them for myself innnn (drum roll, s'il vous plait)
the macaroon smackdown
bouchon bakery vs. macaron cafe: who will take ze cake?
coming soon to a blog near you
i digress.
i want another macaron croque monsieur. RIGHT NOW. but, mes amies, i've got 50 more restaurants to go...
xoxo
yeh
gobble gobble
thanksgiving in tampa
i'm thankful for palm trees
&
the sun
i'm thankful that cousins have me over to their beautiful house
i'm thankful that i'm somehow related to a balloon artist
...and i'm even more thankful that he made this
hella sweet cupcake balloon hat
i'm thankful for
sister stoopie + mum
"two stoops eating soup"
it was one big cooking party...
is there really anything better than cooking with your family all day??
yes, silly.
{it's drinking with your family all day...}
sister stoop + man
time to work up an appetite...
i'm thankful for these adorable place settings made by little cousins!
carving the tryptophan...
i'm thankful for this!!!!
good thing i wore my eating pants
this year's strategy for a successful pig-out
{inspired by the gobbler at the milburn deli}
1. slice open a sister schubert's roll
hailing from the south,
these rolls pack so much buttery goodness into one tiny morsel.
if you've never had one, get them now (they're available online).
i could eat six pans in one sitting.
2. spread on a dollop of cranberry sauce
3. slap on a slice of turkey, preferably covered in gravy
4. shovel on some stuffing
5. close, and eat like a sandwich
6. repeat
7. repeat
8. repeat
(etc etc)