Mini Progressive Dinner

When I first rented my apartment, the real estate agent told me that our neighbors would be a couple from Seattle and that we would love them. He was right- we do. Matt and Paul are such peas in a pod, and besides all the hanging out we do as couples, Sabine and I have a standing date for a monthly Ladies Dinner. Now Paul and Sabine have bought a house and they are moving away (4 minutes away, but still). To say good-bye Sabine and I decided to have a mini progressive dinner- she and Paul provided cocktails, salad, bread, and dessert  and Matt and I made the hors d'oeuvres, main course and (more) dessert.

It's been really cold out the past couple of weeks, so I wanted to make something truly cozy. I settled on this amazing lamb ragu. It's really simple to make- the hardest part is all the vegetable dicing- I loath chopping. Since it's the holidays, I wanted dessert to have a festive feel so I bought ginger snaps and Shatto ice cream and made the tiniest ice cream sandwiches. Hors d'oeuvres were provided by my talented new boss- he makes pate every Thanksgiving and he gave me a large portion, along with cornichons and fancy mustard- all I had to do was make the toast points.

It was a perfect evening, and I'll miss our lovely upstairs neighbors!

Old fashioned to start

Pate, courtesy of my wonderful new boss

I brought dinner upstairs in my much-loved Le Creuset and plated there

Lamb ragu, topped with ricotta and mint

dinner is served

dessert

Sunday Dinner: Lamb Tagine & Monkey Bread

It's starting to get very cold here- I broke ice chunks out of my hair after my walk to work this morning. Having spent so much of my life in Florida, I spent a lot of my time in New York and Cleveland complaining about the cold weather. I accept it now- it's time to hibernate and I embrace it. 

For Sunday dinner, I decided to make two things that evoke "holiday" to me- a lamb tagine (for the sweet, spicy scent) and monkey bread (because, cinnamon and butter and see below). 

This tagine is called Liz's Lamb Tagine (yay) and it's close to my heart not for the name, but because it was the first meal I made for one of my favorite dinner guests, Kate (in my teeny tiny galley kitchen). Like most of what I make, this is a very low-work/high-yield meal- there's a lot of chopping, but once you're done with it, you can walk away from the simmering pot and go about your life until it's finished. I also tried something new- as the author suggests, I used chicken broth for the couscous (my own! I just made my very own broth for the first time) and it made all the difference in the world- the couscous was so different from what I usually make. 

I took pictures of the finished meal but they look awful, so I won't include them. 

So, what to do as the tagine is stewing? I decided to make monkey bread, mostly because Matt loves cinnamon rolls so much and the recipe is so close to that of a cinnamon roll (especially if you include the dipping sauce, which I did not because of a lack of bourbon). 

This recipe is insanely easy (I used this one) yet I still managed to screw it up (baking is really not my strong suit). The result was very ugly, yet very delicious monkey bread. The recipe specifies that the bread tastes best eaten immediately, which is good because we ate almost half in one evening...

Take the monkey bread of out the oven and let rest for no more than 5 minutes...

Then, invert!

The soundtrack to all this was eclectic- I was in a christmas-y mood when I began so I had to listen to this. Then I listened to my two latest band obsessions as kind of palate cleansers- this and especially this.

A short culinary tour of South Florida

My family is the kind that talks about what we are going to have for dinner while eating lunch. So every trip home, every family vacation, every visit is centered on food. My trip home to South Florida for Thanksgiving was no exception.

Thanksgiving, of course was the first order of business. Because of complicated family traditions we have: fried turkey, roast turkey, and baked ham and at least 5 sides (baked mashed potatoes, string bean casserole, tater tots, stuffing, spoonbread pudding). No matter how many people are coming to visit. My dad is in charge of the fried turkey:

I was in charge of getting to know the newest member of our family, Molly:

The next day my sister and I went south, to Miami Beach. For one glorious year I lived at 8th and Euclid in Miami Beach, in the loveliest apartment ever. Miami is one of my favorite cities. 

Jane and I went to Lincoln Road and lunched at Doraku- amazing sushi and $3 happy hour beers!

Saturday we did some more exploring- Delray Beach, which feels like Kennebunkport in South Florida- complete with a J. McLaughlin shop. We lunched outdoors at Linda Bean's Maine Lobster, which is owned by a member of the L.L. Bean family. Further completing the Maine-in-Florida feeling, there's a Colony Hotel in Delray Beach- sister to the Colony in Kennebunkport, Maine. We loved Delray Beach. 

Lobster Roll + lemonade

Downtown Delray

On the way home, we visited ABC Carpet & Home to get inspired for both our ongoing house decorating projects. Since it was the end of the day, a very nice design consultant taught us all about very, very expensive rugs- I'm now coveting a Madeline Weinrib  chenille metallic.  

My sisters birthday was the day before Thanksgiving , and the jewel in the crown of the weekend was a trip to Southport Raw Bar for a slightly belated celebration with friends. Along with several pitchers of cheap beer we ordered:  clam chowder, onion rings, crab legs, oysters, buffalo chicken wings, and fish dip. And key lime pie for dessert. We are big eaters. 

Isn't it the truth

For Sunday dinner, like all good Jews, we had Chinese food. It was a wonderful weekend. 

Dance in Kansas City: Alvin Ailey

The first I saw the Alvin Ailey perform I was 9, we were living in New Jersey, and my mom took me to see Judith Jamison dance in Revelations. I wore my velvet coat and it was a Very Big Deal. I saw Revelations again last night and it was just as Big a Deal- just in a different way. Anything I would write about it sounds pretentious- suffice to say by the last dance, Move, Members, Move  the audience was literally dancing at their seats, clapping to the music, and shouting with joy. 

It was wonderful (and to the cute girl sitting next to me- you get up and dance if you want to. Don't let your silly boyfriend tell you what to do). 

Sunday Dinner: Carnitas

I saw this recipe for carnitas on one of my favorite food blogs, Smitten Kitchen. I knew right away it was the perfect Sunday supper- the cook time alone takes 3 hours. Like Smitten Kitchen lady says, the pork just takes a bath for three hours- she says it's a bath in a margarita because of the lime and salt. I say it's a bath in sunshine because of all that citrus-y vitamin D (in just a week and a half I'll be in sunny south Florida for Thanksgiving and I too will be taking a bath in vitamin D).

The soundtrack for the day was this, then this- I know I'm a little late to the party with Lana del Rey but I cannot get "Video Games" out of my head. Having it on a constant loop makes even standing in the Whole Foods deli section seem like a transcendent, melancholy experience. After all that lady music I needed a palate cleanser so I listened to my favorite Rolling Stones album.

You can pair these with whatever toppings you'd like- I chose avocado, pinto beans, and smoked jalapeno  peppers. Happy Sunday!

House Party, Part 2

Last Friday, the four apartments (and seven people) in my building held a progressive dinner party. It was so much fun and a huge success. I love having dinner parties, but they can be stressful- all that preparation, thought, time. Having just one course allowed everyone to really focus. 

We started at my apartment:

Since the theme was vaguely fall, I tried to keep everything kind of comforting and cozy. I made devils on horseback (this was my favorite, not just because it was delicious but also because the recipe I used is made by Martha Stewart and Joan Rivers, two ladies I love), deep fried olives, Union Square Cafe Bar Nuts, and radishes dipped in sea salt. For a cocktail I served what has become my house drink- Black Velvet. It's 1/2 Guinness and 1/2 champagne and delicious. Perfect with all the salty, fried, and fat. 

After cocktail hour, we all went upstairs to Sabine and Pauls for soup and salad. Sabines focus was pear- pear soup, salad with pear, and a delicious and WICKEDLY alcoholic pear punch. 

Her presentation was so pretty. 

Next, it was across the hall to Kelly and Michaels for the main course- comforting chicken pot pies.

Finally, we all dragged ourselves downstairs for dessert at Havis's. Havis went with a Southern theme- red velvet cake, banana caramel cake, and double chocolate cake served with planters punch. Some more friends joined us and the progressive dinner turned into a party.

Success! I can't wait to do this again- maybe in the spring. And can you imagine how wonderful it would be to have Thanksgiving this way? 

Opera in Kansas City

I'm lucky to have moved in (more or less) across the street from the gorgeous, new performing arts hall- the Kauffman Center. 

From some angles the building looks like it spontaneously sprang from the prairie.

Matt and I went to see the Lyric Opera perform "Cosi fan tutte" there on Saturday night. I love opera, but going to a performance is also a good excuse to get dressed, have a cocktail, and people watch. 

Most concertgoers had also taken the opportunity to get dressed up- I saw fur coats and stoles and even a couple of tuxedos.

The Kauffman Center is comprised of two performance halls with one giant central lobby. It's a million miles away from my old hometown orchestra, The Cleveland Orchestra. The hall they play in, Severance Hall is much more formal than the Kauffman Center. It's hard to compare the two. I did notice that the Kauffman Center has a very good gift shop- there were actually some things I wanted to buy (anyone looking for a stocking stuffer for me, please see: miniature Beethoven bust). The gift shop at Severance  Hall was always a pet peeve of mine- a hole of unwanted kitsch is the first thing that greets you as you enter the hall from the parking garage. 

The opera was wonderful- it was set in the 1920's and I loved the sets and the costumes. The Kauffman Theatre has great acoustics and the most comfortable seats- this becomes important when sitting through a three hour opera! We had a fantastic night, and I can't wait to go back.