Chili Party

Some wild and crazy chiles.....

We finally had all of the Diamonds over and it was a very nice evening.  Four generations counting baby Bella, born in December.  Berenice and David performed for us which was just wonderful, Berenice singing and David accompanying on piano.  What can be better than having a real Broadway performance in your own living room?  I loved loved loved it!

Thank you David and Berenice!  And thank you to all who shared the evening with us!

Kessel family circa 1966

Lynn, Mom, Ellen, Dad, Diane, unknown lady in a dress

I remember this day pretty clearly.  We went to Bob Kessel's Bar Mitzvah at Leonard's of Great Neck.    I'm going to assume that if he was 13, then that makes me around 11 in this picture which makes sense because I remember wearing that blue and white dress when we went to the Virgin Islands (remember the days one got dressed up to go on an airplane?)  So, me 11, Diane 9, Ellen 8, Mom 31, Dad 35.

I remember the day as being long, the service was hours if I am correct.  And we were expected to sit still which I also remember doing......I thought the cantor sounded like an opera singer so I kind of enjoyed it.

Leonard's was quite the catering hall back in the day, it may still be for all I know.  I went there a few times, that Bar Mitzvah, another Bas Mitzvah and at least one wedding, maybe two.

I don't remember the party.....Ellen?  Diane?  Do you remember anything about it???

The Cinderella Affair

The class of 2017's philanthropic project for NCL this year is to support the drive for prom dresses for 2015.  Each team of 2 girls is responsible for designing a donation box and finding a location to place the box for the month of February and gather up the donated dresses.  We are very happy that our local dry cleaner, Avalon, has agreed to hold our donation box.  Thank you Calop!!  Rachel came up with the idea of using the official Cinderella Affair logo from their website.  The box is not complete, more signage will be added but I think the artwork came out really well:

The almost completed donation box.

The official logo from the Cinderella Affair website

Incidentally, one of my favorite Cinderella Quotes says, "Never look back.  If Cinderella stopped to get her shoe she would never have become a princess."  (Not loving the "princess" goal, but you get my drift.)

Cancale Oysters

Well, since this blog is named Oysters and Castles, I thought I'd better get some pictures relating to the Oysters part of the title.  In the 90's Joel and I stayed in Cancale, a lovely seaside town in Northern Brittany.  They harvest oysters right out of the sea there.  It was in March or April,  definitely cooler back then.  We went back in 2008 while staying for a week in Dinan.

Hannah and Rachel in front of Oyster stand

 This time we were there in the summer, June or July.  It was much warmer.  People were still buying and eating the oysters despite the old saying that one should never eat oysters in a month that doesn't have an "R"........

Fresh Oysters on the pier

The bay at Cancale

Old Family Picture

L-R:  Diane, Ellen, Mom, Grandma Ann, Grandpa Tommy, Lynn
Cape Cod, 1970

My First Le Creuset

Well after over 30 years of cooking I finally got my first Le Creuset!  And not just my first, my second too!   A 9.5 quart oval and 6.5 quart round, both in red.  And one little cocotte which will be my sugar bowl.

These will be used!

So the question is, "do I have enough cooking years left in me to make these worthwhile?"

I have the big oval in the oven now with a turkey carcass stock, a la Michael Ruhlman.......He also has a page called "Le Creuset Technique Series" which I will have to peruse.

Also, in the smaller dutch oven I have Braised French Onion Chicken with Gruyère, the recipe can be found on TheKitchn blog here.  It smells quite wonderful in the kitchen.

New York City 2009 - Thursday

Still no pictures...will try to plug them in later. Just so that I don't forget what we did today - here goes:

1. Went down to the lower east side to tour the Merchant's House Museum - a row house built in 1832, lived in by very wealthy people and their house servants. It was furnished in original furnishings by the family who lived there for 100 years. Walked around the area quite a bit.

2. Went to Gus' Pickles and then to The Pickle Guys. (We like TPG the best).

3. Took the M103 bus to the Staten Island Ferry and boated on past the Statue of Liberty.

4. Walked up Bdwy, visited the cemetary (1779) at Trinity Church, walked up to Ground Zero and took the E train to Columbus Circle and bought really good steaks at Whole Paycheck, (I mean Whole Foods....haha).