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).

New York City 2009

We arrived Friday night at Bookie's after a short (one hour) delay at JFK. Planes were backed up due to storms (Hurricane Bill) and we had to wait to be able to approach the gate. We were lucky because we could have been diverted overnight. We had a nice visit with Bookie and she baked cookies with H/R. Around 3:00 the next day we took a taxi into the city. After our usual FF and orange juice (coffee for me) downstairs we walked around the city - first Central Park then down to Rockefeller Center, over to Broadway, sat on the chairs on the recently "closed to traffic" Broadway....nice.
Monday
Then had a late supper in the apt., watched tv and went to bed.

Day 3 - really our first full day in the city. Sunday. We went up to the north part of Central Park. Walked through the conservatory gardens, then sat and watched an African/Caribbean/South American band, lots of dancing....up by Harlem Meer (lake). Very interesting, I'd never been here before. Saw the old (Blockhouse) Fort from the war of 1812.

Then did a supermarket stop for supplies, made a pasta dinner and watched the 2nd show of the 3rd season of Mad Men.

Day 4 - Monday. Took the Duck tour and that was fun! Then a late lunch down in Chinatown. Went to Green Bo - they have all types of dumplings, we had two - both steamed. Very good. It's fun down there - looking in the fish markets and the unusual produce offered on the street stands. Very crowded.

Day 5 - Tuesday. Joel went off to meet with his photog peeps so the girls and I took off on our own. Went to South Street Seaport to get 1/2 price tix for Wednesday matinee......The Marvelous Wonderettes (Be Marvelous!!!!!). Then walked on over to Wall Street - saw the Federal Building where Geo. Wash. was inaugurated as our first pres.....saw the stock exchange, all around where I used to work at 2 Bdwy.....Battery Park. It got really hot so we took the subway home and just kicked back for the rest of the day. What a luxury not to have to squeeze too much in to a few days, since we are here for a nice amount of time. No pictures - will add those later.

Day 6 - Wednesday. Saw the Wonderettes....it was a lot better than I thought it would be. H/R were full of smiles, and laughing. A very cute and fun. Sort of a cross between "Grease" and "The Lawrence Welk Show". Saw the Naked Cowboy - what a thrill (not).....I'm sure he had on spanx under his tighty whities. Saw a free preview of "Memphis" outside of the Shubert Theater - opening in September. Walked home via 9th Ave.....wow! That is quite a happening spot now...Hell's Kitchen is very nice now, lots of restaurants and sidewalk cafes. Maybe we will try a place. Back to the apt., H/R are really doing a great job keeping up with their homework. Oh, lunch at Junior's....I had the iceberg wedge with blue cheese, tomato and bacon (in honor of Mad Men).