what a weekend!

i've had a fabulous 4 day weekend. rory was in town all week which was super. i went to a bunch of comedy shows, hung out with the boyfriend and friends and had some really great quality time w. the man i love. 

the weekend started on Thursday night when kyle, rory and i went to blue ribbon bakery. um. INCREDIBLE. kyle and i both had the special skirt steak in a red wine sauce w. fingerling potatoes and roasted carrots...buttery deliciousness. that place is pricey but its great. my favorite part about the restaurant is the downstairs. its all brick and thick dark wooden beams. there's another dining room, the kitchen is open for us to see and there's even a wine cellar room equipped with a table for 8. the bathroom has a trough style sink made of granite (i think) and its awesome. i would like my bathroom sink to be like that. 

friday i had the day off so, we went to the east village in search of brunch and thrift stores. we ate at 7 & a, they serve breakfast all day which is great. we wanted to go to westville but they weren't serving brunch and we both were in the mood for breakfast foods. then to the thrift stores! if you live in nyc and like shopping in thrift stores, there's a great one on 1st ave between 12th and 13th st on the east side. its super and priced well.
 
rory left early saturday. we went to a breakfast joint on 22d and 3rd ave. then he was off to do his tour and make a documentary. saturday night i stayed in and made pasta! again!  this time, i took note of the kneading for at least 15 minutes. note to self: don't go to the gym and work your arms in the weight room if you plan on making pasta, bread, anything that has dough of any sorts that you have to knead...i was SO sore. still, the pasta was good.  although, i dont know how they did it back in the day (even now)...i cannot for the life of me roll the dough out to be thin enough so i wind up with think and chewy pasta. its still good, its just too dense. i threw in a bunch of arugula, some cherry tomatoes from the green market and feta and a lemon. mixed it all together, finito! 

pasta dough

its a one to one ratio, so 1 egg to 1 cup of flour per person. put all of your four in a bowl, make a well, crack the eggs into that well, beat eggs. slowly start to incorporate the egg into the flour with your fingers (you're going to get dirty). and mix and mix and mix. i had to add about a quarter cup of warm water to help make the dough. then knead, you have to knead for at least 15 min so that you release the gluten. then when its done you'll be sore as heck, so, ball the dough, wrap it in plastic wrap and let it sit in the fridge for 20 min.  in this time maybe you can get your honey to give your arms and shoulders a rub down.  then take it out, let it get back to room temp. flour your rolling surface and roll the dough out. i cut it in two parts. if you have a pasta maker a) lucky! b) seriously, i am jealous c) follow the instructions it came with. you should roll the dough out until its thin thin thin. almost like paper. maybe a little thicker than that. when its rolled out this is when you can cut. i always just cut any which way. makes my pasta feel more homemade.


the beach! i went to the beach on sunday with some friends and decided to bring along snacks to feed an army. i made hummus and pico de gallo. brought peanutbutter & jelly (STRAWBERRY) sandwiches, water, wine, plums, carrots and celery. everything except the pb & j's were from the farmers market. it was awesome. we had an incredible day at the beach and then we went to a local watering hole and met a very charismatic regular named Jon. He was cra-cra guys but at least we all had a good laugh. 


monday. last day of my weekend. i decided to make curry. just googled and found a simple enough recipe. although...i'm not going to post b.c it wasn't what i wanted it to be. i wanted something creamier and more saucy. i'm setting out to find the best curry go-to recipe...this coming from a girl who loves to cook for other people whos boyfriend doesnt eat curry...WHAT am i thinking?


hope you enjoyed! xo