Storm King In the Fall

Dinner tonight...

As the cool weather sets in and the summer warmth leaves the air, I tried to savor the last drops of summer by making a fresh heirloom tomato, basil and garlic sauce with whole wheat pasta. Now, this is a big deal for me because I don't like tomatoes at all but theres something special that happens when you combine fresh ingredients and let them steep in olive oil for a few hours. The heirlooms give off the flavor and infuse the oil with a burst of sweetness. The basil gives a bit of flavor and the garlic gives it a  little bit of complexity. Once tomatoes have been marinating for a while, just boil the pasta until al dente ( 7-10 minutes, a bit longer for whole wheat pasta) then drain leaving a little bit of pasta water and immediately combine with the tomatoes. The warmth from the pasta marries the flavors together and you get a great summer evening dish that will please all ( including my little picky eaters), I look forward to making this again net summer!

If you like, you can add shrimp or eat the steamed shrimp on the side. 

A Tea Party Birthday

A few weeks ago, my little girl turned 5 and although it was a party at our home, it was actually quite nice. She wanted a tea party and so I obliged and transformed our living room into a parlor and we even had a visit from Belle the princess. The girls came dressed in their loveliest frocks and boys in their button downs and khaki's. We served tea, scone, pizzelles, muffins and mini cinnamon buns. It was a crisp October day in New York which luckily gave us the opportunity to spill out into the backyard since we ended up having more people than I expected. Everyone had a great time and my close friends and sisters stayed until pretty late chatting, laughing until the kids were thoroughly exhausted then we cleaned up and everyone left. I was so nervous that we'd have broken tea sets everywhere but the kids were very careful with pouring their tea and drinking from the tea sets, in fact the only thing that was broken was by me. It was a beautiful day for the most part.

Early that morning while I was frosting the cupcakes, Evalie snuck to take her seat at the table and began eating the snacks. It was cute to see her sitting quietly helping herself to a pizzelle I had to take a picture.

Happy Halloween

We spent the evening with a dear friend of mine who is leaving in a few weeks to move to Colorado so although it was a great party, it was bitter sweet. The kids (and I) had a blast but there was the undertone of how much we'd miss them in a few weeks. Its been so hard to find friends in this town, and really find genuine people (in life) that are honest and really care for us so I was a bit sad but really happy for her, her husband and three kids to move on happily to a new opportunity and a new start. Her lovely husband got a great opportunity and so they are moving to be with him..

Anyway, for Halloween...drumroll..please..Arielle wanted to be a swan! yay..so I made Evalie a baby swan to match. On wednesday, two days before, we had no costumes and Arielle gave me the guilt trip about being the only child without a costume...really, my reson for not buying them costumes was because I was lukewarm to the ideas she had proposed..Sophis the first (princess on Disney Junior), fairy princess (which she may have been already)..so when she said swan I got inspired and then I went out and bought everything I could find to make them these costumes! In a few hours the first night we had masks for all three of us and then we stuffed Evalies costume and begun to attached the feathers. I also did Arielles skirt that night. The next night, we just did a little feathering and fluffing and the swans were born! I thought they came out darling..

Arielle's friends were spiderman, a pirate, a material girl and Darth Vader while the the little girl was a ladybug. Evalie road in the wagon with her for sometime but also made friends with a scarecrow, a fox and some other characters along the way.