Side Of Spaghetti: #7

A gaze into the last seven days!

Monday 4/28- WEDDING DAY! Not mine silly, my friends Robby and Cori! I had the great honor today of catering their beautiful ceremony at The Greenpoint Loft, and wow, what a party! Started the day bright and early at 6am getting some last minute things together. I met my dear friend and former coworker Starchen at Caputo’s to load our cars. I stopped at the other Caputo’s (no relation) for an almond croissant which I ate in three seconds while driving, and got slivered almonds and powdered sugar all over me. Met my buddies Michelle and Ali at the venue and we got to work setting up buffet tables, making crudités platters and heating up the food in the sterno fueled proofers, which is the most inefficient way to heat food, but they have no ovens at the venue. Dinner was classic Caesar, chicken marsala, cacio e pepe risotto and garlicky broccoli rabe. Robby and Cori are absolute legends and opted for nachos instead of wedding cake for dessert! They had the best wedding band that I have ever heard, I was floored. We laughed and joked in the kitchen the entire day, so fun! At some point I shoved some potato chips in my mouth. I got home around 1am and needed to decompress. I had a glass of white wine and watched When Harry Met Sally. Love was in the air!

Tuesday 4/29- Despite being the most tired person ever to walk on the earth’s surface, I woke up at 6am like I do every single day of my life no matter what. A gift and a curse. I had big plans to go to hot yoga and for a long run, but I was so physically and emotionally exhausted that all I could do was stumble to the kitchen for some pineapple and then back to my bed. I rallied mid morning to make a much needed green juice of kale, cucumber, carrot, celery and parsley. I had an appointment at the neurology clinic that I go to to pick up free samples of my otherwise cost prohibitive migraine medication that my insurance no longer covers, and it turned out to be the funniest five minuets of my entire fucking life. The doctor I saw did not speak one single word to me, and gently hummed under his breath fro the duration of my visit. He then attempted to answer his iPhone by simply holding it to his face without swiping to answer. When he realized this didn’t work, he tried swiping UP and yelling into the phone, “hello!?” This man is A NEUROLOGIST, and yet had absolutely zero clue how to answer his own phone, like he was Austin Powers and just awoke to a whole new world that he simply could not navigate. Then, I looked under his desk and saw that he was wearing two left shoes! If I were to write this into a script it would be cut for being too heavy handed. I was honestly too tired to even eat, so I came home and drank tea, watched Pacific Heights and went to be at 9pm.

Evil Keaton in Pacific Heights!

Wednesday 4/30- This is my week to get stuff done, so I headed to Long Island to get my first physical in ten years. I know, I’m not a real adult. I met my parents first and we took a long walk at Caumsett, a beautiful nature preserve near their house. We got lunch at Parea, our favorite Greek diner in Huntington. I dream about this place, and today my dreams came true. We started with a block of feta wrapped in phyllo, drown in butter, baked until golden brown and topped with sour cherries——OMG! We always get the same lunch—a giant greek salad packed with herbs and carrot ribbons and topped with all the usual suspects, a side of their perfect chicken souvlaki and sides of taziki and tahini. This was the first real meal I had in like a week, and I absolutely devoured it. Went to the doctor and she was wearing open toed shoes, WTF?! What is with doctors this week? Came home and unpacked my summer clothes that I had stashed at my moms and when they were all hung and color coordinated in my closet (yes I do this), I cozied up on the couch and sipped some homemade chicken broth and had a piece of toast with two pounds of Kerrygold and watched Meet The Parents for absolutely no reason, and it was less funny than I had remembered, which was not funny to begin with.

A big Greek week for me!

Thursday 5/1- It was so nice out so I took a long run and the finally made it back to the gym for hot yoga, and my body thanked me! I was going to see my BFF Becky’s and her amazing boyfriend Adam’s new apartment in Ridgewood, and instead of a housewarming chachka I made them shells with fresh mozz and vodka sauce and chicken thighs with mushrooms and leeks, and bought a box of rainbow cookies from Caputo’s bakery because she loves them. We snuggled on the couch and gossiped and then ordered Thai food from a place in their hood called Seth. I pictured Seth Green in the kitchen making basil tofu and it made me laugh. We got drunken noodles, curry puffs, fried rice and veggie dumplings, and all were delish. It was a really lovely night. I have been bad about visiting them the past few years since they have lived in Ridgewood because it takes seven hours to get there, but I’m going to try to be more consistent about it now. Came home and watched The Pine Barrens episode of The Soprano’s, which I have seen so many times that I can do all the lines.

Friday 5/2- Started the day with some pineapple and then headed for a coffee at Octavia. I had a salad with tuna, radicchio, red onion and pecorino for lunch. I headed to the gym for some hot yoga, no engery for the treadmill this week. I was invited to a dinner party at my friends Ted and Sebastian’s house, along with my friend Sara and her brother who was visiting. I brought cookies from Caputo’s and a few bags of Italian potato chips from the other Caputo’s. This newsletter is not just an ad for both (unrelated) Caputo’s, I swear. Ted and Sebastian are fabulous hosts and cooks. They spend a good portion of the year in Greece and prepared a lavish Greek feast. We had Negronis and snacks while gossiping, and for dinner they made lamb chops, fava puree with greek capers, garlicky eggplant dip, sautéed dandelion greens and a massive horiatiki salad! Guys, this was the BEST dinner ever! No one ever cooks for me except my mother, so this was a really big treat, and I felt so lucky. I came home and watched The Soprano’s and had some tea.

Saturday 5/3- Started the day with an amazing yoga class, and then finally go to do some writing work that I had been putting off because I was so mentally exhausted this week. I met my best buds Jennie and Becky at Clover Club for a drink in the early evening. My darling friend Kira is the GM there and she sent us out an order of chips and a Greek salad (lol I cannot escape Greek salad this week and that is fine with me!) I had a vermouth and soda and enjoyed some high quality catching up. Jennie and I went to dinner at UnTable and had beef tartare on crispy rice, a half grilled chicken they served with herbs and cucumber, sticky rice, their dry style khao soi with beef, and a papaya salad that had chunks of raw shell on crab. Everything was delicious as always, but I might not order the papaya salad again if I’m being honest. I love Jennie and don’t get to see her nearly enough since she moved to Jersey almost ten years ago, but when we do hang we really make it count:) I came home happy and full and watched Spike Lee’s ever entertaining, Summer Of Sam!

Sunday 5/4- Coffee from Octavia and a trip to the Carroll Gardens farmers market. I ran into my friend Sarah who I had just seen at Ted and Sebastians. We were both on line at Lani’s and she generously offered me half of her bunch of mustard greens because she said she wouldn’t be able to finish them all. I bought cucumbers, shisho and cilantro. Came home and ate two scrambled eggs with EVOO and pepper. Midday I took a walk and had my weekly Sunday chat with my dear friend Michael who lives in Portland. I was feeling a little blue and he cheered me right up! I got two mini Linzer cookies on my walk home and ate them while being soaked by rain. I was just feeling kind of blah, and I knew exactly what I needed— some high octane action and terrible acting from America’s widows peak, Steven Seagal! I put on Hard To Kill, which is maybe the most unintentionally funny movie ever made. Obviously Seagal is a terrible person, but I am a huge fan of his early work (work lol!). If you need cheering up, take my advice and watch Hard To Kill. So many snapped in half arms and legs! So much squinting and whispering!! For dinner I made some spaghetti with vodka sauce that I had in the fridge left over from Becky and Adams shells. I made a radicchio salad with lemon, red onion and pecorino and dumped it on top and ate it while watching Hard To Kill. Seagal’s running is so bad I almost choked, but just like him, I too am hard to kill.

Steven Seagal is……Hard To Kill!

That’s a wrap on my week. Let me know what you have been eating and watching!

xoxoxo,

Z