Res-o-puh-leese

Happy Moanday: Rain, Rain Go Away

Are you there, sun? It's me, Kendall. I know it's been a long time since we've hung out, what with my early work hours and all, but please don't take it personally. Where you been at? Maybe let's hang some time and grab a sno-cone?

So it has been raining continuously and New York and everything in it has finally floated off into the sea, woohoo. My hair is in a constant state of "frizz" and my Google calendar weather outlook is a steady block of "rainy, cloudy, cold." Hello summer?

I spent the weekend in Boston again, saying a final farewell to Cambridge and all my favorite places and people. I had my last meal at Border, where I almost cried I was so happy. Oh! The piping-hot nachos, the sweet bite of the margarita, the tender pastelitos, the smooth and subtle chimichurri steak... I savored each and every bite, knowing it would be maybe months (!!!) until I could try it again.

Dave and I managed to get to Walden Pond for a--very fast, very cold--swim before we headed to his house for a very wonderful barbecue. His roomies bought a big, beautiful, grown-up grill which they christened with a healthy mix of burgers, hot dogs, and chicken. I tried a quite fantastic chicken recipe--to be revealed tomorrow--and made my funnel cake, to great acclaim. People ate and chatted and drank beers and chatted and eventually we all ended up in the living room, playing Guitar Hero in between shots of tequila (which really does a number on dexterity!). The best part was that the party started about 5pm, meaning we were all conked out at the (in my opinion) reasonable hour of 11:30.

The next day we lolled around the house, got breakfast at Hi Rise, and then walked down to the square for my train. I had a final goodbye cupcake from Sweet (dark chocolate, vanilla bean buttercream, oh heaven), and then hopped off to South Station for my last-ever bus ride home to New York (one thing I'm not going to miss).

All in all it was a lovely weekend, to be followed up by a busy week and then another, busier weekend!

On Saturday my company is having its giant corporate picnic, by which time hopefully New York will have lost its unfortunate resemblance to Atlantis. If Dave and I emerge from our likely food coma (we have yet to learn to pace ourselves at that thing), we'll be going down to his parents' house for a baby shower (me) and car pickup (him).

This means I'm staying in New York and can I get a good dinner! (what what!) It has been ages since I've properly cooked something, as empty Mac n Cheese boxes litter my kitchen. My stomach is in "woah girl" mood, meaning I want something warm and comforting (a Toniatti-sauce + meatball sub sounds about right) but it's also nearing 100% humidity, meaning I want something cool and light (chilled shrimp in a light butter sauce?). I may try to recreate a quite fantastic meal that I had a few weeks ago, which consisted of a lobster-filled crepe in a creamy tomato sauce, or I may get home and, exhausted, fall back on a bowl of chili (not literally).

I've also been paired up with Divya, of the very lovely Dil-Se, for this month's Taste-and-Create event, wherein bloggers make recipes from each other's blogs and then post about it. I love Divya's blog--which leans slightly towards authentic Indian recipes--and was having a hard time deciding what to make until I saw her post on sweet potato fries. Oh yes. Them again. Maybe third (fourth, eighth...) time's the charm?

So, maybe crepes, maybe shrimp, maybe chili, and definitely sweet potato fries; Dave on the weekend, baby shower, company party, and sunshine?