Never Too Old for a Pizza Party

Birthdays, mac and cheese, and smoothies

Jul 03, 2023

Hi there,

It’s July! I’m writing to you on a Sunday morning, at home, with coffee (from a local roaster in Maine, love an edible souvenir). I just watered my plants, unloaded the dishwasher and put away laundry. Travel makes me appreciate small moments at home so much more. Normalcy is beautiful and not to be taken for granted.

This week has big “I hate the headlines and the weather” energy, with Supreme Court decisions and more smoke in the air. I hope you’re hanging in and staying safe and somehow hopeful. It’s hard though.

On Thursday, we will dive into the dips, thanks for your patience last week!

Now, let’s dive in.

Something to cook:

Here’s what I cooked this past week: Annie’s mac and cheese with broccoli, lots of black pepper, and chili powder. One night I added chickpeas for some protein, which nestled very well into the little shells. Sometimes cooking is just something you do to feed yourself and save $15-30.

Okay, the other thing I cooked for myself, in a bit of a haze after so many travel delays, was scrambled eggs with cherry tomatoes and cheddar. I ate it on a piece of sourdough (frozen and toasted). After that, a shower, and a green smoothie (frozen banana, pineapple, chia seeds, spinach, vanilla almond milk), I felt like a new woman.

I will be cooking something for Julianne’s annual BBQ tomorrow, either a dessert (this peach crisp is always a winner) or a big salad with mini mozzarella balls. I’ll keep you posted.

Something to order:

Dale and I went to Clara’s on Tuesday to grab food and catch up on our respective weekends. We didn’t even drink—we just like the food at this Bushwick sports bar. I love their mushroom quesadilla and the salsa it comes with and he swears by their wings.

On Wednesday, Camille, Angela, and I went to Food52’s new office in the Brooklyn Navy Yard. The views were stunning and they had great grilled cheeses with tomato jam and a spritz station with Ghia and Veso aperitifs.

Angela and I checked out Milu’s new location in Williamsburg (they invited us in so our meal was comped). It’s fast casual in a really pretty setting with a backyard. We each got bowls and the Sichuan cauliflower was really good (and well portioned). Don’t miss the soft serve—they have dole whip and egg tart.

Natalie and Andy were in town and organized drinks at the Brooklyn Inn, a very charming bar that looks like the set of a romcom. It opened in 1885.

We celebrated Oset’s 30th at Rubirosa, which was a total delight (pizza parties were maybe the best part of elemenatry school). The tie dye pizza is always a winner and I also love their Rubirosa salad and olive oil cake (Oset also had olive oil cake at her wedding and I appreciated the continuity). After lunch, I talked myself out of buying a $155 journal at Goods for the Study. Willpower, intact.

Then, we headed to Hoboken to see Manny, Michelle, Joe, Nicole, Kaylee, LT, and Kimberly at Pier 13. The pier has a section with food trucks and a section that’s a bar (you can bring food from the trucks into the bar). It was a great spot to hang out and they had Coney Island Brewing beer, which made me happy.

For Leah’s birthday, we celebrated with dinner at Ilili, which was so nice (the menu is very shareable, which is great for a group, definitely get more than one hummus, labneh and fries)! My family is all cancers and virgos so summer is always a big time for birthday celebrations!