my weekend

this was a great weekend filled with lots of hanging with my girlfriends.  friday night i had dinner with women from work at this great restaurant in Tribeca called Pepolino.  this place was fantastic and i cannot believe i've never been there before.  it so Italian and Tuscan and it made me long for our honeymoon.  the whole dinner was delicious, but we ended with their caramel panna cotta and it was nothing short of amazing.  the creamiest panna cotta i have ever had and i will get that every time i visit this restaurant.

weekend additions: new rug and new coffee table book 

saturday night two of my best girlfriends came over for dinner so the afternoon was a busy day preparing.  i decided on an Italian meal (surprise, surprise) so we started with lots of italian cheeses and some soppresatta that i got from Stinky.  if i had to create the world's most perfect shop it would be this place.  for dinner i decided to make a roast pig with roasted potatoes.  it was the second time i used this recipe and it is fantastic.  the other great thing about it is that after the preparation you just let it roast for 5 hours.  you can visit with your guests and not worry about too much time spent in the kitchen.  perfetto! we finished off the meal with this mascarpone dessert.  now, this was the first time i   used this recipe and i cannot wait to make it again.  we devoured it!

sunday, my sister, her boyfriend and their kids came into the city for the day and we walked so, so much.  we got pizza and took them over the BK bridge and got ice cream and just had a wonderful day of visiting and exploring.  it was so nice having them here even if it was only for a few hours.

and then sunday night got sad because my favorite show ended.  saying goodbye to Mad Men was so hard! i know it's only a television show, but this was the best of the best.  i will miss these characters and the writing and the stories dearly.

an old fashioned for a favorite show

a few traditions

swingle from 2013

Easter weekend is one of my favorites of the year.  although J and i have been together for a while we don't have too many traditions around holidays.  maybe it's because our families are spread out and we're always traveling, but a few years ago i decided that we would not travel for Easter and that we would start making our own traditions at home.  i am so glad i did because it's become something i really look forward to.

the day before easter we take a nice walk over into Red Hook.  we love this neighborhood.  it feels very New York and old school to us and the people are amazing.  there are so many great places to grab a bite or a drink and just walking and taking in the neighborhood is so great.  our tradition starts with the walk and we slowly head over to Red Hook Winery.  we also do the wine tasting (tasting of six, please!).  we then decide on a wine to buy and enjoy with Easter dinner.

swingle from 2014

after the tasting we walk over to Steve's Authentic Key Lime Pie for  a swingle (chocolate covered pie on a stick).  simply.  amazing.  we sit on the water (this year it was so windy that we just ate it and walked) and stare at the Statue of Liberty and just chill.  it is so rare that we just sit and hang out like that.  

on Easter Sunday our tradition is to make pasta carbonara, one of my absolute favorites, and drink our Red hook wine.  some years we color eggs and eat bagels in the morning and some years we just do dinner.  it is so much fun and it makes me excited for the traditions that we haven't yet created.

swingle from 2015

recipe: poached peaches

my kitchen is a mess.  for reals.  a hot, hot mess.  as i mentioned before, we're upgrading our microwave cart and it's now in the middle of our dining room underneath a drop cloth.  it's been sanded, but it has not been fully primed yet.  once primed we will then have to let it dry and then paint it.  we're also going away this weekend to visit family and friends in boston which means i am panicking about getting this done.  not having a microwave cart in my little kitchen means i'm down major countertop space.  which means major cooking headache.  which means really grumpy gina.  not even kidding.  can you sense the anxiety?

the point of my story is... i didn't really cook tonight.  just an arugula salad and three different types of bruschetta.  it was actually yummy.  we had a tomato, a pesto, and a beet and goat cheese.  despite my crankiness in the kitchen, dinner was good.  but i didn't come here to tell you about bruschetta.  no way, jose!  i came here to tell you about peaches.  poached peaches.  in bourbon.  i am now dancing because even typing that makes my mouth water.  uh huh...  i got this recipe from the latest issue of martha stewart living.  i tweaked it a bit, but the core is from ms. martha.

2 quarts peaches
2 cups sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
dash of nutmeg
1 cup of bourbon

bring a large pot of water to boil.  cut a small X into the bottom of each peach.  boil peaches for about 2 minutes and transfer to ice water bath.  let cool.  peel and pit and cut into wedges.

bring 4 cups of water, sugars and nutmeg to boil in large saucepan, stirring until sugar dissolves.  add peaches and bourbon and simmer until peaches are tender.

spoon out peaches and transfer to to large bowl.  cook syrup over medium heat until reduced by half.  pour over peaches and let cool.

divide peaches among jars (this filled 2 one liter jars for me).  pour syrup over peaches.  refrigerate.

these are hella good.  messy to make, but worth it.  apparently i stink at peeling peaches.  i have enjoyed them thoroughly over vanilla ice cream.  i also think these would be a super cute gift to bring to the host at a dinner party.  or you could serve them for dessert at your own dinner party and then give your guests a jar to take with them.  how cute is that?  the magazine also has some cutie labels to put on your jars.  adorable!  i would have taken a picture of the peaches over ice cream, but i ate it too fast.  my bad.