Friends Gather For a Dinner Party in the East Village

What a terrific Saturday evening with my good pals.  During the day, Sarah and I trekked up to Trader Joes where we picked up goodies for the night, including ingredients for:

* Asparagus gruyere tart
* Lemon Bars
* Mint tabouleh
* Eggplant mash
* Panna cotta

Jaimin recently moved into a new place in the East Village and was so kind as to once again host.  This new place has the most beautiful kitchen with super high ceilings!

Oh and a quick 2 minute photo session for Sarah:

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Vegetarian Dinner on a Weeknight

Had a friends dinner last night, and again, Sarah cooked for us. She came up with a Caribbean themed meal, which was a bit of a surprise given her initial cryptic email telling us what ingredients she needed (i.e. okra, mustard seeds, dried coconut, banana, milk, ice cream, cilantro, rice, etc.). The main dishes of the night were spiced kidney beans, lightly pan-cooked okra/squash, coconut rice and banana milkshake (I got to make this!).

One lil mishap was when salt accidentally fell into the [~5] lb pot of kidney beans, but we werent to fear, we had JP there to spice it back to a salty perfection. After the vegetarian din, I think I will make meatballs and mashed potatoes (with scallions for dinner tonight).

(L-R, Top to Bottom): Some addt'l (accdt'l) salt fell on kidney beans; cooked okra and squash; freshly chopped pentagonal okra; ingredients for a banana milkshake

Bright Fruit (taken by request), Whatever a Lemon Can Do a Lime Can Do Better

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A Dinner on a Weeknight

(L-R, Top to Bottom): Lightly Pan-Frying Pancakes; Feta, Zucchini & Mint Pancakes Lain on Napkins; Finally Garnished With Tart Sour Grannies; Sweet Potato Mash; Yellow and Red Beets with Clover Honey and Salt; Garlic Baked Asparagus

Had dinner with friends at JP's apartment tonight. He has a nice and spacious apartment in the Lower East Side; his apartment is suprisingly stocked with lots of kitchen supplies and is suitably located right above the Whole Foods on Houston.

As this is an entry mainly about food, words are not really needed but rather pictures for description ... here are some additional visual aids from tonight:

The Head Chef herself, many thanks again!

Din and Drink

A Lil Pyro Playing With Fire

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A Sunday Brunch

(L-R, Top to Bottom): jalapeño/habañero hummus; basil hummus; cilantro hummus; bottled mixed hummus; fried something, small baby habanero; fried and fresh cheese side by side

At Gobo, pre-Sorcerer play, Sarah and I were chatting about how easy/cheap it is to make hummus and how hummus can be a good source of protein. With that, we decided to make multiple varieties of hummus at Sunday brunch. We picked up some fresh goodies at Whole Foods and used a rather fancy blender to blend 3 varieties. The habañero pictured above (a bright orange) was purchased because I love its color and kept starring at it at the store (it's small and very cute). The white and lime green jar of tahini infused chickpeas was created mainly for the photo opportunity. Jaimin's fresh cheese, which probably required an entire gallon of milk and a pillowcase!, was delicious as always.

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