back from vacation

Week 6

We were both away during week 6, having our own food adventures with our families. Mr. A had oyster happy hours, afternoon scotches, seafood dinners, and hit a number of beach side restaurants while I was working my way, with help, through our summer beach house supply of grass-fed, organic beef and pork. Although A and I were apart, there was daily chatter about food, drinks, sunshine, beach sitting, and family activity. I was sitting on the beach when I got the, "going to oyster happy hour with my brother" text. Envy ensued. Another day I received a text saying that he wanted a recipe of mine, for salmon tartare and that later that night he was going to be serving the pie that I had made him, to his entire family (note: this is a foodie family who knows what's good....so I was anxiously awaiting post-pie reports)...

Turned out the tartare was a hit (check mark for me (and Ina Garten) for a good recipe) and everyone loved my pie (this definitely bought me at least a few more weeks of dates with A).... a nice Jewish girl who can cook? Excellent. 

Moving on.

One day I was telling A about the lobster dinner with homemade pasta that we were having that night. He said we were eating like kings. I chose to remind him that he hadn't exactly been eating like he was in jail.... to this, he agreed, but it still sounded like we was green with envy for our lobster dinner. Maybe it was the homemade bagels that my dad makes on Sundays that got A's attention, or the hot rye that comes out of the oven at the same time as the roasted turkey breast for afternoon sandwiches. Perhaps it was the constant rotation of beef, pork, beef, pork, and burgers for lunch that kept him interested that week.... I don't know, but I do know that I told A that if he plays his cards right he might get to experience all of the above for himself next summer... 

Week 6, trip week, ended together, back in the City of Brotherly Love, with another 36 hours of greatness, minus the humidity from July. As we set out on foot we realized that this was the first time we were able to walk around the city without schvitzing or kvetching that it was so hot. It was a welcome change of weather from the temperatures a few weeks prior.

The most recent 36 breaks down like this:

(it's worth noting that A continues to fill all columns with check marks)

Hours 1-5: Chivas on the rock (a 2.5" sexy rock) for A, Elijah Craig on the rock for me. This was followed by dinner at Cochon, a local fave cochonbyob.com/‎. On the walk there I was secretly hoping they would have duck. When they do, I always order it and I had not been there in a while, and never with Mr. A. We had a bottle of 2009 Barbaresco in tow and I was ready to share it with A and enjoy a great dinner.

The scene unfolds when A takes charge of the menu and puts on his review, discuss, and decide hat. I promptly announced I wanted the duck, as soon as our server said that it was a special. We both actually had specials. A pointed his finger at the menu as he worked his way down from the top to denote each item that was on the table for discussion pre-ordering. We settled on escargot, a trio of duck which included duck liver mousse, duck hearts, and one other thing that I can't remember. We ate it all and were working our way through the bottle. Next Mr. A had ordered suckling pig over lentils and asparagus with a poached egg on top. Umm - delish. I ordered the duck which was served on pureed sweet potatoes and a sauce that was fantastic. We shared, exchanged forks, refilled our glasses, talked and had a terrific time. I was so happy to be able to look at him across the table after not seeing him for a week. It was pretty perfect.

Hours 6-12: No eating occurred

Hours 12-13: We played tennis. This was a much discussed match that will not be discussed in order to respect the privacy of all competitors. Let's just say that A should stick to his menu ordering techniques and leave the tennis to me. Actually, we had a great match and a lot of fun (I just might have happened to beat him).

Hours 15-19: Went to Fare for brunch farerestaurant.com/ and sat outside. It was the most beautiful day I can remember in a long time. My boy, Mr. A got right down to business with the menu. After ordering us Fare Marys, which is their spicy Bloody Mary with a bacon garnish, we really took the menu under advisement and started using process of elimination to get the ball rolling....

We had (of course all shared):
1. goat yogurt parfait with fruit and granola (one of our favorite dishes of the meal)
2. yellow and red beet salad with goat cheese and arugula (told you there was a theme)
3. potato pancake with dill, sour cream, and smoked salmon
4. veggie omelette with spinach, roasted red peppers, green beans, and cheese

By hour 15.01 Mr. A had polished off his bloody, but as we were getting slight concussions from the celery stalk that kept hitting us in the head (our server had forgotten straws, which we didn't even notice) he took a photo to send to his brother for appropriate Bloody Mary bragging. I am in the background of said photo and am completely dwarfed by celery.

Our breakfast ranking in terms of our favorites was:
1, 3, 2, 4 or 3, 1, 2, 4
We couldn't quite decide.

After Fare and before hour 20 we managed to take a beautiful walk and have one more drink.

Hours 20-22 were extremely cultural....

And then during hours 23-28 we really got down to business. This is what it looked like:

Pop-up beer garden on Broad Street for one drink and a snack
The patio at The Cambridge www.cambridgeonsouth.com/‎ for mussels in a spicy broth, grilled octopus, and two beers
Zavino www.zavino.com/‎ for a glass of Cava for me, a cocktail for A, ricotta meatballs, meat and cheese board then another cocktail for A and a glass of Primativo for me.

Hours 23-28 were filled with topics and talking and were pretty close to perfection. They gave Sunday Funday a whole new meaning for me.

Hours 29-36 did not involve food.