v.2

I haven’t updated my blog all week and it’s because I finally relented and joined Facebook from Richard’s invitation. It’s actually kind of fun and I got sucked in playing the music challenge and the never ending movie quiz. Sigh. Well, if you are on Facebook, let me know and we can be friends! 😉

So Saturday we had a little celebration for Sienna’s first birthday, which is officially on Wednesday. Can you believe it?? There are so many pictures to post, I’ll have to divide it into 2 posts. I made Jamaican beef patties from scratch (even the dough!), pork dumplings (my own filling!) and cupcakes. I also put out brie. Can you get the reason for this international food smorgasbord? Brenda made bacon and cheddar muffins (yum!!), Theresa brought asparagus salad (yum!!), Tammy and Mark provided the punch and since Joy was a late addition she just brought her big mouth. LOL. I’ll do the food post later.

As you can see, she really took to Mark pretty fast, just like she did with Peter last week. Hmmm, I guess we shouldn’t worry about her comfortness with males until she is older…HA!

I think Sienna was a little confused about what was going on and probably wondered why there were a bunch of people standing around staring at her! She didn’t really have much of a reaction to her birthday hat or her birthday cupcake or blowing out her candle. LOL. I gave her her cupcake and in true Sienna fashion, threw it on the floor but after she had some frosting. I picked it up and just gave her the insides and of course, it got messy!

She’s probably thinking ‘this is not my usual fare…but I’ll try it’

Here’s a video of the cupcake eating event. If you need the password, please leave me a comment!

First Birthday Cupcake from Lisa on Vimeo.

We had to do a wardrobe change after the cupcake so she can open her presents and not have cupcake and frosting everywhere! I thought it was appropriate to put her in the cupcake shirt that Tammy and Mark got her for Christmas!

Sienna really made out good! There was a gift that came for her during the week from Fed Ex from a company in Brooklyn. There wasn’t a card or message that told us who it was from so we were calling it the mystery gift and joking that Sienna went online and ordered it for herself. We found out it was from Yves’ parents! They ordered it from amazon and I guess from a third party so they didn’t have the option to include a gift card. It’s the little push thing that she can also sit on. She also got a cool ball blowing toy that also plays music from Joy, musical maracas and 2 super cute dresses from Brenda, a cute outfit and book from Theresa and a crocodile xylophone from Tammy and Mark. Hours of entertainment, that is for sure!

It really turned out to be a great time for everyone. And I’m really happy Sienna got to enjoy her first birthday party with some very cool friends of mine. I did not want to have a big blow out party so I did not invite a ton of people so I’m glad people showed up despite the rainy weather. My patties and dumplings were well received too!

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As I mentioned in the previous post, Pete came over on Saturday. Originally it was to cook a meal but we couldn’t figure out what to cook so instead just made ricotta cheesecake (the one I was going to make for the bumblebees). It was fun! The recipe is from Martha Stewart’s baking handbook.

Pete purees the ricotta.


I mix the egg whites which I screwed up and got a little bit of egg yolk in there and so would not stiffen.

Pete whisks the ricotta, egg yolks, flour and salt after I grate in some orange peel

which I used with the microplane my MIL got me (thanks Mummy! I love it!)

It’s ready to go in! Without Pete tho!

While we are waiting for it to cook, Pete has fun with Sienna!

Fun with Uncle Peter from Lisa on Vimeo.

And now the cheesecake is done!

Pete was making fun of the waffle marks I made while flipping it over. I’m just listening to Martha, she said to use another rack to flip it over!

Pete is deciding if he likes it or not. And he does! We figured out it tasted more like a custardy orange cake. It was good tho! And it worked out perfectly as he took 3 slices for himself and Nate and Mari for later. I had a slice, Yves had a slice and I took the remaining 2 over to Tammy and Mark on Sunday!

Pete and Sienna give each other a kiss goodbye. AWWW!!!!

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Yesterday me and Sienna went to open play at a nearby playgym. It was our first time. For $6 you can hang out in an indoor space for up to 4 hours, us and every other mom/kid in town! Initially it wasn’t so bad. Sienna is still too young to go climbing in the ball pit area but there were lots of mirrors and cushions and balls for her. It started getting more crowded with unruly kids but it wasn’t the kids that annoyed me, it was their parents! For the most part, the parents were keeping a watchful eye on their little ones, especially the one that had a crush on Sienna. She kept following her everywhere and saying how cute she is! I’m glad the mom was close by yelling at her to not touch the baby and not to kiss the baby. But after awhile, she was just getting plain annoying! Sienna didn’t really pay her much attention in the beginning but I guess by the end, she was worn thin and almost kissed her back! Then there was the kid that was running around coughing and not covering his mouth and then the kid snacking with only a quarter of the food getting into her mouth. Uh, hello, where is your mom? Kids snacking on food under signs that said “please no outside food.” HA

Well, I can’t wait for Spring!

And here is a cute video I took last week. Just leave me a comment and I will send you the password to view!

Maggie Monster from Lisa on Vimeo.

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Monday was President’s day so Yves had off and we went out to Queens to visit very pregnant Aunt Tammy and Uncle Mark. Of course we stopped off at A.C. Moore (big yarn sale!), Trader Joe’s and the new Michael’s. Can you believe I did not buy anything in Michael’s? The lighting was really dark in there and I think the high ceilings didn’t help make it appealing but it was pretty big. Anyway, they let us gorge on chips and dip and grilled chicken and vegetables. And Tammy made brownies with a coffee icing. YUM! I think it was a pretty successful outting for Sienna as she doesn’t get to visit many other homes. We brought her booster seat so she can sit at the table with us.

Mark is going to make a fine daddy!

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A close friend of my MIL, Auntie Sharon, was in town visiting with Liz and the girls before their big move. They came over for lunch on Sunday and will probably be the last time they are all over for a long time. I know Liz loves my chili so I made that for her and also tried out a new recipe for a lite carrot cake (made into cupcakes). Everything was yummy despite cutting my pointing finger and burning my pinky all on the same hand!

The next time the 3 of them will be together, they will be soooo much bigger!

Carrot cupcakes

Talking to Grandma

Sienna listens intently to her older cousin’s wisdom.

I let Eli take hold of the digital camera and she took some very nice pictures:

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Saturday the bumblebees came over for a potluck dinner. Joy brought bratwurst from Milwaukee, salmon caviar and blinis. Ruthie made a delicious Greek orzo salad and DeeDee brought dumplings from Rickshaw. I made deviled eggs. I was going to make a ricotta cheesecake for dessert but since Joy had to leave early, I did not want to risk making it and having more leftovers. I really cannot afford to be eating a whole milk ricotta cheesecake on my own! Joy brought with her the Wii and 2 guitars for Guitar Hero. I never, ever played before but I got the hang of it pretty quickly! It is fun!! It probably is a good thing Joy left early or I might have developed a strong addiction to Guitar Hero. Denise and Ruthie also bought some cute outfits for Sienna and DeeDee also got her a new toy. Thanks guys!!

Joy & Yves rocking out!

The ultimate Rock Star!

Skippy gets some love from Ruthie.

Pretty clothes for Sienna!

deviled eggs

Greek Orzo Salad

Brats

Blinis

I swear I thought I took pictures of the dumplings but I guess I didn’t!

Excited for the toy DeeDee bought for her!

A hug for Ruthie!

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Wednesday night was the February mixer. We went to the 11th Street bar, a nice place albeit hot as the heat was blasting! I did not have a physical mix but I do plan on uploading one soon. So, I guess I will focus on the dinner beforehand! We went to the Smith. A newish place that took the place of Pizzeria Uno in the East Village (thank goodness! I never been to that one). I’ve read good reviews about the place so I was anxious to try it. Now that I think about it, I think I read good reviews about their brunch because I was a little disappointed in their dinner. Me and Joy shared crab hush puppies, which were quite good. I ordered the short ribs and it was lacking in flavor and was using the creamy dipping sauce from the hush puppies on my meat. Joy ordered the pork chop and she said hers was also lacking in flavor. Robyn got the vegetable bibimbop and she said it was good but keep in mind, she’s a vegetarian. LOL. I didn’t get a chance to ask Jonathan and his girlfriend and her friend about their meals. They got chicken sausage, gnocchi and avocado salad. They obliged me when I asked if I could take a picture of their food. It was a nice touch that they had bottles of water and sparkling water on the table, I can give them that! And I didn’t go to the bathroom but heard they have a photo booth.

Again, I apologize for the blurry pictures! It’s hard to stay focused with food in front of you! HA!

crab hush puppies

my short ribs (dare I say they were short on flavor? HA I did!)

Joy’s pork chop, it was pretty thick

Robyn’s vegetable bibimbop

Chicken sausage, gnocchi and avocado salad

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Saturday, me and Yves went to Dim Sum at the Golden Unicorn. This is our first outing together, into the city, without Sienna. We’ve been out without Sienna but usually remained in Brooklyn, a quick walk or car ride from her. My parents were watching her and I honestly was not worried about her. Pete brought Meredith with him, whom we have not seen for a couple of years! Aaron and his wife Drea came, whom we have not seen in over a year and Brenda and Lynn came. Don’t worry, I saw Brenda last month! haha! Anyway…

Meredith was a total dim sum newbie so of course we teased her with the delights of Chicken Feet. Newbies are usually grossed out about this (and oldies too as Yves has yet to try it) and she already proclaimed at the beginning of the meal that she was not going to partake in the eating of Chicken Feet.

That’s Meredith eating Chicken Feet. 🙂 After I announced that the sauce was really good today and Meredith agreed, Pete dug in too Pete agreed so Meredith dug in too. Now Pete can say he’s had it 4 times.

Aaron is not grossed out by Chicken Feet nor is Brenda.


No, that is not Brenda eating a chicken foot, it’s on her plate. She’s saving the best for last. HA!

I was so proud of Meredith for eating the chicken feet that I took a picture of her eaten foot!

But!! Upon closer inspection of this foot, I noticed there was not much eaten of it after all. HAHA! I should have taken a picture of my foot and you can then see a properly eaten foot (bones only). HAHA! Well, I can’t fault her! At least she tried it and it really is all about the sauce. I meant to take more pictures as I didn’t get any good eating pics of Drea or Lynn. Well, now that we have taken a little break from monthly dim sums, maybe it is time to bring it back again. So there will be more opportunities of eating pictures!

We did not go to bubble tea with Pete and Meredith, an after dim sum tradition, because Yves was in pain. The night before he stubbed his big toe really bad. It got all black and blue and swollen and he wasn’t even sure he would make it to dim sum. It’s a good thing he’s got his Keen shoes as they are wider in the toe area. Poor thing was wobbling along in the streets of Chinatown, the old men and women were passing us by! So he didn’t want to be on his feet for too long so we went home to our lovely daughter (who has a swollen right eyelid-poor thing!)

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Last night we had a band meeting at Baden Baden, known for their fried chicken. It’s different because they take a whole rotisserie chicken and fry that. Quite delicious! We rounded off the meal with chopped steak and pig’s feet. We were all reluctant about the pig’s feet (except Joy) but when Joy explained it more to us, we figured we’d give it a try. It really isn’t as intimidating as it sounds and didn’t taste bad at all. It actually looks like something you’d get at a banquet dinner. I’m pretty sure it’s what it is! Tammy did not partake in the pig. She didn’t find it looked appetizing and didn’t want to risk throwing up! HAHA!

I apologize for the crappy pictures. I gotta remember to take the better camera for these food shots. Plus I’m so excited to dig in! And these pictures do not do the food justice!

The chicken comes with a choice of fries or onion rings. We didn’t care what we got since it seems like an afterthought so Pete picked fries. I’m glad he did! They had a nice seasoning on them and were nice and crisp. There was also garlic cloves in there, I’m guessing fried with everything and it was yummy!!

I enjoyed the steak, it wasn’t overcooked although the sauce wasn’t really special.

Here’s the pig’s feet. See, doesn’t look so bad, right? We were originally thinking of the actual hooves. LOL!

Pete’s preparing his section to get ready to dig in!

Joy’s enjoying the pig’s feet!

The aftermath.

Nobody touched the salad minus a tomato by Tammy. The white cubes are pickled radishes, which was quite good!

Tammy’s belly is full with more than just food! 😉

The funny and strange thing about the restaurant is the loud dance/hip hop music in there. We had to repeat ourselves a couple of times and try to talk over the music. They certainly didn’t rush us out of there after the dishes were cleared. I would go there again!

And on a totally unrelated note, when I was tooling around the city yesterday, I happen to walk down Broome Street in search of Papabubble to check out. I passed a building with a couple of cop cars outside and maybe about half a dozen or so paparazzi. This was probably between 4:30 and 5 pm.I wondered which celebrity they were stalking and was going to walk back down Broome toward Broadway but decided to be the jaded New Yorker and took another route on my way uptown. Turns out the building was where Heath Ledger lived and died. I was so shocked he died and saddened and now spooked out that I walked by the building his body was in!!

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I went out to dinner with Theresa last night to Da Andrea. I forgot my camera so no pictures! I really, really wanted to go to Sapore but they lost their lease. I was totally bummed because I was really looking forward to their homestyle Italian cooking and cheap prices. Well, I decided to try Da Andrea’s because I remember that Joy was raving about that place for awhile. I ordered the warm octopus salad with potatoes and olives. The octopus was good but I wish there was more of it. And there were way too many olives. I ate a few of them and there were still at least a close dozen left on my plate. There must have been a special on olives. Theresa ordered the grilled calamari salad and hers was really good. I wish I ordered that one! It had a nice amount of calamari and a nice salad with it. For entreé I ordered homemade cavatelli with shrimp and salmon in a light pesto sauce. There was a nice amount of shrimp in there and frankly, I almost forgot there was salmon in there. It was little pieces. I don’t know what possessed me to get pesto sauce since I’m not entirely a big fan of it but I wanted to try something different. Theresa got the artichoke ravioli and she said it was good but nothing fantastic. Of course I was stuffed because of the bread basket and I’m such a bread whore that I ate all the focaccia. And I was a little buzzed from one glass of red wine!! That was good! All in all I was not terribly impressed with the food. I wonder if it’s because I expected more since Joy raved about it so much. The food was good, wasn’t fantastic and it’s likely I won’t be craving that place. Oh well. It was good to see Theresa and catch up with her.

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