Friday Quick Pics

On Monday, my parents were switching with my aunt, who owns a timeshare in NYC. On Sunday, my parents took the apartment so that we could do Easter at my brothers, but after my dad's business meeting on Monday, they headed home and my aunt came up for the second night at the share. 

My mom and aunt overlapped some while my dad was working, so the two of them decided to get lunch together. Ironically enough, the night before at my brother's I was discussing how I really want to go to ABC Kitchen for my birthday, but that the reservations are basically impossible to get for a larger group. I say ironically, because at 12:04 my mom calls to tell me that they're outside my office and that they're going to lunch at "some restaurant in ABC Carpet & Home that Elena loves". Uhhh Mom...you didnt see the connection between ABC Kitchen and ABC Carpet? Nothing? Not a nugget of similarity?

Well, after she told me that, there was a pause...and I told her I'm coming and would be down in a minute. I literally RAN out of my building to meet them and had an absolutely delicious lunch. Pictures of my courses are below--my mother had the most amazing veggie burger any of us had ever tasted and my aunt started with the chicken liver toast (ew?), she followed it with a carrot and avocado salad. We were all extremely satisfied with our meals.

I then proceeded to have a fatass day, as my aunt and I were meeting for dinner at A Voce Columbus, one of my absolute favorite restaurants in the city. So much for my diet, huh?

So my quick pics this week are mostly from my wonderful Monday meals. I'm going on vacation until Tuesday, so apologies in advance for being MIA!

crab toast from ABC Kitchen

shaved raw fluke from ABC Kitchen

Stracchi fresh pasta with porcini sauce at A Voce Columbus

brussels sprouts with chilies, breadcrumbs and parmesan at A Voce Columbus

I did things other than go out to dinner. I went to an absolutely fabulous Workout and Wine class at Uplift Studios, which I HIGHLY recommend. It's women only (sorry boys) and after your workout you get healthy snacks (last night included carrots and celery with hummus, cheese and crackers and a chickpea and artichoke salad) and wine! What more do you need to inspire you to work out? (apologies if my blog has become an ad for Uplift, I just loved the experience and really respect the women who quit their corporate jobs to open the gym)

Also, since I decided I need to increase my recipe repertoire for vegetables and vegetarian meals, I ordered two new cookbooks (yay!) And since I was ordering two, I decided to throw in a third fish cookbook, since as we all know, fish is my fave. 

I've just started looking through them, and I'm already obsessed with Fast, Fresh & Green by Susie Middleton. The book is organized so well and really focuses on getting you to eat more veggies as sides with a basic protein to make cooking on weeknights simpler. She teaches you multiple ways to cook, including quick-roasting, quick-braising, hands-on sauteing, walk-away sauteing, etc. I normally put flags on recipes I like, and I looked at the pages I've flagged and it's almost every single one!