King Cake, Beef Stew, Dinner with Friends

Thursday, I had an incredible dinner wtih friends. The Thomas's invited myself and the Family over to their apartment for dinner. We all jumped at the chance to hangout with such an amazing couple. Their beautiful apartment, on the luxurious West 87th Street, was a cozy escape from the winter cold. 

The center piece of the living room was this beautiful custom wall piece. "Mighty Oaks" comes from the saying "Mighty oaks from little acorns grow". The saying has personal meaning to the couple, so they decided to have the letters custom made and covered with a map of NYC. I love decor accent pieces that are both meaningful and ascetically intriguing. 

We each brought a cheese to start. The Family, of course, coordinated to ensure we had no cheese repeats. I picked up a sharp Beermeister, Mer grabbed a Brie with peppercorn, and Bryan stopped by Eataly for a creamy Kunik. We paired the cheese with crackers and buttered toasts. We also supplied wine for the dinner, not a difficult task for this crew. 

I'm in love with Mer's aztec pants. 

The table was set and ready to host.

laughs upon laughs upon laughs....

Anthony and Jess cooked up a hearty beef stew that was served over rice with string beans and salad on the side.  It was melt in your mouth delicious.

I'm pretty sure we all had seconds. 

For dessert, we had a King Cake. After doing some research, I learned that King Cakes will look and taste different depending on their place of origin. Ours was from the French Boulanger, Maison Kayser. You may associate King Cake with Mardi Gras, but those are usually more colorful and cake like. Ours was an almond flavored pastry dough, light and fluffy, with just a slight crunch. In each cake the baker hides a little plastic trinket, traditionally it is a baby Jesus. 

The superstition is, whoever gets the piece of cake with the trinket, will be the next to get married. Funny enough, no one ended up getting the trinket on the first go. It was comfortably nestled in the last uneaten piece. Not big on superstitions, I decided to claim the trinket (a plastic baguette) and the crown for myself. 

The meal was delicious and the company was even better. We laughed until we couldn't laugh anymore and went home full in many different ways.

(Shirt - Loft / Necklace - J.Crew)

Dinner with friends is always a good option. Make sure you set aside time for the people you care about and want to invest in. I hope you'll make plans this week to get together with someone you've been meaning to catch up with. 

ps...sorry for all the pictures. Too many good ones to leave any out!

d.eileen

On Mondays We Have Family Dinner.

About a year and a half ago my friends and I started a tradition called Family Dinner. In a busy city like New York, we decided it was important to set aside one night a week to spend together. When we move at a million miles an hour it is necessary to prioritize where you delegate your time. The group of woman I started Family Dinner with were and are priorities to me. We are each others NYC family. They are my forever friends who I hope to do life with for a long time.

This is the Family.

(Meredith, Jenny, Hannah, Me, Natalie)

We expect the family dinner attendees to grow over the years (can someone say if you like it than you better put a ring on it!) and even downsize (Jenny has already left us, moving to LA to pursue her career and what God has for her there), but the heart will always remain the same...once your are in the Family, you are always in the Family. 

Through cooking, we care for each other on a weekly basis. You could say cooking a meal is our love language towards each other. Each Monday, someone volunteers to host and cook family dinner. Those not cooking bring drinks (aka wine), maybe a pre-dinner nibble (aka cheese), or bread. We rotate weekly who cooks and are sensitive to those weeks when money is low...the heart of family dinner is taking care of one another. 

Sometimes we remember to actually wear our aprons...

Occasionally we invite people to join us for dinner. We like to celebrate birthdays, have a laugh, and care for people we love...we also appreciate manual labor. 

It is our goal to save a years worth of Family Dinner recipes to compile a cookbook at the end of 2014. As life moves forward and things draw us apart, we want to hold onto this tradition the best we can. Also, my friends are all amazing cooks...we never have a bad meal! 

I encourage you all to find a way to stay connect to the people in your life that make you better. I'm more of who I want to be today than I was a year ago, and it has a big part to do with my Family Dinner friends. It's a place you can come as you are - laugh, cry, share your fears and hopes and dreams.  

There's a lot of love in this Family. 

Feet up...that's a sign of one good Family Dinner.

Cheers to meals with the people you love and a really great glass of wine.

Stay tuned for Family Dinner posts...they will be a regular on the blog.

d. eileen