Shower Power!

Jeff and Michelle are having a baby (they beat me to it).  I felt privileged to attend one of their baby showers last weekend -- and not just because the food served there was excellent.



But it was.







The party was held in the back room of, and catered by, a charming local bar called The Richardson.  They laid out a great spread of grilled sandwiches/panini, veggies, pickles, cheese, deviled eggs, pretzels, and meats.



I believe I ate quite a bit. 





Seriously intense, moist, and attractive cupcakes (chocolate, vanilla, red velvet, and carrot cake) were provided by another local favorite shop, The Blue Stove.

Congratulations, Jeff and Michelle!  And thanks (also to Jeff's mom, who hosted) for the party!

I support The Gay Agenda.

If you're in the New York City area, you have two more chances -- this Tuesday and Thursday -- to see The Gay Agenda's shows running at Ars Nova on 54th Street. 

I'm going to get a little excited now:

Hie thee to that theater, baby! 

The Gay Agenda duo, Nicholas and Micah, have two shows running in a very limited rep, so Tuesday and Thursday nights' shows will be entirely different.  Though you certainly could see either one as a stand-alone performance, I recommend watching them both.  That's what I did.

Without giving away all of the fun surprises, Tuesday night's show is centered around mini musicals (this review goes into more details) and a Great Big Broadway show. Thursday's has more to do with the superstar pop status for which The Gay Agenda seems inevitably destined.  I liked myriad aspects of both shows, so I can't pick a favorite night, but I do love it when they do piano/trumpet/ukulele mash-ups and arrangements of pop and folk songs (which is more represented Thursday).  Micah does a wicked Lady Gaga.  There was even a nod to the old Smothers Brothers album "Think Ethnic" on Thursday night.  Be still my beating, bleeding liberal heart.

I know I sound like a super-fan (and I think the guys may be concerned I have a little too much enthusiasm for them), but I seriously love watching Micah and Nicholas on stage.  They're both extremely funny and ever-so-talented.  Nicholas plays the piano so easily and well that it makes me curse my younger self for giving up piano lessons in junior high.  Not that i would be that good now, but... I'm getting off track.  Both men sing and harmonize like a dream.  The bulk of the songs in both shows are original, witty, and well composed.  I'm gushing, aren't I?




Did I mention that Nicholas and Micah served cookies before the show on opening night?  They served cookies!  Chocolate chip, to be exact.  This is so an agenda I can get behind.




Watch The Gay Agenda on YouTube here.  The sound's a little low on some of the videos, but maybe you have better speakers than me.

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Another Ladies' Night

In general, I'm not in favor of events that are designed to be "women only" or "just the boys," but I do love to hang out with my female friends -- and I don't mind if we just happen to do so without the husbands/fiances/boyfriends/guy friends every so often.

Several weeks ago, Rachel and Steph and I checked out a relatively new wine bar in the neighborhood.  Called The Counting Room, their small plates menu is pretty inspiring.  Rachel and I enjoyed deviled eggs with mustard and lemon, and all three of us shared a lavishly appointed 5-cheese plate.



We also drank a couple of half-carafes of wine (2 varieties), but I didn't bother to note which ones we ordered.  My apologies, etc., but you should know me by now (unless you're just joining the blog).  I'm not as into the alcohol as the savory snacks. My mind strayed to, then stayed on the food.  

I can't wait to go back to try the "warm bag of croutons" that I ordered (but which they forgot to bring me).

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My first bachelorette weekend.

I am leery of bachelorette parties.  They're rumored to be about limos and drinking too much and penis-shaped novelties and people wearing funny hats.  But I was still looking forward to attending my first, Sarah's slightly-British-themed "hen night," a few weekends ago.  Sarah's a reasonable girl and I assumed (correctly) that she had reasonable friends.

First, Jessi and I had pre-party dinner at Cafe Cubana.  This put me in a great mood.  Plantains two ways? Count me in.  Online reviews of this place are surprisingly negative.  I enjoyed good service and good food while eating there.

After dinner, we met up with the bachelorette party down the street at Clover Club, where elegant cocktails are the specialty of the house.  I drank a "Rope and Rose," which was a sour drink made with strawberry and pineapple infused Peruvian pisco, lime and elderflower liqueur.  La-di-da!  But tasty.

After some bar-hopping (we left one place immediately because it was determined there were "too many meatheads" there), we ended up at Floyd, where some played bocce with the bride.  I drank a couple of mediocre bottled ciders, enjoyed more conversation, and called it a (late, for me, at 1:30am) night.   No phallic novelties in sight!  Whew!



The next morning's follow-up bachelorette brunch was just as pleasant, even if we were all a bit tired.  I made a terrific fruit salad infused with limoncello and topped with yogurt and homemade lemon curd.  I also tried this recipe (from Animal, Vegetable, Miracle) for a breakfast casserole of stale bread, asparagus and mushrooms.  The food was tops!

I've come away from this experience with a new respect for hens and their nights -- when done right.  Women with an eye for pleasant locations, good attitudes, winning personalities, and an appreciation of decent food and drink are just plain fun to be around.  In short, you can count me in, future bachelorettes!  As long as your novelties are less-than-phallic, I'm there.


p.s. I was a little jealous when I heard the bachelors had "picklebacks" at their event...but I still wouldn't have switched camps.

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UPDATE: I have suddenly remembered this was NOT my first bachelorette party (though it was my first bachelorette weekend).  I attended a comedy club and then went to Buddha Bar (where I felt woefully under-dressed) with Tara and friends several years ago.   Again, no phalli.  Thank goodness!

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Birthdays at Bars

Chocolate Bourbon Birthday!

Two charming friends had birthday celebrations over the weekend.  The weather was hot and steamy here in Brooklyn, so I appreciated that both get-togethers took place at bars with outdoor spaces.

James' birthday soiree happened at The Woods.  The bar's outdoor space is large and there's a mighty fine taco truck parked out back.  This worked to my advantage, as a delicious dinner was one of my goals for the evening.  Dan had an asparagus taco and a chicken taco  ($2.50 each).  I had a chicken burrito filled with chicken, rice, corn, verde salsa, and beans ($5).  Nice.

We also enjoyed reading the geopolitical equations someone had written on our table with black marker:



My favorite, not pictured here, said "USA - Australia = Jesus Camp."  While I doubt the scribe of this sentiment really knew what he/she was talking about, I like the idea that she/he was thinking  a good dose of Australian values is the only thing keeping the U.S. from becoming one big Jesus Camp (a fine documentary, by the way).

I wasn't drinking much at the Woods, but I was talked into trying a "pickle back."  This is a shot of whiskey (often Jameson) followed by a shot of pickle brine.  Now, I love pickles and had no problem thinking about drinking the pickle juice.  The whiskey was what worried me.  But I found that once I took the plunge everything was just fine.  The pickle flavor wiped any bitter alcohol away.  I felt refreshed and ready for more.  This could be a dangerous drink for me!



The second birthday gathering I attended this past weekend was Kelly's.  She celebrated with a "day drinking" session at Spuyten Duyvil.  We enjoyed plates of cheese, pickles, and olives from the bar.  I drink a sparklng wine from Juve y Camps and a (non-alcoholic) ginger beer.  But the highlight of that afternoon was snacking on segments of mini chocolate bourbon bundt cakes from The Blue Stove.  They're quite a deal at $3 each, tasting moist and sweet like cake and frosting all swirled into one.

More summer birthdays, please!

It MIGHT be love.

I think I have a new favorite Clif bar. This despite the fact that I've never been able to figure out whether I really like them or not.

A sign of things to come

New burger place in the neighborhood! What, no turkey burger?

I was told Mother's was being opened by the owners of Harefield Road (great brunch spot), but it is actually being opened by the owners of Daddy's (decent local bar). It replaces Mighty Diamond (a vegan Jamaican place I only ate at once; turns out I don't like fake cheese), which was also owned by the Daddy's people.

p.s. According to the article linked above, Action Burger has reopened as Comic Burger!