Today marked the end of my year-and-a-half exile from Manhattan... My last sojourn in the borough was on March 7, 2020. Since then, I had limited my New York City trips to the Bronx, which is two blocks from my home. Today, though, I hung out with a bunch of Wonkette readers in order to celebrate the 40th birthday of Joe S, who calls Jersey City home. Present were Dr Jen, who I hung out with last Sunday, ziggywiggy, mavenmaven, BillE Goat (who came down from Massachusetts, Uncle Milburn (who flew in from Washington State), Joe from Portland, and several others whose 'nyms I didn't catch.
It was a glorious day, spent in beautiful Bryant Park, and we had a nice little potluck lunch. I had planned to make some vegan summer rolls, I even started pickling some julienned carrot and daikon on Monday, and bought some Vietnamese rice paper and hoisin sauce... last night, I had planned on thinly slicing a Napa cabbage and rolling up some fried tofu (atsu-age) with the vegetables and hoisin sauce, but then I started drinking with my neighbor. In a stunning reversal, I hit the local-ish Ukrainian deli this morning and bought some house-made kabanosy, along with a big chunk of slab bacon for Joe S' birthday present (the reason for this errand in the first place). He was born in Russia, and came to the US as a kid, so this was the kind of stuff he regularly ate for breakfast.
It was a wonderful time with wonderful people, and Dr Jen gave me a couple of her books, which I am looking forward to reading. I had to leave the party early, though, because today is a workday and the boss is very demanding.
That sounds great! You can still make the summer rolls another time. The kabanosy sound delicious.
ReplyDeleteMy brother and sister in law will be breaking my exile next week. We will spend a week at Capitol Reef in the hinterlands of Utah. We will be careful. I haven't been anywhere since this whole shittaree started. I'm nervous but with caution we should be ok.
Oh, yeah, I will have them for dinner tomorrow.
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