Sunday Roast

I remember when living in the UK we had "Sunday Roast" quite often which is essentially a Sunday meal of meat and potatoes usually served a little earlier than supper. It is such a great custom of family and being at home and peace and togetherness.  (Unless there are domestic issues and a carving knife...)

It is butt cold here in New York and Sean suggested we make stew.  He got the recipe from Mark Bittman in the New York Times and we got dressed like scientists studying penguins in the Arctic and went shopping. 

The meal turned out PERFECT and it was so much fun to cook together and dine together and hang at home with nary a place to go.

Next:

Sunday Soup

Sunday Grilled Cheese Sandwich

Sunday Pasta

Sunday Ham

Gambols in the Rambles. No Shambles.

Sunday in the City. A beautiful, NO I MEAN IT - like STUNNING, Fall day. Sean and Greg and I had smoked fish (which stayed with my breath the WHOLE day no matter what I did) and bagels for breakfast on my terrace.

Then Sean and I took a walk in the Rambles in the Park. Just beautiful. There are all sorts of trails and bridges and lake views. It is just hard to believe you are in the middle of Manhattan.


But first we happened by the Museum of Natural History. This is the side that has been behind walls ever since I moved here and here it a fountain and staircases and flowers out of nowhere!

I have really gotten jolly since my weight gain...

Later I met up with Greg and we took a late night stroll in the Park. Something I would never do alone, but it was well lit and very different.

Dog Sitting Training and Star Sighting

Everyone who is anyone has someplace cool to go for the 3 day weekend. Not to be left out, I am going south of 14th Street to dogsit in the West Village.

Sean is going home to Aberdeen, SD for his nephew's graduation so I am watching Skipper the dog and Harry the cat at his swank and spacious, perfectly located in the heart of the fabulous West Village apartment.

I went down this afternoon for lunch and training.

Sean is the guy who types up all the instructions and info. I love that. Easy as pie. I feed and walk Skipper and feed Harry and have been instructed to watch DVDs and eat from Sean's vast collection of Trader Joe's food supply. Yum.

Sean took me to BLT Burger on 6th Avenue between 11th and 12th for lunch. It was amazing. We both had the blue cheese burger and I had a B & W Shake. Wow. Go. Good.

We then walked out and saw Anderson Cooper with his Man Friend. They both walked with that "dude swagger" thing. Kind of put on I felt, but then I only see Anderson in a suit behind a desk on TV.


Anderson on left. Matching messenger bags and dude swagger.
(Photo credit: Sean as I didn't have the guts.)

Tea & Sympathy New York

Frank, Sean and Pat. West Village urchins.

Lately, I have needed tea and I have needed sympathy and today I got both.

Sean spotted 4 open seats at this very popular West Village brunch spot. It is a British restaurant which you would think would suggest plenty of availability, but they (the Brits) do breakfast like no others.

Tea & Sympathy evokes all those cloyingly awful descriptors: quaint, cozy, charming - but in the most wonderful deserved way.

This place is a KEEPER. Like I wrote about Kefi the other day, I will keep this place on my list of really wonderful New York dining spots. I had "The Full Monty" (naff name I have to say) breakfast which was eggs, sausage, bacon (the British kind) and tomahhhhto and MOST EXCELLENT 7 grain toast. And fresh-squeezed OJ. And the Earl Grey tea was wonderful. $14.40 all in which sadly is a really good price.


Everything I had was wonderful. And I tasted the scones (we always pronounced them "skawns" growing up, but most Americans say "skOHns" which I have a hard time hearing for some reason. Get over it, I know.) They were really the real deal. Wonderful.

My dear old Scottish mum would never order tea out because she said they didn't know how to make it properly and she would be right, but here they do and it was a cure-all for me. I am still thinking about it.


Frank and Pat. One stuffing. One staring.

The best thing of all was I had brunch with Frank, Pat and Sean. I felt like it had been so long since the 4 of us had seen each other and it was a fitting and wonderful reunion. We were right back and had a great time. I value my time with them and when the backdrop is a place like this it is like an old familiar doily.

Huh?

Sean being all Ruth Reichl