Hurrication Day #2

Sunday was Irene's slated date of arrival, so we stayed in and enjoyed a lazy hurrication (hurricane + vacation) day at my friends' home. 

 Joe set to work making multigrain pancakes, and I caramelized some peaches! 

 Brown sugar + cinnamon + vanilla extract- mix in a bowl and then sautee in a pan with butter until glaze forms, simmer and allow the peach juice to reduce for a few moments, and then serve! 

 Simple, divine goodness. 

Little Ronnie LOVED his pancakes! 

We lounged around the house for a bit, and then snarfed down some ice cream while playing Betrayal: House on the Hill (only the BEST board game on earth). 

 Around 3p we lost power. It was actually pretty relaxing- Christina played with the baby, the boys played board games and I did some homework, all with the windows open, letting the sunlight and breeze into the house. AND since our friends have a generator, we were able to keep the fridge and a lamp going...

 Things got complicated when it got dark out! We opted to do dinner on the grill, which involved me holding up a flashlight so Christina didn't burn herself!

 Don't be deceived by the flash- it was A LOT darker than it looks here. 

Mmm... grilled avocado squash from Stokes Farm. We also had delicious all-beef nitrate and filler free hotdogs. 

 Everyone relaxed a bit after dinner. Joe and Little Ronnie always seem to have an extremely good time together. 

And then.... bedtime. 

For more of our hurrication adventures, check out Day 1 and Day 2! 

Only a few days left to enter my Bondi Band Giveaway! 

Hiding from the Hurricane.

I am thankful that the damage sustained to our area from the hurricane was significantly less than expected. My thoughts go out to those who had a rougher experience with this storm than we did. I just returned to my apartment to find absolutely no damage whatsoever. I am very grateful. 

Our evacuation plans brought us to Bergen county, where two of our best friends, Ron and Christina, live with their gorgeous little one- Baby Ronnie!

He and Joe have fun together...

On Saturday morning, Christina whipped up some french toast and blueberries for breakfast. So simple, but so satisfying! 

She also made iced coffee! THAT's what friends are for. 

After breakfast, Ronnie and I played around a bit.

And then we swung by their family's farm in Old Tappan, NJ, where Ron works with his father, Papa Ron. Stokes Farm sells at several Greenmarkets in NYC, including Tucker Sq (near Lincoln Center), Union Sq and Tribeca. They also have a produce stand on their farm, which is where we visited.

Once again, I snatched up baby Ronnie (I SWEAR I'm not trying to steal him...).

Little Ronnie's cousin picked me a beautiful flower!

I drooled over the gorgeous produce for a few minutes...

And then we swung by Amato Bread for lunch. 

Behold the world's most epic Italian deli sandwiches. 

Piles of fresh mozz, eggplant cutlet, roasted red peppers, capicola, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, sopressata and love, smooshed onto the most decadently fresh hero I've ever eaten. More, please.

After a food-induced coma for us (and a nap for Baby Ronnie), Christina and I headed into the kitchen to whip up homemade heirloom pizza for dinner. 

OK... So we cheated and bought dough...

But we made up for it with Stokes Famous Heirloom Tomatoes! I never, ever liked tomatoes until I spent a few summers working at Stoke's Farm's Greenmarket stand- after conceding to try an heirloom tomato, I became obsessed, and have been ever since. 

The boys stepped aside and let Christina and I get to work!

I'm so accustomed to cooking in my tiny, cramped Brooklyn apartment that cooking in Christina's gorgeous kitchen felt positively luxurious!

We selected a few of the tomatoes based on flavor and consistency (some meatier ones to balance out the more delicate). 

With the winners! :)

This variety of heirloom is ripe when it's greenish yellow!

Christina and I get down to business rinsing and coarsely chopping! 

Heirlooms are also referred to as "ugly" tomatoes because of their imperfections, but don't let their appearances fool you- they're beautiful in your mouth!

 After cubing the tomatoes, we tossed them in a bowl with olive oil, balsamic vinegar and fresh garlic.

 Baby Ronnie supervised. 

 The tomatoes went in a saucepan, where they stewed on medium heat. 

I got to work on the dough. Fun fact: my mother owned a pizza shop once, and I am a MASTER dough handler. :)

 We prepped the dough with an olive oil, garlic and herb drizzle. After pressing the excess liquid from the tomatoes, they topped the pizza along with some mozzarella, parmesan and goat cheese. Into a 400 degree oven for 20 minutes...

 ...annnnnnnnnndddd..... perfection. 

 I know, Baby Ronnie, it's a thing of beauty, isn't it?

Served with a side of heirloom tomato soup- maybe I can get the recipe from Christina?

Heirlooms are in season NOW! GO. BUY SOME. You'll thank me.

There are still a few days to enter my Bondi Band Giveaway! 

So this one time, I was evacuated....

You live in a basement. Across the street from a bay. Three blocks from the ocean. There's a hurricane on the way. How do you prepare?

Yesterday was overwhelming. Our neighborhood (because it's low-laying and VERY close to the ocean) was placed under mandatory evacuation yesterday, with a deadline of today at 5p. The MTA began shutting down this afternoon, so Joe and I decided to get out last night. I was completely clueless about how to prepare my home for a hurricane/ potential flooding. I did my best to get our valuables off the ground and unplug everything. 

 Save the books! We cleared out the bottom shelves on all of our cases (only 1/2 of which are pictured here- we have a book problem).

 Towel in the window. That'll stop the flood, right? Right.

 The top shelves of our closets are packed to capacity with electronics, files, etc.

After hours of packing and prepping, we grabbed a few bags and headed into Manhattan. Exhausted. 

Being evacuated sucks. :(

Our friends in Bergen County, NJ, opened their homes to us, so we hopped on the first train out of Penn Station. 

After getting some fro-yo, of course. Graham crackers, strawberries, mango and carob chips make everything better. (Or at least it feels that way!)

We finally arrived and were able to get settled in with our friends. The boys assumed their usual position. 

And then... SLEEP!

We're relaxing and preparing today- Jersey's also supposed to get some intense weather. Fingers crossed that this storm will be much less severe than predicted. 

I made sure that the Bondi Band for my giveaway is safe, though! Don't forget to submit your entries!