Daniel snapped these photos during her visit. They prove just how good of friends we are because it must have been 100 degrees in our apartment last night.

And as-yet-unnamed clownfish and anemone:

And a cool picture of one of my many hermit crabs:

Here’s how we ended up spending it.

We threw together a culinary tribute to our Southern roots that included shrimp and grits, fried okra, roasted eggplant, corn on the cob, and even a fried green tomato from our backyard!

And to end on a sweet note I just pulled this baby out of the oven:

I have to say I think Daniel’s shrimp and grits gives Seersucker a run for its money, which is why I asked him to kindly share his recipe:

Sweet Southern Daniel’s Shrimp & Grits

Ingredients:

2 cups beef broth
1/2 beef bouillon cube (or to taste)
1/2 lb peeled, cleaned shrimp
whatever spices you want
3 tbsp. olive oil
3/4 cup grits
3 1/2 cups water
1/2 cup grated white cheddar cheese
1/4 cup diced mushrooms
1 tsp. chopped parsley
1 handful chives, chopped

Directions:

Combine broth and bouillon in a pot and bring to a boil. Boil until reduced by half. Coat shrimp with spices. Heat olive oil over medium heat and saute shrimp for 5-10 minutes, turning once. Make grits according to package directions, mixing in cheese at the end. Once broth mixture is reduced by half, reduce heat to simmer and add shrimp, mushrooms, parsley, and chives. Cover and let simmer 5 minutes. Spoon over grits and serve.

Cue the urchin.

Well that was two and a half years ago.

(Thanks to Laura for the reminder and to Joel for the photo.)

That’s right, my mom and baby sister came to spend a couple of days exploring the city, and I was able to take a day off of work to make it a long weekend. This time we tried to do lots of touristy New York-ish sorts of things, like play around at FAO Schwarz, take a carriage ride around Central Park, visit the Statue of Liberty, go to Top of the Rock and all of that.

But first they played the Wii.

And we all ate Molly Wizenberg’s Winning Hearts and Minds Cake.

The next day we headed down the street for brunch at Building on Bond only to realize that they only serve brunch on Saturdays and Sundays and it was Friday. But we stayed anyway and ate sandwiches and salads and macaroni and cheese and Jenny acquiesced to the waiter’s only slightly pushy recommendation that she “try the gruyeeeere” and it was all good.

Then we headed to Manhattan.

Here we are on the train…

At FAO Schwarz…

(Lego wookie!)

and on our Central Park carriage ride.

Then we had tea and scones at Alice’s Tea Cup on the Upper East Side. That place is so darn cute and would you believe they even had a stack of New York Family’s latest issue in their waiting area?

And then Daniel left us to our own devices and took the camera with him, so you’ll just have to trust me that we spent the evening seeing a rather silly and yet somehow entertaining enough show at the Beacon Theatre.

On Saturday we set sail across New York Harbor to visit the Statue of Liberty.

Mom didn’t think we could convince Jenny do this but we did!

Afterward, we ate pizza at Adrienne’s and wandered around Lower Manhattan.

Here’s George Washington being sworn in as our first President.

Then Mom, Jenny and I headed uptown to go to the Top of the Rock Observation Deck as Daniel headed back to Brooklyn to attend a libertarian book club meeting. This time I was better at taking pictures with my phone.

Jenny and I went up while Mom hung out downstairs at Rockefeller Center.

There’s the MetLife building! And Brooklyn in the background.

There’s Jenny. She’s cute!

We made several attempts to take a picture together–the first one was taken by a very friendly girl who volunteered to take our picture when she noticed me trying to do it myself with little success. In the first picture she took, I’m saying to Jenny, “I hope this girl doesn’t run away with my iPhone.” And then the girl had to take it again because I was talking in the picture! Well as you can imagine this made me feel like a real heel and Jenny didn’t try to help me feel any better about myself, either.

The next one turned out better…

But I still wasn’t satisfied with it so we ended up getting a nice man to take another picture–this time facing south with the Empire State Building in the background–but it turned out like this so I took it as a sign and gave up.

Mom and Jenny at Rockefeller Center.

That night as Daniel continued to rage against the evils of the welfare state at his book club meeting the three of us went to Junior’s for dinner and cheesecake.

Mom ordered this potato pancake with applesauce to start.

We took our cheesecake home with us and man was it good!

The next morning was church and then off to the airport for Mom and Jenny, who we were sad to see go but who I think were completely exhausted–and then had quite the adventure getting home I heard, but they made it back safely and now we miss them and look forward to seeing them again before too long! XO

A few scenes from their visit:

Prospect Park. Kim took pictures of all the “green space” she saw.

Gary, watching a soccer game.

We saw this family of Canadian geese at the Boathouse. I guess those goslings were teenager geese or something cause they were kinda gangly.

Waiting for a table at Applewood in Park Slope.

At brunch.

We happened upon this stoop sale, where for $40 Daniel and I scored a very old trunk which now sits at the foot of our bed. And I made a few other impulsive purchases, including this book which is the only cookbook I’ve ever read cover to cover and fallen in love with. (The poster was free and the girl really wanted me to take it.)

View of the Statue of Liberty from Valentino Pier in Red Hook.

Kim’s photo of the Statue of Liberty, which was later posted on Facebook to much acclaim from Cindy Sanders.

We also went to baked (have we mentioned how dearly we love baked?), Steve’s Authentic and IKEA.

Saturday night Daniel took us all to Peter Luger in Williamsburg for the steak experience of a lifetime. While we waited for our table we did some shopping at the nearby Brooklyn Industries outlet.

And then we were seated…and then came the main event. And this was no ordinary steak, people.

This steak came with creamed spinach and fried potatoes and you could cut it with a butter knife and it melted in your mouth.

Kim and Gary were great sports of course, but I have to say I think they were a little taken aback at Daniel’s enthusiasm for the steak.

Then, though stuffed, we ordered dessert, and when it came out, it was this.

It was a feast to remember for years to come.

Anyway, moving on.

The next evening the Luger leftovers became kebobs.

During Kim and Gary’s stay we also grilled sausages with peppers and onions…

made s’mores…

took naps…

and admired the Manhattan skyline from the Promenade.

We had a splendid time and hope they’ll visit again before too long. We love you, Kim and Gary!