sunday suppers

It is the end and yet only the beginning!

2010-10-10T12:27:00.000-07:00

To my dear friends,

Thank you thank you thank you for being a part of my Sunday Suppers!

To those of you who came to the last official Sunday Supper, who came last month, or came last year: thank you for making the time to participate, for putting such care and effort into your dishes and drinks and contributing so thoughtfully, and for bringing wonderful friends with you.

When this all began last fall, I decided rather simply to have a potluck and see what happened. I wanted to try to encourage home cooking and eating in, but more than that really I wanted to cultivate community through a shared love and appreciation for food and for each other. I never planned or expected for these monthly meals to take on the life that they did. I hoped they would though, and as each month passed, and each supper succeeded, I felt my community expanding and feel so blessed at how special these evenings became, not just for me but for my friends as well. To have had the opportunity to and lovely experience of hosting, of opening the doors of my home to see friends, to reunite with old ones, and make some brand new ones, was nothing less than exceptional.

And the food, oh the food! The cooking and the eating has been nothing short of profound. I have challenged myself, as I know many of you have as well, and created some dishes I am very proud of and I have been lucky enough to eat the fabulous dishes you all brought my way. If you want to continue in the sharing, please post and / or you use the recipes, found here:

https://docs.google.com/Doc?docid=0AVkJGuHAjhPYZGNrZ2dmdGZfM2dycnN6azJ6&hl=en

And i do very much hope that the sharing will continue. This has been one of the most important and transformative years of my life. I am so grateful that you all have been a part of it. I look forward to whatever may come next... and to being invited to your place already! :)

Sending much much much love.

xx, Rachel

a bite of the big apple

2010-09-20T11:51:00.000-07:00

after nearly 12 years in manhattan it is only fitting that the 12th supper be a new york theme! in a city that never ceases to amaze these suppers have continued to surprise and impress me.

for this momentous evening marking one full year of monthly meals, i asked my friends to take inspiration from this town, whatever that might mean, to guide and encourage them. apples themselves could be the main ingredient, and seemed fitting both with fall looming and the bounty of all the new crops cropping up at every farmers market, as well as the impending jewish new year around the corner, when we eat apples and honey to toast to a sweet year ahead.

i decided to take inspiration from the best of new york and cure my own gravlax, so my preparations for the evening began three days earlier. unlike many great things in new york this fish could NOT be rushed.

the night of the supper, while josh was by my side mixing up manhattans, i put my culinary skills to the test and did my best making his granny's classic apple, raisin, almond strudel. she said the first time it wouldn't work but they would eat it anyway, and she was right!

sarah and dillon arrived with a lovely and light spinach, pecan, fennel and apple salad. ami brought a new friend and a beautiful salad of corn, peas and parma ham. more baked goodness arrived and erin and jack came with an apple brie tart, and april brought apple turnovers. andrew arrived, better late than never, with a lovely bottle of wine, in addition to the bottles lauren had come with earlier.

once again awed by the friends who came, the contribution they made and all that we shared together that evening.

what an amazing end to this year of eating in together, and yet it's only the beginning...

Mystery Meal

2010-08-24T22:43:00.000-07:00

it was a dark and stormy night. just the right setting for the 11th SUNDAY SUPPER: THE MYSTERY MEAL. until suppertime who exactly would and would not, be showing up, and what those who did come would be bringing truly remained a mystery.

all i knew for sure is what i would be making. pasta with roasted summer veggies, a favorite dish from my mom's arsenal of recipes.

the pasta i actually brought back from a visit to Rome to my mama and papa a year and a half ago. it had been waiting patiently in my pantry and boy was it delicious.

the veggies on the other hand were quite a bit fresher, picked up just the day before at my local neighborhood farmers market up the block, a beautiful bounty of squash, zucchini, eggplant, plum tomato and onion.

and the final product!

tasted as good (almost) as i remembered it... i did a slight variation on my mom's recipe, instead of using parmesean cheese i set aside some fresh feta cheese, which i had on hand and thought the tang and creaminess of it would make a nice compliment to the rich, olive oiled and garlic infused vegetables.

and just as i topped it off with some freshly chopped parsley, friends arrived with both food and drink in hand:

the menu:

andrew's tacos in a bag
stephen's raita w/ pita chips
jason & kate's german potato salad
amanda's guacamole and corn on the cob
rachel's roasted vegetable salad w/ feta cheese
serena's crostini, ricotta, balsamic-onion chutney & vanilla peach jam

and many lovely wines courtesy of abbot, amanda, jason and kate and stephen. not to mention seriously delicious st germaine cocktails...

...courtesy of josh who once again quenched the thirsts of all the guests, and even came complete with his serious bartender 'stache!

and serena came complete with a serious necklace...

... but the night was anything but serious, a lovely, intimate and happy, happy night. this was the 11th sunday supper but the first time it felt like a supper, the gathering of just a few friends, many of us catching up after not seeing one another for many months, others meeting for the first time.

the meal is what brought us together, but the company is what kept us together.

that and andrew's tacos in a bag...

surf's up!

2010-07-19T19:23:00.000-07:00

another hot and humid nyc summer evening - a day AND night at the beach certainly would have been a refreshing way to spend this sunday supper. but despite the weather, it was a festive and full of food!

started off with some garlicky fava spread and tropical agave roasted cashews...

...but perhaps much more importantly a giant batch of thirst-quenching and absolutely delicious dark-and-stormys.

as it goes, friends and food arrived and it was most certainly time to eat, drink and be oh so happy!

DINNER MENU
rachel & josh's fish tacos with red cabbage-apple slaw
melinda & sean's penne & rock shrimp in spicy tomato sauce
nick's shrimp in garlicky gravy
justin's crab salad
austin's spicy black beans and rice
clemence & nora & friend's chips and guacamole
stephanie's watermelon and avocado salad
jakenna & conor's veggie kabobs & strawberry-spinach salad

BEVERAGES
dark & stormy's by josh
beer courtesy of eve & greg, amy, justin
wine from amanda, clemence & friends, robbie & dana, april
champagne generously gifted by antonio
capri sun thanks to justine
and ice a la erica

once dinner had been devoured, it was time to just chill...
...well we tried, it sure was hot! but we were still happy.

and then - of course - didn't wait too long before we were onto dessert!!

DESSERT
rachel's peanut butter & jelly loaves
april's fruit salad and meringue
amanda's watermelon
robbie & dana's "ice-cream" sandwiches
clemence & nora & friend's chocolate covered cherries

i'm pretty sure nick enjoyed the little loaves...

... every, last, bite.

birthday brunch!

2010-06-07T08:27:00.001-07:00

what a truly special day! a bit confusing yes, a sunday supper on a saturday, and brunch for dinner. but as it was my birthday i felt entitled to mix it up!

it was an incredibly hot and humid summer day - fortunately i made some tasty tangerine-mezcal margaritas to cool us all down, and had some other beverages waiting on the side...

i readied my apartment (complete with bday flowers from some building buddies) and myself and before i knew it we had a most incredible spread of my favorite foods:

brunch menu - round 1

kate's frittata
rachel's scrambled eggs & maple-pecan little loaves
eve & greg's smoked salmon, mini bagels, cream cheese & capers
jamie and matt's vegan donuts and cinnamon buns
jade's fruity and nutty granolas
todd's fresh fruit salad
ruben's watermelon

john & friend's proseco
rachel's tangerine margaritas
ethan & caitlin's champagne
april's sparkling rosados

after popping a bottle of bubbly and a quick toast - we all dug in to this incredible feast!

but it wasn't long before plates were cleaned off!!! good thing we had more... and good thing more guests arrived - with more and more food!!

yes that's right, that's exactly what it looks like. my dear christina came with a basket in hand complete with a portable waffle-making station - sweet as sweet can be :)

brunch menu - round 2

christina's waffles, with whipped cream and berry compote
ali & friend's bread, cheeses, bresaola and fig spread
lauren's bread, cheese and fig spread
conor & jakena's crawfish and pasta salad

rachel & david's wine
andrew's wine
erica's beer

it was a happy happy day - for me and for my friends. made happier by the incredible array of sweet treats

dessert menu

ethan and caitlin's godiva chocolate sampler
amy's varsano chocloate sampler
amanda's cherry clafoutis
ruben's peach pie

what a wonderful way to celebrate!!!! feeling so loved and so grateful. the absolutely best way to start off a new year, the last year of my twenties - the first year of the rest of my life!

Dieciséis de Mayo

2010-05-17T13:24:00.000-07:00

8 times a charm!

last night was a seriously lovely evening. it's getting to be that time of the year when it's still light out at 7 o'clock, and it was truly one of those perfect NYC spring nights, where's there a sort of no temperature temperature, and a wonderful calm energy in the air.

people and food started to arrive, as manu chao and perez prado played on in the background...

comidas:
nick's nachos
amanda's chips & guacamole
stephen's gazpacho
conor & jackenna's quesadillas & guacamole
sarah & dillon's saffron-fennel rice and black beans
rachel's pulled pork tacos & pineapple salsa
suzanne & paul's chipotle chicken
robbie's corn with cotija cheese
jaime & matt's quinoa & chipotle tempeh
jason & kate's homemade chips & tomatillo salsa

bebidas:
marc's mezcal
rachel's grapefruit margaritas
sarah, dillon, erica & amanda's cervezas
emilie, dee, jj, claire, stephen, jason & kate's vinos

lots of food and lots of love.

and it wouldn't be a supper without dessert!

emilie's cinnamon-pineapple
jason's tres leches cake

my oh my oh my. i mean really how wonderful that a stranger arrives at your door and with this in hand!!

...we were all very glad that cessie let him in.

food + friends = another spectacular sunday supper.

earth day!

2010-04-11T21:12:00.000-07:00

this past sunday, guest after guest and dish after dish arrived and oh my did the earth provide wonderful inspiration! we had, as usual, an incredibly delicious meal and fun evening, but the plates came not just tasting good but looking absolutely beautiful.

the guests did too of course! some new, some regulars, and some who hadn't been since the first supper last october.

it was a gorgeous spring night, and a gorgeous meal awaited us all

dinner menu

todd's mixed cherry tomatoes
amanda's roasted asparagus & tomatoes
lydia's asparagus tart
melinda & sean's mushroom tart
erin & jack's braised carrots
celia's roasted chickens
rachel's warm white bean, shrimp & tomato salad
courtney's cherry tomato & mozzarella and cherry tomato & three beans salads
maryellen's wild rice with cardamom & ramps
amanda's barley salad
nick's wild greens, snap peas & dried apricot salad
jason & kate's jicama & cilantro salad
suzanne's multi-green & multi herb salad
erin's herb bread
paul's sourdough bread
rachel's blueberry corn corn bread

it wasn't long before the dishes were cleaned out! such an amazing meal we actually ran out of much of the food - luckily there was dessert to look forward to. some people couldn't wait for it to be served....

dessert menu

jessica's mud pies
serena's blueberry bars
rachel's carrot, currant, walnut bread

a truly phenomenal evening, filled with so much - yes food - but fun, and friendship, with old and new friends, and of course, my constant companion with me through it all...

... dirty dishes too.

xoxoxo

The Family Tree

2010-03-21T21:23:00.000-07:00

wow! 6 suppers - half a year of cooking and eating, of meeting and greeting, of expanding my new york city family. fitting that family was the theme for the supper tonight.

in anticipation of passover, and the seder which, unfortunately, my family will not be having this year, i felt compelled to make gefilte fish. partly because i love it so much and eagerly look forward to eating, and partly because i loved the idea of making something that my mother taught me how to make, that her mother taught her how to make, that her mother (or rather mother-in-law) taught her how to make. this dish, in this incarnation, has existed in my family for so many generations. knowing the extensive history made the 48hrs endeavor all that much more worth it.

nyc itself plays a large role in my family history. as a child i knew this is where i wanted to live. and today, nearly eleven years after making the move, this is my home, and the people in my life here are my family. it is a family that has evolved over time and, much like a tree, is ever growing, changing, sometimes shedding leaves and often growing new ones. tonight, with over half the guests newcomers to the suppers, and some entirely brand new to me, this could not be more apparent or more true.

on this beautiful second day of spring, 6pm rolled around, the gefilte were ready to be eaten, and my nyc family started to arrive. neighbors and former neighbors, school mates, old co-workers, friends of friends....

what a wonderful group - more then friends but a family indeed (especially when the group includes actual family - my sister!) and boy oh boy, can they cook!!

THE MENU

appetizers

allison's artichokes with homemade mayo
serena's ajvar spread with pita chips
jessica's clam dip in a bread bowl
stephanie's hummus and pita bread

main courses

rachel's gefilte fish, with horseradish and matzoh
annie's tortellini with pesto and marinated carrots
ali and kyle's risotto
lauren's green bean casserole
lindsey's noodle kugel
amanda's spring salad with cherry tomatoes and avocado
ami's cucumber yogurt raita
laura's creamed corn

drinks

laura's orange infused sparkling tea
sarah, amanda, ami, stephanie and julia's wines
erica, chris and andy's beers

desserts

rachel's tea cake sampler
candice's "maw-maw" ugly cake (but it was beautiful!)
kyle's chocolate chip pie

Red Valentine

2010-02-14T23:47:00.000-08:00

feeling so full of love..... and well, so full!

for the fifth sunday supper we celebrated saint valentines day with a red-themed dinner. and no better day than on valentines for a sunday supper, because these nights are truly all about love. love for cooking and food, and for each other.

i spent the afternoon poaching pears and mulling red wine (manischewitz to be exact, leftover from the joy to the jews supper in december. put to good use, at long last!!) i also made a sun-dried tomato spread, a recipe - as with the pears - that came from my loving mama.

friends began to arrive and love was most definitely in the air!

as we got ready to dine everyone was in utter amazement and surprise, seeing what jaime and matt put their culinary skills to create! two dishes that rival what we think food is or can be.

MENU

appetizers

rachel: sun-dried tomato tapenade
serena: ricotta and tomato tartlets
jaime & matt: red pepper macadamia nut-cheese
jocelyn: cayenne cashews
emilie: chorizo

entrees

eve & greg: braised red cabbage
kate & jason: beet & goat cheese salad
jaime & matt: broken artichoke hearts in beet ravioli
joceyln & kelly: endives stuffed with cranberry & red cabbage slaw
romy & jesse: red beans with rice, andouille sausage
jason, yoshi & rob: blood sausage
andy: red hot wings

as the dinner carried on, so did the love-fest!

just when cessie was about to call it a night, was time for a sweet treat!

dessert menu

rachel: poached pears & mulled red wine
erika: red velvet cake
jaime & matt: raw fudge with strawberries
becca & ryan: cranberry cookies

all that sugar might have gotten us a little crazy, but one thing's for sure, that this was one of the loveliest evenings i've spent in a long time!

a big thank you to everyone, to yoshi, jason, rob, becca, ryan, kelly, emilie, eve, greg, thomas, anna & karen for the many beverages, and a special thank you to lydia - whose soup sadly may not have made it all the way here but thankfully she did! reunited after, umm about 20 yrs! and it did indeed feel so good. as did having the company of all who came.

love. love. love.

RB's Kitchen

2010-01-21T20:35:00.000-08:00

For the 4th Sunday Supper we got in touch with the South for a SOUL FOOD themed evening. About a month ago I was working to help to save The Pink Tea Cup from closing, a 55 yr old soul food restaurant around the corner from my apartment. Through the hard work of many it will live on, and I was inspired by the passion and dedication of everyone I met there. And the food of course! Many found this theme to be a challenge, but in the end the hits just kept on coming, and truly this was one of the most incredible feasts I have ever experienced!!

THE MENU

Becca & Ryan: Biscuits

Jana & Levi: cornbread, garlicky collard greens
Ben: Pulled pork, pickles, wonder bread
Nick: Pork Belly
Stephanie: Jerk chicken
Me: Chicken liver & onions
Jaime & Matt: Black eyed pea fritters, creole tempeh
Josh & Candice: Maple baked beans
Miles: Jerk tofu
Allison: Mac n Cheese
Romy & Jesse: Cheese grits
Julia: Spicy green beans
Melinda: Succotash
Laura: Potato Salad

Allison & Diego: baked mashed sweet potatoes
Arin & Steve: Chocolate chip walnut cookie
Eve & Greg: Banana Pudding
Cali: Hard cider, beer
James & Heather: wine
Laura & Jason: beer

Also in attendance was a very special guest - Captain Blankenship!

My nautically dressed friend came across the country with her amazing all-natural and organic perfumes, soaps, bath salts and balms. These delicious handcrafted goods are made in small batches in her kitchen in Berkeley California, so it was a real treat for those of us here in NYC to sample and acquire them!!

I am continually blown away by the way these evenings. The look on Laura and Nick's faces above says it all. These "suppers" are about so much more than just the food itself. The dishes are exceptional, and I strongly believe that's because so much thought, consideration and love has gone into them. And because they are created with the intention of being shared. Food is powerful in this way, for it's remarkable ability to bring people together, and sometimes in the most unexpected of ways. Some people come to these suppers who I have never met, some come knowing no one else but me - but at the end of the night we have all made new friends, or bonded with ones we haven't seen in years, and all look forward to coming together again to share in each others lives.

A soulful and soul fulfilling night in countless ways.

the feastival of lights

2009-12-03T21:41:00.000-08:00

another sunday - another successful supper!

in honor of hannukah, this was a celebration of all foods jewish. i challenged everyone to do their bubbe's proud - even if they weren't sure what 'bubbe' meant. i took on the challenge very with a big, beautiful brisket from florence 5, (one of the best butchers in NYC and lucky for me just one block away.) i braised it the night before, because, like with so many jewish dishes, it's even better after letting it sit overnight.

while it reheated i prepped the apartment

cessie looked on as people arrived with an endless stream of delectable dishes to snack on:

lemony leek cakes (serena), smoked salmon, pickles and herring (lucas), cheeses (max), baguettes and proscuitto (piet and sophia), hummus and pita (melissa) - and to accompany the meal lots of lovely wines and beers, (thank you ceren, joel, will and josiah) and two giant bottles of manishewitz (nick...)

once everyone had arrived it was time to light the candles and sing...

and at last dinner was served!

on the menu: brisket (me), grandma mickey's noodle kugel (allison k), carrot souffle (sara), baked chicken (sharon), challah (candace and josh), "kosher" crab rangoon (kate and jason), a torta, (piet and sophia), homemade many-grains bread (cassidy), and of course no hannukah would be complete without latkes (allison a), and loads of them! accompanied of course with sour cream and apple sauce (nick and laura)

even after all that feasting we were not done! and were onto dessert:

apricot-chocolate rugelach (serena)

toffee-chocolate-almond matozh (candace)

and a fabulous assortments of varsano's chocolates!! (todd)

it was a truly joyous evening, better than i could have hoped for and exactly what the holidays are all about - celebrating with good music, great food, and the best of friends... and cessie!

wishing everyone a happy and healthy new year!

xoxoxo

the fabulous fifties!

2009-12-03T21:04:00.001-08:00

round two!

growing up i was thoroughly enchanted by the '50s. i think it had a lot to do knowing that it's when my mom grew up, and i loved "grease" and "happy days" and got into the music and the outfits - for halloween i'd dress up in poodle skirts... a 50s themed party had been in the back of my mind for years and this was the perfect opportunity!

i didn't go for the poodle skirt or even a cocktail dress, felt my best "costume" was a floral apron, went with my very newly died brown hair...

while nick was in the other room watching the Pats kill it!, i whipped up some mini leek and mushroom fritattas - and used the leftover sauteed veggies to make a spread for toast! all about the bite size:

and then i made a tuna salad with white beans and - of course - raisins:

jay and jeanne arrived with oscar in tow! who was 100% the life of the party. they also brought along some killer punch with a homemade sour mix!! and a fruit mold! it don't get much more fifties than that :)

my recently returned to the building neighbor allison DID wear a cocktail dress and pleased everyone thoroughly with her dates stuffed with almonds, wrapped in bacon and broiled. she also felt that a cherry liquor would be right in theme.
serena brought along some friends - jason and kate who lives just down the block!! they brought a few lovely bottles of wine and that led us right into dinner time:

owen and sharon brought an incredible souffle, nick finally got to cooking and did us all proud with some truly tasty pork with a special secret sauce and also fried up some chicken. heck to the yeah! james' bottle of aperol went amazingly well with it all...

everyone chatted away as chuck berry, elvis presley, leslie gore, the platters, jerry lee lewis and so many more classics blasted away on the juke box!!

and then it was just about time for dessert.
i made my mom's FAVORITE dessert growing up - ice cream pie! as allison said, all my favorite words together... this entails mashing up corn flakes (i used organic multi-grain flax flakes) with melted chocolate, forming this into the shape of a pie pan and freezing it to form the crust. then filling with vanilla ice cream (i used alden's, from OR, in-SANE ly delicious) and topping with some chocolate shavings.
went fabulously with julia and igor's apple graham betty and serena's coconut bars!

golly gee it sure was a swell time!!

halloween harvest

2009-12-03T20:24:00.000-08:00

the first supper!!

i had been spending many days a week at the farmers markets and quite aware that harvest season was in full force and felt it should be taken advantage of in it's final weeks. and so that's how i decided upon the theme for the first supper. plus it was just about halloween and i quite like alliteration...

i was absolutely blown away by the overwhelming enthusiasm and support i received from my wonderful friends. and more than that - quite surprised at how many rsvps i got! so got to work getting my apartment ready for 25 guests:

lucas & nancy brought a fig-walnut-olive tapenade with a side of goat cheese & fresh thyme and bisuits, erin & her friend brought a selection of cheeses with fresh fruit, chips & salsa AND chocolate bars, sharon brought bread, cheese, macrona almonds (my fave!) and quince paste from murrays, cassidy made bread to be served along with some great wisconsin cheese!

wine and beer were also very welcomed contributions, and we can thank serena, eve and greg, christina, sara and todd for a lovely variety that went along incredibly well with the dinner:

i made roast chicken and a kale salad, sarah and dillon brought beets with goat cheese, becca and ryan made a very exciting penne pasta with all kinds of local veggies, serena made brussels sprouts with apples and bacon, sara cooked up a roasted veggie rice pilaf, melinda and sean picked up an assortment of the most delicious sausages from the new butcher at chelsea market, alicia whipped up some sweet potatoes, foster sauteed some kale and jaime and matt concocted a vegan harvest taco that included the best butternut squash!!

everyone ate up and had fun! and made sure to leave room for dessert!! jaime and matt also treated us to a spicy carrot custard, and emily picked up a few dozen pumpkin woopie pies from one girl cookies and to accompany them we enjoyed the two kinds of vanilla ice cream todd got - adirondack and van leuvan! my oh my!!!

we all said good night very full and very happy and i was already ready for another!

a new idea

2009-12-03T20:15:00.000-08:00

food. friends. fun. that's how this all began.

i love to cook, i love to eat, and i love to share the wonderful experience of food with my dear friends and family. i learned at an early age - my mother being quite the expert in the kitchen - the meals are a means through which people come together in the most incredible of ways.

over the summer of 2009, i began spending time in northern california, where local and fresh take on a whole new meaning, and where sustainability and community exist in ways that i felt were lacking in my nyc life. and it occured to me i could create the experience i wanted to have here myself! and so was born the idea for SUNDAY SUPPERS, a monthly potluck dinner at my home, with each meal based upon a specific idea or theme.

this blog will serve as a diary of sorts of each supper, and hopefully they will grow and continue!