Stone Barns

It seems to be a regular part of any conversation now to reference Stone Barns. Keel and I take walks there regularly, visit our friends Jack and Shannon and Sedge (2 yrs old) who are farmers there, and of course take friends and family when they visit. It is simply too close and too nice to not make part of our home.

When we first moved to Ossining, Keely volunteered at the greenhouse that Shannon runs. After work, some of us came along to help and had a nice little greenhouse party where we all transplanted or harvested for a couple hours then harvested greens for a big salad with cheese, crackers, and wine and beer on crates in the greenhouse entry way/transplant room.

My only picture of Jack, but blurry

Shannon on the left

our neighbors, Mike and Rene

our favorite little guy, Sedge. he's always in the compost

and always picking something to eat.
you name it, greens, berries, tomatoes, tomotillos.
this guy knows all the food.

This past Sunday our good friends Allen, Jamie, and Sarah came up for a Brooklyn Bagel Brunch at our place. Then we headed to Stone Barns for a perfect fall walk through Rockefeller State Park and the Stone Barns properties.

Apparently the little newborn piglets are just too much for these girls. Cuteness overload.

We took home some free range turkey breasts and ham steaks from the farm stand. That's what these piglets will be someday, really amazing ham. Sad but true.

Jamie and Allen!

The '91 private reserve cabernet

I had a four day proposal writing meeting at NASA-Ames outside San Francisco last week. Let's just say it was a lot of work. Late nights and early mornings. When Saturday rolled around and we were still working at 2pm, I couldn't wait for the moment when my little interdisciplinary team parted ways so that I could visit my good friend from graduate school, Lisa. Lisa and her husband Jeff have a gorgeous home in Menlo Park and treated me to one of the best evening respites in my life.

I walked in to see Jeff sauteeing porcini mushrooms for a pizza appetizer complete with taleggio cheese, fresh sage, and shallots, a little truffle oil on top. Instantly a glass of white Rochioli appeared in my hand, before the official home tour. FYI: I love Rochioli. Anyway, Lisa and Jeff are an inspiration for landscaping. These photos are only of the back yard since I was having too good a time to take many pictures

Dinner was here with a fire and candle light.

One gigantic aloe.

I haven't mentioned the best part though, dinner. After we sampled the crunchy perfect pizza, having switched to a black market Napa cabernet blend (black market meaning no label; these bottles come from the "extra" wine not legally sold by wineries; see my Vinify post for more) which was excellent, rare, and fun, we went back to another white (I think it was Australian since we needed something to open for cooking) for the pizza and traditional Venetian salad of asparagus, hard boiled eggs, fresh parsley and hot and sweet peppers from the back yard. Then the main course, Saltimbocca which literally means "to jump in the mouth". Whoa, I can't wait to try this out myself. Just imagine prosciutto wrapped around aged cheese, fresh sage leaves, and a pounded veal tenderloin, lightly seared then served quickly. And, as if i hadn't been overwhelmed by hospitality at this point, Jeff allowed me to decant the 1991 Beringer Private Reserve. A 16 year old Napa Valley Cabernet that was so beautifully smooth and layered with complexity that I had to just admit I was satiated with food wine pleasure. (It's worth noting that not all Beringers are amazing. But the Private Reserve is world class). The wine opened up a bit more while we tore through the saltimbocca, and remained the highlight for me. But let's not forget the pears baked in brandy wine, or was it something else. By this point I was loosing track.

Thank you Lisa, thank you Jeff, for an amazing evening. I am taking notes on your hospitality, cooking, wine choices, and general ease with which you pulled of such a treat.

The morning cup of Peet's coffee. I had two.

Fall harvest

Naturally with fall here, we need to bake many apple pies. I got started on our first fall pie, but not before a glass of wine.
Apples were from an orchard not to far from where live. We took a hike near Mohonk, then came back with 2 pecks of Gala apples. I wouldn't have bought so many but Keel was too tired to go pick them ourselves after the hike. And they had a 2 peck bag of seconds for $5. Perfect! Of course we had to get an entire dozen fresh, as in still hot, apple cider donuts for the pregnant lady, a gallon of cider, and pumpkins for the porch.


Keely's napping has hit new levels. Tucker can't seem to resist a cat nap now and then either.

The Mohonk scramble

One of our favorite easy day hikes, the perfect jaunt for a picnic lunch, is at the Mohonk Spring Farm Trail. It's a little over an hour from our house, and the hike is pretty smooth walking through fields and forest until you hit the rock scramble. Once on top, the views are excellent across the Shawangunk range and you can even view the Catskills.

The pregnant lady showing she can still climb.

View towards the Southern Catskill mountains.

Getting that belly out at 21 weeks.

30 is the new 20 birthday bbq bash

the birthday that keely, allen, and sarah share (all were born within 1 week of each other) got started at our place for a late night bbq with beers.

sarah made it her business to meet the demands of the newly 30 yr. olds' red velvet chocolate cake demand. mine too. so so good.

for you who don't know, keely's bump is getting more pronounced (mike, dylan, and ashley in pic)

allen and josh sharing the "real" deal

yes, braggin' about the amazing cake.


life is good. cake is better.


"i told you so."

"oh really, think i can't top that?"
"you kids better listen"
"i'm given it to you straight"
and on, and on...

and still on, until keel and i went to bed. letting the party take care of itself.

the next weekend al threw his own rockin' party in brooklyn. his parties are real parties. i didn't go to sleep until 5:30am that night.

The Gang

Our good friends Josh and Mendy recently came back for a visit from Liberia. If you want to know more about Liberia, Josh's blog is excellent. They moved there almost 2 years ago and we miss them. Next week they are moving to Bangkok. And let me tell you, we are happy for them. I'm sorry Josh, but visiting Liberia never made it to the top of my list. But Thailand, now we're talking. We'll strap that new little Oona to our backs and go tropical.

Anyway, when the gang get's together and all are present, it's that much better. When Josh and Mendy were last here, we went to The Dickies (a local term), to jump off the many high cliffs into the Croton River that feeds the Hudson. It's a pretty amazing spot only 10 minutes from our house. Michael, a Croton native, gave us the secret password and directions to the cliff diving capital of Westchester.

A bunch of posers!

A couple days later we met up in Williamsburg (Brooklyn) for brunch. Nothing new here. Just good friends and good food. Hurry back Josh and Mendy.