Farewell Pink Palace, you treated me well!
So my time in the Pink Palace is officially up. After a quick pit stop in Spain, it’s time to move on and join Courtney and Lila in our next adventure, which comes in the form of a tiny townhouse apartment that may or may not have air conditioning and a microwave (a dishwasher, laundry and lawn maintenance are definitely out). But the memories I have of our little pink townhouse are fond ones. In fact, trading in the rent-free life and free food that comes with living with the family for the friendship, dinner parties, happy hours and five-minute walks to work that comes with Capitol Hill life, was an exchange of perks that I’m willing to say was one of the better decisions I’ve made.
It seems appropriate that the final ‘hurrah’ of my time as a resident in the pink palace was a serendipitous strawberry-themed roommate dinner *Cue Strawberry Fields Forever*. I don’t know if we’ve developed ESP or just had simultaneous cravings for fresh strawberries, but when e-mails about the menu went around, we were all on the same page. Holly made her wonderful strawberry, goat cheese and candied walnut salad; every time she makes this I forget to pay attention to how exactly she candies the walnuts, but I’m hoping that with enough butter, brown sugar and trial runs I’ll eventually be able to duplicate it. I made gorgonzola and prosciutto stuffed chicken with strawberry-dark chocolate gastrique, which has become a bit of a favorite in my repertoire; however this was the first time that mom wasn’t present so I could actually include the prosciutto! Nora topped it off with vanilla ice cream topped with an amazing strawberry Marsala sauce, which quite possibly got me more drunk than the wine. The boys contribution? Finishing off our leftovers!
This was just one of many events host by our little pink home in the past 10 months, filled with good food, good drink, and good company:
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Wine and Cheese night, Fall 2010
- An amazing dinner made by Chef Holly!
Nestled between a schizophrenic half-way home, a pregnancy center, 7-11 and Kenny’s BBQ, our neighborhood had a good bit of character. As many nights that I’ve come home starving, to the smell grilled meat begging me to wonder on over and as many times as I’ve described where I live as “next to Kenny’s”, I’d never tried their food until this week. I’d been told Kenny’s was ‘mediocre barbecue’, but still felt that living there I really must try it, so on Wednesday, Courtney and I finally ventured over for a meal.I think I’m halfway relieved that I wasn’t blown off my feet (what if I had discovered the new ‘Willy’s’ had been sitting at my doorstep all this time!?)
- (Very) large chopped pork platter with sweet potato, green beans and cornbread.
Before I get all sentimental, I should probably note that I’m moving about half a mile away; the friendships and wine nights will ensue. And if I do get a craving for some Kenny’s (which doesn’t seem likely), I’m only a short walk away…
