Queen of the Theme

My Godson Jimmy made his First Communion this weekend. His mom is one of my best friend's in the world, and she made a beautiful cake for him. I was going to post a picture of he and I, and post a picture of the cake, and then I started to sort through my photos. I realized I had many pictures of cakes and parties Gina has done over the past 6 years. ( Only 6 years because that is when I got my camera:) Gina and her husband Jimmy LOVE a good theme party, and more than that, they LOVE to THROW a good theme party.

I compiled all the pictures I have of some of their work into this blog entry, and I dub Gina the Queen of the Theme.

Need help with a theme party you're having? I would gladly pimp my friend out for a reasonable fee!

I will start off with one of Gina's more subtle themes. I asked her to make a cake for Lou's and my house warming.

For Little Jimmy's 5th birthday he was into Rescue Heroes. Jimmy and Gina made t-shirts for themselves and the kids and had them do an obstacle course turning them each into rescue heroes themselves.

This is the cake from the Rescue Heroes party, not my best picture, but it was an avalanche with rescue vehicles on the scene to save people.

This is a picture from an 80's theme party. Jimmy is wearing his actual gear from back in the day. This party included neon drapes, and dancing Michael Jackson's Thriller

This is Gina and I at a 40's themed party. In the back ground, you can see some period posters.

Cupcakes were on the menu for the 40's themed party complete with homemade chocolates with American Flags.

A running joke since Little Jimmy's 2nd birthday party, is Lou's parents didn't love him and never threw him a party like the ones Gina and Jimmy throw for little Jimmy. They made up for it with a Halloween themed party for Lou's 27th birthday. Complete with haunted cake below.

Jimmy's 3rd birthday was all about pirates. This pirate ship was one of the more ambitious cakes Gina and Jimmy created.

For Jeanette's shower, this cake below was created. Leila is now 5 years old. Time flies.

Here is Jimmy! The lucky boy who lives in this fun filled, themed household. I got him right before he changed out of his communion outfit. What a handsome boy!

This is the communion cake. Classy simple, and delicious, like all the cakes Gina makes!

King Kone!

If your in the Westchester/Katonah area of New York, check out King Kone! A roadside ice cream stand with hard and soft treats. Portions are large so order accordingly. Plenty of picnic tables to sit at and enjoy your cones.

Catering Pictures

I may have mentioned before that I am a chronic moonlighter. I am also pretty sure I have mentioned I work for a good friend Rachel, for her catering business. D'Lish Intimate Catering

http://www.dlishintimatecatering.com/ Check out her website, and them come back in a month. She is in the process of redoing it with all new content.

A couple weeks ago, I was lucky enough to have Rachel trust my culinary skills and make dinner for one of her clients.

Here are some of the items I made. None of these are my recipes, they are all D'Lish and the name says it all. Rachel is an amazing chef.

This is a mixture of Fiddlehead Ferns, Chard and Ramps which were the bed upon which a seared piece of Haddock was placed for dinner.

These are Scallion and Sushi Rice Cakes which were a side on the dish.

These are Aranciata or Mushroom Risotto balls stuffed with a date and gorgonzola cheese. We made these for a future meal this client would be having.

Another view of my Fiddlehead Ferns

The Barking Crab

The Barking Crab

88 Sleeper Street

Boston, Ma

Atmosphere: Casual seafood dining in the open air, under a tent near the water. Music on the weekends

Kid Friendly: Sure but earlier in the night

Price: Reasonable for a tourist filled place by the water.

What does biking have to do with the Barking Crab? Not a lot, but I did build up an appetite.

Lou and I went on a 33 mile bike ride yesterday through Beverly, Hamilton, Wenham, Topsfield and Ipswich Ma. The first 11 miles were beautiful, and then Lou got a flat:( I admit it, we were unprepared without a spare and one cell phone. Luckily Lou had a lot of water and some snacks. Weighing our options, I took the phone and headed back to the car, and Lou waited on the side of the road until I was able to come pick him and his bike up.

In the end, I went on a 25 mile bike ride, and Lou went on an 11 mile bike ride. At least we learned our lesson and we won't head out again without a spare.

When we got home, our good friend Kat was in town for work, so we all decided to go out and eat. Kat has a recently discovered gluten intolerance so we decided to head out for seafood.

Yankee Lobster was our first choice, which I will definitely write about in the future, but it was closed this day, so we opted for the Barking Crab. Both restaurants are off of Northern Ave in the Seaport District.

If you have a lot of extroverted friends, you love eating outside by the water, and you want good food, but a casual environment, The Barking Crab is for you.

There are two parts to the restaurant, a tent dining area which is opened to the elements, and a closed dining area. Both areas are divided by the kitchen.

The trend these days for a wait in a restaurant is to give the diner an object, usually a large coaster, which buzzes when their table is ready. At the Barking Crab, they give you a lobster. It's cute and all, but a bit of a pain to lug around with you. We took our lobster and headed to the bar. One thing to note is if you put yourself on the wait in the tent at the Barking Crab, that is where you will be sat. If you want to sit inside, you need to put yourself on that wait. They treat the areas as if they are separate restaurants.

The tent area is made up of a bunch of picnic tables and no matter where you sit, unless you have a VERY large party, you will most likely be sharing your table with strangers. These are our strangers.

On the tables are plastic utensils, paper towels( these are your napkins) and large rocks to smash your lobsters, crab legs, or anything else you have to bust open to eat. In general, this is a very casual place.

This is our friend Kat waiting for her dinner.

We ended up sitting in the middle of the tent this night. We started our meal with the lobster and crab dip. It is a warm lobster, crab, and cheese dip served with tortilla chips. The portion was probably good for 5 to share, but we were starving so we devoured the whole thing. For dinner, Lou got the barking crab cake sandwich, I got the wedge salad with a side of two crab cakes, and Kat got a burger no bun (remember the gluten intolerance)

Lou liked his sandwich but I never did ask him if it was a good as the Farragut House Crab Sandwich. (See my past post on the Farragut House) My salad with the crab cakes hit the spot. The crab cakes were about a 3 inch diameter, and the salad was plentiful and fresh.

The Barking Crab is the quintessential, laid back seafood place on the water. Don't go here if you are looking for a relaxing or quiet dinner. The entire time we were eating, the guys next to us were smashing their lobster with the rocks. I guarantee any given night in the summer at least 20 to 30% of the Barking Crab guests are over served. Given their location by the water, it is surprising they haven't lost any patrons to the channel. Having a casual company outing? This is probably the place you want to be. Rowdy friends in town? The Barking Crab is for you!

It's a fun, laid back, beer swilling, decent food having kind of place.