kitchen blog

i turned 29

I had friends over for a little mini dinner party for my 29th. It felt like the eve of the rest of my life, oddly. yes, i know, the drama. but ya know what, it’s how i felt. 29 is the pregame, 30 is the party. and all i want to do is cook.

i feel like women dread turning 29.. 30… and i just thought i would feel the same but i strangely didn’t.

we ate, we drank, we listened to kygo (my summer Go-to), we giggled, we hugged. it all felt like a really great ray of sunshine, the kind that hits your back and you stop mid step because it feels so good.

yeah, ok, time to write about what we ate. the fun part. to start, we had shrimp cocktail because we simply had to. It’s the quintessential celebratory appetizer. Yes, it’s also quintessential ~~ stuffy steak house ~~ But no it’s not. it’s classic, it’s indulgent, it’s the perfect bite of tangy luxury. alright next we had rainbow carrots & peeled blanched asparagus (yes i like my asparagus peeled) dipped in a lemony, green oniony, chili oily labneh sitch (inspired by allison roman!!!). it was the perfect umami crunch bomb. ok for the main attraction, extra creamy vodka rigatoni with basil from the garden alongside the dreamiest garlic bread.

the garlic bread deserves its own paragraph. i slow roasted probably over 200 garlic cloves in olive oil for an hour, smashed it inito a golden paste, mixed it in with soft n salty butter, parm, cracked black pepp and fresh parsley. swiped a VERY generous amount of the sassy spread onto a slice of my favorite olive sourdough, broiled it in the oven for a few, and there you have it, the apartment smelled like my grandest garlic dreams. so that’s why we call it the dreamiest garlic bread.

for dessert: an ice cream bomb. i chose lemon and raspberry sorbet to fill the mold, flipped it over and covered every centimeter of the surface with raspberries. it was gorg. the perfect summer birthday (not)cake. makes me smile just thinking of it.

so there you have it, we ate well. and it was everything i could have asked for. my friends asked why they weren’t the ones hosting/cooking for me on my birthday, that it seemed wrong. but, truth is, i wouldn’t have it any other way. i love cooking, it’s how i connect with the people around me, it’s how i learn about the worlD, it’s what makes me excited to get out of bed in the morning.

I guess what i’m trying to say is, i’m so proud and tremendously excited to be starting this new chapter in my life, as a private chef.

let me cook for you.