this weekend

s and i went to visit our friends in new jersey to eat the steaks we bought from debragga - one of the last remaining meat packers in the meatpacking district (ironic, no?). this past fall the four of us took a tour of debragga's aging caves to see how they age meat and listened to a talk about the wonders of grass fed beef. to answer any questions, yes, it really does taste that good. and yes, you actually can taste a difference. then we all got drunk and watched a penn state football game.

but i digress. the steaks from debragga were excellent. we really didn't do anything to them, just seasoned the steaks with some salt and pepper and then cooked them quickly in the cast iron skillet. naturally, prior to dinner, there was a flurry of e-mails (instigated by s) discussing the appropriate way to cook the meat. experts, aka meat geniuses, were called in. a lively debate ensued and ultimately the men beat their chests until they decided that cast iron was the way to go. the meat genius clearly knew his stuff.

not only did we eat these lovely steaks but h and s found this insane recipe which includes some kind of cheese sauce, broccoli and wait for it ... cheetos (or any variation thereof). no further commentary needed. h also made sweet potato fries and garlic bread. we drank loads of wine (s and i finally opened one of our bottles from argentina) and ended up staying up until 1:30. none of us even knew it had gotten that late, the mark of a super fun night.

the next day, we came back to nyc and i danced my way to the post office to pick up our wedding invitations. my quest to use artists on www.etsy.com certainly paid off. nic and kirsten from evepaul designs exceeded all expectations. now i have to stuff them and label them... if only someone on etsy could that too! (for free of course)

the rest of the weekend naturally flew by in a blur of mexican food, drinks at dublin bar on hudson, brunch at hk and a visit to the sports museum downtown. now all i have to do is get to friday and i get a three day weekend!