Lately – Fall 2012

Hot dogs at Station Street

Beer at the Sprague Brewery

Weddings!

Leaves!

It has been a busy fall.

Two close friends got married in Pittsburgh. Ben also made a quick trip to Southern California to see his cousin get married.  

Ben and I made a trip to the zoo and enjoyed those amazing hot dogs above after the excursion.

Ben and I took a spontaneous mini-beer tour of North-Western PA. We hit up North Country Brewery in Slippery Rock and Sprague Brewery in Venango, all while taking in the incredible turning leaves. 

I started taking a photography class at Pittsburgh Filmmakers in Oakland. Interestingly enough, I took a class here my senior year of high school and being back is somewhat time-warp-ish. My class then consisted of basic black and white photography and darkroom stuff.  Now I am learning Photoshop and Lightroom and data storage, so the times have changed a bit. I hope to share more of my shots from various assignments in the coming weeks.

Happy Friday 🙂

Summer

Ben and I are trying to soak up all the last bits of summer. Last weekend we grilled out. I was in charge of buying the brats.  I (again) bought the ‘wrong’ kind.  Sigh.  Someday I will purchase the correct variety and please my semi-Wisconsinite boyfriend.  (Note: they were still happily eaten by all parties).  We also made homemade salsa and cooked up the last of some CSA corn and green beans. Ben also strung up the ol’ slackline for some lovely mealtime entertainment.

I am not quite ready for fall….

Cure – Lawrenceville (Pittsburgh)

I wasn’t sure what restaurant or event would bring me out of my blogging semi-retirement.

In the end, it was Cure.

Ben and I dined at Cure last Friday night, securing a reservation earlier in the week. Cure is located at 5336 Butler Street, in Lawrenceville. The space is on the smaller side, with tables fairly tightly arranged inside. An exposed kitchen sits a level above the dining room. The place is decorated in browns and reds and wood tones with pig-centric accesories – some animal heads on the wall, meat hooks as coat hangers, and a giant pig mural on the exterior wall of the building.

Cure had always been on my ‘tp try’ list but jumped to a number one spot afer being named one of Bon Apetit’s 50 Best New Restaurants. Check out the article here.

Cure is BYO. The menu is small – a handful of starters, five entrees, two desserts (one being a cheese plate). As expected, the menu is meat-heavy.  Salumi, sausage, beef, pork, duck.  I would also assume the menu changes frequently as none of the exact options we saw on Friday are on the menu currently on the Cure website. Ben ordered duck and I ordered smoked short ribs. We also ordered a started of the corn soup to start.

The corn soup was lovely. The kitchen split it for us, which was much appreciated. Two bowls arrived containing artfully arranged pickled watermelon, sesame seeds, mint and basil. Our waiter then delicately poured a smooth corn and curry based soup over these ingredients. The tiny cubes of watermelon added acidity to the soup. We also loved the fresh herbs in the dish.

Next up were the entrees. My smoked short ribs were served over a beur blanc sauce and topped with crispy fried parsley and chanterelle mushrooms. A caramelized onion puree also sat on the plate. Wow. This was a serious dinner. The short ribs were incredibly tender with a slight smokey taste. I also loved the additions of the crispy parsley and onion puree. On the whole, the dish was very rich but impossible to stop eating. A+.

Ben’s duck was tender and beautifully presented. It was served with an interesting assortment of sauteed cabbage and stewed prunes. A strong course mustard was also on his plate.

Overall, we really enjoyed our meal at Cure. Service was professsional and smooth. Our food was really amazing and appeared to be prepared with great attention to detail. I felt like I had escaped the ‘burgh for the night as a watched the open kitchen and sipped my wine. Can’t wait to go back.

 

Union Pig and Chicken

Union Pig and Chicken

Get here. I gourged myself on fried chicken and macaroni and cheese late into a Friday night and ended up semi-crashing a private party happening in the space. The table of food/love scene in the photo was set up for the party. So. Much. Food.

Happy Birthday

Happy birthday you hippie hunk.

Details

So I have already posted about Emily’s day here and here and here. But above are a few more shots that I loved from the day.

The top shot just contains so many beautiful things. Peonies and hydrangeas and fine aged wine. That wine cellar is truly dreamy. The flowers hung out in the temperature controlled cellar as we finished getting ready. I could live in this picture. Some day I will have a wine cellar in my house. Some day.

The second shot is of a few of the bridesmaids (cousin, college friend, future sister in law) looking on as Emily got zipped into her dress. I absolutely love the expressions and I also love the picture in the background, a print that so reminds me of my aunt and uncle and cousins. I remember it hanging in their last home and it reminds me of childhood and long summer days spent playing/making up ridiculous skits/eating Harold’s chicken at their house in Sewickley.

Marriage

Emily’s wedding was a true family affair. I was so lucky as to have both sets of my grandparents at the wedding. My mother’s parents (top) just celebrated 59 years of marriage. My dad’s parents (bottom) just celebrated 62 years of marriage.  That is 121 years of commitment, love, and memories. It truly blows my mind.

Shortly after the wedding, my dad’s mother became very ill and ended up on an extended stay in the hospital. She has pulled through for the time being but faces a trying recovery. Visiting her, I have been blessed to witness my grandfather’s unconditional love as he cares for her as best he can. He loves her so fully and so thoroughly it almost hurts to watch. I can only hope I am so lucky, so privileged, to experience love in that capacity some day.

Here’s to Gib, Pap, Grandma and Pop-pop. My idols.

More Love

It is wedding week here on Snickie. This is a great shot of Em and Eryk exiting the church. Ben was the photog here, as he had a great seat in the back pew after arriving minutes before the bride walked down the aisle 😉 Note:  you must must must arrive at a church fifteen minutes before a wedding or you will be walking down the aisle with the bride. This is embarrassing. I know this from personal experience.

Emily and Eryk got married at St Paul and John in Wexford and then moved the party to the Omni William Penn downtown. This was a grand wedding – 350+ people, a bar that looked like a Vegas nightclub, a live band, the works. The ballroom at the Omni William Penn is so majestic. A balcony circles the room and hints of dark magenta, gold, and white envelop the space. The night was magical. The dance floor was packed for the duration of the reception.

You will probably be seeing lots of wedding pictures on Snickie. I have been in 4 weddings in the last 9 months or so and have attended just as many as a guest. Tis the season of life 🙂

Love

4 – 28 – 2012

This is my cousin Emily getting ready for her big day. She is so beautiful and I so enjoyed being one of her bridesmaids. It was cold and rainy the April morning of her wedding but the vibe while getting ready was awesomely relaxed and happy and loving. What a amazing day 🙂

Snickie Change Up

So I am planning on changing the set up of Snickie a little. As you may have noticed, I haven’t been feeling inspired to post long recaps of restaurant visits or life events recently. However, my interest in photography and documenting my life through photos has continued to grow and evolve. So for the time being, my plan is to post a few photos per week to Snickie with brief descriptions about the moment captured by the shot. It is very likely that many of these shots will still involve food and cooking, so never fear my foodie friends.

On that note, the above photo is of a small island off the coast of Lake Superior, planted serendipitously in front of my boyfriend’s family’s lake house in Washburn, WI. I had the pleasure of visiting Washburn for the first time this summer. I had seen this very island in many family photos and even in a large framed shot in Ben’s apartment. Seeing it in person made me smile, made me feel closer to Ben, made me think about the special places my own family cherishes. I loved my time in Washburn – I got to see the little town through the eyes of Ben as a child and as an adult. And I got to eat fried cheese curds. Can’t beat that.