A many layered Cake or Where I've Been Hiding Lately

Hello friends! Hi Mom! How is everyone? Did you miss me? I missed you guys. Things have been... busy... to say the least. Let me 'splain. No, there is too much. Let me sum up. Buttercup is marry Humperdink in little less than...

...wait. Wrong movie. Rewind. Start again.

This Cake has been busy! Busy cooking for friends, busy networking, busy cooking for work, busy making plans for the future, more cooking, meeting more new people, and then... then the Ankle of Fail returned and everything ground to a halt. In the middle of the street. Ouf.

Friends
Our adventure begins on a high note: cooking for friends. As someone who grew up in a family where affection was freely bestowed with hugs, kisses, and favorite meals I absolutely love cooking for close friends. There is no better evening for me than those spent with girlfriends with whom you share a mutual adoration, who love to talk to each other, who are appreciative of your cooking, and who are at home in your home.

The three ladies who graced my table last week are friends I met through school: my friend Keeana and I have known each other since 7th grade (never you mind how many years ago that was); through life: Ann, of deviled egg fame, is an honorary member of the family; and through work: Nahir, who is awesome to cook with, is among the group of friends I refer to as "the good girls from the bad job." The bad job ended almost six years ago but the friendship endures.

Along with wine, roast pork tenderloin with blackberry sauce, a garden salad, and grilled peaches with chantilly cream we talked, laughed, and planned our third annual girl's weekend to Cape Cod (the Saint Germaine bottle/bud vase is one I saved from last summer). I can't wait - love these ladies!

Networking
I went to my first blogger event on Thursday for the Boston Bloggers group. I met some fun fashion bloggers (who knew there were so many in Boston? Thank goodness I wore my new boho-chic top and one of the incredible necklaces Masi Tanvir has given me. Loads of compliments on the necklace) and a handful of local food bloggers. I took my own advice and just walked up and introduced myself. It's amazing how well people respond to a genuine smile (and an occasional admission of, "hi, I don't know anyone here. Nice to meet you!").

Cooking for Work
This of course came at the end of a long day of cooking. I've had this idea for a catering business for a while now. I've started working on a business plan and I may have found a catering partner in my co-worker turned friend Jordan. We had a very successful trial run of cooking together this past weekend at an art gallery show. Whilst deciding on a menu, we also decided on a name: Fresh, Savory, Sweet.

Don't you love it?! I do. So simple. So descriptive. And completely evocative of the food: a fresh watermelon appetizer with feta and mint; roasted asparagus and prosciutto in filo (and a vegetarian version with an apricot-rose jam glaze); oatmeal sandwich cookies with rhubarb-blood orange compote filling and white chocolate drizzle. Yeah, you love it.

I hope you'll be hearing more about Fresh, Savory, Sweet in the future but for the moment I need to concentrate on the business plan, insurance, etc. before I can safely launch the company.

More People; More Cooking
But wait, that's not all! I spent Sunday morning making about three dozen carrot-walnut muffins (recipe to come) for my first ever Boston Food Swap event! Have you heard of Food Swapping or been to an event? The premise is simple: community (and food!) minded individuals come together to swap foods they have made, grown, or foraged for other homemade, homegrown, or foraged foods.

In exchange for my carrot-walnut muffins I took home 3 different kinds of homemade jam (strawberry-rhubarb-basil; strawberry-lemon; and rhubarb-ginger), a spicy masala spice rub mix, granola, and best of all: a zucchini plant! I was so excited about the zucchini which is now planted in a larger pot on our little patio. The offerings were incredible; from homemade (prize winning!) bread to homemade ricotta to these gorgeously packaged white grape and berry kanten (also known as agar-agar, a vegetarian gelatin).

The Boston Food Swap is fast approaching its one year swapiversary and they're having a party! And you're invited! Yay! It's going to be a cocktail party with local foodie guest speakers. For more information check out this post by Boston Food Swap co-founder Tara Bellucci (she's also a Food Bloggers Network member! Our members are kind of awesome. You know, just sayin' is all).

The Ankle of Fail
Everything seems like a bed of roses, doesn't it? The sun was shining, there was a parade going on in the North End, and Thom and I were carrying home our swap loot when all of sudden, without any provocation at all, while crossing Hanover Street a pothole reached up from the ground, grabbed my ankle, and threw me viciously to the ground.

Yup. It happened exactly like that. Or... um... something like that. If you know me in real life then you know the Ankle of Fail has been a problem for many years, and never really healed right when I fell down those stairs and couldn't take the time to stay off of it. It's no surprise, really, that it gave out and I fell, but what was a surprise was that I absolutely couldn't bear weight on it and Thom had to take me over to the ER to get it x-rayed and then crutches, aircast and home. So, while I've been wanting to be on my feet cooking I've instead been on the couch catching up on emails and Mad Men. Honestly, I needed the break, but I don't have time for the break. And I don't want to be broken to get the break!

So stay tuned - Thom is doing the cooking for the time being (he made a killer chicken coconut curry with the masala spice mix), but I expect to be back at the stove in no time. Or... um... as soon as the orthopedist says it's okay to bear weight.