Wednesday, 6/30/10 – Level 4 Day 12 (Buffet)

That was it! We all survived, although I'm sure you can tell by the picture that there were a lot of messes and sweaty faces. The bottom line is that it was a huge success, and we were so incredibly proud of ourselves for pulling off such a massive, yet still delicious, buffet for so many people. The best part was that we were ridiculously prepared; it turns out all of the OCD lists and obsessive menu checking paid off and we had plenty of time to grill, cook, thaw, mix and present everything by 8:30pm (even though we all arrived several hours early). However, we had created so many dishes we barely had a single inch of space on the table; we had hot dogs, corn dogs, sausage and peppers, grilled lamb gyros, salted beef, knishes, hot pretzels, mashed potato salad, chicken taquitos, carne asada tacos, mahi mahi tacos, two kinds of empanadas, cucumber and tomato salad, grilled corn, spiced almonds and sugared walnuts, French fries with jalapeno aioli, chilled horchata, cucumber aqua fresco, boiled octopus, guacamole, salsa, ketchup, mustard, blah blah blah. While that's all I can remember right now, there was much more, and we had the whole school lined up to taste our "Street Food." The feeling of accomplishment was overwhelming, but the tastes of our creations were outstanding.

After the students, staff and chefs had filed through the buffet to their hearts' desire, we each were allowed to fill our plates and take a much needed break. Sure enough though, as that clock struck 9:30pm we were back in and cleaning up the massive mess that had been made. Luckily, we were each able to take home about three days' worth of food, so I made sure I loaded down on sausage, tzatziki sauce, Italian ices, salted beef and grilled lamb (only the good stuff!). I also remembered I had a soft pretzel hidden in my pocket (hey, I've gotta look out for numero uno), so that was a nice little late-night surprise.

We got out a few minutes early so I hopped in a cab and bee-lined it home ASAP. I had a reason to rush: my parents had just arrived in New York City for a nice, long visit, and my husband was entertaining them at the local watering hole with cheap burgers and pints of beer. I arrived home just in time, and countered their sleepy, travel-weary eyes with my wired, frantic and adrenaline-filled stories of sausage-making, corn grilling and octopus boiling. We had an activity-filled weekend, with lots of opportunity to catch up with family members all over the boroughs of NYC. We had an 80^th birthday party for my Grandma, gathering all of her family and friends in one place to toast her, and visited my ancestors' graves, where we were able to place a single rose on Judy Garland's grave (who happens to be buried in the same area as my Great-Great Aunt 'Auntie'). We also visited the country club where my parents had their wedding reception and spoke to the new owners of the house in the Bronx that my Great-Grandfather built when he arrived from Italy and also where my mother and her siblings grew up. Side story: the new owner, a younger Latino gentleman who was very kind to us, said, "I have a weird question: did someone die in this house?" "Well, yeah sure, my father died here, Auntie died in the front room and my Grandmother and Grandfather died in the back room," my mom responded. His face went blank for a minute, and he said, "Well, that's funny because I keep hearing an older man and woman whispering in the back room." So it seems that, regardless of being sold a few years ago, the house is still in the family. We also took a walking tour of the Fordham University campus, my parents' alma mater, ate dinner at my school's restaurant L'Ecole (delicious…) and spent a stifling hot day inside the Museum of Natural History. The highlight of the trip was the night of July 4^th, ye ole Day of Independence. As we were escaping the heat and cooking some picnic side dishes, my aunt, uncle and cousin decided to come into the city from Long Island to hang out. We had plans to watch the Macy's fireworks in the Hudson River from the pier in midtown, but knew we needed to get there super early to get a good spot. By the time we got all the way out there, though, all we could see for blocks and blocks was people…just solid people. We could barely work our way onto the front of the pier…nevertheless out onto the end where the best views would be. Now is the time to mention that my uncle is not only NYPD…he's also FDNY, so he can pull a lot of strings in the city of New York. He spoke to a few of the officers guarding the gates to ask them where the best alternative place to view would be, and they mentioned that they had reserved a spot for servicemen and their families (perfect – my dad is a retired serviceman, so we definitely qualified!). He pointed to a small pathway around the crowds that had been sectioned off with barriers, so we hopped in and followed the path all the way down to the end of the pier. Surely this can't be where it's taking us…for sure they wouldn't have done this…oh yes they did. They had the entire tip of the pier sectioned off for the servicemen's families…meaning that we easily had the best view in the entire city. Not only were we spread out on our blankets in the empty section, where the crowds were packed in like sardines behind metal barriers no more than 20 feet behind us, but about two hours before show time five large barges pulled up in front of us. Yes, we had seats right in front of the barges shooting off the fireworks. UNBELIEVABLE. To top it all off, the pier next to us, which was throwing a party that people paid hundreds of dollars to attend, was playing music on loud speakers the entire night. We had enough space to spread out and lay down, a full delicious picnic, entertainment and front-row views. It truly cannot get any better than that. One thing's for sure – New York City takes care of their heroes (and their families!). In fact, our view was so close that the ashes from the fireworks were raining down on us…now that's cool.

Overall, it was an awesome visit, and it's always great to see my parents (even though they love my husband more than they love me…but that's ok, it's understandable). Now it's back to work, back to school and back to the grind. Let's hope this heat wave lets up soon…or else someone's going to have to volunteer to flip me off the sidewalk like a sizzling fried egg.