Father's Day Fun Times

Sunday always feels like the weirdest day of the week to me.  In halls, it was the day they served us lunch. During high school, it was the day when you hoped you had all your work done, but obviously didn't.  And now, it's neither of those things.  The fact that it's just another day makes it super weird.

Yesterday, Sunday, was spent with my Dad celebrating Father's Day.  It was really nice to be home because it was the first "holiday" I'd actually been at home for since Christmas/New Years.  The day started off making my Dad some pancakes, one of his favorite breakfast foods.  I used Yum Universe's Buckwheat Blender Pancake recipe.  I'd only ever made pancakes once before, so I was kind of nervous.  Luckily, these came together quite easily, especially since you only had to mix everything in a blender.  They were quite a hit!

After breakfast (and gifts, the best part of any holiday), my Dad and I headed to Union Square to do some random things we had planned.  He even got me the newest Lady Gaga cd.  I was going to get it on itunes for my flight home, but then decided I really wanted the actual cd.  There's just something nicer about having a hard copy and not having to worry about backing up all your music!

Next stop was Pret-A-Manger to get some coffee.  I adore the coffee at Pret, in fact I just adore Pret in general.  Even though they are an English chain their menus are completely different between the American and British stores.  There isn't one menu I prefer generally, it just throws you for a loop when you first get back. I think they might make their coffee stronger in America.  Not to mention they don't add the little sprinkle of chocolate on top of a cappuccino, I love how the English do that!

Paper cups!  Another sign I'm back home :)

Then, we went to Eataly.  If you've never heard about Eataly, it's basically a food amusement park, with groceries, restaurants and cafes, that all sell authentic Italian cuisine.  Basically, it's a little slice of heaven.  Originally we were thinking of sitting at a restaurant and eating, but decided it would be more fun to buy some slices of pizza and eat them in the park.

Pizza Rosso

Broccoli Rabe with anchovies I picked off, didn't like this one too much

Onions, this was definitely my favorite!

Once we'd eaten, we went back to Eataly to do some all-important shopping.  I love the stuff they have there, so much of it is so different from what you find in American or British supermarkets, like a billion different varieties of dried pasta.  I'm always drawn to the products that are simple and things you could easily find in an Italian supermarket.  This is part of the reason I've always bought a box of Barilla when I've gone there.  It's one of my favorite brands of pasta!

We ended up getting quite a bit...

Classic Italian Biscuits

Peach Jam

Apricot Jam

Chocolate Coffe Spread

As you can see, we were quite successful!

For dinner, we ate some orrechietti (Barilla, of course) with a superb avocado sauce and asparagus.  We also had Pimms Cups, for which I deduced that Ginger Ale is the most accurate replica for English lemonade.  Dessert was a strawberry and rhubard crumble, that despite my high hopes, was entirely too sweet for my taste.  Luckily, my Dad enjoyed it so all was not lost.  I still felt like I wasted all those strawberries making it though.

Hope everyone had a happy Father's Day!  Here's to a good start to the week!

Un Bacione,

Emilia