My very oldest friend in the world, Ali, is visiting NYC for a few days with her son, Joaquin, so last night we had a little impromptu dinner-for-four featuring Caprese Pasta and Lemon Sorbet Cups. I made this incredibly easy pasta dish because I was running around all day and only had minutes to create something edible before my guests arrived, but decided to pick up some of the stunning Heirloom tomatoes I saw on display at Agata & Valentina to add a little pizzazz to the dish.
Mistake. I tried to buy four tomatoes, and the price? Nearly TWENTY DOLLARS. That is insane. Insane! I ended up holding on to the very prettiest, green-marbled one and filling in the rest of the dish with simple Romas purchased at a street kiosk.
(Those turquoise flowers, by the way, were a gift from Joaquin. I absolutely love flowers dyed weird colors, and you can easily DIY: just place light-colored flowers in a vase filled with water and a little food coloring, and be sure to monitor the absorption to achieve the exact effect you’re looking for.)
I’ve known Ali since almost the moment I was born – her parents are my parents’ best friends from way, way back in the day, and they owned a hotel in upstate New York that we used to visit nearly every weekend when I was a kid. She’s a couple of years older than me, so of course I idolized her completely throughout my childhood (and still do). I cannot believe that she has a four-year-old son, and it breaks my heart that I’ve mostly missed seeing him grow up. I think he remembers me, though, when he sees me…or at least he’s absorbed enough of his mama’s charm to let me think that he does.
We got Joaquin to make that face by promising him that if he smiled for the camera, Tio Kendrick would show him how to play MarioKart.
