Showering the Baby
My best friend from College is having a wee little one very soon and we had her baby shower today in Pasadena--this pic is approx 1 month old, but she still looks just as fabulous, if a sporting a slightly larger bump. Given that she is such a great friend and soon to be raddest mom on the planet she deserved the best that Feast could put together. Brunch to end all brunches is what she got; in partnership we with her sister we put on quite a spread:
-Paula Deen's Baked French Toast Casserole
-Egg, Cheese, and Broccoli Crustless Quiche
-Roasted Potatoes (toss with EVOO, sea salt, and rosemary, bake at 375 +/-45 mins)
-Ina Garten's Orange Yogurt served alongside
-Alton Brown's Granola (so easy and delicious, not mention SO much cheaper than buying)
-Fruit Salad
-Silver Palate Zucchini Bread (subbed pecans for the walnuts as I was running low) and
-Frittata (zuchs, tomatoes, pasta, red onions, and parm)
This menu was supposed to include Martha Stewarts recipe for NY Crumb Cake, but the result was an unmitigated disaster. Exaggeration, perhaps. BUT, as someone who has defended the doyenne of domesticity against attacks from every known corner, and upheld the virtues of her OMNIMEDIA empire and her expertise at developing a new and upgraded market for all things domestic, and her role as a teacher of good things, AND her place as an incredible icon of a female executive prowess I was more than a little disappointed that this recipe turned out so poorly. (sidenote, check out Joan Didion's NYer essay about MS sometime, it's great. As Didion argues, "The 'cultural meaning' of Martha Stewart’s success, in other words, lies deep in the success itself, which is why even her troubles and strivings are part of the message, not detrimental but integral to the brand. She has branded herself not as Superwoman but as Everywoman, a distinction that seems to remain unclear to her critics.") That said, without someone "troubling" to clean up after you in the kitchen, having a recipe turn out so poorly is more than a little discouraging.
Anyway. Back to Aislinn and her baby shower.
One has to be showered with more than a tableful of food however and Aislinn received all manner of baby items from the very strange (to the woman with no children and nothing in utero anytime soon anyway)--breast pump sterilizing cartiridges?--to the sublimely cute onesies and suspender bedecked overalls. I made my selections at Paul Frank, because in the midst of all these teddy bears, a boy needs to channel his inner-rebel too:
Jammies, a onesie emblazoned with julius and "hug me," and a rock and roll long sleeve hoodie with julius smashing his guitar, oh, and this book. This stuff is toooooo cute! Can't wait for baby to come out!