We like surprises, oh yes we do—but surely I am talking about good surprises, not the surprises that rise up black and murky from the black and murky depths of a black and murky box. I don’t want to name names, Pandora, but sometimes the box is marked “DON’T OPEN” for a reason.
A good surprise is India calling late on a Saturday afternoon, saying she’s across the street from my house. I understand that a normal person might say, “Is that right. How lovely. Why don’t you come in for some tea and a snacky cake?” However, because I am me, I said: “OH MY GOD WAIT WAIT LET ME LOOK OUT THE WINDOW OH SHIT I SEE YOU I TOTALLY SEE YOU” or somesuch. To which India said, “I think I just heard you from across the street.”
Good surprises such as India popping in can, and do, result in perusing a list of New York City teahouses, and then making plans for a fancy tea next Sunday. All signs point to Lady Mendl’s Tea Salon, where tea comes in five courses AND tea. We will eat sandwiches with their crusts cut off. We will drink tea with our pinky fingers pointed outward. And, oh, we will scarf, oh-so-delicately we will scarf ALL POSSIBLE SCONES with AS MUCH CREAM AS A SCONE CAN HOLD.
The India surprise went so well that I thought, come Sunday afternoon, when I found myself in Kat’s neighborhood, that I might see if the magic was still upon us. And truly, the girl wasn’t pulling overtime at work, which meant she was free to coffee with me. “Coffee” meant a hang-out at the City Bakery for lemonade and a vanilla cookie, then all of a sudden poking around in the gleaming paradise that is the new(ish) Whole Foods Market at Union Square, then all of a sudden having dinner at Union Square Café: rhubarb Bellinis and a spring salad and perfect orechiette in a ribs ragù.
It goes without saying that the Union Square Café default dessert of choice is the banana tart, oh good god is it ever, but recently I have been thinking that maybe I need to diversify. Hence when the nice waitress came by and cleared our plates, I said: “Is the Baked Alaska something that comes AFLAME?” and made flames of my fingers, as if I were Kirsten Dunst in “Bring It On.”
It did not come aflame, the Baked Alaska, but it came on a bed of chocolate cake, like good surprises often do.
A good surprise is India calling late on a Saturday afternoon, saying she’s across the street from my house. I understand that a normal person might say, “Is that right. How lovely. Why don’t you come in for some tea and a snacky cake?” However, because I am me, I said: “OH MY GOD WAIT WAIT LET ME LOOK OUT THE WINDOW OH SHIT I SEE YOU I TOTALLY SEE YOU” or somesuch. To which India said, “I think I just heard you from across the street.”
Good surprises such as India popping in can, and do, result in perusing a list of New York City teahouses, and then making plans for a fancy tea next Sunday. All signs point to Lady Mendl’s Tea Salon, where tea comes in five courses AND tea. We will eat sandwiches with their crusts cut off. We will drink tea with our pinky fingers pointed outward. And, oh, we will scarf, oh-so-delicately we will scarf ALL POSSIBLE SCONES with AS MUCH CREAM AS A SCONE CAN HOLD.
The India surprise went so well that I thought, come Sunday afternoon, when I found myself in Kat’s neighborhood, that I might see if the magic was still upon us. And truly, the girl wasn’t pulling overtime at work, which meant she was free to coffee with me. “Coffee” meant a hang-out at the City Bakery for lemonade and a vanilla cookie, then all of a sudden poking around in the gleaming paradise that is the new(ish) Whole Foods Market at Union Square, then all of a sudden having dinner at Union Square Café: rhubarb Bellinis and a spring salad and perfect orechiette in a ribs ragù.
It goes without saying that the Union Square Café default dessert of choice is the banana tart, oh good god is it ever, but recently I have been thinking that maybe I need to diversify. Hence when the nice waitress came by and cleared our plates, I said: “Is the Baked Alaska something that comes AFLAME?” and made flames of my fingers, as if I were Kirsten Dunst in “Bring It On.”
It did not come aflame, the Baked Alaska, but it came on a bed of chocolate cake, like good surprises often do.
posted by stellou at 10:42 PM
7 Comments:
Spirit Fingers! HEHEHEHE.
Sorry.
aaaaaaa
you are correct. if you were here (sorry, i am not taunting), you would win a baked alaska. and when it arrived, your hands would make spirit fingers.
everybody is winning things on this blog! :-)
in conclusion: these aren't spirit fingers... THESE are spirit fingers!!...and these are GOLD.
HA HA HA.
you are taunting me with your city bakery, but that's ok because i have a falafel roll from erciyes for luncheon. are you across the street from me? because, if yes, you can come over for some falafel.
no?
ah well. i seem to recall other times when other people were outside your apartment -- a dubious surprise! HAHAHA.
i have a new blooger profile picture.
um. i didn't really mean to type "blooger".
Mmm....scones...
I've never had a baked Alaska, but it sounds nice. Banana tart sounds good. ...dessert sounds good.
dessert.
wheat.
sugar.
...now I'm in a daze.
cc: who is taunting whom, can i just say?? (say lah!!) aaaaa i can taste that sucuklu whatever the hell it's called pizza. mmm. aaaaahhh.
i can't actually taste it, because that would be too easy. i can only remember how very very tasty it is. MMM. AAAHHHH.
also, i like your blooger picture. do you have that look because you have just noticed a dubious someone outside your apartment? HO HO HO.
robyn: OH YES dessert, wheat, and sugar are some of my favorite things. and it is best to give in to the daze, because naps are also some of my favorite things.
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