It’s finally here! GoogaMooga weekend! For those of you who are either not obsessed with food-centric events or don’t live in New York, GoogaMooga is a giant food and music festival in Brooklyn’s Prospect Park. Kramer and I went last year and had an amazing time. A lot of people said that they had a terrible time – there were crowds, food ran out, it was hard to get beer and wine, etc. but to those people I say, duh! It was a free festival in Brooklyn. Over 1,500 people were there each day. Of course there were lines! Of course there was no cell phone reception! Kramer and I, being the nerds that we are, got there right when the gates opened, got out beer tickets, ate the food we wanted, then just hung out on the lawn and relaxed in the sunshine. I had a duck confit hot dog with black garlic, my first taste of Mile End Deli’s smoked meat sandwich (which consequently started my love affair with the restaurant), and more. I was in total heaven. This year, I’m looking forward to Toro’s (all the way from Boston) braised rabbit and snail paella and I’m definitely getting something sweet from Big Gay Ice Cream. Anyone else headed over that way this weekend? Kramer and I will be there on Saturday and I’m just counting the minutes!
As we head into the summer months, things are going to get real, people. Cooking is not fun in the summer, especially if you live in a place like New York where air conditioning barely works, if you’re lucky enough to have a unit at all, and everyone is packed into close, sweaty quarters. Kramer and I eat a lot of raw vegetables and fish when it’s hot outside, as I can’t be bothered to even turn on the stove for a few minutes to boil water. I was wandering around the farmer’s market one day before work and happened upon these beautiful rainbow colored carrots. I had to get them and do something to showcase their different levels of sweetness, along with their refreshing crunch. As it happened, the day I made this salad was warmer than usual (we’ve been having a lot of strangely warm days followed by chilly, breezy days lately) and I didn’t feel like cooking the carrots, plus I was afraid that their color would fade when put to heat. Therefore, into a red wine vinegar, sugar, and spring garlic mixture they went. Add a little freshly ground black pepper and lemon zest, and you’ve got yourself a lovely summer salad, that’s almost pickled but not quite. I liked to eat this nice and cold out of the refrigerator, but it’s perfect for a room temperature picnic side dish, too. You obviously don’t need different colored carrots for this, but if you can find them, they really do pop and make your plate look alive with purples, oranges, and yellows.


















