life of reiley

Let's go down memory lane.   The year is 1985. Here are some of the news & pop culture highlights:

Reagan/Bush sworn in for second term
Gorbachev took the reins in Russia
The Titanic was found
Back to the Future was the top movie
The Cosby Show and Family Ties ruled the tv ratings
Windows 1.0 is released by Microsoft
Steve Jobs was ousted from Apple
Madonna, Duran Duran and the Cure topped the pop charts.

And yours truly,  from Norwalk, Connecticut, graduated from NHS and headed to UVA in Charlottesville, VA.  Founded and designed by Thomas Jefferson in 1819, nestled in the Blue Ridge Mountains, UVA is a spectacularly beautiful college campus that is firmly rooted in the south.

That summer, the local UVA alumni chapter had a little meet and greet. It was all very exciting - all us KIDS from Fairfield (CT) and Westchester (NY) County were heading off to Charlottesville to get it all started.  It was there I met the lovely Laura Reiley.  Tiny, whip smart, hyper articulate, hilarious.

We hit it off that day and found, to our delight, that we were assigned the same floor in the same dorm, Dunnington.  Laura and I were kindred spirits, NY-area girls in a decidedly southern climate (I remember being in line at a student cafeteria and finding it hilarious that 'barbecue' was on the menu.  I was like, barbecued WHAT? Where's the NOUN?) We got to campus and had us a time;  we trolled the campus and the town looking for fun and we found it.   And we kept finding it for the next four years.  We studied together, we ate together, we made music together, saw music together, we shared a lot together.  

Laura, with Annette Kaufman and Rebecca Fenneman, really anchored my time at UVA.  

Now, Laura lives in Tampa, Annette is back in Charlottesville and Rebecca in the DC area, so we don't get to see each other much. But this weekend? Laura was right here in Evanston, Illinois.

Laura's husband, Jon Rottenberg, who she started dating in high school and who I first met when he was a wee lad of 17, is a Professor of Psychology at USF.  Jon has done some amazing work on the study of depression - he just wrote an incredible book called The Depths - buy it -  and he was in town for a conference at Northwestern.  They, too, just sent their daughter off to college but, unlike our nest, theirs is now empty.  So Laura came too!  Yeah!

I had lunch with Laura Friday and she came to my boot camp class on Saturday but the real fun transpired on Saturday night when we had these two over for dinner.

Sooooo, did I mention that Laura is the food critic for the Tampa Bay Times?  She is!   After earning a degree in English at UVA, Laura went to culinary school to immerse herself in the world of food, launching her career as a food and travel writer. And she's killing it.  No  surprise - she is a fantastic writer with a razor sharp wit.  She's written about food in San Francisco & Baltimore, she's written several travel books and is now making Tampa/St. Pete chefs sweat.   So, naturally, I invited her over for dinner.  One might be intimidated to have a food critic over for dinner, mightn't one? One who graduated from the California Culinary Academy and who analyzes/criticizes food that others prepared for a living?   But here's the thing:  I knew Laura when, to use her phrase, she couldn't boil water. Her skills in that apartment on 15th street fell decidedly in the cleaning vs cooking column.  So yes, she's a kick ass writer and a kick ass chef and just generally a kick ass girl, but I've been cooking for her since we were 19 so, really, it aint no thang.  

And boy oh boy did we have a time.  We reminisced.  We talked about kids and college and politics and food and journalism...  And we got silly.

Late in the night,we formed a pyramid for some inexplicable reason.  
These pictures are so hilarious and ridiculous I feel compelled to include them all.  Because that's just how it gets with old friends - you regress, you re-bond, and you just laugh your ass off.

And, lastly, we had ourselves a feast:

On the menu:

Appetizers: (thank you, Margaret Pezza!) 

Roasted brussel sprouts with balsamic reduction for dipping

Pan fried spicy sausage served with spicy mustard

Trim the brussel sprouts and toss with salt, pepper & olive oil. Roast for 30 min at 400, serve as is or with a balsamic vinaigrette reduction on side.

Slice and pan fry sausage slices (I used spicy organic beer brats), drain on paper towel then serve with spicy mustard on the side.

 Entree:

Barbecued Pork Tenderloin with a coffee rub
Quinoa

Roasted vegetables, potatoes & fennel

Arugula salad with a lemon vinaigrette

Marinate  two 1-lb pork tenderloins (4 hrs to overnight)  in a ziploc, turning occasionally, with

1/2 cup strong brewed coffee

2 Tbsp cider vinegar

1 Tbsp spicy brown mustard

1 Tbsp dark molasses.  

Prepare a rub of 

1/4 cup finely ground coffee

2 Tbsp sugar

2 Tbsp paprika

2 Tbsp coarsely ground black pepper

1-1/2 tsp kosher salt

Remove pork from marinade, discard marinade and rub over pork.  Let stand for 15 min at rm temp

 Put on hot grill for first 3 minutes, turning pork on all sides.
Reduce heat to medium and cook until temp reads 160, about 15 minutes.  

Baste with a mixture of 1/2 cup barbecue sauce and 2 Tbsp cider vinegar while grilling.

Add a little extra bbq sauce at end then let rest five minutes before slicing.

Barefoot Contessa's Oven Roasted Vegetables:

Voila!

I adore these people.


Old friends, great food, great time.  Nothing is better.