A Walk, A Roast and A Cocktail, A Perfect Fall Sunday

I've been back in the burbs now for about a year and a half and I'm actually, surprisingly loving it. I have lots of space to cook which I do now every day. I have lots of space to entertain, and cook for my friends; though the lack of large kitchen space in the city didn't ever prevent me from cooking and entertaining. I definitely inherited the love of cooking and sharing the pleasures of food and wine from my parents, no matter how large or small my kitchen was . And I have lots of space to explore outdoors. I grew up here but didn't really appreciate it until I came back. When you are a kid you don't think about how lucky you are to live in a particular place. When you get older that's when you start appreciating your surroundings, truly appreciating your surroundings.

Yes the city had the glorious Central Park, though I admit I didn't really take advantage of its being just 2 blocks away. Being where I am now I have access to miles of walking trails and an extraordinary park with sweeping views of the Hudson. I now take advantage of the outdoors. When I was a kid the park across the street was where we played or braved the hill and trees in the snow on our flexible flyers. But it was also a place that we also knew you didn't go into alone. And it wasn't until some time later that we discovered that our instincts were right and found out that the Son of Sam also played there, though not the games we played sadly. Today this park, Untermeyer Gardens is a breathtaking place with, as I said stunning views of the Hudson River and landscaped gardens which rival any of the world's great landscaped parks. Restored to its original glory this Persian Roman Garden it is a treasure. Follow the path down the hill and I mean down the hill and you wind up on the Old Croton Aqueduct. Again as a kid you'd never wander down to the OCA, in fact I don't think I ever went that far. It wasn't safe to wander into the woods. But today, the path is filled with people walking, riding their bikes, walking their dogs or running.