Best. Day. Ever. Brooklyn-Style

I went down to NY this past weekend to pick up Puppy and chill-ax in my old neighborhood of Red Hook in Brooklyn with Molly (Puppy's Other Mother). The result? Best. Day. Ever.

First we dropped off at the groomers for a much-needed summer hairdo. Doesn't he look handsome?

While we were waiting, Molly and I went to get groomed ourselves at a new nail place on Atlantic. It was awesome. Not only did we get to practice our rusty Korean, but we got free hot stone massages on our legs and necks. I got my toes done in blue in honor of our nation's birthday.

Next, we went to the Red Hook soccer fields for tasty South American food! This is hands-down the best thing to do in the summer in Brooklyn. You get delicious, authentic, and cheap food plus you can take in an intense game of futbol (soccer). Hot guys and hot salsa! Hot damn!

Beef tacos

Grilled Mexican corn

Grilled Mexican corn sounds a little gross but is so delicious. They cover it in mayo and butter, grated cotija cheese (like parmesan), cayenne pepper and a bit of lime juice. Creamy, tangy, spicy and corny!

Pupusas

Pupusas are like El Salvadoran Hot Pockets. They're basically really thick corn tortillas - almost like empanadas - stuffed with cheese and meat. And fried. Ohmygoditissodelicious!!!! There are 2 Red Hook vendors who sell pupusas. One always has a ridiculously long line and the other is practically empty. I always feel bad for the second one, because it's not like most of the gringo hipsters in Red Hook can really tell the difference between the two. But I guess none of us are willing to risk a sub-par pupusa when the best one is right there. Sorry amigos! The pink stuff is some kind of pickled cabbage like sauerkraut. Actually, now that I think of it, this dish is very Korean. The pupusas are like a savory hodduk with kimchi on the side!

After lunch, we went across the street to take a dip in the community pool. I know that sounds kind of gross, but the pool is actually quite clean and orderly since they seriously enforce all their crazy rules. Every 2 minutes someone makes an announcement over the PA. You can't bring anything into the pool area - food, chairs, not even shoes. You can't wear anything but plain white t-shirts (I assume to prevent gang flare-ups). And my favorite admonition: "No touching in the pool! No male-female touching, male-male touching, or female-female touching! Absolutely no touching!" Of course, this caused me to immediately jump on top of Molly (who hates being touched).

After taking a nice leisurely nap with Puppy, we headed out for a late supper at Ferdinando's on Union St. and Columbia. This is a really old school Sicilian restaurant - allegedly Sinatra ordered platters of arancini (rice balls) for a party in the Hamptons. We had panelle (chick pea fritters with ricotta and tomato sauce), ensalada de pulpo (octopus salad), and pasta con sarde (pasta with sardines). Delicious! Of course, I was so excited to eat that I forgot to take pictures. This is all that was left:

Pasta con sarde - we licked it clean!

After dinner, we went to see Bridesmaids. (Yay, women are funny!) Thus endeth our Best. Day. Ever. With a lot of laughs. And Jon Hamm. And full bellies.

BEST. DAY. EVER!!!!!

Postscript: I took this picture of a bike that had been "yarn bombed" in Dumbo. It was the day after the BDE, and that was a pretty good day too. But not the best, because I had to leave Brooklyn.