Piquant

4th annual Edgy Moms event from Brooklyn Reading Works

So what is an edgy mom? Based on the reading I'd have to say it's a mom who questions authority and group-think, and who tells the truth, even if it's shocking. Also, judging from the night's readers, edgy moms are funny!

- Louise Sloan, author of Knock Yourself Up, A Tell All Guide to Becoming a Single Mom

Brooklyn Reading Works presents the Fourth Annual Edgy Mother's Day on May 20, 2010 at 8PM at The Old Stone House in Park Slope. It's motherhood without sanctimony and an evening  of maternal revelry, wisdom and irreverent fun.

 

This is not your mother's Mother's Day but a celebration of mommydom nonetheless that will shock, rock, and make you laugh 'til your thongs snap!

 

Hear Brooklyn writers of non-fiction, fiction, memoir and poetry rant and rave about mothers and motherhood. They will shock, amuse, and entertain but won't make you eat carrots before dessert.

 

Bring a friend. Or bring your mom.

 

Hosted by Louise Crawford and Sophia Romero, here's the evening's line-up:

--Marian Fontana, author of A Widow's Walk

--Rosemary Moore, author of Side Street

--Martha Southgate, author of Third Girl From the Left

--Wendy Ponte, author of Mothering Magazine's Having a Baby Naturally

--Sophia Romero, blogger, The Shiksa from Manila and author of Always Hiding

--Yona Zeldis McDonough, author of Breaking the Bank

--Michele Madigan Somerville, poet and author of Black Irish and WISEGAL

--Allison Pennell, F--cked in Park Slope Blogger and parenting writer

--Kathy Fine, educator

 

The Where and When

Date: May 20, 2010 at 8PM

Location:  The Old Stone House
Fifth Avenue between 3rd and 4th Streets
Phone:  718-768-3195
7:30 p.m.:  Open bar/Wine donated by Shawn Liquors
8:00 p.m.:  Reading

Suggested contribution:  $5 includes refreshments
Reading is open to all - not just mothers - though please leave children at home

 

Brownstone Brooklyn features secret gardens tour

City folk know how precious a postage stamp piece of green can be. Now you can catch a secret glimpse of what people are creating with their glorious green.

Brownstone Brooklyn Garden District presents its self-guided 13th Annual Garden Walk, June 6, 2010, from 11 am-5 pm.

Spend a Sunday afternoon being inspired by the creativity of this neighborhood's urban gardeners. Stops on the tour include single, double and triple-lot city refuges.

Pick up a self-guided map at the corner of Washington Avenue and Lafayette, just outside the entrance to the G train, and enter into a  green wonderland that cannot be seen from the street.

This year's stroll features 15 private gardens in the historic district of Clinton Hill, Brooklyn.

In addition to private gardens, many of which also feature the artwork of their creators folded into their greenery, the tour includes several vibrant community gardens, a newly planted garden entitled, Symbols, Parables and Healing, sponsored by BBGD in partnership with Teen Challenge, the drug recovery and prevention program at 444 Clinton Avenue, The Pratt sculpture Garden, green graffiti art installations and a Living-Couture Fashion Show in a neighborhood church.

All proceeds from the Garden Walk fund activities that support, encourage and facilitate local gardening, urban farming and environmental art.

Tickets are available in advance for $15 at:  http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/107257

and for $20 the day of the event.  Local ticket outlets will be announced shortly.

photo: BBDG

New York is foodie paradise - lovely delicacies from all over the world - but there are few places to eat lip-smacking barbecue.

Although there aren't many great BBQ spots in NYC, Smoke Joint in Fort Greene does a pretty decent job. That it's fun, cozy and affordable sweetens the deal.

Since I cut my teeth on pit-cooked pig deep-basted and marinated in a vinegar and crushed red pepper sauce, I'm naturally not crazy about their tomato based table sauces, but their meats - chicken, pork and beef ribs - are substantial and succulent.  Still there are times for tomato-based sauces, particularly when faced with a rack of babyback ribs or some hot wings.

Pit-cooked pulled pork is not native to Brooklyn, but then neither are many wonderful delicacies that translate well. Smoke Joint brings barbecue shack flavor and passable barbecue to the urban landscape without any kitsch. 

While it's not the BBQ joints of my North Carolina youth -  with their great smoky, rich and meaty eats but low-budget ambiance defined by paper placemats, plastic tumblers and formica tables - Smoke Joint is a fun experience with good beers and whiskeys as well.

It is indeed what owners Ben Grossman and Craig Samuel call "real New York barbecue," infused with a melting pot of urban flavors.

Dinner for two with drinks averages $40, not including gratuities.

Details

Smoke Joint

87 South Elliott Place, Brooklyn, NY 11217-4803
(718) 797-1011

Nearest Transit:

Lafayette Ave (C)

Fulton St (G)

Atlantic Ave-Pacific St (2, 3, 4, 5, M, N, Q, W, R, B, D)

Hours: Mon-Thu, Sun 12 pm - 10 pm, Fri-Sat 12 pm - 11 pm

Accepts all major credit cards