As I mentioned, Saturday evening after the official reception, we had an open house at my sister and brother-in-law’s house to provide for time for visiting. If you ask me, this was the best part of the weekend. Not only did we have another four hours to catch up with friends and family members, we also had a chance to eat some of Kevin’s barbecue!
Above, my grandmother, Anita, my sister and one of my uncles dig into the spread.
These pictures don’t do Kevin’s ability with a smoker justice, but here are the St. Louis style pork spareribs and, below that, the pulled pork shoulder. With some Carolina-style vinegar sauce, that shoulder was amazing.
Anita pulled together a caprese salad – ripe local tomatoes with fresh mozzarella cheese, basil chiffonade, and some extra virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Tasty stuff!
What is a wedding without a cake? Even better, why not two of them? Albert and Trish stopped by a well-known Swiss bakery near the Plaza and came back with these two lovely treats:
Tawn and I cut the cake and ran into a bit of a culture clash. In Thailand, the person who controls the cutting of the cake also controls the relationship, or so they say. I was wondering why it seemed like Tawn was trying to wrest the knife from my hands as we cut!
Sunday morning we were up early to drive Lilian and Anita to the airport for their return flight. Afterwards, we met Andy and Sugi at Classic Cup Sidewalk Cafe on the Plaza for brunch.
The company was excellent and the food quite good. Portions were overwhelming, though.
Tawn had this southwestern-style quesadilla and scramble.
Cheesy grits with Italian sausage and fried eggs. Tasty, but so heavy. Didn’t finish them.
Sugi enjoyed this turkey version of eggs benedict.
Andy had another version of eggs benedict with a side of grits. If I recall, these had sausage on them? Andy can correct me in the comments if I’m wrong.
Above, a cool bike parked in front of the Classic Cup.
After brunch, they headed back up to Omaha. Really nice having the opportunity to meet them in person and spend lots of time together this week.
Our final days in Kansas City were filled with errands, packing and spending more time with my grandparents. We scanned many more pictures and also taught my mother how to do the scanning so she can continue the project when I’m back in Thailand.
Tawn and Emily had some time to do yoga together…
Ava made it a point to come in each morning and wake Uncle Tawn up. Here she’s sitting with an apple slice in her hand (notice the bowl on the bed), jabbering away about this, that and the other thing.
Finally, Tuesday morning we closed the bags, said our goodbyes, and headed for the Big Apple.
Above, Tawn on the flight to NYC.
Stay tuned…
christao408 
I love the summer barbecue,need to call up my friends to do more b4 summer ends…….and the breakfast looks sumptuous….
It was wonderful to have both of you here and to be apart of your wedding. Have a fabulous time in NYC. Give Brad a big hug for me. Have a safe trip home. We’ll talk to you soon! Love you much!
The ribs look so good! I just love the pic of Tawn and Ava. That’s just so cute. Have fun in NYC!
Chris, made it to the ribs but I couldn’t go any further than the mozzarella cheese. Too much good food!PS – I lied. The picture of Ava in bed with Tawn is adorable!
I am so happy this was such a memorable trip for you both and for your entire family.
wow, that bbq really does look amazing. it sounds like a great reception and after-party; hope you have a good time in nyc!
I see now where you got your love of good food and cooking….your grandmothers salad looks amazing!!! Ruth Ann
I just loved this post! It had everything in it – food, humor, cute kids, sparkling eyes and I had to laugh at the cake cutting episode. Enjoy your visit to the Big Apple.
The spareribs and salad looks so yummy!The cake cutting bit is so cute! So who won? *wink* =PI love it as an analogy of love. Both hands holding the knife.Both have to be gentle and aware of the other’s movementsto have the cake cut nicely. Nobody can by force impose their own willinto the process. ^^That yoga pic and Ave’s morning call pic are so cute!
The food looks really good!The pic of your niece and Tawn is absolutely adorable!The cake cutting bit made me laugh; so cute!
Big congratulations! And thank you for sharing these wonderful moments and your thoughts. I wish you and Tawn all the warmest and best wishes for the years to come!!
The cake cutting had me giggling 🙂 Who knew?The barbequed pork looks amazing. I hope you had a good flight to NYC!
It was filet :)Thank you very much again for treating us! We had a wonderful time all weekend!!!
And can’t wait to see you in Nov!
The cake cutting must have been interesting to witness. The homemade food looks delicious!
So much food and I don’t know where to start! Anyways, they all looked very delicious! It was funny you mentioned about Thai culture and cake cutting, very insightful! And we all got a glimpse of Tawn ‘half-awake’ and doing yoga!! Have a good stay at the Big Apple!
Worst blog to read when you are hungry and trying to stay away from sugar…auugghhh I srsly just drooled all over looking through you’re pics, and it looks like you appreciate good food that’s great…you should tell me about some spots that you enjoy…I’m from Texas but I’ll be going to the Bay Area, LA, etc etc…upon graduation…keep me posted!!
where is the cake-cutting ceremony? I can only see pictures of individual cakes!The St. Louis style pork sparerib looks yummy….I am a sparerib person and this dish is very appetising to me..Chris can you cook a replica for our Asian taste?Have a great day in NYC
@agmhkg – Summer barbeques are the best, aren’t they?@oldpartner – Brad has received the hug. Maybe we should spirit you away to NY for a vacation next spring…@ElusiveWords – Yeah, that’s a nice picture. Sadly, she was sitting there rubbing her foot with the apple slice. I asked her why she was doing that and she answered that the had mosquito bites all over. She then took a bite of the apple… yuck!@dynamiqvision – I’m afraid I didn’t do the food justice in these pictures. I suggested to my sister that any future kitchen remodels need to include a solid white countertop and stronger, natural colored lighting.@ZSA_MD – Thank you. It really has been one for us to remember.@kunhuo42 – Thanks – we’re enjoying NY very much. Will have a post or two about it soon. Stay tuned.@Redlegsix – Actually, my friend Anita made it. Funnily, my grandmother said she’s never had fresh mozzarella before.@murisopsis – Thanks. I try to make sure each entry has the right balance of those elements! LOL@ZenPaper – Who won? Gosh, I guess we won’t know until the next few years as we see how the marriage develops, right? (winking back)@Dezinerdreams – Thank you, Vivek. She’s a pretty adorable kid. Behaves like a little devil but can look like an angel.@bejewel07 – Thank you very much. We’re honored to have so many friends, both familiar and virtual, who are interested in our stories.@TheCheshireGrins – Flight on Midwest Airlines was smooth and we arrived in LGA only about an hour late due to traffic.@yang1815 – There you have it, everyone: it was filet.@waiszeblogs – @susanloo2002 – Sorry for not including any pictures of the cake cutting. The room isn’t lit for picture taking and none of them appear to have come out very well.@curry69curry – Though you might like that cultural tidbit, Gary.@OriginalFlyGirl – Would be happy to share my recommendations, although I’m afraid I have to rely upon the suggestions of friends and family as I don’t get there as often as I used to. Thanks for your subscription.
American portion!!!I kind of miss that.Things I eat around SF are…miniscule…I was reminded of the American portion recently when I went to Morton’s.Now I don’t feel like eating meat for a week.