Every tick-tock is a second of life that passes by, that flees never to repeat itself.
And it holds such intensity, such interest that the only problem is knowing how to live.
May each person solve it as best they can.

—Frida Kahlo

Welcome to my 24th (12×2=) birthday post.
Unfortunately, it’s coming on a Monday, which means that last night, the Sunday Scaries were particularly demonic and frightful.
We watched Tootsie to combat them. (“Don’t bother. It’s cheaper to get mugged. Let’s walk.”) Such a fun movie!

Although I am suffering (suffering) through 3 metabolism lectures today, my parents are both in town and we’re going to try to go to Olmsted (Mondays are walk-in only) with my grandma for dinner. Fingers crossed!
I’ve been lucky to knock quite a few restaurants off my to-try list this weekend, and Olmsted has long been on it.

This weekend was the real birthday celebration.
On Friday, I had my second exam and promptly ran home to greet N as he arrived from the airport. Best gift ever.
That evening, dressed up and absolutely ravenous, we headed out to the West Village in pursuit of Italian food. Via Carota, sadly, quoted us a 4 hour wait. Um. Yeah. New York, I love you but I HATE YOU.
We trudged over, only slightly put out, to its older sister restaurant, I Sodi.
Ready to be disappointed, thumbs hovering over our Postmates apps, we inquired about the wait and were instead told to please come sit down. What a stroke of luck!
We feasted on fried baby artichokes, fatty burrata with tiny, sweet cherry tomatoes, the branzino for him and dreamy lemon pappardelle for me, all served alongside jealous looks from other forlorn, hungry, waiting patrons.

Saturday night, a few of my friends joined us at Chinese Tuxedo, a buzzy, contemporary Cantonese joint on Doyers Street that’s in a converted opera house (me? dramatic on my birthday? no, no, never).
Standout dishes of the night, in my opinion: the deep-fried baby eggplant in a sticky-sweet glaze and the (also deep-fried) churro-like youtiao bread with straight-up melted butter as the dip. Paula Deen could never, y’all.
Peachy’s (so on brand for me), downstairs, lit by a neon pink “there’s no town like Chinatown” sign, provided after-dinner drinks for a growing crowd of friends, and after a quick spin around the dancefloor of Pulqueria next door, the two of us collapsed happily and drunkenly (the latter, mostly me) into bed.

Sunday morning found us, a bit groggy and crusty and hungover, at Davelle in the LES with my mama for the cutest Japanese-style Hokkaido milk bread toasts and Katsu curry and noodles. My oatmilk matcha definitely benefited from a packet of sugar, but I will be dreaming of the toasty, crunchy outside and soft, chewy inside of the cinnamon sugar toast for weeks to come.
We went to a couple quintessentially LES establishments, which is to say a store that sold only pencils and a store that sold only socks. Yay, New York, you are so dumb and I love you again.
In the early evening, we hung out and ate grilled tacos and watermelon on N’s cousin’s rooftop in the UES. The view was nothing short of incredible and the weather was perfectly behaved.

This year’s pavlova is a reimagined peach pie.

The base is a crisp and marshmallow-y meringue, one that melts in your mouth but avoids cracks in the oven thanks to a low and slow bake and a full drying in the oven overnight.
Layered on top of it are a thin swipe of buttery lemon cream curd and a puff of unsweetened, salted whipped cream, critical to be able to balance out the peaches and meringue, both of which are sugary sweet.
Soft and juicy brown sugar bourbon poached peaches infused with vanilla beans and lemon rind nestle gently on top, and crunchy, salty, buttery, addictive pie crumb (Christina Tosi, you genius) finishes it off.

Each bite is a full story in texture and flavor.
It’s exactly the cake I wanted when I blearily wrote “peach pie pavlova” on my recipe ideas list over a year ago.

This recipe is admittedly very, very long. To be frank, it is about as easy as pie. Ha ha ha.
Each of the components is made separately and then thrown together right before eating.
The combination is certainly worth it, but I’ll be honest: the showstopper part of this dessert is the peaches + pie crumb. Having just those and some vanilla ice cream would be a divine dessert.
If you had the wherewithal to actual can/preserve the peaches, cracking open a jar of summer sunshine in the middle of dreary winter would be your ample reward.

Thank you for indulging me in celebrating today and spending time here on LPF.
x

Birthdays, previously:

23
22
21
20
18

Peach Pie Pavlova
makes 1 6-inch 2 layer pavlova
pie crumb portion from Momofuku Milk Bar
poached peach portion adapted from Food52

ingredients:
for the meringue shell:
4 egg whites
250 grams (1 1/4 cups) sugar
2 teaspoons cornstarch
pinch salt
1 teaspoon vinegar

for the lemon curd:
2 egg yolks
65 grams (1/3 cup) granulated sugar
zest of one lemon
40 grams (1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon) lemon juice
pinch salt
70 grams (5 tablespoons) unsalted butter, cut into pieces

for the pie crumb:
120 grams (1 cup) flour
10 grams (1 tablespoon) sugar
3/8 teaspoon kosher salt
60 grams (4 tablespoons, 1/2 stick) butter, melted
10 grams (2 1/4 teaspoons) water

for the poached peaches:
3 yellow peaches
150 grams (3/4 cup) granulated sugar
240 grams (1 cup) water
50 grams (1/4 cup) bourbon (or sub white wine or more water)
3 strips of lemon rind (about half a lemon)
whole vanilla beans, optional

to assemble:
240 grams (1 cup, 240 mL) heavy cream, cold
big pinch salt

directions:
Make the pavlova shell: preheat oven to 200 degrees F and line a baking sheets with parchment; draw 2 6-inch circles on the paper.
Place egg whites in the bowl of a stand mixer and start to whip.
Stir the sugar, tapioca (or corn) starch, and salt together.
As the egg whites become frothy, add the sugar mixer in tablespoons, until the meringue is glossy and shiny and all of the sugar is incorporated.
Whip the vinegar into the meringue.
Using a palette knife, spread the meringue into rough circles on the parchment, using the knife to create high sides, and piping extra decoration if desired.
Bake for 2 hours at 200 degrees F, then turn down the oven to warm (or its lowest setting) and leave overnight, or until light and crisp and completely dry.

Make the lemon curd: place lemon juice, zest, sugar, salt, and egg yolks in a bain-marie (a bowl over a simmering pot of water).
Whisk vigorously over medium-low heat until combined; whisk every 30 seconds or so to prevent lumps from forming.
Cook for 7-10 minutes, until thickened.
Remove from heat and pour into a blender canister or another bowl if you have an immersion blender.
Allow to cool for 5 minutes, then add the pieces of butter in and blend on high speed until light in color and thick.
Allow to cool completely before using.

Make the pie crumb: preheat oven to 350° F.
Combine the flour, sugar, and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and mix on low speed until homogeneous.
Add melted butter and water and mix on low speed until the mixture starts to come together in small clusters.
Spread the clusters on a parchment lined sheet pan.
Bake for 25 minutes, breaking them up occasionally.
The crumbs should be golden brown and still slightly moist to the touch at that point; they will dry and harden as they cool.
Let the crumbs cool completely.

Make the poached peaches: place water, bourbon, and sugar in a heavy pot and stir to dissolve the sugar.
Bring the mixture to a boil, boil for 5 minutes, and reduce the heat to barely simmering.
Cut the peaches in half and remove pits.
Gently place the peach halves cut side down into the syrup.
Poach for about 3 minutes and then gently turn over using a slotted spoon.
Continue poaching for an additional 3—4 minutes, until soft (cooking time will depend on ripeness of peaches).
Carefully prick the cut side of the peaches to check for tenderness (if they are not tender, turn them over and poach for another 4 minutes. Mine took over 10 minutes total).
Remove the peaches to a plate with a slotted spoon (save the syrup for cocktails and other fun things!).
When cool enough to handle, slide the skins off and discard.
Chop peaches roughly, and store in the fridge until ready to use.

To assemble, whip cold cream with a big pinch of salt.
Place meringue shell down on a place and top with half of the lemon curd.
Spread half of the whipped cream generously on top, making a shallow divot in the middle.
Spoon the poached peaches over the whipped cream.
Sprinkle a few tablespoons of pie crumbs over the peaches.
Top with the second meringue shell and repeat: lemon curd, whipped cream, peaches, pie crumb.
Serve within an hour or two.
Leftovers will sadly not keep that well—but components can be kept separately in the fridge!