the idea of a masquerade party seemed so distant to me.  my only two visions of it were scenes from breakfast at tiffany's and from gossip girl (who DOESN'T remember that episode where lil J gets smooched by nate for looking like serena?!).  i was so excited to go to this party with e.tittlemouse, because it was going to be my first one!



it's rare for us to show up to an event like this empty-handed, so we (ahem, hung) decided to make meatballs! nowadays we can't make hardly anything without making a vegetarian version (if the dish isn't vegetarian already).  he's been using this recipe from smitten kitchen (modified with beef and baked on 450F for 20 minutes) for the real meatballs, and this recipe from serious eats for the vegetarian ones.  the recipe for the vegetarian ones is supposed to be for veggie burgers, but this is practically the same thing, right? since the veggie ones don't really have to be cooked (well, sort of, the egg I suppose has to be cooked through), he just tossed them in the oven with the real meatballs, just on a different pan. the cook time and temperature isn't SO important for the veggie ones. 



i couldn't let hung get ALL of the attention though.  after a failed attempt at creating a "super simple nutella stuffed baked wontons" i decided to go with a tried and true recipe for chocolate banana bread  (i'm ACTUALLY starting to use the recipes on my pinterest !!).  but for this event, we needed bite-sized everything, so i turned them into chocolate banana mini muffins!  i suppose all 3 dishes were a hit, considering everything was gone exept for one last mini muffin that got splashed in vodka (oops! party foul).

see more party photos after the jump!











in the middle of the party, people started flooding out of the store with drinks in hand, masks on their faces, a few doors down to the yours immortally studio.  yours immortally is a taxidermy and animal art studio, where we got to see a huge caribou head and a HUUUGE bison head!!  …among many other immortals ;)


after the party, we decided to go to dinner with new friends! who knew that new friends could share wine, share plates of food, and have a great time, all on a whim after meeting just hours before?  plus, who DOESN'T like the food at third and vine  anyways? that's right, nobody…


like a broken record, i'll say that nights like this are why i love living in jersey city!

big thanks to napoleon and belinda from e.tittlemouse and co for hosting the soiree, to antoinette from yours immortally for providing the awesome taxidermy and for showing us your studio, to sugar supply jc for providing the adorable cupcakes, and to new friends for, well, being new friends ;)

cheers.
jenn