Feeling Crabby in Maryland

While at a friend's wedding in Maryland, I experienced my first crab feast. It was pretty awesome.

Meredith experienced her first oyster.

Seafood delights abound.

Millions of Peaches

Knowing I'd be out of town, I arranged a CSA pick-up swap with another member, but the way it worked out scheduling-wise meant I had to pick up my own share Saturday, and his just four days later on Wednesday. This meant I was stuck with a grand total of 28 (!) peaches. Which, in case you're wondering =

1 Blueberry Peach Cobbler
1 Cherry Peach Cobbler
1 Peach Pie

And I've still got a handful more...

CSA Menu Report

Corn on the cob with green salad (and peaches, because everything right now involves peaches... more on that later...)


Zucchini and summer squash with quinoa, and coleslaw with beets.

The Living Is Easy

A few perks of summertime include:

1. A fridge well-stocked for the season with beer, tons of CSA loot, and blueberry crumble


2. Happy plants


3. Breaking in the new ice cream scoop

Eating My Greens

'Tis the season for greens, and we've been getting a lot of them in the CSA share. Which means, lots of pesto. This one here is garlic scape and kale. I love making pesto because it's like cooking, but really it's just using the food processor.

First CSA Meals

I promise not to turn this into a food blog-- the world certainly doesn't need anymore of those, plus I'm really not that amazing of a cook, but having a CSA certainly makes cooking a lot more fun and eating a lot more delicious.




That pasta you see is a variation of a Smitten Kitchen recipe. As it turns out, blanched pea pods + red pepper vinaigrette = the best summer pasta salad ever.

Hello? Anyone Out There?

Well, it's certainly been awhile, hasn't it? Just look at all those spam comments on my last post!

I realize I've been totally M.I.A. the past few months, and I guess I'll just chalk it up to adjusting to a new full time job that demands very long hours from March through mid-May. I hadn't blogged for so long, that at a certain point I thought that good old Reappropriate This had just died a natural death. But that crazy work time is (thankfully) over, which has given me more time to read other people's blogs, which has made me realize how much I miss having my own blog. So I'm back, attempted to resurrect this site.

Here are a few new things that have happened since January.


I've wasted many seeds and killed many delicate seedlings, but I've perservered with my indoor garden. In a few instances, I caved and bought already healthy plants at the store (see basil on left). I'm trying to grow an avocado tree (center) and, in my one success story, I grew this out-of-control tomato plant from a seed.


Meredith and Jamie's joint birthday picnic at Prospect Park got rained out, but Chris and Michael saved the day by inviting us over for an indoor picnic.


Our CSA started! It's still the time of year where we're getting mostly greens (lettuce and mesclun and spinach and bok choy and kale!!!) but it's still totally awesome. Maybe I'll share some meals in some upcoming posts.

Here's to being back in the blogging saddle.

Farm City

I just finished reading Novella Carpenter's memoir Farm City, which chronicles the start of her urban homestead in Oakland, CA. In an abandoned lot in a not-so-nice part of town, Carpenter grew fruits and vegetables, raised chickens, rabbits, and at one point, pigs. And yes, the animals were for eating. Her writing style is extremely laid back and accessible, and it makes me wish she would invite me to a dinner party at her farm where we could sip homemade wine. Here is a great video of her that summarizes her book quite well.
I love that Carpenter so successfully incorporated elements of country-life into an urban setting-- it doesn't have to be one or the other. It's clear that if more people followed her model, cities would slowly become a better place to eat, and live. While realistically, I know I'm not cut out for the hard work and gross factor vividly described in the book, I do wish the book had a little bit more of "how-to," I want to build a raised bed to grow vegetables, too! I could handle that. And maybe some chickens some day.

Thoughts about Tofu & Phenylethylamine

Lately I've been considering making the switch to vegetarianism. I'm already about 90% there-- I never cook meat myself, so other than the occasional deli meats, my kitchen is already meat-free. I often opt for the vegetarian option when dining out, partly because I'm picky about meat but mostly because it's often the most delicious-looking option. I like tofu. I've been taking baby steps towards eating more locally-grown and seasonal food (it's hard in the city) and I've been enjoying it-- it's cheaper and it forces me to cook and learn new things (like this week's beet-roasting experiment). But when I think seriously about giving up meat for reals, there are a few things stopping me. They are:

- Bacon (especially turkey)
- In N'Out (cheeseburger, no tomatoes)
- London Broil (the key part of many a birthday meal)
- Hot dogs (this is New York City!)
- Salami (bet you didn't know that it contains a ton of phenylethylamine, the same chemical that your brain releases when you fall in love and what makes chocolate so desirable)

The last two items on the list are the ones I eat most frequently, and I often justify my love of salami and hot dogs by saying they use parts of the animal that might otherwise go to waste. And I wonder if that thought automatically labels me a true carnivore.

What I Did on My Summer Vacation

I just returned from a whirlwind vacation: Los Angeles, Santa Barbara, Phoenix and Sedona all in under two weeks. Admidst all the to & fro, I did manage to secure at least a couple of days comprised of nothing but TV watching. I am now officially obsessed with HGTV's Property Virgins and My First Place. I didn't do a very good job of photographically documenting my time, but a few highlights (I'm sure I've forgotten plenty) include:

- Korean foot massages with Meredith and my mom. Don't let the name fool you, they massage way more than your feet. Their techniques include pressing pressure points incredibly hard, rotating bones in the sockets, and scratching the tips of toes with their finger nails. Fantastic.

- Watching Meredith present at Visible Evidence XVI, held at USC's very fancy, brand new George Lucas and Steven Spielberg McMansion buildings.

- Getting to see Nat's new bachelor pad in Koreatown.

- Eating bimbimbob with Hye-Jean in Koreatown (do you see a theme here?)

- Meeting baby Theo, who squawked a bit and then promptly took a nap in my arms. He made me ponder the question: do babies dream?

- Dinner at Garland's with my dad and Laura. Such a magical place-- an old wooden lodge adorned with Navajo rugs and deer heads. Cocktails are served to you on picnic benches outside while you wait for the dinner bell to ring. Dinner involves things like crab apples and honey bourbon BBQ sauce. You have to drive over a little stream to get there.

And now, the one and only event that got properly documented, walking along Oak Creek with the pack. It was great to see Sprout getting in touch with her desert-self.


She got a cactus spine in her paw but didn't even whimper. Her white hair was stained with red dust for a days.

My Report on the Renegade Craft Fair

The Renegade Craft Fair is taking place here this weekend, and today Jamie and I conducted our second annual visit. Sprout came along too. There was an almost overwhelming amount of great stuff to see, but I think I've finally narrowed it down to my personal top five favorites.

1. Cindy Tomczyk's Letterpress Prints

2. Brainstorm Prints

3. Charlie and Sarah's children's clothes

4. Payton Turner's sticker wallpaper

5. Rifle Design's wedding invitations


The non-design highlight of the trip was the lemonade from Green Pirate, the elusive juice truck I'd been futilely searching for since I had one of their lemonades at last year's craft fair.

"How do you recover from a food coma?"

I learned a new vocabulary word recently, and that word is "sate," which means to satisfy an appetite fully, or, to satisfy to excess. And that's exactly what Meng and I did yesterday.

Meng is leaving NYC to go to B school, and she will be missed.

Usually, it's me asking Meng for restaurant recommendations (once she made me an Excel spreadsheet to help determine a birthday dinner destination) but after I tried Shopsin's for the first time, I knew that for once I had found something special to share with her, and the week before her departure from the City of Dreams seemed the perfect occasion.

So here's what we ordered. She got chicken marsala with mushrooms. We were sitting at the counter, which gave us a perfect view into the kitchen, and we overheard Kenny asking what exactly went into that dish-- apparently it hadn't been prepared in quite sometime. But once it was, all the wait staff tried it and approved, complementing Meng on her excellent choice. I had "The Pothead," which is a sandwich comprised of an absolutely amazing turkey, coleslaw, mayo, and cranberry concoction. It's kind of like all of Thanksgiving rolled into one, but I'd venture to say it's even better than Thanksgiving.

Then, as if we weren't stuffed enough, we swung by an old favorite, Sugar Sweet Sunshine. An Ooey-gooey for her, a Bob for me. Delish.

And, on a totally unrelated note, here's Meng & me wearing Chinese face masks which, according to her translation, contained "donkey hide" as one of the ingredients. My skin felt great afterwards.

Gowanus Yacht Club

Midnight hot dogs and a large selection of $2 beers.

High / Low

My sojourn in Santa Barbara started off with a bang. On Thursday I had a lovely massage, and on Friday I went wine tasting. The wine tasting excursion was put together by JAL, who also happened to be out in SoCal (and you must read about her LA experience). J drove up for the day with her sister and her sister's friend. As it turns out, the friend and I had gone to the same small, private high school and graduated just two years apart, but since he was captain of the football team and I was president of the thespian club, our paths never crossed. The strange interconnectivity of our bicoastal foursome made for a confusing yet amusing introduction to our wine tasting cohorts: "Well, these two are sisters, these two live in LA, these two live in New York, but these two went to high school together." It was a busy week for my hostess with the mostest, Meredith, since her department was hosting visiting perspective PhD students, coordinating a graduate student conference, and presenting the culminating screening of a yearlong production project. But I got to tag along to all the various official and unofficial celebrations with the film & media studies posse, and that was lots of fun.

I was looking forward to an overnight visit from my mom and Matilda on Saturday, with plans of a delicious Easter brunch for close pals on Sunday. But on Saturday night, I came down with a mysterious illness that seriously harshed on my mellow. I'll spare you the details, but it wasn't pretty. I spent most of Easter drifting in and out of feverish sleep, listening to the laughter of the brunch guests playing wild games of Boggle. My diet was limited to the few foods and liquids that proved only mildly painful to swallow (hot tea, cold Gatorade, soup, and popsicles). I paid a visit to a friendly Santa Barbara doctor yesterday, who was kind enough to supply me with some of his antibiotic samples and sent me on my way. They must be working, because last night, I finally felt alive again. To celebrate, I ate my first real meal in three days. I chose pizza.

The Week in Review

I have been 25 for a week now, and what a week it has been.

Friday

Meredith (who had surprised me the day before by taking an earlier flight than expected) and I journeyed to Beacon, NY where we visited Dia:Beacon, explored Main Street, and ate at Homespun Foods.

Saturday

I met up with pals for a delicious brunch at DuMont. It was a great first day of spring; I had made little seed packet party favors, and was given tulips by both Meng & Kashmira. After eggs benedict, a handful of us went to PS 1. The best thing thing there was Leandro Erlich's swimming pool. Afterward we headed back to Brooklyn for a neighborhood promenade. We eventually ended up at our old haunt, Brooklyn Ale House, where sadly, the free bagel brunch was not happening. But there were plenty of peanuts.

Sunday

The day began with brunch, my favorite meal, at Enid's, followed by a routine stop-in at Spoonbill & Sugartown and Catbird. On the way home, we decided to brave the moody proprietor of Cheeks to pick up a dozen cupcakes. Later that evening we met up with the old museum gang for bowling (and the aforementioned cupcakes) at The Gutter. Even though I lost, I bowled a strike for the last two frames, so that was pretty sweet.

Monday

We met up for brunch with a couple of Meredith's pals at Clinton Street Baking Company. We shoe-shopped unsuccessfully. We had a Sprout photo shoot.

Tuesday
We went to hear Heather Armstrong (aka dooce) read from her new book at B&N and dreamt of one day being Internet moguls, too. Then we saw Sunshine Cleaning at the Landmark Sunshine.

Wednesday
Double trouble. We met Megha for delicious food in Prospect Heights: Mexican at at Chavella's and ice cream at Blue Marble. I think my dreams came true when I saw they offered banana chip. Then we headed to trivia night at Pete's Candy Store with Meredith's pal, Katie. We placed 7th (out of about 16, not too shabby) and learned what a philtrum is.

Thursday

Dinner at Westville East, where we enjoyed brussell sprouts, beets, artichoke hearts, plantains, and many more vegetable delights.

Friday
Today we had brunch at Shopsin's with James. They have macaroni and cheese pancakes, and they're delicious. After we checked out Economy Candy, we walked up to Union Square to catch a matinee showing of A Haunting in Connecticut. The theater was full of rowdy high schoolers, but the ectoplasm was cool. Now we're about to head up up uptown for a sleep over at Stiggy's. Fun fun fun.

Pizza My Heart

Happy Valentine's Day

2 or 3 Things

There wasn't too much I was looking forward to about returning to NYC. It's cold here. But there have been a few little things that have cheered me up.

1. New light fixtures throughout the apartment! I didn't even know this was happening, apparently one day the electrician just showed up. It doesn't even bother me that they put a square shaped fixture on a round base, it's so much better than bare light bulbs.


2. Free treats for Sprout! Despite the frigid temperatures, I took her on a long walk the other day. While passing a local salon, a man at the door stopped us, asked if Sprout would like a free dog treat and invited us in. I was picturing one dog bone or something, but he gifted us with this cute little baggie of organic and homemade (by one of the hairdressers) doggie snacks.

3. Using my new bowl! While in Cali, Meredith, my mom and I went to Color Me Mine. I was quite pleased with how mine turned out, and so far have used it to eat cereal, chili, and mac n' cheese (though not all at the same time). It made each one taste more delicious.

Spoiled

It's going to be a rude awakening going back to NYC at the end of this week. I have adapted to the laid back California lifestyle, and have been relishing in all of the wonderful outdoor activities that can take place here, even in January. This past Saturday, for example, Ethan, Becky, Meredith & I ventured to Santa Ynez to explore wine country. We picnicked (for several long and lazy hours) at Kalyra. We enjoyed our treats from the farmer's market, the scenic view, and the several friendly dogs who periodically came by to check out any crumbs we might have dropped.

Two Turtle Doves

The most delicious of all the days! (In my version at least)

Turtles.

Dove.

The Green Mountain State

It was a lovely weekend in Vermont. I certainly don't want to downplay the wonderfulness of taking the dogs on adventures in the woods, seeing (and loving) Rachel Getting Married at the local one-screen cinema / video store, or spending time with best friend Marina, but I would like to focus on one particular highlight of the trip: the food. All of it was either purchased from the co-op or grown in someone's farm or garden. Even more importantly, all of it was lovingly prepared. If I always ate this well, I would have to write some sort of food memoir, à la Barbara Kingsolver's Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, and this would be an excerpt from this weekend:

Friday Dinner:
Fresh baguette, brie & baby spinach served with tomato basil soup. Pumpkin cake for dessert.

Saturday Brunch:
Eggs Benedict from Kismet (with tempeh and chevre).

Saturday Dinner:
Squash, kale & cabbage, tempura burdock & carrots.

Sunday Breakfast:
Eggs served over broccoli & kale with toasted squash seeds. Garlic parsley mash on the side.

Sunday Lunch:
Winter squash and sauteed burdock (just dug up from the garden in the back!)

Sunday Dinner:
Miso soup and homemade kimchi (thanks to Marina's foray into Wild Fermentation). Pear strudel for dessert.

Monday Breakfast:
Toasted garlic bagel and herbal tea sweetened with maple syrup.

I'm already plotting my next Vermont meal, I mean, visit.