farm fresh goodness

summer's here! i'm loving my farm fresh fruits and veggies, and for this week, flowers! after trying to get on the neighborhood's csa list for the past two years, i'm finally in. it's wonderful to have local, seasonal produce straight from the farm. last month we (csa members from greenpoint, cg and elsewhere) took a walking tour of the garden of eve farm (the farmer's name is eve, appropriately so) in long island and got to see where our food comes from...everything is organic (potato bugs are pulled off by hand and either drowned or fed to the chickens). 


afterwards we had a potluck picnic in the sunshine, with everyone going from table to table to sample and share dishes. (i also made friends with this goat, who was very interested in the contents of my bag).


for a half share (pickup every other week), here's what i got for my first pickup: 

mesclun greens

1 grasp pea shoots (translation: a big handful)

1 box snow peas

3 garlic scapes

1 "clench" spinach (translation: a few bunches)

some unidentifiable purple greens

1 (huge) bunch cilantro

1 bunch asparagus

1 bunch rhubarb

1 box strawberries

i made pretty short work of the snow peas and mesclun but was at a loss for what to do with the pea shoots...eat them raw? i ended up sauteeing the pea shoots, like spinach, and had to toss most of the cilantro since it didn't keep while i was out of town. as for the rhubarb and strawberries, the crumble turned out to be pretty tasty, so much so that i ate it for 3 nights running....it was also the perfect indulgence (accompanied by ciao bella's vanilla gelato) enjoyed with the two melissas, who stayed with me for a whirlwind visit. 

quote of the month

"they laid her off? but she was so pretty!"

i guess even pretty people aren't exempt. sad.

the moth

there's a moth living in my closet. 

i wasn't aware of it until 

i went to put on one of my favorite dresses

and discovered a tiny hole, 

then another and another....

a dreamy dvf creation in cream 

reduced to swiss cheese. 

apparently the moth has been picnicking indoors, 

most nights enjoying a roving dinner party for one:

soft merino wools in muted colors to start,

the next course, courtesy of jcrew,

a heavy charcoal gray wool imported from hungary,

and for dessert, a delicious blend of extra

fine merino wool with just a hint of nylon and lycra. 

stuff

too much. after i saw this nytimes article, i watched the 'story of stuff' (or some of it, anyway...it's long). i'm glad someone finally made a video like this. i often feel like i'm drowning in stuff....and overwhelmed, weighed down, and ultimately, frightened by excess. it probably doesn't help that i've been away from nature for so long that i'm going through withdrawals. i don't count central park, which although lovely, is converged upon by cars (and their fumes), slow-moving tourists, bikers and hordes of other runners (i swear the running population is exploding). prospect park is minimally better, but still not much of an escape...in another week or so, though, i'll be hiking in the mountains and getting away...from all this stuff!

cooking vegan

my first vegan dinner party!

the menu:

vegan eggplant parm

pearl barley 

white bean bruschetta

mixed green salad

beet chocolate cake, which turned out more like brownies

the verdict: the jury's still out on 'vegan'-labeled recipes. i made vegan cookies a few weeks ago, and as much as i wished otherwise, they weren't very tasty (it also could have been the cookbook, which i'll give one more try before putting in the 'free' pile at work). vegan cooking requires a lot of ingredients (including ones i've never used before or even heard of...like arrowroot powder) and is pretty labor intensive. on the other hand, baking with agave nectar and wheat pastry flour just feels wholesome (and it doesn't cause that blood sugar spike you get with eating sweet treats). i love how i can put beets, bananas, pb and apple sauce into something like chocolate dessert and not feel bad about eating seconds! anyway, the vegan experiment continues for now...every third week at least.

missing

after weeks of rain (or so it seems), 

i get like this....

the warm air

a familiar embrace

as i step off the plane,

tall palm trees of welcome

slowly going by in intervals

along the sides of the freeway

sandy beaches and blue skies

of summer in california.

i talk to my mother,

who is cooking

and wants to get off the phone, 

i can tell, 

but i draw out the conversation,

trying to picture her 

in the new kitchen

of the new house,

cradling her in my palm,

lingering over words.

vegan week

so i survived my 1-week vegan challenge. it wasn't so bad...apart from the first two nights of sushi torture (it was free! i couldn't eat it!). definitely not as much of a stretch as i thought it would be. i actually like being vegan. i feel lighter, i think my skin looks clearer (although that could be purely psychological) and i have a renewed appreciation for food and what i'm putting into my body. it's an entirely different kind of consciousness from what i was before, a pescatarian.

good things about being vegan:

1. i always read labels now. i can't believe how many disgusting artificial ingredients and chemicals are in our food...and how much of that stuff i was eating.
   
2. baked goods used to be its own food group. now i stay away...yay for eliminating trans fats from my diet!
   
3. i eat tons more fruit and vegetables, whereas previously they were just an afterthought (as in, i'll get to it after i eat my cupcakes and brownies and cookies). 
   
4. i feel like i'm doing the planet some good. i've also never considered myself an animal rights person (or even an animal lover), but reading about the way our food is raised now makes me shudder....

bad things about being vegan: 

1. the moment people hear the word 'vegan' they think i've gone completely nuts. maybe i have, a little.
2. the next time someone asks me, "where do you get your protein?" i think i might have to smack them on the head. meat is not the only source of protein, people. and the health crises in this country come from getting too much protein, not too little. 
3. potlucks and catered meetings (basically any gathering where food is involved) are hard. i have to remember to bring food with me wherever i go.
   
4. fresh produce does not keep as long as processed food. if i don't cook everything right away, it all goes bad (as i learned soon enough after discovering my moldy eggplant and yellowing kale).
   

i'm thinking of continuing on down this vegan path for now.  we'll see if it really is a lifestyle change or just another one of my phases.