WTWTA

                         

once upon a really long time ago i was 3 yrs old. i was in nursery school singing songs as the music teacher played the piano. i was feeling pretty good because singing is really fun and i was also digging the outfit i wore that day. then all of a sudden from seemingly out of nowhere appeared 15 ferocious monsters, and it scared the shit out of me. i started to cry, as did several of my peers. " where did those monsters come from???" i wailed. they weren't much taller than i was, but they had hideous faces and jagged hair all over their brown bodies. the weird part was that they had human feet like i did, but whatevs, they were SCARY! "calm down everyone" said our teacher. "those are just the first graders in costume for their production of WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE. those are just colored brown paper bags they're wearing, see?" she ripped one of the monsters skin off its body, and magically one of the first-graders did in fact appear out from underneath it. i was still pretty shaken. i needed some apple juice and a nap. asap.

then time went on and i read the children's book by maurice sendak and i learned that looks can be deceiving, beauty is in the eye of the beholder,  monsters weren't traipsing through the halls of my nursery school, and that i too desperately wanted to go to that faraway magical land where max met his oversized friends.

fortunately, in a little over 2 weeks i can. the movie is almost out, and it seems like everyone is talking about it. we've all seen the beautiful trailer with the new arcade fire version of "wake up," but the soundtrack features karen o and the kids. you can listen to it here. i have listened to a few tracks; karen o's voice can be a little abrasive for me sometimes, but the slower melodies like all is love and hidaway are really pretty. it's just something to chew on while we wait for the movie.

as for that former 3 yr. old, she's still afraid of monsters but has learned that they come in human form more often than not.

moody monday

i'm feeling a little nostalgic today. my excitement for the fall has already been tempered by my preemptive anticipation of its decline. this always happens. it goes so fast. it's not even october yet and i'm already thinking about all the things i shoulda woulda coulda done..like visit the adirondacks where i went to school, or gone on a nature hike, or apple picking! i think the rain and cold and early darkness today has got me thinking about what's to come. it's inevitable, but somehow every summer in new york when i just can't get any hotter or any sweatier, i forget that winter's right around the corner. the thing about fall is its brevity..the irony is that a true fall day in new york is perfection. unfortunately, fall doesn't have half the tenacity of the humidity in summer or the bitter winds of winter. and that's what makes it so special. it reminds me of all things i want to do in this world, like travel and run around outside and get a new (much better) camera and take really good pictures, but right now i feel kinda sluggish and quiet. maybe because it's monday. monday always manages to come too soon. i do think that october is going to be a pretty great month starting with this weekend. cruel timing as it may be, this coming sunday are two of my favorite weekend events; the first being the annual lower east side pickle fest, and the second being atlantic antic, which just happens to be the best street fair ever. i think. i don't really remember it that well because they sell beer. outside. and you can walk around with it for 6 hours like i did, and it's legal. but i sure do love pickles. this a tough one....

in the meantime, i will leave you with a little salad i whipped up this weekend. this is a very simple dish, and the recipe is actually a variation from a recipe by famed blogger and cooking genius, molly wizenberg who writes orangette. her blog (and her lovely must-read book) were very influential to me and were what ultimately inspired me to overcome my fear of blogs and just do this thing. so this cabbage salad is in honor of her ( i know, that's a weird thing to be honored with. oh well.) it's really good, and even if you think you aren't crazy about cabbage, i bet you'll like it.  it's satisfyingly crunchy and it's perfect for a light meal on it's own or as an accompaniment. the basics are from molly's version, but i added a few more ingredients and made up my own vinaigrette. oh, i should also mention i'm really bad at keeping track of the amounts i use because i just make things up as i go along when i cook, so feel free to switch up the amounts according to your preferences.

CABBAGE SALAD

1 cup shredded green cabbage
1 cup shredded red cabbage
1/2 cup fennel (sliced into smallish pieces)
1/2 arugula
1/4 cup cilantro (*optional)
1/2 lemon
1/2 thinly sliced mozzarella, parmesan, grana, or pecorino

VINAIGRETTE
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
3 tbsp apple cider vinegar
1 tbsp olive oil
2 tsps brown mustard
2 tbsp nutritional yeast ( i get  the whole foods brand, but anykind is fine)
1 tbsp scallion  (sliced thinly)
half a lemon
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1 tsp dried rosemary
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

in a bowl combine all the vegetables. toss and squeeze 1/2 lemon. toss again. add cheese. separately combine all ingredients for the vinaigrette. shake in a jar or use a spoon to make sure it is well mixed and there are no clumps of mustard. drizzle onto salad and toss again. enjoy!

butternut squash chili and the art of freaking people out

today i decided to spend part of my sunday by cutting through brooklyn hts to get to dumbo, where the art under the bridge art festival was happening. the brooklyn hts route is considerably more scenic than the more direct route, so it was worth it. i love walking down the promenade and even though today was gray and kind of rainy, i never get tired of the view of lady liberty.

i took this from the beginning of promenade, when you get that first glimpse of ms. liberty. it always kind of takes my breath away. i turned this picture into sepia because it reminds me of what it must have been like at the turn of the century when immigrants were approaching ellis island and they saw her in the distance. this picture has a speed boat in it, but whatever. my father immigrated from israel to the states with his parents when he was 9. ellis island had been closed for about a  decade by then, so their boat docked in an immigration port in jersey near hoboken...that might have been a letdown.

i continued down the promenade where i covet the beautiful apartments that stand shyly behind leafy trees and look out onto the water. i really liked this sunflower i passed along the way.

the streets along the promenade all have ridiculously adorable names like pineapple and orange. i think i might like to live on a fruit street one day. but then i think, that might be too much.

once in dumbo, i didn't have too much luck seeing art. the main gallery building had a line that wrapped around the street, and i just wasn't up for that. i did happen to walk by some kind of installation in an underpass that was seriously disturbing. it involved a man cutting a woman's hair. the weird part was that the woman was bound and gagged in a chair and there was a loud alarm or siren they had playing. i just don't know what to think when i see "art" like that. it is provocative and controversial, and i understand that not all art is beautiful--in fact there is something incredible at looking at something normally considered grotesque in such a different way that it becomes beautiful, but this was not that. this was just kind of freaky.

luckily, i did find plenty of beauty to look at in dumbo, and it was in the form of vegetables! i love veggies. i would even go so far as to my call myself a veggie freak; greens, squash, tomatoes, brussel sprouts, mushrooms...i love them all. i also love pickles. and pumpkins. so much. this tiny farmers market i stumbled upon had them all.

 

by the time i got back home i was starving. i had some leftover kale i had stir-fried with mushrooms, a can of amy's black bean chili, and some leftover chipotle butternut squash soup i had made, so i figured...why not put them all together? let me tell you, it worked big time. i also had some chunks of butternut squash soup i had sliced up, various canned veggies, and some vegetarian chicken slices from may wah, so i threw those in too and  this is how it all came together:

BUTTERNUT SQUASH SOUP

2 1/2 cups of peeled & cubed butternut squash

2 tbsp olive oil

2 garlic cloves-chopped

1/4 cup chopped onion (yellow or vidalia)

1/2 cups vegetable broth

1/2 cup greek yogurt ( i like trader joe's nonfat or regular)

2 tsps salt

2 tsps pepper

1 1/2  tsps pumpkin spice (or cinnamon & nutmeg)

1 1/2 tsp ground chipotle (or to taste)

serves 4-5

cook butternut squash separately first in the oven or microwave so that it is semi-soft. in the meantime , add garlic and onion to vegetable broth and keep on low flame. once the squash is suitable, transfer squash to pot with broth. add olive oil and let simmer for 10 min. in small amounts, transfer squash and broth to food processor and blend. don't fill up the processor to capacity--once it is in the machine, add a few scoops of the yogurt and blend. keep doing this until all the squash has blended and the stock is thick. (if there is excess vegetable broth, just remove.) once the soup is blended and back in the pot, add spices and simmer until taste and texture is suitable.

BUTTERNUT SQUASH BLACK BEAN CHILI

1 can Amy's vegetarian black bean chili (or any chili you like)

1 tbsp olive oil

2 cloves chopped garlic

1 cup of kale

1/2  tsp cumin

1/2  tsp curry powder

1/2 cup garbanzo beans

1/2 canned tomatoes ( i like the muir glen organic with basil & garlic)

1/4 cup fresh sliced jalapenos (or to taste)

1/2 cup peeled and cubed butternut squash

1/2 cup crimini mushrooms

1/2 cup ground meat or any meat substitute you like *(optional)

1/2 cup butternut squash soup (you can use homemade variety or pre-made, as long as it is thick!)

in a large pan add oil and saute garlic. add tomatoes, mushrooms & squash. saute for several minutes. add kale, chili, jalapenos and garbanzos and spices.. stir all for several minutes then add butternut squash soup. stir all together until flavor is evenly distributed. this dish is pretty spicy, so leave out the jalapeno's if you can't handle it. serves 2-3.

i was very pleased with the results. it was spicy, hearty, a little sweet and oh so filling. i'm a pescatarian (although i loathe that word) so i am always looking for protein-rich vegetarian dishes. this would be perfect with a little cornbread or even brown rice. you don't have to make the soup just to make the  chili--i suggest making the soup first and having it on it's own, and then once (if) you have leftovers, give the chili a go.

my songs of the day:

"nineteen"-  tegan & sara

"the snails are out tonight"-one little plane

"shadows"-au revoir simone ( i am just getting into this band, despite having gone to college with their lovely lead singer, erika forster. this song has been in my head for a week.)

the first day of fall

today is the first day of this blog. i have been thinking for a long time that it would be nice to have a space where i could share my thoughts, photos, recipes, writing, ideas, etc., but i have always considered myself way too technically deficient to take on a venture as savvy as having my own blog. however, it is not realistic to have such a cumulative shrine to one's self unless you do it on the internet (unless you are lucky enough to have a museum erected in your honor, but that pretty much only happens posthumously). anyway, despite having a serous aversion to words like "code" and acronyms such as "html," i am going for it. this will be an experiment; and if you are reading this, you're part of it too.  the truth is, the average 12-yr old is probably more computer literate than i am, but hey--i was a theater major. the only things i really mastered in college were certain avant-garde playwrights, how to do a sun salutation, and how to be a kick-ass contributor in the massage circle (this is not what you think it is..it IS when a bunch of overly tactile theater majors sit in a circle and massage the persons shoulders in front of them, and it is awesome).

so, here we go. this may become a food blog, or an arts blog, or a little bit of everything blog--i don't really know, but i am happy it has been born and happy to share it with you.

not only was today the inception of sunday afternoon, but from where i stand it was also the first day of fall. technically, the season changed a few days ago, but i happen to be an autumnal expert (because it is  my favorite time of the year) and i didn't call it until today. when i stepped out of my apt there was a chill in the air and a dry crunch under my feet that i have been craving throughout the last few months of unyielding heat. i breathed in the crisp air and was flooded by the unmistakable scent of roasting coffee beans that was pouring from the doors of d'amico, a local coffee aficionado haven. consider yourself lucky if you are out and about while they are roasting--their beans have an intoxicating scent that is slightly burnt, slightly smoky and unbelievably comforting. other than smoke from a fireplace and dried leaves, it is the ultimate scent of fall. with an invigorated hop in my step, i headed down to the brooklyn flea, which is one of my favorite things to do on a saturday or a sunday afternoon. although i had no intention of buying anything, i couldn't resist this $5 ring made from an old-fashioned typewriter key!

an excellent score and a wonderful day all around. it is late so i am going to head to bed.  looking forward to sunday afternoon tomorrow!

ps.-if you haven't heard the song "roscoe" by midlake, do so.