nature existing in the city

For those who do not know your insects this is a Praying Mantis...best known for its abilities to stay ridiculously still, camouflage like it's no bodies business and for the females to eat the heads off of their latest sexual partner. Pretty classy creatures.
For two days i watched this Praying Mantis sitting in a flower box doing nothing. I thought it was frozen or dried out...until i came home one day to see it sitting in front of the door. If i was brave enough i would have put a penny down so you had an idea of it's size and height, but let's be honest...i can kill them, but ewwwww i'm not risking its little talon scratching or even poking at me. NAST! Let's just say it was much larger than i EVER expected them to be...at least 4.5 inches long and an inch off the ground.
Instead i'll whip out my camera and document it. Sadly, by the time Joe came home around 6 it was gone. Idea 1) smushed by someone in my building (doubtful as there was no bug goo on the stoop, idea 2) the daycare kids took it inside as a "pet" (doubtful as the person who runs the show down there could careless about enlightening the children) or 3) it found it's newest partner and went off gallivanting into the sunset ie: a rat came and ate it.
It's a REAL mystery!!

Eggspectations

When i first moved to New York my fabulous friend Rachel bought me a book all about eggs. How to make basic stuff and how to make real fancy things. Really she knew how much i loved poached eggs and wanted me to learn to make them at home. Well i have that under my belt and last week i decided to try out a few new ones. Pretty much we ran out of food, but had lots of veggies and thought scrambled or omelet or something along those lines. WELL i am not done with my testing food thing so i figured i'd give a Frittata a go.

This is what the book calls a Frittata....i call it a poorly constructed omelet. Gross as it looks it was really delicious.
ingredients= tomatoes, cold smoked salmon, onion and zucs



Last night the same deal. Forgot to unfreeze some meat and had lots of farmers market veggies to consume. This is my interpretation of a souffle. it was super yum and easy to boot!!
Ingredients= 5 eggs, some milk, lots oh parm, and cherry tomatoes.

For all the kale i must give him and my stomach something rewarding

With all the kale (and other nutty foods) i've been making i needed to reward joe and my tummy with a "healthy" chocolaty dessert. I decided chocolate dipped peach slices were easy and healthy for me and delicious for us both. Finally here is something proud to display. Oh and it was RIDICULOUSLY easy...minus the part of getting the peaches onto the tray without it being too obvious how i got them there. There was nothing involved in this recipe except for semi-sweet chocolate (highest percent of cacao) and a organic local peach. How much better does it get!?


Sorry joe...such an unflattering picture...what else was i to do?

there is always goign to be the dud

As i mentioned when i started this cooking section of my blog that i have a huge pile of recipes stored up. I'm sure you've got something like it "oh this looks so good, i'll try this next time i (fill in the blank, have company, eat/cook, have 3 months of free time to waste)". Enter in the recipes from the New York Magazine. I should have known this wouldn't work out b/c usually this section is filled with stuff that i look at and think geez that looks good and who has the time for this? so many steps and is much too complicated. WELL cookies seem so easy that i thought F'it, i'll give it a go!

Here is what they expected




Here is what i got. No need to examine these closely they are as flat as they seem. The height is due purely to the mounds of almonds compacted in a sugary bunch.



My parents are probably laughing because i was that kid, no wait teenager, no wait grown up who would miss an ingredient or add too much um salt or molasses, as two memorable occasions, into a recipe. I swear i didn't do anything wrong with this. i double checked!!!

For any of you who want to give'r a go here is the recipe. Oh and be sure to tell me how much better yours turned out (photos are always great!).
ps: i threw out the recipe along with most of the cookies!

http://nymag.com/restaurants/recipes/inseason/45991/

Kale chips

Oh the joys of kale... full of so many good things for you and yet it can taste sooooooooo bad (and smell so bad)...especially if done wrong. Joe is being such a good sport because not only did i force him to eat a salad concoction of kale, beets and pumpkin seeds (which i may add was really good), but he's now smelling kale almost daily as i find new ways to incorporate this hearty, fabulous and plentiful vegetable.
I had read/watched this video on ways to make kale chips (a replacement for potato chips and even the "healthy" veggie chips) and it seemed soooooooooo easy i decided to try it myself. pretty much you tear up the kale, massage with olive oil, lemon juice and salt (and pepper in mine) and place in the oven for 20-40 minutes, depending on your crispy factor. Here is what i got.




This is definitely NOT what the cook online had made, but hey i'm an amateur and as i've said before...just learning! As much as i ohhhh'd and awwwww'd over how yummy the chips were, Joe wouldn't try one. The stink of healthy goodness was too much for him. Oh well, more for me!

Kelp Noodles

What the heck are these little noodley buggers? People i've been reading say they are the insides of kelp...the sea vegetable. I went on the hunt for them. I tried my local organic grocer (because kelp noodles are a "raw" product)...no luck. I tried the specialty store...no luck. I tried the Japanese market where no one spoke English....no luck. Okay let's google. Well apparently kelp noodles are HUGE on the west coast...who's surprised there? The company provides the noodles to almost all the Whole Foods in LA and San Fransisco and then a few extra health related stores (i swear they have at least 45 or more stores selling kelp noodles) and New York has ZERO! count'm ZERO stores selling kelp noodles. Oh wait i lied, in Buchannan, NY, Flushing, NY and Pine City, NY there are stores that sell them.
Because we live in a world where i CAN get anything i want, i went online and ordered them. Well here's the annoying part, the company who makes them "Sea Tangle" only sells them in cases of 12, so the search continued until i found a small raw/vegan/organic store that sells them. They arrived in that fancy packaging that i already wrote about and here i what i created.

I call them Asian inspired noodles.


You rinse the noodles and they are ready to eat. The thing is they have NO taste. It's so strange, they are ridiculously crunchy, but have no taste. I'd say they are kinda like a cucumber, but even cucumbers have a taste. Because of the lack of taste i added some other yummy thing.


I added some tofu for protein, carrots, and later some cucumber. For sauce i made a peanut butter, rice wine vinegar, sesame oil, toasted sesame seed and cilantro mixy deliciousy thing. I swear i could drink this concoction!
And Voila....an up close and personal shot of my lunch.


HIGHLY recommend at least trying them. You can't loose in this one. no taste, lots of crunch and ridiculously good for you!

What DO you do all day?

I'm sure many of you are wondering what I do with all this free time i've got since i'm still unemployed. Now that i'm all caught up on sleep...that was about 20 years of backed up exhaustion I now have time for other things i like to do. Other than search daily for jobs i've been doing A LOT of reading and cooking.

The cooking thing did a bit of a skyrocket thing when Joe and I moved in together. Cooking for more than one person is so much more enjoyable and i like learning all these cool new recipes and new products available. Also there are a bunch of farmers markets near by and seeing all the local and organic produce just makes me want to get creative.

I'm not exactly sure how this all started, probably something to do with all my stored up recipes that i never tested out, and a link sent to me from a friend of mine, but i started to learn about organic, nutritional cooking. The idea of more healthy, whole grain, fruit and veggies in and processed food out. I'm a good eater as it is. I have variety in my diet, but sadly produce is where i would cheap out. I've never been a person who eats a lot of pre-made frozen foods, but who doesn't like convenience? With all my reading I started to learn more about why i should buy local, eat whole grains, why i should cut down on my meat intake (that's the hardest one for me) and why organic is better for us. I'm not going to start on you guys to change....but i did want to show you some of the stuff i've been doing! These foods are probably old news for some of you, but for me, it's exciting and this is what i do all day. Read about crazy things and then try to make them.

A message before i finish. I have never called myself a cook, nor do i believe that i create beautiful things, and Joe can attest to this i'm very critical of my cooking always wanting to make my recipes better. So when you look at my food don't judge on the presentation, just know that it's a learning experience (because how else do you learn to cook?!?!).

Have you ever experienced anything so cool?!

So this has nothing to do with my life in new york...well i guess it does because this is happening while i'm here, anyways i digress. To the story: i received some packing popcorn in a box to protect the kelp noodles i had shipped to me. The kelp noodles thing i'll explain later. All this packing popcorn arrived...i hate packing popcorn. It gets everywhere, sticks to everything and it's impossible to dispose of. I had heard rumors of this dissolving packing popcorn and i thought there is no way an organic/raw/eco friendly store would send me styrofoam packing popcorn. So i stuck it underwater and in a matter of seconds it dissolved.

SUPER COOL!!!

Because i wanted everyone to enjoy my amazing discovery i documented it. so enjoy...if this is totally lame and you are starting to notice that my unemployed days are being used for nutty things...well yes you're right. what else can i do with my time while i'm not hunting for jobs! i'm open to suggestions.

Bells

One of my very first posts to the blog was about how i could hear the bells from St. John the Divine chime while i sat in my apartment. Good news! From this apartment i can hear the bells toll as well....from a different church (still unknown to me), but it's beautiful and it just makes me love our apartment even more. On a Sunday i'll have to listen for more elaborate songs.

Bringing color into our lives

We moved into our apartment a week and 2 days ago and before i would allow myself to completely unpack and feel like the place was clean, I told Joe his desire for painting the apartment needed to be completed.

I had never painted in my life. I had no clue how it was done. My teachers have been shows based around home improvement and that show on TLC, House Switch?, Take This House and Sell It?, hmmm can't remember. Anyhoo, after this weekend i would consider myself a talented painter. Taping of all edges, two coats of primer Saturday, two coats of paint on Sunday (alternating colors i'll have you know!) and we are finally finished... the living room. Sigh, at least this room can have stuff hung up and made more cozy.

Painting was an interesting experience. Joe and I aren't exactly the cutsie, "teehee i'm going to put a blob of paint on your nose" type of couple. More like the change the music or i'll paint your ponytail or if you don't stop stealing my roller i'll paint your good shorts type of people. Come hang out with us, i swear we're entertaining! Righto, but seriously, painting could have been a relationship breaking experience, but it was more soothing than anything. Breathing in all the paint toxins, trying not to throw the paintbrush out the window while focusing on painting a wall corner without getting green on the ceiling and of course smiling while we watched our landlord sweat while cementing his whole backyard.

The only problem now is motivating ourselves to do the rest of the apartment. There is so much wall to cover in the bedroom (whine whine whine). Enjoy these photos because who knows how long the rest of the apartment will take.

Our third roommate

There are a bunch of things i could write about the new place....how it leans towards the street, how our landlord looooooves to varnish things to the point where our entire apartment is glossy, how he's a fan of wood glue and not nails, how it appears we are living in the apartment of "on sale" tiles and fixtures (ie: ripe cut fruit that look like a below the belt female body part and brushed bronze straight from the 70's). There is an endless amount of cat hair to be found and as of yesterday i saw a dried up, decayed mouse in the hallway skylight.

This thing is so old Joe was convinced it was a leaf. I debated for so long i finally told him i know rodents alive and dead (sadly, yes it's true) and i was right. I would buy a grabber toy or find a big pole and jab it out. The problem is the sky light has a metal grill connected to it (where the mouse is laying) and the holes are too tiny for it to fall easily down and i'm not a skilled jabber. I tried and tried, i even spent time creating my dead mouse jabbing outfit comprised of a broomstick with protector (read: cellophane and tape type of condom, i don't want it contaminated!), worker gloves and hat (it could be sacrificed if necessary). All of this in the event it fell on me or i was forced to touch it in a moments notice.

After many unsuccessful tries, and getting the willies when i saw just how decayed it was i finally gave up. I may try the vacuum, but i may never recover if dead mouse goes into my favorite appliance! I think i need to call the landlord because even though i don't really see it unless i'm looking up, i know it's there....and EWWWWWW....isn't that enough of a reason!! I'm just happy it doesn't smell. Geez, imagine how bad it must have smelled, sunlight, dripping mouse carcass. NAST! I would have died smelling that.

Ah the joys of a new apartment.

ps: if I am successful there just may be a photo.

how have i not written about him?!!

I can't seem to find any history of him in my blog, and I'm not exactly sure how i've never written about this, so forgive me if i have, because this is something that makes me love New York so much.

When i first moved to my apartment on 110th every night around 10/10:30 i could hear the sounds of a male voice shouting, always inaudible. Not angry words, or even words connected to a person not all there, but words that sounded, to me, like counting....kind of like The Count from Sesame Street. One, Two, Three. I envisioned a giant game of hide-and-seek taking place, but the same person doing all the counting. As it grew later in the evening I couldn't hear it and i just assumed the game was over. Some evenings I'd be walking down the street and could hear it, but not see or make sense of the voice. Some nights I'd be in my apartment and i'd open my windows wide leaning way out scanning the street for the mysterious voice.This went on for weeks, maybe even months. NOTHING!

One night, i think in March of '08, i was walking home and I passed an older African American man holding a handful of pamphlets and pulling a cart of bibles and religious materials, "PRAISE the lord", "OPEN your heart" "WELcome jesus" was blaring from his mouth. THIS was the mysterious voice....a man not playing hide-and-seek(are we really surprised?), but preaching to the street. I wanted to jump for joy having solved the mystery. I almost wanted to tell him i had subcontiously waited for him nightly, but didn't want him to get the wrong impression. His voice and presence brought such comfort (and an almost alarm clock type of consistency) to my evenings.

Now that i know who he is and what he's saying I'm not waiting like i had previous for his voice in an attempt to solve the mystery. But tonight on my walk home from dinner i heard his voice and realized that soon i would be leaving this neighbourhood and the soothing, yet smile inducing voice of the man trying to convert me to his religion.

I'll have a double double please :)

This may come as a shock to you, but the center of the universe aka New York City didn't have a timmy hoho's. Yes, yes, new yorkers, this was one thing you were missing out on as Canadian's do know how to make a great cup of coffee, donut hole and provide service with a smile. So big news flash as of Monday, Tim's has made a huge entrance and kicked out a few competitors (cough Dunkin Donuts). Apparently we do something that makes lots of $$ that NYC wants to be apart of. It's called cheap soup and sandwichs...go figure. And now there are multiple locations around the city and Brooklyn:

*761 7th Avenue @ 50th St. 212-767-8347
* 152 West 34th Street bet. 6th & 7th Ave. 212-630-0319
* 47 East 42nd St. bet. Park & Madison Ave., 212-681-8501
* Penn Station, LIRR Level, 212-630-0314
* Madison Square Garden, Taxi Ramp. 212-594-0204

Other Locations:
* 48 New Street @ Wall St., 212-483-8319
* 50 Fulton Street @ Cliff St. 212-732-6551
* 2547 Broadway @ 94th St., 212-316-2915
* 1276 Lexington Avenue @ 86th St., 212-339-8868
* 451 Fulton Street, Brooklyn. 718-237-9346
* 22 Court Street, Brooklyn. 718-624-1107

Because there is a location a mere 15 blocks from me i made my way down. Shocker of all shockers the seating area was diiiiisssssgusting (in Canada they are pristine...the gross places are the toilet. You couldn't pay me to have used this toilet...if it had one). Granted they had pretty much turned the old Dunkin Donuts into the classy Tim's in a short 36 hours and their were a few unsavory patrons enjoying the new digs, it could be worse...no ventilation, insects/rodents or feces (yup i have high standards for my food).

I ordered my medium coffee (apparently a bit more pricey here) from a guy who either was so thrown off by the new look of the store or design of the classy cups he was really frazzled. I didn't dare teach him about a double double (b/c turns out he didn't even understand my request of milk AND sugar). I then ordered my timbits, b/c what's a trip to Timmy's without a wee treat. From experience i know that a French baguette doesn't taste at all the same unless you are in France. Well this goes the same for a timbit. It must be the high quality enriched white flour, or the hydrogenated oils, or maybe the refined sugars, or maybe, just maybe the tender care that Canadians put into their baking because although delicious and sweet, this was no Canadian Timbit. Sigh...anyways, i'm giving them a few more days before i re-visit. By then i hope to not see trash on the floor, no stressful yelling by the staff and a comprehension of a double double. Welcome to the coloUrfull neighboUrhood Tim Horton!

The new Yankee's Stadium

Goes something like this...you work for a large company you get free stuff. Free stuff =awesome tix to a Yankee's vs. Met's game with exclusive eating arrangements. Our seats were so close i got to watch A-Rod scratch himself for 9 innings and Derek Jeter get cat calls from young adoring fans...it was smashing.

Not only that, but there was an endless supply of free crap to eat...it was perfect! Twizzlers, M&M's, Cracker Jack, Cotton Candy, deserts, and of course healthy alternatives, but who was eating that?!

ummm yeah

papers are done
presentations are done
thesis is done
internship is done
school is done
Life has begun

The past week i have done a whole lot of nothing! seriously i haven't been to the hospital in a week but, i have managed to read a book and a half (FUN READING!), watched a butt load of television, gone public and saw two movies, and minimal cleaning. It's fabulous. Anyone want to figure out the rest of my life now?

it must be paper writing time!

Hey,
So it appears that i'm not good at keeping this thing updated. I really try, but with internship and all that writing, and school and all that writing and thesis and all that writing, fun writing is not happening either. Oh and no i really haven't been doing anything fun either that you're all missing out on.
Let's think...
Last night i got a new vacuum....i joyfully vacuumed my house for hours on end while J went and got drunk with friends. Oh and tonight i am babysitting E and N (yes i'm still with them on weekends...i just loooooove them!!) and hoping it doesn't pour rain/slush on me when i need to get home.

Last weekend i woke up at 9:50am to see a 10:15am movie (He's just not that into you) and then went to the NY public library to slave over a paper i ended up despising!!

The weekend before that J and i ate deliciously fatty greasy Peking duck for Valentine's day and then came home and passed out from fat overload.

hmmmm before that let's see....nothing...nothing is coming to me at all...probably food related....probably school related....probably ahhhhh WAIT i did go out...dancing....to an amazing bar which i'm hoping doesn't go bankrupt! Too many good places are going bankrupt here. I guess my life isn't the most interesting (or blog worthy), but i'm okay with it right now knowing how ridiculous my writing schedule is.

well, that's enough time spent on this thing. Back to writing!

Oh and I tried looking for a picture worthy of posting on here and i didn't like anything i had taken, therefore i'm putting up a picture which ALWAYS makes me laugh...dumb bird...do they have a purpose other than to freak me out?

Cupcakes in the City

How have i not written about this yet? What is with me, it' s like the one thing in NYC that i'm really passionate about and have put a lot of effort into...
Finding the best cupcake in the city

New York City may be renamed to the big cupcake and not the big apple. NYC and cupcakes are up there with one of the biggest controversies. Friends who make cupcakes open a business, to become enemies, to steal/take their portion of the recipe, to open new stores, people who work with the enemies who break off open their own business, to create this mecca of cupcake heaven right here in the city. This is the basic story of Magnolia and thus the rest of all the cupcake shops in the city.

My search for the perfect cupcake started back in Halifax with my friend R. Our obsession was quite normal at that point, just enjoying cupcakes whenever we could, but then i started questioning moving to New York and she said, "i'm visiting if you do, i've heard a lot about x y and z cupcake shop and we need to try them". Walk and walk all over the city we did, trying cupcakes. I have settled on my favorite cupcake...which i will reveal in a few sentences.

SO my mom is visiting right now, post birthday visit and girl weekend we are having a great time thus i felt it was important to introduce her to the love of my life, my favorite cupcake shop. Dragging her across the city and claiming i knew exactly where it was. The light shone brightly on the faded pink awning of it. Of course since i was there i bought two cupcakes (bite your tongue, i'm a piggy and i don't care, it's the most delicious thing and you'd do it too!!). She bit into the cupcake (ooey gooey) and ahhhhhhh heavenly angels sung out. (notice the chocolate deliciousness on her lip, le sigh...i want one now!)



Anyways the store i won't shut up about is called Sugar Sweet Sunshine on Rivington St (bw Essex and Norfolk)
My favorite cupcakes are pumpkin spice and lemon yummy. Their originals are fab, but i'm partial to something a bit different, especially when it involves cream cheese icing.




Number 2 is Billy's Bakery followed by Crumbs (but Crumbs may be off the list if something better appears). If anyone has any recommendations of places to try let me know because there are obviously MANY MANY places in the city and i can't try them all...just almost all of them.

SUBSCRIBE or don't

For those who don't get my random reminder emails to read this blog and you check on your own, congrats i'm about to take a step out of your monthly routine.

If you look to your right you will see a very ugly and plain SUBSCRIBE dodad. Try it out. If i get an overwhelming response of "this blows chunks" it's gone! I've read the "stuff" and they "claim" there is no spam associated and they don't "keep my email address" so you should be safe. i have a few blog buddies who have this subscribe thing and so far I've only reaped the benefit of having an email sent to me when they post.

For those who decide it's not worth the risk i get it, no worries, I'm pretty paranoid about spam

ps: i started receiving emails-they are total spam to me- from 365 baby or something like it. Some girl name Shanna (odd as my email address doesn't have my first name) has a very similar email address and just had a baby 5 weeks ago. They keep congratulating Shanna on her/my new arrival and asking if i want photos sent to all my friends. yeah, the closest thing to a new arrival in my house is my new Patagonia Performance Baselayer.

So to all my friends who want to congratulate me on my new arrival, here she be, weighing in at 4.5 oz...my new arrival. Oh but my baby is baby blue

Star sighting

I have this vivid memory of my first experience watching The Labyrinth. The most ridiculous things seem scary to me and that movie really freaked me out. Something about David Bowie's hair, how skinny he was, the singing and his outfit, was it the tights? i have no idea, uh still gives me shivers. anyways, i'm not sure i've watched the entire movie because it freaked me out so much, although i do remember an m.c. escher type of scene with stairs, so maybe i have. meh i don't know. Here is what i do know...or think i know. I saw David Bowie the other day.

When was the last time he made a public appearance? Seems like a while. Anyways, last Saturday night J and I are pretty sure we saw him. Well actually i said oh look it's David Bowie, being the bitch that i am (it was the tight pants) and he said, wait no i think you're right. So we stood down the street and stared and well now if we were really good stalkers and not hungry we would have followed to confirm this finding. But let's just say i did see him and be happy about it. He looks good. Has put on some weight, shaggy, but nice hair...still has those Euro pants going. Where was Iman when we needed her!

Falling behind

The past few weeks have been NUTSO amazing fun! here is a basic overview

1)went home for a few days ie: update my health insurance to ensure if i do get sick i'm covered here ps: each week i start to become sick with something new, but combat it with major doses of Airborn. I've been told this is residual mono effects that last up til a year, yum i can't wait! great seeing friends in a whirl wind visit. oh and my mom made my fav. carrot cake, such a wonderful treat i wished i could bring it back. OH OH and i travel avec Porter Air....the best new thing in air travel my friends, serioiusly great!

2) J and I went to upstate New York and stayed at a friend's farm. Was a wonderful brief getaway to see the fall leaves (which had yet to arrive), hike, tandum bike ride, apple pick, make cider and just relax, laugh and eat.

3)My fab friend J from Toronto came in exclusively to make my dreams come true upon the viewing of the one and only Madonna at Madison Square Gardens!! Madonna is a true rock star and i would pay much much more to see her again.

4) Just got back from Cincinnati where their motto is "Nothing to do and all day to do it", couldn't agree more. I'm sure it's a fabulous city with plenty to do, i just seemed to experience the root of this motto. While attending a clinical hypnosis certification conference we had limited time to get food and darn it there was nothing open just about every time we went out. Anyhoo, i'm home now for a while and am in the peak of paper writing (can't you tell this is why i'm writing a post!).

Just wanted you all to know that while it's becoming much much cooler...nothing like Toronto i hear, the leaves have just started changing , when they are in full gear i'll post pictures!