cooking, cuts and crazies

ok.  things we've made: cabbage and apples, soup and roasted winter veggies.

for the cabbage i just cut one apple, one head of cabbage, and half an onion and sauteed it in some olive oil, salt and pepper over medium heat.  oh, and i added a dash (and i mean dash) of cumin for some kick and a double dash of cinnamon.  it was yummy, but i cut the crap out of my thumb.  it's healing.

then i made some soup because i needed to finish off our CSA veggies (it's hard to use them up when jay is working nights).  i'm not sold on any recipe yet, but i'll just tell you that i sauteed some peppers (including half a habanero), garlic and onions with some spicy turkey sausage.  i added 4 small potatoes and a turnip, diced, then some chicken stock, and then every other veggie i could find (cabbage, tomato, carrots, green beans) and let it simmer half an hour.  by the time my girlfriend farrell came over with a bottle of wine and jay came home with a loaf of crunchy bread, we were set.  the habanero definitely kicked the spice up a notch. 

today jay and i went to "the lobster place" at chelsea market and we were totally overwhelmed by the types of fish they offer.  we opted for something mostly prepared--the salmon burgers.  yummy.

at home i chopped up some butternut squash, some other kind of short squatty yellow squash, some cauliflower and a little garlic.  i tossed it with some olive oil, sage, little bit of curry and paprika.  i roasted it all on a cookie sheet at 450F for 40 minutes (i probably could have taken the veggies out at 30 minutes, but jay was on a run, so i let them roast a little longer).  the salmon patties were cooked in a skillet over medium heat for five minutes on either side.  easy peasy. 

i'm pretty excited we have local tomatoes that still taste like tomatoes in october, so i sliced that up too.  this meal was special enough to break out the place-mats and napkins boriana and julie gave us for our wedding.  and a bottle of wine from william, aerated with our snazzy wine thingy from anna and laurel.  other than accidentally missing yoga (sorry keith), it was a great night. 

we're still cookin'.

almost forgot the part about crazies--i was ecstatic when farhan called to say he was visiting a school up here and wanted to crash our living room floor.  oh, how our friends get us through our homesickness!  but towards the end of a great visit, farhan and i were exiting the c-train at 23rd street when some dude in aviators walked up and swung at farhan's face.  i don't think farhan dodged the punch, i think the guy just missed... i think maybe he just wanted to scare us?  he definitely scared me.  and the one word that came out of my mouth in that moment was... "GOSH!"  (gosh?  really?)  at which point the guy started yelling at me and threatening to spit in my face.  farhan and i were (and are) totally ok, but like i said, crazy.  it was a total fluke, and i know people that have lived here for years that have never seen such things.  and i know the same could have happened just as easily in charlotte or even little lexington.  nonetheless, jay ordered some pepper spray for me to carry around.  and i will carry it with full knowledge that i'll likely never have to use it.

so that's the scoop.  i cooked some veggies, i cut my thumb, i met a crazed dude. 

keepin' it local in the kitchenette

there's no question about it: cooking in a kitchenette sucks.  and yet we have all these nifty wedding gift kitchen gadgets, accompanied by notes from friends encouraging us to cook together, and we do enjoy cooking.  i did a search of "how to cook in a small kitchen" or "cooking in nyc" but everything i came across included a full-size fridge and a kitchen you could actually walk into--oh to be so lucky!

so we're creating our own resource for kitchenette cookers.  we'll see if it ends up being any help to anyone--at least it will get us out to our local markets and into the "kitchen!"

we ventured over to the green market at union square today.  jay was psyched to discover red jacket orchards from his home in upstate new york, so we bought their apples.  we walked past every stall before stopping for lunch to discuss our plan of action.  we fully intended to get some eggplant, squash, tomatoes, peppers, onions, and garlic... but then jay got distracted by some goat's milk ice cream (yum) and i got distracted talking to a farmer.  turns out the central valley farm out of asbury, nj has a CSA option that is very city-friendly.

CSA stands for community supported agriculture--and if you don't already know about it, i encourage you to learn more.  most CSAs i've encountered have included so much local farm fresh produce, i would never get around to eating it all.  most CSAs also ask that you pay for the entire season upfront--this is what ensures the farmer that his/her crops will be viable in the coming season.  buyers are like share-holders that keep local farming alive.  but central valley farm has a CSA program that allows us to buy one bag of produce--whatever is fresh off the farm that week--for $20.  and you only pay on the weeks you need it--no up-front commitment.  because jay and i had already bought apples and ice cream, we only had $18 remaining, which the farmer was happy to accept knowing he'd just secured a new weekly (or bi-weekly) patron. 

one thing i like about CSA is that it takes the decision making out of produce-shopping.  i hate making decisions!  instead we just take what's fresh (this week it's spaghetti squash, tomato, bell pepper, yellow string beans, potatoes, a turnip and a head of lettuce) and get creative cooking with it.

so tonight's dinner:

we took the spaghetti squash, cut it in half length-wise, scraped out the pulp and seeds, placed it on a cookie sheet rind-up, and baked it at 375 for 40 minutes. 

jay cut organic chicken thighs into pieces and threw them in a large skillet.  at that point we realized we had no olive oil in the house (gasp!!!) nor did we have onion or garlic--next time we'll include those ingredients, but you work with what you've got.

once the chicken pieces were browned but tender, we turned down the heat and added diced tomatoes and bell pepper, seasoning it with salt, pepper, oregano and red pepper flakes.

we took the squash out of the "oven" (i'll have to take a picture of our combination microwave/oven sometime) and used a fork to pull the strands of squash from the rind.  we added it to the skillet, mixed it all together and served it up.

it was delicious.  shredded parm kicks it up a notch.

things we learned: we need olive oil, onion and garlic (how have we survived without these essentials for 2 months??)  we also learned that using the drippings from the chicken instead of olive oil added a lot of flavor to the veggies--like cooking rice in chicken broth.  we wished we'd had one more tomato.

it was a yummy, easy, healthy dinner.  it was also jay's first time to eat spaghetti squash.  he liked it.

learning to escape

before moving to west africa, i had to read and learn a lot about culture shock.  i was told that it was common to hit a major slump about 3 months into your stay--a truth i experienced, as did every other missionary and peace corps volunteer i know.  jay and i aren't in west africa, but nyc is enough of a culture shock to merit that same reaction.  and 3 months into jay's stay (he moved here before me) everything started to suck.  everything was draining.  and about the time he pulls out of his slump, i'll likely fall into my own. 

so we hit the road.  we searched all over for b&b's outside the city, near train stations and hiking trails.  our options were limited since it's a holiday weekend, but we finally settle on Crabtree's Kittle House Inn in chappaqua, ny.  were we dorks hoping to see bill & hillary clinton, who live a few blocks away?  yes. yes we were.

the good thing about the inn is that it's less expensive that many places we looked at.  it's not a b&b, but does serve a lovely continental breakfast.  it's a 50-minute train ride from the city, and an $11 cab ride from the chappaqua station to the inn.  the bar and the restaurant provide lovely piano music on thursday and friday nights, serve up delicious meals and boast the most extensive wine list in the entire US.  indeed if you ask to see the "long list" of wines, you'll be handed a 3-inch binder of wines ranging from $28 to $25,000.  very impressive.

the down side to the inn is that it can be noisy--a lot of people like to throw parties there--weddings especially.  we were glad we left saturday before 2 weddings came in.  also, the rooms are very clean, but a little stark--not as cozy as the rest of the inn.  and while the remote location makes it a quiet escape during the day, it also makes it hard to do anything but sit around unless you have a car...

so we rented one :)

ahhh, to have a car!  i didn't realize how much i missed the radio!  the fast moving pavement beneath the wheels!  the bubble containing just me and jay!  you know i'm all about public transportation, but i really must admit that a car is a lovely luxury every once in a while.

armed with said car, we began our exploration.  first to wilkens fruit farm.  don't ever go there.  remember how fun it was to go apple picking with your school buddies on field trips?  turns out kids still take field trips to apple orchards--700 kids to be exact.  we took a cute picture and left.

next we went to FDR state park because i was itching to walk some trails and jay was eager to appease me.  while our trail walking wasn't as successful as we had hoped, we still got our fix of being outdoors, getting our feet muddy, catching some rays, and breathing in the fresh air, away from the sounds of construction, shouting and honking.  sweet.

on our way back to chappaqua, we noticed a sign for rye, ny, and made a quick detour.  jay had visited rye as a child and was excited to go back to the boardwalk.  i was excited to visit the birthplace of one of my best friends (jamie) as well as the church home of one of my favorite priest-geeks (father matthew moretz).  i think it's safe to say we'll go back to rye.

and that's our trip in a nutshell.  we learned that you don't have to go far to get out of the city.  we also learned that it costs about as much to go 50 miles as it does to fly to charlotte. hmmm....

mean people suck

remember that bumper sticker in the 90's?

there are many things i have wanted to write about the past few days--my time spent as a prayer minister at st. paul's chapel (across from ground zero) this past weekend, dad and wade's visit and help with our extreme apartment makeover, pepper's adjustment to city life and learning to poop on the sidewalk, how much greek hurts my head, jay's and my first "house" party... and on and on.

but yesterday's adventure on the M23 bus with jay takes the cake.

two high school friends of mine, becca and christy, collaborated on a "dance in public" event on the east side.  i was eager to go, and jay agreed to check it out, so we hopped the bus on west 23rd until we reached the end of east 23rd.  we were sitting near the front of the bus, where the seats face the center aisle.  across from us sat two women, both with canes, with an empty seat between.  up walked a very tall and big-boned woman, and she sat between them.

now this woman was big in that she was tall and thick.  she was not morbidly obese.  and while i'll admit i'm the first to insist on putting down my armrest in an airplane to protect my seat-space, i could not believe how poorly this big-boned woman was treated. 

the cane-carrying woman to the big-boned woman's right started spouting off: "you are just sick.  you are fat.  you really ought to take a look in the mirror.  how do you expect me to sit next to you?"

horrified, i elbowed jay, who started listening in too.  the big-boned woman responded, "i'm not taking up your seat. i'm not sick.  i think i look fine." 

the cane-carrying woman went on, "oh, just shut up, shut up." 

it was crazy.  jay and i were both embarrassed for the big-boned woman.  jay turned to me and said, "if that old woman is still on the bus when we get off, i'm going to say something to her on the way out." 

we hit another stop, and the old woman started up again: "look at yourself.  how can you not know you're fat.  you are really sick." 

i'd had it.  and knowing jay had my back, i spoke up.

"ma'am?  ma'am.  can you please be quiet.  what you're saying is very rude." 

"this is a private conversation and none of your business, " the old woman snapped back. 

"actually, you're on a public bus, and talking loud enough for us all to hear," jay said. 

and this little exchange went on.  she made fun of me for calling her ma'am... "what are you, from the south?"  "yes ma'am."  "well maybe you should go back there."

jay told her she gave new yorkers a bad name. 

the big-boned woman smiled a "thank you" as she exited the bus.  the old woman exited at the end of east 23rd with us.  we made sure to steer clear of her cane, lest she whop us upside the head.

my hands were shaking after the incident.  in talking to one of my peers today about it, he pointed out that while speaking up was the right thing to do, it did require us butting into someone else's conversation, and so you're left with opposing feelings of right and wrong.  maybe that's what makes people uncomfortable when approaching justice--at times you have to be wrong to be right.  i was worked up for sure.

a few minutes later we were watching becca dance, talking to christy and admiring a giant pink moon rise over the east river.  the beauty of the city was restored. 

welcome to my hood

you really don't have to worry about looking like a tourist taking pictures in nyc, because everyone is taking pictures. i snapped a few while taking an evening stroll down the high line, which is conveniently located one block from my new home!

while i don't want to upload them all, here are two pics from a little shrine i stumbled upon and showed to jay later.

this is a little random shrine to hope, with lots of little pieces of paper to write your hopes on.

and this is what i wrote!

a big thank you to whoever made this lovely shrine.