flower stand haul, oct 3

got what felt like a thousand flowers from Lebak Farms this weekend, mostly dahlias. family businesses rule.

"i can't get into a bed without you, I stack up all the pillows and imagine that you are there" painting by Lauren Vincelli.

illegal gardening

adventures in fire escape gardening-
arugula covered in cayenne in an attempt to keep squirrels away. mostly it works!
the spinach in late may. see the red chard spouts behind it? we let it take over...the red chard harvest of this week - a good fist full, maybe a $3 bunch at the farmer's market, but about one serving in the pan. but i grew it!

commute as art

I blogged for Filmmaker Magazine about the dazzling animation in the tunnel after the B/Q DeKalb stop here in Brooklyn. Masstransiscope (1980) is by my former Hampshire film professor Bill Brand, restored after 20 years of negligence. Actually, I'd been riding past it nearly daily since I moved here, but they only turned the lights on the show a few months ago. The short article is mostly factual, and upon reflection, I feel like I've neglected to mention how nice it is to have art on your commute. It's easy enough to miss with your head in a book, your headphones on and spacing out into your own world, but once you notice that there's something to capture your attention out there in that dark tunnel, it's hard to ignore it when you go past. Your fellow commuters wonder what you're craning your neck at, and most feign disinterest when they see it too. But many, like these folks, get caught up in the joy of having something unexpected like this in the otherwise bland subway. Art in public places can be tricky. it can be ugly or creepy, and people can disagree about whether it's art or not (I'm looking at you, graffiti). I think this one falls into the category of art to enhance ones surroundings.

the whole weekend is in front of me...

...I've got somewhat of a to do list, including boring chores like laundry, but im excited about not having many real obligations (except 2 co-op shifts so we don't get suspended). dreaming of all kinds of kitcheny crafty plans like baking bread and making and canning apple butter - not sure where this idea came from but it's either that or pickles and it could possibly take all weekend. with D. planning to brew beer any moment now, it could get a little crowded in there. do we even have a pantry in which to store this business?

these homebrews seem kind of un-New York to me, especially since it possibly means not going out Saturday night? Then again, someone here was just telling me about the glory days of Brooklyn when every Italian had their own vines and made their own wine. the latest from Chateau Gowanus for you?

if you want to come help stir the apple butter, please do. bring bread and wine.

que es Cranberry Beans?

we'd been lurking the cranberry beans among the lush local produce at the co-op. what is it? is it good? do we like it? so, in the cart they go. ours are fresh, not dried, and after research (internets), a consultation thru a gardeny friend, we ended up with this, done our own way:
Cranberry Beans a la Slow-Paced Monday Dinner (with pesto or other things)
(about 2 servings+tomorrow's lunch,)

1 pound in-shell cranberry beans: shell and rise them, discarding any small, blackish or funny looking beans

in a big pot, bring to a boil about 4 cups water with a half-onion, a bay leaf, garlic, oregano from mom's yard, rosemary from a failed housewarming plant, ground pepper.

Add cranberry beans and cover partially, turn heat down to a simmer, for about 25-40 minutes (ours took more like 40, but we started tasting for firmness at 25). Stir regularly. The good thing about beans is that they just sit and simmer, so you can do other things like watch TV

when you're getting impatient and the beans are almost done, that is, they are soft, the skins aren't too chewy and hopefully they're acquiring a good flavor, approximately the last 5 minutes of cooking, add a splash of hot sauce and about a 1/2 tbs kosher salt. Don't add salt earlier, it makes the beans tough

scoop out the beans with a slotted spoon, and put in serving dish. dress with olive oil, lots of pepper and about 1tbs kosher salt, a heaping spoon full of pesto (homemade with walnuts, leftover from the the night before) and a splash of red wine vinegar, to taste.

We served with a fried egg, summer tomato (for me) and cheese toast.

now, there's probably about 100000 ways you could do this differently. it's inspired by this completely different recipe, but gardeny phil also suggested you dress the beans with (instead of pesto/red wine vinegar) shallots and balsamic. j-a-a would probably put fennel seed and tomatoes in; i'm down with that, and dave def would've added butter. parmasean on top of everything would be nice. jen might've served it with the gifted produce of her fellow gardeners. or maybe nuts?
how do you end up with it?

after seeing a haunted-feeling apartment - a rundown brownstone with dry thorny roses by the lion-guarded white metal fence, a private yard, 'garden entrance' and an okay price, dirty and badly maintained, with a rat problem and a cold wind blowing into the place up from the basement,...
i was convinced to put our money where my thoughts were and go for the warm, west-facing 5th floor two (large) room flat with a regular size kitchen and bathroom with a tub, fire escape and room for the bikes, the bar & the cat, a few blocks from the express trains and the park, with amenities like laundry in building, an elevator, and a thriving multicultural neighborhood. it's nearly twice what the falling apartment is, but for the location (significantly closer to work than falling apartment), and the style, i think im in. d is too, by default, and i hope he's as excited as me about seeing zira bark at obese pigeons on the fire escape where our tomatoes & herbs will grow, looking out onto mimosa trees and 'south prospect park' or 'lefferts gardens' or 'flatbush' or whatever you want to call it in the morning, putting the Love Mr Egg painting above the bed, filling the three closets with all our things, and putting the toys on the built-in shelf in the foyer.

after the unreasonably stressful application process i cleared my head with a scallion cream cheese+tomato+cucumber on an everything bagel, a few phone calls, and a very long walk from the realty office to my temporary home.

got my cards read & she said big changes were in my future.

courage is necessary.oh, hey. it's been a while, huh? did you hear i'm moving to New York on Sunday? I'm a little nervous, and hoping that my couch surfing won't be too much a burden on my friends. have you a reasonably priced apartment for us? just me, the fellow and our charming cat. hopefully this orchid and trompe l'oeil print will make it too. it's trying to snow today and i wish it would, while simultaneously sending everyone to leave me big tips at the pizza shop tonight.
so, moving out of state, for good even, is kind of a big deal, and there are a lot of things I need to do and meant to do but will never get to (for now)

To Do:
-Beardstravaganza, find kickass beard or merkin to wear to my first appearance at this annual shindig - perhaps dave's pricklypear beer will make a debut?
-get rid of lots of stuff - do you need some blank periwinkle t-shirts? a biography of Proust? a Schwinn Peapicker lowrider? a '94 Saturn SL2? slightly broken sewing machine? a huge green couch and a pair of star trek-esque endtables? some old magazines?

-find a suitable tenant for our apartment - is it you?
-go dancing - but where?
-leave this fucking town. yay! screw you yuppies and politicos. remaining friends: I still love you.

meant to do in DC, but won't:
-visit all Smithsonians - only got to less than half. bummer. still time to hit the aquatic gardens and portrait gallery?
-eat vegetarian soul food, eat at Cafe Nora,
-see the Beastie Boys at the 930 Club, spot Dave Grohl hanging out at Black Cat,
-ride the secret US Capitol subway,
-write a DC city guide for Bust,
-fight for District equality including having true Congressional representation, and proper budgeting for the seriously suffering public schools. oh well.
-ride bikes to Mount Vernon (did i ever really mean to do this?)
-get on the board for Transformer gallery (James said I could if I had $5K. Maybe next year)

128357

the odometer in my car stopped running. it could have been today but it seems unlikely that after not driving for several months, that I would have noticed the exact day it stopped turning over. so, my car will remain at 128K mi for eternity, which is good, when i finally sell it. naturally, i'll be honest about that.

in other news, i finally went to Tortilla Mexicana - Los Hermanos today - the tortilla factory at the top of the stairs at the Jefferston St. L stop that also has a kitchen in the front. it was never open, it seemed, when i actually was living here, so now that i've come to retrieve my things and get a dozen bagels, i jumped on one of their tacos vegetarianos. and can i say - amazing! delicious! fresh! the tortillas were def made this morning and the avacado was perfectly ripe. pinto beans, cilantro, lime, tomato, what else do you need?

halloweekend party

gracious hosts Astronaut Jones and his bustalicious martian babe

bun-in-oven and tourist new baby-daddy.

bjorks

bjorks heart sexy chef

Night Walks

Walked around Prospect Heights with s.m. last night, there was a nearly full moon and cool air and it was great.
Came across a film shoot, all the trailers, a huge Arri truck, and knew something was happening. The permit posted said the film was 'Righteous Kill' but i'd never heard of that and was wondering if you could put pseudonyms on the permit. Everyone here is abuzz about the new Cohen brothers movie Burn After Reading with Brad Pitt and George Clooney, so we pushed our way thru - not really there wasn't much security so we just wandered in.

But no, it was Righteous Kill, stars none other than Al fucking Pacino and Robert fucking De Niro; Scorsese is rumored to be IN it, along with 50 Cent and John Leguizamo. Some hardboiled New York cop crime drama, not the metalhead horror flick we were assuming based on title. We might have seen a scene involving Shirly Brener or Trilby Glover or some other blondie standing on the stairs of a brownstone. I really wish we'd hung around a little more.

House-sitting for a friend in Prospect Heights, and it's changing my whole attitude about New York. Of course, it helps that she has an effin YARD that includes a patio, sage & roses, a blue jay, & a Sunday morning wedge of sunshine to sit in while you eat breakfast and listen to the church bells. While she seems to have scored a good deal for a small apartment with a yard and a short walk to the subway, it's all relative, and dave and I would both have to be earning three times what we are to afford it. Sad!
But, this fake living in Prospect/Crown Heights has made me feel more excited about the potential to live in Brooklyn for longer than three months.
Went to the Farmer's Market Saturday, and made out like a bandit with local apples, yellow wax beans, garlic, red chard, red pepper, green grapes, cheese, tomato, pear cider and wheat boule. $20. The strange fall weather is putting tomatoes and fresh corn on the same table as winter squash. J & I feasted on butternut squash-black bean tacos before freely-poured wine at Patio Lounge. Tonight: something with yellow beans &/or chard.

We Eat Brooklyn

Saturday we walked and ate and drank all day. Woke up leisurely, got coffee at my daily stop The Wyckoff Starr and walked thru Bushwick down Knickerbocker to the M train. It's like a foreign country there - cheap stores & lots of fancy sneakers, everyone speaks Spanish and there are old men selling snow-cones with real scraped ice and real pina syrup. (snow cones are on the list for next weekend's eating). The M train is above ground, so we took the scenic route across the Williamsburg Bridge and into Chinatown.

Destination: The Donut Plant.

Have you ever eaten a donut before? maybe not until you've had one of these monsters. they are so good, and written up in nearly every foodie mag. A white peach-iced donut alone might be worth a trip to NY. Dave was in bliss with a tres leches cake donut. Nearly $20 also got us blueberry jelly, peanut butter+jelly, coconut creme, valrhona chocolate, a coffee and a damn good iced chai. also a serious sugar buzz.





















Walked it off in Chinatown, hunting for the elusive Indian Mango (it remains elusive), and decided to head to the shadier (with trees) Park Slope. Indulged in window shopping and shoe-trying-on and made our way over to Biercraft. Made out like bandits with 4 kinds of beer, including a growler of Chelsea Sunset Red which we finished with a munster + yellow tomato sandwich on chewy bread and Zapp's honey bbq chips back at my place. Whew! time for a nap!

Feeling refreshed, D+I met Corey, a photographer, and Juliana, a for more beer in Williamsburg at divey Cyn. Polished off the evening with late night slices from Vinnie's Pizza, owned by Hampshire alums, and experts on deluxe pies - black bean avacado; vegan sausage + BBQ sauce; avacado nacho slices and fresh mozz-tomato-basil. yes please!

yum. im full just reminicing.