Reaching the Smoking Point
Hey, hey. It’s the end of Wednesday! Or Thursday depending on when you’re reading this. How is everyone?
Okay, I need to admit that I’m a bit distracted at the moment. I’m watching HBO’s latest documentary film, The Weight of the Nation. Meaning, I’m having a hard time coming up with my quick-witted, sarcastic, I-spend-too-much-money-at-Starbucks jokes for my weekly WIAW post. So instead of listening to me whine about my waning bank account, let’s have a serious rant chat.
Do you know when you get that “amped up” feeling about something? Those bubbles that rise in your stomach, that’s a mix of anticipation, excitement, and that sense of I gotttttaaa say something, scream, jump up and down and wave my arms to get in the way of what’s happening here. Everyone knows what I’m talking about right? Although, this enthusiasm doesn’t have the same ignition or smoking point for everyone. For some, it’s politics, for others it’s the Mets.
I’m going to call this weird feeling passion.
As I sit here listening to the distinguished fancy-schmancy professionals say things such as “almost 70% of Americans are overweight or obese,” and “diabetes costs the country 150 billion dollars a year,” and (probably the one that hit me in the gut the most), “children born in the year 2000, have a 1 in 3 chance of developing diabetes. If that child is African American or Latino, the ratio is 1 in 2 chances of developing the disease,” I can feel those bubbles begin to simmer. When are we going to understand, as a country, that we need to fix. our. diet.
We need to learn how to eat properly, and more importantly, we need to teach the kids. We must to find a way to climb out of this vicious, blood-sucking cycle of greedy food conglomerates, fast food, and sugar-laden crap (to name a few). If we don’t, our children are going to die before we do. Medical bills will arrive in the mail like monthly Con Ed bills. We will die of heart disease – well, most of us.
This is why I started this blog. I want to discuss and show how to eat in the way I think our country needs to lean into. Over the past few months I’ve gotten lost along the way, left behind in a foggy haze of happiness and delicious disco fries, beer, and cupcakes, but I’m climbing out of that fire pit. Don’t get me wrong, I know that I eat pretty well most of the time, and I definitely try to balance all the grease with the greens, but that fire was beginning to weaken.
I don’t have the solution to save our entire country of this diabetic crisis of disastrous proportions, but I can try and lead by example, not force it down anyone’s throat (literally and figuratively?), and take it one step at a time.
I may not have the be-all, end-all, but I do have a dangerously green fork. And I know how to use it. Who’s coming with me?
On that light note, here is what I ate Wednesday:
Iced coffee with soy milk
Fage 2% with 1 cup strawberries
Mid-morning snack
Mixed baby romaines with tempeh, cucumbers, mushrooms, and scallions (with balsamic vinaigrette)
Coconut curry thai soup – this stuff was SPICY (min 2:05)
Grande soy latte (Oh, the irony.)
After work, I stole Liz’s schweet new Schwinn and went for a 9 mile bike ride in the park
Can I just say, that riding a bike through the park is 176 million times more enjoyable than running it?
Dinner was green heaven (plus a sweet tator). Recipe to come.
Who’s excited to start eating more green? Don’t raise your hands all at once now.
Even if you don’t like eating green, can you pretend to at least like reading about Alex eating green?
-Who else watched The Weight of the Nation? What did you think?
Airplanes {video}
Sometimes I like making videos of me and my frenz drinking playing, and I thought I would share the latest with you lovely people.
All of these clips are fairly old (taken with my Canon Rebel and iPhone), but I have been anxious to start working on my 60D videos, so this one was a little rushed. You can check out my other videos here.
A Letter
Dear New York,
This weekend, I would like to thank you for…
tacos with long-lost California friends,
graduation parties for family friends that I was just playing dress up with yesterday,
champagne mojito brunches in alphabet city,
popsicles, rooftops, and lunch salads,
tuxedo strawberries at Clue birthday parties,
banana blueberry pancakes,
champagne in the park (and photo-bombing friends),
and belated birthday knock-your socks off dinner at ABV (guys, seriously though, if you live close to or in the UES – go here).
Thank you for the sunshine, flip-flop blisters from walking too much, sounds of trumpets playing in Central Park, portable margaritas, tacos, rooftop wine night caps, and weekend memories for the scrapbook.
Summertime, I can already taste you.
Lunch
Phew. Friday. We made it.
How’s it hangin’?
I had to help set up for an event this morning so I didn’t have a chance to pack myself lunch. 7 AM call time means that someone else is preparing lunch.
As I walked into my caf this afternoon, I noticed that they were serving sashimi alongside that beautiful little cucumber & pea salad. I put on my most-friendly smile, and asked if I could just have the salad as a side (normally not allowed). He was very stealthy, and swiftly delivered my side salad over the counter with a little smile on his face. It was almost like he was handing off the Fifty Shades of Grey trilogy to me illegally. Score!
My other salad (TWO salads?! I’m wild.) included roasted beets, barley, avocado, and hummus.
I have had this salad once before, but I forgot just how gosh darn delicious it was. I may have been hopping in my chair as I ate it. I plan on making this salad at the earliest opportunity, but I think it goes something like this:
- Cucumbers
- Snap peas
- Mint
- Baby radishes
- Sweet chile sauce
- Chives
Happy salad, Happy Friday.
What did you have for lunch? Did it involve chair-hopping enjoyment?
WIAW
Oh, hello Wednesday. Wasn’t I just here, like, an hour ago?
The What I Ate Wednesday post, should be renamed, What I Ate on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday post. I shop for the week, and then just make the same meal, every day, until my food runs out. I can feel myself falling into that monotonous cycle of work-week meals. Haaaaalp me. I have first world problems.
The day started with coffee and vanilla soy milk.
And yes I still have my birthday cards displayed in my room. I like having the visual reminder that I still have friends.
Breakfast was a peanut buttered whole wheat English muffin with berries. You surprised? Nope. Neither was my mouth.
Strawbs who didn’t make it into the peanut butter party were eaten a little while later.
LunchTIIIIME. Sometimes I’ll look at my clock (and by clock I clearly mean bottom right-hand corner of my Dell screen) and it’s 2:00 PM, and I have to remind myself to eat. Sometimes I’m ready to eat by 11:00. Who knows.
Mixed greens, mushrooms, sprouts, cucumbers, veggies burger, broccoli, carrots, and tofu. This was a good one.
Can’t leave snack-time on the bench. Red and orange bell peppers, and a banana.
Yes, I chop my bananas. Yes, I’m weird. Have we met?
Just strolling through my lovely work neighborhood on the way home. So relaxing.
As soon as I got home, I started chopping. I made myself a sweet tator, and an omelet with mushrooms and zucchini.
And then I smothered it in ketchup.
A little while later, after a mini living room workout, I made myself a dessert smoothie. In the mix went:
- 1/2 cup light vanilla soy milk
- 1/2 banana
- 1/2 cup frozen blueberries
- 3 pitted dates
- 2 tbsp unsweetened coconut
- dash of cinnamon
= freaking deliciousness.
And that’s what made it to my plate today.
So, I’m going to be honest here and let you know that I’m going to try and scale back on all the after work french fries, beer, and funfetti (just to name a few). Instead of the mini cupcakes, I’m reaching for the mini carrots. I have some weddings coming up this summer, and I would rather my double chin didn’t photo-bomb the professional pictures. That’s all. Weight-loss rant over. I’m glad I got that off my chin chest.
Question: How do you plan your work-week meals? Is it the same thing every day? Or do you mix it up a little? Teach me your ways.
Sleep? Meh.
On Thursday night, my cousin Chris was visiting New York from foggy London town. He’s been living in London for almost 10 years, but manages to sneak back to NYC every year or so to visit the fam. And then a few days later he remembers how certifiable his family is and he runs back across the pond.
For example, without fail, each and every time my Dad sees Chris, he says “Hey Chris! Tut tut Cheerio!” Even if I tell him, 30 seconds before Chris walks in, “Dad, do not say that ‘tut tut’ thing again, please.” He still says it. Every time, without fail. For ten years. I can’t make this stuff up.
And we wonder why he moved to another country.
After the ‘tut tut’ scene, I cringed as we ducked into Fig & Olive for some dinner.
We started with 3 olive oils and rosemary bread.
We also ordered two crostinis to share: the Mushroom, Truffle Artichoke, Scallion, Parmesan and the Salmon, Ricotta, Citrus, Cilantro.
Poppin’ bottles.
For my main, I ordered the zucchini blossom and goat cheese ravioli.
They were little pillows of heaven.
We were also celebrating two birthdays!
We had a good time. Enough time to persuade Chris to stick around for a few hours.
I take that back. After Chris saw Dexter take this pose, he booked it (my cross eyed face wasn’t the winner).
After dinner, Chris and I hopped in a cab uptown to a new to me bar, ABV for another round.
I had no idea this gem was just ten blocks up from my apartment. I will definitely be back, ABV.
I strolled home a little while later, taking my time, and enjoying the newfound blocks of the upper upper east side.
Friday after work, I jumped on the train home to celebrate my Dad’s birthday. Dex picked me up, and we went to heaven Whole Foods to pick up dinner ingredients. Since we had dinner out the previous night, I thought it might be nice to cook dinner in.
First stop, cocktails! My brother, who is now apparently a bartender, made me a limey-minty drink.
As a starter, I made my everyone some blistered Shishito peppers, as first introduced to me by Bridget. I spotted them in WF, and immediately started piling them into a plastic baggie.
For dinner, I made thai lettuce wraps. I maaaaay have put tempeh in them. I told my brother it was chicken, and he ate it. Also, I caught my Dad sneaking forkfuls of the leftovers, so I’m going to assume they were edible.
After dinner, it was time for some presents…
…one of which, included this mask I picked up at a paper store in San Francisco. As soon as Kathleen and I found the masks, I knew I was giving one to my Dad.
I know. I can’t. It’s so creepy. So perfect.
After having a competition for who looked the creepiest in the mask, I pulled the apple pie out of the oven. It’s my Dad’s favorite, so apple pie birthday cake was a no-brainer.
I collapsed on the couch for a little while, and then met some buds out at the bar. I stayed out way too late for what I was scheduled to do the next morning.
Communion photo shoot! I was able to steal a little of Sean’s energy to make my night of no sleep a little easier.
Sean’s Godmother, Karin, and her absurdly adorable daughter, Marlena. I was Marlena’s age when Karin met me. Getting old… it’s weird, isn’t it?
Naya!
We partied after the service at Ernesto’s.
And then some bully pushed poor Sean’s face into the cake…
After the communion I did a little BBQing, where I drank the most delicious beer I have ever had. Who else has had this? Why has no one brought it to my attention!? I’m mad at all of you for not telling me about it.
I drank, danced and ate the night away. There was also a hockey game in there somewhere. GO RANGERS.
I was exhausted, and crashed hard that night. Who do I think I am, and why do I insist on staying out so late? I got up the next morning, and jumped in the car with the fam for Mother’s Day brunch. It was buffet style, set on a large deck overlooking the Hudson. I forgot my camera at home and pouted in the second half of the car trip there after realizing. Must have been all the sleep I’d gotten that kept my memory so sharp.
We had some freakishly beautiful weather that came out for Mom.
Mom, thanks for hemming all of my dresses, keeping my accessories in check, listening to me whine, and for putting up with that lunatic of a daughter son husband. I think I’ll keep you.
(No, Dexter is not that tall. Or maybe I should say, I am not that short. Optical illusion on the tilted deck. Sneaky, Bro. Reaaaaal sneaky.)
We got home, and my cousin Lori (and her family), and my Grandma came over to upload all of the photos I had taken for her son’s Communion. We relaxed on the back deck, while sipping on some iced tea.
As I scrolled through the photos for my Grandma, I had to put every ounce of energy I had into trying to not look like I had just been hit with a tranquilizer gun.
I practically fell up the stairs to my room, and collapsed into bed. I needed that nap like a newborn baby. I’m getting old.
After my tranquilizer wore off, I stumbled down the stairs to learn that Indian food was on it’s way for dinner. Perrrfect timing.
Dessert was some vanilla frozen yogurt with a blueberry compote I assembled with the help of the microwave.
I had such a hard time leaving home at the end of a weekend like this. Being able to spend time with my family and friends, eating good food, and drinking the best beer in the world, made it feel like a weekend that fell out of the pages of a fairy tale.
And that’s where I came full circle, to the biergarten post from earlier today.
As I sat on the train I thought, Hmm, nope. Haven’t drank enough beer this weekend.
Let’s be real, going to bed at an early hour would have been weird. I can sleep later, right?
This has been the longest post ever. I’m going to bed. Finally.
Beer Over Blogging
As I made my way back into the city last night, after a weekend of non-stop playing at home, I was brainstorming my weekend recap post. How I got close to no sleep, all of my delicious meals from Thursday to Sunday, and the 500 photos I took to document it all. It made me tired just thinking about it.
Then I got a text from Bridget, asking to come to The Standard Biergarten for a few birthday drinks for her boyfriend Tyler. It was quite the dilemma.
Obviously my tweet was rhetorical. Obviously I wanted to join in on the fun.
I got no sleep this weekend, but all of the late nights were worth it. I mean hey, it’s nothing a little 10 minute nap after you get out of the shower at 7 AM before work can’t fix. Sometimes, beer wins over blogging and early bedtimes. You understand, right?
Weekend recap to come!
Psst… if you’re looking for something to do while you wait for my recap (because I’m sure you’re all chomping at the bit), head on over to my new Facebook page, and press that little button that says “Like.”
WIAW
Oh haaaaay, gal pals. Happy Tersday! Oh, sorry. I guess I should address the males who read this blog too.
…hey Dad.
On to new and exciting things. I have been running on my (quickly depleting) gas tank of San Francisco sunshine, so it’s been a pretty good week thus far. I actually have not had the opportunity to go food shopping yet because obviously after work, after gym margaritas will take priority in any situation. I’m fortunate enough to have an amazing cafeteria at work, so it’s easy for me to slide by with a poorly stocked fridge/cupboard at home.
This Wednesday, I Ate:
A peanut butter topped english muffin with sliced strawbs. I usually prefer fresh fruit over the sugary stuff. Although I’d be lying if I said I didn’t have 3 jars of Bonne Maman preserves in my fridge. When I was little, I was very strict about having just a PB – no jelly – sandwich in my brown bagged lunch. Now that I’m an adult, I love me some PB&J. But I like the preserves. Not the jelly. Big difference. Hi, my name is Alex, and I’m a snob about my PB&J’s.
And coffee from, get this… HOME. You guys, I didn’t go to Starbucks today. Aren’t you so proud of me? It totally had nothing to do with the fact that I had an early meeting and was running late to work. Nope, nothing like that at all.
Lunch was a bright salad. I have to say, usually when I get home from any sort of vacation, I feel like I need to drown myself in leafy greens to get back on track. For some reason I didn’t really feel like that after San Francisco. I think it has to do with the fact that we ate delicious and whole foods while there. The Kraft mac & cheese we ate at 3:00 AM when we got back from the airport is a different story.
I also had a small cup of tomato lentil soup.
Thanks for the satisfying lunch, caf!
A little while later, I grabbed a few small handfuls of peanuts.
After work, I headed over to Central Park South to babysit. I took little A to a playground in Central Park, aka her front yard. She had so much energy, and ran around like a mad-child! It was pretty funny. I let her run and run, thinking it would make bedtime earlier and earlier.
On the way home I stopped to pick up a sandwich for my dinner. After bath time, she asked me to read her a few books before bed. I asked her to pick out her favorites for me to read, and she padded over with a few familiar (to her) books and said “let’s read these!” She passed them over, and I realized they were written in Mandarin. Three years old and speaking Mandarin. I had to tell her that unfortunately, we can’t all be trilingual at three years old, and that I can only read boring English (maybe some French if you’re lucky).
I came home, had an unpictured square of dark chocolate, and am currently struggling to keep my eyes open. I think I’ll read a little bedtime stories myself, preferably not in Mandarin. Wouldn’t it be nice if we all had 8:00 PM bedtimes?
Question: PB&J? What kind of J do you like? Or, are you a little pickier about the bread selection? For me, if it’s toasted, I like to eat the sandwich open-face. If not, I like soft whole wheat bread. I know, I already warned you that I was a PB&J crazy person.
San Francisco: Full Body Workout
On Wednesday night, we flew across the country to San Francisco in search of some sunshine. We stayed with wonderful hosts, ran around non-stop, and made sure to soak up the city as best we could. I was telling Carrie today how sore I am from my SF workout: my legs from walking up the hills, my arms from carrying cases of beer, and my stomach from laughing so hard. In San Francisco, who needs a gym when you can have that much fun?
I kept trying to compare the architecture, the restaurants, the food, and the transit system to New York, but just gave up after a while. There was something about the city that made it such a magnet, but I couldn’t put my finger on it. I thought, is it the transit system? The freakishly gorgeous weather? Maybe the amazing restaurants? Could it be the Golden Gate bridge? Perhaps it’s the innovative companies that make the city their home. Twitter? Yelp? (Patrick, you may disagree with me on that one). Hmm… No, no. That isn’t it. Ah, wait. I know what it is.
It’s the people.
I’ve never been to a city where everyone made me feel like I was home. The sincerity when the cashier asked “how are you doing today?” or the reassuring smiles of the people I passed while trekking up a hill that was set at a 90 degree angle were a little disarming. I kept waiting for someone to try and sell something to me, to act on a selfish impulse. Nope, they genuinely wanted to know how my day was going… weird. It’s the city equivalent of a warm hug.
I want to tell you about every restaurant, every bite of food, and every street corner, but my eyelids feel like they have sandpaper behind them. Jet lag is no joke. Getting into bed at 3:00 AM was poor planning, but I have to say, it was definitely worth it.
Thank you, thank you, thank you, to our incredible hosts Lauren, Amanda, and Amy. You girls are amazing, and know how to throw down a mean dance party.
I think I’ll go back.
Pure Food & Wine Review
Happy FRIDAY!
So, as it turns out, I’m not so good at pretending to know about tech things. I was screwing around a little with the photos on the back end of my blog, and I deleted them ALL. Luckily, I have most of the photos saved on an external drive, so I will have them back up soon (I hope). I nearly had a heart attack when I realized what I did. Smooth moves, Alex.
I’m actually currently frolicking around San Francisco, and I have so much to tell you guys! I’m falling in love with this city.
Before I tell you about this awesome cite, I want to tell you about one of my new favorite restaurants in New York: Pure Food & Wine
I met my parents for dinner on Sunday night. It ended up being a lovely evening, so we opted for the outdoor table. The hostess guided us through the low vaulted ceilings, warm wood, and bright pink chairs of the indoor portion of the restaurant, back to the patio. We cozied into the plush benches, and ordered our drinks. I started with a mojito cocktail, which was light and refreshing. I can see this being the perfect drink to order when you need a little cool down in the warmer months in NYC.
We decided to dive into the raw vegan cuisine head-first, and do the tasting menu. I have been to a few vegan restaurants, but the raw thing was new to me. I wanted to make sure we got a good tour of the raw food world, so the tasting menu seemed to be our best bet. Bringing my meat-eating parents was definitely a stretch, but I had a feeling that Pure would be able to pull through.
They brought over our first plate, which was the amuse-bouche. An amuse-bouche is a single bite of food that is meant to excite your taste buds, as well as give the chef a chance to show you what he/she is all about. When they dropped these plated in front of us, I could see my parents smirk a little. Uh oh, I though, I hope they serve us a little more than a half-strawberry for the next course, otherwise I’m in for a long night of eye-rolling.
This was a green strawberry with reduced, aged balsamic vinegar. A tiny little explosion of flavor.
After this first little guy, the dishes increased in size and flavor. Any expectations or hesitations I may have had against raw food, flew out the window. Each bite was better than the next, tasting new flavors and textures. We technically had five courses, but with each course, they brought out 3 different dishes (with the exception of the soup course). We would each take a few, savored bites and pass our dishes clockwise.
Salad of Wild Arugula, Petite Winter Greens and Apples with blue cashew cheese, pecan brittle, maple mustard vinaigrette
Salad of Chicories with Bourbon Cask Sour Cherries with salsify bacon, lapsang smoked walnuts, buttermilk dressing
Pretty Flower Salad (I can’t remember what this one was – so I’m renaming it)
Avocado and Sweet Corn Soup with cilantro lime sour cream, pickled radish, chipotle chili
Pear Ravioli with Smoked Long Pepper Mousse with preserved lemon, truffle honey, almonds and shaved perigord
Sunchoke Gratin with Vanilla Poached Pear with black kale pesto, shaved black truffles, truffle hazelnut cream
Natsu Maki of Avocado, Pickled Red Onion and Asparagus with baby heirloom carrots, upland cress, black garlic sauce, wasabi aioli
Cauliflower Cous Cous with Cumin Scented Persimmon Dolmas with pistachio, almond, dried fruits, mint, Moroccan tomato jus
Hen of the Woods Tacos al Pastor with smoked guacamole, hearts of palm, chayote squash, guajillo crema fresca, pickled onions
Lemon Alfredo Noodles with Marinated Portabella Mushrooms sundried tomatoes, wild rapini, black garlic basil reduction
Palate cleanse: blueberry lime soda (Wolfman hand: Dad)
Pumpkin Cheesecake brown ale ice cream, pecan brittle, brown ale caramel
Apple Spice Cake with caramelized apples, date maple caramel, cranberry sherbet
Dark Chocolate Semi Freddo with chocolate cake, passion fruit gelee, coconut cream, passion fruit sorbet
The food was so good that it made me cry… or maybe that was my parents’ birthday card. I blame my weak tear ducts on my Mom.
It was such a lovely meal that exceeded all of my expectations. Thank you Mom and Dad for taking me out on a date. You’re the greatest.
Meat-eaters, vegetarians, vegans and all, please give this restaurant a try. You won’t be disappointed.
