The Harvest!

We enjoyed delicious strawberry treats all week after our strawberry picking adventure last weekend. We started out with the huge bowl above. I think it was about 4-5 pounds of berries. Our first use was to have berries on our lunch salads the day after picking. This salad also has roasted chickpeas on it which I would highly recommend. I made them in the toaster oven!

Roasted Chickpeas
1 can Chickpeas/Garbanzo Beans drained and rinsed
1 T. Oil
1 t. Nutritional Yeast (gives them a slightly cheesy taste)
1 t. Salt

Toss chickpeas with oil, salt, and nutritional yeast. Spread out into a single layer on a backing sheet and cook at 350 degrees for 30min or until golden. Toss once while cooking. (I used a little cooking spray instead of oil and they were still great with very little added fat). They come out chewy on the outside and soft on the inside. Yum!
Then I threw together a strawberry tart for my birthday cake at home. This recipe was super easy but so delicious! It comes from Martha Stewart's website.

Strawberry Tart

Crust:
1 1/4 C. Flour
1/2 C. Butter (I used Earth Balance)
1/3 C. Sugar
1/4 t. Salt

Put all in a food processor and pulse until moist crumbs form. Press into a 9" tart pan using floured fingers and a floured measuring cup to help press the crumbs into a smooth crust. Put in the freezer to firm up for 10min. Poke with a fork all over and bake in a 350 degree oven for 10-15 min pressing out any bubbles that form with a spoon if necessary. Cool completely. (I made my crust the day before I made the tart)

Filling:
8oz package of cream cheese (or vegan cream cheese) softened
1/4 C. sugar

Mix together in a bowl until smooth and then spread evenly into the cooled tart shell.

Topping:
1 1/2-2 pounds of hulled and halved strawberries (enough to cover the surface of the tart)
1/4 C. seedless currant jelly (I used strawberry)

Starting at the edge place strawberry halves on top of the tart in a spiral pattern. Warm the jelly in a saucepan to liquefy and then brush it over the surface of the tart. Allow to set for 20min and then refrigerate for 1 hour (up to 6 hours). Remove from pan just before serving.
Next we made strawberry freezer jam. This was a lot of fun for us. We used the recipe that came on the package of fruit pectin we used. It made about 6 cups. Really tasty and we were able to control the amount of sugar (1 cup to 4 cups of berries) so it isn't too sweet. We are planning to make some more when our fruit CSA starts in July. Can't wait!

Lastly I made Strawberry Margaritas. They were also really easy and from Martha's website:

1 cup frozen whole strawberries
6 tablespoons tequila
1/4 cup frozen limeade concentrate
2 tablespoons triple sec
2 cups crushed ice

Place everything but ice in the jar of a blender. Blend until all ingredients are thoroughly combined. Add ice and blend until liquid is smooth. Serve immediately in chilled glasses. This was a really yummy recipe!

The strawberries didn't last long with so many wonderful ways to prepare them (not including the ones we ate plain!). There are a small number left in the freezer for an undetermined special use. And we still aren't tired of strawberries!

Birthday/Summer Fun Week 3

I am pleased to report that I had a great birthday. The DMV went well but was very anticlimactic. They only gave me a temporary paper license. My new card is coming in the mail so I have no idea how the photo turned out. I hope it isn't awful.

Then at work my coworkers had decorated my cubicle with happy birthday banners, a couple gifts, and cake for the whole lab. Yum, strawberry shortcake!

Then it was off to Central Park. I stopped at the grocery store for some dinner munchies and then made my way to the great lawn. Only my cell phone wouldn't work once I got there and I couldn't find my group anywhere! I searched and searched and texted (which went through but REALLY slowly) until I stumbled onto Greg. I was almost ready to give up and eat the food in my bag and sit alone! I t was mostly our home group from church and a couple of them had gone early to secure a place for us so we had good seats in the first 1/3 of the lawn. As you can see there were a lot of people. This is the view from our seats toward the stage where the musicians sat. And here is the view looking behind us to the rest of the great lawn (it's almost 7 blocks long full of people!). There were more than 60,000 people there. They let us vote by text message for the encore (Hendrix's Purple Haze won out over Flight of the Bumble Bee) and 60,000 people had voted so I am sure there were a lot more than that since no one in our group voted and there were about 11 of us. Anyway, the music was great, the snacks were great, and the group even brought me another cake! It too was great. The evening ended perfectly with fireworks. I had a really wonderful time and I don't usually enjoy events like this where there is such a huge crowd but I would highly recommend you locals check it out. There are more performances coming. Take a sweater because it gets chilly late in the evening and a candle or camp light would be a good idea too because once the sun sets you can't see much.
Overall it was a perfect birthday! I hope you have enjoyed daily posts over the last 2 weeks. I am very proud of myself for keeping on top of it. I will be working all weekend on a grant proposal so the blog will return on Monday with some great strawberry recipes to share and hopefully at least one post about more summer fun week 3 if I can manage to sneak something in around work. Have a great weekend!

Beach time

In addition to strawberry picking last Saturday we looked up public beaches near the farm and decided to go to the Iron Pier Park to spend some time on the Long Island Sound to relax and cool off. It was a little disappointing for me because the beach was very rocky and impossible to walk on with bare feet. Walking on the beach barefoot is really my favorite part. The water was also pretty cold so wading out very far was tough but the cool water was refreshing after sweating it out in a strawberry field. It reminded me a bit of the beaches in Washington, rocky and cold. Next time we will go back to the beach we visited on our Hampton's trip. Much nicer conditions! Never the less it was nice to sit and relax with Greg and enjoy the sun and the waves. There was plenty of rock throwing, shell collecting and even some baseball using drift wood and rocks. And my favorite part, lots of chatting about the future. After the beach we headed home and stopped at the fabric store and for dinner at Don Juan's in Wesbury NY for Mexican food and ice cold margaritas. It was a great way to spend a hot sunny day.

Summer Fun Week 2

Last weekend we took a trip to our organic farm, the one that supplies our CSA for some strawberry picking. The farm is located on the north fork of Long Island about 2 hours from our house so we made a day of it. We got to the farm at about 2pm after stopping for lunch and it was pretty hot out. We had a good time picking 4 quarts of strawberries. Greg probably ate more than he picked but who can blame him. The strawberries, fresh off the vine and gently warmed by the sun practically exploded in our mouths in sweetness. I have delicious plans for these berries. The ones that made it home in the car and didn't get eaten that is!

Happy Birthday to Me!

Today I am going to the DMV to get a new drivers license. I could have renewed by mail but I wanted a new picture on my card. Is that too vane? I'll let you know how it goes. Could be good or could be a disaster like my 25th birthday where my eyes were closed in the picture and I cried at the DMV when they wouldn't re-shoot it.

Then tonight we are meeting our home group in Central Park for Philharmonic in the Park and cake of course. I have never been so it should be fun. And since today is my 32nd birthday and I thought in keeping with last year I would list 32 things I am totally loving right now (in no particular order):
1. Turning up the air conditioner and then pulling on the comforter (drives Greg crazy!)
2. My shorter commute to work from Queens
3. Fresh fruit, especially Bartlet pears
4. New haircuts
5. Green smoothies (obviously!)
6. Kitchen gadgets (still love my stick blender and toaster oven)
7. Having a car to get out of the city on the weekends
8. Greg who totally and completely gets me
9. Watching So You Think You Can Dance on my big TV
10. Taking photos anywhere with my little Elph which is always in my purse
11. Hot showers in the summer
12. Iced decaf coffee drinks
13. A purse for every mood and every outfit
14. Sleeping in after Greg gets up for work
15. My blackberry to check email anywhere
16. Walking past the Empire State Building twice a day and especially seeing what new color lites it up every night.
17. Eating out in the neighborhood especially at Chips
18. Surprised by new veggies each week in our CSA box
19. Good smelling shampoo (right now it's tutti fruiti)
20. Any spare moments I can get for crafting
21. Watching movies on the treadmill in installments
22. Fun gift wrap and tissue paper
23. Interesting necklaces
24. Quiet time alone each morning
25. Multi-colored markers in my journal
26. Sunny days with low humidity
27. Daydreaming
28. A good afternoon nap
29. Gap chapstick in yummy flavors
30. Banandy (blended frozen bananas-yum!)
31. A warm sweater in a cold theater
32. Watching TV in bed

NYC Monuments

Greg’s dad was in town at the beginning of the month for just a day and half on his way from one work meeting in Boston to another one in DC. Unfortunately I came off of my busy work month with a terrible migraine. I ended up sleeping most of the day on the Saturday of his visit because my migraine meds just weren’t working. Greg tried to take him to Shakespeare in the park but the play got rained out. On Sunday I was feeling better so we went down to Battery Park City where Dave was staying at the Embassy Suites and looked around a little. We walked along the river and stumbled onto some interesting things. First was the Irish Hunger Memorial. It commemorates the 1.5 million Irish lost during the famines from 1845-1852 as well as brings awareness to current hunger issues in the world today. It includes a half acre of land elevated above the ground with a path that winds up and around through an authentic famine era cottage as well as wildflowers and plants native to Ireland, and stones carved with the names of all the counties in Ireland. At the top of the memorial you are 25 feet in the air and have a nice view of the river and the statue of liberty in the distance. A nice little park in the middle of the city that I never knew existed.We also found the NYPD memorial next to a small marina (with some not so small yachts parked there!). We couldn't figure out how the names worked on this one. There were names and dates in what seemed like random order. It has a nice tranquil pool next to it. Lastly we stumbled onto this mosaic plaza before turning and walking away from the water. Not a memorial but still an interesting find in the middle of the city. From there we went over to the site of the World Trade Center. It is being rebuilt so it is really just a huge construction area right now.They make it very difficult to see inside so it really wasn’t very moving or anything. I had not been down to the site before this trip. From there we stopped for lunch and then had to take Dave to the station to catch his train. It was nice having him in town for quick visit. I just wish I had been feeling better so I could have enjoy it more.

It’s all in the details

While working on my closets I did a few small things that have made a huge difference. It really is all about the details! Next to the treadmill I hung 3 3M hooks to hold our heart rate monitor, headphones, and my warm-up jacket. These things used to be hung all over the machine and would often fall down while walking. What a difference to have them all hanging in a handy location out of the way but still accessible. (I also cleaned the treadmill really well!)

Next was the hall closet again. I keep a bag of shopping sacks in there for 2^nd floor garbage liners but that bag ends up getting tossed around when trying to find stuff and the bags inside fall out. I hung a hook on the wall in there to keep them off the floor and secured in one place. Love it! I also put up a hook for my feather duster to keep it out of the way. It had been crushed by the bucket at some point when everything was jumbled in the bottom and lost some feathers (not in the photo but still great!).

It is hard to see but I had some spare bookends from IKEA (I think they cost about $2) for Billy bookcases that I put on the shelf to hold the linens in place so they don’t get all jumbled. Works great!

***PRODUCT NOTE: I love 3M hooks. I use them all the time during the holidays to hang decorations without leaving holes or marks but they are so good for other things too. I keep a big bag of miscellaneous sizes and styles in the closet for little moments like these. They are great for non-permanent solutions (helpful for renters) as well as for trying out an idea before getting out the hammer. This way you can try a hook to see if it will really work for you and is in the right location before investing in a nicer hook or making any holes. I can’t say enough about these gems. They are all over my house!

Closets

As I mentioned before, I took a week off at the beginning of June to relax a little at home. I had a lot of plans and projects for my time off but most of that fell to the wayside except for a few things. I really wanted to get a couple of my closets in order and managed to do it. First was the bedroom. So crammed full I couldn’t see the clothes in the back and had no idea what was even in there. I started by pulling everything out of the closet to dust and vacuum it out. Then I pulled all winter clothes from the pile and put them into storage under the bed and up in the closet. After that I went through each article of clothing looking for stains, damage and fit (for my stuff), weeding out clothes I no longer liked or used (like skirts from BSF!) and hung everything back in order by article type and then by color (ROYGBIV).(Greg's were not hung in color order because I know he will never maintain it. It just doesn't matter to him that much. He has more items than this but a lot of stuff needed to hit the laundry first! I am glad I checked.) This was really great because I could see instantly which colors were underrepresented in my wardrobe. Yellow, orange, purple and greens in my case. I went to the outlet mall with the girls from work the next day and found some cute pieces that fit into these color ranges instead of buying more black, brown and gray which I apparently love according to my closet! I then moved on to the dressers and even my jewelry box decluttering and getting everything in order. It feels so nice to open my closet now and be able to step in and think, “what color do I want to wear today?”. Greg even likes that all his short sleeve shirts are hung together, long sleeves together, etc. No photos of my underwear drawer but I put some small boxes inside to keep the different groups of items separate and it also looks really nice and organized and I can find everything really easily. The best part is that it makes it really easy to pick out my clothes the night before to streamline my morning routine.

The other closet I really needed to tackle was the upstairs hall closet. Since we moved in it has been a jumble of stuff. I had things kind of organized but the boxes I used in the old apartment were the wrong size for this place and weren’t really working for me. I bought new containers ages ago but never had the time to work on it. I forgot to take a before picture but I emptied the entire contents onto the office floor and began sorting into my different containers marked travel, medicines, refills/new items, household, etc. Then I made cute labels for the boxes and re stacked them on the shelves. The other thing that made a huge difference was going through all the linens. I had 3 sets of towels from 3 apartments in 3 colors, multiple odd blankets and duvets, and more. I cut that way down to what we really used and donated the rest. Now everything fits neatly on the shelves and floor is cleared out for just a few items instead of a mountain of old towels that constantly tipped over. I picked up a canvas basket for the blankets that are stacked on the floor in the picture making the closet look even better. The basket has a little window in the front where I slipped in a matching card labeled "blankets". Now the closet it totally usable again. I love it.

This just in!

First of all, the new hair. The hot hot hot weather here prompted me to take drastic action Tuesday to cut my hair off (and get some summer highlights). I desperately wanted the hair off my neck and not just up in a pony tail for 3 months. I love the way it turned out thanks to Chie my awesome hairdresser. I took in a sort of boring photo I had found to show her the length and she totally rocked it. This the best picture I could take of myself at my desk so I hope you can get a good sense of it. I feel much more spunky with the new do.

Second of all, I received notice yesterday that I have been accepted to the Stern part-time MBA program at NYU for the fall! Of the 2 programs I applied for this was my first choice, though I didn't have high hopes that I could get in. I knew I was a good applicant but not a great applicant and it is a very competitive program. But God can work with a bad GPA, non-ivy league schools, and an alright GMAT score to accomplish his purpose! I am still very much in shock from the news. I am still waiting for my official application package to arrive with all the details I need to fulfill over the summer. This news makes it even more important for me to enjoy a relaxing summer and spend as much time with Greg as possible before the fall.

Thanks to everyone who was praying for me during my test time and through my application process. On a funny note about 5 min after I got the news from Stern I received notice from Wagner that my application was incomplete and not forwarded to the admissions committee because my UW transcript did not arrive in time. Talk about clear direction! My response "who cares, I'm going to Stern!".

Special Ice Cream Note

I just had to post a special note about the ice cream in yesterday's post! We tried this new style of non-dairy ice cream on Saturday which was AMAZING. It is made with coconut milk instead of soy milk which produces a rich and creaming and very ice cream like substance. It does have a distinct coconut flavor but I thought it was to die for. Greg hates coconut flavored sweets but he thought it was fabulous too. It has a mellow coconut flavor like you would have in a curry and not like you would find in a coconut cake or coconut filled chocolate. We had vanilla flavor with our strawberry cake but will be trying the chocolate variety next time we are at the store. If you see this at your store, give it a try!

As for the toaster oven, so far so good. The kitchen seemed to stay fairly cool while the cake baked. At least cool enough that the air conditioner could keep up. I think it is a keeper (much to Greg's dismay!).

Newest Toy

We have been talking a lot about how to keep up our home cooking over the summer. It gets so hot it is impossible to use the oven and even stove cooking is tough. We have an air conditioner in the kitchen so some cooking is manageable. I decided to try getting a toaster oven. My friends who have them swear by and love them. Greg of course rolled his eyes when he saw that I had purchased yet another appliance but I found a space for it and gave it a try on Saturday night. My hope is that I can toast, bake and broil without heating up the entire kitchen. My first test was strawberry cake. We joined a local CSA in our neighborhood. Community Supported Agriculture, in case you are not aware, is when you buy a share in a local farm (ours is an organic farm on the North Fork of Long Island) and then pick up your dividends weekly in your neighborhood. It is kind of cool because the share fluctuates with the weather, farm conditions (like pests) and with what is in season. For instance this is only our 2^nd week and because of the cool spring we had our shares have been small in the beginning. Then this week we got the world’s smallest head of broccoli because of an outbreak of root maggots that killed part of the crop. No worries because we got lots of other things. We were supposed to get rhubarb this week and I was going to make rhubarb cake but instead we got strawberries. I was bummed but just subbed them in for the rhubarb and it turned out really fabulous. Here is the super easy recipe:

Rhubarb Cake

4 cups of Rhubarb cut into ½” pieces
¾ cup sugar
1 cup flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp salt
½ cup butter
1 tsp vanilla
¼ tsp almond extract
2 eggs
1/3 cup milk

Preheat oven to 375F. Mix the rhubarb and sugar and set aside. Mix flour, baking powder, and salt and set aside. Cream the butter, add the wet ingredients, and then add the flour mixture. Grease a 9x9 pan and put the rhubarb/sugar on the bottom, then add the batter on top. Bake for 35 minutes or until golden.

(I subbed strawberries, Earth Balance Margarine, Bob’s Red Mill egg replacer, and soy milk and the cake turned out great and vegan.)

I cut the recipe in half to fit into 2 ramekins and slid them into the toaster oven, set the timer and walked away to enjoy a movie. They baked up perfectly and we enjoyed them with some non-dairy ice cream. I can’t wait until this Thursday when we should finally get some Rhubarb in our CSA so that I can try the cake again as it was meant to be.

Summer Fun

This summer Greg and I have committed to doing more fun things together around the city. We are trying to do one weeknight activity and one weekend activity. This week was our first real attempt at this new plan and it went great. We met with our small group in Bryant Park this week for a picnic dinner on Wed. I had never actually been there before (this is a popular park and sight of fashion week if you watch Project Runway or follow fashion). Then on Friday we went out to a movie. We saw You Don’t Mess with the Zohan. It was about what you would expect from an Adam Sandler movie, lots of potty humor but I barely noticed because the movie theater’s air conditioning went out. As the movie went on we got hotter and hotter and kept asking ourselves, should we stay or go. It was so distracting and uncomfortable that when the movie ended and people were literally running out of the theater to get some air we went and asked for a refund. I would say the movie was worth about $0, so we got our monies worth. I’d give it 2 stars

This weekend we fared better. We went to a church picnic on Roosevelt Island and got to see some of our friends we don’t run into very often. Then the rain started and kept on going into the night. We opted for movies at home. One of which was Live Free or Die Hard. I would give this one 4 stars. It was right in line with the Die Hard series and fairly entertaining (I like Die Hard movies). We had other fun plans which we postponed till Sunday because of the rain. We hit the Renegade Craft Fair again this year and found lots of fun things and some good craft ideas. Then we went to PS1, which is part of MoMA, to see a show of contemporary Finnish art. I really liked this one particular exhibit which was clothing made form feathers, leaves and bark. There were some shoes made from pussy willows that I especially liked. They were still working on the annual big outdoor installation that will be open in the evenings this summer. Not sure yet what they are going for but it looks interesting. We had dinner in the café before heading to church. All in all it was a great first week of summer fun.