Spring Cleaning Tidbits, Part II (Photo version)

The Valentina exhibit at the Museum of the City of New York. I’ve always found fashion to be the most trivial of the arts… but then again I’ve been wearing the same clothes and shoes for at least ten years. Had I been amongst New York’s high society in the 1940’s, I may of worn Valentina, who proclaimed “simplicity survives the changes of fashion”.

Also in the Museum of the City of New York was a thoroughly thought-provoking exhibit on the city’s PlaNYC2030. The plan, announced on Earth Day in 2007, is a comprehensive means to making New York City greener by 2030. The exhibit is well worth the trip to the museum alone and left me with a sense of hope. Included within were a few notebooks where visitors were able to share their own suggestions for a more sustainable life in the concrete jungle. There were some vegetarian and vegan shout-outs, which were great to see, as well as countless high school doodlings, tags and proclamations of B.F.F.ness, etc.

And again in the Museum of the City of New York, an exhibit of the history of toys! The museum also included a powerful exhibit on the decline and fall of the South Bronx in the early eighties, the history of New York City ports and commerce and an amazing multimedia portrait of New York tracking the growth of New York from native settlement to one of the greatest city in the world.

My marshmallow sundae with chocolate and vanilla cake batter swirl soft serve from Lula’s Sweet Apothecary. Although I’m thankful this little vegan ice cream shoppe exists, it has never really knocked my socks off. But I’m one who’s always made my own delicious ice cream concoctions… with store bought Ricemellow, Soyatoo and Sprinkelz. And these are the products Lula uses, too. Their ice creams are indeed tasty but, once one has tried the $15 classic sundae from Pure Food and Wine or the scrumdiliumptious Organic Nectar’s gelatos, you know how decadently creamy and rich a cold vegan treat can be!

Ye olde Intestine Scraper muffins! How do you eat a ½ cup of Miller’s Bran easily? You make sure its mixed in some mashed banana, Earth Balance, sugar, vanilla, whole wheat flour, baking powder, baking soda and cinnamon. These hearty yet fluffy muffins are the perfect mid-morning snack. Spring cleaning, yes indeed!

With winter gone, the need for a stew diminishes. But I recently scored a gorgeous vintage crock pot from a thrift store in Eastern Long Island and wanted to break it in. I never used a slow cooker before and felt a bit uneasy falling asleep while my stew cooked. I feared electrical issues and faulty wiring of my used and untested appliance may cause a fire! The good news is my apartment is intact; the bad news is my stew was a total bomb. Both aesthetically and taste-wise it was disgusting! Thanks to my watery and overly bouillon-ed broth. I couldn’t even bring myself to snap a photo of my bloated seitan strips, grey and oozing unnaturally yellow-green fluids.

Another recipe I seem to be always whipping up: chocolate chip cookies! This time for a small get-together of old friends. When I was a new vegan about 12 or 13 years ago (I hate that I don’t know the date of my veganniversary.) I used to make batches of vegan chocolate chip cookies in my parents’ kitchen. Back then there weren’t any packaged cookies that were satisfying (or easily accessible) to me. I baked big batches of cookies out of necessity. It is nice to be offering my cookies, again, to the same friends who tasted those old white flour-heavy recipes of my yesteryear.

I know I am a very critical person. To borrow from Sextrology, the sillily-named book with its eerily accurate depiction of the Libra woman, and the Make up‘s Live at the Cold Rice opener: here comes the judge. Naturally, regarding vegan eats and vegan eateries– a subject so dear to my heart– I have lofty expectations. I am happy to say that Brooklyn’s Boneshakers has consistently wow-ed me with each visit. The cafe has an amazing selection of imaginatively tasty sandwiches and vegan baked goods. Pictured here is their SAG Sandwich, faux egg and cheese (Teese, I believe) on a kaiser roll, and their rosemary, sage and vanilla cupcake! Boneshakers is vegan sandwich perfection. My only suggestion would be that they should get some tasty sides to supplement their delicious sandwiches and accept plastic. But then, if they did this, I’d take up too much room in there. You know, with my cot set up and all.

An aside: How delicious are oranges right now? Such an interesting fruit with its delicate packaging of orange tubules.