The Staff of Life

For the past two years I have made yearbooks to celebrate the turning of time’s speedometer. Fiddling with Blurb‘s bookmaking software in December, I was forced to meditate on just how much I could fill in a week, a month, a year. In 2009, the me in January was lifetimes away from who I became 11 short months later. As I look through 2010’s pictures, thus far, I will have significantly less material in which to draw wisdom from. My pictures are mostly of food. Perhaps the path of the who and the what and the where behind their macro-views will reveal a bit of discovery; but for now, let’s just look at the food.

I tried VeganDad‘s southern-style BBQ tofu sandwich. It didn’t work out all that great as I am often a bit too scatterbrain to handle multi-tasking in cooking. (This is why I prefer the precision and singular flow of baking.) 

Bone Shakers. I kinda go nuts about this place. I’ve said it at least twenty times before (Okay, 10 times) and I’ll say it again: I love Bone Shakers. Where else can you get a vegan deli “egg” sandwich with cheese and sausage for like $5? Wrapped in waxed paper on a soft roll, it sits on your lap patiently on the BQE merge to the LIE.  

Amy’s. You know her; you kinda dig her line of frozen foods, especially if you’re in a bind. They’re everywhere! Amy makes the best frozen vegan burger, in my humble opinion. And it’s easy to dress ’em up with fresh accompaniments so it seems a little less like a frozen endeavor.

From Amy’s to Olga’s on Smith. Little did I know there was a nice Kosher sandwich shop on Smith street mere blocks from my job. When a colleague told me she had stumbled into the place and heard it was vegan, I was a bit skeptical. I know about every vegan place in New York City, thank you very much! But it was true. The Kosher sandwich shop has a section of vegan panini and I plan to try each one. Starting with the hearts of palm panini (below)… very yum.

In my Sunday pantry raid, I had to seriously put some currants into action. I threw together some red lentils, chick peas, currants and golden raisins with a heavy douse of tamarind concentrate for a Middle-eastern medley of waste-not. Up next, how to use three tubs of tofu by their expiration date.