Hey Berries!

Last week, I was thrilled to find out that the raspberry bush in our backyard was thriving. seriously thriving. like, in big ways.

foraging

I took some time off work for the sake of my sanity….and my feet.

So what’s a girl to do?

Well I just bought these wonderful new running shoes, yes I know they look like aqua socks but fashion wasn’t really the goal here. If you’re interested, they’re made by merell & they are those new fangled “barefoot” shoes. so uh check em out if that sort of thing floats your boat. if not, let us move on…

I like to take said shoes and run/walk across the wonderful mid hudson walking bridge,

Check out the beautiful view from the bridge

Last week as I was leaving the trail I saw some berries….

I knew they weren’t blackberries but they looked edible, so I decided to call them black raspberries and start snacking.

Very tasty! A woman walking past told me that they call them black caps(which apparently is a cute nickname for black raspberries) and they were definitely edible and delicious. phew no poisonous berries today

Schkoool

The campus was looking particularly lovely today, lots of blue and green

Here is my prehistoric dorm to the right, Roth hall aka 90% of the campus/school in the back left, and lake velouté (velouté is a light stock thickened with a light roux, cute name for a lake right?) to the left

here’s my walk to the car. so lush, believe it or not I even saw fireflies ‘round these parts the other night. yah, I freaked out. they are the coolest little bugs around and I haven’t seen them since I went to summer camp in Georgia many moons ago.

& here is one of the two entrances to the campus. 

That my friend is a bit of the Culinary Institute of America, lookin pretttttty fiiiiine this time of year if I do say so myself.

strawberry season

my school plants tons of strawberries on campus, riiiiight by the rec center, I’m pretty sure they are up for grabs….so i’m gonna go pick em all!

I’m patiently awaiting the blackberries so I can make the best blackberry preserves ever but the strawberries I’ll just eat as is, I think strawberries are really the best when they are fresh and raw, jam just doesn’t do it for me.

I still love Brooklyn

I’m really into Brooklyn, it’s just so dang cute. I went into the city last weekend to visit my wonderful mum! We went to Brooklyn for the day cuz I haaaad to show her the Brooklyn Flea. 

Here are some bits and pieces from the weekend:

cute sign outside of Traif, funny name

adorable jam, packaged so beautifully by Maiden Preserves The lady at the stand told us she mixes the orange & bourbon jam with bitters, bourbon & sparkling water for a tasty drink…sounds so good!

Brooklyn Brewery

This lox toast was delish & at such a cute stand, they used fresh smoked salmon, topped it with a aioli, black pepper, and scallions. mmmm great snack

raw chocolate bars?

home brewing kit from the Brooklyn Brew Shop. yes, I want one!

crispy porchetta, the smell was ridiculous. everyone, go roast pork!

Sandwich from Saltie, I’ve been dying to try a sammy from this place, so it was a convenient/exciting surprise to see that they had a stand setup

I got the Romaine Dinghy, it obviously had romaine….but also radishes, homemade mayo & anchovies on focaccia

uhhh is there a lot of surfing going on around Brooklyn? either way, I truly love the name of this shop!

Blood Orange glazed donut from Dough

The cutest frozen chocolate banana cart! Anyone want to start a stand/food cart with me in Brooklyn? I’ve been brainstorming

and last but not least, redefining BYOB: Bring your old Books!

memorial day bbq

Well, I was in the Boston area for the weekend and had the pleasure of attending a true memorial day bbq!



It was such a great spread: fresh veggies, with an array of dips including an outstanding red pepper/eggplant dip by Sue (that I need to get the recipe for), some smoked blue fish, burgers, franks, delicious salsa with beans, corn & cilantro, summer rolls with avocado & some sort of great green dip, yummy marinated cucumbers, potato salad, snap peas & corn…so good. There was so much & it was all deeeelicious.



We/mostly my wonderful Aunt Ellen made a mixed green salad with strawberries, goat cheese, dried blueberries & candied pecans (a great summer staple)…I helped out with some crispy croutons made with leftover bread.




and for dessert…

peggy made her famous chocolate chip cookies which I failed to take a picture of, Marji made cupcakes with some of the best frosting I have ever tasted  (I think frosting just tastes better when its pink, thoughts?) and Susan made these adorable ice cream sandwiches

Borough Hopping

First we went to the Brooklyn Flea (sidenote: i really love their sight design, the font & those cute flea markety drawings are great)

Porchetta had a little stand, but they ran out, made for a great picture though!



We found this stand and got grilled mahi mahi tacos. mmm

check out that great hot sauce line up too! valentina and tapatio…not too shabby



I thought this stand looked pretty darn cute too



I spotted this on our walk over, so sweet



Aubrey spotted Oasis so we had to stop in for a snack. such crispy falafel, but what we really came for were all the salads and the israeli pickles for me.



and we saw a fella painting this back in the village



Later we cooked a simple dinner for my cousin in Queens. no pictures though….

outdoor kitchen

yanno I just don’t think I’d mind working in this kitchen more often…