February, 2010

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Central Park Picnic: Retrospective

Saturday, February 6th, 2010

My nostalgia for warm weather continues.  Thankfully I’m currently in the Bay Area which is at least thirty degrees warmer than New York (though still thirty degrees shy of my ideal).

Last July, with temperatures delightfully high, I had a date one evening with my friends Adam and Jenny for a New York Philharmonic concert.  We agreed on a picnic before the music started.  Jenny brought a cold bottle of white wine and some fresh apples and plums.  I had thrown together some packages pretzels, dried fruit, etc before leaving home.

My random assortment was immediately overlooked upon seeing Adam’s contributions.  Homemade eggplant carbonata.  Heirloom tomatoes with garlic to top homemade olive oiled herbed crostini.  A cheese plate assembled by the fromage section of Whole Foods.  Something salmon, I think.  Several other things I am forgetting.

It was wonderful.  I highly recommend being friends with Adam.  (And Jenny, the wine was classic.)

Next time I will up my game!

central park nyc

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Author of The Green Year Valentine’s Day Tips

Saturday, February 6th, 2010

The Green Year: 365 Small Things You Can Do to Make a Big Difference is a cool book by Jodi Helmer filled with tips on how simple things can add up to benefit the Earth.

Believe it or not (husbands, boyfriends, men, are you reading?) Valentine’s Day is coming right up.

Jodi has some ideas for how we can add some green to the holiday:

* Order organic roses for your Valentine. Conventional roses are sprayed with chemicals to kill insects and mildew and are dunked in preservatives to keep them from rotting before they’re shipped. Organic roses are grown without pesticides or preservatives.

* Surprise your Valentine with a candlelit dinner. Turning the lights out isn’t just romantic, it saves energy. To make the evening even more eco-friendly, opt for soy candles over candles made from paraffin. Soy candles are made from natural ingredients, last longer than paraffin candles and reduce the amount of soot released into the air by 90 percent.

* Toast your Valentine with organic wine. Organic wines are made with grapes that have not been sprayed with pesticides and contain no added sulfites (acids that occur naturally in most wines but are often added as preservatives). Organic wines from local growers are the most environmentally-friendly choice because they have not been shipped long distances.

* Consider buying a piece of estate jewelry for your Valentine. The pieces are more unique than the jewelry sold in big box stores and estate jewelry is the ultimate in reducing, reusing and recycling.

Boyfriends, husbands, crushes- we promise, even though we read this too we will be act totally surprised when you do these things for us!

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Fondue in Vermont Last Autumn

Friday, February 5th, 2010

Lately I’ve been missing being outside.  Scurrying among buildings and subway stations in the cold does not count.

So this photograph is a lovely escape.  I took it in September when we were in southern Vermont, visiting our good friends Emily and Ellen who had moved there from New York City two months prior.

The weekend was packed with beautiful sites, good conversation and delicious eats- including this table of appetizers one evening before dinner.  Ridiculously rich gouda fondue, homemade croutons, organic apple slices from the orchard we’d visited that morning, green olives, and a full-bodied red wine.

All this we enjoyed around a fire in their backyard as their labradoodle, Scout, begged for samples.  Aaaahh.

These days I’ve nearly forgotten what it’s like for daylight to stay past 5pm.

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Wolfgang Chocolate Fruit Candies

Monday, February 1st, 2010

I have to be honest.  I’m not usually the biggest fan of cordial-like chocolates.  Bad memories from low-quality chocolate samplers from my youth, perhaps?

Still, I could pass up the chance to try some fruit-centered dark chocolates from Wolfgang, thanks to Angela and her offer of samples.  100% All-natural fruit and fruit juice?  Preservative and trans-fat free?  Ok!

I let them sit on the counter for a few days until one evening, while watching Mad Men, I decided to give one a try.  I selected the blueberry flavor.  WOAH- delicious!  I reached for another:  raspberry.  Incredible!  Alright, better try the final flavor, cranberry, to compare while the others are still fresh on the taste buds.  Amazing!  The fillings are sweet without being cloying, and there are noticeable pieces of real fruit.

Two other cool things about these Wolfgang fruit chocolates:  they’re pretty healthy (especially the blueberry which is just 80 calories for two) and they’re not expensive ($5.89 for baskets of about 5 ounces).

Buy them online or at many Whole Foods, and discover a kind of chocolate you may have never known could be so tasty!

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