Giving It Away

Still getting acclimated with my breadmaker, I’ve learned that I can barely put a dent in a 2 lb. loaf during the week. My olive and kale-pesto loafs had to find new life as croutons and, given my limited use of croutons, new homes. Determined to not waste them I tripped to an office building in downtown Manhattan on my day off. There, in the foyer amidst baffled 9-5-ers, they were divvied up between fellow veg-foodies FoodSparrow and Em. May my crouton collective enjoy them in salads and direct snacking!It has been quite some time that I have been about the lunch-life of bustling Manhattan. I forgot about the variety of healthy mobile choices catering to the health-conscious crowd. Fresh fruit salad and smoothie trucks were abound, reminiscent of my days in Midtown as an office temp. I sprang for a fruit salad before a very late lunch, gobbling up the ripe and delicious papaya before all.

Lunch was more of dunch at 5 p.m. but a very special one at that. Mixing business with pleasure, I treated my pal Genny for an early birthday meal while researching burgers for my upcoming specialty report. Frank at Kate’s Joint hooked us up with two-for Blue Moons and some tasty vegan burgers: the Broke Back Burger smothered in BBQ sauce and onion rings with a scoop of mashed potatoes and the Chili-Cheese Burger topped with veggie chili and Daiya and a side of fries. Kate’s Joint is one of my old favorites in the East Village; they’ve been doing vegan comfort food right for over a decade now.

While Genny and I were touring the East Village, strolling through Tompkins Square Park and up St. Marks Place, it was crazy to see that many of the tiny vintage shops and neighborhood fixtures were still thriving, stores that I remember spending my Burger King paycheck in back when I was barely 16. For years, this area of Manhattan was all I visited. This brought me back to Whole Earth Bakery, where I tried my first vegan cupcake some 13 years ago. Needless to say, the vegan cupcakes of today have far surpassed my initial taste experience.

But we couldn’t leave a vegan bakery empty-handed. We split a large chocolate chip cookie in honor of the years that have passed since we inhabited the same high school halls (and the same Burger King counter). Whole Earth is makes a variety of vegan treats but they are not decadent. They are wholesome and often without sugar. Though I don’t often have the hankering for these kinds of treats, Whole Earth Bakery deserves a nod for surviving so long on their Boardwalk real estate. Here’s hoping they don’t become a Chipotle any time soon.