August 5, 2019
Summer eats are a celebration of color and freshness. After a long weekend of repeated trips to the shores of the Rockaways, here is what I ate. Above, avocado toast on a thick slice of housemade bread from La Fruteria at the bustling 97th Street concessions on Rockaway Beach. And Read more…
July 27, 2019
Coney Island is one of my favorite NYC places to take pictures. There’s always a lot of color, always a lot of excitement. It is pure summer. To follow, a collection of Coney Island love notes. Friday fireworks from afar. We watch things explode. We watch people watching things explode. Read more…
July 20, 2019
There is no better place than right next to the water. I’ll take any and all kinds of water. Even better is being with friends next to the water. To follow is some of the water I love near loved ones. The Greek‘s backyard in Broad Channel, Queens. Grapes! An Read more…
July 5, 2019
Summer is timeless yet finite. On this summer night, last night, that could have been 50 years ago or 50 years from now, I tried to capture it in pictures: its feel and potency. Because time and place are the richest variables to play within.
June 22, 2019
After months of crafting and preparation the Mermaid Parade was finally here! My first order of business was to finally decide upon a mermaid costume, from head to toe and in-between. And after I decided I wouldn’t wear a wig, I had some last minute hair crafts to make. And Read more…
June 20, 2019
Tomorrow, Summer is here. So the teachers drink. And some will eat my cupcakes: vanilla cupcakes with a pineapple-rum compote and a cream cheese frosting. In their cabana wear. Pretty please with a cherry on top… The last of the dried pineapples I made. Cocktail mermaids A word about edible Read more…
September 1, 2018
It was the last of Coney Island’s Friday Fireworks, the end to a week of spending hours setting up my classroom for Back to School. So I sat with my fellow teacher friend on Brighton Beach to watch the show from afar after we decided we wouldn’t jump in the Read more…
August 22, 2018
It happens every year. Back to school whirlwind and boom!… Christmas music, freezing cold, hibernation. But I’m holding on, despite the growing pile of things to bring to my classroom. Inspired by this, this recipe is so so Summer. It’s also the first dinner I served to another in my Read more…
August 11, 2018
When I visit a place, I look into its history, find its hidden goodies, look at with curiosity and hunger. Doesn’t your home deserve this level of attention to detail, if not more? Determined to not take home for granted and to claim it as all my own, I explored Read more…
Going forth into the ocean is a sensory ritual that has always wrung the stress right out of my cells. Few things are more pleasurable than stepping inside 71% of the world with your little foot. I’m a sea lover… and not a chemical water lover. (I’m talking to you, Read more…
July 29, 2018
This is the time of year where I make a lot of parfaits. For one, it’s berry season and the farmers market has bright, beautiful berries a-plenty that bring those creepy Driscoll’s berries to shame. (Besides its labor practices, their berries pretty much taste like NOTHING.) For two, both my Read more…
June 30, 2018
Nothing says “Summer” like Friday fireworks in Coney Island… Hello, Summer 😘
September 30, 2017
This is kind of how summer is… and kind how the days after summer are, too. They are potent… and in the rear view seem further away when they’re gone. Seeing pictures from the summer once the school year starts is surreal. Time passes with a tremendous stomp. This blog post Read more…
August 29, 2017
There are signs of the end of the summer season that teachers are highly attune to. They’re small things that collectively gain power in quantity. Cicadas, REI’s Labor Day sale, football teasers, Halloween candy, a bunch of meaningless games for The Mets because they didn’t make the play-offs, summer clothes Read more…
July 20, 2017
I can spend many hours in V & T Supermarket in Hempstead, Long Island. Well actually, I can spend many hours in the sauce aisle alone. I stopped in during some errands recently and felt inspired enough to cook a labor-intensive lunch along with a bunch of fresh summer rolls Read more…
July 9, 2017
Lazy summer days–besides a ton of chopping vegetables. Who wants to cook in the summer? Fresh, chilled dinners are best in the heat. Like this salad of jicama, cucumber, tomato, and red pepper. And raw kale with some black beans for protein. I massage ’em with ginger oil, toasted sesame Read more…
June 29, 2017
There are things that go very differently in my head. The first day of my Summer break… In my head I rouse from a peaceful slumber as a stray ray of sunlight gently taps my shoulder. Hovering Blue Jays hold up an impractical, sheer house coat as I saunter out Read more…
July 29, 2016
Without the Empire Pass this year, I am not getting to the beach as often as last year. I am stealing the EZ-pass to go, however. This was some mushroom. I wanted to buy it and sit on it with a hookah. The butterfly bush started getting some action. This Read more…
August 2, 2015
This week’s gorgeous lunch photographed so well. Grilled tempeh, roasted beets, brown & wild rice pilaf with dill, cashew & diced red pepper, sautéed beet greens and Dino kale. Who wants to cook dinner in this sweltering heat? It was time to use my Asian market goodies and make some summer rolls. Inside: avocado, Read more…
August 1, 2015
The coconut oil tells me it’s sweltering out… So happy to report on vegan soft serve in Freeport! Sunrise Vitamin and Health has Tofutti soft serve. Tofutti was been around since my early vegan days in the 90’s. I remember feasting on their now-discontinued Chipwich-like ice cream sandwiches. These early vegan Read more…
July 10, 2015
Another beach day, but this time: a bright blue sky and glorious sun. Summer Sistas! After, a late lunch of summer eats–Vietnamese in Farmingdale, The Rolling Spring Roll. It was such a delight to find a high quality, authentic Vietnamese options on Long Island. It expands the spectrum of cravings Read more…
May 25, 2015
Push aside winter grey, summer is unofficially here. The irises are blooming at the zombie house next door, triggered by nature. There Will Come Soft Rains-style. The backyard, once a bland backdrop along the walk to the back door, invites entry, holds glistening fruits and color in its open palm. Asks Read more…
October 4, 2014
Teacher shoes. Ice cream treat on the Gowanus. [Ample Hills Creamery] Pretzel cone. Dairy-free fudge & Brooklyn. Fried pickles. Summer beer. [Pickle Shack] Herbs and cashew cheese on rustic bread. Avocado green. Vanilla ice cream, macerated strawberry on cookie crumb and basil cream.
August 16, 2014
