May 9-10, 2009

Yesterday was not a great day. Long story short, the Very Important Document that I thought would for sure arrive in the mail either Friday or Saturday, and which needed to go back into the mail with some other Very Important Documents by yesterday at the latest, well it did not arrive. So, between the time the mail came (3) and the time that the 24-hour post office sends out its last Saturday mail (7), I had to email every lawyer-type person I know in NYC (it's a pretty short list, surprisingly) and beg them to meet me someplace so they could sign my stuff in place of the person whose mail hadn't arrived. The backup plan being to hop on a train today to Boston so I could hand-deliver my stuff to the state courthouse on Monday when it's absolutely-no-exceptions due.

Pretty stupid, but the whole process has been a bit confusing, and I wasn't even able to do it until kind of late in the game because I was waiting for crucial test scores and trying to prepare a contingency plan in case I failed this test and wasn't able to take the MA bar exam this year. Thankfully, I did pass, and even more thankfully, I located my friend's brother and was able to get him to endorse my application. And I made it to the post office with an hour to spare. Phew!

So, needless to say, following this debacle and a trip to the very beautiful 24 hour post office by Penn Station, I had to go have a martini or three. I ended up at my best guy friend's place out in Brooklyn, playing cheesy old computer games, throwing back scrumptious vodka martinis like it was my job, and chowing on some of the worst Chinese food available. I really wish I had a photo of that -- I've been to this place several times and it is really a "so bad it's good" situation. No matter what you order, it comes with the same sauce! Really. So far I've had broccoli with garlic sauce, cold sesame noodles, and General Tso's tofu, and all of them have this bright red sweet and sour slightly spicy sauce that probably is ordered pre-made in a 10-gallon bucket.


Here's the first, less-crazy half of yesterday, in food photos.

For breakfast, some pineapple flavor coconut water. This was super-rich with pineapple and coconut puree that I had to kind of scrape off the inside of the container and mix into my drink. Definitely better than the (already pretty good) standard regular coconut water, very refreshing. I got a couple of these on sale at the old health food store the other day.






And then, you know I (with a little help from a roommate and another friend) polished off that pizza. When coffee was ready, I had that with a little leftover pizza heated up in the toaster oven. There were a few doughy spots when I first made the pizza, so toasting the leftover slices definitely improved the crust at those parts in the middle that weren't already crispy.

And there in the photos is also the excellent Vegan with a Vengeance, complete with a zillion post it flags of all the recipes I want to make. I'm trying something new from VWAV either tonight or tomorrow, which I'm pretty stoked about.


And here is the last of the pizza, but it definitely will be making another appearance sometime soon. I love the color combo of the red peppers and red onions, and they tasted great together too, very sweet and mild. Even without cooking them first they got pretty soft. One of my pet peeves is definitely when you order a dish at a restaurant and the onions aren't cooked through. Thai restaurants, I am looking at you!







That's all the photos from yesterday, since sadly I didn't think to bring my camera (or any homework, or water or other essentials) when I left the house in late afternoon.

This morning, I lamented the fact that I still hadn't gone grocery shopping so didn't have ANY of my favorite breakfast things. I was hungry for more than just coconut water, so I munched on a sandwich thin and a vanilla soy yogurt while I caught up on emails and watched my Sunday morning online TV show (Brunch with Bridget).




Then -- glorious! I did grocery shopping. It is such a gorgeous day out so I'm glad I made it out there, though I kind of forgot to go check out the farmer's market. I have no idea if local asparagus and berries are here yet but maybe I'll find out Thursday when the farmer's market returns.

Here's a photo of my grocery store haul: spinach, black-eyed peas, asparagus, tomatoes, alfalfa sprouts, broccoli, fresh oregano, hummus, pink lady apples, sundried tomatoes, Italian parsley, and a prepared tofu salad with curry and chickpeas for lunch. These tofu salads (there are like 20 different varieties) are the best thing about my local grocery store. That and the fact that it's open 24 hours.


And here is a (not authorized by the roommate) photo of my fridge. Note that my stuff is all on the right side and his is on the left. I don't know if you can make this out in the photo, but, as usual, the roommate has got a gallon of whole milk, several cartons of different grades of cream, 2 different kinds of cream cheese, and several other cheeses. Also, butter and eggs. I often refer to him as the president of the dairy lobby.

You do not hear me complaining, however, when he bakes butter-laden amazing chocolate chip cookies, even though these days they knock me on my lactose-intolerant ass. That's what several years of semi-serious veganism get you: you become a vegan by default, which does in fact make the whole thing easier.








Here's today's lunch, with the evil Bluebook lurking there behind it. Ingredients as listed on this package: "tofu chickpeas, curry, sause, fresh cilantro, salt, black pepper, olive oil, grape tomato, espices."

The lovely people who make these salads may not speak English, but they definitely have a way with the espices.