Follow me on Twitter!
No, Twitter doesn't pay us to say this.

It occurred to me as I was Twittering my little heart out the other day, that the Tweets in succession would make for a good blog post. And taking into account the un-archivey nature of Twitter, it was in my best interest to reproduce them here, for posterity purposes. Please enjoy. That last sentence was written to me. But you can enjoy them too.

Wow, where have I been?

I don't know, sometimes I get so wrapped up in Facebook (and comments from friends) that I forget about Twitter.

Because Twittering into the Twitter void ain't so fun. And then there's the unfollowers. Don't get me started on peoples' fickle natures.

So anyway, I've been blogging.

And there's some good funny stuff that is half-way informative for you to read. Go there now, for example, & read down the page.

http://elaineperlov.blogspot.com/

Or if you want specific touts, here goes. Bryant Park. Ice Rink vs. Fashion Week. Who's winning? http://bit.ly/cHL6Xf

Again with the Bryant Park? Yes, I'm obsessed. "I don't like change, or what do you think of the new Ping Pong?" http://bit.ly/95yv85

I just want to interject one thing about Twitter here: I'm not a fan of the non-archivey nature of Twitter. Thus I prefer my blog.

My post about The Ace Hotel is forthcoming. In the meantime, preview 2 yummy lobby treats: http://bit.ly/boQvaL

That's Numberwang!

That is definitely my new favorite saying. Anyone else? Try using it after something fails abominably. It makes you feel much better.

Not that anything just failed abominably. I am pretty pleased with myself actually. I am blogging, for one. I am Twittering, for two.

You know, expressing myself. Writing 'n stuff. I think it is because of this book I am re-reading: http://bit.ly/k2c0W

I love Tweets about Twitter. Such as this one: RT @kennybloggins Wow, #SeemedLikeAGoodIdeaAtTheTime is an even longer hashtag than [...]

[and so on]

Tada! My Tofu Florentine!
I can't even believe I made this.
The sauce was delicious.

Tofu Florentine? I know, I had no idea what this was either when I was browsing a British Vegan blog named Vegan & Demanding. I have never had Eggs Benedict (traditionally an English muffin topped with ham or bacon, a poached egg, and Hollandaise sauce), nor Eggs Florentine (which apparently substitutes spinach for the ham). So I thought, well, I don't really miss it like the author of this recipe does, so I may as well modify it. And that is where it all began last Friday when I printed out the recipe and imagined how the Indian coriander chutney we bought in the giant size bottle at Patel Brothers in Jackson Heights would go great with the lemony soy milk Hollandaise sauce.

On Monday, cooking day, I Googled the recipe again to prepare my shopping list and couldn't find it at all, but found oodles of other vegan Hollandaise Sauce recipes instead -- one of which added mustard for color (and taste) instead of turmeric -- and I thought, hey, I love that idea, because again I am not trying to simulate the real thing here, but rather trying to make a packed-with-taste dish. I like packed-with-taste. I also substituted the toast and opted for kasha (a Russian buckwheat fluffy grain) instead. I thought it would soak up the sauce nicely, and it did.

Here is my recipe below, with many many thanks to Vegan & Demanding, a blog I now love. Here is her recipe for your reference. And her sauce.

Vegan Hollandaise sauce

makes enough for 2 dinners plus 2 lunches (haha)

1 1/4 cup unflavored unsweetened soy milk
dash of avocado oil or extra virgin olive oil
zest of 1 lemon
juice of 1 lemon
dijon mustard (to taste; I like a lot)

Whisk together in a saucepan over medium flame until it bubbles around the edges of the pot. Turn off, let stand and thicken a bit. Heat up right before you're going to serve it.

The rest of it

Tofu (see portioning on tofu package and then decide how much you want to eat)
Kasha (I made one rice-cooker-cup's worth in the rice cooker)
1 box of baby spinach
1 box of baby bella mushrooms
1 onion (I used a red onion)
2 T coriander chutney

Fundamental Order of Operations

First I sliced the tofu into 6-1" thick "mini steaks," boiled them, then pressed all the water out. Then I marinated them in the Indian coriander chutney and let them do their thing.

Then I made the Hollandaise sauce, and let it stand.

Next I made the kasha in the rice cooker. Easy. No stirring required.

After that I sauteed onions, added the sliced mushrooms until browned, and lastly added the spinach, put a lid on the pot to steam, an voilà!, done and delicious.

Then I grilled the marinated tofu on the good ole George Foreman grill for 8 minutes. (a dry pan will also be fine) and reheated the sauce.

To assemble, first kasha, then mushroom/spinach mixture on top (if there are any juices, that's fine, b/c the kasha will soak it up) , then tofu, then sauce. Then eat! It is magical with the lemony-mustardy sauce and the coriandery tofu in contrast to the more earthy kasha and mushrooms. So delicious. Hope you enjoy.

Pal's Cabin, West Orange, NJ
[image from comestiblog]

My parents tell me that my first-ever restaurant experience was at age 3 months at Pal's Cabin, pictured above. Apparently I was so excited to be around so many people that I was kicking my legs and moving my arms and swiveling my head in glee, until I exhausted myself completely and fell totally asleep. Knowing myself, as I do now, I haven't really changed much at all. Going to restaurants is still quite exciting.

Designer Walter van Beirendonck joined forces with Chris & Tibor
to create the FLY bag. But who made the headphones?
Must have both. [image via Trendhunter]

I would like to wear these accessories to work. I am not a boy, by the way, so it would look much different on me.

ASCII Heart Necklace available on Etsy

I am a victim of the computer, most specifically Facebook. After that, I would blame Blogger. After that, Twitter. Lastly, email. I do not text, however. That is where I draw the line. But I do make smiley faces out of punctuation. :-) And would probably eventually make this heart in a Twitter post or something. (But not on Blogger, because it messes up the code.)

The other day, I saw the computer had claimed another: this jewelry maker named Becky Stern, who was forced to communicate human emotion in a math problem. So this is what it's come to. Sigh.

I saw it on Boing Boing. A blog. On the computer. I will probably FB out this post when I am done here. And Twitter it.

I don't know how often I've walked past Macy's Herald Square, mostly trying to dodge the crazy crowds. All that push-pull. Stampeding New Yorkers and halting tourists mixing in a mob does not make for an easy passing.

One day around 2pm, I looked up (halting right after stampeding) and saw this beautiful stopped clock, and thought, how strange that there are around 10 full-size Christmas trees above the main door. Full size! You just can't imagine the larger-than-life sense of scale about some things in New York until you imagine it crammed into your apartment.

Just installed last week. The new courts at Bryant Park.

So here it is. The new surface. I don't know about this at all. I prefer a sliding game like the simulated Har-Tru they used to have. Sure it wasn't so level, and a little dusty, with the occasional pesky puddle that you had to dodge, but it made you feel like you were in the Great Outdoors!

I don't know about this marble with its harness and its seams. How are you supposed to wear stilettos while playing* without getting heel stuck in the crack and throwing out your back? Let me put it this way. I don't like change. I know that's not a particularly cool thing to admit. But it's true. Don't get me wrong, I do like new. As in new sweaters, new ideas, new horizons, new shoes. But not change. Perhaps the change I don't like is "change in dynamics." Like for example, this new playing surface at Bryant Park Ping Pong. Sure it's a quote unquote improvement. A quote unquote upgrade. But is it better?



*worn for the purpose of psyching out your male opponent. Believe me, this works.

I think I am going to buy more bulbs after these have bloomed and gone. It is such a nice thing to watch things grow. Next time, I want to get a tall glass vase and some rocks and grow the bulbs in water. I read in an old issue of Domino that the walls of the vase act as a support for the fronds. Good idea. The only problem is schlepping a very breakable vase and a bag of rocks home from the Flower District. On the subway. Back to Brooklyn. In rush hour.

Oh the destruction of the ice rink. So sad. No more lunchtime ice skating...

By the way, this is the current state of the Bryant Park Ice Rink. Well, as of yesterday morning, to be specific. By now they have taken down all the rink walls and moved in many many more Fashion Week risers like the stacks pictured at right. I was wondering if there was one more Fashion Week at Bryant Park this February before it moves up and west to Lincoln Center. The answer is yes, despite the confusing Website that touts, "New location, same excitement! Only in New York!" But anyway, yes, there will be one more. Starting February 11-18. Free WWD's everyday! My subscription should be up by then.

Remember when I went to The Ace Hotel three times in one week, took lots of pictures and was going to blog about it? Well I didn't (remember). Until just now, when I found all my pictures in my folder. That post may come tomorrow. In the meantime, here's a small tease. My favorite pretzel and macchiato. The pretzel is made by Brooklyn's own Frankie's Spuntino. Quite an ingenious shape -- thin and crispy on top and soft and chewy at the bottom. Somewhere around $3. Salt: totally removable. I like an unsalted pretzel myself.

Now I've built it up in my mind too much and am having blogger's block. Hopefully stay tuned. I'll start slow and build.

Okay okay, I am getting ready to post some posts at last. So get ready.

The Bryant Park Fountain, Thursday, January 7, 2010
Ice skating rink, Christmas tree & NYPL in the background
Beautiful!

Double-treat: I saw Bill Cunningham of The New York Times photographing this fountain at Bryant Park on Monday. Look at how beautiful it is! I had to take some shots of the same scene [above] a few days later. This time (my 4th sighting of Mr. Cunningham), I felt compelled to go over to him and tell him how much I love what he does. He is such a sweet man. Always on his bicycle, even on the icy cold days.

***
Update, 3pm
How cool is this? Mr. Cunningham's picture of the fountain in On the Street | Snowy on nytimes.com.

There it was, sitting there so sweetly with its flower perfectly centered amongst the other cakes. I had to take its picture.

The sesame pretzel from [brand new] Sigmund Pretzels
comes with a free dip of your choice. Mine was wholegrain mustard.

Braving the windy, chafing, chapping cold of the East Village yesterday, we set out on our pretzel pilgrimage to Sigmund Pretzels. Why? Because this review in Serious Eats New York told us that Sigmund had soft pretzels to rival Philadelphia's. Well, the pretzels were quite tasty. But the pretzel attitude was all wrong.

In my humble opinion, a soft pretzel is a food of the Everyman. Sigmund's pretzels, however, are a little too precious. And they don't make enough of them. I was planning to buy 6 (and give a bunch to my Mom & Dad), but they only had one sesame pretzel left. And it was only 2pm. Weren't they going to make any more? I mean, they're open until 10pm. The counter person wasn't so forthcoming with any information. And the two owners were milling about having coffee. It wasn't a great vibe at Sigmund, to be sure; but upon returning home, heating up the pretzels, and making our own tasty sandwiches, I wouldn't necessarily never return. Well, that's the best I can do for a positive review here. Try it if you are nearby. On a warmer day.

Sigmund Pretzel Shop
29 Avenue B (2nd & 3rd Streets)
East Village/Alphabet City
646.410.0333
Tues-Sun 10am-10pm
Closed Mondays

I amazed myself and deftly sliced the pretzels in half. No rips!
And then spread the mustard on every square inch, both sides.
Super delicious.

Voila! A pretzel sandwich many vegetarians would enjoy.
Sesame pretzel, mustard, soy salami.


I definitely want another right away. But to be honest, I would
probably take the Amtrak to Philly and get the yummy Philly Pretzel Factory
soft pretzels instead. We still have 2 in the freezer! More pretzel sandwich pics to follow.

My fridge, Jan 3, 2010
[click image to enlarge]

They say you can learn a lot about a person by the contents of their refrigerator.* So here's mine. Oh no, this picture makes me hungry.


*I'm pretty sure that only I think this; but now that you've read it, don't you think so too?

I always forget my blog's birthday! Can you believe, as of December 15, I've been writing this thing for four years? Well I can't. That's a lot of blogging.

Time flies. I wish it wouldn't. It's already the 3rd??? Slow down!

'Tis also the season for paper whites. I planted mine on December 30. Excited to watch them grow.

What's New Year's without new thoughts, new practices, new ways of being, new taste sensations? Thus tomorrow, I am excited to try chicory added to our morning pot of coffee. Apparently, you can add 1/3 chicory to 2/3 coffee and make your morning cup more mellow and more New Orleans-y. Sounds exciting!

Silver balloons from Sugarcane Lounge inside Sushi Samba
Red balloon from L'Express

I think I love New Year's Eve most for the free balloons. Yes, most definitely. Happy New Year everyone!