Foraging Class in Central Park

For years we've been striving to be more conscientious of our consumerism and trying to reduce the impact we make on our planet.  I was excited when I found a Central Park foraging tour on Groupon; two of my coworkers joined us as Wildman Steve taught us about a number of Central Park plants.  We tried a few leaves/berries of all of them and brought a number of them home to throw on our salads and in our juices.

Erin, Julie, Rachael (my coworkers)

Epazote: comes from Mexico, very common in our area.  Use this is small quantities as a seasoning, in large quantities is toxic.  It's a spice.  Put it in guacamole, tomato sauce, bean dishes.  If in bean dishes it will take away the gas part of eating beans.

Black Cherry: common native fruit, pollinated by flies

Lamb's Quarters: European relative of spinach and beets, great source of of beta-carotene, calcium, potassium, and iron in the world; also a great source of trace minerals, B-complex vitamins, vitamin C, and fiber

Quick Weed: leaves taste a little bit like artichokes, better cooked or steamed then blended into cream soups

Common Spicebush: native plants, make tea by pouring boiling water over leaves, tea used by Native Americans to reduce fever, yellow flowers in very early spring, great for gardens

Sweet pepperbush: if you rub flowers with water in your hands turns into bubbly soap

American Mayapple: fruit tastes a bit like lemon

Mountain Mint: 

Asiatic Dayflower: leaves taste a little like string-beans and are enjoyed in soups

Purple Flower Raspberries right next to Belvedere Castle, no fruit yet:

Sassafras: use leaves crushed to make tea, can use sapling roots to make even better tree, right under the outer bark smells strongly of root beer

Lemon Sorrel: I grew up calling these 'sour pickle plants' because the grow into a pickle shape before opening into a 3 leaf clover, you can eat the leaves, add a citrus/sour flavor, can use in salads or added to smoothies, loaded with vitamin c

We also found some wild blackberries (no photo)

Poor Man's Pepper: in the mustard family, use the seeds, can also sprinkle over soups and salads

We found an apple tree in the middle of Central Park from the 1800's, so random!

Common Plaintain: can use the leaves baked to eat like kale chips

Burdock: you eat the root like a potato though it's related to artichokes

July 2014: Weekends full of family and friends

The Fourth of July in New York (Friday) was an overcast day due to a passing hurricane and Clay and I spent the entire day inside reorganizing, purging, and deep cleaning.  Saturday morning we met up with Joanie and shared breakfast at the Standard Hotel’s Grill before walking north on the High Line then walking back down to Chelsea Market (the former Nabisco factory turned food hall) at street level before having lunch at The Gansevoort Hotel.  Joanie then went back to her hotel to meet up with Mary while we went back to Chelsea Market to see 2 couples (+1 new baby) from Sydney!  We then joined Joanie and Mary for an Italian dinner at Amaranth Restaurant in the Upper East Side near their hotel.  The next day I was able to attend the last running of 'The Realistic Joneses' (play featuring Toni Collette) with Joanie, Mary, and Da.

The weekend of August 11th Clay was in East Hampton with Joanie, Mary, and Da walking on the beach, eating seafood, and trying out our new inflatable kayak.  Meanwhile I was in the City with my college girlfriend from 705, Lauren.  Friday I showed her my office and the Hudson Yards room, then we walked Mr. Duke to Gracie Mansion (NYC's official mayor's residence) and had dinner at Candle Cafe, my favorite vegan restaurant, before grabbing some 16 Handles FroYo (frozen yogurt) and staying up late watching National Geographic documentaries 'The '90's The Last Great Decade.'  On Saturday Mr. Duke Pug and I showed Lauren the 82nd Street NYC Greenmarket where I compost our weekly food scrapes before watching more documentaries on decades.  That evening we walked the High Line and grabbed a taco and ice cream in Chelsea Market before having dinner at La Bottega in Meatpacking and heading to my favorite UES local bar, Penrose, to catch up with a Winthrop University friend for late drinks.  On Sunday we slept in and watched some more tv before shopping summer sales in Rockefeller Center and walking the Brooklyn Bridge which included stopping at  the only full West Elm Market before she caught an Uber to the airport.  

Right after Lauren left I raced to Broadway at Times Square to see a friend from our Hillsong NYC Connect Group star as the leading female in 'Holler if you Hear Me,' a musical based on the music of Tupac.

The next Saturday Clay and I met with others from Hillsong NYC to volunteer at The Father’s Heart, a charity that helps New Yorkers with a food pantry, soup kitchen, food stamps, legal help, GED and ESL classes, etc.  Their motto is “To declare and demonstrate God’s love through practical expressions of compassion.” This ministry is very well organized, in the morning volunteers are split into groups and given the smallest of tasks so minimal training is needing and you can just start cranking out work when the doors open.  Within an hour and a half we served 732 individuals.  Guests who would like breakfast sit down and are served a hot meal of pancakes, bacon, fried eggs, and coffee and juice; they are continuously served plates until they want no more.  Then they go through a line to receive their bags of food that contain 9 meals.  Clay was in the kitchen helping fry eggs and I was at the door greeting and saying goodbye to people while also registering those that were new to the food pantry and needed id cards made.  A number of people were deformed or had disorders, many who I tried to register had no identification and no permanent address other than the homeless shelter where they were staying.  It was a very grounding and incredible experience and we felt just as blessed as those who walked through the doors.  Afterwards I had a Ladies Lunch with the women of our married couples Connect Group  and that night Clay went out with the husbands to a bar with vintage arcade games.

The last weekend of July Clay and Gina visited but they get their own post!

June 2014: East Hampton, Westport, and Denver

The first weekend in June was spent in East Hampton with Mary and Joanie.  Clay helped Mary around the house with some outdoor work and we dined at both the East Hampton Grill and Lobster Roll and enjoyed paddle boarding and walks on the beach.

The second Saturday in June I visited a friend from work in her hometown of Westport, CT.  It was a fun day trip outside of the City via the Metro-North Railroad from Grand Central Station.  We had brunch before seeing her apartment and downtown South Norwalk then headed to Terrain, an amazing home and garden decor store, before some time spent at the beach.  We then met up with her boyfriend for dinner before I returned to the City.  It was a relaxing fun day in the suburbs.  

The next weekend we took our good friends from our Hillsong Connect Group out to Mary's.  They are currently ~14 weeks pregnant and are moving back south in September.  They really enjoyed relaxing by the bay and the husbands spent all weekend stacking rocks.  The wife loved naps on Mary's couch with all the sunny windows and said it was the best sleep she's had since becoming pregnant.

The last weekend in June was my annual 705 reunion, this year in Denver where Abby lives.  After picking me up from the airport Abby, Amy, Cara, Lauren and I stopped by Abby's apartment before heading to Red Rocks, a natural amphitheater between two large [red] natural rock formations.  We then lunched at Gaia Bistro and visited the Art District and before taking a tour of Stranahan's Whiskey Distillery and tasting.  We then stopped for groceries at Trader Joe's before heading to our arts and crafts bungalow we rented in the Congress Park neighborhood where Abby cooked us an awesome dinner of brown rice pasta, broccoli, zucchini,  tomato, and salmon.  After dinner we walked through our beautiful historic neighborhood to Liks, an ice cream parlor that's been around over 30 years, before walking a longer way home to view more beautiful homes.

Saturday morning we were up at 4:30 am and picked up Abby's larger dog, Simba, from her apartment before heading an hour outside the city to hike Mount Bierstadt, a 14er, that rises over 14,000 feet above sea level.  The landscape was gorgeous and we made it over halfway to the summit before turning around because I was feeling dizzy from the elevation and the weather was turning uncomfortably cold.  We returned to our house to shower before heading to The Source, an awesome artisan food market in an old factory building.  On the way home we stopped by Little Man Ice Cream and drove through downtown Denver to see all the major buildings for arts and government.  We spent the rest of the late afternoon and evening at the house which had an awesome backyard for hanging out and we walked to Trader Joe's for a light dinner of crackers,  grapes, and cheese before I Uber-ed it to the airport for a 12:30 am flight early Sunday morning.  It was a short trip but so awesome to see 4 of my 705ers and catch up on life while experiencing all the natural, historical, and culinary delights of Denver.

May 2014 & Cece's Memorial Day Weekend in NYC

April snows and showers certainly brought out May flowers in our local park where I walk Mr. Duke every Saturday morning:

The first Saturday in May we visited the Conservatory Garden in Central Park and walked home through Spanish Harlem finding a great lunch spot along the way:

Clay made an awesome Cinco de Seis dinner:

The third weekend in May we went to East Hampton, a great place for rest and relaxation:

Another meal highlight was this fish dinner with The Best Tomato White Wine Sauce:

Clay also started perfecting his short rib recipe this month:

Cece was supposed to arrive Thursday evening of Memorial Day Weekend but her flight was delayed then cancelled due to the weather.  She unfortunately missed an amazing surf'n'turf dinner:

Friday of Memorial Day weekend we visited the 9/11 Memorial, it was really hard being there but the memorial itself was nicely done.  The Freedom Tower, spire included, is 1,776 feet tall which is the year the Declaration of Independence was signed.  We took the Staten Island Ferry to see the Statue of Liberty before swinging by the Financial District to see The Bull, stock exchange, and Federation Hall on the way home.

Saturday of Memorial Day weekend we rented a car and drove out to spend a day in the Hudson River Valley.  We did the Walkway over the Hudson which is the longest (and tallest?) elevated pedestrian bridge in the world, drove through the beautiful mountains of West Point's training areas, ate authentic Texas BBQ and had some great homemade ice cream in Cold Spring.

Sunday of Memorial Day weekend after attending Hillsong Cece and Rachael took the Circle Line boat tour around the entire island of Manhattan.  The photos below are of the Intrepid, Ellis Island, the Statue of Liberty, and Battery Park.

It was a gorgeous day to be out on the water:

On Memorial Day we spent a few hours walking through Central Park's Ramble, 38 acres of woodland hiking around 79th Street.  Cece flew home on Tuesday-- it was a great weekend with beautiful weather and we were so happy to spend everyday outside.

The last Friday in May we attended the American Symphony Orchestra's "Forged from Fire" at Carnegie Hall which was based on Germany's occupation of other countries around WWI.

The last Saturday in May we visited the Museum of Modern Art and saw works from van Gogh, Matisse, Picasso, Dali, and Warhol.  

What a great month!  We hope to visit a few more parks, memorials, and museums this summer while the weather is nice for being outside.  Our entire month of June weekends is already filled but please stay tuned!