Friday, October 14, 2011
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
I took advantage of the surprise summer weather this weekend to bike to the Fort Tilden beach. I'd been there before, but last time we drove there and the flies chased us away. This time it was perfectly lovely. Hour + 15-30 minute bike rides flanking lazy lying on the beach. The water was too cold for me, but my companions enjoyed floating in unusually calm water.
After researching and trying both routes, we figured out that you can either take Ocean Parkway or Bedford Ave. Ocean Parkway has a pleasant separated bike lane, which is better for conversational biking, but adds two miles to the ride. If you take Ocean Parkway, turn left onto Neptune Ave before you reach the boardwalk, which turns into Emmons Ave. If you take Bedford Ave, you take a left right onto Emmons Ave. Either way, when you reach the intersection of Brigham and Emmons, you will see a path set off to the right of the ramp onto the Belt Parkway (pictured below).
You want to take this bike path (not the ramp onto the highway), which follows the wetlands along the shore and takes you right to Flatbush Ave and over the bridge to the Rockaways. We passed an area where Hurricane Irene had washed away the path, despite the bags of sand buffering the coast - no matter, just walk your bike through the sand at this spot and enjoy the view.
Once you're over the bridge, make an awkward left just before all the field and parking lot business, and then turn right just before the beach and follow the path through the woods until you reach at least post 22 (which also has a bike rack) in order to hit the lawless Fort Tilden beach, rather than Jacob Riis. It's not the most straightforward journey, which is why I thought it would be helpful to put these directions on the internet.
map via brooklyn by bike
After researching and trying both routes, we figured out that you can either take Ocean Parkway or Bedford Ave. Ocean Parkway has a pleasant separated bike lane, which is better for conversational biking, but adds two miles to the ride. If you take Ocean Parkway, turn left onto Neptune Ave before you reach the boardwalk, which turns into Emmons Ave. If you take Bedford Ave, you take a left right onto Emmons Ave. Either way, when you reach the intersection of Brigham and Emmons, you will see a path set off to the right of the ramp onto the Belt Parkway (pictured below).
You want to take this bike path (not the ramp onto the highway), which follows the wetlands along the shore and takes you right to Flatbush Ave and over the bridge to the Rockaways. We passed an area where Hurricane Irene had washed away the path, despite the bags of sand buffering the coast - no matter, just walk your bike through the sand at this spot and enjoy the view.
Once you're over the bridge, make an awkward left just before all the field and parking lot business, and then turn right just before the beach and follow the path through the woods until you reach at least post 22 (which also has a bike rack) in order to hit the lawless Fort Tilden beach, rather than Jacob Riis. It's not the most straightforward journey, which is why I thought it would be helpful to put these directions on the internet.
Monday, October 3, 2011
While in Portland, I also got to catch up with my friend Mary. She recently completed the Continental Divide Trail after a five month solo hike. She survived a grizzly bear encounter along the way. And lots of knee deep or higher snow in the Colorado mountaintops. In recognition of having now completed all three of the US National Scenic Trails together with the Appalachian and Pacific Crest Trails, she received the coveted Triple Crown Award. I could never imagine doing any of that in a million years.
She's put up an amazing gallery of photos on her blog Married to the Trail, where she plans to continue blogging with her reflections and experiences from hiking. Check it out!
She's put up an amazing gallery of photos on her blog Married to the Trail, where she plans to continue blogging with her reflections and experiences from hiking. Check it out!
Every time I make stuffed peppers, the stuffing doesn't cook much.
For this version, I combined cooked orzo, cooked chickpeas, grated cheddar cheese and raw leeks, stuffed this inside peppers and baked it at 430 F for about half an hour. I figured the leeks would roast inside the peppers, but they didn't really.
Tell me what I am doing wrong. Should it stay in the oven longer? Should the stuffing all be pre-cooked? Do you have a great recipe for vegetarian stuffed peppers?
For this version, I combined cooked orzo, cooked chickpeas, grated cheddar cheese and raw leeks, stuffed this inside peppers and baked it at 430 F for about half an hour. I figured the leeks would roast inside the peppers, but they didn't really.
Tell me what I am doing wrong. Should it stay in the oven longer? Should the stuffing all be pre-cooked? Do you have a great recipe for vegetarian stuffed peppers?
Sunday, October 2, 2011
I'm back from a weeklong trip to Portland, OR with friends who want to move there, and it's easy to see why they love it. The city lives up to its stereotypes. It's like Brooklyn - with hipsters and bikes and second hand clothing stores and quality locally sourced food and craft beer everywhere - but in a smaller, more manageable size and more beautiful and spacious setting. Instead of dense apartment buildings, it's cute house after cute house with small but green lots.
When I saw Portland's quiet, bike laned streets, I understood why it's good for biking - the city is laid out in a grid, appeared not-too hilly and has plentiful side streets that look much safer than NYC's busy streets. I could see myself easily getting around primarily by bike there. But while Portland's public transportation is much lauded and some of our friends there do get by without owning a car, I found that it's more of a car city than you'd think. The light rail doesn't even go to southeast Portland and the rail and buses stop running around 12:30 nightly. Somehow, you can always find street parking, so it's often easier to just drive to your destination, especially when you're with a big group of people who include tourists who don't have bikes.
This one speaks for itself.
Food not lawns!
There are movie theaters where you can enjoy pizza and beer while watching the movie, all for only slightly more than the price of just a movie ticket in NYC.
Food trucks! Unlike in NYC, where they are mobile and elusive and require twitter to track down locations, food trucks in Portland get permanent devoted areas in parking lots called "food truck pods" so you always know where you can find your favorite late night pizza or breakfast sandwich.
The most memorable meal of the trip was at Pok Pok, a Thai street food restaurant with a a James Beard Foundation award winning chef and amazing spicy fish sauce chicken wings.
We got to enjoy two hot springs - Bonneville Hot Springs in the Columbia River Gorge just across the border in Washington, which was more of a resort and was unfortunately treated with chlorine.
Columbia River Gorge
Much better was Bagby Hot Springs, where a 1.5 mile hike into the woods leads you to an old wooden structure where you can soak in carved out logs.
When people warn you not to go to the coast because it's rainy and windy, you should listen, because what they really mean is that there will be driving rain with gale force winds that rock your car and threaten to blow you over so you won't be able to hike or see any of the beautiful views.
Also, everyone we met was super nice and willing to make time to hang out and make introductions to other people. Very refreshing compared to New York. Here are some new friends having fun climbing the columns in Cathedral Park in North Portland.
I also heard a lot of complaints about the rain and unemployment problems, so just make sure you have a job lined up and don't mind wearing a raincoat if you plan on moving there...
When I saw Portland's quiet, bike laned streets, I understood why it's good for biking - the city is laid out in a grid, appeared not-too hilly and has plentiful side streets that look much safer than NYC's busy streets. I could see myself easily getting around primarily by bike there. But while Portland's public transportation is much lauded and some of our friends there do get by without owning a car, I found that it's more of a car city than you'd think. The light rail doesn't even go to southeast Portland and the rail and buses stop running around 12:30 nightly. Somehow, you can always find street parking, so it's often easier to just drive to your destination, especially when you're with a big group of people who include tourists who don't have bikes.
This one speaks for itself.
Food not lawns!
There are movie theaters where you can enjoy pizza and beer while watching the movie, all for only slightly more than the price of just a movie ticket in NYC.
Food trucks! Unlike in NYC, where they are mobile and elusive and require twitter to track down locations, food trucks in Portland get permanent devoted areas in parking lots called "food truck pods" so you always know where you can find your favorite late night pizza or breakfast sandwich.
The most memorable meal of the trip was at Pok Pok, a Thai street food restaurant with a a James Beard Foundation award winning chef and amazing spicy fish sauce chicken wings.
We got to enjoy two hot springs - Bonneville Hot Springs in the Columbia River Gorge just across the border in Washington, which was more of a resort and was unfortunately treated with chlorine.
Much better was Bagby Hot Springs, where a 1.5 mile hike into the woods leads you to an old wooden structure where you can soak in carved out logs.
When people warn you not to go to the coast because it's rainy and windy, you should listen, because what they really mean is that there will be driving rain with gale force winds that rock your car and threaten to blow you over so you won't be able to hike or see any of the beautiful views.
Also, everyone we met was super nice and willing to make time to hang out and make introductions to other people. Very refreshing compared to New York. Here are some new friends having fun climbing the columns in Cathedral Park in North Portland.
I also heard a lot of complaints about the rain and unemployment problems, so just make sure you have a job lined up and don't mind wearing a raincoat if you plan on moving there...
Sunday, September 11, 2011
What do you bring to a dinner party at summer's end? We originally planned to bring a green salad, but like many New York area farms impacted by Hurricane Irene*, Evolutionary Organics farm had no greens to offer over Labor Day weekend. Instead, we selected a variety of their tomato beauties, as well as a cucumber and red onion from the market. The vegetables were thinly sliced and carefully layered - a layer of tomatoes topped with a layer of cucumber, followed by scattered onions and parsley, a sprinkling of salt and pepper and a dash of olive oil and red wine vinegar. Continue to add layers until you've used up the goods and then give it a few hours to marinate. It was part of a impressive spread that included oysters, sweet roasted tomato, honey and ricotta crostini, sweet potato and bacon hash, pork ribs three ways, and peach cobbler (I regretted not bringing my camera to the party). Yum!
* Check out GrowNYC's campaign to help local farmers recover from the losses wreaked by hurricane flooding.
Thursday, September 8, 2011
Use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without.
When something starts to break, people go around saying they "need" to buy this item of clothing or they "need" to buy that household object, but there is a difference between want and need. Mindful consumption is about evaluating whether you truly need it, and whether it will be worth the expense not only in terms of your bank account, but also in terms of depletion of natural resources, pollution, and unfair labor.
For example, this was my old backpack. When a hole first started appearing over a year ago, most would run out and replace it with a new backpack right away. This particular backpack company also offers a lifetime warranty where you can send backpacks to be repaired, but when I called to ask about the specifics about this, it was very unclear as to whether the rips in mine fell under their warranty policy or not, and I wasn't willing to go a month without a backpack to find out. Instead, I repaired the hole with needle and thread, and later when the mended stitch no longer held, with safety pins, and eventually just went around with a giant hole in my backpack. Was it unsightly? Yes. But was it still functional? Actually, yes, it was. As long as I had an umbrella when it was raining. Finally, I decided that it was time, and that I wanted a new backpack that would carry my groceries more securely. My old backpack saw me through high school AP textbooks, treks lugging my computer and notebooks around my college campus, and NYC bike rides weighted down with a lock and groceries, so it lived a long life, and it got a second life when I donated it to the textile recycling stand at the Greenmarket.
Likewise, I got a new computer this winter. My previous computer was an 8 1/2 year old dinosaur purchased for my college freshman year. Over the years, it was repaired with a new keyboard, motherboard, and hard drive. But for probably the last three years I had it, it was plagued with slowness, frequent freezing and poor internet connectivity. I dealt with this by using my then-boyfriend's computer (which he wasn't too happy about) or getting things done on my computer at work, or simply having patience. I resisted getting a new computer, since I recognized that I didn't absolutely need one. I originally planned on waiting until it died a nasty death. I finally decided it was time this winter, when I wanted to be able to blog easier and do demo recordings of my music. I went with a refurbished macbook, which is rated as having adequate environmental controls. Luckily my old laptop was a Dell, which you can recycle at Staples, but Staples will also accept non-Dell electronics for a $10 fee. Electronics Takeback Coalition has a useful guide to electronics recycling here.
The delayed gratification involved in mindful consumption also makes me appreciate it all the more when I finally buy something new. How do you feel about mending broken goods and making do?
When something starts to break, people go around saying they "need" to buy this item of clothing or they "need" to buy that household object, but there is a difference between want and need. Mindful consumption is about evaluating whether you truly need it, and whether it will be worth the expense not only in terms of your bank account, but also in terms of depletion of natural resources, pollution, and unfair labor.
For example, this was my old backpack. When a hole first started appearing over a year ago, most would run out and replace it with a new backpack right away. This particular backpack company also offers a lifetime warranty where you can send backpacks to be repaired, but when I called to ask about the specifics about this, it was very unclear as to whether the rips in mine fell under their warranty policy or not, and I wasn't willing to go a month without a backpack to find out. Instead, I repaired the hole with needle and thread, and later when the mended stitch no longer held, with safety pins, and eventually just went around with a giant hole in my backpack. Was it unsightly? Yes. But was it still functional? Actually, yes, it was. As long as I had an umbrella when it was raining. Finally, I decided that it was time, and that I wanted a new backpack that would carry my groceries more securely. My old backpack saw me through high school AP textbooks, treks lugging my computer and notebooks around my college campus, and NYC bike rides weighted down with a lock and groceries, so it lived a long life, and it got a second life when I donated it to the textile recycling stand at the Greenmarket.
Likewise, I got a new computer this winter. My previous computer was an 8 1/2 year old dinosaur purchased for my college freshman year. Over the years, it was repaired with a new keyboard, motherboard, and hard drive. But for probably the last three years I had it, it was plagued with slowness, frequent freezing and poor internet connectivity. I dealt with this by using my then-boyfriend's computer (which he wasn't too happy about) or getting things done on my computer at work, or simply having patience. I resisted getting a new computer, since I recognized that I didn't absolutely need one. I originally planned on waiting until it died a nasty death. I finally decided it was time this winter, when I wanted to be able to blog easier and do demo recordings of my music. I went with a refurbished macbook, which is rated as having adequate environmental controls. Luckily my old laptop was a Dell, which you can recycle at Staples, but Staples will also accept non-Dell electronics for a $10 fee. Electronics Takeback Coalition has a useful guide to electronics recycling here.
The delayed gratification involved in mindful consumption also makes me appreciate it all the more when I finally buy something new. How do you feel about mending broken goods and making do?
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