Sunday, April 15, 2012

April hath put a spirit of youth in everything. ~William Shakespeare

(This pic is the view from my apartment window. Yes, I have actual trees in my backyard in Manhattan!)

And we're halfway through it! I can't believe how fast time is flying, and the fast pace of Manhattan life certainly doesn't slow things down one bit. Work has been consuming most of my time lately (but how is that different from every week?) I apologize for not writing for so long. I really had intended to keep up one post a week at least. And now, of course, I have about 18 things things write about. So let's get started!

(I went to the NY Botanical Garden yesterday, and the rest of my floral pics are from that outing. I became a member as well, so anyone out there planning a visit to Manhattan this year, let me know if you are interested in checking it out. I can hook you up.)

SHOWS ATTENDED: NPR recording of Ask Me Another quiz show, Being Shakespeare at BAM, Jesus Christ Superstar (in which Judas's understudy became my hero) on Broadway, and two shows at the Rubin Museum: Falu and Howard Fishman. If there was anything else jam-packed into the last few weeks, I honestly can't remember what it was.


At work, I've been busy working on a new show that's launching on Monday. I can't officially post anything else about it here, but it's incredibly exciting and a huge honor to be a part of that show team. I'm also maintaining my duties on my regular show's team, and so you can imagine how hectic the past couple of weeks have been. It's a good thing though, and I am up to the challenge. At least I think I am...


My beautiful sister-in-law has gotten me to try all kinds of interesting dietary choices in my life, and the last time I was in Austin, she was into raw foods. So this month I've also been exploring vegan and raw foods. Basically I've been having fruit smoothies for breakfast, veggie sticks (carrots, celery, broccoli) and hummus for snack, salads for lunch, and a reasonably sensible dinner these past couple of weeks. No cheese, no meats, etc.


I created a raw "noodle" dish that I'm not sure anyone will want to recreate. It wasn't terrible, but after this week, I realized I am quite partial to hot foods for dinner. But I thought I'd share. It's basically zucchini noodles using a vegetable peeler, and a homemade gazpacho for the sauce.

Gazpacho
2 Heirlooom tomatoes (cut into 1-in cubes)
3 Plum tomatoes (cut into 1-in cubes)
1 celery stalk (cut into 1-in pieces)
1 scallion (cut into 1-in pieces)
1 carrot (cut into 1-in pieces)
1 zucchini (cut into 1-in cubes)
1/4 cup unroasted pepitas or sunflower seeds (I used a mix of the two)
1 clove of garlic (roughly chopped)
1 handful of parsley (roughly chopped)
salt, pepper, & lemon juice to taste

Throw this all into a blender and whir away. I threw some cayenne in there too because I felt it needed a kick. I have to say, this meal wasn't bad at all. I ate the sauce as a cold soup for lunch the next day. And then I made a tomato sauce out of the remaining bit by simmering it for about 30 minutes. I plan to make a pita pizza tonight for dinner with it.


And I'll leave you with some floral pics from yesterday's Botanical Garden outing and a quick bit of trivia. There's an orchid show on display through next weekend which is pretty remarkable. I had no idea there were so many different types of orchids out there. And learning about vanilla production was especially interesting. It's such a labor-intensive process, that I am surprised it's not a more expensive commodity. By the way, all vanilla produced outside of Mexico is hand pollinated because the insects that do this only live in Mexico.

It's spring fever. That is what the name of it is. And when you've got it, you want - oh, you don't quite know what it is you do want, but it just fairly makes your heart ache, you want it so! ~Mark Twain