Wednesday, January 9th, 2012
Central Park East - 6:46am, 6:59am, 7:11am

Good morning!  As you can see from my pictures, I was treated to a lovely sunrise in the Park this morning.  When I hopped out of bed and checked the weather, I was delighted to find it was 41 degrees!  41 degrees on Jan. 9?  I'll take it! 

The past 2 days the Park has been quite busy even early.  This morning it was quiet - I only saw a few people before I made it over to the Great Lawn.  I looked around me, surveyed the pretty sky and paid attention to what it felt like to have the pleasantly cold air fill up my lungs and the soreness in my calves, hamstrings, and abs from yoga last night loosen up as I moved around.  Thought about how my heart has been pumping for 50-180 beats per minute for 26 years and it hasn't had a screw up yet (which is good and also always amazes me).  You ever think about that? 

The other day someone in the lab adjacent to mine who always sees my Instagram posts from early in the morning, asked why I get up so early every day.  The truth is, there are lots of reasons but it kind of reminded me of this quote from something I read recently.  "Sometimes you just do things." I just do it.  I like it.  You'd probably like it, too. 

Carpe diem,

J

Tuesday, January 8th, 2012
Central Park East - 7:15am

Good morning!  Welcome to what winter looks like in Central Park.  This is probably why I've had less pictures of my morning walks posted of late.  Sometimes it's hard to be inspired about a nice picture when all you have to look at is naked trees and weathered grass.  I'm not an artist, though, just a girl trying to share my morning walks with you! 

Well, as you all know, I'm anxiously wishing away today and tomorrow so that my sister can just get here already!  She comes tomorrow evening and I just can't WAIT to have her here!  2 days time and she'll be sitting here with me drinking coffee :)  Have a wonderful day, friends! 

Carpe diem,

J

*NEW* Vegetarian (vegan) recipe #2:

Stewed Lentils & Tomatoes - Adapted from Deb Perelman's, The Smitten Kitchen

Time to prepare: 20 minutes (then 40 minutes of simmer time)
Cost: $11.62 (I already had the curry, thyme, vinegar, and rice) - probably ~$20.00 when you factor in the rest of that stuff. 
Cost per serving: $2.00-$2.80 depending on how many meals I get out of it. 

Ingredients:
2 yellow onions coarsely chopped
4-5 carrots peeled & cut into big chunks
3-4 cloves garlic (minced)
1&1/4 cup your favorite lentil variety (I chose Padina green but French are also good for this)
1 28oz can peeled plum tomatoes
2 teaspoons salt
black pepper - however much suits your fancy
2 tablespoons yellow curry powder
A bit of fresh thyme (I used dried because it's out of season)
Olive oil (a good glug)
Vegetable broth (2 cups)
Red wine vinegar 1 tablespoon (not essential)
Basmati rice (also not essential)

Cook your chopped onions & carrots for 8-10 minutes on medium heat in a glug of olive oil.  Once the onions have become transparent, add the garlic and cook for another minute. 

Process the can of tomatoes + their water in a food processor for a few pulses (or mash with a potato masher). 

Add the tomatoes + curry + salt + pepper + thyme + vegetable broth to the onions, carrots, and garlic.  Turn up the heat until it boils, then reduce to a simmer and keep simmering for 40 or so minutes when your lentils are plump and tender.  Add the tablespoon of vinegar after 40 minutes, stir and it's ready to go! 

The purpose of this dish for me, is to be what I heat up for lunch & after work for the week.  Historically I've been pretty good about making myself something to heat up for lunch during the week.  However, I have trouble stretching it to after work snacks, too.  To do that, I'll make a few cups of basmati rice (if you try this, make sure you use a basmati variety - it should be dry, thin rice for this meal) to stretch the dish over more meals. 

Enjoy! 

*Here's the link to The Smitten Kitchen website with the original recipe
http://smittenkitchen.com/blog/2006/10/queens-and-contessas/

Brian & I before the start of the Emerald Nuts Midnight Run :)

Friday, January 4th, 2012
Central Park East - 7:00am

Good morning!  Another beautiful morning in the Park.  I'm finally back to getting up at my normal-(ish) time. 

There are so many wonderful things in the world to appreciate and enjoy. 

Today I'm appreciative for the string of doormen & grounds guys that make every day brighter for me on my walks home from the Park. 
Mostly to:
-Muhammed (who has been the doorman at his particular spot for 26 years! Always tells me to "make the most of the day" He notices when I've been gone, asks about school, and tells me about his daughters - he's a great guy)
-Nick (old school Italian who always asks me about NY sports - even though I know nothing he pretends my opinions are interesting/matter.  occasionally offers to bring me leftovers of his mom's lasagne - has no idea why anyone would ever be a vegetarian)
-Oscar (long ponytailed hippy-dude in a suit - he toasts me with his espresso every morning and bows)
-Chip (Russian guy who always wants to hear about Oregon and thinks Sofie's the loveliest dog he's ever met).

Here's to good people that make your day!

Carpe diem,

J 

Vegetarian recipe #1

Remember how I said I was committed to learning 15 new vegetarian recipes by the end of 2013?  Well I need to hold myself accountable so I'm going to post my new recipes on here when I try them.  To qualify as new I have to simply have never tried making it before.  The purpose of this is to expand my repertoire of foods I know how to cook for myself so that I can be healthier and more creative with my cooking. 

Vegan Apple Cinnamon Granola:  (adapted from Scott Jurek's Eat & Run)

I eat oatmeal almost every day for breakfast so I thought this would be a great addition to top my oatmeal with.  You might want to play with this a bit because my measurements are not exact.

4 cups of whole rolled oats (soak 2-5 hours or overnight)
2 cups pecans (leave whole or chop - i prefer whole)
2 cups almonds (leave whole or chop - i prefer whole)
1 apple cored and sliced (i used honeycrisp)
1/2 cup wheat germ
2-3 generous tablespoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon cloves
3-4 tablespoons honey or maple syrup or agave syrup (i used honey)
1/2 cup  dried, unsweetened coconut flakes
1/4 cup sunflower seeds

process the drained, soaked oats with the apple, spices, honey, and wheat germ in a food processor for about a minute - scrape the walls once in awhile. 

Mix in a big bowl with the nuts, sunflower seeds, and coconut.  Lightly grease 2 cookie trays and spread the mixture thinly on the bottom.  Bake at 250 for 2-4 hours (I know...it's a commitment) turning, breaking up, and stirring around the granola so it bakes evenly. 

*Note - this is not your typical store-bought granola.  The very first thing I noticed was how extraordinarily sweet store-bought granola is in comparison to this stuff.  This granola is just my type - nutty, very earthy, cinnamony, and almost has a popcorn like thing going for it.  It's a perfect topping for my oatmeal and a good snack throughout the day. 

Wednesday, January 2nd, 2012

Good morning!  Lots to tell you about, folks!  The top 2 pictures show Brian and I ushering in 2013 by running the New York Road Runner's Emerald Nuts Midnight Run.  It started at 10pm on New Year's Eve in the Park - we didn't go over then because we were afraid we'd get really cold, but we went about an hour early for music & the major party scene that was bumping.  Roughly 10,000 runner's competed in the run.   It's also a costume theme run so it was really colorful and spirited.  Lots of happy people.   It was INSANE.  It was a 4 mile run that started on the bridge of the 72nd street traverse.  It's not a super competitive run - you don't get a chip time or anything - but with 10,000 people you're supposed to go to the corral with your pace group.  They had big signs up for 7min/mile and Brian and I headed over.  Only the thing was, when we entered the front of the corral, they pushed everyone up by about 50 yards.  Before we knew it, we were literally at the start of the race in the 5min/mile pace group (basically elite runners).  We were kind of awkwardly looking around, hoping we weren't going to slow anyone down when we noticed there were a lot of people who didn't look like 5 minute milers.  Normally you would catch a lot of grief for getting into the wrong corral - people take this stuff seriously, but there really weren't many elite runners in this race because it wasn't chip timed.  So we got a great show being at the front. 

They had a guy come out and sing Frank Sinatra's New York and we danced around in the corral.  Then we counted down to midnight, Bri and I smooched, and then there were fireworks and sparklers and the race started.  It was an incredible atmosphere - I'm so happy I did the run.  As per usual, even though the race wasn't timed carefully, I wanted to beat Brian and he wanted to beat me.  I kept a really fast pace (for me) for the first half of the run and Brian thought I was trying to push him (I felt like I was just trying to keep up with him). We stayed even for the whole race until the end when he suggested we cross the line together to start 2013.  I agreed (mainly b/c I knew he could have turned it on at the end to beat me in the last 100 yards) :) 

We crossed together with a time of around 29 minutes (roughly a 7:15 min/mile pace -  though I think our chip time would have been a bit faster).  There were drunk people EVERYWHERE giving us boozy high-fives.  When we turned onto the west side as we crested one of the hills the fireworks were in their finale and we had a great view.  It was seriously awesome. We waited with our friend's girlfriend while our friend finished the race (a big accomplishment for him - he hadn't done a race longer than 5k yet and had a lingering foot issue).   After the race we toasted with champagne back at our place and watched the Dick Clark Rockin' New Year's Eve show with the pups.  I ate brownies and ice cream and then fell asleep a bit after 3am.   

In other news, we had a cold morning today!  The bottom photo I took this morning in the Park of the frozen Conservatory Pond.  It read 21 degrees this morning.  I've still got a ways to go until it's down in the teens and single digits.  Time to break out the tights under my jeans thing. 

Finally - you may notice that I'm currently typing this blog instead of sitting on a plane to go to Oregon.  I ended up cancelling my flight last minute.  I really want to save my travel funds for a time when my parents will be there - so I'll be out probably at the end of March or during April. 

HAPPY NEW YEAR'S, FRIENDS!  Make 2013 the best year yet!!

Carpe diem,

J