I guess I've been good about getting out of the house this winter. I've been okay with the winter for the first time in my life. I grew up in New England, hating the snow, hating the long winter, barricaded in my room with the door shut to trap all the warm air, wearing 6 hoodies and under my covers, hibernating. I always thought I wanted to move to California and be on the beach all the time, but as I got older I grew strong East Coast Pride. I'm loving the winter in NYC. I've got a sweet vegan winter coat, some awesome vegan boots, and a Dr. Dog winter hat to sport, and I find the winter kind of charming. I guess I really am getting old. Maybe it has to do with the fact that I don't have to drive in the snow, brush my car off, shovel the snow, and my apartment is so effing hot that I currently have all the windows open. Oh, it's February btw. So yeah, winter, you can stay.


Plus if I lived on the west coast, I couldn't get brunch like THIS all the time! East Coast: 1. West Coast: 0.

 My friend's record company is called Topshelf Records, and for their 1st anniversary party I made them a cake many years ago, and I feel like my cake-making skills have gotten way better since then, so I made another cake in honor of all their recent success. And my birthday, of course.




We went to the Met! I can't believe we hadn't been for years. We went a few years ago, and some guy used this funny pick-up line on me, which began with "Excuse me, are you German?" I quickly diffused the conversation and moved on to another area, then the museum closed, and I couldn't find my friend who I had come with. I eventually spotted her getting cornered by the same guy and so I sort of just pulled her away. She said, "It was the weirdest thing. He asked me if I was German."



Just run to this restaurant. Right now. Sprint, if you must. Or jog. You'll understand once you get there.


This is me, looking one year older than last, terribly distracted from my mid twenties by a bounty of beautiful vegan sushi pieces. And lemonade. Minty, cucumbery lemonade. Spa-like and zen-inducing.


For dinner, we went home and made New England Glam Chowder from the PPK blog. You have GOT to try this recipe, y'all. It is the real deal. No joke. It smells nice and oceanic. Oceanic, like the sea, from the nori, not the airline that fatefully crashed onto the hidden island in LOST. If I did crash on Oceanic flight 815, though, I would def try to eat some of this chowder. It would kill all the bad vibes from the Others, the smoke monster, and all other sorts of enemies with guns or bombs. Tranquility in chowder.

I have so many food adventures to share with everyone and no time for blogging! I'll have to pack this one post chock full of food pics and entertaining facts about each one to keep my readers at bay. It's true, I hate it when my favorite food blogs wait 2 weeks or so in between posts. I get sick of looking at the same picture of soup or whatever it was they last posted when I check it. It starts to feel like leftovers that you're sick of eating... Because I've obviously already made it if it's been posted 2 weeks... I mean, come on...
Item #1, Brunch party!
My friends and I celebrated my friend Clare's birthday with the best meal ever, brunch, obviously. Many of the items on this table were made by me, though some were kind enough to make, bake and bring other delicious foodstuffs as well. I made a ton of things from Vegan Brunch like a broccoli tofu quiche, chorizo sausges, smoky maple sausages, spicy italian sausages, bagels, potatoes, french toast and cinnamon rolls. mmmm. Something about coffee and cinnamon rolls make everything just.. a little bit okay again. We had a great crowd and I think and hope everyone enjoyed the food! I can't wait to host another.  Also, I have to share this with everyone: