When hungry,

...like eggplants, romaine lettuce, bananas, tomato, carrots, cucumbers, whole grain flat bread, naan, cinnamon Buns, rye, white, and Italian semolina bread.

Stoploss puree

Slice eggplant and squash, coat with olive oil and gifted fancy balsamic mustard, roast.

Discover flavor remains bland.  Carmelize onions.  Add garlic, vegetable stock, coriander, cumin, salt, and pepper.  Blend with roasted vegetables.  Add cream.  Lesson: when a concoction fails to charm, make it SOUP(er)!

Trunk show

Jane spotted this under some garbage bags after we went to the Mexican supermarket for some supplies. Naturally, we wheeled it home atop my bicycle.

Then while dinner cooked itself in the crock pot, I fished out what was left of the paint I had used for my walls, and did a quick (shoddy, but improved nonetheless) revamp of this grand trunk. As ever, it was a pleasure making strokes with the thick milkshakey scent-free zero-VOC paint. Our new trunk now houses winter boots and other unsightlies.

Grocery shopping

Mushrooms, parsley, lettuce, green beans, broccoli, corn, eggplant, red and yellow bell pepper, parsnips, carrots, yellow squash, apples, salad dressing, whole wheat bread, baguettes, cheesy enchilada Cheetos, Fritos.  Vegetables are par for the course, but what a treat to find stuff I'd never buy.  Every so often, I take one for the team and clog my arteries instead of our landfills.  Can't wait to get my Frito cook on!

Meatloaf cupcakes, key lime pie, and Cranium

I had a lot of freegan potatoes to use up, as well as some beef chuck in the freezer.  So naturally, I made meatloaf cupcakes with mashed potato frosting.

We combined freegan eggplant with an indulgent purchase of asparagus and roasted them with olive oil and and lemon.

I had a dozen nearly-expired limes that I had been meaning to use the last couple weeks.  So I decided to make key lime pie.  Except I only had mini pie tins that my old roommates had left behind, so I decided to make 5 mini pies rather than one large.  We had a half a bag of really old graham crackers left from a work party, but that wasn't enough for all the crust, so I also used a handful of pretzel Ritz crackers that I had found in the trash.  I thought the salty pretzelness would be a nice balance with the sweet tart of the pie, but didn't want it to be too savory so I also mixed in some fresh (also nearly too old) ginger and shredded coconut I found in the fridge.  I threw everything for the crust in the food processor along with a stick of butter, then patted it out inside the tins.  Then I made the filling and meringue more or less as dictated by the Joy of Cooking.  It turned out seriously delicious.  The crust was perfectly gooey and crumbly and sweet and salty.  And because I put in 1/4 c extra lime juice and zest (and an extra egg yolk to balance it out), the filling was nigh exploding with flavor--it mattered not that the lime juice had come from limes that, on account of their browning exterior, often would have been tossed.  And although I didn't beat the eggs as much as suggested for the meringue because my beater ran out of batteries, the topping was just puffy enough for such little pies.

Then we all dined on the roof, on a found table, with found cutlery and wine glasses, old jam jar water glasses, a box of Black Box poured into an old wine bottle, a beautiful view, and with dessert, a game of Cranium.  Almost nothing matched or was even picked out or purchased, but the setting, the food, and the people were comfortable and wonderful and charming and that's what makes an evening memorable.

I left the cookie and took the jar(s)

Broccoli burger buns eggplant Four giant cookie jars, tank top, t-shirt, cardigan, bushes of kale, bell peppers, purple and white eggplants, dark chocolate covered orange peel, zucchini, corn, banana, bellini mix, English muffins, burger buns, raisin bread, and a neti pot!  The jars were a bit grungy, but nothing a little scrub-a-dub couldn't take care of.  And with my household storage capacity reaching its limit, I gifted much of the top layer to friends.

Restock

My fridge was quite barren when I returned from a recent trip, so I went gathering.  I came upon: mushrooms, hummus, alfredo sauce, bananas, tomatoes, a peach, a yellow pepper, romaine lettuce, baking potatoes, fingerling potatoes, country bread, focaccia, ciabatta, bran and blueberry muffins, broccoli, limes.  And I neglected to include in the photo a perfectly plump Listada De Gandia eggplant!

Slow cooker fast friends

After fancying one for some time, I recently found myself the grateful recipient of a Crock Pot in the wake of a friend's move out.  Now I invite buddies to join, we make tasty dishes, sit down to a romantic dinner, and salute of our fortune of friendship.

Oh look!  I spy freegan items:  folding wooden table, place mats, bowls, glasses, wooden chair, piano bench, futon couch, television, DVD player, speakers, fan, chess board, potted plant, pillows, vase, Hot Tamales, assorted books, candles, candle holders.  The film theory books are just about the only items I purchased, and even most of those were used.  Every item has a previous owner who no longer had use for it, but for the moment, I do, and when I don't, I'll take it upon myself to find someone that does.

Honk if you love donuts

Baked GoodsWe gleaned these freshly-ish baked donuts, brioches, bagels, and pizzas  from the swanky supermarket dumpster.

Custard DonutAnd then couldn't help but lick the fingers after devouring the creamiest most scrumptious true custard sugar donuts.

Finger Licking Good

Barbecue fixins and grass

My apologies for the absence in service, dear readers.  I've been caught up for the last month doing the still photography for the film East Fifth Bliss.  But getting back to matters at hand: some time in recent history I was having a barbecue, so I set out for some supplies.  I unearthed lots of hamburger buns and kaiser rolls, mushrooms, scallions, an onion, cilantro, parsley, green beans, arugula, and dill that I used to make my mom's famous marinated broccoli.   I also found a candle, raisin bread, english muffins, and lots of little grow pots of grass for cats that I transferred into my window box.  Now my 6th floor window opens up to a lawn, as it should.

For the dogs (and me)

Honey Bunches of Oats with Peaches! (a happy chance to give a new flavor a go), one package of naan, 5 huge cans of pear halves, 2 apples, 9 limes, 2 bananas, one jar of strawberry jam.  As per usual, there was plenty more, but some was divvied up amongst my companions, and the remainder was, with a tear, left behind.

The most fun find of the evening though was bag containing 36 cans of dog food and 6 bottles of dog food condiment, each in fine shape, with more than a year left until expiration, and under no recall.  A regrettable aspect of the current state of my existence however is that I have no dog.  But if anybody could care less about the origin of tasty food, it would be a dog.  So I nabbed the cans, and have little doubt that I'll find an eager taker.

From fennel and brussels sprouts the scrumptious

This was another fortunate chance to try something new.  I am much obliged, Mr. Trash.  I've never cooked fennel before, and I don't really like brussel sprouts, so I can't remember a time I purchased them to cook on my own accord.  This was my chance to make something agreeable!  I also have a lot of dried spearmint that I've been waiting to find a savory use for.  I chopped the fennel and coated it thinly in olive oil, then rubbed spearmint all round with a little brown sugar.  I halved the brussel sprouts and chopped up some tomatoes and drizzled them all in olive oil, then dusted them with salt, pepper, cumin, and coriander.  Then I laid everything out on a cookie sheet covered in parchment paper.  Baked them at 400º or so until they were roasted brown and cooked through.  The two preparations were a welcome blend of savory and sweet.  I mashed the potatoes with a few healthy splashes of milk as always, but then sprinkled them with celery salt for something less usual, but as it turned out, still very very yum.  Then I pan-cooked  a fillet of Chimichurri salmon from Trader Joe's--and that's the only element of the meal that wasn't from the trash.

Triangles of food and cushion

The other night while mucking about in a garbage bag, I unearthed some tasty elements from the all-important Fruits and Vegetables sector of the food pyramid: grapefruit, fennel, brussel sprouts, cucumbers, alfalfa sprouts, yellow potatoes, new potatoes, baking potatoes, tomatoes, limes, a banana, and a lemon.

The Thai triangle cushions upon which these fruits and veggies are arranged were also found curbside (some time back).  It was a moderate struggle lugging such dense pillows down from the upper west side on the subway with my camera gear in tow, but the comfort they have brought my fanny (both in the living room and as my go-to rooftop furniture) has proven well worth the effort.

With that, today's take-away is future benefit--a minute squishing my gut, a lifetime padding my butt.

Romancing the refuse

My most treasured friend Julia Turshen came over the other evening to dine with me.  I sauteed spinach and mushrooms with some flavorings that now escape me.  Julia made  a delightfully rustic pappa al pomodoro soup out of flatbread and tomatoes, and then pan roasted the tilapia filets that I had marinated in white wine, garlic, lemon and cumin.  Save for the fish, everything had been found in the garbage.  Candlelit whispers of sweet nothings ensued!

The 4Fives!

Last Monday I had the best Monday in many Mondays.  I was asked by my new friend Jackson (of the wonderblog Superforest) to come speak with his friend Bee's 4th and 5th grade class (the 4Fives), who themselves run a formidably awesome eco blog.  We spent the morning talking about trash and value and abundance, which carried us over to some freegan gifts I had bestowed upon my friend in Uganda, which segued into the documentary that I shot there, which brought us to gay rights...all of which yielded some very insightful conversation.  I was just tickled pink to make their acquaintance.

Two peas in a pod

The other day in a cold, lonely little trash corner, I spotted these guys keeping each other cozy.  What a pair!  Rick Warren is a welcome addition to my book collection on account of the Uganda documentary I'm working on, and my door is always open for Stephen Colbert--so contentment oozes from the rubbish bins once again.