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.
Puppy pantry
Since (as I've disclosed with some sense of longing) I don't currently share my life with a dog, I transplanted this trash-load of canine canned food and condiment from the sidewalk in Greenwich Village to the animal shelter in SoHo. And following suit, this doggie in the window is having a snooze because his belly is so full!
Ownership transferred, value reinstated, puppy well-sated.
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.
Breakfast / Lunch
Gardenless ≠ Compostless
My garden at the moment consists of a clump of chives at the edge of an otherwise vacant window box. But that's no reason not to collect my food scraps! As I cook throughout the week, I toss my rinds, peels, egg shells, coffee grinds, and so on into a little trash can. When it's about full, I hop on my bike and drop off the organic matter at the Union Square Greenmarket. The Lower East Side Ecology Center has a compost stand at the market that accepts everyone's organic waste and turns it into nutrient-rich dirt that they use for their own garden, and also bag and sell at the farmer's market as a way to support the center. I imagine many farmer's markets around the country have similar programs, or if not, I'm sure it wouldn't be hard to find a farmer, gardener, or swine who would happily make use of your food scraps.
Fallen fruit
Determined to find a use for them, I collected a couple dozen lemons from
the lemon graveyard underneath my aunt's Meyer lemon tree in Ojai.
I zested them all. And froze what I wouldn't use that day.
I squeezed them all. I set aside a couple cups, then poured
the remainder into three empty ice cube trays and froze them.
Once frozen, I popped them out of the trays and into baggies.
I composted the rinds.
And then using the ample amounts of zest and juice I had set aside,
I made the most delicious Meyer lemon bars.
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.
Sweet potato pecan pie
I found myself with a can of sweet potato puree from one trash pile and a can of evaporated milk from another, neither of which I've ever really used before. I had a frozen pie crust also from the garbage some weeks prior, so as it turns out, a pie was in order. The pecans were leftover from a trip to Trader Joe's when my mom was in town and I mixed them with melted brown sugar and butter for a crunchy caramelized topping. It's lovely when various ingredients from different origins just come together peachy keen like that. Pantries are a great thing indeed.
Baby BBQ
I love my baby Weber. It was thrown out with the bathwater and I saved it. Happy baby, happy belly. And sunshine and rooftops.
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.
Pancake breakfast
In my home, the day starts with a scrumptious breakfast! These perfectly plump blueberries are from garbage the other day. The pancake mix and maple syrup are from a few moons ago, and just as good as ever. To observe every nook and cranny of the yum, click on the photo.
Warm yum tum snack
Just a few minutes in the microwave turns one of these sweet potatoes into a most cozy rainy day snack.
This week's fodder
6 tomatoes, 2 containers of mushrooms, 2 bags of spinach, 6 sweet potatoes, 1 butternut squash, 1 pack of blueberries, 3 baking potatoes, 3 limes, 2 bags of hamburger buns, 10 bagels, 2 bialys, 8 bags of Smart Food popcorn, and 9 bags of Pirate's Booty--not bad for just a quick jaunt on a hungry tummy after yoga. And as ever, from the trash, with loads left behind.
Popcorn refills
Before we left the movie theater, I refilled all three of our popcorn bags once last time. The next day I heated up some crystallized honey that my aunt was getting rid of (crystals didn't matter since I was melting it), freegan brown sugar, butter, cinnamon left from a subletter, cardamon, nutmeg, and vanilla in a makeshift double boiler. I let it get good and gooey. Then I tossed in some pecans left from when my mom was here and pepitas left from a dinner party, plopped the concoction over the popcorn, and stirred. Once the popcorn was evenly coated, I laid it out on two cookie sheets. I had some white chocolate that my brother had discarded, so I melted it in the double boiler and drizzled it over the top. Then I let it all get crunchy in the oven at 275º for about an hour. The salty movie popcorn, nuts, and seeds lend themselves nicely to the cinnamon sweet coating. A perfect Oscar-night accompaniment!
All-nighter at the cinema
A morning without coffee is like sleep.
The spoon, the trivet, the spice jar, the sugar cubes, the mug, the jar, the soy milk, the coffee beans, the French press.....every single element hails from another person's reject bin. Value is a subjective thing, but sometimes that falls by the wayside in a society steeped in the dynamics of individual ownership. For me it even still takes a conscious moment of pause to keep from mentally writing-off an object as value-less once the value I had originally assigned to it in relation to my existence has dissipated. In short, culturally-familiar terms: one man's trash is another man's treasure.
Get in my belly
Sometimes the food is just too good--I eat it all before I think to take a picture. This happened when I first cooked this meal, and again with the leftovers. It was peanut sauce with shrimp and freegan pasta, spinach, red pepper, broccoli, and onion. I hope to show you more of it next time.