Goodbye, 101 Eckford Street!

A couple 'lounging' on a typical summer day in Mc Carren Park

 

Ahhhh, Brooklyn! I'd say farewell, but I'll probably still be around. In fact, I already still am around! Even so..I wanted to say some goodbyes during my last days as an actual resident. I've moved to (gasp!) Jersey City, and I decided to do some last rituals;hit up some spots once more before leaving. I'm going to miss the middle-aged man who drives around Driggs and Bedford, blasting music, singing along on nice sunny days! I'm even gonna miss seeing the man who lives across the street from my old apartment always stick his feet up to the window. I told the roomie Lauren that and she said, "Eww, don't!"

 

Anyway...

 

One last morning, I went to Brooklyn Standard to order their amazing Cali Bagel on a toasted whole wheat bagel. This deli is great. Their Jerked Seitan sandwiches and Portobello Mushroom sandwiches (ask for it vegan!) are also very good.

 

Their Cali Bagel is made with tofutti cream cheese, 'sausage', jalapeno peppers,

 roasted tomatoes, and basil. 

 

 

Since my good friend Shaliga is only two stops away on the G train, we'd periodically have sleepovers. We met for one more Brooklyn sleepover/hangout.We headed to Paulie Gee's for some pizzas. While waiting for a seat ('cause it's always busy there), we had some fantastic pumpkin beer at nearby Brouwerij Lane.

 

When we were seated, we started with their The Gates of Eden salad. I like to sub their gorgonzola cheese with their house-made cashew ricotta cheese. It's so delish!

 

We shared their Vegan Shmoogula (italian tomatoes, baby arugula, olive oil, post oven nutritional yeast and mild aleppo chili oil)...

 

..and their In Ricotta da Vegan (italian tomatoes, house made vegan fennel sausage, post oven house made cashew ricotta dollops, baby arugula and extra virgin olive oil).

 

 

We then headed back to my place, stopping at a store for some Steve's Ice Cream.

 

Their stuff is so amazing! We got the Cinnamon Coffee flavored one, which is one of my favorites.

 

 

We watched a silly movie before passing out, then made brunch in the morning...

With some leftover pizza, we had some tofu scramble with broccoli, and a mesclun green salad.

 

 

 

 

 

That was how I kicked off my last weekend in Brooklyn, followed by a Halloween outing, then one last open mike at Pete's Candy Store (as a local), then...the hurricane. I plan to cover more vegan details about all those events in continuing posts very soon.

 

Stay warm everyone!

xo,

Ellie

Shiitake Mushroom and Ramps "Pizza"

Another night of quality time and cooking! This time with one of my other besties, Shaliga. After a trip to the Union Square Greenmarket this past Saturday, I made a healthier version of pizza for us, using these babies in lieu of traditional pizza crust...

It's the return of Ezekiel tortillas!

But what did I buy at the farmer's market? I got some shiitake mushrooms, ramps, asparagus, and a thyme plant.  On the way home I bought the Ezekiel tortillas, some Brad's marinara pasta sauce, and with these ingredients, decided to make these...

Shiitake Mushrooms and Ramps "Pizza"

We had them with roasted asparagus with lemon juice and lemon zest, a greens salad with olive oil and balsamic vinegar dressing, and some red wine that Shaliga brought over.

It was all delicioso!

So let me get to the recipe, which serves two! ...

Ingredients:

2 Ezekiel tortillas

1 cup Brad's Organic classic marinara sauce

About nine ramp bulbs and stems, minced

1 bunch ramp leaves, cut in half

2 cups shiitake mushrooms, coarsely chopped

About 2 tablespoons olive oil

sea salt to taste

nutritional yeast to taste

Instructions:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees
• In a small saucepan, simmer marinara sauce over very low heat
• In a pan, heat the oil in medium low/medium heat
• Toss in minced ramp bulbs and stems and stir occasionally for 1 to 2 minutes
• Add the shiitake mushrooms and cook for 1 minute
• Add the ramps and cook for 1 minute
• Season with salt to taste
• Remove from heat
• Put wax paper on baking pan
• With a ladle or spoon, put marinara on tortillas
• Put ramps and mushrooms on top
• Sprinkle on nutritional yeast to taste
• Put in the oven for 5 minutes
• Enjoy!

A mix of minced stems and bulbs...

Ramp leaves-which I honestly could've chopped a little more of...

Shaliga helping out and enjoying the smell of the ramps...

Mmmmmmmm...

Later in the evening, we had some raw Mint Chocolate Chip ice cream from Raw Ice Cream Company. Shaliga and I agreed, raw ice cream is amazing!! We love the stuff.

Yummmm!

My other fave flavor of theirs is their Cinnamon Vanilla. It's great with pie or cake...

It's sugar-free! 

We capped the night off with lots of giggles and a sleepover.

Speaking of which, it's time to call it a night!

Hope you'll try the recipe (and the ice cream!) and enjoy.

Till next time!

xo,

Ellie

Weekend Recap:Parties and Lula's and Foodswings, oh my!

Weekend recap!
And what a beautiful weekend it was.
I wanted to keep ya'll posted on my recent vegan-ings..
So here it is!

On Friday I went to my friend Rachel's 60's themed 30th birthday party, held at Yippee Museum Cafe. Rachel is an amazing activist for animals and is so wonderfully supportive to all her friends. She is an awesome lady-and she looked so beautiful that night!!

The party was great. Chill vibe, great music and dancing, and good people. Donations were accepted for Woodstock Farm Animal Sanctuary- a place Rachel frequently volunteers with. There were live performances throughout the night and everyone was awesome!! I also had the pleasure of singing for Rachel's party among the string of her oh-so-talented friends.

And this is me offstage..still singing.

On Saturday, I brought my journal and French textbook for a solo brunch at Cafe Royal in Greenpoint, blocks from home...

It's a cute, cozy spot that is super vegan-friendly. Among their treats are breakfast burritos for under five dollars, a great eggplant panini, the awesome artisanal Dun-Well doughnuts, Brooklyn Kombucha on tap, and a hearty vegan tofu skillet...

                                          ...which was what I had in their lovely back patio.

                                                                      Mmmmm.
The plate is made up of a tofu scramble, local sunflower toast with vegan butter, and a seasonal greens salad. And yes, that's hot sauce on the side.


After brunch, I sat in McGorlick park and daydreamed/studied French, basking in the lovely day.

                                                                     Hello, beautiful!

Later in the day, after rehearsal with the band, I tagged along with our bassist Colyn for an album release party in the East Village. I love Brooklyn but the East Village, where I lived for years, will always be my first home in my heart. Colyn feels the same (she now lives in Inwood).
At some point in the night, we wandered the neighborhood, stopping in some of our fave spots to pick up odds and ends and treats. Including...Lula's Sweet Apothecary.

Lula's is a great vegan ice cream spot that has a wonderful 50's ice cream shoppe vibe. They are super nice and offer you as many tastings as you want. They serve decadent sundaes and they use compostable cups! They are always coming out with new flavors, and rotate their "menu". My fave flavors of theirs is their soft serve cake batter and their mint chocolate chip. Colyn went with a classic chocolate scoop on a cone. It was Colyn's first time at Lula's and she loved it!

I also ran into my friends Dania and Kristy. I LOVE running into friends at vegan spots!

Looking good, ladies!

             

             

We also stopped in Good Beer, a super-cool beer spot with a great selection that offers tastings and snacks, including Field Roast Sausages!! If you haven't tried Field Roasts yet, do. Just. Trust me. Colyn bought some beers for her friends back at the party and a sausage on a yummy roll with mustard for herself.

                                                 She was kind enough to offer me a bite.


On Sunday, after Michelle and I attended my amazing friend Leif's bar pre-opening party (his place is called Donna in Williamsburg, and it's beautiful!!) , our tipsy selves went to the perfect place for  post-drink eats: Foodswings.

                                                                            Yup. Tipsy.


Foodswings is a great place to go to get down and dirty with fast food. It has great milkshakes and drumsticks. Michelle and I ordered their Sweet Southern Fried BBQ drumsticks and Metal Fries (w cheese, buffalo sauce and bleu cheese dressing).

And that concludes my weekend recap! Will post again soon about Earth Day, which is coming up in a few days!

xo,
Ellie