I’ve just come back to Toronto after spending the weekend in New York City with my friend J. It was our first time there. I want to tell you all about it, but I’m shopping around a travel article and don’t want posting it here first to deter potential buyers. So, instead I shall briefly sum up what we did, and then talk about the delicious sandwich I had for lunch today.
We didn’t really set out with any specific plans other than to drink a Coors in Central Park (ended up raining that day so we drank a tea in the park instead), and of course to eat Grimaldi’s Pizza in Brooklyn. We are massive fans of pizzerias in general. (You get a very different definition for this on Urban Dictionary!)
But anyHOO, somehow things just fell into place and we actually did SO MUCH.
Things we saw:
– Empire State Building, plus view from the top (was so scared! hate heights!)
– Times Square, all lit up at night (was so scared! hate overwhelming bright lights and tall billboards!)
– Bloomingdale’s and Macy’s (drank a Starbucks whilst watching women viciously root through three large piles of discounted purses)
– the subway (holy long wait between trains Batman)
– Paddy Reilly’s, the world’s first and only all draught Guinness pub
– an H&M on every corner
– a total of three homeless guys! THREE! (we think NYC solved the homeless problem by employing them at all the H&Ms)
– “The Great Upheaval” at the Guggenheim (LOVED IT)
– Central Park in the rain
– JAMES EARL JONES & VANESSA REDGRAVE in the Broadway production of “Driving Miss Daisy” (to quote the man outside, “His voice didn’t sound anything like it did in Star Wars”)
– the former KGB headquarters, now a packed local pub (with painting of wiener dog on wall, yay)
– an actual rat on Wall Street (we took photos while a woman screamed)
– Mr. Grimaldi dressed in a suit, pink tie and fedora, working the door with a bouncer at Grimaldi’s Pizzeria underneath the Brooklyn Bridge (it’s true what they say about it being worth the wait)
– how cheap taxis are in New York compared to Toronto (about three times less)
– the World Trade Centre site (under construction but still sad)
– the Statue of Liberty from the Staten Island Ferry (it’s a free ride!!)
– Coors regular, not Light (yum)
– a waitress who asked us to “be more specific” when we said we were from Toronto because she “didn’t know what that was”
– a cute skating rink at Bryant Park (so romantical)
– the biggest bagel either of us had ever seen let alone attempted to consume! (if you guessed that we were both able to finish it, you’d be correct)
That’s about it. I swear it will sound much more exciting in my article.
Until then, may I present… My Sandwich!
Basically this is a raw veg sandwich, not grilled veg, to be made with anything you have in your fridge. You may be suspicious of the addition of carrots, but they make it! As does the onion. Ghetto version could be onion, carrot, spinach and cheese. Must also have mayo and yellow mustard. Now I want another one. It’s SO GOOD. I had mine with a chocolate chip cookie and glass of passion fruit juice. Mm, mm, mmm.
You will need:
– delicious bread (rye or farmer’s loaf works best)
– mayo
– mustard (yellow)
– carrots, thinly sliced
– cucumber or zucchini, thinly sliced
– onion (I prefer white in this sandwich but used red today)
– lettuce of sorts or sprouts (I used arugula, but also enjoy spinach or onion sprouts)
– tomato slices
– green and/or red peppers, thinly sliced (I didn’t have any today, boo)
– hard cheese (any kind, today I used Monterey Jack because it was on sale)
In my kitchen I have a little mirror hanging from a random nail in the wall. It is too low to be used for freshening my chapstick before heading out the front door, and it only reflects the edge of my teapot shelf, so I decided to write a quote on it au café français. The mirror is also très petit so I needed a short quote. And it had to be about food or cooking or wine or eating. And it had to reflect (pun intended) my perspective on those topics. This is what I chose:
“Tell me what you eat and I will tell you what you are.”
I just love it. Totally sums up my food philosophy. Also because I am very opinionated and love judging others. Ha. But I believe that quote; what you eat does reflect what you are.
So, based on what I eat, what am I? Hmm… let’s see:
Cute, colourful, fresh, light-hearted, natural, multi-cultural, educated, centered on being local but injected with travel, interesting, creative, definitely not mundane, witty (I own products purely for their hilarious factor such as Cock Soup), organized (my fridge is strategically positioned like a shop’s display case), okay maybe a bit OCD, but obviously avec beaucoup du charme.
What about you?
I think if I owned a café it would be exactly like my description. And it would be in the Junction. And would serve Picnic Reds in screw-cap bottles only. And would constantly play CBC Radio 2. And would be called Café Carolyn. Apparently there is a Carolyn’s Café in Altanta, Georgia. Ooh! There’s also a Café Carolyn on Myrtle Avenue in Brooklyn! OMG, am definitely adding that to the list for my next trip to NYC!
OMG, NYC! Le sigh! Will keep you posted on article progress. But for now, get ye to a kitch’ery, and make yourself a sandwich.
Toods,
x