Central Park in November

There has been some apologizing going on for the state of autumn in Manhattan this year…“we skipped fall,” “leaves are really better upstate,” etc. I refuse to accept this! After having been constantly told that the fall I experience in California isn’t fall at all*, I want some legit leaf action! I’ve been (a little obsessively) checking the Current Foliage Report on the official I ♥ NY website, and it told me that this week is supposed to be the real deal. To Central Park!

(*Disclaimer: lots of leaves turn spectacularly red and orange and gold in the Bay Area, so I'm not entirely sure what those West Coast complainers are on about. That said, the East Coast is doing a pretty good job of fall.)

Spot the Devin!

There's some give and take--spectacular leaves in exchange for daylight. New York is considerably further north than Silicon Valley, so after the time change it's already pitch black at 5 PM, and it can only get darker. This is making us treasure each fleeting hour of sunlight all the more.

Outside In

Bought some mums, scavenged some leaves. Now it's autumn inside our apartment, too!

All the fruit I want (persimmons and pomegranates) is imported from California. Also, what is up with having only one kind of kale, NYC? Where's my Dinosaur and Russian Red?

Foraging for bouquet ingredients in Riverside Park. Time to drink some tea with honey and lemon!

Morningside Weekend

Autumn is slowly creeping around the edges of things. The trees are still mostly green, but there are tinges of gold and red, and the breeze is brisk. This weekend we knocked around our little neighborhood after I taught my Saturday high school creative writing class, so I'm wearing my most pseudo-professorial attire. Riverside Park, where we spent most of the afternoon, is long and thin (rather like Manhattan), and is made up of many different levels and staircases as it gradates down to the Hudson.

Aside from Riverside Park, another of the jewels of Morningside Heights is the Hungarian Pastry Shop, right across the street from the Cathedral of St. John the Divine. I tried their strawberries and cream spongecake. It was fresh, light, and moist.

Our pastry-eating companion, one of the peacocks that lives on the grounds.

Quick State of the Cold update -- The real sign that I'm not sick anymore: Not only did I go grocery shopping, but I've started cooking again!
This weekend I made a menu from "The Heart of the Artichoke" by David Tanis, one of my favorite cookbook authors. On the plate: Peppery Oven-fried Chicken, Scalloped Corn (I made it with Greek yogurt and milk rather than half and half, and it was awesome), and Spicy Cabbage Slaw (which is simply purple cabbage, red onions, salt, pepper, lime juice, and jalapeño). Everything was really yummy. I'm cured!