clothing swap & brunch

had an awesome clothing swap and brunch at my house.

everyone brought their tired wears to swap for new digs.

ate some yummy suff too.

total success!!!

"amazing! we are finding such great stuff.."

"heather grey cardi...just what i need!"

"no way dude, i saw it first!!"

longwood lunch break

brought along a lovely lunch to eat for a mid-garden break.

+ drank some fancy fizzy lemonade.

diced mission figs and tapenade

chicken cutlet, tomato, tapenade on baguette

tapenade on parmesan pita chips + tomato spinach dip on cucumber

honeycrisp apple, brie, fig on baguette

spinach dip

honeycrip apple slices and brie

tomatoes and persian cucumbers

longwood

took a long-awaited trip to Longwood gardens in PA, the du Pont estate + gardens.

spent 4 hours and walked through the entire grounds.

took a break half way though to enjoy a picnic lunch!

my favorite section was the meadow. we saw thousands of butterflies.

there's nothing 'SKETCH' about it

you need to go to Sketch in Fishtown.

as much as i try to branch out, every time i go i seem to get the same thing. the Dr. Pepper marinated pulled pork sandwich on a biscuit with avocado. its really the best pulled pork north of washington.

go here to see the many other delicious sandwiches they offer like:

kobe burger

truffle butter burger

green chile cheese fries

bangin milk shakes

they are also vegan-friendly with setain specials!

i paired with jersey tomato with green beans for dinner.

ZAHAV

dinner at Zahav with Jenny.

its been on my list of places to go for almost 2 years!

an absolutely delicious meal (we got the tasting menu - which you get to pick 6 courses each!)

great Israeli wines (got the flight of wines which they paired with the courses)

...i can't wait to return and get my favorites again and try some new dishes.

turkish hummus. grilled garlic + butter with house baked laffa

salatim.

fennel, eggplant, cucumber, lentils, carrots, okra, beets, cabbage

fried cauliflower. chive, oil, mint + garlic.

crispy halouni. cypryotic sheep's milk cheese, date paste, pine nuts.

tahcheen. baked rice, tomato, smoked chicken.

crispy sweetbreads. chickpeas, chile, lemon.

the farsi. hanger steak, persian rice, picked garlic, fried corn.

monsieur merguez. house-made lamb & beef sausage, cous cous,

spicy tomato paste, grilled carrots.

cashew baklava. white chocolate, date syrup.

glass of milk.

carob coffee cake. carob toffee, mastic cream.

turkish coffee.

fall shoes

autumn is here!

well not yet, but at least the "back to school" shopping time to get ready for fall.

no longer a student, i still love the back to school excitement and the rush of searching for new fall stuff to trick you into being excited to start a new school year.

Village thrift has started to put out fall merch already and here a few of my first fall finds.

shoes.

black snake-skin cowboy boots.

vintage brown suade pumps with an architecture heel.

black leather lace ups with a fur fold-over flap.

brown 'witchy' boots

so ugly they are amazing.

mouse-grey flannel saddle shoes.

black ankle boots.

WOODY

while in cape may a few weeks ago I saw this amazing bike.

it is inspired by the real "woodys" old wood-paneled station wagons of the 40's.

pure genius.

vegan feast

went to candle 79 in Manhattan for an amazingly delicious vegan dinner to celebrate Jenn's graduation from Columbia's teacher's college!

best of luck in fl, we will miss you lots and lots!!

p.s. i love you seitan.

for apps, we shared

seitan nachos, grilled seitan chimichurri, saffron-lobster mushroom ravioli

pecan encrusted seitan:

sautéed celery and pine nuts, spicy lentils, heirloom cherry tomatoes, beet reduction

caribbean jerk grilled seitan:

plantains, collard greens, black bean sauce, mango-papaya salsa, habanero-cilantro coulis

seitan piccata:

creamed spinach, grilled potato cake, oyster mushrooms, lemon-caper sauce

moroccan spiced chickpea cake:

seasonal veggies, red pepper-coconut curry, fresh apricot chutney, almonds

then the desserts were just as incredible!

fresh figs with vanilla fig ice cream and chopped pecans

tripple-layer dark chocolate tort

fresh peach crumble with ice cream

remember, the entire meal was made with no meat, eggs, or dairy!!

raw feast

I was so thrilled to be a guest at Daniel's end of the month dinner celebration, noting the end to his 'raw diet' for the month of july.

The Raw Feast was a dinner that he planned and executed summing up what he had learned and all the challenges he faced throughout a whole month of not being able to eat anything that had been cooked. even just a little bit cooked.

check him out on his amazing blog, the thirteenth diet.

Can't wait to join him in the many months ahead!!

"summer" : local heirloom tomatoes, watermelon, tomato chips, parsley sorbet

herb salad : cilantro, dill, arugula, parsley, basil, almonds

beet "ravioli": shaved beets, cashew cheese, mango + yellow pepper coulis, pistachios

tacos : dried corn tortillas, spiced black beans, truffle guacamole, sour cream

dessert : local peaches, cayenne + maple ice cream, peach chips

simple but elegant table decor under a tent in a beautiful s. philly backyard