I Love New York

View of the Statue of Liberty on board a Staten Island Ferry

Sabi nga sa kanta ni JZ

"In New York

Concrete jungle where dreams are made of

There's nothin' you can't do

Now you're in New York

These streets will make you feel brand new

Big lights will inspire you

Let's hear it for for New York, New York, New York"

Four days in NY has been short but sweet.  It was not in my list of to-go places really but a last minute decision brought me to the big apple. 

NY is alive! It's my kind of city.  Big, breathing, confident.

I like how I can stay at the subway at 11pm and catch up with friends from the other end of the country and the other side of the world because of the free internet.

I love how I can just walk from block to block and would easily realize when Im lost because the streets are easy to navigate because one would know that 42nd is next to 41st and not to the 5th, eh?

I like how people are accommodating, that when you ask them for directions, they try to help and make you feel comfortable and not a bother to them.  That it's perfectly ok to ask.

I like the fact that talking to them puts my grade school GMRC into use.  I like the fact that I could say thank you, you're welcome, have a good day, etc without sounding awkward or pretentious.  Those simple acts of politeness can really help lighten up one's day.

They say that New Yorkers are rude but I didnt experience that.  I assume that rudeness could be the exception and not the norm.

I like how I see different kinds of people with different heights, skin color, hair color, hair styles and hear them speak English with different accents.

I love how they seem to have and support their local brands.

I love the fact that on Monday morning, at rush hour, people in the subway still read books or the papers.  That they still talk to each other.  That others seem not to mind not doing anything except listening to the sound of the train.

I hate it though how difficult it is to find public restrooms.  Or how hard it is to find stores that sell cheap souvenirs and that the cheapest short that I could find were those that they sell at JFK for $10 a piece which is way more expensive than the usual $3 shirt that Im used to.

Despite, and because of, all of these, I love NY!

Journaling

One of my friends had told me before that keeping a diary is helpful in keeping one's own sanity and I've read several articles who prove that point citing empirical studies.  I kinda agree to that.

So I have to go back to that habit.  "To write more often" has always been part of my yearly to-do list.  And I've been failing, yearly.

Yesterday, I had a lunch with a friend who shared that she and her husband also keeps journals together.  They used to be more consistent in updating it.  But now, they are also becoming more lenient.  So we promised to sort of push each other to write by asking each other how things are, even just for once in a  while.

I wish I could keep that promise.

Kale

Side note: I am happy that there are new entries in Ala's blog.  No, I dont know her personally but I've been a fan of her writing for a long time now.  

Kale.

I went to the grocery to buy some greens.  And greens did I buy.  Aside from the usual herb salad, I also bought kale

a bouquet of green goodness

I had no recipe in mind when I bought this.  I know it's a healthy food and kind of trendy, but I've never had it in my plate, or in my kitchen.

So when I got home, I consulted google.  And he never disappoints.  The first that I saw was a page that suggests 11 ways of cooking kale.  They were quite doable, and seem appetizing.  From pesto, to baked kale mac and cheese, to kale slush, the variety was good.  In the end, I ended up doing kale chips and chorizo and kale stew.

Kale chips

You know when health buffs try to lure ordinary people into believing that healthy food could taste as good as unhealthy food?   That, I felt, was what happened to me.

I watched 3 different videos of people who made kale chips and all of them were eating those chips as if they were the best chips in the whole wide world.  So I willingly fell into the trap.

The chips was easy to do.  Just tear off the leaves from the stem, wash them, let them dry.  I used a salad spinner to dry them faster.    Then drizzle a bit of olive oil onto the leaves.  If you prefer, you can also sprinkle herbs and spices to make them tastier.  Place them in a baking tray, and pop them into the oven for 15-20 minutes at 180C.

After that, voila!  You'll have your kale chips.

Ready for baking

fresh from the oven

kale chips on a plate

So how did it taste like?  I think that health buffs or vegetarians should be more truthful when they talk about kale chips.  Or I dont know, maybe it's just  that mine didn't turn out well.  In terms of crunch, hands down, it was really crunchy.  Like Lay's potato chips but a thinner kind of crunch.  Tastewise?  It didnt taste like potato chips at all.  It was by all aspects tasted like, I dont know, kale?  The first bite was a bit bland, save for the taste of the spices that you'll sprinkle on it.  But after several chews, there's that faintly bitter aftertaste. I thought that it was because of the "burnt" ones.  So I adjusted the cooking time and had ones that were still green.  They were still crunchy and still had that bitter aftertaste.

So the verdict, when one chooses to eat healthy,  one should learn how to love the natural taste of healthy food and not to pretend that they taste like junk food. 

Oh, and after several hours, they were no longer crunchy so I ended up throwing all the 'chips' into my stew pot.

Chorizo and Kale Stew

I like this recipe better.  It was direct to the point, no advertising gimmicks.   Even the method of cooking was direct and simple.

Saute everything together, let it simmer, sprinkle a dash of your favorite spices (mine was cumin, paprika and cayenne pepper) and after an hour or two, you'll have a good stew.

ingredients: kale, chorizo, garlic and onion, tomato, potato, celery and spices

saute garlic, onion and chorizo.  add potatoes and tomatoes. simmer. add kale and celery. simmer again. sprinke some salt, pepper, cumin, paprika and cayenne pepper 

kale chips thrown into the stew pot

Next time, I'll try the kale pesto.  And maybe, give kale chips another chance.  But not after trying it from a restaurant or a bag from the grocery.