zucchini bread

Sometimes it's a late summer afternoon and you're one month away from your wedding and even though all the pesky details and questions about those details are finally starting to come to an end, you now have an onslaught of wedding presents showing up at your door every day that you really shouldn't have registered for in the first place because where the heck are you supposed to put them in your teeny tiny new york apartment? You're tired and hot and overwhelmed and kind of just want it all to be over but instead of having yet another meltdown you see a bowl of vegetables in your kitchen from a recent CSA haul gifted to you by a friend who was going out of town and didn't see the point in picking up a bag of food she'd never be able to use. And even though you should've been at the gym ten minutes ago (because, you know, the wedding), you start to bake. Eggs, flour, sugar, a little cinnamon and a whole lot of zucchini. You shouldn't be wasting time and calories on this bread, but you're pretty sure it's going to taste good and you're really sure you need this right now. Something to focus on. Something for your hands to do. It's quiet in your kitchen, save for the crack of an egg and the scrape of the zucchini across the grater (and the construction across the street and the crying baby next door and the helicopter flying overhead, but you choose to ignore those sounds as they do not positively contribute to your afternoon). And soon you find a familiar rhythm you didn't know you missed. Measure, pour, stir. Measure, pour, stir. You don't know why (and you're certainly not going to take the time to analyze why), but you have calmed down. A bit. There is still a stack of thank you's begging to be written and a pile of towels that need to be washed and a whole wedding you need to finish planning, but right now you've got a fresh loaf of bread begging for your attention. A bit of butter, a reheated cup of coffee, and a very deep breath for reassurance: you've got this.

for the curious and hungry: my go-to zucchini bread recipe

summer in the city

It's been a strange summer. I haven't been stuck in a theater like I normally am this time of year and the surplus of free time threw me for a loop. Instead of plowing through my usual "Summer To-Do List," I instead have been greeting each day with an odd amount of disengagement and ennui. The world also seems to be going to hell in a proverbial hand basket and more times than I can count I've forced myself to turn off the news and go for a walk. We're also less than two months away from the Big Day (!) and since it's been a fairly pricy couple of months (understatement of the year), we've been making a decent effort to curb unnecessary spending - which means no weekend getaways, lavish dinners, or any big purchases not related to the wedding.

This city, however, is at it's best in the summer. Or maybe I'm just such a hot-weather person that I put on my rose-colored sunglasses sometime around Memorial Day and actively ignore the hot-garbage smell that emits from nearly every New York street. Regardless, I've managed to fill a few of those endlessly vacant days with some lovely walks around my neighborhood, walks around Central Park, walks through the greenmarket, and even a trip down to Coney Island to (finally!) see the Cyclones play.

August has arrived, and while some argue for getting rid of it I for one am excited. I'm having not one but two bachelorette parties (because why not?), hopefully going to the US Open trials once and for all, and planting myself in front of the television to watch every second of the Olympics while audibly disagreeing with all scores given by the Russian judges. Happy summer, everyone ;)

1.) Summer veggies at the greenmarket
2.) Long Island City rooftop
3.) Astoria Pool
4.) Cyclones game in Coney Island
5.) More veggies
6.) Sunset over the East River
7.) Jones Beach
8.) View from the newly-opened Hallet Nature Sanctuary in Central Park
9.) Sunset walk through Astoria Park