Prune Muffins

Prunes have a bad rap. I think this stems from their association with the elderly. That's ageism people! Stop being so bigoted and enjoy this natural treat. Old people are awesome. I can't wait to be super old! Old people get to bed as early as they want, put together so many jigsaw puzzles, and sport the very best vintage cardigans.

Perhaps people are wary of prunes because they are afraid if they eat too many they will poop a lot. But if those terrible Activia commercials (with that creepy arrow pointing to the groin area) have taught me anything it is that people don't poop enough! Gross anecdote time: Once one of my friends sister was in town. Let's call him "Jim." So, yeah, Jim's sister couldn't poop. So I gave his sister a bag of prunes (because I like to keep them on hand). Apparently, that wasn't enough. She even ate a whole another bag to no avail. I am actually not too sure how her problem was solved come to think of it. Anyway, I was telling my dad this story and he said, "But why was she constipated? She is of Guatemalan descent." I was like, "Wuh?" He thought I was talking about Jim's girlfriend. My dad apparently thinks that only white Americans and African Americans get constipated due to their cultural fear of fresh fruits and vegetables. So, yeah, that is both a story about prunes and how my dad is a bad listener.

Okay, I will finally get to the point of this post. Last night I made my specialty, prune muffins. Pretty much what happens is that I take Mark Bittman's basic muffin recipe from How To Cook Everything (my favorite book!) and jazz it up a bit. I used to spelt flour that I'd buy in bulk from the food co-op when I lived in Portland because I was a big ol' communist hippie back then. To the recipe, I added a half cup of walnuts, a half cup of prunes, ginger, cloves, and cinnamon. They turned out pretty good. I think it could convert a prune hater.


For some reason, Mort had access to my book and changed to the word "muffins" to "muffings." I asked him why he did it and he seemed just as confused as I was.


Whiter than North Dakota: Flour, baking soda, and sugar.


Diverse like California: added cloves, ginger, and cinnamon.


Wet ingredients.


All Done!

Coney Island With Sami.

On Thursday, Sam and I went to Coney Island. Sam is one of my all time favorite people and best friends. We were roommates in college and after college. She still lives in Portland, but came to the east coast for a long due visit. She was with me the first time I went to Coney Island and the first time I went to Williamsburg actually (summer of 2005 on the same day). We are very good at making adventures happen.

Before we even left the house, we had some lunch at the cafe near my new apartment. It was too pretty not to photograph.



Sam and her muesli.



My salmon and beets matched Sam's dress.



We took the Q, which was the train I took when I first moved to New York. I lived in what I "affectionately" call "Crown Heights Lite." No one came to visit me. Prospect Park Stop! How I don't really miss you at all!

It took us a little more than an hour to get there, but most of the ride was above ground. It was nice to see a part of Brooklyn with houses that look like regular families live in them. We were excited to finally see the Wonder Wheel and the ocean.



To be perfectly honest, the main purpose of our visit was to find some pistachio soft serve that Sam used to love when she was a little girl. We found the soft serve within five minutes of arriving (I'm not exaggerating for once). It was right next to this bumper car place, with their tastefully done signs.



The thing that bothered me about this sign is that they obviously were afraid to show a human's buttocks, but really wanted to. So they did a half-assed (I know, not funny) job by just making a donkey look like it has a human's butt. It made me uncomfortable.



They made up for it by having this guy. I love his teeth.

The Disgusting Beach!

Sam wanted to put her feet in the water. I didn't. The sand was hella gross. It was like 75% sand and 25% sketchy garbage. It was nice seeing all the families and little kids relaxing and running around in the surf.




I don't know why, but it was strange to me to see all these generic looking housing developments so close to the ocean.



She was especially having a wonderful time.



This guy kept whistling. We couldn't figure out who he was whistling at. We came up with a theory that he just wanted people to look at him and his pectoral muscles.

The Wonder Wheel

We decided it was only worth spending money on one ride and we chose the Wonder Wheel, which is 90 years old and because of that scared the crap out of me. I'm getting old and I am not as fearless as I used to be.








Clowns!

It is no secret that I love clowns. I love them because they are supposed to be cuddly, innocent, funny, and cute, but mostly just end up scaring the crap out of people. There were some nice clown murals under the Wonder Wheel. We were please to make their acquaintances.









Beasts: Both Hideous and Adorable!

Since Coney Island is in touch with its carnival roots. There are lots of scary things and plush things made for hugging.


Sam said that this guy looked like he had a good sense of humor. I am inclined to agree.


Did any of you know that Winnie the Pooh is a college graduate?



GHOST HOLE! It sounds like a bad band name. Like one that has a member of the band who wears an ironic Native American head-dress and has cover art drawn with markers. Barf in a bucket.


Speaking of barf in a bucket. Check out these bros.

Architecture and Art

They are sort of trying to make Coney Island into an art center or something. I was too lazy to look into it. But they painted these murals over old signs of the carnival signs. I enjoyed them.










We walked to the end of the boardwalk and found this thing. it is famous, but I really don't know what its function is.



We also found an old roller rink in a beautiful building. We were sad to see that it was no longer operational. We both really love rollerskating and hadn't gone in a couple years.






Mighty Poseidon had some vegetation growing out of his head.

We also went to the Museum about Coney Island (it is connected to the Coney Island Freak Show). I recommend it. It is pretty cool and only 99 cents to go in.



I drank this beer on an empty stomach and consequently, forgot to document our excursion to Nathan's Hotdogs for cheese fries and Duncan Donuts (Sam wanted to eat her favorite donut from childhood to see if she still liked it). When we got home, I made us a dinner that mostly consisted of fresh vegetables to make up for the fact we ate so much delicious crap on Coney Island.

I feel that all in all, it was a successful trip.

Coco Turned Five (or 35)

Yesterday was Coco, my beloved chihuahua friend's, fifth birthday. Catherine and I forgot to celebrate it last year because we were too frazzled with our lives, but this time around, we were already settled in our new place and excited to have a party.

Catherine decided to make Coco a party hat. I want to point out that Catherine doesn't normally wear this amazing poncho because there is rarely an occasion that warrants it. Later she put on a head band and I told her that she looked like Mischa Barton, but with a much nicer butt.



Will our birthday girl like it?










It looked almost as good on Neima.



We also made some nachos for Coco's human friend. We wanted to celebrate her Mexican heritage. We couldn't share this with her because she would probably have gotten diarrhea. Catherine gave her a dog friendly treat.



Then it was time for brownies!



We used this lighter to light the candle. In case you can't tell, it has a chihuahua on it. My mom brought it back for me from when she was working in Kazakhstan.



Time to blow out the candles, Coco! Okay, maybe not. We'll help you out since it looks like you are afraid of fire.



The party was a little too crazy for Coco and she passed out pretty early.

Presents: Garamon and Shlomo

I got paid for a freelance job today and instead of putting it all in savings like a proper young lady, I bought myself and Rebecca some presents.

My Present to Myself: Garamon!

First off is Garamon, who I spotted months earlier in Toy Tokyo in the East Village. I decided immediately that he is my spirit animal. I tried to get Mort to buy it for me last week, but he refused because it scared him. Mort is also scared of dinosaurs, clowns, and cherubs. That information might be of use to you one day.


Look at this handsome gent.


grrrrrrrrrr.


Even his tail is adorbs.

So I did a little research online and discovered that Garamon was a character or villain or something on this 1960s Japanese monster show called Ultra Q. There is a whole blog about just Garamon. He is so cute! Here he is in his natural habitat:





These images are from here.

My Present to Rebecca: Shlomo!

I saw this little fellow for sale this weekend on the corner of Bedford and N. 7th st. I rarely stop to look at stuff people are selling on the sidewalk on Bedford because I don't like stopping in the middle of the sidewalk (it's a thoroughfare, goddammit) or talking to people I don't know, especially ex hippies selling weird dolls or used Kierkegaard paperbacks. But this dude, worth talking to a hippie and lugging it on the G train for.


He's tooting his own horn.

I decided that his name should be Shlomo, which is my favorite Jewish male name after Akiva and Mordecai. I thought it would be a good present around Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippir. He sure knows how to work his shofar. Honk! Honk!