Saturday, September 08, 2007

a walk around the neighborhood


Hello. Daiku and I are going to take a stroll to our co-op to pick up some stuff for dinner- care to join us?



First we have Señor Squirrel, a little guy that comes up to our porch and eats the snacks that he has gathered around our back yard.



I love our neighborhood. It's a very laid-back, diverse, and liberal place full of old houses. (Our house was built in 1927- happy 80th birthday!) One thing I never noticed, though, is this strange tree up the block with a giant hole in it!

Oh... try to ignore the changing leaves. According to the calendar, at least, it's still summer.



Then, we stumble upon a neighbor's yard with some beautiful flowers. Because the sun is setting, the most amazing light is hitting these flowers, giving them an almost otherworldly presence. I assure you, I didn't retouch these photos in any way- the colors are all Mother Nature's!





O.k., we're home! That didn't take very long, since the co-op is only 4 or 5 blocks away.

Here's what we're having for dinner- please stay and join us if you can:



It's Spaghetti with Spinach and Mushrooms from the Vegetarian Times. Here's a link to the recipe. When I saw this recipe, I just knew I had to make it because the combination of flavors (harissa, garlic, saffron) and the different technique (toasting the spaghetti in the oven before cooking it) sounded so interesting!

I really liked the results- the spaghetti had such a unique flavor from being toasted. This is something I'm going to experiment with in the future. The overall taste of the dish, though, was a bit bland. I would consider jacking up all the flavors next time.

Notice that I tried to duplicate the magazine's photo of the dish in my version. Not as easy as it looks, I find!

Thanks for taking a late-summer's walk with us around the 'hood. Hopefully we can do it again soon!


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24 comments:

Anonymous said...

drats! it's too late to tag along with you. :(

urban vegan said...

I'm glad I could come visit and get a guided tour--and dinner, to boot.

What a lovely neighborhood. The flower shots are especially gorgeous--I am loving the saturated colors.

Hilary said...

what a pretty walk to your co-op.
mm, that combination of flavors does sound pretty good. and toasting spaghetti!? i've never heard of that, but sure sounds interesting!

scottishvegan said...

What a nice stroll that was...thanks for taking us along!Those flowers are gorgeous! Toasted spaghetti sounds quite different, but very tasty too!

Scott at Real Epicurean said...

Squirrels apparently make for great eating ;)

Anonymous said...

I like your neighbourhood, and the pasta looks tasty! That squirrel looks so vicious, coolest animal ever!

Teresa said...

Bazu you are so cute! Thanks for taking us along. Wow your neck of the woods is very pretty, and seems rather peaceful. Next time I go to NY (and there will be a next time), I'm definitely going to be stopping by Syracuse, and visiting you.

Toasted spaghetti??? Interesting. I looked at the magazine's picture and I like yours better- no question.

Peggy said...

What beautiful pictures! I like that hole-y tree. :)

The way you wrote this post was just lovely, well done.

MeloMeals said...

Interesting.. toasting spaghetti.. I definitely am going to give that a try..

Loved your walk to the co-op... what an interesting tree.. and the flowers are gorgeous!

LizNoVeggieGirl said...

aww, Señor Squirrel is quite adorable, haha. you take such gorgeous photographs!! between the flowers and the spaghetti (your picture is FAR superior to the VT magazine picture, if you ask me), you certainly have an eye for photography :0)

Susan Voisin said...

I love this post! Thanks for taking us along. I've never thought of toasting spaghetti before, so that's something to chew on. :-)

vko said...

Thanks for the stroll round the ol'hood! I love Senor Squirrel & the hole-y tree. And those flowers are perfectly lit!

Anonymous said...

what a beautiful neighborhood you live in! thank you for sharing such a wonderful walk :) your spaghetti looks awesome, too!

Anna said...

Gorgeous neighborhood. I'm so envious! I love the idea of living in an 80-yr-old house in such a treesy, green environment. Mmm, the spaghetti looks good...

anna/village vegan said...

Mmm...that pasta looks so good! I'll have to try it.

And thanks for your comment on my blog. Things are...going. I don't have internet at home (yet) and I can't upload pictures from the library computer, which is why I haven't posted in forever. Actually I don't like it very much here, but hopefully it will get better once classes actually start (not until the middle of October...I'm just taking an intensive language course right now and I don't think they put me in the right level...)

Anonymous said...

I lived on Westminster, Westcott, Roosevelt and Westmoreland,all within several blocks of where you must live. Recently my husband and I revisited those streets remembering how wonderfully diverse that University area was. We lived next to a 95 yr old couple, working class Irish family, single middle aged women, interacial families, etc, etc. I loved that feeling, and that community. Beautiful flower shots, even though I particularly dislike zinnias. Also good looking dinner.

Peace, Love and Veganism said...

Loved the photos! I hope to start my own veggie garden this fall, after years of potting my herbs and tomatoes. Any suggestions for fall plantings? Love the toasted spaghetti, too. I might try this!

aTxVegn said...

You live in a beautiful area. I would walk more often through a place like that.

That pasta looks amazing and I've been looking for a "different" kind of spaghetti recipe. I just toasted and baked rice for the first time and loved it.

Thanks for sharing your stroll!

Theresa said...

Thanks for taking us with you! And I think your photo looks better than the magazine's :)

Rachel said...

bazu your blog is beautiful! I just looked at it for the first time <3

foof (from the ppk)

Vegan_Noodle said...

What a lovely area! We live in a liberal (as far as Houston goes at least) area too with lots of old homes....much more character than the suburbs with the cookie cutter homes.

That spaghetti looks awesome! Love your picture, much better than theirs in my opinion...

Mikaela said...

Yay - that was fun! :)

Nicole said...

I wanted to make this when I first saw it and then I forgot all about it. Thanks for making it - and your photo looks wonderful. :-)

Anonymous said...

I enjoyed our walk around your neighborhood! By the way, happy belated anniversary.

I love the Damn Tasty book but haven't made those cookies yet because they seem time-involved. Yours look really good and make me want to make them.