For my final breakfast prepared by Carlos, I was presented with chocolate, banana and walnut muffins. I can't bear bananas (slimy, yucky things) and I really don't like walnuts either. However, I can tolerate banana bread, so I gave it my best.
I shouldn't have doubted. They were delicious. Enough banana that I could smell it, but only lightly taste it; the walnuts were chopped and well-embedded and not walnutty at all. With a little frosting and some rich chocolate sauce, they were actually bloody good!
After finishing my packing, and lugging it to the storage place a few long blocks from Penn Station, I tried to connect with the HighLine Park at 34th and 11th. Except they haven't even started on that bit. I wandered a lot further, and ended up back in Chelsea eventually.
I stopped in at a couple of supermarkets, including a large one beginning with G (Grimwalds or somethingish), and the Chelsea Whole Foods and a Trader Joes (overwhelmingly own-name products). Each was interesting, and I did manage to find a single serve of challah at the Whole Foods.
It's a sweetish soft bread, and quite pleasant, if not all that. I followed that up with another mocha frappuccino (Starbucks has free wifi, and I get some caffeine and hydration too).
And then I walked and walked and walked some more. I ended up at 14th and 6th, and decided to get a slice of pizza. It was bloody huge, 10", even 12" radius (that's a regular sized paper plate underneath it).
It was good - a thin crisp base, not at all greasy, good flavours. I enjoyed it far more than I expected.
I got into my head that I needed to find a tiara or fascinator for our not-very-fancy dress bonfire tomorrow night in honour of the royal wedding. I tried a few places with no luck, but did end up back at Union Square.
I tried the Whole Foods there, and decided to sample some of their prepared foods. I chose a mid-sized serve of matzo ball soup (again, having never had it before) ($5+tax) and some bits and pieces from the hot food range - some brown rice, palak paneer (mostly palak, hardly any paneer), some rubbed lamb (cf pulled pork - slow cooked and shredded), some garlic (green) beans (more chilli than garlic), and some "perfect protein salad". ($9/lb+tax, total 1.1lb). Total price $16.something.
As opened, then after I'd eaten the beans, to show the rest.
It was very good. I might see if I can work out what was in the salad, to try to reproduce it.
It was also very filling. I really, really didn't need the soup, but I also didn't fancy lugging it around, even in the 38 layers of packaging, each environmentally responsible, but kinda missing the point with that much. (The habit of double-bagging groceries also kinda misses the point. Anyway)
The soup was a clear broth, very strongly tasting of the boiled onions, as well as the celery and carrots. The matzo balls were dumplings of dough, around 2"/5cm in diameter, that could be cut into easily with a spoon. To be honest, it didn't do much for me, but it may just have been that I was already full beyond comfort. I think this is the first food I haven't finished.
Full container, and partly drained to show matzo balls.
I sat for a bit at Union Square, and then decided I might as well fetch my bags and get to Jamaica station where I could wait for my connecting train to Montauk. To get to the A,C,E line, the one stopping closest to the luggage storage place, I had to walk a good few more blocks south from Union Square, down to Bleeker Street/Lafayette. Oh, but my legs and feet are sore.
Right now, I'm on a train to Montauk, hoping I can locate my friends also on this train before we get to the other end of the line in two hours time. If not, I'll see them at the other end and can do some blogging or reading. There's no wifi, so these will be local drafts until I can connect at the other end. Actually, I might not blog much - I'm sitting sidesaddle on my seat, with my keyboard on my lap, and my iPad perched on my bag, threatening to tumble with every sideways lurch of the train.
No comments:
Post a Comment