Minutina may sound like the name of a long lost Pokemon (or is that just me?), but it’s a long-leafed green I spotted at Bodhi Tree Farm’s stand at yesterday’s Union Square Greenmarket. The sign said it was good for salads or light cooking, so first I tasted a strand of it raw. It tasted a lot like lettuce. I decided to blanch it in salted water — I brought the water to a boil, tore off the stem end of the minutina, dropped the leaves into the water, and when it came back up to a boil I turned off the heat and drained the leaves out of the water. Cooked the leaves took on the texture of scallion greens, without the onion-y bite of scallions. Good as a novelty, sure, but I don’t think I’ll be adding minutina to my regular rotation of veggies any time soon.

I have the travel bug. You know that bug. We all get it some times. It’s especially hard when the bug wants to go to places like Tokyo, Iceland, ooohhh the Easter Island, and Ushuaia. I know where my bug came from. I’ve been diligently catching up on old episodes of No Reservations and The Layover. Plus I just recently watched 180 Degrees South, a documentary about this guy’s journey to Patagonia. AND currently I have a friend eating delicious fresh sushi in Japan and our very own Howard is in Taipei exploring the night markets.

Many times Bourdain would say, on his show, to just go and travel. While I would love to do it, money has always been THE biggest factor. How am I going to pay for this trip to Patagonia? I guess I can save but then I got so much crap to deal with here at home (rent, bills, bills…BILLS).

Of course I can start off with places more nearby. Did you know one of the places on my to-go list is Mt Rushmore? Yep. I like that sort of stuff. Toronto and Montreal is also nearby enough to do a quick long weekend trip. Heck even places like Portland, VT would probably make a good trip. Hopefully this year I’ll make another trek out to Seattle and go abroad (somewhere close like London).

Where would you like to go this year?

Annnnnnnd we’re off with 2013! How is everyone feeling? Good, I hope. While most people are talking about their 2013 resolutions (I gave up on resolutions long time ago), I’m going to talk about my food wish list for this year.

My food wish list doesn’t just include foods I want to try or restaurants I should finally go eat at. Nope. My list is sort of all over the place.

Check out my list after the jump!

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Everyone loves a free cookie so this Saturday, Pastry Chef Christina Tosi of Milk Bar will be handing out free cookies along with her mom. They will roam around Manhattan and Brooklyn in a fancy Free Holiday Cookie Truck, thanks to American Express. Follow hashtag #AmexMakeMyDay for updates as times and locations may change.

11:00am to 11:45am – Stop 1: Central Park South – Columbus Circle
12:10pm to 12:55pm – Stop 2: Madison Square Park Area
1:20pm to 2:05pm – Stop 3: Union Square- 16th St & Union Sq West
2:30pm to 3:15pm – Stop 4: SoHo- Houston St & Greene St
3:40pm to 4:25pm – Stop 5: Williamsburg- Bedford Ave & North 7th St
4:50pm to 5:35pm – Stop 6: Fort Greene Park- Cumberland St & Dekalb Ave

This past Wednesday I went down to St Mary’s Church in Bay Ridge to help out at the Bay Ridge Cares kitchen. I had no idea how the heck did we, just a handful of people, were able to churn out enough food to feed 800 people that day. But we did. It felt good to help. Check out some of the photos from that day and be sure to check out Occupy Sandy’s site or Bay Ridge Cares’ Facebook page for volunteering opportunities and info.

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As you all may know, there are still much to be done here in NYC after getting hit by hurricane Sandy couple weeks ago and then the nor’easter last week.

There are quite a lot of ways one can do to help out, either donating cash or clothes or supplies or food or help clean up or simply spreading the word that there are many people still without electricity and heat.

Ever since the hurricane hit, Allison Robicelli has been tweeting valuable information and coordinating through all forms of social media to get help where they are needed the most. One of the big things that came out of her efforts was the start of the Bay Ridge Cares Serving Meals that Heal. Starting today, they will be collecting food and cooking hot meals for people in need. You can sign up at the Occupy Sandy website and put “BAY RIDGE
CARES” in the MISCELLANEOUS NOTES as there is no check box for Bay Ridge yet.

Please come out and help, especially if you know how to (safely) use a knife. They need people for Monday thru Saturday from 9a-1p, 1-5p, or full days. Bay Ridge Cares is located at Saint Mary and is on the corner of 81st and Ridge Blvd. in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn.

I’m in LA, tagging along with the Big Gay Ice Cream guys with special guest Fany Gerson of La Newyorkina. It’s gonna be an awesome week and hopefully my LA friends will come out to hang and eat some tasty sweets!

Also while chilling at Duff Goldman’s new cake shop (Duff’s Cake Mix), I finally met my tv crush (Anna)!

Below is their schedule. Be sure to check their Twitter for up-to-date info, in case of possible location/time changes.

10/23 TUESDAY
Duff’s Cake Mix 2:00-5:00pm
8302 Melrose Avenue @ N. Sweetzer Ave (map)

Kogi BBQ route 6:00-9:00pm
14209 Ventura Blvd @ Calhoun Ave, Sherman Oaks (map)

10/24 WEDNESDAY
Kogi BBQ route 11:30am-2:30pm
Yahoo! Center, Broadway & 26th St, Santa Monica (map)

Heath Ceramics 4:00-7:00pm
7525 Beverly Blvd @ Sierra Bonita Ave (map)

10/25 THURSDAY
World of Wonder Productions 12:00-4:00pm
6650 Hollywood Blvd @ N. Cherokee Ave, Hollywood CA, alleyway (map)

Graffiti Sublime Coffee Bar 5:00-8:00pm
180 S. La Brea Ave @ W. 2nd St, LA CA, parking lot (map)

Studio of Environmental Architecture 9:00-11:00pm
57 Market Street btw Pacific and Speeday, Venice (map)

10/26 FRIDAY
Private Event 12:00-2:00pm

Duff’s Cake Mix 3:00-4:30pm
8302 Melrose Avenue @ N. Sweetzer Ave (map)

Animal Restaurant 6:30-11:00pm
435 N. Fairfax, LA CA, parking at lot at Rosewood Ave (map)

10/27 SATURDAY
Susan Feniger’s Street 12:00-3:00pm
742 N Highland Ave @ Waring Ave (map)

Faultline Bar 8:00pm-11:00pm
4216 Melrose Ave @ N. Vermont Ave (map)