Last week was short but crazy. I was only at work through 1:00 on Wednesday because of my trip out here to SF for my brother’s wedding, and I’m also in the process of a slight job change within the agency, so I had lots of loose ends to tie up — and fast!

Monday morning started out with the realization that I had half a block of silken tofu left in the fridge that was on its way out. A rescue mission was in order. I immersion-blended the tofu with a pile of freshly grated ginger and about six sunsweet prunes while sauteeing one of my CSA pears in canola.



The caramelized pears went on top of the quick tofu pudding for an atumnal pear-ginger mess. I ate half and found it the perfect way to start a chilly October (!!!) day:



Upon arrival at work, Deborah plopped this canister of excitement down in front of me:



Mmmmm, cookie sticks in chocolate frosting. Not complaining!



Deborah also procured a hunk of champagne cheddar from Danilda, so I enjoyed a few slices of that on top of Belkis’ apple wedges:



Lunch of the week was a CSA salad made from romaine and arugula and topped with caramelized rainbow chard and baby bok choy that I had sauteed with olive oil and a bit of molasses:



(Love that natural park sunlight!)

On the side, I had CSA butternut squash and radish fries that I had sliced, marinated (olive oil, cinnamon, nutmeg, sea salt, and cayenne for the butternut squash; olive oil, balsamic, sea salt, and coriander for the radish):



For a pre-karate dinner, I had a defrosted eggplant and ground turkey casserole of sorts that has been hanging in my freezer since mom gave it to me a couple months back. I pepped it up with tons of my fresh CSA pesto, and microwaving it made my office smell like a pizzeria. The Pizzeria, to be exact. (Mmmm, I haven’t been there since college. And apparently it is closed now! SAD.)



Erik and I went to karate, and I did not get beat up this time, woooooooooot! I just got really confused at the rapid sequence of blocks, punches, and swirly hands and became even more convinced that I would be burnt toast in the case of a surprise attack.

We hopped on the subway after karate (yay for F train buddies! the commute goes so much faster with company) only to get stuck downtown due to smoke in a Brooklyn station further down the line. After waiting for 20 minutes with no sign of subway service recovery, we were forced to walk across the Brooklyn Bridge (AGAIN) on the clearest night ever. Darn.



We hopped the C on the other side and took it past the smokey station to transfer successfully back to the F. Sure, I got home at 11:15 instead of 9:15, but I managed a Hollywood-style stroll in the process. Sometimes train drama can be a good thing.

Tuesday morning, following more pear-ginger tofu perfection, Belkis gave me a little wedge of her bran muffin:



And she also supplemented my lunch with some steamed batata:



Then, Rosey shared around little hunks of her dad’s famous homemade authentic Puerto Rican dulce de coco:



Just looking at that picture turns my mind to mush.

Also, some Satanic person shared lots of freshly baked and buttered French bread with me:



After work, Jose, Erik, Erik’s friend Wes, and I went around the corner to Orbit to watch the highly anticipated (ummm, who am I??) Twins-Tigers game. Honestly, I was on the edge of my seat for a good chunk of this game as it went to 12 innings! Or maybe being on the edge of my seat had to do with the fact that I kept reaching across Erik for his fried calamari:



With cocktail sauce and chipotle mayo, mmmmmmmmm …



After a hearty egg sandwich breakfast early early Wednesday morning, I zipped up to work by 8:25 because I had a million families to meet with before I left for vacation. After meeting with my first mom of the day, I joined our weekly department meeting to this sight:



Ahhhhh, more warm and buttered French bread!! Apparently, my agency has gone out with the cake and in with the bread. Still delicious, but no less damaging to my chances of fitting into that bridesmaid dress, ack.

Accompanying the bread craze is a donut craze, perpetuated by Deborah. She is determined to bring us all down with her and keeps showing up at the office with half dozen boxes of Dunkin Donuts. I can’t say no. I need serious help.



A minute later, I received a gchat from Erik that he had picked up some cactus for lunch. I was at his desk in negative 5 seconds:



One bite of cactus and roasted onion later, I was off and running on my way to Brooklyn to pack, back uptown to the Upper West Side for class, and back to Brooklyn for the night … for a grand total of six hours on the subway in one day. Can I win an award??

Thursday morning, it was time for escape from the city, part 10,007. Wedding updates to come soon …

Have you ever eaten anything that used to be prickly?