Madrid, I Remember This

Hovering over a statue of King Charles III, Madrid's first billboard, the Tio Pepe sign, advertising a famous sherry for more than a century, at the Puerto del Sol.


A dark story behind this statue: bears once lived in royal hunting grounds outside the city.

Drooling over olives with red and green peppers at the Mercado de San Miquel.

Olives, bread, fruit, sweets: the perfect fare for a picnic in the tree lined Retiro Park.


Boaters enjoying a sail on the lake at Retiro Park.


A home Mrs. Bucket would admire: the Royal Palace (Palacio Real).

Imagine the candlelight suppers that are thrown here.

Doesn't everything seem more magical at night?

Enjoying toasted bread with grilled eggplant, tomatoes and olive oil at El Arbol Y La Tosta, just outside the park.

Savoring a soy cafe con leche, 2.50 euros, at Le Pain Quotidien at Plaza Mayor. Also find soy milk at Starbucks, where a cafe con leche will run 1.90 euros, plus a .40 euros charge for the soy milk.

Directly across from McDonald's and KFC, making a more humane meal choice at Maoz Vegetarian. The bowl came with refills: I choose olive pate, a spicy chickpea stew, carrots, couscous, and roasted cauliflower. With an orange juice and falafel, the cost was 5 euros. Find Maoz in the U.S. as well, including in New York City. Even non-vegetarian food blogger David Lebovitz sang the praises of Maoz.


Outside of Chocolatería San Ginés, a dog enjoying the canine good life of a mid-morning respite as his guardian lingers over the paper.

The good life it all is, indeed.

The Word on the Street: Vegan

With more consumers interested in vegan options for a host of reasons (health, animal ethics, and environmental, to name a few), vegan food, as it should, is taking its rightful place in society - closer to the mainstream. Here are some places it's showing up:

At non-vegetarian restaurants, like New York City's Blockheads (various locations). Co-existing alongside meat and dairy dishes on the menu, you'll find tofu, tofu sour cream, and vegan soy cheese.

Two grilled tofu tacos (hold the Monterey Jack cheese) with fresh grilled corn salsa, served with rice and beans, and of course, I requested tofu sour cream. A feast for $8.95, at lunchtime it came with chips and salsa and a drink (my pick: fresh brewed iced tea).


Great vegan good is not just in New York City or Los Angeles (find veg eats near you with help from Happy Cow). In New Jersey, the owners the Rutherford Pancake House have crafted a loyal following, knowing veg enthusiasts will 'follow the tofu' so to speak. The vegan menu has expanded to offer comfort foods like sliders and pizza. But at a diner or pancake house, breakfast food just calls my name.

The vegan Roman tofu scramble: garlic, scallions, tomatoes, peppers, Italian sausage, and mozzarella, $9.95, served with home fries and...

toast with strawberry jam and soy butter. Coffee $1.79, with soy milk (rice milk is also available), and orange juice, $1.99 for a small.


In every media outlet from non-vegan blogs (check out food writer David Lebovitz raving about New York City vegan bakery Babycakes) to The New York Times, which had a headline that said it all: "Tasty Vegan Food? Cupcakes Show It Can Be Done."

My favorite vegan bakery: Sweet Avenue Bake Shop in Rutherford. Behold the sight of their seasonal pumpkin spice cupcakes, $3.50 each.



At street festivals and fairs. Remember the vegan coconut macaroons at the Bastille Day celebration in New York City? Well, my heart went aflutter when, surrounded by people eating turkey legs at the New York Renaissance Fair in Tuxedo Park (more about my visit and eats there later), I saw this sign at a Mediterranean food booth. Super Vegan is not only a fitting name for a wrap, but also a vegan cartoon character! Now if only I could sketch...

In the movies.

Okay, this technically counts as a vegetarian reference, but still!

In the film Eat Pray Love, Elizabeth Gilbert's (via Julia Roberts) first boyfriend after the end of her marriage is a vegetarian. There's a scene at a dinner party where someone asks him why he became a vegetarian and he mentions seeing cows being slaughtered. At night's end, the same man asks for the slaughterhouse video and that he's interested in learning more about factory farming. In a film largely about personal and spiritual growth and enlightenment, being enlightened about what one puts in their body, and the reality behind, seems only logical. I was thrilled for the reference, and cheered silently in the theater.

And I'm cheering here, out loud for the animals, that slowly but surely, great vegan food is becoming more available and accepted.

It's Bastille Day!

A little history on why we're breaking out the baguettes and Edith Piaf records today.

Let's visit New York City's annual Bastille Day Fair and have a picnic: gazpacho with a piece of baguette, $5, and an Orangina, $2.


Fruit jellies, everything from cassis to apricot to mango (made with pectin) from Burdick Chocolate, 2 for $1 or 12 for $5.


Mon Dieu - vegan cookies at the Bastille Day festival?!? This is almost as exciting as David Lebovitz's post on vegan strawberry ice cream.

I had a coconut macaroon, $2, from Vegan Divas. They also had vegan brownies and oatmeal raisin cookies - not very French, but a great sign of progress how vegan food is showing up all over the place.


Veganize Nutella, a favorite spread for bananas, crepes and crusty bread everywhere. I haven't tried the recipe, and the real thing is a major weakness of mine.


"A girl should be 2 things, classy and fabulous," Coco Chanel declares on this cute reusable tote from Girls' Guide to Paris.

French women are famous for their scarves, and even this adorable chien got into the act. Flashback to Gillian Young's advice on how to tie a scarf like a Frenchie.

Cheerful books for the youngest francophiles.

Buttons from FIAF (French Institute Alliance Française).


Music from Les Sans Culottes.

Learn about the symbolism of the French flag.


Flashback to last year's festivities.

Carol from Paris Breakfasts also covered the fun.

J'adore...

David Lebovitz's take on French napkins. Disposable? Jamais. He also offers Tips for Vegetarian Dining in Paris.

...the Ultimate Money Blog's column, Frugal French habits You can Try at Home. I'm a big advocate walking, paying with cash and not credit, and many other things mentioned, so I'm off to a French and frugal start.

...stumbling across little French-themed books at the C.A.T.S. Resale Shop for my nightstand. "Je fais un somme, donc je suis." I nap, therefore I am.


...stealing away a few moments for myself at my favorite French cafe, Macaron, with a soy coffee, $2.25 and flipping through their collection of French magazines like Elle and Paris Match. I don't understand most of what's in them still, but I'm having fun trying...

...how much better tap water tastes out of a cheerful pitcher. Instead of lemon, add slices of orange for a refreshing change, like they did at Macaron. In my opinion, how 'good' water tastes is often psychological.

...rainy evenings. Perfect excuse to get under a blanket, put on the comfy clothes, and watch dvd's from the library. I cannot wait to watch Food Beware, The French Organic Food Revolution.


...the feeling I have after sitting down to savor delicious, wholesome food (versus mindless eating). When walking down a New York City sidewalk with my friend, I pondered, is it possible to be in love with food? In Babette's Feast, one of my favorite films (non-vegetarian feast aside), a character talked about a chef who "Had the ability to transform dinner into a kind of love affair. A love affair that made no distinction between bodily appetite and spiritual appetite." Food fuels the body, but what you eat, and how you eat it, nourishes the soul. When I have a good meal, I'm tempted to do a happy dance just like my family's rescue dog does after he's eaten his.

...remembering sunny, warmer days: sunflowers from Old Hook Farm in the summertime.

Bon week-end tout le monde!

C'est fini...

my weekly French class that is, until March at least. No more tackling the past participles or learning seasonal vocabulary. Today's useful phrase: Il fait froid (it's cold!) Why didn't I start learning when I was in the third grade?

In the meantime, I'm 'traveling' to France in unconventional ways, as I like to do. Literature is a great transport (and for time travel). I picked up Chocolat author Joanne Harris' Five Quarters of the Orange at my thrift shop’s 25 cent paperback sale, and am glad I did.

I seek inspiration from so many, even those who are far from my own dietary page. I get a sense of what life is like for a foreigner living in Paris in Confessions of a Young Woman. Gillian shows readers everything from how to prepare and eat an artichoke to how to tie the perfect scarf.


She thoughtfully quoted Michael Pollan's In Defense of Food in which he describes a survey that reflected the different attitudes towards food:

"Asked what comes to mind upon hearing the phrase "chocolate cake," Americans were more apt to say "guilt," while the French said "celebration"; "heavy cream" elicited "unhealthy" from Americans, "whipped" from the French. The researchers found that Americans worry more about food and derive less pleasure from eating than people in any other nation they surveyed." I've couldn't agree more that we have a dysfunctional relationship with food.

Speaking of food, David Lebovitz schools us in how to make a French vinaigrette.

He says, "One assumption that I'm going to make about the French is that they're not afraid to make things au pif, or "by the nose". I don't know if a precise recipe for sauce vinaigrette actually exists. But if there is, I bet few people follow it very closely."

I love this. I rarely follow recipes (except when baking when measurements do matter), which is why you don't see many original Vegan Good Life recipes. Get into the kitchen, and be fearless. What's the worst that can happen?

Add the vinaigrette to a simple green salad, like the one I had at a French picnic I attend each summer.

Or add to your tomato salad with fresh basil.

Do make friends with shallots, olive oil and herbs such as rosemary and thyme. Roasting also does wonders. Vegan does not have to translate into bland, steamed, tasteless veggies just because butter isn't in the picture.

You don't need a lot of over processed mock meats. Try a marinated bean salad.

For snack time, I'm not a fan of 'nutrition' or 'health' bars with their long list of ingredients. What's more natural than fruit?

Can't go wrong with wine....

...and listening to some French chansons to get in the spirit. I adore the music of Vanessa Paradis. I hate that Americans often make fun of her teeth. I think she's stunning. Why is there only one standard of beauty? Her long-time partner is Johnny Depp, who also wonderfully embraces his own sense of style.

Vanessa Paradis: Il y a