A Harvest Homecoming

On All Hallow's Eve, I partook in the festivities at the Bergen County Historical Society's Harvest Homecoming. Aside from the cost of refreshments, the events are free for members (an extremely reasonable $20 yearly dues).

The world just seems so much more magical when lit by candles.


Doesn't the Black Horse Tavern look even more cozy by night?

The October's night was cold, the wind: punishing. A mug of hot mulled cider, $1, warmed the body, and the cider donut, $1.50, warmed the soul. Pumpkin or apple pie were also available for $2.50, as were cold cider, coffee or tea. Apples on the table: 25 cents a piece. An autumn day feels a little less complete without a crisp apple.

The back kitchen by night.


The candles were aglow, and the fire (one of my favorite scents in fall and winter) was crackling.

Perusing their fine collection of artifacts, this caught my eye: the pan Rachael Burdette is said to have served George Washington Indian cakes in November 1776. Consider all the possessions we have in our modern world. Will they survive for years to come? Centuries?

I admired the craftsmanship of the Betsey Haring quilt, and reflected on how little craftsmanship goes into many of our possessions today.

Note the roping on the bed. Walking through the historic homes, I longed for a home less cluttered filled with only functional and/or cherished items. I vow to make that happen by donating items, little at a time, to family, friends, colleagues and through charitable thrift.


What would a Hallow's Eve night be without some ghost stories? The "Van Duyne's Midnight Dinners" skit had visitors from beyond: a child who had passed away in the war; a bride who was accidentally buried alive after falling into a coma, has her grave robbed for her ring and after escaping only to die of exposure from the cold; a witch, crying out how age was once revered but now an old, ugly woman with no family to care for her is blamed on spoiled crops and cows who provide no milk; and the famous Jersey devil all made an appearance.


Regina Haring discussed the Haring Burial Ground in Norwood, and of her family history. What will become of our own legacies? Will our descendants be intrigued by the lives we led, or will we be forgotten?

Take time to reflect on and learn about the past - of your state, your nation, our world and also your family. As was observed during a discussion, so often it is the women who pass down the stories. But if we don't inquire, those stories are lost.

I am grateful for the Bergen County Historical Society, for leading us down an introspective road to remembrance, with a good dose of merriment along the way.

Walk for Farm Animals: New York City

I walked. To take a stand against factory farming, a black mark on the heart and soul of humankind. To support the animals who live at Farm Sanctuary's Watkins Glen, New York and Orland, California shelters, who have endured the horrors of this very system. To spread the good word about a veg-lifestyle.


Upon seeing the large crowd in Central Park for Farm Sanctuary's Walk for Farm Animals (one of many walks nationwide), I thought of Michael Stipe's words in R.E.M.'s call to activism in "These Days."

"All the people gather...We are young despite the years. We are concern. We are hope despite times. Take this joy wherever you go."

This chicken and cow put a smile on the faces of the people they encountered, including my own.


President and Co-Founder Gene Baur's "Farm Sanctuary: Changing Hearts and Minds About Animals in Food" dispels all those childhood visions we have of happy cows, chickens and pigs out on open field with the red barn. Very few of the 10 billion land animals killed for food know such conditions. He introduces us to some of the animals Farm Sanctuary has rescued over the years.


I have a November birthday, and when my family asks what I want, my answer is always the same: a turkey from Farm Sanctuary! Learn about the Adopt-A-Turkey program, where for $30, you can sponsor a turkey that lives at their shelters. Sign their petition urging President Obama to send the turkeys pardoned each year at the White House to Farm Sanctuary.


I was so coveting the raffle prizes, including this one which included a $50 gift certificate to Blossom Cafe, one of my favorite vegan restaurants in New York City, which serves the best vegan chocolate cake, ever (in my humble opinion). Didn't win.

Every walker got an apple for breakfast, and assorted bagged lunches. Mine included a breakfast empanada from V-Spot Cafe. A humane way to refuel after our walk.


Eating chocolate for charity, oh yes! Rescue Chocolate donates all of its net profits to animal rescue organizations around the country, and its featured charity in October was Farm Sanctuary. Worth every penny of the $5 cost per bar. I wish I had some now...


Dapper Joshua Katcher (check out The Discerning Brute) was a featured speaker as was Leanne Mai-ly Hilgart from Vaute Coture, a super-stylish vegan fashion house. She also designed our walk t-shirts that simply but eloquently stated, "Compassion for All." Why do so many show compassion for cats and dogs, but choose to ignore the horrors of factory farming simply because it doesn't suit them?

I'm just saying, this man, NBA champion John Salley: a vegan! He was the shining New York City walk marshal.

Gene Baur spoke about in our world there is so much beyond our control. We can't stop the war. The state of our economy can leave us feeling helpless. But we can control our food choices.


Today is election day, and I hope every citizen of age is going to vote. I'll be enthusiastically voting at the booth, but I'll continue to vote against factory farming whenever I can when I sit down to eat, and hope you will too. No one can make ideal food choices all the time (I certainly don't), but we can strive for them as much as we can.

I vote: for family farms, clean waterways and air, animal and worker rights, and a better world than what exists now. Farm Sanctuary is helping us get to that better world, and I thank them.

I Love Lisbon

I had a friendship with Barcelona and Madrid, a steamy fling with Granada and Seville, and short but very heated romance with Morocco. But above all, Lisbon had my heart. I loved it as soon as I stepped out of the train station. Remembering fondly...

The Castelo de São Jorge...

where cats sunbath, and...

peacocks roam.


Its charming trolleys.




Even this young park goer took a special ride.

Its unique architecture, from its color-tiled buildings,

to its inviting squares,

to stunning details that appear everywhere.

It was just all so magical.

The Belém Tower, which has stood guard over Lisbon's harbor since 1520. I took the harrowing narrow staircase to the top.

Its Monument to the Discoveries pays tribute to Prince Henry the Navigator and the nation's leading explorers. I vow to explore as much in this life as possible: books, places, food, people, ideas. Learning, a lifelong process, which we should embrace and never take for granted its rewards.

I still remain in awe of it all.

Lisbon Eats, and How I Can Travel

Before a Lisbon tour, one of my favorite topics: the food!

I lunched at Oriente Chiado, an all-vegan buffet I'd read about on HappyCow. Lunch was 9.80 euros, not including drink (I choose free tap water) or dessert. I arrived just 20 minutes before it closed for the afternoon, but still found some wonderful items.

A sampling of quiche, couscous, grilled tofu in a curry-spiced sauce, pasta salad, beet salad, and more. Of course I had seconds! Seitan in a savory sauce was also divine.

Left for dessert were mango or chocolate mousse or coconut pudding. The winner: chocolate mousse, 3.40 euros. My sweetheart, a chef who is not shy when saying he doesn't like something vegan, said this was the best vegan chocolate mousse he's ever had, and that it could pass for the real, non-vegan, thing.


A couple from Denmark we met recommended Botequim, a local cafe we would have never found.

I asked for whatever they could come up with that was vegan: I like they way they think! For 6 euros, a bed of couscous with cherry tomatoes and capers, spinach, arugula and red leaf lettuce, and drizzled with olive oil.

To end, a glass of ginginha, a sweet liquor made from the sour cherry-like ginja berry, sugar, and schnapps. I also tried the port wine here too.

There was an enormous line outside of Casa Pasteis de Belém for good reason. They are the birthplace of pastel de Belém, these warm cream filled tarts. Sprinkled with cinnamon and powdered sugar, just 0.90 euros each.

Both nights in Lisbon were rain-soaked, so I took advantage of dining in at the adorable Alfama Patio hostel I stayed at. This was my favorite place we stayed at, and I recommend it for location (in the historic, older quarter); price; hospitality; and all the fun events they put on.

Saturday night they offer a bbq with a dj, for 7 euros a person. Golden potatoes with paprika, a green salad with corn, tomatoes and onions, pasta salad, a few chips and a roll and what I didn't eat in the assorted meats I made up for in consumption of their tasty sangria.

Sunday night is their 2 euros per person pasta night (they use a meat sauce, so I requested vegetarian). My comforting pasta in tomato sauce with garlic, with a glass of sangria, 1 euro, savored under a fleece blanket by candlelight on their (thankfully) covered patio. Isn't some of the best food sometimes the most simple? I adore pasta nights at home (and so frugal too!)

For breakfast at the Alfama hostel, European-style pancakes with cherry jam (breakfast was included with our stay).

Sipping on a Lipton Andulicia tea (with citrus fruits and orange blossom) on my last night.

Grateful and blessed for my time traveling. We had a good laugh at the airport over some thinking we are rich because we travel (as I was reading my library book, wearing my $2 thrifted jeans and $6 second-hand sneakers, a clothing swap top and sweater). This is where we spend our money for the year. No anniversary, Valentine's or Christmas gifts (maybe something little for birthdays). If we need something, we buy it ourselves. I love you doesn't mean sending sweethearts to the mall for overpriced jewelry or gadgets we don't need. I have a 10-year-old-plus television set, an ancient cell phone no one would ever steal, I get almost all my clothes through swaps and second-hand stores, get $15 haircuts at SuperCuts, use the library extensively, brown bag lunch as often as possible and more, not only to save money for the future, but to indulge in my passion for travel. We also stay at budget-friendly places we find on hostelbookers.com and other sites (I recommend TripAdvisor as a source for reviews).

One last post coming on Lisbon, and then I'm excited to share some fun events since I've been back: my Farm Sanctuary walk in New York City, my latest clothing swap, and some other seasonal happenings.

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.