Ithaca Beginnings

Well, I've officially moved to Ithaca, NY. I'm excited that this is my place of residence for the next five years not only for the vegan friendly-ness but for the nature as well. My new apartment is so cute in a 1920's arts and crafts style house with the original wooden doorways and window frames! I've also got a very nice sized kitchen with lots of cabinet space, and a gas stove.

At least it is a self lighting gas stove, as opposed to the one I used in Berlin last summer. However, as someone who has used electric for most of her life, it takes some getting used to. I've managed to cook some simple meals as I am still getting used to how long it takes for things to heat up and such. My very first meal in the new kitchen wasn't even picture worthy as it was a thrown together curry of sorts with rice noodles. (Plus, I hadn't figured out that I could still have the burner on and not be on the high setting, silly me.)

So, my first real meal consisted of sauteed chard with tomatoes and fingerling potatoes with a spicy mustard/thyme/caper seasoning. My, my is the potato dish addicting. I meant to save half of it for my lunch the next day, but I couldn't help myself from eating it all. Apparently I have a new food addiction/craving once I get more potatoes. Plus, the meal was made from produce exclusively from the Saturday Farmer's Market!

In other news, I finally bought a copy of Vegan Brunch! I had received a gift card for my birthday and acquired it after a random trip to the bookstore on Saturday. I'm really excited to start trying out recipes. My first foray consisted of highly modifying the mushroom and tomato stuffing for the Poblano pepper recipe. Despite my tweaks and serving it over millet, it was quite the delicious meal.

And as a little extra on Ithaca; check out these photos that I took while walking/hiking the Cascadilla gorge. There are so many beautiful nature areas here, and I hope to take advantage of them before my study schedule gets super busy!