If you’ve been following The Bored Vegetarian for a while, you may have noticed my love for exploring the old, the abandoned and the decaying. I remember driving by an run down yellow house every day growing up and always having an urge to climb inside and see what secrets were hidden in its rotted interior, but because of my general fear of breaking the rules, I never did.

When we took our first trip to the East Coast when I was 13, I was amazed at all of the history that was laid out there in the open. Cemeteries in-between buildings in Boston; hidden rooms for the Underground Railroad in our host’s house in the suburbs; the stories I heard wandering around Ellis Island clutching my walking-tour tape player. I was so excited and intrigued by it all that it motivated me to abandon my roots in the Northwest nearly 10 years ago, and I’ve been exploring ever since.

A few weeks ago, Chris and I joined Mitch Waxman of the Obscura Society NYC on his walking tour of some of the industrial areas of Brooklyn and Queens, along the Newtown Creek. I have lived in Greenpoint for almost 5 years with this wasteland practically in my backyard, but I had never truly understood how huge of an impact irresponsible industrialization has had on my neighborhood and surrounding area. It was eye-opening (and eyeball-burning), disgusting, dangerous, smelly and educational. All the things needed for a nice Saturday stroll!

Looking for unexpected places? Check out these resources:

Atlas Obscura
Abandoned NYC
Scouting NY

Kate Lebo of Pie School flew into New York yesterday and her and I were in The Drink’s kitchen prepping pie dough for Gala Gala Hey! until the wee hours of the morning.

Here are the apple pies that Kate will be offering today:Cheddar-Crusted Apple PieWhiskey Crumble Apple PieHoney-Ginger Apple PieBrandied-Apple Cardamom PieOld Fashioned Plain Apple Pie 
WE ARE SO EXCITED. Hope to see you in a few hours xoxo 

The Bored Vegetarian & The Drink present…

GALA GALA HEY!

An Apple Festival Featuring Pie Stand Sunday, October 7th, 2012
2:00pm – 10:00pm
The Drink
228 Manhattan Ave., Brooklyn, NY 

Apples! Fall! We love them, so we’re throwing a big ol’ party to celebrate all things apple: apples pies, apple cider, apple brandy, bobbing for apples, songs about apples(?). We’ll be offering free classes about apples and making apple pies, as well as lots of apple treats for you to eat and drink. More details to come.

About Pie Stand

Pie Stand is a semi-regular, semi-secret pie social hosted by Kate Lebo, an award-winning baker and poet from Seattle, Washington. The premise is simple: Kate makes a seasonal selection of the best pie you’ve ever had. You stop by for a slice, a drink, and a chat—or you can order a whole pie ahead of time by e-mailing kate@pie-school.com. Kate’s the author of A Commonplace Book of Pie (forthcoming in fall 2013), and she runs Pie School, a cliche-busting pastry academy whose mission is to make pie as easy as it’s supposed to be. More info at Pie School.

Pie Stand will be baking up five varieties for Gala Gala Hey! Keep in mind that you can PRE-ORDER WHOLE PIES, just email Kate: kate@pie-school.com

– Cheddar-Crusted Apple Pie
– Whiskey Crumble Apple Pie
– Honey-Ginger Apple Pie
– Brandied Apple Cardamom Pie
– Good Old Fashioned Perfectly Plain Apple Pie

We have lots more brewing (ripening?) for October 7th. I’ll be posting more info here, or you can check out the invite (and invite your friends!)

Husband & wife duo Zeph and Liz run NYC’s Snap – a food truck company that specializes in the Chicago-style hot dog. Liz and I have known each other since our college radio days and our paths crossed again recently while they were looking for a prep kitchen. She promised me a free order of their panko-crusted avocado fries so when I saw they were outside Artists & Fleas this afternoon, I stopped by.
Lucky for me they were running a special, called the Chicavocado Dog. Yes, avocado fries served Chicago-style in a bun. Vegetarian dream.
What does Chicago-style mean? Mustard, sweet pickle relish, chopped onion, dill pickle spear, sport peppers and celery salt. The avocado was a blessing, cause those peppers were spicy!
Snap will be at Hester Street Fair and Artists & Fleas every weekend, so make sure to stop in and grab a Chicavocado dog… and some Belgian fries while you’re at it.
Earlier today I was at Public Assembly for their first garage sale. I managed to unload some stuff that’s been cluttering my apartment, make a few $$ and do a lot of people watching. Not to mention some drawing…

My friend Rob from Old Flame Records and I are putting on this show. You should come! 

Milk Glass & Old Flame Records Present…Total Babes (Cloud Nothings side-project) Shiv HurrahLittle Racer
Thursday, June 23rdPublic Assembly (back room)70 N. 6th Street (btwn Wythe and Kent)8:30pm $7 21+ 

Last night following the semi-secret Stars show at Littlefield, a stop in at Daisy’s Diner and a horribly long ride back to Brooklyn, the cab dropped us at N. 6th Street & Bedford, where a sign in the Blackbird Parlour window caught my eye.
They’re holding a contest for a new veggie burger to put on their menu! They’re taking submissions until October 2nd, and there’ll be a finalist cook-off on the 8th. My thoughts drifted to that Lentil Burger I made a few weeks back, and with some encouragement from Maria, I dropped off my recipe tonight.
Cross your fingers that my sloppy handwriting on a girly bunny greeting card didn’t immediately put me out of the running! The winner gets their veggie burger on the menu with their name attached. If I make it, you may get to eat a Bethany Burger in your future! Eesh that name sounds horrible.