Sometimes when I venture out from my office to get myself some lunch, I have no idea where I’m going to end up. Yesterday was one such days. Since it was a Wednesday, I already knew I had to get some apples from the Union Square Greenmarket, but beyond that, I was clueless.

The market looked kind of empty. Half of the vendors weren’t even set up since it had been a constant downpour pretty much all day, but I took a stroll to see what I could see anyway. And then I saw a sign: Clam Chowder.

Yes, yes, yes. I’ve seen oysters and clams and such at the Greenmarket before, but since I’d have no idea what to actually do with them if I ever bought some, I never paid any attention (someone domesticate me, please). This was the first time I’ve seen anything on clam chowder, which happens to be my favorite soup. And on that kind of yucky day, what more else do you need? One cup of clam chowder for me, please.

As I said, it had rained pretty much all day, but by the time I had my soup, it had cleared up and warmed up quite a bit and the last thing I wanted to do was to head back to the office already. So, I looked around, saw a few other crazy people sitting on the benches in the park and decided to do the same. I tried to find a bench that wasn’t too, too damp but in the end, it didn’t matter much. I was wearing a huge coat to shield me and I also didn’t really care.

So I had my soup.

There were some great chunks of clams in it, let me tell you. And I love eating things that are fresh and that you know where they come from, versus eating some processed crap that comes in a can and has been sitting on the shelf for who knows how long. Not the best thing.

Westport Aquaculture is a sustainable and renewable clam and oyster farm in Wesport, Connecticut. They ship daily into the area, have been at the Greenmarket for the past couple of months but yesterday was only their second time bringing the chowder. Keep it coming, guys.

I’m not vegan. I’m not even vegetarian (obviously, if you’ve ever read this blog, haha). But sometimes, vegan is the only way to go.

Muffins. I don’t have them often, they’re a treat. I have yet to get a banana muffin (they call them banana cupcakes) from The Adore with their fabulous hot chocolate (best in the city!) but I have found a blueberry muffin that I really like.

And it’s vegan.

It’s from Body and Soul, a little stand that’s at the Union Square Greenmarket on Mondays and Fridays.

It’s so good. It’s light and fluffy and delicious. I tried to have a “regular” non-vegan muffin after trying one of these and it was just too much. So heavy! So now it’s strictly vegan muffins for me – with The Adore banana cupcakes the only exception, of course.

I had a very non-vegan meal last night at Duke’s – a Sportsbar in Manhattan. I watched some of the Yankees game with some of the members of my ZogSports volleyball team. It was a good time, especially since we won our volleyball match! After that I went home and tried on my Halloween costume because I finally got all of the pieces together. I cannot WAIT to wear it out! I look crazy. Be excited…

Happy Halloween! Be safe, everyone!

Maybe I’ll post a teaser of my costume over the weekend… ;)

What a great season.

I don’t think flowers get enough love. Who doesn’t love flowers? I mean just LOOK at those beauties! Those are brought in from the Catskills, the man told me. He was very nice and made sure I took a picture of those orange and red bouquets cause they’re the prettiest. I should have bought some.

It always impresses me when people’s facebook statuses say they are making some sort of bread. Banana nut bread, chocolate zucchini bread, whatever. I mean it can’t possibly be that hard to make bread, but I’ve certainly never done it. Actually, I’ve only used the oven once since I moved into this apartment. In April. Wow.

When I used to babysit in the city, one of the moms had a bread maker and she just made regular loaves and they were always amazing. Just add a little honey  and – perfection. She also made ginormous blueberry muffins. Hmm… maybe I should be a bit more domestic.

Anyway, last week I wrote about the amazing apples I bought at the Union Square Greenmarket. Well, they were Golden Crisps from Terhune Orchards in New Jersey and I also got a little thing of peach bread.

Peach bread. I certainly wouldn’t have thought of that. But it is my new favorite. So I bought some more yesterday, ate half and the rest of it is waiting for me at my office.

So good.

First, breakfast with Laura and Grace at Toomley’s in Prospect Heights. complete with shots of Orange Juice.

They were so small!

After breakfast I went to the Brooklyn Public Library, got a library card and checked out materials for my very first time. Not gonna lie, the best part might have been the air conditioning. It was hot today! Then I made my way to the farmer’s market at Grand Army Plaza. I usually go to the Green market in Union Square but I was glad I was finally able to go to this one.

Mmm… green peppers. Don’t they look good? They were. :)

On my way home I decided to walk through the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens.

And I got a yearly membership so now I can stroll through there as much as I want.

When I got home I had a tote bag full of new books and fresh produce. Hard to beat that. :)