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Indian Dahl

It's no secret that I'm obsessed with Indian food.

I could eat it all day, everyday if I a) knew more recipes and b) had more necessary ingredients.

Since deciding in January that I wanted to cook more Indian food, I have only acquired about 8 of the 1000 or so spices most recipes entail. I know, I know...once you buy them they'll last you forever, but I'm waiting until this summer when I won't have to buy the groceries to add to my spice supply.

And of course, in college, I love cheap and easy. Vegetarian of course, and if it's vegan well, that's just another plus in my book. Easy vegan?! What?!

Last year I discovered the Vegan a Go-Go website and podcast. The recipes are stunningly easy and cheap for the most part. I've tried out countless recipes since I began keeping up with Vegan a Go-Go and was so excited when an "Indian Dahl" recipe was posted. I tried it out on Sunday and it made enough to last me through today {Thursday}.

Basically: red lentils, onions, spices, tomatoes, and spinach. Yummm, spinach.

So flavorful! So simple! So cheap!

Now make it. Even if you think it looks unappetizing.
{It's not.}

All Points West

Anyone living in or near New Jersey/NYC needs to go to the APW Music Festival this summer so I can live vicariously through you.

Vampire Weekend, Coldplay, MGMT, Artic Monkeys, Telepathe, We Are Scientists, Tokyo Police Club...
The list goes on.

July 31 - August 2
1 Day: $89
3 Days: $199

Let me know if you're going!

Patafisic

One of my favorite parts of college {I have learned} are the guest lectures and field trips. Yesterday, Brenda Cecchi came to lecture in my Fashion Marketing class about her knitwear label "Patafisic."

Brenda and her business partner started Patafisic in 1995 in Florence, Italy as an interior design/fashion/architecture company. As many know, Italy has an incredible history with knitwear; some of the best textile fairs in the world stem from Prato and Florence, and most production remains inside Italy from start to finish.
{Up until the early 1990s, 90% of knitwear around the world was produced in Italy}

In 1994, before they named and really began their company, the Patafisic team developed a DIY sweater kit comprised of tubular knits, a pattern, pins, a crochet hook, and yarn. It won a huge prize in Italy which led to Isetan buying the kit to sell in their stores around Japan.

The basis behind using tubular {and rectangular} knitwear to create clothing is to create as little waste as possible. Every pattern for the DIY kits, as well as the clothing they eventually manufactured used solely regtangular knitted tubes, sewn and folded together like origami. Think about how progressive such a concept was in the mid-90s! Patafisic was way ahead of their time.

In 2000, Patafisic began to show in Paris where the niche market for the avant-garde was at the time {and still pretty much is!}. While mass produced, each piece is unique: it is hand cut, hand sewn, and hand dyed, and the design team oversees every single part of production.
{After experimenting with the overseas market in the early 2000s, they decided to keep their production in Italy so that it could be more closely monitered and ensure much better quality}

Patafisic embraces a "slowly wear" concept -- they believe in clothing that will last a lifetime, not RTW, not "wear and throw away", and not "wear, throw away, buy again."

Brenda compared Patafisic's conceptual designs to MMM, but I also immediately thought of Harputs OWN because many of Patafisic's collections can be worn in a variety of ways.

Unfortunately, only two collections are shown on their site {you need a password to see the rest} and the mid-2000s were my favorites. Here are a few photos from their recent collections:

Fall/Winter 2008-2009

Spring/Summer 2009

Brenda told us that in a month, Patafisic will have an online store! Their pieces begin at 250 Euros but remember, they are meant to last a lifetime and can be worn in different ways.

Blue Lattice

If only I could afford this zip/bustier/Herve Legerish dress from Opening Ceremony.

Hot.

$450

Sustainable Food Budget Challenge

Have you ever participated in an online challenge?

Well, I haven't, and I decided better late now than never.

Crunchy Chicken {one of my favorite environmental bloggers!} came up with the "Sustainable Food Budget Challenge" for the month of April.

Here are the rules for buying food:
1. If not LOCALLY PRODUCED, then Organic.
2. If not ORGANIC, then Family farm.
3. If not FAMILY FARM, then Local business.
4. If not a LOCAL BUSINESS, then Terroir: purchase foods famous for the region they are grown in.
5. Hit the farmers market before the supermarket.

This does not include non-food items, or home-grown items {unfortunately I have none of those!}. Also, I have to make sure to include food bought on the go, like coffee or sandwiches.

Since I only buy for myself, I cannot spend more than $176 on groceries for the whole month. Living in Italy, this translates to about 32 Euros a week.

The good thing is that there is a lot of local produce that can be found at various markets throughout the city. I just have to make a point to go to them!

My own personal goals for this challenge:

• Eat. Less. Cheese. - Right now I only have Parmesan in my fridge. I am determined to limit my cheese intake!
  
• Drink less regular milk! - Back home in the states, all I drink is soymilk. I didn't eat cheese or drink regular milk for a reason {and because I just didn't like it}, and I have to remember that! It took me a while to find it here, so I became accustomed again to drinking regular milk. Eck! Get me off of that!
• Go to a new fresh market instead of the supermarket. - Sidenote: the great thing about supermarkets here, though, is that they do tell you exactly where the fruits and vegetables come from.
  
• Eat more color. - I have no problem eating fruit; I could eat fruit for a living if I had to. It's the vegetables I need to work on getting enough of.
• Limit my sweets intake - Pastries and gelato are my two weaknesses, especially when there are bars that sell them every two feet on my walk to and from school!

My possible downfalls? My food and wine pairing class on Mondays {hello cheese, cream, whole-fat milk, sugar!} and the future trips I have planned where I will have to eat out for my meals.

I'm excited to be participating in this challenge. If you're interested, I highly recommend signing up!

Life; Paris

Life has been crazy lately.

I visited Connecticut, and had the most amazing time with my boyfriend and best friend. It took a lot of willpower to come back to Italy. I miss them so much.

Then I had a week of school. I was lazy and jetlagged. Nothing happened. Except I did treat myself to a pair of cute gladiators and a seafoam green top from H&M.

This past weekend, I went to Paris with my roommate. We watched one of the guys we stayed with almost get arrested for climbing over the gate of Notre Dame at night, drank along the Seine, took pictures in front of Jim Morrison's grave, ate lunch under the Eiffel Tower, shopped on Rue Saint Honore, visited the Louvre for free {Fridays, 6-10 PM for students under 26!}, and ate baguettes and crepes. Paris and NYC are battling it out right now for my favorite places in the world. I can't wait to get back to Paris, hopefully to live one day.

Now I just need to learn French.