Hurricane Irene Blows Through NYC~~~

Hi everyone, it has once again been awhile~~~ Since my last post, we have embarked on a mystical journey with Chocolate, as well as completed our first module of Plated Desserts. Oh yes, and survived through an EARTHQUAKE and HURRICANE!!!

It was actually no biggie... the hype was much more than the actual event. For us here in Brooklyn anyways. There have been flooding and power outages in other parts of the city and the subways are just picking back up after having shut down at noon on Saturday. It was mostly drizzling with short thunderstorms all day on Saturday, with increasingly strong winds and rain throughout the night till the early morning. Trees outside my window were bending closer and closer in which did freak me out a tad but besides from that it wasn't that bad. We did not have any flooding nor power outages in the house, just a couple broken branches and fallen trees down the street. Here are some pics of the destruction around the neighbourhood which I gathered on a jog around yesterday and today.

Oh NO!! Hurricane's a comin'

 Subways were all cordoned off in NYC

 Some stores like Cubana Cafe down on Bergen boarded up their storefront

 Puppies at Pup Slope were evacuated for their safety too~

 Why was I out braving the rain, you may ask? Well for pre-hurricane bagels of course!!

 And muffin... This was a mondo blueberry muffin also from Bergen Bagels. This is my second time ordering from there. Each time I try 2 bagels and so far, I gotta say, Olde Brooklyn Bagel Shoppe on Underhill has proven to be better~ 

 What is there to do in a hurricane but partaaayyy~~~ My room mate Michelle kindly prepared this feast which included roasted veggies, garlic scapes and chickens which were brined overnight. I helped by fingering the chickens highly inappropriately, stuffing them with butter beneath their skins which were perfumed by lemon zest, garlic and rosemary.

 They came out soooo delicious and super moist and tender. Best chicken I have had Mich!! Ever! We will definitely have to repeat this to perfection~~~

 She plates so nicely~ I would have just ripped into the thing with my bare hands...

 Veggies also roasted up nicely as we watched Footloose on DVD along with My Best Friend's Wedding 

 Mmmm roasted beets and carrots from the farmer's market with balsamic vinegar and olive oil

 At one point there was a tornado warning for NYC but nothing came of it... 

 I attempted to take some pictures of the storm but it was way too dark to pick up anything good... I should have taken a video really but you know what? It was 2am in the morning and I got tired of waiting for the hurricane to reach us in full force and went to bed instead~

 I woke up to this~

 This guy was overly prepared~~~

 Tree fell down the street on to 2 cars~~~

 This tree was found almost coming down on the car, leaving like 2 inches of space between the trunk and the roof of the car. 

 Trees have shallow root systems here as it seems... this is right outside my house

 My leafy steps

 All day on Sunday, strong winds were still blowing... I decided to go for my jog and at some points I actually found myself jogging on the spot as I tried to go against the wind. Yeah it was that strong still! Fun times though as the skies had cleared and rain had stopped. The cool weather these days is perfect for a good walk or run about the neighbourhood. They do however keep opening the door of my room. Those of you who follow my blog here would know that where my door knob is supposed to be is a large gaping hole. As such, nothing keeps the door closed except 2 hand-me-down handweights by the previous tenant so to keep it shut in a hurricane takes the above: A printer in its box, 3 bottles of water (my hurricane rations), my chair, handweights, handbag and a dictionary for my closet door~

 Remember that falling tree? 

 Its falling even more today when I went out this Monday morning!

 Dude. Like seriously. Move your car!

I did another walk about today and came across this cordoned off area around St Augustine Church down on 5th and Sterling Pl. The policeman behind the yellow tape proceeded to explain that this is a safety precaution as the steeple you see in the background is due to fall any moment due to the hurricane.

Well that's all for me for now, as I sit here munching on remnants of the roasted veggies from the fridge and my BBQ potato chips which were part of my hurricane supplies~ Hurricanes are SUCH a good excuse to stock up on junk food! 

Ciao XOXOX