Housing Works Street Fair This Saturday

Even if you're cutting back on spending, you still need to buy clothes sometimes. And if you've been really good, you deserve to treat yourself to some books and music. Head down to SoHo for Housing Works's bi-annual Open Air Street Fair extravaganza this Saturday, June 6th (rain date June 7th).

This festive, all-day shopping bazaars take place on the quaint (closed to traffic) cobblestone Crosby Street outside of the Bookstore Café and features tens of thousands of $1 books, CDs, and - perhaps the biggest bargain of all - $20 bags of all-you-can-stuff clothing from Housing Works Thrift Shops.

And there's food! Sliders and sweets from The Works. and beer from Puck Fair will be served!

Best of all, all profits from the Open Air Street Fair pay for Housing Works’ services for homeless and low-income New Yorkers living with HIV and AIDS. In 2007/2008, the two street fairs attracted more than 50,000 people and generated more than $45,000 for those services.

Check out the Housing Works website for full details.

Dine-n-Dash

Gastronomic e-newsletter TastingTable today offers a run down of daily (relative) deals at various NYC eateries. Get sloppy with BBQ and beer at Hill Country on Mondays, or BYOB to Alto in Midtown.
So if you somehow still have the cash to go out to eat, check it out here.

Vulture Alert - Otto Tootsi Plohound (Shoes)

This one is for the ladies:
walking past Otto Tootsie Plohound (which always sounded like an 80s synth-pop collective to me) I noticed that all shoes were going for $29.99 a pair, with two pairs going for $50.
So, ladies, if you have some money squirreled away and need/want some fancy-shmancy shoes, now is the time.
According to New York magazine online, the store is closed (and it looked dark at 10:30 this morning), but there were still shoes on display and those mark-down signs in the windows.

[Photo by Lip Kee]

Vulture Alert

The Circuit City at Union Square was pretty picked over when we stopped in there last week, but the Virgin Megastore in Times Square is still packed with CDs, DVDs, video games, clothes, and even fixtures being sold at a discount.
Virgin is also closing its Union Square location and one in San Francisco. (Union Square is still listed as open on the Virgin web site.)

Sign of the end times? Sure. But if you want some cheap music and/or movies, the time to snatch them up is now.

[Photo by Lip Kee]

The Cheap and The Tasty

If you work in Midtown and still haven't discovered Midtown Lunch, this will be the best news your wallet has gotten in a week. The blog is all about the cheap and the tasty -- two of my favorite topics. It has brought me many new food adventures and happy days away from the generic overpriced deli food. Plus, it always lists free food giveaways!

Recession Consumption: 123 Burger Shot Beer

The owners of 123 Burger Shot Beer have made recession prices their business model. As the very creative name states, it's $1 Burgers, $2 Shots, $3 Beers. This place is probably a frat infested nightmare in the later hours, but I visited on a lovely sunny Saturday afternoon and we had the patio in the back to ourselves. You have to order at least 3 of the one buck burgers, but they are surprisingly tasty for what are essentially White Castle sliders. (As you can see from the photo, you could eat a lot more than 3 of them). The honey peanut wings were stupidly delish, like a satay on steriods, and all the fried sides we tried hit the spot. Plus, since everything is so cheap you feel like a king -- sure, I'll have another! Yes, bring us waffle fries!

10th Ave between 50th and 51st Street. Beware (or Rejoice, depending on your outlook): There is a little bit of a Hooterish vibe to the place (the waitress's "shorts" were shorter than her apron)...

Recession Consumption: Pie for Dinner

My time in the UK rekindled my love for all things wrapped in a pastry crust, but sadly Americans are not so hip to the savory pie (other than our comfort favorite the Chicken Pot Pie). Australian friends recently escorted me to pie heaven at the Tuck Shop, where I was delighted by yummy pies with glorious fillings including veggie, Thai curry and traditional beef. Dinner for only $5!

Open late and guaranteed to absorb mass quantities of alcohol.
Tuck Shop is on 1st St between 1st and 2nd Avenue.

Recession Consumption: Brunch at Home

The Recession This! Girls love brunch, but sometimes $16 for a waffle can seem ridiculous. Inspired by my latest web obsession, Smitten Kitchen, and her deliciously simple recipe for huevos rancheros, I fed my Queens neighborhood posse for the price of one Manhattan brunch entree!

eggs $3.49
2 cans goya black beans $3.38
Sour cream $1.79
Shredded Cheese $5.29
Corn tortillas $1.29

Total: $15.24

It helped that I had a ton of gorgeous tomatoes to make fresh salsa with-- I can't wait to eat them again next weekend!

UK Recession Sessions

Even the Brits are worried about Credit-crunch cuisine. This article caught my eye on the front page of The Times (not the New York Times) as I shopped for bargains at the Scotmid-- my Edinburgh corner store (much nicer than any NY bodega). They recommend The Frugal Cook-- a UK version of Recession This!-- right down to the identical green layout!

Recession Consumption: Cheap Eats reading

Check out this week's New York Magazine. It's the Cheap Eats issue!
Lots of listings for cheap food in NYC including 10 things to eat under $5 and a $20 meal for two showdown. Lots of great new directions for eating cheap.

And if you missed the Time Out Cheap Eats issue a few weeks ago, check out the article Cheap Eats for Every Occasion.

Recession Consumption: Street Grub This!

Cheap food abounds on the streets of NYC.
Take a look at Street Grub for a listing of street vendors around town. The site includes price ranges and user reviews. Get in there and post your own review!

While you're at it, check out The Street Vendor Project - activism for those vendors who bring you recession meals.

Recession Consumption: Eat What's in Your Pantry

Buy some parsley on the way home. That may be all you need to make a satisfying, stupidly easy & seriously authentic Italian dinner. Aio Oio (that’s Roman Slang for pasta with garlic & oil) is what Italians throw together instead of ordering pizza when they suddenly find themselves with some drunken and hungry friends over.

Stuff you probably already have:

(unless you are one of those Manhattanites that uses their oven for extra storage)

olive oil
a box of spaghetti
garlic
red pepper flakes

All you need is parsley! And about 15 minutes.

I realize this isn’t high on the nutritional value scale. Use the Barilla Plus pasta with Protein and Omega 3s instead if you want to feel less guilty.

Boil the spaghetti with extra salt (there's no salt in the sauce). Chop 2 tablespoons parsley. Heat 1/3 cup olive oil in a pan on medium low with 2 teaspoons garlic (chopped very fine, or put through the garlic press) and red pepper flakes to taste (a little goes a long way-- 1/2 a teaspoon will do, add more if you like it hot!). Let the garlic turn pale gold but no darker. Drain the pasta, put it in a bowl, pour the entire contents of the pan over it and toss. Add parsley and toss again.

Dinner for under $3!!