Old Fashion Aerosol Cheese

Kavarna Vegetarian Coffeehouse

2007-08-22T19:40:00.000-05:00

See that? That's my delicious lunch last Sunday at Kavarna in Green Bay, WI. I had the Mediterranean Burrito described by their menu as "a toasted pita with Kavarna's homemade hummus, baba ghanouge, and marinated roma tomatoes" with "fresh cucumbers, onions, and organic sunflower sprouts".

I wouldn't mind a second helping right now. I opted for the chips instead of the grapes as my side, but that was a good choice as I needed something with which to scoop up and devour the hummus oozing out the sides of the sandwich.

My beverage of choice on an unseasonably cold and rainy August day? Rosewater Lemonade. Yes, a hot soy latte might have been more fitting, but I wanted to try their lemonade. It was great. It smelled like my great-grandmother (and her rose-scented lotions) but tasted great. (My meal totaled $8.91 which was more than fair. The whole menu, in addition to being well labeled for vegans and others with allergies/sensitivities, was quite reasonable in that regard.)

I look forward to stopping in again the next time I'm up that way.

Mmm... curry.

2007-08-19T10:45:00.000-05:00

Here's my 2nd favorite dog (sorry Pogo, my parents' dog holds the #1 spot) begging for curry we made while keeping her company last weekend.

It's just a quick combo of chickpeas, zuchinni, fresh tomatoes from my patio, onion, garlic, and cilantro on brown rice.

Today I'll be up to Green Bay and checking out the Kavarna Vegetarian Coffeehouse mentioned by Green Bay Vegan on the VFF a while back. (A friend of mine is really obsessed with Alice Cooper and I told her I'd come to the concert up there with her if we could eat at this place.) I'm looking forward to writing a little review on my return.

I'm not sure what all has been going on lately, but I've been distracted from cooking or even photographing the take-out we're eating. Guess I've got a lot going on. I can't wait to blog my Tokyo trip (and the likely NOT VEGAN experiences I'll have going someplace I can't speak the language) though, so hopefully October will be a more active month here.

Been a while.

2007-08-14T22:55:00.000-05:00

I know it's been a while since I've posted. I actually have photos on my camera and just haven't been arsed to upload them and post.

In lieu of food blogging, here's a comic that cracked me up in the paper today:

Since the local paper stopped running Bizarro I have to get my occassional veggie comedy from Get Fuzzy.

It's been a slow week.

2007-07-28T18:43:00.000-05:00

I can't say I've cooked anything of consequence this week. I've spent most of my time trying to catch up in Harry Potter so I can see the 5th movie and figuring out what all I need to do to go to Japan in October. (Ticket is taken care of, now I just need to plan what I'm doing while there and how to get around.)

So, here's last Saturday's grub; a tomato salad with the first red tomato from my patio garden and the polished off cup Italian Ice from The Chocolate Shoppe which features many flavors of non-dairy Italian Ice and a handful of soy ice creams in addition to the usual dairy variety.

Raspberry Cornmeal Pancakes

2007-07-21T13:33:00.000-05:00

Adapted from a recipe for Blueberry Pancakes that ran in the Wisconsin State Journal this week, originally coming from the Star Tribune. The original was attributed to Scott Rosenbaum of the Wilde Roast Cafe.

Clean and dry 1 C raspberries (or other berries) and set aside.

Mix and set aside:
1/2 C flour
3 tsp baking powder (that's powder, NOT soda)

In a 2nd, large bowl mix and set aside fo 5 minutes:
1/2 C cornmeal
1/2 tsp salt
1 T sugar
1/2 C boiling water

In a 3rd, small bowl mix and let sit for 5 minutes:
1/3 C soy milk (originally 1/4 C milk)
1 T ground flax seeds (orig. 1 egg)
4 T melted Earth Balance (orig. 1/2 stick butter)

Add the milk mix into the cornmeal mix, then add the flour. Thin out with as much soy milk as needed to get a nice batter consistency. (For softer cornmeal, make and set in the fridge overnight.) Pour/spoon a 1/4 c onto a pan on medium heat. (If making one at a time, wipe pan with a moist towel between cakes to clear the burned berrie residue from the pan.) Place berries onto cooking batter before flipping.

Top with fresh berries, powdered sugar, and/or syrup. (I also cooked up some Lite Life faux sausage.)

Tagging meme

2007-07-21T13:02:00.000-05:00

Ok, I normally don't do these on this blog, but Jen tagged me, so I feel obligated.

1. We have to post these rules before we give you the facts.
2. Players start with eight random facts/habits about themselves.
3. People who are tagged need to write their own blog about their eight things and post these rules.
4. At the end of your blog, you need to choose eight people to get tagged and list their names.
5. Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they’re tagged, and to read your blog.

Now the 8 true things.

1. I feel so L.A. because I'm vegan and have a therapist. Hollywood - Here I come! (Just kidding about going to Cali.)
2. I graduated college with a 2.998. Why couldn't we just call it a 3?
3. 1450 SAT is clearly no indicator of college success.
4. I don't mind my job, but I would really rather be a world traveller.
5. I haven't thrown up in a decade.
6. Robbie Williams is my musical guilty pleasure. (Westlife comes in a close second, along with Blue's "Fly By")
7. I talk a lot because I don't think I'm that interesting. Fill the space with words, says I, then noone will notice.
8. I'm a child of the 80's yet I have never seen The Karate Kid.

I'm tagging:
http://aithneroad.livejournal.com/
http://introspectivenavelgazing.blogspot.com/
http://www.livejournal.com/users/sarahtomic/
http://www.livejournal.com/users/austenian/
http://www.livejournal.com/users/scarybug/
http://www.tablenaked.com/blogs/brian/
http://metallicearth.livejournal.com/
http://www.livejournal.com/users/frausensei/

That time of year.

2007-07-20T12:01:00.000-05:00

My father's tomatoes (of which there will be thousands, no hyperbole) have not yet turned red, and the ceranos and jalepinos are also unripe, but it's still that time of year when I base my meals on what I can get fresh and/or free from someone's garden.

We had squash and corn earlier in the week, and another bucket of raspberries means we'll have vegan raspberry cornmeal pancakes on Saturday for brunch.

Tonight we'll have a spicy cucumber roll with brown rice and some yellow heirloom tomato and basil salad. Why those two incongruous dishes? Because I don't like cucumber salad and love sushi rolls, but I got both veggies free from one of the doctor's neighbor's garden and want to use them asap.

In my own bucket garden on the patio I'm about to get my first red cherry tomatoes. It may only be a handful, but I'm excited.

EDIT: Dinner ended up being Qdoba to go after I feel asleep all afternoon. We had take-out and watched The Departed at Jeff's parents' while he sorted some stuff out in his old room.

2007-07-02T18:40:00.000-05:00

Last week Jeff did the cooking. It involved some rather tasty TV dinners (Ethnic Gourmet) and oven fries, but it's nice when he makes dinner. I enjoyed it.

Over the weekend we stayed at Jeff's parents' house and dog-sat. We had take-out Chinese and grilled out veggie hotdogs. Yeah, omni-subs aren't the best food, but you can't argue with the salad (w/ sundried tomato dressing) and fresh cherries that went along with them.

And just because, here's a bunny that let me get within 4 feet after we walked back from viewing fireworks Saturday night. There were three rabbits and two stuck around and let us watch them bounce and hop at one another. It didn't seem like mating, more like intimidation, but it was super cute. I was rooting for the tinier one.

TV News...

2007-07-02T18:34:00.000-05:00

I know I shouldn't expect much from TV news (and w/o cable I find I'm usually unaware of it), but I just needed to share what I saw last Friday evening at Jeff's parents' house.

Come on MSNBC! Gitmo is a serious fucking issue, it does not deserve a ridiculous play-on-words headline undermining it.

Who knew...

2007-06-23T20:36:00.000-05:00

...that Esquire runs recipes? And vegan recipes from celebs to boot?

I think I'll make that enchilada bake the next time I've got a pot-luck to go to. Plus, if the soy cheese I test out from the co-op sucks, I can just throw out the leftovers without feeling as bad for wasting food because who wants to keep pot-luck food that's been sitting and getting funky at room temp for hours? If I made it at home I'd feel compelled to make at least one lunch of it, even if it was horrible.

Or I could just skip the soy cheese.

And we're back!

2007-06-22T15:59:00.000-05:00

So, a little housekeeping. Things are back on track at home. This is very good news, and to commemorate that here's a nauseatingly cute photo:

It might be a bit before it's back to regularly posted food ramblings, but to kick things off again I just scored some sweet DallasWare/TexasWare dishes at St. Vincent DePaul. The guy sorting the shelves asked what I was looking at (as I was turning over every cup and mug in the hopes of finding some more vintage pieces to match) and when I explained he pulled down 4 more sectioned plates from a top shelf I was too short to see.

I will admit to being a little sad at the check-out though. The girl who rang everything up commented on the dishes and said she'd never seen that material before, well, except for that morning when she sold a set of three large speckled bowls to someone. Drats! I was a few hours too late for the big find.

And she sold them for $1.50 each! What a steal! Oh well. I originally went in to try on a bright green IZOD tennis dress from the 80s hanging in the window, but when that turned out to be way too big for me I really wasn't expecting to find anything else.

Apologies if this is anyone's dad. I tried to get a better shot just as he was taking a huge bite but we were both moving. This is why the road is a scary place. Not only is that Big Mac slowly taking him out, clogging his arteries and whatnot, but he's driving with BOTH HANDS ON THE BURGER! Is it wrong that I think people shouldn't be allowed to eat and drive? I'll take the cellphone crazies any day because at least they have one hand left for the wheel. (FYI - I wasn't driving. Jeff was. And we'd already stopped at Qdoba for lunch.)

No new posts.

2007-06-07T17:19:00.000-05:00

An indefinite hiatus begins as last night I found out that I need to move byt hte end of the month, and vegan cooking for one doesn't seem like it's going to be that entertaining to photograph. So, no new posts until I get myself sorted and my head screwed back on.

A vegan Reuben.

2007-06-02T17:44:00.001-05:00

I was in the bookstore last week and scouring the used cookbooks for something interesting. The restaurant next door (Monty's) has a cookbook and I picked up a copy and thumbed through it. I didn't really need a vegetarian meatloaf recipe or anything, but I was curious about a couple of my favorite veggie dishes. (The restaurant is not exclusively vegetarian, they just offer decent veggie selections.)

Sadly, the recipe in the book for the "Sheldon" (aka vegetarian Reuben) listed honey as an ingredient in the marinade. This was a little bit heart-breaking, so I resolved to marinate my own tofu, sans honey, and make my own Reuben.

Basically I marinated slices of drained firm tofu in soy sauce, a dash of vegan worcestershire, a lot of minced ginger and garlic, pepper, a little sugar, and water. After a night in the fridge I sauteed them in a non-stick pan for a few minutes, grilled a little pumpernickel/rye with Earth Balance, and layered it together with some tomato slices, sauerkraut, and Vegenaise.

It was quite tasty, although I think I've had my fill of Reubens for the moment.

Roman Candle Pizza

2007-06-02T17:26:00.000-05:00

Last Friday Jeff and I took a walk. We were planning on just walking and leaving it at that, but bumped into some friends (Mark and Sarah) on their way to The Weary Traveler and invited us to join them. Jeff was hungrier than he thought, but when we go in there it was a little busy. We didn't want to interrupt our friends' date or make it harder for them to get a table, so we decided to head further down the street to Roman Candle Pizza.

Mark is an ex-vegan and gave us the suggestion to try the "fireworks sauce" with roma tomatoes, fresh basil, and walnuts. He was spot on. It's probably the tastiest combo I've ever had on a pizza. (And trust me, I've eaten a lot of pizza, vegan and non-vegan.)

I'd eaten the "Animal Lover" pizza before, but this was way better. Great fresh lemonade as well. Jeff wanted to go back for dinner a few nights later, but we hit up the Weary instead. I don't want to go to the same place twice in one week, it's just my silly neuroses coming out.

Birthday follow-up

2007-05-25T14:32:00.000-05:00

The day after my birthday I went to see my grandparents and my father had the great idea to stop out at Cushman's Greenhouse on the way back so that I could pick out some plants. (My balcony was bare.)

Dad was at work, but Mom and I picked up some herbs and some sort of multi-colored leafy decorative plants, both of which he planted for me when we got home. (He also gave me a couple of cherry tomato plants he'd been growing from seeds inside the house all spring.) This is one of the best, useful birthday presents I've gotten in a long time. (Ok, I also got a gift certificate from Mom to the salon I go to for a haircut. That was pretty nice too. She and Dad both did well.)

After that, mom and dad took Jeff and I out for Laotian for a day-after-my-birthday dinner.

Unrelated to birthday stuff, I saw this huge full rainbow last night shortly before sunset.

26.

2007-05-22T21:16:00.000-05:00

I'm 26 today. To celebrate I slept in, watched daytime TV, took some allergy meds (because the pollen and sunny weather makes my head want to explode), and went to dinner at Bunky's with Jeff.

I had some falafel, lentil soup, and a tasty okra dish with couscous (leftovers pictured below) while Jeff opted for a not vegan pasta dish. He'd called ahead to see if there were any vegan desserts tonight (as there sometimes are) and when he was told no he sought out some brownies and cookies from Mother Fool's. I'll admit I'm not a huge fan of cake anyway, so it's not a big deal to have a birthday brownie instead.

And I got some exciting "loot" too, including Slaughterhouse and The Mediterranean Vegan Kitchen. Tomorrow I'll go visit my grandparents (and parents) and then Thursday it's back to work for 2 whole days before the 3-day weekend. It's been a good week.

Baby shower BBQ

2007-05-20T10:19:00.000-05:00

Yesterday was Jeff and Viv's baby shower. I nearly went blind in the baby aisle at Target trying to identify which teething ring "TFY CP" was. Apparently it stands for "The First Years - Classic Pooh" but I'm not up on my baby accessories, so it was harder than finding wheat bread without honey.

Anyway, they were doing a BBQ and picked up some veggie burgers and brats and had a lot of fruit and veg and other vegan snacks (thanks, guys!), but I also brought along a salad and cookies.

Soba noodle/peanut salad

Chewy chocolate chocolate chip cookies

Have you ever seen someone so happy about onesies and foam bath toys?

A long summary

2007-05-17T22:44:00.000-05:00

We'll start with Sunday. Jeff and I went to see the Madison Symphony Orchestra with his father, after which we went to a lovely restaurant I'd never been to before where my menu options totalled two possibilities in modified green salads. I choose the mache. Nice restaurant, but each menu item required at least 3 animal products, so modification was going to be nigh unto impossible. At least I wasn't alone in my troubles as I overheard the vegetarian couple to my right having a similar conversation with their server.

I honestly don't remember Monday, other than a headache. I may have made dinner, but I have no recollection of it. (I think I asked Jeff to boil some pasta.)

Tuesday was a dinner out at a nice Indian place downtown, Maharani. I brought home a nice lunch-sized portion of chickpea curry for work the next day.

Wednesday I needed sushi in the worst way, so an hour later we had:

And tonight I decided to use up several veggies going bad in the fridge and a packet of Boca crumbles I found in the back of the freezer. In honor of every potluck of my childhood, I present: goulasch.

Willie Street Co-Op

2007-05-09T22:23:00.000-05:00

We took a walk tonight down Willie Street for sandwiches from the deli case. I got a marinated tempeh and Jeff had a BBQ seitan.

We sat out on the little patio area outside the co-op and watched the sparrows before walking back home up Jenifer. It was a really lovely night, and our apartment is about 80 degrees right now so we wanted out. Our neighbors must still have the heat on because we can't understand why it's been warmer inside than out this past week.

Jeff insisted on a photo on the way back home, and it took three tries just to get one where I wasn't blinking. I'm just not destined to be a model.

I've created life!

2007-05-08T22:18:00.000-05:00

So, incase you ever wondered what a couple slices of Tofurkey can do in the back of the fridge in as little as 2 months, I present you with this.

(It's a little gross, hence the link only.)

After cleaning out the fridge I settled in with a bowl of (thankfully fresh!) berries and waited for Jeff to get home to whip up a stirfry and noodles.

Muramoto

2007-05-06T21:06:00.000-05:00

Airhead that I am, I left my camera in the car and then forgot that I could use my cell phone camera, so I don't have any photos, but I would like to say that although a very not vegan Japanese fusion restaurant I just had a very nice vegan meal at Restaurant Muramoto on King Street. There's only one vegan item on the menu (fried tofu in spicy peanut sauce) but the cole slaw can have its dressing subbed out from an egg-based ginger dressing to a vinegar based one.

They also informed me that, although not a menu item, they could make me a vegetable roll. (Or rolls if I was really hungry, but they do serve dishes sized to share.) That was excellent. An inside out roll filled with tempura battered asparagus, topped with sweet carmalized mushrooms and micro greens. I really should have brought a camera, even though it is a little weird to snap photos mid-meal, and it would have been strange once I thought of it to run from the restaurant to the car to get my camera.

They were also kind enough to tip me off that, as in most authentic recipes, the miso soup contained bonito flakes. Well, what in Japanese cooking doesn't?

My dinner tonight also reminds me that I just picked up an excellent, beautiful cookbook at Frugal Muse on Saturday. Shunju is far from a vegan cookbook (if photos of skewered whole fish and liberal bonito use wig you out, you'll want to pass) but there are accidentally vegan items, interesting uses of homemade tofu and soymilk, and great inspiration to be had in the the presentation, cooking styles, and unusual ingredients. (I envy Japan's vegetable choices.) Most recipes are simple, although the ingredients make the dish hard to create at home. (Are any of you able to harvest fresh bamboo shoots in the morning? I can't without a 16-hour plane ride first.) Like The French Laundry, I won't make these foods on a daily basis, but it's fine food porn.

Curse you, cold virus!

2007-05-06T15:06:00.000-05:00

So, that whole healthy vegan thing was absent this week. Apparently veganism can't stop a wicked cold virus. It started as a sore throat over a week ago and morphed into a horrible sniffling, ear-aching mess by Wednesday.

As a result, this was the bulk of what I ate this week:

Instant noodles and veggies.

Peanut butter and jelly.

Last night things were picking up though (my cough was subsiding), so a group went out for Mexican and Spider-Man 3. I've got the leftovers from my veggie fajitas for lunch today.

And because I've been to this restaurant (Laredo's) I already knew they put cheese on the beans and remembered to ask for it to be left off.

No surprizes like Friday night when Jeff took my coughing/sneezing self out in public for dinner and my curry arrived with a parmesan garnish. Um. It's totally my fault that I didn't mention cheese, but I'd never seen cheese on curry before. It totally caught me off-guard, so Jeff and I did a little division and swapping of entrees. I could have asked for a remake, but it was not their fault in the slightest and there were other vegan items we'd ordered.

America's Test Kitchen Hot & Sour, modified

2007-04-30T22:12:00.000-05:00

The nice thing about recipes from America's Test Kitchen is that they're solid recipes, usually short on ingredients and quick to make. The bad thing is that most (if not all) contain animal products.

I happened to listen to their episode Staying in for Chinese Take-out on Saturday (I say listen because we lack TV reception) and their hot and sour soup seemed like a good idea. (I'll make their stir-fry recipe another day.)

In my version a few things had to change. First, I'm serving 2 people, and although I like leftovers, I didn't need enough food for 6 people. Here's what I did (leaving out the pork, chicken stock, and egg a hot & sour purist would probably want, but I don't think the final product was adversely affected.)

Heat:
4 C vegetable stock
Add:
1 C sliced shiitake mushrooms
1/2 small can of bamboo shoots (they said to cut them into matchsticks, I didn't)
1/3 block of firm tofu, drained/pressed, cut into small cubes
Stir into simmering liquid:
3 T corn starch in cold water, the soup will begin to thicken immediately
Simmer for a bit, then add:
1/2 t ground white pepper
1/2 t hot chili oil
1 T rice wine vinegar
1 T red wine vinegar
1 t sesame oil
3 T low sodium soy sauce (if you're using canned bamboo and pre-made stock it will already be salty enough)
To serve, garnish with some green onion.

I also served a salad of chopped napa cabbage, dried banana, fresh banana, pineapple chunks, and cashews. I wanted to add fresh cilantro but the grocery store was actually out.

For a dressing I blended 1/4 c olive oil into 1/2 mashed banana, 1 t grated ginger, 1 T rice wine vinegar, 2 t brown sugar, and a squeeze of lime. I forgot 2 things in my haste. A pinch of kosher salt and a bit of minced jalepino. I had the pepper sitting right there on the cutting board and somehow overlooked it.

Saturday morning, non-food post.

2007-04-28T14:09:00.000-05:00

I would post the lovely salad I made for dinner last night, but that plan never actually came through because I've been sick. I've just been sort of sleeping off and on, and never ended up eating anything for dinner last night (except for some Rice Divine ice cream which made my sore throat feel infinitely better.)

Today though I've been up to the Dane County Farmer's Market, where I ran into Erik's cousin Mark, and a host of other people I either happily waved "hi" to or ducked away from, disappearing into the crowds celebrating good weather, fresh food, and the Crazy Legs Classic Run/Walk.

I didn't take any pictures of the market itself. First off, it's early in the season, so most things being sold are seeds, seedlings, honey, cheese, organic beef, ostrich, bison, European red deer, pork, etc. I decided I'd rather not get my panties in a bunch on such a nice day by photographing the signs proclaiming their "humanely raised" "grass-fed" animal products. Another day. Maybe when it's rainy or something.

I had a nice leisurely walk home after the market. If anyone has a spare half-million they'd like to give me, I'd like one of those tin can-looking condos, please.

Check it out: Giant emu/ostrich sculpture on S. Paterson St. There are two of them, and I don't even reach their knees.

Jeff's out of town this weekend which makes cooking less fun, but later in the week I fully intend to make and veganize the recipes I just happened to catch on America's Test Kitchen for hot and sour soup, and stir-fry with noodle cake. We don't have cable, and barely get any reception, but I didn't decide on a DVD or anything quickly enough and got suckered into listening to PBS while I ate lunch. (lunch = leftover curry) It all sounded delish except for the pork and chicken and egg... but I can fix that.

A sort of Asian pasta dish.

2007-04-26T22:17:00.000-05:00

Today I really wanted spring rolls, and rather than go next door and get take out ones (and risk a repeat of that one time there were two Heathers waiting for orders, and I got the right entree, but my spring rolls got mislabeled and I came home with shrimp...) I decided it was time again to make my own.

I was definitely out of practice rolling. The first one looked like a wet plastic bag, washed into the gutter. But from then on out I got the hang of it again.

Inside each roll was a little shredded carrot, green onion, bean thread noodles, mint, and some firm tofu that had been seared off with garlic, ginger, and a touch of curry. Jeff came in while the block of tofu was on the stovetop and began giving me grief because it looked like scrambled egg. I served it with some coconut milk/peanut sauce stuff, that I admit, came from a dry mix. Yes, I have chilis and peanuts in the cupboard, but there is something to be said for the ease of opening an envelope.

Here's Jeff trying to look hard-core or something over dinner. You can see the two goldfish make guest appearances over his left and right shoulders. (Sigfried above his left shoulder, Ari above his right.)

And lest you think we just ate appetizers for dinner, we also had a soba noodle pasta thing I threw together with some sesame oil & vegetable oil, ginger, garlic, green onion, snow peas, and napa cabbage. The soba noodles I boiled first for 4 minutes, drained, rinsed with cold water, and then added to the sauteed veggies. The noodles and veg stuck a bit to the pan, and I threw in a splash of rice wine vinegar to add a little tang to it and to help release the noodles that were sticking.

Overall, I think it was a rousing succes and definitely worth making again. The speed and ease of the main dish was a relief after cursing and sputtering as wet rice paper slipped out of my hands over and over on the first roll.

Recapping the week thus far.

2007-04-25T22:43:00.000-05:00

After an amazingly lazy weekend (17 hours of sleep in one "night") with Jeff away, I really out-did myself cooking. No, I shouldn't lie. Rather than cook I rediscovered my old college dinner favorite: cold cereal.

These days I'm eating my cornflakes with soy milk and no honey, but it tastes the same and takes the same effort. Between that and rootbeer/rice cream floats I had a great weekend. :)

Monday night was another Jeff night in the kitchen. He chose vegetarian corndogs. I thought he and I agreed that those smelly semi-food products were not to be cooked unless I was out of the apartment, but at least he opened the patio door while they microwaved.

Last night I made an entirely too soggy baked veggie and seitan dish with quinoa. That seitan I made for gyros found a home in this dish too, but the spongey texture just didn't work for me and held more moisture than I thought. I wanted my veggies to roast in wet heat, but the ingredients (plus a splash of veggie stock) made for more of a bath than a sauna.

On the bright side though, all of the other veggies, herbs, and spices (I threw in a lot of odd things, starting with saffron, which I think was the kicker) made the carrots almost pretty tasty. For a carrot-hater such as myself that was an accomplishment. I'm getting excited to get some good fresh carrots at the Farmer's Market this summer and see if I can cultivate a taste for them.

And finally, tonight was another yellow curry. Tofu, onion, celery, mushrooms, chickpeas and tomatoes, over brown rice. Not bad, although it could have used more spice. We'll see how the flavors develop by tomorrow when I have leftovers for lunch.

Sometimes it's good to like "weird" stuff.

2007-04-24T18:33:00.000-05:00

A patient gave one of the receptionists some Dagoba chocolate bars today. She tried the spicy one with cocoa nibs and promptly made a weird face. She then tried to get some other people to test it out but noone wanted any of it. One of my co-workers on my end of the room told her, "Yeah, give it to Heather, she likes that weird, organic stuff."

Damn straight. She wasn't sure what nibs were (I tried to explain) and the chile pepper thing definitely weirded her out, but I was quite happy with my free snack.

I'm glad to have the rep as the girl you can come too with any dark chocolate you need taken off your hands.

Tomorrow we're having an ice cream sundae party for one of the girls about to take maternity leave, I'm bringing the berries and Neopolitan Rice Dream. I'm hoping at least someone will get curious and try it.

Jeff's been cooking.

2007-04-20T13:04:00.000-05:00

Jeff's been doing the cooking this week, hence the lack of updates. We've had pasta/spinach/fauz sausage, faux-chicken nuggets in buffalo sauce, dinner out at Lao Laan Xang, and finally, I had dinner w/ Ronald McDonald (seriously, dude in a clown suit) last night at the annual RMHC-Madison volunteer dinner.

All complaints about the McD corporation aside, our local Ronald McDonald House does really great things for families of ill children and I've been volunteering there for at least 4 years. I'll not knock the buffet dinner, but clearly my query last month about vegan options was not understood. Oh well, I had leftover Laotian food waiting for me at home.

Farmer's Market on the Square kicks off tomorrow, so you know I'll get some more cooking done this weekend.

And in unrelated to cooking news, the headline Century-old fish found off Alaska is irritating me. She wasn't "found" but rather netted and dragged to the surface, then carted off to be dissected. And is anyone else bothered by the potential off-spring that won't ever be in a species (amongst many) that are being fished into extinction?

Vegan gyros; the results

2007-04-14T21:55:00.000-05:00

After a trip up to the roof to watch the sunset, I went downstairs to put away the cooled seitan.

It swelled up quite a bit and had a very spongey texture. (I think next time I'll knead the dough for a lot longer and see if I can get a chewier, stingier texture, although this was very moist and flavorful.) I placed one mass into the fridge, in the simmering liquid for later use. Another mass I placed in a container with liquid and froze. The third mass I sliced and fried up for gyros. It took a little shot of non-stick spray to keep the seitan from burning to the pan.

The final result with onion, tomato, and sauce in a pita? Not bad. I feel like the "meat" needed to be a little firmer, and could have used even more rosemary/marjoram and perhaps a few other spices. I like lavender and coriander seeds in lamb dishes, so I think future incarnations will involve those. (Perhaps I'll make a Moraccan dish with the rest of the seitan and get a chance to utilize those spices.) I feel the sauce tasted right though, so overall, it was a success. A few textural differences aside, it's really the tzakziki that makes it taste like a gyro. The spices I'll continue to tweak until they're just right, but I give this dish a B-. It's good, but with definite room for improvement.

Homemade Seitan for Gyros

2007-04-14T17:40:00.000-05:00

Right now I'm in the process of making seitan. I can tolerate White Wave in my food in a pinch, but the restaurants across the street both make their own and it's excellent. Store bought really can't compare, and I want vegan gyros, so I'm using a recipe from the PPK and modifying it with ingredients from Alton Brown's recipe for gyros.

For dry ingredients I used:
1-1/2 C. vital wheat gluten
1/4 C. nutritional yeast
I used a little extra wheat gluten when rolling the dough out as my dough was a touch wet.

For the wet ingredients I used:
1 C. cold vegetable broth
1/2 C. reduced sodium soy sauce
1 T tomato paste
3 garlic cloves, run through a Microplane
A squeeze of lemon juice (the fresh lemons in the co-op were coated in shellac and petroleum, ew)
1 tsp ground pepper
1/2 T ground dried rosemary
small bunch of fresh marjoram finely chopped
1 small onion, minced and patted dry

I mixed the wet into the dry, added a touch more wheat gluten, and rolled the dough out. It was like a slightly less dense matzoh ball. I cut the roll into thirds and placed them in the cold stock/soy sauce/water and turned the burner on. I brought it to a boil and noticed some of the gluten breaking apart a bit. Here's hoping for a good outcome at this point as I still have an hour of simmering to go.

From there the plan is to slice one or two balls of gluten (saving the rest for later, we'll see how well it freezes) and saute strips of it in a non-stick pan, and serve in a pita topped with a soy yogurt tzatziki, onion, and tomato.

The tzatziki will be simple. No measuring. Just a cup of plain yogurt, some chopped cucumber to taste, a bit of garlic, dab of olive oil, spalsh of red wine vinegar, pinch of salt, and a bit of mint.

Friday night sushi

2007-04-14T15:57:00.000-05:00

So, I'm just now getting out of bed after last night. I know, it's shameful. Part of me wants to climb back in, but I'm anxious to get something done with my day. Yesterday was great. The weather was beautiful so I walked to the co-op for some Veganaise, came back and whipped up some sushi, went to Overture Hall for an opera (The Pearl Fishers by Bizet) that a friend was in, and finally changed into pants/flat shoes to hit some hipster bars with some friends of Jeff's.

Anyway, enough about my day and my excuses for sleeping late, bring on the food!

From lower left to upper right we have:
1. toasted and crushed pine nuts, red pepper slices, avocado
2. spicy vegan mayo (togarashi and a drop of hot pepper oil added), avocado, cucumber, sesame seeds
3. spicy vegan mayo, red pepper, cucumber, tempeh strips sauteed w/ a little sesame oil
4. roasted and salted whole peanuts and avocado

Can you tell that I love avocado?

Rolling sushi is really easy. While my rice was cooking I sliced my ingredients into thin strips, and laid them out on a tray. The nuts, some water, and some rice wine vinegar I set out in little dishes. I got out my seaweed and laid out a clean, dry cutting board, rolling mat, a sharp knife, a brush, and my plates. When the rice was done I dumped it into a shallow glass pan, splashed some mirin on it and with a slicing motion spread the mirin through the rice with a wooden paddle.

When the rice cooled I laid out a sheet of nori on the mat, dampened it with the brush/water, and covered about half the sheet with a thin layer of rice. (Use your hand to place and spread the rice. Dip your fingers in rice wine vinegar to help prevent the rice from sticking to your fingers.) I placed my ingredients inside and tightly rolled it up. I like to wait to dampen the last third or so of the sheet of nori until I'm ready to roll it up, that way the nori doesn't begin to shrink and roll and become difficult to work with before I'm ready. I place the roll aside until I'm completely done, then slice the rolls. I wipe the knife with a little vinegar between cuts to clean it off.

I usually prefer to make inside out rolls (you cover your rolling mat with cling film, lay the rice down first, and use about half a sheet of nori) but they take a hair more time and I wanted to get to the opera on time. As it was, with the traffic, we were running to make it there in time.

Kale soup and fresh bread

2007-04-12T21:26:00.000-05:00

After Sarah pointed me to her boyfriend's sister's blog I was inspired to add some fresh bread to tonight's kale soup.

I started the bread dough last night and put it up above the cupboards, on top of the cookbooks, so that it wouldn't accidentally get thrown out. (Jeff cleans the kitchen very nicely, but a bowl of oozy flour, yeast, and water probably wouldn't look worth saving.) It sat up there all night and day, so when I got home I had a nice spongey mass to form into 2 small loaves. I didn't have a large enough covered Pyrex dish to make just one large loaf, and besides, smaller loaves bake in less time.

I like my bread light, so it took about 30 minutes for my two loaves in a 450 degree oven. (The last ten minutes without the lid on the dish.) If I were to cook it for longer it would have a richer flavor, but I've never been one for well-cooked or well-toasted. I did leave the second loaf in a few minutes longer so it developed a more golden hue.

The soup was relatively simple. Instead of using plain water (as the recipe suggested) I used actual vegetable stock, my herbs were fresh (and a little different than the suggested ones), and no parmesan to garnish, thank you.

Jeff's not typically a big soup fan, but this recipe reminded me of a great riboletta (that's twice boiled) soup recipe I have buried in a folder around here that utilizes old bread and I wanted him to try it. I think he approved. Plus, I love dark greens like kale and Swiss chard, but am out of practice in using them. Soup is a great way to ease them back into my repetoire.

Another speedy vegan meal

2007-04-11T20:25:00.000-05:00

Wednesday night, when Jeff runs in the door and runs right back out to band practice. Again, burritos come to the rescue. Refried beans, veggies, chips, and salsa... what else can I say? Tomorrow will be more involved, I assure you.

Quick and lazy dinner.

2007-04-10T20:15:00.000-05:00

Before the snow began we cooked up some quick comfort food. Why be ambitious on a Tuesday night? A spinach salad with blackberries, brussels sprouts, baby portobella mushrooms, and wheat pasta and sauce. Nothing special.

As a note to myself though, the rest of the week will go as follows:
Wednesday - burritos
Thursday - kale and bean soup
Friday - veggie sushi (and prepare the gyro "meat" for Saturday)
Saturday - veganized gyros

Easter.

2007-04-08T19:33:00.000-05:00

I never got around to baking that pie last week. So, despite an excellent and thought-provoking Vegan Freak Podcast this week on health (#66 if you want to give a listen), I feel compelled to finish making the pie today. (Maybe I feel cheated none of the desserts at that Easter Sunday bougie country club brunch were vegan?)

So, we'll start with dessert first; mom's apple pie, in all it's sugary, fatty glory.

Take 6-8 large, tart apples (skinned, cored, sliced)

Place inside double pie crust (2-1/4 C flour, 3/4 C shortening, 1 t salt, 6 T cold water)

Dump on top of apples:
1 C sugar
1/4 t nutmeg
1/2 t cinnamon
2 t flour
a few pats of Earth Balance or similar buttery spread

Seal the double crust. Pop into the oven for 40 minutes at 425. (Cover the edges with foil to keep it from burning, or else bake at a lower temp for longer.)

And then for dinner we had a zuchinni/chickpea/tomato/pepper curry over quinoa.

It's pretty self-explainatory. Toss some garlic in a non-stick pan, add some peppers and zuchinni, add a dab of red curry and lots of sweet yellow curry and some garam masala, add some chopped tomato and the drained and rinsed chickpeas, finish with some halved cherry tomatoes. Spoon over rice, or in this case, quinoa.

Pepper Pizza

2007-04-06T13:52:00.000-05:00

I wasn't feeling well last night, but still sort of regained consciousness long enough to make pizza for dinner. (Jeff helped a lot.)

Olive oil, zuchinni, tomatillo, tomato, red/yellow/orange sweet peppers, herbs, shallots, and roasted garlic on a homemade wheat crust.

As a good omen, this is what the tomatillo looked like when Jeff cut into it:

Vegan brownies by Jenno.

2007-04-06T13:49:00.000-05:00

So, Wednesday night was girls' night at Jenno's which entailed watching Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, which necessitated eating chocolate.

To that end, Jenno made her first ever brownies from scratch, and she made them vegan too!

OMG. So dense. So chocolatey.

I think I'm going to be sick.

2007-04-04T16:38:00.000-05:00

One of my friends sent a link to this and even at my most meat-eating, this would have made me nauseous.

So yeah, meat-cake. Worse than the pankegg by a long shot.

BBQ Seitan

2007-04-02T17:18:00.000-05:00

Step one: Get BBQ sauce. (Make it yourself if you're feeling fancy. FYI, Worcestershire has anchovies in it, they do make vegan versions.) I'm also lucky enough to have an immersion blender (a.k.a. stick/wand/inversion blender) which made pureeing the sauce a cinch. What I didn't use for the BBQ I strained through a wire mesh and saved for later.

Step two: Get seitan. (Again, you can make it if you feel fancy. I did not feel fancy on Saturday.)

Chop seitan and place in crock pot on low with sauce covering for 4 hours or so. (I took a nap.) Then, hot or cold, use it to make a sandwich. Tah-dah!

Next time I may consider baking the seitan in a casserole dish on low in the oven to get a chewier, firmer result. This tasted quite like Willie Street Co-Op's BBQ seitan, but lacked just the right texture.

Next major challenge: Veganized Gyros for which I will make my own seitan to stand in for lamb.

Well, that and introducing my family to non-dairy ice cream at Dad's birthday tomorrow. :) That should be a challenge as well.

Green Curry

2007-03-30T18:46:00.000-05:00

Lesson learned today: Goya's coconut milk sucks. It's watery and grainy. Thai kitchen, Tasty Joy, or any number of other imported brands with very little English on their labels have been heads and tails above Goya. If you want thick and creamy that is not it.

But, despite the less than perfect coconut milk, I turned out a respectable green curry.

Ingredients: 1 sliced shallot, a few TBSP diced yellow onion, minced garlic and ginger to taste, 1 TBSP green curry paste (Thai Kitchen), par-boiled cubed gold potatoes, quartered Thai eggplant (they're green and white and round), snow peas, spinach, coconut milk, and green onion.

This time I remembered the brown rice and made that while the potatoes were cooking.

Weekend goals.

2007-03-30T13:42:00.000-05:00

On the docket this weekend:

1. Green vegetable curry w/ brown rice for dinner tonight.

2. BBQ seitan for lunch this weekend (and into next week if it last that long.) I've got the organic cola, vegan Worcestershire sauce... (I got the brand I did because there's a wizard on the label.)

3. Make a pie with those apples beginning to shrivel up in the fridge.

4. Clean the fridge. (We've got more condiments that actual food now!)

5. Write a thank you to Woodman's for carrying my favorite flavor of Temptation now. Especially since Whole Foods has stopped carrying their products all together in the midwest.

6. Write a letter to Andy as we share some tastes in music (Minus the Bear) and hopefully cheer him a bit. (As much as mail from strangers can mean much.)

7. Clean my apartment. (I say that every weekend.)

8. Catch up on my sleep.

9. Begin counting the days until the Farmer's Market is back on the Square.

Wednesday Stir Fry.

2007-03-30T13:33:00.000-05:00

Here it is, in all it's garlicky, gingery, sesame-y, soy-y glory. And with pan fried tofu to boot!

Again, it's over white rice because we were under a time limit so Jeff could get to practice. If my brown rice didn't take 45 minutes to cook (and if I didn't continuously forget this fact when prepping) we would have had that instead.

Tidbit of advice for ginger lovers that might be turned off by cleaning the root. Don't try to cut it up or use a peeler to get the root cleaned up. Take a spoon, and place the rounded edge perpendicular to the side of the ginger.

Now, run the spoon against the grain of the root with gentle pressure. The outside should peel right off, and you can get into those awkward places without risking a knife slip and a serious cut.

Another helpful thing is to get a large piece of the root and freeze (uncleaned, whole) what you don't need. You'll always have some on hand, and I find it less woody and easier to clean and mince once the cell walls have be compromised a little by the freezing. (Although the taste remains unaffected.)

Tuesday is burrito night.

2007-03-27T21:00:00.000-05:00

Naw, it's more of a clean out the cupboards night.

That's why our burrito is made with spinach instead of lettuce, and we had to use those tomatos before they went bad. Mmm... spicy fried tofu strips.

Piffle!

2007-03-25T14:00:00.000-05:00

This is the most worthless site of Standard American Diet (SAD) propaganda I've ever seen. It puts 10 websites' worth of bullshit into one place. It's amazing.

Beverage producers have always been environmental leaders and we will continue to innovate and undertake the very best environmental practices to meet the challenge of being good to our planet.

*cough* Excuse me? I'm not saying we don't have Coke products in our fridge, but I don't think for one second that they give an arse about the environment. In fact Corp Watch and Killer Coke might have a few things to say about that.

PepsiCo and America On the Move developed a lesson plan called Balance First™ to help educate kids about energy balance. This program reached three million elementary school students in 2004. In 2005, as part of a partnership with Discovery Education, PepsiCo distributed the Balance First program to 15,000 middle schools in the United States.

Wait. Pepsi is teaching kids about moderation? As in, how Pepsi is a part of a balanced diet? That's just sick. Framing your product, loaded with HFCS (high fructose corn syrup) as part of a balanced diet to impressionable children is evil.

Speaking of HFCS...

Cadbury Schweppes Americas Beverages in partnership with the American Diabetes Association supports Weight Loss Matters...

As well they should support the American Diabetes Association, considering their product ups rates of obesity and Type II Diabetes. Just Google "high-fructose-corn-syrup diabetes" and you'll get an eye-full.

And don't even get me started on the beef industry or dairy.

There are 65,000 dairy farms in America today; most are smaller farms with less than 200 cows.

Well, that's sort of true. More than 50% of dairy farms are smaller than 500 head (according to the USDA's own 2001 figures but small farms are losing ground, and what percentage in terms of head of cattle do those 61% of farms smaller than 500 make up?

By the USDA's count, there are 9.12 million dairy cattle. If 39% of the 97,560 farms (38,048 farms) have at least 500 dairy cows that's already 19,024,200 cows. I think the USDA may be a little confused. Still, it's hard to pin down how much of a contiribution these small, welfarist farms make compared to large scale farming. (It would be helpful if the USDA could keep its facts straight too, but then how useful would they be protecting their real constituents, the food industries. Maybe veal calves are getting counted as head even though they don't count as dairy cattle.)

And the website doesn't mention veal anywhere. Funny. All we get are lies about cows resting on waterbeds.

The most galling thing about the entire site though, is the complete lack of citation. Some things they say are simple assertions, while others are numbers and stats. Any of these things would be simple to support, yet they don't because they can't.

The one "fact" they can support:

In fact, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the injury and illness rate for eating and drinking places was 4.7 cases per 100 full time equivalent employees...

That's weak at best because in the restaurant industry a higher percentage of the workers is part-time compared to the workforce as a whole.

So, before I completely blow a gasket I'm going to close this post, but please, read through this website of tripe, Google some real answers, and start getting pissed at the garbage you are fed (literally and figuratively) every day from companies, lobbies, and the government agencies and charities that are beholden to them.

For more reading I recommend picking up (at the shops or library) Fat Land, Food Politics, Fast Food Nation, or The China Study for a good overview of issues in nutrition and how it relates to illness.

Barking up the wrong tree.

2007-03-24T17:33:00.000-05:00

Oh Amazon! You know my wishlist is full of vegan/AR books, and this is what you're pimping on my front page?

Hilarious. I would think their ads would be more carefully considered.

Dinner for 8.

2007-03-22T22:02:00.000-05:00

Joe, Abby, Jenno, Michael, Katie, and Ben came over tonight for dinner. Three of them were going to see a show in the theatre across the street, and it seemed logical for everyone to eat here, rather than try to pack into the uber-crowded restaurants around the theatre.

I made up a couple of things for everyone. (With Jeff's help.) Joe and Abby brought popcicles, Michael/Katie/Ben brought wine and soda pop.

While waiting for everyone to show up we had some pita, hummus, olive tapenade, olives, carrot sticks, and cherry tomatoes for everyone to snack on.

Dinner was a citrus and fennel salad, a strawberry and spinach salad, asparagus, sourdough rolls and tofu stuffed jumbo shells with spinach added in. (I'm proud to say I gave Jenno her first taste of tofu and nutritional yeast.)

For "dessert" we had some oatmeal peanut butter cookies although a lot of those were eaten before dinner was actually served. And by "served", I mean buffet-style with everyone sitting on the living room floor. I might have my great-grandmother's snappy serving dishes, but I don't have the dining room space.

Disclaimer: Real butter was set out because I still have some in my fridge and my friends are welcome to eat it even if I'm not. I know it's NOT VEGAN but I'd rather they eat it than just throw it out.

The new computer.

2007-03-21T23:00:00.000-05:00

I'm loving my new computer because I can haul it (and its wi-fi) out into the kitchen. Check out the peanut butter and oatmeal cookies I was making for dinner Thursday.

Snack time

2007-03-20T22:00:00.000-05:00

I love grocery shopping now and buying foods with one ingredient.

Take for example, coming home from yoga and wanting a snack, knowing that dinner with Jeff's parents might result in some less than stellar vegan options depending on the restaurant. I opened the fridge and pulled out a mango. I pulled out some strawberries. No weird chemicals or preservatives, just slice and eat.

So easy! And nothing with multiple syllables and crazy chemicals. I sort of wonder why I haven't done this all along, both being vegan and just eating less processed junk.

Sunday night pizza.

2007-03-18T22:24:00.000-05:00

I'm getting ever closer to my perfect vegan pizza. A mash of tofu and pasta sauce made a nice blend without being watery. Olives make up for the saltiness of cheese. Red pepper gives it flavor. Roasted garlic gives a mellow touch.

My crust-forming leaves something to be desired though. It's not what you'd call "round."

Happy (belated) St. Pat's!

2007-03-18T21:09:00.000-05:00

I can take no credit for these. The people at Krupp (a construction company that owns my apartment building) or else someone else in the neighborhood is decorating Krupp's fiberglass cow where Atwood Ave and Williamson St merge. It's changed with every holiday. Presidents' Day she got a stove-pipe hat.

As for why they have a cow there at all? Well, art cows were sponsored last year as a fund raiser for something or other, and Krupp either sponsored one or bought one at the auction. It's fitting though. Krupp's office is in the old brick horse barn of the Kennedy Dairy.

Friday night.

2007-03-17T11:35:00.000-05:00

After a busy morning at work, and then an hour getting my teeth cleaned, I went home and promptly crashed out. The result was that I woke up at 7, when Jeff came home and we needed to make something for dinner rather quickly.

I can't judge portion size when it comes to pasta, so as you can see we've got a mountain of pasta each, with some veg and faux Italian sausage (Jeff loves it) on the side. The generic pasta sauce was dressed up a little with some Kalamata olives and cherry tomatoes.

It wouldn't be worthy food porn except for those olives. Mmm...

One for me, one for you.

2007-03-14T21:56:00.000-05:00

The Chewy Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies were a big hit Monday, so tomorrow I'm taking in that awesome PPK Banana Bread recipe I posted about before. (It's a potluck tomorrow.)

Happily, Jeff keeps grossly over-buying bananas so I've got enough for two loaves; one for us, one for work.

Best PB ever!

2007-03-14T21:50:00.000-05:00

I don't typically eat peanut butter, but on a whim bought some White Chocolate Wonderful PB from The Peanut Butter Company and am hooked. The Cinnamon Raisin Swirl is even better.

Retiring some meat analogues

2007-03-14T21:42:00.000-05:00

Soyrizo, you've served me well during my veggie transition. But we're getting... well, bored. Just replacing meats with faux-meat is without any challenge.

Sure, we'll still use a quick vegan burger here or there, and I don't think there's any way I can ween Jeff from those vegetarian Boca Bratwurst right now, but fake chorizo and veggie burger crumbles, you've been replaced. It's time for some more whole foods, fruit and veg to take your place.

Rest in peace soyrizo burrito.

PPK Chewy Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies

2007-03-11T22:10:00.000-05:00

Oh! I'm stuffed! We went to Monty's for dinner (Tofu Scramble for me!) and then I came back to make Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies.

OMG. These are oozy, gooey, chewy... I can't wait to try the variation with dried cherries. Now I'm stuffed with chocolate and soy milk on top of dinner. I'll need to roll out of bed in the morning at this rate.

Sadly, my pie on Saturday didn't turn out as well. The liquids never set up and the rhubarb didn't soften. I guess I just have to wait until the spring and use fresh, not forzen.

Last night (Penne Pasta)

2007-03-09T15:49:00.000-06:00

I'll admit, this was a 10 minute cook time, Noodles and Co. rip off. Penne pasta (cooked), tomato/onion/garlic/spinach/mushrooms sauteed up with olive oil, a liberal splash of balsamic vinegar into the pan with the drained penne, salt, pepper, and it was done.

And that's chocolate almond milk in my Mac mug, just in case you were wondering.

And then Jeff's band (The Hat Party) played a show at the King Club with Coup De Foudre and Whore Du Jour.

Vegetable Stir-Fry.

2007-03-07T19:11:00.000-06:00

Because I ended up cooking brown and white rice on Monday, I used the brown tonight as a bed for a veggie stir fry. Garlic, red onion, broccoli, straw mushrooms, baby corn, carrot, and a sesame and soy based sauce. Simple. Quick. Didn't even bother to make egg rolls, not even the frozen kind. Jeff had to get to practice.

Girl Scout Cookies

2007-03-06T16:32:00.000-06:00

I forgot that before I decided to become vegan I'd ordered Girl Scout Cookies. Oh cruel fate, they arrived today.

My old faves, the Caramel Delites are not vegan, but just as I was ready to feed the chocolate-coated peanut butter ones to my boyfriend too, I read the label. No egg... dairy isn't listed as an allergen... soy lecithin is listed... no unknown compounds... BINGO!

I'm so happy right now.

**ETA 03/17/07: Regarding Stef's comment, the PB ones really don't have milk in them, they're just produced on the same equipment. From a kosher standpoint they're dairy, and they put an allergen warning on the box about potential cross-contamination, but it actually is not an intended ingredient. I've read the box a zillion times now. I'm crazy paranoid. The GS website is misleading in saying all cookies contain milk/wheat/soy but they're really just covering their butts for allergy cases. I won't be ordering more next year, but at least I could eat the one box I ordered this year.

Chickpea and potato curry

2007-03-05T19:35:00.000-06:00

Well, mid-cooking there was a bit of a substitution since the brown rice was going to take 45 minutes and Jeff needed to get to band practice. White rice it was. Otherwise everything went off as planned.

Simmer 2-3 small potatoes, cubed.

Cook your choice of rice per instructions.

Sweat a small onion (diced), a shallot (diced), minced garlic (1 tsp) and minced ginger (1-2 tsp) in a large sauté pan. Add a large tsp of sweet yellow curry powder and a small tsp of green curry paste. (Thai Kitchen's green curry is labeled vegan.) Stir.

Add a drained and rinsed can of chickpeas to the sauté pan. Stir to mix and coat with the curry.

Drain the potatoes (they should be cooked, but still firm) and add them to the sauté pan. Stir.

Add 1/2 cup coconut milk. Stir and heat a few more minutes. Serve over rice.

For garnish, top with some lightly sautéed diced red pepper and fresh sliced green onion. (Cilantro also works well.) Serve with naan bread or pita, mango and/or cilantro relish.

The verdict? Jeff liked it. Not as hot as my red curry, but with enough spice to satisfy him. It has a mellow warm flavor, without burning your taste buds. I also managed to find the right kind of hot cilantro relish he's been looking for, so I'm sure the meal got bonus points for that.

Improvements? Next time I'll try to work more veggies into it, or else I'll serve it with a side salad or some steamed greens.

Ode to school lunch.

2007-03-03T19:25:00.000-06:00

A lazy Saturday night watching Strangers With Candy called for dinner on a retro Texas Ware lunch tray. (Texas Ware, also known as Melmac. I bet your grandparents have a whole dinner set in avocado green just like mine do.)

Now, I didn't have a hamburger bun that was vegan, but I prefer wheat toast anyway. So, just like lunch in 3rd grade, ketchup is my vegetable, and I dug into tater tots, a couple Boca nuggets, and a vegan burger with Nayonaise, ketchup, and mustard. Throw in a glass of carrot/orange juice and a dill pickle and it was a great meal of junk food. A perfect flashback.

Lao Laan Xang

2007-03-03T15:07:00.000-06:00

We (Jeff and I) had lunch out with Cindy and Jesse (his bandmates) at Lao Laan Xang today. For an appetizer I had spring rolls (sans egg) and Jeff had the most definitely NOT VEGAN crab rangoon (or "crab racoons" if you prefer.) For our entrees Jeff ordered a tasty mango tofu curry, #28 (which I was remiss in not photographing) and I had #22.

As you can see, #22 is a lovely mock duck in a sweet ginger and garlic sauce with mixed veggies. I tend to avoid carrots [my mother asked as soon as she saw the photos] because, well, I've never found a way I like them. None-the-less, they did not detract from this dish in the slightest. I scooted them aside and dug into the straw mushrooms, baby corn, peas... mmm.

On a hotness scale, my nose ran slightly, but at only 2 stars ("careful") I wasn't risking serious tongue burns. Jeff usually goes for 3 stars ("adventurous") and that's too much for an entire meal. I'd love to bring my father sometime because he's suicidal (or "manly") enough to order 4 stars ("Native Lao"). I'd like to give it a go, but only for a mouthful or two off his plate.

Service was a little slow (only 2 servers and 1 cook today) but the quality of food was worth the wait. The other odd thing was how unnaturally quiet the place was. It filled up as we were there, but it never got above a whisper. That's eerie. Normally it's a little more jumping, but I guess the cold had everyone subdued. Hopefully the four of us didn't offend the quieter patrons around us.

Faux meat.

2007-03-02T15:39:00.000-06:00

Merde.

I just wrote a long rant about faux meat, the fact that vegan food really isn't expensive (and faux meats being no more pricey than their real meat convenience food counterparts), the idea of these items as comfort foods for me, and why omnivores would rather view vegan diets as expensive as a way to rule out being vegan ("oh it's so spendy and elitist!") and then Firefox crashed. I tried to take a screen capture and got nada.

It was cogent and good and yet it is gone. I'm going to curl up with The China Study now and pout.

Maybe later I'll head down to my parents' to work on some photos for this page (on a fully functioning computer) since inclement weather has canceled our trip to the Twin Cities.

Rocking hard.

2007-03-02T01:21:00.000-06:00

Ok, several things at once.

One, I got my silent auction item brought over by Jordan this afternoon. (From last night's Schools of Hope fund raiser/dinner. We left before the close of the auction.) It's a neat blue, blown-glass vase, with the word "blue" etched on it.

Two, Jeff and I made a vegan pizza and determined our choice of sauce is a problem. It's simply too thin and makes the resulting pizza a little soggy. We pre-cooked the tomato, pineapple, and vegan sausage and still it was runny. It tasted great, but it lent itself more to a fork and knife.

Jeff, mid-mouthful.

Three, we hit the High Noon Saloon (through rain and sleet and icy roads) for the 12" split release party for The Suit and Colony of Watts. (The aforementioned Jordan being the drummer for Colony.) Both fine Sector Five Records artists. :)

Colony of Watts; Jordan on drums, Chad on guitar, Riland (I know I mispelled that) on bass.
Four, barring any weather disasters I'll be joining my boy and his band, The Hat Party, on a trip up to the Twin Cities Friday. (Um, I guess that's today.)

More dinners at the mercy of others.

2007-02-28T21:35:00.000-06:00

Last night was Meg's 22nd birthday so we went over to her parents' for dinner. They had veggie lasagna for Jeff, and I had a salad.

Tonights dinner was a little more interesting. Our friend, Shari, helped to organize the 2nd Annual Multi-cultural dinner at Schenk Elementary to support Schools of Hope. The result was dinner donated by many local restaurants, and served by college kids involved in VISTA, and eaten in a grade school cafeteria. I hated high school, but grade school was kind of fun, so I was giddy in the atmosphere.

There were a lot of things to eat, including pad thai, this awesome curried tofu from Willie Street Co-Op, pita, sauteed veggies, and curried rice. It was nice. (And again, I leave the camera in my purse.) The highlight of the night though, was the Native American hoop dance performed by another student from UW. It was very cool, and ended up incorporating 27 rings. After 2 rings I would have gotten confused and fallen over, never mind not being able to dance on rhythm.

Fajita night!

2007-02-26T18:49:00.000-06:00

Tonight was vegan fajitas night (or veggie if you chose to use the last of the slightly fuzzy queso in the fridge as Jeff did.)

Whole wheat tortillas, with Fajita-Fu (marinated tofu), sauteed yellow bell pepper, zucchini, tomato, corn and black bean salsa, and lettuce.

Next time I'm going to marinate my own firm tofu (rather than pay extra for the ready-made kind) in soy, cumin, pepper, etc, but for a first run to see how Jeff likes tofu in a taco I think this was a good, speedy option.

Tomorrow is Meg's birthday, so perhaps it will be another meal out. If not, we're doing up a chickpea and potato curry over brown rice.

Speedy vegan.

2007-02-25T19:01:00.000-06:00

This week has been all about eating out. (And I've been a bit self-conscious about taking photos of my veganized restaurant fare.)

It's been about P.F. Changs, Tex Tubb's, Monty's, Panera, Noodles...

So now, here it is, Sunday night and I haven't been grocery shopping. What to eat?

In the list of things that take 10 minutes or less and that I can scrounge out of the fridge comes tonight's dinner for one. A slice of eggplant, dipped in soy milk and dredged in bread crumbs, sauteed in a pan of olive oil. Topped with some commercial pasta sauce in the fridge from earlier in the week, and served with a mixed green salad and vinaigrette, toasted French bread, and Earth Balance Spread.

Not bad. The egg plant deserved more attention and preparation, but I was hungry NOW.

Dropped the ball.

2007-02-20T19:08:00.000-06:00

I meant to bring my camera along for a trip to Monty's for the Vegan BBQ sandwich, but forgot. It tasted remarkably like my grandmother's BBQ beef.

And yesterday was a boring meal. I had a migraine and rather than make vegan egg plant Parmesan, I just boiled some spaghetti and seared off the Tofurkey Italian Sausage. The only thing I took a picture of yesterday was my sandwich at lunch.

(I figured I should post pictures of the common things I eat too, not just good looking stuff, but I do have to remember to take pictures of the boring stuff for that idea to work.)

Rosebud Steakhouse

2007-02-17T18:51:00.000-06:00

I am going to file this under "hilarious."

For Jeff's father's 60th birthday the whole family (and significant others) went to Chicago to the Rosebud Steakhouse in downtown Chicago. Obviously, a steak and seafood restaurant does not have much in the way of vegan fare, but I opted to ask no questions about the wine and try out the Beefsteak Tomato and Onion Salad and the Vegetable Plate (Chef's Choice.) The waiter we had was very friendly, and everyone else ordered some very nice looking apps and entrees. (And it's always great when I can bust out my culinary know-how and define an obscure menu item.)

The tomato salad was as I expected. A lot of tomato, onion, and basil, with balsamic vinegar and olive oil on the side.

It was more than I could eat of either tomato or onion, but it was fine enough. The hilarity was in the chef's selection to make my entree.

Behold! Four HUGE sides of veggies. Steamed brocolli, sesame green beans (very tasty), peas (very buttery tasting, w/o butter), and corn. Greg ordered a side of steamed asparagus for me as well. Jeff had a huge side of matchstick fries to share. I just about died when this plate came down in front of me.

It wasn't terribly creative, but the initial reaction was that the plate was twice the size of anyone else's food. I guess since I wasn't eating a steak they figured I'd be extra hungry? Or maybe they just wanted to give me my $18.95's worth of food.

Either way, I'd go back with meat-eaters again as it was a pleasant atmosphere, friendly staff, etc., but next time I might want to pop back and give the chef some suggestions. Definitely not vegan-friendly, or even vegetarian-friendly (as there weren't more than 2 other options for the lacto-ovos) but I didn't really expect it to be.

V-day.

2007-02-17T18:45:00.000-06:00

Valentine's day dinner... this post is a little late, but better late than never, right?

Step one: Open package of pre-made polenta. I was coming home after work and also had a cake to bake, so I wasn't going to putz with making my own polenta. Did I cut a big corner there? Yes. Would someone who's never had polenta notice? No. Did I care since the packaged stuff was goof-proof and tasted just fine? No.

The final product, with polenta, egg plant, garlic spinach, cherry tomatoes, asparagus, and adobo chili pepper sauce:

For dessert I made the Chocolate Bomb Pudding Cake from the Post Punk Kitchen. I think I screwed up quite a bit, as it was a runny mess, but it tasted great.

That was it.

Vday update later.

2007-02-16T12:29:00.000-06:00

I'll get a post about my Valentine's dinner later, but now we're off to Chicago to have dinner in a steak house (eep!). Good thing I had a Tofurkey, sprouts, spinach, and Nayonaise sandwich on wheat to tide me over.

Nothing fancy today

2007-02-12T22:33:00.000-06:00

Lunch was an apple, and a sandwich of Tofurkey slices, tomato, sprouts, pickles, Nayonaise, and yellow mustard on French bread. (Plus a little snack of popcorn, since at work the "Stir Crazy" popper seems to be running 24-7.)

Dinner was junk food. No, really. I just wasn't motivated to make potato soup (which I am now enjoying) at 5 PM so I had some leftover Thai food from Friday night, potato chips, and Temptation Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough soy ice cream. Not the most shining example of a balanced diet, but it was a long day at work.

Tomorrow... well, maybe another curry for dinner since I have tofu, potatoes and chickpeas? Wednesday (Valentine's!) I want to make polenta/pepper/eggplant napoleons. Well, maybe I'll move it up a day, but then what to make for V-day?

(Almost) Vegan 81st Birthday

2007-02-10T16:26:00.000-06:00

Today was my grandfather's birthday and I volunteered (or, actually, my mother tapped me) to make lunch and a cake for my grandparents, parents, and brother. It was all vegan, until my mother brought along some feta and grandma busted out the dairy-based margarine for the french bread. Oh well, my meal was vegan.

First came just a mixed green salad with tomatoes and a store bought vinaigrette. (The key with my grandparents is to have the food be familiar, and easy.) The pasta wasn't much more involved. I boiled some whole wheat pasta while I sauteed some garlic and raisins in olive oil. I then added red pepper flakes, salt, pepper, halved grape tomatoes, toasted pine nuts, and parsley.

A quick toss of the tomato mix with the drained pasta, a bit more olive oil, and it was done.

Grandpa had three helpings of pasta, so I would call it a success.

And what would a birthday be without cake? This one was a white cake, with a consistency like pound cake. Everyone loved the chocolate frosting. I added the sugar to the liquid though and it got lumpy (I should have done it the other way around) so I took half the batch and microwaved it for 30 seconds until it got warm and smooth, and then added it back to the rest on low to smooth out the whole batch. The result was good.

We left the cake down there. Other than using soy milk, there was nothing my brother could declare freaky about this recipe.

The leftovers are staying at my grandparents so they can invite the neighbors over and share the vegan cake love. I'm a bad girlfriend though, I forgot to bring a piece back for my boyfriend!

Banana Bread

2007-02-08T19:32:00.000-06:00

Jeff and I just tried this recipe from the Post Punk Kitchen. If you have some past-their-prime bananas this is one of the tastier things you can do with them. Jeff and I ate half of the loaf before it was even cool.

Moo Shu Veggies

2007-02-08T19:13:00.000-06:00

This "recipe" I really liked. (I say "recipe" but really I just throw stuff together.) It was easy, flavorful, and under an hour. It could have been quicker, but I was cooking the veg on fairly low heat while I made my own crepes.

Whisk:
1 C flour
1/2 C soy milk
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 C melted margarine
And enough water to make a thin pancake batter (between 1/2 and 3/4 C)

This will be used to make crepes. About 1/4 cup of batter into a medium hot, non-stick pan per crepe. They can be made one-at-a-time and stacked up to use later. They don't have to stay hot or anything like that. I ended up with roughly a dozen, and of course, throw out the first one. No. Seriously. I don't know why, but the first one is always bad.

The veggies to go into this pancake (you can also buy pre-made pancakes in the store, or so I am told, but I couldn't be bothered to look when making my own was quite simple) are easy as well. Basically, whatever you see fit you can toss into a hot pan with a dash of sesame oil, garlic, and minced ginger.

In my case, I sauteed broccoli, carrots, peas, and yellow pepper. I added some bok choy, finely sliced, as the other veggies finished cooking, and tossed in a few teaspoons of tamari (soy sauce) and hoisin sauce. (Both found in many different brands and styles in the "ethnic" aisle at my grocery store.)

To serve I laid a bead of hoisin down the center of a pancake, topped with veggies, and rolled it up like a taco.

Sesame Soba Noodles

2007-02-07T20:09:00.000-06:00

Dinner was alright this evening. I think I over-cooked the soba noodles, even though the instructions said 6 minutes. (I think they were cooked at 3.)

Anyway, just a quick toss together of soba noodles, thin carrot slices, edemame, and snow peas in boiling water, with green onion and shredded bok choy added near the end. All was drained, tossed in an organic sesame dressing from the grocery store, and topped with sesame seeds.

It was ok, although I would have preferred firmer noodles. My fault on that.

Vegan Pizza w/ Wheat Crust

2007-02-06T19:19:00.000-06:00

Dinner was a quick toss together of ingredients tonight. (I was too busy shopping for the bits and pieces for the rest of the week's meals; moo shu veggies, edamame and sesame soba salad, and some sort of green curry yet to be determined.) I even bought mozzarella for Jeff's half of the pizza but he declined in favor of an all-vegan dish. It's very sweet of him to try no dairy dishes here at home with me. But I digress...

Ingredient list:
10 ounces flour (this will yield two pizzas worth of dough)
1/4 oz. packet of active dry yeast
2 tsp corn syrup or sugar
7-8 oz. warm water
small jar pizza sauce**
toppings of your choice (veg, fruit, fake meat, etc.)

First the crust. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F, while you prep everything.

I tossed a 1/4 packet of active dry yeast in with a couple teaspoons of corn syrup and 2 oz. of water to make a slurry and let that froth on the warm stove top. I weighed out 10 oz of flour and a pinch of salt. (I used 8 oz all purpose, and 2 oz wheat, but you can shake it up as you see fit.)

I could have let the yeast foam properly with a little flour, but I was in a hurry. (Thankfully, my boyfriend likes thin crust pizza.) I tossed the slurry into the stand mixer where the flour already was. (Use the dough hook attachment if you've got a mixer, otherwise a bowl, a spoon, and your hands can do the job just as well.) I then added roughly 5 oz. of water until the dough formed into a nice, easy to handle ball.

I set the dough aside (covered) to let rise while my boyfriend and I cut up the toppings:

1/3 block firm tofu into tiny cubes
1 cup grape tomatoes
shiitake mushrooms (which got lightly sauteed with garlic and olive oil)

When the dough rose a bit I split the ball in half, threw half in the freezer, wrapped up for later, and rolled the other into a rough circle. I laid it on a corn meal dusted pizza pan. I pricked the crust with a fork several dozen times just so it wouldn't puff up too much during cooking, and then topped with:

canned pizza sauce
pineapple pieces (drained)
veggie pepperoni
pickled banana peppers
the previously cut up veg and tofu

With a bit of salt and pepper, and it all got tossed in the oven for roughly 14 minutes. A relatively healthy, vegan dinner that only took about 45 minutes to make. (I could have let the dough proof and proof some more and taken 3 hours on the dough, but I'm too lazy for that.) And when it's as cold and crummy out as tonight, pizza just seemed like good comfort food.

**If you ever want a wacky dessert pizza I recommend using the same crust, skipping the pizza sauce, and laying down a layer of peanut butter, topped with sliced fruits like strawberries and bananas, and covered with a thin layer of fruit jelly. Bake the same way. It's a little messy, but delicious for breakfast or a snack.

I've got to learn to read labels better.

2007-02-03T11:55:00.000-06:00

While I was in Jenifer Street the other day I picked up some Tofutti Better Than Cream Cheese. I was talking to the cousin of an ex-boyfriend, and not exactly focused on what I had in my hands. I did the quick scan to see if there were animal ingredients (since one flavor does have salmon in it) and tossed it in my cart.

There's nothing quite so gross though, as blindly slathering your cinnamon raisin bagel in what you think is plain cream cheese, only to bite into garden vegetable at 6:30 in the morning. I was so busy talking and looking for animal bits, that I didn't even notice the obvious problem in that I was picking up the wrong flavor. Not that it tasted bad, it just didn't mesh with the bagel flavor.

Vegan Ice Cream

2007-02-02T12:34:00.000-06:00

I've been looking for some good vegan junk food. (I can't always be healthy, right?) Sure, I can still eat chips and cookies, but what about that sometimes food, ice cream? I don't even eat ice cream that often, but if you're in the mood for it, what else do you eat?

With that in mind, I've been sampling several different brands and flavors and have actually found one that is better than any dairy ice cream I've ever had. I kid you not. Ben and Jerry's have nothing on it. Good Karma Rice Cream, in Carrot Cake flavor, is awesome. Seek it out and try some. I also give hearty approval to Soy Dream's Chocolate Brownie, and to Temptation's full line, especially the Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough I hunted down at Jenifer Street Market. Temptation has an odd, soy flavor to it, but the aftertaste doesn't linger, the texture is less like cream, and more like an ice, and so it comes across to me as a very clean, refreshing flavor.

The greatest thing about Temptation though, is that they're all vegan in product and politics. I'm not knocking the other companies for dove-tailing the use of their machinery for non-vegan or allergen-containing products, but it is nice to see a smaller company dedicated to one thing and not just the wholesome, organic branch of a larger corporation. (I love Silk and White Wave, but they are a part of Dean which is part of a larger dairy industry, so I know my dollars there don't all stay supporting organic, vegetarian products.)

Anyway, I should really stop eating all of my non-dairy desserts before I'm too stuffed to roll out of my apartment, but I'm happy to know I've got alternatives and I don't have to try every flavor at once. ;)

Quick meal recap for the day. (And a seitan curry recipe too.)

2007-01-30T22:15:00.000-06:00

First of all, I finally tried something I'd previously avoided while vegetarian before; Tofurkey deli slices. I made a sandwich to take to lunch today with the hickory-smoked type (which didn't appear to have any non-vegan ingredients, although I'm still getting the hang of all the label-reading) and found them almost eerie. I could have sworn I was eating turkey. Very weird. But hey, it was a great sandwich because I baked wheat bread on Sunday, and fresh bread can't possibly make a bad sandwich.

Second, on to tonight's dinner: Seitan Curry with Coconut Milk

It took 25 minutes. Serves 4 not-so-hungry people, or 2 if you eat like Jeff and I do.

Rice: Boil 14 ounces water w/ pinch of salt, add 1 C jasmine rice, stir, take to a simmer, cover, and wait 15 minutes. (Or consult the instructions on your particular brand/style of rice for differing cooking times and methods.)

While the rice cooks, gather:

2-3 T vegetable oil
1 red pepper (diced)
1 small onion (diced)
1-2 tsp red curry paste
1 t (or more to taste) curry powder
1 pkg seitan cut up (8 oz, 16 oz, however much you feel like)
1 pint grape or cherry tomatoes, halved
8-10 ounces coconut milk
Handful fresh coriander leaves (a.k.a. cilantro)

Curry: Heat the oil on medium. Add onion and pepper. Cook until just beginning to get translucent. Add curries. Stir. Add seitan. Stir to coat w/ curry. Add tomatoes and let cook until they begin to soften slightly. Add coconut milk to taste (more will tame the curry spice if you've added too much) and let simmer to thicken.

By this time the rice should be removed from heat. Let stand per instructions. (In my case my rice rests off heat for 5 min, just enough time for the coconut milk to thicken.) Fluff the rice with a fork and it's done.

Lay rice on a plate, spoon curried seitan and veggies over the rice and garnish with coriander/cilantro. (If my computer was working properly I would have taken a picture. The red, yellow, and green look quite striking over the white rice.) You can serve with naan or pita if you like.

Thoughts on wool.

2007-01-27T15:18:00.000-06:00

I was just thinking about this past Christmas and my shopping experience. I was trying not to consciously purchase animal products for friends and family as gifts. (Although I'll admit I just got something for Jeff for Valentine's Day that does seem to involve leather. I didn't look/read very closely. I should really check, it may be synthetic.) More than that though, my grandfather is allergic to wool, so I needed to make sure that any gifts to him had no wool and just to make sure he didn't break out in a rash, I made sure the same went for my grandmother's gifts. I was really surprised how many shirts and sweaters had at least a little wool in them. I'm sure I have some non-obvious items in my own closet. I mean, a 100% wool scarf or sweater is obvious, but I was looking at flannels and dress shirts for him and still finding small percentages. Maybe it's just the winter season. I can't say I'm super concerned about it. I'm not going to rid my closet of all animal products in one fell swoop, just an observation though. I've never really paid so much attention I guess.

Tex Tubb's Taco Palace

2007-01-27T15:06:00.000-06:00

Last night Jeff and I went out for dinner to the restaurant next door. Tex Tubb's Taco Palace is a relatively new restaurant. On any given night the owner and his country band might be playing in the bar, and if not, there's a healthy selection of country western 8-tracks playing.

I had been mulling over the 3 taco options for vegetarians and noticed they added a new one that's vegan. It wasn't bad. Broccoli, veggie slaw, cilantro and pico de gallo. Admittedly, it's not as tasty as the mushroom taco (which I believe is vegan if you have them leave out the feta) and the broccoli is marinated in something spicy before cooking, so it has a very different flavor. With the guac and chips though it was a very nice meal.

Jeff opted for a selection of seafood tacos. The shrimp, blackened tilapia, and grilled mahi mahi. I think Tex's non-veggie tacos are tastier than their veggie options, I must admit, but I appreciate the effort to have veggie options and it appears with a fourth taco on the list that they are expanding. Tex's other restaurant has some very nice vegetarian option on it's menu as well. It's not their fault I don't care much for daikon (which is similar to carrot) which they serve roasted in a taco, or black beans which go in their tacos and burritos.

I'm still waiting to find out if their refried beans have lard or other animal products in them. I haven't tried them yet, but it would be nice to hear that they're a viable option as well.

Reading up.

2007-01-24T21:44:00.000-06:00

After a thoroughly tasty vegan pasta with pine nuts and raisins the other night, and the discovery that Silk (unlike Stonyfield Farm who makes awesome dairy, but whose soy products have a disgusting, gooey consistency) makes a tasty cultured soy yogurt, I've been feeling more like vegan is entirely possible for me. Of course I value my own tastes and comforts, and am not keen on forgoing the occasional pizza dinner out, but for the most part I was feeling confident the switch could be easy in the kitchen. I started looking through my kitchen and egg and dairy are in every other product it seems, but as one item gets used up, I see the ease of replacing it with a similar item or simply a different brand.

Then a trip to Happy Cow just about gave me fits. I would need a Ph.D. in chemistry to understand half of the compounds and discern their origins just to buy face wash. I've got a company that doesn't test on animals, but might have alpha-hydroxy from animal sources in its lotion? Is that better or worse than a company that might test on animals, but uses vegetable ingredients? Where are the companies that satisfy both sides (non-testing, and non-animal products) in my local Target?

And then comes the big question: Am I just a poseur if I keep my wool? I mean, I'm fine with eating vegan, not claiming to be vegan, not actively acquiring new animal-based clothes, and being able to keep the ones that I've got. I've got a lot of sweaters. I would wager that half are cotton or acrylic, but I know some of my favorites are not. I also love my cashmere scarf I got as a gift a year ago. The question I'm really concerned about is whether it is logical to keep animal products if my ideal is to use little or none in my life. On the one hand it can be construed as wasteful to simply toss out or donate my wool, but on the other, wearing these items gives a passive approval for animal products and may inadvertently influence others to make purchases of wool, leather, etc. I feel as if this is really an odd place to be in, and I'm sure every person has to decide what they're comfortable with no matter their dietary choices. (Even serious meat-eaters pause at the thought of wearing fur.) I also wonder if the more ethical stance would be to worry less about the composition of my clothing and more about the conditions of it's production. Obviously the ideal is plant-based and made by workers paid a living wage, but if given limited resources and options, which is the lesser of two evils?

It's a whole new year!

2007-01-23T21:23:00.000-06:00

I thought I'd start the new year with a post in this blog. I'm considering using this one as a separate entity from my LiveJournal. LJ for friends and random blathering, and Blogger for stuff that is of interest to more than just a few of my friends. Well, perhaps of interest to more than a few. Either way though, I think this neglected blog will be the place for my links and discussion of one current aspect of my life; going vegetarian.

I'd mentioned this to Jeff in passing when we began dating (back when I was still working in a steakhouse as a cook) and he scoffed at the idea. Fast forward to May 2006 and he brings it up out of the blue as a way to get healthier. Right around this same time his allergist told him his childhood allergy to seafood was gone. The conflict since then has been balancing a desire to try these once forbidden foods with a desire to be vegetarian. Seafood is mostly relegated to consumption during sushi dinners out of the apartment but I think Jeff has safely explored and proven he's not allergic by now. And I toy with the idea of being vegan as I cut many sources of milk and yogurt out of my diet and replace them with soy products. (I haven't gone so far as to avoid it as an additive to other foods, yet.)

This blog will hopefully be interesting. Some musings. Some recipes I've tried. Article links. Reviews of restaurants. Well, unless I get distracted like last year and never post a thing past New Year's Eve.

New Year's Eve photos!

2006-01-05T13:45:00.000-06:00

Just go here.

London photo blog!

2006-01-05T13:42:00.000-06:00

Jeff on the carousel in Covent Garden (Sarah and Benita in the background) and me with the Lego Hagrid and Harry Potter at Hamley's.

Most awesome headline ever.

In front of the Tate Modern.

Dogs in sweaters on Portobello Road. No idea why, it was just cute.

The London Eye from a distance and from inside the pod.

Headlines from the week I was in London.

2005-12-15T11:33:00.000-06:00

Robbie Williams Not Gay!

(And another on the subject because the Brits love their gossip.)

Winter Vomiting Bug Strikes School!

Routemaster Taken Out of Service. (That's the old school red double-decker bus. Can't say I see the damn drama of it. They still have two-level buses, and it's more convenient to use an oyster card to pay and hop on a bus with doors than to jump in an open bus and have a conductor sell you a ticket.)

Poison Cloud Hits London Tonight!

And finally... No Inquiry Into the July Tube Bombings

Sat. Dec 3, 10 PM, 21+, $5, Slipper Club

2005-11-30T12:16:00.000-06:00

Curse you, god of turkey!

2005-11-25T11:02:00.000-06:00

This is embarrassing because I am a chef.

My turkey is still frozen. I put it in the fridge to thaw several days ago with the intention of cooking it today for a post-turkey day party. I should have checked on it last night to insure that it was thawing, but I did not.

Today I found out our fridge is so cold that Mr. Turkey still has ice crystals a-clinging.

As I have to go to work today anyway, and have talked to my roommate and the party hosts, and in general my raw bird would just be a nuisance to all involved, I'm just sending wine and some sort of after-dinner liquer along to the party. No bird, just alcohol.

Yes, the cook's abilities to cook at home have completely failed her. (Sorry Joe and Abby, but I hope the shindig is fun and plentiful of food even without the bird.)

Maybe by the end of the week I'll have it thawed enough to cook off and then make some soup. But who will I feed 13 pounds of turkey to? I can't re-freeze it as it is partially thawed already, so it looks like Jenno, Jeff, and anyone else that wants will be having turkey sandwiches for a week.

Half-assed logo

2005-11-23T15:34:00.000-06:00

Seriously, that's all I've come up with for this blog. Chances are I'll just be lazy and stick with my LJ. Too much flexability in arranging the appearance of my blog has left me without many ideas for actual content. Eh.