I'll huff and I'll puff and I'll BLOW your house down!

Today was so weird, weather-wise. It was miserable and rainy when I woke up, but it slowly tapered off and turned the middle of the day absolutely gorgeous! The sun was out, the air was mild, the birds were singing...okay - I made the last part up, but you get the idea. I wanted to take advantage of the day because tomorrow is supposed to be about 20 degrees colder and not at all the kind of day you want to wander about your neighborhood (and I'll be at work). My father and I went to Macy's to see the Christmas lights show that we've seen since I was a child and rode the monorail. By the way - it does not feel good to know that the object of a cherished childhood memory now resides in a museum! Afterward, we wandered around center city and the Reading Terminal Market a little while, then parted ways. I completed my menu for the week (which I shall share shortly) and set about to buying the things necessary to make these delightful meals. I made a short stop in to a bookstore to grab Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar and while I was looking at some other books, the most amazing thing happened.

I heard screaming and clattering, and if it were the night before Christmas, I would have jumped from my bed to see what was the matter. It wasn't though, so instead, I merely peered out the window to see dead leaves swirling violently after scurrying sneakered feet that just barely cleared the (heavy) easel sign outside that had just been laid down by the most powerful wind I can recall in Philadelphia. When I crossed the street and approached the entrance to Whole Foods, I found that the wind had also huffed and puffed and knocked over a whole bunch of potted pine trees on steps outside. It was amazing how much destruction only one gust of wind could cause. Granted, we were in the middle of a wind advisory that I had (and I suppose many others had) gallantly ignored, so I shopped as quickly as I could and ran home as fast as you can with a load of groceries on your back. That is to say, not much faster than normal.

Anyway, no interesting food stories, really. Last night we had veggie burgers and tonight I heated up the leftover Coconut Curry Tofu from Monday. So, without further ado, here is the new menu:

1. Black Bean and Sweet Potato [Carrot] Stew from the Global Health Alliance Cookbook my sister gave me for Christmas last year. If you want the whole story, go back a couple posts.

2. Tempeh Shepherdess Pie from Veganomicon. I have skipped over this before, despite how delicious it sounds, because of the tempeh, but I'm just going to substitute baked and smoked tofu and hope that works!

3. Pasta Della California again, from Veganomicon. I made this before, so this time I grabbed the first person I saw wearing a WF apron and made her help me pick out an avocado. It better be good.

4. Chamomile Couscous with Savory Spinach because I was looking through some old posts and thought, "hey, that was pretty good!"

5. Curried Tofu with Mixed Baby Greens - I'll admit, the final recipe spot witnessed a showdown between this guy and P.B. Thai, but I think you can see who won.

I almost wrote earlier because I knew what I was grateful for by 1:30 PM.
1. I am grateful that the rain cleared up and gave me such a beautiful day off.
2. I am grateful that Macy's still hosts the largest active pipe organ in the country.
3. I am grateful that I have this Sunday off, too, to finish my hair :)
4. I am grateful for the nearly 2 hours I got to spend with my dad today.
Please excuse the crappy picture. It was taken blindly with my cellphone. It's the cute that counts.