"well, there's a first time for everything"

That's the quote of the evening and it slipped from my uncle's lips within minutes of his arrival at my parents' home.  It was immediately preceded by this short vignette:

Him, swooping into the living room and eyeing the hors d'oeuvres table:  "Ooh!" as he picks up a tasty pan-seared treat and bites a chunk off.

Mom, laughing but a little trepidatious: "Do you know what that is?"

Him, pausing: "No..."

Mom, laughing more: "Italian-marinated tofu."

Him, chewing his second bite: "Well, there's a first time for everything!"

This morning, I awakened a little later than I had intended, so I gave myself a little less time to wake up so I could get going on my pre-game activities.  After a short breakfast, I hopped in the shower, threw on a dress and a quick coat of mascara and headed down to Whole Foods.  Fortunately, it was a light shopping week, so I was able to gather what I needed and get out of there pretty quickly.

The reason that is fortunate is because I completely underestimated how long it would take me to:
juice 4 lemons
peel 4 cucumbers
quarter, seed, and dice 4 cucumbers
core, seed, and dice about 8 Roma tomatoes
chop a cup of parsley

I made the tomato-cucumber salad from Vegetarian Times Complete Cookbook that accompanied a meal not long ago, as well as a fingerfood version of the pan-seared Italian Tofu from Vegan with a Vengeance.

The tofu was actually way bigger a hit than I expected it to be.  I doubled the recipe because I figured, it if did go over well, I would have enough and if it didn't, at least I would happily munch my way through it this week in various contexts. 

My cousin and his wonderful wife love everything I make.  Although they shared nicely with everyone else (my mom had a piece, my dad had two, I think my other cousin had one, as did my uncle and his wife), it was my cousin, his wife, and I who "licked the platter clean," so to speak.  There was not one speck of tofu or marinade left when we were through.  I sent the salad home with them as well.  I could very happily cook dinner for them (in my home) for the rest of our lives - that would be a fun little foursome for dinner each night!

With that, I bid welcome to August and adieu to you!