music in my kitchen

Do you ever have those moments, normally in the midst of some utterly mundane activity, when all of a sudden you are completely at peace?

I may be sending women back a few decades when I share this, but for me, those moments most commonly occur for me when I'm in my kitchen.  Tonight's Introspective Mundane Activity involved peeling the safety seal off of a new bottle of Hunt's ketchup.  There was really no good reason, which is what made it such a delightfully calming moment - opening a new bottle of ketchup has absolutely no symbolic significance (unless you really want to dig, Dr. Freud) and I would hardly consider it a life-changing experience.  Yet, as I was prying up the edges of the seal and pulling it carefully back from the bottle, I just had this moment where all was right in my world and I could honestly say that I am happy with where my life has brought me.

I generally try to stay away from existential dilemmas and my life-long angst around them (Sword of Damocles and all that) on the blog because I like to keep things generally light-hearted (so that when I occasionally go on a babbling streak about something I care about passionately, there's a better chance people will listen). To tell the truth, though, I have not been very happy with my life over the last year.  I think that is one of the reasons this is only my sixth post in 2012.

Other reasons include my wacktastic work schedule lately.  It's about to either settle down or get a lot crazier, but I'm excited about some changes taking place and looking forward to the new adventures I'll have as I learn my new position and work my way up this new "corporate ladder."  Nevertheless, in the past few months, I've needed to work later than I'd prefer some nights, resulting in a dinner schedule that is erratic at best.  Since I've stuck primarily to familiar recipes, dining out a little more frequently, and more dinners involving prepared foods, I haven't felt inclined to share, especially in the face of the writer's block that apparently also struck me mid-January.

Fortunately, it appears my recent obsession with current events and political hot topics, leading to last night's post (which went a bit further from the point I was trying to make than I'd prefer), has broken my inadvertent silence.  I might even start taking pictures of food again!

Let's not go overboard, folks.  Tonight's dinner was veggie burgers and fries.  But first, a word from our sponsor: Fantasies for a Future Kitchen....


{cue shimmery deedly-deedly music and wiggling fingers}

I have this vision in my mind.  Actually, it's kind of like a collage of many visions which all combine to create My Perfect Kitchen.  It's spacious, of course, but efficiently designed so that all the things I need are near me.  It's big enough for a small breakfast table, probably, and a baker's rack.  Not only is there enough space for all my stuff, but there is space left over for more!  So now I can fit in a stand mixer and... my Bose SoundDock, so I can charge my ancient iPod while listening to its eclectic mix of music out loud while I cook, rather than through my earbuds with the iPod unceremoniously tucked into my apron pocket.  Maybe I can even sing along without Mister thinking I've lost my marbles.

{shimmery music fades, returning us to my small but happy and efficient urban kitchen}


There was music in my kitchen tonight, though, despite my iPod being plugged into my computer to charge while I labored over frozen fries and frozen Boca patties (we're all about the brand placement tonight, folks!).  Actually, while we're on the subject, I would like to put in a little plug for Ore-Ida.  Ordinarily, I buy the store-brand fries (as well as just about anything else), but there was a sale on Ore-Ida, so I picked up a package of "Extra Crispy" fries.  They really are!  Seriously - crispiest, tastiest fries I've ever cooked in my own kitchen.

But wait - there's more!  They sing!


Yes, really.  They sing.  Or whistle, or scream bloody murder.  Whatever.  At one point, they kind of sounded like bagpipes and for some reason, I found that so amusing I thought I actually might like to listen to bagpipes (ssshhhh! don't tell the "Irish" bar across the street!).  Seriously, I noticed a kind of sizzling noise when I stirred them halfway through cooking, but when I pulled them out of the oven, they were making a whole heck of a lot of noise.  It wasn't unpleasant, though, it really sounded like they were singing for me.

I truly never thought I could write a fun post about veggie burgers and fries for dinner, but I also never knew fries would sing for me.

Happy Sunday - it's time to braise!

Hopefully, some church-going readers found the punny humor in the title.  It's better than the original title I had floating about in my brain: Praise Satan!  Er...Braised Seitan.

Let's back the Blasphemy Train up a moment and talk about dinner - Braised Cabbage with Seitan from Appetite for Reduction.

Every once in a while, when I put my menu together on the second glass of wine of a Friday night, I come back to it after I've bought all of the ingredients for the delectable meals I've chosen and thought to myself, What was I thinking?

As such, the only meal on the menu I had even the remotest desire to make tonight was this braised dish. Part of the reason I wasn't terribly interested in my menu was because I'd kind of gotten going out for dinner on my brain, but after spending about $100 on groceries, I just couldn't justify it.  Besides, next week is Mister's birthday, so we may go out to celebrate then.

Anyway, I grabbed the seitan and cabbage from the fridge and started the basmati to steaming.  I sauteed the seitan until it was nice and browned and almost looking a bit crispy, then stirred in the garlic and thyme for a moment before finally layering on the cabbage and two cups of vegetable broth.  It smelled amazing - I love the way things smell when they include thyme.

You can even see how the 15 minutes of braising time plumped the dried leaves back up to beautiful dark green, well, leaves.  You can also see how it kind of looks like the seitan lost most of the beautiful brown color I sauteed onto it, can't you?

I'd be lying if I didn't say I was a little disappointed in this dish.  I don't know what went wrong, but it didn't taste nearly as flavorful as it smelled.  Here's what I've come up with so far:

1. my tastebuds are burnt out from San Francisco
2. Pacific Organic Vegetable Broth is not flavorful enough for braising
3. I should have used baked seitan instead of the kind that comes in a tub with liquid

The reasoning behind #1 is that it seems like nothing tastes like much of anything after those four days of extremely well-seasoned meals, but I think this is probably BS and if I look back over the last 10 days of posts I'll find evidence otherwise.

#3 makes a certain amount of sense in that I know the recipe I use to make seitan produces irrefutably flavorful seitan and broth usually enhances it, since it's a little dry from not being stored in broth.  Also, unless you prepared store-bought seitan in a very special way, it usually just takes on the flavors around it.  In this case, that is going to lead inevitably to....

The unavoidable culpability of #2.  I'm sorry, Pacific Foods - I love you, you know I do, but your broth kind of sucks and the only reason I bought it is because I used up my Trader Joe's broth on the Granada Paella last night and the only broth Essene carries is yours.  I'll be sticking to your nutmilks from here on out - I hope I didn't hurt your feelings.

back to basics

Today was Monday, in a sense.  I went back to work today, but tomorrow is still Friday, which is definitely the way to go back to work.  Tomorrow, Philadelphia plans to remind us that it IS actually autumn - this will be demonstrated by way of a 20 degree difference in high temperatures between today and tomorrow.

I figured I should probably use that as my guide for the few dinners on my mini-menu.   I chose hot dogs because the stew and soup will probably be better suited for the next couple nights (as well as received more kindly by a shivery Mister).  Believe me, I wouldn't ordinarily peg a dinner made completely from prepared foods and no fresh veggies as the first meal I would cook after a vacation from my kitchen.

Nevertheless, when Sister and I had our Cajun meal in Disney, the baked beans reminded me of two things: first, they reminded me how much I love baked beans.  Second, and possibly more importantly, they reminded me that every once in a while, it's okay to make a "simple" dinner.  I don't have to plunk down a culinary masterpiece each night, nor do I have to stretch my creative wings each time I don't have a recipe handy.  Every now and then, it is not just okay, but fun to open a can of baked beans to heat up alongside the sauerkraut while the water is boiling for the veggie dogs and the whole wheat buns are warming in the toaster oven.

In other news, Mister is very proud of me: after all these years (also known as My Life), I've finally started to load my hot dogs up with stuff.  It's not really a hot dog for Mister if it doesn't also involve a pickle, sauerkraut, ketchup, mustard, and sometimes potato chips for crunch.  Pretty much all of my life, I've been perfectly content to eat a hot dog on a bun.  That's it.  No fancy condiments or pickled vegetables for me, sir, just the dog.  Tonight, Mister watched happily as I squirted ketchup down the center inside of my dog, then topped it with a generous bit of sauerkraut.

In case you have a thing for brand names, or are just curious and starting out on this whole delightful meatless journey, we had Jumbo Smart Dogs, Heinz Vegetarian Baked Beans, and store brand sauerkraut, flanked by Heinz ketchup and store brand spicy brown mustard on Arnold's Whole Wheat buns.

A couple of items in the Coming Attractions:
First, I have opened a Twitter account for the blog - I would love for you to follow me @AngstLvsSpinach.  I'll be posting when I put up a new post for your reading pleasure, as well as any other fun and useful things I come across.

Also, there are just a few days until World Vegan Day (Nov. 1st) which kicks off this year's fourth annual VeganMoFo!  I plan on trying to post every single day - In addition to some fabulous new autumn recipes and Thanksgiving prep, I'll be doing another round-up or two (hint: there will be chocolate) and covering a couple of special topics.  If there's anything you'd like to read about or if you have a favorite omni recipe in need of tasteful vegan conversion, feel free to drop a line and let me know!