been a long time comin'

Hello Friends!  It's been a while, eh?

By way of a very short explanation for my sporadic posts, a few of which had absolutely nothing to do with food, and my months-long absence from any kind of posts, I will just say that life has changed a good bit this year, and sometime in the late winter, early spring, I decided that I didn't have anything interesting to say about food anymore.  I was repeating recipes and/or not cooking due to an awkward schedule and I just couldn't think of anything worth saying about stuff I'd made dozens of times before.

Sorry about that, but let's get back to it, shall we?

A couple of weeks ago, I lost my job.  It's cool, don't worry - I feel much better, actually.  It was incredibly more stressful than it needed to be and although I felt good about the things I was able to accomplish in my relatively short time there, my professional development was being strangled.  So, aside from that "money thing," I've decided to consider my newly acquired LotsaTime a blessing.

Back to that whole "money thing" for a minute, though.

If you look back over older posts in this blog, you'll see a few times when our financial situation changed and we had to readjust our budget/financial paradigm.  I'm a naturally frugal person anyway and gain great satisfaction from seeing the little "You saved $___.__ today!" that prints out at the bottom of my SuperFresh receipt after I painstakingly examined the 3 different brands of Navy Beans to find the one that would save a bit of money.  Maybe not the best example, but when I can pay $3.59 for 28 oz of organic fire-roasted diced tomatoes or $0.88 for 28 oz of "regular" diced tomatoes, I find that a bit of a victory.

So what has inspired me to start writing again?  Well, in a sense, I found a new thesis statement (do you remember having to learn those in elementary school English class??): How to Still Eat Well (taste-wise, as well as nutritionally) with Diminishing Funds.

When I lost my job, I had already put together a menu for the following week, since it included Thanksgiving, which I had the privilege of hosting again this year (click here for last year).  It made my insides shrivel up when it came time to run our purchases down the conveyor belt of each store and watch the cashier tally up our debt, knowing it would be higher than usual and at possibly the worst time.  Nevertheless, we had a delightful Thanksgiving and it took us many days (nearly a week, actually) to clear enough leftovers from the fridge for me to start cooking things that created more leftovers.

When it came time to shop for this week's food, I did something I haven't done in years.  Literally.  As in, since before I started this blog and began charting out weekly menus (which I continued all through my absence, even though I didn't share them with anyone but Mister).  I went to the grocery stores and just bought staples and a few fresh veggies I knew would play well together.  Then what?  Then I took all the knowledge I've been storing away over the last three years of Cookbook Studying and just made it up!  I know, right?

One night, I made a thick, hearty minestrone using some canned tomatoes, fresh zucchini and carrots, and orzo lovingly donated to us by my dear FIL (which is a whole other story for another time, but let's just say Mister comes from good stock).

Oh?  You want a recipe?  Well... it's the least I can do after leaving you high and dry for so many months.

Hearty Winter Minestrone (I know it's not winter yet, but it should be!)
yields about 4 quarts (I'll let your bowls decide how many servings that is)

1 Tbsp olive oil
6-7 cloves of garlic, minced or pressed (depending on clove size and personal preference)
4 stalks of celery, thinly sliced
2 large carrots, sliced into pieces of uniform size
2 small zucchini, diced*
1/2 tsp McCormick Mediterranean Sea Salt Blend
1 quart vegetable broth (or measure 4 cups water and add 2 bouillon cubes when it starts to boil)
28 oz crushed tomatoes
15 oz petite diced tomatoes
15 oz can of white beans (cannellini would be good, but I used Great Northern)
scant tsp sea salt
1/4-1/2 tsp black pepper
1 tsp dried basil
1 cup dried orzo
* The easiest way I've found to do this is to "top and tail" the zucchini, then slice each one 4x lengthwise, then cut those slices 3x lengthwise and then just cut across in half-inch slices.

This is definitely the kind of meal where you can be chopping ingredients as you go along, so you should, because it'll shave off a little time.  Don't get me wrong - this is absolutely a delightfully slow-cooked soup, but there's no need to be standing around watching the pot for 5 minutes until it's time to add the next thing, right?

Heat the oil in a 4- to 6-qt pot on medium-low.  When the oil starts to shimmer a little, add the celery and garlic.  Stir well to combine and thoroughly coat with the oil, then cover and reduce the heat to low.  While they're cooking, cut up your carrots.  When they're all cut up, add them to the pot.  If you have super-fast, ninja-like knife skills, feel free to dice the zucchini and add that at the same time you add the carrot - the idea is to give the celery about 5-7 minutes of quality time in the sauna, stirring occasionally to make sure nothing burns.  Whenever you add the zucchini, sprinkle the Mediterranean Sea Salt blend over the whole mess, stir, and cover again.  Let that melange mix and mingle for another 5-7 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Stir in the diced tomatoes, then sprinkle with sea salt, pepper, and basil, then pour in the quart of broth and stir everything together.  Turn the heat up as high as it will go and wait for your soup to boil.  It'll probably do this faster if you cover the pot again, but don't wander off and check your facebook - you want to be ready the very moment the broth starts to boil, so hang out in the kitchen and glance between the latest issue of Vogue and the pot on your stove.

When the soup has reached a healthy boil, slowly pour in the cup of uncooked orzo while stirring the pot. Continue stirring while the broth boils for another minute or two, then lower the heat to medium/medium-low.  The soup should be at a vibrant simmer, but not boiling.  Be sure to stir frequently now that you've add the orzo - the first time or two that you stir, you'll likely find yourself pushing stubborn bits of pasta off the bottom of your pot, but once you've gotten to the 8 or 9-minute mark, you can relax the stirring and just let your soup simmer another 10 minutes or so.

Taste for seasoning; if necessary, add more salt and/or pepper, and serve immediately.

snowtober??

One thing I have to admit I love about news & weather websites/TVstuff is how easily and frequently they sensationalize any possible divergence from "normal" weather.  Last winter, we had a "snowpocalypse" and I will admit, last January saw way more snow than I can remember in the last 15 years - in fact, the only time I remember more snow was January 1994 when they were cancelling school by the week and I actually only had three days of school in January.  That was, as you say, epic.

So, enter today.  Well, last night, actually, weather.com started predicting a snow storm with actual accumulations along the northeast corridor, including Philadelphia.  By the time I left work, they had updated it to the season's first Nor'easter.  If you are unfamiliar with the term, let me break it down like this: really really sucky windy storm that usually comes down from Canada to mess things up real good between Virginia and Ohio and up to Maine, generally involving heavy cold precipitation of some sort.  Now, I like snow a lot, but a nor'easter was not what I wanted to hear.

So I wake up this morning to my alarm, believing I can probably head out to the suburbs and teach before anything serious starts, if it's even more than just crappy rain.  I'm lying there for just a minute before rising and I hear it:  tap, tap, ping, tap, etc.  I think to myself, "No...it's not freezing rain.  Not yet," and get up, pulling my bathrobe warmly around me as I head into the kitchen for breakfast.

Angst is in the window, smacking at the snowflakes.

Yup.  Snowflakes.  In October.  I mean, for heaven's sake - it's not even Halloween yet!  Everyone was freaking out all over Facebook, swearing they were going to move if we were in for another winter like last year, or worse.  Me?  I'm kinda hoping for it :)

Anyway, because it's so unusual for snow to start so early in the season ("normal" first snowfall in Pennsylvania - with any accumulation likely - is mid-December), everyone, including weather.com, is now talking about Snowtober.  I guess that's kind of clever.

In case you were wondering, I did not ride the train a half hour out to the suburbs for the privilege of teaching at least three students who didn't bother practicing.  Instead, I watched really awesome make-up tutorials on YouTube by this angelic little English girl, Klaire de lys, and then completely neglected to paint my own face.  Poor Mister.

Eventually, I got it together to make dinner, which really couldn't have been anything other than Black Bean Soup with Kale and Rice from Vegan on the Cheap.

I was so relieved when the soup came out so chunky and substantial, because I know Mister's not a fan of soup dinners and he didn't eat much all day, but he seemed pretty happy about everything except eating his dinner with a spoon.  I had forgotten how rich the broth is, and what a fabulous mouthful all the ingredients come together to make.  Some sweetness from the carrots, creamy black beans, chewy rice, bitter kale, and tangy tomatoes were all brought together and spiked with a savory broth with simple spices.

Nevetheless, I knew Mister would be craving something more to eat later on, so when I was washing up the pot afterwards, I put a stick of Earth Balance out to soften.

Right now, my home smells incredible.  I started out with the intention to make Chocolate Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Frosting, also from Vegan on the Cheap, but decided I had very little interest in the frosting.  I started to just make chocolate cupcakes, but then decided to "doctor" them a little, resulting in a cupcake version of Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, which were always among my favorite [Trick or] Treats.

It was a simple alteration, really.  I started by filling each cupcake tin about 1/3 of the way

then I dropped about a half teaspoon to a scant teaspoon of peanut butter (I used chunky 'cause that's what we stock, but you can use whatever makes your little heart sing) into the center of each future cupcake, pressing down very lightly to set it in place.  The dough is actually pretty stiff, so you shouldn't have trouble.

Once the PB was safely nestled in a little chocolate nest, I plopped the rest of the batter on top, filling each cupcake paper almost to the top, taking care to ensure it fell completely around the glop of PB, encasing it.

After teasing Mister and I with a luscious smell for about 25 minutes, these little beauties were finished cooking and ready to cool as much as we would allow them to...

Back to Klaire de lys for a few minutes...ah, so that's how they did the make-up for Black Swan.
And other stuff I don't really need to know.  Thank you, YouTube!

Okay, back to the cupcakes.

So good.  Seriously.

There were a couple of things I'd like to tweak in order to make this recipe completely my own and utterly scrumptious.  Cooking Light got me in the habit of mixing up my flour to lighten it and then gently spooning it from the bag to my measuring cups before leveling them off.  The idea here is that you use less flour = less dense baked goods = fewer calories.  I think I need to abandon that for these cupcakes, in order to make them the dark, dense, fudgy outside I want them to be.

I think they could hold a little more peanut butter, too.  I think a full teaspoon, maybe even heaping, would be in order here.

I also need to remember to check how much cocoa powder I have before committing to a chocolate cupcake recipe.  I didn't have exactly a half cup of it left and I think that was to the cakes' detriment.

Believe me, these will be made again.  And again and again and again, especially if we have a really snowy winter.  Once I've "perfected" them, I'll share a recipe.

mean wife makes good

I am a mean, short-sighted woman.

When I got home from work late tonight, Mister told me he'd been feeling sick all day and didn't eat much besides crackers, which made him "all pukey."  I told him I was going to eat food and asked if he wanted to eat anything with me.  He said no.

Nevertheless, it was really my finest moment of No Common Sense when I grabbed the leftover Harira soup from the fridge, heated it up and ate it.  No more than 10 minutes afterward, Mister came into the kitchen and started snooping in the fridge.  In the exact location where the soup had been.

I lamented that if I had known he would get hungry, I wouldn't have eaten the soup but I didn't think he'd want the soup anyway (even though that's usually what he eats when his stomach is angry) and he feigned devastation that I would do such an inconsiderate thing.  Soon we were laughing all over each other, then we stood facing one another as I offered to make him a new soup.  He thought for a moment, then said he would like that, so I made

Emergency Lentil Soup
2 servings

Ingredients:
2-3 cloves of garlic, pressed or minced
1 large rib of celery, halved and sliced
1 large carrot, diced
1 medium potato, diced (I used a neato purple one we found at Linvilla last week, but I'm sure a regular ol' tater will do just fine)
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 Tbsp tomato paste
1/2 tsp salt
1/3 cup dry lentils
2 cups vegetable broth
1 sprig of fresh thyme


Heat olive oil in a saucepan on medium heat, then add garlic and celery and saute 2-3 minutes.  Add carrot, stir to combine, cover and cook 2-3 minutes.  Add potato and salt, stir to combine and then cover and saute 2-3 minutes.  Add broth and lentils and bring to a boil.  Stir in tomato paste until completely combined with broth, then place the thyme sprig on top and cover.  Turn heat to the lowest setting and simmer, stirring occasionally, 20-25 minutes, until lentils and potatoes are tender.  I usually test this by trying to smush a potato piece between the spoon and the side of the pot.  Before serving, remove the now-droopy sprig of thyme.

red october

October in Philadelphia is special for a lot of reasons.  We don't really have that whole beautiful leaves-changing-color thing they do out in the suburbs.  We do have one of the most delightfully gradual descents from warm to cold I've ever experienced - sometimes it is literally one degree colder each day.  One thing that we have had for the last few years is what we call Red October.  It's nothing we're hunting for, and unfortunately, it does lack Sean Connery's intensity, but only slightly.

I'm talking about post-season Phillies.

Oh, yeah, and all the crazy, loud, half-delusional drunks stumbling around center city and leading...themselves alone... in their ridiculous "Let's Go, Phillies" chants (because they might have just figured out that "let's go" and "phillies" both have two syllables).  There is nothing sadder than one dude with a backwards cap and a beer gut singing out "let's go, phillies" as though any minute now all the other drunks are going to join in.  They never do.

You might think nothing else (of any import, anyway) happens in October.  I would argue against that point of view, but let's focus on something I truly love about Philadelphia.

On Tuesday, we hosted a gathering at one of the stores for a local real estate agency to demonstrate and promote their new technological application with the assistance of our knowledgeable employees.  To show their appreciation, that same agency sent a basket of goodies over to the store today - sandwiches and cookies from a relatively new Italian restaurant in Rittenhouse Square - Serafina.  I keep meaning to make Mister take me there for dinner, but then I keep having trouble trying to explain why we should cross the city for pizza and pasta, especially living so close to the Italian Market.  These sandwiches might help me in that endeavor.

It was nice of them to send the goodies, but that isn't what I love about Philadelphia.  What I love about Philadelphia, as compared to my previous place of employment and colleagues out in the rural reaches of Montgomery County, is that when the food was unpacked, not only did the givers of the gift ensure there were non-animal options, but my colleagues didn't say "Oh, hey, a grilled veggie sandwich - that's different - I want to try that!"  No, they said, "Oh, Natalie, you don't eat meat, right?  Why don't you pick your sandwich first."

I realize this seems like common sense, but outside of Philadelphia (or whatever metropolis you choose), it is not.  It just represented another moment of happiness over my decision to leave one place and come to another.

What's a great partner to sandwiches?  Well, besides chocolate chip cookies?  Soup!  Or, notably, Harira from Sundays at Moosewood Restaurant.

Granted, several hours separated the sandwich from the soup (like, you know, the distance between lunch and dinner), but it was the best segue I could come up with.  It's Friday.  Anyway, I used to make this soup fairly frequently when I first started cooking.  I haven't made it in years, but I can honestly say, I don't remember it tasting the way it did tonight.

I think the main difference was the freshly squeezed lemon juice.  I'm pretty sure I never included that previously.  Also, I used what was left of the Garlic Broth and made up the missing liquid with V8 Spicy Hot.  I always sub garlic for onions, which got me to thinking if there was some conversion I could make:  this much garlic = this much onion.  I suppose I could just use onions when the recipe asks for them, but that would take all the fun out of guesswork.  I'm pretty sure this is the first time I used fresh tomatoes, which could have something to do with the bright acidity.

An hour or so after dinner, though, I realized why Mister doesn't like soup dinners.  I was hungry again. He might have something there, so unless a soup is really substantial, you'll probably see it retired to side dish status on future menus.

autumn minestrone = awesome sauce

This is truly one of my favorite times of year.  I love each "first" of fall - the first cool day, the first time you pull on a long-neglected jacket, the first scarf draped loosely around your neck.  I love the first nip in the air and the first time it is truly justified and not just paranoia to button/zip up your jacket and maybe hunch up a little against the wind.

I love the smells - the crisp scent of firewood set ablaze in someone's cozy fireplace, the smoke wafting from their chimney and filling the air with an unmistakably autumnal feel and smell; the first emergence of cinnamon brooms and pine cones in the supermarkets, and the syrupy aroma of freshly baked apple cobbler in your own kitchen.

Yours.  Not mine.  I'm not baking until Wednesday at the earliest.  But you can share your smushy, cinnamon-y, warm apple-y cobblerness with me if you'd like.

Today was the first day the sunlit temperatures couldn't find their way out of the 50s, which meant it was also the first day we didn't have the a/c on at work, which meant it was the first day I was actually warm.  Regardless, the walk home was all the chilliness I needed to be perfectly provoked to make Autumn Minestrone from the Moosewood Restaurant Soups & Stews Deck.

To a soundtrack of Apoptygma Berzerk, I lovingly made the broth myself last night, following a recipe from the same deck for Garlic Broth.  Believe me, anything involving 3 heads of garlic is okay in my book.  I expected the resulting soup to be a bit brothier, since it called for 6 cups of the broth I painstakingly simmered while playing on facebook,  but I guess I underestimated the sheer volume of veggies that would be going into it.  Believe me - I'm not complaining about the veggies.  Every time I eat something this full of veggies, especially lovely, dark green, Tuscan kale and Vitamin C-rich cauliflower, I can just about feel the health flowing into me.

I could use a little boost right now.  But hey, when I can breath without tightness in my chest, I'll appreciate breathing all the more, right?  This is just another opportunity for gratitude.

Nevertheless, I did anticipate the soup would be, well....soupier, so I asked Mister to pick up special rustic Italian bread for us to dip in the broth and make our soup dinner a little more substantial.  Turns out I needn't have worried, but the seeded spelt bread he picked up was still a delightful addition to our light Mediterranean feast, which I topped off with a generous bowl of mixed olives.

One final thing of note, merely because I'm making such a concerted effort to improvise more: somehow, in a moment of brain malfunction, I used up the zucchini I meant to add to this soup.  After a thorough interrogation of the cat, I remembered what I had done with the zucchini and moved on to being grateful I was too lazy to make the roasted cauliflower appetizer I had intended for a few nights ago (when I used up the zucchini without realizing), so I subbed the cauliflower for the squash.  Mister loves cauliflower and merely tolerates zucchini because it's a part of so many recipes there would be nothing left for me to cook if he outlawed that ingredient, too (along with eggplant, mushrooms, tempeh, quinoa, and "squishy wheat").  Mister and I agreed, though, that this soup was far better completed by the cauliflower than it would have been with zucchini.  The texture it leant was perfect, as was the subtle flavor and the barely perceptible way it soaked up the garlic broth.

helpful reminder

It feels like fall is arriving a week early.  Mister and I are completely okay with that, although I need to be a little more vigilant about wearing enough clothes to deal with the lower temperatures.  Due to "rail improvement," what is usually a 30-minute train ride to teach turned into an hour-and-15-minute-long odyssey.  At the conclusion, I decided to treat myself to a coffee to wake me and warm me and as I was walking back to where I teach, I passed a restaurant marquee that struck a chord (sorry, terrible pun).

"It's time for soup and chili!"

Obviously, that was meant to be an invitation for passing cars to pull into the parking lot and enjoy soup and/or chili inside the restaurant, but as I strolled by, coffee in hand, I thought, "Yes, yes it is."  During the long way home, I had plenty of time to plot my replacement for what was supposed to be Spanakopita, including which grocery store to hit for supplies.

So, as I sunk into my light scarf and hooded shirt and watched the dreary scenery of West Philadelphia pass by my window, I daydreamed of a hearty, savory soup and September Lentil Soup was conceived:

September Lentil Soup
6 servings

Ingredients:
2 Tbsp olive oil
3 large cloves of garlic, pressed/minced
1 large green bell pepper, diced
3 large carrots, peeled and diced (I quarter them lengthwise and slice at about 1/2-3/4")
5 plum tomatoes, seeded and diced

1 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp kosher salt (or whatever suits you, though I wouldn't recommend amethyst bamboo salt)
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp liquid smoke
1 Tbsp [vegan] Worcestershire sauce
2 Tbsp tomato paste

1/2 cup brown lentils (a la Goya)
1/2 cup red lentils
4 cups vegetable broth

Recipe:
Heat oil in a large saucepan or soup pot (I found my 2.5 qt saucepan was just fine), then add garlic and green pepper.

aim for all veggies to be of uniform size

a shortcut I find helpful is to press the garlic onto
the peppers and scoop the whole mess into the pot

Cover the pot and reduce heat to low.  Saute garlic and pepper for about 5 minutes while you're dicing the carrots, then add them to the party.  Cover again and saute 5-8 minutes, stirring occasionally, while you dice the tomatoes.

Stir in tomatoes, thyme, salt, and black pepper.  Sprinkle on liquid smoke and Worcestershire sauce and stir to combine, then cover and simmer 5 more minutes.

Stir in both the brown and red lentils, then pour in the broth.  Add tomato paste and stir well to make sure everything blends together.  Raise heat to high and bring to a boil.

Once the soup has come to a rolling boil, reduce heat to the lowest setting and allow to simmer, uncovered, 25-30 minutes, stirring occasionally, until lentils are tender.

enjoy!

Mister and I certainly did enjoy it!  It was everything I wanted it to be and it was really a great feeling to recognize that I now have an adequate enough understanding of how certain things taste and how those flavors can work together that I can create a tasty recipe out of thin, chilly air.  It was perfect - an attractive, chunky, filling and totally savory soup.  Mister, who does not normally appreciate soup dinners went back for a generous second helping.  Fortunately, he was also in total agreement with the marquee that started it all...

renaming recipes

I like a well-named recipe.  When I'm flipping through my cookbooks, it is the name of the recipe that catches my eye, luring me to the ingredients list and finally to the preparation methods.  The first step, though, is always the recipe - if it has a boring name or lists an ingredient (as a main) that Mister and/or I won't eat, it doesn't get a second glance.

Because of the importance I place on the title of a recipe, it is often difficult for me to come up with my own recipe names: I want them to jump out and say "pick me!"  Every once in a while, though, I come across someone else's recipe that I really feel compelled to give a new name.

Tonight's dinner was appropriately named Corn Chowder.  I think I have at least half a dozen recipes for a chunky, hearty corn and potato-based "chowder," and they're all named similarly.  I'm not in the habit of marking up my cookbooks (I really need to get over that), so sometimes it's difficult to remember which one is which and how I felt about each of them.  More importantly, considering his aversion to soup dinners, I want to remember how Mister felt about each of them.

Tonight's Corn Chowder came to us from Vegan With A Vengeance and I couldn't tell you the last time I made this.  That is a certifiable pity because this chowder is freaking amazing.  Hearty and thick and full of various flavors, it is by far the winner of the multiple other Corn Chowders for which I have recipes.  If I'm ever babbling about corn chowder in the future, would someone please leave me a comment reminding me that this one is the amazing one?

I would like to rename this Corn Chowder: Nothing Left Chowder.  I put it on the table, Mister and I sped through our first bowls as quickly as the heat would allow, still taking the time to savor and appreciate the flavor profile created by combining mainly corn and potatoes with a diced red pepper and a few diced carrots.  I think the thing that really sets this one apart from the others, I think, is that it simmers for nearly an hour with a big, fat Turkish Bay Leaf.  Regardless, Mister had gone back for seconds before I finished my first bowl and then we rose simultaneously to refill (my second helping, his third).  Yes, that's right - Mister had three servings of soup dinner.  Win!

Because it's Sunday and I had plenty of time to start dinner early, I had plenty of time for baking projects after dinner.  Despite Angst's reticence to help, we had us a little bake-a-thon.

here he is, crammed onto Mister's expensive messenger bag,
being grumpy because he knows he has to move when Mister comes in for dinner.

Our first baking project was Banana Coconut Cookies - I was directed to this recipe via a VegNews e-newsletter.  I had been saving two nearly rotten bananas for this and when I removed them from the banana hanger on the fridge to make way for the new bananas I picked up this afternoon, I realized that they were not going to wait another day to be turned into something.  

Not a bad thing to turn into, wouldn't you say?  They are soft and chewy with a little bit of structure provided by the oats.  I made them a little big, so they didn't make the 18 the recipe said they would, but if that means I get to eat share bigger cookies, then that's good enough for me.

Currently, baking project number two is in the oven, smelling up my home something [delightfully] fierce.  While I wait for the Seed Cake I'm testing for the new Urban Vegan cookbook to gestate, let me share the new menu:

1. Chickpea and Spinach Curry from VwaV - I still haven't made this because there still isn't spinach.  Does anyone know something I don't know?  Regarding the Spinach Famine, that is.

2. Chickpea Piccata served on Caulipots, both from Appetite for Reduction.  You thought I was kidding, didn't you?  I had asked Mister, when I first got the cookbook and wanted to make this, if he liked capers.  He didn't remember because he couldn't remember what capers were.  When we were at Horizons, I separated one from my appetizer to show him.  He promptly remembered that he does like them, so this was pretty much fated to be on the menu.

3. Quinoa Bulghur, White Bean, and Kale Stew also from Appetite for Reduction.  Mister doesn't like quinoa, so I'll be substituting bulghur because it cooks nearly as quickly and Mister is ambivalent to it.

4. Salsa Rice and Red Beans from Vegan on the Cheap.

5. Barbecued Black Bean and Tofu Burritos, also from Vegan on the Cheap.  I made this before, but I want to try something different with the tofu.  Besides, it was pretty good the first time around.

6. Farfalle with White Beans and Cabbage, also from Vegan on the Cheap.  I'm really into cabbage right now...if you didn't notice.

Fresh out of the oven, here is Seed Cake from the forthcoming UV2.  As you can imagine, it got its name from the tiny little caraway seeds speckled throughout the inside.  It's a light spice cake and mine has quite a crunch to it.  I could very well have messed up, or maybe I just need to rethink my idea of cake.  This was possibly a little more like a coffee cake, especially with its optional dusting of powdered sugar, which makes a bit of sense since Dynise recommends eating yours with tea.

I think it needs just a little tweaking, but I am fully confident that by the time this new cookbook hits the shelves, this will be one of the recipes people are stumbling over each other to make for a Sunday brunch, elbowing each other in the spice aisles, trying to get the last bottle of caraway seeds.

cabbage-chickpea cold-fighters

To my great delight, I woke up to a city full of snow this morning!  I'm really surprised by how much snow we've gotten.  I know it's January, but I really thought we used up all our snow last winter and it would just be bitterly cold this winter like the almanac said.  Well...okay, it IS bitterly cold, but I'm glad I'm rewarded for my frozen face and toes with some snow.

The cold tonight was downright painful.  By the time I was about a block from home, I couldn't even walk correctly because my feet had frozen into immobile little blocks of almost-ice.  Appropriately, on the ride home from teaching this evening, Frozen (Chill Mix) and Ice found their way into my iPod rotation.  Anyway, since I was too busy being cozy and enjoying the snow in the morning, I didn't get to go food shopping before work.  I figured I'd stop by at least Whole Foods on my way home from the train, but when I realized how much pain my face was in, I decided to go home and figure out dinner when I got there.  I tried to come up with an alternate plan as I was carefully side-stepping patches of ice on neglected sidewalks, but after a while I had to put all my energy into reminding my feet how to walk.

I knew I had some material to work with, but I was having trouble finding the motivation to be creative.  When Mister offered to go get me chickpeas, I couldn't say no.  He is becoming more like my dad every day (or maybe I'm just noticing it more).  I sent him out for chickpeas and told him if he found two very ripe bananas (normally, the produce where he was going is rotting anyway, so I thought there was a chance) I would make him cookies.  He returned with the chickpeas (this is where he differs from my dad*), a Mint Chocolate Luna Protein bar because he thought I'd enjoy it, Breyers Oreo Ice Cream, and some nuts to snack on.

I couldn't think of a more innard-warming dinner than the Chickpea Rice Soup with Cabbage Isa recently posted on theppk.com.  I know Mister doesn't really like soup for dinner, but...he got me the chickpeas, so he's got no one but himself to blame.  It was subtle, just like Isa says in her introduction.  There were no overwhelming flavors, nothing that jumped out at you.  The carrots and cabbage could have been a little crisper for my taste, but it is soup.  Beautiful, soothing, and cleansing soup.

* Bonus story!  Does everyone have their flashback hats on?  Okay, watch the screen:

I don't remember how old I was, but I know I was still in high school because I was living at home and so was my sister.  There was a shopping center a few miles from my parents' home that opened a Pepperidge Farm outlet and my father couldn't have been more excited about it.  He's a good hometown boy - loves his TastyKakes and Pepperidge Farm, has a Wawa credit card, and can give you a tour of just about any place in eastern Pennsylvania without batting an eyelash.  Anyway, Mom asked him to go to Pepperidge farm for a loaf of bread.  He returned about an hour later with 9 different cookies and exactly no bread.  It was from that day until the store closed its doors that my father was forbidden from entering unchaperoned.

mister's miso noodle soup

Anyone here on facebook?  As 2010 approaches its end, I've noticed a lot of my friends doing what's called a "status cloud," in which the most frequently used words in a status are compiled and sorted.  For example, one of my friend's most frequently used word was "bus" and another friend's cloud revealed she spends the overwhelming majority of her status updates to inform the world about her elder son's exploits...her daughter trails by nearly 66%.

The point of all this is that every now and then, I start to post something and have an odd sensation of deja vu.  I have not actually done a data-based query, but from patterns I notice, if I had to guess my top three most focused topics they would be:

1. kale and my kale-heavy recipe list
2. how exhausting my job is, especially this time of year (you may have noticed that I let two nights go by without posts for the first time in months)
and finally...
3. mister being sick

My poor mister has such a challenged immune system.  I'm fairly convinced that the way he eats when I'm not around to give him a hard time might be preventing him from at least somewhat improving that, but he just naturally gets sick easily.

Can you guess the topic of this post?

Mister is sick.  I don't know what's wrong with him, but I am amazed at how dramatic his illnesses can be.  He can't just have a cough - no, he has to cough until he's in pain and then make miserable noises while shaking uncontrollably because he's freezing, even though we turned up the heat.  He's been getting progressively more ill over the last couple of days, but when I came home tonight and found our living room dark and empty, my first thought was still that he had gone out somewhere.  It took me about 15 minutes to realize he had gone to the bedroom and was so utterly unconscious that I had to hold my breath to hear if he was still breathing.

He was, so I returned to the kitchen to figure out what I was going to eat with the bottle of 2009 deBoeuf Beaujolais-Villages I picked up on my way home from work tonight.  I had far less than no desire to make one of the two leftover recipes on my menu if I was the only one eating, so I evaluated my ingredients and nearly made something fun with angel hair pasta, leftover fire-roasted tomatoes, and Swiss chard (and of course, oodles of garlic), but then I realized that despite my enjoyment of the cooking process, I wanted nothing to do with the clean-up.  That ended up backfiring (<-- foreshadowing), but I decided to head over to Essene to check out the hot foods bar.  I was a little torn between the quirky, healthy food at Essene and the sheer comfort I would get from a slice or two of Blackbird pizza, so I figured if there wasn't anything truly exciting at Essene, I would just go to Blackbird.  This is one of the many, many things I love about living where I live - they are each a block and a half from my home.

Turns out, Essene had plenty to fill my to-go box: amazing mashed potatoes, roasted yams, broccoli raab with garlic, harvard beets, tuscan white beans (with tomatoes and basil), and tofu cutlets.  I wish I'd taken a picture, but I was still in a pretty special state of mind, recovering from today and this week in general.  I'll fill you in more tomorrow, but for now, let's return to the theme of MISTER IS SICK.

I was about two bites into my luscious mashed potatoes when I heard Mister hacking up a lung in the bedroom.  I went in, since I figured he was awake, to see if I could get him anything.  Apparently, he wasn't awake, but every time I spoke to him, he had a coughing/shaking/moaning fit, so I figured it was probably best to leave and finish the Beaujolais my dinner.  About 30 minutes after dinner, while I was sifting through Twitter timelines and FB updates, Mister emerged from the bedroom looking like a cross between a bum and a caveman (not flattering, I know).  When he sat down at the table, I asked if I could get him anything.  To my surprise, he requested soup.  That surprises me everytime.

I put down the wine and got to work while Mister took a short nap on the table.

Miso Noodle Soup
2 servings

2 cups vegetable broth
1 Tbsp olive oil
2 cloves of garlic, pressed
1/2 tsp minced ginger
2 small carrots, sliced
1 cup chopped broccoli
1/2 cup frozen peas
1 tsp tamari
1/2 tsp thyme
1 oz angel hair/cappellini, broken into 2" pieces
1 tsp white miso, dissolved in 2 Tbsp warm water

Heat oil in a large saucepan on medium heat.  Add pressed garlic and lower heat; allow to saute for about 5 minutes but be careful not to burn or brown the garlic.  Add carrots and ginger, stir to mix and allow to saute for 1-2 minutes.  Pour in stock and tamari and bring to boiling, then add broccoli and peas.   Return to boiling, stir in the broken pasta, then reduce to a lively simmer for about 4-5 minutes.  Stir in thyme and miso and remove from heat.  Stir to combine and allow to sit for 5 minutes.

lentils save the day/a souper supper

So, since I skipped last night in favor of some much needed sleep and unwarranted stupidity (with which I may still be infected), does that mean you get a double post tonight?

Kinda.

The unifying thread will be lentils and how awesome they are, but we will read a tale of two suppers.  Can I just say before we begin that I am so excited it's Friday that I haven't completely understood yet that it is Friday?  I'm still in get-stuff-done mode, so although I refrained from sharing my agenda with Mister over dinner...I still have one.  I've already made and eaten dinner and started into my brand new bottle of Dragani Montepulciano D'Abruzzi.  I'm presently babbling posting, so all that's left is menu-planning (and a second glass of wine).  Halfway through the to-do list isn't a bad place to find oneself after one of the most productive and frantic weeks of my life.  That includes the weeks leading up to my wedding...a cakewalk compared to this past week.

So, although I had planned to make my Indian Lentil dish last night and even had waffles for breakfast instead of oatmeal so I wouldn't dirty the pan I needed, by the time I got home from work around 9:10, despite my best intentions, cooking a meal was not on my list of priorities.  Fortunately, there was a large Gladware container filled nearly to the brim with Vegetable Lentil Stew in the fridge.  I pulled it out and walked over to Mister, showed him the container and suggested we heat up the leftover stew for dinner.  He laughed and agreed and while the soup was warming and filling my kitchen with the most homey and delightful scent, I realized what a perfect night it was for soup anyway, since the day's high temperature hadn't even crested the freezing mark.

Soup to the Rescue!

Anyway, since I had already thawed the frozen spinach in preparation for last night's cooking adventures, I set my mind to making Indian-Spiced Lentil Ragu from Vegan on the Cheap before I took a step off the train.  I came in the door and put down my stuff, made a few unintelligible noises at Mister, then started to simmer the rice and lentils.

It smelled so rich I was afraid I wouldn't be able to eat it, but then I remembered how tasty and nutritious it is and dug in.  Although this is a time-consuming meal to prepare, it really doesn't take much effort, which is fortunate, since I didn't have much energy!  I still don't and I'm beginning to fear carpal tunnel might take up residence in my wrists soon from all the typing and other computer work I've crammed into the last 5 days.  Before I start babbling like a complete idiot and making typo/grammatical errors even a first-grader would catch, I'm going to muddle through menu-planning and dish-washing.  Then, I will have an epic sleep.

lentils: they do a body good

The past two nights, I have removed my block of organic spinach from the freezer, placed it on the counter, and opened Vegan on the Cheap to the recipe for Indian-Spiced Lentil Ragu.  Last night I decided I didn't have the patience to simmer both brown rice and lentils (separately, of course), so I made the chickpea dish (which came together with delightful speed).  Tonight, I was willing to do a long-simmering meal because I didn't want to be very actively involved in meal prep when I got home from another busy, exhausting, but pleasantly productive day.  I pulled the spinach out of its frosty bed, placed it on the counter as I opened the book...let's pause a moment.

I'm still working on my cookware collection.  Presently, it is only as big as a 10-piece bargain cookware set that is beginning to deteriorate and have fewer pieces.  I have two saucepans - 2.5-qt and 1-qt; a 3-qt saute pan, a 6-qt stockpot, and two round skillets.  There are a few other pieces, like my square skillet and double-burner griddle, as well as an uncooperative wok and a couple of heavy cast iron pieces, but that is my main cookware.  I use my 1-qt saucepan as my designated Oatmeal Pot during the colder months and I'm not in the habit of washing dishes in the morning before work.  This means that the remnants of oatmeal have all day to form a bond with my nonstick pot.

Back to the story: My plan was to cook the rice in my 2.5-qt saucepan and boil the lentils in my 1-qt...oh...yes, the one covered in crusty purple oatmeal slime.  Right.  So, it's back into the freezer for the spinach and back to the menu for me.  It didn't take me long at all to change course and make a deliciously chunky, hearty Lentil Stew with Vegetables.

My belly is warm and full of sloshy stew.  The vegetables really came out well, too - yukon gold potatoes, carrots, a parsnip, and a Belgian endive to replace the small head of cabbage I couldn't find.  About halfway through I became worried it would be too brothy, but it was exceptionally thick and chunky.  The spice mixture was also one to be reckoned with: thyme, fennel seeds I crushed with some mortar-n-pestle action, Spanish paprika, and ground savory (which is another one of those ingredients I've been resisting until now when I realized how many recipes I've skipped because of my savory-poverty).  

To be totally honest... if the ingredients were to magically reappear in my crisper & cupboard between now and tomorrow night, I would make it again.  In case you haven't seen the lovely depictions of Colder-Than-Death the weather maps have shown spreading over the entire east coast, let me tell you - it is really freakin' cold right now.  Tomorrow's high temperature is 35.  That means the return from work becomes more bone-chilling every night.  I can't believe I'm actually looking forward to it going all the way up to 44ish on Friday.  Fortunately, I have some innard-warming lentil stew to fill my belly.

my kingdom for some bread

Bread.  There are so many forms bread can take.  Commonly, it is merely the outside of some delicious inside that makes up a sandwich, but Mister and I quite enjoy bread simply for its breadiness.  We love the house-made focaccia at Horizons, as well as the microwave-warmed pita at Cedars.  We love the hearty whole grain bread from Whole Foods and the meal-in-itself 12-Grain bread by Arnold.  We love to use bread to dip in the hot broth of our soup while we wait for it to cool enough that we can eat it without scathing our tastebuds and Mister especially loves to scoop up various Italian-influenced dinners with some bread.  We have a variety of spreads for our bread: hummus, tahini, peanut butter, apple butter, Dark Chocolate Dreams, and a few samples of Justin's Nut Butters; but sometimes, I just spread some Earth Balance love on mine.

Do you know people have gone to prison over bread?  Even in the popular musical, Les Miserables, one of the main characters, Jean Valjean, spent 5 years in prison for stealing a loaf of bread to feed his family.  I realize the novel and resulting musical are works of fiction, but it is historically-based fiction and you can see the same theme represented throughout literary history.  When I was in college, I was part of a group that visited a local prison, seeking to show kindness and compassion to people who had that in very short supply.  I was intrigued by my new "hobby" and integrated it into my studies, even writing one of my term papers on prison recidivism.   Here's where it gets interesting.

Yes, of course I can relate all this prison talk to dinner.  I guess that doesn't say much for my culinary skills, does it?  Regardless, we had Pasta e Fagioli from Vegan on the Cheap, which I truly thought would be brothier than it turned out (as you can observe in the picture - also note the bread; it's about to be important).  Additionally, when I finally arrived home after a brisk walk through mid-30-degree weather, I had an irrepressible craving for toast.  Not just a "Hey, ya know what might be nice?" kind of craving; rather, the kind of craving that causes all the wind to be knocked out of your proverbial sails when you preheat the toaster oven only to open the refrigerator door and see....no bread.

So, I re-wrapped myself in my scarf, coat, hat, and gloves, and much to the kitty's horror, headed back out the door.  Mister needed coffee creamer anyway, otherwise tomorrow morning would be very sad, so I headed up to Superfresh for some pre-shopping (tomorrow is grocery day).

Has it ever occurred to anyone else [in America] how absurdly fortunate we are that there is an entire aisle at the grocery store devoted to bread?  Take a minute to ponder that, because it's not like that everywhere.  I walked the length of the aisle with my eyes peeled for the bright orange circle that signifies this or that bread is on sale.  Best bargain?  $1.50 for a loaf of whole wheat bread.  However, upon examination, I couldn't figure out why it needed half of the ingredients it contained, so I moved on to the $1.79 loaf.  A little better, but still not really a whole grain product.  What I really wanted was for some Arnold's bread to be on sale, even though I knew the best I could hope for was $2.50.  That's exactly what I found and I did stand there for a moment, pondering whether a 71-cent savings was worth the finely milled wheat flour and HFCS.

People go back to prison because of high-pressure decisions like that one that I was privileged to make and sometimes, I totally get that.  It can be overwhelming.  Think about it: for however long you've been "locked up," someone else decided what and even when you ate.  Not the most favorable situation, but what choice do you really have?  So, you do your time: you're where you're supposed to be, you eat what you're fed, you wear what you're given, and you keep yourself out of trouble.  Now you're back in the free world and you have to go food shopping for the first time...and then the second, and on and on.

I have always had the freedom to choose my own bread and it drives me crazy sometimes because of how many darn options there are.  Can you imagine not having to choose and then having so many choices?  I kid you not - honestly rehabilitated people become so overwhelmed with the decision to buy this bread or that bread, they unconsciously put themselves in situations where they are set up to fall again.  Their motive?  To return to what they know, where they feel safe - a place with no decisions.

Heck of a food blog, eh?

Alright, back to the food.

I would much rather have the burden of choosing my Arnold bread if it means I can also make tasty, hearty, inside-out warming soups like this one.  I'm sure prison food has come a long way since, well, whenever, but I'm still pretty sure my soup is better.  It came together quickly, too, although the broth did require some tweaking.  It tasted very tomatoey and not quite as rich and garlicky as I wanted it to, so I added a bit of sea salt and white wine vinegar.  That seemed to do the trick.  I ended up having my toast for dessert, since there wasn't really any broth to sop up (and I really wanted toast anyway).

Finally, I'll leave you with a happy picture and my new menu:  here is my first purple oatmeal of the season!

I get the frozen mixed berry blend at Whole Foods and then heat about a half cup of berries in a covered saucepan until they get all sizzly and juicy, then I sprinkle in the oatmeal and add 1 cup of almond milk and stir everything up.  I had forgotten how good it is.  And how purple.

Despite my best intentions (and the paycheck I just got), this week's menu comes completely from Vegan on the Cheap...again.  Yup, it sure does appear that I'm getting my money's worth from this one!

1. Moroccan Chickpeas and Couscous

2. Indian-Spiced Lentil Ragu

3. Better-Than-Takeout Tofu Stir-Fry - I have skipped over this the last three times I made my menu from this book because broccoli has had a bad year, but I'm going to try this with frozen broccoli and see what happens because it really does look like an incredibly tasty recipe.

4. Rice Island Casserole - I have no idea what is going to happen here, but I think it'll be good.  Either way, doesn't it have an awesome name?

5. Samosa Pie - Mister and I love Indian food, as you have probably observed if you've been reading for a while.  Even more than that, Mister and I love samosas.  There is just nothing bad about them.  The whole pie crust thing has kept me from doing this before.  It may be the wine speaking, but I'm feeling a bit intrepid this week, so let's see how it goes!

6. Vegetable Lentil Stew - yes, it sounds boring after...well, the other 5 menu items, but Mister loves him some lentil stew.

quick slowcooker soup

I love irony and oxymorons.  I also like saying "oxymoron" around people who don't know what that means.

I've made the Black Bean Soup with Kale and Rice from Vegan on the Cheap before, just to see if I could.  It's in the Slowcooker section of the book.  Problem is, I don't have a slowcooker.  Although I'm beginning to see the value in such a device, I still lack the space to have/store one, so for now, I get to figure out how long something would simmer stovetop if the recipe calls for several hours in a slowcooker.

crappy picture - sorry...my camera is angry right now

Speaking of several hours, it feels like I just wasted that amount of time poking around on the internet.  It really can be a colossal time-suck sometimes.  I'm just so brain-dead at this point in the week, I had all these great plans for what to do after dinner (you know, like cleaning up) and I completely lost the motivation.  Here it is, nearly midnight, and I'm babbling about the internet sucking up my time when I could be babbling about the awesome heartiness and flavors present in this soup!

I know I made it once before, but I really don't remember it having such defined tex-mex tastes.  Maybe last time I wasn't as generous with the rounded tsp of cumin.  Maybe fresh thyme makes a bigger difference than I imagine.  In any case, Mister went back for seconds, which is promising anytime I make a soup, but especially when he finished the bread he ordinarily would have eaten with the soup.

done with leftovers, on to soup

Sometime after I finished last night's post, Mister and I both decided we were hungry again.  I do think my hunger was partially due to the power of suggestion as a friend had mentioned (via Twitter) that she wanted to be hungry again so she could eat leftovers.  That got me thinking about the leftovers we had in the fridge from "greek thanksgiving," so I pulled out the broccolini, olive oil, and Mediterranean Sea Salt blend and sauteed me some greens.  I started with half the broccolini, but it was just so good, I went back and had the second half, too.  Ignoring the olive oil (I'm good at that), how many calories can a green veggie really have?

About 10 minutes after I scarfed down finished savoring the last of my broccolini, the scents wafting in from the kitchen got to Mister and I found him foraging through the fridge and cabinets.  He asked what there was to eat, I made a few suggestions, and he decided he was too lazy to eat (i.e. too lazy to make something to eat).  I asked him if he'd like me to make him something, he smiled, so I got to work reheating the last bits of Savory Sausage and Peppers in the same pan I used for my broccolini, allowing the garlic-herb-salt-tinged oil to add more flavor to the leftovers.  As that was sizzling away, I warmed up the last of the mashed potatoes in the microwave (I'll admit, I use it begrudgingly, but there have really been times that microwave has come in handy), then laid a little pillow of mashed potatoes at the bottom of a bowl and scooped the sausage melange over top and delivered it to my hungry Mister.

The only leftovers we have, well, leftover, are of the apple pie persuasion, and I believe the plan is to heat our last slices up in the oven once our bellies have emptied a bit from dinner.

Segue, anyone?

Before I started cooking tonight, there were three choices left on our 5-option menu, but I already knew I wanted to make the Caldo Verde from Vegan on the Cheap.  Today was the first day we didn't have to do anything at all and we both took full advantage of that, drinking cup after cup of the Snickerdoodle coffee I bought at a Coffee Bean out in California.

It was so good.  It was about 3:30 before either of us made any effort to do something a person could define as productive.  For me, it was taking a shower so I could go get kitty litter (yes, I live the glamorous life, try to tone down the envy).  Mister, at 3:45 PM, decided he wanted to try his luck at Black Friday so he could buy a multi-terabyte hard drive for very little money that my dad told him about last night when he was flipping through store circulars while Mister amused himself on his iPod and Mom and I cooked.  I'm sure you'll be shocked to learn that they were all sold out.

Anyway, the total ten minutes I was outside to get the kitty litter (and spy a new "bakery" in the neighborhood - Cookie Confidential grand opening today) was quite enough to make me want soup for dinner.  The best part is that it's going to be even colder tomorrow!

The soup smelled phenomenal simmering away on the stove while I tried my hand at freeform "cheese" slicing.  I mentioned in a previous post that I picked up cheddar Vegan Gourmet "cheese," but it only comes in block form.  Fortunately, the block is about the same size as a piece of bread, so I just sliced off two big slices and plunked them onto the bread I already had toasting on the skillet.  As you can see, the package declares with great enthusiasm that this cheese substitute melts.  I'll grant that it took me three tries to get the Rice Vegan to finally melt all gooey like it's supposed to, but even on the first try it came far closer to melting than this stuff did... I'm sure it tried, but I was skeptical from the get-go; after slicing the pieces for the sandwiches, I cut off a little more to taste and the texture was so much like a cross between hard-boiled egg whites and extra-firm silken tofu that I couldn't see how it would melt.  Mister was a trooper - he coated his sandwich in ketchup and plowed through it in about 6 bites.  I took my time, trying to gauge how I feel about this one, despite that there was nothing that resembled melting going on.  It has a pleasant flavor, but it smells a little like mildew and scent is kind of important.  Nevertheless, the cheapskate in me my frugal side won't allow me to give up and chuck what's left, so I'll probably try broiling it on an open-face sandwich tomorrow or Sunday, just to see if I can actually convince it to melt.  I don't think it will ever find its way past Mister's lips again, though.

The soup was good - hearty and full of potatoey-kaley goodness, but nothing spectacular, so if I make it again, it will probably be by accident or a year from now.

I had this horrific moment today when I thought tomorrow was Monday.  Mister and I did a little dance in the kitchen (the only place with enough room to dance) when he informed me that tomorrow was actually Saturday - I am absolutely not ready for Monday yet.  I have laundry to do, a new menu to plot and shop for, a Christmas tree to set-up and decorate, and I really want to make Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cupcakes from VCTOTW.  Also, heaven forbid a weekend should pass without a new oatmeal recipe!  See you tomorrow, MoFos!

home is where the...wine is

It's getting to be That Time of Year.  If you turn back the cyber-pages of this little blog and travel back to my December 2009 and January 2010 posts, you'll find a lot of babbling, random, which-way-is-up posts, as well as my justification: I work for a weight loss company and we're gearing up for Diet Season.  Today, I learned that in order to make sure we get everything done between now and mid-December, I will need to create at least three clones of myself for one of the weeks, and no fewer than two of me will be necessary for most weeks.

While on the train on my way home from a completely overwhelming day, my brain re-inflated enough for me to remember to take a short detour on my walk home from the train station to pick up a nice mini-bottle of Beaujolais (which I am presently halfway through).  Unfortunately, Angst can't blame the following pictures on Mommy's Special Juice...just the deteriorating capacity to reason.

That hat was on my head while I walked home, but after I put on my glasses, Mister (who wears glasses and beanie hats) decided we all needed to look like a family and put the Hat on the Cat

Angst doesn't seem to like wearing hats, so he probably hopes we got it all out of our system.

After playing Dress-Up with the kitty, I brushed myself off while he nursed his ego-wounds and started dinner.  Apparently, New York saw its first flakes of snow today, but in Philadelphia and the surrounding suburbs, it was just gloomy rain.  It did stop before I got home, but everything was damp, including the air, and just the exhaustive nature of the day all by itself was quite enough to warrant Homey Vegetable Stew with Dumplings from The 30 Minute Vegan. 

I've made this before, but my dumplings were much prettier this time and it still impresses me that those lumps of sticky dough really do steam into a solid biscuit.  They are sinfully simple to make - there are five ingredients in the dumplings and only slightly more in the stew.  I think what I like the most about these dumplings is that they are made with spelt flour, which give them a savory flavor I can really only describe as "real."

The whole stew is remarkably rich.  There isn't a whole lot of broth, especially when you take away the part that made sticky dough into biscuits.  Perhaps it is the concentrated nature of the broth that makes it so good, but Mister and I happily ate two bowls each and I am already anticipating the leftovers for WorkLunch tomorrow.  Hopefully, I will have more time tomorrow than the ten minutes I had today to wolf down my lunch, because this should be savored.

On another note, while I'm running around at work like tofu with my head cut off, I am gratified to come home each night and find that while he started with the entry/dining area, Mister appears to be working his way through the apartment, cleaning up the messes that have accumulated in recent months.  I know I don't have the energy for that kind of ridiculous behavior right now!  I'll happily bring home the seitan if he'll keep my home straightened up.  I love how far we've come in the reversal/dismissal of traditional gender roles during my lifetime.  Now, if only we could find a way for Mister to carry and bear a child, I might find a way to become interested in parenting ;)

I think the wine is getting to me...