and the winner is....tropical oatmeal!

I am so excited about today I can barely drink my coffee. It is a gorgeous day in Philadelphia, I am off of work for three whole days, and I already have a plan how I want to spend them. There is a delightful little farmers market down the street (I love the paradox of a farmer's market in the city, especially since there is nothing but bricks and cobblestone where they host it) and it's only open on the weekend and only from 10-2, so the timeframe certainly adds to my sense of urgency. After I hit that I will head down to the Italian Market (but I'll drop off my finds first, since I live halfway in between the two), an open-air market along the sides of 9th street. I've found some pretty incredible deals there and there is one vendor who can unfailingly complete my list after I've made my way up and down the street.

Other things on my list of "fun ways to pamper me" include my inaugural trip to Cafe Fulya which looks so cozy and has some incredible treats on their menu and offer organic soy milk with their coffee/espresso drinks. Also, having heard stories from my husband, I'm dying to try my tastebuds at Turkish coffee. At the moment, I'm thinking Apricot Walnut cake, but I may go for the apple and walnut filled (huge) cookie. I've come to realize that although I love chocolate, I am more inclined towards fruity sweets these days...more on that in a minute.

Finally, the ultimate in pampering - a new salon opened across the street from my house last night. First of all, I think it is beyond cool that a salon had its Grand Opening on a Friday night (and I do mean night - it was 8pm). When I left for work yesterday morning, I took a distant peek through the front windows of the salon and I love the way it's decorated...it's really hard to describe from that short peek, so I will give a more thorough description if I spend hours in there this afternoon as I intend to.

Now, about that oatmeal.... As I mentioned, I'm trying to be a little more creative with my oatmeal this fall/winter. Yesterday, as pondered, I cooked my oatmeal in soymilk and then stirred in two chocolate caramel truffles until the melted (which, by the way, was about 2-3 stirs). It was good, definitely chocolately, but I lost the darkness of the chocolate by mixing the truffles in with oatmeal cooked in soymilk. I'm considering trying again, this time cooking the oatmeal in plain old water, then stirring in the truffles.

Today, however, I cooked my oatmeal in a half and half mixture of water and pineapple juice, then stirred in about a tablespoon of coconut flakes at the end. It was sublime. It smelled like baked goods...bread or muffins or something that you just want to eat until there's none left. Which is exactly what I did with my oatmeal, and I savored every last bite. I will definitely do this again. I realized yesterday, contemplating why I was less than in love with my truffley oatmeal, that for breakfast at least, I prefer warm fruity sweet, not gooey chocolatey sweet. I also know I prefer baking fruit and vegetable based things. Don't get me wrong, I was completely and utterly infatuated with those chocolate cookies I made from Veganomicon, but my next baking conquest will be a carrot cake (also from Isa) and I'm already getting ready to dig out my pumpkin/zucchini/banana bread recipes and my mouth is watering thinking of my apple cobbler cookies with sweet-tart chunks of fresh apple and dried cranberries competing with smooth pecans. Mmmm...I love baking season.

Anyway, the time to venture out to the markets is drawing near and I haven't showered yet, so let me share with you my Saturday through Friday menu (I've given up on defining weeks - my schedule is too liquid):

1. Minty Moroccan Mishmash (from last week)
2. Red Rice and Beans, part II (also from last week)
3. P.B. Thai
4. Roasted Heirlooms on Orecchiette
5. Hearty Peasant Soup (from wholeliving.com)
6. Polenta & Vegetable Bake (from Eating Well magazine)
7. Fiesta-dillas, with Spiced Potatoes & Green Beans (from the September issue of Cooking Light magazine)

cheerio, little cat

Angst has become more insistent that I share my breakfast with him in the past few days, going so far as to pull on my arm while I'm eating it!
Wednesday (no cook night), I had to get more coffee anyway, so while I was in the store I figured I'd pick up one of those frozen dinners I hear about. After examining them, I found them less than tempting, so I headed to checkout with my coffee. As I did so, I passed a sale display - substantial discount on Cheerios! So, I got a big ol' box for $2 and my coffee and went home to have 2 bowls of Cheerios with soymilk for dinner. Well, Angst caught on, and when I had Cheerios with blueberries for breakfast yesterday and today, he felt like I should share. He likes cereal a lot more than I thought.

(mommy's favorite little piggle)

Anyway, dinner last night was kind of a failure, but I figure if everything I made was a success, how would I ever learn and grow as a cook? Secretly, though, I like the stories of Mozart - how upon finding his original manuscripts, there are no erasures - he got everything perfectly the first time. I wouldn't mind having that ability - learning is overrated.

I don't even remember the first fancy name I gave last night's dinner, but by the end of the night I had dubbed it Red Rice and Beans. I cannot understand why sometimes rice cooks up perfectly (in the amount of time it's supposed to take) and other times it takes 90 minutes of simmering to even approach being done. By the way - that's my patience threshold for rice. If it's not saturated and tender after 90 minutes of cooking, I am crunching my way through half-cooked rice... which is more or less what happened last night. It has potential, I'll give it that, but it's not close enough to being more than merely edible for me to post up here yet. Let me give it another try (with more time and spices!) and then I'll share the recipe and take pictures.

I had a delightful and creative day off today and I have my refrigerator and "pantry" stocked with ingredients for what will hopefully be a week full of amazing flavors and foods. I am very pleased to share this week's menu, once again with only 2 meals from someone else's brain!

1. Cinnamon Bulghur with Pomegranate Saute
2. Red Lentil Coconut Curry
3. Mediterranean (Mock) Risotto
4. Farro Pasta with Sunshine Sauce; accompanied by Tomato Rosemary Scones from Vegan Brunch by Isa
5. Cuban-Style Black Beans with Rice and Plaintains from Vegetarian Times Fast & Easy
6. Black-Bottom Pineapple Tofu with Cashew Coconut Rice (also from Vegetarian Times Fast & Easy)

I'll check in later to let you know how tonight's dinner goes (it would be difficult for it to suck more than last night's adventure). By the way - I kept apologizing to Mister about how long it was taking, then when I finally gave up (after about 2 and a half hours of cooking, I'll add), I thanked him for eating it and apologized for how much it sucked. God bless him - he told me it was good (it really was only barely edible).