good social life = bad blogger

Adventures take away from my blogging time.

I don't think that's a bad thing, necessarily...unless my adventures lead to me feeling like I'm about to spew in the ladies' room at work and then make me unconscious for nearly 15 hours straight.  Fortunately, only the first of my adventures had that disastrous result - the rest kept getting better, which isn't a bad way to spend a weekend, if you ask me.

It all started Wednesday night.  I had everything all ready to go and carefully sliced 10 cloves of garlic into relatively uniform slices before letting them swim in a generous amount of olive oil for about 10 minutes.  While they were busy infusing the olive oil with delightful garlic goodness, I was chopping up broccoli florets for Orecchiette con Broccoli from The Urban Vegan.  Once the garlic had a little time to make the apartment smell amazing, I plopped a teaspoon of white miso in the middle of the pan and pulled out my newly acquired flat whisk to mix it all in.

I was pretty excited to use this whisk, confident that it would make the difference in how difficult it's been in the past to blend the white miso into the garlicky olive oil.  It was fun to play with my new toy, but it really didn't deliver the way I thought it should.  However, I don't think it's the whisk's fault - from testing for her upcoming cookbook, I've discovered that there are times Dynise (inadvertently, obviously) leaves out one very important detail, like "use fresh pasta" or "add this crucial ingredient."  I'm thinking it's possible (and I will email for confirmation) that she intended for the miso to be dissolved in broth or water and for that to be the thing that is whisked into the garlic and oil, because miso all by itself most certainly does not want to be blended into oil... it just kind of gets smaller.

In an effort to force the miso to "melt" I added a splash of vegetable broth that might have been just a few days past its prime...which may possibly have contributed to my intense nausea the following day.  Regardless, it looks good and tasted great while I was eating it!

When I woke up the following morning, the first thing I noticed was that my belly was not happy.  I thought I was just overly hungry (you know how your stomach actually hurts if you get hungry enough?), so I had a nice big breakfast of waffles and a sliced apple.  Probably not my best move.  My digestive system rebelled a little, but I kept going because I had important, time-sensitive things to do at work.  In case you're wondering, when I got to work and nearly lost my breakfast in the bathroom, those things were able to wait a couple of hours...and then a whole day, since I ended up leaving early.  By 4 pm I was snug in my bed with chills; I was up for about an hour and a half around 8pm, but was back in bed soon and slept until my alarm went off the next morning at 7.  I could tell my body wasn't completely okay, but I had to go to work, so I carefully ate an apple with some tea, got ready and headed out the door.  I ate little things throughout the day and by the time I got home, I was feeling confident that I could handle dinner, but I didn't want to make it.

I convinced Mister to go to Pizzeria Stella, but there were no open tables, so we ended up at Pietro's.  Fortunately, they have recently added the exact thing I wanted at Stella - a marinara pizza with sliced garlic and fresh oregano.  I ate half of mine with a nice glass of Malbec, forgot to photograph it but completely intend to post about it...until I felt all sick again and had to lie down when we got home.

I was much better by last night, fortunately, since Mister and I had big plans to see old friends.  I met up with some of my oldest friends at Cedars, to celebrate a friend's birthday.  We had a delightful meal, full of laughter and inside jokes, followed by the insistence of my friends' beautiful daughter that we pay the check and go to Rita's for water ice.  She is entirely too adorable (and well-behaved!) to deny, so we had our dessert in the chill evening air.  Once the little one had her sugar high on, we let her run around South Street so she would actually sleep when they returned to the hotel.  She and her mommy left us, as did Mister, and my friends and I headed over to Southwark for a nightcap.

I did something I haven't done in years.  I closed the bar.  It was awesome.

However, it didn't leave me in any state to be blogging - believe me, you have no interest in what I have to say at 2:15 in the morning.

I slept about an hour and a half later than I intended, but I was having such a great weekend, why mess it up with an agenda?  As a result, I missed the Headhouse Farmers Market again, but there's always next week!  After some food shopping and some maintenance at Salon Sugar (goodbye, grays!), I finally made dinner again, for the first time since I apparently poisoned myself (of course, Mister hasn't suffered any ill effects, so it might not have been the dish - it might just be my job):

there aren't too many things more beautiful than this

although this comes close...

Tonight's dinner was Spicy Ragout of Vegetables and Tofu, also from Quick Vegetarian Pleasures.  I've had this cookbook long enough to use it frequently and then forget about it for a year, which means if there are things in there I haven't made, it was only because there was something about them that was initially unattractive.  I can only guess that the thing in this recipe was tofu, because I really didn't like it much when I first started cooking.

For shame...it's really good and is the perfect protein to complete this meal.  It was kind of a bizarre flavor combination - there's something about basil and peas that just doesn't work in my mind.

Fortunately, it was delightful on the tongue.  I laid the ragout on a bed of brown rice and upon scooping the rice into our bowls I had a revelation: I really don't get brown rice.  We don't mesh.  Maybe it's because I was raised on fluffy white Minute Rice or maybe it's because I have so much trouble cooking it or perhaps it's because it smells so God-awful, but I just cannot get into brown rice.  I decided tonight that if it has to be brown, it has to be basmati - at least it doesn't smell bad.

To make up for my absence I will tease you with some juicy upcoming posts (think round-up) and also share my new menu:

1. Penne with Spinach and Chickpeas in Garlic Sauce from Quick Vegetarian Pleasures.  Yes, this was on last week's menu, but two separate someones forgot to get spinach.  On multiple occasions.  Go me.  Go Mister.

2. Rice Noodle Bowl with Broccoli and Bell Pepper from a special edition of Vegetarian Times magazine I picked up while standing in line at Essene one day... bad habits die hard.

3. Potato and Cauliflower Burritos from the June 2011 Veg. Times magazine.  How could I see this recipe and not make it and then call myself a good wife?  We're talking about everything Mister loves in the world, wrapped up in a whole wheat shell.

4. Charro Beans with Chipotle Sausage, also from the June Veg. Times.  I have this pile of magazines, currently, because I'm subscribed to VegNews and Veg. Times and I have a ton of trouble getting rid of printed material that vaguely resembles a book.  So, I figured I may as well try to find a week's worth of dinners in them before convincing myself to cut out the important bits and recycle the rest.  One thing can be said for me and magazines - I get my money's worth.  They sit around for months, being read and re-read before I finally believe I've gotten all I can get from them, at which point I cut them up to keep anything remotely important, then recycle whatever's left.

5. Better-Than-Takeout Tofu Stir-fry from Vegan on the Cheap, but without cornstarch this time.

smushed chickpea love

I have a feeling that February is not going to be a terribly restful month.  Lucky me, it's the shortest month of the year, so even though I anticipate a lot of unsettledness and crowding, at least I can face it armed with the knowledge that it will end.

Since I didn't get too much accomplished yesterday, packing-wise, I pretty much devoted all of today (except for the time spent at Salon Sugar, having my grays camouflaged and cut) to packing.  I got all my music books packed, as well as one small bookshelf.  The big bookshelf may have to be a Me&Mister collaboration, since at least half those books are his and I don't want to just go around deciding which of his books to keep and which to donate...

The main problem I'm running into is the growing City of Boxes.  Fortunately, they can be stacked on top of one another, but eventually they will give me anxiety.  Miraculously, all of the things that are now in boxes that are beginning to take over my living room and bedroom actually had A Place, and since I've displaced them, they're just clutter again.  I'm cutting this week as a loss, in terms of taking things to the thrift store, but I think I'll spend most of next weekend filtering out what is definitely not following us down the street and moving it to the thrift store.  At least that way, we'll have more room for boxes!

Although I usually make a relatively time-consuming dinner on Sundays, 'cause I can, I made something short and sweet tonight instead. 

Lemony Garlic Chickpea Patties from Vegan on the Cheap, served with roasted red potatoes I tossed with olive oil and Mediterranean Seasoning from my trip out west.  To make the patties, I got to use two happy kitchen toys tools: my food processor and my new burger press.  It is so fun to smush those little round balls of almost-burger! 

The "dough" seemed like it was going to be too dry to hold everything together (since the only liquid was 3 Tbsp lemon juice), so I added a bit more lemon juice.  All told, I used the juice of two Meyer lemons and it definitely dominated from the first bite, but not in a bad way, just in a "Oh, hey, there's the lemon" kind of way.

This pan is a secondary vision of Mister's Heaven: A roasting pan full of potatoes, generously decorated with herbs, spices, and salt.  I gave in and bought one of those adorable bags of tiny red potatoes, which lengthened the scrubbing process but decreased the chopping time.  They came out really well - crispy outside, squishy inside, and well-seasoned.

After dinner, I just couldn't get back into the groove, so I think we're finished packing for the evening.  Angst is trying to help - he already has one of his pillows (and himself) in a box.

halloweens past and present

Happy Halloween!

When I was a kid, Halloween was a pretty big deal.  My mom did a great job each year, helping my sister and I assemble something that resembled a princess costume (me), or a ghost, or an angel, or a witch, or, as I got older and spunkier, a punk rocker.  One of my laziest and most obscure Halloween "costumes" was the time I wore a Curtis Institute sweatshirt with jeans and told people I was an opera singer on her day off, because "they look like everyone else!"  My adult costumes were only marginally more creative.  One year, I put on a shirt from the Gap and a pair of jeans, then pulled back my hair so you couldn't see the purple and blue streaks and refrained from wearing more makeup than just mascara.  I was a "normal person" and I made my boss laugh so hard he actually started choking.  Another year I was a cowgirl, which was probably the best costume I had that didn't make me cold, like the year I was a 1940s pin-up girl in a vintage slip and fishnets.  Then there was the year I was Grizabella the Glamour Cat which eventually deteriorated to just A Black Cat.

My dad recently found a picture of me he took that year, so if you ever wondered what I looked like about 10 years ago as a cat, wonder no more...

Forgive me; I hadn't yet grasped the importance of shaping one's eyebrows or even just plucking absurdly stray eyebrow hairs...Anyway, Mister isn't a big fan of Halloween and we live in an apartment building so we don't get any Trick-or-Treaters, so I would be hard pressed to tell you the last time I dressed up for the holiday, but I did get my hair done today in preparation for the darker months ahead.

Please pardon the weak, cheesy half-smile.  I felt kind of stupid doing a full-on "yay, look how much fun I'm having" toothy grin, so this is what you get.  We left a few bits of red in my bangs, but the rest is as black as a moonless midnight.

Tonight, we had the Moroccan Lentil Stew from the October 2010 issue of Vegetarian Times magazine.  I used the Dr. McDougall's brand called for in the recipe, and I'll grant that it is a low sodium soup, but it's not doing that label any favors - If I make this again, I will have to add at least a 1/2 tsp of salt to compensate for it's general blandness.  It was okay, but nothing to waste my time or yours babbling about, especially when I have a new menu after the picture and VeganMoFo starts tomorrow!

For the first full week of November and VeganMoFo, here's the plan:

1. Spicy Rice and Bean Burritos from an advertisement for Eden foods in the latest VegNews magazine.  It looks tasty and easy and I'm happy with both of those things.  Additionally, from a VMF standpoint, I've never used canned rice-n-beans and I'll admit, I'm a bit trepidatious about that, so it should make for at least an interesting write-up.

2. Garlicky Caramelized Seitan with Roasted Potatoes also from VegNews.  This was the only savory recipe in an entire, mouth-watering section on homemade caramel.  I'm a little concerned about Mister's reaction to this, but I've never made my own caramel and I think it could be a fascinating flavor combination.  You know I'll report back!

3. Monk Bowl with Lemon-Miso Tahini sauce, both from The 30 Minute Vegan.  I knew I wanted to make this upon returning home the moment we had our bowls at Native Foods in California.  I've never made the tahini sauce, but it sounds fun.

4. Pasta Florentine, also from 30MV.  I realized after I picked this that it hasn't quite been a month since I last made it.  I just thought it would be fun and I was craving that Frozen Organic SuperSpinach.  It will also be a great way to finish off the roasted garlic loaf with more tuscan dipping sauce.

5. Homey Vegetable Stew with Dumplings, also from 30MV.  The spelt flour in my cupboard is getting bored.  Plus, this is one of the few recipes I have with an accurate adjective in the title - I can't think of a better word to describe this dish than homey.  Possibly heart-warming.  Cozy?  Can you call stew "cozy?"

can we do that again?

Wow!  I don't know what happened yesterday but it seems like a lot of you enjoyed my Apple Almond Oatmeal recipe...or maybe it was my stimulating discourse on queso-less quesadillas?  Probably the Via...  In any case, I appreciate all the folks who came to my blog and who directed others here as well!  Within the first 24 hours Refriedillas and Via-to-go was up, it skyrocketed to the top of my most popular posts, unseating the picture parade post that had held that spot since July.  I hope I don't disappoint tonight!

Backing up a moment to yesterday - it was an absotively, posilutely gorgeous Sunday, which I spent wandering all over my fair city, without so much as a light jacket.  I really had one major goal in mind - I wanted, nay, needed to go up to Sephora.  I have been without pure white eyeshadow for too long and it's really starting to limit my color palettes.  I'm also approaching the bitter end of my two favored lipsticks, so I was in search of lip color.  Before I had a chance to do that, though, I got notice from Candi KaBoom that Salon Sugar had a cancellation, so I darted across the street for a desperately necessary haircut.  Have you noticed I wait for the last possible minute to do most things?  For the record, I have never run out of gas....in my Prizm.

That's actually a really dorky picture of me, but it does show off my hair.  It also shows off how crooked my face is, but check out that lipstick!  I did head up to Sephora after getting my hairs did and I got my white eyeshadow, as well as the lipstain you see modeled so demurely above, and a bonus prize - I found vegan, roll-on perfume!

Urban Decay Yeyo matte eyeshadow and Greedy lip envy lipstain, with my shiny new vial of Pacifica Mediterranean Fig.  I don't ordinarily like smelling like food (aside from garlic), but it's really more of a green floral scent and very subtle.

Later in the evening, Mister and I braved the severely beautiful weather and went on a date to Pizzeria Stella.  We split an appetizer of broccoli rabe and rosemary flatbread, then Mister got a quattroformaggio (=4 cheeses) pizza while I got the marinara - spiced sauce, sprinkled with fresh oregano (what a treat!) and juicy slices of garlic.  I washed it down with the house red, which is a light, easy-to-drink Montepulciano d'Abruzzo and Mister had a Kutztown Red Cream Soda.

Today, though, was back-to-reality time for me, and even though I think I nodded off on the train, I did make it up to work and then got through most of the day by reminding myself that this was a three day week and when I was finished today, I'd be 33% through it and that much closer to my California vacation!  Yes, in case you were wondering, I do have "California Girls" stuck in my head, relentlessly "hearing" the chorus over and over again.

I rewarded myself by making Bok Choy and Baked Tofu Stir-Fry in Ginger-Citrus Sauce from Fat Free Vegan blog.

Aside from lacking mushrooms, I'm happy to report that mine doesn't look too different from Susan V's and that's always a victory in my book.  Her picture is much prettier, but she is a much better photographer than I am and almost definitely has a much better camera for that very reason.  Regardless of the way it looks, this little dinner was just as tasty as I had hoped it would be.

In her recipe, Susan mentions that the sauce will only have a hint of citrus flavor which can be enhanced, should the chef desire, by adding in some grated zest toward the end of cooking.  I have to admit, I didn't believe that it would be that subtle, since the freshly squeezed OJ is more than half of the liquid in the sauce, but she was right - it was very subtle and as a result, the sauce was perfect.  I would have liked it to be a little thicker, but it clung to the leaves of the bok choy magnificently.  I was really just excited that Whole Foods decided to have baby bok choys this week, because I've actually  been wanting to make this for the two weeks since I found it, but sometimes WF is a bit of a stinker about consistently stocking non-local foods.  The nerve! ;)

Tomorrow, I have one last "fresh" recipe to make before we enter "Eat everything in the house" mode.  Honestly, we'll only be away for a long weekend and I just finished soup that had been hanging out in the fridge for longer than that, but there's something about actually leaving the apartment for an extended period of time that makes me panic that any food left in the entire apartment will rot and sprout new wiggly life.  Hopefully, nothing will eat Angst's auntie/pet-sitter!

a fresh coat of paint

I spent three and a half hours at Salon Sugar today (this seems to be a trend). It always passes quickly, though, because Candi is fun to talk to and she plays great music. It will never cease to amaze me how rejuvenating it is to look in the mirror when all is said and done. This time we really did it up - my own husband did not recognize me from a slight distance!

not the best picture, perhaps, but you can really see my hair!

So, although I scarfed down a Banana Nut Odwalla bar on my short walk across the street to the Salon, after 3.5 hours, I was not only euphoric about my new look (and trying to get used to the hair in my face - AKA bangs), I was also pretty hungry. It probably didn't help that Candi and I spent at least an hour of the time I was there talking about various tasty food in the immediate vicinity. I was almost practical and thought about going home to heat up some leftover soup and roast my garnet yam, but then I remembered that it was my one true day off and I decided to enjoy some of the "local cuisine." So, coming out of Salon Sugar, I swooped around the northeast corner and walked the block to Essene Market. In addition to being an obscure and generally overpriced produce/oddities market, there is a small cafe in the back with a self-service hot food bar. I had been craving weird food, so I selected one of the larger containers and filled it up with a millet cake, stirfried bok choy, roasted potatoes and cauliflower, fried parsnips, and some savory, chewy baked tofu. The parsnips were a little off and the bok choy got stuck in my teeth, but I was very happy with my paper bowl of lunch.

After my satisfying lunch, I grabbed a small squirt bottle of agave nectar for my teas at work and a miniature Green & Black 70% chocolate bar, then headed over the Whole Foods to do my grocery shopping for the following menu (once again, all from The 30 Minute Vegan):

1. Tofu Saag which we had tonight - more in a minute
2. Homey Vegetable Stew with Dumplings which we'll have tomorrow, since it's supposed to drop 15 degrees and be all rainy and miserable.
3. Mediterranean Hummus Wraps
4. Seitan Curry Bowl which I skipped over last time in favor of the Monk Bowl.
5. Easy as Pie Stirfry

This book really hasn't let me down yet! The meals really do come together quickly, even though at first glance they look like a lot of effort. Honestly, the only thing I can find "wrong" with the recipes in this book are that they come together so quickly and are so action-packed that I don't have a minute to make salads. I didn't feel like salads were really necessary tonight, though, since our main course involved a pound of spinach...call me crazy, but I think we satisfied our greens quotient.

I'm really enjoying their method of roasting the tofu - it works better than I would have imagined for only 15 minutes of roasting in a medium-heat oven. The spice mix was a little intense for the amount of spinach - in the future, I will probably cut it down a little because we were walking the fine line between intense umami and need-bread-to-choke-it-down. I definitely needed the rice.

double the spinach, double your fun

Some people might not think spinach is as fun or tasty as Doublemint gum. Angst would disagree.

My little monster...um, angel has had a great weekend, despite the fact that I broke two separate bags of spinach. All that matters to him is that I shared it before the big mean pot made it all gross. Each dinner had its highlights and lowlights...kind of like my new hair:
Ignore the super-cheesy smile, if you wish. I just didn't feel like having another emo/goth pouting-at-the-camera picture. After all, I'm happy about my hair.

Anyway, last night I made Chamomile Couscous with Savory Spinach and actually bought chamomile tea to make it this time! I figured if I only had one teabag last time, I probably had no teabags this time. It came out much better with two chamomile teabags, rather than 1 chamomile and 1 spearmint/chamomile/licorice teabag. I modified the recipe slightly - in place of the 1/2 Tbsp of honey I just swirled in some agave nectar. If I had to guess, I would say it was probably a scant teaspoon.


I have to say...I am really developing a serious distaste for the Whole Pantry Garam Masala...it's way too heavy on the cardamom - I like a more savory blend, especially for Savory Spinach. I may have to get my favored brand, McCormick, and save the WP brand for baking.

Also, I don't think the 2:1 tea:couscous ratio is quite necessary. Probably 1.5 cups would be better. 2 cups was overkill and created a little pool at the bottom of our bowls, no doubt with the help of the sauce from the vegetables.

It rained so much today. It was supposed to, according to the weather guesscast, but I really hoped it wouldn't. Alas, when I woke up and looked outside it was an absolute mess. I nearly called off my hair appointment because it just looked like the kind of day you want to be all scrubby and comfy and not go anywhere. In any case, that simply wasn't an option because our cupboards and refrigerator are becoming uncomfortably empty, so I braved the nasty rain and the not-nearly-as-cold-as-weather.com-said-it-would-be temperatures. There's still a lot of empty in our fridge, but the freezer is well stocked and the coffee situation has been rectified. And there's bread. The end of the loaf is a sign of the endtimes for Mister, so it is very important to replace the bread as soon as it runs out. Normally, I get a loaf about three sandwiches from the end of one bread, but Whole Foods hates multigrain bread this week and I think it's ridiculous that a place called Whole Foods even stocks white bread.

So tonight we had Curried Tofu with Mixed Baby Greens. I thought I would be clever and try to cut out the fat of sauteing the garlic and ginger in olive oil, so I put vegetable broth in place of the olive oil and 2 Tbsp water, but then I kind of goofed and made the rational connection that if I was going to "saute" the garlic and ginger in broth, I may as well add the tamari at the beginning of cooking as well. Word of advice: if you choose to make this recipe, don't do that. I will tell you why now: the broccoli rabe hogs it ALL. This means not only that the spinach and bok choy don't get to swim in it, but that every bite of broccoli rabe is a flavor explosion in your mouth and you simultaneously love it and wish you were drinking water instead. It's intense. So take my word for it - saute the ginger, garlic, and broccoli rabe in broth (rather than oil) if you must, but don't add the soy sauce/tamari until you add the bok choy!


Also, you will do well to do one of these two things:
Cut the curry spice mixture in half
OR
Don't use silken tofu.

It was kind of gross the first time I made it, and I thought it was because I didn't put the salt in the spices that was necessary to bring out their flavors. It was kind of gross this time because the spices just sit on top of the tofu...they don't absorb and flavor the tofu, they just hang out with it.

1. I am grateful I had a nice long weekend.
2. I am grateful for the opportunity to watch two timid little girls turn into bright and beautiful teenagers.
3. I am grateful for the years I spent learning how to play music so that I can now teach it.
4. I am grateful that Superfresh is only 3 blocks away and that I am able to walk with speed.

making it count

Today may very well have been one of my last Sundays off for a while. I won't know for sure until sometime this week, but let me say - if it was, I spent it well.

In addition to a weak and horribly cold grocery shopping trip - by the way, December in Philadelphia is officially too late to still be stubbornly wearing your fall jacket - I revisited dear Candi KaBoom at Salon Sugar, had a nice dinner out with the hubby, and made cookies!

I got two dinners' worth of ingredients, as well as a frozen pizza for Mister and some veggie burgers as a back-up/quick dinner. I have no idea how this week is going to go and I'll do my best to keep you updated, as well as a big announcement coming soon! If I need to, I can "finish" my grocery shopping on Wednesday. I may also finish my hair that day!

So, today, Candi just cut my hair. I'm really bad at keeping up with that whole 6-8 week trim thing. I think the only time I've ever pulled it off was when I lived 5 minutes away from my salon, which was moderately priced, and my hair was only 2 inches long at the longest and shaved in parts, so obviously, upkeep was important. I haven't had my hair cut since Labor Day weekend, when Salon Sugar opened. To say I was in urgent need of a haircut would not do justice to the mutiny my split ends were organizing. We got a little crazy and I'm happy with the result, as well as our plans to draw "lightener" (Candi's euphemism for bleach) through my hair on either Wednesday or Sunday (depending on whether I'm off), then retouch the black streaks and add in some unnaturally bright red streaks. It's going to be great - I'll have pictures!

When I was at Salon Sugar, Candi told me she had recently had a lot of vegan/vegetarian clients in the salon and wanted to be able to give them restaurant recommendations, so she asked me about places Mister and I like to go...which soon had me fixated on going out to dinner. Horizons is closed on Sundays, so we went to La Fourno - I sound like a bunny rabbit, but I swear, they have some of the best salads there.

On Friday night, probably around midnight, Mister came into the kitchen (I swear, I spend the majority of the time I'm home in there. If I'm not prepping, I'm cooking, and if I'm not cooking, I'm cleaning up) and opened the food-containing cabinets and kind of wobbled back and forth, looking from side to side.

Me: Do you need something?
Mister: I want cookies.
Me: We don't have any. I'm sorry. Do you want me to make you some?
Mister: No...it's late.

So I made him cookies today.
I made Sparkled Ginger Cookies from Vegan With A Vengeance and they were wonderful. I really need to get Isa's cookie book. My next cookie conquest will definitely be the Mexican Hot Chocolate Snickerdoodles. It's like everything you ever wanted in a cookie all rolled into one batch!
1. I am grateful to have had today off and to have accomplished so much and still had time to relax this weekend.
2. I am grateful for a husband who listens to me babble until I come to a rational conclusion.
3. I am grateful (this time, anyway) that his only guidance in my decision-making process was "I want you to do whatever will make you happy."
4. I am grateful that Isa is still pumping out cookbooks - I will own them all!

cardboard cask...classy

Due to several factors, I was actually off from work today. The first part of the day (after the coffee and strawberry/yogurt oatmeal part) was quite full of angst and Angst. It involved him hiding from me and me banging on things to try to get him to stop hiding - probably not the most effective strategy in hindsight. Anyway, after I gave up on trying to "unhide" the cat, I went on my food shopping adventures.

And so, faithful readers, in this post we will:
1. see this week's menu
2. see tonight's dinner
3. babble about wine (2 glasses in)
4. discuss neighborly behavior

Starting from the bottom up (no pun intended), I will now tell you the previously alluded to story of what it means to be a good neighbor. When I had my hair done last week, it took three hours to put two colors in and cut it. That's a lot of time to talk to the person slopping your head up with colored goo. In our conversation, Candi related a tale of not-so-neighborly conduct by some girls who work at a salon across the street, located in a gym, strangely enough. We shared our ridiculously out-of-fashion ideas of how new neighbors were greeted to the neighborhood "back in the day." I can remember being a child and accompanying my mother with a plate of brownies or chocolate chip cookies to the still-disheveled home of a new neighbor just moving in. Anyway, today I made 2 dozen ginger-coconut-carrot muffins and packed half of them up in a shiny gold shoebox, then marched them across the street to "welcome" Candi to the neighborhood. So, I'm feeling like a good neighbor right about now.

I bought wine today. I'm very amused that I can't say "I bought a bottle of wine" and the reason is that I bought a cask of wine. Or at least, that's what the manufacturers decided to call the cardboard box that houses the bag that holds my wine. Either way, it's 3 liters of delicious Pinot Noir - as summer ends, so does my affair with Riesling. I have had this wine before - it marks a brilliant crossroads between dry and fruity and the fruitiness is primarily a darker variety - cherry and blackberry - so it fits well with the drier qualities. Nevertheless, the whole reason I ever tried this wine was its name: Pinot Evil (see no evil, ha ha ha). It even has the three monkeys.
According to the box...er...cask of wine, those 3 liters represent 4 bottles of wine, so hopefully it will last me a while!

Tonight I made Polenta & Vegetable Bake for dinner.
It was wonderful - good enough for Mister to have thirds. It was perfectly hearty and very rich without being overly so. It was also extraordinarily easy to make and came together much more quickly than I thought it would. Mister doesn't like eggplant, so I just diced two zucchini. I also added two cloves of garlic because I just felt like it needed it. It was a little watery and was difficult to transport from the baking dish to our eating dishes, but it tasted amazing. I will definitely make this again. As a side note (hearkening back to that wretched Cavit Pinot Noir), my pretty glass of Pinot Evil was the perfect match to dinner's flavors.
Now for this week's menu (my refrigerator and cupboards are full of fun ingredients!):
1. Stewed Lentils with Soy Sausage; with Fingerling Fries (both from Vegan Express by Nava Atlas - I just can't get away from this book!)
2. Pasta Jambalaya (also from Vegan Express)
3. Pasta with Beans and Chard (also from Vegan Express)
4. Double Pea Soup with Roasted Red Peppers (from Veganomicon by Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero)
5. Roasted Yellow Pepper and Corn Bisque (also from Veganomicon)
6. French Lentil Soup with Tarragon and Thyme (also from Veganomicon)
7. Tuscan Vegetable Ragout (from Vegetarian Times Fast & Easy) This is another one of those old favorites you can lean on when you want something savory and simple. The whole book is great, but a little tofu-heavy. I like tofu now, but when I first got the book, I really wasn't a fan.

You'll notice I've cited sources for all recipes on this week's menu, which means they aren't mine. Now that the weather is cooling down (to my ineffable delight), I want to make soups and baked dishes. The same way that I learned to create skillet suppers and sautes over the summer, I will learn to create savory baked dishes and soul-warming soups: by recreating other people's for a few weeks. I figure I'll spend September, maybe the first part of October "researching," and then I'll get another creative streak like I did in early August and pump out a bunch of casserole and soup recipes. So, for now, I will make what has been made before and I will focus every last tastebud on the purpose of discerning what makes this dish or that dish taste so good. And then I'll let you know!

One last thing: I have added a poll on the right side of this page because I want your opinion. If you think the name I've quasi-settled on is stupid, please leave me a comment and either tell me why you think it's stupid and/or what better name you would suggest. Thank you!!!

rice reincarnated

Today was so much fun! In the end, the farmer's market was a bust, I gave up on the Italian Market (I wasn't de-stressed enough yet to deal with the crowds and chaos), and the ultimate in self-pampering became the only thing I accomplished today. Aside from my deep desire to spend some quiet time at Cafe Fulya, I really don't feel bad about the three hours I spent in Salon Sugar today, letting Candi KaBoom do amazing things to my hair.

The salon itself is painted in shades of pale and hot pink, and there are pink and black vinyl curlicues reaching out along the walls from behind the ornate gold mirrors. There aren't words to describe how awesome this place is or how happy I am with my hair!
Also, I have finally fixed the Red Rice and Beans recipe. Also, that's a crappy name for dinner, so I gave it a spiffier title. Without further ado, I give you...

Risotto Mexicano (pronounced meh-hee-KAHN-oh)
serves 4-6
Ingredients:
1 cup brown rice
1 1/4 cups water
1 1/2 cups V8 Hot & Spicy
2 Tbsp canola oil
4 cloves garlic, pressed/minced
1 tsp chili powder
1 large red bell pepper, diced
2-3 plum tomatoes, seeded and diced
15 oz black beans, rinsed and drained
5 oz baby spinach

Bring water to a boil in medium saucepan. Stir in rice, then cover and reduce heat to lowest setting and simmer 10-15 minutes. When almost all the water has been absorbed, stir in the V8 juice. Cover and simmer 10-15 more minutes.
Meanwhile, dice the pepper and tomatoes, but keep separate Heat oil on medium heat in a deep pot. Add garlic and pepper; cover and saute 3-5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in chili powder, tomatoes, and black beans. Simmer, uncovered, 1-2 more minutes. Pour in rice and V8 - it should not have been completely absorbed by the rice yet. Simmer, uncovered, about 10 minutes, until rice is tender and most liquid is absorbed. Stir in spinach until wilted. Remove from heat and serve.

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)