christmastime is here

(Christmas Time Is Here by Sarah McLachlan)

For the first time in three years, my dad and I got to go to Macy's for their holiday light show.  This was a tradition from my childhood that we revived when my dad started working in the city and I was laid off from my job in 2006.  The light show features the world's largest and oldest pipe organ (in continual use), is narrated by Julie Andrews (obviously not in person), and has been a Philadelphia holiday tradition since my father was a child in 1956.  Honestly, it's nothing spectacular compared to the visual stimulus offered these days, but the nostalgia can't be beat.

After breaking our necks to watch the show (we were on the ground floor - the show takes up a vertical stage from the 2nd through 4th floors), dad and I ambled through the City Hall quad to the west side of Broad Street to wander through the Christmas Village.  After seeing our share of Bratwurst and Schnitzel shops and glancing over the various wares of the jewelry and pretty scarf persuasion, we dodged several groups of oblivious school children to head into the underground "streets" of Philadelphia.

Neil Gaiman's first attempt at a literary novel (with actual words!) was the stunning Neverwhere, a dark mix of sci-fi and fantasy.  In the novel, we follow the hero through an alternate City he never knew existed until a random act of compassion pulled him underground and into another world.  I don't want to spoil anything by summing it up, but if you like to look at things from a different point of view, I can't recommend this book (or ANY of his others) enough.

Our jaunt through Philadelphia's belly was not nearly as interesting as the hero of the novel, but we weren't looking for adventure, we were trying to walk without having to constantly interrupt our conversation to dodge an unruly crowd of Charter school kids.  Nevertheless, there was something creepy-cool about walking relatively silently beneath a city that was presently teeming with life and activity.  As we walked and talked, Dad shared about an event at his church tomorrow - an event where less-advantaged neighbors are provided with gifts to give their families and a basket of food to make a nice holiday dinner.  As long as they're in the nice cozy warm church, they'll also be treated to a somewhat lavish dinner.  Dad chuckled a bit, telling me one of the dinner options is Shepherd's Pie, which is not standard fare in those parts of town - I didn't even know what it was until I found Sarah Kramer's recipe in How It All Vegan and discovered it to be one of Mister's favorite things!

So of course, that got me somewhat fixated on making this hearty, warm Favorite Dinner tonight.  I can't even remember the last time I made it, since it's fairly time-consuming and not really a warm-weather food.  Well, the temperature dropped about 30 degrees over the last couple of days, so I figured tonight was as good a time as any.  I have made this enough times to have a mental inventory of its ingredients, so after Dad and I said farewell, I headed home by way of SuperFresh, where I picked up some mashing potatoes and a few other essentials.

After we put up our little Charlie Brown Tree and some scant decorations throughout the apartment, I'd worked up enough of a hunger to think it was time to make dinner.  Oh no!  I remembered that I'd given my copy of HIAV to a friend at work because her son was having some dietary issues and she wanted to try a vegan diet for him (there is an entire section in HIAV devoted to child vegans).  I have no doubt I'll get it back when I see her again, but I didn't have it tonight.  What to do??

The interwebs never let me down....  so with the help of this vegan-celiac website, I made Mister one of his favorites and we all munched happily ever after.

sausage in my pocket

Well, it's a new year so I get to start my HolyCowIt'sSoCold posts all over again with a brand new quotient of times to bitch about the weather.  Keep in mind - I love Philadelphia, I love Philadelphia in the wintertime, and I love the cooler times of the year.  Still, there is no reason that I should be outside when the wind chill factors the temperature into the single digits.

Nevertheless, this morning I put on two layers of clothing, wrapped my puppy-scarf snugly around my neck, zipped my coat up to my nose, pulled on my gloves and hat and headed out the door looking very much like a ninja.

A cold ninja.

There's always something that astonishes me the first time each year that I look at the weather and see that not only is it 14 degrees right now, but it feels like it's 2 degrees and today's high doesn't break the freezing mark.  It's as though that's never happened before, even though it did, in fact, happen just last year and the year before that, too.  To anyone reading in Wisconsin or any of its neighboring states, and of course Canada, feel free to have a good laugh at my expense.  I am grateful that I've never seen the temperatures you deal with all winter long.  But for a relatively temperate area like Philadelphia, sub-freezing is our sub-zero.

When I got home, my first impulse was to make soup dinner despite Mister's inevitable protests.  I did not for two reasons (one of which became null): first, we didn't have any sandwich fixin's and I feel bad [now] serving Mister just soup.  Second, I was already thinking ahead to tomorrow's work lunch.  Granted, there are a ton of fabulous eating options within a one-block radius of the store I'm in tomorrow, but I haven't been keen on spending money going outside unnecessarily lately.  I don't want to test the strength of my "tupperware" by toting soup in my purse for a mile, so I wanted to make something a little more leftover-travel-friendly.

Enter Charro Beans with Chipotle Sausage from Vegetarian Times.  I've made this before, so why bother posting about it again?

That's why ^.  I've been meaning to try Field Roast sausages pretty much as long as they've been on the market, but they are about $1 more than Tofurky sausages and, being somewhat impoverished, that $1 has disproportionate value.  Regardless, since the recipe called for chipotle sausages and since Field Roast makes them (and Tofurky does not), it seemed the perfect excuse to splurge.

Unlike Tofurky, which is packaged similarly to hot dogs, the Field Roast sausages were actually packed as individually-wrapped links.  This made for quite the adventure trying to free them from their casings.  It resulted in my hands and cutting board looking like someone had just killed him- or herself in my kitchen - I'll spare you the picture I took of my "bloody" hand.

Once I'd coerced the little buggers out of their plastic casing, I cut two sausages in half (anticipating they would pack too much heat to stay in whole rounds like the recipe instructed) and then sliced them to add to my sauteing peppers.

After letting them cook a little by themselves, I added the beans and tomatoes, but I left out the chili powder because I was getting the distinct impression the sausages might end up being more than I'd bargained for.

Fortunately, I did have the foresight to serve them on a fluffy, bland cloud of mashed potatoes.

That may very well have been the only reason I could finish my first...and only...serving.  It was far more outstanding this time than the first time I'd made this dish, and that is owed completely to the brand of sausage, I believe.  Okay, that mashed potatoes are awesome doesn't hurt.

In any case, two things resulted from this dinner: first, Mister ended up with a generous portion of leftovers [read: all of them] for his lunch tomorrow and I ended up with a new strategy to beat the frigid temperatures outside: sausage.  By the time I finished my meal, I was nearly sweating, even though I'd turned down the heat while I was at work (Mister's fine - he's Greek so he radiates heat).  So, I told Mister I was going to carry the leftover sausages with me to warm me up like the brandy in a St. Bernard's barrel - just keep my sausage in my pocket until I need to go out into the cold.

Insert reallllllly immature joke here.

On a final and unrelated note, my healthcare for my new job is about to kick in, which is perfectly timed since one of my contacts decided to rip in my eye today.  All day I was walking around work squinting and blinking and putting drops in my eyes and complaining to my colleagues about my eyes bothering me.  I was counting the minutes until I could come home and take them out.  Upon doing so was when I discovered the damage, so I was reminded of yet another thing I love about Philadelphia and Winter.

In Philadelphia, especially Center City, but even on the residential streets where the homes are three stories tall, there is a natural darkness.  This is both beneficial and detrimental, depending on your point of view.  On the one hand, it might not be so darn cold if the sun could touch you and warm you up a little.  On the other hand, I can get away with not wearing sunglasses most of the time.  When it's winter, there's even less sunshine because the days are shorter and the sun never actually makes it to the "top" of the sky, so it's possible to stay out of direct sunlight pretty much all day.

Before you think I'm a vampire, let me just point out how difficult it is to wear sunglasses with seeing glasses - it doesn't work.  Since my new contacts are at least a week away from being in my eyeballs, looks like I'll be rocking my glasses, so I'm glad I don't have to worry about sun.

That's all.

no olives tonight

It's a pretty safe bet that Mister and I eat olives almost every day.  They are nearly always an accompaniment to our primarily Mediterranean dinners, so the only times I can think of that we don't have them at the table is when I make an Asian-inspired dish or we're out...which I usually try to time so they fall together.  We did not eat an Asian meal tonight, but we did not eat a Mediterranean meal either... in fact, for many reasons, tonight's dinner was entirely unsuited to olives.

I personally have never seen olives in a pub (unless it's a fancy pub with martinis)...

And tonight I made my Mister his veganized Bangers and Mash:

Ingredients:
4 Tofurky Beer Brats
1/2 stick of Earth Balance (or measure 1/4 c from the tub)
1 tsp olive oil
4 large shallots, thinly sliced
2-3 cloves of garlic, pressed
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp fresh thyme (or scant 1/2 tsp dried)
1/2 to 3/4 cup of red wine
2 cups vegetable broth
1 Tbsp vegan Worcestershire sauce
2 tsp cornstarch, dissolved in 1 Tbsp warm water
and for the mash...
2 lbs of Yukon Gold potatoes, cut into manageable chunks
2 Tbsp Earth Balance (1/2 of what remains from your earlier stick or measure from the tub)
1/3 to 1/2 cup unsweetened soymilk (or nondairy "milk" of your preference)


makes 4 servings


To make the gravy sauce, slice the shallots nice and thin, then press the garlic over top of them.  Melt the Earth Balance in a deep saute pan and add the olive oil.  Dump the whole pile of shallots and garlic into the heated oil 'n' EB and stir it up good, being sure to break up the rings of the shallots.

Cook for about 4-5 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Add the sugar, stir to coat, and allow to cook another 2 minutes or so.

Sprinkle on the thyme (quick tip: the easiest way to remove fresh thyme leaves from their stalks is by pulling the stalk through your finger(nail)s against the growth of leaves) and pour in your red wine.  Cook gently until reduced to just barely any liquid.

Pour in the vegetable broth and turn up the heat to get it to boil.  Once the stock is boiling somewhat rapidly, turn down the heat so that it's still bubbling gently.  Allow to cook until it's reduced by 80% - this took me about 30 minutes - stirring now and then.  When the gravy is appropriately reduced, stir in the Worcestershire sauce and then the slurry of cornstarch + water.  Turn heat to high and stir constantly until the gravy reaches a fierce, bubbling boil, then reduce heat slightly and continue to stir while it boils gently a few minutes.  Remove from heat.

Now, while you had those 30 minutes that the gravy was reducing, you should have been chopping the potatoes, putting them in a pot and covering them with water + 1", then boiling them until fork-tender (it took me about 10 minutes, but I chop small).  When the potatoes are done, drain them in a fine mesh colander and then dump them in your favorite Martha Stewart Blue mixing bowl.

Add 2 Tbsp of Earth Balance and start with 1/3 cup of soymilk (you can always add more).  Sprinkle on however much salt you think is appropriate (I went with a heaping teaspoon), then mash with a potato masher or fork (or even an electric mixer if you're feeling spunky) until smooth and creamy, adding more milk if necessary.

To serve, place one Tofurky Beer Brat on a plate (you're welcome, Mister), and lay a mountain of mashed potatoes beside it.  Place the gravy bowl on the table with a pretty little ladle and allow your dining partners to put it on their own plates, to taste.

It came out really good.  Mister was thrilled and I was very happy with my heaping mound of mashterpaters.  Mister and I once again remembered that we didn't know which hand held the knife, but we figured it was probably safest for the dominant hand to wield the sharp, pointy utensil.

As I'm sure you can imagine, Angst was also very excited about this "meat and potatoes" dinner.  He was so big-eyed and daring in his begging that Mister couldn't even be mad at him and even gave him a few pieces of his beer brat.

I can't take full credit for this recipe.  Since I was previously unacquainted with Bangers and Mash, I did do some internet research and was delighted to find the UK version of our Food Network, so the recipe above was inspired by and loosely based upon this one, penned by Ed Baines of Market Kitchen fame.

pub fare, take one

Exactly two weeks ago was Mister's and my 4th wedding anniversary.  It was also one of the nights I worked until close (9pm) so we just ate leftovers and sniffed pretty roses and gave each other some kisses.  We actually had our anniversary dinner the following night.  In the absence of our dear departed (and ardently missed!) Horizons, the only place in center city Philadelphia (or anywhere within decent driving distance to my knowledge) for vegan fine dining, we made some calls, reviewed some restaurants' menus online, and eventually settled on this plan: we'd start at Front and South Streets and just walk until we found somewhere we wanted to eat.

I hate South Street.  This was Mister's brilliant idea, because he seemed to think we had heard of a bunch of restaurants about to open on South Street.  I think we might have been thinking ahead on that one because what was on South Street was a lot of recently closed restaurants, as the Street continues its slow decline.  Regardless, we started our menu-gazing at Downey's, an Irish bar & restaurant.  We ultimately decided it probably wasn't the best bet for a "quiet" romantic anniversary dinner, so we kept going, but not before Mister whined a little about why no one has yet undertaken to veganize Irish/UK pub food and mourned that he hasn't had Bangers and Mash in about 9 years.

So, for my mister, tonight I made Savoury Shepherd's Pie from How It All Vegan.

First, I took my time slow-sauteing carrots, celery, tomato, and some garlic standing in for onion, then added in the lentils.  The recipe calls for 1/2 cup of mashed lentils, but that's no fun, so I cooked 1/2 cup of French de puy lentils and didn't bother mashing them.  It came out just right, and far more attractive than it would have been (and has been) with mashed Goya lentils.

In my pretty Martha Stewart Blue bowl, I mashed together 3 Yukon Gold potatoes with a generous tablespoon of Earth Balance, a quarter-cup of Earth Balance soymilk (we're all about product placement tonight, folks!), and a generous sprinkling of salt.  It is such a simple recipe, yet it's one of the tastiest recipes I have for mashed potatoes.

While the pie went into the oven, I opened my Happy Weekend bottle of 2009 Beaujolais-Villages because I'm ramping up for next Thursday, which is the third Thursday of November.  To celebrate the introduction of this year's Beaujolais Nouveau, there will be a street festival right outside where I work next Thursday, complete with complimentary tastings, sales at the retail establishments, and two things that I feel utterly compelled to try: Beaujolais jell-o shots because I cannot figure out how that works, and Beaujolais lip balm, because that's freaking awesome.

Once I had smoothed on a thick coating of mashed potatoes to top the pie, I was a little disappointed in how bland it looked, so I sprinkled some Mediterranean Sea Salt blend on that puppy and it was absolutely the right choice.  It added just a little....je ne sais quoi (someone take my French away!)

Stay tuned for tomorrow's menu, which should include at least one other attempt at making Mister some pub fare and other recent requests.  We might end up with A Menu For Mister, part two...

mashterpaters

Now, now, scoop your mind out of the gutter.  Remember - this is a food blog!

Although I had every intention of making Orecchiette with Cherry Tomatoes and Kalamata Tapenade tonight, Mister had more Penne Arrabbiata for lunch, so I didn't think he'd want pasta for dinner.  I contemplated the menu and decided that I was in the mood for Chickpea Cutlets from Veganomicon, alongside heaping piles of fluffy, creamy mashed potatoes.

I made this once before, to mixed reviews.  It was my opinion that "what went wrong" was my failure to increase other quantities in the recipe when I went ahead and used the whole can of chickpeas instead of measuring out one cup.  This time around, I did alter the other ingredients accordingly, resulting in the meatier texture that was missing the first time around.  I did need a steak knife this time.

The mashed potatoes were okay.  They were better than the last batch, but I'm still working my way up to HolyCowTheseAreTheBestMashedPotatoesI'veEverEaten and we're not there yet.  These were sufficiently creamy, as I used Earth Balance as the fat and plain soymilk to make creamier.  I thought I had sprinkled them generously with salt, but I also think I underestimated the amount of mashed potatoes I would work it into.  In a sense they were almost a little sweet and that really isn't a quality Mister or I seek out in mashterpaters.

Angst was begging, so Mister gave him a little bit of his cutlet.  Angst sniffed at it a little and eventually got around to eating it.  When he came back and was sniffing at the air, I thought he wanted a piece of my cutlet as well.  That is one thing I will say for these cutlets - even if they're a little squishier than Mister would prefer and would benefit from a little more seasoning in the future, they sure do stink the whole place up in the most delicious way.  Anyway, I pulled a little piece off and gave it to Angst...who just kind of looked at it, looked at me, and started snuffling at the air again.  I told him mashterpaters don't smell like anything, but he wasn't buying it.  To prove to him he didn't want the potatoes, I gave him some.

I will never learn.

He loved them and ate them all up.

We call this his GruntleFace (as in disgruntled)
You can see his little brow furrowed, can't you?

makes mouths happy

Mister loves mashed potatoes (well, potatoes in general, but he definitely loves mashed potatoes as a top three pick).  Actually, let me try that again:

Mister looooooooooves mashed potatoes.

He also loves broccoli and chickpeas and garlic.  It stands to reason, then, that Mister loved tonight's dinner: Forty-Clove Chickpeas and Broccoli from Appetite for Reduction.  Angst kind of liked it, too - he liked the little balls of "raw hummus" Mister kept giving him.

There's Mister's lunch tomorrow - one of the few times he will happily eat leftovers.  As he got up from the dinner table tonight, he proclaimed it one of the best dinners ever because it was made up of "so many favorite things!"  I must agree.  Also, in my own mindful eating of dinner, I made two discoveries - one sweet...the other less so.

I discovered the unbridled bliss of biting into a forkful of mashed potatoes to find a perfect chunk of roasted garlic inside.  Such a powerful flavor, especially because this particular chunk had a whole side that had been browned by the roasting, so it added a kind of darker, smoky aspect.

The second thing I discovered is actually more of a slow-dawning realization.  I do not have a "go to" mashed potatoes recipe.  I have recipes, and occasionally, I follow one - most of the time that is because it is directly linked to the other recipe I'm making and I feel bad making one without the other.  That was not the case tonight - tonight, I simply decided to serve the pile of roasted perfection on top of what I had hoped would be light, creamy mashed potatoes.

I have actually accomplished that, by the way - just wanted to clear that up.  I didn't quite get there tonight, though, which I'm choosing to blame on the lack of Earth Balance and soymilk for blending.  In their place, I added a fair sprinkling of kosher salt, a generous dab of olive oil, and a very rounded spoonful of hummus.  The hummus definitely helped and I can see myself using it again in that capacity, but what I'm getting to is this: I shop for my recipes, so if I have a recipe for something, I know exactly what to buy.  If I had made mashed potatoes from a recipe, I would have purchased soymilk and replenished the Earth Balance before it got down to the miserable little teaspoon currently hogging the whole tub.

Summer isn't a big time for mashed potatoes (or roasted things, for that matter), so I'm issuing myself a challenge this fall (which is creeping closer, believe it or not!).  This fall, I want to perfect my own awesome "go to" recipe for mashed potatoes so flavorful and creamy we'll forget any allegiance we ever paid to those [delightfully convenient] Country Crock mashed potatoes in a microwaveable tub.

I'm also hoping this will ward off the Baking Bug just long enough for me to protect my waistline through the winter months.  Except for two things that will probably interfere....

Celebrate Vegan, the new cookbook by Dynise Balcavage (The Urban Vegan), which I had the extraordinary fortune to be involved in through recipe-testing, will finally be released on October 18!

One short week later, Isa and Terry's new book, Vegan Pie in the Sky, will also be released on the unsuspecting public.

Stay tuned!  Every menu from now until Christmas will be made exclusively from Appetite for Reduction!


(j/k)

countdown is on

Angst is angry with me.  To be fair, it is a little warranted.  All my poor little kitty wanted for dinner his last night on earth (because he is a holy kitty and will obviously be part of tomorrow's rapture) was Sloppy Joes, but instead, because I am a mean, mean lady (which is why I will be left behind), I made Chickpea Piccata from Appetite for Reduction.

As it always is, it was delightful, and Angst, despite his intense scowl, decided he would like to try a taste of the non-sloppy-joe dinner.  Mister tried to convince him that it was nothing he would like, but he did so by lowering his plate so Angst could sniff at the food...which resulted in Angst trying to eat the food right off of Mister's plate.

Ever generous and a much better kitty-parent than I am, apparently, Mister plucked a lemony chickpea from his plate and put in on the floor for Angst to realize he didn't want.  Angst licked off all the sauce, kind of like he does with hummus on pita, and looked at Mister for more.  After allowing the chickpea to "age" a bit, he came back and chewed up his "raw hummus."  For dessert, we gave him some of his Birthday Catnip.

After all, if he doesn't finish it tonight, it'll go to waste.  As they say, you can't take it with you...

The countdown has begun.  Since the Beginning of the End is supposed to start at 6pm local time, starting in New Zealand and rippling through the time zones with terrific inevitability, I did some math of my own.  If the huge, ne'er-seen-before-magnitude earthquake that signifies God closing the door to Heaven (before pulling up all the righteous - figure that out) is supposed to start at 6pm in New Zealand, and New Zealand is 7 hours ago in tomorrow (stay with me), then we will know if the Endtimes are really upon us in one hour.  At 1 AM Eastern time, it will be 6 PM in New Zealand.

I hope the world doesn't end, though.  It would really put a damper on my weekend plans.  More tomorrow!

Hopefully.

ail et au citron

I think I'm going to come out with a "signature scent," meant specifically to be worn on the fingertips.  Obviously, I have no idea how to make or market perfume, and if my name appeared on cosmetic shelves, it would only be followed by the oohing and ahhing of people wondering just who the h*** Natalie K is.  Nevertheless, someday when I'm famous, women everywhere will riot for the opportunity to wear Natalie K's Ail et au Citron*.  If it does well enough, maybe we'll come up with a brut aftershave for men...

I'm normally pretty good at following directions, mainly because I figure they're there for a reason and the originator of the directions knows better than me.  However, I think I've missed the point of Appetite for Reduction.  Surely, if I developed a serious weight problem and had reason to "take it seriously," this would be a great cookbook to follow the directions to a "t" and lose weight while enjoying delicious and diverse creations.

Fortunately, I don't have a weight problem.

Yet.

Seriously, though - can you look at the Chickpea Piccata, nestled in its little cloud of fluffy mashed potatoes, settled on a bed of baby arugula and tell me, truthfully, that you could refrain from having seconds?  Of course not!  And that's just from looking at a picture - if you had one little taste of the rich, lemony-yet-savory sauce or bit into a single creamy chickpea or briny caper, you could not stop.  If you could have smelled the scents wafting through my home, you'd have been following your nose into the kitchen just like Mister did.  If you could enjoy the texture contrast of creamy, fluffy mashed potatoes against crunchy, peppery, green arugula, you could not resist a second helping.

Mister and I sure couldn't.  We'll add this to the No Leftovers Series.

*if you can't read French, check out google translator.

SuperIsa to the rescue!

I had truly intended to heat up leftovers for dinner tonight.  I wanted a quick dinner (because someone stayed up too late baking and eating and blogging) and we have a growing colony of Rubbermaid citizens in our fridge.  I guess there's always tomorrow, because I got my brain hooked on making Isa's Seitan and Broccoli with Pantry BBQ Sauce.

Although the pile of leftovers in my fridge worries me a little bit, the half-loaf of baked seitan from Sunday worried me more.  Since it's baked, it doesn't sit in some broth in an air-tight tupperware, it's merely wrapped in foil and being a lump on the shelf.  I wasn't sure exactly how long it would sit there peacefully before trying to rile some of the other leftovers into a coup d'etat, so I decided to cook him.

Thank heavens that isn't how we do politics.  "I didn't want any competition, so I ate him."

Anyway, this ended up being a pretty quick-cooking recipe after all, which was fortunate since Mister forgot he was hungry until I was halfway through prep.  Then his belly started grumbling and he helped set the table while I finished up mixing 500 ingredients together for the BBQ sauce.

A quick aside: there are fundamental differences in the way Mister and I set the table.  I set it the same on both sides - my napkin on my right, his napkin on his right.  You get the picture.  Mister puts both napkins on the same side, although that means my right and his left.  I almost always use bowls, since it seems easier to chase rice, bulgur, and/or pasta around a vessel with sloped sides.  Mister stubbornly sets the table with plates, no matter what I'm cooking.  Similarly, the only utensils in Mister's universe are forks, occasionally knives.  Spoons, I find necessary on an almost daily basis and Mister loathes, aside from their function as a coffee stirrer.

Fortunately, the mashed potatoes made an adequate base for the chewy chunks of seitan and the tender broccoli that magically sops up all the BBQ sauce the seitan left behind.  Mashed potatoes require no gravy when eaten in this way, but I must admit, my brain was already working out how to adjust the BBQ sauce to make a hearty, thick gravy for Thanksgiving (yes, I know it's more than half a year away, but I live for the time between Thanksgiving and New Years).

Once again, on so many levels, Isa was my hero.  So many things Mister loves all on one plate: mashed potatoes, broccoli, seitan in BBQ sauce.  So many things I love: quick cooking, savory with a little hint of sweetness, textural contradiction between the fluffy mashed 'taters and chewy, "meaty" seitan, as well as the crisp, clean bite of broccoli.  This dinner is a winner and will definitely find its way to our table again.  I'm just so glad I made it to thePPK.com!!!

angry belly

This has been the sickest winter in years.  I don't think I've been ill this frequently since I was working part-time in a public school and the other part of the time I was going into relatively filthy homes to tell other people how the county thought they should raise their children.  Just when I finally stopped sniffling and sneezing, something horrible happened to my digestive system.  But first, pictures of what has transpired since Friday:

On Saturday, I went food shopping.  In an utterly adorable move, Mister followed me out the door when I was on my way to Whole Foods.  Like a little puppy, he walked beside me and explained that he wanted to spend time with me (since I'm never home since I'm always either at work or commuting to/from).  He misses me when I'm at work, which I love.

However, after dodging drunkards to get to Whole Foods and Superfresh and filling our baskets despite a large number of people milling around without the vaguest clue why they came to this magical place with so much food, I had no desire to actually cook any of the food.  I don't want to lay blame on one of my favorite restaurants, but that may have been my most recent undoing.

Pictured just above is the Vegetable Sayadia at Cedars on 2nd and South.  We haven't been to Cedars in ages, but now it is literally around the corner.  In fact, I think if I could leap moderately tall buildings in a single bound, I could walk out of the little tunnel that leads to the street, jump one block East and be directly in front of the restaurant.  I got this once before with my friend, which inspired this recipe, and when I proposed that we dine there on Saturday, I knew that was what I was going to get.

Mister always orders fries with peppers and onions.  I always steal a few and eat around the onions.  We also got baba ghanouj for an appetizer and Mister wanted a plate of olives and feta.  I ordered my Sayadia without mushrooms this time, and as a testament to their continually spectacular service, our server asked if I would like to substitute eggplant for the fungus.

I love Cedars and would never want to accuse them of wrong doing, but something has not been right with my belly since Saturday night.  There was some kind of little growly thunderstorm going on Saturday night and woke up Sunday feeling extremely nauseated.  I'll spare some gory details, but let's just say my digestive system felt the need to cleanse itself of something...

That being said, I have also been dizzy and have a strange taste in my mouth, so I'm wondering if I have some kind of inner ear infection.  Since I get motion-sick pretty easily, being dizzy could be enough to nauseate me.  I'll admit, I was more than a little nervous about taking the no-way-out train to work today (and took two plastic bags, just in case).  I'm kind of hoping for the infection because I don't want to think I got food poisoning from one of my happy places.

Anyway, since I was not feeling my best, Sunday was not as productive as I wanted it to be, although there was an exciting hour and half that gave Mister and I the opportunity to see just how wet we could get when there is a drenching downpour and the Philly Car Share car won't unlock.  I made dinner last night and did not stuff myself with it only because I thought it might make me puke.  Not the dinner - dinner was awesome.  Just that whole putting food in my mouth and swallowing it action.

I made Forty-Clove Chickpeas and Broccoli from Appetite for Reduction.  I can't get over how wonderful it smells when its roasting away in the oven (which I'm still trying to figure out how to work, but I could probably fill a whole post with that adventure).  I really could have gone to town on this if my belly was behaving, but I could barely finish my broccoli on mashed potatoes.

When I got up this morning, I had really high hopes for my stomach.  Within minutes of waking, I was fairly certain I was going to lose my breakfast...although I hadn't actually eaten any yet.  For reasons I may never know, I did cut up and apple and make tea, even though I thought I was going to lose it the moment I put a slice of apple in my mouth.  Miraculously, I ate breakfast and took a shower before needing a short nap.  I made it to work (with my two bags) and upon returning home, was just hungry enough to try my hand at an old favorite:

Pasta with Beans and Chard from Vegan Express never lets me down.  I always forget how good it is until I'm eating it.  I put it on the menu because I remember that it's super-easy to make and tastes good, but then I take my first bite and can't believe I don't make this more frequently.

It's tasty, it's attractive, the only thing I would improve is how soupy it is at the bottom.  I think I should start draining the tomatoes, but I'm hesitant to do that since they're "Italian" which means the juices have all the good stuff.  Regardless, there is just too much liquid, so maybe it will be a compromise...half-drained?

In any case, I like the way the savory garlic-infused olive oil brings out the sweetness of the dried cranberries I sub for raisins since Mister is personally offended by them.  Although the recipe says a person could use cannellini beans or "pink" beans, I can't imagine anything fitting the texture need the way the cannellini beans do. 

Sweet dreams!  Here's hoping I don't wake up wanting to barf again!

lessons learned at the cutting board

Call me a lifelong student or simply a student of life; I love learning things and applying the things I learn.  When I was actually in college and grad school, you couldn't shut me up once I got going about something I had learned or read and once I had babbled all about it to one person, the information was with me - learned.  There is something about sharing what I learn with others that helps me to more fully understand it myself.

It was really difficult to make myself go back to work yesterday - I had a three-day weekend because of taking my birthday off and at least half the country seemed to have yesterday off because of Martin Luther King Day.  I tried to give myself a pep talk by asking myself, rhetorically, I thought, what on earth I would do if I didn't go to work.  Unfortunately, I was prepared, and started listing things I would do if I stayed home.  Ultimately, I convinced me to go to work because I knew we were in for some nasty weather and I wanted to leave myself the option of calling out today if it really was bad.

That's exactly what I did.  I'm pretty sure it was fate or possibly predestination (in other words: I had predetermined to take the day off if the weather was even remotely hazardous to travel).  After thawing out from my walk home in 20something degree weather since the buses felt the best way to honor MLK was to make sure Rosa had to walk, I started making dinner.  As I was shredding my cabbage and boiling the farfalle, Mister drew my attention to the little sparkly bits of snow dancing around in the streetlamps' light.  By the time I put dinner on the table, there was actually a coating on the roads which surprised the heck out of me - I didn't think we were actually supposed to get an accumulation!  Through dinner and clean-up, the snow continued to fall - just tiny little guys, but enough of them that the 20-degree streets didn't stand a chance - and then they got bigger.  By the time we were heading to bed, the snow had turned from fluffy flakes of happy to ominous drops of freezing rain, ricocheting off the windows before coating the snow-covered streets with a layer of ice.

I got up in the morning and it looked like the rain had cleared up most of the streets, so I had some tea and breakfast, but as I listened to the moaning of the wind outside, I became more than just a little curious about the state of things, so I visited weather.com and decided now was as good a time as any to follow SEPTA's tweets and was I ever right.  For the next twenty minutes, as I hemmed and hawed about whether to risk a relapse of my fragile health to go to work today, I was bombarded with updates on this bus being rerouted and that one being cancelled, while this train was late and that one is only going half its normal route, and let's not forget about the trolleys being stopped because of "smoking manhole covers."  I decided the apocalypse was manifesting itself through public transit and said to myself, once again, "what will you do if you stay home?"  This time, though, I made a list of all the ways I would be more productive at home than at work, and when I hit the bottom of the paper, I called out.  It took a minute, including writing time, by the way.

What on earth does all this have to do with learning, you ask?
Well, nothing really, aside from allowing me a little extra time to cook dinner and forcing me to be introspective about something I thought I'd left mostly in my past for the sake of helping a student with her homework.  So, on to dinner!

Since I was well-rested (yes, I left out the part about going back to bed after leaving the list to be completed upon re-waking), I had plenty of energy to devote to making Chickpea Piccata, served on a fluffy cloud of Caulipots, both from Appetite for Reduction.  Here are some things I learned:

1. If Isa wants to help people lose weight, she needs to stop making her recipes so darn tasty.  I have not had trouble keeping my promise to my mom yet.

2. Thanks to Isa and Dynise, I have become much more daring with garlic and with shallots.  There was a time, about a month ago, actually, when I couldn't fathom preparing garlic in anyway that did not involved pressing it so that it would more or less dissolve innocuously into my food.  Now?  Check out these huge slices of garlic:

3. Shallots make me cry.  I've seen some funny pictures of onion goggles, but I've never really had any problems with onions, green onions, shallots, or garlic making me tear up...until tonight.  It was the weirdest thing; I was slicing the shallots and all of a sudden, I noticed my eyes were stinging and about to tear up and I stood upright and allowed myself a moment of confusion - it's not like tonight was the first time I'd sliced shallots.  I think the difference tonight is that I was wearing my glasses, not my contacts - can anyone else confirm this or am I just a freak?

4. Angst loves when I stay home, but he doesn't like to share.  He demonstrated his defiance tonight by hopping up onto Mister's dinner chair while I was filling our bowls and making himself very comfy.

Look at that scowl!  He was very clearly saying, MY chair.  When Mister came to sit for dinner, Angst just gave him that same angry look, as if to say, "find another chair. This one's taken."

He scrammed when Mister made like he was going to sit on him, though.

The Chickpea Piccata was absolutely fabulous.  From the minute I opened this book for the first time, that was high up on my list of things I wanted to make, and it did not disappoint.  I want to share Isa's intro because it perfectly sets you up for the amazing flavors about to meet and mingle in your mouth:

A plate of piccata is like an instant fancy dinner with all the stops.  One second you're just sitting there, all normal-like, but the moment that first forkful of lemony wine bliss touches your tongue, you're transported to candlelight and tablecloths, even if you're sitting in front of the TV.

I served the piccata over Caulipots, as Isa suggests.  Mister and I love the way this girl thinks; one of the things we missed the most after "going veg" was mashed potatoes, which doesn't make any sense, since potatoes are not an animal.  We realized, though, that there are very few things in our diet with which you can serve mashed potatoes.  Isa has changed all of that, though, with her genius scheme to used mashed potatoes as the starchy base, rather than the standard rice/grain or pasta - we love her for it.

The caulipots were unbeatable - they were just a little lighter than regular mashed potatoes, but packed a powerful punch, flavor-wise and nutritionally.  I used only two Tbsp of broth in the mashing, yet the whole batch was perfectly seasoned from that + olive oil + little bit of salt.  This may very well become my standard "mashed potatoes" recipe.  If I haven't said it yet, please do yourself and everyone you cook for a big favor: break open your piggy bank and head to your local bookstore to get yourself a copy of Appetite for Reduction.

Mister picks a winner!

I'm sure I've previously mentioned my countless attempts to involve Mister in the dinner-decision-making process.  I've probably also mentioned his apathetic reticence.  On rare occasion, I have shared a fun story of changing my dinner plans due to an enthusiastic request from a Mister looking at the menu over my shoulder.  As you've probably gathered, if Mister actually participates in choosing dinner, I'm entirely too delighted to turn down whatever request he made.

This is why we did not go out to dinner tonight.

To be honest, today was a real bummer of a last day off from work.  It was grey and miserable in the morning, which I don't mind, but it certainly makes it a little harder to get moving.  I had a pleasant surprise(ish) in the form of my Cali Sister coming to visit.  We wandered over to Cups & Chairs, where I haven't been since Old Faithful died, and met up with Mister for a round of tea and brunch.  I had a blueberry bagel that could have been dessert, accompanied by a Green Tea Soy Latte that was utterly delicious.  Sister had a Caprese sandwich and a Vanilla Latte, while little Nephew pushed pieces of an omelet around a plate.  Mister had the vegetarian omelet with a Detox Tea that he really tried to drink, but didn't.  After some fun conversation, I bid Sister farewell just as a steady rain began to fall, threatening to drown my hopes of completing outdoor chores.

I stood in my kitchen with my coat buttoned up and my grocery list tucked in my purse, glancing out the window and trying to determine how much rain was actually falling.  I eventually decided that despite my disposition, I am not made of salt and ventured out into the rain.  I made it to Whole Foods, filled my bags with goodies and got about halfway home before the heavier rain started.  I opened my umbrella and hastened my steps, then took my time unloading the groceries in hope the rain would die down so I could go to Superfresh.  Eventually, that did occur.

What does any of this have to do with not going out to dinner?  Well, after traipsing through the rain for groceries and a horrendously unsuccessfully shoe-shopping attempt, I sat in my kitchen by half-light, since one of the bulbs blew out again last night, and could not muster the desire to cook.  I wanted to go to dinner just around the corner, have pasta with rich, garlicky sauce, and at least a glass or two of Montepulciano.  Mister was totally on board, by the way, until I had to go and derail the whole thing by showing him the menu...at which point he commenced to drool.

Can you blame him?  I constructed this week's menu completely from Appetite for Reduction, so his reaction should be testimony that you can eat mouth-watering things while trying to lose weight.  No, Mom, I'm not trying to lose weight.  It's good to know, though, that if I did want to lose weight, I wouldn't feel deprived! (I sound like a commercial for my company). 

Anyway, why don't I share the menu with you so you can see why Mister didn't want to go out to dinner anymore (and why I couldn't help but agree, on second glance):

1. Hottie Black-Eyed Peas and Greens - I had completely forgotten about the New Years tradition of eating black-eyed peas and collards for good luck until everyone I knew posted about it in some social media.  So, I figure, good luck is better late than never, right??

2. Forty-Clove Chickpeas and Broccoli - I'll be honest: this recipe alone was the reason I wanted this cookbook.  I was fortunate to get a sneak peek when Jess from Get Sconed! was testing for the cookbook and I was hooked from that moment.

3. Pasta Con Broccoli - hey! Broccoli finally got Not-Gross.  I'm taking advantage.  Besides, after reading the recipe through twice, I was in love.

4. Ginger Bok Choy and Soba - pushing my luck with the bok choy situation, but the adult variety is usually available, so I figured I'd take my chances.

5. Pasta e Fagioli with Spinach - because apparently, a girl can never have too many pasta fagioli recipes... it's like the Italian answer to Rice-n-Beans.

6. Braised Cabbage with Seitan accompanied (hopefully) by Jerk Asparagus.  When I got the book on Christmas, I was glancing through the food porn section in the middle of the cookbook and saw the Jerk Asparagus.  Mister and I love the jerk spices, so I wanted to make this ASAP.  Of course, there is no asparagus to be found now.  I selected the cabbage-n-seitan because I needed a recipe to help me use the rest of my New Years Seitan.

So, the recipe that got Mister over the prospect of bruschetta, pizza, and possibly tiramisu (some of his absolute favorite foods)?  Not surprisingly, Forty-Clove Chickpeas and Broccoli.  I served it on top of homemade mashed potatoes, creating another holy trinity of Mister's favorite foods: broccoli, chickpeas, (garlic) and mashed potatoes.  It was super simple to prep, and then it just sits in the oven, stinking up your kitchen in the most delightful way for about 45 minutes.  It was amazing and I'm so glad we ate at home after all (plus, I listened to my new CD while prepping) - we just about licked our bowls clean.

Go, right now, and get Appetite for Reduction.  Make this recipe.  Angst says so.

Okay, you're right.  He didn't say a thing, but he sure is a persuasive napper, isn't he?