this is your brain on bacon

Bacon.  It's kind of like The New Superfood except that it'll kill you, not make you stronger.  In addition to its high fat and cholesterol content, there is a carcinogen in bacon that is activated through the cooking process.

Nevertheless, Bacon.  People love it.  All kinds of people - big people, little people, fat people, thin people, couch potatoes, athletes....and vegetarians?  Yup, sometimes vegetarians love it, too.  It's been referred to as the "gateway meat," the one temptation that proves too much even for a committed vegetarian to resist.  I've heard stories of friend's friends who are steadfast vegetarians... until they get really drunk and then they want to eat bacon.  I guess it's not made of pig when you're drunk.

But listen, I'm not here to criticize.

If you ask most vegans/vegetarians what one thing they miss, taking animals and the environment and everything else out of the equation, it's normally bacon.

Once upon a time, in a land kind of far away (not really), I had a weekend tradition.  My friends and I would go out to a club/bar on Friday night and drink and dance until it closed, then we would return to the home of the friend who lived almost right behind the bar/club, eat nachos and then either disperse or fall asleep.  The following morning, we would curl up on the couch and drink coffee and watch ridiculous things on the TV until we were hungry enough to send her boyfriend to the nearby Burger King for food (yes, I thought that's what it was way back then).  I always got a #5 value meal with Dr. Pepper.  The #5 was a Double Bacon Cheeseburger with fries and I loooooved it.

Time passed and the "weekend treat" turned into my Go-To "to go" meal.  I would even get the "gourmet" version at a local Philly pub.  I truly don't know how I lived long enough to become a vegetarian, but I'm glad I did (and so are my heart, arteries, and waistline).

Believe it or not, this is all building up to my lunch today.  Please keep breathing - I didn't eat a double bacon cheeseburger...

I had a Ziggy Burger from HipCityVeg!  Please excuse the rotten picture - the place was packed, so I took my biodegradable, recycled-and-recyclable bag of lunch across the street to Rittenhouse Square and I care way too much about whether strangers will think I'm weird for photographing a burger, so I just took a crappy picture with my ancient dumbphone.

Anyway, I actually had planned to get the Philly Steak, but when I asked about getting it without the mushrooms and onions, I was told that they were "cooked into" the seitan, so that ended that little dream.  The bubbly, cute girl behind the iPad "register" suggested the Ziggy Burger.  She had me at "smoked tempeh," so I decided to give it a try.

Once I'd seated myself on a bench in the park, I pulled my burger out and was immediately amused by the wrapping:

It looks even neater up close.

The first bite of my burger was an almost otherworldly experience - I never thought I would taste a bacon cheeseburger again, but that is exactly what the Ziggy Burger tastes like.  It was so good.  I don't even want to describe it, I just want you to go to HipCityVeg and try one yourself.  Or anything else from this amazing menu...

photo credit

I want to try everything that doesn't involve Portobello mushrooms.  This is a goal that will likely be spread out over several paychecks, since the fast food set-up does not over-ride Rittenhouse Square pricing.  What's worse is how I only vaguely cringe at this point when my burger came out to $9.10 (including tax).  Actually, no, what's THE worst is that $9.10 only covered the burger.  If I had gotten fries (or kale!) and a drink, I'd have paid $15-20.  For lunch.

That being said, it was a great burger (though I kind of suspect the patty itself might have been a Boca vegan burger...) and when I entered the joint I was offered a free shot of their "Groothie," a green smoothie made of apples, bananas, kale, and pineapple and it was amazing.  I would totally pay $3.50 for it... on occasion.  I was fortunate to get there at a "lull" in the excitement.  Yeah, every seat was taken and some people were lined up along a wall waiting for their food, but I walked right in and up to the register to order - no waiting.  I must have (for once) had perfect timing, because by the time I moved to the wall to await my white satchel of burger with HipCityVeg stamped oh-so-indie-ly upon it in black ink, there was a queue of people straight out the door!

If you miss bacon, do yourself a favor and go to HipCityVeg.
If you love bacon and still eat it even though it will kill you, do your body a favor and go to HipCityVeg.
If you just love to eat good food (tasty and nutritious!), go to HipCityVeg!


Maybe I'll see you there after I get my next paycheck ;)  I'll be the one with sweet potato fries, sauteed kale, and a groothie begging the lady with the iPad to take my money.

black magic, brown rice

I know, I know - how many posts can I really devote to brown rice?

At least one more.

I am just so pleased with myself at the moment.  Tonight I made the Seitanic Jambalaya from Veganomicon in just under an hour!  The book gives it an hour and a half, and previous attempts
have seen me begging the rice to be plump and done after two and a half hours of simmering uselessly on the stovetop.  Tonight, though, I nearly made this into an express meal!

Well, okay, let's not get out of control here.  Besides, it's not like I did anything terribly innovative - I just used the same trick I've employed for other brown-rice-stovetop-simmering recipes - I cooked the rice separately and then added it to the pot.  Ah, yes.  The pot.

Another contributor to my success may have been the use of my beautiful 4-quart saute pan.  Everything fit!

Speaking of perfect fits (and awkward segues...), I am so excited about a new development exactly halfway between the two center city locations of my company.

HipCityVeg is the new venture by Nicole Marquis, who was formerly the General Manager at my dear, departed, and sorely missed Horizons.  I knew I was in love when I read a review that featured a casual mission statement from the proprietress: "I wanted to put Horizons on a sandwich."  Um... you had me at Hello!

Great reviews abound and apparently there have been lines out the door since the place opened on Monday.  I am hoping to stop by there for lunch tomorrow since I will be traveling from one store to the other and, like I said, it's mid-way.  My mouth absolutely watered checking out the menu...

I'm putting my camera in my purse now and with a little luck (and probably a lot of patience), I'll finally have some food photos for you tomorrow (and of course, as detailed a review as I can muster!)  Until then, chickpeas, take care!

klutz in the kitchen

You would think I didn't know my way around a kitchen.  You'd think I've never cooked before... or measured anything... or stirred a pot.  If you haven't been following this blog for the last couple of years, you might think I was just learning to cook from the way I was dropping things and tossing things around tonight.

You know, it's ridiculous - I took a couple of days off from my kitchen and it's as though I've never handled a measuring spoon or a spatula before.  I spilled water, poured salt all over the counter, knocked rice on the floor, and dropped at least two measuring spoons.  I tossed bits of spinach all over the stovetop and God forbid I transfer the coconut milk from the counter to the pot without dumping some of it on the skillet and pan-frying tofu in the process.

Fortunately, it all came together (after a little swearing and a lot of stooping) to make Sag Paneer from Celebrate Vegan.

I'll be honest, I was not all that impressed, after all my hard work (of spinach-slinging, salt-spilling, and rice-scattering).  It was really rather bland, despite the addition of the maximum amount of salt (plus a little, probably) and the shallot-garlic-ginger base.  I caught Mister trying to be subtle as he snuck more salt onto his second serving and unabashedly doused both servings with a generous amount of hot sauce (at my suggestion).  I did not have an opportunity to test this before the cookbook was published, but I wish I had so I could have suggested a ton more flavor.  One of my favorite parts of Indian food is the almost overwhelming 'spiceyness' and flamboyant flavors - those aspects were disappointingly absent from this recipe, making me glad as heck for the overboard flavors in The 30 Minute Vegan's version of this Southern Asia staple.

Angst still seemed to think he urgently needed to share Mister's dinner...

"This is my Imploring Face"
(note the paw on Mister's knee) 

"Please, Mister, I NEEDS!"

So, Black Friday I came home and ate leftover Spanakopita and leftover Apple Pie.  Saturday I slept most of the day, drank some coffee, got another make-up delivery, and then went out on a belated Anniversary Dinner with my hubby because....

...Vedge finally opened!  Hallelujah, folks.

I took a bunch of pictures, but it's possible that Vedge is even dimmer than Horizons was, so none of them came out.  Here's the synopsis:

I started out with an Apple Cide Car, per the power of suggestion from Dynise's review of the Friends and Family night.  With dinner, I enjoyed a nice glass of Dolcetto.  The server explained that the Chef suggests three plates per person and that the menu lists plates in order from light to heavy.  To share, Mister and I ordered our old favorite from Horizons - Truffled Fingerling Fries, a newsie Crispy Cauliflower with Kimchee Mayo and an order of Roasted Baby Broccoli from their "Dirt" list (today's fresh veggie sides).  I elected to try a new dish, despite many of my favorites from Horizons making a slightly altered appearance on the menu - Steak-Spiced Tofu with squash, chanterelles, and a few other unidentified vegetables.  I can honestly say that this dish marked the very first time I have actually found mushrooms enjoyable.  I will not be seeking them out any time soon, but it was nice to not have to eat around them.  Mister stuck with what he knows, ordering the Grilled Seitan, even though it came on a bed of beluga lentils with some mushrooms surrounding it.  It was so refreshing to be able to order and eat anything on the menu.  The delightful thing about the small plates thing Vedge is doing is that it enabled us to order and enjoy dessert without feeling like total pigs (and since it's much further from home, the walk back helped burn off a few calories).  Mister, as usual, got Fig & Quince Cheesecake and discarded the fruit.  The figs tasted kind of "green" and the quince was middle-sweet.  I would have left them on, myself.  I got the Sticky Toffee Pudding with Pumpkin(-spiced) "ice cream" and loved every warm, melty bite.

As a side note, Angst helped me finish the blog post tonight and Mister took pictures:

pizza and donuts

Seriously, can a man have a happier birthday than this?

• freshly ground and brewed Blue Bottle Coffee when he wakes up
• a Wawa Hoagie for brunch
• Pizza for dinner with a gourmet cream soda
• and a Giant Donut for dessert

I don't see how.  Oh, and gourmet mustards for gifts.  Yeah, I'd say Mister's having a pretty happy birthday.  He'd probably prefer his "cake" didn't have pretty pink candles, but hey, some days you're the bird and some days you're the statue.

After a couple cups of coffee, I showered, dressed, and set off on my quest to Williams-Sonoma (I could honestly go broke there, especially with MAC right across the street).  I had one main objective:

Mister loves donuts.  I remember when I learned that - I don't think we'd been dating all that long, but let me set up for you what my perception of him was at that time: When Mister and I started dating, he was the manager of the mechanical department of a Bike Line store on the Main Line suburbs of Philadelphia.  He was actively involved in mountain biking, urban trials, and competitive racing.  He had the talent to have gone from high school into a professional soccer league, but went to college instead.  He lived on Clif bars and water, from what I could see.

What I'm trying to say is Mister took really good care of himself and ate healthier than anyone I'd ever met.  So, imagine my surprise the first time we went on a road trip and he explained the necessity of starting at Dunkin' Donuts.  It was then I saw a darker side of Mister.  A side that can't live without egg 'n' cheese bagel sandwiches and donuts (though, to his credit, these are absolutely "sometimes treats").

So, many donuts later, here we are and at the stroke of midnight last night, I said "happy birthday" to Mister for the tenth time.  So today, I wanted to make him a huge, dual-flavored birthday donut.  The flavor selections were carrot cake and spice cake - I figured they'd go well together.  Unfortunately, we may never know.

I started out by making the recipe for Carrot Cake Cupcakes from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World, and although it does make a very tasty cake, I think it's better left to tiny cupcakes - it didn't want to hold a ring shape and when I inverted it out of the cake pan and onto the rack, it pretty much fell apart.

Ugly, yes, but very good.  We ate half of it before dinner (it's not very big - don't judge).  My second try went a little better.  Actually, it went so much better that it didn't matter that what was supposed to be one layer of a two-layer donut cake fell apart and fell into our bellies.

The second "layer" was made from the spice cake recipe I tested for Dynise's cookbook over the winter. Fortunately, there was enough puffing-up agent in the batter to make this one create a whole round (and stable) donut all by itself!

I left it on the counter to cool down while Mister obediently averted his eyes anytime he had to pass through the kitchen and I got ready for dinner.  We didn't go anywhere very special (aka fancy), but I wanted to get dressed up and Mister humored me.  So, instead of a classic pizza joint where Mister could just keep wearing his t-shirt and jeans, we went to a fancy, gourmet, Stephen Starr pizza joint where it was hip enough that I could dress up a little without looking like a jerk.

I was happy to see my old friend, the Marinara Pizza, with it's perfect, fresh-tasting, home-made pizza sauce with fresh oregano leaves and paper thin slices of garlic sauteed in olive oil before being added to the perfectly cooked pie.  Mister had the wood-burning oven in his direct line of sight and was very amused by how carefully they made sure each pizza was cooked "just right," apparently quite invested in a job others might not consider "skilled labor."

Just below mine was Mister's Margherita Pizza, with more delightful sauce, melted mozzarella, and huge basil leaves.

After we'd stuffed ourselves with thin-crust pizza and some green things we ate as appetizers, we headed home and I began the process of making icing for the donut.

I discovered that Tofutti "cream cheese" is stronger than my measuring cup.  When it's not Mister's birthday anymore, I'll have to get him to fix that somehow.

Shortening intrigues me, disgusts me, and impresses me, all at once.  I have had this shortening for a long time - long enough that I can't remember when I got it.  Honestly, I totally expected to open it up and find it had changed colors, grown hair, or had little friends living inside of it.  I mean, it's not even refrigerated!  Yet, it looks just like it did the first time I opened it (aside from the missing bits).

Anyway, I creamed together the cream cheese and the shortening and then added powdered sugar incrementally.  Probably a little too much, but I was following the recipe, so....

Well, okay, I added like 2 teaspoons of soymilk to make it a little more spreadable.  Aside from that, I followed the recipe.  Once I'd terrorized poor little Angst with the electric mixer, I had a nice pliable frosting for the donut.

Angst wishes it was his birthday.

Vedge is on the Horizons

Please pardon me if I giggle to myself throughout the post - I couldn't resist the urge to have such a punny title.  Better to laugh at my ridiculousness, though, than to cry over the closing of Horizons, right?

Yes, Horizons is now defunct.   The doors are shut and will not reopen until the building bears a new name (because this area needs another pizza place....like I need a hole in my head), so I will share the details of our "last supper" (toot, toot!  here comes the Hell Train again!  First stop - Blasphemy) before turning my eyes forward to anticipate the opening of the new restaurant, Vedge.

Saturday night was temperate - not too hot, but not remotely cool, and the humidity was surprisingly held at bay.  We prettied ourselves up a little (I felt the occasion warranted sultry red lips and relatively minimal black-shadowed eyes) then headed to Horizons for the last time.  To my surprise, the entire outdoor seating area was unoccupied, so we elected to start the trend - indeed, before we had our aperitifs, we had guests at two other tables nearby.

To be honest, I spent part of Friday and most of Saturday daydreaming about the menu at Horizons, from pre-dinner cocktails and appetizers to the last sip of espresso and bite of a sinful chocolate dessert.  By the time we started our jog over there (Mister's whole family is made up of speed-walkers, whereas I have short legs and sometimes have to run to keep up), I had plotted out my entire gastronomical experience.  I started with the Nightboat to Recife, which I already raved about here, which was a nice accompaniment to my Salt-Roasted Golden Beets.

There is a very sweet-n-sunny difference between your standard roasted red beets and these lighter-tasting siblings.  The sweetness of the beets was appropriately matched with dense, barely-ripe and definitely chilled chunks of avocado, concealing a "surprise" center of marinated tofu.  I even appreciated the charming crunch of the red onions diced within, despite my standard hatred for the allium.

Mister had a delightful looking mediterranean-influenced chopped salad that I forgot to take a picture of until he had already marred its beauty by digging in. [edit: you can see Kelly's great picture of it here]  We both struggled with the desire to start out meal with the BBQ Seitan, because we knew it was unlikely to be featured at Vedge this fall, but we agreed that there was no need for that much seitan in our meal.  How much, you say?

Well, like I mentioned when I recapped our previous dinner at Horizons, there were certain "old favorites" I wanted to taste once more before they were gone.  I have been so busy enjoying the varied flavors and textures of some of the more esoteric entrees on the menu, it's probably been over two years since I last ordered the Grilled Seitan entree.  Mister gets it every time we go there and has already expressed his concern that it might not be available at Vedge, but I've already secured his promise to go when it opens regardless of the presence or absence of seitan on the menu.

While it was certainly as delightful as I remembered it, I'm not killing myself over neglecting it for half the time the restaurant was open.  One of the reasons I was able to allow myself to branch out, so to speak, was the knowledge that Whole Foods and Essene both carry the same brand of seitan that Horizons used.  Somewhere in the last two years, I forgot what made their seitan special isn't the maker, but rather then preparation and presentation.  Mister and I agreed that what really takes Horizons' seitan over the culinary edge is that they grill it to melt-in-your-mouth perfection, meanwhile leaving the little crispy bits on the edges for texture.  Now that Horizons has closed its doors and there is not much chance the Grilled Seitan entree will be on the menu (at least initially) at Vedge, I may need to finally invest in a grill pan for the stovetop.

No meal would have been complete without the amazing Truffle Fries with white BBQ sauce.  I didn't take a picture because I always forget to take a picture.  I don't know - there's something about its side dish status that makes me think, "why would I take a picture of a little tin bread pan with wedge fries in it?"  Regardless, they were every bit as delicious as they've always been and if Vedge doesn't think they're worthy of a place on the menu, it looks like we'll also be investing in some truffle oil of our very own.

Since I'd spent the day fantasizing about dessert, I did not require Mister's reminder to get an espresso to accompany my exquisitely rich (yet not too much so) Chocolate Tart.  No matter how amazing the other desserts are, knowing that Kate Jacoby will be focusing more on fruit-centered desserts at Vedge, I knew I had to get the Tart while I could.  I have very little doubt she will continue to serve her amazing cheesecake, especially since it lends itself so well to fruit accompaniments, but I thought the rich, chocolatey nature of this dessert put it on the endangered list, so it was the last bit of Horizons to pass my lips.

Or not.  As we were finishing up dessert, I heard my name exclaimed from behind me.  Turning, I saw Kelly, looking perfectly pixie-like, especially beside her very tall, incredibly friendly husband.  A round of introductions were had on behalf of the two Misters and then Kelly and Hubby excused themselves to take a short walk before returning for the Happy Hour AfterParty held in the upstairs bar.

As previous pictures of our dinner at Horizons have shown, the dining area inside is considerably darker than the outdoor tables.  Considering it was a fine dining restaurant, this makes sense, and it's nearly surprising that they even had an outdoor seating area as casual as the one on their sidewalk.  There were tasty hors d'oeuvres being butlered by Kate Jacoby herself, as well as some other members of staff.  I was still quite full from dinner, but could not refuse the opportunity to try a seitan-kimchee kind of roll-up...which promptly bit my face off and I had to wait for the bartender to make me a delightful daiquiri unlike any I'd had before in order to take another bite.

I had a great time getting to know Kelly and her husband a little better and after closing the bar (literally, unfortunately), we all walked out together to see the saddest sight I've seen in a while.

While I am truly excited about Vedge and very much anticipating its opening day/night, I am very sad to see Horizons go.  I guess I'll just have to hone my seitan-slinging skills and up my culinary creativity (harbinger of things to come...).

change for the better

I had a really great day today.  I got up early to teach, but that didn't quite happen (summer always gets a little sporadic in terms of student attendance) so I was just super productive instead.  I got so much done that I completely forgot it was Saturday and was about to start whining about how "I don't waaaant to go to work tomorrow," when suddenly it dawned on me: tomorrow is Sunday.

Today was both productive and an exercise in adaptation.  I'm teaching!  No, wait, not teaching, so... I'll go food shopping!  I'm going to make an exciting recipe for dinner tonight because I have a fridge/cupboard stuffed with tasty vittles!  No!  Horizons is closing two weeks from tonight, so... we're dining at Horizons!

I love Horizons.  I'm so sad it's closing because I know we won't go as frequently when the new location, further into Center City, opens.  At the moment, anyway, since I spend almost every minute of my week commuting to or being at work, when we do venture out (which isn't all that often, though we've been trying to get out more), we tend to stick pretty close to home.  So when Kelly tweeted that she was eating at Horizons tonight and that the final evening would be July 2 (two little weeks away), I folded up my menu and called for reservations.

I was set on eating everything I hadn't eaten yet, so even though I love the Salt Roasted Golden Beets, BBQ Seitan, and Grilled Asparagus Salad, I was determined to start the meal with a new appetizer.

So, we started our meal with the Olive Board, which wasn't so much a board as it was a square plate, but I'm not going to pick nits.  There was a perfectly-portioned baby ramekin of mixed olives, marinated to perfection with garlic, herbs, and vinegar.  Beside it was a small butter cup of kalamata tapenade, ideal for dipping the lightly salted, dense and crispy breadsticks and thinly sliced carrots and zucchini.  There were also some pickled vegetables, but we (even Mister!) weren't so excited about those.

For the first time this year (and probably the last) we were able to sit outside, enjoying the company of Mazy the Little Gray Pitbull.  She was so precious.  I shot this picture while she was worriedly looking inside the restaurant to see where her mommy went (ladies' room).

As usual, Mister got the Grilled Seitan on Grilled Spinach and Yukon Mash with a red pepper coulis on top.  It looked ever more attractive than usual and it nearly made me regret my choice.

I've been hemming and hawing over the Pacific Rim Grilled Tofu, topped with turnips and concealing a base of edamame puree on top of a miso sauce.  My main concern has always been that the gochujang lacquer would be too spicy, but it was tangy, just as our waitress promised it would be.  I was happy that I ordered it and got to taste it, but I wasn't kicking myself for missing out all these years.

Once again, the portions were perfect to allow us room for their delightful dessert menu.

Mister got a double decaf espresso to go along with his Lavendar Cheesecake with blueberry smash and ancho peanuts.  At Kelly's suggestion (inadvertent, albeit), I chose the Chocolate-Stuffed Beignets with Iced Coffee Float. 

For the uninitiated, the beignets are basically fried doughballs, coated in powdered sugar, with a gooey dark chocolate center.

I was planning to join Mister in his after-dinner espresso, but when I saw that the beignets were accompanied by a coffee float, I refrained.  I did, however, tell him that when we come back for closing night, I want him to remind me to get an espresso with the Bittersweet Chocolate Tart (which is divine, but certainly requires coffee to calm the intense chocolatey-ness).

Fortunately, since I was so productive today, running all over the city, weighted down by heavy bags at least half the time, I probably burned off at least a few calories in advance.  Besides, we have a relatively calorie-conservative menu this week.

A few words of explanation: all of these recipes (except the last one) come from a cookbook I don't even own, enhanced at times by additions that came from my very own brain.  The cookbook that inspired these meals is The Low GI Cookbook, which happens to be available as a "special edition" being sold by the weight loss company that owns my days.  Our recent visit by the chefs who are laboring to enhance our program and foods to be at the top of the industry inspired me to show a little company pride and construct my whole menu from this book.  Obviously, since it's written for omnivores, a little tweaking was necessary here and there, but it wasn't too hard to find some delicious-looking and creative meals.  My only foil was the desire to make a new Mama Pea "recipea."

1. Tuscan-Style Beans with Tomatoes and Sage served over small pasta

2. Lentil, Spinach, and [To]Feta Salad using the tofeta recipe from HIAV.

3. White Bean Salad, served with po' boys (no, no, I could not resist the opportunity to use my new BBQ sauce, but at least you'll get a recipe out of it for the first time in months).

4. "Chicken" [Seitan] and [Baby] Bok Choy Stir-Fry - This recipe appears to be made for seitan, and I'm actually pretty sure my version will be better than the original as a result.  There were no "adult" bok choy at Whole Foods today, so just got twice as many baby bok choys.  The Curse of Bok Choy continues, apparently.

5. Parsley, Butter Bean, and Cherry Tomato Stew, which will most likely be served over rice.

6. Vegetable Chili Bowl which is far enough from a soup that Mister should let it slide.

7. Chickpeas and Dumplings (yes, a bonus recipe! AKA, I had a little trouble counting) from Peas and Thank You.  This looks so incredibly tasty I don't care how hot it gets this week.  I'll just turn the air conditioning way down low, throw on a cozy sweater and get to simmerin'.

pre-friday WIN

Today was super-dooper busy at work.  As such, I feel completely entitled to the calories I probably overconsumed at Horizons tonight.  Mister and I finally went and there were available tables tonight, so we had a happy, adventurous, tasty dinner.  I even remembered to take very dim pictures!  I'm going to ramble a little about our visit, but please, even if my play-by-play of a gourmet dinner is not exciting to you, stick around - most of the WIN happens after dinner.

I literally spent at least half the time I was at work today walking briskly from one end of the building to the other for one inane reason or another.  I got through the day quickly, but with the forward-looking thought of what a delightful evening lay ahead - after we turned ourselves away from the bar seats at Horizons over the weekend, Mister and I decided to go tonight, when we figured it would be less crowded.  Our plan was actually to sit outside and ignore Mister's allergies long enough to enjoy the balmy evening air while we dined.  However, as we approached the restaurant, there were no tables set up outside.  As we drew closer, it looked like the restaurant wasn't even open and I had this dreadful feeling in the pit of my stomach that Horizons went out just like so many other restaurants/businesses in the Queen Village/Bella Vista neighborhoods lately - no notice, just closed up one day.  Then we spied a sign in the window indicating that service was available upstairs only.  I turned to Mister and told him that if there were no seats, we were making reservations for tomorrow night.

I ignored him as he told my upstairs-bound back that we couldn't sit outside tomorrow night since there are supposed to be serious thunderstorms.  I ignored that we would really need to stay home and comfort the poor, terrified cat.  Fortunately, there were a few available tables upstairs, so Angst will have the pleasure of our presence tomorrow night.  I'll do my best to give you a short picture parade but I didn't want to use my flash, especially since it seems to make the pictures in dark areas even darker, so the pictures are a bit dim - hopefully you can still see a little.

I wanted to start my meal with a cocktail.  It's been a bit of time since I've had one - possibly since brunch with the parents a few months ago.  One of the things I normally love about Horizons is how unique their combination of ingredients are and how esoteric some ingredients are.  However, it does not help my usually stubbornly autonomous self to make a decision on a cocktail when I can't even pronounce the components of a cocktail, much less get an idea for the taste.  After some consultation with our delightful server, Jeannine, I opted for the Night Boat to Recife.  Since I can't pronounce the liquors, I sure can't spell them, but I'll describe the drink - it was absolutely the most complex cocktail I've ever had.  It started out with an unmistakable and strong citrus flavor, then moved toward a slight bitterness before resolving to a most bizarre but delicious aftertaste I can only compare to the taste of cinnamon applesauce. I know that doesn't sound sexy, but it really is an incredible cocktail.  I had a glass of Pinotage with dinner because I'm thrilled to find a single restaurant in Philadelphia that has Pinotage (a spicy South African blended red wine) by the glass.

For the eating portion of our evening, we began our meal by sharing the Shaved Spring Vegetable Salad, consisting of micro-lettuces with shaved fennel, roasted asparagus, toasted hazelnuts, and what appeared to be edible flower petals, dressed in a sublime hazelnut vinaigrette.  Mister, as always, ordered the Grilled Seitan and I almost did as well, since it has been well over a year since I've ordered it, but the past three to five times we've gone to Horizons, I've struggled with my curiosity about the Fresh Hearts of Palm Cake with braised beluga lentils and curried mixed squash, topped with cucumber chutney.

I tasted each component individually.  One of the deciding factors was my desire to eat their braised beluga lentils, so I tasted them first - they were good, but not outstanding on their own, which wasn't how they were meant to be eaten anyway.  The mixed curried squash was extremely flavorful and not terribly spicy.  The two together were perfect.  The cucumber chutney tasted more like marinated cucumbers, but I might be misunderstanding the nature of chutney, since I've always had spicier chutneys.  The cake itself was amazing both texturally and spice-wise - this provided the heat I was expecting to find in the curried squash, and was perfectly balanced by the chutney, curried squash, and lentils.  I'll admit, I was a little hesitant going into it, but the more I thought about it, the more I realized that Horizons has never let me down, and I fully expected they would not let me down this time either.  I was not disappointed.

I was also not disappointed in our shared side of truffled fries, which I have presently decided are the best food currently available on earth.  I even said to Mister that if the world actually were going to end in the near future and the date and time really could be foretold, I would want the last thing I ate on this earth to be truffle fries.  That's right - not chocolate - truffle fries.  They're that good.

We agreed that dessert was also necessary, so we perused the adorable little dessert menu.  They usually have a few standards as well as a rotating flavor or two, specifically related to their cheesecake.  It is truly remarkable how nearly identical their cheesecake is to "real" cheesecake - the only way I can tell the difference is that my digestive system and intestinal tract are not rebelling.

Mister almost always partakes of the cheesecake when we do get dessert, but tonight, we both got our own slice of Lavender Cheesecake with a dollop of whipped "cream" and mashed blueberry coulis.  It was divine - that's really the best explanation I have.  I could ramble on and on about the amazing texture of the cake or the charming tanginess that makes you wonder if it's really vegan.  I could dwell on the perfect graham cracker crust or the fascinating scent-flavor experience created by using lavender in food.  But really, you should just focus on this: Go to Horizons before they close and eat truffle fries and cheesecake with a nice glass of Pinotage or Muscato.

Now, on to the rest of tonight's WIN.

About a week ago, I retweeted a simple but cheesy message in a silly and desperate attempt to win free tickets to a ballet I can't afford to see.  Let me back up - I could afford to see every ballet or orchestra concert I wanted to, as long as I was willing to sit in the nosebleed section and squint at the stage, wondering if I need a new prescription for my contacts.  I am not willing - I got spoiled by seats close enough to the stage that I made eye contact with the dancers.  So anyway, I tweeted some silly line about loving the Arts in Philadelphia, figuring it was worth a shot, and to my incredible surprise, I won!  One week from tonight, I will be floating down from an ethereal high of spending the evening watching powerful, strong men and women move around a stage with grace I can only wish for from seats I couldn't possibly afford (hopefully in the company of a similarly graceful and beautiful female - Mister has made it quite clear that although he enjoys spending time with me and doing stuff to make me happy, he has to draw the line at men in tights). 

Winning, Part II: after dinner, I perused the feed on Facebook because you know, it's kind of addicting.  Imagine my delight when I saw my Summertime Granola recipe featured on Chic Vegan today!  Head over [click here] and check it out!


Winning: Finale:  Tomorrow's Friday and then it will be a nice, long, fruitful yet relaxing weekend.  Cheers!

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.

SIN & my BIG FAT Greek Easter

Do they still have the Seven Deadly Sins?  If so, I fear I'm going straight to Hell - do not pass go and do not collect $200.  How else can it go when my entire celebration of Jesus's act of reconciliation involved gluttony?  Well, okay, maybe not the whole celebration, but the part that occurred outside of the church.

After church, we dined with my in-laws (17 of us total) at Estia on Broad and Locust.  It was an extravagant affair to say the least.  Honestly, I would be lying (another sin, surely) if I didn't admit that my favorite part of lunch was seeing all of our family again - it doesn't happen frequently enough.  I'm pretty sure (unfortunately) that the last time I saw my parents-in-law was Christmas - and if that's not a sin, I don't know what is.  Mister and I had a little gift for our nephews, as well, and there is something priceless about watching children take turns pulling off the wrapping paper so they can share every part of the gift - they're good at being brothers.  So my true delight was in the people; my beautiful SIL, a cousin who brought his new lady friend, my little angel baby.  Of course, another priceless moment was when my father-in-law parked himself across from me, attentive waiter behind him, and asked if I would like some "voov," while making a drinking motion with his hand.  In my momentary ignorance, I thought he had learned a new Greek word for "drink," possibly "wine," but once the waiter nodded, noted, and walked away with my FIL, I realized he had just enlisted my assistance in drinking a bottle of Veuve Clicquot!  It helped wash down the huge amount of food that covered every square inch of the table (and some of the round ones) - fried zucchini, various spreads (baba ghanoush, muhammara, hummus, tzatziki) with bread, pita, and crudites, as well as amazing marinated peasant salads of red and orange tomatoes, red and green peppers, and cucumbers.  I barely had space for my entree and resolved, next time my entree will merely be a salad.  There were also three decadent, huge Greek desserts and Greek coffee.  I love Greek stuff - I'm so lucky to be married into this family!

After 15 hugs and kisses, we excused ourselves to run (in heels) to the train station.  We hopped on the train just as it was about to leave us, and 45 minutes later found ourselves in my dad's car.  Once we arrived at the house, I could finally relieve my purse of the jar full of rice, spices, and cashews that I'd carried to church and lunch.  Mom and a cousin were industriously chopping tomatoes for bruschetta while the littlest cousin hunted for plastic candy-filled eggs in my parents' verdant backyard.  While Mom and I started cooking, my dad showed everyone photos and video of me as an infant and toddler, then took the whole merry party down to the basement to play with his bordering-on-obsession trainset.  It takes up the entire basement.  He cut holes in the walls to let the trains go through "tunnels."  I told Dad he has to take this stuff down before he gets decrepit because I don't want to deal with it.  We all figured, though, that the littlest cousin, presently 2 years old, should at least be a teenager before this becomes an issue, so we'll just hire him and some friends for pizza.

Once the Black Bottom Pineapple Tofu on Coconut Cashew Rice (from Vegetarian Times: Fast and Easy) was done cooking, Mom and I set up the table and called everyone away from the fun to eat dinner.  My plate was delightfully colorful!

Taking up the majority of the plate was the tofu dish, accompanied (counter-clockwise) by a delightful strawberry-walnut salad my mom made, as well as an apple-sweet potato roast.  What a lovely springtime meal, don't you think?

So tonight is the first night of the new menu.  What menu?  Glad you asked:

1. Chili and Polenta Casserole also from Vegetarian Times: Fast and Easy, and hopefully, it comes together as quickly as they say it does, because this is going to be a busy week, methinks.

2. Pasta Marinara with Kale and Beans - although this will be accompanied by a new recipe for you (yay!), don't get too excited - it's going to be a cheater recipe (with a rockstar name).

3. Spring Vegetable Curry from The Accidental Vegan - why not?  It's spring and Mister Loves Asparagus.

4. Cajun Red Beans and Rice, also from The Accidental Vegan, because it's my fav-fav-favorite rice-n-beans recipe. 

5. Yakisoba, also from The Accidental Vegan, which was dinner tonight.

It's a little bit bland, but there is a subtle aftertaste of ginger and not quite enough garlic.  Of course, I wanted to use my new toy - a ginger grater, so I grated the garlic and I don't think I got as much out of each clove as I do when I press it.  It did a fantastic job on the ginger, though, so well done, Essene!  Best $5 I ever spent (especially after flirting with the $20 Microplane Special People Grater/Zester at Williams-Sonoma when I picked up the gifts for the nephews).  That $15 will go toward the Buy-Natalie-a-4qt-Saute-Pan fund.  Attempting to "toss" a pound of noodles with the veggies and sauce tonight in my 3-qt pan was quite an adventure and pushed me over the Suck-It-Up-and-Spend-the-$$$ edge.  After the rent gets paid :)

mutants do brunch

I have a serious yearning for dessert right now.  I think it's because I didn't have any at brunch today, but that's because we were all stuffed full of tasty things to consider shoving anything else into our stomachs.  Maybe once I post this, I can convince Mister to stop babbling about movies and actors and directors and how nothing "good" has come out in the past ten years, even though we can both name about 10 movies that have come out recently that we regret missing in the theater.

Mister and I have very different taste in movies, so very frequently we play the "I've never heard of that" "I can't believe you've never seen [insert movie title everyone else has seen here]!!!" game.  Both of these phrases are usually followed by my husband looking at me like I'm a mutant.  After years of holding out, I think we're finally going to get a Netflix subscription.  I mean, we do have a couch now...

Anyway, you don't want to hear about how I've never seen "Cape Fear" or "Gladiator" or "Scarface."  You want to hear about my super-duper brunch double-date.

First, let me say how disappointed I was to come home and realize I had forgotten to take my camera.  The presentation at Farmicia wasn't nearly as exquisite as that of Horizons, but you still knew your food was going to taste fantastic just by looking at it.  Additionally, the decor was fabulous - an amazing combination of "Are we really still in Center City?" and clean, modern design.  I thought it was adorable that the centerpiece at our table was a perfect green Granny Smith apple, settled snugly into a small periwinkle blue dish.  That's all.  That's all there needed to be.

I had a bit of trouble deciding on a brunch spot.  For years, there was no question - my parents would come down to Queen Village and we would walk over to Southwark because my friend owns it and because it's beautiful and has good food.  However, as my palate has changed and my attitude toward food adjusted, I find that their menu is quite limited, even for my egg-loving Mister.  You can't, for example, get an omelet with spinach and cheese.  You can get the specific omelet they are serving that day, and if it's mushrooms, cheddar, and bacon, well, we're SoL.  I think my breaking point came when the server explained that they could not substitute spinach for the bacon on Eggs Benedict...even though they had a spinach salad on the menu.

I put my question out to the twitterverse and Kelly from Living On the Vedge suggested Farmicia.  I checked out the menu.  "You had me at tofu." (as long as movies are on the mind...)  So, for the first time ever, I proved I was hip to the new technology and reserved a table through the website (yes, I know that's not new).  Thank heavens - the place was completely packed when we showed up for brunch today.  The menu is quite diverse and full of tasty non-animals for Mister and I, as well as the opposite for my dear parents.  I love how my mom requests a "place where Dad can get real eggs."  I don't think they're over last year's birthday brunch yet.

It didn't take me long to decide on the Scrambled Tofu with Vegan Chorizo.  It didn't take me long to realize I absolutely made the right choice.  I've never actually had chorizo, vegan or otherwise - I'll pause so you can look at me like I just grew another head - so that was different.  It was a fun dish with toothsome tofu, spicy crumbled "sausage", served with sopaipillas, on top of refried black beans, along with a taco-type situation involving tomatoes and huge chunks of avocado.  It was terrific - what a fabulous combination of flavors and textures, and for me, it was just the right amount of food.  I washed it down with a St. Germain cocktail (champagne, elderberry liquid, soda) and thought of how to convince Mister we should come here again and soon.

Turns out, it doesn't take much convincing as he quite enjoyed his Quesadilla with eggs, potatoes, cheese, and they even let him sub vegan chorizo for the "real thing."  Such flexibility!  It was quite a big quesadilla, so I'm not surprised he didn't have room for dessert...I wonder if there's room yet...

My mom got a huge pile of french toast that appeared to be covered in a healthy serving of applesauce, although the menu calls it cherry-apple compote.  It looked great and my father didn't mind helping her finish it, especially since his Brunch sandwich was not huge.  It appeared to be satisfying, but not huge.  We all greatly enjoyed our brunch, the atmosphere, and the time together, then my parents came back to check out the new apartment.

After they left I got to do my favorite thing ever - Grocery Shopping!  I'm kidding.  I did go grocery shopping, but doing so on a Sunday afternoon can be a harrowing experience at best.  Nevertheless, we needed ingredients for:

1. Salsa Rice and Red Beans from Vegan on the Cheap
2. Rice Island Casserole, also from Vegan on the Cheap
3. Pasta E Fagioli from Veganomicon (I think it's winning the battle for Most Favorite)
4. Chickpea Piccata from Appetite for Reduction
5. Curried Chickpeas and Greens, also from Appetite for Reduction
6. Pasta con Broccoli, also from Appetite for Reduction AND tonight's dinner.

When I got my groceries home and started putting them where they belong, I thought my huge haul of garlic was funny, so I took a picture of exactly how garlic-heavy this week's menu turned out to be:

I used nearly a whole head just for tonight's dinner.  I figured I was probably in a better mindset to thinly slice a quarter-cup of garlic than I might be during the week.  I also thought it would take longer than it did.  Note to self: As long as you use frozen broccoli (organic, of course), this is one of your quickest cooking meals.

It is also far more flavorful than it appears.

That kind of looks like a pile of naked linguine with unexpectedly verdant frozen broccoli, doesn't it?  So Wrong - the last step of the recipe involves adding the cooked pasta to the pot with the broccoli and broth-sauce and those little noodles slurp up an astonishing amount of flavor from that quick "saute."  This is quickly becoming a favorite in our home.