sunshine polka dots

Happy Monday!  The countdown is on - Monday down means only three more days until I wake up before the sun and race it westward to California!  I'm scheduled to touch down at 1pm-ish, so if I win, I might admit the world is coming to an end.

Anyway, I hope everyone had a great weekend.  As my previous post shows, I was pretty busy on Saturday, and Sunday as well, but in a totally different and far more fun way.  On Sunday, we met up with friends we haven't seen in a while - some of them we haven't seen since our wedding!  Fifteen of us descended upon North Bowl in the Northern Liberties section of Philadelphia and spent about five hours eating, drinking, and making merry.  It was a mixed bag, in terms of the service level being a bit below where I expect customer service to be, but we weren't there for the waitstaff, we were there to see each other.  Even Mister managed to be social!

I'm actually not going to spend a lot of time talking about our experience with North Bowl because I used up a lot of my words in the email I wrote to the management.  The happy ending, for now, is that the management responded quickly and appropriately and my happiness with the venue has been restored by their actions.  More details coming later....along with one of two upcoming surprises. [ilovesecrets]

Tonight I had a real conflict within while trying to determine what to make for dinner.  The part of me that hates when food grows limbs in our refrigerator and runs away or turns funny colors really wanted to make the Black Bean Burgers since I'm using up the burger thins from when I made the Lemony Chickpea Burgers and I don't know how long it will take them to grow "friends."  Another part of me wanted to make a longer-cooking meal since I had time, and yet another part of me wanted to make a meal with lot of leftovers for lunch this week.  Eventually, I settled upon the Mexican Rice and Bean Bake from Vegan on the Cheap.

Because a 4oz can of about two tablespoons of diced green chilies is pointlessly expensive, I pick up a cubanelle pepper at Whole Foods and diced it to saute with the garlic, and in place of the onion, I use my last shallot.

I'll admit, this picture made me a little nervous.  For one thing, I've never cooked a cubanelle pepper and I wasn't sure of its exact heat level.  The lightness of the pepper worried me, as it seems like they get hotter as they get lighter (ghost chilies, anyone?).  Also, apparently, shallots make my eyes tear the way onions make people who eat onions eyes tear.  I really wasn't sure what I was getting myself into.

[I would like to take just a moment to direct your attention to the pretty little Whole Foods brand pinto beans hiding behind the bowl there - 89 cents each, baby - that's right!  Thank you, Lacy!]

Turns out, I was getting myself into a fabulous base for a very tasty dinner.  I know I've made this before, because I know this isn't the first time I've said, "no, I am NOT baking this."  I can't remember when, though - what I do know is that I should make this more frequently because at the moment, it's a contender for the 2nd place spot for my favorite rice-n-beans recipe.

It's just spicy enough to keep things interesting, but I'm still able to eat it, which I consider a plus, since it's my dinner, too. In addition to the "just right" heat level, the little drops of sunshine scattered throughout (also known as "corn") added a satisfying and sweet pop of "other" flavor into a very savory and spicy dish.

Stay tuned for the unveiling of Secret #1 soon!

Friday (the 13th), I'm in love

I'm kind of obsessing over this whole Judgment Day thing - picking it apart from every angle and examining every facet to the "story."  This may be a relatively unpopular sentiment, but at the moment, I feel simple sadness for these people.  They truly believe the events their prophet has foretold will come to pass.  A slightly cynical side of me wants to be standing there with them, holding vigil from 6pm (when the great earthquake hits that signifies that God is closing the door to heaven) through to the next day when everyone is still here and safe.  It's supposed to be gorgeous this weekend.  Bright, sunny, happy weather.  Not exactly Endtimes weather.  A more compassionate side of me is genuinely sad for the heartbreak and feelings of loss these people have been set up for (or, have set themselves up for, to be fair).  Can you imagine feeling so certain of something that you base your entire existence around it for not just the few days that it has captured the attention of the general public but for years leading up to now?  Can you imagine being so sure of the future that you would rid yourself of all earthly belongings and separate yourself from your job?  Can you even fathom what would happen, how you would feel, the day after all these things were supposed to happen, when you're sitting in sunshine in an undestroyed field somewhere, not glorified?

It's devastating, really.

For our part, Mister and I started the countdown with Pasta e Fagioli from Veganomicon, although I forgot the roasted asparagus.  Pity - I guess we'll have to eat that up before 6pm Saturday...just in case we're wrong.

I actually found and purchased pennette this time around, but honestly, in these pictures, it doesn't look that different from the version I made with grown-up penne.  Regardless, it's one tasty beans-n-pasta dish and my Apothic Red (which I may rename Apocalypse Red) completed the meal perfectly.

I've rambled enough about this Pasta e Fagioli in previous posts.  Additionally, you may be wondering just what the heck Friday the 13th and Love have to do with anything I've said so far.

Nothing, actually.  But I didn't want to spend my whole post exploring my myriad conflicting feelings about Saturday, so I decided tonight was as good a time as any to fill you in on what Mister and I did on Friday the 13th.

My husband's family is a little strange sometimes.  I love them for it.  So, when my brother-in-law and his fiancee selected May 13th as their wedding date, explaining that it was the only Friday the 13th in 2011, not too many people were surprised.  What was surprising was that he managed to get my husband to wear a shiny lavender vest and tie.  Greeks should not wear lavender - it is NEVER their color.

Lavender accessories aside, my Mister, the Best Man, was very handsome all dressed up in grown-up clothes.

Apparently, varying shades of purple made up the wedding theme, as my mother-in-law and I laughed about the two lavender-clad Greek men matching very masculine things like....

The cake.  It's fun, isn't it?  White with purple flowers "blooming" off of toffee branches?  As you can see, the stuffiness of the reception hall prior to proper adjustment of the climate control made some of the blossoms jump ship, but the cake was returned to an appropriate temperature and fixed up before the reception started.  I feel kind of bad, now, about photographing it before the ceremony...

However, Mister and I were running out of ways to entertain ourselves, since we arrived 30 minutes before his parents and grandmother and 45 minutes before the bride and groom and wedding party.  No, we were not very early.  They were all very late.  Still, I got the chance to photograph one of the tables once it was set up...all in purple and lavender to match the wedding party.

Due to unforeseen occurrences (a superstitious person might even say "bad luck"), the ceremony actually ended up starting about the time it would have been finished.  Nevertheless, it was a lovely outdoor ceremony, which concluded just as twilight was setting in.

My little angelbaby (AKA, the bride and groom's daughter) was an adorable flower girl, wearing a poofy purple dress that might have been a size too big for her and definitely a lot of dress for a little girl.  In the picture above, you can see her 14-year-old sister, also in lavender to match the men, holding up the back of angelbaby's dress so she doesn't step on it.

This is the only picture in existence (as far as I know) of my husband holding hands with a child.  It was actually quite adorable.  The ringbearer (AKA, the bride's son) has a great amount of love and admiration for Mister, who once fixed a toy for him.  His whole face lit up when he arrived and saw Mister, so when he made his way down the aisle with his little sister, as soon as he was safely beside Mister he just slipped his tiny hand inside Mister's.

Believe me, I was not going to miss that photo op.  Speaking of which, I told Mister I was going to take a ton of pictures of him because "I don't ever want to see you in that color again but I don't ever want to forget this day, either."  I'm such a little devil sometimes. 

It was wonderful to see BIL so happy.  The reception was very nice.  My MIL and I opened the bar (we figured we'd been waiting the longest, so it was fair), and there were a ton of appetizers I could (and did) eat.  I love butlered hors d'oeuvres and regret that we did not get to partake of any at our own wedding.  We had hors d'oeuvres, the same ones as our guests, but ours were set out on trays in the "special room" we all hid in during cocktail hour so we could make our grand entrances to "Get This Party Started" (by P!nk) and the Imperial Death March (from Star Wars).  'Cause that's how me and Mister roll.

I'd never heard the song the bride and groom danced their first dance to, but it was pretty and clearly had meaning to them as they were singing it to one another while they danced.  The groom also danced with his mother to Josh Groban's "You Raise Me Up," while I successfully prevented Mister from ruining it for me by complaining about how much he hates Josh Groban's voice.  Mister gave a very nice and slightly impish toast, followed by the Maid of Honor, the bride's daughter, who burst into tears about one sentence in.  Happy tears, don't worry.  Another fun, touching, and somewhat unconventional part of the evening was when, in lieu of the bride-father dance, the bride's 18-year-old son asked her to dance with him to Boyz II Men's "Mama."  I have to admit, I've never seen that before.

I had a ball, dancing the night away with my sisters-in-law and cousins, even a couple of aunts and of course, plenty of nieces.  One niece and one nephew in particular were very excited to see Aunt Natalie, which always makes ya feel good.  The food was very nice and the open bar was certainly welcome - the champagne was surprisingly tasty and MIL and I took care of the "leftover" glasses at our table.

Best of all, we get to do this all over again (as long as no one gets swept up to heaven on Saturday and the venue doesn't get eaten by a big earthquake) in a few weeks for a cousin's wedding!  Fortunately for Mister, he's not in the wedding this time, so he can wear black, not pastels.

That was truly amazing.

fabulous weekend > blogger

Apparently, blogger just couldn't handle all the awesome I was going to post, so in anticipation of fab-overload, it just shut down.  For like two days.  Fortunately, it will likely result in a bonus post sometime in the next 24 hours, as long as I can hide enough of the awesome from blogger to prevent it from running away and hiding in a safe, dark corner somewhere.

Where to begin?  Well, I guess we'll have to go back to Thursday night and recap our dining adventures:

Finally, I made Penne with Spinach and Chickpeas in Garlic Sauce from Quick Vegetarian Pleasures.  I'm on a serious Italian-flavor/pasta kick at the moment.  I am giving serious thought to an All-Mediterranean menu for the upcoming week, just to get it out of my system...  Funny about that - when I was choosing which of the final three dinners to make on Thursday night, I wanted to make this one more than anything else, yet I was conflicted because I knew that the last two dinners were both Asian-influenced and I wasn't crazy about the idea of serving them back-to-back.  Not to fear!  As you'll learn later in this post, they both survived menu selection to be spread across a second week!

Again, I haven't cooked from QVP in over a year, maybe longer, which means it's been a long time since I've had this dish, though it was a fairly regular part of the rotation when I had fewer cookbooks.  I could already taste its memory as I started preparing the garlic and tomatoes (which are quickly becoming my favorite things to saute together in some olive oil) and as I was stirring in the spinach, I could almost feel its silky texture against my tongue.

It became evident someone else also wanted to feel the silky texture of spinach against his tongue.  I tried to remind Angst that he only likes raw spinach and that he'd already eaten all of his pieces, but he was insistent.  We got about one minute and two bites into dinner before his incessant begging and big sad eyes got the better of Mister, who tossed a slimy piece of "broken" spinach on the ground so Angst would remember and leave us alone.


That plan utterly backfired as we watched, amazed, as Angst happily slurped up his slimy spinach and looked up for more.  They say your tastes change as you get older.  I figured that only applied to humans, but since Angst has decided, only a week after his eleventh birthday, that he likes cooked spinach now, I guess I figured wrong.


Speaking of figuring wrong...

In February, Kelly at Living On The Vedge published a less than enthusiastic review of Amande almondmilk yogurt.  Fortunately for Amande, in February I have very little interest in eating yogurt.  I associate yogurt almost exclusively with breakfast that also involves fresh berries and homemade granola, so it doesn't usually make the grocery list in the colder months of the year.  Having stumbled upon Kelly's not-so-favorable review of their product, the fine folks at Amande wanted to make good.  They explained that they have recently changed the recipe and wanted her to try their newer run of products, so they sent her a little care package in which she received her favored flavors: vanilla and plain.  She had much prettier words for the almondmilk yogurt this time around, so when I saw it on the shelf at Whole Foods last week, I thought I'd give it a try.

I got the blueberry flavor, as neither the vanilla nor plain flavors have found their way to [my] Whole Foods yet.  I got it home, put it in the fridge, and promptly wussed out.  It occurred to me that if WF didn't have the new flavors, maybe they still had the run of yogurt that wasn't so good.  I let it sit there for nearly a week, even though I exchanged glances with the little plastic cup every time I opened the fridge.  Finally, as Mister was hogging the bathroom getting ready for his brother's wedding, I decided to go for it, hoping it would at least sustain me until we got through traffic to the venue (it did).

I'll admit, I was a little...underwhelmed...terrified when I peeled off the top to find a solid, slightly jiggly, light periwinkle mass inside.  It remained completely unattractive as I did my best to whip it into something appetizing with my spoon.  Finally, I decided to just taste it and see if it was worth stirring before using up all my precious energy.  The very first thing I noticed was how light it tasted - kind of like a little blue cloud of slightly sweet goo.  Not bad goo, either.  It was a mild tasting yogurt, certainly more sweet than tart and without an overpowering fruit flavor, which in this case was perfect.

While I don't think Amande will take up permanent residence in my fridge, it's nice to know there is another nondairy yogurt available for the times I don't feel like the sometimes cloying sweetness of Silk and don't feel like spending twice as much for So Delicious's coconutmilk yogurt.  I am looking forward to trying the vanilla flavor, as well as dressing up the plain or using it to make tzatziki some day in the future, but I won't be breaking down anyone's door while I wait.

This afternoon, after teaching a couple of lessons, I stopped by my oldest student's high school graduation party.  I was amazed at how happy she was to see me and how closely she stayed by my side - as though it was my party and she was the one who didn't know anyone.  Turns out we're having some uncertainty about the future with a little bit of separation anxiety thrown in for flavor.

Isn't she beautiful?  I am so proud of her and I'm having my own selfish moments of not wanting her to grow up and leave me.  I have been teaching that little girl beautiful young lady since she was just a timid little 8 year old.  It has been such a blessing to me to watch her grow up and I count it a privilege to be a part of that.

After a few hours, a couple of glasses of wine and some tasty Italian desserts, I got back on the train and headed home.  After arriving home, I realized Angst needed food and kitty litter, so I put my jacket back on.  Since he was seated by his window, Mister decided there were entirely too many "icky people" outside for me to go to Superfresh unescorted, so he shoved his feet in his shoes and came with me.  We stepped out onto the sidewalk and immediately breathed in the heavenly scent wafting from the open door of Hostaria da Elio and found ourselves hungry for rich, flavorful Italian food (anyone surprised?).  When we reached Superfresh, I suggested picking up a couple of ingredients for our own Italian feast.

I can't tell you how pleased I was with the way this sauce came out.  I picked up a jar of Classico Cabernet Marinara, but then remembered how little texture jarred sauces have, so I also grabbed a can of diced tomatoes.  Since I got the garlic-n-olive-oil kind, I didn't want to drain the tomatoes, but I also did not want a wretchedly watery sauce.  Here is where the only love I can muster for science makes a brief appearance: I sauteed some garlic, added the tomatoes, turned the heat up high and watched the magic of evaporation reduce my tomatoes to a potent sauce base.  In the last three minutes, after almost all of the original liquid had disappeared, I added the jarred sauce, stirred everything up and reduced the heat while I drained the pasta.

Oh yes, and while I retrieved the garlic bread from the toaster oven.  I love my toaster oven.  I also love $1.25 sticks of french bread just the right size for Mister and I to each have two generous pieces of garlic bread.

Simple?  Quite.  Delicious and flavorful?  You bet.  Did Angst beg?

Does the Pope.... just kidding.  Yes, of course Angst begged.  Once again, we tried to remind him he doesn't like garlic, but he was not to be deterred by silly things like that.  Once again, Mister pulled a piece of his bread off and dropped the Angst-sized "crumb" on the floor.  Once again, my grumpy old man decided to show that his tastebuds have matured with this recent birthday and ate it all up and asked for more.

Mister has become far more attached to his little partner in crime than he is willing to admit most days.  Granted, I work 6 days a week, so the last thing on my mind is buying gifts for a creature who is unaware of what a birthday even is, but Mister really wanted to get the kitty birthday presents.

 

Here is Angst's cute new food bowl (water bowl beneath).  Around the outside it says "kittykat" and they are just the right size.  He also got the little bugger a new stash of catnip for dessert.  So "happy birthday" to my little punk!

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.

it's the thought that counts (great guac doesn't hurt, though)

I didn't even know I liked guacamole until this year, so imagine my delight when it improved what could have been a less-than-pleasurable "dining experience."  Let's throw this puppy in reverse and back up to Monday.


After a relatively unremarkable day at work, I was driving home, excited to see my dear husband, already thinking about dinner.  As I sang along with Lady Gaga, I was picking through the menu in my mind and alternately thinking about whether I wanted to try to convince my well-rested Mister to take me on a date.  Upon arriving home and climbing the stairs to the apartment, I was quite surprised to open the door on a dark and empty home.  As I entered, I did a quick scan of the place:

cat? check
Mister? missing
Mister's bike?  also missing
note on the table in Mister's chickenscratch?  check.  It read something to the effect of:

hanging out with the guys at C____'s, took the phone, call me when you get home pls.

Ah, yes - Mister's cellphone/our home phone? also missing.  So, I pulled out my cellphone and called "home," but no one answered.  Mister called back a few minutes later, apparently having a little trouble answering the flip-phone.  Apparently, the boss was having a little BBQ on his roofdeck; although Mister was just going to stop by, Boss presented veggie burgers, thereby making Mister feel compelled to stay...and invite the Missus.

He had me at "roofdeck," so I checked the status of Angst's food (adequate) and headed back out the door, to Angst's dismay and disapproval.  I walked the four and a half blocks to the BBQ reminding myself how fortunate I am to live somewhere I feel comfortable walking around alone after dark (and how glad I am I found flat sandals I can live with), and then climbed four flights of stairs to the Boss's apartment and adjoined spectacular jungle roofdeck.

I was not seated for even a moment before Boss parked himself across the table from me and commenced to showing me the Super Awesome Antique Campagnolo Corkscrew some of the guys got him for Christmas a year or two ago.

Of course, he couldn't just show me this super-cool corkscrew - he had to demonstrate how awesome it was...by opening a bottle of Montepulciano d'Abruzzo and pouring me a glass.  I don't remember the label - it was kind of dark and I was kind of starving by now - but it was light and sparkly and well-suited to black veggie burgers.  Or hockey pucks.  Couldn't quite tell from a distance.

It was really sweet of Mr Boss to get veggie burgers and fire them up on the grill for us.  I think he got a little overzealous over the size of the flames, which resulted in the veggie burgers being a little crunchier than they are when you cook them on a skillet.  Regardless, Mr Boss had also supplied a little tub of the most amazing guacamole to date.  It was just Whole Foods homemade guac, but it was so good - creamy, but with decent-sized chunks of unmashed avocado and a healthy amount of raw garlic.  I slathered the bottom of the bun with about a half inch of guacamole (it's "healthy" fat) and the top with a generous squirt of ketchup.  It worked like a charm - between the wine and the condiments, I could barely tell the veggie burger had been burnt almost beyond recognition.  It was nice, though, to not have to cook dinner, because I really wasn't feeling it.

Last night, then, we had what I would have made on Monday if we hadn't gone to a little party: Cajun Red Beans and Rice from The Accidental Vegan.  It was just as good as it was the first time I made it, and it didn't look any different either, so I didn't take pictures.

Tonight is One-Serving Wednesday.  I took a different way home from work tonight on a colleague's suggestion and got a little turned around twice (literally, actually), so to say I was ravenous by the time I walked in the door would be an understatement.  I munched on some SnapeaCrisps while I formed a plan in my brain because I really did want to cook something.  I knew this: I was in a savory mood.  A glance in the fridge made my plans complete.  I grabbed the leftover kale, "leftover" Tofurky sausage, and leftover rice and came up with....

Kale and Sausage Skillet
(makes 2 scant servings)
1 Tbsp olive oil
2 cloves garlic, pressed
1 Tofurky kielbasa (or your preferred vegan sausage), halved lengthwise and sliced
2-3 cups of chopped kale
3/4 cup cooked rice
1/2 cup V8 Spicy Hot (or regular V8/tomato juice + a pinch of black and red peppers)

Heat oil on medium-high heat; add sausage and stir to coat with oil.  Saute on medium heat 3-5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until sausage begins to brown.  Stir in garlic and kale.  Cook, stirring constantly, until kale is slightly wilted and bright green.  Stir in rice and V8.  Cook 2-3 minutes more, stirring, until liquid is absorbed and rice is heated through.

As you can probably tell from the recipe, it is a quick-cooking recipe, which is always a helpful thing to have in your back pocket.  It's also very tasty and green.  I have really fallen quite in love with kale and I hope Essene finds and stocks those kale chips.

"well, there's a first time for everything"

That's the quote of the evening and it slipped from my uncle's lips within minutes of his arrival at my parents' home.  It was immediately preceded by this short vignette:

Him, swooping into the living room and eyeing the hors d'oeuvres table:  "Ooh!" as he picks up a tasty pan-seared treat and bites a chunk off.

Mom, laughing but a little trepidatious: "Do you know what that is?"

Him, pausing: "No..."

Mom, laughing more: "Italian-marinated tofu."

Him, chewing his second bite: "Well, there's a first time for everything!"

This morning, I awakened a little later than I had intended, so I gave myself a little less time to wake up so I could get going on my pre-game activities.  After a short breakfast, I hopped in the shower, threw on a dress and a quick coat of mascara and headed down to Whole Foods.  Fortunately, it was a light shopping week, so I was able to gather what I needed and get out of there pretty quickly.

The reason that is fortunate is because I completely underestimated how long it would take me to:
juice 4 lemons
peel 4 cucumbers
quarter, seed, and dice 4 cucumbers
core, seed, and dice about 8 Roma tomatoes
chop a cup of parsley

I made the tomato-cucumber salad from Vegetarian Times Complete Cookbook that accompanied a meal not long ago, as well as a fingerfood version of the pan-seared Italian Tofu from Vegan with a Vengeance.

The tofu was actually way bigger a hit than I expected it to be.  I doubled the recipe because I figured, it if did go over well, I would have enough and if it didn't, at least I would happily munch my way through it this week in various contexts. 

My cousin and his wonderful wife love everything I make.  Although they shared nicely with everyone else (my mom had a piece, my dad had two, I think my other cousin had one, as did my uncle and his wife), it was my cousin, his wife, and I who "licked the platter clean," so to speak.  There was not one speck of tofu or marinade left when we were through.  I sent the salad home with them as well.  I could very happily cook dinner for them (in my home) for the rest of our lives - that would be a fun little foursome for dinner each night!

With that, I bid welcome to August and adieu to you!

I blinked...where's July?

When I shared my menu for the past week, I mentioned that all the chosen meals were there because they would cook up quickly, which was important because I anticipated a busy week.  I can honestly say that I have never said TGIF as with as much conviction as I did yesterday.  Don't get me wrong, I have been quite relieved to meet the end of my work week many times before, but normally, I was too tired to care by the time it happened.  Crazy though my week was, I still had the energy to be excited for Friday.

Thursday night, I made Pasta Jambalaya from Vegan Express, and because I continually complain about the crunchiness of the celery, this time around I bypassed it completely in favor of a second green pepper.  It worked out perfectly.  I also used about half the Tofurky - I didn't think it was necessary.  Other than that, I don't have a lot to say about that.  Besides, I'm more excited about last night's dinner.

This is my amazing, gorgeous, beloved sister (-in-law).  We had a date last night - we even got hooked up with a table for two with a romantic view from the patio of Positano Coast.  Visit the website for some pretty pictures (of the food as well as the gorgeous facility).  I have wanted to dine here since I was taking my Tourist Walk about a month ago.  The dinner menu leaves quite a bit to be desired for those of us who do not wish to sup on the flesh of myriad creatures, but the wine list is to die for...no pun intended.

I had the only thing I could - Eggplant Napolean.  The portion was perfect, especially since Sister and I had gracefully gorged ourselves on Italian bread, peppercorn Olive oil, and mixed Mediterranean olives while waiting for our entrees.  Sister indulged in the Baked Cannelloni, which would be perfect for Mister, aside from the ground meat in it.  I also ordered a quartino (9 oz carafe) of Tempranillo - upon tasting it, Sister declared it her favorite wine.  She had never had Tempranillo before, so it made me laugh a little.

Continuing the Italian theme, tonight, Mister and I had Tuscan Vegetable Ragout from Vegetarian Times: Fast & Easy.  

Every time I make this, and I actually repeat this dish more frequently than others, Mister always asks what it is - he never recognizes that we've had it before.  The reason, of course, is that because the recipe invites variation, I change it a little each time.  This time, I added in cubed smoked tofu and orecchiette.  It was delightful, and served with a bowl of mixed olives and a glass of Tempra Tantrum Tempranillo-Shiraz, it was quite filling

Tomorrow, we'll be gathering with family at my parents' home.  I will be providing some tasty bits to supplement my mother's food, but I don't want to give my secrets away, so come back tomorrow to read about that.  In the meantime, let me share the upcoming week's menu:

1. Warm Chickpea Ragout with Swiss Chard, Carrots, and Harissa from Vegetarian Times: Fast & Easy.  Yes, this is leftover from last week's menu - I hadn't factored in dinner with Sister when I made the menu.

2. Pasta with Fresh 5-minute Basil Tomato Sauce from La Dolce Vegan.  Note the timeframe.  I'll be at next Friday before I know it.

3. Veggie Goulash also from La Dolce Vegan.  I love this book and it's been waaaaayyyy too long since I constructed a menu with its help.

4. Punjabi Peppers and Tofu also from LDV, because I love this recipe too much to not make it when I'm making my whole menu from this book.  It is so painstakingly simple that it's a shame it looks and tastes so impressive.

5. Vegetable Biryani as the final selection from LDV.  I've never made this because I'm very happy with the recipe I have in my Moosewood Cookbook, but this recipe appears to cook up faster and biryani is just so good.

Angst is happy that July is over.

Sssshhhh.....Don't tell him August is worse...

on second thought...

It's been kind of an off week, cooking-wise.  Monday and Tuesday's dinners left a bit to be desired, Wednesday I was completely uncreative (is that a word?) and just had the leftover Tofu Rancheros, sans tortilla, since I was happily slathering the last two tortillas with the last of the baba ganoush I used to trick my husband into eating "eggplant," and then stuffing them full of salad to make a couple of fun and crunchy wraps.  Thursday, due to Mister acknowledging that he was falling apart (more in a minute), I got to be a little creative since he had absolutely no interest in eating.  Same story tonight, though the ending was closer to that of Wednesday - I heated up the leftover casserole.

All the not-cooking gave me plenty of time to think and reflect while the microwave whirred as white noise in the background, surely imbuing my food with all kinds of carcinogens but everyone dies from something, right?  Here is what I've learned over these past few days:

1. When you make a big old casserole of something your husband doesn't want to eat, you become solely responsible for disposing of leftovers.  I hate wasting food, so I have eaten that casserole for lunch at work for the past three days AND for dinner tonight.  I have one more serving left, after which I will probably never want anything to do with casseroles ever again.

2. When you give something a second chance, in a different setting and at a different temperature, you can take the time to be mindful of its flavors and textures in a much more constructive way.  I have found that my attempt to recreate my mother's casserole (which she has shared came from her best friend who got it from her aunt) wasn't actually that far off and I truly believe this could be salvaged with only a few variations.  I may want to try it out on a larger audience because I'm not sure Mister will be too keen to try the "new and improved" version, but that's okay - it wasn't for him.  This is one of the few dishes I created more or less exclusively for me (which is good, since I'm the only one eating it).

3.  Mister is much easier to boss around when he is a space cadet, hopped up on over $100 worth of steroids and antibiotics.  No arguments from him about our far-flung Sunday plans!

Since I had taken a decent portion of leftover casserole to work with me yesterday to have for lunch, I really did not want to repeat it for dinner last night.  So, when Mister said he wanted nothing to do with food last night, I decided to try to cook up a health-protective and nutrient-rich dinner-for-one, just in case Mister was actually contagious (though I don't think infections of his entire cranial region are catching).

I don't really have a recipe, so let me try to recap what I did.  Maybe I will develop it into some kind of entree or first course later, but for now...

I cooked a 1/2 cup of jasmine rice in a cup of water. Meanwhile, I peeled and julienned 1 carrot and sauteed it, along with two cloves of garlic, pressed, in about 1 Tbsp olive oil.  I chopped up about 1 1/2 cups kale and added it to the mix, then dissolved 2 Tbsp brown rice miso in an equal amount of warm water.  I stirred that into the kale and carrots, along with about 1 Tbsp tamari, then turned off the heat and stirred in the cooked rice until it was thoroughly combined.  It was very very good and made me feel just a little bit safer from Mister's germs.

We (okay, mainly I) have a lot of social "obligations" this coming week.  Sunday, we will brunch with my parents and dine with his, in celebration of Fathers' Day.  Thursday, I have another dinner with my colleagues, so I'm sure I'll be full of fun stories that night.  Friday, I will be meeting up with a dear old friend for dinner and drinks.  While I am very much looking forward to every single one of these social opportunities, I realized tonight that it means there will be at least three nights, maybe four, when I won't make dinner.  That made me a little sad, but I'm sure the fun I expect to have will [over]compensate for that.

For my tiny menu, I have kept the two meals I didn't make this week because Mister is sick and added two more from my little [bulging] folder of misfit recipes, carefully cut from various magazines (will cite them when I make them):

1. Mandarin Tofu with Peppers and Broccoli accompanied by Spinach Salad with Japanese Ginger Dressing because I have been obsessed with that tangy peach-colored dressing they serve at fine dining establishments (don't let the pictures fool you) like Hibachi for years and the possibility of replicating it in my own home sounds like heaven.

2. Curried Bulghur Casserole with Garbanzo Beans

3. Fusion Enchiladas accompanied by Mango and Black Bean Salad 

4. Chickpea Croquettes with Greek Salad Topping because it's funny to think of my mother cringing every time she reads about a recipe with chickpeas (and because it sounds tasty!).

Stay tuned - we have some fun adventures looming in the very near future!