My best friend's birthday

I'm finally home! Here's a quick recap of the night: drink at the Farm, dinner and drinks at the Montage, drink at my other best friend's bar, then we all went to Hungry Tiger. Woo hoo! Happy Birthday Steph!

My veggie linguine with cajun gravy at the Montage

Leftovers!

Awesome coconut squash ravioli wantons with sweet chili sauce at Hungry Tiger

Hungry Tiger's dessert special was apple pie from Sweetpea! Yay!!!

Friday night surprise dinner

When I got home late from work last night, I discovered that Jesse had made me an awesome dinner! He doesn't cook often, but is a waaaaaaaayyy better cook them I am. Which makes sense, because he grew up cooking with his family and I didn't. Anyway, he gets home later than I do, so he usually eats whatever I make, or cereal, or chips and salsa (boys are so weird!). He made hummus, pita bread, tabouleh, and falafel and there is a TON left over. Woohoo! The falafel didn't hold together as well as he would have liked, but I didn't care because it tasted good!

Hummus and tabouleh

Falafel and pita bread

P.S. This post counts for last night... I fell asleep on the couch after watching Forgetting Sarah Marshall, which was pretty funny!

I'm hungry

But I don't feel like cooking! There's also a sink-full of dishes that need to be washed, so I've been avoiding the kitchen this evening (except to pour a quick glass of wine). So far I've had the last 2 sugar cookies from debate day and some grapes. I'll probably just end up eating a Tasty Bite (well, the Trader Joe's cheap version) with some leftover quinoa. Maybe salad. Or more wine? Haha! I'm totally thrown off by it getting dark so early now... I can't believe it's only 7:30! It feels like 9:00 to me.

Anyway, here's some good food I've eaten lately that I haven't blogged about. Maybe I'll inspire myself to make something!

Black beans, quinoa, veggies (all local of course!),
guac, salsa, and leftover cheezy sauce (it didn't reheat
very saucy, but still tasted good) which I ate with corn tortillas

Tomato Basil Cream Pasta a la VeganYumYum, baguette, and spicy pepper olive oil

Tostones, spicy black beans, quinoa and tofutti

Milkshake of Soy Delicious Chocolate, frozen banana, chocolate hempmilk, and a handful of blueberries

Taco salad from King Burrito in NoPo

Hummus among us!

I love hummus. A lot. I love roasted pepper hummus, tomato basil hummus, white bean hummus, cilantro hummus... but most of all, I love traditional Lebanese hummus. The hummus is what I look forward to when I eat out at Lebanese restaurants or get a quick falafel on my lunch break. And do you know what I just realized the other day when I was standing in the nut butter section of Whole Foods? I have never made my own! So I grabbed some tahini and made some hummus as soon as I got home!

Here is the recipe I used. It calls for using 1/4 cup of the bean water, but I found it to be a tad too runny. Next time I'll go for 1/8 a can. It was also very garlicky, with it being raw and all... so cut that down if you're not into that. Other than that, this hummus was fabulous and just like what I get in the restaurants! And way cheaper :) Woot!

Ready to blend...

Ready to go in my belly!

Presidential debate cookies!

Inspired by Vegan Crunk's post last week, I made some cookies and had my own little viewing party! Jesse was supposed to make it, but got stuck late at work :( he did make the last 15 minutes, at least. It was torture not to break into the cookies while I was waiting for him!

I used a sugar cookie and icing recipe from vegweb. It turned out pretty well! I did have to add a little water to the dough, and I didn't realize that you're supposed to flatten sugar cookies rather than ball 'em up on the cookie sheet, but they were still tasty if a little goofy-looking!

When I got ready to make my blue and red frosting, I opened up the box of food coloring to discover that some jerk-off took the red out and replaced it with blue! Can you believe that??? So, I used yellow. Whatever. I'm still a little annoyed as you can probably tell! I quickly discovered that O-B-A-M-A is tricky to spell out on a dinky little cookie, so I went with the classic "OBAMA RULZ" after that.

And what a great debate it was! I loved that McCain was trying sooooooooo hard to be nice to Obama after last time, and it was obvious how fake it was.

Here I am ready to laugh my ass off and yell at the tv!

Rasperry cider toast to Obama

Sugar cookies before icing...

...and after!

Veganmofo survey!

Thanks for passing this along, VeganView!

1. Name a song that involves food in some way?

Biscuit - Portishead

2. What criteria do you use when buying a new cookbook?

Do I have money? LOL! No really, I'm a novice cook, so I don't have many cookbooks. I use vegweb a lot.

3. What did you eat today?

A bagel with hummus and veggies, a small bowl of veggie chili, a sticky bun... I need some fruit!

4. Name a vegan food you know exists but have never tried...

I don't think I've ever had a vegan tamale. Sad!

5. The Food Network just called and needs you to start your new show tomorrow. What will the title be?

Vegan Eating for Dummies

6. Favorite hot sauce or other spicy condiment?

That is a tough one... I love Sriracha, Aarvark habanero hot sauce, and wasabi

7. How old were you when you became vegan?

22

8. Favorite vegan cheeze?

Follow Your Heart because it's cheap. Sheese Gouda flavor is really good on crackers with mustard, though!

9. Cutest baby animal?

Any that's not a human and is very furry!

10. Favorite type of jam/jelly?

I love the lavender-infused ones at the farmers market

11. Do you take any vitamins/supplements?

VegLife Vegan Multi

12. What food/dish most embodies the Fall Season?

Definitely pumpkin pie!

13. What food would you have a hard time living without?

Tofu, avocado, olive oil, chocolate

14. Coffee, Tea or Hot Chocolate?

If it's plain old coffee, then hot chocolate for sure, but if it's a yummy mocha with hemp milk or something, I'm all over that!

15. It's 10 pm and you're starving. What do you eat?

Have I been drinking? haha If not, a handful of nuts or a salad or just go to bed, if yes - I've been known to make cheezy sauce all hours of the night!

16. If you have an animal companion, what is her/his favorite food?

My kitties love their fancy gross meat food, but they (especially Cookie) love to eat whatever else I'm eating. Zoey loves vegan coffee cake, Smart Bacon, and goes wild over chevre when my husband has it.

17. Worst injury you have gotten in the kitchen?

I burned myself pretty good on my inner forearm on the oven the night before I left for Italy... when I got back 2 weeks later it was still all scabby. No scar now, though! That was about 2.5 years ago.

18. When you have a food-related question, who do you call?

Whoever I think will answer the phone! Usually my husband or my best friend.

19. Summer is ending-what food will you miss the most?

That's a toss up between heirloom tomatoes and berries. I love summer!

20. What snacks do you keep in your purse/backpack/desk at work?

Purse - dried fruit and nuts
Work - Lara bars and sometimes a box of cereal or packets of oatmeal. I'm trying to start eating breakfast... it's really hard for me :(

21. Favorite soup to make on a rainy day?

Does chili count?

22. What is your favorite combination of fresh vegetable/fruit juices?

I really like green juices, a la Naked or Columbia Valley.

23. Favorite brand of root beer?

Root beer is foul

24. You are having three vegan celebs to dinner! Who are they?

~James Cromwell

~Woody Harrelson

~Erykah Badu

25. Make your own veganic question! Here's mine:
When was the first time you heard the word "vegan?" What was your first impression?
I remember hearing the word vegan (pronounced vay-gun) when I was a sophomore in high school. A punk friend of mine thought I would be interested in all this stuff he had found out about dairy because I was a vegetarian. He told me about it while I drank a milkshake and he ate a burger at Burgerville. I didn't believe him. I never heard anything about vegans again until I started college and met a few!

And here's a yummy little sticky bun I just ate from Dovetail Bakery

Stinging nettle soup!

Sounds pretty hard-core, huh? Well, you know me! :) Nettles are actually an extremely healthy food - they are rich in vitamins A, C, D, iron and calcium, and have quite a high amount of protein for a veggie at 40%! But what about the whole stinging issue, you ask? Even brief cooking totally neutralizes it.

I bought a bag of stinging nettles from the mushroom vendors at the farmers market last weekend, and ended up using their recipe to cook them up. It made a huge pot of soup, and was surprisingly delicious! Here is the recipe:

Springwater Farm Nettle Soup
1 lb. potatoes
1/2 lb. young nettles
1/4 lb. maitakes
1/4 lb. shittakes
2 oz. butter or olive oil
1/2 pts. chicken or veggie stock
sea salt
black pepper
4 Tb. sour creme (I subbed Tofutti and halved it)


Cook the peeled, chopped potatoes for 10 min. in salted water. Drain. Wearing gloves, cut nettles up with scissors (I pulled them apart with my hands over the saucepan). Melt the olive oil in a saucepan, add the nettles and stew gently for a few minutes.

Add the potatoes and heated stock, bring to a boil and simmer for 10 minutes or until tender. Meanwhile, saute the mushrooms (I used a mix of cremini, shiitake, and chanterelles) in olive oil until cooked. When all is soft, cool slightly and mash with a potato masher, or puree in blender. Add the mushrooms, seasonings, and sour cream. Bon appetit!

The nettles tasted similar to spinach to me, but with a bit more of a bite and they didn't get as mushy. I think next time I make this, I'll add some garlic and maybe onion. This reheated nicely, and was great with Sriracha :)

No flash, served with garlicy french bread

Zoey preferred the bread!

And a bonus! This is probably the best shot of a cat I have ever taken. It's the desktop on my computer now. I am so proud of myself!

Cookie girl mid-bath