Favorite Bars

I'm currently in Sarasota, Florida, my home town. The time here is 4:30am, but that's 1:30am Portland time and I'm still on Portland time...I just got here this morning (Friday morning) and I took a nap after arriving here on a red eye flight. But, yeah, kind of wide awake.

Note: LAX is one of the worst airports I've been to. I expected more since celebrities use it quite a bit. It's dumpy looking (ok, it's under construction, I think, so hopefully improvements are on their way) and the food choices suck. My sister and I shared a cheeseless veggie pizza at a California Pizza Kitchen Express. It was so blah. 

Today I have eaten: hashbrowns with green peppers and onions, french fries, more french fries (mmm...Chick-Fil-A waffle fries), some white rice w/veggies that my mom got at a mall food place, pretzels, mom's homemade handheld cherry pies, Tempt ice cream, a piece of mom's cinnamon bread....and some Dr. Pepper and beer. Yeah, a real good healthy day...

Only 9 days left...

But back to the subject, me and Jess planned on doing this post during Vegan MoFo, but never finished it before the end of October. Well, correction, I finished it, someone else didn't finish it. ahem. Well, she posted it on her page, so I'm just going to link it. Please let us know what your favorite bars are and what's vegan there that you like! (this includes out-of-Portlanders!)

More Waffles...and some sausage

This morning I was perplexed at what I would eat for breakfast. I was out of my English muffins that I normally eat, toasted with peanut butter and jelly. Then I remembered that I had bought these new waffles, Nature's Path's Flax Plus with Figs. I think they were on sale, I definitely bought them spur of the moment style. The inclusion of figs just sounded so delicious. 

I haven't been in much of a waffle mood so I had forgotten about them. So when I remembered them this morning, I decided to give them a go. I also had Gardenburger's faux sausage patties in the freezer. I had gotten them a long time ago and hadn't been mad impressed with the two I had eaten so I hadn't finished the box. I really miss Morningstar brand sausages. Those are the best faux sausages! Unfortunately, they have egg in them so I had to stop buying them. I think I heard they are working on making more of their products vegan, so I look forward to see if that is one of things they are changing. 

Anyways, I put two of the waffles in the toaster oven and then heated two of the sausage patties on the stove top. I topped the waffles with a little bit of maple syrup and had some ketchup and Chalula mixed up to dip the sausage in. I really liked the waffles! It was a lot like the other waffles I get from them, but with the addition of tasty fig bits. Frozen waffles are one of my main convenience foods. I do have a waffle maker but I used it only once, a couple weeks ago. My sister is the one that actually used it, I watched. It's a Hello Kitty one that I got from her a couple years ago (it was a presentfor her brother-in-law and he didn't want it, "too girly"). The waffles were tough to get out and....yeah, work....frozen waffles are cheap. Granted, they don't come in cute Hello Kitty shapes....

And the sausages. Well, they came out better than I remember! Not sure if I'll buy them again, but good to know they don't suck as much as I thought.

One of them Shout Out things

Beauty in Everything

If you aren't already looking at Are You My Ghost's Tumblr, you should. Renai picks out the best things to look out. It makes me happy when I see the close up of kitten paws, cute kittens, many lovely pictures, -oh, did i mention kitty pictures? For reals, it makes me almost want a cat. She gets alot of her images from SkyInMyPocket, so thanks, Alethea for your lovely posts!

The annual New Years Meal

I have posted my New Years Meal previously. I look forward to making it with my sister each January 1st. This year was no exception. We had it at me and missy's place and had some other guests as well. Instead of our normal Tofurkey beer brats, Kim made Isa's Hot Sauce Glazed Tempeh. It was good, but I kinda miss the beer brats and think I'll bring 'em back next time (or at least make some of my own steamed sausages). 

When I was at Grocery Outlet that day I spied the Kuhne brand Rotkraut (translated: Red Kraut). It's sauerkraut made with red/purple cabbage and there's a sweetness to it. I ate it alot when I was in Germany. I would say it was more prominent there then the sauerkraut that most people think of when they think 'Germany'. It got a warm welcome at our meal and I was excited to introduce something to my friends that they hadn't had before. 

We bought Bubbies jar of sauerkraut and finished the whole thing! I like non-refrigerated a little better because of the softer kraut, but I'll take whatever I can get!

My sister Kim also made a batch of black eyed peas. I think she said she got the recipe from Kittee. They reminded me a lot of the ones from Bye & Bye, but better. I don't like the Bye & Bye's recipe. It's spicy and tastes weird. (Yeah, there's something I don't like at the B&B, crazy, right?)

I made Nava Atlas' Greens w/Black Eyed Peas recipe, as always, and then we had some mashed potatoes. 

I have started making this meal during the year after realizing that I shouldn't be denying myself so horribly and only eating this meal once a year. 

Do you have an "lucky" New Years meal each year? What's your favorite thing to do with sauerkraut?

Testing for Isa's New Book

Isa, co-author/author of such awesomeness as Veganomicon, Vegan with a Vengeance, Vegan Brunch, Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World, and the brand new Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar (good God, she can pump out cookbooks!) is currently in the process of writing a weight reduction/healthy cookbook. I tested previously for her for V'con and I hope to be doing a bit better (i.e. testing more recipes) this time around. So far I have liked every single thing I've tested, with a lot of love for some of them. My favorite definitely is the awesome Curried Corn Chowder. So! Good! Y'all should be in great anticipation for this new cookbook!

My most recent testing was for Pasta con Broccoli. With a whole head of garlic in it, this isn't for those who dislike this pungent vegetable. I didn't follow the recipe exactly since I didn't have all the ingredients, but I also added Gardein Seasoned Chunks that I had found on sale at a Safeway. I've had Gardein once or twice before and had just thought they were ok. I wasn't blown away like Ellen DeGeneres seems to be. I like that they seem to be made from all natural ingredients and healthy for you, but the texture is sometimes weird. So I tried them again. I added the chunks to the pasta recipe.....and they again didn't blow me away. I think I need to cook them longer so they get more firm. 

This pasta dish turned out pretty good. I think next time I'll cook the garlic longer and use a little less. I ended up throwing out quite a bit of it because the garlic slices ended up kinda big and I didn't like the idea of eating it straight up. The only time I don't mind that is when it's been roasted, then bring on the whole cloves! 

I used spinach bowtie pasta that I had picked up at Grocery Outlet. I love bowtie pasta and I love spinash pasta, so it's like a match made in my own private heaven!

Oh, Christmas tree, oh, Christmas tree...

Last year at this time Portland was buried in snow, my flight had just gotten cancelled and rescheduled for 5 days later, and I was in the start of a much-needed 2 week vacation from work. The times...they are a'changing....

I've got two jobs that totally 14-19 hours a week and no snow in sight. I'm going to Florida (aka home) the end of January with my sister and brother-in-law and very much look forward to the (Lord willing, since a couple years ago I went in January and there was a COLD SPELL!) warm sunshine..and, you know, friends and family. 

I have been pondering going overseas again. I haven't gone to another country (besides Canada) since 2003 when I had lived in Germany for a year and done lots of roaming around. I had been thinking about it, but what really got me thinking of it for real was the book Eat, Pray, Love. I didn't really like this book, but it made me think. I remember when I was in Edinburgh, Scotland and I wrote down in my journal (or a letter...I don't remember...I don't normally journal much though) that I wanted to come back to this city some time and stay a couple months to work and play. I feel like right now is my chance. Technically this summer would've been a smarter time to go.....but right now I still don't have a "real" full time job, I'm not on a lease and I have a friend that could be move into my room while I'm gone. We, along with my roommate, had talked about getting a place together. So hypothetically, we would look for a place when I get back and until we find something, I could live with my sister. She's been wanting me to move back anyways.  :o)    

Does anyone know of any good programs/jobs in Edinburgh or Australia? (I've been thinking of going to Australia since I've never gone and a lot of my friends have and really liked it)

Foodwise: Last night I made 3 adorable small loaves of Pound Cake. I frikkin' love that stuff! When I was younger I would get my mom to buy the Sara Lee frozen pound cake and I would eat the shit out of it. I can't believe that I wasn't fat as a youngin'. I was a bit on the chubby side, but not quite. I ate a lot of veggie-less macaroni salad, hardboiled eggs (including deviled eggs), pound cake, McDonald's and Burger King, trail bologna, cheese, and lots of soda. 

The pound cake I made was from Veganomicon (by Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romano). I don't know if I've ever made it exactly as the recipe states. I never have the citrus extracts and rarely do I have the zest needed. I use whatever flavor soy yogurt I have on hand and the first time I made it I didn't have the amount of arrowroot asked for, but it came out good anyways! This time I used Key Lime yogurt that had expired last week. (Previously I've also used cherry....really almost ever flavor would work) I had thought I would give them as small gifts to a couple people so I used my aluminum miny loaf pans Missy had convinced me to buy at Grocery Outlet. They turned out delicious and, dare I say, moist! 

I just have to say, thank God for Isa and Terry! 

ChaseNoFace...no freakin' way!

I was reading one of my favorite pop culture blogs the other day and he (Rich) gave a link to a blog that follows the life of a 4 year old cat named Chase who was in a accident when she was 3-5 weeks old. The accident injuries eventually led to the kitty having no mouth, eyelids...face. She does have eyes, which is extremely odd since SHE HAS NO EYELIDS! According to the blog, the cat is in no pain and when she wants to sleep she usually goes under the bed or in a dark room. But, seriously, you have to see these pictures! On an empty stomach! It will blow your mind. It reminds me of Mike the headless chicken a bit.

Did I ever tell you that I love Jen Corace's art? Well, I do. I forgot that I used to follow her blog until I thought of her the other day (all my bookmarks got erased awhile back when my friend reset everything on my computer). She's the one that drew the infamous Cowhugger design that I can't get enough of (I have the sticker on my car, the long sleeve green and the deep v-neck purple, my favorite) and she used to do a lot of illustrations in one of Portland's alternative weekly papers, The Mercury. When I first found out about her art, I contacted her, saying I was interested in getting a tattoo designed by her. She said she was good with a trade, but I don't really make/do anything specific and soon after I heard she had an idea for me....I never heard from her again. I did meet her in person once when she was here for a gallery opening at Motel downtown. She was nice but I think we're both pretty awkward with strangers so we didn't talk much. (just so you know, I don't blame her for never getting back to me. She's very busy with her art and if I were her, I may have done the same...I just wish I could've found out what she thought of)

Well, I have a ladies night (theme: manly poker night) to get to!