A recipe for Dexter Salad (the mystery of the title will be revealed)
Reviews of many new Philly vegan eateries, including Blackbird Pizzeria (which we are eating tonight!) and Grindcore House and old haunts like the venerable Horizons
A roundup on my not-so-crazy, small vegan wedding, including helpful hints on devising a creative vegan menu, working with a nonvegan caterer, finding cruelty-free shoes and celebrating your love without blowing your budget
Delicious vegan eats and cozy places to stay in Woodstock, NY
Vegan-friendly chain restaurants
Much more!
Until then, Happy Halloween. For now, it's back to studying blood and the lymphatic system.
It may go without saying but it's been over a year since my last post. Anyone reading this knows me and knows what I've done in that year. In the off-chance that you don't know me or what has occurred during this past year, here's the condensed version:
I moved to Philly to be with my then-fiance. I had just quit a job that I was very unhappy with and that battered my body (hello, repetitive strain injury. Goodbye being an editor). I felt very lost. This time last year was a time when I felt lost nearly everyday and not infrequently depressed.
I decided to become a nurse-midwife. It wasn't an overnight thing. I've entertained the idea for years but I didn't know enough about the profession to say for sure it was something I could commit. What I wanted from my profession was to not be behind a desk. I wanted to actually make a decent living. I wanted to see my children on more than just weekends and weeknights and have a flexible schedule. Most importantly, for years I felt lost about my career so I read about personality types and jobs. I am an INFJ. According to this type, I need to do work that's meaningful, would allow me to be warm and empathic and move people. I am really great at seeing potential and possibility in other people's lives, in being able to read people and help map out a life for them. Some of this is because I'm admittedly bossy and a sometimes a control freak. But I actually have a knack for seeing what other people don't see about themselves and sharing that information to help them (if they, in fact, want that information). So, I investigated counseling (again. I was a psych major, after all) and nursing. Then I decided being only a therapist wasn't enough. I wanted to counsel but also use my body and have a set of knowledge I could share. Nurses counsel and teach about and oversee health issues. Furthermore, I wanted to be my favorite kind of nurse, a midwife, so I can immerse myself in many of the topics I love--sex, pregnancy, ladies, babies, birth, breastfeeding. So, that's what I'm doing and now I can probably kiss that flexible schedule goodbye.
I became a doula. I attended my first birth as a doula in August.
I enrolled in community college to take all the science courses I avoided as a psych major--anatomy and physiology, chemistry, microbiology. I was scared I was fooling myself. I thought I didn't have a mind for science.
But I am kicking ass in science. All A's. It's work but I get it and most of the time, I'm really interested in what I'm learning too. All good signs.
I planned a wedding.
On Sunday, October 10, 2010, Brian and I got married.
I applied to nursing schools. I'll find out in a few weeks about the fate of one of the applications and the other one in February.
In the meantime, I'm taking the second portion of anatomy and physiology and nutrition. Actually, I should be reading for class instead of writing this but it has been a year and I'm feeling inspired.
I want to blog again. I still want to write, even if I am going to be a nurse. I think about it and miss it but was having problems accessing this blog due to having a--unbeknownst to me--compromised account, . But I also did nothing about not having access to that blog because I thought I should give up my dream of writing now that I am going to be a nurse. I was sad about that. I've been writing since I was a kid and it has always been the one thing I've felt sure about but I couldn't do it because my hands hurt when I type and my ego hurts as I worry about not being good enough. Instead, I tucked it away and studied science and got married and took care of our dog and read some good books and read a fewweddingblogs. I want to blog and podcast. It's something I have to do because I'm always thinking about it. I want to do something about midwifery, becoming a midwife, and sex and babies and veganism. But I am still formulating how to weave that all together in a cohesive enough way to make it a good blog.
In the meantime, I'm back to Mutual Menu. And I'm working on a vegan guide to Philly that will eventually be posted on a most excellent blog that I've recently discovered and has definitely reinspired me, Bonzai Aphrodite. There are so many newdeliciousvegan places popping up in Philly that I need to eat at and need to leave a record of them here. At the very least, I owe this blog a "How To Have a Vegan Wedding," post.
So, I'm back. If there's anything this year of non-blogging has taught me, it's that the things that are scary are the things I need to do most. And they are actually not as scary as I imagine them to be.
Since last posting, I've left my most recent job as the assistant editor of a medical journal, moved into my fiance's home in Philadelphia, started volunteering at Philadelphia Animal Welfare Society (better known as PAWS), and, while there, fell in love with a Parson Russell Terrier (formerly Jack Russell)/Papillon/and maybe Spaniel mix, who Brian and I recently adopted and renamed Benji. In the midst of packing, moving, mulling over an idea for a new blog that may never come to fruition, and having some sort of pre-turning 30 depression, I haven't blogged. But I have eaten. A lot.
Here's something perfect to make and eat on a rainy day while holed up in a house with an adolescent dog suffering from kennel cough.
World's Best Onion Rings Adapted from Feast by Nigella Lawson
Onion rings always sound like a delicious, decadent option at a restaurant until you actually eat them. Then they are almost always a mushy, underseasoned, greasy disappointment. When I was growing up in Manhattan, there were not nearly as many fast food restaurants as today. Going to Burger King was an exotic, rare trek uptown and I took this opportunity to order onion rings. They were stale and left an unsettling oily film on my mouth. As an adult, my ideals for onion rings--crisp and seasoned breading without and soft-crisp, sweet onion within--have yet to be met.
Therefore, I don't know exactly why I decided to tackle making homemade onion rings for perhaps the second time in my life (the first time must have been a floury failure I've mostly blocked from recall). But I had this bag of Trader Joe's onions sitting around and a hankering for fried. Surprisingly, none of the vegan cookbooks I own have onion ring recipes. I checked out How to Cook Everything Vegetarianby Mark Bittman but, with it's call for cold beer, chilled sparkling water, and eggs, it was too fussy. I knew Nigella Lawson'sFeast (handsdown my all-time favorite cookbook and one of my favorite pieces of writing ever) had an ultimate onion rings recipe but I wasn't sure how simple it would be to veganize.
Luckily, what follows is pretty much the original recipe, except for my own buttermilk concoction, tweaking the flour mixture to accommodate my pantry offerings, and swapping out the shortening for oil. The key to the perfection of these onion rings is the soured milk mixture and letting the onions marinade in it for several hours. Serve with the usual burgers or over some baby greens dolloped with aioli.
1 large white onion 1 cup plain soy milk 1 tablespoon white vinegar (don't use balsamic or other strongly flavored vinegar) 1 teaspoon arrowroot or cornstarch canola oil 1 cup all-purpose flour 1 teaspoon baking powder 1/2 teaspoon baking soda 1/2 tablespoon Creole seasoning (or 1/2 tablespoon paprika) 1/2 teaspoon cayenne generous pinch or two of sea salt
Chop off the root ends of the onion and peel. Starting from widest part of onion, slice ringed circles about 1/2 inch thick. Put aside smaller or broken rings for another use (I chopped and added them to a pot of black bean soup). You should have anywhere from 12 to 20 of the best looking onion circles.
In a large bowl, mix soy milk, vinegar, and arrowroot. Place onions in mixture and gently stir to coat the pieces. It's okay if not all of the rings are completely submerged but make sure they each get coated and sit in some of the milk mixture. Cover and put in the fridge for anywhere from 2 hours to overnight. Overnight is ideal.
Over medium heat, add about 2 inches of oil to a deep soup pan (don't use a skillet). Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, Creole seasoning, cayenne, and salt in a shallow bowl or plate. Take the marinated rings out of the fridge, shake off excess milk, dip each ring into the flour, and add to the well-heated pan. Only add 5 to 7 rings at a time, being careful not to crowd the pieces. It will take a few batches to complete the process and you may need to add more oil once it starts getting full of flour but be patient. After a few minutes, or until one side is golden brown, flip over each ring with tongs, being careful not to remove the delicate flour batter. Drain them on paper towels and eat as soon as possible. Not that you'll be able to resist doing that anyway.
I am so thrilled that one of my favorite bloggers, Erica Bartle of the excellent magazine review site, Girl With A Satchel (GWAS), not only sent me a free copy of Australia's lovely Frankie magazine, she also let me contribute a guest review of it. She's just super nice like that. You can read my post by heading over to GWAS and finding the July 22, 2009 post, "Mags: Frankie (Guest Review)."
It is a myth that chocolate is not vegan. Chocolate comes from the seed of the cacao tree so its entirely plant-based. Since choosing to be vegan, I've not given up using yummy Ghirardelli semisweet chips when making baked goods or eating various dark chocolate bars that I easily find at my local Stop and Shop and elsewhere.
I have, however, not had the candy store milk chocolate bars full of sugar, fat, and deliciousness because they contain dairy and other animal ingredients. Well, I don't have to forgo the sweet candy bar fix anymore because Go Max Go Foods has come to the rescue and released four vegan candy bars that are as delicious as their nonvegan forbears. Jokerz is like that chocolate bar that starts with the letter "S" and is proven to satisfy. Twilight is much like the bar named after our fine galaxy. Buccaneer is as exciting to taste as the three rascally fellows its named in honor of. And Mahalo is as joyful as indulging in some chocolate, coconut, almond goodness on a Hawaiian beach.
After inquiring with the company about when their candy bars might be available in Philly and suggesting a couple of places that might be great to inquire with (Essene and The Rocket Cat Cafe), they were kind enough to send me all four flavors. For free. In return for their generosity, I promised to post about the candy bars here. I am so happy to report that Jokerz totally tasted like its nonvegan fraternal twin. My one regret is that I only indulged in half of the bar because I promised to share them all with Brian. This whole marriage and sharing thing will be hard when it comes to chocolate this sweet, chewy, nutty and delicious.
I confess, however, to eating Mahalo all on my lonesome. Brian said he wasn't crazy about that nonvegan candy bar anyway so I told myself I was doing him a favor. My grandmother used to hoard that joy of almond bar during Lent and then would eat them all up come Easter. In her later years, she complained that the candy didn't seem as juicy and delicious as it once was. Maybe it was her aging tastebuds or maybe the candy's recipe did change. All I know is that I wish my grandmother were still here to try Mahalo because its juicy coconut bits and chunks of almond made me swoon. She loved Hawaii and she would have loved this candy.
Go Max Go candy bars are available in many stores in the US and they soon will be even more widely available. Thanks so much to them for hooking me up with some delicious candy--I still have Twilight and Buccaneer waiting to be devoured by Brian and me--and for making a lot of vegans with a sweet-tooth very happy.
Picture and the products mentioned in this post courtesy of Go Max Go Foods.
Although weather reports called for rain, it ended up being a gorgeously sunny day, with birds chirping and green mountains rolling on beside us.After checking out some of the sculptures and sitting on a bench made of nickels, Brian and I headed onto the art center’s tram and headed for the Wall.
We got off at Roy Lichtenstein’s Mermaid. We watched some turtles ducking in and out of the pond surrounding the sculpture.
Soon after that, he pulled a wrapped square box out of his pocket. The night before, he also surprised me with tickets to see Spring Awakening. It’s funny, although there was no holiday, anniversary, or other special occasion, I also gave him some gifts the night before: a printout promising to take him to Mama’s Vegetarian, site of our first date; a pin set from Herbivore that reads, “I’m vegan and I love you;”a bamboo cutlery set; and a card congratulating him on kicking ass during a very challenging term at school. I also told him I was ready to quit my job and move to Philly without other employment lined-up because the job search I’d been conducting while working full-time was not working and my shitty feelings about it were putting a serious strain on our relationship. We just need to be together. No more trains on the weekend and talking on the phone on weeknights even though we’re dead tired.
I opened the box Brian gave me to find a heart-shaped peridot charm on a silver chain. Simple and green-colored, my two favorite things. As I took the necklace out of the box, Brian got down on one knee and asked me to marry him.
My initial reaction was disbelief. Not because I didn’t think I’d marry Brian. Who else would I ever want to spend my life with? And not because we hadn’t talked about this (he told me before our second date over two years ago that he wanted to marry me). But because I couldn’t actually believe I was being proposed to. Because a big part of me from long ago still finds it hard to believe someone could love me this much. After reassuring me that his proposal was indeed sincere, I just started crying. After a minute or so of just holding onto one another, Brian—still on one knee—asked, “So, is that a yes?” And I said yes.
Then he pulled out another small wrapped box and inside was a pair of peridot earrings. I don’t wear a lot of jewelry and never wear rings so Brian said he wasn’t sure what kind and size of ring to get me. But I didn’t care. He could have wrapped a blade of grass around my finger and I would have been just as ecstatic and surprised.
So, we’re getting married! And I’m quitting my job and moving in with Brian. I am really happy and a little scared but everything is less scary with Brian around.
Just in case you’re curious:
-- We don’t yet know when or where we’re getting married. We’d like to try living in the same state for a while before breaking out the wedding planner (although I did just purchase my first issue of Brides. Holy super ad pages!). I also really need to focus on finding another job so I should not indulge my bridal fantasies too much right now.
-- I don’t know what dress I’m going to wear. So far, I’m leaning towards a slinky, Grecian gown or a tea-length dress.
-- I think we will be one of the few people who say, “We want a small wedding,” who actually end up having a small wedding.
-- I’m not changing my last name and neither will Brian. And we won’t do a hybrid of names either (Kantorlacios? Ewww.). And I don’t like the idea of hyphenating any future children’s names (I was given a hyphenated name by my parents and it’s a pain in the ass).
-- Yes, the food will be vegan but don’t be scared if you end up coming to the wedding and aren’t vegan. I will take care of you. You will eat so well. Food is my top priority in life and in this wedding. You’ve eaten my cookies and muffins, right? They were good, right? Okay, don’t worry. Nothing weird—just simple, delicious, and amazing food.
-- Finally, at the wedding, I would like to acknowledge that if you’re not a heterosexual couple, you can’t get married and I do have mixed feelings about my choosing to get married in light of this. I like Jessica Valenti’sidea for her own upcoming wedding. I’d also like to acknowledge here that the idea of marriage is super-loaded, both socially and personally (Brian and I are children of divorce, after all). I’m incredibly happy, excited, and giddy but this is one of the most grown-up decisions I’ve ever had to make so I’d be remiss in not mentioning The Dark Side of Things. Why are online vegans so damn serious? Offline, I am usually so silly.
You can get a peak into the book on the official Vegan Scoop site, but for now, I'm very pleased to share this recipe for Madagascar Rooibus Ice Cream. Did I ever luck out in getting this one. I love tea and rooibus is one of my favorites. I'm in the process of making the ice cream now. It's my first time making homemade ice cream so I'm sure I'll learn a lot in the process but, so far, it's much simpler than I ever thought it would be. I will post pictures and details of the finished project this week but I wanted to share this recipe right away. If you don't have an ice cream maker, check out these tips from Wheeler's blog for making homemade ice cream without one. Enjoy!
Madagascar Rooibus Ice Cream
1 cup (235 ml) soymilk, divided
2 tablespoons (16 g) arrowroot powder
2 cups (470 ml) soy creamer
3/4 cup (150 g) sugar
8 bags Madagascar Rooibus tea
1 tablespoon (15 ml) vanilla extract
In a small bowl, combine 1/4 cup (60 ml) soymilk with arrowroot and set aside.
Mix soy creamer, remaining 3/4 cup (175 ml) soymilk, and sugar in a saucepan and bring to boil over medium heat. Place teabags in mixture and steep for 20 minutes.
Remove teabags, then heat mixture over medium-low heat. Once mixture begins to boil, remove from heat and immediately add arrowroot cream. This will cause the liquid to thicken noticeably.
Refrigerate mixture until chilled, approximately 2 to 3 hours. Freeze according to your ice cream maker's instructions.
Wherein every vegan blogger goes batty over food. Starting November 1.
