Thoughts of life and dark chocolate.

Busy!

2012-01-13T18:34:00.000-08:00

Sometimes, SW Portland can be pretty.

Next week I'm finally moving back into my old neighborhood.

If you know me at all (or, hey, just read my whining on here) you know that I do not like living in SW Portland. We moved here because it was cheaper and closer to the school I was attending at the time, but now it's just a chore to travel back and forth. I work up here part-time, but it ain't no thang. I will happily commute back home in the evening if it means I can walk somewhere without worry of getting hit, without climbing massive hills, without the constant drone of the freeway in my ears. Although, I'm curious to see how long it will take me to get used to sleeping without the white noise of the freeway.

That's not to say I won't miss SW. Barbur World Foods has stolen my heart with their hummus and hot pita. Green Wok has happily soothed some intense Chinese cravings. John's Marketplace allowed me to buy beer from Norway. A sweet friend I've gotten used to running with will be farther away. Native Foods (and soon, Veggie Grill) won't be something I'm closer to than all the rest of Portland.

But, I can deal with all of that if it means I'm happy where I'm living. We'll be living within blocks of my favorite brewpub (Hopworks!). I can train for my half marathon without worrying about the strain the hills are putting on my legs (yeah, I KNOW it's a good thing, but do not want). I can walk on real sidewalks on streets that don't end in gravel. I won't have to give detailed directions to my friends due to Google and Mapquest's attempts to send them off a bridge.

So, the Effs have been busy packing, sorting, tossing. We're downsizing in space (but really, not too much) and in closets (we will have exactly ONE at the new place) so it's a great opportunity for us to get rid of EVERYTHING. I have major plans when it comes to interior design, I'm tired of living in apartments that don't reflect me. In addition to all this, we both are in school and working. Our time together feels like those lonely highways where you pass another car every 2.5 hours. I know it's temporary, but it definitely stresses me out.

Being busy means I don't have a lot of time to cook, so our food has been quick or not made by me. Some goodies as of late:

Freezing pizza dough for calzones = genius. Daiya on sale = magic.

Rotini with red lentil sauce from Robin Robertson's One Dish Vegetarian cookbook (LOVE)

There's a new Laughing Planet by PSU. This is their Chairman Meow bowl, so delicious and light.

Rogue has a lunchtime deal called Hoppy Hour, where you get lunch with a $2 pint. If you know Rogue's prices, you know this is an awesome deal. I got their black bean quinoa salad (not bad, but not the best) and....

their Yellow Snow IPA. It is my favorite IPA, unfortunately seasonal.

This week I plan to write about my experience at a Native Foods cooking demo! I went with two awesome ladies and a grand time was had by all.

Food of Late

2012-01-08T13:05:00.000-08:00

A sort of mishmash, if you will.

I went to Seattle on Solstice to take part in a Solstice boat party. We took these covered, heated boats on Lake Union to check out the Christmas and city lights (ok, there may have also been booze and boat jumping). Before that, I met a sweet friend for lunch at Elysian Brewery in Capitol Hill.

Their winter beer sampler. YUM.

A veganized veggie BBQ sandwich - the original came with Texas Toast and cheese. This was so good.

Christmas came and went. I was asked to make the Swiss roll cake again. I did. It was as good, if not better, as last year.

I also learned you can't throw a seitan roast in a 200 degree oven for twice the time (due to something else cooking). It just doesn't work. Blllllech.

And finally, we bought a fancy decanter and there is a currently a pear infused vodka cookin' in there.

So long, 2011!

2011-12-31T14:56:00.000-08:00

This year has been one of ups and a few downs.

I know that sounds a wee bit cliche, but it's totally true. Let's start with the ups, simply because there are more things about this year that were great.

In January, I made it my goal to become serious about running. Running has been the bane of my existence since I was born. It's not that I was out of shape or incredibly overweight, though. I grew up on the back of a horse, which is a workout on its own, but it didn't afford me the time or motivation to run. In high school, I ran something like 20 minute miles. Can you even call that running?

(in the gray, I look like this all the time while running)

So, I signed up for a bunch of races after completing a 5k in October 2010. Every single one of those races proved to me that I COULD run, after all. I ran a total of 9 races (one of those a pure fundraising effort, but it counts!). 9! My longest distance is a 10k, my fastest mile was the first mile of Pints to Pasta, my fastest race was the Hot Buttered Run. Each race had their own awesome attributes and I plan to run a couple of them (if not all!) again this year.

A fellow runner at the Run Like Hell. Yeah, he beat me wearing that suit!

So, in 2012, I will be running my first half marathon on May 20th. I am excited and scared and worried. If you came from my background, you would be feeling all those feelings too.

In 2011, Jeff and I also made our return to Europe, approximately a billion years before I thought it would happen again. And it was glorious, my friends. In Belgium alone we tried 20 different beers. In three days. I don't think we even tried to keep count in Germany, but it was also fantastically full of beer. We met some fantastic people, ate delicious food and had such a wonderful time, I can't wait to go back.

(multiply this photo by a million, you have our beer tour)

And, in 2012, we're planning on going back! We'll be starting in Norway and working our way through Scotland, London and Ireland. My sweet friend Nicole wants to be in London on her birthday, so we will happen to be in Europe on our wedding anniversary. What an excellent way to spend it, in my opinion.

As for the bad, well, they're not that bad. We struggled with money more times that I like to admit, but so does everyone. I got laid off (AGAIN) but then I found another job, working in a vet rehab clinic, surrounded by beautiful animals and great people. I struggled with my weight, but it's my own doing as I drink beer like it's water and can't lay off the cookies.

Let's make 2012 a great one, shall we?

30 Days Of Books, Days 5-8

2011-12-08T19:15:00.001-08:00

So, remember when I attempted to start the 30 Days of Books Meme in an attempt to post every day? Yeah. Here's days 5-8.

Day 05 – A book that makes you happy
Jane Eyre, I just love the Brontes.

Day 06 – A book that makes you sad
The Green Mile. Every time I read it, I cry!

Day 07 – Most underrated book
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo series. Sure, it starts slow but then WHAM! It hits you with its thrilling plot and amazing characters.

Day 08 – Most overrated book
Do I even have to say Twilight?

30 Days of Books, 4 Days Late.

2011-12-03T20:58:00.001-08:00

I decided to fill out this book meme that's been floating around, seen here. As an English major and granddaughter to rabid book collector, books hold a special place in my heart. I will start with Days 1-4.

Day 01 – The best book you read last year

This might sound ridiculous, but Elizabeth Gilbert's Eat, Pray, Love. I carried it with me through Europe and read it on the trains and I just loved her writing style. Sometimes the "pray" bit of it annoyed me, but that's because I am rude.

Day 02 – A book that you’ve read more than 3 times
Oh jeez, probably Stephen King's The Stand. I get sucked in every. single. time.

Day 03 – Your favourite series
Can I say A Song of Ice and Fire (Game of Thrones) if I'm not finished with it? I'm not a huge reader of serials. I loved the Wheel of Time when I was younger, but I don't know if that counts as favorite.

Day 04 – Favourite book of your favourite series.
Book two of the series above - A Clash of Kings. I had a tough time getting into the first book but the second one had me obsessed.

The Past Few Weeks, Condensed

2011-12-03T20:27:00.001-08:00

Thanksvegan came and went. Exactly two pictures were taken. Here is one.

My seitan roast looks like a slug.

I had a nasty cold (as you can tell above!) and many friends swooped in, took over cooking and saved the night, even if it was a little chaotic. There were many bottles of wine and beer consumed and lots of warm company. I was pretty out of it for most of the night, but I had a lovely time. I even teared up while thanking everyone for coming out.

The menu:

Seitan roulade with basic stuffing
Boatloads of non-lumpy gravy
Harvest stuffed mushrooms
Quinoa salad with sweet potatoes, kale and dried cranberries
Maple roasted brussel sprouts with toasted hazelnuts
Super amazingly delicious mashed potatoes
Fat Free Vegan's green bean casserole
New Farm Mac (requested by SEVERAL guests!)
Sweet Potato Biscuits

Potstickers with dipping sauce
Boston cream (cake) pie
Pumpkin cheezecake with caramel and chocolate sauce

Pumpkin pie with Biscoff crust

Pumpkin walnut muffins

We were not hurting for lack of food! I ate leftovers all of this past week.

The day after Thanksvegan, I ran my fastest 5k ever (which is not really that fast, but hey, whatever). As you can see in the first two pictures, I still look AWFUL from that damn cold. I felt better by the end, though.

Finally, a slice of pizza I enjoyed while Christmas shopping today. At Oasis Cafe on Hawthorne, you can build your own vegan slices. This had mushrooms, sundried tomatoes and Daiya.

Back to writing papers (it's finals week!) and zoning out.

Thanksvegan 3.0

2011-11-23T19:22:00.001-08:00

Three years ago I decided to adopt a vegan diet. Here is the blog I wrote on Myspace (WAT) when I made the decision:

Jeez. Two blogs in a week.

So I'm making a big change to my life. It'll be somewhat gradual, but very needed.

I'm turning vegan.

I'm finding that I eat when I'm bored. I eat when I'm watching tv. I think about food almost constantly and I eat way more than I should. Some of it is healthy, some is not. All of it is making me unhappy.

Let's take french fries. If done right, they are food from heaven. Crispy and hot on the outside, soft and flaky on the inside. A little salt, a little ketchup. Yum. The bad thing about this wonder food is that it's really not good for you. At all. And I will eat fries at any time, whether I'm hungry or not. I try to talk myself out of them at Burgerville but they end up sneaking into my bag anyways. Jeff and I will order a plate to split and I'm seriously upset when they're gone.

When I cook dinner, I always take more than I should and then extra bites when I'm putting it away for lunch the next day. Last night I made this squash & pasta dish (vegan, starting in already) and I ate too much. My tummy felt like Thanksgiving had come early. I need to stop.

Why go vegan? I've been veggie for about 4 years now - if I count back Thanksgivings, my first non-turkey day was at Florin's house in 2004. I get sick if I eat too much cheese and ice cream. If I eat too many veggies, it will have a less negative effect than if I eat too much mac 'n' cheese. Veganism will help me avoid places like Burgerville as I'd have to place some special order and nobody likes that. I can still take in the main staple of our household dinners: pasta. And this will encourage me to experiment with seasonings and unknown veggies.

But what about protein, you ask. Veggies have protein. I like tofu and that has protein. My soy milk that I've been using since I found that I couldn't drink milk has protein. I love peanut butter, luna bars (vegan!) and black beans.

This doesn't mean I can continue to stuff my face to the gills. I obviously need help with portions and will power. If that takes brushing my teeth after dinner, drinking two glasses of water before I eat and packing up leftovers before I start eating, then I'll do it. I'm just finding that my current way of eating has too many loopholes, too many opportunities to eat badly.

Is this a forever thing? I don't know. I don't miss meat, at all. I tried some of Jeff's chicken and I didn't feel like I was missing out. In fact, I didn't like the taste. I do like sushi, but there are plenty of non-fishy options there. But damn I'll miss my grilled cheese.

Oh, and beer is vegan.

Obviously, I've grown since I wrote that! I've learned not ALL beer is vegan, and I don't actually miss grilled cheese. I still have an issue with overeating, but I think it's more emotional than anything.

I'm celebrating my third year of veganism with my third annual Thanksvegan. I'll share the menu after the event, as I feel this is long enough, but it is fantastic.

Native Foods comes to Portland! Er, Tigard!

2011-11-06T09:14:00.000-08:00

Outer SW Portland is not exactly a desert when it comes to vegan options, but it doesn't compare to closer-in parts of the city like downtown, SE or NE. We proudly hold Green Wok, Laughing Planet, Barbur World Foods, Sweet Lemon (technically in Beaverton, but still) in our cold little hands and now we have Native Foods (technically in Tigard, BUT STILL).

Thanks to a super special friend, I was able to go to the soft opening yesterday and gorge, I mean try out, a bunch of dishes Native Foods has to offer. I took my friend Jill and here is our spread.

Saigon Roll with DELICIOUS peanut sauce. These tasted so fresh!

Sweet Potato Taquitos. These are much better when they're hot, but the filling was perfect.

Classic Deli Reuben. True story - my only experience with a Reuben was a pizza my mom used to bring home. I would scrape the sauerkraut off into the bushes outside. That little story means I just had to try this, right? The sauerkraut here wasn't overwhelming and the seitan was amazing.

Portobello and Sausage Burger. Jill's burger! I love portobellos. And vegan sausage. A win in my book. Right after I took this Jill scraped the lettuce and tomatoes off :-)

$2 Ninkasi! Also, their menu says local beers, and most are from Oregon, with the exception of 21st Amendment, which is from San Francisco. That's me just being beer picky, though.

Chocolate Love Pie. The chocolate mousse and crust were fantastic, the nuts on top....meh.

Peanut Butter Parfait. Oh my god, party in my mouth.

And that includes my oh-so-professional review of Native Foods! I plan on going again on Wednesday and trying something else, but WHAT?!

And Then We Came to the End.

2011-11-05T09:21:00.000-07:00

I don't want to say I failed at MoFo this year.

I blogged plenty about delicious vegan food. I made it to 16 posts, or 4/5ths of the 20 post recommendation (please correct me if I have the math wrong. Me + numbers = disaster). I talked about MoFo and veganism to those in my daily life, especially at the new job. My coworkers are FASCINATED by what exactly I can eat, their only example being a girl who is on a raw vegan cleanse to lose a bunch of weight for a trip (and is pretty miserable).

On Halloween, I brought my coworkers cupcakes. Just the basic chocolate cupcakes and fluffy buttercream from VCTOTW, dyed green (I didn't have red to make orange!) and decorated with cute Halloween-y sprinkles. I brought in 12 and took home 2.

The response was overwhelmingly positive. The ladies kept telling me the cupcakes were delicious, and how in the world were they vegan?! I just smiled and said "oil and love."

I also dressed up this year as Luna Lovegood. My awesome friend Crystal channeled Bellatrix LeStrange.

Due to timing, I didn't get a tie. I also just realized my part is on the wrong side. And honestly, this is basically my costume from last year (zombie librarian) but without the zombie makeup.

I think next year I'll be something great, something that doesn't involve pulling clothes out of my closet and repurposing them for a costume.

Ok, on to some serious stuff.

Lately, I've been struggling a lot with my eating habits. It's not something that just appeared in my life, but rather a storm brewing just below the surface finally coming up to wreck the land.

One of the biggest issues is how much I'm eating. I don't want to say I'm binging, because I'm not sure that's what it is, but I've been eating really, really fast, continuing onto a second portion and eating that really fast. Late night trips for toast have also been exacerbating this problem. I've had alot of stomachaches as of late and I'm done. I've been trying to make less food to prevent it and slowing my intake down. I used to take FOREVER to eat a sandwich, now I just inhale my way through it. Not healthy. And those cupcakes I made? I took 12 to work, but had two at my house, before work, without even a thought as to "why am I eating these? Am I hungry?"

Another issue is how much bread I've been eating. I love bread. It's just so easy to have toast in the morning, a sandwich at lunch and a snack (or two) of toasted bread with PB. That's 5 pieces, easy, and I've definitely gone over that in a day. I've been attempting to limit my intake to two pieces a day and I believe it's helping. Please know this is not at attempt at low carb/low gluten intake or anything of the sort. I just don't think overdosing on bread helps anyone.

I think both of these issues of mine are being magnified by stress. I'm in school full time and working half time and I was just "promoted" to bookkeeper at my job. Darlings, I am excellent at AP, but since the old bookkeeper left in August this place is pure chaos. And I have no experience in half of what is being expected of me, so I'm struggling with growing pains.

Wish me luck! Tomorrow I plan on posting about a super special lunch I'm having today.

Day 26 - MIA

2011-10-26T18:20:00.000-07:00

Sorry darlings. I've had a lot of weird stuff going on including midterms, work and stress eating. This is a sort of a random post chronicling the past couple of days at all, not related to a theme AT ALL.

This past Sunday I ran the Run Like Hell 10k with some pretty awesome ladies. It was zombie themed and I totally meant to have a full costume, but makeup had to do. Libby did a spectacular job at zombie beer wench, though. This is my favorite photo from the day. I heart Portland.

The race had advertised vegetarian chili, so I was prepared to eat plain bread with bananas. Imagine my pure delight when we came across this sign. Race fuel is NEVER vegan!

Annnnnnnd, just because.

The other day I tried the new tofu bahn mi sandwich at Hot Lips Pizza for lunch between classes. The herbs were very fresh but the sandwich was very, VERY plain. I was somewhat disappointed. It's better than pizza, though, right?

And then we get to tonight. Taco Bowl Wednesday. My unadorned bowl below: pink Madagascar rice (thanks to Vida Vegan Con!), refried beans and sauteed kale and tomatoes.

And here we have what I really eat. My new favorite thing (besides bbq soy curls!) is the melty cheez sauce from the Ultimate Uncheese cookbook. YUM.

On a final note, this is my new favorite beer from BridgePort Brewing the Kingpin Double Red. And I'm a blonde now.

Yes, I do wear that jacket all the time. It's cold in my house.

Day 21 - A Loosely Based Post on Scottish Food

2011-10-21T18:21:00.000-07:00

Hello! Long time, no see!

We are still continuing on the Scotland theme, but I must be very liberal when it comes to my interpretation. For example, fish and chips is not Scottish in origin. At least, not according to Wikipedia. Portland happens to be home to a cart called the Frying Scotsman, whose biggest sell is their fish and chips. So, I made beer battered tofu (from Vegan Brunch) and chips. That's the same, right?

I have to be honest, my tummy was extremely unhappy with this food choice, despite how delicious it was. I tried to think ahead and eat a big salad beforehand, but I suffer from an overeater type syndrome. As in, I overeat. I only had 3 of these triangles, but STILL. It's become apparent fried food does not belong in my cliquey stomach.

Our second dish of the week is Shepherd's Pie. But, instead of pulling from a traditional recipe, I bastardized the hell out of it, using up whatever was in my fridge.

Hiding underneath those delicious potatoes is delicata squash, summer squash, broccoli, mushroom, onion and corn. I made a gravy of equal parts EB and flour, coconut milk and soy sauce and baked the thing for 15 minutes. Seriously, you could anything in here, as long as it goes with potatoes. I served (myself) bbq soy curls, because I am an addict.

The final Scottish entry for today is the delicious beer I drank at Rogue between classes yesterday. Yes, I drink beer before class. I'm at school for 11 hours and have a rather large break at two, resulting in a visit to the Rogue pub ON campus. This beer is called McRogue Scotch Ale and it is delicious.

Tomorrow I'll be revisiting a vegan haggis! I tried one in Glasgow that I keep trying to replicate and yet fail. Well, not exactly fail. I mean, it's still tasty. It's just NOT THE SAME.

Day 19 - A Love Letter

2011-10-19T14:54:00.000-07:00

Dear whiskey (whisky),

You warm my heart and soothe my soul.

There is nothing I can do without you by my side except drive or operate heavy machinery.

I don't spend too much time with you, but when I do we both have to agree it's pretty magical.

I would love to pay more for your love, but I am broke and sometimes I have to settle with Mr. Daniels or Mr. Williams. I hope you understand.

Thank you for delivering your smoky affection when I need it most.

Love, Me.

Day 16 - Gnocchi! Fantastico!

2011-10-16T12:48:00.000-07:00

Dear gnocchi,
You had me at potato.
Love, me.

It is no secret I am a fan of potatoes. My bar food of choice is fries. When dinner needs to be fast, I mash potatoes. They find their way into bowls and casseroles. The humble potato is this frugal vegan's drug of choice.

When I first bought Vegan with a Vengeance, I had only tried gnocchi once, and it was at Portobello. I knew I had to try and recreate it. It's incredibly easy to make, just a little time-consuming. But SO WORTH IT.

Last night I made it with a tomato pesto sauce and threw a salad on the side as I need to get SOME greens in me. It was delicious.

I've even had gnocchi in Italy. We took a train to Pisa and stopped into a little cafe for lunch. The gnocchi was amazing, but it was probably just because we were in Italy :-)

And on a random note, the baking powder biscuits in VWAV combined with Tofu Mom's white country gravy and caramelized onions is pure magic. I may have eaten some gravy with a spoon.

One more night of Italian goodness! Scotland is next on our tour.

Day 15 - Riiiiiiisotto.

2011-10-15T18:12:00.000-07:00

Risotto was one of those dishes I didn't make (or really even try) until after I was vegan. I was officially hooked. I've never had the dairy laden version, but my sweet husband tells me mine is better. Neener neener.

During the the third MoFo, I actually wrote a recipe for carnival squash risotto, seen here. It still gets the most hits of all my posts, which I get a little bit excited about.

On Thursday night, I made another version of risotto out of my trattoria book, a baked tomato risotto.

It just sort of tasted like tomato-y rice. Not that it wasn't good, but come on! Risotto means creamy!

Tonight is Gnocchi Night. I am of the excitement.

MoFo Hump Day!!

2011-10-14T15:28:00.000-07:00

We're halfway there, and we have a theme song courtesy of ridiculously awesome vegan Leslie Hall. Look out world!

Have a listen here!

I eat the finest cuisines, in the finest of places
Stuff my mouth full and always say thank you.
But if it's raised in a cage, and it can't even move,
if it's hormone filled and in a bad mood.
I'm gonna pass on that.
Reach for something better.
The only milk I'll drink comes from the nipple of a soy bean.
Veggies make you live forever, and they seem to taste much better.
when they're cooked and grown with love.
So give a chef who knows what's up a hug.
Momma just can't seem to get it,
Papa he just rolls his eyes.
When I tell them I'm much healthier, they just say that it's all lies.
But beans, nuts, fruits and veggies can really fill the belly.
Get you vitamins you need, shiny hair and extra speed.
Don't take that meat-wich any further,
I want a marinated, deep fried, hand-tied mushroom burger.

I like it!

We gotta stand strong for our feathered furry sometimes scaly
animal friends and their little babies.
'Cuz I wouldn't want to live in a cage in a dark warehouse killed at an early age.
Pumped full of hormones, sleeping in my feces.
Never met my mother, raised by machines.
Never get sunshine never get green, but that's just me.

[That girl loves fruit leather.]

So ask us what we're eating.
Delicious and repeating, fruits and veggies are so nice.
With a slice of tempeh, yes, I'll have that twice.

Don't forget the legumes!

Day 13 - A WINNER!

2011-10-13T18:22:00.000-07:00

Janet! You won! Email me your address (if I don't find you first through your own email)!

As for the Italian theme, this is a total copout of a meal. Yes, I googled "quinoa Italian broccoli" and the internet gifted me this. But it was totally delicious. You should GTS. It just happens to be super fast and easy to make, a blessing in such rushed times.

We just scarfed down some baked risotto and acorn squash, I'll tell ya about it tomorrow!

Day 10 - A Long Train to Italy

2011-10-10T19:26:00.000-07:00

Buongiorno!!

Today, we enter our second week of Mofo, which means I'm venturing into Italian cuisine.

When we were planning our first trip to Europe, Jeff suggested we go to Florence. I didn't know much about the city and did not expect it to have the impact it did. Someday, I will go back!

When we first arrived in Florence early in the morning after suffering through an all night train from Paris, we were told our room wouldn't be ready until at least 2pm. We left our stuff with the manager and wandered around the corner. The first thing we saw was the Duomo, Florence's most beautiful cathedral (well, in my opinion). The second thing we saw was a little cafe. I was suffering from a rager of a headache, so we stopped in and got two delicious espressos.

That espresso knocked the headache straight out of my head.

Every single thing we ate after that was just as fantastic and I've really come to appreciate the simple yet rich dishes of Italy.

Wandering around Wordstock, a non-profit book festival put on every year in Portland, I ran across a book for $6 that I had to have, and it came in very handy tonight as I made my first Italian dish of the week.

It's not Nonna's Italian Kitchen, but it's chock full of recipes waiting to be made!

Our first dish was Penne in Spicy Tomato Sauce, or Penne all'Arrabbiata. I used angel hair instead of penne, but otherwise stuck to the recipe. Can we say...garlicky?

Day 8 - Seitan!

2011-10-09T18:38:00.000-07:00

For my final French dish of the week, I made seitan bourguignon. Instead of trying to veganize something by Ina Garten or Guy Fieri (really) I decided to try Taymer Mason's recipe, seen here. You should totally check that link out, her photo makes it long so much more appetizing. I mean, look:

Isn't it funny how the least photogenic food is also the most delicious? I used the seitan cutlet recipe from Veganomicon and it turned out perfect.

So, I'm having another giveaway. Would you like some of these, stuffed in a surprise goodie bag with some other fun vegan items?

Leave me a comment (with your email!) and I'll pick another winner on Wednesday. Due to shipping, I'm limiting this one to the US and Canada. I'm sorry, my worldly friends! I'll have another chance for you!

Day 7 - Pastry May Just Be The Death Of Me.

2011-10-08T18:06:00.000-07:00

This is not a pain au chocolat.

This is a biscuit filled with chocolate. Maybe I could call it a scone, but with less fat.

It's delicious, but not the same.

At first, I had no idea what happened. I followed this recipe to a T, subbing coconut spread for the butter, soymilk powder for the milk and ignoring the egg thing. I put the ingredients into the bread maker as instructed and chose "large loaf." 90 minutes later, I had a pan full of flour. So I tried again, trying the "small loaf" setting. Nope, still flour.

Instead of throwing everything out, I attempted to save it. I added water until it turned doughy and proceeded on. The coconut spread melted, so in between the battle with the rolling pin, I stuck the dough in the freezer to chill. I ended up with chocolate biscuits.

Looking at other recipes, it seems there was too little liquid (ya think?). But there were 6 reviews (6!) exclaiming how good this recipe is. Maybe these people have NO idea what a pain au chocolat is. Or how much liquid a recipe really needs. They probably just looked the photo and reviewed it.

So, I'm getting over it. For dinner tonight, our final foray into French cooking, I'm making seitan bourguignon. I bought some delicious, vegan AND cheap French wine, the type that proudly states, "Cotes du Rhone." Of course, I had to try it, to ease my chocolat failures.

Everything is better with wine.

ps, those are not highlights. At least, not highlights of the chemical kind. Sometimes my hair is just naturally awesome.

pps, coconut spread is also naturally awesome, and I'll be giving some more away tomorrow!

Day 6 - This is not French.

2011-10-07T19:06:00.000-07:00

Maybe French was the wrong cuisine to tackle in this first week. The tastiest dishes I found to make were also the most time consuming, time being the most precious resource right now.

Tonight I made the Curried Udon Noodle Stirfry from Veganomicon. I subbed green beans (haricots vert) for the red pepper but otherwise stuck to the recipe. It's a favorite and somewhat fast to make.

This dish is decidedly NOT French, but it incorporates two things that scream "FRANCE!" to me. First, the curry sauce is a roux, a sauce made of equal parts fat and flour. Roux is a French word, the translation escapes me as I've been out of French classes for years. It seems to mean "brownish" though.

Second, haricots vert. This single phrase is my most favorite in the French language. I have NO idea why, I just love how it rolls off my tongue.

So....yeah. It was delicious. And vegan. GO MOFO!

This recipe for pain au chocolat will be veganized tomorrow, once I acquire the chocolate bar required. OH HELL YES.

ps Sarah! Please email me your mailing address so you can get your prize! Otherwise I'll have to pick someone else.

Day 5 - Random

2011-10-05T08:55:00.000-07:00

This food is not French, unless the French are the inventors of hummus. I have to confess, I've been working 30 hours a week and going to school full time and I'm not used to budgeting my time for, say, meals. So, maybe plan on getting stuff like this.

Last weekend a couple of good friends and I went to Hood River for a Fresh Hops Festival. The beer was delicious, the pours were excellent and the half of a sourdough loaf I consumed with my beer mateys soaked it all up well. Before we imbibed, though, we stopped at a little restaurant called Celilo, where they made over one of their sandwiches vegan style.

That's a hummus sandwich with microgreens and pickled squash. It was really, really good.

Also, I fell in love with Double Mountain's IRA (reincarnated as the fresh hopped Killer Red) all over again. And got a little silly.

Day 4 - A Winner!

2011-10-04T20:17:00.000-07:00

We have a winner!

Sarah said...: Oh, I even have a picture! I made these sweet potato quinoa pancakes from Brendan Brazier's thrive and this happened - http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y132/ltlghiagrl/Blog/IMG_2800.jpg - and I never screw up pancakes, so it really wasn't my fault. Sad.Oh, and a green smoothie with avocado in it - blech.; Congratulations Sarah!! Email me your mailing address sgcorrieATgmailDOTcom and I'll mail these out to you! ps, that photo is pretty darn great!

Day 3 - Soupe au Pistou

2011-10-03T09:00:00.000-07:00

I took two years of French in high school and a couple more in my earlier college days. The gorgeous, intricate language and delicious carb-y food fueled my desire to learn about and visit France. For school potlucks, I made eclairs, earning me the "most popular when it comes to food" title. While IN France, I gorged on delicious baguettes and amazing espresso. The country's food (at least, the veggie friendly sorts) hold me in its grasp, beckoning me to recreate it and take a vegan spin on the dishes I wouldn't touch in their normal state.

If I must be honest, I had never heard of soupe au pistou until I searched for traditional French recipes for MoFo. The word pistou I recognized, but only because of J. Scone's post on this delicious sounding dish. As I read the ingredients, I thought "oh, this sounds like minestrone! But with pesto! WIN."

I used Wolfgang Puck's recipe, seen here. It's vegan minus the crouton thingies he's got going on, but Grand Central stepped up and held up nicely in the hot soup.

(this photo is awful. Pretend that it's not)

And it was. My husband gives it two thumbs up. He actually said, "I like this better than your minestrone, which I love. So, make it more."

I cut the recipe in half to make three generous servings. It's almost gone.

Day 2 - A Giveaway.

2011-10-02T13:09:00.000-07:00

Do you ever have a grand idea that backfires? This happened to me last night, when I tried to make pain au chocolat.

I used the recipe from Vegan Brunch. I saw phyllo dough in the ingredients and thought, ok, that's a little strange, but I trust Isa. I made just 3 (they were huge!) and waited 15 minutes to try it.

Folks, that is phyllo wrapped chocolate. Not the buttery, warm, delicious pocket of dark chocolate I remembered. This week, a real pain au chocolat will happen, and it won't be made of sadness.

While I get over my disappointment, I thought I'd have a giveaway. I have 3 So Delicious coupon booklets, 3 coupons for a free Earth Balance Mindful Mayo spread and 3 coupons for a free Earth Balance Coconut Spread. I've tried both the Mayo and the Spread and they are delicious! And coconut milk, c'mon.

Tell me your latest letdown and I'll choose a winner on Wednesday! This is open worldwide, providing that the cost of mailing a letter isn't too terribly expensive (I am broke, dudes).

ps, if you don't win this time, I will be having giveaways each week of this stuff!

Vegan Mofo Day 1

2011-10-01T08:23:00.000-07:00

Welcome to Day 1!

The blogs racking up in my Google reader are astounding. I love this event, it brings such a feeling of community to the blog world. This time of year I also save so many recipes to try out myself, I never touch them!

Like I said, this year I will be focusing on cooking for a couple of different countries. My first week will be spent exploring France. When I was in France, we cooked in our little apartment for the most part, so I'm excited to try some food I wasn't able to eat the first time around. I'm definitely going to try my hand at pain au chocolat, French baguettes, soup au pisou and a not-beef bourguignon. We'll see what other goodies I can throw in there.

This year I'm also holding my first set of giveaways! I have lots of goodies to share with the world, so get ready.

Today I'll be spending the day at a Fresh Hops Fest in Hood River, so you'll just have to wait and see what is going to happen first!

MOFO!

2011-09-20T14:55:00.000-07:00

Eeee! It's almost here!

Vegan MoFo is a month (this year, October!) dedicated to blogging about vegan food. Bloggers are asked to post at least 5 times a week but some post more, some post less. The point of the the whole event is to bombard the internets with delicious vegan food and just how much variety this lifestyle holds.

This will be my third year of participating in Vegan Mofo! I will definitely post at least 5 days a week but I am determined to post every. single. day. My theme? Each week will be dedicated to a different country that we've visited and its cuisine. I will veganize and/or make already established vegan recipes from each nationality. I figure since I can't fly away last minute, spending a lot of time in the kitchen will be more practical.

The countries I've chosen are France, Italy, Germany, Scotland and Ireland. If you have any suggestions, please send them my way! I'm currently constructing an outline of my plan of attack.

Are you participating?

Sticky in Frankfurt

2011-09-13T11:26:00.001-07:00

The next day, we made our way to Frankfurt. If Salzburg was Portland’s sister in weirdness, Frankfurt was Portland’s twin in looks.

Not only was Frankfurt hot, it was incredibly humid. Like I’ve mentioned, we don’t have a whole lot of humidity in the NW, so I was a little (a LOT) uncomfortable. I tried not to let it ruin our time there, but I will say I broke down and bought a 7 euro dress and shitty flip flops in desperation. The couple we met in Munich told us that Frankfurt was mostly good for shopping, and they weren’t lying! The malls (!) were huge. At one point we spotted a Columbia Sportswear store, PDX represent!

Our hostel was very close to the train station, but you had to walk through the Red Light district to get to it. The district is not nearly as safe as the one in Amsterdam. There were a lot of shady, angry men stalking around, keeping an eye on their “employees” and a severe lack of police. To get into our hostel, we had to be buzzed inside and then show our ID to the front desk, who would then buzz us into the stairwell. We felt very safe inside the hostel, but you kinda wonder what happened to put those security measures into place.

After dropping our stuff off, it was time to explore! Ok, and find food. We happened upon a Japanese place, where I filled up on the biggest, most delicious bowl of veggies, tofu and noodles. Believe it or not, you can get sick of pizza. But apparently, we don’t get sick of beer.

After our lunch we set out to explore. Frankfurt was a last minute addition to our trip, so we didn’t have an itinerary whatsoever. It turns out that the Women’s World Cup was taking place all over Germany and Frankfurt had an awesome viewing party going on at the waterfront.

We did manage to find the touristy historic quarter, where we were overcharged for beer and privy to the most awesome graffiti I have ever seen.

The rest of our time in Frankfurt was spent wandering through the various pub quarters, checking out a cute street of food carts, eating fantastic treats from a natural foods store and grimacing at the incredibly loud Americans staying at our hostel.

Our last day in Frankfurt was really our last day in Europe. We hopped the trains to Brussels, making a stop in windy Cologne along the way. We gawked at the ENORMOUS cathedral and drank some of the most delicious nectar I’ve ever had, Gaffel Kolsch. I asked our server where I could buy one of these delicate Kolsch glasses and he replied, “Oh, I see nothing,” and walked away. I managed to get it home without breaking it, but it barely lasted a month before I managed to knock it to the ground.

My next post will be a follow up on eating vegan in these beautiful cities and more of my thoughts on travel. I’ve had so much fun reliving our adventures and I hope that I’ve inspired somebody to get out there and explore our world!

Today.

2011-09-11T12:22:00.000-07:00

Despite the horrible war and all the innocent lives lost to a cause I don't believe in, 9/11 will always stand out to me as the day the world changed. In the weeks following the attacks, I could not get over how much American citizens reached out to one another, proudly displayed our nation's flag and supported New York City in their time of suffering. The attacks may have been only on the East coast, but the pain reverberated throughout our country.

I'm not the one to hype up the USA in any way or form, especially after how the country responded (war) but this video broke my heart. I feel it's a video that could only be made here. Despite the shit going on in the Middle East, we DO have heroes here at home, heroes that rushed in to those burning towers to save lives and for the most part lost their own. Heroes that didn't even think twice.

For that, I am eternally grateful.

Recharged.

2011-09-09T14:11:00.001-07:00

Our last few days spent in Germany were wiled away in Rothenberg ob der Tauber and Frankfurt. The former is an incredibly well preserved medieval town, the latter a city surprisingly reminiscent of Portland that I will explore all over again with you tomorrow.

Rothenberg is a gorgeous town that we likened to an adult Disneyland. The houses (actually, all the buildings) were built in the beautiful Bavarian style and the streets were small and cobbled. The wall that surrounds the city was bombed in World War II and has since been rebuilt and honors those that donated with plaques inscribed with their name and hometown.

We spent two nights in Rothenberg and, for the most part, it was peaceful. If you were to visit, be prepared to either shop or be bored out of your mind. The walking tours suggested take up only a small part of the day and there really isn’t a whole lot to do outside of that. There were a lot of student groups (which we found out why later) and older couples strolling through the streets. I’m pretty sure we were the youngest ones there that were NOT part of a group.

The morning after we arrived, we were lunching on pizza (surprise?) and heard what sounded like cannons going off. And then marching type music. We finished our lunch and went to investigate. There was a parade! We had no idea at the time, but Rothenberg was hosting music ambassadors from the US. We watched for a bit and then followed the parade route to find out there was a Volksfest happening outside the town wall.

Wandering through the Volkfest, we marveled at how similar it was to American fairs. Until we came to the beer garden.

Oh yes. A giant beer tent was set up, complete with German size steins and traditional music. We picked the most awesome of weekends to come to Rothenberg. We ended up visiting the beer garden twice that day as there really wasn’t much else to do in Rothenberg besides the Night Watchman tour, which we missed. We ended up wandering the walls the rest of the day and part of that night and took some pretty photos. I think I’m making it sound as if we were bored out of our minds, but I feel Rothenberg was the perfect town to stop and take a breath.

Vida Vegan Con!

2011-08-24T14:59:00.000-07:00

Before I finish writing about my travels, I thought I would throw in a plug for the mega awesome conference happening in my city this weekend, Vida Vegan Con!!

A whole weekend dedicated to the vegan blog world? Hell yes!! I couldn't afford a ticket and procrastinated on attempting to win a scholarship, but the awesome ladies putting on the conference are happily accepting sweat labor so I jumped right on it.

I'm incredibly excited about meeting the writers behind so many blogs that I read daily, going to different classes and swankin' it up at the Galarama! I feel so lucky to live in such a city that would afford the opportunity to put something like this on!

Keep Salzburg Weird!

2011-08-18T12:14:00.000-07:00

So, Portland has a slogan that was unabashedly stolen from Austin.

You can find it painted, plastered and lettered onto walls, stickers and signs. Sometimes one can find a variation, such as "keep Portland beered!" or "keep Portland beard!" but usually we stick to weird. I love my weird city! This intro will absolutely make sense in a bit.

When we first arrived in Salzburg, we had a really tough time finding our hotel no thanks to the pouring rain and Google walking directions. We finally just bought a map at a gas (petrol?) station and used that, drinking really crappy, cheap vodka along the way. It was that kind of day. So, my first impression of Salzburg was not good.

And then it came time to explore it.

Our hotel was situated somewhat close to the city center, but you had to walk through a mountain to get there. It was eerie, but awesome. I should have known it was a sign of what was to come.

Upon our emergence from the tunnel, the very first thing we see is this cute little square. FULL OF PONIES.

I mean, look at those paintings! They're so magnificent. Obviously, I love horses. I had one of my own and I just FEEL right around them, even in art form.I just knew right then Salzburg was a million times better than my first impression. The building across the street from the pony square (as I lovingly call it!) did not escape the equine touch.

Unicorns!

Salzburg's squares are somewhat spread out around one giant building, so we just headed for the one closest to the castle. Oh yeah, there's a castle!

Here are just some of the sights around the square. Salzburg is just so random. Everywhere you turn you find something new and exciting.

After taking in the gold ball and giant chess set, we started to hike up to the castle. It is possible to take a tram to the top, but if you'd like to burn off the 4 beers (or 7 fry cones) that you're having later, I recommend the hike! It's pretty.

The castle walls were SO TALL. I tried to put Jeff up next to it for perspective.

The castle was not immune to Salzburg's weirdness. It houses a marionette museum, which turned out to be SUPER CREEPY.

A wishing well....with dead marionettes?

Some kind of dying statue.

After we shook off the chills and discussed our potential nightmares, we set out to explore more of the city. We wandered across the gross gray river (it kind of looked as if a whole bunch of washing machines exploded at once) and discovered a stairway begging to be climbed.

The stairway spiraled around another mountain and eventually led to a church. The path was littered with statues depicting scenes from the bible and very empty. A little spooky, if I must be honest. And then we saw a sign announcing another castle perched on the top of this mountain! We were the only ones making our way up through the forest, which was very nice. It was a much harder climb than the first castle due to steep, broken steps, but we soldiered on. Ok, I soldiered on, Jeff was fine the entire time.

When we reached the castle, we were dismayed to find out it was actually a really expensive restaurant. Talk about false advertising. But the views were great!

On a final note, on our way back to the hotel we got hit by another rainstorm. Look at those nasty clouds hovering over the gross river. As soon as the drops started to hit, the crowds bolted for the closest stores and cafes they could in an attempt to stay dry.

I will admit to running for cover! We don't tend to get nasty rainstorms in the NW and I wasn't exactly up to getting soaked AGAIN. In our haste to get out of the path of the rain, we ran past this.

It's kind of awesome how we can find things without even looking!

Annnnnd that's kind of it for Salzburg. Most of our time was spent hiking up mountains and wandering the streets and while I took a shit ton of photos, I kind of feel that this post is pretty long as it is! I do have a couple more posts in store, do not fret my gentle readers. I also plan to have a wrap up on the beer/food aspect of the trip.

Barreling through Munich

2011-08-14T12:13:00.000-07:00

Aaah! You know when you get really busy and days just fly by and you forget to update your blog? Well that happened to me, minus the busy part. I just didn't post.

The problem with travelling all over a beautiful country such as Germany in a short amount of time is the sad fact we didn't get to see very much at all. We had two full days to spend in Munich, one reserved to visit Neuschwanstein. The remainder of that day and the second day we saved to visit a beer hall and explore the city. Well, castle visiting went much longer than we thought (thanks to waiting for the required guided tours) and we had to leave Munich at a somewhat reasonable time to get to Salzburg early. As I will explain soon, this backfired no thanks to some shitty Google walking directions.

We arrived in gorgeous, sunny Munich exhausted from train riding and not expecting the heat. Our hotel was quite a hike away, but we didn't feel comfortable attempting the subway. So we hoofed it. Along the way, my grumpy, sweaty self was excited to see this:

In case you can't see the date, it was founded in 1397! A brewery older than the US! Long before Columbus sailed the Ocean Blue! If you're not from a somewhat "new" country like the US, it probably means nothing to you, but I cannot get over the history of the place. I knew that Munich and I would get along despite the sun. We finally reached our hostel (Hotel Nymphenburg, which I STRONGLY recommend, despite the hike) and the very sweet staff directed us around the corner for food. We settled on an Italian restaurant (a cuisine Germany is VERY good at) and were not disappointed. Something we've learned over the span of our travels: choose a place that's busy. You're almost always guaranteed good food and service, even if you're cheap like us! I had plenty of vegan options in Germany thanks to Italian restaurants and the beer purity laws. That's right, they don't see the need to add shit like gelatin, milk powder or eggs to their beer. I *heart* Germany.

And that was kind of it for our first night. I think we were both pooped from travelling and had an exciting adventure to get up early for the next day.

The train from Munich to Fussen (the town outside of Neuschwanstein) was something like 3 hours. It was a very pretty ride, but when you share the train with other obnoxious tourists, it kind of makes you crazy. The gorgeous scenery helped (and the fact you can drink beer on the train).

We got to Fussen, bought our tickets and figured since the (required) guided tour didn't start for another couple of hours we would hike to the castle. It was about a mile up, no worse than hiking to our very own Multnomah Falls, but it was HUMID as hell. Humidity is not something Portland offers. This lady made me feel even worse about my uncomfortable hike:

C'mon, HEELS?! And a hat?! It took everything I had no to strip off all of my clothing. Well, and Jeff told me not to. We finally made it, though, sweaty and stinky and thirsty. And it was SO WORTH IT.

I rank this castle higher than Versailles any day. Ludwig planned it as a tribute to Wagner's operas, and all of the detail that went into it was just so amazing. Unfortunately, no photos allowed inside, but you must go. Right now. And then have this after, because it is uber sticky and hot up there at the top.

Our last day in Munich was spent stashing our bags at the Munich train station and searching for Hofbrauhaus, one of the oldest beer halls in Munich. It also happens to be a site where Hitler held one of his first meetings for the Nazi party. Just the thought of being in a place where something like that happened gives me the chills.

Because Google walking directions suck major ass, we got lost. And then, like almost every other time we got lost during this trip, it began to pour. Now, I'm used to the rain. But when you're lost and the surroundings are unfamiliar and it starts to rain, it feels as if the world is conspiring against you.

Somehow, SOMEHOW, we found the right street and subsequently Hofbrauhaus. It was AMAZING. The seating was family style and the room was noisy and raucous. We sat next to a German couple from Frankfurt that didn't seem to mind our wet company and swapped travel tips (they told us about Frankfurt - good for shopping - and we told them about Hway 101 and Route 66 - good for driving). Munich, I officially want to come back.

I hope to have a post up about Salzburg today or tomorrow. In my opinion, Portland and Salzburg should be sister cities in their weirdness.

In which I briefly depart from travel writing.

2011-07-25T13:02:00.000-07:00

My future is a little uncertain right now.

For the past couple of years, I have planned on continuing on to M.A. in Publishing program at PSU after graduating. But after finishing up this school year, I'm not so sure I want to do that. There are two reasons.

First, the school. While I've had a couple of really great profs at PSU, the remaining have not been so outstanding. In fact, I've had better instruction at community colleges. I'm having a really hard time with the knowledge that I'm paying for a lot more but getting a lot less. And it's not like PSU is a bad school! According to this info sheet, the school is acclaimed for being one of the best when it comes to transfer students, service to the community and green practices. But the English department seems to be somewhat ordinary, at times mediocre, which breaks my heart. I want to learn. I want to be challenged to think outside of my comfort zone, something that has only happened once or twice last year. I don't know, maybe this next year will be better. I have a very challenging fall quarter coming up and fully plan on diving in with all that I have.

Second, Portland. My beautiful city. My gorgeous, temperate, friendly, walkable, green city. I don't want to leave. I've lived in this area all of my life. My family is here. My friends are here. Fantastic food and beer and snacks and food carts are here. Unfortunately, the jobs are not here. The creative types flock to Portland in search of fantastic jobs, jobs the city doesn't have, and they're stuck pulling espresso shots and dishing out drinks from behind the bar. And I'm afraid. I'm afraid that when I graduate, I'll have just as hard of a time landing a job as I am now (because I'm trying. Really, I'm trying). I'm afraid that my sweet husband will be stuck working in a place he hates just so he can have the health insurance he needs to take care of a damn expensive disease he can't get rid of. I'm afraid I'll be stuck delivering papers for who knows how long when all I really want to do is edit them.

I know I've mentioned before that I have big dreams of moving to Scotland (or to Europe in general) but I have to be somewhat realistic about it. That won't happen anytime soon, no matter how hard I hope and wish and pray (in my own special way).

I still want to edit like nobody's business, but I don't know if I can stay where I am to accomplish that. I suppose time will tell. I do know that I have been mopey, unresponsive and insecure about what exactly it is I want to do and where exactly I want to do it.

How to ride a train in Germany.

2011-07-24T14:17:00.000-07:00

The last half of our trip involved using a lot of trains to visit a lot of cities in Germany. I feel that we didn't get to explore Germany as thoroughly as I had hoped, but I suppose we earned an appreciation for a country that neither of us were familiar with.

We bought a rail pass through Rick Steves for Germany since we had a few very long travel days. While there are cheaper options than a rail pass (such as the German regional passes) we really appreciated the lack of thinking required on our parts. Riding the rails with our pass kind of felt like we were using a super efficient public transit. The trains were plentiful, the schedules were excellent and we always had a seat. I am so jealous of how easy it is to get around Germany.

The cities in which we stayed were Cochem, Heidelberg, Munich, Salzburg (Austria), Rothenburg ob der Tauber and Frankfurt. I'll touch upon each one in the next two posts, but the cities we enjoyed the most were Munich, Salzburg and Frankfurt.

Cochem was just a quick one night stop for us. We left Amsterdam that morning and were quickly introduced to the German rail system and just how efficient it was. As in, we missed our stop in the middle of nowhere due to our inability to open the door of the train fast enough. The stop before Cochem was at least an hour out and we feared the next stop we'd have to get off at was just as far. I won't lie, we panicked a little. It was already after 7pm, on a Sunday, and we were hungry and exhausted. Luckily, the next stop was only 15 minutes away and we were able to turn around without any issues. The remainder of our train riding in Germany was spent like this:

Our first stop, Cochem, was a gorgeous little town on the river of the Mosel. I had booked a room just past the center of town, not realizing how far the walk was. Thanks to a long day of travel and rapidly dropping blood sugar, I was one cranky snot during our two mile walk to the hotel. When we finally reached it and retrieved the key from underneath the flowerpot (no lie) I was enraged to see that our room was at the very top of the guesthouse. I had to CLIMB STAIRS. WOE IS ME. But I quickly knocked off the attitude when I saw the view from our window.

After I sat a bit and munched on a reserve Larabar (lifesaver) we went and found dinner. I don't have a photo, but the one restaurant we managed to find close to our hotel was Mexican. MEXICAN. I ordered a veggie burrito that I asked the waitress to hold the cheese on and Jeff ordered enchiladas (but got a burrito). The burrito came without cheese on top, but with some kind of crumbled cheese inside (feta?) that I tried to pick around and I'm almost sure made me sick the next couple of days. If you can imagine not being able to get authentic Mexican food outside of Mexico and some southern states, Germany is a hell of a lot worse.

The next morning we attempted to find Burg Eltz near the little town of Koblenz. Since we had to check out (and leave money on the table, also not a joke) by 11am, we had to take our stuff with us. We wrongly assumed the train station in Koblenz would have luggage storage. As we emerged from the train into the misty rain and entered the station, we noticed the station was empty. Of anything. No lockers, no rail employees, no people. Assuming (again, wrongly) that there would be some kind of shuttle to the castle, we took off on foot with our bags. Now, I am still a fan of using backpacks while travelling, but that shit gets heavy. And I got whiny, again. I had hurt my foot in Amsterdam (slipping off a curb or something dumb) and it was really bothering me. So we didn't get to see the castle because I am a baby.

Our next stop was the college town of Heidelberg. For those of you that grew up in the Pacific NW, Heidelberg is the German equivalent of Pullman, WA. Absolutely NOTHING going on. We had a really crappy hostel above a supermarket that promised a buffet breakfast but really offered bread (only one piece), jam and cereal. After we dropped our bags, we attempted to explore the city. Here is what we found that first night:

A weird sculpture.

Beer.

Vegan appetizers.

Firebowl. A bowling alley where we played many games of foozeball.

Needless to say, Heidelberg was not winning us over. We kept seeing ads for this awesome pub quarter, but couldn't find it. The next morning we hiked across town to check out the castle. It was gorgeous and historic and awe-inducing.

I feel the city slightly redeemed itself by keeping this castle around and available to explore for reasonably cheap. But I would not go back.

My next post I move on to happier places like Munich and Salzburg. You are excited. I have coined Salzburg Portland's sister city because it is SO WEIRD AND AWESOME.

Amsterdam Whoopsie

2011-07-14T16:24:00.000-07:00

In my last post, at the end of the barrage of photos I prattled on about Germany and riding the rails there. Well, I'm getting ahead of myself! I somehow forgot that we went to AMSTERDAM for 5 nights before we ventured to Germany! That's right, we saw stuff like this:

Shitty contemporary art blocking the picture:

The only brewery we did not venture into (but hey, it's still historic):

Only in Amsterdam? Wooden clog boat:

C'est moi!

Puuuuurty:

More puuuuuurty:

Amsterdam is, in a word, chaotic. The city is inhabited by less people than Portland, but it has all these tourists (like us) running amok, smoking weed (not us) and visiting prostitutes (also not us). We went for the art and culture and beauty of the city. Amsterdam is home to the Rijksmuseum, the van Gogh museum and Rembrandthuis, Rembrandt's former home. Visiting Amsterdam has been a dream for Jeff, who is an artist and just so happens to look a little like van Gogh. Don't believe me? He shaved before we left, but when he grow his beard out....

When we weren't visiting museums, we explored the red light district, visited the Anne Frank House and wandered the many canals Amsterdam has to offer. On our last night there, we met up with some cool vegans from the PPK and ate at Bolhoed and the Flying Saucer. And that's kind of it. You see, Amsterdam did not exactly live up to what we expected. Don't get me wrong, it was a great experience, but I think the crowds and hype over the city are a little ridiculous. Maybe it's because we weren't there to party, I dunno. Maybe it's because every canal we came across had some kind of garbage and construction going on, ruining our dreams of an idyllic city. Maybe it's because we're old spoiled brats who just want peace and quiet.

As it is our duty, we hit up two breweries in Amsterdam, but neither one was stellar. One was inside of a windmill, so that was sort of awesome, but being told that the beer was very strong and having it not be? LET DOWN. The second brewery kept running out of beer, so we ended up drinking the same stuff. No fun.

A little bit of Portland in Amsterdam.

One of the best times we had in Amsterdam, honestly, was escaping the city for Volendam and Edam. Volendam is a small harbor town just outside of Amsterdam and Edam, famous for cheese, is even smaller and littered with gorgeous houses perched on canals. It was just the escape we needed.

The Sights of Bruges, Antwerp & Oostende

2011-07-11T11:33:00.000-07:00

Today's post will be somewhat photo heavy, but that's all anyone wants to see, right?

Our first full day in Bruges we climbed that famous clock tower. You know, the tower featured in the movie In Bruges, the tower one of the main characters takes a leap off of. My friends, that is a serious drop. I don't recommend it.

The view from the top was amazing and totally worth the harrowing circular stairway.

Around Bruges:

We also took some side trips to Antwerp (it's really hard for me to NOT write Antwerpen but I don't want to sound like a douche) and Oostende, a city on the North Sea. It felt like we went to a beach in Oregon, the weather was nice but the water was ice cold.

I promise to return to heeeeelarious commentary tomorrow when we venture to Germany. We learned many a lesson on riding the rails and I feel it is my duty to share that with the world so that you don't make the same mistakes.

Eating and Drinking in Bruges.

2011-07-09T09:43:00.001-07:00

Going through my photos of Bruges, I realized that I would have to split the post up even further to go into any sort of detail. So in this post, I will focus on our gastronomic experiences in this gorgeous city and tomorrow I will share the sights of Bruges, Antwerp and Oostende.

When people ask what my favorite part of this trip was, I automatically answer Belgium, especially Bruges. Everyone we met was incredibly friendly and helpful and the language barrier was not present whatsoever. For example, our bed and breakfast was run by a man that knew at LEAST 4 languages (Flemish, French, English and German) and he liked to push more food on us, despite the overflowing bread basket still sitting on our table next to the homemade jams and fruit bowls. Our very last night in Bruges was spent getting drunk with a local who Jeff bonded with over futbol. He bought us drinks, we bought him drinks, we exchanged emails and phone numbers and a jolly good time was had all around. I’m pretty sure that wouldn’t have happened in Paris.

Our first mission when we arrived in Bruges was to find dinner. I had made notes on vegan friendly places in most of the cities we were staying in and while Bruges wasn’t overflowing with options, there were a couple. Passion for Food was where we ended up. It was empty save for the employee’s family, which meant the man that helped us talked to us forever about what to see while we were here and his own visit to the states. It was a great experience and I encourage everyone that travels to talk to the people who live there, wherever you go! Generally they’re curious about where you’re from and willing to give you tips and recommendations. On to the goods!

My dinner was a tasty roasted veggie bowl with lentils, chickpeas, bulgur and apples. Being the most substantial thing I had eaten in days (and for days to come), it tasted amazing. Accompanying it was a beer that we would become familiar with during our stay in Belgium.

I don’t remember what Jeff had, but I doubt it was as good as mine, I tend to pick well in all walks of life. He did pick this tasty thirst quencher, though. The waiter told him, “you’re on vacation” when he pointed to the 9% alc. label. OH YES WE ARE.

The next day, after some strenuous sight-seeing (which I will grace you with tomorrow) we set out to find a pub called Staminet de Garre, famous for their incredibly potent house beers. As in, limit 3 per visit potent. It was tucked away in an alley, but you know I found it. I don’t think my face shows just how excited I was.

As they didn’t open for another hour, we decided to take the brewery tour at Halve de Maan, an ancient brewery on the edge of the city. The tour lasted at least an hour and is so popular they do one every hour, in three different languages! At the end you’re rewarded with a glass of the Brugse Zot, the same beer I had the night before. I wasn’t complaining!

My absolute favorite part of the tour? This guy.

Sufficiently buzzed, we made our way back to Staminet de Garre. You know, for more beer. Potent beer. It was everything I had every dreamed of, and more.

We managed to hit this place one last time before we left. The second time, we sat upstairs with a family from Canada who had an old man dressed in lederhosen having a grand old time. Upon leaving, one of the family members told the Scottish server, “if you’re ever in Canada, you let me know!” After they left, the server looked at us and muttered, “who would want to go to CANADA?” To which we giggled. I mean, after years and years of having to claim Canadian citizenship to avoid answering for the Bush administration, it felt good not to be the scapegoat. I love you Canada!

On a final note, I must talk to you about Speculoos. My friends on the PPK have been fired up about it for months and I finally understand why. I’m assuming you’ve tried Biscoff cookies at least once during your life. Well, this is a spread made of those cookies. A COOKIE SPREAD. It is the most amazing food product ever made and we went through two jars during our trip. They’re starting to make it available in the States and I encourage you to search it out. If you are close to me in person, I have a jar of my very own and I MIGHT share with you.

How we found Delirium in Brussels.

2011-07-08T11:48:00.001-07:00

After waking up incredibly refreshed, eating breakfast provided by the hotel (fruit, bread and coffee for me, which will become the story of the trip) and checking out, we made our way to Brussels proper. The hotel clerk told us since there was no ticket machine, we just hop on the train and “sometimes we pay, sometimes we don’t. Such is Belgium.” I like Belgium already.

First on our agenda once we hit the ground was to find the Grand Place. It required a little wandering around and consulting our trusty map but eventually we just kind of stumbled upon it. And it was definitely grand.

After taking in the sights around the Grand Place and reveling in the fact that the tourist quota was somewhat low this lovely Saturday morning, we ventured to find that famous little guy taking a leak.

This guy is so famous, he has a schedule concerning his different outfits, and a museum displaying all of his outfits which we sadly didn’t get to visit. Here it is that we found the tourists. We were not the only people fancying Manneken Pis at such an early hour.

Our next stop was Cafe Delirium, a pub famous for the outrageous number of beers that you can choose from, something ridiculous like 2,004 bottles at the ready. According to my guidebook we were close. Rejoice! We found the street it was situated on, which is one of my favorite streets in Brussels.

And sitting quietly in the middle of two other bars was LITTLE Delirium. NOT Cafe Delirium, the Guinness world record holder. I consulted the book again, and re-checked the map. The address was wrong, but the map showed it right where we found Little Delirium. We popped in for a pint anyways, to sort out our confusion. I plan to write a strongly worded letter (points for the reference) to Frommers for the grave error.
I ordered my now coveted Chimay Blue while Jeff had the Delirium Red. Now, in good ol’ Portland, a Red is a somewhat bitter ale. It is not made of fruit, and it does NOT taste like shit. Unfortunately, Delirium’s Red had what we THINK was cherry in it and it had such a horrible aftertaste, we were chasing it with Chimay and couldn’t finish the pint. The two of us not finishing a pint is something unspeakable. THAT’S HOW BAD IT WAS.

Frustrated by our beer woes and desperate to find the real Delirium, we wandered around the area for a good hour in search of the right street. Finally, after some emotional outbursts and cries of “I hate Brussels!” I asked a nice policeman how to find the bar. In thickly accented English, he gave us these exact instructions:

“Vous know zat big square, oui? Well, go down ze alley in ze direction I’m pointing until vous reach a T. Turn left and then right and vous will find it.”

Jeff said these directions were total BS, but I had faith. I followed them exactly and where did we end up?

The moral of the story, kids? Always have faith in the police when asking for directions to a bar ridden with tourists.

We managed to hit up Delirium three separate times during our vacation, even though we didn’t stay more than that first night in Brussels. The very last visit I will share about when I come to the end of the trip.
That concludes this post about Brussels, tomorrow we shall visit Bruges and take in all the glorious sights and amazing people.

A story of a girl and a boy on a plane.

2011-07-07T13:08:00.000-07:00

Hello! We just got back from our fantastic vacation a little less than a week ago and I wanted to start writing about it before I forgot everything! I think that the best way for me to do this would to be explore each country separately, giving it the time and love it deserves.

To start things off, I'm going to write about our travel experience with Icelandair and then dive into Brussels tomorrow. I should tell you upfront that we nicknamed this trip the "beer, castle and trains" journey. If any of this offends you (man, those castles are such bastards) you can't say I didn't warn you.

So. We booked our flight with Icelandair for two reasons: they were cheap and they gave us a 9 hour layover in Iceland. ICELAND, friends. We had to drive up to Seattle for maximum savings, but what's a measly 3 hour drive in the dawn of an international adventure? Well, then Icelandair cancelled our 9 hour layover and gave us one single hour to go through passport control and catch our next flight. The woman on the phone assured us that everything would be alright, they don't schedule layovers that are impossible. Well, ok.

The day before our flight, a very stressful day that should never ever happen again thanks to my new-found resolution to quit procrastination once and for all, I find out that there are strikes going on at Icelandair. Strikes that will affect our layover and force us to miss our connection. But what can you do about it, other than cross your fingers and think happy thoughts? I'm all for strikes (my husband and closest friends are union members) but hey, universe, let's plan them for different airlines next time, 'kay?

When we gallantly arrive at Icelandair fresh faced and eager, they told us that our next connection would be missed, but it would be taken care of in Keflavik. They then put us in first class on the connection that we would be missing. WTF, NOT FUNNY DUDES. Our first leg was Seattle to Keflavik and only 7 hours. We tried our first beer of the trip (an Icelandic piss beer) ate a fruit bowl (they are not exactly a vegan friendly airline) and marveled at the extra inches of seat room. And the beautiful sights outside of the window. I mean, look:

We also gawked at Iron Maiden's tour plane, parked next to us at Keflavik during both connections.

Icelandair then put us on a flight to Copenhagen 2 hours later than the original flight. In Copenhagen, we were booked on a flight to Brussels just 2 hours later than the final connection. They also gave us food vouchers, which we spent on a pretty and expensive vegetable dish and the second beers of the trip.

When we finally landed in Brussels, it's around 8:30 and we have been up for almost 36 hours. We can't find the shuttle bus to the hotel so we hail a taxi. It cost us maybe 12 euro and I was so tired and relieved to finally be on land that I gave him a 20 and waved him off when he tried to give us some change. We got a big smile after that. Please note that I am not rich, it was probably a really stupid thing to do in my delirious state, but it happened and I'm not sorry.

After we checked in to the hotel and giggled at the beer in the vending machine, we decided to find food. We could only find one hotel bar with food open, so we went with it. They gave us tortilla chips with bbq sauce (which is so weird to me and yet SO GOOD) and my side salad was shredded lettuce. But look at those beers. And look at those scary bags underneath my eyes.

The vending machine in question.

After we finished our delectable and filling meal we crashed and slept until forever. Ok, so only 8am, but it was the best sleep ever.

Tomorrow I plan to post about our days spent in Belgium! I haven't decided whether to split it up, but I guarantee full on hilarity and copious beer.

It's too early.

2011-06-07T05:01:00.000-07:00

My husband got up at 3:30am today for work, I haven't been able to fall back asleep. So, here's a photo of trip preparations in progress.

Have a lovely Tuesday!

One Week!

2011-06-02T15:31:00.000-07:00

All I can think about lately is delicious beer, pommes frites, falafel and castles. I can has itinerary?

PLAN A

6/9-6/10
Seattle to Brussels! via Keflavik, Iceland and Copenhagen, Denmark.

6/11-6/14
Bruges!

6/14-6/19
Amsterdam!

6/19-6/23
Germany! We start in Cochem, veer through Heidelberg and end up in Munich, where the PLAN is we'll meet my father at the airport.

6/23-6/26
Austria! We're staying in Seckau, 20 minutes outside of the motorcycle rodeo festivities. I only *have* to be in Erzburg on the 26th, so we'll be taking a day trip to Vienna and exploring Eisenerz.

6/26-6/28
Salzburg!

6/28-6/29
Rothenburg ob der Tauber! Hello Nightwatchman.

6/29-6/30
Make our way back to Brussels, sleep in the airport. GROSS

Maybe you noticed I wrote PLAN A at the top? We're supposed to meet my father in Munich and spend the next four days in Austria with him. Well, he hasn't bought his plane ticket yet. He says his friend Don owes him and he'll make him buy his ticket. It's 3 weeks out.

We have a rough Plan B drawn up, just in case. I hope it doesn't come to that.

Distraction.

2011-05-27T20:05:00.000-07:00

We leave in 1 week, 5 days. I have novels to read and discuss, final papers to write and a single final exam to take. I have barely been focusing on any of it. My last paper, though started early, was finished in a fit of last minute writing that went on late into the night and incredibly early in the morning. I barely studied for my music midterm, and earned an A, which only encourages my horrible procrastination habit. All I can think about is what's happening 1 week, 5 days from now.

An interesting aspect of saving every cent for this trip is watching our spending, especially in the food department. In normal non trip-planning times, I have the best intentions to keep our budget to $50 a week but, you know, snack attacks happen. And sometimes I need that Coconut Bliss. But I've been pretty militant the past couple of weeks, which means some of our meals have been...interesting at times. Take a look.

Broccoli curry spaghetti, original recipe calls for udon and 6 cups of broccoli. I improvised. ps, spaghetti isn't a good sub for udon.

Knock off Spanky's Bowl (from a local chain) with AFR Cheesy sauce.

Use-up-the-leftovers lunch of spinach, baked tofu and roasted taters with Daiya (on sale).

Pizza is awesome, a good use of leftovers and fast if you have dough in your freezer :-)

After my first 10k, all I wanted was a (vegan) cheeseburger. So I made one as we are poor. V'Con black bean burger with AFR Cheesy sauce.

Pho chay, a tester for Kittee's zine. So fresh and delicious.

Also, some evidence of my laziness.

The first warm day in Portland I moved my ass outside. Please notice the beer, it is Deschutes Brewery's Twilight making an early appearance!

Yeah, we had no clean tupperware and I wasn't interested in washing dishes.

So, yeah. I'm twiddling my thumbs in anxious anticipation.

Cinco de Mayo 10k

2011-05-21T12:41:00.000-07:00

This is about two weeks late, but I wanted to share my experience in running my first 10k!

The 10k course was very flat (which was awesome) and took place on a day the forecasters insisted would be full of rain. As with any other race I've done, the rain held off and the temperature was perfect.

I'm not going to lie, this race was hard. I was super nervous the day before and decided to do a quick 1.5 mile loop by my house to get rid of some of the nervous energy. BAD IDEA. You see, I live in the hills of SW Portland. The route I took was one I've taken many times now and am used to, but it's still very hilly. I don't know if I just pushed harder than normal or what, but my legs were incredibly weak the next day and hurt right off the bat during the race. I pushed and kept up with Libby the whole time and we finished in an awesome 1:27, which included a bathroom break! (Yes, this means that I am not fast whatsoever).

At the end, during the two block sprint that hasn't really bothered me before, my legs just gave out. Check out this (hilarious yet painful) photo of the moment I just had to stop:

My sweet friend Jill came up behind me and yanked me into running across the finish line, but my legs were NOT HAPPY. I had to keep walking around to make sure I wasn't going to fall over. It was all rather silly.

Now for the fun part. Can you spot my "O.....so glad I finished" face?

Seriously, the beer and the people keep me running.

I have another 10k tomorrow! It's my last race before the trip and I definitely tried to take it easy this week. I weeded last Friday (as in, a week and a day ago to keep my hamstring pain to a minimum) and did a training run Tuesday, but have otherwise stuck to walking. It's the 10 Cane Rum Run and it looks as if we get a mojito AND a Bridgeport beer....WIN.

Wish me luck!!!

Why I Travel

2011-05-15T14:06:00.000-07:00

*I felt I should preface this post with a disclaimer: if all-inclusive is your thing, then go for it! I just choose not to.

My sweet husband and I were talking about travelling tonight (ok, honestly it happens every night) and all-inclusive resorts were brought up. A super long time ago, I went on a cruise for a band trip (music festival at sea or something) and all of our food was included in the cruise price. A bunch of high school kids with access to room service? Cake for breakfast, lunch and dinner! Ice cream buffets! Dinners with a pirate!

While that experience was awesome (I was only a freshman and had only really travelled once prior) I would not do it again. I have always felt that places like the Bahamas, the Caribbean and Cabo san Lucas, Mexico were never for me, but I always assumed it was the heat and the crowds. I wasn't interested in sweating buckets and feeling sticky while wandering around the pristine grounds of a resort. But as I've travelled more and seen the impact tourism can have on a certain place, the reason I can't see myself at one those hot spots mentioned above is a political one. When you buy an all inclusive resort package, your money goes straight back into the company you booked with. You're not buying local. You're not really experiencing the locale you're visiting. Yeah, all you can eat buffets and all the slushie drinks you want are awesome, but you can do that at home, for a hell of a lot cheaper. These places have been sanitized and stripped of everything that makes the locale unique. I keep getting reminded of the private tourist beaches in Haiti that are fenced off to locals. Haiti is the only third world country in North America, and the locals are kept off of their own beaches. What kind of message does that send? You'd think that the tourist dollars from those beaches would have helped rebuild the cities devastated in the earthquake, but the destruction and pain is still there, front and center. If I wanted to visit Haiti, I would go and see the real Haiti, even if it's sad and painful.

When we went to Europe, I realized that I loved getting lost, I loved fumbling the language while ordering and I loved navigating the local options for transportation. Have I told you what a HUGE fan of the Paris metro I am? HUGE. Sure, we're American tourists. But we're the kind of American tourists that want to see the world outside of ours. The US is a beautiful place, but it's familiar. It feels as if we can go see any part of the US at any time, while other continents feel special and new. The world is giant and vibrant and I want to be a part of that. Each place I've ever visited, Europe and North America, has a special place in my heart for one reason or another, simply because I feel lucky that I got to visit it. I also understand that there are places in Europe that cater exclusively to tourism, but there's a difference between those and resorts. You're still immersed in the country, soaking up the language and culture, squeezing yourself into tiny cafes.

I realize in the past year I went to Hawaii, played on the sanitized beaches and went to an all inclusive luau. But it's not something I would do on a regular basis. We rented a condo, shopped at local markets and ate at local restaurants. We explored the rainforests on our own and hiked to an old church perched on the edge of the island. Sure, Maui is an incredibly touristy place. But my dollars go straight to the residents running those shops and restaurants. If I were to do it again, it would be different thanks to what I've learned from my past experiences.

Rick Steves is one of my favorite guidebook authors and I think he has done so much for American travel. Through his television shows and books, he's shown Americans how to take a couple of steps off of the busy, tourist lined streets and into the small villages, back alleys and mom and pop shops of Europe. He illustrates the importance of sites like the Tour d'Eiffel, the Coliseum and the Tower of Pisa, but he also shows you there's so much more of Europe to see. He's inspired people like me to explore the bigger picture, to use travel as an educational tool, to enter another world. Here's an excerpt from his book, Travel as a Political Act.

Why do you travel?

Rollin' Rollin' Rollin'

2011-05-06T09:55:00.000-07:00

Now I have the rest of the silly song in my head.

Like I eluded to before, I am taking this post to talk about the dynamics of this trip versus the last one. Now, I don't know if I can call myself a seasoned traveller, but I recently noticed that I have been on a plane at least once a year for the last 5 years. This is crazy to me because 1) I HATE PLANES and 2) it seems that I never go ANYWHERE. But that's not true.

2006) Vegas
2007) Disneyland, Vegas
2008) Santa Barbara/Disneyland
2009) Europe
2010) Hawaii
2011) Europe

That's one random list. Please don't take these trips to mean that I am made of money, because I guarantee that 4 of those flights were either paid for by a friend/work or standby. I am an uber frugal traveller. I bring my own food (at least, as much as I reasonably can) I eat only bread and coffee all day (in France it's worth it) and have stayed in my share of fleabag hotels (right on the parking lot at Disneyland, too). Our first time to Europe was financed by an inheritance, this time around it's mostly financed by a tax return. Both trips have required a strict budget: $100 bucks or around 70 euros a day for two people after rooms and transportation. This part is non-negotiable. If I want to pay my rent when we come back, we can't spend more than that.

So, some changes we're making this time around.

1) Beer journal. Belgian beers are my favorite beers, and I fully plan on trying a bunch. Yeah, this seems like we'll be breaking the $100/day rule real quick. But for the most part, we're staying in places where we have a kitchen or at least a continental breakfast. Bagels in my purse say what? We even have a plan for the journal: each beer gets a numbered sticky note and a photo so we can keep track. We tried so many delicious wines in France (the bottles were SO CHEAP) and didn't keep track of a single one.

2) Two cameras. I'm bringing my baby over. This means we'll have to buy more memory, but it's worth it. I'll also be covering up the brand name with electrical tape.

3) NO OVERNIGHT BUSES. It's not worth the carsickness.

4) Railpass. The trick for figuring out railpasses is calculating how much each point to point ticket will cost. If it's more than $40/day, then the pass is worth it. Some of our travel days are less, but there's at least 2 long haul days (Cochem to Munich, Rothenburg to Brussels) that will make the pass worth the cost up front. We also bought a second class twin saver, which cuts the price by a third.

5) I will have sugary snacks for Jeff at all times. He is NOT going unconscious this time around.

I feel like we're going into this experience a little wiser. We will not be bringing a portable DVD player with us, we will be prepared to wash our clothes in sinks, I will bring a better jacket. Right now, I'm loving how well we're planning for this one, even if some days are hectic travel days and some are going to be spent riding bikes to the North Sea. Oh yeah, I'm doing that.

One Month, Four Days

2011-05-05T11:16:00.000-07:00

Atomium in Brussels

I swear to god this month is going to draaaaaaag.

Sometime this weekend I'm going to write a post about what we're doing this trip versus the last one. Because honestly I have nothing else to talk about.

Right Now

2011-04-23T17:04:00.000-07:00

This past week has been pretty great. Why?

1. The sun has decided to stick around for a little while.
2. I had an amazing time at the Spring Beer & Wine fest. Like fall down drunk amazing.
3. The Blazers just kicked SO MUCH ASS in the 4th quarter, giving us a 6th game in this finals round.
4. Even though I was dehydrated, exhausted and allergy ridden, my run in the sun today was pretty fucking great.

A photo I took at my husband's work when he was not there. He laughs at people that stare at this. Well, I stare at it, so stop laughing, dude!

Bridge to Brews, or how the sun made an appearance in Portland.

2011-04-18T10:01:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was awesome.

My second event of the year happened! Bridge to Brews is an 8k/10k course that crosses two bridges and finishes up at Widmer, one of Portland's first breweries (and home to one of the first beers I actually enjoyed, the ubiquitous Hef). The sun decided to reappear for the event, something that I know most of the runners were praying for. It was super cold, but when you have the sun instead of rain, you can't complain!

This was a challenging course. Right after the starting line, you had to climb an intense hill and then follow it up with a long uphill onramp onto one of my favorite bridges, the Fremont Bridge!

The Fremont is a car only bridge, but is opened to pedestrians a couple times during the year. Crossing that bridge has been on my mind a lot lately. I LOVE the view from the car and being able to stop would be heaven. And it was.

I am a super giddy nerd.

The rest of the course (after the very long downhill portion, weee!) was pretty flat and took the runners through NW Portland and past my favorite tattoo studio. We then got to cross another bridge, the Broadway bridge, another favorite of mine.

That last mile was a tough one for me. My farthest distance before this was 3.7 miles, so my legs were definitely feeling it. But I tried to run as much as I could and beat my previous per mile time by 10 seconds. I am so proud of myself right now. I never thought of myself as an athlete, let alone a runner. It's been a hard journey but crossing the finish line makes it all worth it. Oh, and so does this:

I ran with my friend Libby and new friend MJ. My sister in law also ran this course! She gets huge props, she is deathly afraid of bridges and has been battling some foot problems. She finished barely 9 minutes after me!

After we finished slopping beers all over ourselves (it was COLD and the cups were full!) we decided to get breakfast in NE Portland at a great little cafe called New Deal. They had tofu scramble and I was able to sub veggie sausage for a buttermilk biscuit. I cleaned that plate to its former sparkling white self.

I also wanted to add my finish line photo, because it's so great. I'm working on actually smiling for cameras, and this was the result. I kinda love it.

(thanks to Libby and Karen for the photos!!)

Kickstartin' and a Birthday

2011-04-11T16:43:00.000-07:00

Last week was my first week on the Vegan Kickstart plan and I have to say, it was awesome. The program forced me to prepare food for the rest of the week, ensuring I ate very well and didn't resort to easy things like (vegan) butter noodles and peanut butter from the spoon. Since re-starting Weight Watchers, I have struggled with a lack of points at the end of the day but on the Kickstart I had at least 5 left over each night after dinner! Win!!

For some reason, the past week has produced many a blurry photo from my camera, which upsets me a little. Here is a combo of those plus camera phone photos of the meals from the plan. yaaaaay technology!!

Hummus sandwich with couscous confetti salad

Veggie burger with ginormous amount of couscous confetti salad

Veggie burger with....tortilla chips

Couscous confetti salad with roasted red pepper & carrot soup

Now, it looks like an awful lot of couscous salad. But I just happened to take pictures of the meals that had it! Please note, also, that I'm only showing you some of the stuff for lunch + dinner, my breakfast is always oatmeal. I get all fainty if I break that pattern...

My birthday also happened this last week. I celebrated on Saturday with a bunch of good friends and food. I made these delicious cupcakes (subbing tofu for the eggs), chocolate peanut butter pillows, the Vegan Mouse's spinach artichoke dip and mac 'n' cheeze. There was also a lot of gifted beer and I ended up with three bottles of vodka (including a bottle of Grey Goose, my own personal BMW of vodka). I had an amazing time! Here is the only photographic evidence I have:

A kick to the arse.

2011-04-03T17:15:00.000-07:00

A funny thing happens when I do something I'm proud of: I reward myself with food.

That might be ok if it were just once, but nope, I've been rewarding myself for a week now. I have gained a little over a pound in two weeks, which is NOT a bad thing but it's still a little discouraging. (please don't tell me gaining weight is normal, I'm well aware!!)

Every couple of months, PCRM puts out a vegan Kickstart program, a 3 week program designed to help new vegans ease into an awesome and healthy lifestyle and to provide current vegans a "kick" to their current routines. I've decided to participate in April's Kickstart as a plan to get myself back into the habit of eating well and cooking somewhat regularly. I love me some PB & J and vegan mac, but I gotta give my body a break!

Now, one of the hugest misconceptions about veganism is the cost. I can't tell you how many times I hear "it's expensive!" when talking to somebody about my diet. Um, hello, I work one day a week and my husband's work is event based! I never, EVER go out with my friends! I wear my clothes until they're threadbare and scandalous! We're far from rich and we can afford to eat well on about $50 a week, which is still pretty high, in my opinion. In fact, it's the weeks where I'm grabbing stuff like PB & J and mac on a regular basis that it adds up! Today I went and bought the veggies for the first week of the Kickstart program. Here is my list of all the things I need for the week:

Honestly, that pile of veggies totaled up to $16. I still need to buy beans, grains and some spices but all of that can be had at the bulk section of Winco, a local ginormous grocery chain that is mostly cheaper than the regular grocery store (Fred Meyer, Safeway). The trick is buying whole, unprocessed foods. When you start getting into the analogues and "fake" foods, you pay more. Yeah, they taste good, but are they really worth it? I love me some Coconut Bliss, but I only buy it if it's on super sale. Daiya is a nice treat, but it's also just that: a treat. The thing about processed foods (vegan or not) is they have higher levels of sodium and preservatives to make it taste better and last longer but c'mon, that shit isn't good for you.

I plan on sticking to the meal plans PCRM gives me, with some minor changes that I'll detail as I go along. My birthday is on Wednesday, but I'm not celebrating until Saturday so I'm taking that as a free day. I'm also running Bridges to Brews on April 17th and you'd better believe I'm drinking my two beers at the end. Other than that, though, I'll stick it through and I feel good about the decision to participate!

If anyone else is interested in trying it out, here is the link: 21-Day Vegan Kickstart!

Strange.

2011-03-31T12:16:00.000-07:00

In the past two weeks, I have entered two running giveaways. One to win a gift certificate, one for a race entry.

WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME?

The End of the Challenge.

2011-03-30T20:32:00.000-07:00

I'm just going to consolidate the remaining posts of the challenge. I think it forced me to write (even if for the most part it was silly unimportant things) and hopefully I can come up with interesting posts from here on out.

Highs & lows of the past month and what I hope to accomplish in the next 30 days.

Highs of March
Spring break!
Running a 6k and not dying
An anniversary (photos to follow)

Lows
Waaaaay too much stress over a paper
How sad my mother seems lately
Silly arguments

What do I hope to accomplish? I have an 8k on April 17th (Bridge to Brews, my most anticipated event!) so I hope to finish that and improve upon my times and endurance through the race. I am turning 28 on April 6th, so I would like that to go smoothly and without sistah drama. I also hope to transition right away into my classes! I am super procrastinator, and I swear this quarter will be different.

Jeff and I celebrated 4 years of being together on Monday. We went to Hopworks. I got drunk on a DELICIOUS beer that I don't remember the name of but was 9.7%. I ate hummus. It was a good night.

9.7%! 9.7%! 9.7%!

This is a good representation of most of our pictures together. I embarrass him.

This is in the bathroom!! I love it.

Day 26. Or, how I conquered a 6k.

2011-03-27T13:42:00.000-07:00

Day 26 - What kind of person attracts you?

They have to be honest, kind and trustworthy. That didn't used to be the case in my younger years...

Now on to the exciting stuff. Today was the Fort Vancouver 6k!

The weather reports threatened the day with a nasty rainstorm but it held off until well after we finished the race. My dear friend Crystal is struggling with some health issues, so another dear friend stepped in and ran for her. My official time was 50:05, with an average pace of 13:59/mile. That's 4 minutes off of my time on Wednesday (on the same course!!) AND my best pace yet AND it includes a couple minutes stop at a porta potty (not me, but I wasn't gonna leave her hangin'). I think I'm getting better at this thing. Considering none of my trainings have taken me over a mile and a half, I'm happy with it.

Runners were rewarded with a beer from the Rock, a pizza place in the shopping center the race started and ended at. The beer (the Rock's own brew) was mediocre and Papa John's could have made me the same pizza 400x better, but you know what? Nothing feels better than that beer at the end.

Day 25

2011-03-26T09:12:00.000-07:00

Day 25 - Someone who fascinates you and why.

I'm going to change "someone" to "the human population".

I'm fascinated that despite distances and years, some people can continue to be good friends.
I'm fascinated at the amount of hurt and bloodshed some humans can inflict on others.
I'm fascinated at just how little some people care about the consequences of their actions.
I'm fascinated at how easily I can be bullied by those who have no place in bullying anybody.
I'm fascinated by how easily kids make up imaginary games and play for hours.
I'm fascinated by the vast amount of kindness in the world, but also the vast amount of anger.

Day 25

2011-03-25T09:46:00.000-07:00

Day 25 - Your favorite movie and what it's about.

How about I make short list of my favorites and suggest you watch them if you haven't already?

Disney's Robin Hood (hey, don't judge me)
Neverending Story
Lord of the Rings trilogy
Amelie
Matchstick Men
Snatch
the Labyrinth

Also, I just watched Eat Pray Love. While it's not on this list, the first segment, "Eat", REALLY made me want to go back to Italy. That is all.

Fort Vancouver 6k - 3 days away!

2011-03-24T12:17:00.000-07:00

My first event of the year is on Sunday. For those not familiar with the area outside of Portland, Vancouver (USA!) is a town right across the Columbia river. Actually, I should say it's the 4th largest city in Washington state, but you wouldn't know it. Jeff calls it a suburb of Portland, and I kind of agree. I lived most of my post-18 year old life there, and it's really not a bad place, even if it gets a bad rap from Portlanders who, for the most part, aren't natives anyway. They're just pissed at rush hour.

ANYWAYS, Fort Vancouver is the result of an encampment first settled by Lewis & Clark. It's currently a historic site with replicas of the original fort and is also home to Officer's Row (a stretch of gorgeous old mansions) and Pearson Airport. The race snakes around this stretch of land, going over the freeway on a brand spankin' new land-bridge and running through the park and alongside the airstrip. It's a very flat course, which I am incredibly happy about.

Last night, I participated in my first What? run. Vancouver is holding their very first marathon this year, and What? is their way of advertising the marathon. They hold monthly group training runs on portions of the race and buy you a beer afterwords at the participating restaurants (hell yes to free beer). It was a good precursor to the race on Sunday as it followed the EXACT course! I knew what I would be getting into! I ran with my friend Libby, and was pleasantly surprised at her walk/run method. When we did run, we ran a lot faster than I've been running. The walking spurts totally helped, though! We finished the 3.7 mile stretch at 54 minutes, which isn't the fastest but hey, at least I was out there! I should also mention that this is my farthest distance as of yet, and I was terrified before we started. But we got into the groove, ran up the two small hills, grunted, sweated and had an awesome time. I'm feeling so much better about Sunday.

Last night, the restaurant we ended the run at was Beaches, a local place that is super friendly to vegans, even if it doesn't look that way! My old company had yearly Christmas lunches there and I have always enjoyed my food. They are incredibly happy to accommodate me and last night was no different. The runners had access to the happy hour menu all night, so I got a rice & veggie bowl (originally a teriyaki chicken bowl) for $4 and I couldn't even eat the whole thing. ME! The beer was Full Sail LTD, and tasted so damn good.

The company putting on the marathon (and the training runs) is Energy Events. They held a raffle after the race and gave free tech shirts to the first 10 people who signed up (and hadn't received a shirt yet). Even though I was way down on the list, I won a shirt! Now, I'll be in Europe for the actual marathon, but technically I AM training :-) And the shirts I've been running in are all cotton, so a tech shirt is definitely an improvement!

If you're one of my lucky readers in the area on Sunday, come cheer me on! It might be raining (let's be honest, it'll be pouring) but I promise to give you a sopping wet, sweaty hug.

Days 22 & 23

2011-03-24T08:27:00.000-07:00

Day 22 - How have you changed in the last two years?

Two years ago, I was working full time, earning very decent money in a job that I hated and felt trapped in. Now I'm a broke college student with two jobs that run one day a week each and I'm so much happier. Whenever I think about the income I used to bring home and how I didn't save a penny of it, I just feel sick. Just proof that money doesn't make you happier!

Day 23 - Five famous guys you find attractive. This one is kind of silly, but I had fun coming up with five, if I must be honest.

Bradley Cooper, now famous because of the Hangover, but was at one time a host of Globe Trekker!

Sam Rockwell (my favorite character of his is in Matchstick Men)

Mark Coyne from the Flaming Lips. How could you NOT find him adorable?

Robert Downey Jr. I can't tell you why, the guy is an asshole. Maybe that's the appeal?

I had to add my favorite lady. Emily Deschanel. She's vegan and plays a genius scientist that lacks social skills. LOVE.

Day 21

2011-03-22T16:36:00.000-07:00

Day 21 - One of your favorite shows.

Ok, this is a hard one for me. A couple of years ago, I would have said the Office. Last year I would have endorsed Bones or Pushing Daisies. But now....well, here's a list.

The Office
Bones
Modern Family
30 Rock
Dexter
The Walking Dead
Rick Steves!!
Actually, most of the cooking shows on the Create channel (OPB! OPB!)

I will admit that I watch some tv, but please note I am not up to date on ANY of these! I just watch when they come on.

OH MY GOD

2011-03-22T12:01:00.000-07:00

For my birthday this year, I'm signing up for the brand spankin' new Rock 'n' Roll half marathon coming to Portland.

Somebody tell me I'm not crazy! It's over a year away, I can totally get up to that mileage, right? RIGHT?

Day 20

2011-03-21T11:50:00.000-07:00

Day 20 - Is education important?

Very! Every time I hear about funding being cut for schools (which is a LOT lately) it saddens me. I understand the government has to balance budgets or whatnot, but it doesn't make it sting any less.

There's an awesome program in Portland called Community Transitional School that provides kids that are homeless or without permanent residence transportation to and from school, along with other services that are needed. I think the program is so incredibly valuable and I try to donate to their cause when I can. I love that they feel that all children have the right to education and will do everything they can to make sure they go to school.

On a little bit of a selfish note, more positive than yesterday's outburst:

I found out today that our apartment in Amsterdam is a block away from Maoz Vegetarian! I'm pretty sure that falafel will be fueling all of our walking adventures. I also found this gem when I looked up the location from street view on google:

Is she naked? Are her clothes flesh colored? So many questions!

Day 19 & a little bit o' stress.

2011-03-20T23:11:00.000-07:00

Day 19 - Disrespecting your parents.

Um, I didn't do it? Seriously. My dad wasn't around very much, but we were slightly frightened of him when he was. My mom was the "cool" mom, and I had no reason to disrespect her. This is also where I mention that I was a golden teenager, who did what she was told and hung out with the "good" crowd.

Tonight, something happened that should have been an easy fix. I was babysitting for my aunt, who has a 2 year old with an attitude. She managed to kick my phone down a flight of stairs and across the hardwood floor, which resulted in the screen going haywire and unusable. Now, the last time I replaced my phone, it was because I dropped it after a Tuesday at Tube 2 years ago. If you know why I mention that, you know why I dropped it.

I LOVED that phone. It was a Blackberry Pearl, and I had all sorts of lists and reminders and photos on there that are probably gone. I didn't have internet on it, so I didn't get the full range of awesome, but it was still pretty badass. My aunt graciously offered to replace the phone, which I rebutted. I mean, it was my fault, I left it in a place where it could get broken. She insisted, but I won't allow it.

I ordered a new phone off of T-Mobile and when I pushed submit, the page timed out and it didn't go through. No big deal, right? Try, try again? For some reason, I snapped and then I couldn't stop crying. All I could think about was how we really didn't have the money to replace something that was a stupid mistake on my part. Lately I've been obsessing over the funds we'll need for Europe (while we're there and when we get back) and I think this whole ordeal sent me over the edge. Somehow, we managed to get the damn phone ordered (not even as an upgrade, even though the blackberry was 2 years old. LAME). I'm selling my computer to my sister, which was earmarked for the trip but is now going to the phone, so the money is taken care of.

I just need to calm the fork down. I should also search a little harder for a job.

Day 18

2011-03-19T15:37:00.000-07:00

Day 18 - Your beliefs.

I kind of feel this goes along with the religion question, but here goes.

I believe that everyone has a right to safe, affordable healthcare.
I believe that nobody has the right to make a woman's choice but that woman.
I believe that everybody regardless of sex, race, gender or sexual orientation should have the right to marriage.
I believe in affordable education.
I believe in polite discourse. Instead of attacking something you don't understand, how about we talk about it? I may not change your mind, but it doesn't mean you can't be respectful of me and my choices.

Day 17.

2011-03-18T17:53:00.000-07:00

Day 17 - Your highs and lows of the past year.

Welp, I'm going with 2010, since we have a mere 3 months behind us.

Highs of 2010
A friend filled 27th birthday
Conquering a public speaking class
Using the public speaking tools and reading a haiku at Fakin' Fest
Hawaii
Starting at PSU
Successful and delicious vegan Thanksgiving

Lows of 2010
Getting laid off a second time
Not getting to experience Hawaii with Jeffrey (although Sarah was a great travel partner!)
Too many questionable money situations
My great grandmother, a badass 93 year old woman, passed away
Moving to SW Portland. I miss our duplex in the middle of it all.

I'm sure there were other events, but I don't remember them so they must not have been that memorable!

Days 15 & 16.

2011-03-17T12:54:00.000-07:00

"what should we do with a drunken sailor...."

Happy St Patrick's Day! I'm celebrating at home with my fave Irishman (don't tell me you haven't noticed his bright red hair....) with corned beef (less) tips and cabbage and Oregon style black & tans. Since Guinness isn't vegan, I'm using a stout from Hopworks and the Spring Reign Ale from Ninkasi. 'tis delicious, even if it's not separated!

Day 15 - It's a stupid question, so I'm making a wildcard out of it.

As a vegan, I get "but what do you eat?" like 5 billion times a day. I understand the question, hell I was the one asking it not so long ago! So here's a bullet of yesterday.

Breakfast - 10 grain oatmeal with berries, flaxseed and peanut butter

Lunch - peanut butter sandwich (I was out of leftovers to take to work!)

Dinner - chickpea cutlets with mashed potatoes and spinach.

Ok, so I'm bad on the whole eating enough veggies thing. I'm amping it up, I swears it. Yesterday is not typical, especially when it comes to lunch!

Day 16 - what do you think of mainstream music?

To each their own. I can't say I haven't grooved along with stuff found on popular radio. I listen to an "alternative" station, but their reach isn't THAT far. That being said, some of my favorite bands are unheard of. Amadan? My Life in Black & White? The Decemberists?

Ok, that last one is obviously far more popular than I'd like to admit, but I still love them! True story, I invited them to my wedding. And had my friends perform "Red Right Ankle" during the ceremony.

On Writing

2011-03-15T19:46:00.000-07:00

This may not be a huge surprise to you, my dear 20 readers, but I had a really rough winter quarter. I took Critical Approach to Literature, which is an incredibly writing intensive course. It's also required for my major.

I used to think I was such hot stuff when it came to writing. I took a college placement test in high school to qualify for Running Start (a program that allows high school students to take college classes) and tested way above the requirements for reading and writing. Every paper I've ever written was most likely written the day before the deadline, and I always earned high marks. I've had two professors submit my papers for awards (which I didn't win, btw). Last quarter, my Victorian lit professor had me submit a paper to be published on a website.

When I started full time schooling again, after a hiatus of 8 years in which I worked full time, I struggled a little bit. It wasn't until this quarter, though, that I realized that I feel as if working for so long has dumbed me down. Sure, I used to be able to name the 7 million tax rates in Vancouver, WA. I could tell you how to work Quickbooks and Excel. I could run reports like nobody's business. But it was (and still is, at least one day a week) a job, and really no learning was to be had.

One of my last Crit App to Lit class sessions was a peer review of a draft introduction to our final papers. I already had an idea that my group members were far and above me in language and writing skills, but then one of them told me my writing was lucid. Don't know what that means? Per the online dictionary:

Lucid: easily understood; completely intelligible or comprehensible

Now, it may be because I'm sensitive, but I instantly took that as "simple". I know it has a much bigger meaning than that, but I can't get around "simple". I don't sprinkle my essays with big words because, frankly, I don't use them. But hearing "lucid" as a description floored me. I feel as if I'm making the biggest mistake majoring in English.

And that's not the only example of my writing ability. Lately, I've been mixing up "then" and "than". The other day, I wrote "your" when I meant to say "you're", and I wanted to bang my head into the desk. I found an "it's" in my final paper, where it should have been "its". I can't remember if it's commas that go before quotation marks, or semi-colons. In citations, I keep putting book titles in quotation marks even though I KNOW they need to be italicized.

How the hell am I supposed to make it in editorial work if I'm making those mistakes? How am I supposed to cut it in grad school when my writing is "lucid"?

I'm attempting to work on my writing skills outside of homework. I'm meaning to write here more now that I have more time, and by write I mean write about something other than food and silly blog challenges. Because I have to fix this, and I have to fix it fast.

Day 14 and a running update.

2011-03-15T08:58:00.000-07:00

Day 14 - Your earliest memory.

It's a tie between two, because I'm not really sure which came first! The first is when my mom found a backpack that belonged to a missing child. I don't remember the name (for some reason I thought it was Amber Garcia, but we lived in Washington, not California, at the time) or what came out of it, but I think I remembered that particular memory because it was such a scary thing to find.

The other memory takes place at a birthday party, and I remember my aunt riding a bicycle around our driveway.

Running!

I panicked a little last week when I realized my first 6k of the year is March 27th. I've been upping my running minutes and today finished (wait for it) 2 sets of 8 minutes each.

I AM HARD CORE, MY FRIENDS.

I'm hoping to get a slightly better time than my last run, only because I plan to pace myself a little bit better and not waste all of my energy at the start.

Also, I tried on all the pants in the bottom of my dresser drawer, the drawer of yesterdays, and they almost fit! One pair I can button, but I'm not comfortable wearing skinny jeans that aren't supposed to be like that....

Day 13

2011-03-14T13:48:00.000-07:00

Day 13 - A place you'd like to move or visit.

This a two-parter for me!

As for moving, in the US I'd love to try my hand living in San Francisco, Seattle, or Philadelphia. Those three cities seem to have the most to offer somebody like me - somewhat strange and vibrant. Outside of US, I'd have to choose Scotland. It's such a gorgeous place and I know I talk about it a LOT but it just means that I love it so darn much.

Visiting is a bit longer.

Grand Canyon
Yellowstone Park
New Orleans
New York
Ireland countryside
Isle of Skye
Wales
Barcelona
Madrid
(I should have just said ALL of Spain)
Venice
Naples
Lisbon
Ukraine
Switzerland
Thailand
Australia
New Zealand (the Shire!)
...and so many more.

I didn't include the places I'll be visiting this year, but I have to say I'm MOST excited for Brussels and Amsterdam!

Day 12

2011-03-13T22:22:00.000-07:00

Day 12 - Bullet your whole day.

Today was kind of a weird day, so this is definitely not the norm.

12:00am - awesome Dismemberment Plan set is just finishing up.

12:30 - drop a Seattle friend off in downtown, avoid the drunk drivers, make my way to Tacoma and comfy couch for sleeping.
1:30 - try 2 of my friend's homebrews (DELICIOUS) and a cider. Feel a little tipsy.

2:00 - realize it's actually 3am and I have to get up at 8am.
8:45 - 9:45 - FINALLY roll out of (couch) and clean up and take off for Portland.
12:00pm - get home, promptly take nap.
3:30 - power goes out while I'm working on my final paper due Monday. It's kind of fun.
6:30 - I'm starved. We head to Buffalo Gap for incredibly cheap happy hour food as power is still out.
9:00 - obsess over cost of spoiled food currently inhabiting the fridge. Still no power.
9:30 - power comes back! I take my third shot of the evening and finish my paper.
11:00 - go to bed.

Day 11 and SEATTLE.

2011-03-12T08:00:00.000-08:00

Day 11 - Put your ipod on shuffle and share the first 10 songs.

The Decemberists - The Bagman's Gambit
Elliot Smith - No Name #2
The New Pornographers - The End of Medicine
Modest Mouse - Cowboy Dan
The Velvet Underground - I'm Sticking with You
Metric - The People
Western States Motel - Firing Range Days
Modest Mouse - Custom Concern
The Zombies - She's not There
The Arcade Fire - My Body is a Cage

One of the things that drew me towards Jeff when I was discussing him with the girl that set us up (my now sister in law!) was his taste in music. She started reading the stuff he put on her ipod and I just felt like it was right. That list there is a mixture of our tastes, which are seemingly the same. But, um, I don't like Aimee Mann OR 2 Live Crew.

Today I'm off to Seattle! The Dismemberment Plan are playing (and skipping Portland, dumb) and I'm so darn excited. My lovely friends up there are taking me to Plum beforehand and I can't make up my mind on what I want. What an amazing way to cap off a incredibly stressful quarter.

When I was younger, I used to go up to Seattle a lot. A group of high school friends went to school at UW and I just kept visiting them, even when our other friends stopped coming with me. I love the city almost as much as I love Portland :-) Here's a photo of a Seattle trip I took long, long ago.

Days 9 & 10

2011-03-11T09:19:00.000-08:00

I got caught up in final paper writing yesterday, and completely spaced on this!

Day 9 - How you hope your future will be like.

I'll have to say happy. If this last year is any proof, I can be dead broke and still be happy.

Day 10 - Discuss your first love & first kiss.

First love will have to be Tony (last name withheld, because I'm paranoid) in the 8th grade. First kiss was my ex, when I was 18. I was a late, late bloomer.

I wanted to add that all of my thoughts are going to Japan right now. Earthquakes of that magnitude are so incredibly scary.

Day 8

2011-03-09T08:00:00.000-08:00

Day 8 - A moment you felt most satisfied with your life.

This might sound so, so cliche, but it's absolutely true. The moment Jeff and I got off the bus from the airport onto O'Connell Street in Dublin.

All my life I had dreamed of going to Europe. But growing up in poverty kind of prevents that kind of awesome stuff from happening. I took French in high school and got insanely jealous at the kids that were able to afford to go on the school trips to France and Italy. Even though I started working full time straight out of high school, I was really bad with money and something was always coming up, preventing me from being serious about going. Nobody in my immediate family has ever been to Europe, and it's sort of doubtful they ever will.

I know it's cheesy. But it felt like I had fulfilled a dream that I thought was unattainable when I finally got to go. And I feel so, so lucky that I get to go back. I will happily live on rice and beans and frozen corn if it means I get to go back.

Day 7

2011-03-08T12:16:00.000-08:00

Day 7 - Your zodiac sign and if you think it fits your personality.

I'm an Aries!

According to Wikipedia, the all knowing lord of information:

"Aries is a fire sign, which imparts a fiery enthusiasm that shows through their (blunt) sincerity, honest convictions, and leadership. They enjoy adventures, are partial to the great outdoors and are considered highly passionate and sexed. It is a Cardinal sign and with a strong leadership streak."

Well, first things first, I don't consider myself a leader, I've never been highly sexed and I'm not so sure about enthusiasm. But I think the rest of it fits! I have a temper (sometimes), I stick to my convictions (and call others out when they don't) and I LOVE being outside (except when it's hot).

Day 6

2011-03-07T11:06:00.000-08:00

Day 6 - Write 30 interesting facts about yourself.

I don't know about interesting, but here goes.

1. I grew up on a farm, and had an awesome horse named Wonder.
2. I'm named after my father.
3. I like to pull hairs out of my head. Not to the extent of going bald, but it's still pretty bad. And it hurts.
4. I have suffered from night terrors since I was a teenager, and lately they're getting bad.
5. I have an extra bone in my foot!
6. I have a crooked smile that I was too ashamed of when I was a kid. I got over that.
7. My favorite beer (at the moment) is the seasonal whiskey barrel aged ale at Hopworks.
8. My favorite food is peanut butter.
9. I hate salad.
10. My least favorite food is a tie between pineapple and baked beans. I just can't stand pineapple, but the smell of baked beans makes me nauseous.
11. I'm vegan! But you knew that. It will be three years this November.
12. I'm one of the few that gained weight on a vegan diet! So silly.
13. I have a slight obsession with traveling, and I wish that I could afford to do it more.
14. Contrary to what I just said about affording traveling, I have been on an airplane at least once every year since 2006. I'd like to thank my good friend that works at an airline.
15. I consider Seattle my second home.
16. I've had m;y cat, Mercutio, for 9 years. He's been with me through several moves, a horrible breakup and is one of my best friends.
17. My airline friend and I once planned a trip to Ukraine, but ended up going to Disneyland.
18. My 21st birthday, I was the most sober member of the party.
19. I'm the biggest procrastinator I know.
20. I'm in the midst of writing 20 pages of final papers about love, torture and Oskar Schindler.
21. I've become an angry driver. I'm down to driving only a couple days a week and would love to cut out more.
22. I'm really good with paper routes. Seriously, it's the first section I go to in the employment classifieds.
23. My memory has been failing me as of late, and I'm turning into a space case.
24. I won the school wide spelling bee in 7th grade and went on to districts. The word I lost on was a form of symphony, but I don't remember what it was!
25. I drove a Chevy custom truck in high school as my poor little Nissan's clutch went out and my dad took FOREVER to fix it. I heard later that while some guys had crushes on me, others were scared. That truck was the shit.
26. My sister and I used to sumo wrestle in our yard.
27. One time I got chased by a dog on my bike. I have never ridden that fast since.
28. My first job was in a pizza parlor.
29. I went to a now defunct business school and goofed off more than I learned.
30. I have really bad handwriting.

Day 5.

2011-03-05T20:11:00.000-08:00

Day 5 is an incredibly depressing question, and one that I don't feel ok answering.

Here's a cupcake.

Day 4

2011-03-05T12:13:00.000-08:00

Day 4 - your views on religion.

I don't really follow religion. I went to church a couple of times with my neighbors when I was a kid, but we didn't exactly worship at home.

I wouldn't call myself an atheist, as I don't really know for sure there is no higher being. I would say that I believe in letting others believe.

Day 3

2011-03-04T12:05:00.000-08:00

Day 3 - What are your thoughts on drugs and alcohol?

Lemme tackle the easy one, alcohol, first. I'm a fan. I love beer. I love a good martini. Sometimes I even love wine. I rarely ever drink to get drunk, and I just feel it's a nice way to cap off the day. Every once in awhile, I give it up temporarily for my own reasons.

You can't see it, but there's a button under my left armpit holding that dress together. I am classy.

Drugs. To each their own, I suppose. I wish the hard, chemical stuff had never been made, but what can I do about that? I've never smoked pot (or even cigarettes) and don't plan on it. But I'm not going to stop anyone else.

Funny story, my whole family believes that I DO smoke pot, simply because I'm a hippie. They never believe me when I say I've never done it.

One time when I was a teenager, my mom left a wine cooler or something in the barn, and everybody blamed me. But I didn't drink until I was 21 and even then I begged for a virgin screwdriver...

Day 2

2011-03-03T12:16:00.000-08:00

Day 2 - Where would you like to be in 10 years?

I want to live in a country that is not the United States. Currently, my two favorite options are Scotland or Florence, Italy.

I want to be happily immersed in editorial work. I want a to own a cat mansion and adopt all the strays in the world.

(both those photos are my own, but I am continually amazed at how awesome they both are.)

I'm Alive!!

2011-03-02T19:18:00.000-08:00

This quarter is the craziest quarter EVER. I had to ban myself from Facebook to get my papers written! But it's almost over.

Until then, I saw this on Boober's blog and thought it would be a great way to reinsert myself into the prolific world of blogging. Because, you know, I'm all sorts of famous. And since it's the second, I have the right amount of days ahead of me!

Day 1 - Your current relationship status.

If you haven't figured it out yet, I'm married. I met the lovely boy on a blind date and we just hit it off. We've been together 4 years as of this month!

I just love the look on my face. I swear I had an awesome wedding day.

It's Official.

2011-01-30T10:45:00.000-08:00

(Amsterdam, Brussels, Munich & Prague)

And I'm trying not to scream and jump around and yell it from the rooftops.

Cookbook Challenge, Week 1, Over and Out

2011-01-16T18:30:00.000-08:00

Today marks the end of the first week of the cookbook challenge that myself and other PPK'ers took part in. The book this week was Appetite for Reduction by Isa Chandra Moskowitz.

I've made quite a few things from this book since getting it as a gift and almost* everything has been a hit!

1. Masala Baked Tofu

The flavor of the tofu was really, really good. I didn't have curry powder, so I used garam masala and it was still awesome. This is without pressing whatsoever, but I'll bet pressing would make it so much better!

2. Pasta con Broccoli

This will be a staple around here! So, so garlicky.

3. Unfried Rice

My husband isn't a fan of leftovers. In fact, I eat all the leftovers because he won't. He ate all the leftovers of the rice, which should be a testament to how amazing it was. It was my first time making "fried" rice and I will be making it many more times!

4. Red Thai Tofu

This accompanied the Unfried Rice. It was tasty and very fast to make, but it almost feels like it's missing something?

5. Chipotle Chili with Sweet Potatoes and Brussel Sprouts.

* This is the last recipe I made, and it was ok. Jeff is usually gung ho about trying everything but when I brought this chili up he asked "why the hell put brussel sprouts in chili?". We both liked the chili part, but I don't know if I'll put brussels and sweet potatoes in next time!

The second week of the cookbook challenge tackles that mighty tome of awesome: Veganomicon. I must say, it runs sparse of dishes I haven't made, but I made Jeff pick 3 that aren't desserts and he has good taste. Obviously.

Getting my ass kicked.

2011-01-15T15:42:00.000-08:00

I don't know if I've mentioned this before, but I've been taking Zumba classes since last October. An old coworker was teaching them and I decided to try them out and got hooked.

Now, I want to be honest: I have no rhythm whatsoever. I kind of look like an idiot in class. But I've managed to pick up on a lot of moves that are used in a lot of songs and work really really hard on the rest.

This morning my regular teacher was out and we had a sub - a woman that I would LOVE to take classes from regularly. I've had her before and she just kicks my ass every. single. time. in a way that my regular teacher doesn't. Don't get me wrong, I love my instructor, but this girl is just so hard core. Finishing her classes covered in sweat and aching make me feel so strong and motivated for the rest of the day!

On that note, the 5k - 10k trainings are going well - since this time around it's a lot easier for me I've been focusing on speed. BUT when I say speed, I mean attempting to run at a 5.5 mph pace rather than a 4 mph pace :-) It's hard, but I'm determined. I've been seeing a lot of my friends on FB and in real life that have taken up running and I get a little down that it seems a hell of a lot easier for them than it is for me. But I try to remember that they're not posting about the days they don't do well, the days that their running sessions suck and it makes me feel better. I am coldhearted, methinks.

ALSO! This week was the start of the new PPK Cookbook Challenge and I plan to write tomorrow about the dishes I made in the first book Appetite for Reduction!

Tools of the Trade.

2011-01-07T17:56:00.000-08:00

I read a lot of photography blogs and subscribe to a bunch of photography newsletters. There’s a theme I’ve noticed lately that seems to coincide nicely with the current economic state: it’s not about the equipment, it’s what you do with it. This especially resides with me; as a poor college kid trying to make a name for myself (let’s face it, I’m trying to earn a little $$) I don’t have the means to set up my spare room (the “office”) up as a full blown photography studio. I can’t spend money on lights, sets or even lenses.

It gets me down sometimes, but then I see photos from people that do have that stuff and think “well, that’s not very good”. Not to toot my own horn, but I think that I’ve come a long way without the fancy flashes and super extra long zoom lenses. Not that I wouldn’t mind that stuff, of course.

Today, I worked on a project for my cousin. I shot some photos of a product for a website he’s building. This hasn’t been the easiest assignment, I will admit. I built a light box but my lights weren’t enough to light up the inside. I shot photos on the balcony in below freezing weather, but I wasn’t happy with the results. Thus, I reveal my set up:

View Full Album

Probably a fire hazard, but it accomplished what the light box and THE SUN could not.

No More Excuses.

2011-01-01T11:40:00.000-08:00

Thanks to my sister in law's post run high from last night and some good friends encouraging me, I am currently signed up for two races, soon to be three (maybe 4?) for 2011.

1. Fort Vancouver 6k - March 27th

2. Bridge to Brews - April 17th (c'mon guys, BEER)

3. Cinco de Mayo - May 8th

4. Rum Run - May 22nd

I've chosen these solely on the fact my sister in law and good friends are running them. The free drinks at the end are an awesome incentive though! I don't want to overload myself by signing up for these and then burning out, but I think this is the best way, based on my habit of backing out unless it's paid for.

I have no idea what distance to do for the last two runs. I figure if I'm doing an 8k in April, I should be able to finish a 10k, right?

Goals.

2010-12-31T10:28:00.000-08:00

I try not to stress myself out with resolutions. I feel that putting a lot of pressure on myself either goes really well or really badly. This year, I'm setting some goals for myself, with mini goals to help me attain them.

1. Get back to this weight.

(at the beach in march 2007)

This is something I've been working on since October, and I know I can do this. I got down to that weight from far heavier than where I'm at now! Mini goals: eat healthy, unprocessed foods and cut back on drinking. Which leads me to this:

2. Cut back on drinking.

I just found this old photo and it cracks me up because one, the bottle was empty when I did that and two, I was the one who emptied the bottle. My problem with drinking is I tend to overdo it - not in the hopes of getting drunk, rather I'm just having a good time. And then I pay for it with headaches, bloating, upset tummy. I'm going to cut down to just a couple of beers (or drinks) a week. I did this a couple of months ago and could feel a difference in my mood and how I was feeling overall. But, I should say, I really, REALLY love beer. Good beer. Local beer. I love the experience of sitting in the brewpub with a good beer.

3. Exercise.

I really don't want to become one of those that starts out at the gym all pumped up and slowly tapers off. I've done it before. I want to break that cycle. I want to exercise because it makes me feel good, not because I have to. I have a plan for this: my classes are every Tuesday and Thursday and I have a 2 hour break in between two of them. No reason for me not to go!!

4. Connect.

I miss all of my friends and spent a lot of this year reconnecting with them and meeting new ones. I'm going to scale up my efforts to keep in touch. Meet ups, mini road trips to Seattle, written letters.

5. Read.

With school, this could be a little harder. I would like to read at least one new to me book a month, more if possible. Over the summer I went through the Harry Potter series, the Hunger Games series and more and I loved it. I realized how much I missed reading for pleasure.

6. Germany, Austria and Italy.

I WILL go in June.

Last night, rice saved my life.

2010-12-29T11:51:00.000-08:00

I swear the song goes something like that.

The other night, the redhead and I went to dinner. He had a stir-fried rice & veggie bowl with the fluffiest rice I have ever tasted. My own rice is usually ok, but I wanted that rice for my own. So last night I set out to recreate it.

I read up on several different methods but ultimately chose this one, which I will recreate for you!

First, put your rice into a bowl. Run some water over it, swirling the rice around with your fingers until the water gets cloudy. Carefully pour the water out and repeat the process about 4 times or until the water stays clear.

Next, fill the bowl with water again, but don't drain. Let the rice soak about 30 minutes.

Drain the rice after soaking and cook however you normally cook it with the ratio being 1 cup rice to 1.5 cups water. I used a rice cooker that I've had for years and years. Stovetop method for the uninformed is boil water, add rice, simmer for 15 minutes with a tight lid - no peeking!

Devour fluffy rice and praise the rice deities.

I like pepper. What?

p.s. for those on WW Points Plus, the refried beans in Viva Vegan! are 2 pp when you make the recipe with one tablespoon of oil and figure it would serve 8!

Opportunities.

2010-12-27T09:23:00.000-08:00

I have an amazing opportunity to go to Germany, Austria and Rome on the super cheap in June.

How in the world does this happen to an incredibly broke student? My father. This man quit his day job 6 years ago to build tracks and lead motorcycle expeditions to Mexico. He got a cheap flight to Austria last year to see the Erzburg Rodeo (some giant motorcycle event) and wandered all over the cute little towns in Germany and Austria. The only planning he did ahead of time? I had to force him to buy a train ticket from Frankfurt to Munich so that he could meet up with a friend! He's offering to buy our (standby, blergh) tickets if we get the rental car and food.

Obviously, this is a HUGE deal for me. The trip would knock off about half of our wishlist of places we're dying to see. If we are actually able to get over via standby, the trip would cost us next to nothing. Also, I really, REALLY want to drink beer in Germany.

I'm suffering from a little trepidation that this will actually happen, though.

Merry Christmas Eve!!

2010-12-24T11:33:00.000-08:00

Love, Steff, Jeff and the Catz

Cookie Monster

2010-12-12T11:13:00.000-08:00

The other day, my mother-in-law asked me if I could bring dessert to Christmas dinner. She asked because she "knew I liked making desserts."

Well, it's not just because I like making them. Sure, I'll make people cookies for no reason, bring baked goods to an event and always have dessert on hand when people come over. But, it's for selfish reasons, really. I have a baked goods tooth. This tooth only got bigger when I went vegan, resulting in unwanted pounds and a new found appreciation for Oreos. I get excited for thick clouds of frosting and soft, fresh from the oven cookies. None of this goes well with my WW plan, of course, but I've been careful.

I only had to think for a minute about the dessert I'm bringing. Ever since a blogger posted a picture of a pumpkin roll, all I can think about is that creamy, delicious filling. Christmas Dessert will be a vegan conglomeration of:

A holiday tradition - the yule log

A childhood favorite, the Swiss roll

I used to LOVE Swiss rolls. Seriously. For the construction, I'll use the Fauxtess cupcake recipe for both the cake and filling and then cover it in a chocolate ganache and add Christmasy accoutrements. I feel the need to do a test run, right now.

Finally, I share a photo of my Christmas tree.

My late grandmother used to use these trees for all kinds of holidays. I didn't want to drag in a dead one and then deal with it after the holidays, so I improvised. I have a giant box of Christmas ornaments that didn't make the cut and are jealous.

I'm Here! I'm Alive!

2010-12-03T14:11:00.000-08:00

Hello gentle readers. I have not abandoned you, although I did abandon the end of MoFo. I think I got into the "fuck it" mentality and took a break.

Also, I got this all this learning stuff going on.

The majority of that stack is for my final paper on Wilde's "The Picture of Dorian Gray" in case you couldn't tell. I LOVE LOVE LOVE Oscar Wilde now, and I wish that I had known about him (at least, more than a name) when we were in Pere Lachaise. I am starstruck. I am so thankful to have landed a professor that did her dissertation on him and just exudes so much excitement to her students. I have one last final paper other than this one and then fall quarter is done!

Something new also happened this week: Weight Watchers unveiled their new PointsPlus plan. I like to think that I accept change readily and with open arms and this is no exception. There are some members that are up in arms about the "free" fruit values, about the higher daily point values and the higher values on their processed foods. I think WW took a huge step in the right direction. The plan encourages members to reach for fruit or vegetables or other healthy unprocessed foods and how is that a bad thing, exactly? Look, here I am enjoying a snack with homework:

And you know what? It was delicious. I love the idea that I can reach for a banana or frozen blueberries (my favorite frozen fruit! It's like candy!) when I'm low or empty of points. When I take stuff like this to work or school, I'm not spending money or points on some Luna or Lara bar (which are delicious, don't get me wrong!) and I'm not starving, either. I think that the members that are upset about the change aren't realizing that yeah, you can eat 5 bananas, but you WILL hurt later. I know it wasn't fruit that put me in the position of having to re-join WW, and I'm sure the majority of members will have to agree with me.

Now I think I will go make some Mexican hot chocolate snickerdoodles (and eat only a couple!) and work on these blasted papers.

Thanksvegan Recap, Photo Heavy!

2010-11-28T14:14:00.000-08:00

I missed my first MoFo post yesterday! I was really on a roll, too! It wasn't even because I was busy or lacking ideas, I just forgot.

I'm ok with it, though. I'm proud of myself for only missing one day! Onto Thanksvegan!

The dinner went over really well. I had a total of 17 people (a total of 4 vegans, including myself) in my apartment and plenty of food, spirits and laughs for all. I feel so lucky to have so many people in my life that are so accepting and curious about vegan food.

I made shamrock shaped sweet potato biscuits, just because.

Don't Eat Off the Sidewalk's pumpkin cinnamon rolls, pre-icing.

Apple sausage stuffing, delicious sweet potatoes.

BCG seitan tofu roast, FFV green bean casserole, roasted brussels and leeks, roasted squash and roasted potato dishes in the back.

Rosemary olive focaccia, whole wheat rolls and my little shamrocks.

New Farm mac (which went over SUPER well with the non-vegans!), mashed butternut squash, mashed potatoes

My plate of awesome.

In Preparation.

2010-11-26T21:34:00.000-08:00

My fridge, emptied of science experiments and half full bottles of liquid in preparation for tomorrow. My awesome Thanksgiving is two days late and I don't care.

Crackberry Pie

2010-11-25T21:54:00.000-08:00

I had great plans for this pie.

(that weird shape was supposed to be a shamrock, the cookie cutter was bent)

It's my aunt's blackberry sour cream pie aka crackberry pie. I haven't had a piece of this baby in years and finally got around to veganizing the beast. It is not in any way or form healthy, just so you know.

Aunt Bridget's Crackberry Sour Cream Pie

1 recipe pie crust, enough for a top and bottom crust (I used the crust in this post)
4 cups blackberries
1 cup sugar
1 cup vegan sour cream
1/2 cup flour
1/4 tsp salt

Heat oven to 450F. Place bottom shell of pie crust in pie plate. Top crust with blackberries. Mix remaining ingredients together and spread on top of blackberries. Layer top shell of pie crust on top. Bake for 10 minutes at 450F and then 30 minutes at 350F or until brown.

Look at the blackberry juice!

We were having dinner at my sister's house, so I dropped a couple pieces off at my sister in law's house beforehand. I couldn't resist trying a bite.

It was tart. Very, very tart.

My sister in law asked if I added any sugar. No, my aunt didn't include sugar in the ingredients, I replied in dismay. Maybe we could just chow down on the blackberries and the crust?

The pie solved the problem itself, though, by falling off of the top of another pyrex container and shattering all over the driveway.

Tip of the day: don't forget the sugar in the pie!

A Roastin' We Will Go

2010-11-24T21:14:00.000-08:00

My food intake today has been weird and I'm kind of embarrassed about it. I mean, chips for lunch? BAD.

Right now I have a half recipe of Bryanna Clark Grogan's tofu+seitan roast in the oven in preparation for tomorrow. I had to do a trial run and what better use than to have my own protein at my sister's house? Tomorrow will be spent making my aunt's blackberry sour cream pie, one of my absolute favorite pies ever. It's taken me too long to veganize it, really.

As soon as that baby is out of the oven, I will have pics and a recipe for you!

For now, I give you another random food pic. This is pizza with roasted squash as the base and a pizza cheeze I found on the internet. It's smoky and one of my favorite toppings!

Taters Be Constant.

2010-11-23T20:00:00.000-08:00

It's cold in Portland.

Apparently it's the coldest November day in 13 years. Today, my bus was 20 minutes late after school and my mittens did jack shit to combat the cold from getting to my fingers. I'm missing a toe and a pinky.

I told Jeff no more big cooking until Saturday, and he agreed. And asked for twice baked potatoes. I agreed.

So, so good. And the recipe is all over the internet and easy to customize. I used a wee bit of oil total (maybe 1/2 tsp?) so that I could enjoy some wine and chocolate and not go over my daily points. A favorite recipe of mine (though not used tonight) is the Samosa stuffed baked potatoes in V'Con. Mmmm.

Thanksvegan, Take 2!

2010-11-22T20:22:00.000-08:00

Today was pretty uneventful. My husband has the week off and we spent today playing Donkey Kong Returns on the Wii (it came out yesterday!!) and I wrote some papers.

Thursday will be pretty uneventful, we're visiting my sister in law for a short while and then spending Thanksgiving with my mom and sister. Saturday is the day for me. I'm hosting my second Thanksvegan and I'm really excited. I wrote about the first one here: My very first vegan Thanksgiving.

My menu as follows:

Pomegranate Glazed Seitan Roast (ala Bryanna Clark Grogan, I am attempting to shove that deliciousness in the crockpot!)
Fat Free Vegan's Best Green Bean Casserole
Roasted Leeks and Brussel Sprouts (I totally only had the sprouts originally, but saw a post today for the leeks and sprouts and am intrigued)
Sweet Potato Biscuits
Pumpkin Cheezecake Pie (which may be changed to Ginger Roll - a tasty take on the pumpkin roll)
Pumpkin Cinammon Rolls
Blackberry Sour Cream Pie (a family recipe veganized!!!)
Mac N Cheeze Cups

I also hear that stuffing, pecan pie, pumpkin pie, rosemary & kalamata olive bread, cranberry sauce, pumpkin butter and chocolate green tea pudding will be running rampant.

I'm hoping that my lovely friends will bring tupperware for the abundant leftovers!

Kung POW!

2010-11-21T18:17:00.000-08:00

Tonight I talked my husband in Chinese takeout.

I called Green Wok, a vegetarian Chinese place that I've written about here and one of SW Portland's redeeming qualities. In fifteen minutes it was chow time.

We got the kung pao chicken and potstickers. It totally hit the spot on this rainy/snowy day.

Broccoli + Potatoes + Cheeze

2010-11-20T14:29:00.000-08:00

Growing up, my mom used to make us steamed broccoli or cauliflower, cover it with cheese and sprinkle sunflower seeds on top.

This is still my favorite thing to eat.

Today, I roasted two small potatoes and a head of broccoli and smothered it with the Cheesy sauce from V'Con. I like to add a little extra mustard to the sauce, I am a fan of the tang. Lunch was so good.

While my lunch equaled 12.5 points, more than I'm usually comfortable allotting towards the daytime meal, I've had a weird day and will gladly eat greens for dinner.

Accio Pasty!

2010-11-19T13:07:00.000-08:00

I remember when I was in high school, a somewhat international type of restaurant opened in my somewhat hick hometown. They were advertising pasties on their windows. Always the giggly types, my friends and I laughed and laughed. Because a pasty was dirty, dude.

Then I grew up and visited the UK and learned that a pasty is actually a delicious type of pie. And Americans always have their mind in the gutter. Especially those in and around Portland, the strip club capital of the world.

But pasties aren't the only amazing thing to come out of the UK. Take J.K. Rowling. She wrote about this boy, you see, and built something incredible out of his life. It was a series that made reading cool again, the series that was heartbreaking and amazing at the same time. The series has inspired tattoos and costumes worldwide and made us ordinary people believe that we all have a purpose, whether it's defeating a man built of pure evil or simply giving a hand to someone less fortunate.

Of course, I'm talking about Harry Potter.

I first started reading Harry Potter right after the first book came out and my cousin left it at my house, but I didn't pick up any more until 2004, when I made it through the fourth book. This summer I read the entire series and caught up on the movies to be prepared for today, the release of the first part of the final movie. The final book made me tear up. The trailers make me tear up. The actors promoting the movie on the Today show make me tear up. I'm going to be a stupid emotional wreck in the theater today.

But that's ok, I made these.

Kris' pumpkin pasties. The crust is so light and buttery (thank EB!) and the filling is sweet, but not too sweet. My fellow moviegoing friends are gonna love them.

MoFo Survey

2010-11-18T21:45:00.000-08:00

Tomorrow, I will have special treats to mark the release of a special movie. But tonight, we dance! Or, um, answer questions.

What is one food you thought you’d miss when you went vegan, but don’t?
Cheese! This was a huge surprise, I was addicted to the shit. I do miss fried eggs, I'm not afraid to admit it.

What is a food or dish you wouldn’t touch as a child, but enjoy now?
Lentils! The texture used to gross me out, but I think I've gotten past that!

What vegan dish or food you feel like you “should” like, but don’t?
I really don't like Tofurkey slices.

What beverage do you consume the most of on any given day?
You want me to say beer here, right?

What dish are you “famous” for making or bringing to gatherings?
I'm not really sure, I'm varied in what I bring! I had mucho compliments on my kabocha squash and tempeh bacon risotto for Fakin' Fest, though!

Do you have any self-imposed food rules (like no food touching on the plate or no nuts in sweets)?
Unless it's soup, my food can't be liquid-y. This can be a problem when it comes to casseroles.

What’s one food or dish you tend to eat too much of when you have it in your home?
Pasta. I am a carb-o-holic. I can't stop eating it, so I make my husband put the leftovers away.

What ingredient or food do you prefer to make yourself despite it being widely available prepackaged?
Gnocchi! I make a bunch and freeze it for pennies of what it costs in the store.

What ingredient or food is worth spending the extra money to get “the good stuff”?
This may stem from my carb leanings, but bread. There's a brand local to Portland called Dave's Killer Bread that's mostly vegan and so, so worth the $4+ splurge. I don't get it all the time though.

Are you much of a snacker? What are your favorite snacks?
I have a small problem with Oreos.

What are your favorite vegan pizza toppings?
Extra sauce, mushrooms, tomatoes and artichoke hearts.

What is your favorite vegetable? Fruit?
My favorite vegetable is squash of all kinds, and my hands down favorite fruit is raspberries.

What is the best salad dressing?
Tahini + lemon juice + soy sauce + salt + pepper.

What is your favorite thing to put on toasted bread?
Smart Balance (the vegan one, obviously!) and nooch.

What kind of soup do you most often turn to on a chilly day or when you aren’t feeling your best?
Minestrone!

What is your favorite cupcake flavor? Frosting flavor?
I'm a huge fan of chocolate cupcakes with vanilla frosting. Simple and sweet.

What is your favorite kind of cookie?
OREOS! Homemade, I love chocolate peanut butter pillows.

What is your most-loved “weeknight meal”?
New Farm Mac & Cheese, get sconed Style. I'm kind of ashamed by how much I make it.

What is one dish or food you enjoy, but can’t get anyone else in your household to eat?
Eggplant! Jeff tries it each and every time I make it but still hates it. He's such a trooper <3

How long, in total, do you spend in the kitchen on an average day?
Maybe an hour as of late, and that's pushing it.