No Excuses

Hi folks, sorry for my lack of posts for such a long time. Honestly, I don't have a good excuse. Once the summer rolls around I want to spend lots of time outdoors. I've been camping and hiking while trying to keep up with new server installations at the office.

A few weeks ago we picked blueberries and before that I picked strawberries with my aunt. This year I signed up for a share at the CSA again. Each year they get more knowledgeable and our crops are better. We've seen tons of greens, beans, onions, squash, zucchini and cucumbers. I'm looking forward to tomatoes and corn soon.

I'm not sure what to post first. Though, I owe the folks at LightLife a big thank you for sending out a box of samples earlier this year. One of the first recipes I cooked with their products was Tempeh Wingz from DEOTS.





This past week, I made some sourdough French bread. The recipe came from: The King Arthur Flour 200th Anniversary Cookbook. This bread came out wonderfully and is my first sourdough loaf baked without adding yeast.

Here's a pic of some sauteed veggies from the farm with sun dried tomatoes.

Pittsburgh!

When I found out Chihuly's glass exhibit at the Phipps Conservatory was leaving on February 24th, I knew I didn't have much time to get there. A hasty trip was planned and I did some research to learn about vegan eats around the city. To my surprise, Pittsburgh was extremely veg friendly. Perhaps more so, than Boston.

Unfortunately, I've been sick since I got back which has prevented me from posting.

Here's a few of the more than 600 photos I took at the Conservatory:

Our first night in the city, we dined at The Church Brew Works. The brewery/restaurant is actually inside an old church. It was a very neat place and waiter/chef had no problem veganizing a dish for me. We shared a plate of the home made chips and I had an Israeli cous cous salad with tofu.

Day 1: Chihuly day time viewing

Lunch at The Quiet Storm

Cococino (Soy coconut cappuccino)

"Chicken Tenders"

Magic Snake (Seitan philly steak)

In the evening, we took the incline car up Mount Washington and viewed the city on a very chilly night.

Dinner at Double Wide Grill, a veg friendly BBQ joint. My camera was toast at this point, so pics from my phone will have to suffice.

I loved how they displayed the wines!

BBQ Seitan Wings

Pulled Seitan Sandwich

Double wide added pearl barley to their seitan which created some great texture. That is something I'd like to try in the future.

Day 2: We checked out the East End Food Coop for breakfast and snacks. What a great store! Besides the loads of bulk options, they had home made vegan baked goods/entrees.

The Mattress Factory is renowned as one the of best installation art facilities in the country. We stopped there to walk through some really interesting exhibits. The cafe there was veg friendly and I enjoyed some beet soup and a salad.

The Heinz History Center has 7 floors to explore. There was so much to see here that we actually ran out of time. From Lewis & Clark, to the history of the Heinz Company, to the Western Pennsylvania Sports Museum, to Pittsburgh's cultural history...this was one place I would like to check out again.

After this, we rushed to see the Chihuly again at night. The Phipps cafe was vegan friendly which I've yet to see at many Boston museums. I grabbed a Thai tofu wrap and some Thai tomato soup.
We shipped out of Pittsburgh the next morning and made it back to Boston just after a snowstorm started. Luckily for us, our flight wasn't canceled.

Falafel Waffles, Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls, and Muffins

I've been sporadically checking out all the vegan blogs, but pretty lax in commenting. Though I often planned on blogging over the last few months, life got in the way. Thank you to all the folks that emailed or commented while I was away. While dealing with all the holiday hustle and bustle, I was finishing up PT for my knee. Everything seems to be going well. As usual work has been hopping. We've gone through a couple of office expansions and of course I'm responsible for coordinating the network and phone cabling. Things are finally winding down and now I'm trying to catch up on stuff I've been neglecting.

Back to the food...

Though Vegan MOFO is long over, I figure---why not continue with my alphabet tour as promised? The pictures for my next entry have been sitting on my camera for almost 2 months. I certainly feel like one heck of a slacker.

Falafel is the plural of filfil which is an Arabic word that means pepper. Most people know falafel as a Middle Eastern food made from ground up fava beans and/or chickpeas mixed with spices. The most common falafel is fried into small balls and served in a pita with tahini sauce and veggies.

Back in October, I saw this creative falafel waffle recipe on the Don't Lose Your Lunch Blog. Honestly, I couldn't wait to try it. I've got to say, this is good stuff.

What else has been cooking? Well, I ordered the latest copy of the DEOTS (Don't Eat Off the Sidewalk) zine from Katie. One of the most talked about recipes from this edition is the Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls. These are incredibly good.

Tonight I finally got around to making the Orange Poppy Seed Muffins from Vive Le Vegan. These healthy little buggers are made with oat and barley flour and because of applesauce and orange juice, the recipe only calls for 3 tablespoons of oil. I really dig these, though wish they had more orange flavor. Maybe next time I will add some orange extract.

The photo above is the first blog pic with my new digital SLR. I've always wanted one, but the cost was prohibitive for me. Last week, I lucked out and found a beautiful camera on sale for over 50% off. Over the next few months, I'll slowly be learning the ropes.