summer BBQ parties

Joel won a free bbq from Trader Joe's earlier this summer (and he's showing it off with Emily in this picture). Since Joel doesn't have a backyard, it's been hanging out in mine all summer. I've never really been one for bbq's. I've thought of them as a steak-eating dad's toy, not a couple of vegan twenty-somethings. Turns out I was missing out. Veggies are delicious when bbq'ed. Which brings me to my new favorite food...

PORTOBELLO MUSHROOM BURGERS. OMG. For some reason I always thought portobellos cost something outrageous, like 5 bucks a shroom. Turns out they're cheap, and all you have to do is brush them in olive oil and minced garlic and then put them on a grill for 15 minutes or so.

SO, SO, SO GOOD.

Tofu Omelets!

Joel and I made them twice last weekend, and when I woke up this morning I was craving them again. Did you know that black salt has a sulfuric taste that is reminiscent of egg yolks? I am quite excited about the discovery. This recipe is from Vegan Brunch, but you can find it online here.

breakfast for ladyfest

I've never actually been that into coffee cake, but I decided to make some for the potluck breakfast a group of ladies and I hosted for Ladyfest B'ham last weekend. I've been kind of crazy about Isa Chandra Moskowitz's Vegan Brunch ever since getting it in the mail in May. I've always wanted to say that I've tried every recipe out of a particular cook book...I think it might actually happen with this one.


This coffee cake was SO GOOD. I followed Isa's basic coffee cake recipe, and then added some banana and blueberries to the batter. Bananas kind of do wonders for egg-less baking. The cake was extremely soft. And the breakfast was delightful! As was the rest of Ladyfest B'ham, which I plan to cover in this neglected blog very soon.

letters, matte, and s'mores

This week's highlights:

1. I wrote a letter to Rudy's Pizzeria a few weeks ago asking them why they don't compost. I got a response this Wednesday that read: "That's for the reminder. We will begin immediately." RESULTS! Who ever said that letter writing didn't work?

2. Tried some of my roommate's freshly bottled yerba matte mead, which he calls "hippie sparks". Delicious.

3. Spent a couple of nights surrounded by the ocean, friends, and campfires. I bought three packages of sweet and sara vegan marshmallows for summertime s'more making while I was down in Seattle a few weeks ago. I just finished the second package and summer has hardly started. I might need to make a substantial bulk order soon because they are QUITE a hit.

4. I've been making some important decisions about my future. Healthy decisions! More updates soon.

spring!

A couple of things that I have been loving lately:

1. Reading zines in the backyard on a sunny day.




2. Hang-drying my clothes. All of my dresses smell like grass.

weekend eats

This last Sunday tasted really good.

Highlights include banana chocolate chip pancakes.


And a tempeh reuben.


Let me show you the reuben one more time, just in case the picture above didn't accurately portray how delicious this sandwich was.

The recipe came from Vegan With a Vengeance. It reminded me of something they'd serve at Hillside Quickie.

a basket-weave hat and a patricipatory democracy

This basket-weave hat has spent most of its life post-knitting needles on my head. It's the first hat I've ever made for myself and I'm pretty into it. It took me a couple of weeks to make (it would have taken longer if it weren't for Jill as well as the women at NW Handspun Yarn). It's an easy pattern, but I'm still pretty new to serious knitting. I've known how to kit for about five years, but haven't made much more than drop-knit scarves for Christmas presents. It's too bad that I'm just now getting so excited about knitting, seeing as the sun is just starting to show its face around these parts. Oh well. I guess I can just spend the summer working on gloves and socks.

Or maybe I'll put knitting with yarn on hold for awhile and dive head first into crocheting with plastic bags. (I tried knitting with plastic bags and it stretched the plastic out too much. Crocheting doesn't manipulate the plastic as much, so I'm going with that instead.) I'm really looking forward to finishing my first plastic bag tote! Hopefully I can distribute them and collect donations for this really cool thing my friends and I are doing...What's that, you ask? We're writing a petition to implement a plastic bag fee in Bellingham! It's been really fun and challenging. I think it's going to be really fun once we start collecting signatures...and a whole lot more challenging, but I'm ready for it.