Archives

Today I took out the camera to take a few pictures of some fruit and veggies that I will be sharing later (post-Christmas). Our cat, Pixel, soon caught my eye and I began taking as many pictures (or more) of him as the food.

As you have probably gathered, I'm no photographer. I'm trying, though. Some pictures that wind up on this blog are really pretty decent, and others cause me slight embarrassment. There's no other remedy for me at the moment except for practice, and that includes practicing on an ever-moving target. That means figuring out the right ISO, aperture, and shutter speed (even writing that, I am not sure exactly what it all means...still learning).

Here are some more results of today's distraction.

It's that time of year again - several major holidays in the span of just a few weeks (or days) and each of them with their good share of delectable food. When it is discovered that I am vegan (eschewing* dairy, eggs, fish, and meat), I am often asked what it is that I do eat around the holidays. I grew up in a vegetarian household, and so our family was no less tied to our food traditions than other households. There would usually be our own version of "turkey" - FriChik or some other fake meat. The ever-present mashed potatoes and gravy, green bean casserole, and cranberry sauce. Dessert oftentimes would be a variety of pies - pumpkin, apple, or pecan, or it would be this rich dessert with a condensed milk base called Burnt Pudding (to die for, but not sure I can - or should - find the vegan version).

While I am not always sustainable in my actions, I do attempt being green in many areas of my life. I'm inspired by a few external sources - my community supported agriculture, my farmers, and the farmers markets I attend. Another source of inspiration is Mother Earth News, "the original guide to living wisely." Whenever the magazine shows up in our mail I'm like a kid in the candy store - wanting to devour it whole, but wanting to savor every page and make it last until the next one arrives. So far I have been somewhere in between.

Each issue usually has a few recipes in it about what to do with your home-grown or locally grown crops. I keep swearing to myself that I will try one or two, but up until now I have not done it. The December 2007/January 2008 issue, however, offered up a bread recipe so easy and good looking that I had to try. They call it Easy, No Knead Crusty Bread - I call it Wow-I've-Actually-Made-Bread-That-Looks-Like-It-Came-From-A-Bakery Bread...okay, okay, I'm really calling it Homemade Artisan Bread.

They looked at each other now, husband and wife, with such a depth of feeling that the eight feet separating them shrank to nothing. Then, slowly, with a darkling gleam in her eye, Mrs. Marquis raised her plate above her head...and let it drop. A canvasback bone flopped free, the stewed apples few straight up, and the plate blew into a dozen pieces scattered across the red linen tablecloth.

-The Pale Blue Eye by Louis Bayard

Edgar Allan Poe has always been one of my favorite poets. His poems, while dark and often morbid, have a certain draw to them. I guess I am not much for flowery poems - anyone can write that sort of thing - but Poe's poems are other-worldly and mysterious. So when I saw that there was a novel out there to be consumed that had Poe as one of its main characters, I had to grab it. I'm glad I did. This fiction of crime was written in a style that is more reminiscent of authors who wrote novels decades ago, and it had very unexpected twists. Poe was an interesting fixture; he seemed like one of those guys in high school or college that just doesn't fit in, but goes on to amaze people later in life. He was not the main character, however. That was left to an older, charming man (Gus Landor), who, sadly, probably never existed in real life. This murder mystery was an easy read, and hopefully we'll see Poe and/or Landor again. Good job, Mr. Bayard. I'm sure to read more of your novels.

When my husband and I were vegetarians his favorite dessert was cheesecake. I actually did not like it that much, so when we became vegan it was no big loss to me. Several months ago, however, it was his birthday and I thought I'd try to make a vegan version. I am a big one for following recipes pretty closely, so in the end we did not like it that much, but it set my husband on a crusade to perfect the recipe. We have since discovered, through the trial and error of multiple cheesecakes, that it is best made with chocolate. Chocolate does solve a lot of things in my mind, and it has surpassed the task with this recipe, which my husband made.

About a week or two ago I was surfing on one of my favorite websites, Fatfree Vegan Kitchen, when I saw the Foodie BlogRoll. I am starting to try to build up more traffic and visibility, and thought it would be a great idea to get on the BlogRoll myself. You will now see Novel Eats there (yay!), and you'll see the BlogRoll in the third column on this blog. Take a look at some of the blogs, and if you're keeping up a food blog, I would recommend requesting to be added to the list.

A lot of my favorite vegetables are green, and while I don't eat them often brussels sprouts fall under both categories. Maybe it is because they are bite-sized, or because there is a slight crunch even when cooked, but it's so easy to eat one right after another.

The farm that supplies vegetables to my community supported agriculture (CSA) gave us brussels sprouts the Tuesday before Thanksgiving this year. We received probably a pound of them, so there were not that many. But I was determined to make them, and my CSA was great in supplying an easy recipe for roasting brussels sprouts.

Thanksgiving is over and the leftovers are all gone. One of the things I wish that I had made more of, or at least not eaten so quickly, is the mashed potatoes. I don't remember when I first tried making them with turnips, but ever since I can't imagine mashed potatoes without them. It adds a really interesting flavor that borders on spicy. I feel like there is more to describe about it, but I can't place my finger on it. All in all, it is just really delicious and a must-have at the Thanksgiving meal.

Thanksgiving is usually just the two of us, and of course it is the one day of the year, besides Christmas and birthdays, that I spend hours in the kitchen. I just can't help myself, and our kitchen is so small that I protest my husband cooking at the same time. I prepared all of the following for our afternoon meal (except for the bread which he made, and he was in charge of the dessert - I'll post about that later).

Henry Montgomery wrote to his children from the deck of the Southern Cross. "Remember," he told them, "that your father visited all these islands, and that his heart went out to the dwellers among these lonely scenes, praying ever that they might be brought to know their Father in His son Jesus Christ." He reminded his children that they were special. "You have all been taught that we must be true and pure and upright because we are Christ's disciples; but next after that reason there is no incentive to live nobly which is so powerful as the possession of a great family tradition. You come from a family of 'gentlemen'; you know that word does not signify mere outward refinement: it tells of a refined and noble mind, to which anything dishonourable or mean or impure is abhorrent and unworthy."

-The Shark God by Charles Montgomery

When I choose a book to read it is usually based upon its description on some online store or in little catalogs that I get in the mail, so suffice it to say I did not really know what to expect when I chose The Shark God. I did expect ghosts and a bit of the paranormal, but it wasn't really about those things. It was more about running after the ghosts of the past. It was atheist Charles Montgomery's journey into Melanesia inspired by his missionary grandfather who had traveled there long ago to convert the locals to Christianity. Charles went looking for magic, but he mostly found religions jockeying for position and a steady supply of kava. Kastom, or local custom, was sometimes hard to come by and often the display of it was more for theatrics. He ran into so many varying levels of belief and Christianity that by the end he was frustrated and confused, yet trying to force meaning where none was to be found. To me it felt almost like reading an anthropologist's account of a personal spiritual journey - educational, but not quite what you want to read.