indoor garden update

Well, it’s been about two months since I set up my indoor shelf garden. It’s been strikes and gutters, but overall I’m pleased. Check out the “before” photos here and you’ll see a lot has changed.

I changed the lighting a bit for a less bulky but more effective setup. The scallions didn’t make it and the cilantro is almost dead (my friend’s cilantro didn’t make it either), but we’ve got some rather productive food babies here too.

Let me strss that unless you’re getting free seeds or cuttings and you’ve got wire shelving on hand, this is not going to earn its keep, food-dollar-wise. This is a learning process, a hobby. One day I hope to see these plants among many others in a permanent outdoor garden. Right now they’re like a female firstborn to a royal family, of some use but not enough.

 

Check out the pepper—it’s a pepper! It’s the only one so far, but it’s still pretty exciting. We get to eat that! It should still turn red, given its name, long red cayenne.

And here’s the first tomato. I don’t think it’ll get much bigger so it should start reddening up anytime now. I’ve got a few finished blossoms just a couple of weeks behind this one, so before too long I should see the next generation of little green tomatolings.

The basil was slow-going for a long while, but I think it’s sort of turned a corner. It had been growing too tall and skinny to support its own weight, so I just poked it down deeper into the dirt, then it started to fatten up and grow a bunch of leaves. I’m really happy with how this is doing.

The rest of this is doin’ fine. The catnip hasn’t flowered, but Mädchen digs the leaves anyway. The rosemary’s doin’ its rosemary thing. And the avocado trees should make some avocados in a decade or three. I’m still just amazed that I got the pit trick to finally work—twice!

I think I’ll eventually try an already-growing cilantro plant and maybe a berry of sorts. We won’t be looking at houses for at least a year and a half, so my little shelf has some more work to do. But I seriously daydream about planting a backyard garden (and having my own washing machine and being able to paint murals on our walls).

blendy coffee drink

Sorry for the recycled photo—I promise I won’t let it happen again. I finally remembered to pay attention to quantities while whipping up my blendy coffee drink…then I forgot to photograph it. So here it is; it’s at least a starting point for you. If you want it sweeter, add more sugar (or agave or what you will). If it’s too everything for you, add more milk or ice.

·2 c vanilla soymilk (I use Trader Joe’s)
·12 ice cubes (1 tray)
·2 t unsweetened cocoa powder
·3 t sugar
·2½ T espresso powder

Blend and blend and blend. I have a 12-year-old regular blender, not some fancy-pants VitaMix, and it works just fine. Remember to stir it if you’re using a tall glass like this; the top tends to be the frothier, frozen bit, and if you’re not careful you can get a face full of blendy coffee drink. (Don’t pretend it’s never happened to you.)

mecha sad michele

This is Mecha Sad Bear (from Luke Chueh—check him out if you don’t know him), one of the presents Tom bought me even though I said I don’t deserve any presents because I’m a good-fer-nothin’, piece-o-crap, unemployed, 35-year-old hausfrau. He also got me a gigantic nutrition book. The plain truth is, though, I suck at birthdays. I think I always have—the song always sent me running and I’ve never been able to open presents in front of people. They’re just not the super happy fun time I think they’re supposed to be. And aging…well, I’ve yet to find a positive there. Oh, you mean it’s going to take an additional 20 sit-ups a night just to maintain my untoned body? Awesome!

I figured this year I was mature enough to try something (the veg version of it) I’ve not had since before I was 10 years old: breakfast sausage. This is Gimme Lean, the kind in the tube, alongside wheatberry sourdough toast. I couldn’t eat the sausage on its own so I made a little sandwich. I’ll pepper it up next time. That’s right, next time. I could do this again. I wanted to try it because I see it on menus and I want to be able to order it. And this one is fat-free and packin’ a bunch of protein.

After a little birthday trip to New Seasons, we made ourselves some everything bagels with everything Tofutti cream cheese. I thought the bagels were a little white-bready, not chewy enough, but they served to carry all the seeds and scallions and things.

Dinner was a tiny one. It got pretty hot today so we weren’t crazy hungry. I made these Rising Moon Organics garlic & roasted veggies ravioli (tough to find this kind, even in stores that sell other varieties) and topped them with a simple olive oil/garlic/shallot/red pepper/parsley/panko sauce-for-the-lack-of-a-better-name. This would otherwise have to be accompanied by something to meal it up, even just a big salad.

And what would a birthday be without cupcakes? I made VCTOTW chocolate cupcakes and some buttercream frosting. I tried to make a few uncomfortably awkward colors and swirl them together for the ugliest cupcake contest, but it ended up looking kinda neat. I did play around with tips and bags to make pretty flowers and things, to see if frosting sculpture was my hidden talent. It isn’t. Whatever, it tastes the same. These cupcakes are really amazing—maybe the best cupcake I’ve ever had, light and fluffy and moist. I took one bite and said (out loud, going against my reserved nature) “Hell, yes.” After we go through this batch (and following my cookies from last weekend) I’ll want to steer clear of sweets for a while, but Tom’s birthday is in a month, so we’ll see what happens then. He’s eyeing the margarita cupcakes.

Oh yeah, it’s Mädchen’s birthday too. Not really, but because she was feral and they figure her birthday is early July we just gave her mine. She’s 12 and didn’t really want to wear this little hat I made for her because she’s a spoiled, bratty pre-teen. And a cat. And a nudist.

what’s this? progress?

There actually is some good news out there! Vermont has just become the tenth state to allow K-12 students to opt out of classroom dissection. 

The state I grew up in passed a dissection alternatives act in 2000…nine years after I was done with school. So, like most of us, I have dissected several animals: the worm, the frog, the cat—the cat was especially tough because I was 17 and already realized there was something to life other than my studies. I knew it was coming, as I was in the honors science program, so in therapy as a 14-year-old, I’d already started preparing myself for it. I was therapied into thinking of the animal to be dissected as a piece of paper. I guess I put on the soldier goggles, whatever it is that allows a human to shoot another human because he’s not wearing the right uniform.

The worst classroom project, though—worse than the dissection—was the insect collection in my junior-year ecology class. We learned absolutely nothing through this project. There are tons of insect collections already out there. The only thing we did was go out into our surroundings, armed with kill jars (glass jar with potassium cyanide), and trap insects, which we would then poke pins through and get graded on. What was the reasoning behind this douchebaggery? I did try to talk my way out of this one, but faced with the possibility of getting something other than an A, which would derail my lifeplan, I gave in. Like a little Hitler Youth.

Maybe if my parents were lawyers or I’d been able to not strive for that A, things would have been different. I know I’d read about other kids fighting their schools over dissection, and I have to think it’s at least partially due to those kids (or their parents) that states are now coming around to alternatives.

Another downer post (that started out with good news, mind you) means another funny video clip. This one features two of my favorite Mr. Show characters and Mary Lynn doing some fabulous tongwork.

But first, David Cross in what may be the hottest anti-fur ad ever. (It really sucks you can’t express sarcasm in print…we need a new italics or some other type treatment that means sarcasm.) Steve-O did a pretty funny one too, and he taped some video for PETA in which he talks about his experience with a certain circus. Some of the Jackass stuff is pretty unsettling, so I don’t know if he felt he needed to right some wrongs. He’s said a bunch of dumb crap and has admitted to a overwhelming drug (including alcohol) problem, but here’s a (sorta) moment of clarity for ya. 

 

beater-lickin’ good

What did I have for lunch today? A leftover chickpea cutlet and way too much frosting. No, not together. I made a batch of fluffy buttercream frosting from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World and there were these beaters with frosting on them. And a spatula too. What was I going to do, wash the frosting off? I wouldn’t feel so bad, but because this was my first batch, there was a lot of taste-testing going on throughout the frosting-making process.

I don’t have any photos yet—I’ll be making cupcakes for my birthday this weekend, so I wanted to get started making little flowers and bugs and things with the frosting. I’ve never done this before so I need experimentation time. I found an index of basic techniques on Wilton’s site. Most have photos and step-by-step instructions, including which tips you need. Check it out—there’s kind of a creepy-looking pig on there…not really what I’d be going for if I wanted a pig on my cake.

Some other good sites for inspiration are the VCTOTW blog and the vegan cupcakes flickr pool. And then there’s always Martha.

I don’t think I’m going to fight the urge to make each cupcake wildly different. I know it’ll mean a lot of work, but it should be fun work, like cleaning beaters with your tongue. And who knows, I can’t draw or paint, but maybe frosting sculpture is my thing. My hidden talent.

By the way, Portland people, I just picked up Earth Balance at Whole Foods for $2.69.

the basics: soymilk & friends

Since I started this blog, a few friends have come out as veg-curious. Cookbooks are great for ideas, as are blogs (check out the links to your right), but before walking down that path you seem to find yourself walking down, you want the basics. The stuff-I’ll-eat-this-week basics. And dairy is one of the basics. The cheese thing is every man’s (or lady’s) personal battle, and there are obvious alternatives for butter (Earth Balance) and sour cream (Tofutti), but milk and cream are tough. So many subtle differences. And as this subject isn’t very photoworthy, I’ll be featuring magicians of the ’70s throughout.

When I was about 14 and couldn’t take the 2% milk the rest of my family drank, I tried ricemilk. And I hated it. It was gritty and weird. I hated it more than the 2% milk I couldn’t take anymore. So I drank skim milk. It was still dairy and I had no idea that by drinking milk I was killing little boy cows and asking girl cows to suffer. I was just going by taste, and it would be another 15 years or so before I tried another nondairy milk.

The Amazing Randi

The first soy liquid I tried, maybe three or four years ago, was Silk vanilla creamer. We’d been using vanilla Coffeemate, and while there’s next to no dairy in it, there’s a ton of other stuff. I gave the Silk a try, and honestly, the first few cups were weird. But then it was normal. It didn’t have “that soy taste” to me anymore. And now I love it. I love it so much I wish it came in much larger containers, because even recycling, all these little cartons makes me feel wasteful.

Because of the creamer success, I picked up Silk soymilk and gave that a shot. There was no way I could down a glass of it—not that I’ve ever been a big glass-o-milk fan—but I could pour it on cereal and use it in recipes, no problem.

Uri Geller

I can now drink a glass of soymilk. I still don’t love it, but I can do it. I even have brand preference. Trader Joe’s low-fat vanilla soymilk (blue label) has a smooth and subtle taste. Whole Foods 365 Organic vanilla is what I buy when TJ’s is out or when I’m in a pinch. I think the flavor is too over the top, too artificial-tasting, so it’s strictly a cereal or smoothie milk. Their fat and protein contents are shoulder and shoulder and they’re both fortified with calcium and vitamins A and D, so I’m going for taste. They’re both a heck of a lot cheaper than Silk, which I’ll only buy if I’m at the big grocery store and am feeling lazy. For baking I use TJ’s organic unsweetened soymilk, which comes in the big shelf-stable juicebox, so I buy a few at a time and stick ‘em in the cabinet. I think it tastes pretty gross, but it works in bread and pancakes just fine.

As for the other milks, I find most of them gritty. I’ll use ricemilk in my coffee if I’m out and that’s what they’ve got, but that’s about it. I still haven’t gotten over my dislike for it. Hempmilk is pretty damn yummy on its own, but it’s super expensive. And nutmilks are not allowed in the home on account of the guy who’s deathly allergic to them.

Doug Henning

Just over a year ago, I tried potatomilk. At the time I remember feeling duped because it wasn’t vegan…but in searching for it online I found DariFree, which does claim to be vegan. So there it is. It’s powdered and, from what I remember, pretty light-tasting. It is enriched and contains as much calcium as dairy milk. So I guess I’ll keep an eye out for it and give it another try.

if you happen to be in portland

I found it! At Zupan’s Market, the fancy-pants grocery store, which doesn’t smell at all like mold or urine, I found the instant espresso powder I use in my blendy coffee drink. It was only $3.69—the jar looks tiny, but it goes a long way. I got it at the Uptown one, at fancy-pants W Burnside at 23rd, but I know there’s a Zupan’s on SE Belmont, over by Laughing Planet and Paradox.

And this has nothing to do with vegan anything; I’m just trying to help a brother out, as the kids say. If you were ever 16 and in love in the late 80s/early 90s, it may be of interest to you that The Jesus and Mary Chain are playing the Wonder Ballroom on July 17. At $32 before service charges (fewer charges at the box office), it could be considered pretty steep for a rock ‘n’ roll show at a place that looks like you could hold the Boy Scouts Pinewood Derby in it, but it’s cheaper than time travel (unless you go the Somewhere in Time route, then all you’d need your old clothes from storage and a tape recorder).

american cookin’

So there’s no red, white, and blue jello mold. No hot dogs on the grill or potato salad. But after cooking today, I did look at it and think, “That’s so American…sort of.”

Dinner doesn’t get much more square than this. That is clearly a meat, starch, and a veg. The meat is my first crack at the Veganomicon chickpea cutlet. You can so believe the hype on this one—when I read about something on every vegan blog, the rebel in me figures it can’t be that good and I’m not getting roped into this one, but this recipe is most likely a new standby. It’s much like a fake chicken; I can see it in a sandwich, in a “chicken parm” situation, and I’m thinkin’ it might even be good cold. (I have one left over so I’ll find out tomorrow.)

The starch is cracked wheat bulgur, cooked with vegetable broth. I’ve never made this before, so I followed the soaking directions for fluffier results, adding boiling broth to the bulgur then letting it set an hour before simmering. I don’t know how it would have turned out otherwise, but I liked what I had.

And the veg is a French green bean (freedom bean?) steamed then sauteed with garlic and red pepper flakes. That’s some peppy beans.

What’s more American than chocolate chip cookies? These are from VWAV, but with some cinnamon, coconut, and replacer for one egg. I don’t know what I do but just following the recipe gives me a really dry cookie. Adding the egg replacer just works for me. What I forgot this time is that I usually halve the recipe. So now I’ve got four dozen—well, three and a half now—cookies.

Now I just have to sit and wait for the fireworks. And to my family in Chicago, maybe next year. (I know I say that every year, but I mean it. And you guys don’t even blow stuff up the way you used to. We’ve all gotten old.)

…and spices too

If you haven’t seen Dead Man, then go watch it now. There’s a scene where Iggy Pop’s character is being defensive about his beans and the way he says “and spices too” makes me laugh every time.

The point of all this is my trip to Penzey’s. Before we moved here, I made sure we had access to one—otherwise I would have had a lot more stocking up to do in L.A. (Torrence, actually). Spices and herbs, that’s what they do. Big bulk bags of paprika (Hungarian or California, you decide) and stock bottles of vanilla extract, cinnamon that tastes like cinnamon and celery salt that tastes like celery salt. They have small bottles too, if you need a bottle, and everything’s very reasonably priced. It’s not cheap; the garlic powder I bought was $5.59 for a half pound…but you can pay that for a 2-ounce bottle of the grocery store variety. So wait, that does sound kinda cheap.

It’s a bit of a trek from Portland, considering the amount I usually drive (I’ve filled my tank once since moving here four months ago); it’s all the way out in Chainstoria, separated from Portland by such gems as Area 69, which apparently has some really great DVD specials, and Passionate Dreams, where you can get a private show. Who knew? It sort of felt good to get in the car and go, Six by Seven on the stereo, warm enough weather to drive with the windows down but not so hot to give you sweatback. A mild summer drive to the spice store. Yeah, sometimes it pays to be unemployed.

tryin’ to heat the whole neighborhood

So it still got pretty hot yesterday…and yes, I turned on the oven. I don’t think I broke any laws because we didn’t have an oven fighting an air conditioner. (We might have central air here, but I’m not sure—the building has A/C and we do have vents and a thermostat, but we’ve never tried it.) It didn’t heat up the apartment that much and, well, I wanted pizza.

I made a base out of Earth Balance, olive oil, dried herbs, garlic and onion powders, and nutritional yeast. Then the vegetables are artichoke hearts, garlic, green peppers, olives, onion, scallions, spinach, and sun-dried tomatoes.

We were thinking about the blackout in New York, trying to remember what we ate. I’m sure we were trying to clean out the freezer and fridge before everything went bad. But we didn’t want to use the oven and couldn’t use the toaster oven. I just don’t remember what we did. Whatever it was, we’d be screwed here because everything’s electric, even the stove. It’d be PB&J and room-temp salads, I guess. Fingers crossed for no blackout.

Oh yeah, I forgot to wish my mom’s new kittens good luck and get well. She adopted two sisters through the Humane Society via Petsmart and, as adopted kittens usually are, they were sick, sick, sick. The mostly black one had it easier with worms and some other intestinal bug, but the mostly white one got hit with distemper, so this 2-pounder had to go through some pretty intense IV therapy and a very miserable week of 50-90% fatality. But here they are, on their way to recovery—with some very creepy glowy-green eyes. The extra sucky part is that it took the Humane Society three days to check their messages—my mom was trying to warn them they had a very deadly, very contagious disease floating around (whether they had their shots or not). When they finally called her back, they said a couple other little ones were ill. So these two are pretty lucky. My mom said they’re even playing together, always a good sign.