Big post- catching up on the last few days

Thanks everyone for your support! My letter still hasn't been published, unfortunately, but if they do tomorrow that'd be real cool. It would be in the Saturday paper, and I imagine that lots of people would read that! :)



In other news....

-I tried fresh figs the other day! AMAZING! I was actually feeling kinda bummed out a few hours earlier, having only had dried ones, but then we went over to my cousins' house after supper. And guess what? They had picked up some Calimynra figs from the Italian Centre! I'll need to go there ASAP.

Fresh figs have a very different flavour from dried ones... It's a lot mellower and less intensly sweet. I had four. :)


-Also, we went to the Shogun Japanese Restaurant last night, because my brother was on the Alberta North soccer team and it wwas a year-end-party sort of thing. I'd nevvvvver been there before, so I was kinda worried. Would I go home starving or would there be vegan options a-plenty?

In a nutshell, watching them cook dead cow, chickens, and shrimp right in front of me was NOT at all enjoyable, but the servers were verrrry understanding. I ended up having a dressing-less salad, some fried silken tofu in a thinned teriyaki sauce, a bowl of white rice, and a biiiig plate of stir-fried zucchini, mushrooms, onions, and bean sprouts. I didn't eat much rice or fried tofu, but the stir-fry was yummy!

We stopped at Planet Organic on the way home and I picked up some whole wheat pastry flour, garbanzo bean/chickpea flour, and wheat gluten. :) I'm planning to do some baking, make some chickpea pancakes, and seitan is on the menu as well!


-The other day, when my sisters and I were out for a walk, there was an adorable caterpillar sitting on the sidewalk. We didn't want him to end up squished, so gently coaxed the little guy onto a stick to take home with us.

My awesome littlest sister made the cutest little home for him, complete with a bed and a branch for when he needs to make his cocoon. No walls or cage, though- this is a FREE-RANGE caterpillar!

We decided to name him Miwiki. After some research, it had been discovered that Miwiki is a Spotted Tussock Moth caterpillar. :)



Recipe Review: Cornmeal pancakes from Comfort Food Vegan

Two big thumbs up! My sisters, my mom, and I alll loved these. Easy recipe (I measured and mixed the dry ingredients the night before), yummy results. They tasted kinda like tortillas from the cornmeal, so I ate them as 'tacos' with a blueberry-cinnamon-blackstrap molasses- ground flaxseed filling. Delicious! I might add some raspberries to the batter next time. What a treat that would be!



Recipe Review: Lisa's Chocolate Cake from VegWeb

This is one of those 'wacky cakes' that use vinegar and baking soda as a leavener/egg replacer. The recipe was simple, easy to follow, and turned out great, of course. I use 3/4 cup of cocoa instead of 1/3 cup! :) I knew that that would be the way my mom would like it.
I decided to go with a chocolate-orange theme and drizzled each slice with an orange syrup (sugar plus orange extract plus soymilk) and some grated orange chocolate. Rave reviews, of course.



We had tofu nuggets for dinner tonight, and they were SO GOOD. I used some oats in the 'breadcrumbs' and used a lot more of the spices. I sliced them real thin to make them extra-crunchy. I should so use my mandolin slicer next time!

(and no, that's not the mandolin I have... Mine's a cheap Starfrit one, not an awesome 170$ one. hah.)



This isn't really a recipe review, since I didn't really follow the recipe, but I made the Spicy Kohlrabi and Tomato Stew from Madhur Jaffrey's World Vegetarian today as a stuffing for my lunch pita. I only had one kohlrabi, so I added a bell pepper too. Also, I didn't add any liquid, so the result was more of a stir-fry than anything else. I CAN say, though, that it was yummy!


Whew, I think that's all for now. I've been trying to do as much fun cooking and baking as I can now, since school starts on Tuesday. Wahh! I don't want to start high school. :(