happened so fast, had me a blast

Summer has ended. Classes have started. And suddenly all that free time I just had (which I somehow couldn't fill with dissertation writing) is coming to an end like all those crappy summer reality shows. Oh, Stan, will you be the next HSM star?

In an effort to make my life easier this first week back to class, I actually prepared food on Sunday that I could eat all week. Looks like that subscription to Real Simple finally paid off. I blended some hummus and cut up veggies to have as a go-to snack for the week, and I also baked a banana coffee cake to get me and the miso through the doldrums of cereal and toast for breakfast. again. The coffee cake was so easy and so yummy, that I decided it was worth pasting below (compliments, as usual, go to the fatfree vegan blog. i've decided to trust all the 'kid friendly' recipes as 'miso friendly').

1 tablespoon flax seeds, ground
4 tablespoons warm water
1/4 cup turbinado sugar (I just used brown sugar)
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/3 cup soy yogurt
1/3 cup vanilla soymilk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/3 cup agave nectar
1 cup white whole wheat flour (or whole wheat pastry flour)
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 bananas

Preheat the oven to 375F and oil a pie pan or an 8-inch square baking dish.

Mix the ground flax seeds with the warm water and set aside to thicken.

Mix the turbinado sugar and cinnamon together in a small bowl. Set aside.

Combine the soy yogurt, soymilk, vanilla, and agave nectar in a bowl. Add the flax mixture.

Combine the flour, baking powder, and salt. Pour the soy yogurt mixture into the flour mixture and stir just until combined. Pour half of the batter into the prepared pan and spread to cover the bottom. Slice the bananas and place the slices over the batter. Sprinkle with half of the cinnamon-sugar. Spread the remaining batter over the bananas. Sprinkle with the remaining cinnamon-sugar. Bake for 25 minutes, or until cake appears set in the middle. Allow to cool for a few minutes before cutting into 6 slices and serving.

check yes

my crush is on the brink of becoming a real relationship. The event coordinator not only emailed me back but sent a proposal AND an hour-by-hour breakdown of the entire event, from the welcome lemonade to the palate cleansing sorbet to the open dancefloor. he likes us, he really likes us.

while my mind was reeling with dollar signs and I started to think of our friends in terms of their 'per person cost value' (hmm..is he really worth three drinks and a slice of cake?), I took frugal comfort in the miso's obsession with typography. I'm not going to leak any prototypes, but the boy has designed a pretty kickass save the date card and the most beautiful website ever. he even managed to avoid the 'kteightyandfastmiso2009.weddingchannel.com' url. I knew he was a keeper.

so this post is really just a shout out to my truly significant other. I am practically giddy with anticipation for the wedding invite he'll design in zapfino. oh the ligatures our names will create!

for those of you out there also interested in taking the DIY approach, check out www.sweetpenelope.com. It's an SF based company that will create and then send a wedding invite template on a disc, which you can then use to print out the invites at home. They can also just print the invites for you, but where's the fun in that?

a lovely soup

It is admittedly a bit too hot in el palo alto right now for soup, but this one was good enough not to notice. I halved the recipe, but I think the full recipe would yield a nice amount for leftovers.

North African Chickpea and Kale Soup
(from fatfreevegan blog)


1 large onion, chopped
2 carrots, sliced or diced
4 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
1 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/8-1/4 teaspoon chilli powder or cayenne
1/4 teaspoon allspice
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
generous pinch saffron, lightly crushed
2 bay leaves
1 3-inch cinnamon stick
3 cups cooked chickpeas (or 2 cans, drained and rinsed)
8 cups vegetable broth (or water plus bouillon)
1 large bunch kale, thick center ribs removed and chopped (at least 8 cups)
about 2 cups water
salt to taste

Spray a large saucepan with olive oil spray and heat it. Add the onion and carrot and cook over medium-high heat until the onion begins to brown (about 5 minutes). Add the garlic and cook for 1 more minute. Add the spices, including bay leaves and cinnamon stick, and cook, stirring, for another minute. Add the chickpeas and stir to coat them with the spices. Pour in the 8 cups of vegetable stock, bring to a boil, and reduce heat to a simmer for 20 minutes.

Add the chopped kale and stir. If necessary add water to cover the kale and cook until it is tender, about 10-25 minutes, depending on how cooked you like your kale. Check frequently to see if it is becoming dry and add water as needed. Add salt to taste and serve.

If only event coordinators worked on commission.

I received a phone call today from a bridal shop out here in the Bay Area. This was the same one I called a couple weeks ago to get a price on the cupcake dress. The same girl I talked to then (who hunted down the best deal for me and called me back within fifteen minutes) called me today to let me know the store was having its big 15% discount this weekend. Oh, Audra, you must have a vacation to Mexico on your agenda in the near future.

The event coordinator of the place where we want to have the whole affair (and spend the majority of our money) is acting like the apathetic teenage boys we all got crushes on in high school. When he writes, he just seems so into the wedding and eager to plan it, but then he takes weeks (yes, weeks) to respond our emails. These are also notably emails which I draft for days and ask the miso to approve of before I send. 'Do I sound too eager? Too pushy? Will he still like us?' I think Seventeen magazine would inform me at this point that 'he's just not that into you' and tell me to move on. But, just like a teenage girl, I am ready to believe in the impossible - that our dream venue will come true and Lukka really is just busy planning other weddings (and slow food coop somethingorother. how dreamy).

While I wait him out I might just start visiting bridal shops and soaking up the attention and strong sales pitches. 'I do look fantastic in this dress! And we could hem the train! I would love to try on the veil!'

Sigh.

in a city of the future, it is difficult to concentrate

I happened upon this little gem on the SUV parked in front of my apartment. I'm officially nauseated by living in Silicon Valley.

free food freefall

One of the main reasons I decided to be vegan again was because I knew I would be healthier as a vegan than a vegetarian. This logic tends to blow some minds, but the past couple weeks have shown that I might just be onto something. I think I can say that in any dining environment, the vegan option (if there is one) will always be more nutritious than the vegetarian option.

Case in point, while back in Atlanta I had brunch at a little bakery that featured one pretty obvious vegan choice: tofu scramble. The vegetarian options, while plentiful, were loaded with cheese or butter: grilled cheese, omelette, grits. Not even a hint of protein in any of them. I'm beginning to find this true of most situations. Faculty meeting vegetarian option: veggie supreme pizza. Vegan option: soy cheese pizza. Soy, even in fake cheese form, still has more nutritional merit than standard cheese. Restaurant by parent's house veggie option: vegetable plate (with lots of butter-soaked vegetables); vegan option: black bean patty burger. Do you see where I'm going here? When a restaurant is forced to make a vegan option, they immediately go for the legumes, which are probably one of the best sources of iron and protein. Vegetarian seems to just mean vegetables and cheese.

This little epiphany came at personal cost to me. While in Atlanta and even when I got back home, I've been a lazy vegan. The new employee training I went to on Monday featured a catered lunch, and even though I had a lovely hummus wrap in my bag, I still ate the veggie option: grilled eggplant with mozzarella on focaccia bread with chips and a cookie. Cost: zip. Nutritional value: zip. And even last night out of respect for a really good restaurant, I had a bean salad with cheese and risotto with cheese. (Oh, Casey Affleck, if I promise to sit through the rest of 'The Assassination of Jesse James' will you forgive me?) But I've been feeling my lazy vegan ways. I've been exhausted all week and had zero energy thanks to the small amount of protein and iron I've been getting.

So I am back on the healthy vegan wagon. We had polenta with black beans and stewed tomatoes for dinner tonight and I'm making it my mission to whip up some hummus tomorrow and generally get back into trying out new vegan recipes.

i guess he does deserve an emmy

I don't know if it's my penchant for musicals or Doogie Howser, but I LOVE Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog. Seriously, go buy it off iTunes. I promise it is worth it. If only for Neil Patrick Harris' shoulder dance halfway through 'Laundry Day'.