just the smell of the summer

So I'm still doing that whole crazy vegan thing. Cooking included. A couple nights ago I discovered the secret to making gelatinous Chinese sauces for veggies: cornstarch. Who knew? I mean, other than American Chinese restaurants.

Here's my new favorite summer recipe, which is way easier than gelatinous sauces (from veganyumyum.com):

Tomato Basil Sandwiches

Makes 1 Sammich

2-3 Roma Tomatoes, sliced lengthwise 1/4″ thick
1 Generous Pinch Salt
1 Tbs Olive Oil
1-2 Pinches Dried Italian Herbs
1 Splash Balsamic Vinegar
2 Slices Sourdough
Tofutti Cream Cheese
4-5 Basil Leaves
Black Pepper

Heat a skillet over medium heat with oil and herbs. Once hot, add tomatoes in one layer. Give the pan a little shake and flip the tomatoes about. Add salt. Once they are beginning to soften, but not falling apart, add a splash of balsamic vinegar while shaking the pan. Turn off heat. This process should only take a few minutes.

Spread your bread with tofutti, add chopped basil and pepper. Place tomatoes on top of that. Grill sandwich with a weight on top. If you’re not grilling, simply toast the bread first, then add tofutti and tomatoes.

I ain't got nobody

While standing in line for Wall-e last night with all the other silicon valley types checking tweets on their iPhone, we started to draft the wedding invite list. At first it was fun. And then it got scary. And then it got sad. Simply put, fastmiso has way more friends than I do. I tried to blame it on the fact that he has a four-year head start on me, but the simple truth is that he is a good person with a good heart and is, therefore, a good friend. Who actually stays in touch with everyone he has ever known. Ever.

And then there's the family side of the list. While both my parents come from big families, neither of them so much care for their siblings. We never really spent summers in a beach house filled with cousins and aunts and uncles, so my family list is pretty small; immediate family and maybe an aunt or two. The miso, on the other hand, has a big extended family and they all must be invited. While I'm definitely excited about the possibility of traditional Greek dancing and saying 'opa!' with all his relatives, I'm also kinda bummed that the bride side of the aisle is going to be so small. And Irish. And probably drunk or miffed that it's not a Catholic ceremony.

I think I may need to start secretly contacting all of fastmiso's friends to try to become better friends with them behind his back, and then I can convince them to sit on the bride's side. Or maybe I can just hire extras. I wonder if Martha Stewart covers this...

i love the 90's

I saw someone today wearing this T-shirt.



I can't decide if the Levi's campaign is old enough to warrant kitsch appeal to the shirt or not. I guess it depends on whether he recently purchased the shirt or still wears it from 1992.

for your eyes only

One of the oddities of grad school is that when something good happens, you can't tell anyone. Who knows who else applied for a conference, scholarship, or even just a better room to teach in? So I turn to you, internets, to gloat.


See this place? It's an island in Venice. And I get to spend two weeks here in the fall. And then I get to go back for another week a year later. And the miso gets to go, too. Cuz we're smart.

Now don't go telling any other Classicist. All both of them.

toddlers should be a piece of cake

Yesterday morning as I was preparing to get out the door to be on time for the first class of the course I'm teaching this summer, one of the cats threw up all over the rug. And then the other cat proceeded to eat it. So there I am, in my fancy teacher clothes, down on my hands and knees cleaning up the puke, while simultaneously keeping the other cat away from it (because why eat the fresh, undigested food in your bowl when you have already digested food there on the rug? someone else has already done the work!). And then I go into the bathroom to finish drying my hair until I'm suddenly shooed out by my dear fiance, who now thinks he needs to throw up.

And off I go to conquer the world.

thai me up

Last night I made Thai food. From scratch. I feel like a superhero. The process was, of course, ridiculous, and I wasn't even hungry by the time we sat down to eat because I ate an entire baguette to stave off my hunger while cooking for two hours. But I made peanut sauce, and I baked tofu that had been dipped in glaze (glazed in a dip?). I bought coconut milk and actually used it, along with coconut extract, and coconut oil. My entire kitchen is covered in pureed corn (when your food processor says its capacity is 3 cups, believe it), and I'm pretty sure at least one of my cats ate half a lemongrass stalk. But I MADE THAI FOOD.

And I will never make it again.

PETA meets OPRAH

For those of you not in the Oprah loop, she went on a 'cleanse'. The amazingly difficult restraints of the cleanse? Being a straightedge vegan. No animal products, no caffeine, no alcohol (and no gluten). Please, Oprah, wasn't that, like, so 1995? Want to go to an Avail concert after you down that seitan patty? Maybe engage in some dumpster diving after the show?

Here's part of her blog about the cleanse:

"Well, I feel like I got baptized in Vegan Land today. Kathy Freston sent her chef, Tal Ronnen, to help me and three friends at Harpo who are doing the 21-day cleanse.

Wow, wow, wow! I never imagined meatless meals could be so satisfying. I had been focused on what I had to give up—sugar, gluten, alcohol, meat, chicken, fish, eggs, cheese. "What's left?" I thought. Apparently a lot. I can honestly say every meal was a surprise and a delight, beginning with breakfast—strawberry rhubarb wheat-free crepes. — Oprah "


And now dooce is going to do the 'cleanse'. Pretty soon well-intentioned would-be vegan bloggers like myself are going to be out of a job.