a haircut and cute little meatloaves

Some girls are into make-up and hairstyling and other sorts of beauty routines.  I'm not really one of those girls.  Now, don't get me wrong, I love a killer sparkly eyeliner.  But make me actually have to style my hair and I'm done.  I went to get my hair cut this week for the first time since our wedding.  Yes, four months +.  Needless to say, my hair was long.  And annoying.  As in, hair-in-a-ponytail/bun-everyday annoying.  So my hairstylist chopped it.  I asked for shoulder length.  It ended up more chin length (my hair is getting a little curlier every year since I hit 30).  And I really don't care.  Less shampoo to use, I figure.

I make up for my non-girly tendencies in the beauty routine category by being super-girly in other categories.  Number of decorative throw pillows?  Check.  Cute shoes and scarves?  Check.  Pretty dresses?  You bet.

And I like putting on a frilly apron and baking up a meatloaf.  Meatloaf made of oatmeal (yet another thing in our pantry that we have way too much of) instead of meat.  Baked in muffin tins for cute little meatloaves.  Yes, sometimes food does = love.  I find baking meatloaf for the hubby a romantic enough gesture that it'll be what a serve him on Valentine's Day for dinner when he gets home late.  Maybe with a BBQ sauce heart on top.

eating: january

Being January, and the start of a new year, I had high expectations for what I could accomplish this month.  Days off turned into lounging in bed days with some laundry and soup-making thrown in for good measure.  I don't love eating soup, but during these chilly winter days I do love making soup.  Plus, there is the bonus of having days of workday lunches ready to go in the freezer.

A big cauliflower bunch in the organic section at Wegman's was calling my name.  Add in some white Hayman sweet potatoes from the farmer's market for the warm and spicy Sweet Potato Cauliflower Soup from Manifest Vegan.  Hayman sweet potatoes are white in color, so the resulting soup was not light orange but instead was warm beige.  Maybe not the most photogenic, but quite tasty!

We've been struggling to stay in our grocery/dining out budget over the holidays and I am determined to make it work in January.  We have less than $100 left for the month, so I've warned the hubby that we'll be doing a "purge the pantry" set of recipes in the coming weeks.  Hush puppy mix.  Large jar of pear halves.  Oatmeal.

Challenge accepted.

a new year

Happy New Year!  It is hard to believe that 2012 has come to an end and that December is now a not-so-distant memory.  I'd been making plans to put together a long post on our September wedding (complete with professional photographer photos), but that will have to wait.  I mostly want to do that post for myself, so that the lovely details don't get lost to the passage of time as they are apt to do...

The past month had some wonderful moments and some sadness mixed in.  We decorated the house for Christmas, sent our our first family photo holiday card (which used our wedding photos), shopped for gifts, and enjoyed a date night to see Skyfall.  We saw friends and family for the holidays, which is always lovely.  We also mourned the unexpected passing of the hubby's stepfather on December 8.  Mid-December was a blur for us both, but especially for the hubby, and I know our marriage had its first real test during that time.  Somehow, we've come out the other side and here it is January 2013.

Throughout the month I worked on new recipes from various vegan cookbooks and blogs.  My favorites included:
~ Chickpea cutlets from Veganomicon (p. 133) - these are super-easy to make (chickpeas, bread crumbs, vital wheat gluten, spices) and give you a meaty main.  We baked them (instead of pan-frying) and topped them with Heinz chili sauce.  Next time with gravy (like a vegan version of chicken-fried steak).
~ Quinoa-Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms
~ Sweet Potato Surprise with Kale - oh. my. goodness.  This was delish.  But I'm a mac & cheese fiend, so I may be a bit prejudiced.

Both the hubby and I had New Year's Day off and we spent it just as we wanted:  reading and lounging together.  Oh, and eating black eyed peas and greens [Hottie Black Eyed Peas, to be exact].  Here's to a lucky and happy and healthy new year!

november

You know how the days fly by and then you look back and think, huh, nothing exciting really happened, but man that was fast?  This is how I've been feeling the entire month of November so far.  For instance, I am finding it very hard to believe we are pretty much halfway through the month already.  Where did the days go?  The weather is cold and rainy today.  We have the big duvet on the bed now, and the cats are now attached to it like glue.  And normally are so "helpful" when we are making the bed in the morning or trying to turn down the covers at night.

We had our first Halloween together in our little house and I had major high hopes for trick-or-treaters (given that I ran out of candy last year).  Such high hopes that I bought three jumbo bags of candy at Target.  And we had maybe one dozen kids all night.  And all night the mister paced outside to the front stoop to look up and down the street for kids to flag down.  It didn't help that the large majority of houses on our block were boycotting the holiday (even the lady who already has her Christmas decorations up seemed to have no interest in celebrating).  So now we have chocolate and Sour Patch "Zombie" Kids to last us through the winter.

This past weekend we had the mister's mother over for dinner.  He made stuffed mushrooms and fancy drinks for cocktail hour and I made successes from the past for dinner - Chesapeake Tempeh Cakes and Kale & Potato Gratin.  Yes, we fed a meat-eater tempeh and she actually ate it and seemed to like it!

Other things on the menu these past couple of weeks:
~ Breakfast for Dinner with Blueberry Oatmeal Waffles and apple-sage Field Roast sausage 
~ Spaghetti and Beanballs (from Veganomicon p. 189)
~ Butternut Squash and Apple Soup (from Ina; I use about half the curry) with crusty bread and salad

And now we are gearing up for Thanksgiving.  Spending the day with the mister's family in Richmond, Virginia.  A football game and oyster roast followed by traditional dinner.  Should be fun to have our first Thanksgiving as a new family.  Especially considering that last year I was in Texas for my grandmother's funeral, this year should be full of lovely new traditions.

a snoring cat and married life

For the first time since we got married one month ago, the mister and I actually had a weekend together where neither one of us had to work.  A lazy Saturday morning in bed for me with a snoring cat (ahem, Gracie) and some back issues of People magazine.  Followed by a breakfast I didn't have to make.  Glorious.

Now I am hunkered down for the Frankenstorm with two consecutive days off work and the mister is at work safe and sound (working for a hospital means no days off for silly severe weather).  Tofu slices baking in the oven for sandwiches in case we loose power.  Catching up on some laundry.  And a pile of thank you notes from the wedding that need to be written.

Over the past few weeks I've been trying to settle into married life.  Well, it's not really the married part that has been a challenge, it's more the co-habitating part - the part where we have twice as much laundry and dishes and the bathroom just won't stay clean.  I feel like I'm always doing laundry and know that when we have kids it'll get even crazier.  For the meal planning, I've started using our shared Google calendar, which is helping a lot.  We now have a sub-calendar called "What's for dinner" where I list web links or cookbook references for new recipes based on our seasonal produce and staples.  He can move things around or add in ideas.  Plus, I can set certain meals to repeat every third week or so, which makes it nice when I can't (or am too lazy to) think of new things to make.

Some of the highlights over the past couple of weeks:
~ Colcannon made with potatoes, kale, and sauteed veggie chorizo (perfect comfort food)
~ Chesapeake tempeh cakes (I baked them instead of frying and oh my goodness these were good!)
~ Maple sweet potato pecan burgers topped with cashew "sour cream" (cream recipe from Vegan Table)
~ Chickpea & rosemary baked fritatta (so simple)

All I have to say is thank heaven for Pinterest for gathering meal ideas.  Now if Pinterest only had some magical perpetual bathroom-cleaning solution, I'd be all set!

crowder peas and time to myself

For the first time in quite some time I have a weekend mostly to myself to do with as I see fit.  The beau works both Saturday and Sunday this weekend, so we'll have breakfast and dinner together, but otherwise I'm on my own.  And aside from running errands and cleaning the house, I have absolutely nothing planned.  This morning I ventured out in the heat to the farmers' market and stocked up on farm eggs, crowder peas, green beans, and some tomatoes (that I've set on the windowsill to ripen a bit more).  This past week we had a meal of crowder peas on cornbread that was very tasty.  So I truly stocked up this week around and we may have enough to freeze for later in the year.

Note to self: plant crowder peas next year.

We both took off and spent much of yesterday doing wedding stuff:  going over shot lists and venues with the photographer, doing a walk-through with the caterer and site coordinator, and buying 14 tabletop frames at Ikea for the food descriptions, favors, guestbook, etc. at the wedding reception.  The frames seem to be a favorite with many for weddings (I've seen them all over Pinterest), but at $0.99 a pop they are a trend worth embracing.

Ikea can be a bit dangerous, but we limited our purchases to just the frames and a new pendant lamp for over the dining table.  Now that night-dining is the norm, we discovered we needed just a tad more light.  The new lamp had to be something we could easily install at a rental (i.e. not hard-wired) and wouldn't overwhelm our little table.  I would have normally gone for a black or a white option, but the beau pointed out the aluminum version of this lamp, so we'll see how it goes.

Now, I have whole wheat bread baking in the bread machine and then I'll head out and run some errands.  Might fit in a little reading this afternoon.  From an actual book.  I'm kind of excited.

so far, so good

Table set for breakfast with my parents:  over easy eggs on toast with mimosas & coffee

Over the years I've used this blog for a variety of purposes, from documenting trips and family events to documenting what I picked up at the farmers' market.  As I begin this new phase of my life (that of a "newlywed" in less than one month), I don't know what I'll be moving on to, but in the meantime meal planning is at the forefront of my mind.  I "pin" things to Pinterest for our quick weekday mealtimes, but feel the need to wax poetic a bit right here about the good, bad, and ugly of our weekly menus.

Last week, we had a lentil walnut loaf that knocked my socks off.  And a kale potato gratin that I made all pretty-like in my new tart pan (shower gift from my friend Abby).  On Wednesday night, the peach and tomato pasta we found interesting and it may make one more appearance before summer is over.  Tuesday and Friday turned into quick beans/rice/veg and leftover nights respectively; Saturday and Sunday we had my parents in town so we ate dinners out (although hosted breakfasts in).  So while we didn't follow the plan to the letter, we used what we had and had some pretty nice meals together.

The beau went shopping at the farmers' market on Saturday and purchased the following fresh produce that we'll need to incorporate in this week's meals:  crowder cowpeas (southern peas); kale; parsnips; fresh lettuce mix; one dozen farm eggs.

This week's menu (the beau is working the weekend this week):
Monday:  Tofu, Broccoli, and Cauliflower Masala over Noodles [holdover from last week; just meh]
Tuesday:  Artichoke and Olive Pizza [making the dough in the bread machine; will make enough crust for tonight and to freeze]
Wednesday:  Crowder Peas with Bacon Salt over Cornbread with Chopped Tomatoes [going for a "Southern" night]
Thursday:  Parsnip & Quinoa Burger over Lettuce mix with Citrus-Cumin Dressing
Friday:  Out
Saturday:  Mexican Night - Black Bean & Kale Quesadilla
Sunday:  Breakfast for Dinner - Frittata with leftover Veggies and Potatoes

I'll need to pop by the market at some point for onions, faux cheese (optional), and tortillas in addition to our normal bread, butter, and almond milk supply run.  But I continue to try to challenge myself to cook what we have in the pantry and freezer, adding fresh produce and "dairy" as needed.  So far, so good...

winning the girls over

The house seriously looks like a bomb has gone off and my parents are coming to visit this weekend.  And staying in a hotel.  But all in all the co-habitating thing is going a-okay.  (The beau may answer differently.)  We've been eating dinner together every night when he gets home, often with me having a glass of wine while I cook.  Won't be good for my waistline in the long run, but we have so much red wine in the wine rack, that really I'm doing our household a service.

And on a side note related to my last post about this week's menu, make the lentil walnut loaf.  It is so good.  I'm drooling thinking about the leftover slice in the fridge right now.

In the world of cats, Gracie and Colette are doing fine adjusting to another person in the house full-time.  They are especially happy because the beau now knows their feeding schedule, plus when we moved my dresser over to make room for his, we found all their Rosie Rat toys.  We know how to win the girls over...

Enjoy the holiday weekend!

dinner time

I now officially live with a boy.  And from this point forward will live with this boy for the rest of our lives.  And as is my natural instinct, I want to feed this boy.  Coming from a Virginia matriarchal family, where food equals love, this is not a foreign concept, but cooking real meals for quick dinners is a challenge I need to face.

You see, living on my own for around ten years now, my dinner time has consisted of some pretty great culinary experiments, some pretty epic failures (pea loaf, I'm looking at you), and some pretty blah offerings.  The blah is what happens most of the time on the nights I stumble into the house starving and eating cereal or popcorn or roasted veggies/tofu/etc.  Lazy cooking.

Because I get home around 6pm and the beau gets home around 9pm, dinner time is my responsibility during the week.  I really don't mind (at least at Day Two) and have been trolling Pinterest for quick vegan-based meals that can reheat easily.  Yes, I plan on feeding a boy vegetables and grains and legumes without falling back too often on fake meat substitutes.

My dinner time plan this week:
Monday:  Gardein scallopini "chicken" cutlet + Kale & Potato Gratin (a staple recipe for me)*
Tuesday:  Quick vegetable curry with TJ's Masala Sauce + whole wheat couscous
Wednesday:  Grilled Peaches and Tomatoes with Whole Grain Pasta
Thursday:  Lentil Walnut Loaf + mashed potatoes (made with soy milk) + roasted carrots (work from home day, so can take a bit more time)
Friday:  Pasta with Creamy Squash Sauce (using up some frozen pumpkin puree and/or butternut squash)
Saturday:  Mexican night (tacos with TVP "meat" and veggies)
Sunday:  The boy's choice (seems only fair)

So, send me your good thoughts and any good recipe ideas!  Especially if you have any secret vegan slow cooker ideas that involve lentils and/or quinoa and are not SOUP.

*Yes, fake meat at the get-go because it was in the freezer and I had no real plans prior to Monday.  I promise I'll do better when next Monday rolls around.

hitting my stride

 

Six days into vacation I think I have hit my stride:  wake up, coffee on the deck, cereal, bathing suit and sunscreen, beach, break, beach, lunch, shower, nap, gin & tonic.  It's a hard life.  The beau has only had the joy of vacation a couple of days due to his work schedule, but he heads back to join me at the beach tomorrow and I expect he's looking forward to a little beach, lunch, shower, nap himself (that's like gym, tan, laundry, except without the fist-pumping).

In the land of weddings, I got quite a bit completed prior to leaving on vacation.  Specifically, I sent out the invitations after a bit of drama over them getting printed just slightly off-center.  I did a little hand-trimming, but don't even know if others would have noticed.  But I noticed and cursed myself for trying to use an online printer and not splurging on the time it would have taken to get paper proofs mailed.  Live and learn.

Despite the off-center drama, the invitations did turn out pretty wonderfully.  We used an Etsy artist to design the suite of invitation, rsvp card, and correspondence card.  Jess did a really gorgeous job on our custom invites, incorporating our text and colors into a beautiful floral design that I absolutely adored.  I'll post pictures once all the invites have been received and the "surprise" is over. 

But with that task behind us, I'm enjoying the Olympics and hanging with my family and eating too much and drinking just enough.  We had a delicious arugula salad last night with fresh peaches and toasted pecans in a citrus juice/coarse mustard dressing.  I baked some tofu cubes to go with mine (the others had chicken) and it was the perfect summer dinner.  My mother can't remember where she got the recipe, but just throw those ingredients together and see if you like it too (no recipe really needed).

Okay, off for more Olympics-watching and G&T drinking!

*For other limited-budget brides that might happen across this post, just a little side note on the printing/ordering of Etsy invites:  just use an online printer if you don't already know a good local printer.  I searched high and low at local printers for high-quality paper (over 110lb cotton cardstock) and printing capabilities.  I wanted to use a local business to print the design that we had created by an independent artist.  I thought we were being responsible with how we spent our wedding budget.  But I got major attitude from the owner of the local invitation/print shop, who proceeded to lecture me about how I was putting the invitation industry out of business by using an Etsy invite design.  Needless to say, I did not give her my printing business even though she reluctantly agreed to look at my PDF file and see if she could print it.  Catprint.com had a great selection of papers and except for the off-center printing, I was really pleased with the outcome.

crazy fun and crazy sunburn

Our full day in Staunton was mainly focused on a Lunatic Tour we had scheduled as a surprise birthday present for the beau at Polyface Farm just outside of town.  Up bright and early, a quick breakfast at Coffee on the Corner, and then on to Polyface Farm.

Joel Salatin led our hayride tour (along with some of the Polyface workers and interns) and we squished on the wagons with 100 of our closest friends for the sold-out tour.  If you are a Virginia farm-to-table fan, you've likely heard of Joel Salatin and his crazy ways.  Love him or hate him, he's a big personality and we had a great time hearing about the farm and its philosophy straight from the horse's mouth.  And we saw a lot in our two hours - egg-laying chickens, meat chickens, turkeys, pigs, and rabbits.  Sadly no cows on our tour, but maybe next time.  There were tons of children on our tour, as well as farmers (or wanna-be farmers) from all over the country.  And the beau had a Polyface hot dog at the very end.  Crazy fun.  And we got crazy sunburned.

After the tour we made our way back to Staunton for a delicious lunch at Cranberry's Grocery (always love places where I can get a tofu sandwich!) and then a walk around town.  There was a vintage car show going on down by the train station and the beau took so many pictures of the various cars and hood ornaments (if you follow him on Instagram you got a taste).

We had a little rest back at the hotel and then made our way to Zynodoa for a leisurely birthday dinner full of locally-sourced and in-season ingredients.  Mojitos for cocktails, then bibb salads for our starters.  The beau had duck confit ravioli in beet sauce.  When I made reservations ahead of time I indicated that I was a vegetarian/vegan and the chef had responded to my (and fellow veg diners that night) request and there was a special roasted beet entree with huge beets in a leek sauce with carrot puree.  Absolutely delicious.  Being in Virginia, we took advantage of the local wines and took the recommendation of our server for glasses of Ox-Eye Reisling from Swoope, Virginia (not too far down the road) - not too sweet like so many reislings can be.  And for dessert we shared the maple cheesecake (beau's pick, being the birthday boy and all).  After all that food we needed to walk and made our way around town in the dark and quiet.

All in all, a wonderful relaxing weekend away.  Although we know we can't do that every weekend, we do know that Staunton will be a favorite spot to revisit in the future.

little road trip

West on Interstate 64 from Richmond; slight north trip up I-81; and then on to the historic Stonewall Jackson Hotel in downtown Staunton, Virginia.  We had a little road trip the end of last week and into the weekend in an early celebration of the beau's end-of-June birthday.  Staunton (pronounced Stanton, not Stawnton in a snide British accent as it can only be pronounced) is a lovely little town.  The main street (Beverley) is lined with restaurants and antique shops and boutiques and coffee shops and two (yes, two) old movie theaters.

Our first night in town we just had to go for a trip back in time, complete with aqua toilets in the bathrooms, to the 1940s Dixie Theater to see Dark Shadows.  We were the only people in the theater.  Which meant we could make comments the whole time - the best kind of movie-going experience in my opinion.  Well, aside from the movie-going experience of Union Station in D.C. where viewers yell at the screen regardless of who else is around.

We walked the town a bit and grabbed a late dinner at The Darjeeling Cafe:  black bean burger for him and the guacamole, hummus, pico trio for me.  Good food, quirky environment (in a former piano store), and friendly staff.

More to come next time:  a trip to a local farm and more yummy food!  Plus a car show thrown in for good measure...

leftover

 

Spring cleaning the fridge & freezer.  That's my goal right now.  As in, using up all the random veggies and other things clogging up the shelves and crammed into the depths of the freezer.  Monday night was marinated Smoky Grilled (well, broiled) Tempeh from Veganomicon paired with roasted (frozen) green beans and Daiya mozzarella cheese-topped toast.  Last night made use of some leftover canned pumpkin in Pasta with Creamy Pumpkin Sauce from this can't be Vegan with even more pasta (pumpkin is a veggie, right?).  Tomorrow will likely be homemade pizza dough (flour overload in the freezer) topped with a sauce made from the half-a-can of diced tomatoes sitting on the fridge shelf and leftover container of organic mushrooms in the crisper.

I'm cooking for one this week, so have the luxury of totally bombing.  Not that he cares, but I feel a certain amount of pressure to produce edible results when cooking for two.  Me, I'll eat just about anything.  Especially if there are no witnesses.

Next up:  three half-empty jars of salsa.  Any ideas?

winter weekend

I've just started reading a book about mushrooms and am not ashamed to admit it.  I promise not to bore you with factoids about mushrooms and mushroom hunting and mushroom identification, but let me say that fungi is pretty interesting.  And prolific.  And I'll leave it at that.

With a now-functioning oven (a 15-minute repair by a trained professional), I celebrated by baking jelly donut cupcakes from Veganomicon.  Kudos to any vegan recipe that recommends you actually bypass the healthy, organic version of raspberry jam in favor of the sugar-laden, artificially-flavored kind.  Usually vegan recipes can get a bit crunchy-granola (even for me), so I'm liking Isa and her recipes more and more.

We had a bit of thunder snow on Saturday night, but it let up in time for us to attend an early Valentine's house tour of early-20th century homes in Richmond.  Talk about some historic house eye candy!  The ticket also included appetizers from local restaurants at each house and a wine tasting from the offerings of Cooper Vineyards in Louisa, Virginia.  Although I couldn't eat most of the offerings, I did like my wine.  We even stopped by one of the featured restaurants for dinner afterwards (The Empress), where I enjoyed a vegetarian version of a Caesar salad with grilled romaine and a vegan seitan dish with greens (don't worry - the beau balanced out the scales of meat-eating).

Did everyone enjoy their winter weekends?

Twisty

My, my, time flies when you're having fun.  I've been work-work-working (had to work Sunday in addition to my normal days), so what did we do on my one day off this weekend?  We looked at old stuff (like I don't get enough of that as a museum curator, yet it was totally my idea).  The Fredericksburg Big Flea was going on this weekend and we spent a good part of Saturday trolling the aisles for deals and just having fun looking at all the goodies.  And I bought nothing except the tickets to get in.  I was slightly disappointed with the a)selection - way too much refinished furniture and b)price - I do know what things should go for, and some of these definitely weren't bargains.

Oh, but we ate too.  Yes, my life has a theme of eating, working, and looking/taking pictures of nature.  Simple life, simple loves.  But back to the eating:  Wegman's Seafood Bar.  Amazing baked spiced tofu with fresh green beans, a big glass of red wine, and we split some pretty delish bread pudding for dessert.  Yes, good food at a grocery store.  I don't know why I'm so surprised.

This twisty tree I spotted on my work patrol on Sunday and it spoke to me.  Pictures of that tree and a few crocuses popping up along the visitor path are all that have littered my camera lately.  Oh, and pictures of some desserts that I baked (yes, baked now that I have a functioning oven) for dinner with the beau tonight.  But more on that later.  If the dessert turned out...

name that wood

Often I have to take a look at my iPhone camera roll to remember what I've been up to.  A little sad that my memory needs visual reminders (be they photographs or notes in my planner/Google calendar), but it's also nice to have a sort of diary to look back on (the idea behind Instagram).  But I did have to laugh at one series of photos that I caught on my phone when stopped at a traffic light on my evening commute late last week.  Views of the cut ends of tree trunks heading for the mill.  I played a little game of "name that wood" and was pretty pleased with myself, except that the red ones puzzled me.  Some sort of oak?  Sometimes I amuse myself.  And really that's what this blog (and life in general) is about - having fun.

Speaking of fun, we attempted homemade gnocchi the other night using a recipe for pumpkin gnocchi (don't recall where I got the recipe).  One pound of potatoes, one cup of pureed pumpkin, 1 1/2 cups of whole wheat pastry flour, fresh sage from the garden (yes, we've had that nice of weather that my sage survives), salt and pepper.  I need to practice my sauteing technique, though, because the gnocchi stuck to the cast iron pan and I kept adding oil until the gnocchi became donuts.  Or at least tasted like them.  A second batch went directly in the freezer and we'll probably just boil those and not saute them.  A little culinary experimentation.

Tonight I take one of the cats (Gracie) to the vet for an overnight stay.  Bright and early tomorrow she gets her teeth cleaned.  I know she's going to hate it (not that I let on that we were doing that tonight, otherwise I'd come home to find her crammed under the guest room bed).  Think good thoughts for my sweet (albeit bossy) little girl.

cheerful

The smell of hyacinth has invaded the house due to a cheerful springtime bulb mix the beau brought the other night.  Although it is chilly and icy outside, I can pretend that springtime has arrived inside the house.  We did have a dusting of snow over the weekend that bathed the trees in a sprinkling of ice that hung around for most of the weekend, making for a misty, magical appearance as you drove down the street under their branches.

I've been eating and drinking a lot lately, having dinners and lunches with girlfriends and coworkers.  Margaritas, beers, wine, and more margaritas.  Paired with some warm and gooey food and the lack of running (brrr...so cold) and I'm afraid to hop on the scale.  I did buy a pair of cold-weather running tights, though, which does help quite a lot.  It's just the motivation to actually get up and out that does me in.  But, tomorrow is another day.

This week I need to cook and maybe bake (and grocery shop!).  The oven repair guy comes on Wednesday afternoon and I'm hoping that means I'll have a functioning oven by Wednesday night.  Sweet potato muffins and roasted butternut squash and all sorts of goodies are on the wishlist.  Fingers crossed.  Otherwise, this chickpea and artichoke masala recipe from Aarti Party is on the to-cook list this week for an easy weeknight stovetop dinner.

Update:  Shortly after posting I scanned The Kitchn and see that they have chickpeas on the brain as well.

last day

Up early today, coffee made, and the dread of heading back to work hangs over me.  I wish I could stay home just a few days more.  Get in more lazing about; get more cleaning and organizing completed; just not have to be at work checking e-mails and answering phone calls and actually doing my job.  Le sigh.

For my last day of freedom we drank.  Horton Vineyards and Barboursville Vineyards wine tastings, to be exact.  I had made a vegan couscous and butternut squash salad and gathered together a picnic in one of my cute vintage tin picnic baskets, but the 30-degree weather meant a picnic was a lost cause.  Not that we didn't attempt it.  The beau was actually the voice of reason.  I had plans to shiver through my pain.  60-degree weather all last week or so, and now this?!  But small little snowflakes fell on us as we left the last winery, which made the cold seem a little magical at least.

burnt snack mix, a cheese ball, and orchid legs

Every year I make a whole bunch of chex mix for the tour guides at work, other coworkers, and the postman.  This year is no exception, although I got a little ambitious and graduated from an official Chex brand recipe to one that my friend Martha recommends.  With an oven that only half works, I'm feeling a little shaky, but how much could I ruin the snack mix?  Aside from burning it I suppose.  Which I've already partly done.  We'll call it Cajun-Chesapeake Bay snack mix this year.

Speaking of my friend Martha, I also made a super-simple cheese ball (also known as Martha's Cheddar Cheese Ball) for a retro-themed holiday party we went to this weekend.  Success.  But I disregarded Martha's instructions to form the mixture into two nut-rolled balls.  Instead:  massive nut-covered ball that was a whole lot more than the guests could eat.  So the next morning we had cheese toast (with cheese ball mix) for breakfast; now the beau has taken it home to do with as he will.  Wish him luck that he makes his way through it before Christmas.

In other news, when working in my home office this past week I examined the orchid that was a takeaway from my friend Cathy's wedding brunch two Mays ago.  It lost its tall stalks a while back and I'd been wondering what would happen, having never grown an orchid before.  I'm guessing all these new little legs are a good thing.  But I'm not sure and so I've got my eye on it - hoping the legs grow up and start blooming, and not creep over and grab me when I'm sitting at my desk diligently working...

eating: cooking in

Eating out is expensive.  And not super-healthy, although we tend to skip fast food and those sorts of meals for things like tofu subs or paella.  But in the end, we need to cook in and and eat in much more than we currently do.  The beau was the first one to say that out loud, but I'd been thinking it myself.  And so I've been trying to pull new recipes into my repertoire.  You know - the kind of things that become second nature to you and can be thrown together relatively quickly on a week day.  And is filling enough that you don't feel badly that you've just fed your boyfriend a salad or a bowl of soup or cold cereal.

Vegan Yum Yum:  Creamy Sweet Potato Bake from the Vegan Yum Yum cookbook.  Whole wheat pasta, cubes of sweet potato, and chopped kale, all baked up in a yummy alfredo sauce.  Definite comfort food.

Vegan Cooking for One:  Creamy Pasta with Mushrooms and Walnuts.  Okay, I used wild (not button) mushrooms and pecans, but the concept was the same as the cookbook - sauteed nuts, mushrooms, onions, and garlic in a white sauce made of cornstarch and almond milk.  Over whole wheat spaghetti.  Quick and easy and adaptable to whatever veggies reside in the fridge.

The Vegan Table:  Tofu Filet with Cornmeal Crust and Tartar Sauce.  This got mixed reviews from our panel of judges.  We were less than impressed with the cornmeal crust; the beau suggested panko breading next time.  Definitely need to perfect this because I've not done breaded tofu before and it seems like a pretty versatile skill to have in my cooking armory.  The tartar sauce was pretty good (Vegenaise, chopped pickles and capers, parsley) but the cocktail sauce was even better.  Served with 'roasted' (aka almost burnt) broccoli florets and a slice of sourdough toast.

More cooking to come...and more successes (and failures) to share.