new year, new blog

Happy new year and new decade, everybody! 2009 was a year of great change, and surprise in my life, and so I know that 2010 will be very different. Those differences will also be reflected in this blog- look for a new address, a new design, and new directions for Where's the Revolution? in the next few weeks. I hope that you'll join me for a new journey!

and now, my new year's resolutions, 10 for 2010:

• learn to make sprouted grain bread like Ezekiel
• make injera
• read 200 books (inspired by Elizabeth)
  
• keep a journal (including dream journal)
• visit 10 cities I've never visited
• get a job, pay off credit card debt
• be better than I've been lately about drinking water and taking my vitamins
  
• write, create writing portfolio, send out articles for publication
• keep in touch better with friends- letters, emails, cards, care packages, phone calls
  
• revamp this blog!
  

new year, new blog

memorial day in NYC: some snapshots

**warning** extremely picture-heavy post! (I'll keep my words and descriptions very brief)

Daiku and I got to spend Memorial Day Weekend in New York City. Here is what we did:

we marveled at super-expensive gas prices in the Bronx

I found myself stuck in midtown (horrors! I try to avoid ever being there...) during an appointment that Daiku had. Fortunately, there was the Turkish parade to keep me entertained.

here's the view from one of my favorite gallery buildings in town. I was lucky that even though it was a holiday weekend, some galleries were open. If you're ever stuck in mid-town Manhattan and want a respite from the tourists, business people, and ritzy stores, go to the gallery building at 24 west 57th street. Then, just ride the elevator to each floor, there are at least 1 or 2 art galleries on every (public) floor. One of my favorites, the Galerie St. Etienne (specializing in German Expressionist art among other things)is there.

stopped into Sacred Chow for some beet-apple-cucumber-ginger juice for me

and a meatball and vegan cheese hero for Daiku.

saw some cool graffiti

helped my friend Tony celebrate his 30th birthday with the help of some lychee martinis (yum!) - sorry no pictures of the camera-shy birthday boy!

saluted Lenin (he saluted back!)

tried some awesome raw nori snacks that our friend Dorota introduced us to (seriously addictive- I want to figure out how to make these at home!)

baked some chocolate-chocolate-peppermint birthday cupcakes (I promise to share the recipe for the chocolate-mint streusel soon!)

hung out in our old 'hood in Queens

where we found out our old block (the top apartment is where Daiku and I used to live) has been renamed after our then-landlord ("the king of Long Island City") (!!!)

went to Red Bamboo for a huge PPK meet-up in Brooklyn (including meeting Jess of Get Sconed! yay! pssst- she's the girl with the pink hair hiding behind the menu in the above photo...)

the only food I got to photograph before the sun went down were these collard green rolls and buffalo wings, unfortunately.

aaaaaaand, dressed Dorota's kitty Willis in this awesome skull cap that we found. He seems to like it, no?

The weekend was a blast, filled with friends old and new, celebrations, good food, cute cats, and a chance to visit 4 out of 5 NY boroughs. (I've never been to Staten Island). This was one of our first really good-weather weekends, and Daiku and I enjoyed walking, talking, and laughing a lot. I hope you enjoyed the photos!

memorial day in NYC: some snapshots

earth day in many photos, few words

UPDATE (4/24): I forgot to give credit for the gas station installation. Please visit the International Fiber Collaborative to learn more!

I was gone for a little over a week. This is what our flowers looked like before I left. When I came back, Spring had settled in Syracuse, because our yard and garden looked like this:

Flowers were not the only new thing to have cropped up while I was gone. Yesterday, Daiku took me to see this new project in our neighborhood:

It's an abandoned gas station, reclaimed with all of these intricate and beautiful patches, as a way of drawing attention to our energy consumption. We stood around for a long time admiring the work that went into each individual panel:

To celebrate Earth Day, we have decided to finally sign up for 100% wind energy for our house. The process was fast and easy, and based on our electricity usage, our monthly bill shouldn't go up more than $10-12 a month. If the prospect of that small increase inspires us to use less electricity, so much the better.

The majority of Americans have the option of converting all or part of their energy usage to wind, hydroelectric, solar, or other more environmentally friendly options. Look into the possibilities in your area. Happy Earth Day!

earth day in many photos, few words

gifts that keep on giving

It's ridiculous to be blogging about Christmas gifts 5 months after the fact, right? But I just had to take a moment to talk about 2 amazing gifts that I've been using ever since then.

First, this cutting board from Bridget. It's gorgeous, isn't it? What's even more wonderful is that it's handmade by her husband. I have always admired this kind of artistry and woodworking, and now I have a beautiful example of it in my kitchen.

I've decided to devote it to bread baking. So if you're ever at my house and I offer you a slice of homemade bread, you'll know where it came from!

Second, a gift from Bridget and Trac: homemade ravioli!

Daiku and I were so lucky to be on the receiving end of so many hours of their labor! We got several filling flavors, including tofu/spinach (pictured above), pumpkin, and sun-dried tomato. Since we got these ravioli the day before we left for L.A., we froze them, and so had a stockpile of delicious home-made food when we came back.

It was only last week that we finally finished them -vegan ravioli is a rare treat to be savored, after all! They were so flavorful that the best way to eat them was the simplest- here you see the ravioli with a few pieces of sausage, a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil, some chopped parsley, and generous amounts of sea salt and fresh pepper.

Wow.

A belated thank you to you ladies!

gifts that keep on giving

happy norooz!

Happy Norooz, everybody. Today is the first day of spring and is also celebrated as New Year in Iran. I got home from France too late to grown any greens this year, so this photo is from last year! I will be cooking some green food tonight, though, in the hopes that spring will actually show its face in Syracuse! Meanwhile, check out my Norooz posts from last year (here and here) for some recipes and ideas. I hope it's warm, sunny, and spring-like wherever you all are!

happy norooz!

super fat

Daiku, Mardi Gras, party store, 2006

Happy Mardi Gras / Fat Tuesday / Shrove Tuesday / Pancake Day / Carnivale / Super Tuesday everybody! I want to dedicate this post to the wonderful Kittee, a.k.a. Cake Maker to the Stars. As you know, she lives in New Orleans and when she heard me complain about not being able to find certain key ingredients for cooking a Mardi Gras feast, she sent me the most amazing care package! Behold:

• Zapps potato chips (what other brand of chips do you know that makes a (vegan) flavor called 'Cajun crawtator'??)
• Tony Chachere's seasoning (the flavor can't be duplicated)
• Camellia field peas and red beans (for authentic New Orleans red beans and rice, of course)
• Zatarain's crab boil seasoning (to make a nice vegan boil with potatoes, corn, what have you)
• Zatarain's root beer extract (just, wow!)

With all these essentials in hand, I was able to do some holiday cooking today. I made Kittee gumbo and Kittee king cake. (sense a theme here?)

The gumbo called for Julie Hasson's Italian sausage recipe from Everyday Dish, which was wonderful, because after reading everyone rave about these on their blogs, this recipe was something I'd been wanting to try. And you know what? These sausages were really really good. Not only was the flavor wonderful, but more importantly, the texture was just right- chewy without being rubbery, tender without being spongy. Seitan success!

The gumbo came out great, chock full of Tony Chachere's and Tabasco sauce, bursting with flavor. It wasn't too thick, but because of the okra and the roux, it had real body. Daiku, who used to live in New Orleans, loved it as well.

The funnest part of today, however, was baking the king cake! Traditionally, a baby Jesus (king) figure is baked into the cake. Whoever gets the slice with the baby (or bean, as some people use) has to bake the king cake for next year's party. Since my baby is made of plastic, I couldn't bake it, and it didn't matter, since it was just the two of us tonight anyway. Instead, I let the baby hang out on top of the cake and check out the action.

Here's an inside shot - I added some bourbon-soaked raisins to the cream cheese / cinnamon sugar filling, and they complemented the orange zest and vanilla of the cake perfectly. You have got to try this recipe, I don't care that Mardi Gras is over!

In keeping with the spirit of the holiday, here's a bonus: pumpkin bread pudding with bourbon sauce. This bread pudding recipe, from Fatfree Vegan, is one I'd been wanting to try for ages. This weekend, Daiku and I had to take dessert to a party we were going to, so I finally got the opportunity. The best part about this dish is that it's made in the crock pot, so we got to plug it in at our friends' house to ensure that it could be served warm. The bourbon sauce is an invention of Daiku's, veganizing something that usually calls for butter, cream, and egg yolk in addition to bourbon and sugar. He used soy cream, sugar, Earth Balance, vanilla, and bourbon, and thickened the sauce with a bit of cornstarch. This was a really addictive sauce, and perfect to bring out the mild flavors of the bread pudding.

Whether you were celebrating Fat Tuesday or Super Tuesday today (or both, like me) I hope you had a great time. And a delicious one, too.

Here's my Mardi Gras post from last year!

super fat

happy new year's eve!

Here's to a happy and healthy 2008 for all of you. May it be filled with love, laughter, friends, and loads of delicious food!

For my final post of 2007, I decided to go back through the last year and bring you my favorite posts from each month. These are the posts that were the funnest, most memorable, most commented-upon, or just plain the most delicious. I hope you enjoy them, and I can't wait for another year in vegan blogland with all of you!

xoxo

January: Friday Detox Food Round Up (Daiku and I followed this wonderful detox last January, and learned a lot from the experience. If you are planning on overhauling your diet and your environment in the new year, The Great American Detox Diet by Alex Jamieson ook is a great place to start)

February: Absence Makes the Heart Grow Fonder (while Daiku and I didn't get to spend Valentine's Day together, we did get to enjoy this healthy and romantic V-day meal. I have just two words for you: vegan ceviche!)

March: Thank You, Fellow Bloggers! (In this post, I showcased some recipes from your blogs- many of which have become all-time favorite menu staples - you guys have to try them too! Some of the best food we eat is inspired by you, fellow bloggers.)

April: I've FOUND it! (This post is among my favorites, because I remember the joy that went into it. Plus, vegan ice cream- can we ever really have enough?)

May: This Meal Took 2 Years To Make! (The funny and ridiculous story of our little lemon, the one that took two years to grow, and ended up in a yummy Moroccan-style dinner)

June: Farmer's Market Bounty (Even though I had lots of fun in June, visited a lot of places and experienced Puerto Rico for the first time, this post has a soft place in my heart. Every time I look at it, it reminds me of the exuberant joy of early summer- when the world and the market explode with color, energy, and promise. I can't wait to experience this feeling again!)

July: Take This Trend... and Eat It (The post about food trends. I think about this issue a lot, especially when some new food product is marketed as the latest and newest thing. Sometimes, the oldest, least trendy foods can be the best)

August: Follow Us as We Follow the Hudson River (This isn't just one of my favorite memories of August, it's one of my favorite memories of 2007. The day when Daiku and I left the sweltering heat of New York City and took the long and scenic way home to Syracuse, experiencing 10 hours of new sights, sounds, and foods along the way.)

September: The Sourdough Post (Was there any doubt? Getting the gift of a sourdough starter, and getting to bake delicious breads and other goodies is hands-down one of the best things that has happened to me this past year!)

October: Picking Apart Apple Picking (honoring Blog Action Day by celebrating the joys of local eating... and the self-satisfied idiocy of Slate Magazine)

November: Maxine's Mexican Casserole (it was difficult to pick my favorite VeganMoFo post, but this one would have to be it. Seeing Maxine's story, and thinking about all the animals in this world who undergo unimaginable suffering still makes me cry, and still inspires me)

What do you think? Did I pick the best posts? Do you have any favorite "Where's The Revolution" moments from 2007?...

Have a wonderful and safe New Year's Eve!

happy new year's eve!

happy holidays

We hope that wherever you are, whatever you're doing, that you are having a joyous and peaceful winter holiday season.

xoxo

happy holidays

holiday baking and gifting

view from our bedroom window-Toto, we're not in Syracuse any more...

Last week, right before we left Syracuse, I did a marathon day of cookie baking, and here is what I made:

chocolate-drizzled samoas

peanuttiest blondies, courtesy of Vegan Diva- we also made these last year, and they are Daiku's favorites

lemon-poppyseed cookies from Eat, Drink, and Be Vegan- these were awesome!

mini chocolate-chip cookies from Vegan with a Vengeance

Here is the completed selection (along with My Sweet Vegan's pfeffernusse and VwaV ginger cookies). Do you notice a problem...? While all the cookies tasted great, they were all practically the same shade of beige! This happened to me last year, too. I will have to do something about it next year!

So far, we have given these cookies to our families on the east coast, the west coast, and everywhere in between, and they all seem to love them. Success!

Also sticking with our home-made, minimalist holiday aesthetic are these chai kits that we have given to friends:

The trick to making homemade chai kits (or similarly, mulling spice kits) is to find a good source of bulk spices. In my case, I used organic cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, candied ginger, nutmeg, and dried orange zest. I put these together along with some black tea (bulk black tea from Iran) in unbleached teabags, and some instructions, and voilà! An easy and fun way for our friends to brew themselves something warm and comforting. I think you can make chai kits with any kind of tea you want- I bet rooibos would go well, or something herbal, or green...

Speaking of gifting, I was so happy to finally meet Textual Bulldog in real life last week! And I was beyond happy when she gave us a huge tin of holiday cookies:

including chocolate chip, chocolate walnut, (not pictured, because we ate them too quickly!) iced sugar cookies, and the piece de resistance: chocolate cookies with crushed Trader Joe's candy cane joe-joe's! These were genius cookies. And notice how she, unlike me, managed to bake colorful and non-monochromatic cookies. Thank you, TB!

This is a good time to talk about one of my favorite baking ingredients- Frontier brand fair trade vanilla that I buy in bulk from the food co-op. This has changed my baking- I can never go back to regular vanilla extract. This stuff is so good, and has such a pure, strong flavor. It is suspended in glycerin instead of alcohol, so it's thicker and heavier- I usually use half of the vanilla called for in a recipe. The result is a baked good with a soft, round, mellow yet assertive vanilla flavor, with none of the sharp, overpowering, cloying, or artificial notes of other vanilla extracts that I have tried. If you come across this vanilla, give it a try. Like me, you may never go back.

Happy holiday baking and gifting, everybody! I'm continually in awe of all your fantastic, home-made goodies.
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holiday baking and gifting