Photograffiti

 On Tuesday we visited the California Museum of Photography in Riverside. We often joke that there is no culture in the IE, but of course that isn't always true. Not only were we able to cut our traffic time in half, but the parking and admission prices were a steal. It was only $3.00 to get in and it was definitely worth more. They had three exhibits going on in addition to the camera displays which were my favorite part, the sneaky spy cameras in particular. We couldn't use flash so my crappy camera skills were even crappier. I didn't notice until after loading photos to the computer that my reflection is in almost every picture I took. However there was one that was almost impossible to mess up and that was from the camera obscura. There is a small room-sized one built into the front of the building which you can go inside and have a look at. Then you can look outside and see the image that has been captured right side up.

 After the museum we went to Oasis Cafe at La Sierra Natural Foods. Everything I read online said to get the steak burger, so I did, but the carnitas also sounded tempting so I ordered those as well. The fries on my tray are for sharing with the girls. Next time I wouldn't get as much food, but it was decidedly delicious. My only true regret was not adding avocado, won't make that mistake again.

The store was having a sale on books so I started rooting through the piles hoping to get lucky. Most of the books were to do with health or allergies, but I did find Nonna's Italian Kitchen by Bryanna Clark Grogan. I have way too many cookbooks, but I couldn't pass up the bargain. I looked around to see if there was anything else I needed but their prices were a bit higher than other stores so I decided to pass. That was until my sister pointed me in the direction of the Soy Curls. I snatched up two packets and hit the check stand. I can't wait to cook with them. The Couricos Tacos from Vegan Brunch will be the first thing I make, already started rounding up ingredients.

p.s. Can someone tell me what that bit of bathroom writing is supposed to be? I remember people doodling it on their folders in middle school. No one ever said what it was for, but they were all writing it.

  

tempeh'd by the fruit of another

Yesterday I got three cookbooks in the mail from Melisser, The Urban Housewife. If you have been living under a rock and do not read her blog, you better start. Then you can say you read it before she moved to Vienna and think you have more cool points than the rest of your block. Are there cool points for knowing/reading more blogs than other people? I'll bet there are. Anyway since she is moving and cannot take everything with her, I was lucky enough to score a few cookbooks. I got Eat, Drink & Be Vegan, The 30 Minute Vegan and Yellow Rose Recipes. It was tough to not take all of the books she was selling, but I still have so many underused ones that I need to crack into. I just needed a little kick start to get the inspiration going again, and I definitely got one.

I am really excited to try new recipes from these books and from others in my collection as well. Even though I've gotten better at cooking some things still freak me out, like making my own seitan. Other things remind me of how picky/foolish I used to be, like using mint. So I think those are two things I should give myself a time limit on trying because even if mess up the seitan (I only ever tried once) or don't like the mint at first, at least I gave it (another) chance. All enthusiasm aside, I haven't really made anything "new" in a while. Last week was full of repeats: cookies 'n' cream cupcakes, scrambled tempeh, egg mc vegans with diner home fries, to name a few. Our menu for this week was already planned so I didn't want to make anything too large or complicated. I went easy on myself and made the "Pan Fried Tempt-eh!" from e,d,&bv.

It was a cinch to make and was delicious just with a few squeezes of lemon as the author suggests. I added steamed veggies and brown rice to make it into a meal. Also so I could save some for my sister to try. Otherwise I could have quite easily ate all of it straight from the pan. It was crispy and crunchy on the outside but still chewy on the inside. My mom even liked it, which says a lot since she usually does not want to try my food without asking a ton of questions first. Then she usually makes a face of some sort. But who can say no to fried food? I know I can't.

bye bye buy(vegan mofo day 11?*)

i probably shouldn't have but i bought another cookbook yesterday. i most especially should not have since i just picked up another one from the library. i also got fifteen candles which has been great so far. it's a collection of quinceanara stories, most of which would be best appreciated by quince survivors, but i didn't have one and they're still quite funny.

post-library i met up with my sister and niece for some errands. as soon as we got in the first store my niece had to go to the bathroom and that store didn't have one. since i wasn't going to shop much, i offered to take her. luckily for us the nearest one was in the bookstore. in the process of looking for the bathroom i did find the cookbooks and knew we would have to circle back to those after "basic needs" were covered. since the restrooms were just past the children's books i had a feeling we might also make a stop there first.

that little girl was after my heart, telling me she loved books. i told her she could get a halloween book, which i soon realized was not very smart since a lot of them are picture books that are kind of pricey, for a bunch of pictures, no matter how awesome they are. we were going to get another amelia bedelia for her to practice on but then i had to go and point out biscuit. she really wanted the biscuit book. it was a few dollars more, but she could read it to me instead of me reading to her and i'll take all the breaks i can get these days.

i already had bought or checked out most of the cookbooks the store i would have been interested in, except for vegan bites: recipes for singles. i read about it in vegnews and got really excited for another small portion book since i have been using table for two like crazy. which is not to say that i won't make a "regular" to "big recipe" and eat the same thing for about a week, because i have, many many times over.

lately, i have been trying really hard not to buy much of anything, even food and books, or food books. i feel bad to buy a cookbook when there are probably 20+ other ones i could use, or the same guilt in making more food than i will actually eat and being wasteful. for the time being, i cook for three vegans (2 adult + 1 child) plus the occasional open-minded omnivores at work. in a year or two, that number will probably change to one. my sister and niece will move out, if i don't do it first. i need to start scaling down, like back when i first turned veg and only cooked for myself. even though i spent money on the book, i will eventually spend less on food, right? i specialize in the rationalize.

p.s. yesterday's post was pre-empted by change of venue for scary movie night, so i didn't have time to write it up before we left and when we got home, it was today already.