crack the plates

hey folks! Nate & I are celebrating our three year anniversary with a little getaway, but before I tell you all about that I want to share the Thanksgiving magic!

You probably already know that instead of offering a meal delivery Thanksgiving week, I made up a special a la carte casserole menu. I spent Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday prepping and cooking orders. Here are a few shots of some of the food that went out:

Cutting and dusting marshmallows for sweet potato souffles. They were created with Angel Food Alice’s marshmallow mix. It’s the least-tricky way to make marshmallows that still requires a fair amount of care, and I recommend you buy several packs immediately.

Emanuella’s nut-free souffle.

My first attempt at a seitan-based tofurkey came out looking beautiful but with the texture of an old shoe. Dousing cut pieces with a little water and reheating in the microwave under a damp paper towel restored some moisture – steaming would have worked, too. Unwilling to serve this to paying company, I tried another recipe with resounding success. Behold, the log:

Stuffed with fat-free stuffing (per Brett’s family request), steamed and baked, VeganDad’s recipe is a solid one. If you try it, though, be sure to modify the seasonings – his recipe is very mild. I modified the recipe to become no-added-fat by substituting two tablespoons of mushroom stock for the oil.

Local pot-roasted vegetables for Lillian.

Fancy-schmancy “goat”-style log for ever-classy Brett’s family. Would you believe this little fella took over 24 hours? I wrapped it up in parchment and secured it with pretty brown ribbon, repurposed from a delicious box of Lagusta’s Luscious bonbons.

A yukon-gold-topped shepherd’s pie for Shannon.

and desserts: sweet potato cake studded and topped with roasted chestnut and miso caramel; “sweet potato souffle” – sweet potato cake with chestnut pieces and topped with homemade marshmallow. I also made several dozen mini chocolate kandaicakes.

Pecan-topped sweet potato souffle, with some of my kitchen staff looking on.

Lillian was thrilled to pick up her giant order! I love cooking for Lillian because she adores even my mistakes. Case in point: I had to ditch a pan of sweet potato cakes when they wouldn’t release. I mashed ‘em up, layered ‘em with miso caramel, called it a trifle, and gave it to Lillian. She was so pleased!

I am so grateful to everyone who picked up Thanksgiving food this year. Not only did the sales make my three-year anniversary trip with Nate possible, but it was just such an honor to be invited into your homes at such an important meal and special time of year. Seriously, I still get goosebumps thinking about how awesome that is. I hope it lived up to your expectations!

After a few extra-long days, Nate and I were happy to sit down to our own Thanksgiving eve feast.

The seitan shoe with creamy mashed potatoes.

Carr’s wheat crackers with spreadable “brie” in the background.

My momma’s (and Nate’s) favorite butterbeans.

Our gorgeous sweet potato souffle.

Closer, m’dear…

Our green bean casserole. Thanks, Trader Joe’s, for frying the onions so that I didn’t have to saturate every inch of fabric in my apartment with the smell of fried onions.

Nate’s abundant plate! From the top: Carr’s crackers with brie, mashed potatoes, sweet poatto souffle, cranberry hunk, butterbeans, green bean casserole, dressing, and the seitan shoe.

One of the best parts of Thanksgiving day was finally getting to meet my little niece Bear. I like this picture because it looks like Nate & Bear are sharing a laugh.

Little Bear puppy face.

A fun picture of my brother, Bear, and me.

Y’all know I’m a crazy cat lady, but Thanksgiving turned out to be a puppy day. Later, at my Uncle Reuben’s, I held his partner’s little chihuahua. Until then, I had never so much as touched such a small dog… hence the face.

She was fun to cuddle.

How you know it’s love: after a long day of cookin’, cleanin’, and family visitin’, I returned to Atlanta to make Nate’s childhood favorite, creamed onions. Y’all: creamed onions is not a southern thing. We do not boil pearl onions, smother them in gravy, and then serve them as a holiday side. Twas a mystery to me when Nate mentioned them. So I did a little internet searchin’ and decided on an amalgam of a few recipes. The cream sauce is just a gravy made with earth balance, flour, and a whole lot of mimiccreme – then thinned out and seasoned with salt, pepper, and a bit of freshly-shaved nutmeg. Not bad for a first try!

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hey folks, another personal update. I apologize for the long absence… mostly I’ve been sick and not cooking much, but I’m doing well enough now. Thanks to friend Vic for encouraging me to write. :)

This week I’m looking forward to the Crack the Plates Thanksgiving pick-up orders. The menu was pretty extensive but owing to varied travel plans not too many folks took me up on the offer. I’m incredibly thankful for those who did, since they’re making my three-year anniversary trip with Nate this weekend possible. Popular dishes this year are the fried onion haricots verts casserole with mushroom gravy, seitan roasts, and the sweet potato souffle w/ homemade marshmallows. (Pictures to come!) Pick-ups happen tomorrow night and Wednesday, giving me just enough time to make a few things for lunch at my gramma’s on Thursday.

Yep, we’re celebrating three years. Three years ago we shared a then-not-impossibly-small twin bed and a yellow house in Indiana with one freshly-caught tortoiseshell cat and an affable roommate. Since then… so much. I fell in love with Nate in November 2008 when he went away for a conference in Texas and I realized with a jolt how attached I’d become. It was attachment that I had been denying in the wake of a tumultuous summer, attachment I indulged and delighted in once he returned. And since then I’ve become even more in love with him, as he’s proven his devotion, steadfastness, and quite frankly, continued to shape me into a gentler and better person. He’s my darling.

This weekend we’ll be heading to Chattanooga, Tennessee for Rock City and Ruby Falls, two of my all-time favorite guilty pleasures. Rock City is this crazy rock garden with attractions like the Fat Man’s Squeeze, Seven States lookout, and the Fairyland Caverns. It’s pretty much what that rock dude from Neverending Story would put together if entrusted with a plot of land. Ruby Falls is basically a journey through a cave to an underground waterfall backlit by a light show. Everything will be “holiday” themed because of the time of the year. A “rocky” weekend for a “rock-solid” relationship… c’mon, groan with me now!

But that’s forthcoming. Here’s what we’ve been up to lately.

On the subject of guilty pleasures: tofurkey. No, I am not one of those vegans who thinks it tastes like 1) nothing or 2) something awful. I love tofurkey as a holiday food. As soon as I saw it at Trader Joe’s I snapped it up and put it in the oven with local organic vegetables. Nate loves it too, so I made it the evening he left on a twenty-hour Amtrak ride towards New York for his grandfather’s funeral a week or so ago.

Obviously, he would have liked to return to New York under happier circumstances, but at least while there he was able to spend a decent amount of time with his delightful family, biking, catching up, hanging with old friends, and visiting my hero Lagusta in New Paltz for chocolates. His amazing grandfather will be dearly missed, but his spirit lives on in a couple of fellas who think it’s awesome to wake up early and bike twenty six miles:

Post-ride. A short one for his dad, actually… but not so much for Nate. :)

While he was gone I busied myself with the meal delivery. I made the best-ever curried pumpkin soup. So simple: just three small pumpkins roasted then blended with an onion that had been sauteed with ginger, garlic, and curry powder, as well as a can of coconut milk, some maple syrup, and a little cayenne.

A fussy little lunch: ginger-baked tofu over Korean somyeon (somen) noodles and a freshly-pureed ginger-garlic-tahini sauce.

While doing prep work over the weekend, the power went out. While cooking on Monday, a pipe exploded. It was a tough week. An electrician was able to get things squared away quickly, but I still haven’t heard back from the landlord RE: the pipe. Yet another reason why I am ready to move!

On the upside, Nate returned the next day. I stuffed him with a very curry brunch:

curried sweet potatoes and cauliflower in a coconut cream sauce; sweet potato biscuits covered in curry gravy…

and Bryant Terry‘s tempeh, shiitake, and cornmeal dumplings stew:

It was his first ever chick’n-n-dumplings-type recipe, and he mightily approved.

Meanwhile, Unix was a jerk. She totally laid on her back for several minutes, beckoning us to do something about it – and when we finally did, she clamped on us like the jaws of life. And then she rabbit-kicked and bit the hell out of me, which honestly was great. I love rabbit-kicks! They’re so adorable!

Jacquie, Nate & I (and a host of others) celebrated our pal Christin’s birthday with karaoke on Buford Highway. I love this shot of Jacquie. Our twisted duet of Ursula’s “Poor Unfortunate Souls” from the Little Mermaid was the best.

A hangover brunch post-karaoke… buttery fluffy vegan biscuits, muscadine and organic grape jams…

And the richest-ever tempeh sage gravy.

That night we went to everyone’s favorite independent theatre, the Plaza, with friends Zack and Tony to see John Waters’ divine dark comedy FEMALE TROUBLE. Hosted by Blast-Off Burlesque, there was plenty of pre-show fun and banter, including a gross-out fashion contest. Contestants, including Atlanta’s favorite Dax ExclamationPoint, above.

Standout performance.

It was thrilling to see my favorite John Waters on a big screen; especially my favorite scene, above.

True to his “nature”, Gator totally came after me in the lobby, to Aunt Ida’s great dismay.

One of the best parts of the night was getting a little extra fancy for the show. I managed to apply false eyelashes without the help of a trained professional for the first time in my life, and didn’t do too bad of a job!

I didn’t really wanna take ‘em off.

But there was sleepin’ to be had, and both my sweetie and my kitty were ready for bed. So alas, I relented. Next time I won’t wait three years to don falsies again!

Yesterday Aubrey came over for some nerdity – Lord of the Rings trivia and a round of Cthulhu Munchkin afterwards, how much worse can it get – and I made a taco bar afterwards. I think this is the first time I made tacos in 2011. I really ought to take the easy route more often…

(I should mention that Aubrey and Jared’s Might and Magic Opening was Friday night at Octane and it was AMAZING! I finally picked up a few new pieces for Nate’s BIG Christmas present [one, two, three, four; set] and we made a great new friend, local artist Ashley Anderson of Press Start to Begin. You should check out his stuff and buy it all!)

Unix startled us with her contortions.

I leave you with the surest sign of the (Thanksgiving) season here in Georgia, taken today at the Dekalb Farmer’s Market: collards, so popular that not only are they stacked six feet high in a display, but they’re dispatched so ravenously that they need to be re-stocked by the pallet.

Collards by the pallet, y’all. Welcome to Georgia.

exciting things are happening! Metro-Atlanta counties will be getting 3.2 billion for schools, Sunday liquor sales for the first time in over a century (except in Forest Park), Ohio voters ‘emphatically’ reject Kasich’s anti-union law, and the crazies in Mississippi won’t get their way.

Meanwhile, Nate and I spend the evening doing crafty things: making video game/8-bit Perler art, or “sprites“. We wanted to DO something – not just sit around and worry. Create, not imbibe. And time really flies when you’re making sprites, all the better for those of us keeping an eye on returns.

First, I cooked a mostly from-scratch meal for the first time in possibly two weeks? Intense emergency dentalwork + the worst cold in years put me out of commission… but I’ll be back in time for Crack the Plates deliveries on Tuesday, hooray! Tonight, just a simple homemade tomato sauce with sauteed seasoned soy curls over tortiglioni – easy, but still with a sense of accomplishment. Mostly, though, we made things:

Nate finishing a project.

My Mario garden. Interested in perler crafts? Learn more here.

Perl lookin’ pretty.

Taking note of her father perilously balancing a netbook, Unix decided she just had to join him. He was not so pleased.

“What, papa? Dis are problem?” “Ok, I are guess not Unix.”

And that’s how we spent election night 2011.

October, my favorite month of the year, decided to wrap itself up with the prettiest of all possible bows: meeting my vegan-cooking icon and long-time role model Isa Chandra Moskowitz (and her freakin’ awesome partner John, who runs Laziest Vegans and Vegan Omaha). Somehow it worked out that over the course of her visit, we also had dinner at Harmony, ambled around Young Blood Gallery, and shared lunch today at Dulce Vegan.

Were this high school, I’d be the melting equivalent of a bespectacled, braces-suffering, Lord-of-the-Rings-lovin’, library-dwellin’, Magic the Gathering-playin’ dweeb who just got asked to go for (vegan)milkshakes with the captain of the track team. And, at least at the signing, I totally felt like that. It was kind of how I felt when I met Lagusta – steeling myself as I parked, curling my toes as I walked through the door, biting my lip as I asked Maresa and finally, trying not to tremble too much as I spoke. (And then we ended up hanging out a lot too – maybe I’m not as awful as I think?) This is what you people do to me!

'Twas a blur, really.

And why not? How does one not feel a little crazy sitting across from the person who taught you, through her books, to roast vegetables? To make scones? To marinate tofu? To press tofu? To make cookies? Pad thai? Hummus? – and not feel a little anxious? How is it possible to play it cool when you’re sharing Chinese food family-style with someone whose recipes and anecdotes you’ve memorized (from reading them so often); whose books you’ve given as gifts; whose name is mentioned so frequently on your little nobody blog than it’s giant in the tag cloud? (Look to the right. —>) At the risk of sounding maudlin, Isa is all of these things and so many more – how could I contain my little bursting-with-joy heart?

Answer: I couldn’t! I didn’t! I unabashedly still don’t! (Okay, maybe a little abashedly – I’m still working on that little low-self-esteem thing.)

I brought Lagusta's tart, made with Taza chocolate. Published in Vegan Pie in the Sky by Isa & Terri Romero.

Though I run a little meal delivery now and have a decent blog following, I’m still that same geeky girl who adores her teachers. I fiercely look up to anyone who gives of herself – through a blog, books, video tutorials, long phone calls, or else – for the sake of others. I can’t think of anyone who has done this for veganism more than Isa. (Lagusta said something similar – a zillion times better - here.) From providing the best forum for recipe-swappers, cookbook-reviewers, and vegan gossip; to coining the term “baketivism“ and raising hundreds of thousands of dollars for good causes; to yes, teaching us all how to make a decent scone: can you even imagine where we’d be without her?

With "The Chubby Vegan" John

So yeah. I trembled a bit, smiled wonkily, and tried not to float away on a little cloud. I soothed myself with the acknowledgment that we’re all in this together. As I said to a friend recently: we exist to inspire one another. Standing around in a tight little circle mean-mugging the shiny smiley people might feel superior for a minute, but it doesn’t make our shared world any better and it sure as fuck doesn’t save any animals. Reality is relational: none of us can do anything without the generous and undeserved help of others. Acting like you’ve somehow managed to do without just makes you look like an ass.

Being with Isa, like hanging with Lagusta this summer, steeled my resolve towards sharing what I know and opening myself to others even when it’s inconvenient. It reminds me that a big heart enables extraordinary things, and that at the end of the day, I’ll always prefer to share my straw with an activist. So press on, friends! Goofy, giddy, giving big hugs and big ups, palm against palm – today, tomorrow, always.