Always Coming, Never Here

I just made AMAZING vegan Chiggin(TM) salad.

2 pkg tempeh
2 c no-chicken broth
1 c water
salt & pepper
1 T curry powder
1 t mustard powder
4 T Veganaise
1/2 c jalepenos, chopped
1/2 c sweet pickles, chopped
1 T Vegan parmesean (sesame seeds, salt, nutritional yeast)

Put the broth and water in a saucepan, and mix in the spices.
Break the tempeh into quarters, and bring the broth to a boil.
After reaching boil, break the tempeh up a little more with a wooden spoon, then bring to a medium simmer.
Continue simmering and breaking the tempeh up while it absorbs the broth - when it is mostly soft, turn off heat and let cool.
Drain cooled tempeh.
Mix in bowl with Veganaise, pickles, and jalepenos.
Spinkle on and stir in the vegan parmesean.


I'm enjoying some right now with tofutti cheese and spinach leaves on sunflower seed bread. I wish I could share it with you all. YUM!

[EDIT: Forgot to mention... this makes like eight sandwiches worth of salad, at least.]

Super Bowl Mushroom Supreme

1 round vegan loaf of bread
3 medium sized portobello mushrooms
1/3 c rice wine vinegar
1/4 c soy sauce
2 T garlic
2 T olive oil
2 apples
1/2 c maple syrup
watercress, lettuce, or other not too bitter greens

Create marinade in ziploc bag with soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, garlic, and olive oil. Remove stems from mushrooms, and throw them in with marinade for about 10-15 minutes. Wash greens, place on paper towel, and season them with salt and pepper (both sides). Core apples, slice them into rounds and dip them into the maple syrup. Remove mushrooms from bag and broil them about 4 minutes per side until they are roasted. Layer all ingredients in sandwich and enjoy!

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The Late Night Snack

1 8" tortilla
3 cherry tomatoes
2 T Earth Balance soy butter
1/2 t Oregano
2 slices vegan cheese
2 large fresh basil leaves
4 T hummus

Heat frying pan to medium low, and warm tortilla on both sides until soft. Melt butter, then chop the cherry tomatoes in quarters and add to pan - season with salt and pepper, and add oregano. Spread hummus on two sides of tortilla, then lay basil leaves on hummus. After the tomatoes have sweated some, spatula the tomatoes into a rectangle and throw cheese on top to melt. Add cheese and tomatoes to wrap, roll up and eat!

This holiday week was pretty memorable - I actually went to three Thanksgiving celebrations over the course of seven days.

First up was the Sunday D&D session, where my housemate prepared the meal for the gaming group that comes to their house on a biweekly basis. She made turkey, stuffing, green bean casserole, dinner rolls, and canned cranberry sauce. The stuffing was a modified version of the Caprio family stuffing recipe that I had at all my childhood Thanksgiving dinners. It was a good repast, and it was fun having a meal with all those folks (even though the nine of us were just kind of standing around in the kitchen). Apple pie and pumpkin pie for dessert.

Second was the journey to Connecticut and Thanksgiving, Caprio style. My mom and dad made dinner for us and my paternal grandmother and maternal great-grandmother. A small dinner, since my sisters went to Indiana to visit in-laws for the holiday. Mom did a great job with the stuffing - she went with the traditional recipe using Arnold's cornbread stuffing, thyme, sage, and browned hamburger instead of sausage. The first course, naturally, was homemade manicotti... man, I love those. They come out so thick and tasty... I'd never order manicotti, even in the best Italian restaurant, because I know my folks make it better. Mom also made my Aunt Millie's stuffed yams (a recipe I have to add to the online archive) and they came out deliciously. Oh, and lest I forget - the stuffed artichokes?? Man, those rocked. So we had manicotti, stuffed artichokes, stuffing, stuffed yams, turkey & gravy, canned cranberry sauce, and dinner rolls and italian bread. Homemade cheesecake for dessert. Phew!

Last, but not even remotely least, Saturday night's dinner and holiday crafts party at lionlady's! What an awesome awesome time we had - fourteen of us, I think. lionlady and buddhagrrl were the cooks (with help from lionlady's sister), and they prepared an incredible, amazing meal. The turkey and gravy were completely phenomenal, with stuffing prepared inside and outside of the turkey (everyone ate the stuffing that was inside, of course).

I can never stay out of the kitchen, so I made my own contribution by preparing the mashed potatoes. They were a hit - but all I really did was salt and pepper the potatoes (always season!) and add ten tablespoons of butter, three quarters of a cup of milk, and a whole lot of mashing action. There were easily four quarts of mashed potatoes for fourteen people, but they got reduced to about a cup or two, even with all that other food! *proud*

Third Thanksgiving was composed of turkey and gravy, stuffing, candied yams, mashed potatoes, steamed kale with garlic, and asparagus (but no cranberry sauce this time! oh well). Apple, blueberry, and pumpkin pie for dessert.

I'm going to have to be real good with my caloric intake this week. :)

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Unrelated side note: I'm still not moved into my new apartment in Worcester yet. The heating oil company is giving the landlord a hard time, they apparently missed three appointments with him all last week. Hopefully they'll pick up the ball and set things up Monday or Tuesday... as soon as that's all set, I'll have heat and hot water. Next step will be updating my bedroom!