Gothic Granola

We survived hurricane Irene.  I’d like to think this pie had something to do with our survival, but that would be an egotistical fiction since we did not lose power for more than two or three hours on Saturday night.  Nevertheless, this chocolate pie improved my aunt and uncle’s and my morale once they returned from golf on Saturday afternoon.  I baked this on Friday after work because I figured pie would be tastier than unbaked piecrust and straight up silken tofu if we lost power.

Long time, no blog.  My supper today was an updated or healthified version of a dish floating around in my family, called Hot Dogs, Peppers, Potatoes, and Onions.  The original’s basically all of those ingredients, sautéed and steamed and served with catsup.  I’m not a fan of two taste sensations—salty and oily—and my modifications do away with the oil and extra salt, instead replacing those with spice.  The curry powder I recently purchased is spicy, and of course, you are free to spice or not spice to your palate’s preference.  Sweet potatoes are a good source of vitamin A (tell me that’s common knowledge, eh?).

Then for dessert on that epic Saturday (actually, Sunday won the title of epic day of that weekend, but that’s another story), I made a blueberry pie. My aunt asked me if I could make a vegan, gluten-free blueberry pie since blueberries were on sale, and I said, “Sure!  I can figure it out.” Yarrr, blueberry hands!

My mom used to make these pasta nests for Christmas Eve dinner.  I made a tahini soup without garlic and onion earlier this summer, and its lemony flavour reminded me of pasta nests.  Seeing as how the original pasta nest recipe was glutinous, cheesy, and eggy, I took a stab at making it fit my nutritional and ethical specifications.  Since the lemon juice curdles the tofu, the cheezy sauce has an eggy texture.  I think my updated version tastes similar, if not better, than the original. Fighting words, I know.

Doing the teaser is tough.  The teaser, in case you’ve never tried Pilates, is a move where a person balances on hir sacrum, legs and arms up at a forty-five-degree angle, and spine-rolls up and down to complete that pose using the powerhouse/core/abdominal muscles only.  I was better at it when I was recovering from surgery almost a year ago (T-minus four days, in fact, from today) since all I was allowed to do was Pilates and other stationary exercises. Hey look, I match my towels!