Gothic Granola

All I see are [rai]sins.

“What does the Q stand for?” is at the top of my FAQ about Q. Especially since I work in a public place, people either see the tattoo on my arm or see my nametag. Yes, it’s my legal name. No, it doesn’t stand for anything, hence no period after the letter. Read here and here for details.

Soup is a tradition for Solstice (OK, so, fine--a tradition of two years).   The wife of one of my spiritual mothers makes a delicious vegan bean soup for their Solstice party.   It’s fortification for the late-night labyrinth walking and firepit gathering. I brought the soup described below to new friends’ house and one of them suggested I bring it to their Solstice party.  It’s a bright, sturdy soup to celebrate the return of the light.

It's gratitude season, folks. I am grateful for greens and the wonderful people who grow them, especially the farmers at the farmers market.

In 2001, my brother and I invented Minapoo Mag , the official magazine of da cat family (of which there are 282 members with my acquisition of Jaeger). Meet Jaeger, named after the protagonist in Carla Speed McNeil’s Finder comic series. Anyway, all the cats collaboratively write Mina’s egocentric magazine.  The advice columnist is Mina’s son, Scamp, who recently turned 17.  Scamp’s not so good wit spellin’ (in the same way that da Ownie Q is not good wit crowds, srsly).  He’s one half of Da Inventor Brudderz—Scamp and Pepper—the kitties responsible for Seussian innovations in KittyWorld.

Kale donuts.   You heard it from Esther at A, B, C, Vegan first. Not only did I make shelf-stable breakfast treats for the work conference at which I will be working when this is posted, but I also made these to weather Frankenstorm!  The weather’s a birthday present, I guess.  The past six or seven years I have seen snow on my birthday; this year it’s a hurricane.

Part III of III on vegan and gluten-free beer If it doesn’t have tomatoes, is it still chilli?  According to this needs-citations-article , chilli (yep, I’m using the UK spelling for a New World dish) involves tomatoes.

Final recipe: I attended a cooking class on Tuesday at the Whole Foods in Alexandria, and even if I hadn’t gone to the class, I would’ve had a successful WF trip.  I picked up this “Meals for Four under $15” flyer, and the Kale Pad Thai by Chrissy Bender made a perfect “this-is-my-real-work” supper after work on Friday.

This is Pants

Sometimes I see a recipe or make something and have a conviction that it’s a dish for someone I know.  Even if I’m not going to see him or her, I  know  that s/he will enjoy this dish.  Sometimes it’s obvious based on people’s preferences (chocolate cookies for my chocolate-loving mother, pudding for my aunt), but sometimes it’s more obscure.

Brack brack brack.  I’ve made this once every year for the past two years.  This year, I made Irish tea brack to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day, and I made it gluten-free.

Another dish I used  made in order to avoid schoolwork. But hey, making healthy food and eating your greens is better than sitting in Firestone all day, no?

College food!  Burn-your-face-off greens.

For the first time in a long time (OK, maybe four years), I had a holiday weekend where I could come back to work and say, ZOMG, I had an awesome holiday weekend! if anyone cared to ask.  Usually when you say you had a better-than-average one, people don’t want to listen (or they don't have time).

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?).