This week, as best I remember it: Feb 26-Mar 4

Monday, February 26
I went to see Marcellus Hall at the Lakeside Lounge with Jess and Zman. Marcellus Hall was vocalist/ guitarist in the band Railroad Jerk, which I was obsessed with in high school and miss since they dissolved back in '96. Afterwards, Jess and I had dinner at Life cafe, then took a cab home. (Ballin'!)

Tuesday, February 27
I wasn't feeling emotionally or physically well again and I had like a million things to do. In the evening I baked these lemon coconut raisin scones and felt a little better. Mmm...Cooking as therapy!



Wednesday, February 28
The weather was so beautiful; I regret that I didn't make it out until 5:30! April came over for dinner. I had planned on making butternut squash risotto, but they didn't have any Arborio rice in the supermarket. I ended up making broccoli and tofu spicy peanut stir fry with couscous. Jessica came home early too, so it was so nice to hang out with them both and "girl talk." April is so funny and cute--and boy crazy, she couldn't stop talking about her crush!

Thursday, March 1
In an effort to do something with my life while I still have it, I sewed an apron this morning. I used my old bathrobe and a supercute bed sheet from Goodwill. Though it was intended to be a very simple and quick project, my sketchy "measure once, cut once" sewing ethic added at least two hours to the entire process. All in all, I'm pleased with the apron and next time I set out to make an apron I have a clear picture of how to construct it. I can't wait to get cookin'!





Friday, March 2
I passed the time while temping by reading about the "white devil," processed sugar. Apparently sugar is seriously bad for you. Not just in a playful "you'll get cavities and a fat ass" kind of way. I'm talkin' in a super evil, fuck up your immune system and life kinda way.

Here are a few choice facts about sugar that I discovered on LagustasLuscious.com under the essay How to Eat.

• It lessens germ-killing ability in the body for up to 5 hours because it reduces the production of antibodies.
• It interferes with the transport of vitamin c (don't eat sugar when you're sick!).
• In order to deal with the wreckage brought on by sugar, the body depletes its own store of vitamins, minerals and enzymes. Without these the body cannot function property, for example, anemia can result from the body stripping itself of iron.

Lagusta explains the cause for sugar addiction:

First, a word on sugar cravings: if you are not getting enough protein, you can crave sugar because protein and sugar are on opposite ends of the food spectrum and therefore balance each other out (white sugar is 99.5% carbs, whereas proteins like meat are almost all protein and fats and water and no carbs. This is why 3- or 5-grain tempeh is a complete protein -- it has carbs and protein!). This is why everyone knows some schmuck who can eat lots of steak and lots of refined sugars and can sort of survive OK, until he has a heart attack and dies, of course. But for you, my little vegan love, sugar will wreck you, because most likely you're not getting a ton of protein (which, is better for you, as too much protein is not a good thing). Sugar addiction is stronger in low protein diets and in low calorie diets -- if you're not getting enough calories, your body craves something simple it can digest quickly -- refined sugar fits the bill perfectly. Ditto with not getting enough complex carbs. BUT the same is true if you're getting too much protein and not enough complex carbs -- you've swung over to the other side of the spectrum and will again crave the white devil. If you're dehydrated you might crave sugar, so drink some water before you go have a pint of rice dream ice cream. If you're eating really refined, fragmented foods you might crave sugar because you are not getting enough whole foods and your body is searching for fulfillment. If you're macrobiotic and are getting too many contractive foods (meat, salt, miso, grains, nuts, sea vegs) you might crave expansive things like drugs, alcohol, fruit, tea, coffee, and sugar and veggies. If you eat enough whole grains and quality protein sources you will not crave sugar as much.

Suddenly my life made sense! I'm sick all the time because of all the refined sugar flowing through my veins. Determined to turn over a new leaf, I decided to eschew sugar for good. Despite my minor setback of eating a handful of jelly beans a few hours later, I feel really empowered and am sure I can kiss sugar goodbye. I have to.

After work, Sabrina and I went over to Cassandra's place for a Taco Benefit Party to support the SHAC 7. Cass can cook! I enjoyed a very tasty chorizo taco, marvelous mexican rice, and some chocolate cake with maple and chocolate frosting. I probably shouldn't have had the cake given my recent commitment to my health, but there's always tomorrow and the day after.

Saturday, March 3
A mystery. I did make this fantastic dinner of black-eyed peas, ginger coconut rice, tostones, and a tasty garnish of sliced green peppers. I followed Madhur Jaffrey's recipe for Trinidadian Spiced Black-Eyed Peas from the World Vegetarian cookbook and Nava Atlas' recipe for Ginger Coconut Rice from The Vegetarian Five-Ingredient Gourmet.



Sunday, March 4
We held a SuperVegan potluck brunch/ board meeting at Jason and Susie's place. I made my fantastic Tropical (French) Toast. Laura made roasted root veggies. Susie made her classic meat wad (see Friday, Jan 26). Jason made his signature DaSalad and a tofu-herb scramble. Working is so delicious!


Tropical (French) Toast by me!


Tofu-Herb Scramble by Jason Das!


DaSalad by Jason Das!


Roasted Root Veggies by Laura!


Meat Wad by Susie!

This week, as best I remember it: Feb 19-Feb 25

Monday, February 19
President's Day! No work! Whoo Hoo! Wait, I don't have job. Holidays like this are such a rip off. You'd think they'd at least give you double unemployment benefits for Holidays or something.

Holiday or not, this was not the most exciting day ever. Jessica and I took Lucy to the Humane Society of NYC vet for her final booster shot. We then spent the remainder of the day recovering from the horrendously cold weather--Jessica studied and I did stuff on the 'puter.

Tuesday, February 20
Susie and I met up for dinner at Curly's. (Note to reader: Do not ever eat their Corn Chowder.) We then proceeded to Drop Off Service for a release party for the Third issue of Syncopated, which features a great essay and drawing by Susie. Jason joined us at some point too. There was free beer from Brooklyn's Sixpoint Craft Ales--and everyone knows how I love free beer--so I ended up getting buzzed (okay, drunk) after only two pints. That kinda sucked. Somehow, I managed to follow Jason (who met us at DOS later) to Mercury Lounge, where one of his Swedish friends performed with two bands, back-to-back. I don't remember much, but I think I enjoyed myself. I mean, April was there, so how could I not have had a good time. I have to say, I'm a fan of Jason's exes. It almost makes being friend with Jason worth it. (Heh heh.) Susie and April are tops!

Wednesday, February 21
Wednesday morning it became apparent that very painful headache I'd been dealing with for the past five days was not the result of my brain tumor--I had a cold. I'm sort of relieved about this especially since it means that it won't feel like my left eyeball is trying to annex from my skull forever, but I'm bummed that it also means no one will believe me when I say I have a tumor. I still have my doubts that the lump my doctor described as a benign bony growth is not something way more dangerous. I guess you'll have to keep reading this blog to find out what happens. It may be just a matter of months before I end up here.

Despite being sick, I made it out to Vegetarian Dim Sum for Jason's birthday dinner. I ate my weight in Chinese Food and homemade cupcakes (thanks Susie). It was a blast!

Thursday, February 22 & Friday, February 23
Nothing so rife with excess is horrible except for a cold. I spent these days doing lots of the following: blowing my nose, sleeping, sucking Cold Ease, drinking water, and peeing. The only fun excessive thing I did was watch disk 3 of Arrested Development Season 1 and eat about a pound of the world's best kettle corn on Friday.

At 11:40pm Jessica and I got a call from Philip who had taken Sophie the House Guest from Hell (see Friday, February 2) in a few weeks ago. Apparently, her behavior hasn't improved over at his place and he's asked her to leave the next day. He wants us to come over to his place when she leaves the next morning. This is impossible so I compromise by letting him know I'll talk to her. I call Sophie and make sure that she knows he wants her out before noon. She claims he's a raging drunkard, but it seems like she's willing to go.

Saturday, February 24
Life is great! I began to feel much better and my headache finally dissipated. I spent the morning studying for my Women's Studies quiz and rocking out to Seven Year Bitch's Sick 'Em album.

Things hit a low point when I learn there was some drama around Sophie's exit from Philip's home. I don't wanna get into it, but key phrases are: police, jail, $200 owed, not my problem.

The rest of my day was a blast. I continued the tough girl music theme of the day by dancing along to L7's Hungry for Stink. "Andres" is the best song in the world to dance The Robot to! I did some organizing. I ate hot dogs and beans for lunch and then had junk food from Curly's for dinner. (God, I love making wise food choices.) I even re-watched some episodes of Arrested Development. What a great day!

Sunday, February 25
We Core Members group for the Bed-Stuy CSA had our first meeting ever at Bread Stuy. I'm so psyched for this year. It's only the second year, and the first year with a Core Members group, so we don't have the restrains of precedents what we can do. Anything is possible and that's really exciting. As an extra bonus, a nice couple (Canek and Ren) that I met at Time's Up is in the group and lives in the 'hood. Yay!

After the meeting I stopped by Sabrina and Patrina's place and watched Daughters of the Dust with their film group. 'Trina cooked up some delicious South Carolina style gumbo to go with the theme of the movie, which is set in the Gulla Islands.

When I left their place the was a snow storm in progress and I could barely see. As a result, I lost track of the blocks I was walking and missed my bus stop. I figured it was just as well, since I don't live too far from the twins' place and I could use the exercise. Fast forward thirty minutes and I'm still walking and unsure if I am anywhere near home since every block looks the same when all the homes and my glasses are covered in snow. (The faulty directions I finally brought myself to ask from a driver didn't help either!) Finally I recognised Lexington Street and realised I was not only really far from home but in the heart of the ghetto. Yikes! Somehow I made it home alive.

This week, as best I remember it: Feb 12-Feb 18

I would like to sum up the week that's passed as boring and full of moments that could be judged as morbidly insignificant (even when using the standards of this blog). I'll just post the highlights and spare you the super boring stuff.

Monday, February 12
I returned to the financy place to work as a receptionist. As a temp, it's always nice to be back where I know everyone but there weren't any eccentric visitors or callers so things were kind of lame.

For dinner, I cooked up Indian-Spiced Sweet Potato Potpie from my favorite cookbook, The Vegetarian Meat and Potatoes Cookbook. I also prepared ginger snaps for dessert. I can't get enough of those cookies!




Tuesday, February 13, Wednesday, February 14, & Thursday, February 15
Temping. Eating. Sleeping. Chores. Boring. Boring. Boring.

Well, one fun thing happened on Wednesday: I caught Somethin' (of Flavor of Love fame) on MTV's Date My Mom. Good to know she's not letting a little rouge turd stop her from finding true love via the teen television circuit.

Friday, February 16
Susie, Josh, and I tagged along with April to a V-day party in Williamsburg. They had some a tasty variety of snacks including pink heart shaped popcorn balls, but (to April's lament) the boy population, though large, was not as delicious. How is it possible that someone could have so many guy friends and not a single cute one? I smell conspiracy.

Still, the evening wasn't a complete loss. The party picked up about 10 minutes before we left. The hostesses finally got a clue and turned off the radio that was tuned to Power 105 and put on some albums. I had the time of my life dancing to songs from Thriller in my coat and thermals. It was hot!

Saturday, February 17
Jazz and I met up for lunch and a blogging tutorial at Soy Luck Club, then I went shopping and bought these great shoes at Strawberry. I know they're sort of tacky, but I love, love, love leopard print and am thrilled to have found heels I can walk in.



Sunday, February 18
Jessica and I don't really spend that much waking time together because she works full time, goes to school three evenings out of the week, and spends Friday nights and Saturdays with her little sister. As a result, Sundays are pretty special in general and this Sunday in particular was one of the nicest days we've had together in a while. We "slept in" and then went to Caravan of Dreams for brunch. Afterwards, we got our eyebrows threaded and then we hung out at Bluestockings (where I met a raw chef who shared a very complicated French Toast recipe with me). Later we walked over to Angelika where we saw The Lives of Others in a very packed house. The movie was soooo good! Our final stop was a late dinner at Red Bamboo.

New Beloved Binge Video!

I heart Beloved Binge and I double heart their Valentine's Day video, "Love Makes You Fat". Check it!

This weekend, as best I remember it: Feb 9-Feb 11

Friday, February 9
My temp assignment at the bank copy shop of horrors continues. It's much better though, now that I know I won't be returning next week. I'll be going back to my sweet cushy receptionist spot at the financy place.

After work, I have dinner at Red Bamboo Brooklyn with Susie, Jason Das, Patrick, Benjamin, April, Debra, and Josh. Tons of fun! It was the best time that I've had in a long time. For some reason, Josh mistakenly thinks I'm drunk. That happens to me a lot. I know I'm not the driest person alive, but c'mon! I'm just naturally giggly and loud.

Saturday, February 10
Lucy is crazy about Chinese food leftovers!



Sabrina and I attend a double birthday party for a friend and her jokester husband. I have a great time until the husband makes a habit of kissing my head and announcing very loudly that he has a crush on me. I'm sure he thinks this is all very funny since he has enough alcohol in his system to fuel a Segue, but it's terribly embarrassing for me. I'm still recovering.

Sunday, February 11
Jessica and I have brunch at Caravan of Dreams and sit at the coveted lovers' bench. There are even more couples there than usual, and I find myself nauseated even though I am in a relationship. But it may have something to do with the Yuppie mother changing her baby's diaper on the bench just two seats away from me. I'm sure she thinks everything about her baby is wonderful, but I don't need to see the end result of soy formula and applesauce over brunch. Who let that baby in here anyway?!

The highlight of the day happens at 9:30 when Jessica unveils the Valentine's Day secret she's been keeping for 3 weeks--Kiki & Herb! That's right, we catch the dynamic duo at Joe's Pub! Best present ever!

Remembrance of things past: Feb 2-Feb 8

Friday, February 2
No temp assignment so I'm stuck at home with the house guest from hell! She's really not that terrible. I mean, she hasn't sparked a crack pipe or invited neighborhood thugs over for a gangbang. Still, I am counting the seconds until our guest leaves and I know my pets are too. She's been treating my cats like left handed, redhead stepchildren--locking them out of the living room, putting their liter box in the kitchen (!), and complaining about them touching the stuff she leaves hanging around. Doesn't she realise this is their apartment and not hers? If you don't like cats why would you ever think of entering a one-bedroom apartment ruled by four of them? I'm tempted to get WWF on her ass and dump her out onto the mean streets of Brooklyn (Nobody puts kitty in a corner!), but instead I did that stupid girl thing and just pretended she didn't exist.

As an escape the emotional turmoil caused by seeing my little ones mistreated and to continue my adventures in deep frying (see Thursday, Feb 1), I make a zepole-donut hybrid I like to call "Zeponuts", following the Cop Shop Special donut recipe from Please Don't Feed the Bears. I diverge from the recipe by adding [in retrospect, copious amounts of] vanilla and almond extract, which makes my apartment smell like cheap men's cologne, but also gives the zeponuts that somethin' special. I cover half with powder sugar and the other half with a powdered sugar/cinnamon combo. [I'll post my altered recipe here later so you guys can make it.] The entire process took less than 30 minutes! The zeponuts are great except I pass out on the couch after eating only 3 due to the high fat content.

Later that evening, I go to this superfancy club in Chelsea to celebrate Anne's birthday. My hipster, err..blipster, homohobo chic doesn't really fit in with all the black and sparkly outfits and the $12 drinks definitely don't fit into my budget, so I can't say I'm having the time of my life but it's good to get out and see friends. I give Anne a bunch of Zeponuts and she writes me the next day to tell me she ate one even after it fell on the floor of her lobby! I don't think a chef could receive a higher compliment.

Saturday, February 3
Today is the first meeting of my Intro to Women Studies class. Suddenly the world makes sense! I'm hip to The Man, man!

After class I have the most wonderful Spinach and Pesto tofu omelet at Caravan of Dreams . I love dining alone since I can read and take forever to eat so this brunch should have been perfect, except it wasn't. Because I'm by myself and the place is super busy they put me at a crappy aisle table where my table is constantly knocked about by a portly waitress each time one of the bourgeois May-December couples eating at the coveted bench seats needs a napkin or water refill.

My spirits are lifted when I spot Reverend Billy and the Church of Stop Shopping protesting the Astor Place Starbucks...err, make that one of the Astor Place Starbucks. It is such a fun and creative spectacle, I can't help but be jealous. (Why are so many AR protests complete bores?). Unfortunately, Rev. Billy was taken away by the police after he and his congregation entered the coffee shop singing, clapping, and waving anti-Starbucks signs.



There was also a congregationless, Pro-Starbucks preacher in a dirty white suit, let's call him Rev. Silly. I felt sorry for him not getting any attention, so I took his picture too.



This event immediately followed the protest to save Whole Earth Bakery from losing its lease, which Rev. Billy also lent his support to. Personally, I think the cookies and cakes at WEB are the stuff nightmares about vegan desserts are made of. I'd like to see the place shut down immediately and I bet a lot of chickens and cows share my sentiment. (Good riddance, hippies!) My girlfriend, however, feels differently--something about jobs, livelihood, gentrification, blah, blah, blah, boring. Gimme some sugar!

Sunday, February 4
My house guest leaves and I am so overjoyed that it doesn't even bother me that she left her dirty dishes in the sink. The cats are liberated!

Monday, February 5
Binge drinking and jello wrestling with Barack Obama in hopes of getting the promise of a seat on his cabinet.

I somehow find time to finish reading The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time.

Tuesday, February 6
I begin the temp job from hell except I don't know it yet. I spend most of the day laughing and gossiping with my new co-workers and occasionally stapling some papers. I'm a $13/hr cog in a wheel that is going to make this bank like a gazillion dollars. Apparently, they're selling a bunch of mortgages, some of which date back to 1870 and they need the files disassembled, scanned, copied, and reassembled. This needs to be done carefully since each documents we handle is "like touching several million dollars". The weird thing is each page feels like a few cents being painfully extracted from my lifeblood and spirit to me, but why split hairs.

After a day of working as an office drone, I need to do something creative. I bake ginger snaps to bring with me to Booklyn Open Salon. The event was kind of boring because people weren't that outgoing or friendly and since Susie flaked on me (sort of, I guess our plans were a bit ambiguous) which left me without a friend to be anti-social and cooler-than-thou with.

Wednesday, February 7
The supervisor at my temp job catches on that I didn't really do much yesterday and moves me from the rebinding team to the copy team. The copy room is hell on earth. It's windowless, loud, and stinks of chemicals. To make matters worse, I have to stand for the entire day! My only respite is a 45-minute lunch at The Green's. The Kosher Vegan Chinese food is great so I eat there every day of the assignment, but the service--Oi Vay! I think all the waitresses are dancing with Tina.

Thursday, February 8: Where where you when Anna Nicole Smith died?
The fumes from the copy room make me light headed and kill at least 20% of my brain cells. I get lost on the way home from work so that what should have been an easy 20 minute commute turns into 1 hour of anxiety--no kidding!

Scrabble Genius!

Dan and some wonderful woman whose name I can't remember completed this brilliant Scrabble board at Cassandra's Anti-Superbowl Party this Sunday. Way to use your fancy pants NYU education, Dude!

Just say "No": The new battlecry of the unemployed.

Today I woke up at 6:30am feeling perky, but with no place to go. I oftentimes find myself waking up or feeling sleepy at strange hours, hankering for food served only in a certain area of the city, and wanting to dress myself completely inappropriately for my day's errands. That's the downside of temping; the anxious feeling of being uncertain who's life I'll be living on any given day. Even worse is sometimes feeling afraid to live my own life as it is--formless--when I haven't any assignment.

As cliche as it is, our jobs really do define us. And when you have no permanent job...well, it's really up to you and how you wanna look at things. You can identify your lack of a position as the possession of infinite possibilities and feel totally liberated by this or you can see your lack of a position as the possession of infinite possibilities and feel totally fucking afraid. I tend to feel the later. Without the shackles of a job, I have no one to blame for my life not being the way I want it to. No longer can I blame The Man when I haven't blogged for days, crafted any new creatures for weeks, drawn for months, gone to the gym in a year, ever remembered to take my vitamins, or done whatever other thing I need/want to do.

Of course, it's ridiculous for me to believe that I'd be on top of all that just because I am without a regular 9-5 but how am I to convince myself of this when it's the story I've been telling myself since I was an angsty, artsy teenage just dying to burst through the shackles of Catholic school, my mom, and poverty? I don't know how to live without this tale, without this dichotomy of various social structures and institutions as my oppressor and myself as the oppressed. Here I am with a spare 8 hours a day, the support of a loving partner who looks after my needs, good friends, and wonderful companion animals, but I still ain't livin' the dream. What gives?

(Note: For those who've never been without work and have no reference point for thses feelings, view About Schmidt to get a basic idea of what I'm going through.)

I'm slowly realising that The Man keeping me from doing all those things I think I want/need to do is myself. So far it's been a very painful thing to understand. Perhaps the worst part is that I'm coming to find that I may be very different than the person I've been imagining myself as and attempting to cultivate. There's the very real possibility that a lot of the things that I thought I've just been putting off or been kept from doing are actually things I really don't have any desire for.

I don't wanna stay up all night writing about my feelings so I'll cut to the chase--Being unemployed (for me at least) is an exercise in saying "No". Saying "No" to the personal myth that being jobless is the ultimate freedom. Saying "No" to all the people who think that your time belongs to them "since you're not doing anything else." Saying "No" to those things you really thought you wanted to accomplish, those things that seemed like a good idea at the time, but aren't anymore (or maybe never were).

It's been hard for me to say no. My knee-jerk reaction is always to give people the answer they yearned for. I always wanted to say "Yes "and be positive and affirmative. But now I'm finding that if I say "No" or "I'm not sure" I actually give myself the opportunity to consider my priorities and think about what I'd like to be doing. Saying "No" isn't about my doing less; it's about my becoming more purposeful in every action. This is really scary since I hate to disappoint my friends and family, but I like to think it's something I have to go through to grow up and into the wonderful, sassy lady I'm meant to be.

This week, as best I remember it: Jan 26-Feb 1

Friday, January 26

Susie made the best seitan ever! She followed a recipe from Isa over at the Post Punk Kitchen. In ordinary circumstances, I would link to http://theppk.com/, which is their website. Unfortunately I can't do that since The PPK site has been down since last Thursday. I assume it has something to do with the site getting too many hits since a glorious article on the vegan chefs appeared in the Food & Dining section of the New York Times that morning. Ah, the painful price of fame!

Anyways, thank goodness Susie had the foresight/paranoid genius to print out the recipe in advance of getting down to the nitty gritty in the kitchen. Though Susie says the recipe was pretty easy to follow, the meaty loaf did take over two hours to prepare. Fortunately, I surfaced at her place just as the seitan was done boiling. Before being cooked, the seitan kinda looked like Meat Wad from Aqua Team Hunger Force, still it was super tasty. It was even better after Susie fried it up with some onions. Mmmm...God bless you Susie!

Saturday, January 27

Jessica, Sabrina and I saw Pan's Labyrinth at BAM. This is officially the second weirdest movie I've ever seen. (Twin Peaks being the weirdest--the midget gave it that competitive edge.) I may be permanently scarred.

Afterwards,us Mocha Majesties moved on to Jason Atkin's B-day party at Wai Cafe. There I ate my first salad of 2007, even though it featured raw tofu (gasp!) since it was the only decent thing to eat (imagine that!). Jason is quite the socialite with an awesome group of friends and great taste in cake, so it was totally worth enduring a green dinner.

Sunday, January 28

Being the broke and moody recluse that I am, I stayed in all day staring into space while my woman worked. Thankfully, Jessica earns enough money for us to stay on top of all the news that's fit to print. The NY Times article on Blipsters (black fans of indie rock), shone some light on a love that once had no name. Line Out's commentary pretty much sums it up.

My friend Sophie who is hails from Chicago but is here to study at Brooklyn College set up camp in my living room. (Email me if you've got need a roommate and I'll pass on the message to her.)

Monday, January 29

A total blur of unemployed bliss. Lots of What Not to Wear and random HGTV programs. At some point I attempted to do something with my life and hem my new pair of pants. This attempt made me realise that a stint on Project Runway is not in my future. It also left me with a deep reverence for my local cleaners, who had frustrated me with their lack of English skills in the past. Screw English, tailoring is the international language of love!

I also listened to El Oso for the first time at least a year. I forgot how wonderful this album is. Sadly, according to Wikipedia Soul Coughing broke up in 2000, after years of feuding over songwriting credits and publishing money. I miss this band so much. I actually coughed up cash to see them play at Irving Plaza back when I was 16 and twenty dollars translated into many painful hours of babysitting. Why must the fans suffer for their sins of greed?

Tuesday, January 30

I took my kitten Marty (aka Farty Marty) to the cheapo Humane Society clinic to get his diarrhea checked out; he also got a booster shot and AIDS test. Marty's mom was a pregnant teen we found wandering the streets of Bed-Stuy, so who knows--keep yr fingers crossed.

Later that afternoon, I saw The Queen at Sophie's prompting ("It's probably going to win an Academy Award"). Thank God the theater seats were comfy enough to allow me to sleep through most of this. Academy Award Nomination my ass!

In the evening, I attended Open Studio at Booklyn in Greenpoint for the first time. I learned how to do the Button Hole stitch, which is very similar to the Blanket Stitch used in embroidery and applique. It wasn't at all like this, still it was quite fun. I'm definitely a bookworm now and plan to go every Tuesday night. Anyone wanna join me?

Wednesday, January 31

Another recluse day rife with broken promises to visit friends. Sorry but I seriously think I'm suffering from agoraphobia (not to be confused with angoraphobia, which I also suffer from since I'm vegan and am a foster parent of the world's most wonderful goat)!

I did manage spend an hour preparing the most awesome meal of Whole-wheat Couscous and Chickpeas with Veggies. Here's my recipe:

• Dice 1/2 ginormous onion (or 1 whole medium-sized one), 5 cloves of garlic, 6 button mushrooms, and 1/2 huge green pepper.
• Saute above in olive oil over medium-high heat until onions are translucent.
• Add 2 diced carrots (or maybe more if you like sweet stuff and don't want any regrets).
• Add 1/2 to 1 whole yellow zucchini.
• Rinse, drain, and add one large can (about 19 oz) of chickpeas.
• Chop up 7-8 plum tomatoes. Add a bunch of tomato juice (about 1 cup) from the can too. You might also opt to not be a cheapo and spring the few extra cents to buy a can of diced tomatoes, which you could just dump into the pan, juice and all.
• Season according to my taste because I have a superior palate: lotsa cumin, many shakes of salt, several shakes of cardamom and coriander, a few shakes of turmeric, 1/8 tsp of cayenne, and a few shakes of black pepper.
• Cook over medium-low heat until carrots are sort of tender. This might take between 30 and 45 minutes and might also involve cooking the other veggies within an inch of their nutritional value, but it's totally delish. Be sure to add more tomato juice in small increments if things start getting dry while cooking. Burnt food is never tasty!
• Follow instructions to make couscous. Make sure you use Earth Balance to cook with your couscous. The buttery flavor is worth the extra calories.
• This serves 3-4 hungry people.
  

Thursday, February 1

Today's lesson in temping is: Temping as a receptionist is fun and a great way to chronicle your week while still earning money!

Today's other lesson in temping is: Being Jewish is rad! I just picked up lunch for one of the employees here and it came in a sealed paper tote bag. One seal had the circled red K on it and the other seal had the name of the rabbi who certified it and a number you could call if you suspected tampering! How awesome is that! They need to make one of those things for vegans. I guess I'll move on to putting that into action, once I'm done organizing my Jewish brethren behind my class action lawsuit against Christians for stealing our religion to make some crappy spin off that they cash in on at the end of the year.

Today's lesson in temping is also: You can't judge a book by it's cover. I just met the seemingly most straight-laced, super corporate looking guy and apparently he is the person behind the donut fansite: Protectors of the Krispy Kreme Brand. Had I not met this clean cut guy, I would have imagined its author to be either a more portly incarnation of Al Bundy or a cop. Don't I have donut on my face!

For the record, while KK Donuts are Kosher they are not vegan, so I won't be eating them anytime soon. Still, they are the only non-vegan food that not only fails to repulse me, but actually makes me drool whenever I am downwind of one of their storefronts. We really need a Mighty O or Vegan Treats bakery here in NYC. Those hippy donuts available at Whole Foods are okay, but they don't truly satisfy the crazed fat-lust you get when you really want a donut.

Tonight I made another kick-ass dinner. This time it was Eggplants with Scallion-Tomato Sauce. This dish took about an hour and a half to prepare (I'm a very slow cook) and was inspired by a recipe from the goddess Madhur Jaffrey's World Vegetarian. I had to alter it a bit to fit the ingredients I had in my fridge. Fortunately for you, this means I can blog the recipe.

• 1 medium purple eggplant cut into one inch chunks
  
• salt

• 1/2 large green pepper, coarsely chopped
  
• 4 hearty scallions, coarsely chopped
  
• 5 garlic cloves
• 1/4 tsp turmeric
• 1/2 tsp cayenne
• 3 tsp canola oil
• 5 plum tomatoes (I used the canned ones left over from Wednesday night)
• 1/2 tsp salt
  

• enough canola oil to deep fry (I used a small pan so a little less than 2 cups sufficed.)

1. Put eggplant into a bowl. Lightly sprinkle salt evenly over the top. Move around a bit. Lightly salt some more so that you get the ones that weren't on top before. Let it sit for 30 minutes.
   
2. Meanwhile make the sauce in a food processor or blender. Blend green pepper, scallions, garlic, turmeric, cayenne, and 4 tbsp water until it doesn't have any large bits and looks like some weird vitality drink.
3. Put 3 tbsp oil in large frying pan and set over medium-high heat. When hot, put in the sauce. Fry, stiring ever minute or so, until the sauce loses most of it's moisture (between 7 and 10 minutes).
   
4. While that's going on, begin to heat up the 2 cups of oil for deep frying the eggplants. Use high heat. Also gently pat down the eggplants to get most of the moisture off in preparation for frying.
   
5. Add tomatoes to sauce and stir and fry for about 5 more minutes.
6. Place some eggplants in the oil for deep frying once it's very hot. Don't put so much in that they're crowded and piled upon each other. Accept that you'll have to do another batch.
   
7. Add the salt and 1/2 cup water to sauce. Turn heat down to low, cover (if you have one: I don't so I didn't), and simmer for 4 minutes. Take off heat and set aside.
   
8. Once the deep frying eggplants are a deep golden brown, remove them from the pan with a slotted spoon. Drain on papertowels. Now deep fry the rest of the eggplant following the same cooking instructions.
9. Set the sauce over medium heat. Once it's hot, gently fold the eggplants into the sauce.
10. Serve with couscous and falafel (like I did) or rice and a bean or tofu dish (as the goddess recommends). This served two very hungry people.