Well, that's easy! me... (ahem)
So, here it is, the 3rd freakin' week of July. I say it every year... oh hell, everyone says it every year... summers go by way too quickly.
Since my last post:
1) We have gone to Boston for our anniversary... and tried several vegan restaurants, all varying in levels of fantasticness. My fav was Addis Red Sea Ethiopian restaurant. Neither Bo nor I had ever eaten Ethiopian, but once we got used to the tiny little chairs, the table, the lack of utensils, we were fine! On a scale from 1 to 5, I'd give it a 3.75. I'd def go back, I just may order differently. Others that we tried include Grezzo (raw, vegan food, very good, phenomenal dessert but over priced) and The Grasshopper, which was ok, but not outstanding.
2) I went to Vermont for the Brewer's Fest in Burlington. I had fun, it was good seeing old friends from my previous life.
I've also been cooking, reading and berry picking!
As far as cooking is concerned, I have been doing a lot of experimenting with items I pick up at the farmer's markets as well as recipes from my newest cookbooks. My garden has also come alive with zucchini! I made a vegan zucchini bread, which was fanfreakintastic, recipe originating from The Joy of Vegan Baking. I resist the urge to freely post a recipe, because I want you to buy the books and support the folks who work so hard to put them together, but that being said, if you send me an e-mail, I will send you the recipe... but I still think you should buy the book! I also made some fried plantains with black bean dipping sauce from one of my other fav cookbooks from Cafe Sunflower. I have pictures of neither because, well, I am still a blogger in training and it does not always occur to me to take pictures... I'll get better, I promise.
On to reading... at the suggestion of the parents of a friend of mine, I am now reading The China Study and have been for a while. Truth be told, once I got back from ATL, I have not had a lot of time to read. But, I have the best of intentions of getting back at it this week. fantastic book, it'll change your life if you are open to it.
Berry picking... strawberries, raspberries and blueberries, oh my! I have a number of strawberries frozen and have made both raspberr
y and strawberry jam. The jams were a bit of a challenge. I'm off the white sugar and I will not use the artificial stuff (Splenda, Nutrasweet, etc) so what to sweeten the jam with? You need sugar for it to set. I have opted for turbinado sugar, but would be interested in suggestions of anyone has any.
Lastly, there are a few things that I have recently discovered and feel strongly about that I would like to share here:
So, here it is, the 3rd freakin' week of July. I say it every year... oh hell, everyone says it every year... summers go by way too quickly.
Since my last post:
1) We have gone to Boston for our anniversary... and tried several vegan restaurants, all varying in levels of fantasticness. My fav was Addis Red Sea Ethiopian restaurant. Neither Bo nor I had ever eaten Ethiopian, but once we got used to the tiny little chairs, the table, the lack of utensils, we were fine! On a scale from 1 to 5, I'd give it a 3.75. I'd def go back, I just may order differently. Others that we tried include Grezzo (raw, vegan food, very good, phenomenal dessert but over priced) and The Grasshopper, which was ok, but not outstanding.
2) I went to Vermont for the Brewer's Fest in Burlington. I had fun, it was good seeing old friends from my previous life.
I've also been cooking, reading and berry picking!
As far as cooking is concerned, I have been doing a lot of experimenting with items I pick up at the farmer's markets as well as recipes from my newest cookbooks. My garden has also come alive with zucchini! I made a vegan zucchini bread, which was fanfreakintastic, recipe originating from The Joy of Vegan Baking. I resist the urge to freely post a recipe, because I want you to buy the books and support the folks who work so hard to put them together, but that being said, if you send me an e-mail, I will send you the recipe... but I still think you should buy the book! I also made some fried plantains with black bean dipping sauce from one of my other fav cookbooks from Cafe Sunflower. I have pictures of neither because, well, I am still a blogger in training and it does not always occur to me to take pictures... I'll get better, I promise.
On to reading... at the suggestion of the parents of a friend of mine, I am now reading The China Study and have been for a while. Truth be told, once I got back from ATL, I have not had a lot of time to read. But, I have the best of intentions of getting back at it this week. fantastic book, it'll change your life if you are open to it.
Berry picking... strawberries, raspberries and blueberries, oh my! I have a number of strawberries frozen and have made both raspberr
y and strawberry jam. The jams were a bit of a challenge. I'm off the white sugar and I will not use the artificial stuff (Splenda, Nutrasweet, etc) so what to sweeten the jam with? You need sugar for it to set. I have opted for turbinado sugar, but would be interested in suggestions of anyone has any.Lastly, there are a few things that I have recently discovered and feel strongly about that I would like to share here:
- Blue Mango Veggie Burgers - very tasty, absolutely delicious
I think that's it... you are up-to-date. I have some serious cooking plans this week, so stay tuned for a more successful effort at picture taking and posting. - Maria & Ricardo's Tortilla Factory wraps - yummy, elastic-y, makes it easy to stuff 'em with the good stuff, then slam 'em in my panini press. I got Sundried Tomato... would be interested in knowing what other flavors they come in. I called the company and they aren't a lot of help as they sell through distributors and the guy I talked to told me they only had white and whole wheat... what?!? (no website that I found, but I bought them at Lois' Natural Marketplace in Scarborough)
- Healthy Living Market on Dorset St in Burlington, VT. They are kinda like a WFM, but are smaller, have a eat-in deli / cafe area and carry some really cool stuff that I have yet to see at WFM... like lots (10 maybe) of different flavored tofu / tempeh...BBQ was the only one I can recall but they all looked fantastic. Their bulk area was also way cooler with more choices for grains and pilafs.
Well, I believe that concludes my rambling. Stay tuned as I have some serious cooking plans this week and I will be more diligent about my pictures.
Ciao!
July 24, 2008 at 9:24 AM
Wow! That jam looks so delicious! And thank you for all the info on vegan eats in Boston!
July 25, 2008 at 10:54 PM
You might look into using Fructose (fruit sugar) as it is naturally occuring in the fruit anyway. You should be able to find it at Whole Foods and/or health food stores. Just be careful with using too much if you have issues with blood sugar.
You could also look into honey which is a mix of glucose and fructose. Not sure if the pectin will have issues with it.
July 26, 2008 at 10:10 AM
I have done some more research and I found out that the pectin they sell in grocery store is a lower quality pectin whic is why it is so specific on using certain types of sugar and in specific HUGE quantities. I read about Pomona's Universal Pectin which is different in that it is calcium dependant, not sugar dependant. This means I should be able to use less sugar as well as alernative forms of sugar such as fructose or agave. I'm going to give it a shot! Thanks for your suggestions!