Semi-huge update

Okay, so this is day three of trying to post this blog entry. My laptop is having some serious issues so I'm going to be engaged in some major back-up and recovery operations... Whew! At least I didn't lose all these pics!

Hello! I am in the middle of moving--we have until Friday to be out of our current place so it's going to be a process of several days. I'm not going to have Internet access at my new place for a while, so I wanted to go ahead and fill you in on the past couple of weeks while I have the chance. So...

First thing: I finished my exams! At least for now. I won't know my scores for the last two exams for probably another month, and here's hoping I passed. But at least for the next few weeks, I can do whatever I want to do!

Second thing: Apart from Bob, Mary Ann is probably the best friend I have in the world... and I was delighted to be in her wedding Saturday. This isn't a great shot of the two of us, but it's the best I have until the "official" pictures are available.


And this picture's almost two years old now... when she was in my wedding.


Saturday was a very sweet and emotional day, and I can't wait until she and her beau Jacob get back from Mexico so that we can go on a double date together!

Food-wise, the whole wedding experience was quite wonderful. The reception (except for the cake) was a vegan's paradise--fresh fruits, raw and lightly steamed veggies, toasted pita wedges with fresh pineapple salsa... And the caterers told the wedding party to take home all the food we wanted after the reception was over, so my refrigerator has been full of fresh fruits and veggies ever since. As for the rehearsal dinner, it was held at a restaurant downtown. Both the bride's and groom's families were so gracious and accommodating... Here is the pasta dish that the chefs invented for Bob and me for the rehearsal dinner--artichoke hearts, roasted tomatoes, spinach, and an oil-based dressing over spaghetti noodles. It was fabulous.


For dessert, the other guests ate key lime pie while Bob and I were served plates of fresh seasonal berries. I can't say that I was jealous at all.

Apart from weddings and tests and moving, I have a little backlog of food photos to share with you.


This is from the 4th of July... finally. I made a double batch of the Barbecued Seitan Ribz from Fatfree Vegan. I had to bake them in the oven as I had no grill available... but wow, were these good. The texture was a little spongy at first, but the leftovers were perfect after some chill time. Definitely, definitely a keeper. Does anyone have a good barbecue sauce they particularly recommend? Oh yes, raw broccoli and The Grit's Super Seven-Spice Potatoes rounded out the meal.


This was just a quick bean salad that I made after picking up some fresh, local green beans from the health food store. Blanched green beans, chickpeas, red onions, and a dressing of vegetable broth, balsamic vinegar, thyme, salt, and pepper. I got the idea from an online recipe forum somewhere, but now I can't remember where. Good, though--light and healthy and filling.


Just a quick grilled sauerkraut, cheeze, and seitan sandwich using up the rest of the block cheeze that I made recently. I know several of you have asked me how the cheeze melted; well, I didn't have much success with it, either broiling or grilling. It's okay--it was still tasty and worth making again--but it would be nice to figure out how to make it melt just a little! By the way, this sandwich, though being a bit on the junky side, was quite good. Dijon mustard is essential.


I finally found a little farmers market just outside of Athens, and a couple of weeks ago I hit it up for the first time. There were about five or six growers present, but the produce they had to offer was quite a treat. I bought three cucumbers, three tomatoes, a bunch of fresh basil, and over two pounds of Swiss chard!


This soba noodle stir-fry was one of the best, and quickest, meals I've made in quite a while. I just threw in veggies that I had on hand, including fresh green beans, carrots, daikon radish, plenty of chard, some squash and zucchini... and garnished with green onions. Quick sauté in a little bit of sesame oil, then at the end I added a sauce similar to this one from Stonielove. I can't remember exactly how I made the sauce, but I do remember kicking it up with some siracha sauce... yum.


Finally, I decided to try the Brown Rice Pizza from Vive! I made a nice basil pesto to top it with, in addition to mushrooms, tomatoes, squash, zucchini, and red onion. The above photo is fresh from the oven...


And this is after trying to serve it. It was delicious, and the rice was seasoned so well, but... it fell apart. Oops. I followed the "crust" recipe exactly, so I'm not sure what went wrong. So, it was somewhat pizza-like but not really pizza... but it still made a tasty dinner.


And this is something that I created for Bob, one morning when he wanted pancakes but all of our cooking appliances and such were packed away. We had some leftover waffles in the freezer so I took them out, toasted them up, spread them with peanut butter and added a dollop of warm jam, then topped with a squirt of Soyatoo whipped topping. Don't know if this qualifies more as breakfast or dessert but he definitely seemed pleased (and based on the bite I stole, he had a good reason!).

I'll be back around periodically, but I don't know for now just how much I'll be able to get online. But I've been reading all your blogs and commenting whenever I could, and I promise I won't stop! :)