Noah

Of course it's poor Ham
Who dabbles in meat eating--
The rest are vegan.

the way life tosses you around

it was a long week, but a sweet one. i had lunch with two of my very favorites.

























my copilot took pictures of this murder of crows for me one afternoon.
 
























i discovered a new (to me) meat substitute, jackfruit! i used it to make tacos one night and then vegan "pulled pork" sandwiches the next.

























(unless you are the person's child and possibly his or her spouse) you can forgive a person for being tempted to refer to this guy as "mister fuzzers." right?

 


















biography by amy dryansky

here there is no place that does not see you

on new year's day i made hoppin' john, southern greens, and skillet cornbread for lunch. just think of all the good luck i'm going to have this year, with my rabbit rabbits and black eyed peas! also, it was delicious, and we ate it cozily in front of the pellet stove, so wintery. i am loving having zoë and isaac both home and relaxed (isaac is skiing for the second time today), sleeping in, staying up late, watching movies with mark, wearing my new bean boots, and even cleaning and organizing post-holidays. although if i had my way, i'd pack up half of the stuff in this house and take it to goodwill. another lovely thing is not throwing up anymore.



archaic torso of apollo by rainer maria rilke

bringing good cheer

vegan gingerbread stars!

a colorful christmas tree!


























pine cones!

and your dog-of-the-day, sweet mabel, who lives with max's family and is difficult to capture on film, due to being either constantly in motion or rendered invisible by her black fur.

























(photo by max)

fifteen

funny story. i was invited to a birthday party this weekend (an 11-11-11 party, to be precise), and i made fauxstess cupcakes. i carefully royal icinged a cursive letter P on each cupcake (for peter, the birthday boy) and put them in the fridge. when i removed them later, however, the cursive letter Ps no longer looked like Ps to me. they looked like penises.

note, above, my hasty attempt to camouflage my accidentally inappropriate cupcake art. i wished i had a three year old child to explain the random flowerish squiggles.

gratuitous dog photo and granny's burritos

minnow, napping with a ball, above. note enormous muppet paws.

today i lunched with the checkout girl at the newly re-re-opened granny's burritos in the public market house. i enjoyed her company way too much to complain (at the time) about the actual burrito, which--despite claims at the counter that it was the real, authentic granny's, complete with the original recipe book--was a little disappointing. i can't entirely put my finger on why, since part of the granny's experience was a je ne sais quoi that may very well have been connected with the stoned and friendly staff on fore street. they didn't always put what you ordered in that brown paper bag, but everything tasted so good. even when ordered with "no cow," which is how melissa and i requested our sweet potato (her) and guacamole (me) burritos. here's my basic breakdown of the experience:

1. they were smaller than the old granny's, not stuffed as messily full of stuff. my first couple of bites were all flour tortilla, with a strange taste of cilantro (this wouldn't necessarily be strange in a burrito, but i don't remember it circa 2002).
2. they were bland and cold. they weren't always this way, were they? are the beans not cooked the same way? is there not as much salsa?
3. i often ordered granny's vegan style back in the day, and as long as there was something creamy in there (i.e. guacamole or sweet potato), they were full of flavor. i'm not positive there was any guacamole at all in this one, maybe just a dollop. melissa reported a similar sweet potato situation.

i'm not giving up--i will try the new granny's again. but i felt a little crestfallen at first taste. good thing i was with one of my very favorite people, because i had a lovely time catching up with her and solving all of the world's problems.

talk what you please of future spring

i suppose spring is coming -- the sky looks different, and the light in the morning and afternoon is warm. we had one really balmy day, as a little reminder that it's coming, and now the temperature is back in the 30s, as a little reminder that we live in maine.

this boy. here he is doing his h dubs (get it? homework? hw? h dubs?). he let me give him hugs yesterday.

the girl is hatching plans to leave india and go to china!

here's how to turn your computer screen into a game of katamari.

i made vegan chocolate-banana bread pudding, and not only was it delicious, but now mark knows that he does like bread pudding, despite its dubious name.

i've been watching the first season of big love (which i watched long ago, way back in the days of hbo).

i'm stitching something great.

my writing project continues for now, and i love both the writing and the excuse to sit here messing around on the internets all day.

i had the most fun dream ever.

giant rabbits.

unicorns are show offs.

sperm whales name their babies.

let's go on a rollercoaster!


see what i mean about messing around on the internets? in addition to that, i walk my dog friend, and i don't have to wear my snow boot shoes or shuffle like a little old man any more!

things

new shoes, a $15 splurge. cause, stripes! espadrilles, n'est pas? i won't be able to wear them outside for months, but c'est la vie! it pleases me to look down and see them, all springy despite the thick gray tights.

lunching with two of my favorite ladies, a new monthly event to look forward to. i made these cupcakes in honor of emily's birthday. i was nervous about them because i can't find the soy milk powder that's one of the secret ingredients of the fluffy vegan creme filling, but i made an inspired substitution and they were delicious.

daffodils from emily, which opened immediately. aren't they the most optimistic kind of flower? kind of determined, i think.

and then, there's this: why can't i slip and slide on the sidewalk icy patches in silence? why do i have to exclaim, "wha!" or "yeeep!" or "gaaa!"?

i have wildfire stuck in my head, two days after it installed itself there.

speaking of which, i would not turn down the opportunity to ride a horse on a beach one day.

this book was so good. short stories, 80 percent of which i bitterly regretted weren't novels, i was so deeply invested in them.

if you invited michael k. williams over to your house to watch a movie and eat popcorn, what movie would you want to watch?

can i interest you in hanukkah?

zoë made vegan latkes and a cherry noodle kugel last night. i found cheap gelt at trader joe's, and we played dreidel (dreideled?) and listened to this weird online hanukkah radio station my mom found. lovely.

advent

we are continuing our new (as of last year) tradition of weekly advent parties. it's one of my favorite things that zoë brought home from germany. also? her recipe for linzer torte, which she baked saturday night in a veganized version for our sunday evening coffee. leander joined us. candles, dusk, christmas music, coffee, cake.

everything is connected to everything else

for the first time in many years (eight? nine?) we celebrated a somewhat traditional thanksgiving, in honor of mark's mom coming to visit us (it's been even longer since she's been to maine). it was wonderful to have her here, and we got her out to see some sights despite the mostly gray and windy-cold weather.

i cooked a feast with help from my friends. jason came over to help us eat it (and then david showed up later, too). it was pretty damn delicious if i do say so myself.

the menu:
*tofurkey
*gravy
*mashed garlic potatoes
*magical sweet potato casserole
*cornbread and chestnut dressing
*marinated brussels sprouts
*tiny peas with slivered almonds
*gingered cranberry sauce
*pumpkin chocolate chip bread pudding
*gingerbread pumpkin custard
*jason's incredibly delicious apple pie

as it turned out, it was also one hundred percent vegan, which was all about the earth balance buttery sticks and coconut milk i happened to have on hand.

below, my dad's traditional holiday grace:

cheap date

zoë and i decided to check out whaddapita! today (oh how i hate the name. i can barely even stand to type it i hate it so much*), purely on the basis of its proximity to our oakdale 'hood and the fact that i had reason to believe that there were under-five-dollar options to be had there.





















it was true: zoë chose the zucchini vegetarian pita sandwich and i got the feta version. they are small-to-medium-sized pita wraps and they cost a mere $3.95. i did observe other diners buying two for lunch, and if you were really hungry you might want more than one (or perhaps a side order of fries or fritters or dolmades), but we thought they were kind of the perfect size. the pita bread is not grocery store pita, nor is it authentic homemade pita, but it is soft and puffy and pretty tasty. the vegetarian sandwiches are stuffed with zucchini fritters (or feta), tomatoes, red onion, creamy sauce and french fries. the only vegan options that i could see were a hummus pita sandwich or (for an extra dollar, for some reason) hummus with grilled pita bread. though i bet you could order one of the saucy wraps without the sauce (which i'm guessing involves yogurt).

it was nice to sit outside, even beside not-so-lovely forest avenue, and i was happy for the many usm students i spotted there, as there aren't too many options for interesting food close to the portland campus. there were many friendly people working there (nine that i could see, which seemed like about five too many). i am happy to have another five-dollars-and-under meal option to add to my (short) list. and they're open until ten p.m. every day!


*and can someone explain to me why their website's domain is "wrinkledpuppy.com"?

blue and glowing days

lucky lucky me: i had a morning tea party yesterday with two magical girls, plus this magical lady.
















with iced jasmine tea and german poppyseed cake.

we eat food

i realize that these photos are pretty underwhelming, but let me tell you -- this was a very tasty meal. white bean and veggie sausage gravy, spelt biscuits, and greens. in fact, i just ate another plateful for breakfast.
























on the subject of food, i thought i'd update you on my veganism or lack thereof. currently, nobody in my house is truly vegan. in fact, some health issues have led us to include a little bit of fish in our diets lately. then there's the goat milk yogurt temptation, the pizza at otto, burnt caramel micro sundaes at toscanini's, the fact that soy lattes are fifty cents more than cow lattes, and so on, luring me toward the dairy products. however, we still mostly eat vegan, and i mostly cook vegan food. i would currently describe myself as "veganish," or "vegan-friendly," or "vegan curious," or "fickle." i absolutely believe it's the most ethical way to eat, and i'm sure i'll always lean that way, food-wise.

lunch

we celebrated the year's first snow day with vegan matzoh ball soup, made for us by bean.

thanks

oh, thanksgiving. i have such mixed emotions about you, you deceptive holiday. i spent countless elementary school class periods making and wearing construction paper pilgrim hats and "indian" headdresses and then sitting down to cafeteria meals of sliced turkey alongside those glutinous piles of mashed potatoes with the perfect concavity in the middle for the gravy, only learning years later what a bizarrely positive spin had been applied to thanksgiving, how fooled we all were.

i've known the true story for a while now (and my own kids learned a much more accurate version of the way native people were treated in this country), but i was still shocked and upset when i watched american experience's series of films, we shall remain. actually, i could only stand to watch the first two -- and now they are all i can think about when i contemplate the official holiday of thanksgiving: what my ancestors did to the people who lived here when they showed up and claimed it for themselves.

but, here's where the conflict comes in: i love my own version of thanksgiving, the one that has evolved over the years with my family. first of all, my thanksgiving hasn't involved a dead bird on the table for a long time -- i've been a vegetarian since i was seventeen, and remarkably, both of my parents are now vegetarians (as are both of my brothers, their wives and all but one of their children - my eight year old rebel niece pink - as well as my own immediate brood). during the seven years that m and i had our bookstore, we weren't able to travel over thanksgiving break because of black friday (ugh), when we had to be there to open the store. we started a tradition of ordering carryout indian food and eating it in the bookstore (which was closed, a rare occurrence) with whoever happened to be around and hungry. my parents admitted that they enjoyed spending thanksgiving alone, just the two of them, with no fuss, no cooking, and no stress.

since we closed the store, we've continued the indian food theme, often with my mom and dad. it is awfully luxurious to have someone else cook for you, and indian restaurants are almost always open on thanksgiving. we tend to cook an elaborate feast for christmas instead (in fact, it's a pretty traditionally "thanksgiving" meal, minus the turkey and plus a tofurkey or two).

so, that's the food part. the opportunity to have several days of bean and boo home from school, and to pause and think of everything and everyone i have in my life to be grateful for, plus that delicious emptiness of the streets when you're out walking on thanksgiving day and everyone else is inside eating, digesting, watching television -- who could hate a holiday like that?

all the world is birthday cake

i needed to pick bean up early at school yesterday for a doctor's appointment (the waiting room was alarming, full of preschoolers either wearing face masks or refusing to wear them, being chased around by their parents), and after that i didn't return her -- instead i took her to lunch at artemisia.
























we shared a sweet potato sandwich and a veggie dumpling salad. i love the soy-ginger dressing they use on this salad - i always forget how delicious it is.

last night we ate at one of bean's favorite restaurants, asmara, and shared two big vegetarian platters with flora and enoch. then, cake back at home - bean wanted something reminiscent of a strawberry shortcake, so i made a vegan pound cake, cut it into two layers, and slathered it with whipped coconut cream and stewed strawberries.

here is a blurry picture of said cake.
























in case i didn't mention it, the girl is seventeen now.

red boots

my mom gave me some birthday bucks that i've been saving for a treat for myself. so here is my question to you: do i really want these shiny red vegan boots? or do i not?

...i have love for those with four feet, for the many-footed I have love.

bean and i ate so much good stuff this weekend at the boston vegetarian food festival. we went on saturday with my dad, and just like last year it was packed and hot and overwhelming, but totally worth it. there were many delicious free samples and lots of friendly vegetarian types. but the highlights (for us anyway) were the snacks that we purchased, cheap, as we perused the floor:
























okay, first of all let's talk about the best damn vegan donuts ever in the history of my life. bean's was a pumpkin spice donut filled with pumpkin mousse, and mine was an "entenmann's style" chocolate dipped donut. they were so good. unfortunately, vegan treats bakery is located in bethlehem, pennsylvania, kind of a haul. which reminds me of an idea bean and i had for a vegan bakery road trip, crossing the country sampling the fare at every single vegan bakery we can find. any takers?*



















dad shared some tasty sushi and perfect, crisp fried spring rolls from veggie corner vegan restaurant. we went back for seconds!
























bean found herself a tasty vegan thai tea-flavored bubble tea at boba-licious:
























uh, little pause here to say that we spent some time watching a chinese film crew interviewing these folks outside the festival. the whole thing just struck us as very odd. i'll say no more.



















also from boba-licious, vegan banh mi, a vietnamese sandwich with veggie meat, lettuce, cucumber, spicy sauce, tons of cilantro, on a perfect crusty french bread. i am desperate to reproduce this at home, it was so delicious.
























after the feasting, we took a long walk through the common and the public garden. there weren't too many vegetarians wearing halloween costumes, but we saw many costumed people and animals over the course of the day. most notably, we happened upon a gathering of dozens of dogs -- mostly dachshunds -- dressed up. mostly as hotdogs.
























we met up with my mom when she finished work, and bought her a sandwich at trident booksellers & cafe. i had a halloween-themed soy latte:
























i think it was the next day that i spotted this bereft wig, abandoned on the sidewalk post-celebration/trick-or-treating:



























*checkout girl, i actually have you and miss a. in mind for this dream pilgrimage!