Nayo or mayo — Nasoya Nayonnaise review | chickpea salad, salsa dressing

When my oldest son was five or six, he came home from school one day giggling with glee. "You'll never believe this Mom," he laughed, "Raza thinks it's called mayonnaise, not Nayonaise. I tried to convince him but he wouldn't believe me. Isn't that funny?" Ah. Another unplanned moment in vegan parenting — it was pretty funny but not for the reason he thought. From the time they were small, I

Vegan Thai food | visiting a school in Thailand | cooking with kids | dinner and a show

The weather in Seattle has been uncharacteristically gorgeous the past week — yesterday we had the highest temperature of any city in the U.S. It was 87° and sunny with blue skies and a gentle breeze! Today it started out cloudy but is now sunny, and the forecast for the week looks the same — sunny and 70s. Who can sit at a computer and write blog posts under these circumstances? Nope. It's

Sukhothai UNESCO World Heritage Site | Sangkhalok pottery and other shopping | vegan Thai food

I enjoyed everything about our recent trip to Thailand, but perhaps the highlight was our visit to the UNESCO World Heritage Site in Sukhothai. Sukhothai, was the original capital of the Kingdom of Siam, or modern-day Thailand. It dates from the 13th and 14th centuries. Rather than write about it here, I'll direct those interested in more detail to visit the UNESCO Web site for more infor

Have you ever appeared on a billboard? — work, fun and food in Phitsanulok

Organizing my photos and writing about our trip is wearing me out, as I'm sure it's testing the patience of my readers, but my husband has requested I keep going to preserve our memories. Today I'm covering one of my favorite places on the trip, and also some interesting Thai food in a unique restaurant. Our three day jaunt to Phitsanulok had two main purposes — my husband gave a conference

Visiting wats and eating noodles in Thailand

Wat Phra Rattana Mahatat Ever since I wrote about visiting the Grand Palace in my last post, I've been getting junk mail inviting me to gamble at the online Grand Palace. Scary, isn't it, how all our online actions are being monitored? Oh well, undaunted, I continue with my travelog. Wat Phra Rattana Mahatat On our third day in Thailand we were collected at our hotel at 4:30 a

Thailand post#2: Jim Thompson House, tuk tuks, Grand Palace, Hot Pot

On the second day of our trip, Ken was scheduled to attend his student's doctoral defense in the early afternoon, but we had a couple of hours before lunch at the university, so we decided to walk to the Jim Thompson House which was not too far from our hotel. The walk involved dodging traffic (pedestrians travel at their own risk!) and crossing the very high, sky train tracks, but was only abou

Trip to Thailand post #1- The Ancient City

A dragon in the Ancient City My husband has a working relationship with a University in Thailand, and over the years he's been hosting Thai students in the U.S. for several months as they work on their PhD degrees. The payment for his work comes in the form of two trips to Thailand — one to visit the student's research site to provide consultation, and one attend the doctoral defense of the

Korean noodles and ...

We very recently spent a week in Thailand, and Thursday night was literally the first night I slept more than two or three hours for two weeks. I slept nine hours straight, which was amazing, but probably not enough to counteract the effects of the last 14 days. We had a great trip, and I'll be posting excerpts over the next couple of weeks, but first I'll have to deal with all the photos. W

Minestrone | Gratitude

My husband made a big pot of minestrone soup loosely based on a recipe he found on the Forks Over Knives website. He made some substitutions like carrots and turnips instead of fennel and zucchini, kale instead of Swiss chard. He also added wine and herbs, and used GF pasta. We garnished it with whole pumpkin seeds and roasted brussels sprouts. It was satisfying and delicious. oooooooooooo

Laugh a little today

Banana chocolate chip muffin cake (GF)

I'm still playing with my Bob's Red Mill Gluten-free Flour mix, which from all I've read, can be subbed one-for-one in most wheat-flour-based cake and cookie recipes, to turn baked goods into gluten-free treats. So far so good. However, I'm discovering that I actually like mixing up different flour combos, and using the pre-packaged mix is not nearly as much fun. Being someone who likes thin

Mounds of carrot salad (with smoky orange dressing)

I've noticed a trend on my facebook page lately where people are posting photos of items from the past with a request to 'like' the photo if you recognize what it is. The intention is to route out all the boomers on facebook and create a camaraderie of sorts — I guess. OK, I admit it, I'm old enough to be your mother; I recognized the ice cube tray with the handle. Woohoo. In spite of the fa

Dough-flinging kitchen monster | Kitchen toys

I started out writing a "kitchen toys" post about my new hand mixer and bowl, but I started reminiscing about a mixer mayhem from the past, and couldn't resist sharing. (The new stuff is at the bottom of the post.) It was 1976 — before many of you were born — and I was young and newly transplanted to Wisconsin. I was living in a lakefront cottage in a rural town about five miles from a sm

This is breakfast?

Why, yes. Anything can be breakfast. And if you are breakfast resistant like I can be sometimes, why not just eat what you feel like eating instead of forcing yourself to eat a traditional breakfast food, or worse, avoiding the whole breakfast thing. Eating a good breakfast is really important, and I know that, so when the cereal/fruit thing doesn't appeal to me, I eat something that may be

Chloe's Vegan Desserts — review and recipe

If you've ever wished for a desert to impress your non-vegan friends and family, or if you, yourself, are pining for the sweets you used to enjoy before you became vegan, this book was written for you. I never was much of a dessert person, and can't think of anything I miss, but even I was impressed by my results when I tried two of Chloe's recipes. I practically fainted when I saw my cookie

Roasted sweet potato paté

A couple of months ago I had the good fortune to dine at Vedge in Philadelphia. Everything was excellent, but one dish stood out to my taste buds, and I was transfixed by the flavor. It was a sweet potato paté, and as I ate it, my brain was on overdrive trying to distill the ingredients so I could make it at home. When the waitress came by to ask how we were enjoying everything, I told her I

Shan tofu/chickpea tofu/Burmese tofu

My son and his girlfriend made a large batch of Shan tofu and shared half of it with me. Shan tofu is also known as Burmese tofu, and is made primarily from chickpea flour. That may sound unappealing to you but it tastes great and is very versatile, not to mention easy to make, though it does require some waiting. The tofu they gave me had been made into shan tofu salad with the addition of

Artisan Vegan Cheese — air-dried smoked provolone

After making the cheese multiple times, I finally got around to air-drying the smoked provolone from Artisan Vegan Cheese instead of just eating it as soon as it cooled. It requires patience, you know, to let it cure for two-to-three days, and I prefer instant gratification, but I really wanted to try air-drying a cheese. The smoked provolone is relatively easy to make, which is one of the r

Miss E's birthday dinner

Miss E, my wonderful granddaughter, was born on Valentine's Day, and yesterday was her 5th birthday. I baked her a chocolate chip cake with chocolate ganache, and delivered it to her her house. While I was there hanging out with her, her parents and her brand new brother, her Mom told me that earlier in the day Miss E's Papa had taken her to the co-op to pick out two things to be part of her

Cooking class with Michael Natkin from Herbivoracious: Mexican cuisine

Red posole with beans (Pozelo rojo de frijo) Last night we bid adieu to January with a cooking class by cookbook author and blogger, Michael Natkin, from the blog Herbivoracious, and cookbook of the same name. Although Michael is vegetarian and not vegan, the class was billed as vegan and gluten-free. Michael has been receiving much praise for his beautifully photographed book, and th

Little pumpkin tarts

We attended a party recently where the hosts were very kind to their vegan guests, and made sure there was lots of beautiful, delicious food to eat. I'm actually skipping the dinner and moving right to the dessert, because I was so impressed with the mini pumpkin tarts that were served. There was also an impressive, mouthwatering bowl of dark vegan chocolate and a large platter of f

What to do with leftover, leftover chili that won't go away

About a week ago, my husband made black bean chili and sweet potato casserole* in the slow cooker. It was his first time using the slow cooker, and he followed a recipe from Robin Robertson's book, Fresh From the Vegan Slow Cooker. It was spicy and tasty, but I've found that Robertson's serving sizes are very generous, and even though I love having leftovers, after a certain amount of chili

Fine dining at Vedge in Philadelphia

autumn squash pierogies, chanterelles, madeira, hazelnut picada During the winter holidays we spent a week in Philly visiting relatives and friends. One of the highlights was a dinner we shared with my brother at Vedge. spicy grilled tofu, gochujang, edamame, smoked miso, yuba cracklin I'd read that Vedge was more than just a great vegan restaurant — it was a fabulous restaur

Happy New Year (eat a little Texas caviar for good luck)

Happy New Year! Wishing you all the best in 2013. Can't hurt to eat black-eyed peas for a little extra good luck. Texas Caviar 2 cans black-eyed peas, rinsed and drained, or 1 cup dried black-eyed peas, cooked and drained* 4 scallions, finely sliced 3 jalapenos, minced 1/4 cup cilantro or parsley, minced 1/4 cup sun-dried tomatoes, chopped**(opt.) 1/4 cu

Oh no. I forgot the arms!

We were on the East Coast for a week, enjoying visits with friends and family in Philly. (My last post was written before we left home and was published automatically.) We don't visit our hometown often enough, visits always seem too short, and it's hard to leave loved ones behind when we return to the PNW. We got back Monday night and are settling back into the rain and gloom routine. Th

I love leftovers

My husband will almost never eat leftovers. Nor will he put them into something he's cooking. I, on the other hand, love leftovers, and will eat them straight up or combine them with other ingredients into something new. It makes me sad to find a small container of moldy leftover food in the back of the refrigerator knowing it could have been turned into something delicious. Here are a few u

I made beet loaf?

You know how recipes seem to cycle through the blogs, appearing almost simultaneously on the same day. One minute all the blogs have banana bread/banana muffins/banana cupcakes, etc., and the next they're all about peanut stew/peanut soup/peanut pie. Then, every so often, there's a run of beet burgers/beet loaf/beet balls. I've found myself contributing to the surfeit of many such confluence

Time to reflect ...

I'm taking a day off from my usual food-related posts — took yesterday off, too — because the unspeakable happened yet, again, and I'm feeling bereft for the victims, their families and our country. I find myself at a loss for words, and I'm taking a moment to share how others have reacted to the sad, sad violence that permeates our society. Yes, we need to address gun control, but we also n

Peanut and yam stew | Sunday morning with Miss E

It's that time of year again when the damp chill in the air makes me think of soup and stew. And for some reason, feeling chilly makes me crave peanuts. When I saw a recipe for a yam and peanut stew on Gena's blog, I immediately printed out the recipe because it looked so warming. I love N. African inspired stews, and I have a recipe for a spicy version that I think is perfection, on my blog

Vietnamese soup and a dog update

Years ago, while we were living in Australia for six months, we visited the city of Ballarat so we could take the kids to the re-created gold mining town at Sovereign Hill. Sovereign Hill depicts Ballarat's first ten years after the discovery of gold there in 1851. There are more than 60 buildings, and costumed staff who serve as townspeople-guides. Many of the buildings were operating as th

Leftover love / creamy buckwheat cereal with cranberry sauce

When I was a child, I hated when holiday dinners were hosted by people other than my parents, because there wouldn't be any leftovers, and in my opinion, a refrigerator full of tasty leftovers is one of the rewards of having a big dinner. I could never understand why anyone wouldn't want that. Even though our Thanksgiving tofu dish won't make it onto our list of holiday favorites, as leftove

Thanksgiving 2012

This year's tofu turkey was a little weird, I thought, and not as good as last year's. It neither looked nor tasted the way I expected, and the texture was off. The only thing I can think of was that last year I used very fresh, just-made tofu from a local Vietnamese tofu shop, and this year I purchased super-firm packaged Wildwood tofu. The Wildwood tofu works great when used for usual prep

Oatmeal almond chocolate chip cookies

I don't know how many times I've been to Richa's blog and decided on the spot to make whatever she had just made because it looked so good — but somehow I never do. For example, did you happen to see the month of pizzas she created for veganmofo? Or the Diwali treats she's been featuring. Everything looks so wonderful that it drives me a little crazy. When I saw her oatmeal almo

I just adopted a sweet dog

One more thing to be thankful for — we just adopted this sweet girl from Puget Sound Rescue. She's a lovely, quiet, gentle soul who is settling into her new home with grace and calm. She was a stray in a high-kill shelter and was in the "back room" waiting to be euthanized before the rescue team stepped in. I'm a little concerned that she hasn't made a sound yet — no barki

Dinner for eight ...

I'm always looking for ways to make cooking for a crowd pleasant and stress-free, so I can enjoy the festivities without being in a bad mood. Using the slow cooker is a great way to have the main dish cook itself so I can whip up a few side dishes at my "leisure." Ever since I tested recipes for Robin Robertson's Fresh From the Vegan Slow Cooker, I've been trying recipes that I didn't test,

I Heart Trader Joe's Vegetarian Cookbook review

People often think of Trader Joe's as a place to find well-priced, interesting, specialty items — and it is — but you can also get nearly everything you need to maintain a vegetarian or vegan diet, if you know where to look. We used to live two blocks from a Trader Joe's, and stopped in often for our favorite items. We liked to get their hummus and peanut butter, and I was especially fond of t

Have you ever made a pandowdy? | vegan bacon cheeseburger video

Have you ever made a pandowdy? I guess I've may have made similar desserts but this was my first "official" pandowdy. Crisps, Betties, crumbles, cobblers, and pandowdies are all various baked combinations of fruit, crusts and crumb toppings. A pandowdy is a deep dish baked pie-like dessert with a top crust that is broken up and pushed under the filling in places. This one ha

What will your cat be for Halloween?

Photo by Aaron and Kate. This is not my cat, but I know him, and Percy is definitely the kind of cat who would allow his people to humiliate him this way. Or maybe I'm completely wrong and he's a Packers fan. Photo by Aaron and Kate. In any case, he's decked out and ready for trick-or-treating cats to show up at his apartment. He's giving out catnip — and I think it's organic ca

My kitchen is open ...

There were times, especially two summers ago, when I may have been addicted to HGTV. I watched remodeling, re-gardening, re-decorating and house-hunting shows with alarming regularity. I was obsessed. After a while, though, there were certain words and phrases that I noticed popping up all the time, that were starting to grate on my nerves. If you watch HGTV, you know exactly what I mean. "Open-

Homemade nachos — what is "healthy?"

According to Wikipedia:  "Nachos may have originated in the city of Piedras Negras, Coahuila, Mexico, just over the border from Eagle Pass, Texas,or in Ciudad Acuña, Coahuila, Mexico, at a restaurant called the Victory Club, owned by Rodolfo De Los Santos. In 1943, the wives of ten to twelve U.S. soldiers stationed at Fort Duncan in nearby Eagle Pass were in Piedras Negras on a shopping t

Easy hot breakfast polenta in five minutes

For years I avoided microwaves and never owned one. Even now they make me uncomfortable, but a great big microwave came with our house, and I guess I've found the convenience factor too alluring to ignore completely. I don't use it for much, but it occasionally makes me a hot breakfast in minutes on groggy mornings. And there's no pot to clean. For my morning polenta I use 1/4 cup

Birthday dinner number two

My husband and I went out for my birthday on Friday night, but the family wanted to celebrate, too, and the only night we could get everyone together was Sunday. My husband volunteered to cook, and the guests contributed gourmet salad and cookies. I requested Dreena Burton's No-Fu Love Loaf as the main course because I had just read a wonderful description of it on Facebook, and it

Veggie Grill

Friday was my birthday, and my husband made reservations to have dinner at Sutra, a vegan fine-dining restaurant in Seattle. Sutra operates like a supper club in that there are one or two seatings a night and a fixed menu. The food is wonderful, but when my husband checked the menu, he saw that the entrée had a fennel seed sauce. No one in their right mind would serve me fennel seeds twice (

Creamy lime pie in a flaky crust

Gather the limes. Zest and juice the limes. Bake a flaky crust and pile in the creamy lime filling. Refrigerate. Enjoy. The gluten-free and vegan recipe for amazing, creamy lime pie is a tester recipe for Laurie Sadowski's upcoming pie book. Laurie is the author of The Allergy-Free Cook Bakes Bread which I reviewed here and here.

San Diego part 3 — Loving Hut

It's surprising how much lots of sunshine, fresh air and walking on beaches can tire you out. Not that I'm complaining — we thoroughly enjoyed our third day in beautiful San Diego, but by evening we were pretty tired out, and ambivalent about whether we wanted dinner or not. But my husband was really eager to try the local Loving Hut — part of the restaurant chain founded by The Supreme M

San Diego part 2

I snapped this photo to remember the impossibly blue sky in Coronado. On Saturday we went to Coronado. My husband wanted to show me the historic, Victorian Hotel del Coronado. This is a luxurious resort and spa that will set you back a substantial amount to stay there, but it's free to gawk. In fact, busloads of foreign tourists arrived by the minute. The Web site describes it thus: "Sin

San Diego part 1

Nice view of the harbor from our balcony. Some time ago, my husband was invited to be the opening speaker at a conference in San Diego. He turned the offer down because the talk would occur on our anniversary. The conference people offered to bring me to San Diego, too, and pay for our hotel stay for a few days, so we accepted. About two weeks before the trip, I wrenched my back lifting hea

Middle Eastern 30-minute vegan cooking class

Moroccan-style Eggplant, Olive and Bean Tagine; Spicy Carrot and Cashew Biryani We periodically take a cooking class or two at PCC, our local food co-op, especially if one of our favorite instructors is teaching. When we noticed that Sureyya Gokeri was teaching a 30-minute vegan Middle Eastern food class, we signed up. Sureyya is from Turkey close to the Syrian border on the coast, and a su

Umeboshi-tahini dressing | First time in an art show

Today's memory comes from when I was in my early 20s and living in Syracuse, NY. I was doing a lot of painting at the time, and had created a three-foot by three-foot abstract painting I called Nude in a Garden, that I liked a lot. I had a friend — an artist who also taught art in a public school — who told me I should enter my painting in the Everson Museum Invitational, a juried exhibit that att

Ken's chili | My year of mathematical acuity

The recollection for today is a much later one than the very early memories I've shared so far. It took place during my first year of college. For the first two years we were all required to take a core curriculum in liberal arts, and one of the requirements was math. I'd neither excelled nor failed at math in the past — I usually got a noncommittal "B." I neither liked math nor hated it, but