Saturday, July 12, 2008

Super Duper Over Due Update

Sit down, pour yourself some sun tea (we've got black tea OR peppermint), and catch up with me and my foodiness!

Geez, it's been forever since I've been here! You know how it is, you keep meaning to update, and then you don't and then the stuff you want to update about gets longer...and longer...requiring more of your time...so you put it off a little more...until more than a month has gone by and you've lost all your loyal readers. ;)

So apologies, all. I have been so busy getting to know and falling in love with my new home that I just haven't had it in me to update. Here I am!

(If you're only here for food, skip down to the end of this post).

Seattle is AWESOME. Did I mention I love it? Because I am like psychotically, sloppily, first-time-crush in love with Seattle.

Could it be the raspberries in my backyard?

(I've picked about a bowlful of berries every day for the last 4-5 days! OMG!)

Or the giant apricot tree?

Maybe it's the cute little (yearound!!!) farmer's market in downtown West Seattle. Or my new (woman-owned, organic) CSA.

On to to food!

I've been recipe testing for a new cookbook by Colleen Patrick-Goudreau, which is super fun! Of course I can't share the recipes, but here are some photos of the creations:

Beet Cake

Not-Just-For-Breakfast Banana Splits

And of course, we've been eating lots of delicious things in general.

CSA Tofu Scramble and Salad
This tofu scramble consisted of tofu (duh), mushrooms, fresh garlic, green onions, beet greens, fresh cilantro and avocado. Our salad was butter lettuce with (home-sprouted) mung bean sprouts and a balsamic vinaigrette.

Silas liked it.

Did I mention I bought a new cookbook? When we were in Portland we stopped by Herbivore and I had to buy a copy of Yellow Rose Recipes, which is awesome. This is our new favorite tofu scramble recipe! With some avocado on the side and some awesome whole wheat bread from the farmer's market.
This was a whipped together pasta dish with sun-dried tomatoes, artichoke hearts, calamata olives with garlicky olive oil over it all. With some more of that awesome bread, garlic bread style.

We ditched our old grill in MI because it was DONE. Luckily for us, Chad's parents decided to go halvsies with us on a new one. Wicked! Here is some grilled BBQ tempeh over rice with grilled asparagus and smoky collards.We've also been eating a lot of delicious food out and about:

Rice and Bean Burritos from Tacqueria Guyamas
Delicious Breakfasts and Silence-Hearts-Nest
Fabulous Coffee and Mighty-O Donuts at Red Cup Espresso
Unbelievable pizza at Tutta Bella in Columbia City
Very good Veggie Pho at Thanh Brothers

Our little dude Silas also celebrated his 2nd birthday last month, and my mom being the ANGEL that she is ordered him a special Choo-Choo cake from Sweet Pea Bakery in Portland, an all-vegan bakery. It was DELICIOUS!!!!

Silas thoroughly enjoyed it (that's my mom with him).

Oh and I forgot (for SHAME!!) to take a pic of this, but I also made a raw (!!!) raspberry cobbler with our bounty of backyard raspberries. It is delicious. It's unbelievable. It takes like 5 minutes to make. Go make it NOW! Use whatever delicious fruit you have on hand, it takes about 6 cups of fruit. I used Ani Phyo's recipe for Mango Cobble.

So much to do! So much to say! But that's all for now. :D

8 comments:

Jumbleberry Jam said...

Delightful! As if Seattle could be anything but ;-). Glad to hear you found an awesome CSA and that your new home is being so good to you. Think of me when it rains ;-)

Big Sis said...

Wow, that seems like an awesome back yard! My long-term dream is an avocado tree. A lofty dream since I live in Northeast TN, but I think of how great it would be for my avocados to not have to travel thousands of miles to get to me (and how awesome to have your own avocado tree).

Jen said...

I am officially jealous :) , but so very happy for you guys. I've been eyeing that Yellow Rose cookbook, now I'll have to get it to try that tofu scramble. Happy belated birthday to Silas, and happy 2nd mama day to you!

Rural Vegan said...

Your backyard is like a dream with that beautiful old tree, and bowls of raspberries every day?! Are you kidding me? Good for you, glad you're enjoying it so much!

Vegan_Noodle said...

Enjoyed your update!! Happy late birthday to Silas! Love his adorable cake. And what fun testing recipes for Colleen!

jessy said...

yay! glad you're back! and you've got raspberries & an apricot tree! oh man, i'm jealous! and what wonderful yummies you've been making! the cake you got looks adorable & yummy! and a raw raspberry cobbler sounds like the perfect summer treat! glad all is well! and once again -i'm super happy you're back! :D

Anonymous said...

Hi! Glad to see you update! I've been OD'ing on raspberries as well. I have a 300 sq ft raspberry patch in my new backyard! I am overwhelmed with keeping up with the picking! (Lochy's little friends are a big help) Anyway glad you're doing well happy belated b-day to Silas. Lochy just had his today.

Chessa said...

inanna - it was cloudy this morning and I thought of you! ;)

jill b- OMG, wouldn't an avocado tree be the BOMB?!? Seriously.

jen - the cookbook hasn't let us down yet! Thanks for the birthday wishes. :)

rural vegan - I know, I can seriously not believe our raspberry luck. I never thought I'd be sick of raspberries, but we're *almost* there. But not quite. ;)

vegan noodle - recipe testing is awesome! I feel somehow extra validated for obsessing in the kitchen. Like "this is homework! I must have time to myself to do it!"

jessy - awww, thanks! I seriously thought everyone had written me off. I'm striving for at least a once a week update, hopefully more. You have to try the raw cobbler! It's awesome.

April - that's a crazy big raspberry patch! I can see how little helpers would be a lifesaver. Happy b-day, lochy!