cheating on me

so, recently i made little eggplant napoleons with tofu ricotta and the frying of the breaded eggplant went really well. high on this success i tried tonight to do the same with slices of tofu. things took quick turns for the worse. pressing the tofu (it was firm instead of extra firm) made the sides bulge out like hernias. once in the skillet the breading quickly burned creating more smoke than a kitchen should have. an oil splatter got me right in the eye, though luckily i don't think it really did any damage. 

the saving grace of the meal with the lemon herb caper sauce that i put on the tofu, which had, in addition to what i just said, cherry tomatoes and red onion. that was freaking good. the mashed potatoes came out ok, but not fantastic. i would have liked to put some tofu sour cream in there, but instead went with garlic powder which gave them a certain je ne sais....

the cupcakes that we ate for dessert had sat out one night too many and were a little extra crunchy, though they still had excellent flavor. i mean, hell, tiramisu is a good flavor no matter what the consistency of its vehicle is.

someday i will master the breaded fried tofu, until then i will wrap myself in the comfort of the vegan white russians we made last night and dream of rootbeer float cupcakes yet to be conquered.

sometimes life gets you down. sometimes you wonder if it's worth it to keep not slicing your wrists open. these days happen and pass and usually you're not much worse for wear. i've discovered an understanding of two things already this year (ok, i'm counting christmas mass as this year, because i likely won't be back in there until december). one is the attraction that people feel towards organized religion. sitting between my sister and my best friend, with a beautiful string quartet playing luxuriant christmas music was wonderful. i could see how knowing that you were going to be doing the same thing each week with basically the same group of people could really root you. it was nice, i won't deny it. it was also based in a belief that i don't share, and made me feel like something of a pervert, snaking my way in where i shouldn't have been.

the other thing is alcoholism. on one of the unnecessarily rough days, all i wanted was to be wasted. i couldn't take the time ticking by in it's slow way. the thing is, i know that these days come, and when they do there is little to do about them beside wait. (even the magical trinity of chocolate, lots of water, and working out didn't keep me from eying the knives.) but. the good news. i can read. reading is a far superior way to get the time to pass without thinking about it than going off and slaughtering your poor mostly innocent brain cells. i finished sara gruen's water for elephants in two days, not because it's a particularly astounding read, but it did keep my head out of the kitchen.  so, i'm thinking in addition to the, ahem, daily updates about what we are eating, i'm starting a books read category here too.  i like books.  

about the food, the last week was pretty good.  i made miso with udon and broccoli and carrots, fresh fettuccine (ok, i didn't make the pasta itself, but i did buy it) with italian soysages and red and yellow peppers in a chunky tomato sauce, lentil soup with lightly roasted red peppers, and a couple loaves of bread, which came out really dense and are good for sandwiches.  tj got a couple of pomegranates and we've been putting them in the salad with rosemary croutons and things are good. 

above all, each day that goes by brings me one day closer to my love. battlestar galactica.

i love that the word for guest sounds so much like guest. i also love guacamole, sopapillas and green chile stew. all three were eaten for dinner last night for our second successful dinner party attempt. jacqueline and eamon agreed to come over and be guinea pigs for the packages of dry mixes that my parents sent us from new mexico. the sopapillas came out better than i expected. of course, seeing as they were born of a small oil fire on our stove, they had no choice other than greatness. that and tj was able to roll them to the perfect thickness before frying. so good, really. and the usually fairly crappy grocery store magically had fuyu persimmons. color me in orangely happy.

i'm sorry i had to do that. ever since i picked up some sausages by the people who make celebration roasts it's been in my head and it was one of those things that you can only rid yourself of by inflicting it on others. so, yes, tonight we try new sausages, which i'm going to cook with some caramelized onions and then put into little sandwiches on semolina bread. also, there is corn chowda that i made last night to which tj responded, more corn. ohhh, i got your corn right here buster. non-food things have been a little hectic what with driving up to vermont this weekend (6 hours each way) to see baby boy h and the eclectic collective. both bands were awesome, and the mr. and i even got in a little romantical breakfast at a great cafe. though there's pretty much no end to the things like i like to do with that guy, having breakfast out is way up towards the top of the list. my job is an hour away which means i spend lots of time commuting, but not lots of time communing. the temp agency that got me this job keeps fucking up my paychecks which is a really great thing to have happen right before christmas. anywho. the tummy she's a'rumbling so i had better get started on some sandwiches. i hope everything you eat is good.

hi. i know, i missed you too. we have eaten a great number of things, none more important than the wine that my computer decided to drink a few weeks ago. life was decidedly not the same while it was drying out, but i am ecstatic to announce that i am currently typing here on my very own keyboard and so far so good. the title of this entry is also the new name of my compy, having had to reinstall the operating system it seems appropriate.

today is the first day that it's really snowing. it's been going all day, since i got up at the unforgivable hour of 7 to make a gym date with jacqueline. so far the snow in rhode island is like the bush administration's war crimes: happening in plain view but nothing's sticking.

so, to the great number of things. the mr. and i went home for thanksgiving and while there (ate ourselves nearly too fat to get on the plane and) picked up a couple packages of soyrizo which is impossible to find on the beast coast. the plentiful harvest yielded a first attempt at jambalaya and renaissance of the soyrizo pasta that kept me alive through college. (recipe: 1 can tomato sauce, 1 package soyrizo, some garlic, pasta) the jambalaya came out tasty, though it's been years since i had any, vegan or otherwise, and i have to admit that i have no idea if tasted how it's "supposed" to.

i've attempted to embrace my new inner new englander by making chowda. owing to a lack of really good fish substitutes, i went the easy way and made potato corn, but the results were well-received by a certian handsome man.

http://www.newportmercury.com/articles/2006/10/04/features/feature3.txt
this is the new food column that i will be writing bi-monthly for mercury.
this is freaking exciting.
please, if you go read the column and like it, leave a comment on mercury's website.
this will make my editor happy!
(the fact that i have an editor makes me happy.)

roasted acorn squash with butter and brown sugar.
chicken pesto-olive spread burgers with heirloom tomato and white cheese.
one utterly failed job interview, on their part.
one interview for a job tomorrow that i think i really want.
one photoshoot for the logo for my column on friday.
two friends coming up friday night.
three friends all going together to see bad ass baby boy h music at nemo on saturday (middle east upstairs, boston, 11pm).
five columns written and turned in so far.
four of which should run in the paper, one on the website.
happy happy.

mmmmm chicken cacciatore. i put in carrots because that's what my irish mom does.