nyresolution

I'm pretty bad about pursuing the unattainable in many different forms and varieties. I think 2009 has been full of reality checks regarding this.

In 2010, I'm going to be more realistic and in this effort hopefully also a little less heartbroken.

Attainable: Veganism, making new friends
Unattainable: Trying to like bands that I think are incredibly overrated and boring (Margot and the Nuclear So What's, Belle and Sebastian) because someone else tells me I should give them another try. You know what? No.

See? I'm working on it.

Vegan!

I received two awesome vegan cookbooks for Christmas. One is an East African cookbook, the other a soul food one. Both have some pretty slammin-looking recipes and I'm looking forward to experimenting once I'm back in my own kitchen.

Being vegan over the holidays has proven to be a test of will and courage. It's hard to not revert back to my summertime mantra of "vegan tomorrow!" So many sweets, buttery potatoes and cheesy casseroles to indulge in. And the eggnog, oh the eggnog! I'm kidding, sort of. I'm just trying to say it hasn't been easy, but I've been trying.

For the big Christmas dinner on my mom's side of the family I adapted this recipe, veganized it and otherwise made some changes. It seems like something that could be found in a vegan soulfood cookbook. Just in case anyone might want to have some I thought I'd share with you what all I did!

Before I go into it, I should say that it's a pretty time-consuming dish but is pretty worth it. It also makes a TON so it's perfect for potlucks or something you can make on Sunday and then eat for a week. I am excited to experiment with this in the future, making it spicier (jalepenos, cayenne, oh my!), adding greens and putting something in the cornbread to make it a little less dry (vegan cheese? earth balance? more soymilk?) and maybe actually eating it with mole sauce, though I highly doubt I'm going to ever feel compelled to make my own.

I'm down for suggestions, so help a lady out if you feel like you've got ideas!

Southern Vegan Cornbread Casserole

Ingredients:

Filling:
3 tablespoons (or a little more if you need it) extra virgin olive oil
1 medium red onion, diced
16 oz mushrooms, chopped (I used 8 oz baby bellas and 8 oz portobello)
1 1/2 tablespoons chopped sage (I used some dried from Dad's garden)
4 teaspoons ground thyme
5 garlic cloves
3 teaspoons cumin
1 medium butternut squash, peeled, seeded and cut into small cubes
2 14oz cans of black beans, drained and rinsed
2 14 oz cans of diced tomatoes in juice, no salt added
1/2 cup water

Cornbread:
Bob's Red Mill Gluten-Free Cornbread Mix
egg replacer for 2 eggs
1 1/2 cups soymilk
3 tablespoons parsley
1/4 cup finely chopped roasted red peppers (mine were from the jar)

Preparation

For filling: (taken pretty much directly from the epicurious recipe!)
Heat oil in large pot over medium-high heat. Add onions; sauté until translucent. Add mushrooms; sauté until tender. Add sage, thyme, garlic, and cumin; stir 1 minute. Add squash, beans, tomatoes with juice, and 1/2 cup water; bring to boil. Reduce heat to medium, cover, and simmer ~8 minutes. Uncover and simmer until vegetables are tender and most of liquid has evaporated but mixture is still very moist, about 12 minutes. Season filling generously with salt and pepper. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Cool slightly. Cover; chill.)

For cornbread:
Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter 15x10x2-inch glass baking dish. Follow instructions on the back of the cornbread mix bag, using the egg replacer and soymilk instead of the non-vegan options. Stir in parsley and roasted red peppers.

Make it happen!
Transfer 2/3 of the dough to the baking dish. Place large piece of plastic wrap atop dough. Using plastic as aid, press dough evenly over bottom and 3/4 of the way up sides of dish; peel off plastic. Spoon filling into dough in dish, spreading evenly. Spoon remaining dough in small dollops atop filling. Gently spread dollops evenly over filling to cover.

Bake until dough is light golden and casserole is heated through, about 1 hour.

pretty strong for a lady.

Oh December 23rd, how you plague me.

On this loaded day which I refuse to make me sad, I would like to tell you three great things:

1. I am home.
2. I got an East African vegan cookbook today from Mike. Merry Christmas to me. Yum.
3. There's a picture on Facebook of the three new IU STAND leaders next to a Christmas tree, enjoying each others' company off campus. I feel like a proud mama.

theluji

(from ~6pm)

Started at 9pm last night and is still going strong. I'm glad that last weekend we got a television, since we were already paying for cable. Sleepless in Seattle or Law & Order?

In Swahili, snow is "theluji" (theh-loo-jee)

See more evidence of the DC SnOMG Snowpocalypse on Prince of Petworth's flickr pool.

Pre-empting cabin fever.

One to two FEET of snow expected to be dumped on the District starting at midnight tonight.

Honestly, these people cannot handle talking about snow, and the prospect of such accumulation is causing havoc. Today was slow in the clinic because people were skipping their appointments to go stock up on food. Tonight was our holiday party, and things wrapped up early so people could make it home before the storm (again, it's predicted to start at midnight.) I swear, not a flake has dropped, and even I am preparing to be holed up in here all weekend. I am quite excited for the prospect of traipsing around in my boots over to the Safeway for something that I abosoLUTELY need tomorrow. It'll probably be a big to-do.

I just hope it's manageable by Tuesday morning so I can get on my way to Indiana for Christmas!

mele kalikimaka all over again

The past few days' highlights outside of work:
- Painted a picture (watercolor)
- Sewed up my holey clothes
- Saw the Fantastic Mr. Fox (so good!)
- Learned how to play Stand By Me on my (Value Village) Casio
- Caught up with my parents on the phone, who relayed stories about the Cutest One Year Old Ever and their own lives. I'm excited to be seeing them in a week when I'm home for Christmas.
- Watched White Christmas with my roommate (I'd never seen it before!)
- Watched Christmas Vacation with my roommates (I've seen it so many times!) and drank soy nog.

I really love this time of year, except for the small feeling of anxiousness I get when I feel pressured and completely unsure about what to give the people I love for Christmas. (I prefer buying things when I think of them and giving for no real reason - no one is ever disappointed!) When shopping for gifts for my family, I've found it harder to buy for the men in my life. I've been thinking about getting my dad a subscription to a magazine. He's a lot like me (or, well, I'm a lot like him) as far as our values, points of view and senses of humor are concerned. The only magazine I've ever had a subscription to is ReadyMade, which isn't really his cup of tea. I think diy things aren't far off from his jam, but more handyman kind of stuff and less designy. I'd appreciate any ideas you might have.

New friends, new opportunities, new.

There are a lot of things missing from my current experience in D.C. when I compare it to the few months I spent here earlier in the year. Specifically, the people I felt closest to when I lived here before are all now out of the area. I'm also struggling to feel like I believe in what I'm doing as strongly as I did at the Enough Project. I mean, it's weird to say out loud, but genocide (or, anti-genocide) is my thing. It's my raison d'etre. In the narrowest sense, with the larger context being that I just want to help people. But so does everyone else, right?

Anyway, I digress. Obviously I didn't have it all when I lived here before, right? Right. I missed very much being around the creative types that I cling to in Bloomington. I mean, throughout college my boyfriend was an art major/musician, as were many of the people I hung around with. In College House #1 I lived with two artist/musicians, and in College House #2 I lived with two BFA majors (graphic design and painting). I feel like I get my creative outlet by being around, appreciating and supporting the things others are doing pretty consistently.

So tonight I'm going to work on gaining that this time. I'm going to a launch party/art opening associated with this blog/website I've been keeping up with. Thankfully I convinced my roommate Cat to come and her boyfriend will be joining us. I'm looking forward to it.

The other good news is that yesterday I had an all-day training with the other kids in my program and while the training was a little tedious, we hung out afterwards and I felt like I bonded with some of them. It's nice to make friends, you know? I think the only thing I would have done differently is not talk so much about how much I adored Bread for the City. I may have made the kids that volunteer there a little uncomfortable with how much I knew about Bread. But what can I say! It's an admirable place.

In equally exciting news, I signed up to start meeting with a refugee family for a few hours a week to help them with their English starting in January. I don't know who they are or where they live or what their native tongue is yet, but I'll be doing it through the International Rescue Committee. My orientation is next month. Hurray!

building it

Suddenly it is December. I've been feeling a little bummed out this week, mostly due to catching a cold, my Nobel Peace Prize Winning President announcing more troops, and finding out that the other volunteer that was supposed to start with me at the clinic backed out, leaving me flying solo. It snowed here yesterday, and while today was sunny, some slush and ice still remains. It's hard for me to not want to fall right down into being an ungrateful hermit in such conditions, especially in a relatively new city with few friends to convince me otherwise. So here are a list of good things from the first week of this wintry month.

1. I got my food stamps card.
2. I purchased food with my food stamps card.
3. I got a locker and a key to the break room at work.
4. My coworkers have started calling me "Em" ... a sure fire sign that they want to keep me around, right?
5. I have been taken on lunchtime adventures to the third floor of our building and to the Safeway grocery store down the street. Upstairs there is a woman with a few crock pots who sells homemade soup for $1.25!
6. I made at least two new, delicious vegan dishes for myself, further comforting me that food doesn't have to not be real darned tasty to also be animal-free. And I shared!
7. I drove with Sveta to Richmond to visit Kelsey and her family. We attended a large Christmas bazaar and spent plenty of QT together. I started my Christmas shopping, too.
8. I went to a cute Christmas soiree at Rachael's new apartment with my new and old roomies in attendance.

Hard times and funky living can season the soul, true enough, but joy is the yeast that makes it rise. I didn't say that, it's from a Tom Robbins book. He seems like he might be a big creep in real life, but writes things that give me confidence in my overall optimism. Here's to another week of bricks and mortar.