For the Love of Snow

My boyfriend likes to tease me about how many snow pictures I take.  Every year I run out to get pictures of the first of the fallen snow on trees, the ground and the lakes. I can't help it really. Newly fallen snow is so beautiful to me. I hope the excitement of it never wears off.

CatDay

I've also included a couple of pictures from my visit to the Wildcat Sanctuary. I went there about 6 years ago and I hope to go again. My boyfriend and I have been sponsoring cats out there for a long time and the woman who runs the place is a hero of mine.

Minnesota Monday a.k.a. Shameless Self Promotion

This weekend I had my first open house for my jewelry shop. It was a way for me to learn some ins and outs of hopefully moving on to craft shows. It went wonderfully and my friends, family, former co-workers and new friends came out to support me in a big way. Here are a few snaps from my weekend as well as the link to my shop which I would love it if you visited.

I would be delighted if you stopped by: GirlyGeekChic !!

Time Time Time

My week is slipping away from me again. I am at least feeling better. I'm having my very first open house for the jewelry I make this weekend and I am crazy nervous! I've been cleaning my house like nuts when I don't feel too terrible.

Goose Lake Farm and Winery

So, my blogging schedule fell apart last week with preparing for Thanksgiving (I had 20 people to dinner) and having caught a cold the last couple of days. I am going to get back on track here. Today is a bit of a random post about a winery I went to in mid September. It's about an hour from where I live. Goose Lake Farm and Winery is in the tiny little town of Nowthen, MN. I really enjoyed my visit out here especially because of all the animals and birds roaming around. The wine is quite good and they served sparkling red wine on tap. That was an unusual treat and it was delicious. They also make and sell their own chocolates.

I am really delighting in visiting all the wineries in Minnesota. I like to support small business and I might add the ones I've been to thus far have all been owned by women.

CatDay

For some reason, I couldn't get my potato recipe to post. I shall have to try again. However, here are my cats being not helpful during my remodel. Happy CatDay!

What to Eat Wednesday, Vegan Thanksgiving Pajama Potluck

After I moved out of my parents' house, I stopped celebrating Thanksgiving. I never really liked it all that much. I didn't celebrate it for some years until I started seeing my current boyfriend and transitioned to an almost completely vegan diet. We started off having a dinner with one or two other couples over the next few years until I started to realize that not only did a lot of my friends not eat meat or diary but a lot of them also had family that were too far away to visit every year. Most of my vegetarian and vegan friends who did go see family during the day were basically stuck eating whatever side dishes might happen to be ok for them. And for some of my lactose intolerant friends this was a nightmare as we all know most everything traditional and American is laden with butter or milk. So we came up with a new tradition a few years ago and one that has been working tremendously well. I hope we stick with it for many years. Especially since I have worked to make what I think is the best tofurky. Now, you can just follow the directions on the box. Which I have done. I have tried both the ways they list on the website but what I like better and have been complimented on time and time again is my own amended version of the instructions. 

The other point of this evening dinner is to be as comfortable as possible. I encourage everyone to wear pajamas and to bring a vegan dish to share. We always have more food then we know what to do with. So today I'll leave you with my tofurky recipe and tomorrow I'll give you my mashed potato recipe and the link to the gravy we make to go with them and it is amazing.

Using the cooking time on the box of the tofurky is fine. I usually have mine completely thawed. My changes are all in the seasonings. 

1. I mix up the 3 tablespoons of olive oil and one tablespoon of wheat free soy sauce mixture. I usually make three tofurkys so I do one mixture per roast. 

2. Instead of ground sage, I mix in a seasoning mix from a favorite spice shop Penzey's. It's called Bavarian Seasoning.  I don't generally measure this out. Since it's salt-free you don't have to worry about it drying anything out. 

3. Now, for each tofurky I buy enough FRESH sage to make a bed of it for each roast to cook on. I'll line a glass baking dish with foil and make three beds of fresh sage. This gives the roast an amazing aroma and makes your house smell nice. 

4. Use a brush to coat each tofurky with the oil and soy sauce mixture. This is really important: Brush the WHOLE thing with oil otherwise it'll dry out. Do the bottom and sides well. Don't use all the mixture as you'll want more to brush it again when you remove the foil from the top and bake it for the last 10-15 minutes. 

5. After each one is brushed with oil and set on the sage, sprinkle seasoning on top of each one and then cover the whole thing with foil. I usually make a pouch with the foil. It keeps the moisture in really well. I do NOT add any of the suggested vegetables. This never worked out very well in the past and with all the other food that arrives there was no point in wasting it.

Following the directions on the box for time and temperature, I put them in to cook. After the alloted time has past I'll take the dish out and remove the cover. I'll usually slice the tops open a little so I can brush the remaining oil into the tofurky for the last ten minutes or so of cooking. This also will keep it from drying out if you have to leave it in the oven on WARM while people arrive or get settled. 

It should be easy to slice and serve. We usually serve it with gravy which I'll give you the recipe for tomorrow.

Minnesota Monday, United Noodle Delights

When I first moved here I used to explore grocery stores. For some reason, I stopped. I don't really know why but recently I went back to one I used to really like and was very happy by what I found. I will no doubt be going again. United Noodle is a wonderland of treats(and real food too) and gift items. I very quickly found a bunch of snacks and tea to take home with me as well as tea tins. I will most certainly put this place back on my list of shopping stops, especially since so much Asian and Indian food is vegetarian friendly. Here are some pictures of the snacks I bought, the tins I loved and the veggies that became part of a fabulous Pho made for me. Have a delightful week!

What to Eat Wednesday

The place I'm going to write about is a favorite of mine if for no other reason than the atmosphere is great. The Bad Waitress in south Minneapolis has been a regular haunt of mine for sometime. If I were to be totally honest I'd have to say that the available vegan food menu is not very big nor are the breakfast dishes the best of those available in the Twin Cities. However, they do have some of the best coffee I've ever had and I very much enjoy the simple tofu scramble known as the Heavy Pedal. It's really a great dish to have when you've had a little too much to drink the night before. Judge me all you want, I have no problem admitting to enjoying a night out with cocktails and as such I've figured how to recover from them with what foods and activities (or lack thereof). The Bad Waitress also has a vegan sloppy joe that many of my friends really love. Not to mention a vegan chocolate cake to die for. Oh and the name? None of the service staff is anywhere near bad...in fact, I'd say they are the opposite.

Minnesota Monday, The Mayan Edition

Another new regular feature I’d like to start on my blog is Minnesota Monday. I will write about something to do or see here. I love my adopted state and it’s full of unexpected, strange and interesting places. I’ve written about some of these places a little bit before but Minnesota Monday will have more information going forward as well as more pictures and more Minnesota sass.

Today we’ll start with the current exhibit at the The Science Museum of Minnesota which is located in St. Paul, Minnesota.

The exhibit features treasures and displays about the Ancient Mayan culture. We all know the tales of the end of the world, human sacrifices and giant pyramids. Well, the world hasn’t ended but the human sacrifices and giant pyramids, that’s a thing. A real thing. In fact, sacrifices were a ritual they believed were essential to the city’s survival. Although, one of the more unnerving things you learn was that if you lost this particular game in the Ancient Mayan culture, your life was forfeit. Other fascinating facts included finding out that dwarves and hunchbacked people were sacred advisors to the kings and that there is a system of nearly underwater caves for worshipping the afterlife in the Underworld. There’s also a lot of information about the alignment of the stars and what that meant to planning for building and planting crops. This is a really interactive exhibit. There’s a lot to put together including a digital Mayan calendar that I could’ve played with for days. I hope they make it into software so I can buy one for myself. I even got to print my own birthday out in Mayan glyphs. One other thing that I learned that was a surprise to me was how much Mayan culture there is in Belize. I always think of Mexico as being the one place alone to be home to Mayan culture and that is incorrect. So go forth my friends and learn. I certainly did.

Here are pictures from the exhibit and some of the museum in general. Have a great day!

What to Eat Wednesday

Next up on my What to Eat Wednesday we go to St. Paul, Minnesota. The capital of Minnesota. It's a nice city. Beautiful and quiet. Old trees, old houses, yummy food. 

One of my favorite places in the Twin Cities to eat is Babani's. It is thought to be the first Kurdish restaurant in the country. I don't know if that is true but I do know the food is very aromatic, warm and unique. Some of the dishes seem to be a lighter version of Indian food. My favorites are the lentil soup, Niskena, the Kurdish bread, the Kurdish lemonade made with black lemons and the Garbanzo Bean Shilla with chickpeas that melt in your mouth.

What to Eat Wednesday

So, I am going to start regularly featuring subjects. I started last week with Friday now being CatDay. Now Wednesdays will be about food. What to Eat Wednesdays will be either a place to eat or a recipe to make at home. I am going to start with a place I ate at 4 times on a vacation about a month and a half ago simply because it was so great and so was the staff- they deserve any attention they get. 

The place in question is Green Vegetarian in San Antonio, Texas. I was in Texas for 7 days and ate here 4 times and also stopped to buy a dozen cupcakes for a family gathering. The entire bakery is vegan and wonderful. I spoke with the resident baker one day and not only is she talented, she is super cool. I wish I'd taken her picture. She also makes vegan dog treats. 

Vegan breakfast seems to be the hardest meal to find in restaurants. I was very pleased to have breakfast at Green twice and it was amazing both times. My favorite was the Vegan Migas which was a combination of tofu scramble with tortilla chips and refried black beans.

I do hope if you ever have the chance you'll stop by Green. The staff was very nice and had no problems with you asking a million questions. For other suggestions on where to eat when traveling check out Veg Guide. It is a website that has been an invaluable resource for me the last 10 years of traveling. 

Have a cupcake filled day!

Catday

I have decided that I will no longer acknowledge Fridays. They will now be Catday and will be filled with the billions of cat pictures I have taken over the years and will continue to take. Here is your first installment.