It's a lot better than it looks. Really.

It'd be nice if I had a digital camera so I could take a glamor shot of the salad I made for lunch. Until I get one, this little bit of eye candy is all I've got: I was riffing off of a salad I'd had about a week ago at Hopleaf with my sister, called the "tomato" salad. It had heirloom tomatoes, snap peas, a really tasty, creamy vinaigrette, goat cheese, and almonds. There was definitely a crunch missing in the salad I had today despite all the effort of the snap peas, and after looking at the Hopleaf menu again right now I realize why. My salad had snap peas, baby tomatoes and spinach, and I made my own vinaigrette that I mixed blue cheese into. Blue cheese was too strong for this, and I regret it, but the vinaigrette was pretty good- lots of raw garlic, just like I like. Definitely goat cheese next time. After the salad was done and I was excited to finally be leaving on time for work, I knocked a big yellow Pyrex bowl off my counter because my kitchen is so small, and it shattered into a million pieces. The cats and I were not pleased, but after vacuuming a third time, I actually made it to work without being late.

I decided to go see Julie & Julia last night. I'd heard from a couple of people that the Julia part was good, but the Julie part left something to be desired. I liked the Julia part a lot, but the Amy Adams part fell short and kind of got on my nerves. It was too cutesy to the point of being hokey, such that it made my stomach drop a little bit. It was really hard to relate to Amy Adams' character- she was one dimensional, selfish, and boring. The Julia Child character was sort of one dimensional too I guess... but I liked Meryl Streep a lot. Uninspired, I went home and ate cheese for dinner. Shout out to all the goats out there for your goat's milk.

Things everyone really likes that I pretend to like, or can't face the fact that I just don't really like

It all started with my old friend Michael's obsession with Criss Angel and his terrible, terrible "magic." He would freak whenever Criss Angel's show "Mindfreak" came on television, and all my friends would get together and watch it with him. I'm not sure if they liked it themselves, or they just wanted to be with Michael, but it was not good. It wasn't even bad good. It was just bad bad, boring, retarded. But, I pretended to enjoy it so I could eat his chips/salsa/brownie bites/tofuti. We all pretend to like things we don't for various reasons, and sometimes we also have a hard time really admitting to ourselves that we just don't like them. I kept telling myself I liked olives, but low and behold I love them now. However, there are those things that I haven't convinced myself of loving, and those things that I know I don't like but there isn't a valid reason not to like them so I keep on thinking, "Well, I might like you this time, so it's worth another shot." Here is a list of things that I just plain don't really like (not to be confused with things that I hate, but more on that later):

1. Arthchoke hearts (i think artichokes in their full form are so beautiful, but i don't really think i like to eat them very much)
2. Cupcakes- (unless they are JUST right. for me, it's like, why have a cupcake when I can have a cookie?)
3. Tofuti (i know I mentioned i ate Michael's tofuti above, but it was only a part of a delicious, delicious brownie sundae, one that had to be completely free of milk because he is allergic to it. on second thought, i think i really liked tofuti at first, but toatlly O.D.ed on it for said reason above, and so now I get it thinking I will still love it and but don't)
4. Vella cafe tofu scramble (sorry Erica)
5. Hiking
6. Boating (i fear the open sea)


This list is short, but I'm getting bored so I'll add more later. Well, I feel better. Don't you? If you feel like it, leave me a comment with some things that you continue to subject yourself to even though you know you don't like them. It's time to air out that dirty laundry and come to terms with it. Oh, that's another thing- messes. You all might think I loooove messes, but I don't. Make that no. 7.

Magnum P.I.(E)

Rrrrrrrrrr


For Alex's family graduation party, I made a vegan coconut cream pie! This picture doesn't really do it justice because I had to take it on Alex's cameraphone because I don't own a digital camera. It went over so well that there wasn't a crumb left to take home with me. I was kind of worried because the pie isn't really creamy by any measure, more gooey than creamy...but I think the toasted coconut on top made it so that it didn't really matter. I'm really excited to improve it, and at Erica's suggestion, I'm going to try and make a coconut dream bar-type version of the pie, with a layer of caramel and chocolate or chocolate chips, and a caramel drizzle on top. A diabetic's dream/nightmare, with an insulin chaser. I've also been wanting to make these heart shaped apple-gallettes from the Veganomicon cookbook. I'm going to make both for Alex's surprise graduation party, which I can talk about right now because he still doesn't know I have this blog :) I also kind of want to make little Daifuku, so I don't know what I'll end up doing. Either way, I really haven't had an excuse to bake anything since Christmas, and summer is just filled with so many get-togethers.

I haven't even attempted to begin working on my summer cover up for the craft magazine sewing contest, and I'm kind of not sure it's ever actually going to happen. There are too many other, better, more fun things to be doing. I don't even go to the beach, so why do I need a coverup? I really only wanted to do it so I could win a free sewing machine or dressform. Oh well.

Surfin' USA

Just in case you were wondering, the only surfing I do is the couch kind. And I'm not even adventurous enough to really couch surf- I just go to my friends houses and do a lot of sitting. Point is, my couch is coming today, and I sure am excited! Now I can do my sittin' somewhere else besides the floor/in my alley. I'm going to make some pretty pillows for it, and then my cat is going to get all up ons and make it a * fur dungeon. In the meantime, I'll just appreciate the fact that it matches my sister's bridesmaid dresses.

In other news, I've just realized I might not like artichoke hearts as much as I want everyone to think I do.


*Note: This is not my cat, but is representative of the amount of hair that will likely cover every exposed inch of the new couch. Did I mention he's got dandruff too?

Craft Magazine Sewing Contest

Things just got interesting*! I am going to try and sew some sort of Frankenstein coverup for this contest. It doesn't seem out of the question, even though my only accomplishment in my sewing career thus far has been a little felt pillow...but I think it will be fun to dive in. I mean, what's the worst that can happen**?



*Note: I did not sew this dog.


**Note: The worst that can happen might be this dog.

Time Stands Still when I Think of You

I accidentally forgot to write anything for two months. Sorry to all of you readers, although I'm still the only one reading this. Thankfully, I accept my apology!

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Passover, a major Jewish holiday, begins this week and on Wednesday. For more information on Passover, please refer to the video. Go to the 5 minute mark. Bobby Conn will do the rest.

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My roommate and I are parting ways this May after having lived together for the past three years. For logistical purposes, he moved his furniture and belongings out a month early, and consequently the second household cat. Since the move, the first household cat, none other than Count von Dougalshtein, has been grieving. He is lonely, and in dire need of a new kitty companion. The quest now begins for a new kitty friend. In the meantime, he's been keeping neighborhood watch.

My Cat Dougal

This is my cat Dougal. He went nuts when I showed him this video. He was a baby when my sister and I got him from a farm in Woodstock, Illinois, and he had eye goo and earmites and a little kitty cough that we later found out was cat herpes. Dougal likes to sleep with me and tries to lick me on the lips because he doesn't understand we're just friends.