I'm allergic to chocolate

I'm allergic to chocolate, but I love it so.  It doesn't make me sick-- although I think I'm foolish enough to still it eat on occasion if it did-- it just turns my skin into an unsightly mess.  Over the years, I've noticed a few things that help counteract the problem (besides abstaining from chocolate-- heaven forbid!): hormonal birth control (thanks America for tax dollars well spent!), extra sunlight (but not too much or I'll just end up with a burn and even more freckles than anyone thought was possible), face washes and creams that cost, like, more than $6 (it's an investment!).

It was my boyfriend's birthday a few weeks ago.  Always looking for an excuse to bake, I asked him what kind of cake he wanted.  Of course his reply was, "I don't know.  You don't have to bake anything if you don't want to, but if you do, whatever you think would be tasty."  Well, since they weren't for me exactly what the harm in making a delicious, chocolatey cupcake?  So I made cookies n'cream cupcakes with crushed up Oreos in the chocolate batter as well as in the vanilla frosting.  They're not the sexiest looking cupcake in the world, but the black/white dichotomy is always enjoyable in a dessert.  The cookie chunks added a pleasant crunch on the first day.  By day two they became a similar consistency to the cake and frosting, but that was nice too.

Now that I've talked about chocolate so much, I really want to make a microwave brownie.  They're not even all that brownie-like.  More like sweet, warm, gratuitous goodness in a bowl.  It's the kind of treat you make for yourself when you live alone and your dog doesn't know how to give you a look that says, "You should be ashamed of yourself..."

Quiche

I made a tofu quiche!

Sun dried tomato, roasted red pepper, mushroom, onion, and spinach.  The crust is a basic single pastry crust.  I thought the tofu held together nicely.  I stirred a thick-ish mixture of cornstarch, flour, and non-dairy milk in with the tofu and other ingredients (along with plenty of nooch) before molding it into the crust.  I doubt it tastes very egg-y, but it was certainly a rich and filling treat for breakfast... or any other time of day, really.

Sad Times

Sometimes life is just really, really sad.  Those days where nothing you've done is right, it seems like all the decisions that were made up to that point should've been made differently, and all future outcomes seem bleak....  Well sometimes on those days (especially when those days are birthdays), the only solution is: make Gay Rainbow Cupcakes.  Because if we can't be happy about the repeal of DOMA, what else can we celebrate?

I went for a walk later that evening with the boyfriend and the sky was just magnificent!  There's something overpowering and truly awesome when I see such spectacular displays of circumstance.  I'm suddenly thankful for daring to take myself out for a walk, and grateful that I took the time to stop staring longingly down, transfixed not on the curb or the scuffs on my shoes, but on what I can no longer see-- what was lost; then by some good fortune, have my eyes drawn skyward to see a true beauty....  In those moments, I'm reminded of what I have.

Wine & Pizza

Wine and pizza nights are some of my favorite.  From scratch, start to finish, it takes about 3 hours to make a pizza-- and that is just the right amount of time to chat and share a bottle of wine with friends.

There is only one way to make a delicious pizza dough: it's Isa's dough from Vegan with a Vengeance. It's best to make a double recipe because, c'mon, I know you're going to want more and as long as you're kneading as rising, you might as well split it in two and freeze the other half.

Here is a pizza a made the other night: it's a BBQ pizza with cashew cream.  Toppings include a "ham" style seitan, pineapple, and mushrooms.  The BBQ sauce is based off of Candle Cafe, the cashew cream was kinda a throw-together: some portion of soaked cashews to a larger portion of vegetable broth, and the "ham" style seitan is based off of something from La Dolce Vegan.  All together, it made something entirely delectable.

The next pizza was inspired by a bunch of produce items in my fridge that needed using, including some very failed kale chips.

Strawberry Coconut Muffins

 This is what I did this morning.  I can't post a recipe because it was kinda a throw-together.   One of those, "Hmmm...  I have an open can of coconut milk... What should I do with those strawberries?.. I really need to work on using those gluten-free flours..."  It also has a crunchy, buttery, coconutty toping.  Those kinds of muffins are the best.                           

Eat Yer Grits!

I think it's about time we get down to the title of this blog....

1.) Grits are delicious.  You should eat them.

2.) It seems relevant to a mostly-food blog.

3.) I'd consider grits to be a southern food and I consider myself a southerner who likes to make (and eat!) southern food.

4.) There's this story my Dad tells about one of the first times he found himself in the South-- he hails from the Midwest.  He was a kid and he and his family were on a road trip.  They were in some seedy diner-- the kind you resorted to when you were on the road before you could check your smart phone for Yelp reviews.   He ordered some kind of breakfast special that included a side of grits.  I suppose in his area of the Midwest, he'd never encountered the corny mush, which, all things considered, isn't the most delectable bit of food when it's not seasoned.  Ok, I'll totally eat it with just salt and Earth Balance, but I digress....  After eating the main part of his breakfast, he sat there while his parents sipped their coffee and was aimlessly pushing the white, grainy mess around with his spoon when suddenly from behind him came the grunt of a rough, male voice, "Eat yer grits, boy!"  My father was taken aback.  Either his parents perceived the comment to be harmless or their polite midwestern etiquette didn't know how to address the unprecedented gruffness, but they didn't intervene as my father swallowed down the grits, under what I imagine was some strict observance.

5.) The "Eat Your Grits," web address was taken by a glorious one-post-wonder written in 2005 by what I presume was a socially discontent high school senior, probably female.  

cheezy grits served with avocado and hot sauce

Cheezy Grits (otherwise known as one of my favorite breakfasts, best served after a 6AM swim), servies one

1/4 cup grits

1/8 cup TVP

1 cup water

1/4 tsp salt

1/8 tsp pepper

1/4 tsp turmeric

1/4 tsp oregano

1/8 tsp cumin

pinch cayenne pepper

1/2 tsp lemon juice

1 tbs or 1 1/2 tbs nooch

1 tsp buttah

Because it's the morning, heaven forbid anyone actually set the timer or dirty (or wash and then dirty!) the measuring spoons.  I do measure out the grits, TVP, and water.  I throw them in the pot together, turn on the heat to med-hi and it can stay that way till it comes to a slight boil, then it needs to go down to a simmer right away.  After the grits, etc. go in, I add the spices.  Once it's pretty much cooked, I stir

in the nutritional yeast and non-dairy butter.  Serve with sliced tomato or avocado or fresh, chopped cilantro.  Please, help yourself to the hot sauce.

tomato-based curry

Sometimes I just get excited about vegetables, y'know?  That avocado I can't wait to use like a delicious, rich butter, that eggplant to roast and scoop out it's soft, juicy inside.  There are some very standard ways of approaching our veggies and I admit, I get stuck in those ways.  When I saw that summer squash and zucchini were in season (this is the south, after all), I couldn't wait to munch on an epitome of warm weather.  I couldn't just toss these babies in with a tofu scramble, or the standard veggie mix for fajitas.  No, these guys were special and in this case, special meant: treat them different.  At first I thought, "fritters!", but I didn't want to fry anything.  Then I thought, "frittata!", and after I remarked on how phonetically similar my two ideas were, I realized I had no tofu.  I had to reach outside the box.  I needed something different.

Believing one of my many cookbooks could hold the key, I proceeded to scour the index for hints for how to use these two squashes.  Instead, I saw the usual:
Summer squash--
in stir fry, p.97
in summer salad, p.18
Zucchini--
stuffed, p.42
I mean, really?  Those things again?  My veggies were already spoken for, I just had to find out for what.  (Maybe I'm the vegetable whisperer.)

How about curry?  Foolishly, I glanced through my books for some curry inspiration.  It's too hot for that coconut-based stuff + I have a giant tomato sitting on my shelf.  I thought, "There will be tomato curry and no one will tell me how to do it!"

So folks, here we are.  A tomato based curry that-- hopefully-- will be friendly to whatever veggies you decide to throw in.

Curry! serves 2 hungry people, serve over rice or other whole grain

1 tbs coconut oil, for the pan

1 small onion, roughly chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

4 or 5 leaves fresh basil, chopped (I keep mine in the freezer)

1tsp ginger, grated (freezer too)

1tsp curry powder

1/4 tsp tumeric

1/8 tsp cumin

1/8 tsp corriander

1/8 tsp cinnamon

juice of 1/2 lime

1/2 really big tomato, peeled and chopped

1 tbs tomato paste

1/2 large summer squash (or 1 regular-sized), sliced

1/2 zucchini, sliced

1/2 cup mushroom, sliced

a little water for when the pan gets dry

You know how to do this.  It should be friendly to a lot of substitution.  The tomato can me added right after the squashes-- it'll still have time to cook down and get real saucy.  I don't think you have to throw in tomato paste; I just had some that needed using.