and it stoned me.

Good morning to all.  Well, obviously I am a vegan slacker, but let me get you up to date.  Derek and I are moving to West Hollywood in a matter of weeks.  This translates into me finally going to culinary school and D getting so many opportunities too, but also saying goodbye to a family I see everyday at work.  The stress of moving can really eat someone up, right? Deep breaths Jackie, deep breaths. I'm trying to balance the stress with pilates, which has helped a lot.  Hello positive ways to relieve stress, nice to meet you!

We have also been battling with snow the past couple weeks, and let me tell you, this doesn't help me with my overall melancholy nature during the winter months.

I don't know what it is with winter, but I convince myself every year that I will love it, and every year I feel this same depressing way, desperately hoping that summer will come around sooner than it did last year. I've been listening to my Van Morrison CD on repeat for the past month hoping it will transport me back to our trips down the Big Sur with the beautiful warm sunshine raining down on us.
Okay, I am done feeling sorry for myself and will share some of the delightful foods we've been devouring instead.

 
Yummy apple and walnut salad with "honey" Dijon and rosemary croutons.  Warmed up with a little tomato soup.

To be honest, this is a perfect meal for me if we added some grains. Maybe quinoa of couscous.  But I'm afraid rabbit food is terribly boring to most people.
So, I will continue to attempt to impress you. ;0)

Moving on....

Now presenting man food.  The art of pleasing a vegan man that isn't so convinced in his own veganism is a difficult one.  Now, he has made the choice himself, but finding food that really rocks his socks like a Chicago style greasy pizza joint would is the challenge.
Enter beer. 
Always bribe the man with beer, and then presentation.  Men are like children, you serve them spinach in a bowl, they make a face like they have vomited in their   mouth and then had to swallow it back down.  Now, if you serve them spinach, wrapped in buttery ravioli dough, smother in mushroomy pasta sauce, and cute little breaded "chicken" in nugget form, you can't serve it to them quick enough.

Well, he lived to see another day of veganism. :)

When I was living in SF, I was spoiled with these amazing restaurants for all of my brunch obsession needs.   I have been having these huge cravings for crepes, but the plethora of SF restaurants cannot be found out here in this mountain town. This is where I welcome one of my favorite vegans, Isa Chandra Moskowitz, into my home.  Well, her holy grail of all vegan cookbooks, at least. Veganomicon is genius and I bow down to her. 
We're not worthy, We're not worthy...

I made her chickpea flour crepes, but I used WW pastry flour instead of All purpose.  Inside there was sauteed potatoes, kale, and mushrooms with my cheezy sauce.  The only bad thing I can say is this didn't break my crepe fever, it just fired it up more.

Looks like it will be crepes for breakfast for the next week. I'd say that there are much worse things in life.




In the words of the very rockin' vegan Ellen Degeneres, "Be kind to one another."