it was...a big day

it was, indeed, a big day. i cooked, i baked, i dined, i drank. it was the first saturday i've had off (from work) in so long! and so, while trying to make the best of it, lots of food things happened.

first: the afternoon of cooking. i made a fannnnntastic batch of granola. 1 cup steel cut irish oats + 1/2 cup rolled oats (NOT instant oats) + 1 cup chopped cashews & walnuts + 1/4 cup vegetable oil + 1/3 cup maple syrup + 1 tbsp. homemade vanilla extract + 1/4 tsp. sea salt (baked at 350 F, for 20 minutes and stirred often), with some roasted sunflower seeds, raisins, and hemp seads added after the fact. crunchy, sweet and salty are the reasons the whole world loves granola (even ryan, who deemed it "too healthy," then ate about 4 big handfulls of it). despite the informal recipe i just laid out, there is no secret to granola! just mix up some stuff you like with a bit of sweetener and a touch of oil and salt, then bake it til it smells good. seriously, that's it. if you buy granola pre-made from the store, YOU ARE BEING RIPPED OFF.


this beautiful mix and some soy yogurt is my breakfast for the next few days. protein for breakfast! whoever says it isn't possible for a vegan to start the day off right, well, consider yourself served.

then (simultaneously, actually), i tried my hand at a seitan loaf meant to become "deli slices." the recipe was adapted from vegan dad (brilliance! my new mantra: "the man knows his seitan!"). it was actually pretty easy - vital wheat gluten kneaded into a spicy broth - but the outcome is still uncertain. we're pretty sure that to feel the full effect, one of us needs to take the loaf to work and, under the scrutiny and potential vegan-hatred of our co-workers, slice it up on a genuine deli meat slicer. otherwise, we might end up with this weird baby:


that is not a hoagie roll; it's a big old roll of wheat meat. yeesh. but it tastes good! i swear.

then, after a wee foodie break, i met our dear friend adam/VR south philly correspondent at a center city vegan chinese spot. maybe it's best to write about that venture tomorrow. until then, here is a photo of adam in all of our entree glory:



he actually said to me "make sure the photo looks good." ha! there ya go, champ. more to come tomorrow.

love,
emily