Vegan Scones

This was my first time making scones. Despite following the same recipe, the two batches somehow looked drastically different. Both were a success.
I added some extras to it, like vanilla extract and cocoa powder, to make it interesting.

The Courtney Janes

New favorite music: The Courtney Janes!

Since I had The Be Good Tanyas/Jolie Holland ruined for me by association recently, I was worried about it possibly leading to falling out of love with Alternative Country/Indie Folk, which would be tragic indeed. But last night at KC Turner's birthday bash, my faith was restored.



The Courtney Janes. There is something about Ben Hulan's demeanor that was absolutely enchanting. The beautiful Southern tinge in his voice, his sincere smile, the eloquently yet simply crafted lyrics, some sort of magical energy...

Learning To Love You More Assignment #69: Climb to the top of a tree and take a picture of the view.

Learning To Love You More Assignment #69:
Climb to the top of a tree and take a picture of the view.

I climbed this tree at the Treasure Island Music Festival in October.

Opéra national de Paris

‘Your wife is dead’: Lost Ted Hughes poem about Sylvia Plath’s suicide published

From Dangerous Minds:

A poem by Ted Hughes, considered lost, was published today in The New Statesman magazine after being discovered in the British Museum among his papers. In it, Hughes addresses the painful suicide of his wife, Sylvia Plath. The poem, written in the 70s, would seem to be the “missing link” from Hughes’ 1998 book about his marriage to Plath, Birthday Letters, as none of the poems in that book discuss the circumstances of her death.

Carolyn Kellog, writing at the Los Angeles Times, Jacket Copy blog:

Actor Jonathan Pryce read part of the poem for the [BBC4 Radio] broadcast, reading:

Late afternoon Friday
my last sight of you alive
burning your letter to me
in the ashtray
with that strange smile

Sylvia Plath, who today is best-known as the author of the autobiographical novel “The Bell Jar,” was a young poet living in England when she met Ted Hughes, then also a young poet. The two married in 1956, moved to the U.S. for three years, and then returned to England. They had two children together.

Plath was 30 when she killed herself by inhaling the fumes from an unlit oven. Hughes went on to become one of the significant British poets of the 20th century, serving as British poet laureate from 1984 until his death in 1998.

The poem includes how Hughes learned of Plath’s death, in its final lines.

And I had started to write when the telephone
Jerked awake, in a jabbering alarm,
Remembering everything. It recovered in my hand.
Then a voice like a selected weapon
Or a measured injection,
Coolly delivered its four words
Deep into my ear: ‘Your wife is dead.

There is also a video on the website above.

I will skip opinions about Hughes for now. I recommend you read the Unabridged Journals of Sylvia Plath, as he censored the original publishing thereof.

More adventures in Deliciousness

Signature dishes round two: Ben approves of Chickpea Quinoa Pilaf. Added are a stir fry of greens in nutritional yeast to make it cheesy, grilled asparagus, and boiled corn.



This Coconut Red Lentil Soup (click for recipe) from 101 Cookbooks was incredible! Flavorful, aromatic, filling, and even photogenic. I absolutely recommend making it.

I paired it with:




Pasta Della California from the sassy favorite Post Punk Kitchen.
While a great idea, I feel that this would work better with couscous, quinoa, or anything otherwise that absorbs flavor better than pasta does. It was still delicious though.

All in all, good feasts.

Signature Dishes, Part 1

This post is very much overdue, but, better late than not ever?

I find myself making some of the same dishes over and over again, mainly because they are:
(A) Tried and True
(B) DELICIOUS
(C) A hit with both my vegan and carnivorous friends.
And so forth.

Kali and Christy, two fabulous individuals who happen to be RVing across the country at this moment, an account of which you can follow here (and should, this blog is complete with pretty pictures!), came over in July to try some of these signatures for Kali's birthday.

Behold, Chickpea Quinoa Pilaf from Veganomicon (which is apparently available in its entirety on Google Books, holler! ...wait a minute, I do not use expressions like "holler!") and the simplest and yummiest Vegan Chocolate Cake! Let me know if you would like the recipe to the latter as well. I tend to change up what I add to it, such as fruit, berries, and so forth.
Click on the photos to enlarge.


The birthday dinner, assembled and complete. So I have a little too much fun with presentation.


Closeup: In addition, we have veggie dumplings (not homemade, sorry! but something to try and make another time!), a simple salad, and fruit for garnish/decoration.


Hmmm.


I seem to be missing my cake pan, so lately the chocolate cake has come in the form of cupcakes/muffins. Christy helped - notice her flawless distribution of the batter. You're hired!


Birthday Kali approves!

And how can you get a cameo in the culinary adventures section of this blog, you asked? It's simple, cook with me! Or, be cooked for by me.