Level 10 vegan
Dec. 21st, 2020 08:39 pmI'm spamming this everywhere but oh well. I'm just really proud of it.
Challah, bacon, and eggs, all of it vegan.
The challah—home made—is water challah with maple syrup, bacon is the King's fake bacon that I used to eat before I found out it wasn't vegan, but they changed the recipe and it is now, and the eggs are ackee. And it is unreasonably tasty. I was starting to worry that I was too depressed to cook or enjoy food, but I had a bit of a baking spree today and what I made tasted good.
Challah, bacon, and eggs, all of it vegan.
The challah—home made—is water challah with maple syrup, bacon is the King's fake bacon that I used to eat before I found out it wasn't vegan, but they changed the recipe and it is now, and the eggs are ackee. And it is unreasonably tasty. I was starting to worry that I was too depressed to cook or enjoy food, but I had a bit of a baking spree today and what I made tasted good.
I made a potate
Aug. 16th, 2020 08:56 pmAwhile ago I had some potatoes and let them go too long and they sprouted, so I planted them, and they grew new potatoes, which for some reason surprised me a great deal.
I got overly frustrated with life this morning and took my frustrations out by weeding rather than murdering an elected official, and dug up some of the potatoes while I was at it:
Then I roasted them with some tofu and mushrooms and fried up some kale and look:
Anyway, delicious. The potatoes were the one thing in my garden that was an unmitigated success this year, and they were kind of an accident.
I got overly frustrated with life this morning and took my frustrations out by weeding rather than murdering an elected official, and dug up some of the potatoes while I was at it:
Then I roasted them with some tofu and mushrooms and fried up some kale and look:
Anyway, delicious. The potatoes were the one thing in my garden that was an unmitigated success this year, and they were kind of an accident.
Don't mind me. I know there are more important things to blog about, but smarter people than I can do that. I am marking and phoning kids and baking bread. I've gotten quite good at bread.
You can't just sit around all day eating bread for many reasons, chief among them being that flour is not available in unlimited quantities and also I can only bake two loaves at a time. This said, all I want to be doing right now is eating bread.
Also, if you're wondering how my kitchen smells, the answer is that it smells amazing.
You can't just sit around all day eating bread for many reasons, chief among them being that flour is not available in unlimited quantities and also I can only bake two loaves at a time. This said, all I want to be doing right now is eating bread.
Also, if you're wondering how my kitchen smells, the answer is that it smells amazing.
Behold, for I wanted pizza, and therefore I have made pizza, with my own homemade sourdough crust.
Just look at this thing!
I don't know what I expected it to taste like—probably crap, because I have never made my own pizza dough from scratch—but...no. It tasted great. It tasted like actual pizza that you would buy at a place. Obviously not a wood-fired fancy place with homemade vegan cheese, but better than, say, a regular pizza place.
I realize lots of people do this all the time but I never have. You order bad pizza in when you are lazy, or go out for good pizza. Even good pizza is not that expensive so why make it yourself, unless it's a global pandemic and your sourdough is going well. Now I understand why people make their own pizza. I am ridiculously proud of myself and therefore spamming everywhere with pictures of this glory.
( more pictures of my pizza )
Just look at this thing!
I don't know what I expected it to taste like—probably crap, because I have never made my own pizza dough from scratch—but...no. It tasted great. It tasted like actual pizza that you would buy at a place. Obviously not a wood-fired fancy place with homemade vegan cheese, but better than, say, a regular pizza place.
I realize lots of people do this all the time but I never have. You order bad pizza in when you are lazy, or go out for good pizza. Even good pizza is not that expensive so why make it yourself, unless it's a global pandemic and your sourdough is going well. Now I understand why people make their own pizza. I am ridiculously proud of myself and therefore spamming everywhere with pictures of this glory.
( more pictures of my pizza )
Behold my pandemic baking
May. 1st, 2020 07:08 pmYeah yeah yeah everyone is sick of sourdough pictures but look, Peter Kropotkin stepped it up a notch and I got my best baking result yet and I'm going to brag about it.
Just look at these buns! They are perfect. They are light and fluffy inside and crusty on the outside and taste like heaven!
Tonight's dinner was a veritable masterpiece of pandemic cooking: barbecue tofu sandwich with maple mustard on the bun I made today with sautéed garlic and lemon kale.
IT TASTES SO GOOD YOU GUYS. SO GOOD.
Just look at these buns! They are perfect. They are light and fluffy inside and crusty on the outside and taste like heaven!
Tonight's dinner was a veritable masterpiece of pandemic cooking: barbecue tofu sandwich with maple mustard on the bun I made today with sautéed garlic and lemon kale.
IT TASTES SO GOOD YOU GUYS. SO GOOD.
The conquest of bread
Apr. 14th, 2020 04:55 pmLook I realize everyone is making sourdough these days but bread has always been the Final Boss Fight for me (well, that and the perfect macaron) and my first attempt turned out splooty and not good. My second attempt? Tastes like actual bread, except better because I made it myself.
It's a no-knead recipe and it's kind of flat because I don't actually own a proper loaf pan, so I had to use a giant casserole dish but whatever! It has the taste and texture of bread. It has a crust. It absorbs olive oil. I made it myself with the sourdough starter my friend mailed me. I can continue to make more and better breads! I can have toast and jam with my coffee tomorrow.
I am exceedingly excited about this.
It's a no-knead recipe and it's kind of flat because I don't actually own a proper loaf pan, so I had to use a giant casserole dish but whatever! It has the taste and texture of bread. It has a crust. It absorbs olive oil. I made it myself with the sourdough starter my friend mailed me. I can continue to make more and better breads! I can have toast and jam with my coffee tomorrow.
I am exceedingly excited about this.
YOU GUYS I FINALLY DID IT!
I have been attempting macarons for a month now and while I managed tasty right away, I did not manage aesthetic until now. But after much trial and error and seeking advice from the aquafaba masters, I have achieved success!
The shells are vanilla (and quite saturated; the middle picture is the most accurate in terms of colour) and the filling is chocolate mint ganache. They are very tasty, if a little sweet for my palate.
I have been attempting macarons for a month now and while I managed tasty right away, I did not manage aesthetic until now. But after much trial and error and seeking advice from the aquafaba masters, I have achieved success!
The shells are vanilla (and quite saturated; the middle picture is the most accurate in terms of colour) and the filling is chocolate mint ganache. They are very tasty, if a little sweet for my palate.
Reading Wednesday + cake
Oct. 30th, 2019 08:48 pmI'm still reading Umberto Eco's On Literature. I'm halfway through and it's really good, but it's essays and I'm averaging about five hours of sleep a night, so I tend to pass out after one.
*
In more exciting news, I baked a cake.
To answer the questions:
1. Yes, the eyeballs are edible. They're made out of fondant.
2. It's vegan.
3. It does actually taste good (other than the fondant, which tastes like fondant). It's vanilla and pumpkin-spice flavoured.
*
In more exciting news, I baked a cake.
To answer the questions:
1. Yes, the eyeballs are edible. They're made out of fondant.
2. It's vegan.
3. It does actually taste good (other than the fondant, which tastes like fondant). It's vanilla and pumpkin-spice flavoured.
Labour Day
Sep. 2nd, 2019 07:05 pmI have a yearly tradition. Every Labour Day, I march with my union in the parade, and then I go to the Gladstone for a drink and food, and then I go to the CNE. This is the last bright spot of summer, the peak of summerness, the happy, carefree day that I get before everything inevitably goes straight to shit. Last year I couldn't do this because the CNE workers were on strike (bad unionists crossed the picket line, mediocre unionists stayed at the Gladstone, my friends and I joined the picket line, which was what everyone else should have done but didn't because they suck).
But this year. This year the strike was over, we're gearing up for a massive fight with a government that literally wants us dead, and it was the biggest I've ever seen the march. And it's okay to go to the CNE again.
So it was a good day.
Listen, giant puppets are very important. If you look at any country with a strong labour movement, you will see that they have puppets and effigies. Back in the day we used to have them too, but recently the labour movement has been ineffectual and maybe that's why. Anyway good job, COPE.
( silly cne stuff )
But this year. This year the strike was over, we're gearing up for a massive fight with a government that literally wants us dead, and it was the biggest I've ever seen the march. And it's okay to go to the CNE again.
So it was a good day.
Listen, giant puppets are very important. If you look at any country with a strong labour movement, you will see that they have puppets and effigies. Back in the day we used to have them too, but recently the labour movement has been ineffectual and maybe that's why. Anyway good job, COPE.
( silly cne stuff )
Useful PD for once
Aug. 23rd, 2019 05:17 pmI attended an awesome workshop at Evergreen Brickworks on Indigenous Foodways. It consisted of a morning of cooking—we made Three Sisters Soup, bannock, cornbread, and wojapi, the last of which I have never had before and have decided is the Best. Thing. Ever, excepting the aforementioned soup, followed by a tour of the grounds and the Medicine Garden, lunch, and then a loooong talk about incorporating Indigenous ways of knowing and reconciliation in the classroom.
Evergreen Brickworks is beautiful. It's really how I imagine the solarpunk utopia after the Revolution. It's a bit of a pain to get to by transit so I never go, but this made me want to go more often, as I'm so impressed with what they're doing there.
If I'd known how easy this soup was to make, I'd be making it all the time.
An overhead view of the children's garden.
The Thrive garden, in which I saw a chipmunk.
The Medicine Garden, featuring white sage, sweetgrass, tobacco, cedar, raspberries, and unfortunately some ragweed that someone tracked in attempting to get to the raspberries.
It's so rare that I ever get anything useful out of PD that it's worth noting when I learn so much that I get a headache.
Evergreen Brickworks is beautiful. It's really how I imagine the solarpunk utopia after the Revolution. It's a bit of a pain to get to by transit so I never go, but this made me want to go more often, as I'm so impressed with what they're doing there.
If I'd known how easy this soup was to make, I'd be making it all the time.
An overhead view of the children's garden.
The Thrive garden, in which I saw a chipmunk.
The Medicine Garden, featuring white sage, sweetgrass, tobacco, cedar, raspberries, and unfortunately some ragweed that someone tracked in attempting to get to the raspberries.
It's so rare that I ever get anything useful out of PD that it's worth noting when I learn so much that I get a headache.
The most punk rawk of days
Jul. 24th, 2019 11:23 pmIt began with avocado toast, though.
This is, no lie, the best avocado toast I have ever had. Which is saying a lot because have you ever heard of someone fucking up an avocado toast? You have not, because it’s difficult to do. But they don’t normally have sunflower and pomegranate seeds on them.
( more )
This is, no lie, the best avocado toast I have ever had. Which is saying a lot because have you ever heard of someone fucking up an avocado toast? You have not, because it’s difficult to do. But they don’t normally have sunflower and pomegranate seeds on them.
( more )
Tags:
Bunkers, BoJo, and goth Morris dancers
Jul. 24th, 2019 09:31 amI met up with ![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
notasupervillain at, of course, Platform 9 3/4 (and was pleased to discover that it’s an Ingress portal, naturally). We heard a rumour that the worst people in the country were electing the worst possible person to lead the country, so a fun thing to do would be to head down to Westminster and see what was going on.
Well, we expected some big protests, or something, but there was really only one guy in a Boris mask and a clown suit, some pro-Remain people with EU flags, and some pro-Leave people with very large signs.
And then we heard it.
( photos )
notasupervillain at, of course, Platform 9 3/4 (and was pleased to discover that it’s an Ingress portal, naturally). We heard a rumour that the worst people in the country were electing the worst possible person to lead the country, so a fun thing to do would be to head down to Westminster and see what was going on.Well, we expected some big protests, or something, but there was really only one guy in a Boris mask and a clown suit, some pro-Remain people with EU flags, and some pro-Leave people with very large signs.
And then we heard it.
( photos )
Further London adventuring
Jul. 15th, 2019 11:14 pmToday we did All the Things: Went to Soho, wandered around bookstores and had excellent Chinese food, took the riverboat to the Tate Modern and saw the Natalia Goncharova exhibit, went to Camden, had the best vegan pies ever, and explored a few of the local pubs, including the famous World’s End.
( “photos!” )
( “photos!” )
Mermaid cake
Apr. 24th, 2019 08:05 pmThere's a longer story to this, which deserves a locked post, but the short version is that we're having a school event and one of my kids is really into mermaids and asked me if I could make a mermaid cake.
Like you can't just say, "[Sabs] can you make a mermaid cake?" and not have me auto-respond, "I HAVE BEEN WAITING MY ENTIRE EXISTENCE TO DO SO OMG" before I realize the logistics involved.
So I made a mermaid cake.
I think it actually looks better IRL and I'm pretty sure it's going to actually taste good, as the individual components all taste good. Maybe not Pinterest worthy but pretty respectable!
Like you can't just say, "[Sabs] can you make a mermaid cake?" and not have me auto-respond, "I HAVE BEEN WAITING MY ENTIRE EXISTENCE TO DO SO OMG" before I realize the logistics involved.
So I made a mermaid cake.
I think it actually looks better IRL and I'm pretty sure it's going to actually taste good, as the individual components all taste good. Maybe not Pinterest worthy but pretty respectable!
Miss Lynx is having a princess party because we're grownups and we can do things like that now, so I baked a ridonkulous cake. I want to post it to FB but I don't want her to see it yet, and while she has a DW, she never checks it, so I think I am safe posting it here.
It is not as structurally sound as I want it to be, on account of I thought I would use good jam that was tasty, rather than cheap-ass jam, but it turns out the cheap jam does a much better job of holding cake together. Oh well. Fondant covers a multitude of sins. I'd like to get a bit faster with sculpting so that I can get a better face without worrying that it will dry out, but not bad for a first attempt at a person-cake?
( oh and if you are misslynx, don't click this yet )
It is not as structurally sound as I want it to be, on account of I thought I would use good jam that was tasty, rather than cheap-ass jam, but it turns out the cheap jam does a much better job of holding cake together. Oh well. Fondant covers a multitude of sins. I'd like to get a bit faster with sculpting so that I can get a better face without worrying that it will dry out, but not bad for a first attempt at a person-cake?
( oh and if you are misslynx, don't click this yet )
This year's baking
Dec. 20th, 2018 06:23 pm
Regular vegan:
Chocolate chip cookies
Molasses ginger crinkle
White chocolate, walnut, and cranberry snowballs (these are my favourite)
Nanaimo bars
Experimental pumpkin squares
Experimental coconut cream sugar cookies
Gluten-free and vegan:
Chocolate chip cookies
Flourless pumpkin, chocolate, and cashew butter cookies
Double chocolate truffles (these were objectively the best things I made this year)
A smattering of people even thanked me for baking for them. :)
Skeleton War 2018 cake
Oct. 28th, 2018 10:48 amI'm no Christine McConnell, but this year's skull cake is a definite improvement over last year's! Among other things, I learned how to take a shaped cake out of the baking pan in one piece. And how to paint fondant.
Before you ask, there's a Dollarama tray ($4 and worth every penny) underneath the cake, and the teeth are from the image on it, not an actual part of the cake. The eyeballs, however, are edible.
( process pics )
Before you ask, there's a Dollarama tray ($4 and worth every penny) underneath the cake, and the teeth are from the image on it, not an actual part of the cake. The eyeballs, however, are edible.
( process pics )
