Whip it Good

I wish I were the kind of person capable of maintaining multiple blogs. I would love to have a baby-attempts blog, a my-personal-life-sucks blog, a decorating blog, a cooking blog… the list would go on and on. Basically this has come up because I just caught myself looking at faux porn; cupcake recipes. I have had cupcakes on the brain ever since I woke up last week in the middle of a dream that I had the most delectable pink-frosted confection. And now I want one. Or, more accurately, 17. But then I started looking at other recipes, and thinking about how it’s summer and I should be doing more things with fresh fruit and veggies, and I wanted to blog about that, so since I don’t have any baby updates anyhow (I was kicked in the teeth by a raging migraine Saturday night that quite literally brought me to my knees – I ended up at 11:30 pm on my bathroom floor, the coolest place in the house I could think of to lay my burning forehead after the chills and shakes had turned into fever and delirium. So I am probably getting my period, is my point, since my migraines are usually hormonal. I now return you to the sentence in progress.), I am going to talk about food.

Anyhow.

Quiet and I recently made a very serious, official, and potentially legally binding pact to become Mostly Almost Totally Except in Some Uncontrollable Cases Like When Confronted With a Reuben Vegetarians. He is very serious and committed to Eating Healthier and Avoiding Evil Meat, while I am Partially Convinced I Can Live a Week Without a Big Mac. To this end I have become more creative with my meal planning and execution, especially since I shudder in revulsion at most ‘fake’ meats other than the suspiciously tasty Boca Burgers. In a move that still makes my mother sigh and shake her head in resignation for all her failed attempts, I now enjoy tofu; there are all kinds of exciting seasoned flavors available now, like Five Spice and Miso, and I kinda prefer it over chicken in several Asian dishes. But mostly I just like doing plain ol’ veggies, only fancier and in nice sauces and seasonings. I was chastised because I am having problems remembering my food pyramid of protein substitutions, and apparently Seasoned Waffle Fries with Dill Dip is not representative of either all the food groups, or a good vegetarian dinner.

My favorite recent creation is a ridiculously simple vegetarian gumbo, which I enjoy mostly because I don’t have to make a roux and therefore don’t stupidly stick my finger in a one million degree mix of flour and scalding oil. I’m excited to make it again for dinner tonight because I ordered file powder online (you know, like the song, but I’m not having it with jambalaya and crawfish pie). Who knew it was powdered sassafras?! No one sings about THAT little fact. It smells freaking awesome, and I’m told that it is the secret ingredient that really makes gumbo the taste sensation that it is. The other key ingredient is okra, and since I’m in prime okra country and have developed a secret crush on the odd little seed pods, the whole thing works out great.
Also on the current cafeteria plan at Chez My Place is Curried Thai Eggplant (they are just precious! I want to draw little faces on them and carry them around, only they are so much tastier than nasty purple eggplant that a sad yummy sticky rice ending is in their near future), Veg Kabobs, and Gnocchi with Homemade Pesto. Since I did Vegetarian Fajitas (with above-mentioned grotesquely textured fake meat) the other night, that means we’ll be culturally well-represented in my kitchen this week, with Mexico, New Orleans, Thailand, Greece, Italy, and Magical Pink Cupcake Land. Believe it or not, I did just finish lunch - leftover Italian pasta salad with fresh mozzarella boccini, black olives, basil chiffonade, tri-color 'corkscrew' noodles and all kinds of other good stuff. I can't help it - I just like to talk dirty.