The Last Few Days, & Behind the Apron

Boy, I've been attacked by a case of the busy-ies this week! It's been fun, but not much neat cooking. I am really looking forward to doing some nice cooking this weekend.


First of all, thanks to everyone for all your nice comments on that last post. I feel that something will come of all these ideas! In the meantime, we've signed up to do more volunteering at the food bank. :)



A few nights ago, I made this five-star delicious Thai Winter Squash from "Vegetarian Cooking for Everybody." - it's got butternut squash, cilantro, jalepenos, coconut milk, ginger, onions, and other goodies. OH YUM. This is such a rich and delicious stew. It was even better the next day when the flavors had merged... Very worth making (and eating)!


Then, the next night I made this "Lentil Stew with Orzo" from "Vegan Planet." I didn't have any orzo, so I just used some cute rainbow alphabet noodles I had. All in all, this soup was a bit of a dud. It wasn't very interesting or unique, and I don't think I'll make it again. My 6-year nephew rejected it flat-out, as did Musty. Ha ha! So, one reason I haven't done more cooking this week is that I have been SLOGGING through this big tub of lentil soup! I think I've got one more serving... and then I'll be liberated!

This is a nice little salad I made earlier in the week - ahhh... Nice to eat a good salad.

Here's last night's dinner. I got home late from teaching and Musty had got some take-out Thai food: tofu with green curry and fresh spring rolls. Yum! I really, really love it when I get home late from teaching and Musty has dinner for me - so romantic!

** Behind the Apron **

I've really been enjoying reading other bloggers "Behind the Apron" posts... so I thought I'd do one of my own. I'm not fancy enough to know how to put in the graphic into my blog... oops!

Here's a little info on me, lots of links, and a goofy picture I just took:
(in the dark background, you can see my cat on the sofa, and Musty playing guitar)

I live in Santa Cruz, CA with my boyfriend Musty and our two dogs (Stevie Wonder and Dottie) and our cat Yummers. Musty is a luthier, which means he makes hand-built acoustic guitars. My extended family also mostly all lives in Santa Cruz, and I think that's awesome!

I study and teach yoga, which I really, really love. I started studying yoga in college and it has really changed my life for the better. I feel very grateful for the direction and guidance that yoga has given me, and especially for my teacher Kofi Busia. In college I studied Painting and Printmaking, and Italian language. I've spent time studying art in Italy, with my amazing teachers Rose Gavronsky and Claire Shakinovsky. I'm still painting, and I'm working on a series of paintings of contemporary world leaders from their childhood photographs.

I was born loving animals, and became vegetarian when I was 14 years old - after spending 3 summers at a farm camp in Northern California, tending after the farm animals and making friends with all of them. My aunt was already a vegetarian, so I knew that it was cool & easy to do! It took me a long time to become vegan... I didn't really know about it for a long time, but I can credit my great friends Jen and Bill & Jacey for inspiring me to veganism. I was also inspired to veganism by my yoga teachers Sharon Gannon and David Life. Anyhow, I've been 100% vegan now for 5+ years or so. A few years ago, my aunt who inspired me to vegetarianism became a vegan on my birthday... how cool! Most of all, I really love being vegan!

Other than yoga, art, and pets... I also love being outside, gardening, taking a bath before bed, baking, reading comics and graphic novels, NPR, quiet time, the internet, learning new languages, and international travel. The next trips I'm considering are Iran & Africa... fun!