red pepper soup, revised (again)

I added a "secret" ingredient to my red pepper soup and . . . it's incredible!

Amazing what a little sweet corn can do . . . !

The recipe title is officially "Roasted Red Pepper and Corn Soup" -- care to test? Email me!

munchies, soup, tempeh, dip!

Although it's 100 degrees this weekend, I managed to get quite a bit done this morning and afternoon. I walked to the library to return books, to Target to pick up some essentials, and to the Wedge to pick up a few groceries. My granny cart probably saw five miles today! Since it's so blazin' hot, I tried bringing a small cooler with me for cold/frozen stuff, and it worked wonderfully! My ice cream was still frozen when I got home! Here's what I bought:



BAKERY
1 loaf Great Harvest Bread Co. spelt bread

BULK:
half a pound of Twin Cities blend Peace Coffee (Fair Trade and Organic)
a small bag of sulfured dried apricots

FROZEN
package Tofutti Cuties peanut butter flavor
package vegan 8-grain and sesame waffles
box of strawberry fruit-bar type popsicles
16 ounces Turtle Trails soy ice cream
16 ounces Vanilla Swiss Almond soy ice cream

PACKAGED GROCERY
1 box Kashi Heart to Heart cereal
1 box Post Grape Nuts cereal
6 ounces Bragg's Liquid Aminos
3 quart-boxes of Rice Dream Enriched
small bottle Nantucket Nectars apple juice

PRODUCE
1 head organic romaine
2 organic danjou pears
1 organic peach
3 organic, local tomatoes

REFRIGERATED GROCERY
8 ounce package 3-grain tempeh
16 ounces Vegenaise

And when I returned home, I braved the heat and accomplished a couple of cooking projects:

~ First, I finally sucked it up and tested my roasted red pepper soup for the cookbook. It's very, very tasty, but the roasted red pepper taste is not as strong as I thought it was going to be. I'm going to let it sit in the fridge overnight, and try it again tomorrow -- perhaps I will feel differently then!

~ Then, I made Isa's tempeh bacon from VwaV! This is also quite good. I could not find liquid smoke at the co-op, so I added four dashes of Tobasco and two dashes of ground cumin to the marinade for some added smokiness. I made a killer sandwich on spelt bread with the tempeh, Vegenaise, romaine, tomato, and mashed avocado. Mmmmmmmmmmmmm!!! My first tempeh attempt was a huge success!

~ Last, I retested my pumpkin dip for the cookbook, using slightly different ingredients. It was really runny when I finished blending it, but a trip in the fridge thicked it nicely. I'll have to cut up an apple tonight and test it out!

I am spending the rest of my weekend house-sitting, which is fantastic! Free air conditioning!!!

I saw it, Vicki!

Tonight, I finally saw "An Inconvenient Truth." Parts made me so angry, I thought I was going to start crying or throw up. I'm still mentally digesting -- more may come over the next few days.

Take everyone you know to this movie, even if you have to pay for their ticket and drag them in kicking and screaming.

Oh, and Vicki, you asked everyone to show you their ticket stubs -- I still don't have a camera so I can't do that, but I'd be happy to mail it to you if you'd like to start a collection. :)

Oddly enough, another hot weekend coming up for me -- 100 plus degrees for the next few days. I will be seeking air conditioning again, for certain, but probably not at the mall this time. :)

Happy Friday, Folks!

Sneaky-Pete Pizza

I made pizza tonight! Yum, yum, yum, yum, yum. A few exciting things about it:

1. This was my first time ever using vegan cheese (Follow Your Heart Mozzarella), and it worked out pretty well! I shredded the whole package, then split it in two and froze half for another day. (I hope this works.) It melted nicely in the oven, then I broiled it for about a minute and a half to brown it. It does taste pretty good, but it doesn't hold a candle to the real thing. Alas.

2. Inspired by some reading I did in a food magazine, I made a "special sauce" for my pizza -- half canned pumpkin and half Muir Glen organic fire-roasted tomato sauce, with a few dashes each of garlic salt and Italian seasoning to punch it up a bit. For someone who doesn't much care for tomato sauce on her pizza, I REALLY like the pumpkin-tomato combo. You can't taste the pumpkin at all -- it's just not as intense as traditional tomato sauce. (Maybe good for kids, too?) A sneaky way to get orange veggies into my diet!

3. I made my own crust (of course,) and topped it with artichokes, mushrooms, and broccoli! Wooo-eee! I also nailed down times and temperatures for the cookbook. ;-)

I'm almost finished with my second piece, and I may need a third, it's that good!

What do you think of "Sneaky-Pete Pizza" as a potential recipe title?

the power of produce

I am having the greatest breakfast this morning: homemade granola with soy milk, topped with fresh, local, organic blueberries! Yum. These blueberries are SO fantastic!

In other food news . . .

~ I finally, finally, finally have a clean kitchen as of last night, so I can begin messing it up again tonight. I hope to make an awesome dinner! What it will be, we'll see, however.

~ I'm thinking about buying a rice cooker sometime in the near future. I have a complete inability to consistently cook rice well on the stovetop, and the family I nanny for has a rice cooker and I sort of love it. ;-) Anyone else out there have feelings about a rice cooker, one way or the other?

~ I'm thinking about adding the directions for making cold-pressed coffee to my cookbook, since I seem to have perfected the technique. Any thoughts?

~ I really hope to devote a lot of time this coming weekend to working on the cookbook -- recipe testing, writing, editing, etc. Here's hoping the weather cooperates! I'm tired of temps in the high 90s, because then all I want to do is sit around and try not to sweat too much.

weekend update

Whew! I can't believe it's Sunday afternoon already. This post will be nearly food-free, because I've been ultra-naughty this weekend and have eaten out once on Friday, once on Saturday, and once today! I'll post restaurant reviews on Veggin' Out, though!

Friday night after visiting the Wedge, I watched an Italian film, "The Last Kiss." (Yes, this is being remade by Americans and will come out later this year starring Zach Braff. I'm excited. I love Zach Braff.) The move was very good, but I won't spoil the story line for you if you plan on seeing the American version, because I don't know what/how much they will change. :)

Saturday morning, Ann and I drove out to visit our friend Janelle and her new baby boy, Luke Jeffrey! Janelle looked great and Luke's a super-baby -- he's a good sleeper and very mellow. I held him for about a half an hour and he never fussed at all! (Usually, I have the "screaming effect" on tiny babies -- the, "you're not my mom, give me BAAAAAACK!" effect.) Ann and I stopped at Holy Land for lunch once we got back into town . . . mmmmmmm falafel. I've been craving falafel for months . . . finally!

Saturday evening, I hung out with my friend Dan -- we had tickets to the Tapes 'n Tapes/Plastic Constellations show at First Ave, which did end up selling out. Whoa! Before the show, we went and wandered around the wildflower gardens and bird sanctuary at Theo Wirth Park -- I'd never been there before and it was really, really cool. We saw what appeared to be a groundhog to me, although Dan thought it was a gopher. (I swear gophers are way smaller than this furry creature we spotted.) The only tricky part is that the park closed at "dusk," which is a rather relative term. :) What happens is, when the naturalists decide it's dusk, they lock the gates, which locks everyone inside the park! Then they walk the trails and flush everyone out, and so we headed uphill and had to stand around in the heat, swatting at mosquitoes, while we waited for the naturalists to finish walking the trails and let us out! It seems like a silly process to me. Oh well. Anyhow, the show was mixed -- Tapes 'n Tapes were awesome, but I didn't care for either of the two opening bands. (The rapper was particularly awful.) It was so hot and so crowded at the end of Tapes 'n Tapes, Dan and I took off and completely skipped Plastic Constellations. Oh well -- Tapes 'n Tapes were fully worth the $8 ticket! Their drummer is incredible -- just a baby (I think he's, like, 19,) but unbelievably talented. They were a fun band to watch -- they all jumped around and danced a lot and generally had a good time. We had a great spot and I could see everything, but thank God for earplugs -- we were almost right next to the speaker!

This morning I watched "Rushmore," which I thought was hilarious! Then, Ann and I walked around Lake of the Isles and had lunch at Salsa a la Salsa.

I tried to post my truck on Car Soup this afternoon, but I am having some technical difficulties. I will try again tomorrow, using a different internet browser. (Sometimes, Safari just doesn't like certain websites.)

It's been another very busy, but very fun weekend! I'm enjoying the fact that my job is so much lower stress now I actually have energy to do fun stuff over the weekends! Hooray!

Here's hoping I actually do some cooking this week, and thus return FOOD SNOB to an actual food blog!

Friday Night Munchies

Christine and I forewent the art show in favor of grocery shopping. A sad Friday night choice, we realized, but we both were starting to feel a little like Old Mother Hubbard!
This list looks enormous, but note I saved $22.14 between coupons, member specials, and a bag refund! Go me!
In other news, I'm trying to cut back a little bit on soy, and was excited to find a rice-soy blend milk in the soymilk aisle. I'll let you know how it tastes! I'm also trying a little bit to explore new grains, thus, the spelt bread.
Happy Friday!

BAKERY
1 loaf Great Harvest Bread Co. spelt bread

FROZEN
10 ounces organic frozen peaches
16 ounces Purely Decadent Cookie Avalanche
32 ounces Soy Delicious Strawberry

GENERAL MERCHANDISE
2 packages of replacement blades for my Recycline razors

PACKAGED GROCERY
32 ounces Eden organic Rice-Soy blend beverage (I'm so excited to try this!)
14 ounces quartered artichoke hearts
12 pack LaCroix Cran-Raspberry sparkling water
15 ounces organic garbanzo beans
32 ounces Oregon not-so-sweet chai
16 ounces SunButter
2 Cherry Pie LaraBars
2 Chocolate Coconut Chew LaraBars
4-count Seventh Generation TP
1 roll Seventh Generation brown paper towels
150 ounces Seventh Generation laundry detergent (the "take to work bottle")
50 ounces Seventh Generation laundry detergent (the "keep at home bottle")
40 ounces Seventh Generation lavender liquid fabric softener (also to take to work)
1 package Seventh Generation drawstring kitchen bags

PRODUCE
1 head organic broccoli
1 organic cucumber
1 organic avocado
half a pound of organic ranier cherries
2 organic yellow peaches
1 ear organic sweet corn
1 head organic purple garlic
8or so organic white button mushrooms
2 organic white onions
1 organic green bell pepper
1 pint local raspberries
1 pint local organic blueberries

REFRIGERATED GROCERY
14 ounces organic firm tofu
half gallon Organic Valley OJ plus calcium
four WholeSoy yogurts (peach, cherry, lemon, and apricot-mango)

Visit Harmonia for more info on Midweek (Weekend) Munchies.

rockin' numb buns

We had so much fun at the show tonight! Chris Koza, who if you haven't heard of him, is a highly acclaimed local artist -- check out the link WAY down on the right. He plays folksy rock, and has two CDs out. He is talented enough to play the guitar and harmonica at the same time, (and as Christine added, "well, so did Bob Dylan," but I continued, "well, since I don't have the talent for either, I'm impressed!",) and has both the ability to write beautiful ballads and rock your brains out.

The location was superb as well. The show was at the Mill City Museum, in Mill Ruins Park -- an outdoor space surrounded by ruins from the old flour mill that burned down eons ago along the Mississippi River. So, so cool. I definitely want to go back and check out the museum sometime -- it supposedly chronicles the history of Minneapolis. Christine went with her dad when he was in town, and she said it was pretty cool.

The people-watching was also spectacular -- I've never seen more thong-buttcrack coupled with "muffin top" flab in one sitting before. Sheesh. Pull up yo' pants!

My only complaint? Sitting on rubble for a two hour concert -- my tushie was numb by the end of the show! We agreed -- next time, we'd each bring our "chair in a sack."

This weekend is shaping up to be pretty busy for me. I may go to an art show tomorrow night, and then on Saturday, I am planning on visiting my friend Janelle, who just had a baby. Saturday night . . . Tapes 'n Tapes at First Ave! Wooooo! And man, I have to make time to get to the Wedge. SO, if you don't hear from me, have a great weekend and I'll post about all of the insanity on Sunday.

saddest dinnerbox ever

Some friends are picking me up straight from work tonight and we are headed to an outdoor concert, so I packed a dinner in my Laptop Lunchbox because I know I won't make it until 8:00 without something to eat. It's the saddest "dinnerbox" ever -- a sunbutter and strawberry all-fruit spread sandwich, grapefruit segments, baby carrots with hummus, and a couple bites of "tiger chocolate" (dark chocolate with espresso beans.) I really, really need to go grocery shopping. Here's hoping I can make some time to do that this weekend!

P.S. About the Laptop Lunchbox . . . if you are a long-time visitor to my blog, you know how much I love it! However, my only complaint to date is that a sandwich really doesn't fit in the container that's designed to hold a sandwich. This was never much of a problem for me, because I'm not a huge sandwich person. However, I think I solved the problem today -- I just took the sandwich-sized container out of the lunchbox and tossed the sandwich in the bottom of the box. The few extra milimeters of space seem to have solved the sandwich smush problem! Awesome.

P.P.S. The heat has finally broken here -- mid eighties during the day, and temps dropping into the sixties at night. Whew!

fruit and song

It's still so darn hot. I'm having a smoothie for dinner again tonight -- this one's actually a potential cookbook recipe, titled "The Purple People Eater." It's purple and yummy, and that's all I can divulge at this juncture. :)

I guess the only thing that's good about the heat is that I'm getting enough fruit servings every day.

In other news, I had another voice lesson this morning. They are lots of fun and going exceptionally well. My director is impressed with the gains I've made in the four lessons we've had. Today, he decided that my voice coupled with my instinctual ability to phrase beautifully means I should be singing more than once a week. (I'm not quite sure yet what this means.) He's going to "think it over and look into options." Interesting. I always knew I could sing well . . . didn't know I was this good, however! I'm so very excited about this -- can't wait to see what Bill drums up.

breakfast for dinner

Really, breakfast for dinner is one of my most favorite things in the whole world! Tonight, I'm having leftover pancakes with pure maple syrup, soy sausage, and a green smoothie (made with spinach, frozen peaches, and OJ.)

SUPER YUM.

Segue,

There is an article in my most recent issue of Eating Well magazine (the Aug/Sept. issue,) titled, "Organics: Are They Worth It?" It summarizes much of the research comparing organic to conventional produce, mentions a few other issues associated with organics (buying local produce over far away organic produce because it had to travel much less, and is thus better for the environment, even if it has some pesticide/herbicide residues on it, etc.), and has a handy chart at the end titled "Where to Put Your Money." (It lists produce in three categories: "Preferably Organic -- Most Commonly Contaminated," "If Budget Allows, Buy Organic," and "It's Your Call -- Least Commonly Contaminated." The article is very, very interesting, and if you can get your hands on a copy, read it!

gnocchi are gnummy!

Well, I cleaned out my fridge today. That was a major bummer -- due to the heat and my complete lack of interest in cooking this week, I had to throw a few (ahem) things away. I hate, hate, hate throwing out food. I also noticed that many of my herbs and other fresh produce need to be used up soon, so I decided to cook myself some dinner tonight.

I sauteed a thinly sliced shallot, four sliced mushrooms, a minced clove of garlic, and half a zucchini, sliced, in a big glug of extra virgin olive oil until they were all soft, then stirred in two seeded, roughly chopped tomatoes a small handfull of mixed herbs, minced (parsley, basil, rosemary, and thyme,) some salt and pepper, and a package of gnocchi that I had boiled until they floated up, just like the directions told me to. Voila -- dinner in under fifteen minutes.

This is my first time cooking gnocchi, and boy are they gnummy! (And no, I don't mean "gummy" -- I mean "nummy," said in a silly way.)

These little potato dumplings will definitely be a repeat visitor to my kitchen!

melon! melon! melon!

Three cheers for the Sprite melon!

If you can get your hands on one of these babies, (or several of these babies,) BUY IT IMMEDIATELY. I had never tried this variety of melon before, and they are incredible. They are itty-bitty, (slightly larger than a mango,) and look like a honeydew on the outside. However, waiting inside is no ordinary melon. White-fleshed, sweet as candy, fruity (obviously -- duh,), and slightly citrus-y. (Hence the "Sprite" name, maybe?" Or just 'cause they are tiny?) Anyhow, I'm so sad I only bought one. I hope the co-op has more this weekend! The perfect melon party for one. ;-)

Speaking of Party of One, I've totally stalled out on cookbook testing this week. Too hot, and too many dirty dishes. I did nail down the measurements for the Green Superhero Smoothie, and also finalized my Zucchini Banana Nut Bread. Oh baby, it's good. (This, coming from a girl who doesn't much care for banana bread.) Anyone care to test? Vegan option, but it does use the oven. (Sorry, Les!)

Beware: randomness coming up:

My kit-cat is totally passed out on my table right now -- all stretched out flat to absorb as much coolness from the hard surface as he can. What a goon. I feel sorry for him -- it must not be fun wearing a fur coat in 90+ degree heat!

My refund came from Seventh Generation today, and the kind lady included an additional sheet of four $1 off coupons! If I had any doubts about Seventh Generation before, they have since been squashed flat. What a wonderful, wonderful company.

I just started reading "The Catcher in the Rye" the other night. I've never read it before, (shocking, I realize,) and I already really, really like it. Thank you, Michelle, for broadening my literary horizons! (I've always wanted to start a book club titled "All the Books I Should Have Read in High School But Never Did," or alternately, "Becoming Well-Read.")

Happy Friday, folks. Enjoy your weekends. If it's helluh hot in your neck of the woods, stay cool.

granny cart

So, I tried out my brand-new "granny cart" today! I hauled my dirty clothes to work this morning, and hauled them home clean tonight! It is a great new thing. One less selling the car obstacle! I think it will make walking to the grocery store MUCH more pleasant as well. However, due to the heat, I will have to start bringing a cooler with me, at least until October or so. :) The actual air temperature is supposed to hit 100 degrees on Saturday!

IT IS NOT SUPPOSED TO GET THIS HOT IN MINNESOTA!

Off to do a wee bit of yoga before I tackle some dishes -- they are so scuzzy, they needed a presoak in a sinkfull of hot, soapy water. (Why spend an hour and a half scrubbing when a half hour soak does the same amount of work?)

It's been WAY too hot to cook lately, and even too hot to eat -- I had a smoothie, banana bread, and ice cream for supper last night. Sad.

one more thing

I forgot to tell you the phrases Little Girl has started using since I started working for her family:

"No thank you" (for EVERYTHING -- toddlers say "no" a LOT. At least she's polite.)
"Moley Moley!" (i.e., "Holy Moly!")
"Oof-DA!" (a real Minnesotism)
"Marine, marine, marine" (i.e., "I want to sing Yellow Submarine!")
"Breezy please" (i.e., "please roll my window down.")

She also gave me a kiss on my back today because I told her my back was very sore. She then said, "buh-bye, owwies!" It was cute. Ineffective, but cute.

Miscellaney

~ My cat has had one stupid moment after another these past couple of days. Last night, he choked himself on the trash can in my bedroom, over and over again, trying to reach something inside. I had to get up at 4 in the morning and dump the contents into the "big trash" in the kitchen, so he'd give up and I could go back to sleep. Then the other day, he burned his tail on the stove -- that was smelly. He also landed on his HEAD while jumping for a toy last night. I must have added stupid pills to his food or something! Maybe the heat is starting to get to him.

~ I am in mega cookbook testing/writing mode right now, (I want to go with the momentum created by my workshop last weekend,) so if I don't get around to your blog as often as I usually do, know that that's why! I may also post less frequently.

~ I took away my email link for a while, because I've been getting weird emails lately. (LOTS of junk, and I pay for my email address -- that shouldn't happen!) If you need to email me, let me know and I'll stick it back on there for a day or two!)

~ I am going to start forcing myself to do yoga EVERY DAY to help with my sore back. Start harassing me. Please. I need lots of people checking up on me until I can make this a habit!

~ I have a recipe for "Chickpea Pot Pie" (uses filo dough -- not a pastry!) that is ready for a tester if anyone is interested! It makes four servings, however -- do you think I should trim it down farther? Or I could change how the "pie" is constructed and make it into little individual-serving "pockets," which could be frozen and saved for later? I'm leaning towards the second option . . . !! (P.S., this recipe is easily veganized.)

~ I had THE BEST pasta (vegan!) at the Good Earth restaurant this past weekend, (it was called "Tuscan Spa Pasta,") and I hope to post a review on Veggin' Out sometime this week. Watch for it!

~ I went to the store "Storables" last weekend, and I finally bought my hip granny shopping cart! I can't wait to try it out -- I might use it later this week to haul a load of laundry to and from work! I also picked up several other odds and ends. I am in love with that store. If Storables and Kitchen Window hooked up, my ultimate shopping experience would be born. (I like to be organized. I'm a nerd. When I was a kid, one of my favorite things to do was reorganize my desk. Sheesh.) Kai, thanks for the heads up on the location of granny shopping carts!

Weekend Munchies

Today's shopping . . .
(Why do I always need so much food?)

BAKERY
1 loaf Wedge Bakery multigrain bread

BULK
just under two pounds of organic French green lentils
just under two pounds of organic durum semolina
half a pound of organic unbleached all-purpose flour (for roux-making)
just over a pound of organic rolled oats
a pound of semisweet chocolate chips

FROZEN
Tofutti Cuties Wildberry flavor
Soy Delicious "Cookie Avalanche"
10 ounces organic mixed blueberries, strawberries, and raspberries
10 ounces organic blueberries
10 ounces organic peaches
16 ounces organic filo dough

PACKAGED GROCERY
1 bar "Endangered Species" tiger chocolate (dark w/espresso beans)
1 bar "Green and Black's" dark chocolate
14 ounces artichoke heart quarters
1 jar organic EastWinds peanut butter
15 ounces organic pumpkin puree
2 14.5 ounce cans Muir Glen organic no-salt added diced tomatoes
14 ounces organic lite coconut milk
1 bottle Seventh Generation dish soap

PERSONAL CARE
3 Tom's of Maine lemongrass soap
2 boxes NatraCare organic cotton tampons
1 bar Burt's Bees garden tomato face soap

PRODUCE
2 organic Granny Smith apples
1 organic champagne mango
1 organic "Sprite" melon
2 organic lemons
1 conventional lime
2 organic Danjou pears
2 organic yellow peaches
a teeny piece of organic ginger
a small bunch of organic basil
about six organic, local button mushrooms
2 small organic yams
4 organic red peppers
1 bag local, organic baby spinach
1 package organic dill
1 package organic rosemary

REFRIGERATED GROCERY
8 ounces Tofutti better than cream cheese (it's trans-fat free in my neck of the woods!)
10 ounces Follow Your Heart vegan mozzarella
Organic Valley soymilk
24 ounces plain WholeSoy yogurt

*** Planned "Party of One" Testing With All Of This Good Stuff ***

Peanut Butter Dip
Pumpkin Dip
Roasted Red Pepper Soup
Snickerdoodles
Pizza
Bananarama (a smoothie)
Purple People Eater (a smoothie)
Pumpkin Pie (a smoothie)
Green Superhero (a smoothie)
Stick it to Me (a smoothie)
Minted Mac & Peas
Chickpea Pocket Pies
Zucchini Bread

Visit Harmonia for more info on Midweek (Weekend) Munchies.

being consumed by Party of One, but in a good way.

I attended "Selling and Publishing Your Book" at The Loft today, and I have to tell you, words can't begin to describe how incredible it was. I learned so much about the publishing industry, everything from the huge changes that have been happening in the industry over the last couple of years, to the appropriate size box in which one should submit a manuscript. Just amazing. I walked out of the workshop with a 96-page handout, 8 pages of notes, and my instructor's business card -- he said we could call him any time with any questions, and if they took more than ten minutes to answer, he would offer his consulting services at a "pittance fee."

I feel so empowered. It's incredible. I walked into the workshop knowing nothing about the publishing industry, and I walked out with a beginning but thorough understanding of what I need to do to get my cookbook published. (Also, a thorough understanding of how crazy everything is, and how it could take me a long, long time to publish this thing.)

My instructor mentioned that if you have the manuscript ready, submit the manuscript -- don't fuss around with a proposal. Since my manuscript is nearly ready, or at least I think it is, I am going to go this route. I will spend an exorbitant amout of money on boxes, paper, and postage by the end of the summer, I think.

Here's my plan: I'm going to power through the rest of the manuscript for the next six weeks, and will hopefully have it finished by the middle to the end of August. When my nannying family goes out of town for two and a half weeks and I have a week and a half off and paid, I'm going to devote this time to writing the cover letter and marketing bits, researching potential editors/publishing houses, and then printing, boxing up, and shipping out 15 to 20 copies of my manuscript.

Here's one catch to my plan: I'm starting to waffle a little bit about whether I have enough recipes. I counted them up tonight, and I currently have a total of 85 recipes, most of which I've tested and have had others test for me. I'm currently at 117 pages total, which includes table of contents/chapter pages, recipes, and text. I need to write a conclusion and the "Important questions, answered" section,(including "What in the heck is . . . " "How do I . . . " "Where can I get . . . " and "What to do with leftover . . . " I would also like to pull out what specific ingredients I would like included in the "glossary of major ingredients." (I also want an index of recipes by title at the end, but I think that will be the publisher's job.) I also have a handfull of recipes still to add, maybe less than ten, but I think with all of these changes, it will bring me up well over 150 pages.

Just as a measurement tool, Vegan with a Vengeance has a total of 135 recipes and 258 pages, and that feels like a "smallish" cookbook to me -- not your giant "World Vegetarian" or VT Complete Cookbook or Vegan Planet. I don't want to write a ginormo, but I don't want people left wanting more, either.

But, I also don't want to pad the cookbook with filler recipes just because I think it's too small. Waffle, waffle, waffle.

Too bad I don't own a waffle iron, because waffles sound kind of good right now.

But I digress. :)

I think I'm just going to go for what I have, plus my additions. If I get rejection letters that say "not enough recipes," well, we'll know the answer to this conundrum, now won't we?

I also need to make a decision about photos. I really, really, really, really want a photo of each recipe included in the cookbook, which would increase its size by about fifty percent, and also increase the cost of the finished product to my readers. I want to do a paperback (maybe spiral-bound, so it lays flat,) but the photos could push the book price into the $30-$50 range, which would almost price me out of my niche market (young, probably broke, single people -- college students, young professionals, etc.) Here's the other thing about the photos -- I don't want them "styled." I want photos of the real thing, which I'm not sure a book marketer will go for. I have this idea of "food candids" in my head -- things with crumbs, things with bites out of them, bowls of soup with a splash over the rim and a dribble on the table, not-quite-perfect shots. Pictures of normal-looking young people eating my food. Kind of like the (probably really expensively orchestrated) incredible photography in Jamie Oliver cookbooks.

I bought Isa's book mostly because I had heard so many wonderful things about it, but partly because it was less than twenty bucks, and I can afford that.

I have to quit thinking about this now, or I'll never be able to sleep tonight. Off to watch a movie and clear my head!

P.S. any thoughts you have on the subject matter are more than welcome. :)

breakfast of champions

Now, I normally have a hard time getting veggies into my breakfasts, but today, it was easy, and I managed two veggie servings! Wowzers.

I pan-fried a couple of soy sausage patties and half a sweet potato, thinly sliced, in a bit of canola oil until everything was softened and golden brown. I reheated a couple of leftover pancakes in the microwave, and then made a green smoothie! Yes, I was scared . . . but thanks to Megan blogging about a similar green smoothie, I decided to go for it! (I made mine out of a handfull of baby spinach, about a cup of frozen peaches, and enough orange juice to make the whole thing liquidy.) Yum!

Add a cup of vanilla-almond black tea, and today, I am chowing a true breakfast of champions!

a response from Seventh Generation!

I knew they would . . .

"Dear Catherine,

Thank you so much for letting us know of your unfortunate experience. Last year we had this problem for awhile, but we solved it, and I am very curious as to whether you have a batch of old bags, or if this problem is rearing it's ugily head again!!

Would you take a look on the bottom of the box for the lot #? It will be hard to see - you will have to be in good light - the numbers will be stamped into the cardboard - 5 or 6 characters long. Anything after 1504 should be in great shape - if not, it's time to contact our manufacturer again!!

Are you able to tell the cause of the ripping? Are the seams failing, or is the plastic thin? Are the drawstrings themselves OK? I apologize for all the mess - total yuck!

I do not have any full price coupons to offer you for the bags, but I could send you one for another of our products, send you a replacement box, or refund your money - let me know what you would prefer...


Warm Regards,

Rebecca Cooper
Consumer Relations
Seventh Generation, Inc."