Tofuligans

I basically blew it on the whole MoFo thing, but maybe I can redeem myself in the last half of the month.  To get off to a half-assed restart, I decided to fill out the survey provided by Jess of the famous Get Sconed! As a new blogger, I’ve never done one of these before.  We all get one free ticket to easy-postville, right?

1. What was the most recent tea you drank?

I got some bulk jasmine pearl tea from New Seasons since I’d never tried it before.  I wasn’t too impressed, as it took a ton of those little balls to get a good steep, and even then it just tasted like perfume.

2. What vegan forms do you post/lurk on?  If so, what is your username?  Spill!

You assume that if I’m nerdy enough for a blog, I’m nerdy enough to post on forums?  Well, you’re right.  I’m a member of the post punk kitchen.  If you were to explore there diligently enough you would discover my username.

3. You have to have tofu for dinner, and it has be an Italian dish.  What comes to mind first?

I read recently of a tofu meatball dish that I want to try.

4. How many vegan blogs do you read on an average day?

I check an average of five posts a day from the rss reader.  There’s always a lot of catchup to do.

5. Besides your own, what is the most recent one you’ve read?

I really dig Michelle’s blog The Spice Must Flow, so I was reading a bunch of her posts today.

6. If you could hang out with a vegan blogger that you haven’t met, who would it be, and what would you do?

Kittee, the one and only cake maker to the stars!  Her cake outreach through her website and zine has improved many a baked good of mine, and surely others.  Plus, she seems like an all around rad lady.  We would fancily decorate a giant cake, then make and dine on Ethiopian cuisine!

7. If you had to base your dinners for a week around one of the holy trilogy – tofu, seitan or tempeh, which would it be?

I can eat a serious amount of gluten.  Ask anyone who’s ever come to Padmanadi with me, or given me a giant bag of free jerky.

8. If you had to use one in a fight, which would it be?

Tempeh.  It frightens people.

9. Name 3 meals you’d realistically make with that tough protein of choice!

- Chesapeake Tempeh Cakes from Isa’s upcoming brunch cookbook.  Best tempeh dish ever!

- Tempeh bacon for BLT’s.

- Tempeh sausage on pizza.

10. What’s a recipe in vegan blogland that you’ve been eyeing?

Karla at VeganShizzle has been talking about the mac n cheeze she brought to Joanna’s potluck a few weeks ago.  I had a small taste and it was delicious, I can’t wait to make it for myself!

11. Do you own any clothing with vegan messages/brands on them?

I own the ubiquitous, in PDX anyways, Herbivore cross hoodie.

12. Have you made your pilgrimage to the ‘vegan mecca’ yet? (Portland, duh)

I have been in Portland for three weeks now, exploring, cycling, eating, cooking and taking photographs!  My pilgrimage is about to come to a close, but I will be back.

13. What age did you first go vegan? Did it stick?

I was 25 when I went vegan, after a number of years of vegetarianism.  I was struggling with a nasty cheese habit that was broken relatively easily when a friend introduced me to the book Vegan with a Vengeance, and the Post Punk Kitchen forums.  That was about a year and a half ago, and I’ve held strong.

14. What is the worst vegan meal you’ve had? Who cooked it?

The first time I used tempeh.  You know how sometimes when you come home super hungry and have no food in the house, nor the energy to create a meal from whatever meager ingredients are lurking around, it seems like a perfectly reasonable idea to eat dry cereal or bulk jerky until you feel some sort of sensation similar to satisfaction?  Well, when I was still vegetarian, I had purchased some tempeh and left it sit in the freezer until I could figure out what exactly I was supposed to do with it.  Before I had a chance to find a recipe to introduce me to the wonders of this weird frozen block, I ended up coming home from work with a need to eat something substaintial, and quick!  I fried it up until it barely staggered over the point of being warm, slapped in on a plain bun with the only condiment on hand at the time, ketchup.  It was a retched excuse for a sandwich, and it took some time before I was ready to get down with the tempeh again.

15. What made you decide to blog?

I’ve been into photography for a long time, and upon becoming vegan quickly embraced the notion of food porn.  I registered this domain a while back to have a place, other than flickr, for people around the world to gather to admire my work.  It wasn’t until Vegan MoFo coincided with my vegan pilgrimage to Portland that I decided to get off my ass and host the blog and figure out all the nerdy computer junk needed to get wordpress working.

16. What are three of your favorite meals to make?

This is hard, so these are just the first three that came to mind!

Marinated and grilled tofu.  On it’s own and in salads or sandwiches.

Pesto.  So easy yet so impressive.

Leek and bean cassoulet from Veganomicon.  Making the biscuits on top of the stew is so fun, and the results are delicious!

17. What dish would you bring to a vegan Thanksgiving-themed potluck?

Some sort of never-been-stuffed-into-a-dead-bird stuffing.  I’ve loved that stuff since I grew teeth, probably even earlier.

18. Where is your favorite vegan meal at a restaurant? How many times have you ordered it?

I’ve eaten at so many delicious places in Portland the last few weeks that my ability to ever think of anything as my favourite again has been diluted.  I’m going to leave Portland out of the equation on this one and go with an old standby, the curry mutton at Padmanadi in Edmonton.  I’ve definitely had that dish over ten times, even if you exclude buffet nights.

19. What do you think the best chain to dine as a vegan is?

Back in Edmonton nothing really stands out, so I’ll go with anything that isn’t a steakhouse.  The lack of creativity isn’t exactly surprising in a place that focuses strictly on slabs of meat cooked over fire, but is a dry baked potato seriously the best you can come up with?  It’s a shame some of the people given the title of chef.

20. My kitchen needs a………

Scale.  Well, not really, but I want a retro looking one like Isa has.  What my kitchen really needs, and would give me much more time and incentive to cook, is a dishwasher.

21. This vegetable is not allowed in my kitchen…..!

Cilantro counts, right?  Oh man, screw that stuff!  Coriander seed I can tolerate, but cilantro is banned from my kitchen.

22. What’s for dinner tonight?

I hadn’t thought about it until now, but what I’m craving is sausage in a bun with lots of sauerkraut.  I wonder what Portland has to offer?  I think I’ll go find out!