A Weekend Away

I spent the weekend in Columbus with my show and got one of those reminders about how much easier it is for a vegetarian to have food options in a bigger city than going out here. Last Monday we moved the show down and stopped in the "North Market" before heading home for a late lunch... oh, the options I do not get here. Our director is vegetarian too and we both seemed to embrace the options that do not exist here.

Thursday Night, we had brush up rehearsal and wanted food afterwards so we asked a local. He sent us to a restaurant call "Tip Top Restaurant and Cocktails" that met the specifications of our group... beer and food options for both me (the lone vegetarian) and the meat eaters alike. The corn chowder was almost as good as my own.

Friday night, we headed back down for our show. We headed to High Street Friday after the show in search of amusement and I embraced a falafel sandwhich before the bar and a big slice of new york style pizza after the bar. We decided sometime in here to stay away from things we could have here.

Saturday, we slept in and then headed to Easton in search of food (four of us from the show stayed in a hotel together). We had a late lunch on the Mongolian Grill (my brother's favorite), where they had no problems making sure my meat free food was cooked seperate from the meat-laden entrees of my friends. We headed to a midnight show and caught a bit of Waffle house before heading back to the hotel to catch a little bit of sleep before our Sunday show.

Sunday, we slept in as late as we could (something to do with lack of sleep) and got up only as early as we did for check out After a phone call or two we made plans to meet up with someone else from the show and head back to "North Market" for lunch and to kill time before we had to be back to the theater. I had a somewhat messy, but satisfying sandwhich of mushrooms, artichokes, roasted red peppers, cheese, lettuce, and some italian dressing on a nice long peice of bread. It made me happy. When I got home after the show and after strike i made one of my rich favorites of tortellini with mushrooms, spinach, and oilive oil. (I sneak frozen spinach in where-ever I can.)

Still peaking from the high of have food options I made stuffed portabella mushrooms (stuffed with a mixture of woody basmati rice, frozen spinach, corn, diced mushroom, and italian cheese), and served beside roasted carrots.

Happy Election Day

Happy Election Day! Hope everyone got out there got their vote on.

Made an easy vegetable pot pie. I used a vegetable stew I partially made from leftovers in the refrigerator (leftover onion gravy, lima,s etc) and a few frozen and fresh ones. Added a bit of rice and used about a tablespoon or so of instant mashed potato flakes as thickener. You could still use a flour or cornstarch type thickener, but I wanted to try out using the potato flakes. It worked well. I used unrooled croissant rolls from the refridgerator to make the top crust.

We ordered pizza for dinner.

In the words of George Bernard Shaw; "When a man wants to murder a tiger he calls it sport; when the tiger wants to murder him he calls it ferocity."

Sometimes it really drives me nuts how much my family chooses to order food in (usually pizza, subs, wings, and sometimes the occassional chinese).

I'm Baaaaack

So, I haven't gotten lost. Mostly, I was on a cooking strike at home. My brothers, being the meat and potato type of guys that they are complained about one too many meals of mine and refused to cook for them anymore (or until they decide to act like decent human beings). In the meantime we've been eating a lot of pizza, take-out, and other assorted quick fixes or restaraunts. It has been this ways for the most part, with the exception of my Easter quiche. (It was fabulous and well-received by other members of my extended family.)

Now that it is spring and I have been working to get soil ready for planting, I have beem ready for some home-cooking.... my home cooking. Last night I went through my recipe collection and decided to try some new recipes. I had a recipe for homemade black bean veggie burgers, peanut soup, and a spinach bisque. I cut all the recipes in half and hoped that I would like at least one of the three. The spinach bisque was lovely, the peanut soup was pretty good, but the veggie burgers were a complete other matter (and usuallyI enjoy veggie burgers). I even followed the recipe as written (which goes against much of my nature), The patties were too soft and fell apart when I tried to turn them (I tried a few things to try to make it work, but no), then when I tried them they tasted like they were missing something... not anything I forgot to put in, but just pushing bland. I froze a serving of each soup for later use and now feel like I am back to my cookong phase, even if my family often does nto appreciate trying new things.

Jean Paul Richter quoated: "Because the heart beats under a covering of hair, of fur, feathers, or wings, it is, for that reason, to be of no account?"

Eating on The Run

It's tech week for my show and therefore means that Ill be spending a great deal mroe time at the theater. I was there until about midnight helping paint and random set stuff (I needed a break from looking at costumes) and will be there every night through opening weekend. It also means a lot more meals there or on the run. When I got there tonight the pizza they ordered arrived shortly after I did. I was offered food, but I'm trying to limit my pizza consumption for the most part this week, plus I was pretty sure there was meat on everything. The whole meat thing came up later when asked about Thanskgiving and if I got any turkey. As the mini discussion evolved on if turkey is meat or fowl on came the almost expected comment, "I bet you're no fun on a date." They always think they are funny and they generally always thing they are being original. (There are, of course, multiple variations of this aged joke.)

In the Words of Will Kellogg: "How can you eat anything with eyes?"

Just A Couple More Days Before Thanksgiving

Overall it has been just another day in just another week of my life. I’m keeping a somewhat busy schedule and am glad to be over the bug that seemed to be going around. (I usually bounce back pretty well.) With keep erratic hours at the theater I am glad to have leftovers frozen from past dinners (potato and mushroom casserole, vegetable lasagna, and black beans and rice). I went out to lunch at this local Italian restaurant for dinner with my family today and had this lovely pesto pizza and a nice green salad. It was even sprinkled with pine nuts to add a nice little texture to the mix. I love finding and trying new things at local restaurants that end up just making me smile. I may enjoy a nice salad (and especially a nice vinaigrette on it), but I need more adventure than just salad in my diet. I do enjoy food… preparing it, eating it, and sharing it.

I got the grocery things needed for Thanksgiving and started discussions about the food for Christmas Eve (we always have a Christmas Eve thing with finger food and lots of people). We have definitely entered that busy season of family, food, and holiday cheer. For me, it means meal planning not just for myself and others like me but helping prepare food that will appease both vegetarians and non-vegetarians alike. Oh, the excitement that is upon is.

Hope ya’all are staying healthy, happy, and warm.

As a pre-holiday extra check out this link for more vegetarian information, recipes, and commentary: http://talkingvegetables.tripod.com/

From Robert Hutchinson, in his address to the British Medical Association, 1930: "Vegetarianism is harmless enough though it is apt to fill a man with wind and self-righteousness."