A Deep Sigh of Relief.

Well, Christmas is over, and it was actually a success. Tyler and I spent the morning at home with Katie and Robbie, opening presents and eating eggnog french toast. Erin (Tyler's sister) picked us up in the afternoon and we spent the rest of the day with his family, which was pretty okay. There were a few rough patches, but we managed to make a swift exit from his grandparents' house, and a sort-of swift exit from his sister's (his mom wasn't ready to end the holiday at 7:00, but we really needed to come home and clean up and decompress).
Tomorrow Tyler leaves for tour, and he'll be gone ten days. I'm really sad, but I'm trying to remind myself that he'll be doing something he loves, and that it's not that long, and that when he comes back he'll be really excited to see me...and that'll be extra-nice. Two days after Tyler leaves, Robbie is taking off to California for a week, and then three days after that, Katie is going back home and I will be here alone for four days. Ugh. I guess I plan to do a lot of reading, healthy cooking, and movie watching. Oh, and I will be spending exorbitant amounts of time talking to/playing with my kitties, and harrassing Tyler on the phone. Hehehe. Luckily, everyone got me lots of books and movies and comforting things for Christmas this year, so time should pass fairly quickly.

Some gift highlights:
fancy coconut wood plugs (for the 3/4" holes in my ears)
lots of books (Running With Scissors, The Satanic Verses, Grimus, Extremely Loud And Incredibly Close...)
movies (Chasing Amy, the Botch DVD, Beijing Bicycle)
lots of music (too much to list!)
lots of smelly things (candles and soap and sprays, oh my!)
a Zen Garden (with a little tealight and rakes)
a big picture of Jesus (for those of you who don't know, I love tacky religious art)

All in all, it was really nice and fun, and I'm really glad it's over and I don't have to think about it for another eleven months. I'm beginning to have hope for being able to do things like pay my bills and get more tattoos...maybe in February. We'll see.

I hope everyone had a great holiday!

Pancakes (or Waffles)

This is the first thing I learned to make vegan. I don't even like pancakes very much, but Tyler is a fiend for them, and apparently he's not alone. This is probably my most-requested recipe...


*2 cups flour
*2 cups soymilk
*1/4 cup sugar
*2 tbsp baking powder
*1 tbsp canola (or other vegetable) oil
*fruit, cinnamon, chocolate chips, whatever

1. In a large mixing bowl, whisk everything together (unless you're adding fruit or chocolate or something--fold those in once the batter is thoroughly mixed) until there are no lumps in the batter. You can add soymilk for thinner pancakes, or flour for thicker ones.
2. Pour 1/3 cup of batter at a time on a nonstick griddle or pan (over medium heat), cook until the edges are bubbly and firm, and then flip. Pancakes always turn out better if you only flip them once.


If you add another tablespoon of oil, these pancakes can become waffles (with a waffle iron, of course).

An afterthought.

This is my first Christmas without my whole family, and I'm a little bit bummed. I'm trying to carry on my mom's traditions (Christmas Eve jammies, anyone?), but it's definitely not going to be the same. Christmas has always been special in our house. My mom always somehow managed to get us presents, cook us a big dinner, and not kill me when I went to drag her out of bed at six in the morning...even the years that we definitely did not have any money, she still gave us a great holiday. I'm trying to do that for my household now, and it's only in the light of my own struggle with this that I am beginning to really appreciate how hard she's always worked to make every Christmas even better than the last. So, thanks for everything, Mom.

Cream of Broccoli Soup (and more!)

First things first. I promised my mom I'd post festive holiday pictures.

Here's our slutty Christmas tree.


And here's Princess Sophia enjoying the shade of the slutty Christmas tree.


And here's Melvin being pompous in the company of the slutty Christmas tree.



And here's a recipe for Cream of Broccoli soup.

*1 quart veggie broth (I like to add an extra boullion cube or two, since it'll be diluted later)
*1/2 onion, diced
*1 tbsp olive oil
*6 cups very finely chopped broccoli
*1 quart unsweetened soymilk
*2 tbsp cornstarch plus 1 tbsp cold water
*1 tbsp garlic powder
*salt and pepper to taste

1. In a large pot, saute the onion in the olive oil until translucent.
2. Add the veggie broth and broccoli, and simmer until the broccoli is bright green and tender.
3. Add the unsweetened soymilk and garlic powder.
4. Mix together the cornstarch and cold water, and gradually add to the soup while stirring. Simmer until the soup is satisfyingly creamy.
5. Add the salt and pepper, and serve!


It's simple, and tasty, and doesn't contain anything weird and unnessecary (I'm talking to you, potatoes-in-Cream-of-Broccoli-Soup-people), and is as close as I can get to my mom's recipe. Enjoy!

Oops!

I've been a bad blogger. Work's been crazy, street fair was this weekend, the sun was in my eyes, I tripped over a rock...
Tomorrow is my first day off in a week. I'll post a recipe, and some apologies.
Sorry!