Well, hello mister fancy blog!

Here we are at the end of October already.. And I STILL don't have a dog. Let me tell, ya.. It's all about the money, or lack there of.

Car broke down near Ivyland (North of Philly) last weekend and the repairs are costing me close to a G. It becoming more and more clear that I need more reliable transportation. Whatcha gonna do? I guess I'll start saving and buy something like a late 90s Toyota sedan.

I've gotten back to baking a lot of my own bread, making seitan and vegan cheeses from scratch, and drinking buttloads of tea. Yerba maté and green teas. All good things.

Well, hello mister fancy blog!

Here we are at the end of October already.. And I STILL don't have a dog. Let me tell, ya.. It's all about the money, or lack there of.

Car broke down near Ivyland (North of Philly) last weekend and the repairs are costing me close to a G. It becoming more and more clear that I need more reliable transportation. Whatcha gonna do? I guess I'll start saving and buy something like a late 90s Toyota sedan.

I've gotten back to baking a lot of my own bread, making seitan and vegan cheeses from scratch, and drinking buttloads of tea. Yerba maté and green teas. All good things.

Well hello mister fancy blog!

Here we are at the end of October already.. And I STILL don't have a dog. Let me tell, ya.. It's all about the money, or lack there of.

Car broke down near Ivyland (North of Philly) last weekend and the repairs are costing me close to a G. It becoming more and more clear that I need more reliable transportation. Whatcha gonna do? I guess I'll start saving and buy something like a late 90s Toyota sedan.

I've gotten back to baking a lot of my own bread, making seitan and vegan cheeses from scratch, and drinking buttloads of tea. Yerba maté and green teas. All good things.

Remember, Remember the Eighth of September

Took my roommates to the humane league last Saturday and they adopted the most beautiful cat named Babar. Aside from all the sleeping and the string play, Babar thinks he's a dog. He has a nasty case of ear mites at the moment and we have a vet appointment for next week.

Haven't been lifting much and I need to get back to the gym.. No drinking tonight, so I will be sure to get there tomorrow.. After going to central market, that is. Made the best forkin seitan the other day. Nothing beats homemade seitan, my friends.

Ok, that's it.

Long Time, No Blog

Well, I'm back in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, which is my home town. My roommates are fantastically layed back and happy to party hardy fairly frequently. The move was a bitch, but what're ya gonna do. It's great working from home and I pay jack squat for gas. Will write more later.

One scarf down, one to go!

This is the model in which my newly knitted scarf was patterned. Here are some picture links to me in my new scarf:
http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f269/apw87372/Scarf5.jpg
http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f269/apw87372/IMG00002.jpg
My co-worker, Gwen the great, is knitted it for me.. She's currently working on a second one for my father. His won't be quite so HUGE with the hopes that he might actually wear it to something other than a costume party. I'm so happy with how fantastic mine came out and I was so thrilled that last weekend it was cool enough for me to wear it all day Saturday.

Nothing too new with upcoming move or anything AR, although I did get my order of new t-shirts. OH! This is new.. Lyz got Jenny-pig this new cage thing. It's really big and really nice for her.. the sides are thick wire, so she should get better air flow as it gets hotter. That's all for now.

Cashew Mayo SUPREME!!

Just made some amazing delicious vegan mayo. It's pretty similar to vegenaise but it's only about 30 calories per tablespoon.. Where as Vegenaise is about 90. Why do most of my great vegan recipe start with grinding up cashews? I may be single but I'm beholden to cashews. What are ya gonna do?

I'm going to make some pimento cheese later, add some dill. Once it hardens, I'm going to wrap it with croissants and bake it. My mother used to make something similar as an appetizer. Anyway, the croissants are the nasty store bought kind, but they're vegan.

appifanie at the Vegan Freaks Forums made this sentiment statement with regard to meat eaters:

Wow . . . these people mass 'produce' animals, ruin the earth, and make themselves ill in the process . . . they're really insane .

That about sums up my thoughts on the subject.

Roommate Lyz is in an especially cheerful mood today for some reason.. I'm glad to see her so happy :)

Cashew Mayonnaise
==============
2 Cups water
6 Tablespoons cornstarch
2 Cups hot water
2 Cups cashews
1/3 Cup lemon juice
1 Tablespoon garlic powder
2 Tablespoons onion powder
1 Tablespoon sea salt
1 Tablespoon sucanat
1/8 teaspoon paprika

Mix 2 cups of water with cornstarch and boil till it thickens. Blend 2 cups hot water and 2 cups cashews well. Add everything but the cornstarch liquid and blend. Mix into the cornstarch. Cool before using.

June.. Oh, she'll change her tune.

Ahh Friday, thank tofu for Friday. Well, this week was a particularly uneventful one, but the week prior was more interesting. I had a small confrontation with a girl in my team who sits just within earshot. I was training someone and they asked me about my vegan reading materials, which are always about my desk. This distant neighbor let out a long sigh of disgust and proceeded to say something to the effect of, "Oh, do I have to listen to this discussion AGAIN?" Keep in mind, this is the same person who loudly talks about her tortured chicken corpses and miserable bovine meals everyday specifically to annoy me.

In response I said something like, "Well then don't listen. We were talking quietly and you must have been trying to listen to our conversation to hear us from over there." This statement was born of aggression instead of reason, and I now realise that it is the wrong approach.

Next time I will say something similar to, "I'm sorry you do not want to hear this discussion, but we are attempting to discuss it privately. I will always discuss animal rights and veganism with anyone if they bring it up because I am morally obligated to do so.

Well, it hasn't come up again yet but it will. Think reason, not aggression.. Reason, not aggression..

Mid month blog!

Ahh Sunday.. What a relaxing day to recover from the perils of weekend life. Let's see.. What happened this week? I got the final confirmation on the apartment I'm moving into on July 10th and I cannot wait to move back to Lancaster.. A very annoyingly conservative town, with decent vegan options. Oh, the irony. I also cannot wait to live 3 minutes from the grocery store and movie theater.

I think I finished all I need to do so that I can telecommute for my same job after I move. It'll be a really good deal especially if I can cut out driving as much as I hope to. I'll be looking for a used mountain bike soon. I'll add more later..

Here's my Whole Wheat Bread recipe:

3 C Warm water
3 T yeast
3 T Sucanat, maple syrup, or molasses
1 T Sea Salt
3 T Canola oil
7 C WW Flour warmed in a 275 degree oven for 4 minutes
1 C White Flour warmed as well

Mix water yeast and sweetener and let sit till frothy. Add everything else and knead for 10-12 minutes. Let it rise covered in a warm spot for 20 minutes. Cut into 3 parts, shape and put into loaf pans. Let them rise for 20-30 minutes. Bake at 425 for 15 minutes. Reduce temp to 350 and bake an additional 30. Take out of pans and let cool on a rack for a crusty outside or bag immediately for a softer crust.

Blog addendum:
We're having a party at work today and I'm bringing sweet potato chips, homemade hummus, carrots, celery, Tangy Blue vegan dressing, pimento cheeze and sparkling grape juice. It is to celebrate the end of the medicare part d enrollment. Hopefully work will be more tolerable from this point forward.