It's that time again....

Yup. Clove gum is available again for a short time. Adams, part of the Cadburry conglomerate only makes the gum every couple of years. In case you didn't know I love cloves. Or as they say in Spanish and then translated back into English: nail of aroma. If you are a Pump Up the Volume / Christian Slater fan you'll be happy to know that Black Jack gum is also available for a brief time too.

Tofu with Georgian Ketchup

The country not the state. Here is a beautiful, quick dish made from fresh vegetables (zucchini, carrots, summer squash & kohlrabi), home-marinated tofu and tkemali a sauce made from plums. It is refreshingly tart and easy when you can just pour out the bottle. Georgian cuisine is really tasty and most dishes are easy to prepare as well as adaptable to the veg*n diet. This is a pretty good book if you are interested: "The Georgian Feast: The Vibrant Culture and Savory Food of the Republic of Georgia"

Vegetarian Tamales

Dough:
I use masa flour and then make the masa using vegetable broth and vegetable oil. Lard would be traditonal, vegtable shortening would be a close approximation but I am not into the hydrogenation too much, so...

Filling:
TVP, refried beans, salsa verde, corn, spices, chipotles in adobo, cilantro onions and garlic. Sometimes TVP sometimes tofu, but the addition of refried beans this time will now be the standard. I mix that all up and throw it in the tamale pot. I use cheese. You don't have to, but if you don't use more salsa in the filling to keep it moist.

I started using the tamale recipe from the New Farm Vegetarian cook book and its a good starting point for you veg*n tamales. The book is also good all around, even though it was published some time ago.

Camp Meal

On a recent camping trip this was dinner. 'Fancy' ramen (rice) noodle pre-packaged soup and homemade vegan sausage. Just boil some water and eat. MMMM.... kerosene.

Keep it pert.

Um, so I was tempted to only post about my vegan cooking here, with the hope that masses will flock to my amazing food related posts and feel obliged to stay. Most of the blogs out there about vegetarian cooking that I visit are straight up vegan. Sadly, I am not. Given the 10 page views I get a week, I feel like vegetarians are auto-included with vegans and then no one is left out. Welp, thats silly. I like cooking and cook stuff. Us veg*ns are, of course, no strangers to changing things up a bit when it comes to recipes. Not that I actually post recipes (not yet).

Food related post:
I like coffee, but that much caffeine makes me crazy. Solution: decaf. Also, to speak of consumerism and helping the GDP. This purchase might make you like decaf too. I really enjoy this french press and really really like the thermal glasses included with it. No filters and maximum flavor. However, given no filter to trap them, this coffee does keep some more of its flavorful oils (= added fat content) if that sort of things concerns you.

Banana Oatmeal Pistachio Raisin Cranberry Scone

Yup, some people like to make their scones into wedges and make the really pretty and stuff. Not me. I like to portion amount into approximately equal sized globs. I found these to be quite tasty full of whole grains (oats and whole wheat) and vegan.

Gluten Delivered for Cheap - Make Your Own Seitan

If you, like me, enjoy seitan but don't enjoy it price or availability at your local market you'll inevitably want to make it yourself. Then after spending time sifting through all of the seitan recipes you've collected, you'll know that you are going to need some vital wheat gluten. Roadblock: This wheat protein can be expensive and hard to find too. Solution: semi-bulk purchase from the internet. I've purchased the gluten for about $3.50 lb (5.5 lbs at a time w/ a subscription) with free shipping here. It's the best deal on gluten I could find and my local stores don't carry it.