little blooms of sanguinity

One of my most favorite things about the spring is its optimism. The second is ranunculus. Though I’m sure there are differing opinions out there, I find ranunculus to be one of the most spectacular flowers ever. It seems rather fitting that they are only available in the cool spring months, especially in Oregon when things are occasionally a little bleak this time of year… they are little blooms of sanguinity. Nothing will snap you out of a seasonal depression faster than the blooms of a ranunculus. It’s no secret that I have been in a post Christmas, post-application, seasonal funk for roughly the last two months… and though I know the arrival of ranunculus at the nursery this week are not the sole reason for my slightly more optimistic frame of mind they certainly help! 

 

 

As a full time event coordinator, and as a woman, I have devoted a fleeting thought or two to the planning of my wedding… and ranunculus have played a major role in that fantasy. The fact that they are a cool spring time flower of course greatly conflicts with the plan of having an outdoor summer soiree… but I try not to dwell on the logistics…lord knows I will not be getting married anytime in the near future. Maybe in the meantime, I will gift one to myself as a housewarming present. 

 

 

New Horizons: Two weeks without meat

So I’ve been a vegetarian for two weeks. I know I know, this is slightly shocking and maybe a little hypocritical months after assembling and promptly devouring a Turducken, but it’s been something I’ve been thinking about for a while. As a small disclaimer, I will say that this is a temporary lifestyle adjustment, which I know makes me even more hypocritical, but I feel like I have some valid reasons.

I have been rather restless lately, and have been feeling like my life was in desperate need of change, more accurately a change of my choosing. I can’t control if and where I get into graduate school, and I certainly had no control over my unexpected move, and I really felt like I needed to change something in my life, and change it for the better. It seemed like a great time too, as CBS had been running a news piece about the use of antibiotics in meat (which totally grossed me out!) Frankly, as a person who recently recovered from a gnarly staph infection, I was less than thrilled by the fact that animals are being pumped full of antibiotics, and developing resistant strains of MRSA. And so I gave up meat… at least until May 1st. Though I know I don’t need to justify my temporary journey into a meat free existence, I feel as though I need to at least explain. May 11th and 12th I am going to Fenway Park for the very first time, and I refuse to go on this monumental trip without eating a hot dog. It would be basically sacrilegious to go all that way, to live that experience, and to deny myself that indulgence. Who knows, maybe it will just be a week long hiatus from my vegetarian life style, or maybe those fenway dogs will be the gateway drug into summer meat consumption, who knows, but I suppose I will cross that bridge when I come to it. 

Let me just say, that I realize this isn’t a huge stretch for me. Minus the Turducken, I don’t actually cook a lot of meat for myself. I spent the first nine years of my life as a vegetarian, and as a result developed a liking towards all sorts of leafy greens, and fake meat products. I have quite a few friends who are either vegetarian or vegan, and we often cook meals or go out together, so really this has been an almost effortless transition. And I’ve already been on a lentil kick for the past two months, so making the final step into vegetarianism hasn’t been too hard Really the only time that I eat meat it when dining out, or snacking on an occasional slice of turkey, or when my mom makes something tantalizing like meatloaf. Even when I go to Burgerville nine times out of ten I end up ordering a spicy black bean burger, so saying goodbye to meat hasn’t been very difficult. (Though 2 days after I gave up meat my mom made meatloaf…. And last night a pot roast. Good lord they smelled delicious!) 

So I’ve been meat free for two weeks, and feeling great. Though I have had more energy, I’m not sure how much of that I can attribute to the veggie diet and how much I can attribute to the week of sunny weather we had here. What I have noticed is that after each meal, I feel really satiated without feeling grossly full. 

 

A scrumptious salad

I’ve actually really enjoyed trying new recipes, and figuring out what vitamins I need. Nutritional Yeast is my new favorite addition to just about anything! Hello B Vitamins! Plus it adds a certain je ne sais quoi, to things like salads and mashed potatoes. 

Of course now that I have an extensive deck, I’m already planning out my summer container gardens, and am dreaming about the salads and dishes that are going to be a delicious result. There is something undeniably satisfying about eating vegetables from your own garden! And yes, I’ve even been eating more tofu! It’s all about the marinating, and the seasoning. I found a recipe in Real Simple for Vegetarian Tacos, with corn, spinach crumbled tofu, salsa and goat cheese (I added black beans also) and they were fantastic! (but really for those of you tofu doubters, please do yourself a favor and order something at Thai Country with tofu, it will change your life and your outlook on this soy protein). Tonight I made pasta with leeks, peas, and lima beans. So Tasty.

So I'm armed with vegetarian cookbooks, creativity, and I’m optimistic that my stint as a vegetarian is going to be nothing but delicious.  Really, with cookbooks like "The New Enchanted Broccoli Forest" how can I go wrong?

Tonight's delicious dinner

When life gives you lemons

Let me introduce you to Liz Lemon, my dwarf Meyer lemon tree. She was a housewarming gift (from me to me, which lets face it, is often the best kind of housewarming gift) when I moved into my happy little apartment. Normally I wouldn’t splurge on an expensive plant (my history with orchids etc is not that great. Thought I certainly don’t have a brown thumb, I also have never been good with high maintenance plants) but we were having a 50% off sale at work, and I figured why not buy myself a lemon tree? Sadly, Liz isn’t doing so well these days, but our first few months together were great! I was such a happy camper coming home to a bright cheery citrus plant in my yellow kitchen.

Thankfully, one of the perks of my job is that I have access to plant gurus seven days a week, so I think I am going to take Liz Lemon to the greenhouse for a little TLC while I finish up the move. Not sure what happened when I was in DC, but she took a turn for the worse... Perk up little lemon tree! I had reservations about bringing her home at first, because I had a sneaking suspicion that I might not be a “lemon tree whisperer” and that something would inevitably go awry, but I figured at 50% off why not give it a try? Thankfully I’ve heard that they bounce back pretty well, and I’m hopeful that after a little fertilization and greenhouse resuscitation she will be ok.   It’s been fun to slice up fresh lemon to put in my water, and my absolute favorite thing around the holidays was making lemon infused vodka. Who knew that HRD could taste so good?

 Christmas Basket with Lemon Vodka

I also made some lemon curd, which was absolutely divine. (but really, eggs, lemon, sugar, butter, how could it be bad?) Look forward to many more culinary adventures with her assistance, lemon sorbet anyone?

 

 

 Making the Lemon Curd