Smogdammit!

June Books of the Month

2009-06-03T15:08:00.011-04:00

Thrive (or The Thrive Diet), by Brendan Brazier

Champion professional Ironman triathlete and Vancouverite Brendan Brazier discusses his nutritional and fitness research in the area of largely raw, whole foods, and explains how his unique plant based diet propelled him to his amazing degree of success in sport and in life. I saw him speak last night in Vancouver, and wow -- what an inspiring example of how it is so important to look beyond myth and tradition when learning about what truly fuels our bodies. The books are amazing and life changing. Required reading for people interested in nutrition, professional or amateur athletes and anyone who wants to feel great. That's everyone! Thrive has over 100 easy, delicious recipes, too. I have been eating this way for two weeks now, and have lost weight, gained muscle, recover faster from my workouts and feel awesome. It's important to note, though, that this is not a diet - it's a lifestyle. You could just as easily gain or maintain weight eating this way. You could bulk up with muscle, or maintain long lean muscles -- it is totally about how you work it. I can't imagine going back to how I was eating before, and with such amazing food, why would I want to? Keep checking back here for more cookbooks that complement this way of eating, and pick up these two today!

Want to learn more? Sign up for thirty twice weekly free videos sent to you from Brendan by signing up on for his Thrive in 30 program.

xo.h

Room for Improvement...

2009-05-20T17:42:00.003-04:00

So, a few weeks ago I posted a list of ten things that I have started doing in the last few years to try to help the environment. At the time, I said that I would next post ten of the things that I hope to change to become even more helpful in this regard. Here is the list...

1. Stop bringing so much packaging home. I have curbed the whole plastic bag thing, and I reuse my bulk plastic bags, but there is still the pesky matter of the plastic, non-recyclable tofu packages and the potato bags and such. In Toronto, I knew of places where you could buy tofu from a big vat, but I know of no such place here, especially not in Langley. I could make my own, but have pretty much maxed out my cooking time budget. Anyway, I am committing to trying to vastly reduce how much packaging I bring home. I would love to eliminate it altogether.

2. Gifts. I like buying presents for people, but I am thinking about starting to gift almost totally experiences and charitable donations. As my family tree and those of my friends branch out and out and out, the amount of waste my gift giving is creating is starting to get pretty gnarly. I am starting to enjoy gifting things like outings, lessons, tickets to events, massages and such because it creates a memory for the person that will likely long outlive any material present I may buy them, and it eliminates waste while stimulating the services, tourism and educational economies that tend to be a bit greener than their goods counterpart.

3. Computer. It kind of scares me how many things I am "dependent" on my computer for. I'll catch myself booting up my computer to google a phone number that is sitting in the Yellow Pages under my sink. I will sit on the computer for hours sometimes reading things that I could as easily learn about in a book from the library. All of this takes power, and no small amount, judging by how often I have to recharge my Mac. I am going to try to really curb my use of the computer from now on.

4. Baths. Oh man, this one hurts. I probably take at least five baths a week. Hot, deep ones. It has always been a thing that has helped me stay sane under stress, it's gotten me through cold Ontario winters, breakups and bad colds. But, I need to pare it down. I am wanting to switch to all showers except for one bath a week. Baths take up WAY more water than showers do. Sniff.

5. Letter writing. They say that politicians take people a lot more seriously if they send a letter or a postcard than they do if a person sends an email or signs an e-petition. I am going to try to get in the habit of sending at least one original, hand written letter per month to an MP, MPP or cabinet minister, company owner, whathaveyou. It really makes a difference, and takes so little time to do.

6. Yoga. I have noticed that when I do yoga regularly, like every day, that I become much more earth friendly in general. That simple act of connecting to the universal energy really stimulates my consciousness in the direction of the earth, and so I am hoping to really stick to an every day practice, even for twenty minutes, to try to keep those channels open.

7. Switching to all cloth diapering. I have actually just achieved this one! It was a bit scary to give up our naptime and bedtime paper diapers, because we worried he would notice the wetness more, but it is going great! We have not bought a single paper diaper for a month now, and all is well.

8. Local travel. I used to fly quite a lot back and forth across the country, but I am now committing to learning about all the fun regional things there are to do and see before booking a trip that is far away. I am looking into ways to green my touring, too (music related.)

9. I am reading almost all library books now, rather than buying them new. I am totally into supporting the book trade, but I know that there are enough serious book buyers out there that my reading only library books won't exactly cause the collapse of the book industry. Plus, I am a major word of mouth person who tells everyone I know when I love a book, so I support the authors that way!

10. I am looking into setting up a clothesline/drying rack thing so I can not use my dryer. I would say that the dryer is probably our biggest energy vice right now, and it is so unnecessary when I can dry my clothes outside or on a rack in the house.

So, that's it. Those are my goals for the next little while...

What goals are you going after in the hopes of being more green?

xo.h

Ow.

2009-05-11T01:14:00.004-04:00

First yoga class in TWO YEARS today!

I do yoga at home, but you know -- this was an hour and a half, and was not as wimpy as my home practice is.

Lord, am I sore.

This is where I went. It's in Langley. It was so wonderful to be back among yoginis and bolsters and chants. I totally value my home practice, and home practice is considered an extremely important discipline in yoga, so I am glad to have had this time to develop it, but I think I'll be going to classes regularly again. It's just nice to have the community.

BTW: In Toronto, I used to go here, here and here.

In Vancouver, I want to go here, because it's the studio started by Deb Swan, who I used to take classes with the last time I lived here. This is where I used to go back then, and I'll still go there -- I believe Deb is still teaching there, as well, but they have a lot of great teachers.

Namaste, yos.

xo.h

May Book of the Month...

2009-05-09T16:57:00.003-04:00

The Sacred Balance, by David Suzuki

buy it here

Mother Who?

2009-05-02T17:41:00.007-04:00

Mother Earth has taken a bit of a backseat to Wall Street in the press this year. I certainly have been spending a little bit less time reading about, thinking about and volunteering time/money for the sake of the planet. I want to kickstart myself back into more serious action on this front, though, so I thought I would list here ten of the big changes I've made in my daily life for the sake of the environment since starting this blog, and then list the ten changes I would like to make next. Here we go...

Changes I've Made.

1. I went vegan. Well, I actually did this a few months before starting this blog in 2007, but I'm still going strong. I'll admit that I previously loved, LOVED eating meat, cow and goat cheese, etc. but here I am, still tofu-y after all these years. I believe that the secret to my success was the fact that a bunch of things came together at once for me -- a lot of reading about animals and what they go through, reading about the positive impact that veganism has on the planet, and on our health, becoming a mother and feeling more acutely the old mammalian bond that animals used for food are almost always denied...the list goes on. No, even if I wanted to, I don't think I could turn away from veganism again (I was a vegan from 2000-2002, but only for health reasons back then, which were easier to push aside.) *side note, I DO purchase organic, locally produced honey/beeswax now -- I know this is controversial, and makes me a "Beegan" technically. I have been meaning to do a post on why I am doing this, and will get around to it, I sweeear. Do you still love me? :)

2. I only use reusable shopping bags at the store. You know, this seems like such a no-brainer, but the number of people I see in Langley walking around with armloads of half full white plastic bags is truly staggering. I have been known to stock up on reusable bags and offer them for free to people in line with me at the store -- I am ALWAYS turned down -- what's with that?

3. I (almost) only buy organic food, largely local produce-wise, with very few exceptions. Having to eat gluten free, sometimes I am between a rock and a hard place in terms of convenience food, but for the most part I make everything from scratch and use all organic. Ways I have saved money have included buying a share in a CSA and sourcing out food from other farmers or finding stores with a crapload of local produce. And oh yeah, I freeze stuff when it is in season. I'd say my grocery bill, rather than going up, has if anything gone down because making a vat of organic hummus at home, for instance, costs about the same as one of those rinky-dinky non-organic containers of hummus that you can get at the store. Yes, this means I spend more time in the kitchen, but there are worse things in life, like baby polar bears dying and monoculture, so WHATEVS.

4. I volunteer for Suzuki. They are great, and the perk of volunteering for DSF in Vancouver is that he's around humming and working, so it's inspiring. There are a million amazing, worthy environmental orgs out there, many that are looking for volunteers. It's fun and it feels like doing something bigger than just recycling. Try it! Since getting back to music, I haven't been in as much as I would like to, so this one is still a work in progress. My goal is to get in at least four hours a week.

5. I turn off the lights at every possible opportunity. Okay, I get that there's a recession and that there is a bit of a conservation backlash because people are like "well, before I felt like a rich person doing my part, but now...oh, I don't know...conservation feels so PO" -- well get over it! Just get the Louis Vuitton symbol tattooed on your face if you must and turn off the fucking lights, okay?

6. I grow food. Lots of it. You can, too. On your porch, in your yard, community garden, whatever. Don't forget to plant flowers to stimulate the bee community and encourage pollination.

7. I walk EVERYWHERE. In Langley. Where walking is illegal. I almost get run over by a suped-up pickup truck every single day. I get waved across streets when I have the walk signal by harried looking moms as if I am a goose trying to cross a freeway. Sorry that you paid so much for your car and that we are asking you not to drive it so much, but please don't drive it so much. Share it with someone if paying the full insurance and not driving it constantly bugs you.

8. I don't buy new mass produced clothing anymore. Ever. Period. Okay, except for socks. Well, who would buy second hand socks (ew)? And who sells locally made socks? Anyway, I buy second hand or I buy local. For the most part this means that I don't really have any clothes these days, because the Value Village here in Langley is all boxy church dress suits all the way, but when I move to Vancouver in the fall...Main Street, lock up your Victorian blouses and old Levis.

9. I bug people about stuff. Like my mom, I always bug her about leaving all her lights on at 2PM when she is not even home. And I bug Adam about not recycling recyclable things. Bugging people is fun and surprisingly productive.

10. I do not EVER buy CDs anymore. Until they can be made to be 100 percent recyclable, I think they suck. Digital music all the way. Audiophiles can buy in no-loss format and print off the artwork, too, if they want. There is really no excuse to fill up our landfills with CDs. I still will print them trusting that if people buy a CD, that they are true collecters and will not be just tossing it after uploading it to their ITunes, but I hope I sell a hell of a lot more digitally.

So that was a lot of me patting myself on the back! The next time I will get into the top ten things I want to change in 2009 to make myself more eco-friendly.

What changes have you made that are not listed here? What changes do you hope to make?

xo.h

Just So Good One Bowl Gluten Free Beegan Skillet Cornbread.

2009-04-01T18:15:00.008-04:00

Commercially made gluten free vegan/beegan baked goods generally suck. HARD. That's because all the glorious goodness of home baked de-yums can not be replicated. So get edumacated! DIY!

All my dry ingredients are Bob's Red Mill -- I like the way they keep gluten from contaminating stuff, I like their GMO policy. I like the fact that they are widely available and good folks to boot. If you are serious about baking gluten free, skip the (largely cross contaminated) bulk aisle and give BRR a spin. This corn bread is redunculous. If you make it and don't love it, post here and I will contact you and talk you through it, because there must be some terrible mistake. In other words, this recipe has convinced me that God has put me on earth partly to make cornbread for celiacs.

1 1/4 cups of organic corn flour (not corn meal)

1/2 cup white rice flour

1/2 cup brown rice flour

4 Tablespoons of arrowroot powder

2 1/2 teaspoons of baking powder

just over 1/2 teaspoon of sea salt

3 Tablespoons of hard honey

1/3 cup hard (but soft enough to scoop out) refined, organic coconut oil (the kind with no coconut smell -- i like spectrum -- widely available at health food, grocery stores.)

2 cups unsweetened soymilk

Preheat oven to 350

with a small amount of the coconut oil, grease a 10-inch cast-iron skillet (or a non stick baking pan if you insist on not owning the best kitchen tool in the world) -- throw this in the oven as it preheats.

in a large bowl, whisk together dry ingredients.

add coconut oil and honey, and use a pastry cutter (or your own very cold fingers - but work fast!) to work it all into a medium fine meal

add soy milk and whisk (with a whisk) everything for about 30sec to a minute -- until it looks more like batter, less like sad, watery lumpy soup. medium small lumps are encouraged, though -- they will make the bread fluffy like how shortening works in pastry, but without the vileness of shortening for your health.

when your oven is preheated, let the pan sit in the hot for a minute or two more

USING AN OVEN MITT THROUGHOUT (bold is in relation to my own idiocy) take the pan out and pour the batter in the hot pan, return to oven, and bake for 35 minutes (if the edges are turning quite brown at 30, take it out then.)

test with a clean knife, if it comes out clean, she's done.

let sit for about 20 minutes or longer.

you're welcome, chili lovers.

xo.ht

My (and Kai's) allergy test results...

2009-03-28T17:54:00.003-04:00

So, I am going to flesh this post out later, but for those of you who wanted to know what my Meridian Valley Allergy Panel shaped up to look like, here are the most significant results.

Allergic to the point of having to cut it out...

All dairy (um, vegan, so who cares.)

All gluten (already cut out because it makes my eczema explode.)

Almonds - OUCH

Sunflower seeds - Meh

All shellfish (again, vegan...)

Pineapple - what the? random!

Strawberries - sigh.

Celery - Um...okay?

Kidney beans - Whatever.

Coffee - I KNEW it!

Brewer's Yeast - therefore, ALL ALCOHOL, VINEGAR and ALL FERMENTED PRODUCTS, including TOFU AND TEMPEH. DAAAAAAAAAAMMMMMMMNNNNNNNN! The good news is that soy is not the problem. I thought it was because I got super puffy after eating tofu, but soymilk, edamame are fine -- just not fermented soy.

There were 95 foods tested, and some came in at borderline (ie. cranberries, asparagus, garlic, mushrooms) so I will eat those in moderation and cut them out if cutting out the biggies doesn't get rid of my major symptoms (though external symptoms are usually the last sign a body gives of internal trouble.)

I think everyone should do this test. It was covered by Adam's benefits, but I think I would have saved up the money to do it anyway if it was not. I never would have guessed half the things I was allergic to, which would have kept me on this thing of thinking I wasn't allergic to things I am because all my symptoms did not go away when I stopped eating it (as in "hm...I thought I was allergic to gluten (which I am) but I still have eczema all over my body, so I guess I can eat gluten (which I can't)...anyway, pass the coffee.") The cost at my naturopath is 395 for the test. Again, totally worth it in my mind.

So, am I going to cut out alcohol totally? Yes, actually, for two reasons. One: I am still nursing, and the naturopath says that whatever I am allergic to, it is highly likely that Kai is as well, and I feel so sorry for him when he is covered in eczema. Two: I am tired of feeling like crap, and alcohol came back very high for me. It's just not worth a month of allergy symptoms to have one glass of wine.

The good news. NOT allergic to chocolate and raspberries (raspberries came back a zero, which is funny because they are my favourite fruit!) Avocados, also a zero. The doctor said that the coffee allergy is very rare, but I kind of knew it going in because, well, I feel insane when I drink it and my throat burns and gets itchy for the rest of the day. Allergy symptoms are not the same for everyone, though -- if you can swing it, get this test! Most naturopaths will offer it.

OK. I am off to eat some...um...rice and chocolate and...hold on...let me check...walnuts!

xo.h

enter if you dare, ladies...

2009-03-28T03:34:00.001-04:00

find out what's really in that so-called-non-toxic lip balm you like so much, or in that makeup you know is probably bad for you already...

xo.h

Schmermy.

2009-03-13T18:48:00.002-04:00

Schmermy is how I feel today because I went in to the doctor for three things -- nasty pain in my left lady-ball, a mole that is suddenly sticky-outy and dark instead of flat and light, and a mysterious lump in my right thigh.

I went in there like -- "period cramps, hormonal mole changes and a zit!" not wanting to think about the potential stress associated with having to check these things for something more serious, but my doctor quickly burst that bubble. The ovary is getting ultrasounded, the mole is getting a biopsy and the lump is on probation, which means I have to watch it to make sure it gets no bigger, or they will be taking that out and sending it for biopsy, too.

All of this is happening at the same time that my uncle is perhaps in his last days after a long struggle with cancer all through his body, and my grandpa just had to have a lump in his tongue taken out and checked. So there's a lot of C-word floating around and I am trying my best to stay calm about these three things going on with my body and keep in mind that it is probably just a coincidence that they are all happening at the same time, that it's probably ovarian cysts (which I have a history of), just a mole that is changing as I age (common) and a benign cyst in my leg. Probably these things are true -- I have very little cancer in my blood family, and I am young and have pretty much none of the risk factors. Still, things do happen. Anyway -- all of it has really made me think about how much we need to enjoy every day and show love to those around us, because we never know when we are going to go. So many things have happened for me so far this year that have driven that point home. Stuff about my uncle. A friend, an amazing woman, younger than me, with a beautiful husband and baby boy, was killed in a car accident in December and her husband and son have to go on without her. I have been trying so hard to stay in the present moment and really enjoy life and try not to stress about anything because I want to know that at the end, I'll feel like I really made the most of my time here with the people I love.

xo.h

Records I Want - March 2009

2009-03-12T17:29:00.005-04:00

I suddenly am obsessed with buying new music.

Here are the records I want right now, as in today...

Neko Case - Middle Tornado

Final Fantasy - Plays to Please EP

Jenn Grant - Echoes

Julie Doiron - Woke Myself Up (and she has a new one coming out this month!)

All Canadian Music! My Ipod is probably about 80% Canadian music, actually. I truly think that our country produces the best music in the world!

xo.h

What the Hell Took Me So Long?

2009-03-12T17:02:00.003-04:00

I have been on the natural health bandwagon for, oh, about ten years, so what the hell took me so long to decide to find myself a naturopath instead of going to my MD for things that I know he is either just going to give me a) unnecessary antibiotics, b) steroid cream or c) a fruitless xray/ultrasound for? I have a few health issues -- anemia, eczema, ovarian cysts and TMJ (and thus, migraines.) None of these things have been successfully treated with my MD. Kai has eczema now, too, so I figured it was time to try another route, and since Adam now has benefits that cover it, we were able to drop the cash upfront to see a naturopath and get some tests done.

After being there I can say that even if we did not have coverage, I would find a way to take this route alone for most health issues that could ever come up, and it in conjunction with conventional treatments for anything that would be life-threatening, etc (in situations, for instance, where the naturopath themselves suggest both types of treatment, ie. chemotherapy in conjunction with dietary changes and supplements to support health through the chemo.)

Anyway, this is where I am going, and Dr. Alison is awesome. I had already cut out gluten for Kai and I, and our eczema had gone from a 4/5 to a 1/5 within two weeks, it was still there, though, which meant there was even more crazy stuff going on inside, so she did a complete food allergy panel. This means you get tested for allergy to almost 100 foods, the most common allergens, and then you can know what to cut out to get rid of all manner of health problems. The naturopath said that whatever I am allergic to, so might he be, so I alone was able to take the test for now, which is great because it was $395.00 (thank God, covered by insurance), but again, worth every penny in my mind. I am sure that if we all bought steroid cream for the rest of our lives it would add up to much more than that, and we would be much less happy and healthy than we will be just cutting out the foods that are sending our immune systems in a tailspin.

So in just two weeks I will have a huge list of foods that tells me how allergic I am to all of them! It's like nerdy Christmas morning! The list is like a bar chart that tells you if you are a little, quite a bit, a lot or mega allergic to something. I am a little nervous that soy is going to be on there, and a lot nervous that nuts will be. We will see.

On another geeky health front, I have to get braces for two years to fix my crossbite that is making it so the sharp parts of my top teeth are destroying the concave parts of my bottom teeth, leading to broken and cavity ridden lower molars, and broken fillings. These are not covered by insurance, unfortunately, but sometimes you have to take a hit in life in order to be better in the long run. I had braces before that were put on by an ortho who I am pretty sure was crazy and I eventually took them off early because they kept falling apart, hurting me, etc. They fixed some things, but now I have to finish the job. Luckily ten years have done some good things for the ugliness of braces -- they are pretty tiny and not elastic-y now. :) Anyway yes, I am going to have braces on until I am 32. Wicked.

xo.h

Biological Dog.

2009-03-07T19:03:00.005-05:00

Lately I have been having to fight off my biological clock with a stick in order to focus on completing this album. In reality, I don't want to have another kid until Kai is old enough to help change diapers, but my body doesn't seem to be getting that. My hormones haven't even been nice enough to keep my fertility away while I am nursing, which I still am at 22 months. Nope, my uterus, at SIX WEEKS, was like, "well, you've got two boobs, so let's flip this joint and rent it out again!" It doesn't help that my husband is down with the idea of another baby, and that Kai has taken to feeding and cuddling my sister's old baby doll after a round of teaching her to "walk"across the living room floor.

Enter my desire for a dog. I have it all planned out. I want to get a male Great Dane and name him Hamlet. Thinking about this dog is what is getting my mind off little pink bundles of "I-can't-lift-my-head-on-my-own" utter dependence. The dog is probably quite far off in the future as well, but it is harder to acquire the dog than the baby, at least in theory, so I am thinking about the dog. Instead of the baby. Baby. BABYYYYYY!!!! Who would maybe be a girl and named Maezi. I mean, DOG! Hamlet! Big smelly dog.

Baby.

xo.h

This is It.

2009-02-27T20:46:00.002-05:00

The nerdiest and best thing ever.

I Don't Care if the Whole World Knows It.

2009-02-13T19:45:00.006-05:00

I freaking love Valentine's Day.

I think Valentine's Day is for me what Hallowe'en is to other people.

I love the paper-y-ness of it. The chocolate-y-ness of it. The sweetness of it.

I have spent many a Valentine's Day alone in the past, and I even loved it then.

One really great thing for me this year is that I am back in Vancouver where Valentine's Day falls at a time of year where the trees are starting to bud, the birds are coming back and the temperature stays well above zero. This is the Valentine's Day weather I grew up with -- I never quite got used to the whole snowy Valentine's day thing in Toronto. I get that there is the potential for romance with that scenario, too, but I love the promise of spring that is in the air at this time of year here out West.

Here is a recipe for some delicious beegan love elixir truffles for the healthy chocoholic in your life.

To taste, mush together about 2 parts raw almond butter (about 1/2 cup), 2 parts organic, fair trade, dutch process cocoa powder (about 1/2 cup) with one part raw, hard honey or agave nectar (about 1/4 cup -- less if you have less of a sweet tooth) and a tiny pinch of sea salt. (Discussion on why I, for the time being, am eating raw, local, i've-seen-where-it's-made-honey to happen another time -- sorry fellow vegans, I hope you still love me anyway -- I guess this makes me a beegan for now.) This should make a very thick fudge type thing. Taste and adjust however you like. Add more firm stuff if the agave nectar makes things too runny -- I make it with hard honey, so you're pioneering here. This is less of a recipe and more of a thing. Anyway, the stuff should be able to be formed into balls. Get it? Valentine's Day? Balls? Um, anyway.

Put this in the fridge, covered for an hour.

After the hour, in a double boiler or a metal bowl placed on top of a pot with a few inches of boiling (then lowered to a simmer) water in it, melt about 100 grams of organic, fair trade dark chocolate (I like Cocoa Camino bittersweet). Use a rubber spatula to swirl it around until it is silky and melted. Get NO water in it, or it will seize and look like crap.

Put this aside, and pull out your fudge. Using a teaspoon, scoop out and roll little balls with cold hands. Roll these little balls in the chocolate, and put your rolled truffle on some parchment or wax paper on a cookie sheet or plate.

Make a bunch of truffles.

Sprinkle the tops of them with some raw cane sugar or crushed, toasted almonds.

Put back in the fridge until they are as firm as your lovers' arms.

Happy Valentines Day, bitches.

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo.h

Pass the Tractor.

2009-02-12T17:16:00.003-05:00

The more I read things like this the more I consider living in the country-but-a-twenty-five-minute-drive-to-the-city for the long run.

pictured above: even the sunsets are less expensive here in Langley.

Raw In the Family

2009-02-10T19:21:00.006-05:00

Hello there.

So, my little family has been enjoying eating an almost totally raw/live diet these days. Here is our favourite raw breakfast for days when we need to get out the door fast. Eating foods in the raw preserves their enzymes for optimal digestion, and makes sure you are not losing any of their nutritive value to the cooking process. It's amazing how much more energy I feel after eating this than after eating the exact same thing, but cooked!

Megablox Muesli

ingredients

cereal:

1 cup rolled oats

1/2 cup dates

1/2 cup raw brazil nuts (or whatever raw nut you like)

a pinch of cinnamon

1/2 a pinch of sea salt

almond milk:

1/2 cup raw almonds

1/4 cup of dates

5 cups of filtered water

pinch of sea salt

1/2 a vanilla bean, scraped or 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract

toppings:

1/4 cup hempseeds

raisins

whatever fruit you like

To make the cereal: In a food processor, process the dates and nuts until they make a coarse meal. You don't want them to become a paste. I just make sure they are crumby.

Next, add the oats and process again until the oats are a medium meal texture, too -- not a powder.

To make the milk: In a blender combine the nuts, water, vanilla, salt and dates until very smooth.

To serve: scoop as much of the cereal as you want to serve into cereal bowls (this makes 2-3 servings) -- add some of your milk, enough to cover the cereal quite well, as it will soak up some milk when you mix it -- have the milk go a good inch over the cereal.

Stir it all up, and top with hempseeds and raisins or whatever fruit you like.

Give one last stir and devour!

p.s. The rest of your milk will keep for three days in a covered container. Just give it a good whisk before using after storage.

xo.h

Pick a Pack of Peppers.

2009-01-30T16:37:00.002-05:00

So, the very first seeds of the season will be planted today (not outside of course -- the garden is still under a foot of snow!) Peppers are best started early indoors, then transplanted when the weather is indisputably warm. I'll be planting all kinds of peppers at the farm, but in my own little patio herb and spice garden, the pepper family will be represented by the lovely red cayenne pepper. I'm determined this year to spend less time growing things that I think are cool and more time growing things I actually eat enough of to warrant owning several plants. This means purple cauliflower is out and russet potatoes are in. Red runner beans? Out. Butternut squash? In like Flynn. By the way, for all my soil needs, I use this -- not the weird crap from Home Depot that has bits of fertilizer in it. And oh yeah, for all my hand protecting needs, I (and Oprah) like these.

Happy germinating!

it begins.

2009-01-13T18:41:00.003-05:00

the list of seeds to buy is made.

the seedling heat lamps are ready.

the snow is melting.

it's time to get back into the garden (so i can stop paying $2.50 a bunch for kale, and instead spend $2.50 for a year's worth of seeds for it...)

pictured left: a basket full of september bounty from last season awaits cookage. clockwise from top left, purple dinosaur kale, red runner beans, baby leeks, young beets, carrots, broccoli, and city lights swiss chard.

Yinter Wonderland.

2009-01-08T00:19:00.006-05:00

The snow isn't this deep here anymore, but I am still having trouble getting around.

I've decided to fully embrace the yin element of this season and go with the slow.

Soon I will be elbow deep in itchy soil planting garlic, I might as well take this time to sit and listen to the rain fall.

xo.h

Mothers in a Labourious Time.

2009-01-02T17:11:00.003-05:00

This is me when I was about six or seven months pregnant with Kai. It's the only pregnancy photo I have. I'm not really the "hire-a-photographer-to-document-my-swollen-beauty" type, but I definitely needed a picture of me wearing my "Def Lep-Bird" fake rock and roll poster Big Bird shirt that I wore through almost all of the first trimester, through non-stop "morning" sickness and the long walks up and down Roncesvalles Avenue when I could handle the sight and smell of all the harvest fruit piled up along the sidewalks.

I didn't talk about my pregnancy much when I was pregnant, or the birth itself after. It's not that there was nothing to say, or that it's all been said -- in fact, now that I have been through it, I am amazed at how much is not said in all the usual books, classes, etc. that women are directed to during pregnancy.

I've decided to post some stuff here occasionally about different aspects of the whole experience. I want to do this, in part, as a record for myself. I have ceased to believe that my brain will only let go of the less important details of my life -- there seems only to be so much room up there!

Anyway, I thought I would start with this picture of me with little Kai in my belly, already dancing when I would sing love songs through the winter afternoon.

xo.h

I Do Many Things in Tens.

2009-01-02T02:50:00.003-05:00

So here is my list of ten New Year's Resolutions.

I resolve...

1. To learn how to use my new sewing machine.

2. To go to the gym three times a week.

3. To do yoga every day.

4. To finish submitting all those years of unfiled tax returns that I've been sitting on because I know that they owe me for them and it feels like some kind of weird savings account.

5. To stop swearing and use more interesting, less aggressive words instead.

6. To eat sugar only one day a week.

7. Same with caffeine.

8. To put in more volunteer hours per month at the David Suzuki Foundation.

9. To do more creative writing.

10. To finally incorporate meditation into my day every day.

I'll probably post a few more of these. I live for lists and self-improvement, so I'm all over this shit. Oops, I mean...all over this...snazzle?

xo.h

pictured above - Kai works his way through a foot of smuddle-jinkin' snow.

I Did It.

2008-12-20T14:49:00.005-05:00

in the absence of a picture of pumpkin pie, i will post a picture of the family horse, who is pumpkin pie coloured.

After years of irrational fear and avoidance I finally made pumpkin pie puree out of a pumpkin I have had hanging around since Hallowe'en. I had been keeping it in Kai's wagon on the patio, so it was frozen solid when I tried to cut it, and I had to strain the hell out of it because freezing it had resulted in a lot of extra water, but pumpkin pie puree it now is. T'wasn't so hard.

UPDATE: and the pie, she was good.

How German Vegans...

2008-12-16T16:15:00.001-05:00

get Giggy-Wid-It.

I am making the cinnamon star cookies, myself.

xo.h

pictured above: after a hard hour of piling snow, he will be expecting cookies.

Cookie-Tracker 2008

2008-12-15T20:20:00.008-05:00

This is more for me to keep track of my nerdy baking life than anything else, but if you are into vegan baking/the PPK/extreme list-oriented nerdiness you may find it interesting to read this growing list of what I have baked for this holiday season. I'll keep updating as I bake, then post a picture of the assorted vegan cookie plate I am going to bring to my parents' place for Christmas Eve. The plan is that I save one batch of everything I make to make an office-party-esque cookie tray. So far the saving part is not going so well, but I can always make more. :) Keep checking back to this post, I won't be making new ones as I add, just adding on to this one...

So, the (to be added-to) list...

1. Sparkled Ginger Cookies from Vegan With a Vengeance *with baking powder instead of baking soda mishap that actually worked out great! they were just puffier and chewier rather than flat and crispy. yum! i used 3/4 cup of sugar rather than the 1 cup.

2. Buttery Lemon Cutout Cookies from Vegan With a Vengeance *I had problems rolling these out, so I turned them into little rustic circular shortbread looking cookies instead. they are deeee-licious.

3. Gingerbread Cutout Cookies from La Dolce Vegan *i am determined to use the cute mitten cookie cutter that my mom just gave me! i wanted to use them for the lemon cookies above, but no go, so gingerbread mittens it is. (i hope -- the dough is chilling now.) update: dough was still a bit breaky, so i went with the smaller gingerbread reindeer, which was actually cuter as the dough was a perfect Rudolph Brown colour. I will be using an Isa Moskowitz recipe for the bigger men and mittens which I've used before with success. The reindeer are so good btw -- they use shortening (organic earth balance) so they have an oreo crispy melty thing going on that is rare in the gingerbread galaxy.

4. Chocolate Thumbprint Cookies - from Vegan With a Vengeance. I made them with apricot jam, and am going to make raspberry, too. I used only 1/2 a cup of sugar instead of 2/3 of a cup, but in this case I think the greater amount of sugar would have worked better. I'll be putting in the full amount for the raspberry ones.

xo.h

Handmade Christmas

2008-12-12T17:00:00.002-05:00

This Christmas I am determined to stick to my goal of having a totally handmade Christmas. I haven't signed this nifty pledge yet, but I plan to (update: I just did!) This means that I will be buying my presents from Etsy, from craft shows, making them myself or getting into the kitchen and baking them up.

I am pretty much out of Christmas shopping money already, and I REFUSE to use credit cards for anything anymore, so it looks like I'll be spending some serious time peering through my oven window this holiday season.

Sometime I worry that people won't want to receive baked goods as gifts, or that they won't be memorable, but then I think back to a birthday I had where I got all kinds of cool presents, I'm sure, but the one present I remember was a huge jar of homemade hummus with a beautiful bow around it! I think, too, that in this day of e-cards and facebook virtual presents, that giving a gift of nourishing or just plain fun food is more meaningful than ever.

I like to include the recipe when I give a gift of food, as well, so the recipient can make the cupcakes, cookies, bread, whathaveyou, again and again and hopefully think of me when they do!

Consider including some baking gifts on your holiday gift-giving list this year! They're eco-friendly, to boot, as they leave behind very little waste and are as locally made as it gets!

xo.h

Pink Icing

2008-11-27T23:12:00.002-05:00

Made with beet juice.

Stay tuned.

update: it worked! and no beety flava! i used the "fluffy buttercream icing" recipe from vegan cupcakes take over the world, and just microplaned about half a beet in batches, picking up about 1/2 a teaspoon of the grated beet at a time and squeezing it over the frosting while it mixed in my mixer (alternatively, you could certainly just add it in at any point if mixing manually.)

the pink i went with was a very girly baby pink, but there was lots of room to go deeper if i wanted to -- i am excited to experiment with different shades of beet -- purples, true reds -- the one i used was sort of wine coloured.

i refuse to eat food colouring, so am very happy to have the option of pink icing back in my life. i'm not even a huge fan of not chocolate icing, but i am a huge fan of making girly birthday cakes, so this is a big deal for me. try it!

xo.h

I am almost 30.

2008-11-24T22:06:00.001-05:00

It feels different. Like I am supposed to be more helpful or something.

For now it also feels like carrot cake cupcakes.

xo.h

Etsy Roundup

2008-11-22T17:07:00.002-05:00

I am trying to buy almost all my Christmas presents from local artisans this year, and Etsy is a huge help in making that happen! As a rule, I don't use credit cards, so being able to use Paypal is awesome as my Christmas shopping is staying rooted in the reality of how much money I have to spend. Here are three of my favourite Vancouver based Etsy shops so far...

Track and Field Designs - Beautiful fabric brooches, laptop bags, pillows, pins, you name it, lots of silkscreening and gorgeous vintage fabrics.

Cabin and Cub - Wonderful, whimsical stationary, collages, accessories...

Dear Dodo - lovely, delicate original art and prints

more to come...

xo.h

p.s.

2008-11-20T18:20:00.004-05:00

I thought the blog was looking a little drab with no photos for a while, so here is a picture of me wearing my new Filou sterling silver cloud necklace with a Swarovski crystal raindrop. It was designed and made locally. Filou stuff is featured at the Vancouver One of a Kind Show this weekend. I went yesterday -- it was amazing! This picture also features a sneak peek at my new haircut! Next time I am having a remotely good hair day I will post the whole thing. :)

xo.h

Living la Vida Local

2008-11-20T17:02:00.003-05:00

I want to love Langley.

I really do.

I want to love it for a few reasons.

It's where I am. I want to love where I am. I don't believe that in order to get somewhere else that you have to dislike where you are. I know that in the long run we want to be in Vancouver, and we will be, but for now, because of budget concerns we are in Langley, and I want to learn to appreciate what this place has to offer.

I also want to be able to like living in a small town (ok, I guess Langley is technically a city, but you know what I mean.) It makes me feel so externally focused to NEED artsy cool cafes and a rep cinema and ten million art galleries showing things that are not landscapes or totally serious bird portraits. I want to be more of an island than that. At least I want to be able to do it, then move back to stimuli land.

Anyway, here are a few truly cool things I have found in Langley.

- Their website leaves something to be desired, but don't let that stop you from checking out TAP (The Aromatherapy Place). I actually don't know of a place like this of this size in Vancouver or Toronto. These ladies sell a huge selection of essential oils and synergies, beeswax candles, salt crystal lamp type stuff, sweetgrass, bath and body products, olive oil, dried flowers, diffusers, etc. and run a spa with THE BEST massage therapist ever. I can't remember her name, but I will find out and post it here. Their products are made with great ingredients, they make their own stuff and the store is an utter pleasure to be in. If you come in to Fort Langley, you must check it out.

- The Scoop-N-Save cake decorating store. There are no words. There are no comparisons. I am a vegan, and can't eat some of the supplies in there, but even so, you have to drag me kicking and screaming from this mecca of cookie cutters, chocolate molds, cake tins (for sale or rent), icing tips, cake toppers, etc. I asked the lady at the counter if people ever make trips in from the city just to go there, and she was like "um, yes."

- The Little White House - This woman is hilarious and her store is awesome. She bought a house in Fort Langley, painted it totally white inside and out, and only sells things in it that are white, or off-white, or once in a while grey or black. Her real house is also all white inside and out. The store is super beautiful and has really nice stuff -- clothes, housewares, antiques. She kept the house totally intact, and just set up the merch like someone is living there, so when you shop you kind of feel like you are robbing someone's house. It's fun. She's one of those people who has a place in Paris and knows how to find the goods.

The owner of Cranberries Naturally fraking LEE-OVES cranberries. You will, too after checking out her store. Fort Langley has a huge c.berry festival every year, and this gal is the belle of the ball.

Come visit!

xo.h

Perfect Hot Chocolate

2008-11-19T13:00:00.007-05:00

I used to think I didn't like hot chocolate. It seemed so wimpy compared to coffee. Coffee makes me feel kind of crazy, but I would regularly pick that feeling over the buyer's regret that would go along with me sitting there with a big mug of watery brown hot chocolate. At some point I saw the movie Chocolat -- I thought the movie was pretty weak, but the hot chocolate making scene stuck with me -- she made it look so saucy and intense and delicious.

I have tried over the years to come up with the perfect recipe for hot chocolate, the saucy-as-heck kind, and I think I've got it. Some hard-core recipes call for actual chocolate, but I have left that out because 1. hot chocolate is something you want on the spur of the moment or, in my case, every day, and chocolate isn't always lying around and 2. i think if you use the cocoa the right way and get the right kind, you don't need to use chocolate itself. OK. So. Here it is...

This makes 1 cup of hot chocolate. Multiply the recipe as needed.

2 HEAPING-ASSED (your relationship to chocolate will define this for you) Tablespoons (using actual measuring spoons) of Organic, Fair Trade, Dutch Process Cocoa Powder (ie. Cocoa Camino -- widely available at Save on Foods, Dominion, Whole Foods, Capers, health food stores, etc.)

1 cup -1 1/4 cup of unsweetened organic soymilk (I like nutrasoy or silk) Try one cup, add more at the end if you want it more milky.

half a pinch of sea salt

two Tablespoons of organic, fair-trade raw whole sugar cane (like Panela de los Andes), more like 1 T if you are using something like Cocoa Camino sugar or any other sugar that is even kind of refined (brown, turbinado, pretty much most of the sugar that's out there.)

In a small saucepan, combine the cocoa powder, and about 1/4 cup of the soymilk. With a whisk, combine the soymilk and cocoa into a paste. This makes sure that when you add the other stuff that there are no lumps in your precious cocoa. Use a small spoon or a clean finger to go along the bottom edges of the pan to make sure to free up any cocoa wedged in the corners, and whisk that in as well. Make a nice smooth paste. It's looking pretty sexy, amirite?!

OK, so now turn the heat on to medium, and add the rest of the ingredients and whisk again until combined. Stand there whisking gently as it all heats up -- don't walk away or you'll scorch shiz to the bottom of your pot and make me sad. So, whisk away, and as you start to see it getting hot, whisk quickly, incorporating more air and trying to create a froth on top.

Froth that little vixen up, and then pour into a mug. Now go watch Oprah.

xo.h

Green Your Holidays

2008-11-18T17:10:00.003-05:00

I have been beginning to look into green holiday shopping options in my hometown of Vancouver and in my for-now hometown of Langley. I'll be posting my discoveries here so that you, too can pick up some lovely, local, environmentally friendly and beautiful swag for your buddies and family this holiday season.

A store I am really excited about is Granville Island Organix -- they have an extensive selection of beautiful, locally made clothing in organic fibres, baby stuff, shoes, jewelry, bags, towels, etc. Check out the website -- they have both a "bricks and mortar" store on Granville Island or you can shop online with them.

More to come! Happy Tuesday.

xo.h

Okay.

2008-10-21T03:05:00.002-04:00

It has finally happened.

I am in studio for the record now.

Delectable Electables.

2008-10-14T17:22:00.003-04:00

I hope everyone had a fabulous Thanksgiving!

Ours was wonderful and low-key. Every single vegetable I used for the dinner was either grown by ourselves, the farmer across the street, or in a couple of cases, other local farmers.

We had...

Roasted beets, turnips, brussels sprouts and carrots

Mashed purple potatoes with pink peppercorns and vegan gravy

Crispy tofu cutlets

A VAT of amazing gluten free stuffing

Orange Spiked Cranberry Sauce

and...

Gluten free local Empire Apples apple pie!

All so good...

Then I woke up this morning and marched myself across the street and voted NDP.

All in all, a good 24 hrs.

xo.h

The Place to Be.

2008-10-10T17:19:00.003-04:00

You should see the looks on people's faces here in Langley when I say I don't own a car.

The transit system here leaves much to be desired (ie. a trip that would take 25 minutes to walk takes 45 minutes on the bus because of all the weird loopdy loops the bus makes up and down random side streets) but I am determined not to give in to the call of the Toyota dealership.

There is a push out here by the few people with any interest in public transportation to have a light rail system reinstated here that would connect different parts of the Fraser Valley to each other and to Vancouver. I hope it ends up happening. The Langleys (both the Township and the City) are a Conservative stronghold and are quasi-rural, so you know what that means -- generally lots of oil being used to push lots of single occupancy vehicles around from one big box store complex to the next. Much of the time my mom's car (with us in it) is the only car in the HOV lane all the way from Vancouver back to Langley (even during rush hour).

I took a walk to go meet a friend the other day, and was so disturbed by how pedestrian unfriendly the whole event was. I walked from 200th and 56th to 200th and 72nd, and the experience was so disheartening -- semi trucks flying by me with nothing around but WalMarts and Winners stores. Trying different routes has proved fruitless. In many cases I am lucky to even get a sidewalk. When there are sidewalks, they often turn into just a line painted on the road with no warning, and no way to cross the street safely unless you walk back a mile.

I live in the only really pedestrian friendly part of Langley City that I have come across. There is a big Opus Art Store across the street, and some cute stores on the Fraser Highway (more like a normal street near where I live). There are beautiful parks nearby, and several bus stops (too bad the buses only come on the half hour at best, though.) My wish for Langley is that it would become a city that feels more like a community, though, in terms of its pedestrian culture -- or even several communities separated by big stretches of highway and Petsmarts.

There is a group in Toronto that ambushes city streets with impromptu bike lane paint jobs. Maybe they would consider a cross country tour.

The Nature of Pins.

2008-09-22T20:52:00.002-04:00

I spent the afternoon today at the David Suzuki Foundation making "Vote Environment" pins for the foundation's upcoming university tour (several dates of which he will be speaking at). The pins are so cute. I will have to post a picture of one here. To find out more about the tour and everything else they are up to, go to the foundation website.

life in bullet point form part two

2008-08-13T23:19:00.004-04:00

no time for any thing but bullet point at the moment...not sure why...

- Kohlrabi. Grow it. Peel it. Roast it in small cubes. That is all. Who knew?

- Moving to the big house for the fall/winter because the (tiny)cottage is under some very creaky acacia trees and there are some crazy wind storms here in the fall.

- Studio is almost totally cleaned out and decorated. This Saturday I am going to Long and McQuade to rent equipment, and then I guess I record this thing...

- Have temporarily stopped using cookbooks in order to increase my arsenal of recipes that feature food that is totally in season and found either in my backyard, or in the backyard of my CSA farm (which happens to be across the street.) Tonight was tomato-coconut-basil tofu with sides of braised chard and beet greens, roasted kohlrabi, baby beets and zucchini and wild rice with blueberries (from the best, and best priced, organic blueberry farm ever.) Loves it.

- Grey's Anatomy comes back on September 25th. I now think about this every day, so I figured I should make a note of this on my bee-lowg. I don't care what anyone thinks. That show got me through 24 hour a day morning sickness when I was pregnant, and is now my blissful one hour to myself a week. Sometimes TWO hours! Like on September 25th! 'Til series finale do us part.

- Books I have read so far this summer: The Omnivore's Dilemma (Pollan), Frankenstein (Mary S.W.), In Defense of Food (Pollan) and Animal, Vegetable, Miracle (Kingsolver).

That's it for now. Better update with photos soon.

xo.h

life in bullet point form...

2008-08-08T02:15:00.002-04:00

Some updates on my life here in manure-topia...

- The lettuce glut has finally come to a close, and we are now able to eat just one big salad a day rather than trying to figure out how to include lettuce as "a part of your complete breakfast."

- Now is the season of (from our farm) continued chard and kale, little spicy yellow peppers that are coming in before all the other peppers, basil, cilantro, parsley, sage, rosemary, thyme, cherry plums by the dozens falling from the sky, beet greens, chives, early blackberries, etc.

- Right now there are also cute little versions of what will be future eggplant, zucchini, cucumber, all the squash, tomatoes, artichokes, red runner beans, and many more etceteras. I should have bought a deep freeze when I moved here. Next year...

- Something sad. A mother rabbit unfortunately decided one night to build her nest and have her babies in the middle of our strawberry patch which has just come into berries again, and is routinely visited by all manner of probably predatory small mammals and birds. Anyway, one morning my mom and her friend discovered that three of the babies had been killed, one rather brutally, by some sort of small animal -- at the time my mom did not know if these were rabbits or mice or what, but she buried the three and her friend brought the two others to the wildlife society here in Langley where they said they were indeed baby rabbits and that they were both hypothermic (from the cold night uncovered in the nest) and lethargic (from being exposed to 30 plus degree direct sunlight the whole morning before they were found.) The prognosis was not good, but we are going to check in to see if either of them survive.

- There have been two bear attacks in two days in Burnaby. Freaky. One happened in someone's front yard, and one happened in someone's basement. I have just come into some bear spray in the form of a pen. "Excuse me Mr. Bear, before you eat me, do you think I could have your autogr...ZOINK!!!"

- This is the part where I say the record is coming along, except what I have to say actually is that it is written, as it has been for a year, and that I am going to be recording it on mostly rented equipment in a garage that I am "turning into a studio" -- the quotation marks are for indicating that in fact I am mostly just picking peas and arranging parts in my head these days. More to come on this. I say this so I feel pressured to actually work. Whoever thought deciding to make a record in the summer was an idiot. Oh wait, that was me...

- Kai is becoming a total beach bum. He even has spiky hair and he's kind of salty tasting.

That's all for now.

Please send me record making vibes.

Love H

Play Your Chards Right!

2008-07-11T14:05:00.004-04:00

Pictured directly above is a big bunch of Bright Lights Swiss Chard that I pulled from the vegetable garden that my mom, my husband Adam, myself and some brown bunnies have been tending to. Also ready for harvest are red and green lettuce, snap peas, strawberries, mustard greens, mesculun mix and the first blueberries of the year. The salad (pictured at the top) featured everything mentioned above, and definitely tasted as good as it looks! Hooray for eating as local as it gets!

xo.h

...and the envelope says...

2008-07-07T15:15:00.002-04:00

So here is the short list for the Polaris. I was right about Basia and Plants and Animals, wrong about Hayden, unfortunately. Anyway, that's that. I'll have to listen to the records and see who I want to root for now...

The Polaris Prize

2008-07-06T15:22:00.002-04:00

I just read the long list for this year's Polaris Prize, and it definitely made it clear to me how out of touch I am with the music scene this year! From the entire list, the only albums I have in my collection are The New Pornographers - Challengers, Sandro Perri - Tiny Mirrors and Hayden - In Field and Town! I am going to be a nerd, though, and still attempt to predict, based on just being around people, listening to the music on CBC3 podcasts and reading blogs and weeklies, who I think may make the short list when it is announced tomorrow.

Here is my very uneducated guess...

So I guess we will see. Do I get anything if I am right? 3/5?

p.s. Keep in mind that the above list represents who I think will get nominated. As for who I think should get nominated, I haven't listened to enough artists on the longlist to say for sure. Hayden is probably who I will be rooting for, though, as I think he is a careful, lovely and painfully underlauded genius.

xo.h

Bolt from the Blue.

2008-07-03T15:52:00.004-04:00

The farm was rocked last night by one of the craziest thunderstorms in recent memory.

I noticed that the lightning was mostly sheet lightning, as I find it tends to be here in B.C. as opposed to Ontario, where I found that bolt lightning was the norm. I always thought that these were two different types of lightning that occured more often in some places than others.

Then I found out by searching online that sheet lightning is just a lightning bolt that is hidden by clouds.

I'm an idiot.

Anyway, if you go to this Wikipedia page on lightning, there is a very cool animated picture of cloud-to-cloud lightning which IS different, and which I have only seen once that I can remember, in Dallas, Texas. The page also has pretty much everything else you would ever want to know about lightning, unless you are some really lightning obsessed UFO weirdo or something, then you may want to look further.

xo.h

This Much Closer to The Martha.

2008-07-02T14:24:00.006-04:00

My Mom has the most crazy-assed collection of Martha Stewart Living magazines you have ever seen.

I would venture to say that she probably has, in mint condition, every single one she has ever put out.

There are several massive cupboards dedicated just to housing them.

This has been a major score for me because I love The Martha.

While reading a copy of MSL from the 90s, I happened upon an article about The M's massive McCoy pottery collection, mostly of the Butterfly line from the 30s and 40s. I instantly fell in love with the pieces, and vowed to begin collecting it myself.

I walked into the Village Antique Market in Fort Langley, yesterday, hopeful but not too hopeful about finding any McCoy at all, let alone a piece from the line I was looking for. While not too expensive these days, McCoy pieces are highly prized by their owners (especially since their popularity with the late Andy Warhol) and are not easily found.

But what did I find at the very bottom of a shelf full of chintz, teacups and mini embriodered hoops? A canary yellow McCoy planter from the butterfly line in almost mint condition...for twenty bucks! (PICTURE FORTHCOMING...)

Wait...it gets better.

I got home and decided for fun to see if The M had a similar one to mine on her big shelf of McCoy, and she has THE EXACT SAME ONE!! That makes us BFFs, right?

I am toying with the idea of just trying to collect the ones that she has. That's not creepy, is it?

xo.h

True Patriot Love

2008-07-02T01:36:00.004-04:00

Happy Canada Day, everyone! Canada Day is my second favourite holiday, next to Christmas.

I spent the day in Fort Langley at the big antique market looking at crazy doodads from days past. I also watched the Planet Earth "Fresh Water" episode, made CD appropriate spicy maple tofu (my recipe), and whipped up a huge batch of vegan double berry rosewater ice cream. Now I am listening to fireworks as the baby sleeps -- he's not quite old enough to handle those yet...

I hope your day was wonderful.

xo.h

Woody.

2008-06-30T15:09:00.004-04:00

I generally get my non-self-invented recipes out of cookbooks rather than off the web. I don't have a printer, so getting them off the web tends to involve precariously balancing my laptop on a pot rack or a stack of pans so I can read the recipe off the screen. Once in a while, though, I decide to shake things up a bit and head over to sites like Vegan Yum Yum, Vegan Dad or Yellow Rose Recipes for inspiration (I am one of the testers for the new Yellow Rose Recipes book, by the way!) Yesterday it was time to harvest the biggest leaves of spinach in the vegetable garden, as well as some lettuce and strawberries, and I happened upon this spinach salad recipe on Woody Harrelson and his wife Laura's website which is dedicated to their vegan, mostly raw, eco-friendly musings. I did my own thing salad wise (spinach, red and green lettuce, strawberries, blueberries, toasted almonds, avocado and red onion), but did use a modified version of his dressing recipe (with a whole lemon instead of half a lemon and the stated amount of apple cider vinegar. I also added more balsamic because I loves me some balsamic vinegar like all get out). I liked the maple element to the recipe, and how viscous the dressing was with the use of olive oil. Anyway, even though I tinkered with the recipe, the site is still nice and has a lot of information about all manner of green living. If you enjoy the website, you may also want to check out the Ron Mann directed documentary "Go Further", which features Woody and his crew in the throes of vegan raw foodism, yoga and all manner of woodsy activities.

Early Summer Flowers

2008-06-29T13:46:00.006-04:00

I am so in love with the ornamental lupins (pictured right) that were all over the farm for the last month, and with the peonies that are all over the farm now, especially the extremely fragrant white peonies. I am such a sucker for fresh cut flowers, and my favourite bouquets are the ones that are picked from my own neighborhood, or in this case, backyard.

Yesterday I stumbled upon this website for a florist in Vancouver who works with eco-friendly packaging and organic, fair trade flowers. It will be nice to have her as a go-to when all there is left out here in the Langley Township is dried blackberries on the bush and the flowerless rose bushes swaying in the breeze.

Great-nola Blog By Another B.C.er Who I Hope I Become Friends With One Day.

2008-06-27T22:16:00.005-04:00

I am a vegan, and I am gluten free and I am a hippie, and am always happy to find that rare book/blog/magazine/etc. that caters to all my weird sensibilities.

If you are any of those things, or like reading about people who are any of those things and who write about food, then check out Gluten Free Hippie.

xo.h

Things I am Learning About Strawberries

2008-06-27T20:49:00.002-04:00

Strawberries and spinach and chard are the first crops of mine that are ready to be harvested in the edibles garden Adam, my mom and I are religiously planting and tending. As I picked a mix of both alpine and garden strawberries today from our two big patches, I had some revelatory moments about this lovely plant which before had pretty much existed to me only in the form of berries in a plastic clamshell.

Strawberries are surprisingly generous.

They are like that friend who you think forgot your birthday, but then you come home and she has planned you a whole surprise party and all your friends are there. One day you are looking at the plant and thinking there may be a pretty scant supply for the summer, but then thte next day you look and you have to carry them in your dress because you can't fit them all in the little bowl you brought.

Strawberries are a lady.

They like to be picked gently off the plant by the stem. I always thought I would be plucking the berries themselves, but they don't roll that way. When I tried to do that they pretty much exploded in my hands, especially the alpine berries. I also destroyed quite a few by power washing them in a colander. I forgot that these are truly ripe berries that need to be handled with care, not the store bought faux ripe ones that you could send through a car wash without incident.

Strawberries are nomads.

Hey, Strawberry! What are you doing in my lettuce patch? You girls are crazy!

Strawberries are simple.

Before moving here I pictured myself making all manner of strawberry pancakes, pies, jams, and ice creams out of the harvest from these plants, but I have not been able to bring myself to fry, bake, stew or chop even one berry. I'll leave that to the U-Pick berries I'll be getting and throwing into my freezer in a few weeks, for now, this is the taste of early summer at it's most unabashed and stained with pink smears.

picture of stawberries to come...

xo.h

Let's Get Baked.

2008-06-20T11:22:00.002-04:00

update: oops, the links in this post need fixing...tomorrow...xo.h

for now, please enjoy the above picture of the cake i made for my mom's birthday.

I planned and hosted a fundraiser last month in Toronto for Farm Sanctuary at the Tranzac Club. It was a wonderful night with a concert and a vegan bake sale, and I was so impressed by the vast array of vegan baked goods! I was too busy to take pictures that night, but if any turn up of the massive spread, I will make sure to post them.

I was inspired that night to post this here -- it's a link to Isa Moskowitz's (of Vegan With a Vengeance fame) "how to bake vegan" page. Now when people ask you how you replace eggs in things, you can frighten them with your scientific knowledge of alternative sources of binding, leavening, etc. And that's just the tip of the iceberg. You can find hundreds of people nerding out over issues such as the top secret recipe for vegan meringue and "Steven the Vegan" here, on the Post Punk Kitchen forums.

xo.h

p.s. i am very happily living in Langley, B.C. now, and will be posting all about that soon.

SOS - Spring Of Smog

2008-04-20T12:17:00.001-04:00

What the hell?!

It's only April 20th, and there is a smog advisory here in Toronto.

That's off the hook stoopid!

Happy Earth Day, Smogronto.

Bill C-517: Mandatory labelling of GE food

2008-04-17T10:55:00.004-04:00

I urge you all to get involved in this very important issue. GMO foods are undertested and owned by major corporations who (yes, corporations are legally a who and not a what...scary) wield their power to destroy the lives of farmers in Canada and many parts of the world. You have the right to be able to make an informed choice about what you put in your and your childrens' bodies.

Please follow the actions suggested by Greenpeace on this site to pressure federal MPs to vote for the mandatory labeling of GMO foods, which may lead to a ban on them in Canada altogether. As of now, if you buy non-organic soy, wheat, corn, animal products, canola, yellow zucchini, potatoes, flax or cotton, you are likely paying for GMOs. The global food crisis is being worsened by this phenomenon, which seeks to limit nature's bounty to a few corporate owned Frankencrops.

Get involved! Everyone is needed for this, and we are so close to achieving victory.

xo.h

vancouver toronto

2008-03-26T18:57:00.005-04:00

i am moving back to vancouver in less than two months

and am now just trying to get through this last stretch

with some kindness towards this place that fits me so poorly --

like a housemate you scrape by with for months, then one person is going to

move out, and suddenly the tone of voice changes, the loudness of the 9 am carrot chopping wakeup calls -- i know toronto works for some people, i also know that i am not one of them.

i haven't yet figured out what my time here was for.

i got a lot out of it career wise, i guess.

i know i'll understand someday, but for now i am just basking in knowing that i get to go back to that Best Coast I love so much.

reason number 19549382 to go vegan.

2008-03-22T12:57:00.011-04:00

I often get asked why I am a vegan, and I balk at giving all the graphic details because I am afraid of offending people. It's really stupid of me, though, because I would not only be doing animals a favor by telling the truth about it, I would also be doing the person a favor because everyone deserves to know where to find information about the facts behind what they eat, not just in terms of health, but in terms of the suffering of animals and their offspring.

The last straw was a little while ago, the shopkeeper at the bulk store I go to said "but why would drinking milk be harmful to cows? We are helping the cow by taking its milk, so it doesn't get sore udders!" I realized in that moment that I am doing nobody a favor by letting them think these kinds of things. If someone knows all the facts about the animal product industry, and still decides to use it, then there is nothing more I can really say, but if they don't know, then am I really being a friend if I stand there and don't say anything when they say something as ignorant as this? It's one thing to slap a milkshake out of someone's hand, but it's another to correct them if they think that the milkshake is super happy to be there.

With that, I post this -- www.goveg.com/whatsWrong.asp a bit of info on some things that are dreadfully wrong with the dairy and egg industry. And buying from organic or family farms really makes little difference -- for me, it kind of comes down to what I believe is ours to take and what isn't, and the inherent suffering that goes along with the taking, regardless of the circumstances.
Don't read it if you don't want to, and don't blame me if you do, and it upsets you. I am tired of not saying anything.

love and respect, h

Chocolate Ice Cream Cake!

2008-02-27T12:31:00.003-05:00

Last Sunday was Adam's 31st birthday, and in honour of the number 31, I decided to make an ice cream cake a la the old 31 flavours.

I used the "your basic chocolate cupcake" recipe from "Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World", a modified version of the chocolate ice cream recipe from "How it all Vegan" and a double batch the chocolate ganache recipe from VCTOtW.

I modified the ice cream recipe to make it more chocolatey and rich by adding about twice as much cocoa as the recipe asked for, plus about another 1/4 cup of sugar. I find I have to do this alot to any Kramer chocolate recipes because I like my chocolate desserts to be ridiculously chocolatey. I have a feeling Isa (from the other two books) may share my view there, because her recipes never skimp on the cocoa! Sarah Kramer is allergic to chocolate, so we'll let this one go. I also made the recipe in my ice cream maker, rather than the hand mixing method she employs.

So what I did was make one batch of the cupcake recipe in a lightly greased big springform pan -- I am guessing it's about 12 inches. I baked it for the time suggested for the cupcakes, and it turned out fine.

While the cake cooled, I made my ice cream, and let it get to a fairly firm, but still soft serve vibe consistency.

When the cake was totally cooled, I poured the ice cream on top of the cake, still in the spring form pan.

I popped all of that in the freezer while I made a double batch of the chocolate ganache recipe (with bittersweet cocoa camino chocolate, of course.)

After letting the ganache cool at room temperature, I spread it on top of the now cold contents of the springform pan. I finished the whole thing off with a topping of sifted icing sugar, and pressed a snowflake cookie cutter into the ganache a few times once it had firmed up, which gave the top a nice, cracked, almost brownie-like appearance. It looked very bakery-y, especially once the springform pan came off and revealed all the pretty layers! I am definitely going to be doing a gazillion variations on this. Next I want to do a pumpkin ice cream cake with chocolate ganache and a cranberry shortbread crust!

I let the whole thing cool for about an hour, and ate it when it had reached a perfect holds-together-not-melty-yet-not-too-hard ice cream cake texture. I find that with soy ice cream, it is better to err on the side of soft, because with the high water content of the tofu, too frozen can mean ice crystal central, and nobody wants that.

If you make this, and freeze it overnight or something, thawing it for a good half hour (checking on it frequently) should do the trick. My freezer makes things super frozen, though, so you may find it comes out of the freezer fine as is. The thawing time is nice for the ganache, though, regardless, so let it sit a few moments, anyway.

Here's a picture. I wish I took one right away -- this is after the whole thing had been thawed and refrozen a few times.
It was delicious, and fun to make, too!

xo.h

xo.h

finally.

2008-02-16T13:45:00.000-05:00

I finally figured out how to focus properly with my new SLR digital camera.
That means I can now take really close up pictures of tea and babies' faces.
Now I just need to learn to make them right-side-up in the blog.
Shit's about to get crazy.

happy new year

2008-01-25T13:37:00.000-05:00

with the new year has come some real Ontarian winter weather.
the kind my mom used to tell me about when i would dare to complain that it was ever cold in Vancouver, where I grew up.

I thought I would list here my top 10 favourite ways to pull myself out of my inevitable winter rut. Here we go...

10. Hot chocolate. I know it sounds like not a big deal, but around my house it is. I take the darkest cocoa, make a paste with some soymilk in a pot, add the sugar, slowly add milk with the heat on ( all of this prevents lumps), then add a bit of rum, a touch of mint extract, some cayenne pepper and cinnamon -- what have you. It is a truly wintery drink that is even better when it is shizzy out.

9. Music. I write more, record more and listen to music more when it is cold out. This is the perfect time to make mix CDs for your friends or sweetheart, to bust out that guitar and write a new song or go to your local indie record store and stock up on new music (right now I am listening to a copious amount of Amy Winehouse and Sufjan Stevens.)

8. Whole grains. I am a grain nerd. This time of year, I am all about the brown rice, the millet, the oats. Mmmm. Make a huge pot all for you, throw some tamari and spicy sesame oil on it and stare out the window contemplating climate change.

7. Movies. For some reason I like old movies during the winter. Maybe because many of them were made when people were looking for an momentary glance away from the pains of war or poverty or oppression of various sorts, so they are lighter, dancier, music-y-er. Perfect to come into after freezing your ass off at the streetcar stop because you just had to wear your new shiny royal blue nylon tights today, dammit.

6. Baking. This one needs no explanation.

5. Feigned denial. I KNOW it is winter out. Stop asking me if I am cold in what I am wearing. It makes me colder. I am trying to make God feel sorry for me, and to remind people of warmer times to come.

4. Clean air. Any time I feel bisquey about the cold, I remind myself that I can go out almost every day in the winter if I am willing to pile the clothes on, and put Kai through getting dressed for it. Not so in the smoggy summer here in Toronto.

3. Baths. This one also needs no explanation.

2. Blankets. They seem kind of useless in the summer, but wrapping myself up in one all womb-like in January saves me thousands of dollars in bad therapy.

1. CBC Radio One. Perfectly imperfectly perfect.

xo

The Spirit is Upon Me...

2007-12-03T14:32:00.000-05:00

weirdly early this year!

Maybe it's because I have a little one now.
Maybe it's this motherload of snow that we just got in Toronto.

I dunno, but I just covered my windows with snowflakes my sister and I made out of crepey white paper from The Paper Place on Queen West, and now I am devising a vegan cookie coup which will overthrow the totalitarian regime headed up by egg white icing that has ruled Christmas with an iron fist for nigh on too long.

If any of you are looking for some awesome vegan cookie or dessert recipes this holiday season, or if you want to give someone a vegan cookbook as a gift, here are some of my favourite go-tos.

Vegan With a Vengeance - Isa Chandra Moskowitz
Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World - also by I.C.M. (all cupcakes!!)
Veganomicon - The Ultimate Vegan Cookbook - again, I.C.M. and Terry Hope Romero
La Dolce Vegan - Sarah Kramer
Fresh at Home - Ruth Tal
Refresh - Ruth Tal

All written by ladies! You vegan boys better get ypur write on!

Happy baking, doods.

Vancouver heartache,

2007-12-01T21:02:00.000-05:00

I miss Vancouver.
This time of year it folds in on itself like a soggy Chinese food takeout box, and I love it.
You can truly hide behind a mug of tea there for the whole winter.
No striving through the whipping cold wind.
No echoing windshield scrape sounds at five am.

Toronto is my home now -- I know that.
I stil watch Canucks games once in a while, and when they are in the playoffs, but really I am phoning it in.
I still feel Vancouver on the inside, but I am plated in Toronto.

I miss sitting in the spitting molecular rain on a bench at Kits beach not needing anything.
I miss the pigeon gray skies holding out for days.
I miss the relentless ocean.

I haven't been there for more than a year,
I used to go every few months.
I am a visitor there now in many ways.
In other, more important ways, I am never away from it.

content kickstart

2007-11-26T21:51:00.000-05:00

whoa
i haven't posted here in a month.

to kickstart content, i am going to fill out the vegan blogger survey that all the good vegan bloggers are filling out for MOFO (a month of vegan food writing, basically...) If you are completely uninterested in veganism nerding, you might want to hit the back button now. :)

1. Favorite non-dairy milk?
nutrisoy plain - not chalky, not tofu-y tasting - just clean goodness, and supp'd with vitamin d and b12, as well as calcium, etc. in good amounts.

2. What are the top 3 dishes/recipes you are planning to cook?
- vegan chocolate cheesecake
- vegan veggie pot pie
- vegan pumpkin chocolate brownies

3. Topping of choice for popcorn?
- sunflower oil, salt, garlic powder and nutritional yeast -- tastes exactly like dad's orange popcorn from the 80s.

4. Most disastrous recipe/meal failure?
- gluten free gnocchi (dissolved on contact with the huge kettle of boiling water) and the raw on the inside fried pancake thingies i tried to make with the rest of the gnocchi dough. turns out the gluten is what holds gnocchi together. oops.
- pancakes in a stainless steel frying pan. never, ever try this.

5. Favorite pickled item?
those pink falafel things you get in montreal.

6. How do you organize your recipes?
i buy alot of cookbooks and keep anything else on my computer.

7. Compost, trash, or garbage disposal?
trash, sadly -- no compost in my building.

8. If you were stranded on an island and could only bring 3 foods...what would they be (don't worry about how you'll cook them)?
dark chocolate
tofu quiche
raspberries

9. Fondest food memory from your childhood?
eating plums from my backyard with my sister and pretending we were runaways.

10. Favorite vegan ice cream?
homemade!

11. Most loved kitchen appliance?
the oven! also the hand blender for blending soups right in the pot.

12. Spice/herb you would die without?
garlic!

13. Cookbook you have owned for the longest time?re
fresh at home by ruth tal-brown

14. Favorite flavor of jam/jelly?
blueberry

15. Favorite vegan recipe to serve to an omni friend?
vegan chocolate cake with ganache icing

16. Seitan, tofu, or tempeh?
tofu, for it's endless possibilities

17. Favorite meal to cook (or time of day to cook)?
dinner parties for two

18. What is sitting on top of your refrigerator?
a basket containing odds and ends that i sort through once a week (okay. once a month)

19. Name 3 items in your freezer without looking.
wheat germ, flax seeds, frozen pancake batter

20. What's on your grocery list?
saffron, nori-mu silken tofu, vegan organic icing sugar

21. Favorite grocery store?
gotta say whole foods -- sorry, small health food stores who don't have all the things i need...

22. Name a recipe you'd love to veganize, but haven't yet.
dairy queen mint oreo blizzard

23. Food blog you read the most (besides Isa's because I know you check it everyday). Or maybe the top 3?
whatever isa's is linking to that day

24. Favorite vegan candy/chocolate?
cocoa camino mint dark chocolate bar

25. Most extravagant food item purchased lately?
organic fair trade dutch process cocoa powder

26. What are you having for dinner tomorrow?
Rotini with sundried tomatoes, capers and artichoke hearts with vegan caesar salad

Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World...

2007-10-23T22:04:00.000-04:00

is a great cookbook with all cupcakes in it by Isa Chandra Moskowitz.
All vegan cupcakes. 75 of them.
All vegan cupcakes that are fan-fribbin-tastic. Honestly.

And the book is cute and little like a cupcake.

I got mine at Pages on Queen West in Toronto. Both they and Type on West Queen West are really good about ordering things in for you if they are out of stock. I am sure any bookstore could get it in for you -- it's pretty popular.

Make a cow happy today and try veganizing that shmiz. Your heart will thank you, too.
So will your pee-pee arteries which are in charge of you-know-what if you are a boy.

slipping...

2007-10-23T21:49:00.000-04:00

Using the canvas bag less often these days -- I forget to bring it with me. I think, "well, we need plastic bags for the garbage anyway". Leaving lights on when I can't be bothered to haul the baby upstairs to turn them off when I get to the bottom and realize I left them on. Not being so religious about only buying organic, etc, etc, etc.

Smog days seem to have gone away for the winter. Did they serve some purpose for me? Fire me on the way the slaughterhouse a block away from my building fires me on in regards to letting people know about veganism and its many benefits for the body, the animals and the earth?

Is it the glorious fall colours? The fresh air? Do these things make me feel, in a way, that the Earth doesn't need my help? The farmer's market is bursting with bumper crops of squash, potatoes, bright orange carrots, deep green kale -- everyone there seems so at peace. The world I have built for myself is beautiful and misleading in that it is in no way a realistic barometer for the state of things for the planet. My work for the environment has been largely lifestyle oriented, local -- do I get more educated about the perils of fall and winter that I don't know about because the air smells so nifty? Do I focus on larger scale or international issues? The factories are still going -- where is all that smoggy stuff going now, anyway?

A real sigh happened here.

Maybe the darker weather wants lighter talk.
Darker weather can't always get what it wants.
But if it tries sometimes it just might find it gets what it needs.

when will it end?

2007-10-05T15:07:00.000-04:00

Yet another smog day in Toronto today.

Not running the dishwasher, laundry machines, lights, etc. in the hopes of making some tiny dent in the ridiculousness.

Just saw a news report last night about a proposed garbage incinerator that will be built up in York region (just South of the 401 in the GTA.) How can they even be considering that as a solution? I hope the movement against it puts a stop to its contruction.

On a happier note, I am gearing up for our vegan Thanksgiving. Pumpkin Seed Crusted Tofu with Cranberry Relish (I don't know why I think I need to put that in capitals) and two pies -- Pumpkin (of course) and Apple Pie with Gingerbread Crust (from Vegan With a Venegance by Isa Moskowitz). Naturally, there will also be in attendance seven million kinds of potatoes and at least one green thing. Likely brussels sprouts. Those don't get capitalized.

I like to spend Thanksgiving out smelling leaves beginning to rot on the ground. Ah, leaf rot.

This Thanksgiving I am thankful for my family and friends, of course, but also I am thankful that this year has seen a big boost in "green-ness", it seems -- when Live Earth happened, I was a little "what's this really going to do -- it's just a concert", but it really seems that it made an impact on the lifestyle element of the issue for people. Now we just need more activity on the large scale activist side of things. Definitely we switch to greener ways of being in our homes, businesses and in the streets, but what takes it even farther is making sure to participate in green themed marches, to write letters to local politicians and businesses about policy, to initiate and participate in boycotts of non Earth-friendly companies. The smoggy sky is the limit. It's true that it takes only a small effort to make some difference -- that tagline has been tossed around alot these days -- but why only make a small effort? This Thanksgiving I am thankful for the increased awareness I was brought to this year in regards to this issue, and I am pledging now to make the next year about going much farther in doing my part to protect the health of the planet and of all the beings who live on it.

Happy Canadian Thanksgiving, y'all!

xo.h

holy shit perfect vegan scones

2007-10-03T09:16:00.002-04:00

just do this.

this is an adaption of the scone recipe from Vegan with a Venegance by Isa Moskowitz. It's an AMAZING cookbook, but the recipe called for soy cream, which I can't find, and I wanted to play with the flour types to make it whole grain, yet still sconey. I adapted the recipe, then ate four before posting this.

set your over to 400, lightly grease up a cookie sheet wth sunflower oil

mix together

1.5 cups of hard whole wheat flour
1.5 cups of soft whole wheat flour
2 tablespoons of baking powder
1/4 teaspoon of salt
just under 1/2 a cup (but more than 1/3 of a cup) of white or raw cane sugar -- not that moist brown sugar stuff

then add
1/3 of a cup of sunflower oil
1/2 a cup of coconut milk
3/4 of a cup of plain Natura rice milk that you have added 2 teaspoons of apple cider vinegar to

mix it all up very gently, even a little dusting of unmixed flour on the batter is ok -- just don't overmix (but do try to get all the flour attached to the dough more or less.)

make about 16 scones out of it, each measuring about 1/4 cup when you take them out of the bowl (they are cute little scones.)

shape them into triangles -- you don't have to, but it looks cute.

sprinkle sugar on top

bake for about 20 minutes -- keep an eye on them after 15, but 20 is ideal if they are not burning (at least that's how it goes in my stove.)

take them out and eat them alone or with jam, etc.

I know that I am really specific about what kind of milk to use -- that's because I tried a bunch of stuff and this worked best -- you can try to substitute soy milk or whatever, but I make no guarantees about the results. This recipe is worth persisting with if it doesn't go exactly right the first time. They are so MF good.
I've eaten alot of shity scones this week to get here. :)

Feel free to add almonds or chocolate chips or whatever. I don't think that should change the recipe too much -- stick to very lightly folding in 1 cup of whatever you are adding once the batter is almost mixed together.

p.s. the flour mix is pretty particular -- all soft flour was too muffiny, all hard flour was too biscuity. soft and hard ww flours are available at many bulk health food stores -- Appletree on Queen W in Toronto, Whole Foods probably has it -- it's worth looking for them for the masterful control they give you over the universe.

happy baking. hope it works out for you!
xoxo.h

UPDATE: So, soymilk works well, too, now that I know what the vinegar's about -- the trick is (Isa's trick, it took me a while to clue in) to mix the apple cider vinegar in and let it sit while you prepare the rest -- it will curdle and thicken, which is good for the end product -- trust me. This won't work as well with the rice milk because of the low protien content of the rice milk. Anyway, try it both ways. They'll both be great!

Really Easy Veggie Burgers

2007-10-01T21:54:00.000-04:00

OK. So, I said I would post recipes here and then went AWOL for a month.
That's because I have been really busy.
When I am really busy I make these...

This recipe is adapted from one I found on vegweb.com (great vegan recipe database) -- I believe that on that site they are called "Quality Tofu Burgers" -- I will update this with an actual name credit (it will be some weird username like carrotface, though...)
I just added some spices to that recipe to make them more flavoury.
Skip the spices if you want, or add your own little twist instead.
These burgers won't win any Cordon Bleu innovation awards, but they are really good for those nights when you are in a hurry and you want something yummy and substantial/comfort food-y.) Like instead of McDonalds. Try them with baked fries and a ginger beer.

Anyway.

Veggie Burgers (or Nuggets!)

preheat oven to 400 degrees
lightly oil a cookie sheet

1/2 block firm tofu
1 cup oats (the chopped up kind -- you know -- quick oats)
1/2 cup of raw, unsalted sunflower seeds -- grind those up in a food processor or a blender would do as well.
1/4 cup of tamari -- try to use organic, cuz then it's non GMO - san ji makes good shit
pinch of garlic powder
pinch of oregano (opt.)
small pinch of thyme (opt.)
pinch of rosemary (opt.)

Wash your hands.
Get a bigish bowl.
Mush up the tofu with your hands until it is pretty uniformly mushed up.
Add the ground up seeds and the oats to the bowl, as well as the tamari and the spices.
Mush it all up with your hands until the oats have absorbed the moisture and begin to bind it all together.
Make 4 patties or about 16 nuggets.
Place on a lightly oiled up cookie sheet.
Bake @ 400 degrees for about 15-20 minutes -- keep an eye on them after about 15 min to make sure they are not burning -- then turn on the broiler for a few more minutes, just to get them extra-tasty-crispy.
Remove from oven, and let cool for a few -- they firm up better that way.
Take them off the cookie sheet with a flipper. They should be holding together, but don't lose it if they don't -- life's too short. Try letting them cool a little longer -- that often works.
Make a burger, or, if you made nuggets, dip those bad boys in some sauce you made.

Yves Veggie Burgers can kiss our asses. They are made from GMO soy and Yves was just bought out by one of those huge American thingamajiggers, so who knows what evils lurk behind their cozy tofu exterior. DIY.

Let me know in the comments section if you have any questions or, um...comments.

xoxo.h

diet for a sad planet

2007-09-11T14:03:00.002-04:00

I have been vegan on again and off again during my life -- some of my off-agains started pretty dramatically -- drunken shrimp cocktail binges on new year's eve, bloodied birthday steaks, but seriously folks...

I have now made the change back to veganism for good -- I started about three months ago. It is pretty hard to dispute that eating vegan is one of the best things you can do for the planet, animals and your health all wrapped up in one little egg-free spring roll wrapper.

so

i am going to periodically post some of my favourite vegan recipies here, either my own, or pictures of some I've made from cookbooks/websites (with full cred given of course, so you can go get the recipes yourself!)
p.s. All my recipies will, of course, be GMO free.

More soon. Got to cuddle Kai who just woke up...

h

what if...

2007-09-07T12:13:00.000-04:00

people refused to buy things for the whole day when there were smog days?
would that encourage industry to stop spewing so much crap into our air the way they do?
another day that i can't take kai outside today.
maddening.

why...

2007-09-07T00:26:00.000-04:00

doesn't the city of toronto have compost bins on the street with all the other bins for garbage and recycling?

misc.

2007-09-06T13:35:00.000-04:00

I have been AWOL for the last little while -- an English exam and a Reiki practicum to finish up have been consuming me.

The main thing I am working on these days is trying to find a way to compost my organic matter.
It turns out that my condo is not going to have the Green Bin Program until 2010 -- my property manager says no condos in Toronto will have it until then.
I am going to look into it.

In the meantime, my plan Bs have included a short lived green bin piracy scandal and a pot in my freezer that I am hoping to collect vegetable trimmings in during the week out of which I will make a huge thing of soup stock each Sunday. There would still be waste from that, but I guess I am imagining that it would be smaller from having been reduced. Maybe I could something to do with that. Some kind of mushy boiled carrot top sculptures?

Another idea I had is that maybe one of the farmer's at the Trinity Bellwoods Park market, where I shop, would be interested in the compost for themselves. I guess then all my compost would perhaps have to be organic, though...hm.

Another smog day today.
I was planning on checking out the Dufferin Grove Park organic market for the first time, but I am not walking all the way up to Dufferin and Bloor in this junky air.

I will try to post here more often, for those of you who care to hear about my enviro-exploits -- coming soon...an article on the whole condo debate in Toronto in light of any environmental issues it might raise...

h

Life in Plastic

2007-08-08T14:10:00.000-04:00

Trying to get through a day without using a plastic bag can, at first, seem like an impossible task. We use them to carry groceries home in, we use them as garbage bags, we take our lunch to work in them, bring them with us when we are walking our dogs in case they decide to poo on the sidewalk in front of Starbucks. In fact, it's hard to imagine life without the plastic bag, but we had better start imagining it fast because they are quite the environmental menace, both in their production (made from virgin petroleum) and in their absolute stickaroundness in our ever swelling landfills (they last 1,000 years.)

The best thing would be if everyone joined places like Leaf Rapids, Manitoba and San Francisco, California and banned plastic bags altogether. In the meantime, we could find alternatives in the situations where a plastic bag would normally be used. Canvas shopping bags instead of "double-bag-it", buying your bread from bakeries with paper bags, buying dry goods in bulk, reusing plastic bags you already have to get them home, and skipping on those produce plastic bags that give us the illusion of protecting our apples from the scary germs we think are on the checkout counter (really, people, that is probably the least offensive place those apples have been -- just give them a good wash at home.)

Plastic bag recycling is, or will be, available in some places, but they will be turned into things like plastic furniture, not more plastic bags, so it's really kind of pointless next to the option of not creating the bags in the first place. Recycling plastic bags will not put an end to the pollution that their creation causes.

So, the next time the grocery clerk asks you if you want a plastic bag, proudly lift up your nifty canvas bag and politely refuse, or I guess you could give them a dirty look, depending on your style.

For more info on Leaf Rapids' plastic bag ban, go to:

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/manitoba/story/2007/04/02/manitoba-bags.html

ht

Superduper Dishsoap

2007-08-06T15:18:00.000-04:00

In the past, I have been hesitant to switch to eco dish soaps for my house because previous attemps had left me paying more for something that worked less. The stuff seemed to just fizzle in my sink, cleaning nothing, or when they did have a nice lather, turned out to be loaded with stuff that turned out to be not so different from the ingredients in the mainstream brands I was trying to avoid. I would slink back to brands like Palmolive, knowing I was putting all kinds of crap in to the ocean (and into my body in the form of chemical residue), but faced with the dilemna of feeling like the other stuff was leaving gross food gunk on my plates, and especially cookware.

Along came (award winning) Ecover -- this stuff is awesome, completely and quickly biodegradable and not tested on animals -- it comes in lovely scents like chammomile/marigold and lemon/aloe vera, and leaves your dishes squeaky clean sans that scary lemondeath smell that grocery store brands leave on the dishes. It works on pots and pans, leaves no streaks on anything and bubbles up nicely.

In Toronto, you can get it at Appletree Natural Foods on Queen Street West -- I am guessing Whole Foods and many other health food stores may stock it, too -- Ecover has a website at www.ecover.com, or you can call them at 1.800.449.4925 to find out where you can get their products (they have a large line of homecare products.)

Bonus -- try this recipe the next time you need to clean the bathroom instead of Vim.

1/4 cup of Ecover dishwashing soap (hand-washing, not dishwasher stuff)
2T of baking soda
mix it up nice, and go to town -- you can adjust the proportions if you want it to be thicker or thinner --

Happy scrubbing!

ht

Climate Change Convert

2007-08-03T14:47:00.000-04:00

Maybe it was bringing a baby into the world in May of this year. Maybe it was the number of days this summer that I walked out my door to see the CN Tower clouded with haze like it was some grizzled old road warrior standing outside a truck stop with a smoke hanging out of his mouth. Perhaps I am just getting older and wiser -- it seems that I am suddenly consumed with my consumption, and feeling very hot and bothered about how hot and bothered I am walking down the street on any given, hazy, smelly, lung busting summer day here in Toronto, ON.

Admittedly, I am new to the world of giving more than a passing shit about any of this. Sure, when confronted with the way our planet seemed to be going thanks to our misuse of it, I felt sad, guilty, and even curious as to what kind of changes I could make that would make a difference. A bit of time would go by, though, and I would be throwing away plastic bags inside of plastic bags inside of plastic bags and leaving the radio on when I was out of the house because its sound was nice to come home to. I was threatening to throw my husband's to-be-recycled recyclables in the garbage if he left them in the sink one more time (slimy unrinsed hummus containers, anyone?) I am sorry to say that for 28 years I have pretty much been an environmental menace.

I am now in the process of turning this around, and of trying to make it look fun, effective, affordable, and above all, necessary, to the people around me so that, perhaps, they will join me in trying to detox the earth we live on, the air we breathe, the water we drink, and the attitudes we have about our supposed right to mess them all up in the first place.

I am starting this blog as a way to share my journey towards becoming a positive force in the fight to save the planet from our mistakes. As I sit here and consider my life of envirocrime, I know very well that there is really nowhere to go but up.

HT