Mar(r)yland: A Wedding Post

I recently returned home from an amazing trip to the Washington DC area, hence the posting hiatus. I was more than a little excited for several reasons:

1. Cousins that I hadn't seen in EONS were going to be there (and one was the groom!).
2. The weather promised to be the opposite of Seattle's 78 minute summer.
3. It was the first trip I've ever taken with just my mom! (and she is really awesome).
4. On my list of sites to see were the stairs that were filmed in The Exorcist!

So, this post is going to be a little longer than most. I considered splitting it up into two, but then I thought NO! It's mostly pictures anyway. And it's Friday; take a break, read a longish blog post.

We stayed in the resort town of National Harbor, Maryland and although it was not exactly a mecca for vegan dining, it was one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen.

The atrium roof in our hotel.

Statue (or is it?!?) on the waterfront.

Our hotel as we approach--in style--on the water taxi.

In spite of the resort-y -ness (yes, it's word, now) of National Harbor, there were two restaurants that hit the spot! We were also lucky that much of the food served for the wedding festivities was Indian and therefore extremely vegan friendly.

So, without further adieu, I bring you:

Ellen's Tour of Vegan DC Land! (No, it's not catchy and I don't really mind.)

It's that time of the month!

Girl's niiiiight!

Brandi and decided that a Girl's Night was long overdue. She and I have been getting together pretty frequently to drink beer and make delicious things, like stuffed pretzel rolls, but we hadn't really done the whole Girl's Night adventure.

We picked a night, we chose a venue, we created a menu. Fin.

(Clearly, I should have been either a theater major or a poet).

(Also, am I the only one who wants to spell theater like this: THEATRE)?

Our theme was simple. Black and white. And not even fancy black and white, just black and white. Because nobody (except maybe me) wants to go to the trouble of re-creating an accurate costume depiction of a 1930s French hooker.

Because it has been sunny for three (3) consecutive days this year we decided to RISK IT ALL and throw a barbecue. Luckily, the weather cooperated.

Vegan Chili Rellenos? No Poblano!

Oh, Daiya, how I love thee.

Patrick recently informed me that Chili Rellenos are one of his favorite foods. Being from the Great State of Texas, he knows his stuff. However, being vegan for 15 years, he hasn't had the opportunity to enjoy a cheesy, breaded and fried stuffed chili in awhile.

But guess what?! Daiya came along and solved all my problems!

Credit card debt? THANKS DAIYA!

Leering guy on my walk to work who tried to hand me a dirty sock? THANKS DAIYA!

That Slurpee stain on Patrick's white t-shirt? THANKS DAIYA!

But, really, Daiya is awesome and I use it all the time. And I used it to make Chili Rellenos and they were so good that I am pretty sure I am going to become famous for them.

All right, let's do this.

First and foremost I had to do some Rellenos Research because I am not from Texas and up until very recently was not a big fan of Mexican food. Of course, that was because I was only eating rice and beans at the restaurant down the street. Once I started actually making my OWN Mexican food.... Well, now things are much different. THANKS DAIYA!

I decided to embark on the less healthy version of the relleno; breaded and fried. I also made a Ranchero sauce to top the peppers.

A Gardening Ground Rule: Eat Your Greens

My roommate's garden is the most beautiful thing I have ever seen. Remember Fern Gully? Of course you do.

That is actually a pretty accurate depiction of me, as well. 

This is what my backyard looks like. It's amazing. And because my roommate is not a jerk he lets me have all the kale, collard greens, arugula and bok choy that I want!

With this free grocery store at my fingertips, Patrick and I have been eating a lot of greens, naturally. (Of COURSE pun intended).

Yesterday was long. I wanted dinner to materialize in front of me. I finally pulled myself up off the floor (it was so much more comfortable down there) and surveyed the kitchen trying to decide what to eat with our endless supply of greens. 

In the freezer, like a beacon of light and a choir of angels: Morningstar Hickory BBQ Riblets. 

I love these riblets like I love jerky and we all know how much that is!

Of course, then I started thinking about sides and about picnics and barbecues and summertime and bike rides and all of a sudden I wasn't tired anymore. And then I started making dinner and it turned out just like a picnic!

I may be... In Seine

All right, because it is ENTIRELY POSSIBLE that I am lucky enough to win this stupendous giveaway, I am entering in all possible fashions. One of which includes mentioning said giveaway in the old blog.

There are no recipes here, but the IDEA of French cuisine somehow veganized. Or, just a week full of delicious French wine!

So, I would suggest entering to win, but that's going to lower MY chances of winning. If you decide that you don't care about my feelings and enter anyway, I ask that you AT THE VERY LEAST take me along as your 'plus 1' if you win.

Bonne chance!

Mediterranean Travel: Without the Grease

These punny titles are more and more of a stretch with each post but I know you guys LOVE THEM, so don't worry, I won't stop!

All right, so, did you know that I have been known to travel around to different continents (i.e. kitchens in Seattle, sometimes Portland and my hometown of Billings, Montana) and cook food for my friends and family? It's true. Would you like me to come to your house? Just comment below and we'll figure something out.

Last weekend my brother and I decided to have a Mediterranean Extravaganza! Originally we had planned on having a BBQ (also fun) but Seattle hasn't been very summery lately, so looking at the cloudy forecast we decided: Why not use the oven?! (Sorry East Coast, I know that sounds like Hell---pun, pun, pu-un).

A Mediterranean theme was chosen because Jared loves hummus and because I wanted to make The Veganomicon's (feel free to take a moment and purchase if you haven't already) Eggplant-Potato Moussaka. The more we discussed the larger the menu grew until we had the following:

1. Tahini Sauce
2. Black Bean Quinoa Salad (changed from a couscous salad for the added bonus of quinoa being AWESOME)
3. Spanakopita
4. Eggplant/Yam Moussaka (because we didn't have potatoes)

Tacos to go BANANAS over!

Have you ever eaten a plantain? Have you tried cooking with plantains?

Several months ago my mom came to visit and we decided to have an enchilada dinner party complete with margaritas and dessert at my brother's place. I decided that I was going to attempt fried plantains. I had never cooked with plantains or even eaten one, but all of the online photos I found looked delicious!

Looks easy enough, right?

Guess what?! NOT THAT EASY.

Cooking with plantains was not as intuitive as I had imagined. I had an image in my head that involved a house full of people enjoying homemade enchiladas in front of the fireplace while I sneaked (it sounds weird to me too) away to the kitchen to whip up a dessert that would look painstaking and time consuming, but couldn't possibly take longer than 10 minutes to prepare.

In reality, I slaved away in the kitchen trying to make the plantains NOT taste like poison.  A raw plantain is what I imagine biting into a piece of chalk would taste like. A piece of chalk dipped in gasoline. I spent the better part of the evening experimenting with the plantain frying process and deciding how much sugar was too much sugar when trying to mask the taste of guano. (The answer? There will never be enough sugar.)

So, imagine my surprise when my brother forwarded me this recipe with a request to make it. And then imagine my (our) surprise when I made them on Saturday and they were FANTASTIC!

Not disgusting!

I would like to apologize in advance for the lack of brilliant photography. These were all taken on my cell phone and thus are not the highest quality.