I'm Going on Vacation! (And Tagging 5 Friends!)

This is my cat, Mitzi. She is going to miss us when we go on vacation! But we have someone that will come to the house to take care of her, a nice lady that she knows. We'll miss her, too!

As a gift before vacation, my parents took my sister & me to a nail salon to get mani/pedi's. It was first! I love my nails, but I don't have an aching desire to go back again on a regular basis.

I'll be back with food, jewlery, and TONS of pictures from the trip when I get back. I am really excited - we have been planning this pretty much since last summer. I'll have my camera with me pretty much the entire time - I am making a movie out of the trip with Window Movie Maker when I get back. I plan on mailing it to our family, with whom we are staying. Until then...

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I love how Melissa from The Traveler's Lunchbox often leaves her readers with hints about her destination, so that they can guess their hearts out while she's gone. I am leaving for vacation tomorrow, so I thought I'd try her little game. Here goes...

1. I am not leaving the US, but I will be crossing the two largest Rivers in the US. (Remember I live in good ol' KS.)
2. I will switch planes in a state that has seven official state songs - one of them is called "Rocky Top."
3. The destination has 67 counties .

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Also - I was tagged by Núria from Spanish Recipes!

1) LAST MOVIE U SAW IN A THEATRE? I saw I Am Legend with a bunch of my friends

2) WHAT BOOK ARE U READING? A Year in the World by the inspiring Frances Mayes.

3) FAVOURITE BOARD GAME? I like 'em all!

4) FAVOURITE MAGAZINE? Elle...and my dad's biking & running magazines

5) FAVOURITE SMELLS? Earth after a good spring or summer rain.

6) FAVOURITE SOUNDS? Thunder that shakes the house & waves slapping the beach.

7) WORST FEELING IN THE WORLD? Not being able to make a decision or compulsively obssesing about something insignificant.

8) WHAT IS THE FIRST THING YOU THINK OF WHEN U WAKE? Getting out of bed! I am an early riser. I'm almost always up & active by 7:45

9) FAVOURITE FAST FOOD PLACE? I don't like fast food.

10) FUTURE CHILD'S NAME? I don't want to have any children.

11) FINISH THIS STATEMENT—IF I HAD A LOT OF MONEY I’D... Travel the world! (And share with my family & friends!)

12) DO U DRIVE FAST? I've only got my permit, so no...not yet :)

13) DO U SLEEP WITH A STUFFED ANIMAL? No.

14) STORMS–COOL OR SCARY? Amazingly cool.

15) WHAT WAS YOUR FIRST CAR? My first wil most likely be my dad's black Alero.

16) FAVOURITE DRINK? Water. Yum.

17) FINISH THIS STATEMENT-IF I HAD THE TIME I WOULD…Cook more often.

18) DO YOU EAT THE STEMS ON BROCCOLI? Yep, but I don't ever eat it raw...it makes my mouth feel weird.

19) IF YOU COULD DYE YOUR HAIR ANY OTHER COLOUR, WHAT WOULD BE YOUR CHOICE? Red maybe...I like my brunette color, actually.

20) NAME ALL THE DIFFERENT CITIES/TOWNS U HAVE LIVED IN? Richmond, VA - Greenville, SC - Birmingham, AL - and I live in KS now

21) FAVOURITE SPORTS TO WATCH? I love watching soccer & track.

22) ONE NICE THING ABOUT THE PERSON WHO SENT THIS TO YOU? I just met Núria a little while ago and she is incredibly kind, friendly, smart & creative.

23) WHATS UNDER YOUR BED? I have a captain bed so...my clothes.

24) WOULD U LIKE TO BE BORN AS YOURSELF AGAIN?? Absolutely.

25) MORNING PERSON OR NIGHT OWL? Both!

26) OVER EASY OR SUNNY SIDE UP? Aren't they the same thing, except you flip over easy's before eating?

27) FAVOURITE PLACE TO RELAX? Anywhere in nature...or in a massage studio.

28) FAVOURITE PIE? Oh my god you had to ask...I like all kinds of pie. It is one of my favorite desserts.

29) FAVOURITE ICECREAM FLAVOUR? I like Good Karma's GF vegan Coconut Mango "rice cream."

30) OF ALL THE PEOPLE U HAVE TAGGED, WHO IS THE MOST LIKELY TO RESPOND FIRST? Probably Paulina from Veggie Delight because she updates frequently.

I tag...

Fruity - Fruity Vegan
Katie - Chocolate Covered Vegan
Krysta - Evil Chef Mom
Paulina - Veggie Delight
Veggie Girl - VeggieGirl

Refreshment from Mexico & Earrings on Flickr

I learned about licuados in Spanish class. They are fruity, summery drinks that have a consistency that is thinner than a smoothie. They are made with fruit, ice, and often milk. For this simple, refreshing version, the bubbles, sweetness & appeal are the same; it's the tofu that is unconventional.

I apologize for the time between posts - I just wasn't in a cooking mood for a few days there. I have some ideas for posts down the road, and I am hoping to enter more contests in the future. (I entered DMBLGIT a few days ago - my first!) I did finally make some jewelry. (Colored words = links!) Enjoy the recipe (and the earrings.)

HONEYDEW LICUADO

This light Latin American drink is perfect for breakfast or a snack. It's a breeze to whip up.

• 3/8 of a ripe honeydew melon
• 9 oz. soft silken tofu

Cut up the honeydew and the tofu. Put the ingredients in a blender. Squeeze the honeydew rind to get all of the juice out - if the melon is ripe, you'll get a good amount. Blend well. Be aware of tofu chunks - they are hard to see, but inevitable if you don't blend it well enough. Serves 2.

The Simplicity of Salt & Pepper

First of all...I got the job! (And the nametag, bow tie, visor, blue shirt and ugly shoes.) I am so eager to start - I have a couple of training days first, but then I'm officially on the work schedule. For now, I get minimum wage ($5.85/hr.) which is a few steps down from earning $10/hr. filing for my neighbor's business across the street. But I'm still excited! And I'm still employed with my neighbor.


Secondly...I am going to post another recipe soon. Not today though, today is simple. Today is for enjoying the basics - salt and pepper, essentially, but with some grits and mashed potatoes thrown in for good measure. Of course, they're not all mixed together. I have reasons for choosing these things - I love salt & peppers classic flavors & absolute power over food, grits because I used to live down South & potatoes because I'm part Irish. I also have a thing for whiskey sauce...I see bread pudding in the future :)

The weather here has been muggy and hot and we've had a number of intense thunderstorms that are unusual for this time of year. However, all of the humidity and sunshiny afternoons make for great swimming weather. Except I haven't gone yet! Tomorrow, tomorrow. I took the SAT (for practice) this morning and it kinda drained me. So tomorrow. Today I have a picture of the developing raspberries on my Flickr photostream. They are now shapely green orbs, and we've covered the bed to keep away the greedy birds. Also - I am now going to link all of the photos in my posts to my Flickr account. Click on one and see what happens! I'll post again soon.

My First Original Recipe

This was yesterday's lunch. I hope you guys like it - my mom didn't care for it but I really enjoyed it. If anyone dares to try it, please be honest in your opinion :) I didn't realize how unattractive wild rice is in a picture, but it tasted good and added a wonderful nutty flavor to the dish. The dessert didn't exactly work out - it was OK, but I'd never post the recipe...yet. I am thinking about developing it into a mousse. And not just the common chocolate tofu mousse - cocoa coffee tofu mousse. All right, so it's not as fancy as I'm trying to make it sound. But I'm hopeful that it will turn out in one way or another.

WILD RICE & NECTARINE SALAD
This salad would be delicious on a salad mix, baby spinach or romaine leaves (pictured). I do recommend eating this salad with greens because it would be quite odd on its own. The bitterness of the balsamic vinegar dressing is balanced with the sweet nectarine. Serves one.

• 1 cup of cooked wild rice
• 1T olive oil
• 2 tsp. balsamic vinegar
• 1/4 tsp. poppyseeds
• 1/4 tsp. paprika
• cayenne pepper, to taste (I used just a dash)
• 1 nectarine

Whisk together the olive oil, balsamic vinegar, poppyseeds, paprika, and cayenne pepper, if desired. It might take some effort to get the vinegar and oil to blend, but make sure that the color is homogenous. Pour the dressing over the rice and mix well. Slice the nectarine into bite-sized pieces and stir it into the rice. Serve over lettuce, etc. (see italics).

Short & Sweet

This morning I made gluten-free vegan blueberry muffins from Gluten-free, Sugar-free Cooking. There are a lot of great recipes in that cookbook. The muffins had a nice, crumbly texture and were not too sweet. I used sorghum flour & added extra blueberries. (I like lots of fruit in my baked goods.)

The reason I didn't post the other is because our Internet (and TV, for that matter) wouldn't connect. A lightning strike on Friday messed up all of the AT&T systems the street.

I'll post again soon, with an original recipe and maybe some jewelry. (I finally got my eBay beads in the mail!) I promise I don't only do breakfast stuff - I'll get some lunch/dinner/dessert/snack things on here sometime. Other events to look forward to: we might have raspberries soon...and I have an interview at Culver's this afternoon. I know that the place kind of goes against my beliefs about food, but I'm looking for $$$ this summer, and my two other part-time jobs at my neighbor's, filing and cleaning their pool (maybe 1-3 hrs./wk?) aren't keeping me as busy as I'd expected. Wish me luck!