listening to: sun ra:"cosmic swing".npr jazz profiles podcast

how was your holiday? mine was cool. i spent it with my fam. i had a nice talk with my parents and attempted to make some vegan goodness for my oldest daughter. i had envisioned this tasty meal with her eating every bite. that didn't happen. i cooked the smokey grilled tempeh, sauteed collards (actually spinach), and cheater baked beans from veganomicon: the ultimate vegan cookbook. the tempeh was bitter and not good at all (it was my first time cooking/eating tempeh - i ended up cooking tofu instead), the spinach was okay, and the beans had too much garlic in them (i must use regular tomato sauce next time). overall, the meal was eatable (minus the tempeh) but it just wasn't spectacular like i was hoping. that's the way it goes sometimes. my kitchen is about to be turned into a test kitchen. i'm going to experiment with the recipes in vcon and others i have.

last night i prepared the veggie burger mix from vegan with a vengeance and cooked up a couple patties this morn. that's my lunch today and i can't wait to dig in (these are good!). i'm not giving up on tempeh just yet. i just have to find the right recipe for it.

enjoy the day!