Thing-a-day.com

I can’t believe I’ve already skipped 6 things-a-day.  Oh well, I have to say to myself that this fun thing doesn’t have to end with February.  I can still come up with creative things in the next 2 weeks.

I’ve seen this interesting survey made by Liz a few times in various vegan foodblogs.  I thought I’d give it a try just to get back into the routine a little bit.  I still haven’t been cooking at all.  Hopefully, I’ll have some nice food photos to share soon.  We shall see.  Anyway, here is my survey result.

1. If you have to choose between locally grown or organic, which do you usually choose?
I usually go with the locally grown stuff, because I like the freshness and community feeling.  Sometimes I have to buy organic food if I want to cook something out of the right season.
2. Favourite way to prepare potatoes:
Scalloped potatoes for sure!  OK, it’s fair enough to say that I also love rosemary potatoes a lot.  But scalloped potatoes just hit the right spot.

3. Do you press your tofu before preparing/cooking it (if you eat soy)?
Pressing tofu is almost like meditation for me.  I love pressing tofu and love love love the result.  I used to feel it was so much trouble and waiting time.  But after trying the pressed tofu I can’t go back any more.  I usually take a whole afternoon preparing the tofu.  It feels really good to cook the pressed tofu afterwards.

4. Name your favorite recipe that is a tradition in your family:
This is a hard question.  It’s probably the whole wheat/kamut pasta with mashed bean and tomato sauce.  We have a few variations of this recipe and we love them all.

5. Any food allergies?
No, thank God, no food allergies.

6. When you want to go to a fancy dinner, where do you go?
Where would I *potentially* go if I did indeed go out for fancy dinners?  I’d probably just have a “fancy” vegan dinner party at home.  I’m simply not a fancy vegan.  I love fancy (homemade of course) vegan desserts though.
7. When you have a cold, what do you crave?
Chickpea noodle soup, or udon noodles with loads of mushrooms.  Anything warm and comforting might strike my fancy.

8. What kind of water do you drink? (Filtered, spring, tap, etc.)
Spring water.  Sometimes filtered water if I have no other option.

9. Name a flavor of soda you’d love to see:
Nothing!  I totally loathe soda.  All kinds of soda drinks.

10. If the recipes you ate as a child were compiled into a cookbook, what would the title be?
The Ultimate Fusion Cuisine: How To Eat and Cook Things You Don’t Know As A Pro

11. If you were allowed to grow one food that can’t grow in your climate, what would it be?
I’ve always wanted to grow avocados.  Mashed avocado can be even better than vegan margarine/butter.

12. Favorite type of mushroom?
I have tried many types of mushrooms.  My favorite is still the all-faithful shiitake mushroom.  I can live on shiitake mushrooms.
13. Most frustrating part of your kitchen?
Total lack of storage and counter space.  I’ve already converted most of the cupboards and shelves into my pantry area but I have to make sure I don’t buy too much bulk items like grains, legumes or spices.  The counter space is more of a problem, especially if I want to make a couple of batches of cupcakes or cakes together, but I’m getting used to improvising every time I cook.

14. Last food you burned?
The crispy peanut butter cookies from VwaV.  I tried twice!  I still have no idea why my cookies turned into a big flat sheet of dough and got burned.  So far I haven’t been able to make crispy peanut butter cookies.

15. Usual response to a veg*n’s favorite question, “But where do you get your protein?”:
I don’t even think any more because every omnivore or carnivore we encounter invariably asks this question.  “From tofu, soy products, legumes, whole grains, and many things that you often eat too.  We are not that different if you focus on the healthy part of your diet instead of getting stuck on the fact that not everyone eats meat.”  And deep down, I’m also screaming, “I’m certainly not telling you to change your diet.  So don’t get all defensive and argue with me about how wrong MY diet is, because I’m in no mood for a debate that won’t get us anywhere.  Let’s just talk about the weather today instead.”

16. If you were baking your own birthday cake today, what flavor would it be?
I will be making a half dark chocolate and half coconut cake.  Absolutely these two flavors together!
17. Favourite brand of chocolate chips?
I don’t have a favorite brand since I don’t really use chocolate chips often.  I mean, really not often at all, if they are used once in a year.

18. You have $200 of your tax return reserved for Williams Sonoma - What do you buy?
What’s Williams Sonoma?  OK, I just googled it and now I’m staring at this Web site.  Only 200 dollars… I guess I’ll have to save some more cash to get a Dutch oven then.
19. Do you plan your menus in advance? Any tips to share?
Not really.  I only plan my menus slightly before dinner.  I can think about recipes for a whole day without deciding on a single course.  I’m really bad at planning in a way.  Tips to share: whatever you crave for, you can go for it without much planning.  In my case, it always turns out to be the best dish since I really crave for it.

20. You have 3 minutes before you have to leave the house and you’re starving- What do you eat?
Vegan margarine on two slices of whole wheat bread.

21. If Martha Stewart, Paula Deen, and Rachel Ray got into a fight, who would win and how?
I don’t personally know any of them so how can I answer this question?  Paula’s got the strength.  Rachael can smother the other two in her burgers.  Martha’s recipes are the only ones that I’ve used.  So maybe Rachael would smother Paula with her burgers and Martha would stuff Rachael in her homemade duvet cover and win.

22. If you eat oatmeal, what do you add to it before serving?
Vanilla soy milk or coconut milk, chopped dates and maybe some macadamia nuts.

23. If you got to travel to one country and learn all the traditional dishes there, where would you go (ignore commitments in your current place of residence)?
Italy.  Oh, I dream of Italy!

24. Favourite late night snack?
I haven’t had any late night snack in years now.  If I had to have one, maybe just a banana.

25. Favourite springtime food?
Fresh strawberries for sure.  Nothing smells better than those red little babies.
26. Favorite food-related magazine?
I don’t really read magazines, but I flipped through Vegetarian Times and I liked it.

27. Which do you prefer: shoyu, tamari, conventional soy sauce, or Bragg’s Aminos?
Tamari.  Soy sauce makes a fine substitute.

28. What vegetable or fruit do you dislike the most?
The stinky durian irks me to no end.  I get queasy just imagining it.

29. Name a holiday food you look forward to all year long:
A gigantic creamy slice of pumpkin pie, with extra pie filling all to myself.  So people, stay away while I’m enjoying my pie!

30. If you could convert anyone to veganism with your magic wand, who would you convert?
Nobody!  It’s not my place to do so even if I had a magic wand.  I don’t have any desire to do so either.  If people don’t want it, let them be.

I couldn’t resist trying another CD cover (here’s my first one, with the rules of this meme). This time, it took me, like, fifty tries before I got a CC-licensed photo that gave me permission to alter it. I lucked out, though, finally getting this photo of a new Apple //c by dansays / Dan Budiac.

After I posted this on Flickr, a kind commenter pointed me to a page he made which shows only CC-licensed random “interesting” photos from Flickr. It’s just what I need, because this game is totally addictive.
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I picked up this meme from my friend Cindy’s blog:

“The CD Cover Meme group has only three rules: (1) The first article title on this random wiki page is the name of your band, (2) the last four words of the very last quote on this random quote page is the title of your album, and (3) the third picture here, no matter what it is, will be your album cover.”

As Cindy points out, you really ought to make sure that the image you’re using is CC-licensed, with remixing allowed. I refreshed the image page three times until a usable image came up as the third item.

I think it’s funny how in sync my random band name and photo are; the image was even square! The album title? meh, but I can live with it. I’ll probably try this again at some point when my Internet connection is less floppy. It’s fun, and I never get to use blackletter at work.

Photo: Martenmount by Éole; some rights reserved.

Type: Albo and Musée by Dino dos Santos.

I decided to write a meme of my own. I’ve never done anything like that so I don’t know if there’s any rule that I should follow. Anyhow, my meme is below, which requires a little bit of imagination and suspense of your usual belief if you happen to have a strong view towards life and afterlife.

1. Are you an animal lover or are you afraid of anything furry?

2. If you are not afraid of animals, which animal do you think you would choose to be if you had to be an animal for the rest of your life?

3. Which animal resembles your spouse/partner/loved one?

4. What would you feed the animal that most resembles your spouse/partner/loved one?

5. If you had to choose what you would be in your next lifetime (please just assume this is possible for a second), among vegetables, plants, flowers, and animals, what would you rather be?

6. Which vegetable (or plant, flower, animal) would you want your spouse/partner/loved one be?

7. How long would you choose your life span is?

8. What would you want to do as a vegetable (or plant, flower, animal) for a living?

9. List three vegetable (or plant, flower, animal) that you absolutely don’t want to be. You can list all three of the same category, for example, three vegetables.

10. If you have to write a book about a vegetable (or plant, flower, animal) kingdom, what would it be like living in this kingdom? Would you be the king of this kingdom?