I have to admit, I’ve drank more milk today than I have in years. The recipe, as is, turned out great! I soaked my almonds for an hour, used my regular (but effective) blender and followed her instructions to a tee. The only thing I’ll do differently next time is spring for a nut milk bag strainer thingy so the milk won’t have any kind of mealy-ness. It’s subtle, but if you’re picky or intend to give this to a child, consistency matters. Am also definitely trying with coconut water and chocolate next time. Mmmmmm. Drink this milk ice cold and it won’t disappoint. My cup of almonds made just over a litre of milk; I like it nice and creamy.

Try it!

What is a stagette? – A party held for a woman who is about to get married. A girls night out. a sodden farewell to bachelor days. An evening of debauchery

I’ve witnessed groups of women in gay bars getting rowdy, women wearing toilet paper wedding dresses being paraded down busy streets, thrashing around dildos, stripper pole dancing, scavenger hunts, Las Vegas. I don’t get it.

First, I have no intention of never seeing my friends again after I get married; my friends mean too much to me. The ones that remain to be closest to me now are the ones that have embraced my future-husband. Yeah, we may spend less time together if I make a little human one day, but, I don’t intend to end my social life with those I consider to be near and dear. I also don’t need to wild out ‘one-last-time’. I’ve wilded out plenty, and my to-be-husband has been there for some of it. That’s one of the many reasons why we are together…we can be ourselves and have fun together. WHAT A TWIST!

Also, events that are gender-exclusive don’t work for me.

Bridal Shower - is a gift-giving party held for the bride-to-be in anticipation for her wedding. Really?

I don’t want a life centered around things, and I certainly don’t want relationships centered around things either. The best gift anyone can give me is their time. I feel this way about any occasion that is focused on gift-giving. Screw the gift and spend some time with me. Time does not get dusty and clutter my apartment. Time is not hard to choose from the store shelf. Time is just my size. Time can be the least expensive, but most valuable thing you can give to another person.

So, yes, I’ve happily omitted a stagette and shower from my itinerary. Instead, I had an awesome wine-tasting/choosing party. I’m also having a wine-tasting/choosing/slumber party. I’m very happy with my decision

Sincerely, The Ignorant Bride

Blessings on this day. She was laid to rest today. Her spirit will live on forever.

The man’s observation is that this “change” has impacted office snack hour. I’d have to agree with that. My challenge over the coming weeks will be to avoid Whole Foods unless I’m actually food shopping. I’m so darned grateful for all the options at Whole Foods, but want to fall back on veggies instead of replacing bad choices with other bad choices.

Yesterday, the dinner I cooked looked pathetic; like overcooked mall food. (Veggie fried rice) Today, by the time 5:00pm rolled around, I had a full-on dinner and lunch plan ready to execute. Coming home was a joy.

For dinner: a mini cheese quesadilla and a salad that had spinach, fresh corn, avocado, cucumber, tomato, cilantro. Topped with a simple apple cider vinegar, oregano, olive oil dressing.

For tomorrow’s lunch, I wanted to try one of the gluten-free pastas we’d bought.

This stuff had to cook for 15 minutes! It felt like I was overdoing it, but everytime I pulled a noodle out early, it was tough and chewy. Thankfully it turned out.

I sautéed an onion, a bunch of kale, and half a cup of already cooked white beans. 1/2 tsp of chilli flakes, 1 tsp of Italian seasoning, 3 large garlic cloves, and 1/4 cup of white wine brought it all together.

Separately, I made some tofu bacon. Then mixed everything together. I was inspired by a white bean, kale, bacon recipe I saw. It was really tasty!!

There are people whose lives have been rattled by Cancer. Ashlyn was my first.

We used to work together. I remember her joy in being pregnant. It was such a feeling of intense joy, that pretty much everyone else in the office got pregnant not too long after. I remember the office baby shower and the strawberry cheesecake blizzard ice cream cake that her dear friend chose and jammed twix bars onto at the last minute because she remembered how Ashlyn loved chocolate. They were both laughing and crying simultaneously, and lots of photos were snapped. 

Ashlyn made (what she would never consider) a brave choice to share by writing during her fight. I suppose it was as much of a release for her, as it was keeping everyone who cared about her informed. Through her decision to share, I learned a lot about Cancer, but even more about the spirit of a woman when faced with the unspeakable.

I have so much respect for this woman; who showed more fight than an army and had a life that was clearly so very full of love. Last year, over 100 of Ashlyn’s Angels Ran for the Cure. Last year, we ran for her fight. This year, it will be for her memory and her daughter.

—i wrote this earlier today:

Life is not fair. 

I don’t say that as a complaint. Life is not something that should be measured against degrees of fairness because life is not a promise. It is not an assurance. Each creature given life embarks on it without knowing what tomorrows’ promise will be. Life is present tense. It is now. 

It is who you choose to love today. How you choose to love and care for yourself in this moment. What you choose to share, and what you will hold sacred. It is who you will let love you, change you, move you, impact you, anger you. Today. It is how you choose to focus your energy. Right now.

Learning #1 = Gluten-Free does not equal healthier. One must be conscious of the food choices being made at all times, and one must be concerned about nutritional balance. Quite honestly, we did not eat all that healthy this weekend. BUT, this was a good test for us to fail early, because we know now, and will be better.

On Saturday, we visited Lemonade Gluten-Free bakery to get some sandwich bread. While I’m not used to paying $7.50 for a loaf of bread, judging by the lineup, great reviews, and the fact that gluten-free bread at the grocery store looks like a hockey puck; this would be a safe bet. We tried the honey seed bread. The loaf is a little small to be used for sandwiches, but it was very moist and tasty. The crust tasted yummy toasted, and there was a slight sweetness to the bread from the honey. I’m keen to try other kinds of bread just to see the difference. We also tried one of their lemon bars. It had curls of white chocolate on top, and had that great tartness that lemony treats should have.

We also visited our local Farmers Market and loaded up on kale, cheese, salmon, and strawberries. I have been loving kale lately.

Lastly, we went to our Independent Grocery Store (I loathe that name) on Davie Street to search for gluten-free breakfast cereals. I bought some gluten-free rolled oats (Bob’s Red Mill) and my other half chose some Nature’s Path cereal (in a huge bag, this cereal had great value.) I’ll share our thoughts on the products as soon as we’ve tried them.

Dinner was white corn grits, with sautéed mushrooms and kale. It tasted very homey and rich.

Today I tried this recipe for blueberry almond meal cookies. I think mine turned out alright. They are a light cookie, and the blueberries pop in your mouth. I do wonder, though, how long they’ll last being that they’re made with fresh fruit. Hmmmm

Tonight for dinner, I made a mushroom and red pepper taco with homemade coleslaw and salsa on top. I’m looking forward to this upcoming week of experiments!

Goals – Hopes through challenge:

1. To feel good. I’ve heard from so many people about how much better they feel when they have started a gluten-free diet. The results are so noticeable (energy, digestion, bloating) that it becomes a lifestyle change. There are so many gluten-free options entering the marketplace, that I wonder how challenging this change will even be.

2. To make smarter food choices on the go. This is my favourite part about any kind of challenge. You get into the habit of scrutinizing food labels and having to think about what you eat. You also fall out of the habits of making quick/easy/cheap/unhealthy food-on-the-go choices.

This will be my first time trying this kind of challenge. It seems to be less restrictive than ones I’ve tried in the past (Red Rose Cleanse), so I wonder if it will feel like a cleanse.

I’ll be sure to share!

1. My fiancé’s mother gave us a large bag of dried mushrooms.
2. I had thought about this for months — and had a lot of ideas floating around in my head from other recipes I’d seen.
3. I had leftover gruyere and parmesan in the fridge…at the same time (destiny!)
4. I had an open bottle of red wine leftover from Friday night’s shindig and no cork in sight.
5. I had a pretty big headache, and thus the patience to make a dish that would take a lot of time.

I’ve mentioned this on a lot of my food posts that cooking (as opposed to baking) is part art. It’s about knowing what ingredients do on their own and trusting them to work together. I would have never fathomed trying to make vegetarian French onion soup had I not discovered making broth from dried mushrooms. I don’t think that anything else would cut it. This soup needs a distinct rich deep flavour. There’s just too much going on in most veggie broth’s.

OK – so – how long did I spend making this? In total, I would guesstimate 2/2.5 hours — but I was working at a leisurely pace. It was worth the wait. My neighbours must have been salivating at the smell in our hallway.

“Recipe” — serves 4: I’m bolding all the ingredients, rather than listing them first

7 small onions – sliced thinly (I could have stopped at 6, but I wasn’t feeling even numbers for some reason). Save yourself the grief of hours of tears and pull out a food processor, if you have one.
2 tbsp. olive oil
1.5 tbsp. butter

Melt the butter and oil in a large pan/pot over medium low (4) heat, add the onions and toss to coat. Set your timer for 15 minutes and leave it alone!

To make the broth:

1.5 cups of dried mushrooms (porcinis, or a mixed blend)
10 cups of water
3 bay leaves
2 tbsp. Herbs de Provence (or thyme. I used this because I didn’t have thyme and this blend contains it)
1 tbsp. oregano
1 tbsp. sea salt
1 tbsp. ground pepper

put all of this into a large pot set on medium heat (6) and just let it sit. You won’t need it for awhile!

When your 15 minute timer goes, stir your onions for the first time. Add 1 tbsp. of water (may as well scoop it from the broth pot). Now, you’ll have to watch it a bit more, but still be patient with it. After another ~5-7 minutes, add 1 tbsp. of maple syrup or brown sugar to the onions. This will encourage the sugars to come out. Set your timer for another 20 minutes. Stir about once every 5 minutes.

Once your onions are nice and golden/soft/sweet (timer should go off about now), add 1/2 cup of red wine to them and 5 minced garlic cloves (my cloves were small, you could do 3 if they are large). It will turn them purple and will scare you. Don’t be scared! 5 more minutes, then you’ll be ready to add the broth!

By this time, your broth will have cooked down — I strained and added 7 cups of broth to my mixture and saved the last cup for another recipe (dahl). At this point, I had to let it cook down for 45 mins to 1 hour. I also had a LOT of yummy rehydrated mushrooms leftover. Waste not. Mince them up and add a bit to the soup (~1/4 cup rehydrated mushrooms - I wouldn’t go for more, as onions need to be the star. Use the rest in another recipe (like dahl!).

To finish the soup you’ll need oven-safe bowls, sliced toasted baguette or focaccia (I used focaccia because that’s what I had), sliced gruyere and grated parmesan. Don’t skimp on the cheese. I would have used more, had I had it.

Set oven to broil! Put the oven rack on the second notch from the top (to accommodate the bowls). Fill each bowl with soup. Top with bread, then cheese.

Broil for 5-7 minutes, until the cheese is melted, bubbly and a little golden. the bowls are smoking hot, so be careful! HEAVEN!

Sorry for the inconsistency of my topics. I would imagine that after 2 years, I would be able to keep onto a general theme. Writing consistently is a challenge in itself, so when I feel the urge…I need to run with it.

—

Today, I am moved to write about political vegan food bloggers. While I appreciate your passion, you are not for me. In my eyes, your choices to ram images and descriptions of violence/carnage in my face are no different than extremest religious writers. I’m not upset about your choice to do this (I’m all pro-choice); I’m upset that you say you are about food/nutrition/balance, when you’re really about politics.

A general response to my flavour of rant would be ‘don’t follow these bloggers, mind yo bizniz’. I agree! As soon as I open my facebook/twitter/blog fav, and am smacked in the face with a graphic image, I will unlike/unfollow/close the browser. My rant is, I started following you for a reason, and I feel ripped off when I have to unlike/unfollow; especially when all a blogger wants is followers.

I explore vegan and vegetarian cooking because I like stumbling upon creative ideas for my kitchen. My partner is vegetarian and I am lactose intolerant – so, vegan happens.

I guess in the end, even with the political vegan bloggers I’ve had to unfollow, I’ve been able to find some awesome, creative, culinary magicians to follow who truly are about food/nutrition/balance through a vegan’s eyes. There is enough variety out there to go around for everyone.

—Goal for the week: POST a Recipe! I’ve been having so much fun lately!

This is different, and my ignorance about it all surprises me.

All of these little things keep happening that makes this feel different.

#1 – finding the dress. That was nuts, and I had it easy. I only had to walk into 1 store and deal with 2 bubbly ladies. I’m bubbly too, but not about dresses. They kept wanting to see emotion from me, and I wasn’t putting out. In the end, I actually faked it a little so they would be satisfied. I really really like the dress I bought…but there was never going to be one that made me cry.

#2 – hiring staff. HA! I hired a photographer and a kitchen helper. My crew of excited rookies in their craft to ride out this day with me. Talking with professionals left me feeling overwhelmed. I wanted to work with people who hadn’t dealt with many brides, so they wouldn’t put expectations on how I would be or what I would want.

#3 – sending out my invitations. This has been hard, and I have been turning to others’ blogs to ease my heart. I’m getting married in the same city where I was born and raised — I’ve had friends come in and out of my life over the years. I had to make decisions on who I would invite to the wedding, that I know will offend some people. Our wedding is going to be so small, it didn’t make sense for me to invite some people to the ceremony, while not being able to have them come to the reception immediately after.

#4 – rsvps.

I walked into a bar the other day to meet some friends for a drink, and one of them yelled at me, “where’s my invitation?!”. I almost started crying, because I had expected that type of gutless reaction and had hoped that people would prove me wrong.

Then, I had one friend who told me she might not come because it’s her boyfriend’s birthday, and I found that my feelings were hurt…I chose to invite you — and that choice isn’t as important to you as it is to me.

At the end of the day, I have to remind myself that I have no control over how other people will react to all of this. I guess, being an event planner, I have to focus on the things that I do have control over, and let the other things slide off my back. This is a journey, for sure. 102 days.

—

side note: I will have a lot to post about over the coming weeks. I apologize in advance for the wedding vibe of it all, but think: self-catered, frugal creative ideas to plan this day! I have some experimenting to do!!!