VEGAN SEAFOOD!

I used to buy a sack of oysters, throw them on the BBQ, wait til the shells popped open and call it a day. Don't even get me started on how much I loved scallops. Oh, how my life has changed.

 

Sea Cake from Real Food Daily

 Now vegan seafood is becoming a thing! I'm thrilled! Read my post about it at Vegansaurus!

Make Broccoli with Nacheez Sauce, TONIGHT!

DO IT! Here's how!

I Joined Pinterest

I JOINED PINTEREST! So if you want to see what my wedding would look like, go meet me over there. Just kidding! I'm not planning my wedding (at least not on Pinterest); you should have a significant other to do that kind of thing right? I haven't given any thought to who would cater it, what kind of cake I'd have, the dress, my bridesmaids or color schemes. Never. Definitely not every single waking second of my life.

After what has felt like years of denying that I would be the type of person to find delight in Pinterest, I gave in. Two things happened, within days of each other - two events in which all signs pointed to yes. First, I was hanging out with some peeps at Flaco's in Berkeley, when my girl Ilsa started describing Pinterest. She talked about the pitfalls of the app, and how when it came down to it, Pinterest is simply pictures. YOU JUST LOOK AT PICTURES ON THE INTERNET. I love doing that. I search things on google just to look at the images (Gwen Stefani, Cat Power, Zooey Deschanel, retro owls, and California poppies). So, I get to look at the pictures I'm already gazing at for hours, and put them all in one place? Interesting.

The second thing that happened was that I bought the newest issue of Bust Magazine. One of the articles -- "How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Join Pinterest". I signed up on my next day off.

So, I haven't yet made a board for my wedding (because that would be soooo pathetic and desperate, totally unlike my usual behavior) but I have designed my future house and kitchen! Maybe there was a shopping spree at Target yesterday, which was Pinterest fueled. Now that I have my thoughts about decorating and color schemes organized, I must make it a reality.

It's the beginning.

                            

Vegans Need Ice Cream Sandwiches!

RIGHT?! Right. So now we (I) make them at Source! They are filled with the luscious Genuto gelato, and come in pistachio, vanilla, chocolate hazelnut, and crystallized ginger! Nut-based gelato, between two cookies (chocolate chip and plain!), what more could you ask for? Actually, probably a lot more, but I'm only one person here!

Next time you're in the neighborhood, pop on in and get one! Don't forget to say hi!

Pictured is the vanilla gelato and chocolate chip cookie sandwich! Being a Bay Area native, I just really am trying to make a vegan It's It here. Next step, oatmeal cookies!

Black Salt Will Make Your Tofu Taste Like Eggs

It's true! It's my new favorite ingredient! Make sure you get Indian black salt, which is pink, instead of say, Hawaiian black salt, which is actually black. The Indian black salt can be found online or in Indian specialty/grocery stores. I got mine at Bombay Bazaar, next to Rainbow Grocery in the Mission District, San Francisco.



Black salt smells and tastes like sulfur. Maybe that sounds off-putting? It's really good when added to tofu, I swear! Add a little to your tofu scramble this weekend, you'll love it. Or try this recipe!

Weird Fish, Round Two

So, I went back to Weird Fish last week, with some friends and co-workers. Hey, you mention vegan fish and chips to plant-eaters, and there is a level of excitement that goes around that is off the charts. Though I did want the deep fried seitan nuggets of pure, unadulterated joy, I decided it was important to try something else on the menu.

Tofu and veggie tostada it was! OMG DELICIOUS. The mole sauce was perfection. I also ordered a side of the chili-garlic broccoli rabe. A little on the bitter side, but I was into it. Weird Fish might be my favorite restaurant in San Francisco right now.

Get Yourself an Over Thermometer!

Seriously, get one. They are inexpensive and such a useful tool if you bake at home. I use them at work all the time! SO TAKE IT FROM A PROFESH BAKER, get yourself one! Ovens have a tendancy to become uncalibrated*, and who needs to burn their meal/dessert/delectable food item, because the oven temperature is off? NOT YOU.

*Fancy talk, meaning the oven temperature is not what you actually set it at/heating up at whatever temperature it wants to/is off.

I May Be Alone Here, But I Really Like Rachael Ray

Okay, so Rachael Ray is a little on the gabby side, and a lot of her recipes are based around meat. BUT! If you can look past that, there is plethora of ideas inside of just one issue of her magazine! Her recipes are quick, simple and easy to veganize! If she calls for chicken, you can very easily use seitan (though I haven't yet, but I keep meaning to!). I once made the most amazing tropical bread pudding from one of her guest recipes, using cashew cream and coconut milk for the dairy counterparts.

This is the issue on stands now! I'm very inspired by it, and I can't wait to get home and make some of the pasta sauces and cocktails. Plus, she gives a shout-out to North Beach in my home-base of San Francisco!

I love people who are naturally bubbly. It's taken me 31 years to cultivate a "natural" effervescence, because what I usually want to do is be a wallflower. Let's not get started on how easily I blush. SHYNESS IS REAL, AND OMG, KIND OF THE WORST.

On that note, people always want to tell me they can't cook. At 23 I was making stirfry with frozen chicken breasts, frozen veggies, and calling it a day. Easy. Not vegan, obvi, but where I started. In the meantime, I poured over cookbooks. I read the intros, the outros and all the tips inbetween. When I got into veganism, I did the same thing. That's how I learned. I don't think I was born with this ability, I just spent all my free time teaching myself how to do it! To learn what flavors go together, what the vocabulary means. And I never stop learning. (Which means everyone else can do it too! Or not, some people can do math and I only understood fractions once I started baking.)

And then on that note, I don't like watching cooking shows (I just think they are so boring), but I really love Rachael Ray's 30 Minute Meals. I always learn new tips and new flavor combos, yo. Plus, how could anyone not like her traveling show, $40 a Day? (SHE ALWAYS FINDS A WAY TO SAVE MONEY FOR A FANCY COCKTAIL!) The talk show, okay, I can't do that one.

Staycation! Weird Fish in San Francisco!

Vegan fish and chips? YES PLEASE. I'm Team Weird Fish! I wasn't for a while, but we've worked things out. Huge sigh of relief, I know.

Read all about it here.

Lactic Acid Is Vegan!

Lactic acid is always one of those ingredients I can never remember if it's vegan or not. After careful and thorough research, I can tell you it is! Too bad I did not know this information yesterday, and get the product I really wanted at Trader Joe's --  the exra sourdough english muffins (sourdough everything, all the time!). I did not vegan-fact check at the time because sometimes my phone just takes too long to load. Then my mom would've thought I was checking Facebook (but it really would've been Twitter) and I just don't need that kind of extra stress in my life. Especially in Trader Joe's at 5:30 p.m.

Lactic Acid is vegan! Eat all the sourdough products you want, unless of course they contain milk (but usually don't).

The project of the day, besides sitting by the pool at my parent's house, doing some light reading and blogging, and watching Keeping Up with the Kardashians, is making breakfast sandwiches. It may be dinner time when I get around to it, but whatevs. These english muffins will do, but man oh man, I wish they were sourdough!

I've Been Baking!

Sometimes, companies send me products to review, which makes me feel like a VIP! Wholesome Chow generously sent me a box of seven baking mixes to try out, and so far I love them!

Check it out, yo! The vanilla lavender review comes with my vanilla frosting recipe! It is too legit to quit, I just want to eat it ALL day.

 Vanilla lavender cupcakes, with vanilla and blueberry frosting.

Chocolate cake with espresso frosting and chocolate flowers/borders.

Another Night, Another Dinner

I used Appetite for Reduction tonight! I made the Chili-Lime-Rubbed Tofu recipe and it's yum! Very flavorful and easy. I also made a wilted kale salad, with caramelized onions, and mushrooms, spiced with lime juice, cumin, chili powder, salt and pepper.

And of course a companion salad, with lettuce, tomato, grilled corn, avocado, green onions, cilantro and a splash (or 3) of white rice vinegar!

Vegan Junkfood to the Max!

Look, just cause I'm vegan, doesn't mean I don't miss the food of my omni days. SPECIFICALLY, the bacon Western cheeseburger from Carl's Jr. I don't know why this craving overcame me, but it did. So I took matters, first into Whole Foods and then into my kitchen.

Now I present.....

The BBQ, bacon, onion ring, lettuce, avocado cheese burger a la JB. Gardein burger. Smart bacon. Fancy roll from Trader Joe's (I usually wrap my burgers in lettuce, but I felt this was a special occasion). Beer battered onion rings (they were vegan! Whole Foods has them! Wooooo!).

I used the Daiya cheddar wedge for cheese. Oh, the jack too, I mixed them! Fancy! I went all out! I really enjoy the wedges, more than the shreds. I mean, the shreds are good for pizza, but the wedges are good for everything else. I made a grilled cheese with them -- amazing! I spread them on crackers -- delicious! I didn't think it'd be as special as it is, but now I always have some in my fridge.

And, as usual, follow me on Instagram at jennybradleyyo, to see all this stuff done in real time!

Cookbook Time!

NEW COOKBOOK! Very exciting stuff over here. I wasn't necessarily interested in the low-fat aspect of it, but because Isa Chandra Moskowitz is a vegan GENIUS. I'm very much looking forward to making recipes out of here, although with modifications. Because low-fat translates into high carb and I CANNOT be having that.

I Turned 31!

I look very attractive at all times. I know I haven't EVEN hit my prime.

I drank only the best wine.

I ate the finest foods veganism has to offer.

I ate some more.

And then I ate even more.

 It was a fun night with the fam. See what's on in the background? THE TEEN CHOICE AWARDS! You know who I saw perform their new single that night? NO DOUBT!

What an incredible night.

Of course, this all took place a couple days after my actual date of birth. That night was full of elegant debauchery, including dinner at Big Lantern and an Ian Fays show!

Dinner

Thai chili pasta, with Alfredo sauce, plus a wilted spinach salad with a balsamic reduction, strawberries and avocado.

We made the balsamic reduction by simmering balsamic vinegar for about 20 mins. You know, until it reduces. You can go longer, but we were hungry! We poured it over raw spinach to wilt it, and then added the strawberries and avocado.

Summer Vacay!

 I took five days, and went to Chicago. Within that trip, I also went to a wedding in Michigan.

 

Then, I took some time to myself to start watching 30 Rock, work, and what I'm really saying, is that I couldn't bear to write for about a month. My sister had a baby shower, I turned 31, things were happening!

You can read about my SUMMERized  (ahahahaha) summer vacay here.

I'm a Professional!

I ordered business cards. I mean, there haven't been that many instances where I need them, but there have been a few! I'm pretty excited.

You don't need to be a published writer, to claim writer, right? RIGHT! I write everyday! Or every 3 to 4 days, whatevs!