Work stress has left me with little energy for anything else, yet a few things bear mentioning:
Listening/watching: We met a friend the other day at BAM to watch a documentary on Arthur Lee and Love, a person/band about whom I knew little, except I’ve always been a big fan of their two best-known songs, “Seven & Seven Is” (the fiercest song of 1966) and “Alone Again Or.” So now Forever Changes is at the top of the household rotation and is a perfect soundtrack to the first really hot days of summer.
Eating: Way too much of this has been done on the town lately. So tonight we’re scaling that back with bounty that I picked up yesterday at the local farmer’s market. I have green beans, red scallions, garlic scapes (I’ve been dying to try these), fresh tomatoes, flat-leaf parsley, and corn. I’m thinking of making a nice big salad out of those and serving it with veggie burgers. Also, I’ve been stuffing myself with fresh blueberries and cherries.
Watching: Netflix has sent us the first disk of the sole season of Freaks and Geeks, which is looking very good so far.
Always Double Back 
July 8, 2007 at 9:18 pm
Since cows are vegetarian go crazy and eat a burger made with cow meat. But realize that if you eat beef, you are taking corn away from ethanol production.
July 8, 2007 at 9:47 pm
I’ve been eating a lot of red meat lately–it’ll be a welcome break to have some nice veggie burgers.
July 9, 2007 at 2:45 pm
i made the golden bowl a few nights ago and oh my it came out soooooooo yummy!
July 9, 2007 at 3:48 pm
I miss the Grit. I have their cookbook; attempting to replicate their twice-fried tofu has been on my to-do list for years. Nobody said vegetarian had to be healthy!
July 9, 2007 at 5:30 pm
actually their twice fried tofu has too many steps 😉
i followed a different recipe from a peta cookbook i checked out of the library and the results were stellar!
1. drain & press tofu for about an hour if packed in water (i used the nasoya organic brand of firm tofu. i cut the 14-oz. block in half, and then cut the half into thirds lengthwise and then pressed between papertoweled plates weighed down with a couple of cans and left in the fridge)
2. then in a large tuperware container add a couple of TBS nutritional yeast, a couple of TSP of flour, salt & pepper & garlic powder to taste
3. add tofu (which has been cut into playing dice size pieces) and affix lid. shake vigorously for a minute or two to get tofu completely coated.
4. heat a couple of TBS veg oil in a pan over med hi heat. add tofu & saute on each side for a few minutes until tofu is nice and deep golden brown.
5. in a separate pan, saute brocolli, carrots, onions, mushrooms or any combination of veggies of your choice
6. serve over brown rice with their yeast gravy recipe (which is easily scaled down to 1 cup)
so yummy! oddly, i’ve been making light yet hearty comfort food meals in the dead heat of summer. a couple weeks back i made butternut squash soup, then the golden bowl, and tonight we are having baked potatoes (done in the toaster oven so as not to make the kitchen soooo hot) with side salad.
July 9, 2007 at 5:31 pm
oh yeah, for 2 people, you only need to use just half of the tofu, the other half goes into another tupeware container filled with water to cover. change water daily and it will keep for about 3-5 days in the fridge.
July 9, 2007 at 7:44 pm
You want an awesome burger? Go with bison, the other red meat. A little disconcerting to see your future hamburg and stew meat on the hoof locally but those buffalo live a pretty nice life, especially compared to feedlot cattle.
July 9, 2007 at 8:03 pm
I’ve had bison plenty of times; very tasty if prepared right. I never make meat burgers of any kind at home because I don’t have a grill and don’t like skillet burgers. Let a girl have her Gardenburgers in peace!
July 9, 2007 at 8:53 pm
amen! actually i just bought the ‘vegan’ gardenburger. i think the gardenburger peoples changed their recipe because i don’t recall the gardenburger having cheese in it. the last pack of gardenburgers i picked up seemed to have cheddar cheese injected into them at random spots. i’m not a big fan of regular cheeseburgers or veggie cheeseburgers.
July 9, 2007 at 10:38 pm
Love’s forever changes is fantastic! A great summer soundtrack!
July 10, 2007 at 12:11 am
Finally, someone picked up on the important part of my post! Yes, Love is perfect for these hot evening when the mind wanders in random directions.
July 10, 2007 at 5:37 pm
Love love love that Love album! Hillary can vouch for the fact that I sing that stuff all the time, especially the more stupid lyrics:
“I feel real phony when my name is Phil…or was that Bill?” and “The snot has caked against my pants. It has turned into crystal…”
I’ve Been meaning to get more of their albums for a long time but just have never gotten around to it. I believe they have at least two other allegedly great albums.
July 10, 2007 at 6:04 pm
Will is currently obsessed with “The Red Telephone” (of the Phil/Bill line). We have Da Capo on vinyl, which features the amazing “Seven & Seven Is.” Side 1 is great, but beware the 18+ minute experimental orchestral jam that comprises the entirety of Side 2. Yawn.
July 10, 2007 at 10:57 pm
Vouching.
July 11, 2007 at 1:08 am
For a refried recipe – 2 cups pinto or red beans soaked over night. In the morning add water as needed and cook until soft. Mash and add 1/2 cup melted lard or bacon fat and simmer until absorbed by the beans stirring frequently. Then after they cool, saute some onion in more lard and cook the mashed beans. As a variation when you saute the onions, you can add some tomato paste and chili powder and then add the beans.
July 11, 2007 at 2:19 am
Okay…I like refried beans, but am not sure how they fit into this thread…although fried tofu doesn’t really apply either, now that I review the comments. I just wanted to let people know I was eating salad and veggie burgers while listening to weird hippie music! Jeez!
July 11, 2007 at 9:48 pm
your thread got overtaken by tofu!