We are so bad at this!

Forgive me, for it has been 5 months since our last blog post (this feels like confession).   Instead of overwhelming people with the goings of the last 5 months in one post, I'm giving a little update here with some promises of posts to come with pictures, recipes and general zaniness.  

In the months since we last posted, Gudrun finished her second photography course.  We have come to find out that it is the best photography school in Belgium (thanks Mom and Dad for the Christmas money that paid for that).  She finished the course receiving a very high grade and extremely encouraging words from her teacher.  He told her that the portraits she did for one assignment were some of the best pictures taken by the entire class (and boy, is it a talented class) over the entire course.  He commented that she really has a lot of potential, and she is (reasonably) very proud of that.     She will be posting some of the pictures she took for the class over the next couple of days here.... so be ready for a deluge of photos.

I have been slacking off in the cooking department.   I did buy about 7 new vegan cookbooks, and have tried a few recipes out from them.   I think over the next few weeks, I will try to motivate myself to try more recipes and then review those recipes and the books they come from on here.  So stay tuned for that. 

We are also drinking green smoothies again.   Man, I need more green in my life.  I'm going to keep track of the new smoothies we drink and review them here.  First on the docket for dinner tonight:  kale, frozen berries, and banana (with some ground flax seed thrown in for pizazz).  I'll let you know how that works out.  :-)      

I'm planning a trip this weekend with my friend Laura who just got a new camera.  We're going to go to an abandoned castle (awesome! ....if we can get in), and I'm going to take some RAW photos, and try my hand at some HDR zaniness.  Google-image "HDR" if you don't know what I am talking about.     So some upcoming photos might be from yours-truly (if I can get anything good out of it). 

Sorry again for the loooong lag in communication.  Life got in the way.  But check back over the next few days/weeks for all the promised updates!!  

Here are a very few pictures I made last weekend...

Check this out and let me know what you think.

Kelly and Thibault checking the playground

absence makes the heart grow fonder!

Hidy ho, blog friends!  Did you miss us?

It has been too long since we last updated this blog (exactly 2 months, in fact).  So I thought I'd hop in here to say a quick hello and catch you up on what has been happening in the world of cooking and photography (well our little microcosm, at least). 

There have been some exciting developments in the field of vegan cooking going on around here.  First of all, Gudrun has jumped on the "non-dairy" bandwagon with me.  Milk is not good for her asthma anyway, and I was having such a good time making vegan food, that she couldn't resist joining the party!  She still eats meat occasionally (she hasn't come completely over to the dark side), but she reports feeling much better without the milk.  She has insisted for years that she hated soy milk, but rediscovered recently that she used to drink vanilla soy milk as a kid, and really liked it.  We now have 3 different types of soy milk in dry stock at the apartment (regular for me, vanilla for Gudrun, and unsweetened for cooking) . :-)

Speaking about Gudrun joining the non-dairy party train, she decided to make me vegan pancakes (crepes, to you Americans) today!  You see, I'm pretty sick with a cold, and I guess I look pathetic enough for her to make me soup and pancakes.  We'll start with the soup... which was a really fun homemade Ramen noodle soup.  Asian wheat noodles, some vegetable broth and salt... everything that a sick girl needs!!   She followed this up with crepes made by this recipe: Vegan Crepes!!! 

If you read my last blog post, you know I was going on and on about the vegan pancakes in Vienna... well, these today were spectacularly better.  She rolled them up around fresh straberries and sugar, and it was divine!!!  If you want to give that recipe a try, just make sure you have a well oiled (she used margerine) pan, and make sure it is hot before you pour in the batter.  Don't put in too much - remember, crepes are supposed to be thin. Cook until crispy on the outside. 

Gudrun is not the only one feeling better after losing the milk.  I realized recently that all of my weird joint pain (finger, knee, and back) is completely gone, and has been for some time.  After 10+ years of dealing with unexplainable joint issues (is 18 too young to have arthritis?), I knew something was up.  So I started researching on the internet, and I came across several articles like this one from LiveStrong about joint pain caused by food allergies.  I haven't had an official allergy test to confirm a dairy protein allergy, but unless my joint pain comes back, I am going to make that assumption.  It was incredibly lucky that I am wacky enough to go vegan and have it help me answer my bizarre joint pain.  I've been to several doctors over the years, and while they have done ultrasounds and x-rays to confirm joint inflammation, they've never been able to pinpoint the cause (although we've ruled most things out... I don't, for instance, have lupus or autoimmune rheumatoid arthritis).  I find it hard to believe that not one single doctor ever suggested a food allergy!  But there you have it.   I'm trying to convince other members of my family (also with early onset joint pain) to also give it a try.  Although, giving up dairy (and all the multitudes of products that contain casein and whey - look in your fridge and pantry for processed foods and read the labels) is a difficult task at first, I feel great, and want the same for my family! 

Speaking of family, last month I went to the USA for our family's yearly ski vacation.  My family (they are awesome!) tried very hard to substitute soy milk and margarine in their recipes (we all take turns making dinner).  Everyone made awesome vegan food, which surprised everyone at the table (I and everyone else at the table ate like royalty!). My aunt made build-your-own taco salad, so it was easy for me to skip the beef and cheese (and load up on the beans and veggies and guacamole!).  My Grandma made an amazing zucchini caserole and homemade applesauce.  My mom got really into it, making cornbread with margerine, soymilk, and egg replacer.  She even got so brave as to make vegan broccoli cream soup!  She was a little concerned at first about what I could put on a sandwich to take to the slopes for lunch.  I gave her a long list of stuff I put on sandwiches... from peanut butter to hummus to grilled or fresh vegetables with mustard.  She bought me some vegan mayonnaise to make potato salad and other things, but we never got that far... the hummus varieties she bought for me were so amazing, I didn't need anything else!!   I just made sandwiches with hummus and piled on fresh veggies (hummus+cucumber, hummus+tomato, and hummus+green pepper are my absolute favorites.... yum).

I made sloppy joes one day for lunch, and I made 2 batches:  1 vegan and 1 with meat.  In a side-by-side taste test, everyone enjoyed the vegan variety as much as (or more than) the meat variety.  Score!  My grandma even asked me for the brand of the textured vegetable protein (TVP) I used instead of ground beef.  For the record, it was Marjon brand "Tofu Crumbles" from a normal grocery store in Virginia.  I had an extra box with me, and I gave it to her, and she has reportedly already made some vegan sloppy joes at home.  TVP, by the way, is also excellent in chilli and in spaghetti sauce!!  It doesn't have a lot of taste by itself, though, so get to using those spices!!  Garlic is your friend :)

As the weather gets warmer in Belgium, and our kitchen stops feeling like a walk-in freezer (we only heat in the evening with wood, of which we have nearly run out and don't want to get more so close to Spring), I plan to be more active with cooking!  If anyone has suggestions for recipes for me, I'd love to see them!!  I'll test them out and put a review here on the blog!

In the world of photography, I bought Gudrun a 50mm portrait lens for her birthday, along with a set of 3 extension tubes to turn that lens into a macro lens.  We've played a little with that new toy, and it is amazing.  She used a gift certificate from our friend Laura to buy a polarizing filter (particularly good for landscapes) for her 18-55 zoom lens, and we bought a fancy tripod as well.  For Christmas, my parents gave her money to sign up for a second photography class, which starts at the end of this month.  New techniques and new accessories means that we should see some interesting new shots from her in the coming weeks!!  Keep your eyes peeled (ew, what a gross expression). 

Anyway, thanks for sticking with me through this long update of life in the last 2 months.  We'll try very hard to post more frequently than this in the future!  Stay tuned....

Vegan pancakes, French fries, and Dill

Well, 2011 started off with interesting culinary beginnings.  As Gudrun has already mentioned, we were staying in Vienna visiting my good friend Kristin for the New Year.  Like all time spent with Kristin, we had a hilarious adventure.   We didn't stay at Kristin's house, because she has a cat, and Gudrun wanted to avoid an asthma attack (imagine that).  But we were extended a very generous offer to stay in Kristin's friend's apartment, while she was travelling abroad.

Well, because we didn't want to eat all of this generous friend's food (even though she said we could), and because most of what was in the house wasn't vegan, we had to fend for ourselves... not hard to do, we thought, as we would have to do this if we were staying in a hotel or hostel, anyway.   Well, on our first night (30th of Jan), Kristin had gone to the organic bio-shop to pick up some lovely food.  She had peanut butter, a couple rolls, some dried dates (for sweet dreams), and agave nectar for our coffee (she, knowing my caffeine addiction, had brought some instant coffee from her own apartment).  So we had some nice eats that evening and went to bed.

The following morning, Kristin had arranged a brunch at a local organic cafe.  Vegan pancakes and soy lattes were on the menu (YUM!!).   We then spent some time walking through the festive downtown area, complete with Gluhwein stands (which was significantly better than the Gluhwien that is served in Belgium), stands selling kitschy pig souvenirs and stages for playing music and teaching the waltz... yes, we witnessed a mass waltz lesson on the main square in Vienna, and we walked past one stage with some truly disturbing kids entertainment.... although, isn't most kids entertainment at least slightly disturbing?  but i digress.....

By the time we got home, the friendly neighborhood organic bio-shop had closed (unbeknownst to us, early for NYE).  We thought, "No problem, we'll just get dinner out tonight, and run to a bakery in the morning for breakfast."  We passed a little unassuming Italian restaurant and decided it looked decent enough, and went it.  I proceeded to have the BEST SPAGHETTI I HAVE EVER TASTED in like, my whole entire life.  Seriously.  For me, it is hard to mess up pasta, but it is also pretty hard for pasta to stand out.  It is normally divided into 3 categories:  "good," "very good," and "well, it could be better if...."  For this pasta, however, I am making a new category: "THE BEST DARN PASTA IN THE WORLD.... MAYBE THE UNIVERSE."
For basic noodles with a tomato sauce, this is pretty crazy.    It took me nearly scarfing down the entire plate to realize what the secret was: dill!!  DILL in marinara sauce.  GENIUS!    I had never thought of that before, in fact, I thought that dill was reserved exclusively for cucumber dill sauce, and the occasional salad dressing.

Dill is my new best friend (heehee).  Like for serious.  I've made plain spaghetti twice since being introduced to the greatest spaghetti secret of all time... both instances, I have ploped a store-bought jar of marinara (you know, basically tomatoes and basil) in a pan, and shovelled in a big load of dill (i would guess around 1 or 1.5 tbs).   It gives the sauce a wonderful aroma, and gives it a really hearty and savory flavor.  One of these two instances, I also put about 3-4 tbs of red wine in the sauce.  I could have sold that dish at a fancy restaurant.

Ok, back to the ongoing food excitement in Vienna.    So, after finishing the best spaghetti ever, we went back to the apartment, watched the fireworks (yada yada - see Gudrun's last blog), and went to bed.  The next morning we woke up, and Kristin and I headed out to find a bakery to buy some bread for breakfast.  [cut to image of Vienna with tumble weeds and the classic western music signifying a ghost town].... NOTHING was open on New Year's Day in the area of Vienna where we were staying.  We walked for over an hour, looking for a grocery store, bakery, convenience store, gas station - absolutely nothing was open.  ....except.... a fast food Döner Kebab stand.  They also served schnitzel and pizza.  The only vegan thing they sold was french fries.  We let out a laugh of amusement and walked in.  We proceeded to ask if they would sell us just the bread they use for the Kebab's (they wouldn't), so we ordered fries (for me) schnitzel (for Gudrun) and pizza (for Kristin).  We thought, "Why not go all the way?"  And so we ordered sodas as well!   I know we are only 9 days in, but I'm guessing this will win the award for "most amusing breakfast of 2011!"  New Year's resolutions of eating better and getting healthy are for wimps, anyway!


So what did I learn on this trip?  Vegan pancakes are the bees knees (I need to learn how to make them), dill is the most amazing spice for tomato sauce, and french fries and coca-cola make an excellent breakfast in a pinch :)

Happy New Year everyone!!!  Best wishes for 2011!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

We wish you all a Happy New Year! We hope that whatever you wished for, will come true in 2011.

Sparkly gold and silver fireworks
note, you can click on any of the pictures to see a bigger version

For us, we will try to make more amazing vegan food and take more great pictures. And as always, keep your comments and recipes coming! 

We decided to spend New Year’s in Vienna, where we stayed with Kristin, a high school friend of Kelly’s. We had an amazing time together, although the time passed by very quickly.

Fancy foto editing - 1970's era glamour shot :)

Basically, we stayed inside the flat almost all day long, as it was freezing cold outside. We had temperatures down to -10 degrees Celsius (that is 14 degrees Fahrenheit for you weirdos). Though, Kelly and Kristin were brave enough to come out with me, and we wandered around the city for 1h or so per day. (I got almost crazy of being inside all day long – people know I can`t sit still for a long time…) Even though we were not outside for a long time, I was able to make some nice pictures around the city:

Fancy Viennese decorations in fancy Viennese streets!

Gluhwein!  Prost!

How did we spend New Year's eve in Vienna? We stayed at the flat, where we had the best view to watch the fireworks. The fireworks already started an hour earlier, but then, when it was midnight, there were so much fireworks going on we didn't even know where to make a picture :-)

Taking pictures of fireworks is a pretty hard task since they move fast, and there is relatively little light. Long shutter speeds were necessary, and therefore, we had to stand very still for a long time. Kelly and Kristin noticed that if they put their hand in front of the camera for a short amount of time, they could create a cool “ghost” image, so we spent some time playing around with that technique as well.

Ghosts in the window

Kristin and Kelly edited the pictures in Picasa – a light photo editing software – and they figured out that by changing the image saturation, the colors of the fireworks were greatly enhanced. The images in the photos were originally pretty washed out and white, but by increasing the color saturation, the reds, blues, greens, and golds of the fireworks were able to be uncovered, so that the images look pretty close to reality.

Fireworks lighting up the town