New Year, New Attempts

I have been *the worst* blogger guys!

I'm going to change all of that though. I resolved to try and post at least once a week (and yeah, I'm already late) but will be doing my darndest to keep it up!

So, I stopped at several joints on the way to and from NYC this year, unfortunately, none besides my beloved Vegan Treats were really worth mentioning (except Soy and Sake, which I visited a whopping 3 times in NYC. Holy shit that place could be my life partner) so I figured I'd talk about the obligatory 2010 music post.

And then I realized, no, I didn't buy much new music. I listened to a lot of it, but ultimately found myself disappointed by the large majority of the records that came out last year AS A WHOLE. I wanted to love Corin Tucker's solo record. I wish that Deerhoof capitvated me. I totally don't understand Robyn as a whole.

That said, I did find some shit worth listening to, and I've made you a mix of it.

Download the ZIP file here!

1. Ke$ha - Tik Tok
Love or hate her, there was no escaping Ke$ha this year. And you know what? Her album is rad. I chose this song because it so obviously represents her (it is her "Baby One More Time"). Plus, you know you've shouted along to it, drunk, at least twice.

2. Screaming Females - Pretty Okay
I know this song was previously released, but I am counting it as a 2010 release (due to the Singles compilation happening). This is so worth buying. Buy it. It's so good.

3. Ted Leo & The Pharmacists - Gimme The Wire

Having never really listened to Ted Leo outside of my Nike running mixes, I found myself pretty surprised by the goodness. Moreso by the awesome, Steely Dan meets pop punk feeling to this song. And I say that as a SD fan.

4. Broken Bells - Trap Doors

A lot of people have had some not so nice things to say about the Broken Bells record. I happen to like it, although I do think it's tonally a little inconsistent. Its best work is on songs like this one, where it sticks to dark synthpop. And I think this song sounds like it could've been a Tears For Fears song. Just sayin'.

5. Beach Fossils - Face It

I assume that most of you haven't been living under a rock and know that bands with Beach/Surf names, an abusive hand with spring reverb and generally at least two underfed hipsters in Ray Bans have spawned faster than wet gremlins in 2010. So instead of taking an entirely anti-"beach" stance, I found the band most likely to succeed outside of this beachiness in my heart, mainly because of these sweet ass guitar licks that sound like every boy in every band I ever had a crush on in high school.

6. Veelee - When You Gonna Come Home?

Man, I really wanted to give you guys Blood's Sake, but I bought it on iTunes so I can't share that one. Veelee have been making consistently good minimalist (in the Philip Glass sense) pop/electro. You may remember their year end EP in 2009. Watch out for them. They're based in Carrboro, but I see national tours very soon. Oh yeah, don't be an asshole like me. Buy yr digital copy at their bandcamp.

7. Last Year's Men - Karma

Good on the boys at Churchkey for releasing this song as a free one, as it is easily one of their best. I know what you're thinking; spring reverb, twang-- another surf band? NO. This recording is not what this band sounds like anymore. When they come to your town, go see them, then just hitch yr car to their minivan and enjoy the rest of the tour. They will sweat, bleed and spit on you and you'll love it.

8. Rat Jackson - Summer Hummer

God Bless Rat Jackson. That's all.

9. Tokyo Police Club - Not Sick

I think I might be the only person over 25 who still buys shit that comes out on Saddle Creek. But you know what? I like it. And his voice. And their last record. And this record.

10. Wolf Parade - Ghost Pressure

As unnerving as it is to listen to this David Byrne impression, I like this record. I didn't much care about Mt Zoomer but I think that their break up caused more buzz for the record. And it's cool. Heart the synths, but I am a dance music whore.

11. Yeasayer - Love Me Girl

OMG YEASAYER WROTE AN HONEST TO GOD TRANCE SONG. When I saw them (probably in 2006 or 2007?) I was not a fan and I don't really love the record, but I think this song is great.

12. Four Tet - This Unfolds

Four Tet is one of those things that I never really set out to listen to, but when I stumble across it always seems ever more attractive, and with every listen endears itself to me further. It is clever and self referential (and maybe a little self reverential too) but it totally takes the icky "reading into lyrics" part out of putting on music when someone comes over while still being sexy.

13. LCD Soundsystem - You Wanted a Hit

This whole record is full of songs that have already been written by LCD and appeared on other records. Yeah, they have different names and words, but they're the same. They're still good, just kind of stale. But then there's You Wanted a Hit. Which is different for me somehow. I think it's because it sounds kind of like a Say Hi song.

14. No Age - Fever Dreaming

I really just want to be in this band. There is nothing I dislike about this record. I love that half of it sounds like it was recorded in a studio and half sounds like it was recorded by an iphone in a shitty club with a shittier PA. YOU CAN SLEEP ON MY COUCH, NO AGE.

15. Male Bonding - All Things This Way

Male Bonding are sort of like my poor man's No Age. I like their record a lot too, except the pussy 13th track. WTF Male Bonding?

16. Dinosaur Feathers - Vendela Vida

I have no idea how I came across this song. It just happened. And I just can't deny its ridiculous awesomeness. It reminds me a little bit of what would happen if Franz Ferdinand had a lovebaby with Vampire Weekend.

17. Trophy Wife (UK) - Microlite (acoustic)

Who is Trophy Wife? They're a self declared British DISCO band. And their songs, while dance music, are fucking beautiful, as evidenced by this acoustic guitar based version of their big hit, Microlite.

18. Clive Tanaka y su orchestra - Neu Chicago

This guy is going to be THE next big thing in dance if there is any justice in the world. God, I want to go to a party where he is the DJ. Everything has a fantastically happy feel to it. I can't wait for something to be released NOT ON CASSETTE TAPE.

40 46 Days of Raw: Day 44, or Urumbo

So, today marked the slump. Urumbo was described to me as Shona (a Zimbabwe and South/East African language) for "the troubles." I think they meant it more in the way the Irish say "the troubles," but I'm taking both, man, because I am seriously facing my worst time right now, on the last mile. Number one, my brain is all over the place.

Got up this morning (had the day off) after getting a wonderfully unfulfilling 5 hours of sleep only to find out that my hairdresser is sick and couldn't come. I then failed to accomplish the one thing I was supposed to do today besides get my hair cut. But y'all don't want to hear me gripe, so let's talk food, gardens and veg*n, shall we?

After my stop at the bank, I hit up whole foods and picked up some snacky-poo for myself. I lazied out and got some pre-made guacamole (made in store, the only kind I find bearable as far as premade guacs) and seedless cukes to dip in the guac. I cut the bad boy up and had a mighty filling lunch, then set about my major task for the day, gardening.

As you can see, I got my garden turned over and some of my crops held over from last year (lavender and rosemary) and my bulbs are coming up and making life a delight, particularly on the walkway up to the front door, which is lined with Daffodils and paperwhites, creating a beautiful stink of spring and a splash of color, too. The paperwhite smell, for those unfamiliar, is most similar probably to the Easter Lily (one of my students just gave me a plant for the holiday, it is living in my room), in that it's pervasive, somewhat treacly but overall pleasant.

I believe I mentioned that I'd put in two raspberry bushes last Thursday and over the weekend, they really took! The foliage increased, the plants seem to be in good shape. Granted, the bushes I planted this week were a little more robust straight from the store, but I think you can still see the difference (newbie plants are the two on the left, week-olds on the right). So, if you, like me, have soil that's full of clay and essentially destroys anything but the heartiest of plants (seriously, my lawn is half dead because my yard is totally overtaken by trees, ivy and crabgrass). I also put down a couple of fig tree-lets (that are literally 6" tall right now and absolutely darling).

The real challenge of the day was that my vegessentials order came in today and the temptation to eat something, anything out of that box of joy was great. There were the cookies. There was pasta. There was chocolate and there was fake cheese. There were 3 fake meats I am really excited to try. There are 2 more days. I'm trying, and everyone says they're proud right now but I am JONESING for some processed wheat with partially hydrogenated soy involved. It's taking a lot of will power to pour myself a bowl of Chia with fresh cut strawberries with local honey* or pour myself a glass of grapefruit juice and a handful of cashews (that was dinner and evening snack respectively) instead of just going downstairs and tearing through a frozen bagel. I've had NY bagels in my freezer since early march =/. /rant

Anyway, I'm getting my plans together for the rest of the garden. I just found out that planting basil and rosemary side by side is bad news, so I think the rosemary side of the garden will be for brassicas, since I recently learned that rosemary and basil hate each other and battle it out underground, as do their counterparts. For those unaware, rosemary is a good compliment to things like broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower and brussels sprouts. Rosemary and the brassicas should be kept away from tomatoes, peppers, basil, oregano and carrots, apparently. Oregano is also supposedly good for cukes. As far as eye-candy to help yr dirt candy, the 3 big reccs are geraniums, marigolds and borage (new to me this year, but I'll sniff some out).

Any gardening tips out there in the blog world? I've had a heck of a time keeping my brassicas alive, hopefully this year with the division they'll at least get a fighting chance to battle it out with the evil squirrels (seriously, I've had squirrels eating my cucumber stalks before they even reach a decent size through like, 3 attempts last year. I don't want to sprout my seeds only to see them become very expensive sprout feed for squirrels.

Gosh, there I go again. Just trying to resist Liz Lovely's cookies. Til tomorrow, kids.

*Yes, I know honey is not considered vegan. NC has one of the highest number of indigenous flora of any state in the US. People who never had allergies move here and are debilitated by sinus pressure, snotties, sneezies and so forth. I try to work about 1 tsp of local honey into my daily diet at the beginning of the season and have just had some slight itchy eyes. Plus, I'd totally eat a bee, or a wasp. It is one of my secret desires to get a fig that has eaten a wasp. You can fight me on this, but honey (and, for that matter, insect byproduct in general) is not something I get up in arms about. Obvs, when I find out if things are truly vegan for YOU all (like beer) I get that info to pass along, because we all draw our line in the sand in different places. :)

40 Days of Raw: Day 1

So, I've decided to try to day-by-day blog this challenge since it is really new (and I'm sure a lot of you who attempt to go raw will go through the same trials and tribulations as I will) and might be kind of interesting.

Today, I ended up working a double and not really being able to get to the store until very late. That meant that I drank my hippie juice (apple cider vinegar and water) first at my first job, then again at my second, and by the time I headed to Bull McCabe's for pubquiz, I was fading. At the pub, I ordered a salad, plain. Eating it meant that I was suddenly famished. I did stock up on some good stuff, though, like swiss chard, green onions, avocado, pecans, cashews, cantaloupe, cukes, peppers, vidalias and sea salt, so as soon as I came home, I started shoveling pecans into my mouth, cut up a cantaloupe and am now basking in the glow of having some food in my tummy. I was extremely bummed to note that they have stopped carrying my vegan kimchi. Yes, I know it's overpriced, but I was really counting on coasting on that for at least a day.

I have a raw salad recipe idea for swiss chard, vidalias, peppers and a lemon vinaigrette that makes a sort of ceviche after it marinates. I may attempt it tonight or tomorrow, and when I do I will post the recipe.

Overall thoughts on first day of raw? Fail. But hey, I'm new!

Lent Challenge: 40 days of RAW

Hey Friends!

I've got a backlog of AMAZING product reviews, recipes and the like for you, but something big is in the cards. This year, my lent challenge will be, as indicated in the title, 40 days of raw. Now, that means no beer (sad sad) but it also means LOTS of new pickling recipes, a whole slew of raw tricks and a call out from ME to you, my bloggies.

Take some inspiration. I'm by no means a religious person, but it definitely is a test of your strength to think that this was the time when, throughout history, people have sacrificed en masse. This is the time to try giving up that one habit you're afraid of. Lent begins on 2/17 and ends on Easter Sunday (4/4). Join me!

Do you have a favorite raw recipe? If so, please leave a comment and a link! I'm going to need lots of help. I haven't gone raw since June 2006, when I lasted all of 13 days eating Gazpacho for pretty much every meal.

This week's power vegetable will be CAULIFLOWER, because it is effing delicious.

Stay tuned for a progress report as well as backlog updates.

Greetings, from a lazy vegan blogger

Well, as you may have noticed, it has been months since my last posting. This is not due to lack of cooking or eating (the 3 gallons of Cabbage Pomegranate soup downstairs and my ever more restrictive waistband beg to differ), but because I am BUSY!

Since our last update, I left a 9-5 position to work in a local restaurant as a cook. But then, they didn't hire me as a cook. It's all good, though, because I became a waitress at the same restaurant and have started plotting with the sous chef to bring tasty vegan goodness to the daily soups and specials. Hell, he even ran a soup recipe I GAVE HIM today. There's nothing better than getting to watch your recipes coming back with cleaned plates.

I was looking up Natalie Portman's appearance on Top Chef tonight. She told the chefs that she was "vegetarian" and five minutes later, I saw what looked like a butter exodus occur in that kitchen. I was really icked out by the attitudes of many of the chefs toward vegetarian cooking (ie, "I WILL NEVER BE VEGETARIAN EVER") or the choices made by chefs (this has baffled other bloggers...a leek? as the main part of the dish? really?) and also (and maybe I'm a fatass) the portions of some of the dishes seemed...really skimpy. But yeah, I noticed it was vegan mofo. And that I all but missed it. And now I am sad.

I had a really fantastic food journey last week in NYC (got to hit up Angelica Kitchen, who still, in my mind have the best soup in all Manhattan, Gobo, Red Bamboo, Candle Cafe and the last remaining Zen Palate), I've been working on an array of soups (I want to write my own cookbook focused on my fav meal ever: LUNCH...and Lolo over at veganyumyum has really inspired me!), and lastly, I've been eating my fill at the newest vegan bakery that just opened here in town: Dharma Bakery. It's owned and operated by my former vegan cooking club-mate and college friend Dina Graves, a hari krishna and 2nd generation vegan bakery owner. She has been having weekly open houses to expand her line and let us mooches try to convince her to make stuff we want to eat (like RAINBOW COOKIES).

So yes, in the near future, be on the lookout. I'll be back up and running soon (I have several backlogged entries to finish as well) and when I am, you betta believe there's gonna be some good stuff, fresh new restaurant reviews, product reviews, recipes and dabblings.

<3