Cranberries popping, Field Roast, Thanksgiving.

I am Thanksgiving. I made cheer. I seized power. I created cranberry sauce, and it tastes and looks and feels exactly like cranberry sauce.

It was very easy to make. I had, let's see, probably about a half-pound of cranberries (fresh cranberries from the co-op). A little bit of orange juice. An apple (Golden Delicious, from the co-op). Sugar. Nutmeg. Cloves.

You heat the cranberries in a pan (cast-iron skillet in my case).


When they start to pop (literally, you will hear them pop and see them splitting - watch....),

add sugar (you will need a lot, so just add some and then as it's cooking, keep tasting and adding more if needed), nutmeg (a little), a few cloves, the apple - diced very small (I used 3/4 of the apple), and splash on some orange juice (I used a very small amount of orange juice; just remember what consistency you want to end up with, kind of gelatinous; you will also probably add more orange juice little by little as it cooks).




Once the cranberries have started to pop, you don't want to cook them any longer than 15 minutes, or the pectin will break down in a bad way and it won't set properly. So add these ingredients, stir it up, start tasting the juices and adding sugar as needed, add a little more orange juice now and then if it's dry and it hasn't cooked for about 15 minutes yet.



When it's sweet and the apples and cranberries are soft and it's getting a little gelatinous, turn off the heat, put foil over the pan and let it sit in the steam and the fruit will continue to soften and the gel will firm up a little. Then you can put it in a bowl and put it in the fridge if you want to serve it cold. Make sure you taste it as it is cooking, so you get it the right sweetness. After you set the cranberry sauce aside, heat up some leftover vegan Field Roast, potatoes, sweet potatoes and asparagus, and throw it on a plate with your homemade cranberry sauce and some apple sauce. Mashed potatoes and gravy would also be a great option. Sweet corn. Green bean casserole. Pumpkin pie. I had a brownie for dessert. :)


Does it look perfect?! And it tastes perfect, refreshing, sweet but not too sweet, gelatinous, the whole nine yards. Wish I had more sweet potatoes, is all. Mmm, can't get over this cranberry sauce.

Saturday Shopping List

From the Clark Park Farmers' Market, which I had not been to in weeks.

1 bunch collard greens

2 heads green leaf lettuce

1 head broccoli

1 quart brussels sprouts

3 white sweet potatoes

3 orange sweet potatoes

2 portabella caps

6 sweet yellow onions

1 giant parsnip for a soup

4 green peppers

And from Milk & Honey Market, a loaf of cracked wheat bread.

The other night, we had an early Tofurkey feast and have been having sandwiches from leftovers.

On the menu this week: Soups. Probably time for a blended sweet potato soup. Maybe some chili but we have to get tomatoes from the co-op. Stuffed, roasted portabella. Baked potatoes. Roasted collard greens. Could do collard green wraps with rice and tomatoes and maybe a little bit of soy sausage. And I have to get some sauerkraut for Brussels Sprouts & Sauerkraut, aka, Sprouts & Kraut.

Here's what's been happening in food.

Been living on snacks: figs, tomatoes, bean sprouts, carrots, sunflower seeds, dried red sea vegetable, nuts, grapes. What I can grab from my kitchen when I am not, by any reasonable definition, awake. I've actually taken for lunch what was left of a box of cherry tomatoes and what was left of a bag of mixed nuts from yesterday. I have a working lunch from 11:50 - 12:34.

And here's what else: Oversized baked sweets. Big, thick, pillowy chocolate chip cookies and peanut butter cookies with fork-criss-crosses on top, brownies, cinnamon rolls with icing, brownies with peanut-butter-fudge and chocolate coating on top. I have to stop. You get these things at coffee shops. They add up. I have to stop. But I'm not gonna. Cause I have a working lunch from 11:50 - 12:34. And I like to have sweets during that time period.

Bagels from the coffee shop on weekends.

Tonight, we ordered Chinese food from China Inn at 44th & Locust. It wasn't that good. Ordered through Eat24Hours.com which is good because they also have service for Desi Village and Tandoor India, and I will order from those places in the future.

Farmers' Market tomorrow? We'll see. Sleep first.

Kids in a Candy Store

We've joined Mariposa Food Co-op and have been dining on...

pasta with mushrooms, marinara, greens, and fake meatballs... three-bean chili... red dulce... seaweed ramen... veggie burgers... crunchy bean sprouts... beans & rice... raw green beans... sandwiches w/mushrooms, lettuce, onion, tomato... ravioli... nuts... pumpkin seeds... grapes... apples... sesame seed candy... carob chips... oatmeal... trail mix... cold cereal with oat milk... sunflower seeds... and various cookies, brownies, and cupcakes... washed down with coconut water.

Life is good.


Today at Clark Park Farmers' Market

one bunch kale
one bunch collard greens
one head green leaf lettuce
one head red leaf lettuce
one head broccoli
two portabella caps
red and white carrots

A loaf of Cracked Wheat bread from Metropolitan Bakery. Then shopping tonight at the co-op for many of the things mentioned above plus sage incense and a new toothbrush.

Ready for the week

Made this chili with canned ingredients tonight, for lunch tomorrow. Roasting some greens (fresh from the farmers' market) right now to go with them. Will also bring grapes from the farmers' market that taste like wild grapes. Very excellent trip to the store tonight.

Fu-Wah Mini-Market

Whole wheat flour
mineral water (2)
diced tomatoes (in a can)
black beans (can)
kidney beans (can)
Beirut Tahini Sesame Paste
brown rice cakes
chili powder
1 quart Almond Dream almond milk
baking soda

Total: $23.80

At the farmers' market on Thursday, I bought...

collard greens
mustard greens
okra
green beans
grapes
blackberries
yellow onions
carrots
tomatoes

I think that's it. I have maple syrup to mix with the tahini paste to put on the rice cakes. I can now make whole wheat pancakes. (I'm getting really good at pancakes.)

Tomorrow:

Breakfast - raw grain and walnut cereal with almond milk and blackberries
Noon Lunch - roasted greens, tahini w/maple syrup on rice cakes, and grapes
3 pm Lunch - 2-bean chili
When I get home from Arcadia - Whole wheat pancakes w/maple syrup

More hits from the road, and shopping back at the ranch

Returned home to Philly on Wednesday. On Tuesday, enjoyed Lewisburg, WV. Visited the Wild Bean and the Bookstore and Edith's Store. The Wild Bean has a very nice menu.

I had the Healthy Wrap, which has greens, avocado, red onion, seeds, not sure what all else. Also had some of the chili you're seeing to the left. This was delicious. Sweet and hot and tomatoey. I was impressed that on the menu, in the description of the "Fakin' BLT," they note that their mayo is vegan. I didn't try the BLT, so I guess I have to go back someday. Oh, darn.

the "Healthy Wrap"

At Edith's Store, I bought a 2-oz. package of the sea vegetable Dulse, which I had never had before. It is red, and much softer and less chewy than the green varieties of seaweed I have tried. It tastes like bacon and sharp cheddar cheese. It has a sharp bite to it, and on the package they actually recommend crisping it in a pan in oil and using it to replace bacon on a BLT. It was so good as a raw snack that I ate most of it on the train the next day. The brand I bought is the same brand they carry at Weavers' Way Co-Op, but I don't remember if they had this variety or not. The brand is Maine Coast. Also bought some Celtic Sea Salt, some tea, and a mesh tea ball.


From a vegan-food-blogging perspective, my trip to W.Va. was a smashing success. It's so fun to go someplace I'm not usually and see what there is to eat. I can't believe I ever thought being vegan would be hard. Food is everywhere once you know what you're looking for. The Wild Bean and Edith's Store are not everywhere, but you remember my vegan Wal-Mart grocery list from the other day, right? The idea behind that was not to encourage vegans to shop at Wal-Mart (I don't recommend that to anyone); the idea was to show people who already shop at Wal-Mart that you can buy vegan foods in almost every aisle. Yeah, it's easier than you think. And remember, I also ate at a Mexican restaurant in Summersville in the same strip mall as Wal-Mart. Easy. Like fallin' off a log.

Got home Wednesday night and went to the farmers' market on Thursday to stock up. (I have no idea what Mark ate while I was gone. I'm not going to ask.) Went to the market this morning for a few more things.

Thursday Shopping List

1 bunch kale
1 bunch mustard greens
1 quart green beans
6 plum tomatoes
4 (bigger) red tomatoes
6 (big) yellow potatoes
1 pint blackberries
1 pint raspberries
(and at Milk & Honey Market)
1 avocado
1 loaf multigrain bread

Saturday Shopping List

1 quart okra
1 head red leaf lettuce
4 red shallots
1 golden zucchini
10 ears white sweet corn
2 portobello mushroom caps
1 oz. peppermint
1 oz. chamomile flowers
1/2 oz. lemon verbena
1 oz. sage
(and at Milk & Honey Market)
1 lb. unbleached wheat and barley flour
vanilla extract
1 lb. organic cane sugar

The chamomile flowers, peppermint, and lemon verbena are for tea, now that we have that mesh tea ball. Can't wait. Need to get cinnamon.

Oh, remember the vegan burger from the Amtrak train? On the way back, I got another one. It's actually not bad at all. You wouldn't want to eat it every day, but it's pretty tasty with ketchup and mustard. The bun is a Kaiser roll, and they microwave the whole thing in the package, but it doesn't get soggy somehow. A little chewy or stretchy, maybe, but tolerable.

After returning home from mom and dad's I am now inspired to make biscuits, hence the flour. And pancakes, hence the vanilla extract. Things we had to eat at mom and dad's included fried potatoes with peppers and onions, homemade biscuits with molasses, kale crisps (which I made and they loved), tomato-rice-bean soup, hummus & avocado sandwiches (both grilled and not grilled), fire-roasted corn on the cob, fire-baked potatoes, baked apples with walnuts and cinnamon crumbles, sweet potato fries, oatmeal, berry smoothies, and pancakes.



It was good to be home while I was there and good to be home now that I'm back. Wherever I go, some things don't change. More scenes from the Wild Bean....