Work madness! I won’t bore you with the details, but my nose and the grindstone were BFFs for about four-ish months. Yikes. Towards the end of that time, I was reminded that the winter prior I’d signed up for my company’s West Coast edition annual challenge: run on a 12 person relay team, covering around 200 miles in just 24 hours.

my mom is faster than your mom (except you Jenn, we know your mom is an ultra-running beast)

As a training run, I ran our company’s 2nd Annual Bay Area 9k race with my mama! Her stubborn butt had been told “no running!” by her doctor after an illness, but no, she didn’t listen whatsoever. We pretty much ran 13 minute miles the whole way, and in the last 100 yards, she took off like a rocket!  (Notably, she placed in the top 10 for her age group at this year’s Turkey Trot.  Woo!)

I’ll admit that the day of the T9k, I had a little distraction problem.  Not only did I go early to set up before the actual race, my belated birthday gift was waiting in a wiggly fashion at home!  Yes, just after my birthday we adopted a fourth furry baby, but this is my first canine one.  After nearly 30 years, I got a 9 month old puppy for my birthday!

Formerly (apparently) known as Penelope, her new name is Juno and yes, we did watch the movie the night before we brought her home. Can you believe this sweet little girl sat in the shelter for over 6 months?

She thinks she’s a cat.  Most 40lb dogs don’t do this… right?

Right! So, August we got a puppy and I ran a 9k, then September was the Ragnar Relay Napa.  After working here for over five years, I finally made good on starting training for AND completing a company challenge.  I fell  for running in the process.  We’re definitely serious, we’re not exclusive (it’s a polyamorous relationship) but there could be an L-word on the horizon.

racing in at the end of my first leg to hand the baton (slap bracelet) off to my teammate

My team, Will Run For…, won our division! Okay, so there were only two women’s corporate teams and the other didn’t even start, but hey, the “Numero Uno” baton-medal on my desk says we’re first place!  One of the best parts was that the tear-off on the bottom of our race bibs was good to trade in for a free (neat! drunk-proof, almost!) wine glass and three tastings.  Yes please!

crossing the finish line as a team

More recent shiny things: seeing family, dressing up for Halloween and flashmobbing our coworkers, trying to clean the house/sell things/save up some money for a house some time down the road (far, far in the distance,) trying new places to eat thanks to Vegansaurus

As you hopefully see, the last six or so months has involved a lot of literal running around, which is not helped by the fact Juno is now a year old and is cleared to run with her mama – and believe me, her mama (that’d be me) needs it. Why?

ZOMG I BOUGHT A WEDDING DRESS. Yes I know this is a food blog, but you’ll be hearing more about this as time goes on, so please accept it. You know you secretly love it. At any rate, you don’t get to see it but it IS hiding at my parent’s home till the big day in July. Hence, the ongoing distraction: planning a wedding. Not just planning a wedding, planning an offbeat/offbeat lite vegan-fare wedding.

And that is where I’ve been. There was a lot of baking and ice cream making involved too, but apparently I couldn’t be bothered with pictures. Or posting. Or anything really, even the dishes (thanks for doing those babe, love you!) and barely the laundry.  Ask my mismatched socks how laundry is going.  Thank goodness my underwear is clean.

In the hopper: plans for another birthday cake in January, more wedding-ness and a fresh post about how YOU can get my baked goods in your mouth this holiday season!

You may think I digress, but really this is a preface.

the first round – minis from 2009

For several years now I have supplied a wonderfully talented and generally amazing friend with rainbow cupcakes to bring to the big San Francisco Dyke March during SF PRIDE weekend.  As time goes by, these cupcakes mean more and more to me.  At first I joked that it was a great way for her to make friends pre-march and maybe even more than friends, but as I watch people I love fight and struggle for things that others take for granted and abuse, these cupcakes take on new meaning.  As I embark on my own wedding planning adventure, I am painfully reminded of this.

Congratulations, New York.  I raise my rainbow cupcake to you, in hopes that one day California – and everyone else – follows suit.

2011′s rainbow cupcake (sorry, no pics of 2010′s jewel-toned ones)

On a less serious note, here’s some more information about the cupcakes and how you can make your own!

These are made using a bullseye or zebra technique, where the batter is dropped in alternating colors directly in the center of the previous layer.  In a two-color bullseye, it has a zebra-like effect when sliced, hence the name.

I use a pretty standard sized cupcake/muffin pan; each color layer was a generous 1/2 tablespoon.  They took a bit longer to bake than usual but were still just as tasty.

I made a double batch of vanilla cupcakes from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World, then divided it using a measuring cup into five equal portions.  Each bowl of batter was dyed accordingly.  I was afraid I had over-beaten the batter while dying it but the batters turned out fine, so I don’t think you should have any issues either. Make sure you have five spoons at the ready; you don’t want to stop once you start your production line. Trust me on this one.

Carefully put your first, bottom-layer color into the pans.  If you want it to be extra floopy, I suppose you don’t have to be too careful with placement, but the OCD in me says bullseye lands in the middle.  Carefully place the second color in the first color.  Repeat this process till you’ve either filled your paper or reached the desired color-layering state.  Bake off as usual.  Hand off to lucky recipients, watch them take a first bite and marvel together at the magic inside.  Rejoice.  ENJOY

a double zinnia from my yard, late Spring

While I had every intention of sharing photos of the ridonkulous prix fix four course meal the manthing and I had on Saturday’s very impromptu date night at Ubuntu, Napa, there were none taken!  Whoops.  We were far too busy being face first in the amazing fare (and I’ll admit I was a bit distracted by the couple whose table was next to ours, as they were speaking loud enough for our table and then some.  At least they were having a good time!)

We chose different courses for the first and second (apparently I was winner-winner on those two, though they were all delicious,) the same third course and the same (only) vegan dessert.

• First course: English peas confit in allium oil, pistachio, assorted mints, lemon balm (me,) roast and raw asparagus, cool burrata coated with s & p potato chip crumbs (him)
• Second course: a warm beet salad that is not part of their current non-prix fix menu (me,) the garden snake: lightly dressed greens, leaves, flowers, roots (him)
• Third course: fresh extruded ‘seville’ orange fregola, a sardinian toasted pearl pasta (both)
• Fourth course: what cannot be merely called chocolate cake with toasted coconut and avocado crema mousse amazingness (as well as other things I am sure I am not being eloquent about sharing)

So till I get around to making good on my recent threats of ice cream and frozen novelties, here are some shots from early in the Spring in this year’s backyard garden.  At the end are some shots of spoils I’m sharing with friends and coworkers.  More soon!

first to yield – Champion radish

we planted a bee garden with help from my favorite local place, Annie’s Annuals (this is a Phacelia viscida)

baby rainbow chard, baby golden beet (NOTE: I later learned they are not garden buddies, so don’t do like me.  Plant them away from each other.)

our Emeryville pink grape…

…which is producing (I hope I hope!) this year!

Mission olive tree (might yield this year too)

dirty pot or not, homegrown strawberries
are the best tasting ones in the world

And to share, a second round of shared spoils:
grown-up rainbow chard, two French breakfast radishes, two striped zucchini and one fattie grey zucchini (and my work desk, naturally. That, unlike the others, was not organically grown locally.)

“It’s even better than roses!” – Margarita upon receiving her vase-o-chard

Hope you get something better than roses today too!

On Saturday afternoon with well over 100 people there to witness the act, I lost my food competition virginity. In many ways it was not quite how I imagined it, not as romanticized as it may have played out in my head after far too many televised hours of international chocolate, sugar and pastry competitions, Throwdown and the like.  I was one of seven competitors at the Rock! Paper! Scissors! Collective’s 3rd Annual Vegan Cupcake Bake-Off.  For five bucks, attendees received a judge’s badge and ballot, a plate to gather their cupcakes and a fork.  To be honest I was nervous, especially since it was originally ten people (which in my head is less pressure.)  My coworkers and the beloved manthing were amazing and reassuring, encouraging, behind me.

Recovering the morning after with a cup of coffee.
Wait – it was a cupcake competition. Why wear a donut shirt?
Well, why NOT wear a donut shirt? And I will explain. Read on.

Participants were asked to submit a recipe. Naturally I couldn’t choose one (come on, is there any one puppy sleeping in the pile that is THE cutest?) so I submitted recipes for my CocoWHAT cake in cupcake form, Berry Blitz cupcakes and of course, the chosen one, supreme reigning champion of bellies and palates at work, the final rendition of what I lovingly call the Inlaw cupcake.  As the provided sign at my station said “Inlaw” and nothing more, my visual display proved quite useful to tell folks what they were about to eat, or in some cases, that they should steer clear with no offense taken.  To boot, the sign also prompted many-a telling of how the cupcakes came to be and jokes about how these were the type you’d gladly see any time

My lone chocolate entry in a amidst the coconut, fruited and herbed other entries: a chocolate-chocolate chunk Frangelico cupcake with Peet’s Major Dickisin buttahcreme and a chocolate-coffee ganache.  (Naturally this display was also an excuse to show off my vegan cupcake stand, which everyone should have because it’s ridiculously cute.  I will definitely enter more competitions if nothing more to show off my vegan cupcake stand.  And my Bake and Destroy shirt, which lead to me squeeing my pants.  Dorky fangirl much?  Guilty.  But not embarrassed.)

Overall it was quite the experience!  Competitors were asked to bring 40 cupcakes; I brought 50 and though we were cutting them in quarters for tasting by the voting public, I blew through the first dozen in the blink of an eye.  The next went almost as fast.  People were arriving in droves such such that I began to worry I might run out!  Instead of kicking myself for bringing towels and knives but no tongs, I focused on the important task at hand: getting delicious vegan goods into the mouths and bellies of the cupcake loving public.

In the end I did not take home first or second and the gal who took home the Fat Bottom Bakery secret judge’s prize also won the first two bake-offs!  Talk about some competition.  Yeah, I’ll admit it.  I was bummed!  For my first time out I felt like I fared pretty well but I guess it wasn’t a chocolatey crowd that day.  The next day I was still bummed out enough that I shunned my pirate cupcake shirt in favor of my donut shirt and spent the day eating a Tofurky feast with all the fixin’s in June.  Felt better.  Napped.  Made peace with the cupcakes by eating one of the leftovers.  No worries.  If you have no passion for something you will not take it to heart, right?

That being said, I got many-a warm accolade and “I voted for you” from folks in the crowd, an invite to bake something for this weekend’s bake sale fundraiser in San Francisco, one competitor shared that she liked mine best (so so flattered and no, I won’t say who,) and a gal took my picture with the aforementioned shirt and my cupcake.  All that made me feel like a rockstar.  Not to get all Charlie Sheen on you, but while I did not take home first I cannot say that I am not still WINNING.  It was a day of learning and growing, and a day that told me I could definitely try my hand at something like that again.

You can crush me and my cupcakes, but you can’t crush my spirit.  (Ow my spirit!  KIDDING.  But please don’t crush the cupcake.  Unless it’s in your mouth.)

Another round of congratulations to those who did place in this year’s competition!  HUGE thanks to the beloved folks who came out (Flo, Erin, of course Colin) — it was really just what I needed to have a familiar face in the crowd.  BIG BIG thanks for the tireless taste testers at work for their feedback and ingredient fund donations.  What are you in the mood for?  I vow to keep the goods coming and to take the next baking-related thing head on (between runs – I really have to bump up my mileage if I’m going to be ready!  Well, that and if I am going to be baking as much as I hope to.)  I’ve dusted myself off and am ready for whatever comes next.   Have a suggestion?

And I accidentally made some cookies that seem to be a huge hit and had to share.  Your missing out on these yummies would be an epic fail on my part!

up close and personal with some packed-and-ready-to-share cookies,
which were delivered to the gals who run the beloved bright blue,
wood-paneled Ebbett’s Good to Go truck that you too should stalk

While I was never a marshmallow eating Peeps-seeker, Sweet & Sara marshmallows made me a lover of the fluffy white chewie gooeys un-adulterated and beautifully plain.  They have certainly made a fan for life out of me but that did not make me any less curious in Dandies when they first came out.

Made by the magical folks of the Chicago Soy Dairy, birthplace of Teese, Dandies are of the “puffed” school of marshmallows.   My first bag was made into classic krispie treats.  This is something I will definitely be revisiting, considering I purposely did a crap job of scraping the sticky mass into the pan so I could eat the warm cling-ons with a spoon.  When I started thinking about a cookie I’d had long ago, a dark chocolate one with bright white marshmallow inside, I knew what had to happen.

Some cocoa powder, chocolate chips, chopped almonds and some time later, I had what I’m callin’ Rock’n Roadies — a slight twist on the traditional rocky road, but turned up to 11 all the same.  A plate of these sans marshmallows disappeared Sunday at a get-together.  The marshmallowy ones I saved for myself Sunday.  Greedy, maybe, but I deserve it.  Or maybe I just don’t want to share my Dandies.

Last night I took the last of my open bag of Dandies and made some more to share.  My recommendation is that you buy two bags of Dandies and make these twice, ’cause if you’re anything like me, sharing the first batch will be very, very hard.

Rock’n Roadies
makes at least 3 dozen tablespoon-scooped cookies

1 1/4 c evaporated cane sugar
1/2 c non-dairy butter (such as Earth Balance)
1/2 c non-dairy milk (I used Silk Soy)
3/4 c cocoa powder, sifted for lumps
2 T cornstarch
2 tsp vanilla
1 1/4 c all-purpose flour
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt (increase to 1/2 tsp if you sub 1/3 c veggie oil for the buttah)
~1/2 bag of Dandies marshmallows, cut in halves
1/2 c chopped almonds or walnuts (pictured here with walnuts – do whatever you prefer!)
1/2-1 c semi-sweet chocolate chips (depending on how chocolatey you want these to be)

Turn your oven on to 350 and prep two sheet pans with parchment or Silpats.  Cream together sugar and buttah; blend in cornstarch.  Scrape down the sides before adding salt and cocoa powder; incorporate half the milk, then half the dry ingredients.  Incorporate the remaining milk and dry ingredients, as well as the chocolate chips and nuts.

The complicated part!  Using a cookie scoop or your favorite tablespoon, fill your spoon/scoop less than a third full.  Push your marshmallow half into the middle of it before “completing” the scoop so the marshmallow is concealed inside the dough.  Drop onto your prepared cookie sheet with at least an inch in-between (assuming you’re doing tablespoon sized cookies) as these will spread some when baking.  Bake for 8 minutes then allow to cool for five minutes on the cookie sheet before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely or putting them in your face.  They will be fragile, so be careful!  This is a great time to use your favorite old skinny metal spatula instead of a fatter plastic spatula, which has a harder time getting under the cookie and thus may break it.

Alternative method for brownie-like cookies: place one scoop in the bottom of a muffin paper, add a full uncut Dandies marshmallow, then cover with another scoop.  Bake for about 10-11 minutes before pulling from the oven and allowing to cool on the sheet/in the pan.  Consume.  Rejoice.

Enter present times.   Breakfast is often coffee with an everything bagel and hummus, or a frozen tofu scramble pocket.  Sometimes I make myself a smoothie after my morning workout.

But I still think about the idea of breakfast cookies.  A shortage in the pantry lead to something functional, tasty, satisfying and yup, ugly.   The name inspiration drawn from a recent quickfire challenge on the television show Top Chef All Stars, where the chefs had to make cookies for Tully, Elmo and Cookie Monster from Sesame Street.

(the very informative sticky-note I left on my container o’cookies)

Yes, I named my choc-oat-chip breakfast cookies after a fertilizer/source of fuel/what the side of Highway 5 near the Harris Beef Ranch smells like.  However, unlike their namesake, you can pick these up and eat them, lick your fingers, and be happy.

(My co-workers said they were like an extra chocolatey homemade Clif Bar.  Don’t tell that to the offices of Clif Bar, which are nearby!  We still love them too!)

Sick sense of humor much?

This recipe is a mutilated rendition of the oatmeal raisin cookies from Veganomicon.  They’re lazy-girl status, so comment if you have any questions!

Cow Pies, or Choc-Oat Chip Breakfast Cookies if you’re squeamish
makes over 2 dozen 2T cookie pucks

1/2 c canola oil
1/3 c brown rice syrup
1/2 c non-dairy milk
3/4 c brown sugar, packed
1/4 c whole wheat flour
1 c all-purpose flour
1/2 c white whole wheat flour
1/2 c cocoa powder
3/4 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 generous c rolled oats
1-1 1/2 c chocolate chips (whatever floats your boat)

Turn your oven on to 350F.  In your mixing bowl, combine the sugar, brown rice syrup and oil; mix till well combined.  Sift together dry ingredients (I admit to sifting each directly into the bowl) and add in two batches.  Briefly mix the oats and milk; add to the mix with the chocolate chips.  Mix till just combined; dough may not stick together well or seem stiff.  Using your favorite cookie scoop, pack each scoop firmly using the side of the bowl and drop onto a prepared cookie sheet.  (Don’t have a scoop?  Roll your dough into a well-packed ping-pong-ball-like ball.)  Once the cookies are on the sheet, press each one down slightly to flatten to about 1/2″ or so.  Bake for 10-12 minutes, let cool about five minutes on the cookie sheet before moving to a cooling rack.  Eat.  Pretend you’re being completely healthy and guilt-free, reminding yourself (dark) chocolate can be good for you.  Laugh ’cause they look like little turdy pucks.  Enjoy.

At any rate, I am lucky enough to have taken today off to be at home with my four-legged children, the man I love, my sewing machine and of course, my stand mixer.  You will not catch me out amidst the throngs, oh no, I’m staying home and creating shipping-friendly cookie doughs.  I see some baked-with-love care packages going out in the future.

As you may have noticed, family is a big deal to me.  Ask me once, I will tell you lovingly of my older sister, my eeeeestar, as I call her, and how I spent years emulating her and just wishing we could talk to each other like real people do.  Push me a little further and depending on my mood, I might also tell you that I have three brothers, er, “brothers.”

An oldie but a goodie from Xmas ’07: Sean, Tris, me, Erinn

Tris is the eldest, who coincidentally is also recently engaged and is a year and some change my senior.  When I was still a baby, he would apparently go up to the nearest adult and say “Tina KY!” whenever I cried; my guess is that was his early attempt at “Can you please shut her up?” but it stuck as a nickname.  Next there’s “Not Sean!,” who, don’t worry, I like just fine now and who I can thank for the nickname “Scrinina.”  Erinn is the youngest who in my head is still somewhere between eight and fourteen but in reality, is now an interesting and well-faceted young man who is of legal drinking age.  Sigh.  Where does the time go?  (And sorry to disappoint, but to my knowledge, no additional nicknames from that one.)

Regardless of time, one thing they have always loved – or at least, did a great job of pretending to love – were my homemade cookies.  If I recall correctly, the ones that were the most coveted were the peanut butter chocolate chip variety.

Experimental cookie dough ready to chill out – coffee-pecan foreground; lemon brown sugar peeking out behind. We’ll see what happens when this gets baked off…

We’re all pretty well grown now, but it’s nice to know that no matter the miles between us or months between conversations, we’re still family, we’re still weird and love each other just the same and we all still really like cookies.  Vegan or not, cookies just feel like home.  Homemade love.  In shapes that may or may not be appropriate for minors.  Yeah.  Good stuff.

Cookies (and hopefully recipes, granted they turn out,) and more details to follow.

Till then…

Okay, maybe not entirely for the win.  Let’s say it was 60% for making sure everyone at work gets to have a proper food coma post lunch potluck, 40% for kicking some ass and taking home the cash.  Every year, we have a big Thanksgiving potluck here in the office, complete with turkey throwdown (traditionally roasted versus fried, though I hear one year the warehouse crew winner did a BBQ bird) and voting on who made the best side, salad and dessert.  So far, I’ve only placed second (yup, I’m shocked too, and modest!) with an I-can’t-believe-it’s-vegan Smlove Pie from Veganomicon but that’s okay.  This year I went big and I went for it!

I was lucky to use a vacant, adjacent suite’s kitchen, even if I did have to use the bathroom sink – it worked!

Dessert is usually my strong suit.  Just last night (this morning?) as I was assembling these, which I’m lovingly calling Yankee Girl Jammie Dodgers, my wonderful manthing noted that he did not need to taste test for me, that he was confident in all that I made and that I should put my feelers out to see if there is a local place who is willing to give me a shot in the kitchen making their desserts (y’know, in case Food Network delays their call… so East Bay Area, holla at ya girl!  I will get myself all certified, I promise!)

Right, so the Yankee Girl Jammie Dodgers.  One set I filled with the last of the remaining wild blueberry preserves, but when that ran out, the only jar I had in my pantry was quince; while I’ve actually never had quince anything, I ran with it.

Naturally, I commandeered the kitchen in the other suite and set up my toaster oven and CrockPots.  A small part of me hopes that Stephanie would be proud.  In the biggest crock: two Tofurkys, cremini and shiitake mushrooms, seasoning, veggie broth, extra-virgin olive oil sauteed-in-the-crock onions, shallots and garlic.  I think at this point I was running back and forth doing work and basting, so sorry, no picture. We will all get over this in time.

In the smaller crock: red and russet potatoes, carrots, more onions, shallots and garlic sauteed in extra virgin olive oil (just like in the Tofurky CrockPot.) I added some splashes of veggie broth throughout the process.

In the first crockette: seasoned Tofurky gravy (added a pinch of cayenne, some fresh black pepper)

In the second crockette: hot chocolate ganache to go on top of the “Holy Monkeys Peanut Butter Chocolate Monstrosity.”

Yeah, this thing:

The layers: sugar cookie crust, layer of crunchy “peanut butter cup” filling, semi-sweet chocolate mousse, white chocolate peanut butter, more semi-sweet chocolate mousse; warm semi-sweet chocolate ganache topping not pictured

And so you can see how serious this crew is when it comes to food, please note that when it comes to the full tables I only have pictures of the aftermath (it was not safe to attempt to take photos pre-feeding.  Trust me on this.)  As you can see, these folks like their desserts!  (More pictures from the potluck here.  Somehow in the chaos of it all, I snapped zero pictures of the pretty campanelle pasta I used in my spicy cashew-tofu ricotta pasta side.  Eh.  Still tasty!)

—— The company potluck was from 12:30-1:30, followed by a fun afternoon activity – a Feats of Strength competition.  My team lost but we had a great time all around; even the young sprouts that joined us were all smiles. ——

Voting is now said and done – I am happy to announce that I won first place dessert! HUGE thanks to my coworkers who enjoyed it and voted for me, and for those who missed out or are my Interwebz friend, don’t worry!  I’ll make it again next week and maybe I’ll post the recipe   It always makes me really proud when folks fall in love with a dessert and ask me between bites, “So this really has no butter?  It’s seriously vegan?  But it’s so rich!”  Ah, indulgence for all. Who knows, maybe all that self-ego rubbing and smack talking I did yesterday was good fuel, or maybe I got lucky. Regardless, I am elated, proud, thankful and am still a bit in disbelief. Wow.

Tomorrow, the aforementioned manthing and I will be chowing down on our traditional fare: stuffing, green bean casserole (I’m thinking either the FatFree Vegan or VeganYumYum one, but I love them both so!,) Tofurky, homemade portobello-shiitake mushroom gravy and I hear he bought some champagne.  While we indulge we will enjoy one another’s company and perhaps treat the kitties to a little something indulgent too.

Whatever your plans this Thanksgiving, I hope you take some time to think about the things you are truly thankful for, such as family, maybe even job security, delicious food or that you were able to help support animals by not eating them.  There are so many things in life that are far more important than getting up too early to rush out and buy things you don’t need!

Here’s to staying in, feasting and of course, MoFoing!

But it got me thinking.  It got me thinking about the appearance of cute and creative Chef Chloe on “Cupcake Wars” and of the smack spoken there, of debuts of shows like “Meat and Potatoes” and “Man vs. Food“‘s ever-insatiable quest to eat the most exorbitantly sized indulgent composition of dead beings, dribbles and bits…

Notice how I didn’t say a word about any of the shows that may be on the air which just might cater to my liking.  Why?  Because either they are never aired at a watchable hour (2am?  Come on!,) are rare (such as episodes of “Good Eats” dedicated to greens or an “Iron Chef America” episode where the secret ingredient is a legume,) or they are just plain dry, boring and reinforce the stereotype that vegetarian and vegan diets are uber healthy and subsequently super boring.

I like to think that I’m neither uber healthy nor super boring, but a nice balance of healthy and… other.  Sure I am healthy overall but I have been known to kill a bag of Tings without going running the next day or plow down all three dozen chocolate chip cookies I made over the course of a weekend. (That’s normal, right?  No?  Don’t tell me if not.)  Pepples donut farm makes me happy and I am okay with being that lady doing lunges down the street in an effort to burn off the 10 amazing donuts I just hoovered.

Also?  Did you not get the memo about how I kick ass?  I am a 5’3″ Filipina who likes to lift weights to Rage Against the Machine at 6:30am; I come from a family where my father keeps his longboard in the trunk of his car and my mother once proudly told me the newest thing she’d unlocked playing “Ratchet and Clank” was a rhino called “Rip You a New One.”  And my sister?  Don’t get me started.  Not boring!

If nothing else, I am modest and quirky, eh?

I digress.

As we progress as a society, as the word “vegan” becomes more commonplace, as the idea of being a locavore continues to grow, will there ever be a show for the rest of us?  Send me your celiacs, your lactose intolerant, your picky-pickies.  Send me your vegetarians, your vegans, your raw foodies…

But in all seriousness, what about the rest of us?

Isa and Terry were the OGs, taking to their local boob tubes; let’s not forget Julie’s steady stream of circle-v stars and starlettes.  What about the super attainable smiling of Ms. Bittersweet/My Sweet Vegan herself, the gal who outshined Martha Stewart on her own show or…  hell, what about me?

(Backstory: my fiance and I met in screenwriting at UCSD; I was a visual arts major with an emphasis in computing and a minor in cognitive science.  What this really means is I did a lot of film and video; since you don’t have money to pay for actors, you do your own acting or each other’s acting and then have no choice but to get used to seeing and hearing yourself on a big screen.  Work has sort of utilized my skillz…)

No, I’m not a professional, I’m not Cordon Bleu schooled, the large-breasted overly-toothy granddaughter of a director, winner of a James Beard Award or the child of raw vegan foodies who grew up on a commune.  I am a woman on a mission to share delicious things with the world, both helping bring variety to the lives of those who have chosen – or who have been given – a different path while proving to the disbelievers that our food isn’t just good for you, it is damn good, period.

So you hear me, FoodNetwork?

I’m ready for my throwdown.

————————–

Till then, you can catch me warming up via tomorrow’s work potluck competition: spicy tofu-cashew ricotta pasta, sweet jammy “Pepperidge Farm” style cookies, a monstrosity of peanut-butter-chocolate-overload variety and of course, the ol’ Tofurkys for those of us who will not be partaking in the deep-fried-vs.-roasted competition judging.  Who’s taking home first for desserts and sides this year?  Here’s hoping it’s lil’ ol’ ME.

Happy MoFoing!

(photos explained: at Pepples donut farm, baking and destroying from my desk, kicking my own ass in the gym at work, homemade chocolate cupcake, from the 2008 work “Olympics” – Team Survivor)