Vamos a Ver...

In Which I Answer the Eternal Question: What's for Dinner?

If you've noticed an overall pattern of randomness in this sudden burst of posting I've done, you're on to something. I'm just trying to show up and post every day. Vamos a ver... we'll see what comes of it.

I'm excited about dinner (partly because Jim is cooking it!) so I thought I'd post about that.

We're having:

• "Smokey Grilled Tempeh " from Isa Chandra Moskowitz & Terry Hope Romero's Veganomicon.

• Chilled-Curried-Carrot Soup, (substituting vegetable broth for chicken broth and probably warm rather than cold).

• Bread that Jim is baking-- I'm pretty lucky! He's asked me to make it clear that it will be a handmade, crusty loaf- not a bread machine loaf.

• Frozen broccoli from Trader Joe's that we need to eat before it gets freezer burned. 

The tempeh won't actually be smokey because we leave out the 2 tablespoons of liquid smoke that the recipe calls for. I don't like foods that taste smokey--probably for the best.

I discovered Veganomicon in our local library and we have loved every recipe we've tried so far. This "we" includes Anna (daughter) and Ray (son-in-law), neither of whom are vegan--although they do like tempeh. Anna is the one who first introduced me to it.

I've also been enjoying recipes from Vegan with a Vengeance which Anna bought me last week as a present. I'm interested to hear what she thinks of the Tempeh Reuben recipe she's planning to try. Just FYI there are plenty of recipes for things other than tempeh in both cookbooks-- it's just a coincidence that the two recipes I mention here are tempeh based.

Here's Jim cooking as Patches looks on, and yes, that "counter" he is cooking on is a clothes dryer--how annoying it that! We live in an old house that needs lots and lots of work. Eventually we plan for our kitchen to be more kitchen-like.

Meniscus Surgery Recovery Update Day 5

Today marks the 5th day since the meniscus and tibia cartilage trimming and I am finally turning the corner. The shower prohibition ended this morning so in addition to feeling a little better (more on that in a minute) I am also clean. Showers are so taken for granted and under-appreciated for the luxury (both as a pleasure and as a major indulgence in terms of the resources they use) that they really are. I saved a lot of water this week with my washcloth baths and the one hair washing I did at the kitchen sink. It dawned on me, during this at the sink shampooing, that when I was growing up people used to often wash their hair at the kitchen sink. I don't think people do this anymore. I wonder why?

For the most part I've spent the day lying down with my leg up with the calf well wrapped. The wrap makes a huge difference in cutting down on the pain. The rest and elevation seems to have worked its magic. Suddenly this afternoon, for the first time since even before the surgery, I found that I was able to walk without a limp. This was pretty exciting since the whole point of doing all this was to have a functional knee again. Although I'm still not up to spending a lot of time on my feet, I finally feel like I'm headed in the right direction. My plan is to keep doing what I'm doing, with more walking added in as I can tolerate it. I'm still tired- like really wiped out tired- from the systemic impact of being put to sleep and having power tools used inside a major joint. Although the holes they make are really little this stuff takes its toll. Hopefully the recovery process will start to speed up over the next couple of days. I have to teach Tuesday night and it will be little tough doing it if I don't feel a lot better than I do now.

Jim is making dinner again, another soup, this time with potatoes from the Brookfield Farm. This weekend is the last winter share pick-up. We'll have to go tomorrow or we'll be out of luck. It won't be long until the Foodbank Farm opens for the season and we'll start seeing all those greens again.

The dogs continue to get along. Patches is a joy and a nuisance- smart, sweet, and fun, but also good at finding trouble and finding it fast. She's so big and so agile that she can overcome almost any barrier. Put up a gate and she just leaps over it. If she wants something on a counter, say a stick of butter, she can just help herself. Just now while Jim was cooking she got one of my sweaters, luckily an old one, and chewed part of the collar off. Once I'm back on my feet there's going to be some serious dog proofing around here. Good thing she's crate trained or we'd really be in trouble.

Three Things to Do in a Blizzard

Watch birds.

Make soup.

Appreciate silence.