Category Archives: Veg Musings

Recipe Testing: The Asian Grandmother’s Cookbook

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I ran across The Asian Grandmother’s Cookbook blog not too long ago. It’s a blog written by Pat Tanumihardja, a writer specializing in food, travel, etc. She got her first book deal to write a cookbook. A compilation of Asian recipes. She was looking for people to test some of the recipes to see how clear directions are, how appealing, results, etc, etc. I signed up.

She sent me 2 recipes and a form to fill out about each one. I took a stab at them late last night at my mom’s house where mom, my sister and I worked together to make and fill out the forms together. We were all very surprised at how simple they were to make. I’m not going to post the recipes here because that would be stealing the thunder from her book. However, I will tell you what they were and how I liked them.

Chinese Pickles
These pickles aren’t the standard tart “American” pickle. They are made with a bit of a sweeter brine and tasted an awful lot like the cucumber sunomono I buy at my local Sushi spot. The directions said to feather the edge… That was a challenge!

Pumpkin Custard
They were supposed to be the small sugar pumpkins, but those aren’t in season, so I used one acorn squash and one kabocha squash (both recommended alternatives in the recipe). They were filled with a custard made with coconut milk. It was very tasty and I was pleased with the light sweetness with the squash. A sweet made from squash is always good for the nutritional aspect. My dad went wild over it when he tasted it. I’ll definitely make this one again. And I’m thinking it just might become my breakfast tomorrow morning.

Raw Vegan Recipes

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I’m desperately wanting to try my hand at some raw vegan recipes. I’m not vegan and I’m definitely not ‘raw’ vegan, but after seeing these recipes and the gorgeous pictures that accompanied them, I now have “the bug”.

Ideally, I want to try to get a group of friends together to have a dinner party. I know my husband won’t be interested, so it will have to be a group of my more adventurous foodie girl friends for “Girls’ Night Raw Dinner Party” (but I need a much more interesting name than that for it, of course).


Since the dishes can sometimes be time consuming and/or pricy, ideally, I’d like everyone to find a recipe and bring one dish to make a complete meal without putting all the burden on one person (i.e, me) especially since none of my friends have had any experience with raw foods.

Now, I just need to plan it and find the girls who are willing to try. I’m open to suggestions, tried and true recipes, or anything else you may be interested in providing me.

Did you know?

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If you’re fresh out or if you just want to be more gourmet or try something different, did you know you can make your own…

Brown Sugar?
1 cup granulated sugar, add 2 Tablespoons molasses. Mix well. It’s cheaper than store bought and tastes just as good.

Baking Powder?
1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar and 1/4 teaspoon baking soda. This is the equivalent of 1 teaspoon commercial baking powder. Add 1/4 teaspoon of cornstarch to absorb moisture in the air and prevent premature chemical reaction between the acid and alkali if you don’t plan to use it right away. I hear it tastes significantly better than store-bought versions.

Self-Rising Flour?
Combine 1 cup all purpose flour, 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder (that you just made with the recipe above) and 1/2 teaspoon salt.

Egg?
Well, not really “make” your own, but make a substitute for eggs. You have 2 options (each is the equivalent of 1 egg):
1) 2 Tbsp flour, 1/2 Tbsp shortening, 1/2 tsp baking powder and 2 tsp water.
2) 1/2 large banana, mashed.

Super-Fine Sugar?
Sugar + Food Processor = Super-Fine Sugar.

Awkward Moments

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Everyone has them. You know the kind. When you go for a handshake and they go for a hug. And then you both go the same way for a hug and almost kiss instead. The moments that you squirm in your seat and wonder if you should acknowledge it. And then you think about later and it still makes you squirm. How about those times when you someone’s fly is down and you look and then don’t really want to look again to see if that was what you saw. And do you say something to them? Do you let it go? You don’t really know them… But it still bothers you?

How does this relate to Veg SF Blog?

Thanksgiving was spectacular. Lots and lots of traditional dishes served in the good, old-fashioned style that I grew up with. And, I’m slightly spoiled. My mom makes me my own special veggie gravy and makes sure all the sides are veg friendly. She makes the stuffing with no meat broth and only puts marshmallows on half the sweet potato casserole. It’s a meal I can definitely enjoy.

This year, we had a distant relative of my Dad’s join us. She wanted to visit with us and my Grandma since she hasn’t seen anyone in many many years. Come to find out, she’s vegetarian. So, I filled her in that she should be able to eat just about all of the sides and she was excited to know she had “come to the right house” for a veggie-friendly Thanksgiving!

As I was munching away on my plate of food, I noticed she had not only taken a huge scoop of marshmallow topped sweet potatoes, but she had also grabbed a spoonful of the jello salad. My sister and I shared a glance across the table and went on. Do I say something and chance sounding like a know-it-all vegetarian? Maybe she knows and is less strict. Maybe she’s innocent. Do I let her sit there and eat it? So, I sat there and did nothing. And she didn’t notice I didn’t have any of that on my plate. But I still cringed.

It’s interesting how much of the veggie world is still fairly clueless about the reach of meat based products. Even me. I know that inevitably, in my lifetime, I’ll probably have a smidgen of meat-based something just because I can’t know EVERYTHING about EVERY food item that touches my lips. But still… I try my best and continue to cringe whenever I see a veggie eating something that I know is clearly not.

*shudder*

Happy Thanksgiving!

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May your stuffing be sausage-free, may your gravy be lump and meat free, may your meal be healthy, may your pie crust be flaky, may your tofurky be juicy, and may your turkey be safely eating at the table among friends. :)

I hope you have a very happy and blessed Thanksgiving.

Things I miss

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I haven’t been veg all my life, I started eating veggie about 13 years or so ago. I seem to get asked this question frequently. “How long have you been a vegetarian?” After I respond, generally it’s followed by “Is your whole family vegetarian?” And then, inevitably, the last question will be something along the lines of “Don’t you miss meat?”

No, I really don’t miss meat. It’s been so long ago, that I think I’ve almost forgotten what it tastes like. In fact, on occasion I have to hand my veggie dog over to my husband and ask him if it’s really fake because I can’t tell. He nibbles on it, makes a yucky face and confirms that it is indeed faux meat.

What I do miss, however, are some items that have meat product in them – namely foods with gelatin. (For those non veg readers thinking “gelatin???”, here’s an article for you). These foods include marshmallows (i.e, rice crispy treats, s’mores, roasted on an open fire), jello, jello based desserts, Starbursts, etc. Sometimes I get lucky and find a veggie replacement at a health food store. But, not always. And some things just aren’t the same. They don’t taste right or the texture is just odd.

I discovered a place, however, that seems to do the trick at helping with the craving. The Vegan Store. An online/mail-order store with a bunch of very cool and very good replacements. I make an order about twice a year that typically includes marshmallows, gelatin, “fruit jel”, gravy, pre-made crispy treats, tofu jerky, and whatever else hits my fancy. The only problem is this: I gorge myself on the food when it comes in the house. For example yesterday, I made Strawberry Fruit Jel. I had about 3 bites of it last night. And today, I polished the rest of it off. 95% of the bowl to myself in one sitting (the other 5% was what I ate last night). Yum.

I went poking around online today trying to decide what to get in my next order. Unfortunately, they don’t have any more of the Fruit Gel in stock. (Or maybe that is “fortunately”). But just looking through the products online, my mouth is already watering for rice crispy treats. It’s been far too long since I’ve had one. They even have “ricemallow creme” now in either regular or strawberry flavors! Maybe now I can make one of those yummy fruit dips that everyone raves over and yet I have never tried. An order is definitely going to need to be placed – and soon. Gotta stock up for the holidays!

A Welcome & Grand Opening

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I feel as if I need to grace my new blog with a post of some sort. A “hello” and a wave in the the Internet world even though I know there will be no one reading it for a while yet.

This is my “Grand Opening” of VEG SF – my little space to write about my veggie adventures around the SF Bay Area, whether it be at home or dining around. I already have a couple of great post ideas that are just waiting for me to sit down and write them. So, bookmark the page (if by some miracle, you’ve actually stumbled across this post) and check back soon.

So, crack open a virtual bottle of bubbly, let’s cut the virtual ribbon, and help yourself to the virtual veggie finger foods as you enjoy my Grand Opening party!

Bon Appetit.