Tuesday, September 2, 2014

Labor Day Weekend - Food, Friends and Family

Rabbit Rabbit everyone!

Happy September!  May this month be filled with the remainder of summer -- sunshine and warmth, laughter with friends and more barbeque. And don't forget to finish those cocktails as well; they won't last until next June!

I went to a wedding dance this past Saturday.  It was held
on the couple's property in the country, well off the main road, down a dark, narrow driveway lined with votives in paper bags. When you got to the end, it opened up, and there were lanterns hung in trees and bon fires on either side. The dance was held in the newly-erected frame of the barn, and the bar was in the old barn adorned with tulle and huge Chinese lanterns.  There were tressle tables laden with food and music playing and babies and dogs and people dressed in whatever way made them feel comfortable -- which meant a wonderful collection of glitter and bling was mixed with dungarees and vintage 70's pant suits.  It was quite magical! 
The bride was my daughter's best friend whom we've known for 20 years.  And although there were lots of people there who were my age, most of the time I was the only one gal on the dance floor with the "youngsters".  What's with that, over 50-yr-olds? Regardless, I had such a lot of fun!


Besides my own 2 kids being home this weekend, I also picked up my "foreign children". Nagisa returned for her last 5 months.  And I have a newbie: 15 yr old Lena from Germany, a petite little girl with a mass of lovely wavy hair, big glasses and a sweet personality.  


 She was delighted to jump into the very cold Atlantic ocean with me on Sunday (as Nagisa sat and snapped pictures of us).  
Then she was doubly delighted to walk the boardwalk and eat Canadian ice cream; she said that Germany just has the regular flavors -- vanilla, chocolate, strawberry, etc.  She ate "Grizzly Tracks", I had "Double Decadent Chocolate" and Nagisa "Peanut Butter Cups". I can see we have a lot of ice cream to eat together!

Lena's a vegetarian who (thankfully) eats fish, dairy and eggs.  This semester will be another adventure in eating as we mix lots of good, nutritious vegetarian meals in with the occasional meat meal. She doesn't expect anything extra from me and would happily make do with whatever we eat minus the meat.  But I love to try new recipes.

This weekend, I cooked Indian as I already have a good base of vegetarian meals that I've cooked before.  But bloggie friends: If you have any suggestions for tried and true recipes, please pass them along.  


I do love a good mouthful!

8 comments:

I'm mostly known as 'MA' said...

I have never had to cook vegetarian. It is a help that she eats fish and dairy and eggs though. Hope you find some good recipes. Sounds like you will be busy. Hope the girls get along.

Linda H said...

Can't help with any recipes, but I sure would like to know more about that darling baby bunny!! :) Do tell...

Kay G. said...

Is anything cuter than a baby rabbit?
And I love that you danced at the wedding! What is wrong with people these days? Get out there and dance I say! x

TARYTERRE said...

You should dance like nobody is watching. I am glad you had fun. Never cooked vegetarian so I have no suggestions. But I bet you can get hundreds of good ideas online. ENJOY the experimentation. Indian is always my go to meal here.

Fat Dormouse said...

The baby bunn is hyper cute!!

I often have links to vegetarian recipes on my blog, as I try to cook vegetarian/fish once a week at least.
Mind you, it's often to a veggie burger type thing.
This is a nice fish dish http://www.womanmagazine.co.uk/food/pesto-cod-and-veggie-parcels/
as is this http://thelittlefoodbaby.blogspot.fr/2013/09/white-fish-with-chorizo-crust-taken.html
This is nice for begetarians & can easily have meat added on the side http://www.goodtoknow.co.uk/recipes/472721/Mediterranean-aubergines

I hope these give you some more ideas...It's easy to get into a rut with your cooking, isn't it?

Goody said...

I've been vegetarian since '83, and my son has been his entire life. That said, my husband is not, so I occasionally cook meat for him as a special treat, though I'm never quite certain if I'm doing it well or not (I don't think he'd say if I wasn't).

I'm not a fan of those "fake meat" frozen replacements, but I do make use of baked tofu as a chicken/beef replacement. Here's the basic recipe:

1 block extra firm tofu cut in 4 slices, and pressed dry between towels for about 30 minutes (change the towels once).

In a baking dish combine (use an old dish, as it will be needing a good scour afterward):
1 ground veggie cube (beef or chicken flavor)3 tablespoons oil, 2 tablespoons cider vinegar, a tablespoon of soy sauce if doing beef, a tablespoon of dried onion, 1 minced garlic clove, and a tablespoon of honey or golden syrup. Add the slices, turn to coat and then cover and chill overnight, turning once to soak up flavourings.

Next Day:

Heat oven to 400 degrees F. Bake 30 minutes, then turn slices carefully and bake another 30-45 minutes depending on how dark and firm you want it. At this point, use the tofu as you would in a recipe for cooked chicken or beef. It makes great sandwiches, I have breaded and fried it for a "Tofu Kiev", and made Italian beef sandwiches with fried onions and peppers. Slice it thin when cold, as it is easier to handle. It re-heats nicely and keeps, tightly wrapped for about 5 days.

There's plenty of meatless recipes on the blog too, but I thought this would be a good place to start. Let me know if you make it, and like it.

PS-Your granola made a trip with us to the geographical centre of the US (in Kansas) last week. The boys were so excited when I pulled a jar of it out of the packed supplies.

sabine ingerl said...

Dear Doris,
I loved how you described the wedding feast. It must have be great!
One of my favorite vegetarian meals is dhal, made of red lenses, potatoes, vegetables, whatever the frige offers, spiced with Garam Masala, garlic and Kukurma.
Have a fine late summer weekend!
Sabine xxx

Grace @ Sense and Simplicity said...

I'm just catching up on my blog reading. I loved hearing about your trip to Nfld and seeing your photos. We went there this summer as well.

Good for you for being willing to try vegetarian cooking. My favourite soup (which we had for dinner tonight) is vegetarian and tastes fantastic. Here is the recipe: http://gracie-senseandsimplicity.blogspot.ca/2013/04/peanut-soup.html

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