VeganMoFo: Q&A

This list was posted on But Did They Eat It? today. Apparently, it originated with Food Snobbery Is My Hobbery. Here are my answers:


1. Favorite non-dairy milk? West Soy non-fat plain soy milk. That's what I use in cereal, cooking, etc. If I'm going to actually drink it, which is rare, Living Harvest chocolate hemp milk or chocolate soy or almond milk. You'll never catch me drinking plain "milk" because I was never a milk drinker as an omni

2. What are the top 3 dishes/recipes you are planning to cook? If the question means to ask what are the 3 dishes I'm planning to make next, the answer is: probably cupcakes for a friend's birthday Thursday, the Smoky Seitan, Pinto Bean, and Hominy Stew from the November issue of Cooking Light, and something having to do with the pizza sauce I made last night (maybe pita pizzas).

3. Topping of choice for popcorn? I'm not much of a popcorn eater, but lemon pepper and faux parmesan are good.

4. Most disastrous recipe/meal failure? One of my favorite cookbooks is Dr. Neal Barnard's Foods That Cause You to Lose Weight. When I was a brand-new vegetarian, I attempted the Spinach and Mushroom Fritatta. Within the instructions, there is a prompt to "process tofu and tahini," but tahini isn't listed in the ingredients list. So, I just kept adding tahini until the mixture got smooth and it was inedible by the time I was done with it. I haven't tried this recipe again, but if I ever get my hands on a newer edition, I'll check the recipe to see if they fixed it.

5. Favorite pickled item? Cucumbers!

6. How do you organize your recipes? I keep recipes that I print from the internet in a binder on my cookbook shelf. I rarely print them anymore, though, keeping them instead in a "recipes" folder in my e-mail. My cookbooks are organized alphabetically by title in a series of three consecutive overhead kitchen cabinets.

7. Compost, trash, or garbage disposal? Trash and garbage disposal.

8. If you were stranded on an island and could only bring 3 foods...what would they be (don't worry about how you'll cook them)? Fresh blueberries, fresh raspberries, red grapefruit.

9. Fondest food memory from your childhood? My maternal grandparents had a crabapple tree that almost never bore fruit, but I remember it for some reason.

10. Favorite vegan ice cream? Whole Soy makes a chocolate hazelnut soy frozen yogurt that reminds me of nutella...yum! Also, pretty much any So Delicious Purely Decadent flavor (mmm, Coconut Craze and Cherry Nirvana). I'm going to Scoops in L.A. this weekend, though, so this answer might change!

11. Most loved kitchen appliance? It's all about the KitchenAid Professional Stand Mixer!

12. Spice/herb you would die without? I wouldn't die without it, but freshly ground black pepper.

13. Cookbook you have owned for the longest time? The two French-language vegetarian cookbooks listed at right.

14. Favorite flavor of jam/jelly? Boysenberry.

15. Favorite vegan recipe to serve to an omni friend? Either my yummy broccoli-tofu stir-fry or vegan cupcakes.

16. Seitan, tofu, or tempeh? I guess I'd have to say tofu.

17. Favorite meal to cook (or time of day to cook)? Dinner.

18. What is sitting on top of your refrigerator? Extra cartoons of soy milk, hemp milk, and Trader Joe's vegetable broth, champagne flutes, and an old dish drainer rack.

19. Name 3 items in your freezer without looking. Corn, Morningstar Farms Vegan Grillers Burgers, raw cashews.

20. What's on your grocery list? I just went to Trader Joe's yesterday, so the list is empty!

21. Favorite grocery store? Trader Joe's!

22. Name a recipe you'd love to veganize, but haven't yet. I would never be so bold as to attempt to veganize angel food cake and meringue cookies, but I'd love it if someone else would do so!

23. Food blog you read the most (besides Isa's because I know you check it everyday). Or maybe the top 3? This would be like choosing your favorite child; it's an unfair question and I don't want to hurt anyone's feelings. Please see the blogroll at right.

24. Favorite vegan candy/chocolate? I don't buy these often, but I think Sjaak's Nuts and Chews assortment is the best of the vegan chocolate boxes. I wish Jelly Bellys were vegan...that's my all-time favorite candy. I always went for the sugary candy as opposed to the chocolaty candy.

25. Most extravagant food item purchased lately? As far as price goes, probably Newman's Own Ginger-Os. I saw so many bloggers using them that I had to give them a try. I think they were about $4.50!

26. Make up your own question to put here (and answer it). Name a vegan staple food (or one that appears to be a staple in everyone else's eyes) that isn't one of your vegan staple foods: Tofu scramble. I think I'd better step up and give it another try! For some reason, it just doesn't really appeal to me.