Happy Earth Day!

I hope everyone had the chance to celebrate Earth Day in some small (or big) way!

I'm fortunate to work in the environmental field, following a passion of mine and fostering stewardship ideals in others. Today I worked with a group of high schoolers as we potted approximately 300 native saplings, previously rescued by volunteers from a mow-zone last fall.

The before photo!

Directly after rescuing these saplings from a mow-zone in a Wissahickon meadow last fall, we heeled them in during their dormancy. Heeling plants in involves digging a ditch for the bare roots, covering the roots with wood chips, propping the saplings up with a wooden board, and protecting the plants in a makeshift green house with white tarp placed above the rib in the photo. Amazingly, we only had a handful of casualties over the winter.

We had approximately 20 volunteers working for about an hour and a half to pot these guys, taking care not to cover the root flare, to stand the saplings up straight in the pot, and tamp the soil down correctly. We even experimented with two different types of soil.

The after photo!When these native trees grow large enough to withstand deer browsing, they'll be planted in the Wissahickon Valley Park. This group is made up of tulip poplars, sweet birch, and sweet gum.

Field Roast: A Go-To Package of Goodness

I recently discovered Field Roast products at my Whole Foods, which left me wondering why I didn't pick them up sooner. I am IN LOVE with their Smoked Apple Sage Sausage. IN LOVE. My favorite way to eat it is super simple, too. It's become my go to meal on a weeknight where I want something quick and delicious.

First, I lightly pan fry the sliced sausage until it's crispy. I set the sausage aside on a plate. In the same pan, I quickly steam a bunch of kale. I toss the kale with lemon juice, salt, pepper, and a little Earth Balance. I put the kale in a serving dish, top it with the sausage, and squeeze a little more lemon juice on top. So simple and so, so good.

I recently tried the Celebration Roast, which was also very good. For this meal, I sliced and lightly pan fried the roast. I plated it with some creamy mashed potatoes with fresh parsley and garlic, and steamed kale (topped with s, p, Earth Balance, and lemon juice). It was VERY good. Next time I'll think about making a gravy to go on top, but it really didn't need it.

My local WF carries the Celebration Roast, Smoked Apple Sage Sausage, Mexican Chipotle Sausage, Italian Sausage, and some deli cuts. I've only tried the first two. I guess I should remedy that!

The Belgian Cafe and Family!

I have family in town this week, visiting from Connecticut. On Monday I thought it would be a good idea to meet near the Art Museum and afterward walk over to the Belgian Cafe in the Fairmount/Spring Garden neighborhood. The restaurant has a good selection of vegan and non- items, so I figured that it would be a crowd pleaser.

On my way to meeting up with the fam, I traipsed through the lovely azalea garden behind the art museum. My goodness, we've had some lovely weather this week. Seeing a bunch of folks laying out on the grass reminded me of my Krishna lunch days on the University of Florida campus. Ah nostalgia. Ah Krishna dressing.

Back to the present time and place. Look at these (assuredly non-native) pretties:

Obligatory "running up the steps" shot.

Obligatory "posing with Rocky" shot.

On to the food.

DocDufresne and I shared:

Frites (with smokey homemade ketchup)

spicy BBQ Seitan Wings

Vegan Burger

Vegan Reuben

Belgian beer:
Brasserie Dupont Avec les Bons Voeux

Lambic Framboise (Raspberry- yum, yum, yum, says the non-beer drinker)

It was so nice to eat outside on a pleasant day, especially in the company of great family! I wish we could get together more often!

Recent Cares4Pets Photoshoots

As you may have read a while ago, I'm helping out with a 2011 Cares4Pets calendar, which showcases happy Cares4Pets dogs and cats in their loving adoptive homes. I'm currently 1/3 of my way through the photo shoots. The calendar will be available starting late summer/early fall, with all proceeds going directly to the rescue, rehabilitation, and rehoming of lucky dogs and cats in the Philadelphia area.

Recently I had the pleasure of photographing Thorn, a beautiful dog, previously known as "Comet," one of Cares4Pets' "Christmas Puppies," and Nobbles, a friendly cat who is clearly in love with his humans.

More photos of happy pets and happy families to come soon!

Fruit "Pupsicles"

Based on an idea provided by PPKer, birdsonawire, I've started freezing pureed fruit concoctions in baby food jars. Andy and Emerson spend a good 2o minutes enjoying the "pupsicles".

The original idea was to use these treats as a reward for training purposes, allowing the boys a few licks here and there. I may try that soon. I also just like the idea of giving them something as a treat that they can lie down with and enjoy for more than 5 seconds.

Andy and Emerson go gaga over these things.

I'm sure they wouldn't discriminate against veggies, but so far I've used various mixtures of leftover bananas, apple sauce, silken tofu, and soy milk.

I'm still looking for a vegan dog chew that'll last longer than dehydrated sweet potatoes! Found some in the UK, but shipping is astronomical.

Rangoon Burmese Restaurant

This week DocDufresne and I headed over to Rangoon Burmese Restaurant in Chinatown for a Meetup dinner. There were several vegan dishes and a helpful wait person that had our backs when it came to ordering.

What an awesome group of people! Everyone passed around the dishes they ordered so that all at the table could sample.

Appetizers:

Crispy Taro Root


Golden Triangles (Burmese Samoosa)


Firecracker Lentil Fritter


Asian Spring Rolls

Main Dishes:

1. Jungle Tofu

2. Vegetarian Keema
3. Chili Tofu
4. Mango Tofu
5. Eggplant Pin Sein
Monsoon Vegetable (not pictured)

Overall, the dining experience was decent. The appetizers were good and I liked the Jungle Tofu dish the best. I felt the food wasn't quite worth the price. I hear they have a more affordable lunch menu. When in the area, I'll probably just go across the street to Kingdom of Vegetarians, a completely vegan restaurant, which, in my experience, has been a better value (just be prepared for greasy food!).

Also: Spring is almost here! My aunt came for a visit last weekend and brought along these lovely daffodils!

Good Eats and Good Dogs

With all the snow we've had recently, DocDufresne and I have gotten pretty good at "pantry cooking." Last week I was especially happy with two meals we had.

Dinner 1: Mini Ciabatta with Hummus and Veggies
DocDufresne has been experimenting with different recipes from the Bread Baker's Apprentice. He made some mini ciabatta, which we sliced open and filled with homemade hummus and tahini, tomatoes, and arugula. Oh drippy goodness.

BTW: Hummus made from (soaked) dried chick peas is sooo much better than from the canned version. I'll never go back!

Dinner 2: Southern Style Black Eyed Peas with Kale and Cornbread
I had the foresight to soak some black eyed peas during the day. I based the dish off of this recipe, omitting the liquid smoke* and adding diced vegan hot dog. I also used kale instead of collard greens. The cornbread was loosely based off of a recipe on the corn meal package. I added diced jalapenos to Doc's. Isn't the cornbread cute in the individual ramekins? I love when I can bake in the toaster oven.

We love Crystal hot sauce in our house.

I thought of my friend, Ladybeth, as I sipped on my margatini. It's just lemonade with tequila and sliced jalapeno. I also made "Melt in You Mouth Fudge" from Sinfully Vegan. I topped it with pecans.

*Due to an awful liquid smoke overload experience, DocDufresne is forever turned off from the ingredient.

Lastly, as promised in the title of this post: Dogs!

Andy kindly offered to clean the applesauce container, even carrying it back to his bed.

And Emerson. What a Cutie.

DocDufresne and I volunteered at a Cares4Pets adoption event on Saturday, where I got to play with a bunch of cute pups, including an adorably sweet three-legged puppy, and a much-younger Andy-look-alike. Doc took photos!