Eat Like a Rabbit

A resoluntion for me: plan menus in advance. One of my Christmas presents How to Eat Supper by Lynne Rossetto Kasper and Sally Swift, hosts of The Splended Table has a fantastic quote: "The world is divided into two kinds of people: those who wake up thinking about what they're going to eat for supper and those who don't." I truly fall into this category.

Paul's boss, see above knows the best way to keep her team (all men) together. Feed them! However, she also knows that they are all talented and smart. And from the photos and stories, I'd say they had plenty of opportunity to practice cooking for themselves during their lives. The department Christmas party consisted of a buffet with each person contributing ingredients or the entire dish. I understand the experience was quite fun.

My next New Year's Resolution is to not throw away so much food. Much of it is unintentional. For example, I leave a loaf of bread out on the counter for four days and it's already molded by the Florida humidity. Or I don't realize something is in the refrigerator because the storage container hides it and before too long it's been a couple weeks and the item is clearly done. There are also the opportunities that I miss of moving something into the freezer to extend its life. These are the things of which I want to be more conscious.

In the past, I haven't been one to make New Year's Resolutions. Generally because I am a creature of habit, and habits are hard to break. Secondly, I'm not a drinker or a smoker (I thank my education for that.) And I am good at getting recommended exercise (I thank my job for that.) So, part of me feels like there isn't much I want to change about myself. However, I can use the opportunity of the thought of a new year to make new plans for spending time in my kitchen. I love spending time in my kitchen. And, I want to make sure I have improved that to the fullest. That being said, I will now open my heart and share my New Year's Kitchen Resolutions in a series.

Thank you, Auntie Marsha, for our great place cards. You put so much time into this gift of love. It is so appreciated!

All our love, Paul, Mandi, Gerald, Kathleen, Ron, Claire & Gladys

Since we are all supposed to be spending time with our families this Christmas Day, I'll keep this short and sweet. I also think it is appropriate for all individuals, not just for vegetarians.

VegCooking has a great selection of vegan recipes with fabulous photographs to make you want to try every recipe they throw at you. The recipes are categorized by I love the thought of adding cranberries to green beans. I found it ironic that the side dish was recommended to go with hazelnut and rosemary encrusted seitan, which was the entree that sounded the most tempting to me.

The first of December last year, we were in Cleveland, Ohio, for a wedding and spent an afternoon at the Cleveland Botanical Gardens adjacent to Case Western Reserve University. It was just our luck everything was decorated for Christmas. There was a variety of Christmas trees shipped in from around the world with little ornaments telling the name, description, and postives/negatives of such a tree choice to celebrate the holiday. Also, around the building were gingerbread houses/buildings/designs. Apparently, there had been a contest and award ribbons adorned the greater creations.

Part of me was quite amused. I was laying out the schedule and menu last week for Christmas while three generations of Cajun females were running around Walmart. My mother made a tad of a grimace when I told her we were having a mix of mashed regular and sweet potatoes for lunch Christmas Day. She told me I should try out the recipe before I serve it to a crowd. Meanwhile, my grandmother was drooling over cans of sliced pineapple telling me how much she likes to serve a "Candle Salad" (come back after the holidays for a detailed post) every year when Christmas is celebrated at her house.

December 19, in a minor flood of holiday cooking articles, the New York Times writes an article about Martha Stewart's call on the popular cooking Reality-TV television show, Top Chef. She was present on the December 18 showing of the program. The big take-aways from the episode were that Ms. Stewart recommended simplicity ("but not too simple") and that the winning dish was vegetarian. The one-pot creation by Top Chef contestant, Ariane Duarte was made of cauliflower, potatoes, cream, and seasonings.

My mother-in-law sent me this very cool idea. I hope she wasn't thinking she wanted some of these for Christmas because I failed to catch the hint. I hope she was just thinking this would make a nice post on ELAR. The cards are 16 for $34.95. There are two copies of each design, which are well-photographed types of cookies yielding intriguing and beautiful card covers. On some of them, it took me a while to recognize what might be a cookie. This is important for people married to designers, which means food has to look good not just taste good. Attached to the card is a tear-away card to add to a recipe collection to make cookies that look as good as the pictures. I hope they taste as good, too.

Check them out.

Don't you wish your kitchen looked like this?

My mother became a vegetarian the day after Thanksgiving when she was 21. It is much easier to be a vegetarian today than it was even 15 years ago. Thanksgiving meals can be quickly prepared with meatless substitutes that taste as good as the real thing. (Obviously, this idea is subject to personal opinion. After all, I've tried meat and don't like the taste of it. I can palate soy meats much easier.)

This is a report on three trips to the newest Aldi in town. I have enjoyed shopping at Aldi and enjoy trying new items. I have spoken with some people who think that Aldi is a horrible idea. They don't want to bring their own bags and do not realize they are nice, thick, strong bags. I also hear complaints that the items are not brand-named. These are obviously people who have been fooled by marketing. Mind you, I don't complain about the concept of marketing. After all, that's how my husband makes a living. But I have found items such as Pine Sol, Colgate, Pringles, Anchor, and the same names I see on produce at Costco. I give these people the benefit of the doubt and call it an oversight.

Previously, I have blogged about the wisdom of using food as a gift. We have taken our own advice and found ways to give food as gifts. We give lovely jars (RECYCLED) filled with dehydrated or fresh herbs depending on who will receive the gift and what we think they may like. We put a homemade label on the jar that connects back to EatLikeARabbit.net for recipes and other suggestions. Generally, herbs are useful to an individual. And even they may not be useful to the original recipient, they know someone who will be thrilled to get it. Therefore, we are sharing our love of the land with others and giving something that won't sit in a closet and collect dust until an appropriate time comes to regift it or take it Goodwill.

We are busy travelers. Paul's parents are even busier travelers. My parents used to be busy travelers. We find it very hard to justify purchasing gadgets and souvenirs; spending money on things that will eventually be put away because they do not fit the house decor any more or because we have purchased something even better that deserves that special spot in our home. That is why we advocate purchasing kitchen gear and food-related items on vacation trips.

Today there is no recipe or kitchen gadget recommendation. Today I can only share some advice from a very wise man, Don B. Martin. At his funeral, the biggest announcement was that every meal was "the best I ever had."

There is a girl in my office whose husband had a major surgery that would likely remove him from a work environment for a couple years. It was devastating to our office. Because the economy is so bad, some of the staff got together and created a plan. They would serve "Leftovers with Love" meaning any leftovers could be put on a plate and wrapped in aluminum foil; then frozen and delivered to the couple and their teenage daughter. That way they could pull something out of the freezer, microwave it, and have a quick, healthy meal.