Wednesday, January 27, 2010

happy. new, year?

Yes. Well, hi. Having missed the entirety of the holiday season and then some (but having taken a ton of pictures), I have nothing to show for last year's cold, rainy, but warm-hearted festivities but a deluge of photos.

Butternut Squash Spring Rolls with Chile-Cranberry Sauce
Thanksgiving app: butternut squash spring rolls w/ chile-cranberry sauce (from Veganomicon).

ThxGiving Spread
Thanksgiving spread. Clockwise from top: Chestnut stuffing, pot pies, and mashed potato casserole.

Tempeh & Delicata Squash Pot Pies
Tempeh & delicata squash pot pies, filled with a pumpkin sage cream sauce.

Roasted Brussels Sprouts w/ Pistachios & Caramelized Onions
Roasted brussel sprouts with pistachios and caramelized onions (from The Vegan Table).

Pumpkin Cinnamon Swirl Cheesecake
Pumpkin Cinnamon-Swirl Cheesecake (from The 100 Best Vegan Baking Recipes).

Gingerbread biscotti dough.
Dough; gingerbread biscotti (from Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar).

Unfortunately, I was sick with a dreadful head cold as we finished the batch and developed somewhat of an aversion to the chewy, ginger-y, crunchy snacks. But they made easy, fantastic gifts!

Chai-Spice Pistachio Brittle, packaged.
Chai-spiced pistachio brittle, per Hannah's fool-proof recipe from the holiday issue of VegNews, all packaged up for cheapskate gift-giving!

Christmas treats abound.
The Dollar Store was my savior in gift giving. Maybe $10 spent on plenty cute Christmas-y tins and treat bags.

Feather on Christmas
Feather (apparently baked) on Christmas morning.

Mom and I
Mom and I on Thanksgiving. (Pictured here are my favorite earrings, which proceeded to be lost - then found shattered on the sidewalk the next morning - New Year's Eve. R.I.P.)


I think perhaps why it's so hard for me to keep up with my most highly prolific and creative fellow bloggers (my god, people, how is it done?!) is that I am... lazy. Lazy. Sure, I feel like a busy bee 24/7, but when downtime shuffles along, I often can't find the interest to blog. Which is odd, because I spend all that time surfing other people's prolific, creative, knowledge-wealthy blogs. Which is not to say, I don't like blogging. I do. It's a somewhat self-indulgent, narcissistic activity. Which I love. Or that I don't bake or cook ever. Because, I do. This is all just... not a priority.

However - I have a lot to say. Really, honestly. In the interest of catering to most food-blog-followers (few of whom have ever visited here, having realized my blogging abilities are kind of a dud), though, I try to keep my personal life largely out of it, focusing on what I eat and cook. But, with the aforementioned laziness and not-prioritizing, I've not really produced quality blogging. You still with me? The rambling's coming to a close, pinky-swear.

So, soon (maybe) I think that I will try to blog more. But on a different playing field. It will probably involve more than just what I eat on a regular (bi-annual) basis. I live in a great city and know interesting people. I can go on a tangent about the time my omni friends gave me shit about wanting to try a new vegan bakery the last time we were in Seattle like no one's business. As self-indulgent as it is, as much as anyone outside my Facebook network couldn't care less, I think I'll be done with MamaVG's and just blog... or whatever.

I act like this is some Conan-worthy sign off. It's really, really not. But, I thought I'd ramble a little and let ya'll know. And, thank you dearly for ever having looked on over here! I appreciate every single one of your comments. I do, honest. To. God. I hope that if I've peaked your interest a bit, you'll follow me should I move along!

3 comments:

Ricki said...

Hi Veronica,
Thanks so much for your comment on my blog, and for reading! And I'm happy to have found yours, too. :)

Re: stevia, I do want to stress that the brand-names like PureVia and Truvia are just one component of the whole stevia leaf, extracted through a chemical process. I use only whole extract, which is labeled "stevia" and has as its ingredient only "stevia." You'll likely have to find that kind in the health food store, as it's considered an herbal supplement and not a sweetener.

And thanks for jogging my memory of the holidays--now I feel like eating pumpkin and stuffing again! ;)

Veronica said...

Thanks! I appreciate you returning my comment!

Thanks for the extra emphasis, I'm still relatively unaware of all the forms of stevia on the market. It's really helpful to know the difference!

Oh, and yes, I know - I'm could really go for seitan and stuffing this weekend!

Anonymous said...

At least it still IS the new year! ;)

Those spring rolls look great, makes me want to whip up a batch too.