Our Veggie Kitchen

I haven't been keeping up too well this week. My laptop crashed on Saturday and I spent Sunday (my normal cook/prep day) working on computer [expletive]. But I did get make some wonderful meals inspired by some of the many great bloggers out there. But before I get to that, I'm going to rant.

I bought an ASUS laptop almost two years ago. This weekend I plugged it into a wall socket that has a tendancy to spark. Needless to say, I fried my motherboard. It was my fault for being a dumbass. I called ASUS and they gave me an RMA and said they'd fix it. They even said they'd fix the hard drive that died when i tripped over the laptop while running for a beer between commercials during March Madness. I shipped my computer on Monday and I got it back on Thursday. Four days! including shipping! for something that I BROKE! AMAZING!

My assistant needed a new computer anyway, so I decided to buy a computer that I could use while mine was RMA land, then pass it on. I bought an HP at circuit city. I went against my better judgement, I've had a long history or receiving poor support form Compaq and HP and bought another. It was a lemon. The Network adaptor only works intermittently. I insisted it was a hardware issue. Linksys insisted it was a hardware issue. My brother, the network administator insisted it was a hardware issue.

Circuit City plugged it in saw that it worked and blamed my network. I told them all the things I've checked, including swapping network hardware, and messing with DHCP settings, checking client tables, etc. They said "It works here, there's nothing wrong." Did they not hear INTERMITTENT?? Did they not hear that I have some knowledge and that I talk to experts?? Oh, did I mention that I spent 90 minutes on hold with HP tech support and never got through!

So I am boxing up the computer and return it to Circuit City, being as assertive as I know how. If they refuse to return it, I will leave it in thier care and sick VISA on them. I've learned my lesson. And my word of advise: Dont' by a HP Desktop. Again, DON'T BUY HP! DON'T BUY HP! DO NOT BUY AN HEWLETT-PACKARD DESKTOP COMPUTER.

---------------

Now that that's off my chest, I did take some photos of some pretty decent meals. None are my own creation, but things that looked good (and tasted good) out there in the ether.

Monday night, I was oging to make some split pea burgers, but they take a while to simmer, so I went for an easier aternative. I made Veganomicon's Black Bean Burgers. They were a bit bland, but had a nice meaty bite and, with good rolls, and chunks of avocado, cilantro and tomato, they really hit the spot. The roasted red potatoes with White Basil Sauce were a perfect addition.




I'd planned on making Tofu Mom's Vegan Pesto and that came on Wednesday. Knowing that I had no time to cook, I whipped the pesto ahead of time and had dinner on the table in 20 minutes. The only thing I do differently, is that I hold out half the basil leaves and hand mince them. Blend everything else with a little water, then mix in the rest of the basil. I add miso sometimes too. It is really good. I served it with bread and a spinach salad drizzled with yummy sauce.



Last night, I tried something that looded and sounded really good, and it did taste really good. So here is Omadsa's Pumplin Chili. I followed the recipe verbatim (except I was out of kidney beans so I used pinto), adding 1/4 tsp pepper and 3/4 tsp salt. I tested the sauce and was determined that it deeded something else. Turns out, it needed beans. Once I had a spoonful of everything I was sold. It's even better the next day. Great job Omadsa!



Well that's about it today. I did finish the modificaitions to my vegan cornbread muffins. Finally, they held toghether and tasted good all at the same time. I'll post them shortly.