Q.E.D.

at least they’re pink.

I went to Strongsville, Ohio, to play in a hockey tournament this past weekend. it was my first road trip with the team I am skating with this fall. they are a women’s ice hockey team who play in a Pennsylvania Ohio women’s recreational league with an upper and lower division, (we are in the lower division). it was fun. I can’t really put it in better words than that; I love hockey and love playing it and even like some of my teammates well enough that it was all worthwhile, despite the 2.5 hour drive I made there and back alone and the few teammates I don’t much like and the homework I had to do that weekend on a crappy laptop with no internet connection and the lack of vegan food in Strongsville; (but Panera does make a good iced green tea, I discovered).

so, I subsisted on Clif Bars, protein powder, bananas, salad, pasta, smoky Motel 6 bed sheets and comraderie.. (awww, puke!) and of course, this fact: I scored! you know, when the puck goes in the net?

in general, I played OK. not great, not terrible. probably as well as can be expected for a girl who just started a year ago. same as our team, in fact; we won one game, lost one, and tied one, and didn’t make the final championship cut.. but the team we beat turned out to be the one who did. odd. more importantly, however, I scored my first goal, which also turned out to be the game winner in the bout we won. this is especially cool because I have not yet mastered much of a shot and I play defense so scoring is something I did not expect to do any time soon. I kept the puck. well, they gave it to me; I probably wouldn’t have thought to keep it. what should I do with it? put it on the mantle above the fireplace in the house I am buying? (but that’s another blog post entirely. stay tuned for that nonsense, I guess).

no, despite my official new intentions to post more about Pittsburgh related items and be more useful as a blogger, (perhaps offer some kind of information now and again instead of boring old pics?), I will not be ceasing to post food photos; however, the sun sets at an ungodly hour now, which means you will see hardly a decent photograph taken in natural light for the next six months. thank you, Pittsburgh. to bid farewell, I’ve included the last several photos from my camera at the end of this post.. it’s been good eats recently but lazy photos..

on a seperate note, the Patriots are still undefeated. in case you didn’t notice.

on a seperate seperate note, I am trying to buy a house. I decided to make a tag for it, even though I am note quite ready to discuss the details (don’t want to jinx anything!) but hopefully I will soon be writing about the trials and tribulations of original single pane windows and how I can’t afford my gas bill since I can’t afford new windows. and maybe advice for fellow Pittsburgh homeowners, or something.

whatever, you’re probably just here for the food..

homemade tarka dhal with wild rice and some zucchini; the tarka dhal is from a recipe I found online on a blog I’ve long forgotten. first attempt; note to self- don’t simmer all the liquids away from the lentils before finishing the dish:

you’se seen this dish before, but hell, it tastes awesome and it’s a really sunny photo, isn’t it? hot sauce tempeh nuggets and some salt & peppered greens:

ordinary tofu scramble with a bunch of chipolte pepers thrown in:

and why not some dessert? this is the only picture I have of these brownies even though I’ve made them three times now.. they are from Peter Berley’s Modern Vegetarian Kitchen. I’m iffy about posting book-recipes online but suffice it to say I found it with a little google reconaissance, hint hint. simply the best brownies I’ve ever had. previously touted Sinfully Vegan brownies come in at a close (and less fat-filled) second, but.. shiiiit. I’ll never bother with an ordinary brownie recipe again. (but I will try these soon..):

dark chocolate no-bake cookies:

peanut butter silk pie (from Vegan With a Vengeance):

and lastly, a batch of mini blueberry muffins I mailed to my brother; recipe is a mish mash of ones I’ve collected. the important thing is to top them with something that gets crunchy after baking, like raw sugar: