Celebration

I think for both of us, the best part of Summerfest was the new friendships we made. We are all from different walks of life, different parts of the country, and different backgrounds. But the things we have in common--compassion, veganism, dedication--were enough to draw us instantly together.

Monday supper

Monday I decided to try out one of my new cookbooks, Vegan on the Cheap, by Robin Robertson. She also wrote Vegan Planet, my favorite cookbook, so I've high hopes for the new one.

I decided to start off with Walnut-Dusted Fettuccine with Caramelized Vegetables, mainly because I had 2 boxes of spinach fettuccine I wanted to use up. The recipe called for everything you see below:

Many of the ingredients were staples I either already had or buy regularly anyway. The butternut squash, mushrooms, and fresh parsley were the only items I bought specifically for this recipe. The only modification I made was to cook the onions in water instead of oil. We just didn't need that extra fat, and the end result is the same.

The finished product. I have to say, I was skeptical while I was cooking it. I just didn't think it was going to be something I would love. And my husband wasn't sure that it would be filling enough for him.

But in the end we were both wrong! I *loved* it, and my husband did also, and found it very hearty. I described the dish over the phone to my mom and she said it sounded good to her! I will most definately be making this dish again, most likely when we are sharing a meal with my mom.

Saturation

Durng our 4 days at http://vegetariansummerfest.org, there was constantly something to do:


Demonstation: I went to only one food demonstration, which was given by Terry Hope Romero. She has a new cookbook entitled Vegan Latina (http://veganlatina.com.) She showed us how to make seitan tacos (with homemade corn tortilla) and we all got to try a serving. Yummy!

Illumination: This is Mr. GV having a free cholesterol check from Dr. Greger www.drgreger.org. His cholesterol was fine. Mine was OK compared to the typical American cholesterol, but not for someone who has a family history of heart disease. I was glad to hear from Dr. Greger that in just 2 weeks I could begin to improve my cholesterol level, and came home with a new determination to do just that.

Situation: We found ourselves in a new situation---being interviewed for a vegan radio show! I was a bit nervous, but think I made it through OK. That's our new friend C being interviewed and Mr. GV looking a bit stunned after it was all over. lol He did great though!

Identification: I took a class all about identifying wild edibles. After some education inside, we moved outside for some real-life experience. While I already knew about dandelions and a few others, there were many weeds that I did not realize were edible. My plan is to order one of the recommended guides and start checking out wild edibles in my own yard!

Exploration: Mr. GV and I had many opportunities at Summerfest to explore new ideas, including eating raw. Here is Mr. GV waiting to ask some questions after the presentation. We plan to incorporate some raw dishes into our diet in the near future.

Destination

This is the view from our hotel on the second day of vacation, in West Virginia. It was a gorgeous day!






This car was in the parking lot of the hotel. I hope they had a successful and fun journey from North Carolina to Los Angeles!




When we arrived at our destination, The University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown, we checked in and went to our room. And this is what we saw:

Yes, I knew this was a university, but somehow when I booked a double occupancy, I got the idea of "double bed" stuck in my mind. Silly, I know. I got a good laugh at myself because of that. I referred to these beds as our "Rob and Laura" beds, Rob and Laura from "The Dick Van Dyke Show" that is.

Rob, er....Mr. GV planning out his schedule for the week.

Anticipation

A couple weeks ago, Mr. GV and I headed out for our much-anticipated vacation. The drive there was easy enough. We spent one night on the road, then drove a few more hours the second day.

Here I am on the first day. We were so excited to be going on vacaton!

And here is Mr. GV taking the first (long) shift driving. Yep, this time one of us sat in the front and one in the back. It allowed us to have a bit more space on the drive.

And it let us have comfy naps. :)


We weren't sure how far we would make it the first day, so we didn't make a hotel reservation. I took along my laptop and when we were ready to stop for the night, we looked for a place that offered free wi-fi.

That place was a Panera in West Virginia. We used our Vegan Express app on my Ipod Touch to see what we could get that was vegan. (Fabulous app by the way. Loads of restaurants listed, and you don't have to have internet to access it once you have the app downloaded.)

We each chose the Low-Fat Vegetarian Black Bean soup, with some yummy bread on the side.


Part 2 of vacation coming soon.

Pickles again

I've had a few people asking me for the icebox pickle recipe I mentioned a while back so thought I'd post it here. It is so simple, and I'm sure the same as a million other recipes out there.

Annette's Ice Box Pickles

1 c sugar
1 c vinegar
1/2 c water

Boil together until sugar is dissolved. Pour over sliced cucumbers. The amount of liquid in this recipe was just enough for me to make 2 pint jars of pickles. You can eat them as soon as you want, but they will be better after a few days.

And that's pretty much it, folks!

Now, a couple notes from me:

I like to add celery seed, but it's optional. The same with onion sliced into thin rings. I think it adds a nice flavor. But please do not add red/purple onions, unless you want pink pickles. My husband and I could hardly choke those down a couple years ago. Our brains were up there saying "Sure, it's FINE" but our eyes were saying "Uh, I don't think so!"

Long live family tradition

My family's Independence Day tradition goes back quite a few years. Thirty-four to be exact. My father's aunt and uncle started having a potluck dinner and fireworks on that day. They had 9 children, so the family has grown quite large through the years as you can imagine. Add to that many friends of the family, and you have quite a large gathering.

My great-aunt and uncle passed away a few years ago, but the gathering simply moved across the street to my cousin's house, and for the most part has continued on in the same fashion. Something new that was added a few years back was a family tree shirt. I'm proud to say that my family has a branch on that tree. This years shirt was dedicated "In memory of Bobby." Bobby is my father, who passed away in March. I think he loved this holiday best of all, because it was filled with his favorite things--family, good home-cooking, and lots and lots of laughing and talking.




J wearing this years shirt.

J playing in the sand, around what I think is a horseshoe stake. I believe he was building castles.

J and his daddy climbing a tree.

J, with a bad case of cupcake-face and sunblock/bugspray/sweaty little boy hair, and a juice box courtesy of his Nana.




J and his daddy, with a really big sparkler.

Hey look, I snuck a picture of my husband in amongst all the pics of J. My wonderful husband had to work all day, then drove over to the next county, out into the boonies with little cell phone reception. (Important because he was on call at the hospital.) All just to spend a couple hours with my family, because he knows how much it means to me!

One of the more tame pieces that we did early on. This one was great, by the way. The name had the word popcorn in it, and it went on and on.

J and his uncle, Mr. GreenVeggie.

The boy is crazy over watermelon.