Meatless March

My small backup dancer had a birthday this week. Battling boredom and a growing sense of pointlessness, I committed to making it a ridiculous, over-the-top spectacle - an epic party that would be attended by zero guests. Was the excessive effort I poured into this for her, or for me? Does it matter? The elaborate costumes and decorations I made honored the theme of her choice: Harry Potter. Introducing Lucius Malfoy, Hermione Granger, and Harry Potter: We started the day with some lightning bolt pancakes. These floating "candles" took ages to make, but I am pleased with how they turned out. Lest you are wondering, that fourth setting at the table was just for symmetry! (Alas.) This blog is about my efforts to support the environment with my food choices, but I made some eco-friendly decorating and costuming choices. The floating candles are made of toilet paper and paper towel rolls, with "wax" drips created with a glue gun, and then painted white. I acquired the st

My backup dancers and I adore biscuits. I usually make them with butter and plain Greek yogurt . But in the name of taking whatever actions I can to fight climate change, I'm looking for ways to reduce my dairy consumption (meat, too, of course) - hence "Vegan Vednesdays."  I procured some vegan butter, and dove into " Vegan Quick Biscuits " (NYT Cooking; subscription required). How much do we love biscuits? So much that I used a cookie cutter and shaped them like hearts, and it wasn't even Valentine's Day! Raw dough Baked I used oat milk for the liquid. I wish I could say that they turned out as good as my usual biscuits, but their texture wasn't as good - it was less flakey. Still, it was not a bad texture. Really not bad at all. And they tasted delicious. (I skipped the maple butter topping, but that sounds amazing, doesn't it?) I served them with NYT Cooking's " Tomato and White Bean Soup With Lots of Garlic ." That was too inte

"This is really good," my backup dancers said of Yotam Ottolenghi's Cauliflower Cake , which I found on Serious Eats. Was it just me, or did they sound a little surprised? It IS really good and entirely straightforward - none of the "but how long should I let it simmer" or "should it be mixed smooth" or similar questions that a person often has when attempting a recipe. Add it to your repertoire of dishes in support of your goal to eat less meat for the sake of slowing climate change. I made that a couple nights ago, but of course we also went vegetarian for Valentine's Day last night, sending our love to Planet Earth. We had mushroom ravioli and heart-shaped spinach pasta and tomato sauce from Nicola's Pasta Fresca . I am in love with the ravioli and sauce on Feb. 14 and every day of the year. Naturally, we dressed for the occasion. We decorated the living room, and made heart-shaped sugar cookies, too. I am afraid that after basking in the lo

I was thinking today about all the realms in which I used to have some level of expertise.  For example, I started taking violin lessons in 4th grade, and learned to read music, a skill that I have lost. I studied German in high school and college, and while I could still get by in a basic conversation, that's about the extent of it now. I have had jobs that gave me expertise on subjects ranging from the defense industry to federal energy policy to Pakistan, but I have not stayed up to date on any of those things. My college honors thesis was on French nuclear weapon testing. Possibly the only thing left in my brain on that topic is an ongoing fear that nuclear war is still a possibility, and that is why I still read with interest each year about the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists’ action on their Doomsday Clock. This year, the Bulletin warned that we are ever closer to a global catastrophe of one sort or another - the closest we have been since 1947. Damn. Climate change is a