Meatless March

Me, my mom, and my sister Mother's Day was last weekend, and I reflected on some of the wisdom my mom passed down to me. Sure, she was wrong when she warned me that "if you watch too much TV, your eyes will turn square," although I actually believed it for a short while when I was little. On the other hand, her insistence that "you can't know whether you'll like something unless you try it" has stood the test of time. I was finding life to be a little stale at the end of last year, so I decided to try new things. I began learning French, and I took an upholstery class. I went to a free conference on " Health and Climate Change ," where I knew no one, and introduced myself to strangers. I even started a new video series on YouTube, called " South Orange Is My Best Color ," in which my friends and I talk about our clothing choices. Cluelessly attempting upholstery Make no mistake: All of these efforts have involved some degree of discom...

For years, I have had a hankering to attend the Philadelphia Flower Show, which occurs on the cusp of spring and therefore promises to tide a winter-weary gardener through those final weeks of cold.  Tuesday. Bad. I suffer. This year, I learned of a group that had chartered a bus to attend the show, but they needed more people to buy seats to cover the costs. My moment had finally arrived. It was good fun, and exactly the colorful afternoon escape from winter that I'd hoped for. For dinner, we crossed the street to the Reading Terminal Market, and I was delighted to find a vegan deli .  Notice my photo-bomber backup dancer on the right I had a "turkey" sandwich, and while I will grant you that it did not taste too much like turkey, it did taste very good and I was happy. And I was tickled that the "meats" and "cheeses" at the deli actually looked like the real thing, sliced and stacked in a display case on the counter, but without the contribution to g...

 Happy new year! Have you made a "green" New Year's resolution for 2021? You could resolve to: Make a "Leftovers Day" once a week, to reduce food waste.  Learn to repair a broken item (toy, clock, clothes, iron, jewelry, etc) - Repair Cafe has some tips, just search by your item!  Walk, bike, or scoot* rather than take a car to a nearby place you visit frequently (park, library, store). Hang a clothesline, inside or out, or set up a clothes rack, and air-dry at least one load of laundry each week. Never drink another single-use bottle of water. Find new owners for 10 things you don't want or need anymore. And of course, you could resolve to eat less meat and dairy , because animal-based foods contribute more to climate change than plant-based foods. "Meatless Mondays" and "Vegan Vednesdays" make excellent starting points. We tried " Portobello Philly Cheesesteaks " (The Nut-Free Vegan) last week, and they were decent. The reci...

I am typing this post with the Golden Globe ceremony playing in the background, and while I can't help focusing on what I consider to be a regrettable trend of women neglecting to wear a shirt under their jackets, I'm tickled that the event planners changed their menu to vegetarian . Maybe there is hope for humanity, after all! Fleabag: great show. Season 2 even better than season 1 Melissa Clark at the New York Times is on exactly the same page as me: trying to eat less meat, even though she loves meat, and spreading the word . Bonus: Her readership is a smidge broader than the four or so of you that read this blog! Tonight I made a really lovely and easy vegetarian recipe: " Roasted Mushroom and Gruyere Sandwich " (NYT Cooking; subscription required). Two thumbs up, even though the small backup dancer didn't finish hers because she was chowing on pretzels in NYC shortly before dinner. Upside: I got to finish the leftovers of her sandwich. ...

If you live in my area, you are familiar with Arturo's , a mouth-watering pizza and pasta restaurant that supports all the other restaurants in downtown Maplewood, because people eat at the other restaurants when the line is too long at Arturo's. The owner of Arturo's has lately opened a bakery/cafe called The Bread Stand , which I visited today for the first time. I had a latte and a delectable pain au chocolat and read an interesting article about Rachel Carson in a year-old issue of The New Yorker. Once, when I was young and had almost no obligations, I was always caught up on The New Yorker. Now I'm thinking that when I retire someday and send my child off into the world, there will be an opportunity for me to again be current with The New Yorker. I'm sure everyone misses me starting half my sentences with, "I read this article in The New Yorker..." At The Bread Stand, I also bought a loaf of ciabatta to make tonight's sandwiches. The ...

You remember how there were no butternut squashes at Whole Foods yesterday? Of course you do - and I appreciate your righteous indignation on my behalf. Well today I tried my luck at Trader Joe's, and guess what?! Yeah, that's right: NO BUTTERNUT SQUASHES. Dizzy with visions of a squash conspiracy, I plunged into the produce section of Stop-and-Shop, and thank the merciful heavens, they had a whole bin of them. It almost seemed a pity to purchase only one. Tonight's recipe was based on Roasted Butternut Squash Panini from the "Oh My Veggies" blog, but I altered it enough that I'm going to give you my version below. In short, I felt the sandwiches needed more crunch and tang than the original recipe suggested. Incidentally, having tried pine nuts in my own version tonight, I feel they actually weren't crunchy enough, and would suggest trying sunflower seeds instead. Let me know if that works for you! Despite still needing more crunch, the sandwic...