Vegan MoFo #18: Let's Get Sconed Survey Challenge!

Okay, I think I have been very good about updating my blog for Vegan MoFo while keeping up with kids, animals, schoolwork and all the rest of it. That said, I have a big ol' paper and a presentation due on Tuesday, then more of the same the following week, so right now I need to prioritize those things. Since the "rules" are merely that one must strive to post something each day, I hereby give you my answers to the survey from Jess' fabulous blog, Let's Get Sconed. I hope to have some food for you over the weekend, but in the meantime, here's a little more about me, me, me (but enough about me; what do you think about me?)!

1. What was the most recent tea you drank?
Two Typhoo tea bags steeped a long time, with Lyon's Golden Syrup and Vitasoy unsweetened soymilk: it's how I start my day.

2. What vegan forms do you post/lurk on? If so, what is your username? Spill!
I'm Desdemona on the Post Punk Kitchen, and I occasionally leave comments on other blogs, especially when I see a recipe I admire, want to make, or am astonished by (Deenifying Myself comes to mind here!).

3. You have to have tofu for dinner, and it has be an Italian dish. What comes to mind first?
The lasagna I made last week was pretty amazing, so I'd probably choose that.

4. How many vegan blogs do you read on an average day?
In ordinary circumstances, I usually check the PPK, SuicideFood, and a few others (see my blogroll), but sinceVegan MoFo started it's been way more; it's a wonder I'm getting anything else done. Wait. Am I getting anything else done?

5. Besides your own, what is the most recent one you’ve read?
Jess' Get Sconed!, from whence came this survey.

5. If you could hang out with a vegan blogger that you haven’t met, who would it be, and what would you do?
Too hard, there are so many; let's just say that I'd love to get to next year's Vegan Gathering!

6. If you had to base your dinners for a week around one of the holy trinity – tofu, seitan or tempeh, which would it be?
Tofu – I can think of a million things right off the top of my head; it's Nature's Wonder Food.

7. If you had to use one in a fight, which would it be?
Frozen extra firm Nasoya, because that pointy plastic container could do some serious damage.

8. Name 3 meals you’d realistically make with that tough protein of choice!
~ Thai red curry stir fry with baked tofu, bell peppers, baby corn, water chestnuts, etc., over brown basmati rice.
~ Pumpkin baked ziti with tofu ricotta.
~ The tofu omelette I made last Sunday. Again.

9. What’s a recipe in vegan blogland that you’ve been eyeing?
The panko-crusted seitan smothered with ginger and apples that Isa blogged a week or so ago. Definitely one of these weekends.

10. Do you own any clothing with vegan messages/brands on them?
I don't tend to wear a lot of clothing with writing on it, but I do have a "Vegan Chick" tank top; do my "Eat More Kale" t-shirt and "Domestic Terrorist" apron count?

11. Have you made your pilgrimage to the 'vegan mecca' yet?
Alas, not yet, but we have a friend who teaches at Reed, and keep our eyes peeled for academic conferences out that way.

12. What is the worst vegan meal you’ve had? Who cooked it?
I suppose if we take the question to include occasions when you just have to make do or starve with the hunger, I'd have to say the medieval conference where my lunch was a "salad" of iceberg lettuce and hothouse tomatoes with no dressing, and a bottle of Diet Snapple Iced Tea. Boy howdy!

13. What made you decide to blog?
I like to write, I like to cook, and I enjoy other people's blogs, so I figured why not?

14. What are three of your favorite meals to make?
~ Chana dal with cucumbers and kale
~ Black bean and cornbread casserole
~ Lemony mushroom and asparagus risotto

15. What dish would you bring to a vegan Thanksgiving-themed potluck?
It's easiest to think of dishes I've made recently, so I'd say the butternut squash with pear and walnut stuffing, baked pasta with pumpkin and caramelized onions, or maybe a few different vegetable pies.

16. Where is your favorite vegan meal at a restaurant? How many times have you ordered it?
Well, based on overall experience (food, atmosphere, sense of occasion, etc.) a few that come to mind are the Warehouse Cafe in Birmingham (England), Grezzo (Boston), and the Eden Cafe (Bar Harbor). I won't bother listing what we actually ate because it would take too long, but I will say that each of those meals stands out in memory as particularly wonderful for a variety of reasons.

17. What do you think the best chain to dine as a vegan is?
Fortunately, I can't remember the last time I was in a chain restaurant, so I can't say.

18. My kitchen needs a………
"Need" is such a relative word, but I'd like more cupboard and counter space, and a new stove. Oh, and a totally pimped-out VitaMix!

19. This vegetable is not allowed in my kitchen:
Lima beans have been about the only member of the animal kingdom for which I have never been able to feel the love, but then I had some in a Jamaican stew and they were actually fine, so I dont know. Now, ask me about fruits, and I will answer without hesitation that just the thought of durian makes me want to throw up a little.

20. What's for dinner tonight?
No clue whatsoever. It's Friday and it's been a long week. Right now we're thinking take-out from our local vegan Chinese restaurant, The Buddha Hut...I'm thinking something in the way of spring rolls and Szechuan stir-fried tofu might be just the thing.

21. (In which I'm supposed to add my own question, so here goes) Why are you vegan?
Because it's the right thing to do. DUH!