Brunchness and Grownupness

So, we had an amazing brunch on Sunday but I forgot to take pictures because I was too busy cooking.  Actually, I kind of forgot to change my clothes because I was too busy cooking.  I was, in fact, so busy cooking that I barely ate anything and I almost forgot to drink.  What?  Who is this weird person?  I also forgot to take pictures of the deliciousness, but it was enjoyed by all.  Susan and I have been enjoying it every morning since and been happy that we had a brunch party. 

Then, I discovered that a restaurant just opened in Philly directly ripping off my old employers at the Hampton Chutney Co.  At first, I was a bit excited that I could finally get a freaking dosa in Philly and then I realized that even if their food was good, I couldn't really eat there knowing they were thieves.  I did a bit of recon for Isabel (I admit it, I ate a dosa as 'research' and it was disgusting) and I don't think they have anything to worry about.  In return, Isabel has promised to consider opening a shop in Philly.  Actually, what she said is that she is coming to Philly in May for her Penn reunion.  What I heard is:  'You will convince me to open a shop in Philly and let you run it while you are in nursing school.'

And yeah, tomorrow I'm going to CCP for an open house and looking into applying to their nursing school.  It would start next fall if I get in (which I need to give myself a little credit and assume that I will).  I don't know, I just need a change to doing something other than making old white men a ton of money.  I fell into this new therapist who I've seen like twice and we split our time between talking about relationships and my intense laziness and lack of direction.  My homework was to make an appointment to get some info from CCP about the nursing program and come up with some questions to ask.  He does a life coach kind of approach it seems.  Which is good because I need someone to kick me in my lazy, sex obsessed ass.

Mushroom Barley Risotto

So, my roomie and I formed this vegan cooking co-op where we exchange food with other people once a week to help us to eat healthy, delicious food without always having to cook.  For our first swap back from the summer, I decided to make mushroom risotto because it is one of my favorite foods ever.  I have wanted to try making risotto with barley instead of arborio rice because it is way lower on the glycemic index.  I also had to make a few modifications to make it vegan.  It turned out great!

 Here is what you need to make it.

• 6 cups vegan chicken broth (I used Not-Chick'n bullion cubes from whole foods)
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 pound each of portobello and white mushrooms, thinly sliced
• 2 shallots, diced
• 1 1/2 cups barley
• 1/2 cup dry white wine (I just used cooking wine because the liquor store was closed)
• 3 tablespoons finely chopped chives
• 2 tablespoons vegan butter

Here is how to make it: 

First, I made the broth in a pot and kept it warm over low heat the whole time.  Then, I warmed up 2 tbsp of olive oil in my big wok (you could also use a saucepan) over medium high heat and cooked the mushrooms until they were soft.  The recipe said 3 minutes, but I think it took closer to 10.  I then dumped that all (including the liquid) into a big bowl and set it on the side.

Then I put the other tbsp of olive oil in the wok and cooked the shallots for a minute until they were soft and then dumped in the barley.  I stirred it to coat with oil and toast it a little (a couple of minutes) and then I poured in the wine.  It is really important to stir constantly until all of the wine is absorbed.  Then, I stood by the stove and added the broth in about a half of a cup at a time and while stirring damn near constantly until all of the broth is absorbed and the barley is soft and risotto like.
I then took it off of the burner, added the vegan butter, chives and mushrooms with their liquid and stirred it up, stole a bowlful for myself and then covered it to cool before packing it up for my veggie friends.

Here is the original recipe that I modified to fit what I wanted to do:
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Gourmet-Mushroom-Risotto/Detail.aspx

Next time, I might try making it with vegan beef broth.    

Eating Tour of Pennsylvania Dutch Country

I have lived in Philadelphia for 3 years and have never been anywhere else in PA other than the immediate outlying towns (and that was maybe 5 times total).  My friends, Missy, Dana and Lily have been stuck in Lancaster for various reasons for about 5 weeks and today I made my way out there to see them.  Lancaster is in the middle of PA Dutch country and has tons of Amish themed stores and villages and stuff. 

The first place that we went was to a donut shop called Fractured Prune (http://www.fracturedprune.com/) where they made fresh donuts in front of us to our exact specifications.  They have a variety of glazes and toppings to make unique donuts from.  We bought a box of 18 and tasted pieces of them all.  They were all really delicious but some of my favorites were the Elvis, banana glaze sprinkled with peanut butter chips, and one with maple glaze sprinkled with oreo crumbs. 

Our next stop was the Intercourse Pretzel Factory, where we went on the most incredibly boring tour ever and learned how to hand twist pretzels.  Intercourse is the actual name of a town.  Some other nearby towns are Virginville and Blue Balls.  At the Pretzel factory, we got a variety of soft pretzels (I still can't eat hard pretzels) and a few different kinds of mustard to dip in.  My favorite were the brown butter pretzels.  I mean, what's not to love about buttery pretzels?  After the pretzel factory, we went to Kettle Kitchens which is a store where they make and jar a variety of foods, all of which can be sampled.  They have probably about 30 flavors of Jelly, of which Mint was my favorite.  They also make a bunch of different kinds of pickles and these sweet, little pickled beets which were amazing.  Another item of note was the Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Peanut Butter.  Amazing. 

The last stop on the eating tour was Sonic.  I know fast food isn't that exciting, but I grew up in East Hampton where we had to drive 30 minutes to the nearest McDonalds and I have never been to Sonic and also have never been to a carhop.  At Sonic, they have happy hour from 2-4 where you get half price drinks, which is what we went to get.  I had a Cherry Limeade milkshake thing which was really great.  I think if there was a Sonic near me, I might go to it for Cherry Limeade every day, just like Missy does.

Welcome

So, I've been promising an L Sisters blog for like ever and I finally set it up.  I have been literally messing around to try to transfer the domain name over for HOURS (www.theLsisters.com) but it should be up as that in a few days.  And now, I am too tired, frustrated and annoyed to actually post anything funny or meaningful, so I guess I will just say prepare to be traumatized. LOL.