cleanse, day 6

A day on which I allowed myself fish.

All along I'd said that I would permit fish in the cleanse. I suppose I could be more rigorous, but I'm giving up quite enough, and really, how on earth do vegetarians not tire of the beaniness of it all? I'd had some fish as part of my meal earlier in the week at a benefit dinner at Yoshi's anyway, so last night wasn't a step too far.

In fact, it was a light meal, and one to revisit with some tweaking. I marinated halibut with miso, and it was the addition of a scant amount of sesame oil to the marinade that accounted for most of the added fat to the meal beyond what the ingredients might have. Come time to cook the fish, I lined a steamer basket with some Napa cabbage leaves and placed the fish atop the leaves with some broccoli and sliced shitake mushrooms alongside. I thought that sauteing or roasting the mushrooms might make them too strong, hence the steaming.

While those steamed I was reducing balsamic vinegar. Here's the other thing I miss on this cleanse - sweetness. It's a tough thing to incorporate sometimes, especially if I don't want the other flavours of fruits or things that might lend food the sugars I seek. Reducing the vinegar to syrup, I smeared each plate with a streak, then plated the fish atop along the with the broccoli, the mushrooms, and some crispy onion bits. A simple meal.



If I do this again - I should - I think I'd do two things differently. First, I'd start the broccoli before the fish. It was still a little crunchy. Healthier that way, perhaps, but some greater tenderness would have been good. I also might have poached the mushrooms in a miso broth for evennness of cooking. The fish, though, flaked apart delightfully yet wasn't overcooked. A reasonably successful idea, and one to revisit for sure.

conference folk

Leaving aside most anything else about the recent ACRL conference (I don't usually comment on work/library matters on this blog, after all), one of the best things about a smaller conference like that is how easy it is to see people, whether meeting up as planned or meeting up impromptu or crossing paths en route from points A to B.

First day there and I hit a goldmine: coffee with Courtney that led to further chitchat with Trevor, Lee, and Aaron. Sitting in the Marriott lobby with Courtney, we were able to call over to passersby we knew and waylay them for at least a hello. Back at the hotel, I was soon joined by regular conference roomie/dear friend Martin. He and I each had separate dinner plans, but we caught up on things as he ironed. Pre-dinner came drinks at the Marriott with Marisa and Susan. We had hoped Dan or Jake might be able to join us, but alas, no. And then on to a very good meal of vegetarian (theme of my conference dining!) tapas with Michael - not a librarian, but we all need a break from librarians sometimes!

I have no day two photos of encounters, though there were several including familiar faces like Dan, Michael, Jules, and Lisa at cocktails for GLBTRT members attending ACRL. Well, I do have photos of Martin, certainly, and vanity shots of me trying on clothes at H&M, but now I'm just being silly.

Day three I got to sit down with CG, whom I'd bumped into a few times. In the end, it was a short conference, and planning dinners together with her became impossible (darn it!), so we had to be glad of at least time together in the morning. CG looks as lovely as when she left Chicago, and Conrad and I miss her immensely.

So many other people I saw and didn't snap photos of. Brief conversations, all too brief: Kathryn, Missy, Josh, Adam, Scott, Eric, Mark, Dan.... I begin to forget them all already. Forgive me.

A good conference for seeing people, catching up with them, and meeting new people as well. And a good conference - I've been less pleased with the content offered at ACRL in the past, and I think they're getting better at appealing to a broader range of academic librarians. End of commentary on that, and now I'll look forward to the familiar faces I'll see in New Orleans in June!

cleanse, day 5

Backtracking a quick moment (is there a non-quick moment? I suppose there is when I start rambling), I should note that cleanse day 3 was a benefit dinner at Yoshi's that I may yet blog. I behaved as best I could. Cleanse day 4 was leftover eggplant and green pea curry - for lunch and dinner. On to Friday!

Cool, grey, wet outside, and the notion of soup was most appealing. I'd made the Greek lentil soup recipe from the Rebar cookbook. Ah, Rebar - I miss Victoria.

Anyway, it's a fairly easy soup to make and carries a nice little punch of chile flake and some zing from lemon zest and juice. The asparagus was unnecessary, and in hindsight I think it detracts from the purity of the bowl. On the other hand, I really do love asparagus, and I thought it a nice way to add extra green to the meal.

Conrad and I sat in the kitchen enjoying our bowls along with a simple salad and some fresh berries. Out of season, I know, and they tasted it - especially the blueberries. Ah well.

Tomorrow night I will make us some fish!

vegan dinners in Philadelphia

Pre-cleanse, there I was in Philadelphia for conference, rooming with Martin and dining out with him. It was almost as if the cleanse had started early. Smack me if I run on too much about the cleanse, by the way. Anyway, two nights last week I enjoyed a couple of meals that I might aspire to while cooking at home. Give me some good produce and let me see what I can do.

Thursday night we dropped by a casual social for our fellow gays then headed over to Mi Lah. I found it through a quick Open Table search, and it turned out to be a good choice. When we arrived and were seated, and after I got back to the table from washing my hands, I found Martin chatting with the man at the next table. They'd crossed paths earlier that day at a conference session, it seems, and we ended up pushing tables together, enjoying food (until the guy, Jeff, left), and talking conference stuff. Good conversation throughout the evening. Oh, and BYO! Always a nice thing.

Mi Lah was interesting. The name suggested Asian cuisine, and the staff appeared to be Asian, too (Chinese? I regret not knowing better). The food, however, ranged about globally. There were a number of tasty-sounding options on the occasionally comically-spelled menu (cauliflower stake? dinner for Buffy?), and picking was not easy.

Appetizers: yucca tarts for Martin and sweet potato "pattie" for me. Substantial appetizers, and tasty.

Entrees: grilled seitan for Martin and African peanut stew for me. I couldn't finish the large portion, though it wasn't for lack of enjoyment.

We finished the wine, declined dessert, and headed back to the comfort of the hotel for a good night of sleep.

The next night was a more refined meal at a restaurant Martin had found out about, Horizons. We sat upstairs, Martin enjoyed a cocktail and I, a glass of wine. A tough menu - I wanted everything. Truly. Not a hint of meat or fish or cheese, but goodness it all sounded good. As much as I liked Mi Lah, Horizons was a better choice still.

Appetizers:
Martin's ramen bowl with grilled baby bok choy, pickled shiitakes, menma, pho broth.

My salt-roasted golden beets served chilled with smoked tofu, avocado, capers, house baked pumpernickel, cucumber dill sauce.

Entrees:
Martin's Pacific Rim grilled tofu with spicy gochujang, edamame pureé, royal trumpets, yu choy, smoked miso dashi.

My cauliflower and smoked eggplant braciole with roasted olives, english peas, grilled garbanzos, sicilian salsa verde.

Again we declined dessert, though given the sophistication of the two courses we ate, I am curious to know what the desserts would have been like. Perhaps another visit to Philadelphia. Contented, we enjoyed the cool night walk back to the hotel.

cleanse, day 2

Dinner number two on the cleanse, and I learned afterward from MG that I should have gone with brown basmati instead of white. Ah well, no sense making a fuss over things. In principle, it was a meal to meet the intention of the cleanse.

I learned this recipe at the restaurant years back from Megan. It actually makes a lovely side dish for lamb, I find, and perhaps for some chicken or fish preparations. On its own, it fills a roti quite nicely, or sits with rice well, too.

The curry starts with sesame seeds, mustard seeds, and cumin seeds. These are sauteed in oil until the mustard seeds just start to pop. At this point I added turmeric, salt, and cayenne and sauteed the spices a little more. Next came chopped onion, and once that had softened a bit I added cubes of eggplant. Not too large, mind you. The eggplant gets sauteed with the mix to coat it well and begin cooking, and then water is added. In fact, I added water a few times so that it was never too soupy but always had a nice nit of liquid for braising the eggplant to tenderness. Near the end of that process I added the frozen peas and let them cook to tenderness. Yes, frozen - it's April, for goodness' sake!

As for the rice, little adornment - I added some green cardamom pods when I cooked it for a bit of scent, but that's it.



In other times, I might have used some yogurt with this as a garnish, and perhaps a homemade chutney. Not last night. Still, it made for a satisfying dinner, and one that gives me some leftovers for a couple of days ahead.

best dogs ever

Catching up on recent events here, and I'd be remiss if I didn't get a posting up about Saturday and Sunday with two dogs I utterly adore. Wrapped around their paws, I am. Allow me to assure you that there were many many belly rubs dispensed this past weekend. Ah Coney, ah Buster, when will I next get to visit you two?

(and, of course, the best friend who goes along with those wonderful dogs is a terrific perk of visiting them, too!)

cleanse, day 1

So this is a little crazy and odd of me, I admit: I'm doing a month-long cleanse of sorts. Let's call it the MG cleanse in honour of Martin, who was undertaking it in January.

Why? Well, truthfully, Conrad and I live a life of overindulgent dining. And wining. And for some time now I've been feeling kind of off on a regular basis. I'd like to get rid of that feeling. I'd like to get back to a certain equilibrium. And once I regain that, then I can balance fun eating with a healthier approach. For a month, though, it's tipped to healthier.

A month, then, of

• no caffeine
• no dairy
• no alcohol
• no meat (but I will allow fish during the cleanse)
• no refined carbs (sugar and white flour)

The downside of this all is finding snacking at home. Also, the morning ritual of getting coffee is a certain comfort. And arranging proper food at work is a little tricky, too. On the plus side, it is fun to try out some other recipes, some other cooking.

Monday was the first day of the cleanse. Dinner? Simple. Two eggs poached with some deliciously plump asparagus and a sprinkling of black pepper and wild mushroom salt.



It worked out quite nicely, and not having Conrad home made it easier for me to cook and eat what I wanted when I wanted.

40 40 40

Oh, the jokes have flown this weekend, speculating on what was on the minds of certain parents some time around June 1970. 4 teammates all turning 40 this month? Oddly, delightfully coincidental. And a little tough for them. Kenn opted for a quiet celebration with his partner Cliff and a few friends, but the other three were forced to arrange their celebrations so as not to conflict one with another. In short, it made for a fun but busy weekend for many of us.

Romel was up first on Friday. A party at the home he shares with his partner Carl. Conrad, I am happy to report, made it on to an earlier flight back from work in Boston, and he was able to join me at Romel and Carl's after all. We snacked and sipped and chatted with a number of teammates and a few non-teammates. A very nice time to kick off the weekend.

Last night was Ron's turn. Daniel came over for dinner at our place, then the three of us headed downtown to Blue Frog where it turned out karaoke was the order of the night. Fun to watch, and all credit to Ron who turned in a great performance before Daniel, Conrad, and I left. More teammates to chat with, of course, and a bonus of mini chocolate cupcakes with a peanut butter frosting. Yum!













Today, then, and more than just food and beverage. Oh no, Liz had more in mind: a swim workout. It says something about our team that there were over two-dozen of us crammed into three lanes. Even better, some old faces showed up: Dominic at the pool and Amber at Rocks Lincoln Park afterward.






It was fun, and the swim certainly justified the large pieces of cake we all dug into (plus beer and other food!).

All in all, it makes me want to be more creative when in the future I celebrate a landmark occasion. Sadly, though, Conrad just won't be swayed into having karaoke at our wedding reception this fall...