The Vegg | Cookbook love | Solstice parade part 2

When I was a baby, the doctor told my mother to feed me an egg each day — you know, so I'd be healthy. My mother faithfully cooked an egg for me every morning, then threw it away because I refused to eat it. Eventually, she gave up, because she couldn't afford to waste food, and it was clear that eggs and I didn't mesh. I continued my disdain for eggs though my childhood, but as I got older, I started occasionally eating hard boiled eggs, or scrambled ones if they were very, very dry. I wouldn't touch an egg that had any sort of "wet" spot. Eeeewww. At some point I became willing to eat a soft-cooked egg if the white were totally solid and dry — I wasn't an easy person to cook an egg for.

As an adult, I liked the sulphur-y flavor of eggs, but continued to want them dry, dry, dry. I could only eat a fried egg (we called them sunny-side-up eggs) if the white were thoroughly cooked and crisp at the edge, and the yolk only slightly runny. I liked dipping my toast into the yolk. In the late 70s, when I was a lacto-ovo vegetarian, I was buying my eggs from a friend who lived in the country and kept chickens. One day, not long after Thanksgiving, I took a bite of an omelet and it tasted exactly like turkey. I just about gagged, and couldn't eat it, the taste and smell were so strong. I thought something was wrong with the eggs. My friend later told me she gave her chickens table scraps, and there must have been some leftover turkey in the mix. She said the flavor of eggs can be affected by what chickens are fed. To be honest, when it comes to eggs, a slab of crisped tofu with a little kala namik (Indian black salt) is more appealing to me than an actual egg ever was. 

When I was offered a sample of The Vegg (rhymes with egg) to test and review, my first reaction was a confused "what will I do with it?" But as I thought it over, I was really curious to see how I could use it to recreate the taste of eggs, which I liked, without eating an actual egg, which I haven't done since 1981!

We were having a family dinner to celebrate my husband's birthday, and I planned to try the Vegg in one of the dishes. The Vegg comes in a 1.56 ounce package that can be blended with water to make one liter of "yolk." You can also choose to make 2 to 3 yolks by using 1 teaspoon of The Vegg and 1/4 cup of water. The package emphatically (in caps!) implores you not to mix the product by hand, so I used my VitaMix to mix three teaspoons with 3/4 of a cup of water in preparation for making a garbanzo flour quiche, a dish I've made before without The Vegg. Once blended, The Vegg looked like egg yolk, and kind of tasted like I remember egg yolk tasting, so I was expecting the quiche to be much more eggy than before.

In the recipe, I substituted the Vegg mixture for an equivalent part of the liquid. The final result seemed softer and creamier than the original, but I'm not sure if that's a good thing or not. I suppose it's a matter of personal taste. Everyone really liked it (they didn't know about The Vegg) but no one said anything about it tasting like egg.

The next thing I tried was a tofu omelet. I followed this recipe, subbing The Vegg mixture for the soymilk, yeast flakes, turmeric and tahini, and I used mushrooms and red onions for the filling. Rather than add the filling to the omelet as it cooked, I cooked the omelet until the surface was quite dry before putting the filling on, and I covered the pan (a cast iron griddle) so the omelet would thoroughly cook through. The final result was well-browned and crispy on the outside, but the inside was soft and creamy like an egg-omelet might be. It tasted delicious, though not exactly like egg, and the moist texture reminded me of what I didn't like about eggs. Still, I ate it because it was really delicious, and after all, it wasn't an egg! Egg lovers might find it wonderful.

I still have some Vegg mix in the refrigerator and I'd like to try making a tofu scramble with it. Other people have been using The Vegg to create egg yolks for fried "eggs," and I think that's probably where it really excels — or in traditionally egg-based sauces or for French toast. If you were an egg fan before becoming vegan, or if you are considering giving up eggs and egg products for ethical or health reasons, it's probably well worth experimenting with The Vegg.

I haven't tried using The Vegg in baking, nor does the company provide any information on what to expect, or if it was even intended for that use.

Full disclosure: I was sent a free sample of The Vegg. No money was exchanged, and no demands for a review were made, though it was suggested I might write one. No attempt was made to influence my opinion.

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Cookbook love

I mentioned above that we just celebrated my husband's birthday, and instead of just winging the food, I actually used recipes from cookbooks for our family fete.

I altered the Penne Arrabbiata recipe from The Vegan Table by Colleen Partick-Goudreau, by substituting raw spiralized zucchini for the pasta, and adding 3/4 of a cup of kalamata olives to the sauce, turning it into Puttanesca. (p.49, Penne Arrabbiatta. I sautéed the garlic in olive oil.) This is one of those recipes that tastes so amazing, you can't believe it was so simple to make and has so few ingredients. The zucchini was spiralized earlier in the day, then placed inside the refrigerator in a colander inside a bowl. It was covered with a plate and weighted with a couple of cans. There wasn't any moisture in the bowl when I removed it at dinnertime, which surprised me, but the zucchini was nice and crisp. The raw zucchini topped with a generous dollop of heated sauce, was my favorite dish of the night.

The next dish I made was Tempeh Piccata from Chloe's Kitchen by Chloe Coscarelli. It was attractive and tasty, but I probably won't make it again. I really liked the way the tempeh was prepared, but the sauce wasn't my favorite. In addition to the quiche, tempeh and zucchini, we had steamed quinoa to round out the meal.

For dessert there were raw chocolate morsels (photo; recipe) and Coconut Bliss ice cream in Mint Galactica, and Vanilla. Mint Galactica is my favorite flavor, but the Vanilla, with real vanilla beans, can hold its own! There's just so much darn fat in it. The Mint Galactica has 16 grams in 1/2 cup. Most of the time I make my own ice cream in the VitaMix, using just frozen fruit and a little almond milk. It tastes great, and I think it's a much healthier treat, but I was was craving a little bite of Coconut Bliss.

Full disclosure: Both cookbooks were personal purchases.

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Fremont Solstice Parade (part 2)

In my last post I shared some of the nude biker shenanigans from the solstice parade, and now I'm adding a few photos of the floats and groups that followed the bicyclists. None of the floats are allowed  to be motorized, so all are moved along by man/woman power. You can see people pulling the marriage equality float in the first photo.

 This was one of the crowd favorites — the beach chair drill team. In addition to their precise formations involving beach chair and body rhythms, the ladies wore flower-covered bathing caps!

The Veterans for peace always brings tears to my eyes as they remind me of the stupidity of war.

As the last band passed by, the crowd jumped to its feet and started dancing! Can't wait for next year's parade.

Teeth and omelets

When I was a baby, the pediatrician told my mother to feed me an egg every day. She tried. She cooked me an egg each day for years, but I refused to eat it. I hated the look, the smell, the texture and the taste. She never tried to force me — I think she just believed that one day I'd eat the egg, and all her efforts would pay off.

As an adult I came to like eggs. There were so many things you could with them. They were handy in baked goods and puddings. They could be whipped into meringues and cool frostings, dyed and decorated, or stirred into soup or fried rice. Or, they could just be cooked and eaten. Eggs could be a simple dish or a complex omelet or soufflé. Whenever I couldn't think of something to cook, I could always make an egg in one form or another. After I became a vegan I found ways to cook and bake without eggs, and really didn't miss them too much.

When tofu omelets started appearing all over the place, I was mildly intrigued, but I never got around to actually trying one — until today. My motivation wasn't to find a great egg substitute, it was to find a different soft food from the ones I'd been consuming all week. Please, no more cannelini beans and overcooked rice. No more frozen peas and spinach. No more mashed cauliflower. No more yogurt and bananas. You see, I had a back molar removed and was directed to eat soft foods. I've been in dental hell the past week after having my bad molar pried from my jaw. The root was fused to the bone and it took about an hour to get it out — in three pieces. (I was contemplating murdering the oral surgeon but he had all the sharp tools.) The dentist said my jaw would be sore for a couple of weeks. Of course I didn't believe him but here it is a week later and my jaw still aches. This seemed as good a time as any to try the tofu omelet from Vegan Brunch.

As I prepared my omelet, I started to really hope it would taste like an egg. It cooked perfectly, and I couldn't believe how much it looked like an actual omelet. In fact, it looked pretty much exactly like an omelet, and I had used black salt in the batter so the kitchen smelled like someone had been frying eggs. I really wanted to be able to gush about how it tasted just like an omelet, but it didn't. I admit I'm a little cranky and all, and maybe my opinion is a little rough at the moment, and maybe my expectations were too high given the amazing appearance and smell, but I thought the taste was kind of bland. Though I didn't think it tasted like egg, maybe with a little cheese melted inside, more salt sprinkled on top and a flavorful sauce, I'll change my mind. I will try again! (And I didn't not like it. It just wasn't what I was expecting.)

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Odds and ends
Before the tooth extraction, while my husband was out of town, I threw together a few quick 'n dirty meals for my singular eating. Here are a couple that I photographed.

Potato, asparagus and soy curls

Grilled tofu on homemade sourdough toast with lettuce, tomato and avocado

This sandwich was so packed and unstable I had to hold it in order to take its picture.

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Testing recipes
I've been kind of slacking in my recipe testing but here are two I've managed to try.

Jalapeños and friends pickling in a bowl

The finished jalapeños packed into a jar.

Baked doughnut holes

I've got a stash of the doughnut holes in the freezer, and I think I'll excuse myself now and go get one.