I’m also taking online courses from Northern Essex Community College to improve my knowledge of databases, web dev and computer programming. I was pretty skeptical about online learning beforehand but these classes are very affordable, flexible and enriching. No wonder more and more people are signing up for online programs.

Looking forward to a great new year… just wish I wasn’t feeling sick right now. Spent the past few days with barely any sleep – my head felt 10 lbs heavier.

I’m also getting homesick since I haven’t seen my ol’ friends and family for over a month now. Luckily my sister will be coming down in 2 weeks to visit me.

Lastly, my cat Nells finally sat on my lap! I didn’t think she ever would but friends of mine kept telling me that cats change overtime. It was awesome to see her fall asleep on my lap.

For Tim’s Nana’s Xmas Eve bash I prepared a vegan chocolate chip pecan pie which had flax meal instead of eggs in it. At first it tasted a little too intense but once it was refrigerated over night it took on a whole new and improved  taste. I brought some to my parents house in Montreal as well and it even was enjoyed by someone who doesn’t care much for nuts.

I also baked vegan southern cornbread muffins with hot peppers added for extra flavor. These turned out pretty good, but I think I might add some actual corn and extra hot peppers in next time just to boost up the flavor profile a little.

Round 2:  New Years Eve

Here’s what I’m planning on baking/cooking/making

1) Guacamole from Alton Brown

2) Baked Apples a la Down Home with the Neelys

3) still thinking of other ideas… any suggestions are welcome

Now that I have some more breathing room I’m really stoked about cooking some side dishes for Thanksgiving. I’m planning on putting together a vegetarian sausage stuffing, along with a maple glazed sweet potato side dish, which I will post the recipes and pictures on here later.

I also discovered that my work is only a mere 5 minute walk away from where I live! I have no idea how I lucked out on this. If you know me well enough, you’d know that I have always lived far from anything and everything. It would always take me an hour to an hour and a half to get anywhere. Even when I was a kid, the nearest playground/park or corner store was a 15-20 minute walk!!! And so with that I must say that I’m really liking this new arrangement. I especially like my mornings (i was never a morning person before), as I sip my morning cuppa tea out of my Jamie Oliver mug that says “Big Fella” on it, I step out onto my back porch and there right in front of me is the beautiful Ipswich River.

My cat is definitely not as jazzed as I am. For the past 4 days she’s been turning away from me every time I tried to pat her — probably thinking I’d move her to some other strange place. She even started drinking her water by cupping it with her paw first. Only tonight when Tim and I put together some furniture and laid down a soft rug did she start to get back to her old self. She’s sleeping beside me right now.

The only thing that’s really missing right now is sharing these new experiences with my friends and family who are far away Hopefully some of you will come and visit!

As soon as I received my green card, Tim and I drove up to Canada to surprise my little sister on her birthday. It was the best timing alright! We couldn’t stay for long but it was worth making the short trip. Can’t wait to go back again.

In food making news: I tried the Jamie Oliver Killer Mac N Cheese recipe and it was a huge success (even the family’s African Grey Parrot loved it). It was gone so quickly that I didn’t even get a chance to photograph it. The recipe called for 10 cloves of garlic, but I went with only 6 and that still kept it quite tasty. I also used shell pasta instead of elbow macaroni and cut down the amount of tomatoes from 8 to 6, which was more than enough. Other than that the instructions for the recipe and the ingredients are all a great match! Next time, I might add some sundried tomatoes, a little extra cheese or maybe even some different cheeses. I know I say this often lately, but this is the perfect meal for a rainy autumn or winter’s day.

Tomorrow I’ll be making a vegan mac n cheese and a pumpkin pie so I’ll have more to post later on.

Potato Salad With a Nice Crunch

-2 pounds russet potatoes (you can use any potatoes you want though)
-2 tablespoons Veganaise
-4 teaspoons sweet pickle relish
-2-3 teaspoons sweetener
-2 teaspoons finely chopped white onion
-2 teaspoons prepared mustard (i used whole grain mustard)
-1 teaspoon white wine vinegar
-1 stalk minced celery
-1 teaspoon minced pimento or hot cherry peppers (depending on how hot you want this)
-1/2 teaspoon shredded carrot (use as much as you want)
-1/4 teaspoon chopped parsley
salt and pepper to taste!

Directions

Boil 15 minutes in salted water or until tender. Rinse with cold water and set aside to cool.
Then combine all ingredients with potatoes! Tastes great the day after as well.

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My Mama’s White Bean Soup

- 2 small cans of navy beans (save cans for water)

- 1 white onion thinly sliced

- 2 stalks of celery chopped

- 2 carrots chopped

- 4 cloves of garlic minced

- 1 small can condensed tomato soup

- Salt, pepper and oregano to taste

Directions:
In a pot put in olive oil and saute vegetables for about 5 minutes

Add beans, tomato soup, 4 cans of water, pepper and oregano and boil for 25-30 minutes in very low heat covered. Add salt and serve.

Making the dough was a little messy, especially since I didn’t really know how to handle it, but the dough rose perfectly in the end. I left it refrigerated for a couple hours which helped it rise a little more. Rolling it out was probably the easiest part. I ended up making 8 medium-ish thin-crust pizzas. The dough was crispy on the outside but still chewy on the inside! Next time I’ll try it with semolina flour as well, just to see how different the crust will taste like (which I didn’t have at the time).

The tomato sauce was fairly simple and quick to make. Just a little basil, garlic, whole canned plum tomatoes and salt/pepper and presto! It does however take a little elbow grease to push the tomato sauce mixture through the sieve / strainer.

The toppings were an assortment of vegetables and dairy/vegan cheese since it was a “build your own pizza party” after all. My faves were the marinated artichokes and the hot cherry peppers.

All in all it was a great learning/baking experience and it’s safe to say that I’ll definitely be making pizza again in the not-so-distant-future.

In other news my brother and sister came to town for a little visit. They really wanted to check out Haunted Happenings in Salem, MA — and since I had never been myself, we grabbed the commuter train down to Salem for the day. This is probably the best time of year to check this town out, since so many events are going on. There was a street fair and a 3 museum pass deal, so we took advantage of both. The museums were lacking in real historical artifacts but the tour guides and the incredibly creepy mannequins made up for it. My hands down favorite was the New England Pirate Museum due to the fact that the tour guide was extremely entertaining, funny and knowledgeable about pirates. After a whole day of sightseeing we stopped by Boston Hot Dog and I had one the best veggie dogs ever!