Polly Ann Rogers Dawson

Polly Ann Rogers was born in Calhoun, Tennessee in 1792 to Capt. John "Hellfire Jack" Rogers, a British Captain in the Revolutionary war and his 3rd wife Alcie, Alsey, or Aley Vann. Alcie Vann was the daughter of John Joseph Vann and Wah-Li, a Cherokee. Polly Ann married Samuel Riley Dawson and had 7 children. She died in 1854 in Mills, Texas. Polly Ann was also the half sister of Tiana Rogers Gentry who married Sam Houston. Polly Ann was my GGGG Grandmother.

Roasted Cauliflower with Onion, Garlic, and Thyme

1 small head cauliflower, cut into florets
1 onion, sliced
4 garlic cloves, unpeeled
6 sprigs fresh thyme
4 tablespoons olive oil
Sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Spread cauliflower, onion, garlic, and thyme in one layer on a large rimmed baking sheet and drizzle with oil. Season with salt and pepper.
Roast for 35 to 45 minutes, or until fork-tender, stirring frequently with a spatula or large spoon to even out the browning. Taste occasionally to see if more salt or pepper is needed. Remove from oven, remove garlic cloves, and season to taste.

I found this recipe online from a cookbook by Chloe Coscarelli called Chloe's Vegan Italian Kitchen. I made it on Thanksgiving and ended up eating the whole thing it was so good. That was the only thing I ate on Thanksgiving so I guess that's not too bad. I peeled the garlic even though the recipe says unpeeled and ate it along with the onions and cauliflower. The onions tasted like onion rings but better. My apartment smelled wonderful. I stole this image from the website where the recipe was posted because I have lost my photographer to the Big Apple.

Autumn Couscous Salad

Ingredients

8 ounces Israeli or Pearl couscous, about 1 ½ cups
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 shallot, diced, about 2 tablespoons
1 fennel bulb, diced, about 1 cup
2 ½ cups butternut squash, peeled, seeded and diced
3 tablespoons fresh sage, chopped
¾ cup dried cranberries
½ cup dried currants
1 ½ cups apple juice, reserving ¼ cup of the cooked juice
¼ cup olive oil
3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
salt and pepper
1 tablespoon parsley, chopped

Instructions

1. Bring water to boil in a medium size saucepan, add couscous and bring back to a boil then lower to medium and cook until al dente, about 8 minutes. Drain in a colander, but do not rinse. Set aside in a mixing bowl to cool.
2. Heat olive oil in a large sauté pan over medium high heat. Add the shallot and cook for 1 minute, stirring often. Add diced fennel and cook for another 5 minutes or until fennel softens. Add butternut squash, sage, cranberries, currants and apple juice and cook for 15 minutes or until butternut squash has softened and almost all of the apple juice has cooked down. Season with salt and pepper. Transfer the mixture to the bowl with the couscous, reserving about ¼ cup of the apple juice for the vinaigrette.
3. In a small bowl, mix the reserved apple juice, olive oil, red wine vinegar and more salt and pepper to taste. Add to the couscous with the parsley and stir. Let couscous sit at room temperature for about 30 minutes for flavors to meld before serving. Add more sage if desired.

I made this for a party at work and it received a lot of compliments.

Vegan Turkey

A Kiva Loan to Alvin in the Philippines

From the Kiva website: "Julieta, 42, is from Dingalan, Aurora (Philippines). She is married and blessed with one son, Alvin. Even with only one child, Julieta and her husband find it difficult to support him financially because they are low-income. Julieta wants to borrow a PHP 200,000 education loan from Kiva lenders to pay for her son's tuition fees. Alvin is earning a B.S. in electrical engineering. Alvin wants to finish college in order to achieve personal success and help his parents out of poverty."

Italian White Beans with Kale

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 large onion chopped
1 shallot chopped
8 cloves of garlic sliced
1 bunch of kale chopped, discard ribs
8 to 10 sprigs of fresh thyme, stripped of leaves. Discard stems.
2 bay leaves
½ teaspoon sea salt
½ cup water
2 15oz cans of cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
fresh ground black pepper to taste
½ teaspoon umeboshi plum vinegar (optional)

In a large covered pot, sauté onion, garlic, and shallot in oil until transparent. Turn heat to medium, and add water, salt, kale, bay, and thyme leaves. Cook covered until greens are soft, stirring occasionally. Turn down heat, add beans and pepper and cook another few minutes. Remove bay leaves and add umeboshi vinegar before serving.




I made this on Saturday and it was super quick and delicious. I didn't have fresh thyme so used dried and also didn't add the vinegar at the end.
I made this again Thanksgiving weekend.
This time I used two bunches of lacinato kale and fresh thyme which I didn't have the last time. This is one of my favorite dishes, very simple to make with lots of flavor.

Pearl Riding Shotgun

A very serious Pearl on her way to the dog park.

Pearl at the Dog Park

My favorite dog Pearl stayed with me this weekend so I decided to take her to the Danny Jackson Dog Park. We went Saturday and Sunday morning and it pretty much exhausted her for the rest of the day. We tried the little dog section but she was more of a big dog type so we switched to the big dog section. There is a whole flock of wild parrots who live there. I wasn't able to get a picture of them because it was rainy but I looked it up and they are actually Monk parakeets. There are several flocks of them in the Houston area.

Joey

I'm dog sitting an adorable Shiba Inu this week. He was a little nervous after his mom dropped him off Saturday morning but by the afternoon seemed happy. We go on lots of walks because our weather is so nice right now and he sleeps curled up next to me at night.

Happy Halloween

The year I decided to go as a librarian.

Vegan Rap

Bryan House

Here is a picture of my Grandmother's house in Bryan when it was new.

My Visit to Bryan

Yesterday I drove to Bryan, Texas to visit the cemetery where my parents and many of my other relatives are buried. I took several pictures and added them to a website I contribute to Find a Grave
I also wanted to see my grandmother's old house on Finfeather Road and see downtown Bryan. My grandmother's house has been painted green and has a fence around it but other than that looks the same. I wish I could have gone in. Several places in downtown Bryan were there in the 60's and probably before that but there were also a lot of new cute little stores and restaurants including The Village, a vegetarian friendly restaurant where I had a hummus wrap and tomato basil soup while enjoying live entertainment
When did Bryan get so cool?
Anyway, here are some pictures. The cemetery pictures are on Find a Grave.

A Kiva Loan to Marlene of Paraguay

From Kiva:
"Marlene is from the city of Villarrica. Like many young people, she is making sacrifices in order to get ahead and overcome. She is studying nursing, which she wants to use to help other people with their health which is very important. She says that her family inspires her to continue striving to grow. Marlene dreams to being able to graduate as a nurse so that she can be useful through her profession, not only to herself, but also to society through her knowledge. She says she's been striving a lot, and the loan she took out earlier was to be able to pay the fees for her career. She's seeking this loan to be able to invest again in the fees for her profession, and thus be able to continue striving and working."

The Gift That Keeps on Giving

I have been receiving payments on my loans that I made to various people and organizations through Kiva. $25.00 is the minimum needed to make another loan so when I had that much in my account I decided to make another loan and choose Jose Motino Guillermo.
Here is his story:
"Young Jose Motino is 24 years old and lives with his parents in the Honduras section of the city of Tegucigalpa. He is about to finish his university studies where he expects to earn a degree in marketing. Jose Guillermo is thought of as a leader, and a person who is determined and capable of reaching his goals.
His main motivation for continuing his studies is to achieve personal and professional success, serving as an example for his family to follow. He believes that the best way to contribute to the development of his country is to always think and act in a totally positive way, looking for solutions to problems that currently pose a series of obstacles for many people.
Jose Guillermo is involved in activities that evaluate companies' decision making processes on daily situations and states that not all companies react
favorably. He wants to support education; this is very important to Jose because there are young people who want to better themselves, but today economic factors often get in the way of their ability to achieve their goals. He hopes to attain success by becoming a professional, thus being able to provide a better education for his children."

Kata Robata

I had another delicious meal with J and her mom on Friday night.  We went to Kata Robata, a sushi restaurant on Kirby and Richmond. Sushi isn't my favorite but I knew there were some vegetarian options because Cameron and his family (all vegetarians) have eaten there a few times and loved it.  I ordered fried tofu with mixed mushrooms and Asian truffle oil sauce.  This is one of the best tofu dishes I've ever had and the presentation with the fried lotus chips was beautiful as you can see in the picture. 

"My Dinner with Leonard"
Robin Williams with his pug Leonard Bean, a rescue from Curly Tail Pug Rescue in NY.
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The Last Supper

Cameron and I shared our last dinner Wednesday night. We went to our favorite restaurant Radical Eats and were joined by two friends, Elizabeth and Ashleigh. The food was of course wonderful. We shared the vegan nachos. I ordered the Bahn Mi Tacos (tofu) and Cameron ordered the Wild Mushroom Tacos with kimchi, peanuts and Thai chiles. We shared these two plates also.




We wanted to steal these salt and pepper shakers.

These butterflies in training were sitting on the bar.

I'm really sad that Cameron has left for New York but am looking forward to visiting him there in December. When I turned the corner in my apartment complex yesterday and didn't see his bike it really struck me that he was gone for good. My new roommate Jake is moving in Monday night.
This is probably my last food blog for awhile because I'm not planning to eat out any time soon and of course I've lost my photographer.

Vegan Chocolate Chipotle Cake

Cameron and I love the vegan chocolate chipotle cake at Radical Eats so I decided to try to make one at home.  I found a recipe online and changed it up a bit and it turned out great.
Here is the recipe:
1 1/4 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup baking cocoa (unsweetened)
1 tsp. baking soda
1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. chipotle (this was a little too much)
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tbsp white vinegar
5 tbsp vegetable oil (I used almond because that's what I had)
1 cup cold water

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees and lightly grease a 9 inch cake pan.
In a large bowl combine all the dry ingredients. Add the vanilla, vinegar, oil and water and stir until just combined.
Pour into the cake pan and bake for 30 minutes, or until a toothpick or knife inserted in the center comes out clean.


Just coming out of the oven.

Waiting to cool.

It was almost as good as the cake from Radical eats. Theirs may be a little better because of the icing. This one was definitely more spicy. Probably too spicy for most people. If I make this again I will use 1/2 tsp. of chipotle.

Sesame Ginger Quinoa Salad

I made this extremely healthy dish for Cameron. It was delicious, especially if you like ginger, and as you can see from the picture, very colorful. Like eating the rainbow!

Ingredients

1 cup quinoa, rinsed
2 cups water
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups shelled frozen edamame
3 medium carrots, peeled and diced
1/2 yellow pepper, diced
1/2 red pepper, diced
1 cup red cabbage, chopped
2 tablespoons sesame oil
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
3 teaspoons fresh ginger, finely minced
1 tablespoon sesame seeds

Directions

1. Place the quinoa, water, and salt in a covered pot. Heat on high until it boils, lower the heat to low, and cook for about 15 minutes or until the quinoa is soft and the water absorbed.
2. Pour the quinoa into a medium-sized bowl, and mix in the frozen edamame, carrots, peppers, and cabbage.
3. In a small bowl, make the dressing by mixing the sesame oil, rice vinegar, minced ginger, and sesame seeds.
4. Pour the dressing over the quinoa and veggies, and mix thoroughly. Enjoy immediately, or store in a covered container for later.

Cameron thought this hummus, arugula and tomato sandwich I made was too cute not to photograph. It was as delicious as it was cute.

Radical Eats

Cameron and I both love this giant carrot.

"Mosquito Repellant" appetizer

Cameron's stuffed squash

Chipotle Chocolate Cake

I had the sweet potato gnocchi again. Everything was vegan and delicious of course. We are planning to finish off the chocolate cake tonight with coffee.

Jenni's Noodle House

Cameron and his friend Lila and I went to Jenni's Noodle House on Shepherd last night. I have been dieting for several weeks so and this was the first time I've eaten out in a while. We shared steamed edamame, veggie disco dumplings, and dream rolls. I had the "Art Car" Curry with tofu and Cameron had the Rockin' Veggies vermicelli salad. A very delicious meal.

Cameron and I had a wonderful 100% vegan meal at Radical Eats on Saturday night. We shared an appetizer of Buffalo Cauliflower with vegan ranch dressing. I had a falafel burger with sweet potato fries and Cameron had sweet potato gnocchi. For desert we shared a chipotle chocolate cake. The cake was better than any non vegan chocolate cake I've eaten. I am trying to be 100% vegan and Cameron is also wanting to be vegan. If we could eat like this every night it would be easy.

Pearl and Chula

Pat took these pictures of Pearl with her cousin Chula.