Friday, January 6, 2012

2012 Resolutions, Updates, and Pictures

Midnight came and went with hardly an acknowledgment from myself on Sunday. I think this is the first New Year in many, many years that I awakened without a hangover. I had a nasty cold, but that's never stopped me before; alcohol is the Great Alleviator.

One thing I will not forgo is making resolutions. I've made them before and had them stick (quitting smoking, losing weight), with or without stumbling and relapsing. This year, I resolve to blog more often. With that comes creating, experimenting, and experiencing. I also resolve to make more of an effort as an activist. Any lazy sonofabitch can share links on Facebook, but it takes some sacrifice and schedule shuffling to hand out leaflets and talk to people about what it means to be vegan, especially when people just want to fight with you. 2011 was very trying for me in the activist regard; I lost a friend over it, but it made me realize that this is not just something that will eventually pass with me. It's the barometer by which I make any decision. After six years, it's the one thing I've stuck to without a known slip-up; probably because sneaking a cigarette outside a bar or eating an entire pizza after losing 40 pounds only hurts me.

Anyway, here's some pictures I cleaned out of my camera today.

From the night of Paranormal Activity and chocolate-cherry-cheesecake, Aaron's Pumpkin-Pie-in-a-Pumpkin:

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From Thanksgiving Day at Dallas & Brandon's:

Wild Mushroom & Walnut Paté (Dallas hates shiitake mushrooms with the fury of a thousand ninjas, but looooved this).

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The Beast made another appearance.

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Maple glazed carrots.

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Creamed spinach and parsnips. This didn't turn out as good as I wanted (but it was much better as leftovers). I'll try it again next Thanksgiving, but now I know how to make it better.

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Autumn Latkes from Veganomicon. Props to Brandon for doing all that peeling and shredding. My arthritic hands thank you!

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I forgot to take pictures of dessert, which was eggnog pumpkin pie and apple-pear crumble. That just means I need to make them again!

Aaron and Kevin showed up for dessert that day, and showed us a piece from the news that night.

Rescued beagles get normal homes

Then they told us that they were adopting one of the beagles! Meet Kevin Junior:

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Junior is still a little scared of stuff, especially doorways. I promised him that whenever I come through a door, I will always have hugs and treats.

That's it for now, but expect more soon. I hope I can keep my word on that.

3 comments:

DallasRising said...

I cannot believe you guys got me to eat shiitake mushrooms and LIKE them. Who am I?

And couldn't you just do nothing but spoil Junior for the rest of your life? Oh my god - he is so freaking cute.

Celeste said...

Your pictures make me want to do Thanksgiving dinner again. Oh my goodness, is that Beagle ever cute! Makes me want to add another to our family. I cried like a baby when I watched those sweet dogs take their first step onto grass.

I'm excited to see what you'll be blogging. Pumpkin pie in the pumpkin? Genius! Please say you'll share recipes.

Megan said...

You'll have to get the recipe for the pumpkin pie in the pumpkin from Aaron, as they are his!