Mango & Walnut Breakfast

If you ever start eating raw and vegan be prepared for people to ask you if you are getting enough protein. Do I look like I am starving? Anyways, the other morning I was hungry and cut up a mango, which was all juicy and like perfect-ripe. I was so happy about it and then I realized maybe some walnuts would be good with it. Holy yummy grail. It was delicious. The two flavors play really well with each other. Just make sure to get a really juicy ripe mango and you are good to go.

Mango Walnut Breakie Recipe
Half a mango (put the other half in plastic and leave in fridge for following morning or afternoon snack)
A handful of walnuts (my hands are très très petit so maybe a half-handful for any ogre-hands out there)

Put in bowl and eat. Yum!

If mangoes scare you (what color? how do I cut them? what is happening in the middle of them—is it a party I can’t get invited to?) then watch the video below:

Eating Vegan, Specifically Vegan Ceviche

Work has been nuts. I'm at a small start-up that our CEO likes to say isn't a start-up. I say, it's a start-up until money isn't an issue and I can fake take out clients, meaning my friends, for lunch. So work is busy and I am chubby. But only one of those I can change. I re-read a part of Eat to Live and realized I needed more veganism in my life. So off I go eating more raw and vegan delights—many of which just aren't good enough to post about. That is until I tried vegan ceviche. This recipe is from Whole Foods and is really delicious. Whole Fooders say to put it over rice, but I ate mine in lettuce cups and it was tasty. If you like heat I would do a pepper and a half. Also most tofu packages are 14 ounces. Really? You want us to use 2 packages and then a smidge of another? Lame. I used one and threw in cilantro like it was my job since i like it so much. I didn't seed the tomatoes very well which made mine very saucy. I also gave an f-u to parchment paper as I didn't have any. The pan cleans up fine. I did overcook and it made my tofu even crispier which was nice.
Bottom Line
Unless you got tofu for days just use two packages and call it one [day]. Add more cilantro or jalapeno if you're not a pansy. Eat with lettuce cups for a nearly raw experience and to make you feel healthy, wealthy and wise.

826 Valencia: Why Everyone in SF Should Know About It

My friend, Vodka, and his wife, Kiki have asked me to use pseudonyms on the internet for them. They are tech people. Tech people understand that the internet is a slate that will never really be wiped clean. They also lower-case the internet, as opposed to editors who uppercase it. I wonder what they know that they aren't telling editors. Anyways, Vodka is an actual nickname that I gave to Vodka. It also spawned calling things “Not-Vodka” which means lame. I like vodka and Vodka. Anyways, Kiki chose her own nickname but it has been one of hers historically in her real life so my attempts as K-ter and K-fed were met my dubious stares, or I guess more correctly, in am IM convo silence followed by “no.”

Anyways, we were going to Goodwill to drop off clothes, books and other odds and ends. Goodwill has got some rules. They do not accept toys. It’s "because of the lead," which made sense except they were pointing at a plush toy when that was stated. They do not take magazines which we knew. They also consider comic books magazines. Vodka has enough comic books to make all the other kids hella jealous. (He’s a native, as his wife, so they don’t make people jealous—they make them hella jealous.) He wondered out loud where these comic books could find a good home and by that in the hands of the young boys and girls who need to read cool shit and who maybe wouldn't otherwise be able to get their mitts on these. I mentioned 826 Valencia might take them. He asked what 826 was. And I thought, wait, people don’t know about this? And then I thought only my nerd writer friends probably do. So here’s the thing. 826 Valencia is hella cool.

Why 826 Valencia is Hella Cool
826 Valencia helps kids ages 6-18 with developing their writing skills. They provide after-school tutoring, field trips, workshops, but perhaps most important they fill in the gaps that the existing public school system cannot. They help kids learn how to write their college essay, prep for the SAT, while also teaching them the fun aspects of story-telling, such as creating a zine. It’s cool stuff, because it straddles both concepts of “things you need” and “things that are fun” at the same time. Writing doesn't come easy to many people. We can all see plain as day that our language is changing rapidly due to technology, but many of us will "c u later" on that one. Others, including some truly lovely ones, are markedly more upset about it. It is important that even if we break down into binary codes for online discussions that the beauty of good writing is never lost and how many work environments would just be better if people had stronger writing skills. Ok, I admit sometimes it is comprehension that gets in the way. I just think that being able to express yourself in both spoken and written forms gives you a leg up in life. If you can sound eloquent then you can even get away with bigger social no-no's like sleeping around or being passively-aggressively rude and condescending to silly people.

Like any do-gooder organization they need help to survive: basically both people and computer gear. The mural in front of the building is cool and the shop is “San Francisco’s only independent pirate supply store,” and it offers “a variety of goods, including lard, flags, eye patches, mops, glass eyes and the like.” So well it is like a Letterman joke: mostly funny because it is random. But all proceeds go to 826, which means if you want to be a pirate for Halloween or next Thursday's date night then you should pick up your gear here. And if suddenly you have some extra dough, buy some school supplies for these guys.

Singapore: The Island that Introduced Me to Periplus Mini Cookbooks

My older sister lives in Singapore. Singapore is one the greatest places in the world to eat your face off. Basically the Chinese run the show in Singapore with large populations of Malay, Indian, and, of course, transplants from Europe, America and Arab nations who want SE Asia for Beginners or got transferred there for a job. Also middle-class and up people have maids in Singapore—and most of them are from the Philippines. What does all this mean? It means the food is damn good and diversified and that creative chefs take a little from every thing to make something new and exciting. It means that in Singapore you eat your face off everyday and can’t wait for your next meal. Anyways, the only other reason to visit Singapore is for medical tourism or because you need a stable, malaria-free place to stop/recuperate/start yourself off slow while traveling through SE Asia. I know someone who went there for an operation and loved it. Maybe it was because he told the Malay nurse that he couldn’t sleep without beer and she got him one. Yep, tolerant folks those Singaporeans. Anyways in general the island is a bit boring—unless you smuggle in drugs in which case they hang you. Public hanging occur on Friday mornings.

But let’s get back to food. So I have been to Singapore a few times and always come back excited that I will be making laksa or some other dish that tasted delicious to me while there. And then I go to one of the markets on Clement, buy supplies and make a few wildly awesome meals and then just drop it. But on one trip my sister pointed out some mini cookbooks that she said were fantastic. I got a few and then later found out I can buy them easily online from Tuttle Publishing, which turns out to be the largest English-language book publishing and distribution company in Asia.

The great thing about these books is two-fold: it informs/instructs but is also fun. Like school is for English majors versus Bio-Chem people. First they are easy intros into a new type of cuisine you may have never made at home or even tried at a restaurant or friend’s house. Second the way the books are written all of the basic ingredients are described in detail at the beginning of the book and give off an authoritative, but not condescending air—they inspire confidence. One of my books opens with “All of our recipes are thoroughly tested in the Periplus test kitchen. Standard metric measuring cups are used throughout, and all cup and spoon measurements are level. We have used medium (60g, grade 3) eggs in all recipes.“ We all know that cup measurements need to be level, but they openly state it and it creates a sense of security that all has been thoroughly checked. That tone is quick, it’s swift, it means business. I can therefore cook something outside my comfort zone. These guys will help me.

Plus it is a cheap way to make some excitement in your life or someone you care about. Is your bestest gay friend down because he can’t make it to the Beirut gay scene this summer? Then pick up the intro to Lebanese cuisine and make him a nice dinner. He might still be down, but at least he won't be hungry and sad.

The books point out any ingredients which may be difficult to find if Whole Foods or a specialty store aren’t close to you, but they often suggest alternatives that work quite well.

What’s The Deal?
Get some spark back into your kitchen and eat your face off like a Singaporean with some kick-butt recipe books that are easy to follow and mostly cost about 10 bucks a piece. Purchase the titles in the “made easy” series if you aren’t so artful or apt in the kitchen or if you just don’t deal with things like chopping up full animals or fish parts as some of the recipes are old school and will have you cutting up a whole chicken—which as we know makes some people happy like the Husband in Meadowlands, which is another book everyone should own.


Disclosure: In the Japanese Homestyle Favorites I found one mistake where an ingredient is listed but never then integrated into the recipe’s instructional text which made me feel like “aha!” more than “argh!”