The North End

So I met a friend and we ventured into the North End for lunch. Middle of the week and off hours (like 2:00 p.m. on a Wednesday). Unfortunately, my favorite vegan-friendly restaurant was closed. They only do dinner during the week. Too bad, they were so accommodating when I visited them a while back, they are always my first choice. Check them out:   Ristorante Damiano

So we walked and talked and looked at menus until I found one that looked like it could be tweaked to accommodate a vegan diner. We went in, and I explained to the first waiter I saw that I was vegan and wondered if any of his pastas didn't contain egg. "Oh no, you will not be able to find that in the North End! All semolina pastas have egg." (Clearly he has never eaten at Ristorante Damiano where they care about their customers.) I bit my tongue, and didn't mention that I had already had vegan pasta in the North End, not to mention from Trader Joe's (imported from Italy) and Stop and Shop/Market Basket/etc. from right here in the USA. (Sadly, I can't remember the name of this restaurant, because I would love to ask you NOT to patron them simply because of their attitude!)

We continued on and ended up at Cantina Italiana which at first seemed promising. Again, I asked told my story to the first person we met. She said that she knew that the rigatoni, the penne and something else didn't contain egg. But the waitress next to her had to jump in and say, "No this is the North End, you can't get anything like that here!" My blood starting to boil again, but not wanting to embarass my friend, I turn toward the first waitress and ask about the pizza dough. She says she'll check and goes away, and two new people appear. A sloppy looking little man, who appears to be a chef, and a woman, who may be the hostess or the manager, not sure. The woman says, "You are looking for a vegan restaurant?" To which I reply, "No. Just some vegan options in your restaurant. My friend is not vegan." The phone rings and she answers it; meanwhile the man says, "This is the North End, there are no vegan restaurants here." Now I am mad. I start to argue with him that I am not looking for a vegan restaurant just some vegan options. The woman gets off the phone and after we go round and round, my friend and I decide to stay, because I didn't feel like having to have this same argument many times over. Luckily the first woman is our waitress, and she is the only one who seems a) to know her stuff and b) to care about pleasing, not losing, a customer. Our meals were both very tasty (even though mine was "boring" according to the waitress.) And the company was good, so we concentrated on that and let the dispute be gone. But, I left the restaurant with a very bad feeling about the North End.

My friend wanted to buy pasta at DePasquale's Homemade Pasta Shoppe in the North End on the way back to the T, so we stopped in. I was going to ask if they had any that didn't contain eggs, but guess what? They had two, count 'em two, packages of raviolis marked, get this...Vegan...in the North End...where "you can't get that..." I grabbed one of each, even though they were pricey and thanked the man, explaining what I had been told. "All of my short pasta is vegan." So, I got some of that, too. Can't wait to try it! I would definitely go back there---he appreciated his customers and was very accommodating!

Is it me? Are customers a dime a dozen that you can afford to offend one by making sweeping generalizations instead of trying to find a way you can meet their needs? Perhaps it's my age, but I am now realizing that I need to speak with my wallet, not my mouth. Next time, we might have to walk a little further to find the Damiano's and DePasquale's because they do exist.

Bon Giorno!

Laura

It's Planting Season!

We now come to the most exciting part of the year, and the most work: planting season! It's funny how my 3 worlds collide during this time:

Yesterday, I planted asparagus (the gardening world), perhaps my favorite vegetable of all time! (That's the vegan world). I dug a massive trench and filled it with my very own home-made compost and watered it with rainwater from the rain barrel (the green world). Now, all I need is someone, who will still know me in 5 years to remind me of all this hard work, when I am finally able to reap the benefits!

We now have a vegan makeup store in Metrowest! It is called the All Natural Face, and the owner makes all of her own makeup. It is located in Framingham, but she also has a web-based business. (www.theallnaturalface.com)

Here is a disgusting fact that she told me: the ingredient carmine (in food or makeup, by the way) is actually ground up cockroaches! Disgusting!

Vegan activities this week - Worcester Veg Fest and Worcester vegan meetup at Belmont Vegetarian (which was yummy).

Green activities this week - Conservationist Group "sealed" my house, and I installed gaskets around most of my outlets---need to get more, ran out.

Gardening activities predominated the week - cleaned out the strawberries (they are looking good), planted outside (broccoli, spinach, shallots, radish, potatoes), took the mulch off the garlic, which is up in a big way. And, installed 35+ pinwheels all around the garden. This year I am waging war with my little groundhog friend: NO VACANCY! Also, went to a seminar on dirt at Harvey's Garden Center and learned that we don't need to water much---good to know. He said the average plant needs 1 inch of water per week and that here in New England, we are almost perfect that way. So, save yourself some work and leave the hose alone most of the time!

Happy Planting, Pruning, & Weeding!

Laura

So Much for Re-emergence!

Okay, so I admit it; student teaching took its toll on me. I was pretty much out of commission for normal life for the whole month of March. But I'm baaaack, and even though it snowed yesterday as a cruel April Fool's joke, I am energized to begin a new planting season!

I learned about the MassSave program through my electric company, NStar, and I had a home energy audit. Getting the people to show up on the right date at the right time was a pain, but the process was worth it. The man who performed the tests said that you may have one once a year. He filled any empty light sockets I had with CFL bulbs and replaced any incandescent bulbs with CFL's. Of course, I had already done that, so my total was only 3. But, I won't buy them any more, because they can come once a year and they give you the bulbs for FREE (the price is right!)

I am also back to my schools, so this week, I was able to walk to school two days and ride my bike one day. I intend to diminish the use of my car as much as possible now that the weather is turning (although that snow through me for a loop!) Besides it being better for the environment, it cost me $50 to fill my tank last week; that is insane. I also got a hold of a Consumer Reports from a friend of mine and will be researching the most green vehicles. So, stay tuned!

I ate a Red Lentil in Watertown last week, and I must rave about the desserts. I had raspberry cheesecake; it was to die for! I also bought one to go: chocolate, blueberry cake. It was yummy too. The meal was good too, although I like True Bistro in Somerville better, I think. (Only been once, so jury is still out.)

I have been making smoothies for breakfast the past month, so that I could drink them in the car on my long ride to student teaching. Here are two of my favorite concoctions (Note: I didn't really measure anything, so am just guessing):

Banana Blueberry Smoothie

1 room temperature banana

1/2 - 1 cup of frozen blueberries

cinnamon to taste (I use a lot, maybe even 1 T)

2 T ground flax seeds

1-2 cups kale or spinach

1 cup Soy or Almond milk

Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana Smoothie

1 frozen banana  (I peel, and freeze it in three sections)

1-2 T peanut butter

2-3 T cocoa powder

1 t cinnamon to taste (it goes in everything for me! You could omit it.)

2 T ground flax seeds

1-2 cups kale or spinach

1 cup Soy or Almond milk

I think if you want a thinner consistency, you could use milk instead of water. Also, I learned through this process that there is no right way, and that I don't really need a recipe to make these. Just use whatever ingredients you like and play with the amounts until you get just the taste you want. Remember to write it down if you want to recreate it.

At this time last year, I would have already planted the onions, leeks, scallions and radishes outside and this weekend last year I also planted the potatoes, spinach, and broccoli outside. Fat chance of that today, since the snow is still covering the ground. Maybe by tomorrow, I can clear a section and at least get the onions in. Last year they didn't have a long enough growing season. This year I am going to put them in a raised bed so that I could possibly extend the season by making a pseudo cold frame. Also, last year this weekend I planted a lot of herbs in the garage, and some stuff inside. 

Last year, I calculated seeding dates based on the Farmers Almanac and a May 10th last frost, but I decide to push my dates back two weeks this year, and base all seed dates on Memorial Day. For one, it is more practical to transplant on that weekend, and for another, last year a lot of them stretch while inside and burnt up once I put them out, and then had to recover from that.

The strawberries are looking good, I think. I had covered them with raked leaves last fall for a protection from the winter weather. I planned to rake them off this weekend, but some are peeking through and they look healthy! Yeah---I had started 2 years ago with 8 plants and this year have 131---so worth all the work last fall separating and transplanting them. I hope I get a good yield to make smooties and desserts with!

The garlic is sending up shoots through the 6 inches of hay that is covering it. The hay is hard too, so I wasn't sure what to do about it. It's a good thing I saw the shoots, because I was going to rake it. Now I will be careful not to do damage.

I also cleaned out the raspberry patch, and removed a few more stalks, and transplanted them elsewhere in the yard. They may not grow, but if they do, yippee! I think between the fall and now, I have transplanted at least 13-15 plants. I will keep you posted!

That's all for now...sorry to be so long winded. That's what happens when I take a month off of writing!


Happy Spring!
Laura