Category Archives: vegetarian

Welcome to 1958!

     Happy Sunday! I love Sundays: they always mean a morning at church followed by a day of rest and relaxation, family time and lots of reading. Oh wait, that’s not true for me. Normally I’m sucked into the vortex of retail every single Sunday, but today was a nice change: I got to go to set and get paid to do something I love! What a concept!

It’s nice to wake up before the sun once in a while. This picture made the exhaustion even more worth it!
     
     I pulled out the Vitamix and threw together a Monsta with 5 cups of spinach, 1/2 cup of soymilk, 1 frozen banana, 1 lemon and 1/2 cup of frozen blueberries. I pulled on some fuzzy socks, arm warmers and a baggy sweatshirt and headed to location with a hot mug of tea.
     When I arrived at set, I got into wardrobe for the first scene. This shoot is b-roll for a commercial that takes place in 1958. My first outfit was high-waisted capris with a button-down frilly sleeveless top and pink converse-style shoes that laced around the ankles. It was pretty hideous – I’ll spare you the picture because I’m awful and forgot to take one!
So. Much. Wool!
Getting my hair styled involved lots of hairspray, headbands, teasing and shellacking. Also pretty awful.
I got off easy with makeup. I only had to get base, blush and mascara. Two of the girls were filming a prom scene and had to get the works! The last time I saw so much blue eyeshadow was on Mimi from The Drew Carey Show.
     The first scene I filmed took place at a piano. I was assigned a boyfriend (Hi, Tom!) and we basically sat at the piano playing a duet and kissing “1958” style, which basically means long, soft pecks. Too much? Sorry. The next scene was a party scene. The director started the turntable and we had some painfully awkward slow dancing (“Stop laughing! Look like you love each other! And kiss!”). 
     Next came my favorite part: LUNCH!
Chicken tacos from Baja Fresh! No, I didn’t partake – I asked for vegetarian and vegetarian is what I got!
(I think I might be able to keep up this vegetarian thing full-time!)
Here we have a horribly plated vegetarian burrito that had black beans, lettuce, grilled bell peppers and cheese inside, with a side of salad, guacamole and a few chips.
     You know what works really well after eating a big lunch? SWIMSUITS! Um, yeah, not. We donned some 50’s bathing wardrobe and spent an hour freezing our asses off outside by the pool, hula hooping, attempting to dance “The Twist” and playing volleyball with a beach ball. These were the only pictures I got of me in wardrobe: Prepare yourselves.
Haha, love Rye-Bread posing in the background.
Please, no snide comments – I blame the shellacked hair. This was like wearing a corset but who needed to breathe in 1958 anyway?
Vintage!
     The final scene took place at a school. All ten of us spent the time prancing around in the most tight “casual” clothes I’ve ever worn. I had to cram my feet into size 6 shoes (my feet are size 7.5-8 normally) and I got some gnarly cuts on my ankles from the backs slicing into them. I’m a trouper :-D. 
     We wrapped after seven and a half hours, far less than the twelve that they predicted, and we still got paid for the full time! Hooray! I drove home through the mist, rinsed the shellack out of my hair and the mascara out of my eyelashes and made a big Kitchen Sink Salad.
Yeah, that should balance out the cheesy goodness from the burrito.
OoOoH! I’m gonna go make more bread pudding!

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Filed under 1958, Baja Fresh, bathing suit, Bikini, bread pudding makes me happy, commercial, filming, The Twist, vegetarian

Butternut Squash Apple Soup!

I did a lot of cooking yesterday, but decided not to bombard you with every recipe in one post. I felt that the bread pudding needed to be shared first because it was so epic, but here’s another dish that is a saga in itself. Bonus: it’s vegan!



Butternut Squash Apple Soup with a bite! – Printable version HERE
(adapted from Martha Stewart to be vegan/vegetarian)
1 tbsp Nucoa
1 onion, chopped
1 butternut squash
3 apples
1 tsp kosher salt
1 1/2 tsp cumin seed
1/2 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
A pinch of ground cinnamon
A pinch of ground nutmeg
2 cups vegetable broth
2 cups water
1/3 cup soy creamer
     1. Assemble your ingredients. (I didn’t have all the ingredients that Martha’s recipe calls for so I just grabbed whatever I could find in my kitchen.)
Everyone ready?
     2. Combine all your seasonings into a small dish.
Mise en place, baby!
     3. Slice your butternut squash into rounds, trim off the skin and scoop out the seeds.
M-m-m-macro!
     4. Chop the squash rounds into inch-long squares.
     5. Peel, core and chop the apples into the same size squares as the squash.
     6. Heat the Nucoa (or olive/vegetable oil) over medium heat in a large pot, then add onions and sautee until transparent (about four minutes).
     7. Add the chopped squash and sautee for another fifteen minutes.
     8. Throw in the chopped apples, spices and vegetable stock, then top with water until all the vegetables are just barely covered in liquid.
     9. Bring the pot to a boil, then set it to low, uncovered for 40 minutes.
     10. Using an immersion blender, puree the soup.
If you don’t have an immersion blender, you can transfer the soup into a blender and blend it in batches until smooth.
I left some texture in mine so it didn’t feel like I was eating baby food.
     11. Stir in the soy creamer and add some freshly ground black pepper.
PRETTY!!!
     12. Ladle into a bowl and top with any garnish you like: sliced jalapenos for extra bite, caramelized pecans or, if you’re not vegan, a small scoop of goat cheese for a little extra tang.
D-Lish!
     This soup is delicately sweet and comforting with a hidden spicy bite that warms your stomach and makes you want to stay on the couch, wrapped up in a blanket all day, reading a book or watching the Food Network.
I LOVE AUTUMN!

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Filed under apples, butternut squash, butternut squash apple soup, Martha Stewart, vegan, vegan soup, vegetarian