REBLOG- Hunting the Wild Tofurkey

From November 15, 2010- Before the upcoming holiday, I thought this should be looked at again. Come and explore with me while I try my first "TOFURKEY" and was amazed that I actually liked it! 

 For my mother- Ok, Mom. So I bought a ToFurkey. Deal with it. Get over it. I am not swearing off turkey (or chicken, duck or goose) I just thought I would try this TOFURKEY to see if I liked it.

My mom's first reaction was "you're such a bleeding heart". Which pissed me off. Since when is entertaining the idea of not killing a bird for a meal make you a "bleeding heart?" Really, mother? You are the one who raised me to eat different foods and trying other's cultures, not keeping a closed mind. Well anyway I have ranted enough about mother.
So I had this TOFURKEY to cook. It had wild rice stuffing already in it. So I Just followed the directions on the package and roasted it for an hour and a half. I have to say - the texture is meat like and very pleasing; the aroma is very good; my tofurkey roll came stuffed and with gravy- the stuffing was unbelievably tasty, the gravy, as with most "store bought gravies" was a little salty. And best of all Tofurkey passed the "sandwich-ability test" Made a great sandwich the next day! So I would definitely buy it again and I would definitely serve it to guests! And lets talk affordability- I bought a "6 serving" tofurkey, it comes with Stuffing and gravy for under $10 at Trader Joes- that comes to a measly $1.67 per serving!

TASTE- 8 out of 10
Texture- 8 Out of 10
"Sandwich-ability" 8 out of 10
Cost- 9 out of 10
So in short, The TOFURKEY Surpassed my expectations! A few turkeys are breathing a sigh of relief!
Whatsmore? There are tremendous recipes on the inter-webs for some amazing things to so with your Tofurkey, you can deep fry it, use the left overs in a stroganoff. Makes a Meat Free Monday so much more interesting!

Buy Nothing Day

Well "Black Friday" November 25 (November 26th in the rest of the world ) is coming.It is also Buy Nothing day. And maybe MTV, ABC and CTV wouldn't air adbusters Buy nothing ad, but they didn't come around to my world. ANd I am proud to show their ad!

Buy Nothing Day doesn't mean Don't buy gifts. Just put some thought behind it. Buy handmade. Or buy used. Or make it yourself. And ignore Black Friday. Your pocket book and nerves will thank you!

SOMETIMES YOU HAVE TO ASK… (DUHHH!)

I was lamenting that what I planned on bringing to Thanksgiving dinner could not be made local. Well I have proven myself wrong again. I had resigned myself to trying to buy as close as I could to home- for example: Parmesan cheese - I figured that I could buy Beehive Asiago an american Parmesan- it is made in Uintah, Utah 800 miles away from here. Breadsticks can come from Gai’s or rather Franz Bakery, a local Seattle Mega-Bakery.
I was talking to Greg, the owner of Eat Local about my dilemma, he said they plan on stocking local cheese , including parmesan, in their dairy case (when they get one), and he could bring it down from the Queen Anne store. It is made up north about 100 miles away Plus while I was there, I found they had flour in the store from Winthrop, WA- that is 225 miles!
As I was talking with Greg, the subject of CSA’s came up. I said I knew that his Queen Anne store was a drop off for a CSA. And I asked him if he planned to do the same at the Burien store. He said Eat local Burien will be the drop off for not one but two CSA’s- Tiny’s Organic and Boistfort Valley Farm . Imagine two CSA’s! Now my only dilemma will be deciding which CSA to join!!! Glad I stopped in to talk to Greg.