hey look, it's a survey!

Survey time again! Liz makes interesting questions, and I memed it from Coppe and Adele. I fight boredom good, yeah? :)

1 . If you have to choose between locally grown or organic, which do you usually choose?
I usually don't have an option, I tend to go with whatever's cheapest out of necessity. But if I was in a position to choose, I would probably go with local, out of a desire to community-build. And with any luck it would be part of a performance piece.

2. Favourite way to prepare potatoes:
Any way! Okay, fittingly enough, the aloo paratha recipe down below is probably my favourite way. It's hard to go wrong with cayenne and cilantro and lime.

3. Do you press your tofu before preparing/cooking it (if you eat soy)?
Pressing tofu makes me not want to eat it so much, which is sad cause it's my fav. So I usually make recipes that don't call for pressing (ie; crumbled feta type stuff or scrambles)

4. Name your favorite recipe that is a tradition in your family:
Probably mincemeat tarts at giftmas, which we *usually* make with "minced fruit" (the vegetarian version), but this year it was the real lardy stuff so I couldn't partake. And we usually make trays and trays of them, the really tiny kind and they're immensely pop-able. Next year, I guess.

5. Any food allergies?
Penicillin is based in bread mold I guess, but no, not really.

6. When you want to go to a fancy dinner, where do you go?
Where would I *potentially* go if I did indeed go out for fancy dinners? The Green Door Restaurant in Ottawa is choice tops. It's buffet-style, and the marinated shrooms are otherworldly, as is anything they decide to do with noodles and/or squash. In Montreal it's alllll about Aux Vivres, though. They have a chickpea curry sandwich they put on a fresh-made chapati with mango chutney that is pretty much keeping me from trying anything else on the menu. They have awesome cookies, too.

7. When you have a cold, what do you crave?
Ice-cold fruit, which I put in the fridge. Not much else.

8. What kind of water do you drink? (Filtered, spring, tap, etc.)
Tap water. And sometimes I'll put lime and stevia in it for kicks.

9. Name a flavor of soda you'd love to see:
*** I change my answer!! Not strawberry, no, some of these flavours maybe:

- apple chai
- mint cucumber
- balsamic strawberry

10. If the recipes you ate as a child were compiled into a cookbook, what would the title be?
Creamy Garlicky Potatoes and Pasta With Probably Some Pork Involved and a Yorkshire Pudding Chaser

11. If you were allowed to grow one food that can't grow in your climate, what would it be?
I've always wanted to try a warm orange off the tree. Something tells me I've never had a real orange before.

12. Favorite type of mushroom?
I haven't tried many of the fancy kinds, but right now I'll reach for shitake in a pinch. I like a mushroom to speak up about it's presence!

13. Most frustrating part of your kitchen?
Total lack of storage, and trust me, I've turned every conceivable place I could into a shelf of some kind. Half my pantry is currently in the living room and if I wanted to buy more flour I'd have to make real estate under my desk, I think. :/

14. Last food you burned?
The cornmeal masala coated vegetables I made for the Indian meal - the tips of the onions and the outsides of the brussels sprouts got a little blackened. But they tasted fine. I'm actually shocked when I burn anything, I tend to have really good luck in that department.

15. Usual response to a veg*n's favorite question, "But where do you get your protein?":
I usually blink a bit, stare off into space over their shoulder a bit, recite a line something like "beans, tofu, whole grains, beans, lentils, fake meat, there's this stuff called satan that's really weird and good." I rarely take the question seriously, I've never come across anyone who really seemed to think I didn't get any.

16. If you were baking your own birthday cake today, what flavor would it be?
I will be making it soon! And I'm making a key lime cheesecake, which I crave like the dickens about once every 5 years. I'll probably put a strawberry or mango element in there somewhere and then eat half of it. :)

17. Favourite brand of chocolate chips?
I like the President's Choice dark chocolate chips. Yeah, I know, they're not fancy or even quality chocolate by any stretch of the imagination. But they're cheap and decent enough and I like the packaging, it's very manly.

18. You have $200 of your tax return reserved for Williams Sonoma - What do you buy?
What's Williams Sonoma???

*quick google later....*

OHHHHHH. Holy crostini. Most of it? Okay, how about you hold this food processor and I'll be over here loading up on cake pans. Excellent...

19. Do you plan your menus in advance? Any tips to share?
I usually check the online flyer for my favourite grocery store, scan the produce and try to pick meals for the next week that incorporate most of the interesting ones in somewhat labour-intensive meals that I'll use to entertain myself between classes. Then I use the leftover produce in the second (more experimental) half of the week, and use every inch of my willpower NOT to run out for scallions or whatever that would be "just perfect in this meal!" in the interest of frugality and NOT being a grocery store addict.

And if I'm staring out into space on the bus with a glassy look and a fiddling thumb? You better believe I'm debating wether to use that yam in a soup or a sandwich. :p

20. You have 3 minutes before you have to leave the house and you're starving- What do you eat?
A small handful of tamari almonds and a piece of fruit go in my bag, and then I jet.

21. If Martha Stewart, Paula Deen, and Rachel Ray got into a fight, who would win and how?
Rachel Ray's got the arms... but there's something sneaky about Paula. And she's my favourite, so.... Paula. She'd have the butter-gun cocked and ready, anyway.

22. If you eat oatmeal, what do you add to it before serving?
3 1/2 chopped dates. cinnamon, nutmeg, very occasionally ginger. salt.

23. If you got to travel to one country and learn all the traditional dishes there, where would you go (ignore commitments in your current place of residence)?
India

24. Favourite late night snack?
A banana. It's a quiet soothing food, and more importantly it has tryptophan so the sleepy feeling isn't totally psychosomatic.

25. Favourite springtime food?
I am waiting with bated breath for the first wave of strawberries, at which time I'll get a huge plastic container of them, find a sunny green spot to sit and eat every juicy morsel.

26. Favorite food-related magazine?
I don't really get magazines, but I flipped through Vegetarian Times and I liked it.

27. Which do you prefer: shoyu, tamari, conventional soy sauce, or Bragg's Aminos?
I really liked the San-J shoyu I got for sushi-dipping.

28. What vegetable or fruit do you dislike the most?
Pomelo hasn't wowed me. Or papaya unless it's dried.

29. Name a holiday food you look forward to all year long:
A gigantic creamy slice of pumpkin pie, with soy whip and maybe an extra fork so I can scare people away from the leftovers and eat them ALLLLL myself. hee hee.

30. If you could convert anyone to veganism with your magic wand, who would you convert?
The love of my life, whenever they decide to show up.