Kombucha Experiment, Vegan Planet, and New Culinary Experiences

I’ve had a few firsts in the last few weeks.

My first pizza crust.
my first pizza dough 4-6-2012 4-17-57 PM

Followed shortly by my first homemade vegan pizza.
pizza 4-6-2012 6-17-44 PM

The crust was lumpy. I need more practice.
lumpy pizza dough 4-6-2012 6-11-15 PM

This wasn’t the first time I toasted pecans, but it was the first time I toasted them so thoroughly. I swear I was following the directions to the letter, but something went wrong. Obviously.
toasted pecans with crane 4-1-2012 8-28-21 AM

And my first vegan French toast. Messy to cook but not bad to eat. Papa Miao enjoyed it.
vegan french toast 4-1-2012 9-03-56 AM

I’ve been making a lot of recipes from Vegan Planet. It was the first cookbook I ever bought. I got it when I first started grad school and lived in an apartment with my own kitchen. I had grand plans for cooking delicious vegan feasts but really all I ate was oatmeal, bread from the Italian grocery on the corner, and fruit. And Clif bars. And chocolate. And… My cookbook sat sadly neglected for years, until I finally dusted it off a couple months ago and discovered that it is full of easy and delicious recipes. I have been working through the breakfast recipes for Papa Miao on the weekends, but the soups are proving delightful too.
vegan planet sprocket 4-6-2012 4-24-05 PM

I also started my Kombucha Experiment today. I really can’t imagine it failing, but I suppose I ought to prepare for the worst. I am growing my own mushroom from store-bought kombucha. I started it like any regular batch of kombucha (black tea sugar water), and then I added four cups of my favorite brand of original, unflavored kombucha. There were nice strands of culture in both bottles and I am hoping that they gorge themselves on the sugar and tea and grow very plump. Since the jar I used is rather large (a gallon) I am expecting it may take a while for a full mushroom to grow. Once the water level is significantly lower, I will add more sugar/tea brew to feed it. Then I will compare my two strains of kombucha. It will require quite a bit more kitchen space to maintain two separate kombucha families. If my kombucha experiment is successful, I will call it Kombucha Ex Machina and it will save the world.

So that’s my plan. My other plan is to set up my light box and take food photos.