Monday, March 11, 2013

Hidden Gems

Living in a small town is funny.

Cons:  The whole world knows when you get back from vacation because your exhausted screaming kids announce your arrival getting out of the car at 10pm.

Pros:  Turns out the neighbor down the road is a talented vegan chef...and she's been kind enough to have you come look over her shoulder while she preps her family's dinner!




I was infected with Penny's love for the details - watching her chop all the aromatics and roots, sort carefully through the legumes.  I drew out of her tips on menu planning (buy seven proteins, then shop for fresh vegetables twice a week, if you're wondering), made off with some new (to me) cookbooks to borrow, and tasted the most amazing dhal, which she'd made right before my very eyes!

Don't you love it when it turns out someone you know has an amazing, unexpected talent!?

11 comments:

  1. I love living in a small town...with all its pros and cons :)
    How fun to get to watch and learn some new recipes!

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  2. My con for living in a small town is my NEIGHBORS' kids making noise when they get home at 10 p.m.....all 6 of them!!! in our shared driveway on the side of the house where our bedrooms are....oh, yeah and they still have their Christmas decorations up! But there's lots of conveniences living in a small town.....a vegan living down the street is not one of mine though! Happy cooking!

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  3. Sometimes I wish I lived in a small town. Truth is, I've never spent much time in small towns so everything I think about them is probably wrong-lol. But it seems like it would be nice to know your neighbors, speak to folks at the post office, etc. I think my idea of small town is some combination of Gilmore Girls and movies like To Kill a Mockingbird or Dazed and Confused. Haha.

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    1. Ha!

      Ok so lemme break it down for you: our small town happens to be right next to a university, so we can actually walk to a coffee cart just like Rory's anytime we want!

      The owner of the diner is somewhat less Luke-esqe than Luke...sorry Bill!

      There are plenty of known nosy informants we steer clear of...or at least keep our mouth shut in front of!

      Funny!

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  4. We currently live in a small town, but no top vegan cooks in sight ;-)
    The dhal sounds lovely. Yum!
    I love Mary's take on small towns - Gilmore Girls - wish ours was more like that too!

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  5. I used to live in a small town, and to be honest, it wasn't really my thing. I'm a city dweller! That being said, I do with people were a little friendlier here, and I'd love to have a chef for a neighbor! What a fun surprise.

    And I'm laughing at Mary's comment about Gilmore Girls. Sadly, my town was nothing like that, haha.

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  6. What a fun part of living in a small town! I realize I need to go throw out my long refrigerated "fresh vegetables." TFS!

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  7. Isn't it great? So far, I haven't met a vegan/ vegan chef in town. What more can I say? We love steaks! Maybe I should start looking. By the way, what did you and your friend cook/eat?

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    1. I'm rather an omnivore too, Rozelyn ;)

      Besides the dahl, Penny also made a beautiful vegetable curry featuring carrots, tomatoes and cauliflower!

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  8. Vegan cooking seems a little mysterious to me. I try to branch out, but find myself falling back into the same food patterns.

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    1. Ya it's mysterious to me too, actually! Essentially if I look at as a vegetable-high diet, I'm more inclined to understand.

      As I told my friend Penny at her very generous cooking lesson: I aim to be the world's best dinner guest: if the host lays out a vegan feast, I'll be thrilled and able to imbibe. Same goes for if the host proudly lays his homemade venison sausage before me. I believe in moderation,inclusivity and acceptance...or strive towards them anyway!

      I'm also extremely grateful to not have any allergies or aversions!

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