dear kiki...

Prepare to be Amazed...

If you are not hungry when you read this post you certainly will be after-wards!  Whew!  I had a very busy and productive 4 day weekend.  I wish it wasn't over but alas it is.  It all started Friday which I took off in celebration of my birthday and to see Xmen III (yes we all know I'm a nerd).  Which I will maybe do a review of at a later date but I don't feel like going into at the moment.  Key points, I really liked it and recommend it there were a few things I had issues with but overall great movie!  I then cleaned my entire apartment top to bottom and setup a really sweet bookcase and thus was able to finally unpack about 4 boxes of books, YAY!  Plus it looks great!  Also got the other bench to my little kitchen table booth configuration while I was getting the bookcase because it was half off so couldn't pass that up!  Then after a few trips to whole foods and various grocery stores I started my baking/cooking extravaganza on Saturday.  Everything turned out great for the party on Sunday and all the food was a big hit, YAY VEGANS!!!  I had a great birthday just hanging out with all my friends on a beautiful day outside at Kelsey's amazing pad!  Without further adieu the food...




OK sorry these pics aren't great due to the large amounts of sunshine but what are ya gonna do???  Anyway from the top, A dill pickle dip and roasted garlic dip from The Garden of Vegan then one of the big hits of the party a divine baked artichoke dip from The Everyday Vegan followed by a super delish bean dip from La Dolce Vegan and a plate of crackers, flat bread, pita and pita chips.  Next up...

Roasted Potato Salad that was soooo yummy and very popular made with Veganaise instead of olive oil from The Everyday Vegan.  Then a Pasta Salad from The Garden of Vegan that was very yummy too! Now for the best part the DESSERT!!!!  MMMMMMMM!!

Macadamia nut blondies with a caramel Maple topping!  OMG!!!!  SOOOOOO delicious!!!!  This recipe is from Vegan with a Vengeance, I love macadamia nuts and caramel!!!  Yeah these blew everyone away they couldn't believe they were vegan!  And the piece de la resistance...My Birthday Cake...Raspberry Blackout Cake from Vegan with a Vengeance made with Cherry preserves instead of Raspberry, oh yeah I'm proud...



That's a Chocolate Ganache Frosting, uh huh, I wish I had a pic of it cut, it was soooooo freaking delicious!  It's 3 layers of yummy!  So next time someone asks me what I eat I will say look at my blog, I eat well!!!  It also boosted my cooking/baking confidence and I'm ready to tackle some more recipes, I'll admit it I impressed myself!  Sigh I wish I had some right now...
I received some lovely cards and gifts and it was a blast.  I also made some fancy margarita's mango and grapefruit with sparkling water, mmmmm the mix was from William Sonoma, delish.  I also went to eat today at the Gratitude Cafe, I've been wanting to go there for a long time, it's a raw vegan cafe and there are 3 of them in the Bay Area.  OMG it was soooo good!  I had their enchilada special which was sooo freaking amazing and the famous vegan soft serve with caramel sauce for dessert oh and a Chai Latte.  MMMMMmm and my friends were great and adventurous, great sports and really enjoyed it as well and want to go again.  Jennifer had the "nachos" and my other friend just had granola but then a mint cookie milkshake.  Yumminess!  I can't wait to go again and try more!  I'm tired now but my apartment is sparkling so that's nice and now Z is here in the Bay for good which is fantastic!  I'll leave you with a picture of some of us girls at the BBQ cracking ourselves up as usual!  Have a good Monday, buy a vegan cookbook and try some recipes out, trust me and the photos!!!  Ciao!

Pride of Hawaii...

Bitches!  ;)  Pride of Hawaii OK wow last week and this week are/were crazy busy!  The 3 day, 4 days for me weekend will be here shortly, my bday, graduation/bday parties, and Zahra will be here!  Whew! This was the cruise ship I was on last week with about 20 other Travelocity people and a bunch of other travel industry folks.  We sailed by Alcatraz and under the Golden Gate Bridge.  I will post some pics soon, I haven't even downloaded them from my camera yet!  Sadly it was really cold and windy and a bit foggy so I didn't get any fun in the sun time :(  I did have a lot of fun regardless!  I work with some crazy fun people!  Another chunk of our office was in NYC on the Freedom of the Seas Inaugural cruise so Friday our office was dead!  It was WAY too much fun!  We had a sweet cabin with a balcony and so much more!  I think my favorite part was the private Karaoke rooms one of which we took over and sang the night away before hitting the dance floor.  The first night was crazier than the second night but the on the second night we broke out with some classic 1990's dances like the running man, roger rabbit and some MC Hammer, so it's a tough call!!  All open bar for 3 days including top shelf = DANGER!  We all had a very good time!  Here is something I found interesting, on board in the shops they were selling scrapbooks and scrapbooking supplies that were obviously Hawaii related, scrapbooking has hit the cruise ships!  That was weird!  The pages they had up as examples were terrible but I found it intriguing.  I hear the Freedom of the Seas ship is amazing!  A bunch more people are going on it out of Miami this coming weekend.  I have other plans, it's my Birthday and friends are having a big party on Sunday for graduation and my birthday.  Another party Saturday too.  I also had a graduation party this past Saturday for Dennise, crazy graduates!  I spent my weekend, sleeping and trying to recover and cleaning!  I'm going to have guests next weekend so I'm trying to prepare. 

I also saw The Divinci Code...two big thumbs down...ick...HATED IT!!!!!  I read the book (who hasn't?) it was OK, entertaining, not terribly good writing, kind of like an action flick in book form.  I thought that the movie would be similar, but that I would like it, yeah it sucked!  There were some good performances and some nice touches, but I felt like Ron Howard cheesed it up and tried to make it less threatening to the Catholic Church.  It was lame!  I can't believe anyone in the Catholic Church even finds it threatening, it's PRETEND people, FICTION!  I have much higher hopes for the new X-men movie that will be out on Friday though!!!  YAY!!  I'm such a nerd and soooo excited, I'm taking the day off to go see it (yeah that's right I'm a DORK!) Plus I can run some errands and prepare for my guests and the weekend.  I need to buy a bookcase and maybe a dress etc.  I feel like I'm behind on EVERYTHING!!  I have to catch up on pictures/design/scrapbooking/more cleaning/calling people/emails aaahhhh!!!!  Anyway enough rambling for today, lots more to tell but Ciao for today!

Self Portrait Tuesday...

Wow, I've been super MIA!!  It's been a crazy week or so!  I have so much to blog about and so little time to blog!  It's Self Portrait Challenge time, introducing yourself, I missed last week, yes I am a slacker!  Whew OK, some random stuff about me, in list form because I wants to...

1. I heart Tofu, seriously the magical food of all things yummy!
2. I got to pretend to drive a BART car with the Travelocity Gnome on Sunday.
3. I work for an awesome Travel company, Travelocity.
4. I like to say shite, it sounds more refined than shit.
5. Newman Ginger O's are my Vegan crack!
6. I don't have a favorite color because I like far to many colors and then there are color combinations and I love them all!  Except puce!  Not really I just wanted an excuse to use the word puce in a sentence.
7. I am getting paid to go on a free key words coming, OPEN BAR, OPEN EVERYTHING CRUISE on Wed-Fri!  YAHOO!  I heart my job!!  Oh with some super cool co-workers too!
8. The ringer on my cell phone right now is Mr. Roboto...Oh you LUV it!
9. I have very blue, very light sensitive eyes and my pupils are almost always dilated, thus people always think I'm on drugs. But I'm not!
10. I have a big disco ball in my house!

That's all for today since it's the challenge and all, I will catch the blog up on all other matters on Wed and then I'll be gone again, cruising the big blue!  Ciao!

Just a Quickie...

I am in a hurry and forgot my camera and forgot to take a picture of the nummy, yummy lunch I made myself today!  Which is a copy of yesterdays Vegan Lunchbox lunch, but mine wasn't quite as pretty, but I can't wait to dig in ;)  Anyway what was this post about???  Oh yes, I am going to see Loquat and The Herms at The Great American Music Hall tonight, YAY!  I haven't been to this venue yet and it's supposed to be sweet so I'm excited.  Also excited to see Loquat because I've never actually seen them live, I was just introduced to their music a looooong time ago because they played with my friends band From Monument to Masses.  Should be fun, I'm going with some fun people and it's Thursday which is almost Friday!!!  I'm sad I forgot my camera though :(  Oh well!  I get to ROCK out tonight! 

Now a list, Top Reasons I am using to justify my move from East Bay to SF in November (because it means a fairly large rent increase por moi)...

1. I work in SF, I go to the gym in SF, I take dance class in SF, I come here at least one night per weekend, so I spend about 90% of my time in the city as it is.
2. I spend a good $150 a month on BART.
3. I can sell my car and get rid of my car insurance saving me about $110 a month.
4. Most of my friends live in East Bay and have cars so they can pick me up and I will always have lots of places to crash in East Bay.
5. My friends will have a place to crash in SF, thus allowing them to come out to party/dance in the City more often!
6. It will be fun!
7. I can see Rock shows in SF without worrying about how I'll get home!
8. I want to!
9. I'll be next door to my city livi'n friends.
10. I like small overpriced apartments!

Hmmmm good list, definitely a good idea!  The moving part is the only sucky part, I hate moving!  It's a chance to purge more of my stuff though, how do I collect all the stuff I have???  I really need to let it go!  That's all, it's lunch time now, mmmm lunch! Ciao!

Vegan Cooking...

OK I'm off to a sloooow start today, am feeling icky but treated self to soy green tea latte from dreaded Starbucks to motivate or medicate you pick!  I have begun recipe testing from my newly acquired stash of Vegan cookbooks (see sidebar right).  So far I have been making recipes solely from Vegan with a Vengeance for no real reason except I was reading all of the cookbooks and getting really really hungry and really really overwhelmed at the plethora of yummy recipes and was paralyzed at the thought of choosing any.  Therefore I said self you should start with one book and one recipe that looks easy and yummy and I chose the Tofu Scramble from Vegan with a Vengeance this recipe is on the Post Punk Kitchen website I just linked if you want to test it out before buying this AWESOME book!  There are several recipes on that site, so you should check it out!!

Anyway, so yes tried the Tofu Scramble which was SUPER FREAKING delicious!!! MMMmmmmm  must make again soon!!  I also made the Herb Roasted Potatoes OMG, soooo good!!!  Yes and my meat eating friend devoured the Tofu Scramble exclaiming with jubilant glee "This is sooooo GOOD!!"  Straight from the proverbial meat eaters mouth people!  Check it out on the site and give it a try.  The key to proper tofu preparation is to be sure to press it properly!  I believe there are also pressing instruction/tofu prep tips on the site as well.  It's really simple, drain, put a couple paper towels on top and bottom of tofu, put large heavy hard cover book on top and some canned food and let sit for 30 min, then flip replace paper towels with fresh and let sit for an additional 30 min and boom, tofu ready!

OK my next Vegan cooking conquest was the "Fronch Toast" from the aforementioned book and pictured above.  Seeing a trend here??  Um I don't know what to say about his recipe except that it was really easy and the BEST FORKING FRENCH TOAST I'VE EVER HAD!!!!!!!!!!!!!  OMG!!!!!!!!!!  I think I'm going to make it tonight for dinner as well as I have about a half loaf of bread left over.  I got a nice crusty Italian bread from Whole foods mmmm which also added to the delicious factor!  The key here or "secret ingredient" is the use of Chickpea flour which I found at Whole foods as Garbanzo bean flour, I temporarily forgot those were the same thing.  I also made a few little additions to this recipe as I grew up making french toast with cinnamon, nutmeg and a dash of vanilla extract, none of which were included in the recipe, so I added them.  I'm sure it's FAB, and I have read it is without these but it's a nostalgia thing and mmmm mmm YUMMY!  Isa (Vegan with a Vengeance author) suggests serving with Tempeh Bacon, which being the lazy person I am I didn't make from scratch as suggested but used some store bought tempeh bacon which wasn't that great, so I think tonight I will try the Tempeh Bacon recipe as I have also read rave reviews about it and it looks yummy in the picture above!

Katie when will you start making non-breakfast foods??  Soon my pretties, soon, I have just missed the token breakfast/brunch fare as a new vegan and was super excited to dive in, plus the recipes are relatively simple, fast and easy and I'm tired when I get home from work and the gym at 8pm not to mention freaking STARVING!!!  I will also move on to try recipes from my other awesome stash of vegan cookbooks, I'm just taking it slow as I was overwhelmed by the plethora of yummy recipes!  The next recipe I REALLY want to tackle is the Mashed Potatoes with Punk Rock Chickpea Gravy, this recipe is FAMOUS!!!  Also because duh people I am SO PUNK ROCK!!!  I just need a potato masher, I don't have one  :(  must purchase ASAP!!!!  So I'm thinking Fronch toast and attempted Tempeh Bacon tonight and tomorrow night I am going to a Rock and Roll show so there will be no cooking :( but live Rocki'n music :) YAY!!!  Then Friday, yes Friday I will tackle an as of yet undecided new vegan recipe possibly the Mashed Potatoes, PO-TAY-TOES, TATERS (as said from LOTR The Two Towers) That's what I say every time I say Potatoes now.  WOW YES I am a dork!!!  So stay tuned my vegan curious friends for I shall return to regale you with more delicious tales of successful vegan cooking!!!!  CIAO!

PS Umm I think I have to make this for myself for lunch tomorrow, damn I love this website Vegan Lunchbox

PPS  (heh, heh I said PP) look at little O' me on the new Self Portrait Challenge website, she said it was random, but really it's because I'm so durn irresistible!

Self Portrait Tuesday...

It's Tuesday and that means it's time for the Self Portrait Challenge on it's brand spanki'n new website!  It's also a new month, the month of May which means there is a new theme.  The theme for May is to introduce yourself .  Great way to welcome the new website!  OK my name is Katie, my blog is Kiki.  My blog is named Kiki because it's the nickname my little sister has called me since she was about 3 years old.  I am a artist/designer/digital scrapbooker.  I wanted to participate in the the Self Portrait Tuesdays to challenge my self as a photographer and creator.  I found the images being posted each week very inspiring and thought it would be a great way to challenge and inspire myself.  Also, stopping to take photos of yourself is kind of hard at first and something we all have to remember to do.  Now I feel more comfortable taking my own photo than if anyone else does it. I heart Dogs!!!   I spend my week working, working out, dancing, hanging with friends, listening to music, reading, blogging, taking photos, trying new recipes and trying to design before I fall asleep!  I am a Vegan and I LOVE it!!  I don't like to talk about being a vegan while non vegans are eating (poor timing) but I'll tell you about it later!  I just had some delicious Vegan French Toast from Vegan with a Vengeance, mmmm and a tofu scramble from the same cook book YUMMY!!!  I can't wait to be re-introduced to all my fellow Self Portrait Participants!  Ciao!