Since Christmas, I've been on a self-imposed austerity campaign. As in, I'm not going to spend ONE UNNECESSARY DOLLAR during the entire month of January. I've been cooking at home, skipping my favorite lattes at the roadside coffee shack, and reading all the books I already own but have never bothered with.
Anyway, that whole thing lasted a total of 14 days. Mike wrecked the truck ($1500 minimum) during an ice storm, so we had take it in to the body shop. It was my first trip inside a non-food store in about a month. I promptly blew $300 on a new pair of snowshoes, some poles, a couple of new cookbooks.
I follow Veggie Burgher on Twitter and the last few months she's been cooking like crazy. Christmas was non-stop cookies from Isa Moskovitz' and Terry Romero's Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar and meals from Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything Vegetarian Cookbook.
As I was checking out at Borders, my old man cashier says to me, "SO, you're going to cook some vegetarian food, huh?" Now being a vegetarian in Montana is considered a crime against the cow. It just ain't done. It just ain't raaaght. And quite frankly, it's almost impossible.
But me, displaced city girl, I also have *my* dislikes. For example, I don't like it when cashiers make comments about my purchases. I nodded and said, "Uh huh", but in my mind? I was thinking, "Yeah. Tonight I'm serving my favorite dish, Vegetable Gratin a la Shut The Fuck Up.
It was delicious. Here is a savory mushroom goat-cheese tart with potato crust. It was incredible. Even Meat Man Mike loved it.
On the side, I did a Romaine lettuce salad with sundried tomatoes, roasted peppers, garlic, and pine nuts.
Sorry about the crummy photos. I was too hungry to do the food model thing.
Both recipes are from Mark Bittman's book. What have you been making lately?