Will

If you have a Chinese / Vietnamese market nearby, check out the cans of mock meat / fish (seitan / wheat gluten) which are cheap, and pretty tasty. Some are designed to be more or less ready to eat, and others are designed to be cooked with. Usually in a blue can. Straw mushrooms - I am not a canned mushroom fan, but I can tolerate canned straw mushrooms in small amounts.

Agree bigtime with this. It's almost impossible not to get enough protein, unless you subsist on only candy bars, yet "how do you get (enough) protein" is the first thing non-vegetarians as when they find out you're vegetarian. That said, as someone who's hypoglycemic (though not overweight or diabetic), and who has a hard time getting "full", I do try to have some protein in most meals, and I try to eat more complex carbs than simple carbs / sugars when possible.

As a vegetarian (mostly vegan) for more than half my life now, I'm really happy and excited to see this thread pop up, and hope you'll fill us in on your progress / experience, Fat Guy. My wife is not vegetarian, but we eat almost entirely vegetarian at home. I think Mark Bittman has done a great job of summarizing some of the various issues involved, and at encouraging people to eat less meat - taking a moderate stance, while still being more realistic than folks like Michael Pollan, and while avoiding being too preachy or alienating folks. Though I do notice that the recipes he posts still seem skewed towards animal-heavy foods, despite urging people to reduce their consumption of these same foods. I also really enjoyed Jonathan Safran Foer's Eating Animals -- less self-indulgent than his fiction, and I think he has the conviction to follow his own research to the logical conclusion he comes to, while again, not coming across as too preachy. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/27/weekinreview/27bittman.html http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/05/31/meat-why-bother/ http://bittman.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/06/03/whats-so-bad-about-meat/ I thought this lentil and quinoa dish was pretty good, don't know if it sounds too health-food-y. http://www.sunset.com/food-wine/kitchen-assistant/4-family-recipes-remade-00418000071649/page2.html Some ideas from our own weeknight dinners - some may sound more appealing than others, but I hope at least they serve as useful jumping off points or answer to the question of "what DO you eat".... A lot of these are vegan, but you can always add dairy / eggs back in as appropriate or desired. http://www.runawaysquirrels.com/2011/06/morels-and-asparagus-over-pasta/ - Morels and Asparagus over pasta http://www.runawaysquirrels.com/2011/06/moroccan-spiced-lentil-tagine/ - Moroccan spiced lentil tagine http://www.globalgourmet.com/food/special/1999/sultan/lentil.html#axzz1RGG72tva - Red Lentil and Bulghur wheat soup (from Ozcan Ozan's The Sultan's Kitchen) - this is very filling (and also delicious). http://www.runawaysquirrels.com/2011/03/pumpkin-and-egg/ - Pumpkin and scrambled egg (vaguely Thai style) http://www.runawaysquirrels.com/2011/01/leek-and-mushroom-pasta/ - Leeks and mushrooms with pasta - this is super easy and delicious - sautée leeks and cultivated maitake mushrooms from the Japanese market, toss with "poor mans parmesan" and / or real parmesan. http://www.runawaysquirrels.com/2011/01/vegan-pot-pie/ - Curry "pot pie" with biscuit crust (so I guess more like a cobbler, really) http://www.runawaysquirrels.com/2010/11/corn-pancakes/ - Corn pancakes with black beans http://www.runawaysquirrels.com/2010/03/sweet-spicy-sticky-tempeh-its-whats-for-dinner/ - Sweet, sticky tempeh - if anything will convert a non tempeh-lover, it's this recipe. http://www.runawaysquirrels.com/2010/02/bok-choy-and-baked-tofu-potstickers/ - Vegetarian potstickers or steamed dumplings (use premade wrappers if you want to save time; this generic filling works well for most kinds of Chinese buns or dumplings) Chilaquiles with eggs, fried potatoes, and black beans on the side (make the salsa and fry the tortillas yourself, if possible) Vegetable tempura Yuxiang Qiezi (Sichuan Eggplant) - http://3hungrytummies.blogspot.com/2010/02/fish-fragrant-eggplants.html Roasted Cauliflower Slow cooked peppers over polenta - http://dinersjournal.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/09/23/slow-and-sweet/ (plus, save the leftover polenta to eat for breakfast, fry, or use for other stuff). http://www.runawaysquirrels.com/2008/06/dinner-vegan-fish-taco-2/ - I don't know if the "fake" food component will turn you off, but I think if you don't try and think of it like it's actually supposed to taste like fish, it's pretty delicious. You could obviously use real tartar sauce or other non-vegan accoutrements. Japanese or Thai curry; you can use pre-packaged roux or curry paste if you want to save time. Keeping around some "cheater" stuff like Field Roast brand sausage, Tofurky brand cold cuts, Lightlife tempeh bacon (these brands don't have processed soy protein or too much non food stuff in them), various types of tofu / tempeh / seitan may make it easier to keep yourself full without things from getting too labor intensive. Asian markets are a good source for traditional soy and wheat gluten products which are inexpensive and have been safely consumed for thousands of years. I try to focus on vegetable-centered cooking as much as possible, and as someone who's normally a meat eater, some of these "substitutes" may not be as palatable to you as they are to me, but they will make your life a bit easier when you get in a pinch and are starving. Vegetable based cooking can be really delicious, but it can also be labor intensive. Wild mushrooms are one of the best things around to provide some "meaty" taste and texture in a way that doesn't really involve replacing meat. Keep some veg stock around too - frozen homemade is best, but "Kitchen Basics" brand (green box) roasted veg stock is pretty good for a pre-packaged stock, or I've heard Ok things about the "Better than Bouillon" brand, though haven't tried it myself. Haven't tried this one yet, but I think it looks great: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/02/health/nutrition/02recipehealth.html Lastly, NYC is a really easy place to eat vegetarian, as you probably know. I would definitely take the opportunity to get a vegetarian tasting menu at somewhere high-end, because high-end restaurants will often do vegetarian food that far exceeds the quality of restaurants that specifically cater to vegetarians.

Today: Menghai 2002 "Natural Habitat" pu'er (small cake with a bok choy on the front) Sea Dyke red can 'Da Hong Pao' (probably a couple years old)

I mostly drink my tea hot, but when I do drink iced tea, I drink it unsweetened and unblended. I do find that cold-brewing gives interesting results with some teas - especially with a lower quality tea, it can minimize bitterness / astringency and bring out the tea's positive quality. It does make me a bit nervous to drink tea that hasn't been rinsed, though.

There is also a similar snack (韭菜盒) which is more like a wheat dough "pocket" of egg and garlic chive (or ground pork and garlic chive) - very similar to an empanada. The outside is made from flour and water, or flour and solid fat (lard, veg oil, whatever). Egg and garlic chive dumplings or pockets also often have xia mi (the small dried shrimp) in them, for those who aren't vegetarian. has a method for the meat type (full recipe in Chinese in the text on the Youtube page) - roughly, to make the dough, take 3 C all purpose flour, and add 1C hot water. Mix, and add a half cup of cool water. Knead. Put aside for 20-30 minutes. I think you'd use a solid fat in the flour if you wanted a flakier pocket.I know you mentioned stir-fries already; I like the yellow garlic chives (jiu huang) stir-fried with cut up tofu sheets.

A lot of the types of tomatoes that people grow at home aren't that well suited to cooked sauces or even serving fresh on pasta. That may not be true in the OP's case, but that might be the cause for some of these objections. This is especially true of many of the heirloom varieties that are popular (other than paste / sauce tomatoes, obviously). They are delicious sliced thin and served with some olive oil, basil, and salt, but don't really stand up to cooking, have a high water content, and are difficult to peel. Also, if you're buying them (rather than being gifted them), the weight from all that water makes them prohibitively expensive to use for sauces. What's much harder to find (even at markets) are good paste / canning tomatoes - San Marzano, Amish Paste. I prefer this type, even for a simple semi-uncooked preparation with olive oil, salt, basil, and garlic to go on top of pasta, or for salads. Here in LA, the style of heirlooms that are better eaten fresh (Brandywine, Green Zeebra, Pineapple, etc.) are at just about every stall, but it's just about impossible to find good paste tomatoes.

Apparently, rice bran oil is good for tempura. I got a big bottle for ~ $10 at the Japanese market.

For Northern Chinese / Shanghai / Taiwan style breakfast, try Yong He (there are a number of locations). While in Shanghai, I had good luck with hole in the wall places, in Taiwan, my results were more mixed (some Ok fan tuan off of street carts, but overall, was way more impressed with the Yong He location I went to). Shilin or other night markets, definitely worth a visit. In addition to stinky tofu, I really enjoyed the ku gua (bitter gourd) shake. I didn't have one, but the o-a chian (oyster omelette) is also very popular. Way better than you'd think. There are also a lot of fruit stands serving really delicious tropical fruits - there are some on the streets surrounding Shilin, but you'll find them all over the place. http://www.runawaysquirrels.com/2010/06/shilin-night-market-taiwan/ Taipei, probably due to Japanese tourism, the former Japanese occupation, etc., has some great sushi. I don't eat meat, but my wife tried a sushi place there which was phenomenal. The guy wouldn't let her post any photos of the food or write a detailed review, but the information is here: Kitcho Sushi (吉兆割烹壽司) at 忠孝東路四段181巷48號 (#48, Lane 181, Section 4, Zhong-xiao East Road), Da-an District. She did omakase sushi for herself, and we split a couple bottles of sake; it was less than $150, and the chef wouldn't accept a tip. I don't know if they speak English there. I will also put in a plug for a friend's tea house; it's mostly a tea place, but they have great food, and it's a beautiful place with a long history as well. Wistaria House. Photos and directions at: http://www.runawaysquirrels.com/2010/06/wistaria-tea-house-taiwan/

Well, the ones at work get a lot more action, since I rarely drink tea at home during the week. So some of the pots don't see a lot of use. But I do have bigger and smaller pots, depending on how many people I'm brewing for. Many of the smallest pots end up at work, because I'm almost always drinking alone there.

That's a different matter, as that's one of the distinguishing characteristics of brewing grandpa style.

I've been using rice bran oil for tempura / deep frying recently - not the cheapest, but supposed to improve the taste and texture.

I am not normally a big fan of oolongs on the greener side of the spectrum, but I really do like many of Floating Leaves Tea's gaoshan (high mountain) Taiwan oolongs. Winter harvest was pretty good this year, and apparently she has some good springs teas also, but I haven't tried any yet. I am looking forward to trying at least the Lishan and the Shanlinxi. She doesn't have all the photos / descriptions up yet. http://www.floatingleavestea.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=16

Such-and-such program, like "blah has a new wine 'program'"

Round bottom wok helps a bit, if it will work with your stove. Also, strain the oil and re-use the next day, or leave it in overnight if you're so inclined.

Well since acids like vinegar can coagulate soy milk, and coffee is acidic... I'm guessing many commercial soy milk brands add substances (carrageenan, maybe) to help mitigate this. The only time we've ever made soy milk at home is with a soy milk maker, but honestly, even with one, it's a lot of fuss. We usually just buy soy and nut milk (in aseptic packaging for cooking and general use, or fresh from the Asian supermarkets or soy milk shops / breakfast places for drinking straight); if we went through it faster, maybe we'd take the effort to make it ourselves. I haven't tried your exact method, but given that it's producing the taste you're expecting, I'd say you're doing pretty well. If the only problem is that it coagulates in coffee, you could: 1) Drink your coffee black 2) Ignore the cosmetic and / or textural unpleasantness of slightly coagulated soy milk in your coffee 3) Continue buying commercial soy milk 4) Try to add some sort of stabilizer / emulsifier to your homemade soy milk and see if that helps (Personally, I'm a fan of #1, and if your coffee is good, it will probably taste better that way anyway).

Are you bringing in your own bartenders / equipment, or are you using the bartenders at the venue? Unless the place you're having the wedding has a really phenomenal bartending staff (or unless you're bringing in your own staff), I would worry that execution might be a problem - even if you come up with a great idea, the actual drink may be ruined by wet ice, incorrect mixing, poor ingredients, and so on. We both enjoy a well made cocktail, but for our wedding, we just let the hotel staff do their thing at ours (open bar), and let the guests choose their own drinks.

We don't keep our sink clean enough most of the time to wash stuff in it (we usually use a big bowl or a salad spinner), but my in-laws do, and they wash greens in the sink. I don't really have a strong feeling - I don't see a problem with doing it this way if you keep your sink clean.

Yeah - we use the little propane stoves, and they work great. Plus they're like 1/10 the price of induction (though of course you do have to buy the propane cylinders) - you can get a good quality one for $8-10 at Asian markets here. But definitely the best / cheapest option for occasional hot-pot.

I think putting chicken powder / chicken base in fried rice is mostly there as a replacement for plain MSG. I would just omit the chicken base entirely (or use plain MSG) if you don't want it.

Or, for that matter, using panini or ravioli as singular. :>

I think there is green onion in one of your source images; in either event, pretty sure it is cong you bing in some renditions. In others, it might be essentially what you say - a cong you bing minus the cong. It's definitely a flaky pancake. You could probably find something similar in the freezer section of the Asian market if you don't want to make it from scratch. I don't think it's hong shao beef - I don't eat / cook meat, so not sure what it is, though.

I appreciate the sentiment here but I don't really agree with it at all. It's 2011. It should not be hard to accurately measure liquid quantities in a variety of units. I make drinks at home--I have time to take the extra step of measuring very carefully. I guess this could be seen as "anal" but to me it's more just doing something to the best of my capability. And yes, I long-ago put all my bitters in dropper bottles just to make it clear about where I'm coming from Yes, but a "dash" is, by its nature, a non-precision term, and intentionally so. If someone wanted you to put 0.3 ml into a drink, they could write that. But one of the things that makes a "dash" interesting is that everyone's dash is different. Many people might agree that it's about 1/8 tsp or something. Measuring a dash of bitters is like measuring a "pinch" of salt. Of course we can measure things accurately in 2011, but that's hardly a new development. Accurate measuring devices for liquids have been around for quite some time. Just because you can do something doesn't mean you should. I do measure things when I make mixed drinks (which is not often, these days), and I think that overall, measuring is a good thing for consistency (as long as people also taste what they're making, not relying soley on measurements). But doing things by feel doesn't necessarily mean imprecision either. It takes more time to learn to do something by feel, and there are more mistakes along the way, but this approach has its rewards (and benefits) as well. When I put a "dash" of something (bitters, maraschino) into a drink, I know about how many shakes I want, or how it should look in the mixing glass / tin, and that's good enough for me.

I use the metric jiggers (the Japanese ones from Cocktail Kingdom). I find them pretty easy to work with whether dealing with metric or English measurements. Just remember that 2 oz is about 60 ml. The bigger Cocktail Kingdom one is 45 and 30 ml (1.5 oz / 1 oz), I think, and the 45 ml side has a marking inside at the 15 ml point, which means you can either do 2x 30 or 45 + 15 to get ~ 2 oz. As far as getting something like 8 or 10 ml, or 25 ml I just kind of eyeball it, because I just don't believe in being that scientific (yes, one bad thing about a jigger is that it gets wider near the top, so eyeballing things is rarely spot-on). Of course, those graduated multi-level-jiggers with ml measurements inside are very popular as well. I think I've got one, but I never use it. I don't really like the Oxo thing, but don't they make a product with metric measurements? ps - I think measuring a "dash" runs counter to the spirit of the thing. Just get the feel of what a "dash" is for you for a particular item. If the bottle spits out too much at once, you could invest in some dasher bottles, which look nice, and which will give you consistency from product to product. Or eyedroppers if you're one of those anal-retentive types.