Wine and Whine...Not Necessarily in that Order

Claims she has a reason to whine

I was reheating some coffee and a certain canine hanger-on here at our place offered an unsolicited - and less appreciated - high pitched, vocal opinion of my activity in the kitchen. As you can easily tell by the contemptuous sneer, she asserts her position as the least satisfied household inhabitant with regard to our recent dietary adventures.

It wasn't long ago that an upright member of the family's presence in the kitchen meant bits of meat, left-over scrambled eggs or the odd chunk of cheese carelessly dropped onto her platter (aka: floor.) Now, she lackadaisically slouches in the direction of dropped items, generally carrying them - with as light a touch as possible - to the living room where she either grudgingly swallows them or leaves them there for us to find with our toes. I have a thick skin, though, and her behavior barely scratches my feelings...I'll be OK. Thanks for your concern. So, dog food it is for the time being.


I chose to do a weigh-in this morning and - for the first time in nearly 5 weeks, didn't lose any weight. The scales claim, in fact, that I've gained nearly a pound. I think they're lying...in league with the dog and hoping to erode my enthusiasm for this way of eating. I believe this because the dog was standing in the hallway when I emerged from weighing and she had a distinct smirk on her face.

To become the door less accessed

Since I'm certain the weight thing is due to subversive elements right here in the house, I'm less inclined to consider the possibility that I've been overdoing the wine consumption of late. My completed wine room has been a preferred destination lately, I admit. But, wine is a vegan food after all and carries the magical ability to raise my HDL. I'll admit, it may not take a HUGE glass to accomplish that outcome...but it's so hard to get it back in the bottle. Just to prove to Daisy and her digital associate they can't control me this way, I'm going to start using a much smaller glass at dinner time. Hah!

We do have some very delicious and less calorically rich options with which I might supplant some of the ruby juices. I mentioned in one blog that we'd made a trip to a Teavana tea store in a nearby shopping mall. We departed the store with a number of lovely metal cylinders containing unusual and fabulous combinations of tea, fruit, flowers and - if I'm not mistaken - the toenail clippings of Nepalese lamas. The bag of containers was surprisingly light, as were our wallets as we departed the store with our mouths agape.

So that's what $150 worth of tea looks like!

Fortunately, we've found that it takes very small amounts of these hand rolled balls and carefully selected leaves to steep a strong and flavorful cup of tea. I'm a big Earl Grey fan, and the Earl Grey Creme and Earl Grey White are the best I've ever tried.

LG loved the fragrances of some more fruity herbal teas so we got some for summer iced teas. I guess we'll be enjoying them this summer - huddled closely around the woodstove, hoping a bit of sunshine arrives to make another rainbow.

 Perhaps the most rewarding part of this entire venture has been a recent spate of requests from friends for our favorite vegan recipes, links to the Engine 2 Diet site or our favorite vegan recipe books and web sites.  It's cool that people have an interest and are willing to expand their experience base by learning more, or even trying some of the foods.

Enjoy your day...and life!