May 16th We were supposed to meet Alene & Ethel in the morning, but they needed extra zzzz time so the Dieden clan headed out to take on Madrid once again as a party of five. Starting with Atocha, we took in the station from afar, then up close, then inside. I hadn’t seen it since the bombings in 2004, so I was curious how different it would look from the first time I saw it (in 2002). It felt like a greenhouse because of the section of plant life with the clear glass windows… Read more >
Elise
November 30, 2011
spain, tortilla espanolaspain
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The flood actually started Sunday morning, and after four unreturned calls to our landlord we took matters into our own hands and began calling plumbers. Apparently Sundays aren’t ideal for your pipes to burst because we called every plumber in Santa Monica and nobody returned our calls…until 30 minutes later. We finally got one guy to agree to come look at the sink…after putting down a $100 deposit. He didn’t arrive until 75 minutes later. At that point we had several drenched towels and one full a$$ bucket. He “worked” on the leak for… Read more >
Elise
November 29, 2011
cereal, coconut, field roast, kale, nutbutter, nuts, peanut butter, potatoes, quinoa, root veggies, tempeh, tofu, vegan cookies
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I woke up Friday with every single finger and toe crossed because the unit was overstaffed by one nurse and I was the first on the list to get a "holiday." So as long as nobody called in sick, my phone was set to ring between 4 and 5 am with happy news. I’ve never looked forward to a pre-sunrise call more. At 4:45 I got the blessed call and by 4:50 I was back asleep. I took full advantage of the free day and slept in, but once I woke up, I set right… Read more >
Elise
November 28, 2011
coconut, kale, root veggies, vegan cookiesrecipe
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Rhetorical question, but how awesome does my plate look?? I know. So my Thursday morning wasn’t the greatest. Like I mentioned before, I was a zombie when we arrived at Kyle’s parents house late on Wednesday…and even though I slept straight through the night (something I rarely do in my own bed), I still couldn’t seem to get myself up in the morning. So I slept in a bit while Kyle had breakfast solo. Eventually I pried myself from the sheets and stumbled outside for a brisk jog around the neighborhood. I intended… Read more >
Elise
November 27, 2011
butternut squash, potatoes, root veggies, spinach salad, squash
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Recently, I got an email from a reader (hi Elaine!) with some vegetarian cooking related questions. I figured rather than respond via email, I’d answer in a post (in case others are wondering too). Since there are quite a few questions though, I am going to go through them one at a time. And so continues the “readers request” post series. Elaine: I’m not the most confident-in-the-kitchen girl, especially when it comes to veggies. I love veggies, but since moving out on my own, I usually go for frozen instead because I’m not sure how… Read more >
Elise
November 26, 2011
brussels sprouts, potatoes, root veggies, squashtutorial
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