Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind

I have to keep reminding myself that every day I begin all over again. Zen masters call this "beginners mind."

So after a self imposed retirement from music of 10 years (coincidentally, the length of my marriage), having sold all my keyboard and other various equipment prior to moving to New Mexico, I find myself with just a guitar and a longing to feed my soul again.

Officially, I've been playing guitar *seriously* for 3 months (again, coincidentally, the length of time I've been on my own again). I'm outside practicing and a neighbor comes by after hearing me practice (not a small feat in a rural area - you really have to go out of your way to "come by") and offers me a paying gig for an artist reception she's having at her gallery in September.

What do you think I said?

Then, a couple of days later, the musical director at the Unity service where I go asked If I'd like to fill in for her when she needs a Sunday off. I said - "Sure, when you think I'm ready." She said "You're ready".

So now I have even more reason to capitalize on my obsessive compulsive practice schedule -- so I don't embarrass myself too terribly within the next couple of months.

It really is like starting all over again. Although I've played countless gigs (primarily as a lead vocalist, and filling in with some keyboards), all over NYC for many years, I feel like a complete novice. New instrument, new material, and a major hit to my confidence (which used to be unshakable) due to the sad course of my relationship.

Needless to say, if I'm going to be standing in front of people again warbling, then I need to look my best. This has definitely influenced my cooking. Back to simple salads and staying off of sugar as best as I can (I did make some delicious strawberry/lime sorbet last night - it was so hot in the house and I really needed something cold).

So here come the salad days of summer...

Menu Planning

I keep hearing it is cheaper to eat vegan. Not the way I cook. It has been nothing short of a fiesta every day. So this week, I sat down with two of my simpler cookbooks: Supermarket Vegan by Donna Klein and Appetite for Reduction by Isa Chandra Moskowitz. I also came to the conclusion that cruise ship quantities with Bon Appetite intricacies does not mean I'm going to lose the last few pounds any time soon.

So down I sit and pick out a week's worth of recipes and make my shopping list. Granted, doing 90% of our shopping at our locally-owned health market, Cid's is not a recipe for frugality either. However, as most of what we eat is organic produce, it is what it is.

In the spirit of "Eat dessert first, life is uncertain" I'll start with the cake. Ah yes, chocolate raspberry cake. Now in full disclosure, I have up until recently been a pretty crappy baker. But I am slowly mastering the quirkiness of baking at altitude without a net.

I've been burned before with non-hydrogenated based frosting. Last time it destabilized and became watery. Looking back, I think the directions had me overmix it. This time I would go with what I saw in my mixing bowl. What I saw was very, very yummy: Earth balance, powdered sugar and melted dark chocolate.

Batter, batter, batter

Raspberry preserves on one layer. Hint: use the good stuff.

Frosting on the other layer 

The finished cake - best damn cake I've ever had

For lunch yesterday, we had the Mexican Salad from Supermarket Vegan. It contains black beans, corn, tomatoes, scallions, avocado, red pepper, cilantro and a fabulous Lime Dressing. Best to let it sit for a couple of hours or overnight in the fridge for optimum taste.

Mexican Salad

What do vegans eat?

Not much - as in Smokey Tempeh with a Wasabi Chickpea Salad and Potato Salad. The Smokey Tempeh is from my favorite cookbook author, Isa Chandra Moskowitz's Veganomicon, the Wasabi Chickpea Salad is from the blog VeganYumYum, and my new vice, the potato salad is from a Peta handout.

Wasabi Chickpea Salad with Avocado Wasabi dressing

A plateful of love~

Oh, and if you didn't see on the Taos Veg facebook page, the two beautiful souls at The Turquoise Teapot were impressed enough by my vegan brownie and cherry almond cookie samples to put some vegan sweet treats into their shop. I left my copy of Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar to inspire them. 

New and Improved

After a long hiatus, I thought it was important to start communicating again - especially since undergoing one of the most profound choices/changes in my life. It's hard coming up with a concise name for this blog, especially since the predominant passions in my life: cooking, knitting, spinning, dogs, meditating, yoga, and tattoos are kind of all over the board.

However, it is interesting to note that there are a ton of vegan tattooed knitters with dogs, who occasionally spin. So as much as I am committed to many other activities, I choose Vegans Barking at the Moon to introduce my own esoteric brand of lunacy.

I expect to share a lot of what's cooking, some knitting projects here and there - a sprinkle of whining about my next tattoo, with honorable mentions to other facets of life in Taos.

To kick things off, may I present Roasted Yellow Beets with Tempeh Croutons and Greens in a Warm Maple Mustard Dressing. This is courtesy of my new BFF - Isa Chandra Moskowitz, without whom, I'd probably starve. The recipe can be found on her website - The Post Punk Kitchen - which I will be linking to quite frequently.

I'm trying out this Amazon widget which is supposed to exhibit contextually relevant books. So far I'm not impressed, but I'll wait until there's a bit more content to go on.