Hello, my name is Jhames

Today I awoke with a craving for waffles. And tho’ I loves me some Isa Moskowitz and Terry Romero for all their vegan cookbooks & recipes, I wanted waffles that didn’t require ground flax seeds or pumpkin purée. We had a container of soy yogurt in the refrigerator and it makes a great substitution for sour cream. And sour cream waffles greatly satisfy any waffle craving: crispy outside, custardy inside. When Isa and Terry couldn’t provide me the recipe I required, I went looking online.

Like every New Year, I like to start the duration of winter with a music mix for friends. I never thought so many of my friends would look forward to my Winter Mix but look forward they do. My 2010 Winter Mix is an eclectic journey through classics and emerging artists, 60 tracks in all. If there was a theme to choose this year’s mix, it’d be the influence Justin’s had on my music experience (and vice versa). In the spirit of always looking playlist information every time I migrate my music collection to a new library, here are the songs in the order presented:

When I was eight years old my mom gave me and my two younger siblings a movie option: we could either see Disney’s re-release of Bambi, or we could see Halloween III: Season of the Witch. We jumped up and down chanting the latter option like we children were witches dancing around a bonfire. Then we went to the theater and actually watched the movie, scenes of Halloween masks melting the faces of children and killers claiming their victims with a cordless drill to the head. Twenty-something years later, I’d like to apologize to the moviegoers who were subjected to my vocal protests during the movie: my mom had the power to veto and she was not about to see her money wasted on those tickets. To this day, the theme song from that movie gives me the shakes. We were not a normal … Continue reading →

This is my second attempt at baking bread. Before I had a chance to photograph my first attempt, Justin was already in the kitchen with a bread knife making quick work of the loaf I baked in a proper loaf pan. These loaves were permitted to sit on a cool rack long enough for me to snap this photo with my iPhone. Then Justin took to them with a bread knife. In all my years of cooking and baking, I had never attempted baking bread from scratch. I think it had everything to do with my mom baking whole wheat bread at home. No matter how amazing the bread smelled whilst baking, that loaf came out hard as a rock and resembled a similar density. I know that white flour is eschewed by all proper gay homes but baking with whole wheat flour just … Continue reading →

The idea of legalized marriage for gay and lesbian couples offends your sensitivities. Know what offends my sensitivities? People who wear UGGs and Crocs. People that can’t spell. People that can’t tell the difference between “your” and “you’re” Hipsters. Fucking hipsters. Corporate personhood. You claim that marriage is a union between one man and one woman. Fine. Have your sacred fucking union but give everyone the same rights afforded married couples. I’m pretty sure that a gay couple desiring power of attorney for each other in case of catastrophe is not going to destroy your sacred union. Please spare me your religious diatribes about gays being abominations of God. I’ve read the Bible enough to know that Christians have no problem picking and choosing passages to suit their needs. Self-entitlement abounds in Christianity, and one need look no further than so-called Christians who gossip, … Continue reading →

Sorry for the lack of recipes, I was busy redesigning my website. You know how those things can be. And, please, don’t even get me started on Google Analytics failing on W3C validation. Jesus. As much as we use Vegan with a Vengeance and The Veganomicon in the kitchen, I can’t say I’m a fan of their recipes for cookies. Specifically, chocolate chip cookies. The cornerstone of any American childhood if you grew up in the ’burbs and your mom was only eager to bake you cookies unlike some mothers I’ve known that were still sleeping off the previous night’s binger. But I digress. When it comes to chocolate chip cookies, it’s almost impossible to improve the recipe for Nestlé® Toll House® chocolate chip cookies. Which I’m sure has everything to do with ungodly copyright laws enacted by Nestlé and its cabal of lawyers. So … Continue reading →

We interrupt VeganMoFo to address a question I was sent regarding payment after completing a project without having a contract. What sucks most about this type of situation is that you can end up looking like the bad guy if you don’t resolve the matter in a diplomatic fashion. Especially when dealing with companies that do not understand or appreciate the cost of design services. Not only am I going to help you get your money, I’ll even tell you how you can win over potential clients that balk at your hourly rate!

One of the best things about living in Seattle is the Vietnamese culture. Unlike Americanized “Chinese” food, Vietnamese dishes rely heavily on fresh vegetables and herbs. One of my favorite Vietnamese classics is bánh mì, a baguette sammich filled with fried tofu, sliced jalapeño peppers, spears of cucumber and pickled daikon radish & carrots, and fresh cilantro. What makes this sammich even better is the cost: $1.75 at my favorite Vietnamese deli. Cheaper than a taco truck and much more filling. Making tofu bánh mì at home is easier than you think. The most time-intensive part of this recipe is making the pickled daikon and carrot. Everything else comes together quickly if you have all your ingredients prep’d.

A couple years ago when I visited Milan, Italy I dined at the restaurant Joia where I sampled some of the most inventive vegan meals I’ve ever experienced. It’s a shame, really, that I had to travel to another continent just to enjoy a vegan meal that celebrates vegetables rather than replicate a meat dish. But I digress. Blub (pronounced bloob) is aptly named for the sound the soup makes as you eat it. Yes, Blub is a soup. But not just any soup. Blub is a layered soup, one that you eat without stirring together the ingredients. In order to eat Blub just right, you will need a tall glass instead of a bowl (a 12-oz glass is perfect for one serving!). I won’t like to you: there is quite a bit of prep work that goes into the making of Blub, and knowing the … Continue reading →

I loves me some Indian food. Ever since high school when I attended Sunday prasadam at the Hare Krsna temple, I made an effort to learn how to prepare Indian-style cooking at home. The smells and flavors of spices in Indian cooking are as vast as the people of India. My favorite dish, when I ate cheese with aplomb, was saag paneer: creamed spinach with cheese curds. The English translation simply doesn’t do this dish justice. The spicy mixture of spinach is tempered with the curds perfectly fried to a golden brown. For years I tried to recreate this recipe at home but never successfully made what I ate in restaurants. Then, one day, whilst shopping at a spice market in Berkeley, I asked a woman in the store how I could make saag paneer at home. Her face lit up like Diwali and she … Continue reading →