Welcome (Back?)!

Oats, in all forms and cold-brewed coffee are always on the breakfast menu.

Welcome, fellow MoFo'ers (and any poor soul that still stops by now and again to see if I have posted anything new. I'm lookin' at my sister. Hi Seesa!)! I wouldn't be me if I didn't wait until the very last minute to prepare for something I'm super excited about. And if preparing means lying awake at night dreaming up recipes and posts but failing to write anything down before sleep hits me like a cheap shot, then I am so damn ready.

Don't Get Mad, Get Vegan! Then & now.

I started this little blog back in 2006 as a way to catalogue and share my journey into veganism after being a vegetarian for nearly a decade. I posted frequently and often long-windedly, and really loved sharing in the amazing recipes and techniques, handy kitchen tools and new ideas that fellow vegans and I were dreaming up.

My baby T is five! We're all getting a LOT more sleep.

 In 2008 I had my daughter and shifted from full-time blogger to sleep-deprived mama just trying to get from one day to the next with everybody (that's me, T, the Cap'n, five felines, one goofy yellow lab, and for a few years there a couple of the most adorable nephews on Earth who I got to watch during the week) fed. Posting became infrequent, lurking even less frequent, but I have always had the kitchen be my Zen and vegan food be my mantra.  

Whole foods, comfort foods, failed experiments, and delicious successes have all been churned out of my tiny little Florida kitchen, if not always chronicled. I'm hoping to change that this month and post often.  I can't really promise a theme, but I can promise new ideas, revamped old ones, the dusting off of old cookbooks to discover new recipes, the cracking open of new cookbooks to embark on creating new staples (say it with me, Artisan Vegan Cheeeeeeese!), a focus on healthier meals, occasional diversions into things that satisfy my oh-so-sweet tooth, highlighted favorite kitchen tools, DIY beauty and household products and their reviews and any other thing a self-respecting, curious vegan might be interested in checking out (I hope!).

Oh, and kitty pics.  You can always count on me for kitty pics. 

Nope, you're mistaken. BanAnna in that middle pic is totally our sixth kitty.

 For today, while I organize my thoughts, dig through my woefully unorganized picture and recipe folders, and settle into this beloved place I've called my blog for so long, I welcome you to my kitchen, the place where the music is blasted, the food is healthy, delicious, and always made with love, the cat hair is the not-so-secret ingredient, and the space is limited. 

My tiny, sunshiney happy place.