Vegan 3-Bean Slow Cooker Chili

I think I figured it out! After more years of fiddling with my chili recipe, I've come up with a vegan option. It's pretty close to my 2011 version, but much easier to make and no bacon grease. Also no fake-meat crumbles (I experimented with them, but they don't add much in my opinion). Don't worry though, there is a different secret ingredient that is surprising and yummy.

Ingredients:
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 carrots, diced
1 celery stalk, diced
1/2 green bell pepper, diced
1 small onion, chopped
1 T extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 t dried basil leaf
1/2 t dried oregano leaf
3/4 cup water
1 large (25 oz) can pinto beans (or red beans)
1 large (25 oz) can kidney beans
1 large (25 oz) can black beans
3/4 cup tomato sauce, strained tomato, or plain tomato juice
1 t cumin seeds
1/2 t umami powder (Trader Joe's makes one, it can be optional)
1 t chocolate chips
pinch salt

1. Add the garlic, carrots, celery and green pepper to your slow cooker.

2. In a saute pan, stir-fry onion in heated olive oil until it's glassy and starting to brown slightly. Turn heat to low and add basil and oregano and barely heat. (This is to "open" the spices so they start releasing fragrance and flavor.)

3. Scrape onion and spices into slow cooker, then deglaze the pan with water, scraping the bottom and stirring to collect and gather any tasty bits and stray herbs. Pour the water into the slow cooker.

4. Drain each can of beans and add the beans to the slow cooker. Add tomato sauce, cumin seeds, umami powder (if using), and chocolate chips.

5. Stir! Add pinch of salt. Set slow cooker to low and leave for 6 hours.

6. After 6 hours, mash up at least 1/3 of the beans using a potato masher or just a wooden spoon. If the chili is too watery, turn up the heat and leave the lid ajar for 1-2 more hours so it can steam off liquid. If it is too dry, add a little water and do not turn up heat.

7. After 8 hours, it should be done! Top with whatever you like--we use grated cheddar cheese.

 
I paired this with King Arthur Flour cornbread (following recipe for 12 individual muffins) and served them with butter and honey. Vegetarian perfection!

Do you make slow cooker chili? Do you think chili includes beans? Does your chili have a secret ingredient? Please tell all in the comments below.

Coronavirus isolation: Week 2

It seems like a lot of questions are coming up, doesn't it? Does it feel like everything is on the table right now? What do you want to do with your life? What were you saving until later, and do you still care about it now? In the long run, have you done what you wanted? If you could do anything next, what would it be? If you could do nothing but survive, how would you manage? (Be specific.)

Anyway.

This week we moved homeschooling time to a little later in the day, and cut it down to 1 hour so I can still complete a full day of work without it cutting into the evening.

On Monday we looked at the Feeling Wheel layout, then we tried smelling different essential oils and listening to different CDs and naming the feelings they evoked. There were some accurate complaints about lack of diversity in the music selections (I was picking randomly from a big stack that turned out to be kind of rockist).

On Tuesday we had a student-led session and learned some basic coding in both Python and HTML. I enjoyed the "lab" portions especially as we invented input prompts with Python, and created a web page about cats.

Teaching notes

Our Wednesday session was led by a different student. She explained a technique to analyze JK Rowling's Harry Potter, based on the book by Galadriel Waters assisted by Prof. Astre Mithrandir.


























Some key recommendations from the book are:

1. If JKR mentions something more than once, that's significant. 
2. If a character is interrupted or a plot development is interrupted, that's significant. 
3. Beware of characters' own explanations for events, since that's just a perspective and not reliable.

As an exercise my partner and I reviewed Chapter 13 of Book 2 ("The Very Secret Diary," in Harry Potter & the Chamber of Secrets) and found examples of ALL of these things, which was very exciting.

Given the success of last week's cupcake class, Thursday was another hands-on baking activity. We made chocolate chip cookies from scratch, using Mark Bittman's excellent book How to Cook Everything. First, we learned about the science of chocolate chip cookies, with help from Serious Eats. Then we made cookies, with students taking the lead on measuring ingredients, using the hand-blender, placing parchment paper, and portioning out dough. We used 3 different types of chocolate: semi-sweet chocolate chips, milk chocolate that had been pounded into chunks with a kitchen mallet, and mini chocolate chips. DELICIOUS.

Friday we skipped homeschooling so everyone could get their work done in time for the weekend. I did get out for a sunny run at lunchtime. This week I've been running faster than last week, according to my Garmin data. I think I'm using the run to burn off pent up emotions. I have also been running without headphones (like podcasts) in order to have un-mediated time on my own, in nature, just breathing and moving and being. It feels really good.

At the end of this week we learned that Vermont schools will not be opening again this school year. Our kids will be learning remotely from now until June.


To wrap up, I want to mention anxiety.

I'm proud of humans for banding together and doing what it takes to slow down the virus spread and to protect those who may not survive an infection plus helping healthcare systems try to stabilize. But something each of us must also do right now is take care our of mental health. In the past 2-3 weeks I've been feeling anxiety that's similar to how I feel around the holidays, yet in this case it feels like it's coming from outside of me as well as from within. It feels like a sad and uncomfortable message going PING in the inbox in my chest. It feels like there are waves of chaos and deep unhappiness rising and swirling around the world like smoke from a global wildfire. And I think that picking up on that is OK and natural. If it's happening to you, put your hand on your heart and acknowledge your soft, sweet self. Tell it, "This, too." Even though this sucks, it's part of life. No matter what we're doing and feeling, it's OK and natural if you feel this too. I am sending you a gentle Internet hug right now (NOW!).

Silver linings thoughts to come a different day.

Today there are 7 confirmed COVID-19 cases in my county, and 184 in my state.

PS I stopped looking at Twitter for coronavirus news because it was terrifying and fraught with drama and hate. But today I found some helpful, factual information at the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center--the tracker there is worth a look if you like maps and numbers.

Pandemic Tuesday

Oh hello. I was reading a book about garbage but it was not as uplifting as I'd hoped. So I'm checking in during Week 2 of the pandemic. How are you doing? I hope somewhat OK. Things are pretty weird right now.

I ran out of homeschooling steam towards the end of last week. By Friday my enthusiasm for taking a long break each day to teach my children stuff was a shadow of what it had been on Monday. Nonetheless, we discussed Art History for our Thursday session, reviewing a set of giant flash cards I made years ago when I had a lot more intellectual energy. Then the kids did some hands-on art while I went back to work.










On Friday we discussed cats. I wanted to title this session "Cats: Their Roots & Their Consequences," in a sly nod to the screenplay for The Seven Year Itch. But since my kids are not big Billy Wilder/George Axelrod fans I did not go this route. We talked about cat colors and fur patterns, and looked up some examples of breeds such as British Shorthairs, the Turkish Van, and the Maine Coon Cat. Then we observed some local domestic cats in their habitats and made field notes. We wrapped up by watching 20 minutes of funny cat videos on Youtube, because cats are an important Internet phenomenon. This session was even more highly rated than the cupcakes I am pleased to say.





Over the weekend it was spring-like. I charged my magical stones in the sun.




If you happen to be looking for some good post-apocalyptic reading material, I highly recommend Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel.

I read it a few weeks ago before all this started (where I live anyway), and now it just seems like the perfect book for this time. Please read. Bonus points for being partially set in Toronto.

For film, it's a good time to watch Princess Mononoke, about how humanity changes nature permanently, but in the end nature will still change everything. Shin Godzilla shares themes of rebuilding after catastrophe, but this 2017 movie also has many incredible scenes of meetings and bureaucracy. I have been scared of Godzilla movies since childhood and was pleasantly surprised at how good this was--and not particularly violent. I think we'll re-watch Time Bandits next. Frozen 2 also got a screening recently and its theme of "do the next right thing" has proved useful.

I also signed up for free daily shaman classes, am drinking herbal infusions (mostly nettle but I also ordered some jasmine and raspberry leaf and oatstraw), and am trying to learn Gaelic from a combination of an app on my phone and Gaelic with Jason on youtube.

There are now 95 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in my state.

Rad Women & Cupcake Lessons

Me again! Staying home during the coronavirus pandemic. Working from home. Helping my kids do schoolwork. Teaching them a few things of my own. Because I'm a working-stay-at-home-mom now and I am OWNING this.

For homeschooling time on Tuesday we pursued women's studies. We discussed feminism and what it is and if we are feminists (yes!). Then we looked at different women's stories in these books: In the Company of Women by Grace Bonney, Brazen by Penelope Bagieu, and Rad American Women A-Z by Kate Schatz. We talked about Issa Rae (actor/director), Maya Lin (architect), Liz Lambert (hotelier), Linda Rodin (stylist), Jennie Jieun Lee (ceramicist), Sonia Sotomayor (SCOTUS judge), Patti Smith (rock poet), Ella Baker (civil rights activist), Delia Akeley (explorer), Ping Zhu (illustrator), and The Shaggs (rock band). We also had an ongoing discussion about how to pronounce "entrepreneur."

 
























We particularly enjoyed Penelope Bagieu's illustrated story of The Shaggs, a 3-sister group from New Hampshire who were forced to become a rock band by their father, even though they couldn't play very well and... didn't want to.

Today, Wednesday, we embarked on a 2+ hour hands-on project to make Boston Cream Cupcakes from a King Arthur Flour Baking Box. It was great! There were 3 parts to the project--make the cupcakes and core them, make the vanilla bean filling and fill the cupcakes, and make the deep, rich chocolate frosting and pipe it on top.

The baking box is well organized, with numbered bags of pre-mixed ingredients, clear instructions, plus any special equipment you'll need--like a cupcake coring tool and a piping bag with star tip.

These were delicious! Highly recommend KAF baking boxes as handy gifts or for a special activity.

I've instituted a ratings and reviews system to get feedback on my homeschooling output so I can keep improving services. My first two lessons got 2-3 stars (out of 5), but the cupcakes were 4.5 stars. I'm aiming to do a printed wrap-up survey at the end of the week so I can get more information from respondents and continue to fine tune my programming.

The state of Vermont hasn't updated on confirmed coronavirus cases since Monday. The number then was 12. No idea how that has changed.

Mammalogy Lessons

It's March, 2020, and I'm home with my children sheltering from the novel Coronavirus.

Things have changed rapidly over the past 5 days.

Last Wednesday we attended a multi-school, multi-grade district band concert where it seemed that at least 300 people were crowded into the high-school gymnasium to hear kids from grades 5-12 perform. We'd already been cleaning surfaces and washing hands frequently at home and at work, but the term "social distancing" didn't catch on for me until that concert, when I realized it was something we were not doing.

On Thursday things seemed exponentially worse than they'd been the day before. People are definitely starting to freak out. The grocery store is now out of toilet paper. By mid-afternoon my department gets the news that we are moving to work-from-home format. Most co-workers take their systems home that evening, but I have a hair appointment (I asked if it was cancelled and it was not), so I decide to come get my stuff the next day. I sanitized my hands at the door of my hair appointment. At home, a beloved relative stays outdoors, 6 feet away from my son and refers to him as "asymptomatic." As of this day I would absolutely not attend a concert with hundreds of people all in one room.

On Friday I got my stuff from work and set up a small home office area, where I worked peacefully for the rest of the day. The kids had school today. Things seemed quiet (unless you read Twitter). My state has 2 cases of the virus.

Saturday is panic shopping day for, apparently, everyone. I hit the stores and pick up some extra items, though I don't think I'm hoarding. There is still no toilet paper--I buy a box of facial tissues just in case. My state has 3 more cases of the virus.

Sunday is regular grocery shopping for the week. I have most of what I need, but I go back for things like tomatoes and hamburger fixings. Shoppers who are trying to do their regular, non-panicked grocery run are staring at the empty shelves in disbelief. There is no pasta, no flour, no rice, no beans, no frozen vegetables, and definitely no toilet paper. By 2pm I have decided that even if there is school tomorrow, I won't send my children. By 5pm, school in Vermont is officially cancelled. My kids gamely make a schedule for home study. 9-11 will be schoolwork that has been sent home or assigned online, 11 will be outdoor time, noon is lunch, 1pm I will home-school them in a topic of my choice, 3pm is finishing up any schoolwork OR reading if there's no work left over, and 4pm is the start of screentime. I will be working from home as best I can except for when I'm home-schooling. I see this as my chance at last to influence my children's education, and envision at least one afternoon of listening to 80s music and discussing the confluence of punk, synth, and hip-hop. As of this day I would absolutely not go to a previously scheduled hair appointment. My state now has 8 confirmed COVID-19 cases.

That brings me to today, Monday March 16. For my first home-school session I choose Mammalogy, using my beloved 2-volume National Geographic set from when I was a kid. First I explain the 7-part classification system of Kingdom Phylum Class Order Family Genus Species, and then we choose 3 orders of mammals to learn about further: Tubulidentates, Artiodactyls, and Marsupials.

Tubulidentates have only 1 living species (according to my book, which was published in 1981 and which I absolutely take with a grain of salt... because though science is true, it also changes). That species is the aardvark, which lives in Africa, eats termites, and is nocturnal.

Artiodactyl means "even toes" and covers herbivores such as llamas, camels, antelope, moose, elk, and deer. We look at different sizes of African antelope, from the tiny dik-dik to the giant eland. We review the differences between dromedary and bactrian camels, and we also cover Artiodactyls of the Andes: llamas, alpacas, vicunas, and guanacos. I learned that the first two are domesticated, and the latter two are wild--but sometimes the wild ones will come graze near groups of domesticated llamas or alpacas.

For marsupials I explained that mammals can be placental or marsupial, the latter type having very tiny undeveloped babies that crawl to a pouch where they nurse and grow after birth. We looked at the kangaroo, wallaby, quokka, Virginia opossum, bandicoot, Tasmanian devil, and wombat. In most cases the young will stay in their mothers pouch for weeks or months, then start coming out of the pouch occasionally. With possums, the young later hang on their mother's back, and when they are FULL SIZE they finally take off on their own.

Finally, each child chooses a different animal to research in the books and then teach me about, and they give me a quick quiz on each one. One chose the Zorilla, which is a skunk-like carnivore from Africa, and the other chose the Badger. These choices warm my heart, because I love skunks and I am a Hufflepuff (for non Harry Potter readers, this is a school house represented by the badger).

As of this day I would absolutely not go grocery shopping with a mob of other people. There are now 12 confirmed cases in my state.

2019 by the books

I met my goal of reading 35 books this year! Want to see?

 

Beastie Boys Book was one of my favorite things this year. PHENOMENAL. Everything a Beastie fan could want in this latter-day age when our heroes are middle-aged dads and MCA has been gone for 7 years already.

 

Austerity Britain is a 600+ page monster that took me WEEKS to read, but it was worth it. My year in books is divided in BAB (Before Austerity Britain) and AAB (After Austerity Britain). AAB went much faster since I'd spent most of the summer wading through the nationalisation of various industries and agencies in the late 40s. And post-war rationing. And a government that mind-bogglingly contained both Foreign Secretary Bevin and Minister of Health Bevan. And did you know that the British government "observed" its own citizens, including eavesdropping on and recording conversations in pubs and elsewhere? Kynaston uses the Mass Observation Archives as one of his many diverse sources in this fascinating, dense volume.

I must say The Unbelievable Andy Kaufman, a graphic bio by Box Brown, was pretty amazing. Did you know that Andy Kaufman was an avid pro-wrestling fan, and that he used some of its precepts and characters in his work and in his personal life? Box Brown teaches most especially about the idea of kayfabe (or as some might mis-spell it, "covfefe"). Kayfabe is the once-closely-guarded secret that professional wrestling is an act--staged with heroes and villians and downfalls and triumphs that keep fans involved and occupied without knowing that it's being faked. (Does that sound familiar at all?)

 

Being Mortal, by the doctor Atul Gawande, is a must-read for anyone with aging loved ones. It has a lot of interesting thinking about the grey area between being a healthy older person and being an end-of-life older person. Our society is generally unprepared to support people during this time period when they need some additional help, often medical, but are not yet dying. Doctors tend to want to fix all problems, when the truth is that sometimes this fixing does more harm than good. But when do you stop, and is that "giving up"? Do we farm everybody out to depressing "homes," or try to take care of them ourselves even though it's too much, or is there something different and better we can do for this growing population of needy, yet very much alive, people who are in their last years of life? Atul Gawande goes into all of this, and there is a little progress being made.

Other stats about my 2019 books:

25 by women

3 books about being sober

7 biography/memoirs

4 books about music & musicians

7 novels

1 truly awful book that I read anyway

6 books in graphic form

PS After writing this I realized I'd read a 36th book over the summer, Bad Blood by John Carreyrou. I think Austerity Britain wiped it from my mind for a while.

2019: The Kayak Diaries

One of my favorite things from 2019 is my kayak. I bought an inexpensive molded plastic kayak rather late in the season (mid-August). It has helped me have rare moments of peace and tranquility as I float and paddle on quiet waters here in Southern Vermont. I miss it so much now that it's winter, and can't wait to get back on the water in the spring.

October

Utter calm

Windy day with rushing water--
this was my last outing of the season

I am grateful for every moment I get to be out on the water in my own boat on my own time. I know that I am lucky to have this.

A loved one suggested I compose haiku on my quiet paddles, so I did. I call them kayaiku.


Goose sound lifts with geese
Duck tribe breakfasts upside down
Night frogs call the dawn


Then I'm in the mist.
Clouds lie in the mountain's lap.
Grateful I wore wool.


Shallow shallow deep
Paddle paddle glide toward
That bridge then the next


Smack! Says beaver tail
I was marked an intruder
In the river mist


When it's warm morning
On your small tributary
Who cares for the sea

Anxiety Baking and Pie Tools

Have you see the Stephen Colbert bit about "Anxiety Baking"? It's a thing, and in the past few years, I've found that baking really is an excellent antidote for feelings of anxiety.

During the holidays in particular, I get anxious about all kinds of things that are part and parcel of the season... finding gifts, for example, or the inevitability of holiday celebrations actually happening on a certain day that cannot be delayed or avoided. For me, anxiety is not "whirling thoughts" or worrying with my mind. My anxiety is a physical feeling of doom that starts in the chest area. It feels like an unpleasant alarm going off deep inside, indicating something vague yet inexorably awful. It often comes out of nowhere--gah! Does that ever happen to you?

So I collect coping mechanisms. A quiet moment and a cup of tea can be nice. I do guided meditations sometimes. A long vigorous run on a Sunday afternoon can rebalance my chemistries. I make lists or write in my journal. And making pie can also be quite soothing. There's something very present about baking a pie that confuses the anxiety--plus there's the promise of a treat at the end.

Do you like to bake pies? And what kind of pie equipment do you have? I've started a small collection of pie tools, myself. Here's a tour:



This red thing is a pie crust shield. It can be adjusted to fit over any size pie.

For instance, here is a defenseless apple pie about to go into the oven. WILL THE CRUST COOK TOO SOON AND BURN?

 

No! Simply apply the pie shield around the crust and, as the shield says, "Tan Don't Burn." I like to put it on a few minutes into baking so the perky crust does not get squished down by the pie shield.

Look, it works!

This is my silicone rolling mat, which I like much better than rolling out pie dough on the counter (my previous method). It has concentric circles for measuring the diameter of your crust, though it's hard to see the measurements when they're covered with flour. I do enjoy this mat though. It's larger than a Silpat (the silicone mat that can go on the bottom of a baking sheet in lieu of parchment paper).

This handy device, the Apple Machine, lets you peel a pies-worth of apples in about 5 minutes (I borrowed it from a family member). Simply clamp to a table or countertop, impale an apple on the center arm, and turn the crank to peel the apple with a curved blade.

The blade creates an interesting corduroy texture on the apples. Then core and cut up for your pie.

Two recent pies: apple pie and pumpkin pie.




This is a mock apple pie filled with Ritz crackers and containing NO APPLES. I entered it in this year's pie contest at work (it did not win, but came close). People did not believe it had no apples because it really does taste like apple pie. PS it is 100% not gluten free.

Share about your pies and pie equipment below! And if this is an anxious time for you, I'm sending you a big Internet hug right now.

7-Year Running Watch Update: Garmin Forerunner 410

Looking back on my blog here, I see it's been 7 years since I bought myself a GPS watch for running--a Garmin Forerunner 410, to be precise. It's been a fantastic accessory over the years. It's gotten so if I don't capture a run with my Garmin, then it officially didn't happen. I've been known to turn my car around on my way to a long-run location just to pick up the forgotten watch. And as someone who has kept running logs since the early 90s, I love the touch-of-your-fingertips metrics that the Garmin provides, particularly through my Strava account. (I upload the Garmin data to Garmin's site, and then it automatically gets fed to Strava which I find more user friendly.)

According to my collected Garmin data, I've taken this watch on over 1,000 runs, and we've clocked a total of 5,308 miles together over 1119 hours. I've climbed 392,474 feet (~56,000 feet per year) and my average speed is 5.2 mph (not too shabby!).

But seven years and thousands of miles can be tough on a watch.

At this point, the silicone-ish watchband has disintegrated. Since taking the above photo where I used black tape to repair the band at the side, the band has broken completely in half and I'm using white gaffer tape to hold it together. The other side of the band is rigged up with a combination of string, thread, and a hair elastic. Unfortunately, the band turns out to be irreplaceable, since Garmin no longer makes this watch.

But you know what? I'm fine with my beat-up watch. I'm reluctant to replace it just because the band needs help. The watch itself is still tickin' and seems totally fine. There's nothing wrong with how it works, it's just a little less aesthetically pleasing than it used to be. It's worn in.

And it's like my transition in running in general. (Being worn in but still working is ME in general.) I rig up my running plans from workout to workout, with no long-term goal. I just have a yen to keep moving in nature. I'm reluctant to mess with the core of my practice--which is essentially to go out and find running adventures and enjoy the outdoors on legs that still work just fine. I love running up local mountains, and this year I ran my two favorite peaks a total of 18 times. I made that my priority. I focus on weekend adventures on trails and do hardly any pre-dawn workouts that are just for mileage.

As I get older and more seasoned, my philosophy is that if the run isn't a pleasure in some way, why on earth would I force myself? Life is too short for forcing things that I don't even have to do. I sleep in whenever I can. I eat the cake. I run when I want to. Those things feel good, and that is a blessing.

Aqua faba meringue (Vegan Eton Mess)

Have you heard this crazy idea that you can use BEAN WATER (aka "aqua faba" and specifically the liquid from a can of chickpeas) as a substitute for egg whites? Well I am here to tell you that it is perfectly true. Recently I made Vegan Eton Mess for a potluck, and I baked up a batch of crispy-sweet aqua faba meringues, and... it worked.

The secret is to use the ancient ingredient from the 1900s called "Cream of Tartar." This white powder (potassium bitartrate) creates the egg-white-like effect by stabilizing the chickpea liquid so it can hold volume. A handmixer (or stand mixer) is pretty much required. Here is my meringue mixture after some beating. Then I added loads of sugar. Check out Loving It Vegan for a similar recipe.

 Look—stiff peaks!!

I then piped the mixture onto parchment paper and baked at low temperature for AGES. The trick with meringues, I learned, is not so much to cook them as to slowly and gradually drrrrryyyy them out until they are crunchy. I think mine may have taken about 2 hours total (first at low heat, then sitting in the oven as it slowly cooled).

The results were very meringue-cookie like! A vegan person, a gluten-free person, and a French person EACH said these were very good. That seems like very well-rounded praise.

I used most of the meringues to make Vegan Eton Mess, which was my contribution to an "Ugly Food" potluck. To make the mess, layer together chopped fresh strawberries, vegan whipped topping, and crumbled aqua faba meringues. The black specks in this photo are a fermented herbal power that I added for stress and mood benefits.

For a non-ugly version the mess could be assembled in a glass trifle dish.







As an aside, I had to share the Ugly Food pièce de resistance, which was not made by me. This is a kitty litter cake, which is crumbled vanilla cake and chocolate cake decorated with twists of caramel and buried Kit Kats and other chocolatey treats. It was disturbingly served with a fresh-bought kitty litter scoop and just felt... so wrong. Yet of course I had seconds.

Have you tried Aqua Faba yet? I supposed it could be made into a pavlova, right?