It's Howdy Doody Time!!

OMG!! I'm back in my childhood with this news!

Howdy Doody marathon on July 4th on COZI TV? And a new special after it? I am SO there!




Hey, it's not serious drama, but when you only have 3 stations and kid stuff was less than 2 hours a week, we took what we could get!

The Aveggies: Age of Bonbon (Sesame Street Avengers Parody)

A super villain was prepared to destroy all the healthy foods in the world, until one hero, actually, several heroes stuck together to save the world's vegetables! Together, Dr. Brownie, Onion Man, Captain Americauliflower, Black Bean Widow, Mighty Corn, and Zuchin-eye are...The Aveggies!

Mark's Heart Healthy Pizza TV Premier

Bring It On Down 2 Veganville - Justin Timberlake on SNL

Justin Timberlake as dancing tofu!


Justin Timberlake - Bring It On Down 2... by IdolxMuzic

Carrot Call

I don't watch either Jimmy Kimmel (not since he was the emcee on "Win Ben Stein's Money), don't watch "Duck Dynasty," and I don't know who Morrissey is, either, but I do think this is a funny skit.

VeganMoFo Day 28 - Pushing Daisies and Julie Hasson

Pushing Daisies is a great television show that's being ignored by the masses. It doesn't deserve to be. Last year when it debuted I caught a few minutes of one episode but my family insisted on changing the channel for something else, and I never looked for it again. There was always something else on at the same time that I thought was a better show, but for the life of me I can't think of it now.

This summer our Blockbuster got the DVD's of season 1 in and I was desperate for something to watch and grabbed the first one. I was hooked before the first episode, a.k.a. the Pie-lette, was over.

I won't go into detail about the show — these web sites do a much better job of it:
The official Pushing Daisies site on ABC.com, including episodes to watch on-line
Internet Movie Database Pushing Daisies page
Pushing Daisies WikiPedia entry
"How Do I Love Thee" essay from a TWoP Daisies lover
Television Without Pity detailed episode recaps

Right now it's in danger of being canceled, so Wednesday night, instead of watching Obama's paid-for speech, turn on your local ABC station and watch. You'll be glad you did.

Now, you're probably wondering what all this has to do with Julie Hasson? Well, the simple premise of the show is the love between the piemaker and the dead girl (Read the info I posted and it'll make sense), and Julie's newest book is about pies! (It's okay — you can groan.)

I can't make pie crust to save my life so I won't be buying that particular book, but I do frequent Julie's (and her guests') videos on Everyday Dish Television, bought the Everyday Dish DVD, made a number of her recipes multiple times, especially those Italian sausages, own a few of her other cookbooks, and love reading her posts over on the PPK forums and her own blog. She's always ready to share a recipe and a laugh. The vege-verse (vegetarian universe) is a much better place for having Julie in it. After Isa and Terry, she's probably my next favorite vegan cookbook author.

So, that leads me to today's dinner. I'll make up a new batch of those sausages, pop yet another loaf of Italian bread in the ABM to bake in the oven, and when my husband gets home toss a pound of whole wheat spaghetti into boiling water. We'll have our salads while that's cooking, then after I drain the pasta and mix it with a jar of McDougall-safe spaghetti sauce, cut the bread and dig in to a simple but filling Italian meal.

And if the rain lets up, maybe I'll drive over to the bakery and grab a pie for dessert.

Baked Ziti tonight

My back is still sore, so another easy meal today - Baked Ziti.

First I'll make the Tofu Basil Ricotta from the Post Punk Kitchen/Vegan With A Vengeance. I usually make that early in the day so the flavors have time to gather strength.

This afternoon I'll boil up a box of whole wheat ziti, and while that's cooking I'll sauté up some sliced onions, peppers and crushed garlic. When the pasta is done and drained I'll dump everything together, stir well, then pop it all into my 9 x 13" Pyrex baking dish and pop it into the oven. I wish I had some veg mozzarella and/or Parmesan cheese to top it off. Oh, well.

But before I even start the pasta, I'll toss some stuff into the ABM and make dough for Italian bread. When I pop the ziti into the oven I'll toss the risen loaves in, too, and whatever isn't eaten today will go into the freezer for Saturday's spaghetti meal.

I love this bread pan. I bought it many years ago from King Arthur Flour and it paid for itself within weeks. OK, so my bread may not be authentic because I toss some whole wheat flour in there instead of semolina, but who cares? All we want is something to sop up the tomato sauce and soup.

Ah, soup! I almost forgot! Well, luckily I have a very easy tomato soup recipe and I keep all the ingredients on hand. A giant 28 ounce can of crushed or pureed tomatoes, a chopped up onion, minced garlic, and my secret ingredient — a packet of Italian salad dressing, like the Good Seasons fat-free Italian or garlic, or the generic equivalent from Penzy's Spices. Add enough water to make a decent amount of soup, maybe toss a can of diced tomatoes in (salt free, of course), and you've got a great tasting tomato soup. If the soup was to be the meal, as we so often do, I would just toss in a can of kidney beans.

Now to go put that heating pad on my back again and watch last night's episode of Heroes.