Hi everyone, sorry for the hiatus, but I’ve been busy, as we all have, with the holiday season. Now that 2014 is coming to a close, I’ve been gearing up for bringing back my handmade store: Sylvita Handmade. Along with this revitalization, I’m trying out social media incorporation and so I’m going to be posting more on Instagram and Youtube, two social media outlets I actually enjoy using.
We’ll see where it goes! Have a happy new year everyone!
-S
Hey, so I’m really bad at titles, okay!
But anyway, here’s another blog post. I haven’t done much this week, as I mentioned last week, I’ve been kinda down with work. On the plus side, I have to add, despite some of the hard stuff, I do work with some really wonderful people. My frustration was starting to show and some of the folks I work with came to my side to ask me what they could do to help. One older volunteer even said “we’re family” and that just hit me right in the feels!
So yes, work has been tough, it continues to be, but I work with some great people and I guess I just need to get out of my own head, I need to not internalize so much and try to not take on everything myself. There are other lessons to be learned too I suppose and it is easier to say what I need to do than actually do it, but it’s a step.
So I didn’t really want to blog today, I felt like I didn’t have much to share, but then I want to keep up the one post per week momentum going. I like talking to you all about the media I consume, ( i love books, movies, games, TV) so here are 3 things I’ve been getting into this week:
1) Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (the nickelodeon series)
My niece has spent the past two weekends at the house and one of the shows we use to get her to sit down and relax for 30 minutes straight is TMNT (also My Little Ponies: Friendship is Magic). I grew up with the original TMNT so of course I was skeptical of the newer stuff… you know “kids these days! They can’t even have their own stuff, they’re recycling OUR stuff… arughrah!” But watching this series (and My Little Ponies too!) I realized, oh man, this series is (dare I say) even better than what I grew up with! It really is. The animation is slicker, the characters are more fully developed and the storylines get pretty epic. I thought, wow, this is pretty crazy, usually rehashes of old stuff tends to just produce mediocre content that bastardizes beloved franchises until it gets worse and worse. Like Star Wars. Though, if you know about the Star Wars Xmas special, that happened alot sooner for that franchise.
But I thought about it and I remembered a while back as I was scouring artist work resource websites looking for a job, I remember seeing postings about Nickelodeon looking for animators to work on this new TMNT series. These people working on this show are my age! They grew up with the characters, they care about this silly little story about fighting mutant turtles with a rat dad! And so obviously, they created a show that, in my opinion, really lives up to it’s beginnings and even surpasses the original cartoon. I’ve only seen a handful of episodes, but I genuinely enjoy watching it with the niece in a way that I just can’t with things like Mickey’s Clubhouse.
2) Classic NES games
So I went on a bit of a shopping spree in the 3ds E-shop the other day ($15 isn’t much of a “spree”, but it got me 3 games so it felt like it) and got 3 very classic NES titles: Metroid, Super Mario 3, and The Legend of Zelda.
I’ve played all three so far, spending more time with Zelda, because that game always sucks in your time somehow. It’s those dungeons, so addicting. Anyway, one thing I noticed playing these (Mario 3 being the only one I had actually played as a kid) is that these games are SUPER HARD. But not in a “this is so hard it’s discouraging and I quit way” but in a “challenging, you can do it!” sort of way. I like it. These games don’t hold your hand… at all.. they don’t even offer any real hints whatsoever (except for maybe Zelda with the old men in the caves but those are few and far in between.)
Metroid for one, took me forever to get through one area because I couldn’t figure out how to turn into a ball, then after dying, I for some reason thought… maybe I should go left at the beginning? And sure enough, there was the item i needed to turn into a ball. My impulse to go right all the time got the better of me from the very beginning!
Then with Mario 3… it’s like he’s on skates, and you only start with 5 lives (which go pretty quickly) and every time you run out of lives, you have to start from the beginning! Geez! This one is an exercise in patience.
And Zelda, that game has no mercy with the amount of monsters constantly being thrown at you and no hint as to where things like a hidden passage might be. I’ve gotten through 2 dungeons, but I think it’s just my knowledge of the Zelda formula that’s helped me get this far.
Maybe as I’ve gotten older, I appreciate feeling challenged and having to problem solve. Sure, there are games I enjoy for the simple decompression factor, like beating the crap out of people in Smash Bros., but I like stuff that makes you stop and think outside the box.
3) Youtube videos
Ah yes, Youtube, the land of crazy cat videos and cute babies that just sucks your time away. But really, if you dig a little deeper, you can find some really great channels and content that entertains, engages, and sometimes educates you! (Not to knock the crazy, silly videos, we all need a little bit of that in our lives)
Lately, I’ve been adding to my subscription list and I’ve found some great channels, from John Oliver’s Last Week Tonight channel that posts videos each week from the political satire show, to Nerdy Nummies, a cute food decorating show where a girl named Rosanna Pansino shows you how to create sweets inspired by geeky pop culture favorites, to The Fung Bros, a comedy channel where two guys talk about and deconstruct Asian American culture, or PBS Idea Channel which poses a thought provoking question using movies, television and what-have-you as a way to explain it, and one of my newer favorites Black Nerd Comedy, where Andre Meadows gives rants and raves about all things nerdy and retro (I like the nerd stuff, as you can tell). There are plenty of others, I just have been particularly enjoying these more recently and perhaps I’ll talk about some others in the future.
So there’s the 3 things I’ve been enjoying this week, what about you?
-S
So I took the day off because I felt like crap today. I just needed to vent and talk about other things. Let me know what you think, how have you been? Have you been having to put up with crap too? Lemme know, it’s good to talk these things out 🙂
Hi folks, it’s been a while since I talked about food and with the start of fall (it still feels like summer here in LA) I am so looking forward to more crisp weather (the mornings and evenings have at least been cooler), overcast skies, and of course the holidays!
I know, I know, Halloween is coming up and everyone is getting their Sexy Olaf the snowman costumes ready, and yes, I love Halloween, but I really don’t look forward to it as much as I do Thanksgiving.
Thanksgiving is awesome, it involves lots of food, sitting around the table with family members, lots of food, anticipating what you’re going to get people for Christmas (or Hannukah, or Human Light, or Kwanza, what have you)… oh yeah and LOTS OF FOOD.
It’s no surprise I love Thanksgiving really, you guys know I like to eat and even though I’m a vegetarian and “Turkey Day” is pretty much how most people refer to the holiday… I’m here to say, Thanksgiving is just as enjoyable without the turkey.
Yup, every Thanksgiving, since 2009, I have passed on the turkey and every year, I find myself just as satisfied as I was in my omnivore days. So today, I wanna talk to you guys about what I’m looking forward to having this Thanksgiving (t-minus 46 days). The great thing about my list is, you don’t have to be veg*n to enjoy, everyone can enjoy these things (in fact, that’s how it is with all veg*n food, duh… unless you have specific allergies) and maybe you have some go-to thanksgiving foods that are non-meat and would like to share, so let me know!
7. The cup of coffee after the meal (or second, or third meal)
In my aunt’s house, which is where we normally have our get togethers, it’s pretty routine to have a cup of coffee after we eat and have digested our food a bit. It’s really pretty much the only time I’ll have coffee at night. Yes, you can have coffee any time of the day, month or year, but maybe it is the fact that I rarely have coffee late in the day and maybe it’s because it’s just nice to sit and have a coffee with my mom and my Tias… it’s just nice, and it’s just something I do find myself looking forward to, even amongst all the potatoes and pies and all that.
I usually have my coffee black, and black coffee is best with a piece of pie or a super sugary sweet, but if you really want to sweeten things, fellow vegans (or just plain non-dairy folks) should really try Soy creamer. Trader Joes has a pretty good soy creamer and Silk soy creamer is pretty tasty as well. A little bit goes a long way… I will mention, I’ve tried Coconut milk creamers and it just tasted like plain coconut milk, so if you go that direction, try the flavored ones like vanilla, it’s much better.
6. Biscuits
I don’t care how you eat your biscuits… with butter, from the can, from scratch, with cranberry sauce, or by cutting them in half making a little thanksgiving sandwich (that’s me personally)… biscuits are the best and it really doesn’t need much further explanation than that.
5. Apple Pie
Pumpkin pie is good, yeah, but I am all about the apple pie. My little sis even makes me a vegan crust sometimes when she makes me a pie (btw, my sister makes the best pies ever). Apple pie is so good, so savory and sweet, and cinnamon-y..mmmmm. Apple pie is good in it’s natural vegetarian state (with butter and veg shortening), but if you like to keep Earth Balance around, there are lots of recipes online… unfortunately, not so many awesome little sisters willing to do the baking for you!
4. Green Bean Casserole
Speaking of sisters, my older sis, Pati (yeah the other one who writes on this blog) makes a BAGBC…. that’s BAD ASS GREEN BEAN CASSEROLE. I don’t know why, but Pati, being an omnivore and all… just makes the BEST veg*n foods… better than me and that’s like, my specialty. Anyways, every year Pati makes the BAGBC but last year she had a baby so I had to take over and it was just GBC. I made it totally from scratch (as Pati has done in the past) and since I took over, I made it completely vegan. I found a cream of mushroom recipe online… which turned out to be great but unfortunately, I lost the link…. the only thing that went wrong is my fried onlons burned a little on top. It was still good though and the best thing about making deceptively vegan foods is watching people eat it, be like “hmmp, disus goof” with their mouth full and all and then you say… “yeah.. I know… and… it’s VEGAN!” diabolical laughter follows.
3. Sweet Potatoes
Just, sweet potatoes in general… that’s always a plus whether it’s in it’s french fry, puree, baked, or candied form, but on Thanksgiving I like ’em mashed. I usually just eat the mashed sweet potatoes alone, but combining them in with some classic mashed ‘tatoes, now that’s magical.
2. Gravy
My favorite: mushroom gravy. I make a mushroom gravy based on a recipe my mom uses. It includes wine (i’m a terrible cook cuz I can’t even remember what type of wine without looking for the recipe) it’s not too thick, it’s actually pretty thin, but it’s really good on top of my tofurky… speaking of which…
1. Tofurky
Yup, tofurky, that is my number one. So some people might go, “lame, why do veg*ns even eat faux meat… that means you like meat! YOU’RE A PHONY”
Whoa whoa, put down the pitchforks, I will be the first to say, meat tastes good. But I don’t want to partake in eating it. Now, if I can get similar flavors and textures from a source that doesn’t conflict with my beliefs… and note, I said “similar” I don’t want to have something exact because if it’s too close, then I get a little paranoid about what I’m eating. I really enjoy faux meat products… another argument I get is that faux meat is not exactly heatlhy, to which I say, yeah I know, I don’t refrain from meat because I want to stay in shape, though that is a nice side effect. I know eating too much processed food is bad, but I don’t eat it all the time, and hey, when thanksgiving rolls around, I want me some Tofurky.
And for those who doubt the wonder that is Tofurky, I’m a big fan of Turtle Island, the company that makes the products. Their foods are always well made and taste wonderful. High quality faux meat folks. If people didn’t get so offended by faux meats, they would discover tofurky is really good in it’s own right. It’s not turkey, of course it isn’t! But if you stop trying to think that this is somehow supposed to magically be something it isn’t, you would find that it’s this really good, savory protein that tastes great with gravy and potatoes. My little sis and my uncle both eat turkey at thanksgiving, but they also grab a slice of my tofurky each year because they like it for what it is. So this year, if you have a veg*n friend that brings a tofurky, get your jokes in, fine… but then have a taste… you might like it, you might not… but chances are, you will like it!
So that’s my list of Thanksgiving foods, what are you looking forward to?
I did another video blog… I like the format.. it’s like writing a letter and having a conversation at the same time.
My second video blog!
In which I talk about veggie burgers, pretty meh coffee, and video games (A Link Between Worlds and a bit about Super Mario 3D Land).
The book that I referenced is called “The Strange Tale of Panorama Island” by Suehiro Maruo, which you can find here: http://www.amazon.com/The-Strange-Tale-Panorama-Island/dp/0867197773
and the “90s kid” thing that I sorta referenced can be found here: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0115341/
🙂
So I’m not used to doing video blogs, so bare with me as I try out the format. This simple blog took me about an hour to make and upload, so imagine the work involved to make a REAL GOOD vlog! Props to all those vloggers out there….
Anyway, I’m on vacation so I’ve been resting up a bit… not going on any big travels or anything, but really just taking time to enjoy myself.
-Sylvia
The weekend always calls for a warm, hearty start.
Ingredients:
Extra firm tofu
Morningstar sausage (vegetarian)
Salt
Pepper
Cumin
Paprika
Italian seasoning
Fresh basil to garnish
Sauteed in olive oil.
Hey Pati, (and others reading this blog)
So sorry for the hiatus… you know how it is… Family Days approach at the museum and I’m completely useless and non-productive in all other aspects of my life for like a week.
But I’m getting the hang of it, so it shouldn’t be a permanent thing (hopefully, that would suck, seeing as they’re monthly).
So this week, I decided to do another food review since I went shopping today and got something totally different: Seitan.
I’ve never bought seitan, it’s usually pricey and I tried to make it from scratch twice to underwhelming results. I bought this stuff, curry seitan by Sweet Earth.
I love curry, I’m no expert on it, but I do enjoy most things curry…. I once had curry flavored popcorn… hooo mama!
Anyway, this stuff comes in about 4 rectangles, that you can chop up. I took 2 rectangles and sliced them into thin squares and made simple skillet dish with some chopped veg (broccoli, cauliflower, and snap peas).
I kept the seasoning light, with only some salt and pepper (mainly for the veg) because I wanted to taste the full curry potential of this seitan… it was very aromatic from opening the package, so I knew it would be packed with flavor.
I served it on a bed of seasoned cous cous (salt, pepper, paprika) and dug in.
The texture was good, firm and kinda spongey (in a good way) very aromatic, as curry should be, and it took everything in my power not to scarf down my bowl. It was a very yummy dish, for being so simplistic and easy to make.
My rating: 10/10
I’ll be buying this stuff again, I could see it being good in a sandwich.
Any suggestions or products I should try for future posts?
P.S.
1) sorry for the crappy cell phone pictures, I really should start using a legit camera on this blog.
2) I wanna share a little thing that made me smile today (as this blog is about enjoying the little things) so here you go, a video of a schnauzer freaking out and fainting from happiness when she reunites with her owner after 2 years apart! (She’s okay now!)
So this week, there’s no Veg*n Review, instead, I thought I’d take a note from my sis and do a little intro.
I’m Sylvia, I’m the younger sister, I work in a museum, and I don’t really have a stablized family life like Pati. No kid, no husband, no house, just me, a single gal taking on the world!
Or if my life were a movie, that’s how it’d be marketed… the truth is, my life is pretty meh and I feel like I’m at that point where I’m just starting out!
It’s exciting and scary. I was one of those “lucky” twenty somethings who graduated college right in the depths of the economic downturn and so it took me three, almost four, years to get a full time job. (now that I think of it… I coulda been a doctor by now!… oh well, I feel like I earned a doctorate in LIFE, okay?)
That time in between graduating and finally landing the job of my dreams built character, to say the least. (it really is the job of my dreams, considering that I was ready to take a job at a gym or a fast food place if I could’ve landed one). So, now when I come across a youngin’ complaining about their entry-level job they’ve had right out of graduation (which I have encountered recently)… I just roll my eyes way out into space. Kids these days… pssh!
Anyway, so you got the idea right? I’ve had a bit of an extended adolesence, like many in my generation… living at home well into my mid to late twenties… (I’ve spent the last year living with Pati though, so it was kinda like an experiment in independence) but I do plan on moving back with my parents soon so I can save up to finally strike out on my own.
But as I’ve said earlier, and as Calvin’s dad always said (from Calvin and Hobbes) “It builds character!” And I’m really glad I went through what I did post-graduation, I feel tough… like built Ford Tough. I can take on anything man, and it feels good!
So what’s it like to work in a museum? Well, first off, I don’t work in curatorial, as 90% of people assume… museums don’t run on curators alone folks! In fact, the musuem I work at has no permanent curator! But that’s more to do with the museum recovering from the economic downturn which saw half of the staff laid off a few years ago… thus, a lot of the people who work there “wear a lot of hats”… which is a nice way of saying: everyone’s a bit overworked.
I wear many hats myself; I work in Education, Public Programs, and a little bit of Visitor Services. I get to interact with schools, families, and everyday patrons, and I love it. Yes, it is stressful quite often, but the place is great. My co-workers are all really cool, the volunteers are really sweet, and there are days where I think: “I can’t believe I work here!”
It’s been six months (three months full-time) since I started with the museum, and so I’m still getting my sea legs… which leads me to the other side of me which has been neglected a lot lately: the artist side.
I like to consider myself an artist, and I guess a crafter as well, and usually, I’ve always got some kinda project on the back burner. That’s where this blog comes in. While Pati is using this blog as motivation to organize her home life, I’m gonna use this blog to motivate my creative life. And of course, food plays a big part, hence the veg*n stuff.
So that’s just the jist of my origin story. I’m excited to share more!
Cheers!
Pati and Sylvia's Super Awesome Blog! 