An old camera and a new recipe

It would be the last night before seeing Kay off. We crammed in as much as we could that evening — chatting websites, work, cameras, printed photo books, headphones, music for plants and what to wear during an eclipse (red or green).

Earlier I searched “vegan dinner” at the grocery and this was the top result: Crispy Tofu with Peanut Sauce and Cabbage Slaw. We gathered the ingredients and were delighted by the results.

We’re adding it to the rotating list of meals that are super easy to make and extra tasty. Recipe below with some ease of life mods. (Also testing a new format to present recipes nicely.)


Crispy Tofu with Peanut Sauce & Cabbage Slaw

Slaw

  • 1/2 red cabbage
  • 2 to 3 carrots
  • 1/2 cup cilantro
  • 1 Tbsp sesame oil
  • 1 Tbsp olive oil
  • ½ tsp salt
  • pepper

Tofu & Peanut Sauce

  • 14oz Extra-Firm Tofu
  • 4 Tbsp Peanut Butter
  • 2 tsp soy sauce
  • 1 Tbsp sesame oil
  • 1 Tbsp agave (or honey)
  • 1 to 2 tsp sesame oil
  • 2 Tbsp lime juice
  • Red pepper flakes

Slaw: Shred the cabbage and carrots (mandolins and box graters help). Transfer to large bowl and add roughly chopped cilantro.

In a small bowl, whisk olive oil, sesame oil, lime juice, ½ teaspoon sea salt, and black pepper to taste. Pour the vinaigrette on top of the slaw and toss to coat. Add a squeeze of lime juice or a sprinkle of salt and pepper.

Peanut sauce: Add the peanut butter to a bowl, along with the agave, lime juice, soy sauce, 1 teaspoon of sesame oil, and red pepper flakes to taste. Whisk well to combine until smooth. Taste, adding the additional teaspoon of sesame oil, if desired. Stream in the water, a tablespoon at a time, and whisk until the sauce is pourable but still thick.

Tofu: Pat water from tofu. Slice widthwise into ½-inch thick slices (about 10 slabs from 14oz block). Get rid of some excess water by dabbing with paper towels.

Heat oil in a nonstick frying pan over medium-high heat. Once the oil is hot, add the tofu slices. Cook for 6 to 8 minutes, gently moving around pan as needed to coat evenly in oil or until the bottom is golden brown. Flip and cook for 4 to 6 minutes on the other side.

Plate with slaw topped by tofu and peanut sauce. Fancy it up with cilantro and sesame seeds or slivered almonds / peanuts if you like.

These strawberry cakes on Easter

Headed to my Aunt’s for Easter with a plate of deviled eggs and an appetite. Walked into the kitchen bustling with last minute assembly of the potluck meal, including the finishing touches on these strawberry cakes.

I am always delighted by whatever my Aunt April creates — every baked good is extraordinarily good.

And everything else I loaded up on my plate was extra good to boot.

My only regret is not getting a group photo or in the very least, some snapshots of folks. I did grab a few of the flowers out front.

Last tidbit: Canada Dry Fruit Splash Cherry Ginger Ale Zero is tasty.

Black and White miscellanea

The light was so nice today, there were a handful of extra snapshots.

Images ran the gamut of light temperatures, for the sake of presenting them together I’m processing them black and white.

While sorting I read up on the tall  Beaux-Arts building under construction below. That’s the Gwynne Building and was once the headquarters of Proctor & Gamble. It’s being transformed to a boutique hotel. Glad it is finding a new purpose.

Tree in bloom and parking

Performing Tai Shani

Met up with Sophia, Casey and Kay for lunch and headed downtown afterward to catch some art at the Contemporary Art Museum. We knew there was a 5 minute film through social media and had no clue what else was in store.

Built as a response to the Tai Shani exhibition, artists moved through the museum in scenes that combined music, poetry, film and performance art.

There were moments it felt like watching a Matthew Barney movie being filmed.

Participating artists included Phoenix Brumm, Lindsey Whittle, CLEÖCRT, Ben Britton and Mary Barr Rhodes, Ellina Chetverikova, and Rae Goodwin.

Cincinnati Creative Mornings’ 11th Birthday

Photo by Corinne Wiseman

To celebrate their birthday and March’s theme of perspective, Creative Mornings Cincinnati had a get together mixed with music, musings and recollections from the audience.

Things kicked off with the reading of the manifesto and a quick intro of the My Life, My Story program at the VA, where volunteers capture stories of vets to share with health care providers, friends and family.

Lydia Shae was next, performing three songs written from different perspectives. Her stripped down set was delightful and increasingly poignant. I had goosebumps by the end when with a song about her grandfather and borrowed time.

I was up next and my talk was intended to weave a thread from our chapters’ first year when I spoke (at length) with some perspectives to the present day.

I don’t think there will be a video, but I will cobble something together to capture the beats.

I truly think everyone should force themselves to stand in front of others and share something from the heart. It is terrifying, but lends a tremendous amount of clarity to what we hold most dear.

Here’s my last slide that captures the vignettes of thought (a few of these were separate talks through the years). I seriously will expand on each before too long.

A slide with colorful bars that have the following text on each line: Design is a process to solve challenges, Treat yourself like a friend or client, The best part is the people,
Something to do besides fret, The chapters of your life,
Awesome that it happened, Don't give away all your attention, A process to process, More hugs and high fives, Make puzzles and share with friends

Afterward there were some hugs, high fives and excellent conversations with folks. I’m reminded of how strong and awesome our local community is at Creative Mornings.

I wandered downtown for a short spell with relief, full of gratitude.

(Handful of additional photos on the CM/Cin instagram account.)

Run Yourself Ragged

Impromptu lunch with Tom. He was in the area to pick up a birthday cake and had some records from my wishlist that he happened to have doubles of. (Yay!)

Extra bonus, he got to meet Kay and I got to give him an early birthday gift… One of his favorite games growing up was this maze called Run Yourself Ragged. I found a cheap one online and snapped it up.

Handed it over sight unseen in the shipping box and told him he could play with it for a bit and was welcome to re-gift to someone else. (I think he’s going to keep it.)

I try not to junk up my own place or others, but this sort of thing brings much joy.

I’ve a thing for Tomy games and posted a few favorites on Instagram a while back.

I am totally enamored with this era of design — the games and the packaging. So very solid, to this day.

Meeting Sadah and her human friend

On January 11, 2021 I began a virtual conversation with Kay about helping me rebuild this website entirely on databases and move away from duct taping everything together by hand with DreamWeaver.

The conversation went well and we embarked on a journey to turn Figma sketches into reality with this site and have subsequently worked on several other projects over the years.

Through alignment of the sun and moon our paths would cross IRL today for the first time, and it was most excellent.

I am also happy to have met her dog Sadah who was one of the first test characters for the Folks section here.

(I should mention, we just launched a big update to this site that introduces a side nav, but I’m behind on documenting everything that was introduced. So if you think things are different around here, it is true and warrants a journal entry all on its own!)

This could have been an email

Somehow managed to have two Zoom calls today with a mouth full of gauze that needed replaced often. Thought I might need to escalate concerns about this (the gauze, not the Zooms), but by the afternoon things were starting to stabilize in my mouth.

Casey stocked up on pudding, applesauce and other soft foods and I was even able to walk to the pet store and get some soft foods for Edie.

Spring continues.

Three crowns and two extractions

I’d been dreading this day for months, maybe years in the scheme of things. This, the first big proceedure to get my teeth back on a healthy path.

The list of things is so long I honestly forgot what was on tap this day, and that is for the best. For if I knew I was getting three crowns replaced with temps and two extractions, I might have fled the country.

The dentist and assistant went above and beyond to keep me apprised of each step, comfortable as possible, with hand signals for whenver I needed a moment. (Also, laughing gas, which may be a placebo but I will take it.)

Left three hours later in a daze with a mouth full of gauze.

A favorite clip about teeth to close this all out with levity:

Doin it for the gram

I’ve watched enough videos about cooking across every platform that I know that measuring ingredients by weight is the way to go. It often makes cleanup easier as you don’t need to dirty spoons and cups. And after trying it while making these Chicken Hummus Wraps, I totally get it.

Also? The wraps were super good and great for prepping a snack or lunch ahead of time. (via this Ethan Chlebowski vid)

The Aperture

A new restaurant opened in Cincinnati called The Aperture and I’ve been following their journey on Instagram and digging the vibe without knowing much more.

We scored a table this evening and I was blown away by every dish on their Mediterranean-inspired menu. Particular favorites included the Charred Carrot, Oyster Mushroom, Falafel and the Cod main. Also very happy that we squeezed in the Profiterole for dessert.

Seriously, each dish was accompanied by a little gasp of delight.

Chef Jordan Anthony-Brown has brought culinary magic to this corner of Walnut Hills.

Five stars and an enthusiastic yay.

A series of tubes

Followed up on my yearly physical with some bloodwork to get a full picture of things. Celebrated by having lunch at Red Lobster because I had been fasting and was really craving a cheddar biscuit. Good thing I did this after the test as I am certain it would not have helped triglycerides.

I chose steamed broccoli as my side to balance things out.

Unrelated, today’s song is best experienced first on Youtube. Total bop.