Can I Borrow Some Vanilla?
So here I am starting on making a couple of pumpkin pies, thinking I had everything I need. Organic canned pumpkin? Check. Ground ginger? Bought it today. Pie shells? Yes, got those at Local Harvest Grocery last week. Tofu? Yes, it takes the place of milk and eggs — except for the honey used to sweeten the pies they are totally vegan. Moving on, Vanilla? Damn, knew I’d forget something!
It is starting to rain and I really don’t feel like running to the store. Nor do I feel like running to my old place where I know that I have some real vanilla (not that vanilla-flavored stuff). Ah, no problem. I call my friends down the hall — I know they’ll have vanilla. In less than five minutes I had called them, used a couple of teaspoons of the wonderful liquid and was back in business. Thanks Jerry & Diane!
The pies are baking and boy the place smells great. Hmmm, reminds me of the smell from the wonderful pumpkin empanadas I get every year from one of those bakeries on Cherokee. I may just have to run out in the morning to grab a few before my friends show up at my place for our annual vegetarian thanksgiving feast.
So, I am thankful to all my friends. Those that I know and see everyday, those of you who live out of town and those of you who I know only through my website.
Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
Beyond the usual stuff to be thankful for (wife, family, health, career, life, etc.) I’m thankful to be here in St. Louis and I’m thankful for Steve’s huge efforts in making this site what it is. What Steve does ain’t easy. It probably consumes at least a couple of unpaid hours, on average, on a daily basis. Steve’s hit a sweet spot between intellectual curiosity and Jerry Springer. Too many blogs are either too dry and attract few, if any comments or quickly devolve into petty name calling. I admire how Steve sets the tone and frames the discussions and how both the “regulars” and the “uninitiated” are able, in most cases, to discuss a wide range of important and, at times, controversial issues, in an educated and civil manner. Thanks, Steve – I do appreciate all that you’re doing! Enjoy that pie!
When you buy yourself some vanilla, make sure to buy Lochhead. Made in St. Louis. Happy Thanksgiving.
Happy To-furkey Day, Steve! We’re thankful for you and all you do.
xo
Margie and Alan, in Atlanta
and the joy of living in a condo/loft building: you can walk to get that vanilla in your flip flops without getting cold toes!
Thanks, Steve, for the venue and investigative reporting; to the rest of you, for the discussion.
Being the carnivore that I am, I’m thankful that I got to eat Turkey on Turkey Day. But, I didn’t know that you knew how to bake Steve — I’m impressed and you’re gonna have to make one of those pumpkin pies when next I visit St. Louis to check out your new digs. I’ll bring the vanilla.
Pumpkin empanadas? Sounds like I need to hit Cherokee. Does anyone have any incite as to what bakeries/shops are worth checking out?