http://www.samanthacooks.com Cooking and cuisine Fri, 07 Nov 2008 15:38:08 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en I've just created a new venture, Unika Butika, which offers hand-painted purses, handbags, hats, belts and more. Each item is painted by me personally. This is wearable art which gives the stylish woman an opportunity to stand out in the crowd. There is a wide variety of styles, colors and flavors, ... http://www.samanthacooks.com/2008/11/07/shameless-plug-check-out-unika-butika-handbags/ For our anniverary, my husband and I visited the delightful city of Montreal.  We'd been there before, mainly to spend time at the city's incomparable international jazz festival, held every summer, usually spanning the last week of June and the first week of July.  The weather is glorious in Montreal ... http://www.samanthacooks.com/2008/08/19/at-the-foot-of-the-pig/ I haven't been posting lately because of the "vegan-at-home" thing we're doing.  I wish I could say I've had some resounding triumphs and flashes of culinary inspiration, but I haven't.  So for the sake of having SOMETHING to write about, I'm giving my recipe for mac and cheese, in all ... http://www.samanthacooks.com/2008/05/07/mac-and-cheese/ I haven't posted in a LONG time, I know.  The simple reason...I really don't cook at home anymore as much as heat stuff up.  Veganism at home is NOT the same experience as dining in the high falutin' raw food restaurants popping up in larger cities.  Those places have the ... http://www.samanthacooks.com/2008/05/07/youre-such-a-dal/ My husband's away this weekend (the recently vegan husband, the only one I've got), and I'm getting together with friends.  I thought I'd contribute dessert, and the thought of making some bizarr-o concoction full of whole wheat flour, applesauce, and canola oil just didn't cut it for me.  So if ... http://www.samanthacooks.com/2008/02/08/when-the-vegans-away-the-baker-will-play/ As I embark toward the culinary frontier of veganism at home, I've recently tried several meat and dairy substitutes.  I never thought I'd be doing such a thing, but I'm trying to keep an open mind about it.  The most surprising thing about meat substitutes is their variety.  I had no ... http://www.samanthacooks.com/2008/02/05/faking-it/ Last Saturday night, while we were out for our weekend date, my husband informed me that he'd like to have a go at vegetarianism...and then he even said veganism.  He said this while we were munching a beef quesadilla, by the way, with our respective orders of chile relleno con ... http://www.samanthacooks.com/2008/01/30/well-i-thought-id-never/ If ever I should fail at my lofty goal of snail farming, I'm thinking that a fun and lucrative enterprise might be a gourmet hot dog place.  When I say gourmet, I'm not fooling.  My idea is to make EVERYTHING the place sells from scratch. Sound ambitious?  Well, I suppose it ... http://www.samanthacooks.com/2008/01/23/double-dog-dare-ya/ My very generous boss Doreen treated us to a really lovely meal to celebrate the holidays and the six-month anniversary of Green Harvest Food Emporium, the place she owns and where I work.  She solicited our ideas about where we'd like to have dinner about a month and a half ... http://www.samanthacooks.com/2008/01/05/cavallos-can-cook/ I cooked a really delicious dish to bring to a New Year's Eve party.  It was inspired by a recipe that came in a pamphlet featuring beer as a cooking ingredient.  I rarely cook to recipes verbatim because it's boring, and sometimes you just KNOW by looking at a recipe ... http://www.samanthacooks.com/2008/01/02/hot-stuff/