It didn't last too much

Just a quick post, no recipe (so if you are looking for a recipe, I am sorry. Look through the other posts) today because I am too depressed. If you have read my last post, you will know how excited I was because I got a job. Well, I though I got a job. Today I went for the second time to the workplace and I had the first hour of training course (requeriments the client must meet to get the service), but I didn't do the practicals becase I was not included as a holder in the copy of the banc accout I brough (although they yesterday they told me that it was not a problem, because it was my parents banc account and they just had to give me permission).

They sent me to open my own banc account, what I could not do because you can only open an account in a banc near to your home, and I was 50 km from home.

To sum up, I had to come back to home, with no practicals and quite disappointed. But my disappointment whas nothing compared with my indignations after looking for some information about the company in question on the Internet. Briefly, it is a swindle: you work a lot of hours, but it doesn't assure you a salary because it depends of your clients. No clients, no money. They promise you high incomes, but people who worked with him tell that is not not true. Also, the transport and meals are not included, so if you deduct all that expenses, the salary is not high at all, and you work a lot of hours. They don't register you with the Social Security either.

After reading all that, I decided that it was not what I am looking for. I am desesperate to get a job, but not so desesperate. I still have to do an investigation work this summer, and whith that job I would not have time at all. I won't sacrifice my studies for a summer job.

Sorry for such a boring post (at the end it was not so quick), but I needed to get it off my chest. Well, at least that will teach me that before accept a job vacancie I must know who I am dealing with.

A hard summer ahead and a seitan ham recipe

Right now, I am sitting in front of my laptop devouring half of a refreshing, cold watermelon…and I could eat the whole one if I didn’t eat the other half yesterday. Today has been a long day. I have spent all the morning in Barcelona, and have just returned to home at 4pm. Nevertheless, starting from tomorrow I will come back even later because…I have found a job! Yes, at least, after two months of job haunting, dozens of e-mails without reply — I don’t understand that quirk. Why can’t they send a quick e-mail, even if it is to say that I am not what they are looking for? I won’t bite them! It’s frustrating when they don’t say anything at all— and with already no hope left, I have found a job. Yeah, it’s a crap job, but it’s a job, and it will help to pay the bills, the mortgage, maybe a new camera and the FCE exam I want to do in December (it costs almost 200€!!).

In the case you are wondering, I will work as a saleswoman. Well, actually I won’t sell anything, but inform, but in the end is the same: I must convince people who has got a certain gas rate to fill in a form because it will allow them to save a 10% in their bill. The gas company in question is called Endesa. Today I spent all the morning with other salesman and saleswoman who showed me what the work consist in. It’s not difficult, but some people is really stubborn. Aggressive replies and door bangs are quite common, sometimes even before you have opened your mouth.

I will tell you more about my first day yesterday…if I am not too shattered. My timetable is: training courses from 9.30 to 10.45 AM (compulsory) and work from 11.30 AM to 8.30 PM, with a stop for lunch. There is one hour by train from Cunit to Barcelona, at that means that I will come back not earlier than 9.30 PM….every day >.<

For the moment, when I still have time (this is my last weekday free afternoon!), I leave a Seitan ham recipe which I did last week. Have a nice week! =)

Seitan Ham I love seitan. If you have wheat gluten, it’s very easy to make (I tried once to wash wheat flour…don’t try it too, please. After it, my arms hurt for a week, and I only got a tiny, measly gluten ball. All the other  — not only the starch, but also a lot of the gluten — licked out through the waste pipe) and you can freeze it. Actually, I always do more seitan than I need and I freeze part of it. It keeps perfectly for months and it has saved my life many times when I didn’t have anything already cooked. Defrost the hamburgers you need, sauté some veggies, and you have an almost complete meal. That recipe makes a really tasty seitan. The key is not over simmer it, and let it cool in the broth: it will make a juicy, not too hard seitan, but full of flavor. I changed some things, like the ketchup and the soy sauce (I reduced a lot the amount of them) and it was still tasty. Actually, I think it was too salty (maybe my teaspoon of salt was too full), but it was great anyway. The next time I will try some other variations, like using chickpea flour instead of soy flour, or pumpkin seed oil instead of olive oil. I think that it will give a cool green color to the seitan! Adapted from I eat food Makes 8 hamburgers Simmering broth 7 cups water 1/3 cup soy sauce (instead of 1 cup) 2 Tbsp liquid smoke (I didn’t have, so I didn’t use it) 1 large onion, chopped 1 tsp dried oregano 1 tsp dried Italian herbs mix (instead of 1 tsp of sage) 1/4 cup nutritional yeast (I didn’t use it either) Seitan 1/3 cup soy flour 2 1/3 cups wheat gluten 1 tsp salt 1/4 tsp white pepper 1 Tbsp sweet paprika 1 1/4 cups water 1/3 cup ketchup (instead of 1 cup) 1 Tbspoon extra virgin olive oil (or any other oil, preferably a strong flavored one. The original recipe didn’t have oil in it, but I added it to give a little bit more of flavor. Put the water of the broth in pot and bring it to boil. Add all the other broth ingredients. For the seitan, mix the dry ingredients ( soy flour, wheat gluten, salt, pepper and sweet paprika). Mix as well the wet ingredients (the water with the ketchup and the oil if used). Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, mix (I used wood spatula)  and knead well. Separate the dough in 8 balls, and give them a hamburger shape with your hands. Renae, the author of I eat food, divided it into 6 balls, but I found the balls too big. Place the flattered balls in the broth and simmer for about one hour on a very low heat. I discovered that leaving the seitan cool in the broth for about another hour or so make it much tastier. Now, you can bake it or just brown it on a skillet. I just browned it on a skillet because I was in a hurry, but I suppose that baked it tasted better. If you want, you can try to bake it as Renae did it for her Easter dinner. Or if it is too much seitan for you (like it happened to me…yeah, my family is still reticent to try seitan. And eight seitan hamburgers are too much seitan hamburgers for one person, even if that person eats as much as I do) you can freeze them. I had to cut them lengthwise because they were still too big, but I liked the result because now they look even better =) Seitan can be kept in the freezer for many months. I even had in six month in the freezer, but I am sure that it can last more.

Jamón de seitan Adaptado de I eat food Hace 8 hamburguesas Caldo 7 tazas de agua 1/3 salsa de soja (en lugar de 1 taza) 2 cucharadas de liquid smoke **I don’t know how to translate it (no tenía, así que no lo usé) 1 cebolla grande, picada 1 cucharadita de orégano seco 1 cucharadita de hierbas italianas (en lugar de 1 cucharadita de salvia) ¼ taza de levadura en polvo (no lo usé tampoco) Seitan 1/3 taza de harina de soja 2 1/3 tazas de gluten de trigo 1 cucharadita de sal ¼ cucharadita de pimienta blanca 1 cucharada de pimentón dulce 1 ¼ tazas de agua 1/3 tazas de kétchup (en lugar de una taza) 1 cucharada de aceite de oliva extra virgen (o cualquier otro aceite, preferiblemente de sabor fuerte. La receta original no tenía aceite, pero yo lo añadí para darle algo más de sabor) Pon el agua del caldo en una cazuela y llévalo a ebullición. Añade los otros ingredientes del caldo. Para el seitan, mezcla los ingredientes secos (harina de soja, gluten de trigo, sal, pimiento y pimentón dulce). Mezcla también los ingredientes húmedos (el agua con el kétchup y el aceite si se usa). Echa los ingredientes húmedos en los líquidos, mezcla (yo usé una espátula de madera) y amasa bien. Separa la masa en 8 bolas, y dales forma de hamurguesa con las manos. Reane, la autora de I eat food, la dividió en 6 bolas, pero me parecieron demasiado grandes. Pon las bolas aplastadas en el caldo y hierve durante aproximadamente una hora a fuego muy bajo. Descubrí que dejar el seitan enfriar en el caldo durante otra hora más o menos lo hace mucho más sabroso. Ahora, puedes hornearlo o simplemente dorarlo en una sartén. Yo simplemente lo doré en la sartén porque tenía prisa, pero supongo que horneado sabe mejor. SI quieres, puedes probar a hornearlo como hizo Renae para su cena de Semana Santa. O si es demasiado seitán para ti (como me pasó a mi…si, mi familia sigue siendo reticente a probar el seitan. Y ocho hamburguesas de seitan son demasiadas hamburguesas de seitan para una persona, incluso si esa persona come tanto como yo) puedes congelarlo. Yo lo tuve que cortar a lo largo porque seguían siendo demasiado grandes, pero me gustó el resultado porque se veían aún mejor =)  El seitan puede congelarse durante muchos meses. Yo lo llegué a tener congelado durante medio año, pero estoy segura que aguantaría incluso más.

Starting from tomorrow, I will spend a loooot of time in Barcelona

Midsummer Eve, too much party and Chana dal Masala [Spiced Split Pea Lentils]

Do you like bangers? If not, I don’t recommend you to visit Spain on the 23th June night because it’s “San Juan” —Sant Joan in Catalan, Saint Gorge in English — holiday. This holiday it’s not exclusive of Spain, though: if I am not wrong, the Midsummer Eve is celebrated in many European countries. Bonfires are lit, kids throw bangers and family and friends meet. In Catalonia and Valencia they also eat a cake called “Coca de Sant Juan” (If your wonder it… no, I don’t have a recipe, but I am already looking for one that I could veganise). But for a lot of people the best of all the holiday are the parties, especially beach parties. Bonfires are lit on the beach itself, DJs are contracted and the open-air cafés next to the beach make a fortune.

Nevertheless, the most common is something that in Spain is called “botellón”, and that my Oxford Dictionary translates as “young people’s street party”. It’s just the name for the meeting where groups of friends buy the drinks in supermarkets instead of in cafés, and drink them in the street (usually in parks). Well, Sant Joan is one of the biggest “botellón” you can find. It’s a pity that I didn’t bring the camera with me….the amount of people was incredible! The only I don’t like about it? All the garbage — and some slept people lying on it— that remains in the beach after the party =(

 I arrived at half past seven of the morning after the beach party, but strangely enough I was not sleepy at all (a coffee before leaving to the beach contributed in it), but I was starving. Nevertheless, I was not in mood for cooking, so I devoured half of a watermelon and a big bowl of breakfast cereal. My other meals were as quick and little healthy as my breakfast (trust me…at least the breakfast cereals we buy are not the healthiest way to begin your day), so yesterday I decided that it was enough and I cooked some real food.

After surviving basically on carbs, I thought that my body needed a more balanced meal. I gave a quick look to my recipes-to-try list, and immediately knew the answer: the Tried&Tasted June edition! This month the featured blog is Hooked on Heat and its author intention, Meena, is to introduce us to the real, everyday, modern Indian cuisine. Who said that Indian cuisine is difficult? Nevertheless, a quick advice from Meena: stay away from that yellow powder that most of the people call “curry”! If you want to know more, read her “How NOT to cook Indian food” post. Highly recommended!

Tried&Tasted was created by Zlamushka, of Zlamushka’s Spicy Kitchen. This month the event is hosted by “Kits Chow”. After looking among her recipes, I decided to chose a quite simple one: Chana dal Masala, or Spiced Split Pea lentils.

Chana dal Masala — I won't copy all the recipe again, because I changed very few things, so you can find the recipe here — Although I tried to follow the recipe, I had to do some small modifications. For example, I didn’t have turmeric, so I added a little bit of curry powder, which has got turmeric (I know…Meena recommended not to use it. But believe it or not, but I have not found just turmeric yet =S) Also, I didn’t have fennel seeds. Yes, you are right….I didn’t find fennel seeds either. Despite the lack of fennel seeds and plain turmeric, I loved the result. Nevertheless, I suspect it would have been even better if I had used the omitted ingredients. The dominant but mild at the same time flavor was cumin, which as well as delicious is good for your digestion (very important when you eat beans and lentils). I am sure that I will try another of the Meena’s recipes soon =) If you can, use whole spices and grind them when needed. They will keep all they flavor and aroma. It makes the difference!

About me

I think that every blog deserve a proper about section, don’t you? And I thought too that it was time to write the mine.  After all, people who read blogs like to know at least something about the author. At least, I like to; if I wanted just recipes, I would look for them in Allrecipes.com,  or similar. When we read blogs, we look for something more than information. Of course, there are bloggers and Bloggers, with a capital letter. Those whose blogs (and life) are sometimes more entertaining and beautiful written than most of the books. I would like to be someday one of that talented bloggers. For the moment, I will be satisfied if at least someone finds my little story interesting.

About my (for the moment short) life
My name is Ksenia, and I am a vegan 18 years old girl. I was born in Moscow, Russia, and I have lived there until I was seven. Then, my parents decided to move to Spain —first, they thought about moving to Canada—and I began Primary School here. This is the reason why I consider Spanish and Catalan my first languages: I use them in my everyday life, while I speak Russian only with my parents. Nevertheless, I try to read (when I have time) in Russian to don’t lose it. I have moved many times since we came to Spain, and now I am living in Cunit, a small town about an hour from Barcelona.

Living in Spain is great, but I miss a lot Moscow, with its impressive underground and grumpy passengers, its grey and cold days, the — although usually dirty — snow. People say I am crazy because I come back on holidays almost every year (Why do you need snow, cold and dirt, they ask). I just answer that they have never been far away from the place where they were born.

Why this blog and why vegan?
I love food. I love photography. I love writing. But first and foremost, I love being vegan and I wanted to share it with the world. I became vegan in December 2007, and I have never looked back. In fact, I have never been happier with a decision. Why vegan? I just discovered the truth: all the cruelty, all the horror that is hidden behind the meat and all the related industries (like egg and diary industries).
When I became vegan, I had to look for information. What to eat, in what amounts (the protein myth is just that…a myth), needed supplements (trust me, seaweed are not a source of B12)….And of course, recipes. With veganism, I discovered the joy of cooking, but also the blogosphere and all the fantastic people you can find out there. I understood that I was not alone! And believe me or not, this is very important when you are a 16 years old vegan who lives in a country where being vegan is something comparable with being an alien.

About writing in English
English is not my native language, as I suppose you already know. I speak Russian, Catalan and Spanish, but I am still learning English. This blog, as well as a way to share my edible creations and meet people with similar interests, is a way to improve my English. I understand that speaking English is important nowadays, and that you need it for everything. Writing a blog is a good way to oblige yourself to practice at least a little bit each week. And the best…it’s much funnier than thick grammar books —important to give you a base, but a drag if you have to study them everyday—which I would have abandoned a long time ago.

If you have not fallen asleep yet....more about me and my interests
A part from cooking and travelling, I love reading, graphic design and web design. I began with web site design many years ago, when my parents bought our first computer (I don’t know how we managed to survive with just one computer for years….Now we have four computers, one for each member of the family). At this moment, only one of my creations survived the corporate web site of my father’s company. All the other web sites (mainly about manga and Japanese culture) were closed before I began this blog. Nevertheless, I am working on an online portfolio of a friend of my parents who is a painter. I hope I will finish it soon!
I also love sports, especially volleyball — I have been in the school team for five years, which joined a league a year ago— and running. I have been running for seven years, and it’s my best antidepressant. Don’t you feel great after exercising?

Prague, Krakow, Paris, England...I have visited many beautiful European cities, and I hope I will visit many others. On the left, New Year's Firoworks by the river in Prague. On the right: on the top, a street in Paris; on the bottom, a town near a ski resort in Poland.

Orange upside-down cake

I'm sure that all of you, dear readers, have some special blog in mind. Yes, that blog with which you discovered the joy of cooking, or of web site design and blogging, or both of them. Maybe it captivated you with it's breathtaking design, its almost edible shots, or maybe it was just because it was the first one. I have many of that blogs. Of course, I don't remember the first food blog I visited, but I remember the blogs that left a bigger impression on me. Mainly, I remember them because they are still a referent for me when it's about inspiration. For example, today's recipe, was inspired in a post of one of those blogs.

I'm talking about FatFree Vegan Kitchen. "But you have already talked about it!", you will think. But who doesn't talk about it? Susan's blog has become one of the most important vegan blogs, and it's impossible not to talk about it. I saw and bookmarked the recipe of the cake I have baked today more than one year ago, the 8th May 2008 (thanks, Microsoft One Note!I love that software) I was still improving my baking skills at that time (well, I am still trying to improve them now) and my first experiments were often a big failure. Nevertheless, my family encouraged me to try it again, and ate all my creations without complaining. That recipe was my first real hit. It turned out delicious! I was so happy. More than one year after, I decided to rescue it from my OneNote archives, and give it a twist. Actually, I left very few things of the original recipe, but I still must give credit to Susan's blog: without it, this cake would have not been possible.

And I took advantage to submit the recipe to (another) blog event. Madhuram's Eggless Cooking is hosting this month the Low Fat (Eggless) Baking. The rules? Very easy: bake something eggless, low fat and submit the recipe until the July 3rd. And without more delay, the recipe =)

Orange upside-down cake Actually, the first time I baked that cake I didn't follow literally all the instructions. But I did only one, although substantial, change: my upside-down cake was not made with peaches, but with apples. And the result was amazing anyway! This time, I run out of apples, but I had many kilos of oranges, so I decided to give a twist to the recipe. But this time I also changed the others ingredients: I substituted 1/2 cup of wheat flour with 1/4 cup of wheat germ and soy flour each, I used yeast instead of baking powder, I added some spices like nutmeg and vanilla-apple, added the zest of one orange, rice milk instead of soy milk and 1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil (the one I talked about in the previous post) to give it more flavor. But all this changes were minor changes if we compare it with the decision to use orange instead of peach or apples. The resulting cake is completely different because of the chosen fruit. The peach/apple version is moister (like what happens when you bake an apple). The orange version has got a "sticky" consistency because the oranges caramelize in the sugar, and along with the zest give a tangy flavor that combine very well with the sweet base of the cake. The verdict of my family was that this cake was a real cake. I don't need to say anything else. Inspired in this recipe from FatFree Vegan Kitchen -1 cup wheat flour -1/4 cup wheat germ -1/4 cup soy flour -1/2 tsp ginger -1/4 tsp nutmeg -2 tsp of vanilla sugar -1/4 tsp salt -3/4 rice milk+ 2 Tbsp vinegar **any other non-dairy wil will do -1/2 tsp vainilla extract -1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil -1/4 cup warm water + 1 tsp sugar -15 g yeast -5-6 medium oranges, peeled and sliced -2 Tbsp sugar -1/4 cup sugar -2 Tbsp water -zest of one of those oranges -1 Tbsp of oil Preheat the oven at 180ºC Mix the dry ingredients, from the wheat flour to the salt. Set aside. Combine the 1/4 cup of warm water with the yeast and the sugar, and dilute it. Leave it for 10 minutes (if the yeast is "alive", it will rise and bubbles will appear) Mix the non-dairy milk, the vanilla extract and the olive oil. Peel and slice the oranges and mix them with 2 tablespoon of sugar. Heat the oil on a oven-proof sauce pan and add the 1/4 cup of sugar and the 2 tbsp of water. Be careful to don't burn it! Meanwhile, mix the wet and dry ingredients and the yeast mixture. Do not over mix. Leave the mixture to stand for 45min-1 hour: it will raise and bubbles will appear. When the sugar becomes thick, add the sliced oranges, the orange zest and turn off the heat. Pour the dough on top. Put the sauce pan in the oven and baked during 40-45 minutes. Allow the cake to cool for about 15-20 minutes, and turn down the pan with the cake over a big plate. If it doesn't fall immediately, leave it upside-down for a few minutes. At the end, it will separate from the pan and you will be able to enjoy your cake =)

Enjoy it with a strong cup of tea or coffee. I did!

What happened with the cake within 12 hours

Pastel de naranja "del revés" -1 taza de harina de trigo -1/4 taza de germen de trigo -1/4 taza harina de soja -1/2 cucharadita de jenjibre -1/4 cucharadita de nuez moscada -2 cucharaditas de azucar avainillado -1/4 cucharadita sal -3/4 taza de leche de arroz + 2 cucharadas de vinagre **cualquier otra leche vegetal servirá -1/2 cucharadita de extracto de vainilla -1 cucharada de aceite de oliva virgen -1/4 taza de agua tibia + 1 cucharadita de azúcar -15 gramos de levadura -5-6 naranjas medianas, peladas y cortadas a final rodajas -2 cucharadas de azúcar -1/4 taza azúcar -2 cucharadas de agua -1 cucharada de aceite -ralladura de una naranja Calentar el horno a 180ºC Mezcla los ingredientes secos, desde la harina de trigo hasta la sal. Reservar. Combina el 1/4 de taza de agua tibia con la levadura y el azúcar, y diluirlo. Deja durante 10 minutos (si la levadura esta "viva", subirá y aparecerán burbujas) Mezcla la leche vegetal, el extracto de vainilla y el aceite de oliva. Pela y corta en finas rodajas las naranjas y mézclalas con las 2 cucharadas de azúcar. Calienta el aceite en una cazuela resistente al horno y añade el 1/4 de taza de azúcar y las dos cucharadas de agua. Cuidado de no quemarlo! Mientras tanto, mezcla los ingredientes secos y húmedos y la levadura diluida. Deja reposar la masa durante 45 min - 1 hora: subirá y aparecerán burbujas. Cuando el azúcar se vuelva espeso, añade las rodajas de naranja, la ralladura de naranja y retira del fuego. Echa la masa por encima. Pon la cazuela en el horno durante 40-45 minutos. Deja al pastel enfriarse durante 15-20 minutos dentro de la cazuela, y dale la vuelta con el pastel sobre un plato grande. Si no cae inmediatamente, déjalo boca abajo durante unos minutos. Al final, se separará de la cazuela y podrás disfrutar de tu pastel =)

...and repite if you want to. Rember that it's almost fat-free ;)