i've been kicked out of the kitchen!

well, that's a tad dramatic, eh? how did i manage to get kicked out of my own kitchen? easy. i knicked my finger on my mandolin while doing some meal prep. y'see--i rely on the hour or so i have to myself after my son goes to bed so i can do prep work so i can cook meals/desserts on monday, wednesday, and friday mornings. that's my BIG secret to making all the yummy food i can--i have that special plan in place. anyway, the menu for today was/is a nice vegan panang curry. last night, i was popping the mandolin blade in place-(yep, it's a cheapie $7 one) and didn't even feel the julienne side knick my middle finger-(it WOULD have to be that one, right?). i pulled my hand out of the soapy water and saw the blood gushing out. yuck. i started to cry. not because i felt any pain, but because the kid was already in bed, i was tired and ready to go to bed myself, and i knew a trip to the ER would be at least a 2 hour wait. if i wasn't pregnant, i'd have gone all old skool, thrown some flour on the wound-(ick, yes. it was an approach to medical care used by my daddy), and toughed it out. but since i am preggo-(20 weeks!) i didn't want to risk a blood infection and went to the ER.

2 1/2 hours later, i was sent home with an RX for an antibiotic and the wound had been cleaned with medical grade super glue. the procedure took about five minutes. can't get the ol' finger wet for 24 h. so no dishwashing. you'd think i'd be happy, but i'm not. i don't like dishes collecting in the sink. mr. spouse was awesome and cleaned a ton up today, thank the dishwashing heavens.

sooooo, i'll end on a happy note and show you pictures of my favorite vegan brunch recipe:

that's right, it's the east coast coffee cake! oy, i'm getting all linda richman here, fanning my face and becoming verklempt. this stuff is like buttah. i used fresh blackberries in this batch, and doubled it. i used a really big pan and even after a looong time, the middle still didn't cook, so if you ever want to double batch this-(and it's that good--YOU WILL), use two separate 8x8 pans and not a huge one. this freezes well, but it might not last long enough to make it to ye olde freezer.

i'm gonna try a combo of banana nut and a separate batch of chocolate chip in the future. this is the perfect thing to make for someone who has had a shitty week or those stupid co-workers that think you're silly for being vegan. make it, take it to work, and don't label it vegan. see what happens. you're liable to start a vegan conflagration.