do you have a cure for summer doldrums?

still can't find the damn usb drive. harumph.

mr. j. does own a galaxy tablet and it has a camera, so until the elusive usb is found, all photos will just have to be taken on it. but the device is his, so it'll be a challenge to get pics. i liken it to being a teenager who has to ask her parents for the keys to the car.

so-this picture is from one of my visits to kalamazoo this summer. my friend got married at the end of may, and while we were in town, i had to stop at shawarma king, my favorite middle eastern eatery of all time. they have an omni menu, but they have vegetarian selections that are vegan by default. super awesome. my favorite thing to get is the vegetarian plate which has hummus, falafel, babaganoush, tabouleh, and comes with a fatoush salad.

the first time i went vegan back in 2000, i remember my ex and i eating falafel at the trojan horse in bloomington, and the waitress letting us know (consequently after many times eating there) that their falafel contains egg. when i asked the waitress at shawarma king about egg in falafel, she looked at me with a furrowed brow, waved a scolding finger, and said, "eef eet is made weeth egg, eet ees not falafel."

so there.

another delight is having turkish style coffee at the end of the meal. for those not familiar with this, it is powder fine coffee grounds boiled in a pan with cardamom, ginger, and cinnamon. they serve it in a tea pot with little cups, and the sludge settles at the bottom. it is very strong and you only need a shot or two before you start crawling on the ceiling.

at home, my favorite thing to do is to make a pseudo turkish style coffee. i add the cardamom, ginger, and cinnamon to my grounds and you get the subtle flavor without the sludge. if you're broke like me, it's a great way to doctor up cheap coffee. for an 8-10 cup pot use 1/8 t of ginger, 1/8 t cinnamon, and 1/4 t cardamom (ground).

i need your help to get out of my blogging slump. i know you can't make me write more, i get that. you can help me by telling as many people as you can about this blog and comment. why? well, i get paid for visits. not much, but $3 for every 1,000 hits. normally, i rake in about $5 a month for my blogging which i use to treat myself to a coffee drink, buy felt for crafts, and during 2010 mofo--i wanted to generate 1,000,000 hits so i could donate half my earnings to charity. i didn't even come close to the goal, but had a ton of fun. i ended up donating $30 to my local food pantry.

i want to increase the traffic at PITAV so i can donate on a regular basis to mother hubbard's cupboard. i'd also like to supplement my super slim income. i'm a PT employee, FT parent, and our family needs the extra money. i also need to find a way to generate a few bucks to help me with accommodations at Vida Vegan Con.

you can also help support me by shopping at my etsy store!

as always, thanks for reading. be cool, eat well, and for the love of coffee stay vegan!