Vegan Mayo

I'm attempting to perfect my (Alex's) black bean burger recipe and make our homemade veggie burgers taste as good as the $9 ones we buy way too often at Burger Fuel. So far all I do is mash up black beans and blend them with ground flaxseeds, water, whole sunflower seeds, breadcrumbs, garlic powder and raw onions, then fry them without oil in our nonstick skillet.
Tonight I made some chipotle tofu mayonaise based on this recipe. I substituted 1 teaspoon chipotle tabasco for one of the teaspoons of lemon juice, olive oil instead of canola, wholegrain mustard for the mustard powder, used extra firm tofu on accident and had to add water, and threw in two teaspoons of tahini to even it out. Turns out that's delicious. This recipe is great, and really tastes like mayo. Although I never really loved mayo, anyway.
But soon I'll give Burger Fuel a run for their money. Maybe some cashews or something will do the trick.

summer roadtrips

Friends make everything fun. Even if you're a grumpy traveler sometimes, like me. This weekend I went to Napier with my friends Keoni, Dawson and Michel (formerly "M," before she told me I could use her name on the internet. Now I've decided to use everybody's name, all the time.) We sat in hot pools under the stars and ate lots of delicious vegan food and walked along the beach by Cape Kidnappers and found fresh stone fruit and pet kiwi and tasted lots of wine and swam with sharks. Well, they swam with sharks. I hyperventilated on the side of the tank watching them.

This past week was the last time we all got paid from our grant, and we had a reunion in Wellington. It was really nice to see everybody again, but super sad that most of my Fbright friends are going back to the US, and it makes me really homesick to think of going home in time for Christmas. But only for a minute, because then I realize it's oficially summer here and my shoulders are sunburnt and I've finished the first draft of my thesis and accidentally got myself a nannying job, so I won't be broke. Staying in NZ definitely has its perks.


You can only get out to Cape Kidnappers by walking or riding noisy ATVs during low tide, but we didn't leave enough time to get all the way out to the cape and see the gannet colony. Instead, we walked along for awhile until we got sweaty and went swimming by these rocks. I was too lazy to take better photographs, and I'm starting to regret not bringing one of my slr cameras to get better images. But whatever, now I know never to leave for a year without proper equipment.

I let the battery die in my little car on accident during the trip, so we had to jump it like they do with the van in Little Miss Sunshine, which I never realized was a real thing. All you do is put the car in gear, hold the clutch in, and turn the key while friends push you from behind. Then, when you build up sufficient speed, you let go of everything and give it some gas and your engine roars. Magic! I felt pretty cool.

I love summer.

i only ever photograph birds

Here are some recent bird photos:

Albatross

Sparrow?

Coot

Duckling

Quail

And here's a video of a pukeko looking silly:

South Island Made Me a Vegan

At least for a little while. The reason is because I hung out with M, who is also vegetarian but also lactose intolerant, so I ate no dairy. I had one egg and it made me feel weird. And, I saw thousands of these little guys, but lots of them were dead! These two are happy and healthy, though:


The South Island of New Zealand is drastically different than the North, and way way wayyy cooler. Although where I live is lush and very wet and cold (think: Washington state or something) Central Otago, where I spent most of my time, looks like Montana, and was very sunny and hot. Check out this river's blue glacier water:


And this is lovely lake Wanaka, where I spent three awesome days biking and walking and hanging out by the lake and fashioning bottle openers from my purse:





M enjoying the fruits of our labor:

Escape from Capitol City

I've traveled down to the South Island for a week, and yes, the road trip felt a little bit like I was going to the American South. But I think that's just because I was on a bus for six hours after landing in Christchurch from Wellington, and it reminded me of eternally long bus rides to Florida when I was in high school. It's rural and the sun is strong.
But now I'm in Dunedin visiting my friend M. So far we've eaten pizza and slept, since I got in so late. But soon we'll visit her frogs in her lab and Cadbury's factory and penguins and some big boulders in the ocean. Then we're going to Wanaka to visit Alex(girl) and see a huge lake and some mountains.
I'm excited for a road trip in a car this time.
I'll probably not post for awhile, so have a great week, everybody!

To L.H.B. 1894-1915*

Last night for the first time since you were dead
I walked with you, my brother, in a dream.
We were at home again beside the stream
Fringed with tall berry bushes, white and red.
"Don't touch them: they are poisonous," I said
But your hand hovered, and I saw a beam
Of strange bright laughter flying round your head
And as you stooped I saw the berries gleam
"Don't you remember? We called them Dead Man's Bread!"
I woke and heard the wind moan and the roar
Of the dark water tumbling on the shore.
Where - where is the path of my dream for my eager feet
By the remembered stream my brother stands
Waiting for me with berries in his hands
"These are my body. Sister, take and eat."

*Leslie Heron Beauchamp, Mansfield's little brother, killed accidentally in training for WWI.

One Little Piggie Went to Market

I knew that pigs were smart, but did you know that the little guys are the fourth smartest mammal? It goes humans, monkeys, dolphins, and pigs. No wonder Babe was so good at herding sheep.

I want a pet pig, especially if it will look like these little things:

Micro Pigs.
Adorable.