Go read my delicious post on GONOLA.com.

I love plates and bowls. I’ve got tons of one-off pieces that I’ve picked up here and there (mostly from Crate and Barrel clearance) that I use to take all my food photos. I got Beez a set of the Soup and Sandwich Ceramic Bowl Duo (pictured above, obviously) for her birthday. Of course, we don’t call them by their proper names. Instead, we call them plate/bowls. As in, one word. Platebowl.

There’s something very nostalgic about Platebowl. It makes me think of Ball Elementary, circa 1988. Remember, when we were kids, and they served our school lunches in the little compartmentalized trays. There was the rectangle for rectangular pizza. There was the circle for holding circular bowls of soup. There were three equally square squares for holding squares of cornbread, a nice starchy side and a box of milk.

Ms. Eaves, my giant third grade teacher, was a very nice lady. She was really tall, and had a very short hair cut. It was like boy short. I remember her wearing really extreme ’80s makeup. I guess at the time, it was sort of in style, although Ball in the ’80s probably wasn’t that different than Ball in the ’20s, or the ’00s (both 19- and 20-). She had an equally giant mural of a unicorn on her classroom wall. I also remember her sprinkling Miss’ Dash (salt-free seasoning) on her food at lunch. Maybe she was trying to lose weight. She was big, but she wasn’t fat. She was just big. Ms. Eaves, if you’re out there, you were a nice lady. Nice and big. Giant…really.

Thank you, Platebowl, for making me think of my childhood, and Ms. Eaves, and her giantism.

Here’s the couscous recipe.

There’s really not a lot to say about tofu, really. It’s pretty basic stuff. Ages-old and chock full of protein. I wouldn’t call it a staple of our diet, but we have been eating a lot of miso soup for breakers. Tofu makes a cameo in each and every bowl.

Hello, Blake Makers. I’ve got a new type giveaway for you today. A while back, I found some amazingly-fantastic art by Amy Stevens. Her art is food art, and as you can see in the photo above, it’s all about over-the-top cakes. Amy has given me 24 prints to give away. Instead of a traditional claim it, win it giveaway, I’m wanting to play around with the power of facebook.

To win one (1) signed, original print:

1. Friend me on facebook
2. Find the photo above on my profile
3. Tag an asterisk

This week on Brita’s Filter For Good blog, I created a fruit salad recipe that I’m calling, “Ginger & Mary Ann Salad Snack.” Go check it out, and show me a little comment love.

Read post

We call them “snow cones” back home (in Alexandria, LA), but they call them “snow balls” down here. The irony is that neither is in the shape of a cone or a ball. They are both just Styrofoam cups filled with syrupy snow. I don’t care what they’re called, because I just call them delicious.

Our place is Robear’s Snowballs in Harahan. Take that, Droopy’s!

I went vegan for a while…

…For about four weeks to be specific. That was just long enough for something to change. Beez and I were watching Oprah about a month or so ago. It was the episode with Michael Pollan talking about his documentary, Food Inc., but Alicia Silverstone also made a cameo pushing her new book, The Kind Diet.

I don’t know if I’ve ever admitted this publicly, but I’m sort of an Amazon.com addict. I’ve got an Android phone and an iPod touch, and both of them have an Amazon app. With it, I can literally find a product in a matter of seconds, and buy it with one click. That’s how I first got my hands on Alicia’s book.

I need to give you a little background.

I sort of needed to go vegan starting late last year. First, there was Halloween and the candy; Thanksgiving and the turkey and pies; Christmas at home with everything covered in gravy; then Christmas in Paris with everything covered in duck fat, chocolate and wine…and gravy; then the Saints won the Super Bowl (and every game leading up) which meant lots of BBQ, chips and beer; then Mardi Gras and all those effing king cakes, plus more beer; but it was when those damn Girl Scout cookies arrived that enough was enough. I had to draw a line in the pecan sandies (sorry, I couldn’t resist).

Now, don’t get me wrong. I love Girl Scout cookies. I can destroy a box of Thin Mints. Those tubes of crunchy, minty, chocolaty discs don’t stand a chance against this gut. But, like I said, enough was enough.

You see how Alicia’s giddy, giggly sales-pitch struck a cord with me? The Kind Diet arrived, and I consumed it. That’s an accomplishment in and of itself. You don’t need to look any further than this blog to see how easily I can be distracted.

By the time I had finished the preachy part of her book (the first half), I was converted. We threw out all the animal protein, and started building vegan menus. We already shop at Whole Foods exclusively, so going vegan wasn’t that hard for us. I could see, however, how veganism, no matter how flirty Alicia may be, is a challenge.

I’m planning to blog more about the veganism later, but suffice it to say that the pendulum has swung back to just left of the middle where we’re eating vegan (about 75% this week), but not entirely.

Here’s where the MiLa post begins.

An opportunity for Beez and I to attend a vegetarian dinner at MiLa (the name a play on the married chef team’s home states, Mississippi and Louisiana) floated our way, and we took it. We’ve eaten at MiLa twice before, and I actually blogged about it on Serious Eats back in 2007.

I’ve always had a great experience at MiLa. I love the low-lit atmosphere, and hip decor. The first time Beez and I went, we were seated in a little booth for two in the back (what I consider to be the perfect table). This time, they sat us in the same place. Good for them.

I was intrigued by what the night might bring. MiLa, like a lot of my favorite places in New Orleans, means meat. Tons of meat, all over the menu, but this meal was vegetarian.

Let’s dive into the menu

Cucumber and Ryals Goat Cheese Cannelloni, Market Tomato Condiment, Olive Petals

NV Gruet Winery Sparkling Brut Rose’, New Mexico

The first course was a play on traditional, tubular pasta cannelloni. There was an oblong, ladyfinger log of mild goat cheese wrapped in paper thin strips of cucumber. A bit of frisee salad with salty, purpley-brown olive petals finished the plate.

As creative as this preparation was, I wished there would have been a protein included in the dish. The goat cheese was also a little too mild, but the textures and flavors were nice. The plate was meticulously crafted, so all-in-all, good first course.

Feliciana Greenhouse Lettuce Soup, Poached Farm Egg, Black Truffle Puree

2008 Ferraton Pere et Fils Cotes du Rhone

If you put lettuce soup on a menu, you have got to deliver. After all, lettuce isn’t like truffles or oysters or apples. There’s not a lot of flavor there. Unfortunately, the soup lived up to the lettuce, and was a little bland.

A sprinkle of salt would have lifted my portion. The poached egg, however, was cooked perfectly; nice and runny. It took me four spoonfuls to discover what I think was meant to be the Black Truffle Puree under the soup. Beez mentioned it wasn’t truffle season, so it really didn’t seem to belong there any way.

Once again, I would have liked some protein on the plate. Something like a crunchy, crusty quinoa cake floating in the soup, supporting the egg would have been yummy. I’ve had black pepper dusted tuna at MiLa before, so what a treat it would have been to pepper-dust the egg. Alas, this course was just fair.

Ravioli of Taylor’s Happy Oaks Farm Greens, Mississippi Shiitakes, Beet Dijon Jus

2003 Domaine Ligneres “La Baronne,” Languedoc

Three big green pasta pillows stared blankly up at us from our course three plates. The lighting was dim, yet the deep purple beet dijon jus was very visible. I sliced into the ravioli, and took a bite. Lots of greens inside. My buds couldn’t find the shiitakes, but I’m certain they were in there.

By plate three, I was still really hungry. I actually asked for another round of bread after they cleared the third course which is something I never do. My belly was full of veggies, cheese and an egg, but it needed something more substantial to feel full. As far as the ravioli, again it was perfectly prepared, but for me, personally, I’d have liked a bit more. A bit more substance. A bit more flavor.

I keep bringing up protein. I’m harping on it because I think vegetarianism/veganism gets a bad rep. When I first told my friends I was going vegan, they laughed, they joked, they looked at me like I was insane. They all got really concerned about my health, but I was convinced that I was smart enough not to kill myself eating, wait for it, whole, clean, organic veggies, fruits and whole grains.

Focus, Blake, focus. Protein. There’s plenty of hearty, filling protein that’s not animal based. Quinoa, beans, rice, bulgar wheat, lentils, nuts, seitan, tofu. See. It’s all there. Thanks, Jesus.

Louisiana Strawberry and Vanilla Mousse Trifle, Ginger Poundcake

2002 Chateau La Rame Sainte-Croix-Du-Mont, France

Last course, fourth course, a beefy portion of strawberry vanilla mousse trifle with ginger poundcake. Forget protein, here’s where the Rushings had been planning to fill us up all night. This was good. SO YUMMY! I loved the spicy poundcake, and the succulent strawberries. Superb.

Chef Slade stopped by right at the end, and told us they planned to do more veggie dinners in the future. I think he may have even mentioned they might become a regular occurrence (every Wednesday night?). That’s exciting because even though this experience wasn’t what I’ve come to expect from MiLa, I look forward to seeing how they evolve.

UPDATE: ZestyCook.com is experiencing a little server trouble today, but it’s happened to me a couple of times, and on giveaway days. You Blake Makers are a loud and rowdy bunch (not to mention there’s a lot of you)! Comment on this post for a chance to win the blog makeover, and I’ll forward your entry to Zesty.

Hello, dear Blake Makers. I brought back the giveaways a few weeks ago, and I’ve been so pleased that we basically picked right back up where we stopped. I promise I have more than giveaways to feed you, but I wanted to get a rhythm going before I moved on to something new. Expect food posts, travel posts and BIG ideas soon.

Today’s Giveaway

I’m teaming up with my buddy, Corey, over on ZestyCook.com for this one. He’s offering a free blog makeover, so I asked him if my dear Blake Makers could get involved and he said YES! He’s going to make you work for it, though.

To enter for a chance to win a free blog makeover, visit ZestyCook.com and read this post.

Zesty picks a winner this Friday. Good luck!

That’s this week’s giveaway, but next week, I’ve got something really special for you. It’s food, but not food you can eat. Not unless you can eat with your eyes.

Happy! Happy! Joy! Joy! To all the winners! Your yummies should be on the way to you shortly. Remember, blog about your product when it arrives, and then blog about how it tastes. If you like me, and you like these giveaways, I’d LOVE and little link love. Tell your readers to start blogging, and to COME AND GET IT ON BLAKEMAKES!

Upcoming Giveaway News

Next week, you’ll have a chance to win a facelift. Then, the week after that is something entirely new. It’s a BlakeMakes first, and you won’t want to miss it. See what I mean? Stay tuned!

And The Winners Are

The 479 Popcorn winners are (original post):

1. A Southern Grace Blog (Congrats, Grace!)
2. Sushi Day Blog (Yay for Allison!)
3. Tuesdays With Dorie Blog (Hi, Laurie!)
4. My Baking Heart Blog (Love ya, Hornedfroggy.)
5. Steph Chows (Chow down, Steph!)

The Bee Raw Honey winners are (original post):

1. Cake Or Death Blog
2. Oh Baby O Blog
3. I’m Right About Everything Blog
4. Kristy’s Recipes Blog
5. High On The Hog Blog
6. Delish Blog
7. The Bear Growls Blog
8. Apple Pear Peach Plum
9. Three Cheers For Babies Blog
10. Someone’s In The Kitchen Blog
11. Live. Laugh. Grow.
12. Steph Chows
13. Cinnamon Vanilla Blog
14. 5 Forks Blog
15. Good Eat ‘n Sweet Treats Blog
16. Fake Ginger Blog
17. A Southern Grace Blog
18. Scotty Snacks Blog
19. Cupcake Muffin Blog
20. Chef Barbie Cooks
21. Sing For Your Supper Blog
22. Canela And Camino Blog
23. One Imaginary Girl Blog
24. Schleifstein Blog