bye september, hey october

September went fast. And basically being totally absorbed by the fact that mid September I suddenly got a part time temp job until December 31st. A long story, it was all very sudden and linked to my volunteer work revolving around plantbased food and the environment.

As I'm studying Sustainability Science on 25% part-time, it fits quite well with a 50% part-time job. As this year has been crazy for us all, and continue to be so, it actually takes a lot more energy to keep juggling all this than it usually would do. But all in all, I'm very grateful for the opportunity to keep on learning. 

My main job task is organizing the three last Vegoforum events for the year, all digital via Zoom. One the day before my birthday, one in mid November and one in early December. And yes, it's a bit overwhelming when you get thrown into it like this, even if the work per se isn't super heavy. Well life is pretty heavy right now, thus even things that would normally be just fun and a good energizing challenge get a bit much at times. And obviously I wan't to do a great job, so...

:: The lack of decent photo uploading on Blogger is still infuriating. So this is all you get today. The fact that the not so great at vegan pastries cafe now has opened a sourdough bakery too, is another great thing about September. Because the bread is awesome. Especially the rolls and the levain.

:: Little mum and I have taken the commuter train to the end station (two stops from here) twice, to do bank errands and visit my favourite coffee chain Espresso House. Since we get there and home between 9.30-1pm there are very few people on the train it feels pretty okay. And just the thing of enjoying a soy latte and some trustworthy vegan treats again have been a highlight.

:: I finished the second part of the philosophy class at the beginning of September. So it was a clean slate for the sustainability course. We've had four seminars so far, of which two have been great (Sustainable economics and Environmental ethics), but one quite annoying as the concept of ecosystem service is infuriating, specieism at its finest I'd say.

:: We've had some glorious Indian summer days, so autumn has just slowly arrived. And summer dresses have been quite appropriate. Even if the weirdness of the average Swede still is to dress as if it's a cold autumn in late August already. And, obviously black and drab and lots of clothes is the informal dress code. Which I loath. Obviously.

:: I've ordered another batch of those wonderful vegan, palmoil-free Scottish soaps. Bliss.

:: I've also ordered some more tea. And actually, more again the other day. It's Cinnamon Bun Day (vegan recipe for them here!)on Sunday, and they had a small batch of special Cinnamon Bun tea blend this week only. As there won't be any vegan cinnamon buns for me this year alas, I can at least have a whiff and a sip of cinnamon bun tea.

:: I've watched a lot of seminars, some poor, others pretty great. I've finished books, I've started reading new books. I haven't been able to finish any new ones lately, so I'm again 7 books behind on my 55 books reading challenge alas.

:: I've done another colour refresh, this time the colour was Autumn Red. It was visible, but a lighter, more orange red than suits me and it was practically washed away after four hair washes. I'm feeling in the mood for something darker now in October, like last year.

:: I won a big bad of new vegan fruit toffees, it was lovely. And I haven't won anything for years now (oh 2015-2016...), so it was a very welcome surprise. 

:: My recent favourite TV-crush is Zoe's Extraordinary Playlist - if you haven't seen it already, you really should! It's funny, sad (prepare to cry during every episode), moving, insightful and obviously full of music. Loved it, binge watched every episode over 2 days. Miss it. If you, like me, enjoyed Ally McBeal, Glee and Pitch Perfect, you won't be disappointed!

:: My short and sweet summary of a month that so far have been the best one, me thinks, of the last six ones. There's more bits and pieces, I could write about. But this will have to do for now. Not being able to simply add photos is a nuisance, and now I need my beauty sleep.

I want to thank you, September, I think you were a sweetheart, despite the overall current life circumstances. And your surprises were mostly of a positive, uplifting kind. I'm very grateful for having met you.

You also gave me this unexpected fun public toilet selfie moment; Professor Pia and the Mystery of the Haunted Toilet. And I have the Velma Dinkley haircut to prove I can solve it!

Hello, October, my dear birthday month. You have a lot to prove, and so do I. Let's make this a really great, productive and professional month together, with extra bells and whistles, m'kay?

delicious vegan bulgur pomegranate salad

As the new Blogger interface is just ridiculously non-user-friendly it's (currently?) impossible to  post photos in blog. You have to trust my words on how good this dish is, and not your eyes. Can I say how much I dislike this poor Blogger update? Not visible to readers obviously, but for the fact that it's obviously impossible to show photos via URLs now. Not your best and brightest move, Blogger... 

And to download from Flickr to upload from computer (and being unable to chose image size) and get a lousy resolution, is just annoying. It looks better if you read it on a smartphone. But still, a lot of more and unnecessary work to get a post done. Buhu, bad Blogger...

I promised the recipe to this fantastic bulgur salad, here goes.

BULGUR POMEGRANATE SALAD

200 gram coarse bulgur
1 pomegranate
1 rosé or red onion
1 cucumber
2-3 tbsp tahini
rapeseed oil
salt, black pepper, vinegar

Boil the bulgur with about 4 dl water, for 7 minutes under lid. Let it rest for some minutes.

Remover the seeds from the pomegranate. (Google if you want to find the best way of doing it...).

Finely chop the onion. (If you're like me, and don't like the sharp flavour of raw onion you can let the chopped onion rest in crisp cold water for a while before you add it to the rest.)

Cut the cucumber in small dices. Put everything in a large bowl. Toss them with salt, pepper, 2-3 tbsp oil and tahini. Possibly a dash of vinegar, but it'll be fine without.

Add the warm bulgur and mix it carefully. Add more tahini if you like, it's difficult to be specific with the tahini, I usually taste and add and then add some more, to get the perfect creamy combination fo flavours.

Enjoy!

It's great with falafel, obviously, but also with grilled dairyfree cheese, tofu and actually, it's a fabulous satisfying dish on it's very own. The blend of textures, flavours, sweet, salt, sharp, fresh, creamy is just irresistibly good.

happy 15th blogoversary to me!

15 years ago today, late in the evening, I sat down and wrote this tentative post of what would be this blog. September 8, 2005.

And in that post are two things I've been true to ever since. Cats and climate change. Though I'm happy to say that pretty much everything I also mention in that post has also gotten its fair share of space in the world according to me, over the years, in cycles. Jill of Many Trades as I am.

15 years is obviously quite a milestone, but I have prepared exactly zero celebrating for this post. As a celebratory mood is hard to find and channel these days. Though I should of course have baked something vegan nice...

Ah well, I acknowledge the feat. In this very short post. And I also think this past week, September so far, has been pretty good and quite interesting. More of that in a later post. (Though next up is that delicious bulgur pomegranate salad recipe I promised, me thinks.)

Congrats little darling blog, 
on your 15th blogoversary!



Slowfashion, OOTD/of the week and shoe per diem:

Dress, Marimekko
Vegan sneakers, Matt & Nat
Re-Kånken, Fjällräven