Not far from my dad and step-mom's house is this great public library. It's got a huge "back yard" that is always neat and trim and green, and next to it is a wildflower and wildgrass hillside, always buzzing with birds and butterflies. Inside is a fresh and friendly oasis of books.... and art! At least, this weekend it was full of art, submitted by community members for a show and contest. Janet had prepared a couple pieces to put in, including a photograph, so I got inspired to put in a few of my own photographs. I entered a bunch of art contests back in high school with oil paintings and watercolors, but that was awhile ago and I usually take photos just for fun... But I chose three photos from my time in Vietnam and gave it my best shot. hehe pun :)
This one is probably my favorite: a farmer walking barefoot down the road with his water buffalo after plowing some fields. Alas, none of my photos received a prize, but one of Janet's mixed medium works did!
Home Search by Janet Carlisle
It was a little disappointing to not win a prize when they gave out nearly 50 prizes! But it was fun nonetheless to be part of an art show and to see all the other works. Here are a few paintings that particularly caught my eye (the 3rd one won a prize):
I also met this beautiful lady, who makes artificial floral arrangements. The vases are made of gourds, which she grows and glazes herself. Pretty neat!
This nice woman, Michele, makes jewelry out of glass, using all different designs of paper as backing. Some are cute, some are fun and some are beautiful.
Wherever I travel, I love to buy some local art: a painting by a Vietnamese artist; a purse woven by a Lahu woman in Thailand.... So today I bought a necklace made by a Pennsylvania woman, Michele.
The paper backing is an actual American stamp of a great American icon: Lady Liberty. Since my dad is a stamp collector, I kinda like the idea of wearing a stamp, 'cause I love my dad! Also, Lady Liberty is probably my favorite American icon, because of what she represents: life, opportunity, enlightenment, justice, freedom from oppression, friendship, and of course, liberty. Lately I've been annoyed and saddened by all the political turmoil and economic craziness going on in this country. But we do have some essential values that give me hope.
On a lighter note, how about some Blue Sky & Sunshine? That's the name of a local duo, half of which sang their songs while I wandered through the art and chatted with the artists.
Libraries are such great community resources! I've come here a couple times so far and taken advantage of checking out two vegan cookbooks!
Speaking of food.... dinner tonight was at a Vietnamese restaurant. That's right, Vietnam makes its way into my blog again!
While we took our time looking through the menu, we enjoyed some complimentary tea.
We decided on some appetizers, which came out within minutes. Sauteed tofu with curry lemongrass. This was deeeelicious! I've eaten a number of dishes with lemongrass as a minor ingredient, such as Tom Yum (Thai sour and spicy soup), where its dense stalks are added whole for flavor, but not eaten. But in this dish, it seemed to be finely ground up and mixed with some sauces and curry. I would love to try to replicate this!
The other dish we ate as an appetizer was under the Salad section, and it's called Papaya Salad. Papaya Salad ("Som Tam" in Thai) is actually my favorite Thai dish, so I was curious to try the Vietnamese version. It actually had the option of shrimp (like in Thailand) or beef (which I'd never heard of). I'm glad the shrimp was just laid on top so that Dad and Janet could take them off for themselves. It tasted similar to the Thai preparation style, but I don't think it had any lime, and it added mint leaves (which you can see clearly in the picture). I definitely liked it, and I'm not going to try to rate it above or below my beloved Thai Som Tam! They are two different dishes that I think stand on their own.
Intensely flavored tofu and juicy spicy Papaya Salad - I really wished I had some rice to eat with these appetizers!
The main courses also came out quickly, and I dug right in to this huge plate of Crispy Noodles with Tofu and veggies.
It had a good amount of veggies (which you can't really see) to complement the tofu: broccoli, carrots, onions, mushrooms...
Honestly, I have no idea if this dish or the appetizers are completely vegan. It's somewhat likely that they all have fish sauce in them. The sauce in this Crispy Noodle dish tasted really nice and it may have even been made with oyster sauce! Why didn't I ask? I don't know. I did use the Vietnamese phrase "Tôi là người ăn chay" (I'm a vegetarian) with the server, which she was able to decipher despite my poor pronunciation! But I didn't ask for specifics on ingredients or if they could alter them. I guess I figured that if these dishes were made with fish sauce, they wouldn't be able to make them without it so why bother asking. Sounds kinda silly now that I'm writing it down... Hopefully next time I'm in a restaurant situation like this I'll get over myself and just ask! After all, she was a friendly woman!
She came to the US almost 20 years ago, from Saigon. She told us that when she went back there after 10 years, the city had changed so much that she couldn't even find her family's house! I showed her a few pics from Saigon that I hadn't deleted from my camera and told her I enjoyed the chance to travel around Vietnam a little bit.
I couldn't pass up the chance to eat some of the restaurant's great desserts, so I only ate about half of my entree. The other half will be tomorrow's lunch. :) Dad ordered this Vietnamese pudding, called Chè.
It's made of tapioca and mungbean paste, and it was served hot. Man I loved this pudding. It was sweet and beany with a coconut milk flavor. Janet and I got this Ch
è ba m
ầu, which was described on the menu as "coconut jell and red bean in coconut milk." It was really filling at the end of a great meal, but I ate/drank the whole thing.
The icy cold coconut milk had some kind of minty-pistachio flavor that I've never had in drink form before. It was a great flavor that seeped into the beans and jelly things. Certainly satisfying! Is it vegan? I wasn't sure... I know that American "jello" is made of gelatin, which is derived from animal hooves. But I was hoping this jelly stuff was made from acorn jelly or something of the sort. According to a few websites, Vietnamese Ch
è (which is a term used for a broad range of Vietnamese pudding-type desserts, hot or cold) is made with tapioca. And what is tapioca made from? Gelatin? Nope! It comes from the root of a plant species called Manihot esculenta. It's native to South America, but is now grown worldwide and known by a bunch of different names: cassava, manioc, mandioca, manioca, aipim, macaxiera, boba, yuca (not "yucca"), and kappa. It's gluten-free, has no protein, and can be used as a thickening agent (egg replacement in cooking perhaps?). Supposedly people use it to thicken soups and sweeten bread. Interesting.
Whew! Good to know this slurpable sweet dessert is vegan!
This restaurant is located in Garfield, an area of East Pittsburgh that I would say is emerging economically. It's got some crime and rough spots, but also its bright points. Here are some pictures I took around the neighborhood and on down the street as we headed home.
Run-down building with some art tucked into the door way (bottom-right). Here's a close-up:
This place looked inspiring and funky: an art center with yoga and Africa drumming advertised on the windows.
Once upon a time a bicycle shop, now empty, but looking classic and trendy.
Boarded up buildings had the boards painted over with bright flower designs. And lots of buildings had big murals painted on them.
East Liberty Presbyterian Church, which I've been inside a few times. I heard they have Taize services once a week in the evenings, which I imagine would be beautiful and serene from within the high-ceiling sanctuary.
I love cities. As much as I love nature and the ocean, I feel alive when I'm in an urban area. I love the access to different people and cultures (and food!), the interactions that go on, the art, the history, the opportunities.... Someday, after a few more stints abroad, I look forward to settling in an American city and making it my home.
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