Delicious Living

This morning after accidentally shaving off a swatch of his beard, Rooster confessed that for the past week he has been confusing himself with the main character in his book. During a boys’ bonding moment he told our friend Woodsman that a woman in Italy was the mother of his illegitimate child. He also alluded to the fact that he might once have killed a man.

The book responsible for these lies was The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit, a novel about a clean-shaven family man haunted by his experiences in WWII. Rooster’s admission explains a lot about the way he’s been acting: a Martini before dinner, obsessing about “the rat race” when he works for a non-profit arts foundation, and of course, the death of his beard this morning.

Good books are like that. They suck you in until the real world becomes an extension of the literary one. Reading A Million Little Pieces I felt a furious need take over my body whenever I put the story down—a need that could only be assuaged by a trip to the refrigerator (my drug of choice). Reading the Pullman Dark Materials trilogy I was sure that a part of my soul was missing—again, a trip to the refrigerator.

For avid indulgers, reading can be a bit like being possessed, and for Rooster and me, exorcism is a delicious impossibility.

“THE ANNUAL DELICIOUS LIVING RECIPE CONTEST”

The Rules: Create your own original recipe, using at least one of the branded ingredients listed. The categories are: Appetizers/Sides, Entrées, and Desserts.

The Prize: First-place winner in each category will receive a $150 gift certificate to the natural products store of his/her choice. One runner-up in each category will receive a gift certificate for $75.

The Entry: Chai Pudding “Pie”

3/4 cup water
4 bags Celestial Seasonings Chai (original) tea
1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
¼ cup brown sugar
1/4 cup Nature’s Path unsalted butter, melted
1 package (12.3 ounces) Mori-Nu Silken Tofu, extra firm
1 box Mori-Nu Mates Pudding Mix, vanilla
1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
1/2 teaspoon Simply Organic ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground clove
grated nutmeg for garnish

Preheat oven to 350-degrees. Bring water to a boil. Steep 4 bags of Chai in water until water cools to room temperature, then squeeze out and discard tea bags (reserve squeezed out tea along with steeped tea).

While Chai is steeping, mix graham cracker crumbs, brown sugar and melted butter in a bowl with a fork until crumbs are moistened. Divide crust between six 6-ounce ramekins or custard dishes and press crust into bottom of each dish. Arrange ramekins on baking sheet and bake for 8 minutes until crusts are set. Cool crusts completely.

In blender, combine the drained tofu, the pudding mix, the cooled Chai, cardamom, cinnamon and clove. Blend until smooth. Divide Chai-pudding mixture equally and scoop over graham cracker crust, into ramekins. Chill 1-2 hours until pudding is set. Garnish with a sparse grating of nutmeg