#exile kitchen

Restaurant Roll Call: Every Opening and Closing in February 2022

While the new year started out with the sad closings of some beloved institutions, February was all about openings — 23 of them — as well as the long-awaited return of a much-missed favorite. Although sister restaurant Vine Street remains closed in Denver, you can once again grab a seat at the Mountain Sun in Boulder and enjoy the brewpub’s Date Night burger, hot wings and cold beers. While the…

I love to cook.  Spending time in the kitchen is therapeutic.  I love the smells and the feeling of accomplishment at the end of a well cooked meal.  I also happen to be a vegan.  That's right: no meat, dairy, eggs or anything animal related.  Part of the fun of being vegan is experimenting with no ways to make foods I used to love.  I make vegan sausage, chicken, and more all from scratch.  The work to make that stuff from scratch is a long process with a big mess and a lot of tools, but the satisfaction is worth all the hard work.  It also saves a bit of cash!

Imagine my frustration when I learned that my seminary, the General Theological Seminary in New York City, was moving us out of our beautiful big apartment with a walk through kitchen into a studio for two months.  My wonderful gas oven, counter space, big refrigerator...all gone just like that.  To my horror I discovered our studio has not a kitchen but...gasp!...a kitchenette.  How am I supposed to live for two months without a full kitchen?

I started thinking of the possibilities.  What tools would I still have?  I have a slow cooker, a big pot, a microwave, a wok, a small pan, and a rice steamer.  This isn't a nightmare, it's a challenge!  Follow me as I post vegan recipes that are easy and fun with nothing but the simplest ingredients that you can make without a kitchen.  Are you a college student?  Do you have an outlet?  Get yourself a microwave, slow cooker, rice steamer, and electric stovetop and you've got yourself a kitchen.