Do you have a vegetable garden? I didn’t until this year when I attempted a small one in some garden boxes. I mentioned it in passing on a few posts because I had harvested lettuce from the garden. 

Here’s my Hollywood garden story- from happy, to sad to what’s the moral of the story. 

When everything first sprouted and began to grow I shared a few photos with my friend, Valerie. She has a lot of gardening experience. I was so excited, and she couldn’t believe how nicely everything was growing. 

Welp, it kind of went downhill from there. Not kind of. It went downhill. 

First rookie mistake: 

I put too many seeds in the boxes, and they got overcrowded fast. So, I thought it would be a good idea to trim it from the top. Nope, my friend, Beca (another gardener), told me, they need their leaves. Duh, of course they need their leaves. I needed to thin it from the bottom.

Cucumbers should be really easy to grow, but I think my whole box got too much direct sunlight. I say this, because the only one that grew at all, was on the other side of the trellis out of direct sunlight.

I decided a few things about my garden.

1. I actually enjoyed gardening and I’m going to try it again but do it a little differently this time. (I pulled all the sad leftovers out this morning and planted more lettuce which seemed the happiest out of everything I originally planted.)
2. Instead of trying to grow five plants at once, maybe I’ll start with one or two.
3. This whole experience of having early success and then somewhat of a failure was a great metaphor for other areas of my life:
   • It ended up being a fun learning experience.
   • I didn’t take it too seriously.
   • I actually laughed a lot. (Come on, look at that cucumber. And who harvests carrots smaller than a pinky fingernail???!!!!)
   • I did harvest some good tasting vegetables, even if it wasn’t what I had imagined it would be. 
   • I’ll try again armed with more information next time (and go more slowly).
   • It really wasn’t a failure. It was just my first try at something new.
   • While most of my plant-based cooking works out, it doesn’t always, and that’s ok too. It’s all a grand experiment. 

My friend, Stephanie (Chef Steph!) has an amazing garden and inspires me with images of her beautiful veggies.  I live vicariously through her planting successes.

If you have a garden, I’d love to see what you grew!

It dawned on me that I share photos of some of the foods I eat (whether I’ve cooked them or not) on social media. But not everyone sees everything I post on social media. So, this post is a little tour of some of the foods I enjoy, (when I actually remember to take a photo. I can’t tell you how often I finish a meal and say “oops, I should have taken a photo.”). 

Here’s why I’m sharing these photos. When I first went vegan, I thought I was doomed to a life of boring salads and pasta. (I LOVE salads and pasta, but it felt so limited.) 

Alas, there is so much amazing plant-based food available to cook and eat. It just takes a little commitment and willingness to learn something new. (Learning new stuff is good!) These photos just scratch the surface of what I’ve learned to cook and what I now eat (and what I’ve shared). Cooking and eating this way is delicious, healthy, creative, compassionate and fun. This is all possible for you too. 

Enjoy the photos! (Where there are recipes available, I share how you can find them.)

A few months back I shared that I had the opportunity to take a cooking class with Miyoko. We cooked Moroccan Lentil Pancakes with her, and I was able to duplicate the recipe at home!

I now always have Healthy Raisin Walnut Oat Muffins (from Ellen’s Healthy Kitchen) on hand. They freeze well so I can make a batch and freeze what I don’t eat immediately. If you didn’t get the bundle, you can buy her ebook on her website.

While I do cook most nights, we sometimes get takeout and love Café Gratitude in Los Angeles. I love this colorful take on a Greek salad. (Above)

The photo above is one of my favorite bowls. It’s from Ann and Jane Esselstyn’s cookbook Be A Plant-based Woman Warrior.

I recently shared that one of my favorite summer breakfasts is a simple bowl of berries atop plant-based yogurt with a sprinkle of granola.

I grew up in the suburbs of New York and was fortunate to attend sleep-away camp in Maine. My experience at camp was idyllic. Camp Truda was on a lake in which we swam and went boating every day. 

We played sports (always encouraging, rarely competitive and when we did compete, it was always loving), sang songs, danced, acted, made art, had color war (also loving), went camping under the stars, went on field trips, and picked wild strawberries off the soccer field.

Diane’s second year at camp in the 70’s. 9 years old.

Most important were the people. I always felt like I belonged. 

Due to unfortunate circumstances, this idyllic camp closed after my fourth summer and my favorite childhood memories remain locked there. I’ve wanted to return to Maine for decades but it just never happened. 

There was talk about a camp reunion which didn’t materialize, yet I had my heart set on going to Maine. My cousin Susan and I have been discussing traveling together for a while. I asked if she felt like going to Maine and she immediately said “yes!”. 

My women’s group was meeting in Pennsylvania this year, and I decided to take advantage of being part way across the country (I live in California) when planning our trip. I rendezvoused with Susan in Boston, picked up delicious vegan fare from Lulu Green and off we went. 

We stopped en route (though totally out of the way) to visit my sister and niece in Vermont. My sister cooked us a wonderful dinner of vegan sushi, tofu and broccoli and scallion pancakes. Oops- I should have taken a photo. The colorful veggie sushi was beautiful.  Thank you though, Julie!

We stayed in Maine at a Bed and Breakfast called the Inn at Bath. We had a variety of meals in Maine- some meh and others wonderful. Notably, the breakfasts at the Inn were spectacular. The new owner, Kelly, goes above and beyond to deliver quality food. She asked ahead about food preferences and was more than happy to provide vegan fare for me.

Tofu Scramble with Cheese

And on the third day, Kelly served savory oats with beans, sauteed onions, mushrooms, zucchini and avocado.  The savory oats were exceptional.

Each meal ended with fruit, like the citrus, berries and lime with gorgeous edible flowers pictured. Or chocolate covered strawberries. Wow. Just wow. I had no problem finding at least one vegan option everywhere we ate (I always check ahead of time). 

Mushroom Toast

Yes, we did more than just eat in Maine. Here are a few highlights: 

• We took a boat tour to see the puffins and other sea birds! Sponsored by the Audubon society, the boat leaves from New Harbor daily. I did capture photos and video, but my phone doesn’t do the birds justice. I highly recommend the boat tour. 
• We walked along Popham beach which is truly otherworldly. 
• We visited the Botanical Gardens, and on our way out of town on our last day,
• We visited a lighthouse! It’s tiny and looks like the leaning tower of Pisa in this photo. It’s upright in real life.  

Susan and Me