We’ve been in town for the past week for my birthday and had some lovely meals out–including a birthday dinner at The Red Accordion…

We also managed to see an amazing performance of Twelfth Night at Vanier Park. What’s surprising is that it was a stinkin’ hot day, the dogs were acting up more than usual, we were both tired (and a teensy bit hungover from my birthday dinner the night before), and NOT in the mood for a play (never mind an Elizabethan comedy), yet the evening turned out to be absolutely delightful.

We managed to catch their production of Hamlet in early July–also an excellent production and with many of the same cast.

We had another early birthday celebration last week as well, and Bid made one of her gorgeous cakes (and licorice ice cream!). This year’s cake was adorned with poppies (apparently, my birth flower!) and crows (my obsession!).

Here’s a video of James and Bid lighting the cake (and Bid bossing me around…and dropping an F-bomb):

Today was our only day this week without plans, so I decided to make a simple dinner. I’d frozen some tofu, which allows it absorb marinade much better, so I thawed that out and made a really delicious marinade that I later turned into a sauce.

Hoisin Tofu Sammy

Slice each block into 8 planks for a total of 16 planks:

• 2 one-pound packages of tofu, frozen, thawed, and pressed

Next, make the marinade/sauce:

Combine:

• 1/4 cup tamari or soy sauce
• 1/4 cup rice vinegar
• 1/2 cup hoisin sauce
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 TBS sambal oelek or chili oil
• 1 TBS lemon juice
• 4 tsp maple syrup
• 1 large clove of garlic
• 1-inch chunk of fresh ginger

Blend all ingredients in the Magic Bullet or other small blender until super smooth. Pour contents of blender into a the container with the tofu planks and let marinate for half an hour or so.

Next coat the planks with cornstarch and air-fry for about ten minutes, turning halfway through. I was using my small airfryer, so had to do two batches. Make sure to spray your airfryer and the planks with a bit of oil.

Meanwhile, pour the marinade into a saucepan on medium heat until it simmers and gets a little thicker. When the tofu is done, add it to the saucepan and coat and simmer for a minute or two. The cornstarch will make the sauce nice and gooey.

Now…toast up a couple of slices of ancient grains bread, slather it with vegan mayo, add some sliced cucumber, shredded lettuce, or–even better–some quick-pickled grated carrot, cucumber, and onion. Add two of three planks of your hoisin tofu and you have an awesome sammy!

Just scrumptious!

And the song of the day is Waxahatchee’s “Right Back to It” because we spent the day yesterday with Bob and Susan, and Bob was excited because he was going to her concert Friday evening. He reported back today that the concert was great!