Tastes Like Home | Daddy’s Stroganoff

sometimes it’s just the memories that remain…

I didn’t realize how isolated I’ve felt here, soooo far from family, until recently. Having a kitchen full of home has helped me feel a bit less alone. I’ve been updating and elevating {♥: girrrlllll…} childhood favorites for a while, but there are some really special ones I’ve been a little afraid to try.

When my dad died, all I could think about was how fun it was when he pulled Beef Stroganoff and Pineapple Upside-Down Cake from his divorced dad’s bag of tricks. I wandered the stacks at the Central Library for looking for stroganoff recipes to help recreate those long ago weekends. Losing him wasn’t unexpected, but it was heavy. I let something else sparkly catch my eye and a daddy made dinner got shelved.

I decided to cut out meat and dairy almost three years ago. At some point, the idea resurfaced to, rah-rah, Veganize it! I bought noodles and faux sour cream. And a weird aftertaste ended the adventure almost as soon as it began. The noodles stayed in the pantry, all uninspiring. The sour cream stayed in the fridge, opened and undesired.

When I decided make some of my tastes of home for Vegan MoFo, I knew I had to finally do Daddy’s Stroganoff. I looked around for recipes. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to follow a vegan one, almost as written, or go with a veg version and replace the dairy.

I picked a vegan one. Bought the few items I was missing and set off to make something good. Um, so, yeah. I followed the directions and…

I didn’t like it. At all.

It wasn’t bad. It just wasn’t right.

I hate wasting food. I really hate wasting food that I’m not proud of but I know to be *kanyeshrug* okay. I kinda wish I had that guy who, you know, eats anything. I could be all… “You eat it. It’s too hot. I’ll just have watermelon and a bit of wine.”

But, yeah, no. That’s not what happened.

All is not lost, but I’m just sayin’… I l♥ve mushrooms, and days later, it still feels like I flushed a big old bag and a half from TJs down the loo. {♥: but you, uh, did.} I drank most of the bottle of wine, so there’s that. I still have soy milk in the fridge. I don’t normally use it, so I may need to figure out how to make soy creamer. I have more peas and they will find their way into a good curry. It’ll all be okay.

I do have to finish that bag of noodles. Maybe I’ll roam these mean internet streets for a better stroganoff fit. I could even dive deep into Miyoko Schinner’s Artisan Vegan Cheese for a bit of homemade sour cream.

I am glad I tried this. My love for Daddy’s Stroganoff may just have been about the beef, the tangy sour cream and me as a willful kid getting one over on my ‘no red meat’ eating mom.

This little disaster isn’t going to stop me from making the other things I planned this week.  The heatwave, she just might do that.

Nikki♥