I have a sweet tooth. My father has a sweet tooth. His father had a sweet tooth.
Patrick, too, has a sweet tooth. This is to our detriment.
Last week, on two occasions, two bags of Hershey's milk chocolate Nuggets and one bag of Smarties were purchased. That means that between Patrick and I, in one week's time, we consumed two bags of Smarties and four bags of Hershey's milk chocolate Nuggets.
I don't regret this decision - it was delicious. I am, however, suffering the consequences, as one does. When your body has too much sugar, it becomes accustomed to those higher levels very quickly. I find that I crave sugar in an extreme way for weeks after indulgences (even relatively small ones). This results in acts of desperation at home while trying to avoid going to the store for yet another bag of candy.
My father eats chocolate chips, walnuts, and raisins in varying combinations on a regular basis - I like to believe that this is his way of avoiding late night store runs. While I believe my solution is similar, I'm not sure he would agree.
I make a chocolate peanut butter "cookie dough". Its not actually cookie dough, because it wouldn't bake into cookies if you put it in the oven. There are no raw eggs or baking soda. In fact, there isn't even any flour.
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Kelly's Desperation "Cookie Dough"
Step 1: Go to your cupboard and pull out peanut butter, brown sugar, and cocoa powder. If you have some other nut butter, this will also suffice. If you have no cocoa powder, you can skip this.
Step 2: Scour your cupboard for other cookie additions. I currently have shredded coconut, sliced almonds, and crushed walnuts, but chocolate chips, mini-marshmallows, dried fruit, cereal, or anything else you might like in cookies would be good too.
Step 3: Put all your ingredients in a bowl. This is where my baking experience comes in handy. I don't measure I just dump a little of this and a lot of that into the bowl. Generally speaking, the two main ingredients should be brown sugar and your nut butter of preference. A little cocoa powder goes a long way as its generally unsweetened.
Step 4: Mix all ingredients. If its a little hard to mix, that's okay. If you've added lots of "mix-ins" then your dough will take a bit more effort. For ease, you can always add a bit more nut butter.
Step 5: Sit on the couch with your mixing bowl and spoon and eat your creation. You are not required to eat all of your creation, nor will you be judged for eating it all (especially if you are alone or with another sweet toothed individual). Its likely, though, that the high protein content and general sticky nature of the nut butter will keep you from eating too much and yet be quite satisfying.
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Its probably not as healthy as walnuts and chocolate chips in a 20 year old Tupperware child's cup (I'm thinking portion control here, not nostalgia), but its certainly keeping me from cursing my budget and general health and walking to the store for more Smarties.
Mission accomplished.
Friday, August 3, 2012
Thursday, July 12, 2012
Post-Swim Food
This was basically the best recipes I've made in awhile. Please trust me when I say that its incredibly important to have excellent tomatoes in this recipe. Heirlooms tend to have the best quality when bought from a store. Make sure they are firm (but not too hard) and smell like a tomato plant - there should be no soft spots and very few cracks where the stem originally held the tomato on the vine. Do not refrigerate tomatoes as they lose flavor very quickly when cold (same goes with strawberries). I recommend just buying the tomatoes the day you plan to make this recipe.
If you have a tomato plant, these will also be excellent in this recipe. Heirlooms tend to have a slightly more sweet quality that is simply divine, but any ripe and well kept tomatoes will work.
I may have liked this because of the tomatoes, and I may have liked it because I had just gotten home from swimming when I made it. Patrick and I, however, devoured the entire recipe and it probably should have served 4. For reference, I found a description of this here.
If you have a tomato plant, these will also be excellent in this recipe. Heirlooms tend to have a slightly more sweet quality that is simply divine, but any ripe and well kept tomatoes will work.
I may have liked this because of the tomatoes, and I may have liked it because I had just gotten home from swimming when I made it. Patrick and I, however, devoured the entire recipe and it probably should have served 4. For reference, I found a description of this here.
Tomato, Feta, and
Oregano Salad
Chop 3 ripe heirloom
tomatoes and place in a bowl.
Finely mince one
clove of strong garlic and add to tomatoes.
Add about 1 to 2 tsp
of fresh oregano (just the leaves pulled off the stem bits and added
directly)
Drizzle with about 1
Tbsp olive oil.
Add 8 to 10 oz. of
crumbled feta.
Mix all ingredients well.
Allow to sit for a little while if time permits.
Serve on a bed of lettuce, kale, or with bread or crackers.
Or just eat it plain.
Enjoy!
Wednesday, July 11, 2012
The Way My Mind Creates Recipes: A Glimpse.
As we've all discovered by now, I don't do mushrooms. They sit in my fridge in paper bags slowly drying out or even going moldy. I'd actually never seen mushrooms become fuzzy until I started getting a CSA box. Dried mushrooms are not a big deal. You can buy dried mushrooms at the store and they re-hydrate fantastically. I don't concern myself with using my mushrooms in a timely manner.
I recently (last night) had a brain wave while making Pasta with Tuna and Tomato Sauce courtesy of Simply Recipes. If I combined the brilliance that is Simply Recipes with that of Smitten Kitchen (particularly this recipe which I've altered to be made with dry white wine rather than red), I could come up with some bad-ass Tuna Noodle Casserole (or TNC for short).
I consulted one of my other trusty sources for reference. I find that google is not the bast place to search for such tried and true culinary creations. TNC is a classic and few Food Network gurus need apply to the making of it - it simply becomes too complicated. It was time to turn to the bookshelf. Specifically, it was time to consult The Joy of Cooking.
Now, I have several "food bibles"; some websites also make the cut (like the above food blogs). The Joy of Cooking is the original canon of cooking in my mind. Blame my father for this devotion. When I need a recipe for something as basic as TNC there is no better reference. When I need knowledge on the methods of cooking a particular basic food, The Joy of Cooking has all my answers. Eggs are covered thoroughly; pasta is discussed at length; cookie making methods are divulged to one's heart's delight! The Joy of Cooking made it clear how I could accomplish my TNC goals.
Here is the general process I had in mind:
Of course, I could also shorten the process to this:
Yes. This sounds simpler. Perhaps I will add some Kale to the mix like I did to the Pasta with Tuna and Tomato Sauce. Hell, maybe I'll add some basil and oregano and kale like I did with the Pasta with Tuna and Tomato Sauce.
Hope you enjoyed the glimpse. When I make the recipe I will post it... if I remember.
Happy End of the Week!
I recently (last night) had a brain wave while making Pasta with Tuna and Tomato Sauce courtesy of Simply Recipes. If I combined the brilliance that is Simply Recipes with that of Smitten Kitchen (particularly this recipe which I've altered to be made with dry white wine rather than red), I could come up with some bad-ass Tuna Noodle Casserole (or TNC for short).
I consulted one of my other trusty sources for reference. I find that google is not the bast place to search for such tried and true culinary creations. TNC is a classic and few Food Network gurus need apply to the making of it - it simply becomes too complicated. It was time to turn to the bookshelf. Specifically, it was time to consult The Joy of Cooking.
Now, I have several "food bibles"; some websites also make the cut (like the above food blogs). The Joy of Cooking is the original canon of cooking in my mind. Blame my father for this devotion. When I need a recipe for something as basic as TNC there is no better reference. When I need knowledge on the methods of cooking a particular basic food, The Joy of Cooking has all my answers. Eggs are covered thoroughly; pasta is discussed at length; cookie making methods are divulged to one's heart's delight! The Joy of Cooking made it clear how I could accomplish my TNC goals.
Here is the general process I had in mind:
- You start by cooking mushrooms with bell peppers and onions. I'll skip the bell peppers and just address the onions. In fact, I'll make the mushrooms as directed by Smitten Kitchen (just skip the chicken steps and use a Pinot Grigio or Chardonnay rather than Marsala)
- You then turn the mushrooms into a cheese sauce. The mushrooms themselves are fairly rich and thick, I don't think I will need much flour for thickening. Joy of Cooking calls for 1/4 cup.
- Remove from heat and add a substantial quantity of milk (almond milk in our case - just cause its what we buy these days). 2 1/2 cups to be exact. Perhaps the flour will be necessary for thickening after all?
- Add a whole lot of cheese - 3/4 to 1 cup. Joy of Cooking calls for cheddar, but I believe a smaller amount of Parmesan will be superior. Luckily, this is also what I have in my refrigerator.
- Add two cans tuna - simple.
- Add to this entire mixture 2 cups cooked egg noddles - obviously, mine will be corn noodles instead.
- They say to add parsley, but I won't. We are not fans of parsley in this house (or at least I am ambivalent about the herb).
- Top with bread crumbs, crushed crackers, or corn flakes - and melted butter. We'll see if that happens... Actually, this is starting to sound like a lot of work.
Of course, I could also shorten the process to this:
- Cook the mushrooms according to Smitten Kitchen's directions.
- Add tuna to mushrooms.
- Add pasta to mixture.
- Sprinkle with cheese.
- Bake. (aka Broil until the cheese bubbles and browns)
Yes. This sounds simpler. Perhaps I will add some Kale to the mix like I did to the Pasta with Tuna and Tomato Sauce. Hell, maybe I'll add some basil and oregano and kale like I did with the Pasta with Tuna and Tomato Sauce.
Hope you enjoyed the glimpse. When I make the recipe I will post it... if I remember.
Happy End of the Week!
Saturday, June 30, 2012
What the F are Pea Tendrils?
First, I'm sorry for the title, mom.
Second, seriously. What are pea tendrils?
I was given the opportunity to discover this with our CSA box bounty this week. Pea Tendrils are basically the little scraggly off shoots of a pea plant/vine. There are leaves and flowers and curly bits on said tendrils. When I first read the description of pea tendrils online before opening the bag they had come in, I thought they would be something very different. I figured they would be small little whirly bits with some flowers as I could see the purple of the flowers through the bag (the bag had condensation on the inside, which is why I couldn't see the rest).
I had no idea that when I dumped them out on the counter, they would look like a mass of clippings from a garden.
I had planned to incorporate them into a fried rice with garlic whirls and asparagus, but I took a a look at these and doubted my idea. There was only one way to determine if I was making an appropriate culinary choice with these strange new vegetation. Eat one. Raw.
Tastes of fresh peas.
In fact, I'm going to be putting the rest in a salad tomorrow with some Microgreens. And if you've never seen Microgreens before either...
My sister will be so pleased to see that there is dill in our Microgreens, and has been for the last few weeks. She abhors dill, while I find it entirely too refreshing and pleasing in a salad.
My fried rice turned out well. I will attempt to recall the full recipe here, but you know me...
Garlic Whirl, Asparagus, and Pea Tendril Fried Rice
3T (ish) Canola Oil
1T butter (I used unsalted)
1 bunch garlic whirls, trimmed and cut into 1 in pieces
1/3 bunch very thin asparagus, white and purple ends trimmed off bottom and cut into 1 inch pieces
1/2 bunch pea tendrils, cut into 1 inch pieces including flowers and leaves
1 egg
2 to 3 T almond milk
2 cups cooked rice
2 to 3 T soy sauce (or Bragg's Liquid Aminos in our case)
Heat oil in large skillet over low heat. I have a cast iron, so I like to turn the burner on simmer while I prep vegetables and slowly drop them in as I finish. A cast iron is much better when heated slowly, anyhow. Place garlic whirls and asparagus in pan and add butter. Cook over low to meduim heat until butter melts and whirls and asparagus are coated. I then prepped my pea tendrils while I let the other vegetables slowly cook in the oils on low heat. Stir in pea tendrils to coat and increase heat of pan to medium low. In a cast iron, by the time this is all finished, your pan will have built up a good heat throughout and hold this heat with decent consistency so that you don't need the burner up very high. I had our electric burner (sim, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, high) at 3.
Push vegetables to side. Beat egg and almond milk together and pour in empty side of pan. Allow to cook completely. It will still look a bit wet because of the oils in the pan, but it won't look runny.
Add the rice to the egg side of the pan and incorporate the two ingredients. Mix with the vegetables and allow everything to cook through; maybe 8 minutes, stirring every minute to two minutes. Add soy sauce by drizzling throughout. Stir to incorporate.
Serve.
Second, seriously. What are pea tendrils?
I was given the opportunity to discover this with our CSA box bounty this week. Pea Tendrils are basically the little scraggly off shoots of a pea plant/vine. There are leaves and flowers and curly bits on said tendrils. When I first read the description of pea tendrils online before opening the bag they had come in, I thought they would be something very different. I figured they would be small little whirly bits with some flowers as I could see the purple of the flowers through the bag (the bag had condensation on the inside, which is why I couldn't see the rest).
I had no idea that when I dumped them out on the counter, they would look like a mass of clippings from a garden.
I had planned to incorporate them into a fried rice with garlic whirls and asparagus, but I took a a look at these and doubted my idea. There was only one way to determine if I was making an appropriate culinary choice with these strange new vegetation. Eat one. Raw.
Tastes of fresh peas.
In fact, I'm going to be putting the rest in a salad tomorrow with some Microgreens. And if you've never seen Microgreens before either...
My sister will be so pleased to see that there is dill in our Microgreens, and has been for the last few weeks. She abhors dill, while I find it entirely too refreshing and pleasing in a salad.
My fried rice turned out well. I will attempt to recall the full recipe here, but you know me...
Garlic Whirl, Asparagus, and Pea Tendril Fried Rice
3T (ish) Canola Oil
1T butter (I used unsalted)
1 bunch garlic whirls, trimmed and cut into 1 in pieces
1/3 bunch very thin asparagus, white and purple ends trimmed off bottom and cut into 1 inch pieces
1/2 bunch pea tendrils, cut into 1 inch pieces including flowers and leaves
1 egg
2 to 3 T almond milk
2 cups cooked rice
2 to 3 T soy sauce (or Bragg's Liquid Aminos in our case)
Heat oil in large skillet over low heat. I have a cast iron, so I like to turn the burner on simmer while I prep vegetables and slowly drop them in as I finish. A cast iron is much better when heated slowly, anyhow. Place garlic whirls and asparagus in pan and add butter. Cook over low to meduim heat until butter melts and whirls and asparagus are coated. I then prepped my pea tendrils while I let the other vegetables slowly cook in the oils on low heat. Stir in pea tendrils to coat and increase heat of pan to medium low. In a cast iron, by the time this is all finished, your pan will have built up a good heat throughout and hold this heat with decent consistency so that you don't need the burner up very high. I had our electric burner (sim, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, high) at 3.
Push vegetables to side. Beat egg and almond milk together and pour in empty side of pan. Allow to cook completely. It will still look a bit wet because of the oils in the pan, but it won't look runny.
Add the rice to the egg side of the pan and incorporate the two ingredients. Mix with the vegetables and allow everything to cook through; maybe 8 minutes, stirring every minute to two minutes. Add soy sauce by drizzling throughout. Stir to incorporate.
Serve.
Friday, May 11, 2012
Our Grand Adventure
Lately, Patrick and I have been working to get ourselves more responsible about house work and our budget (yes, I know you've heard that before). Blogging, while enjoyable, hasn't seemed to fit my schedule lately (that also sounds familiar, I'm sure). Cooking has hardly fit my schedule lately (a theme of familiarity in this blog it seems), which has been to the detriment of our budget... Its been a cyclical mess, to be honest (yes, yes, Kelly, get on with it).
We, however, have a plan. The plan went into action this week. It was not completely successful, however, and for good reason.
The plan you ask?
No television.
Well, I should say no television unless we're cleaning (or unless the house is mostly clean). So if I'm folding clothes, I'm allowed to watch a movie or a tv show on my laptop. If I'm doing dishes, the same applies. We're not supposed to watch television while we eat anymore either - for several reasons, really. I eat faster and therefore more if I eat in front of the television. We also tend to just keep sitting on the couch after dinner rather than getting up and cleaning the kitchen like we do if we're sitting at the table. When I know the chores are looming, I'll actually go back for seconds to extend the couch time rather than because I'm hungry. We also don't talk while we're watching television like we do when we're sitting at the table.
This week we gave in to the television because it was just a long week - like giving in to "cheating" on a diet. In fact, I don't believe in "diets", per-say, for this very reason. This has made me realize that the No Television rule is probably a bit too extreme.
Everything in life should be taken in moderation, and moderation should be defined for each person on an individual basis. This is why "diets" don't work. And when I say "diets" I mean deprivation. Deprivation, doesn't work. If you are forced to live without something, you will make do, but when you choose to live without something, its much more difficult; damn near impossible, in fact. Eating healthfully, and living healthfully, is about moderation not about setting a rule of "no sugar" or "no chocolate" or "only cabbage for a week". Eating healthfully is about indulgence as truly indulgence should be - not eating an entire jumbo bag of -insert terrible food that you love here- but enjoying the very first bite of that food you love, savoring it for everything you love about it, eating a small amount so that you are only slightly satisfied and so that you can experience the same joy again in a week or a day or whatever is a reasonable amount of time.
When I eat a jumbo anything I'm not really enjoying a single bite. When I sit and watch television for 3 hours, I'm not really enjoying a single minute. I do laugh and I do forget about the dishes and my grading but that's not enjoying the television. That's not even enjoying the time I'm not working. Its purposefully avoiding the feelings of guilt I have over not working.
The whole thing sounds asinine, doesn't it? I'm an intelligent and introspective girl, I shouldn't be doing such silly things. I am only human, however.
One of these days, I will master moderation. Moderation, for me, is feeling good and dammit, I deserve to feel good!
I just have to figure out what that means - again.
Life is a pretty grand adventure, isn't it?
We, however, have a plan. The plan went into action this week. It was not completely successful, however, and for good reason.
The plan you ask?
No television.
Well, I should say no television unless we're cleaning (or unless the house is mostly clean). So if I'm folding clothes, I'm allowed to watch a movie or a tv show on my laptop. If I'm doing dishes, the same applies. We're not supposed to watch television while we eat anymore either - for several reasons, really. I eat faster and therefore more if I eat in front of the television. We also tend to just keep sitting on the couch after dinner rather than getting up and cleaning the kitchen like we do if we're sitting at the table. When I know the chores are looming, I'll actually go back for seconds to extend the couch time rather than because I'm hungry. We also don't talk while we're watching television like we do when we're sitting at the table.
This week we gave in to the television because it was just a long week - like giving in to "cheating" on a diet. In fact, I don't believe in "diets", per-say, for this very reason. This has made me realize that the No Television rule is probably a bit too extreme.
Everything in life should be taken in moderation, and moderation should be defined for each person on an individual basis. This is why "diets" don't work. And when I say "diets" I mean deprivation. Deprivation, doesn't work. If you are forced to live without something, you will make do, but when you choose to live without something, its much more difficult; damn near impossible, in fact. Eating healthfully, and living healthfully, is about moderation not about setting a rule of "no sugar" or "no chocolate" or "only cabbage for a week". Eating healthfully is about indulgence as truly indulgence should be - not eating an entire jumbo bag of -insert terrible food that you love here- but enjoying the very first bite of that food you love, savoring it for everything you love about it, eating a small amount so that you are only slightly satisfied and so that you can experience the same joy again in a week or a day or whatever is a reasonable amount of time.
When I eat a jumbo anything I'm not really enjoying a single bite. When I sit and watch television for 3 hours, I'm not really enjoying a single minute. I do laugh and I do forget about the dishes and my grading but that's not enjoying the television. That's not even enjoying the time I'm not working. Its purposefully avoiding the feelings of guilt I have over not working.
The whole thing sounds asinine, doesn't it? I'm an intelligent and introspective girl, I shouldn't be doing such silly things. I am only human, however.
One of these days, I will master moderation. Moderation, for me, is feeling good and dammit, I deserve to feel good!
I just have to figure out what that means - again.
Life is a pretty grand adventure, isn't it?
Wednesday, March 28, 2012
Over Greened?
Are you tired of being unable to come up with appetizing dishes with greens in them? Frustrated that vegetation is taking over your refrigerator? Overwhelmed by the many shades of green slowly devouring every inch of your kitchen space until you are left sputtering for breath buried beneath their ominous leafy presence on the cold hard floor?
No?
Well here's another two dishes that we concocted with three more bunches of greens, anyhow.
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Green Marinara
Ingredients:
1 bag spinach chopped into 1/2 inch squares
2 bags rainbow chard chopped into 1/2 inch squares (probably amounts to a bunch and a half?)
1 jar marinara sauce of your choice
1 teaspoon olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
Heat olive oil in saucepan large enough to hold all greens prior to cooking
Add greens and coat in oil as much as possible
Allow greens to cook down to between 1/2 and 1/3 their original volume. Adding the salt will help you accomplish this as salt makes vegetable "weep" (release water).
Add pasta sauce and heat to simmer
Pour over whatever pasta or other accompanying food you want to eat with your marinara (perhaps spaghetti squash, roasted butternut squash, roasted summer squash, etc)
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Use leftover sauce for the following dish:
Chicken Parmesan in Green Marinara
Ingredients:
1/2 recipe Green Marinara (see above)
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts rinsed and dried well with paper towels
3/4 cup grated parmesan cheese (not the powder kind, but I suppose that could work also)
1 Tbsp or more olive oil
1 tsp salt
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
Garlic powder to taste
Preheat over to 375 F. Place prepared (rinsed and dried) chicken breasts in 9x9 in baking dish. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Pour Green Marinara over the chicken to cover and sprinkle entire dish with parmesan cheese.
Bake for 30 to 45 minutes depending on size of chicken breasts. Cheese should be melted and browning slightly and sauce should be bubbling. Eat as an entire meal or serve with garlic bread, pasta, or some other side of your choosing.
NOTE: I would actually change this recipe slightly to say that you should rub olive oil onto the chicken breasts rather than drizzle. Its a weird process but it seems to do wonders especially when roasting the chicken breasts on their own. Garlic olive oil is actually the most superior in doing this. You can make garlic olive oil by pouring your oil into a skillet, heating, and adding several cloves of garlic to cook in it until softened and lightly brown. Do not soak raw garlic cloves in oil as I have heard this can promote the growth of botulism.
_________________________________________________________
Tonight we are doing easy things since I have yet to be inspired to do the dishes. Hooray for frozen chicken nuggets and sweet potato tater tots!
No?
Well here's another two dishes that we concocted with three more bunches of greens, anyhow.
_________________________________________________________
Green Marinara
Ingredients:
1 bag spinach chopped into 1/2 inch squares
2 bags rainbow chard chopped into 1/2 inch squares (probably amounts to a bunch and a half?)
1 jar marinara sauce of your choice
1 teaspoon olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
Heat olive oil in saucepan large enough to hold all greens prior to cooking
Add greens and coat in oil as much as possible
Allow greens to cook down to between 1/2 and 1/3 their original volume. Adding the salt will help you accomplish this as salt makes vegetable "weep" (release water).
Add pasta sauce and heat to simmer
Pour over whatever pasta or other accompanying food you want to eat with your marinara (perhaps spaghetti squash, roasted butternut squash, roasted summer squash, etc)
_________________________________________________________
Use leftover sauce for the following dish:
Chicken Parmesan in Green Marinara
Ingredients:
1/2 recipe Green Marinara (see above)
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts rinsed and dried well with paper towels
3/4 cup grated parmesan cheese (not the powder kind, but I suppose that could work also)
1 Tbsp or more olive oil
1 tsp salt
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
Garlic powder to taste
Preheat over to 375 F. Place prepared (rinsed and dried) chicken breasts in 9x9 in baking dish. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Pour Green Marinara over the chicken to cover and sprinkle entire dish with parmesan cheese.
Bake for 30 to 45 minutes depending on size of chicken breasts. Cheese should be melted and browning slightly and sauce should be bubbling. Eat as an entire meal or serve with garlic bread, pasta, or some other side of your choosing.
NOTE: I would actually change this recipe slightly to say that you should rub olive oil onto the chicken breasts rather than drizzle. Its a weird process but it seems to do wonders especially when roasting the chicken breasts on their own. Garlic olive oil is actually the most superior in doing this. You can make garlic olive oil by pouring your oil into a skillet, heating, and adding several cloves of garlic to cook in it until softened and lightly brown. Do not soak raw garlic cloves in oil as I have heard this can promote the growth of botulism.
_________________________________________________________
Tonight we are doing easy things since I have yet to be inspired to do the dishes. Hooray for frozen chicken nuggets and sweet potato tater tots!
Saturday, March 24, 2012
Back with Collard Rice
Following my last entry, my life was sucked into my job. What little time I had to relax at home I mostly spent watching television with Patrick rather than doing most of the things required of us as adults. While my blog doesn't fall into the category of things required of us as adults, it often focuses on activities that have been largely neglected: cooking, cleaning, healthy living (or lack of there-of), crafts, reading, anything-fun, etc.
Of course, if you check the blog entry just before this one, you'll see that my life was not completely devoid of cooking (just mostly devoid of it). I just have photo documentation of some recipes I made over the time. I don't have links, though, but if you're really interested, I can find the source of the recipe that I altered (or did not).
I still don't have my final grades entered, but the term, at long last, is over. I hope that next term will be a little more open, but there's no certainty of that. My schedule, however, should allow more time for cooking. We have gotten perilously behind due to my schedule and being very ill over the last weekend. As of this morning, this was what our refrigerator looked like:
Its like a jungle in there.
Since then, I have removed three bunches of collard greens. Our life will be full of greens until we get everything back under control; tonight that means eating something I am calling Collard Rice.
Collard Rice
Ingredients:
2 cups white rice
4 cups water
3 bunches collard greens, cut into small squares
3/4 small brown onion dice very small
1 tablespoon butter (I don't trust any greens dish made without butter)
1 teaspoon Johnny's Great Caesar! Garlic Spread & Seasoning
1/2 teaspoon salt
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
Put all ingredients into rice cooker and cook according to appliance directions.
This recipe will feed 4 and then some if you are controlling your portions appropriately (I don't).
The results:
I was hesitant to believe that this would have turned out as well as it did. I might want to try cooking it with chicken stock instead of water (or a mix of the two) next time, but the flavor was pretty good and the ratio of greens to rice was about 50/50 which is good in my opinion. It needed a bit more salt, I think, but using some chicken stock would help that a bit. You may also decide to put a whole teaspoon of salt in to begin with.
Here are some pictures of the process:
Of course, if you check the blog entry just before this one, you'll see that my life was not completely devoid of cooking (just mostly devoid of it). I just have photo documentation of some recipes I made over the time. I don't have links, though, but if you're really interested, I can find the source of the recipe that I altered (or did not).
I still don't have my final grades entered, but the term, at long last, is over. I hope that next term will be a little more open, but there's no certainty of that. My schedule, however, should allow more time for cooking. We have gotten perilously behind due to my schedule and being very ill over the last weekend. As of this morning, this was what our refrigerator looked like:
Its like a jungle in there.
Since then, I have removed three bunches of collard greens. Our life will be full of greens until we get everything back under control; tonight that means eating something I am calling Collard Rice.
Collard Rice
Ingredients:
2 cups white rice
4 cups water
3 bunches collard greens, cut into small squares
3/4 small brown onion dice very small
1 tablespoon butter (I don't trust any greens dish made without butter)
1 teaspoon Johnny's Great Caesar! Garlic Spread & Seasoning
1/2 teaspoon salt
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
Put all ingredients into rice cooker and cook according to appliance directions.
This recipe will feed 4 and then some if you are controlling your portions appropriately (I don't).
The results:
I was hesitant to believe that this would have turned out as well as it did. I might want to try cooking it with chicken stock instead of water (or a mix of the two) next time, but the flavor was pretty good and the ratio of greens to rice was about 50/50 which is good in my opinion. It needed a bit more salt, I think, but using some chicken stock would help that a bit. You may also decide to put a whole teaspoon of salt in to begin with.
Here are some pictures of the process:
Two Months in Food Pictures
I did, with the intention of blogging, take pictures when I cooked over the course of the last two months. Here are some pictures from these cooking adventures:
Flourless Chocolate Cookies: Could have been better if I hadn't messed with the recipe so much.
Flourless Chocolate Cookies: Could have been better if I hadn't messed with the recipe so much.
Baked Garlic Potato Chips: Very delicious, lots of work, next time I have an over abundance of potatoes again I will be sure to make them again
Some sort of squash pancakes that wouldn't cook through in the center...
Thumb print cookies made with our homemade pear butter. These were delicious.
Baked chicken (some of the best chicken I've ever made) and Pasta Carbonara with Lemon and Leeks (which I will be making again)
Experimenting with the juicer, I believe this was Pear, Greens, Beet, Carrot, Orange juice
Chocolate Beet Cake (cupcakes, to be exact) - This is ALWAYS a hit, I think. True, it has a lot of butter in it, but its a good use of beets and truly delicious. We don't put any frosting on it its so moist. You can just barely taste the beets and if you weren't told that it was beets you'd never know.
My first independent attempt at cooking salmon. Could have been better, but the texture of the fish was excellent even if the added bits weren't so awesome. I will go simpler next time.
Saturday, February 11, 2012
Week of Woes: My Occasional Inspiration for Cooking
February is the absolute worst month to be living in Oregon.
The weather is not worse, however. It seems to me that there is always a stretch at the beginning of February where the temperature gets warmer and you are led into a false hope that spring is just around the corner. The daffodils begin to pop up out of the ground and you just can't help but feel excited for spring.
Last week was a week of cloudless skies and sunshine; the temperature even rose above 50 degrees some days. Try as I might to remind myself that this was fleeting and that the rest of February would be a colossal disappointment, I was drawn in once again. When the rain returned on Tuesday evening, it was as if the world ended.
The turning of the weather brought a wave of bad tidings. I gave my first exam in one of my classes that evening; this did not go well. The bad tiding continued on through Wednesday and came to a crescendo on Thursday morning after too little sleep and two days of 12 to 14 hours of work.
Yes. I would like some cheese with my w(h)ine.
This week is the week of whining. It is the week of feeling like you have not made much of your existence. It is the week when hope fades with the fading sunlight.
It sounds dramatic, but I know more than a few people living in this city that completely agree with me.
We are all drawn in, we all fall flat on our faces, and we all pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and keep moving forward.
Weeks like this are part of why I cook. Cooking is a singular activity. Only I rely on my cooking and only I suffer from my failures (well, Patrick does too, but he has a high threshold for bad food). Over the week, whilst coping with the returning gloom, I gathered recipes as an escapism. These recipes now include Garlic Potato Chips, Oatmeal Almond Thumbprint Cookies, Candied Lemon Peel, and Pasta Carbonara with Leeks and Lemon. Two of these recipes are not gluten free, but I believe I have finally reached a point in my cooking without the use of glutinous ingredients where I can alter just about any recipe to be both gluten free and palatable. After a week of mistakes, something I can feel proud of is welcomed.
While I haven't made any of these recipes, one of them requires a back story: the thumbprint cookies.
As you are aware, I didn't update my blog last weekend. This wasn't for any particularly good reason, it just never happened. On Sunday, however, I had my first experience with canning. The process of canning is actually terribly simple if you have all the right tools.
Patrick and I had an over abundance of pears from our box. For whatever reason, these move more slowly than apples and they subsequently go bad quite often. A couple months ago I attempted a caramelized pear up-side-down cake that took forever to cook (and never really did completely). Since then I have found many pear recipes, but have lacked the desire to deal with the fickle fruit. The only other recipe I mostly managed was a pear and apple pie with a crumb topping. This turned out deliciously, but the peeler-corer-slicer that I purchased was brutal on the pears.
As a result, the bowl of pears sat until I finally decided to tell my friend Brie that I wanted to make and can pear butter. Why Brie? Because Brie has all the tools to make canning simple (and because she appreciates cooking in a similar way that I do).
Saturday evening I set about making the pear butter that Brie and I planned to can the next day. I took some photos, but missed a very large part of the cooking/canning process, as you will see below:
Its like magic.
Magic that took several hours of cooking down those pears after they had been put through a food mill to remove the skins, stems, and seeds. Not to mention the fact that you completely missed the process of sterilizing the jars and lids to make the pear butter shelf stable.
Regardless, the result is delicious. If you noticed the lemon photo, you might guess that this butter (which is just a term to refer to its consistency - somewhere between sauce and preserves - but has no real butter in it) has a tartness that is well complemented by the subtlety of the cardamom, ginger, and anise. We have 8 jars of magical pear butter now.
So what does this have to do with the thumbprint cookies? I intend to use it to fill the thumbprint, of course!
You may also see from above where the candied lemon peel idea came from.
Make the most of the February blues in your kitchen as this winter comes to a close!
The weather is not worse, however. It seems to me that there is always a stretch at the beginning of February where the temperature gets warmer and you are led into a false hope that spring is just around the corner. The daffodils begin to pop up out of the ground and you just can't help but feel excited for spring.
Last week was a week of cloudless skies and sunshine; the temperature even rose above 50 degrees some days. Try as I might to remind myself that this was fleeting and that the rest of February would be a colossal disappointment, I was drawn in once again. When the rain returned on Tuesday evening, it was as if the world ended.
The turning of the weather brought a wave of bad tidings. I gave my first exam in one of my classes that evening; this did not go well. The bad tiding continued on through Wednesday and came to a crescendo on Thursday morning after too little sleep and two days of 12 to 14 hours of work.
Yes. I would like some cheese with my w(h)ine.
This week is the week of whining. It is the week of feeling like you have not made much of your existence. It is the week when hope fades with the fading sunlight.
It sounds dramatic, but I know more than a few people living in this city that completely agree with me.
We are all drawn in, we all fall flat on our faces, and we all pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and keep moving forward.
Weeks like this are part of why I cook. Cooking is a singular activity. Only I rely on my cooking and only I suffer from my failures (well, Patrick does too, but he has a high threshold for bad food). Over the week, whilst coping with the returning gloom, I gathered recipes as an escapism. These recipes now include Garlic Potato Chips, Oatmeal Almond Thumbprint Cookies, Candied Lemon Peel, and Pasta Carbonara with Leeks and Lemon. Two of these recipes are not gluten free, but I believe I have finally reached a point in my cooking without the use of glutinous ingredients where I can alter just about any recipe to be both gluten free and palatable. After a week of mistakes, something I can feel proud of is welcomed.
While I haven't made any of these recipes, one of them requires a back story: the thumbprint cookies.
As you are aware, I didn't update my blog last weekend. This wasn't for any particularly good reason, it just never happened. On Sunday, however, I had my first experience with canning. The process of canning is actually terribly simple if you have all the right tools.
Patrick and I had an over abundance of pears from our box. For whatever reason, these move more slowly than apples and they subsequently go bad quite often. A couple months ago I attempted a caramelized pear up-side-down cake that took forever to cook (and never really did completely). Since then I have found many pear recipes, but have lacked the desire to deal with the fickle fruit. The only other recipe I mostly managed was a pear and apple pie with a crumb topping. This turned out deliciously, but the peeler-corer-slicer that I purchased was brutal on the pears.
As a result, the bowl of pears sat until I finally decided to tell my friend Brie that I wanted to make and can pear butter. Why Brie? Because Brie has all the tools to make canning simple (and because she appreciates cooking in a similar way that I do).
Saturday evening I set about making the pear butter that Brie and I planned to can the next day. I took some photos, but missed a very large part of the cooking/canning process, as you will see below:
Its like magic.
Magic that took several hours of cooking down those pears after they had been put through a food mill to remove the skins, stems, and seeds. Not to mention the fact that you completely missed the process of sterilizing the jars and lids to make the pear butter shelf stable.
Regardless, the result is delicious. If you noticed the lemon photo, you might guess that this butter (which is just a term to refer to its consistency - somewhere between sauce and preserves - but has no real butter in it) has a tartness that is well complemented by the subtlety of the cardamom, ginger, and anise. We have 8 jars of magical pear butter now.
So what does this have to do with the thumbprint cookies? I intend to use it to fill the thumbprint, of course!
You may also see from above where the candied lemon peel idea came from.
Make the most of the February blues in your kitchen as this winter comes to a close!
Sunday, January 29, 2012
A Southern Californian's Guide to Driving in Portland, Oregon
For the last week and a half I have been struck by funny things to say about Portland drivers while on my way to work. Unfortunately, I didn't write them down, but as I am currently finding myself unable to write an exam review, unable to make myself do the dishes, and without a means by which to make this pear butter, I am going to attempt to write down some important facts to be aware of when visiting or moving to Portland. Some points are not exclusive to Southern California transplants, and some are not exclusive to just Portland but apply to other parts of Oregon as well.
Be warned that what follows, while potentially funny, is sarcastic and potentially a touch bitter. If you don't like negative humor, you won't enjoy this.
A Southern Californian's Guide to Driving in Portland, Oregon
The most important thing to know is that there isn't an individual born and raised in this city that has ever been in a hurry. Some will claim to rush and some will claim to care about the amount of time spent on the road (or in line at any store), but none truly understand what moving quickly really means, why its done, or how to accomplish it. In Southern California, speed limits are primarily for show. My average speed while a California driver was 75 to 80 (on some freeways this WAS the speed limit in which case I drove 90). There isn't a true Portland resident that has been in a vehicle moving faster than 70mph and when you do drive a vehicle this quickly with one in the car the result will either be one of exhilaration as if you were both on an extreme thrill ride at an amusement park or one of sheer horror. The average speed on the highway is between 50 and 55 mph, even on I-5, and it isn't uncommon to find someone moving at a slower pace than this. I often wonder if some residents haven't been clearly educated as to how the accelerator works in their vehicle.
This slowness includes speeds on the on-ramp of a highway. I was once stuck behind an individual entering the freeway at 35mph. This was somewhat atypical, but it isn't uncommon to enter at 40 or 45. For this reason, I am convinced that the other drivers on the road have no sense of timing to allow for merging traffic. If you are not moving at a near glacial speed, other drivers misjudge your entrance and force you to break (hard) in order to merge with the rest of traffic. It doesn't help that the lane provided for the purpose of allowing merging is unfathomably short at most on-ramps. It also doesn't help that trucks with THREE trailers are allowed on the highways here. I'm being completely serious when I say that you really must be extremely careful when getting on the freeway while a large truck is in the lane you wish to merge into. If they don't allow you time to merge in front of them and you don't slow down significantly, you will end up squished into the concrete barrier.
Another unfathomably short thing in the Portland driving world are yellow lights. Do not push a yellow light if you are more than 50 feet from the intersection. In Southern California, they have programmed the lights to allow for the typical speeding driver pushing the yellows. That is the majority of Southern California citizens. Here, however, you watch the walk signs for pedestrians more than you watch the lights (or at least the ex -Southern Californian looking to plan their most effective assault on the motoring world does). Most walk signals for pedestrians have a count down, and this is often a count down to the yellow. If you have decent vision, are driving the speed limit (generally 35mph), and can just begin to read the sign when its gotten down to 5 (maybe 4) then you won't make the light and its best to just take your foot off the gas at that point. If you can read the sign at 7, speed up, this is your cue to prepare to push the yellow. There is a grey area between 5 and 7 that is questionable and depends on the rest of your surroundings and the less aggressive drivers on the road.
Speaking of aggression, the next big issue is right of way. If I was concerned about education of the function of the gas pedal, I am catastrophically paranoid about what the driver education courses are teaching Portland teenagers about right of way. It is not uncommon for the Portland driver to be passive to the point of incompetence. As a result, you'll get honked at more than you have in any other city, but not because the other driver is angry. The other driver is simply concerned for you, themselves, or some other motorist. Until you become accustomed to the lack of speed and short lights, be aware that you will be honked at consistently and feel ashamed of yourself as a driver for no legitimate reason (especially if you learned to drive in LA county and managed to get honked at less than a handful of times in your entire driving history there).
Stop signs and unmarked intersections are by far the worst expression of this fault, however. Feel free to roll through stop signs (bearing in mind that honking that will ensue). The other drivers on the road will willingly give you the right of way because they don't understand how stop signs work and have been known to wave you through when they clearly got there first. If you do plan to make a full stop, as the rest of the residents do, and get to an intersection at nearly the same time as another motorist, feel free to take the right of way, the other motorist generally won't.
Despite my last two paragraphs, occasionally you will come across the insistent Portland driver. This driver will act as if they are oblivious to your existence. If you attempt to be aggressive against these drivers the only skill you have on your side is the ability to effectively use the pedals. You'll have two options: slam your foot on the accelerator or slam your foot on the brake pedal. There is no gentle solution. You'll come to these impasses primarily on the on-ramp of the freeway, as mentioned, but will occasionally find that a Portlander will misjudge your speed (because you are driving at a pace that normal humans move at) and change lanes in front of you.
Discussing lanes take us back to the highway.
Portlanders were never taught about the concept of a "fast lane". I-5 is the (almost) exception. Because I-5 is a main artery for drivers that live in cities other than Portland, the person you generally find in the left most lane is moving at least the speed limit if not faster and is almost always moving more quickly than the rest of traffic. If you happen to risk a venture on any other highway that is frequented almost exclusively by the Portland born drivers, all sense of order is lost. All lanes move at almost identical speeds at the best of times, and the fast lane is frequented by the same type of automotively challenged folks as the resident that entered the freeway traveling 35mph.
Then, of course, there is traffic. Traffic does exist in Portland, though not in any form remotely like Southern California. In addition, the traffic is usually without cause. Because changing lanes is so challenging for most residents, slow traffic will result during most hours of the day at any interchange. Curves in the road will also befuddle drivers that have not experienced high speeds as any force caused laterally by a curve is terrifying. This will cause traffic to slow as well. To their defense, some of the curves on the highways here have been designed poorly. One wonders if this was done out of general carelessness or a carelessness derived from a misunderstanding of automotive physics.
If you think that these challenges seem unreasonable, the challenges caused by weather for Portlanders are infuriating. You would think that a Portlander that encounters rain most months of the year would understand how to drive in it. The treacherous road conditions caused by rain in Southern California don't exist here because the stretches between rain storms is only ever a month at most in this city. Despite this, I believe that Portlanders all think that the road gets more slippery when it hasn't rained for two days. Its as if all knowledge of driving in rain vanishes at this point and the above points of idiocy that I've outlined double in severity. If more time than a week has passed, you may consider avoiding the roads altogether. This odd inability with weather also occurs if it becomes sunny, considerably colder, considerably warmer, or... basically all extreme weather change will cause chaos.
This concludes my guide to driving in Portland for the Southern California driver. I have discussed these points of annoyance with almost every person I've met here. The Oregonians, while they may agree do not comprehend my outrage. All non-Oregonians have exchanged equally sarcastic and outraged conversations with me. This fills me with reassurance that I'm not just an LA county driving snob. This doesn't mean I'm not devoid of LA county driving snobbery. Before living here I didn't know that Southern Californians are the only ones that use definite articles when talking about their highways in conversation. You'll notice that I said I-5 rather than "the" 5 in my blog post. Chalk that up to being a Portland resident. Sometimes I fear that my driving skills are going the way of Portlanders as well.
No recipes this week, though I did make pickled beets and some other tasty meals. Next weekend I hope to be canning and can share that experience with you. For now my sarcasm will have to be sufficient nourishment. I'm sure it fills your soul with hope.
Be warned that what follows, while potentially funny, is sarcastic and potentially a touch bitter. If you don't like negative humor, you won't enjoy this.
A Southern Californian's Guide to Driving in Portland, Oregon
The most important thing to know is that there isn't an individual born and raised in this city that has ever been in a hurry. Some will claim to rush and some will claim to care about the amount of time spent on the road (or in line at any store), but none truly understand what moving quickly really means, why its done, or how to accomplish it. In Southern California, speed limits are primarily for show. My average speed while a California driver was 75 to 80 (on some freeways this WAS the speed limit in which case I drove 90). There isn't a true Portland resident that has been in a vehicle moving faster than 70mph and when you do drive a vehicle this quickly with one in the car the result will either be one of exhilaration as if you were both on an extreme thrill ride at an amusement park or one of sheer horror. The average speed on the highway is between 50 and 55 mph, even on I-5, and it isn't uncommon to find someone moving at a slower pace than this. I often wonder if some residents haven't been clearly educated as to how the accelerator works in their vehicle.
This slowness includes speeds on the on-ramp of a highway. I was once stuck behind an individual entering the freeway at 35mph. This was somewhat atypical, but it isn't uncommon to enter at 40 or 45. For this reason, I am convinced that the other drivers on the road have no sense of timing to allow for merging traffic. If you are not moving at a near glacial speed, other drivers misjudge your entrance and force you to break (hard) in order to merge with the rest of traffic. It doesn't help that the lane provided for the purpose of allowing merging is unfathomably short at most on-ramps. It also doesn't help that trucks with THREE trailers are allowed on the highways here. I'm being completely serious when I say that you really must be extremely careful when getting on the freeway while a large truck is in the lane you wish to merge into. If they don't allow you time to merge in front of them and you don't slow down significantly, you will end up squished into the concrete barrier.
Another unfathomably short thing in the Portland driving world are yellow lights. Do not push a yellow light if you are more than 50 feet from the intersection. In Southern California, they have programmed the lights to allow for the typical speeding driver pushing the yellows. That is the majority of Southern California citizens. Here, however, you watch the walk signs for pedestrians more than you watch the lights (or at least the ex -Southern Californian looking to plan their most effective assault on the motoring world does). Most walk signals for pedestrians have a count down, and this is often a count down to the yellow. If you have decent vision, are driving the speed limit (generally 35mph), and can just begin to read the sign when its gotten down to 5 (maybe 4) then you won't make the light and its best to just take your foot off the gas at that point. If you can read the sign at 7, speed up, this is your cue to prepare to push the yellow. There is a grey area between 5 and 7 that is questionable and depends on the rest of your surroundings and the less aggressive drivers on the road.
Speaking of aggression, the next big issue is right of way. If I was concerned about education of the function of the gas pedal, I am catastrophically paranoid about what the driver education courses are teaching Portland teenagers about right of way. It is not uncommon for the Portland driver to be passive to the point of incompetence. As a result, you'll get honked at more than you have in any other city, but not because the other driver is angry. The other driver is simply concerned for you, themselves, or some other motorist. Until you become accustomed to the lack of speed and short lights, be aware that you will be honked at consistently and feel ashamed of yourself as a driver for no legitimate reason (especially if you learned to drive in LA county and managed to get honked at less than a handful of times in your entire driving history there).
Stop signs and unmarked intersections are by far the worst expression of this fault, however. Feel free to roll through stop signs (bearing in mind that honking that will ensue). The other drivers on the road will willingly give you the right of way because they don't understand how stop signs work and have been known to wave you through when they clearly got there first. If you do plan to make a full stop, as the rest of the residents do, and get to an intersection at nearly the same time as another motorist, feel free to take the right of way, the other motorist generally won't.
Despite my last two paragraphs, occasionally you will come across the insistent Portland driver. This driver will act as if they are oblivious to your existence. If you attempt to be aggressive against these drivers the only skill you have on your side is the ability to effectively use the pedals. You'll have two options: slam your foot on the accelerator or slam your foot on the brake pedal. There is no gentle solution. You'll come to these impasses primarily on the on-ramp of the freeway, as mentioned, but will occasionally find that a Portlander will misjudge your speed (because you are driving at a pace that normal humans move at) and change lanes in front of you.
Discussing lanes take us back to the highway.
Portlanders were never taught about the concept of a "fast lane". I-5 is the (almost) exception. Because I-5 is a main artery for drivers that live in cities other than Portland, the person you generally find in the left most lane is moving at least the speed limit if not faster and is almost always moving more quickly than the rest of traffic. If you happen to risk a venture on any other highway that is frequented almost exclusively by the Portland born drivers, all sense of order is lost. All lanes move at almost identical speeds at the best of times, and the fast lane is frequented by the same type of automotively challenged folks as the resident that entered the freeway traveling 35mph.
Then, of course, there is traffic. Traffic does exist in Portland, though not in any form remotely like Southern California. In addition, the traffic is usually without cause. Because changing lanes is so challenging for most residents, slow traffic will result during most hours of the day at any interchange. Curves in the road will also befuddle drivers that have not experienced high speeds as any force caused laterally by a curve is terrifying. This will cause traffic to slow as well. To their defense, some of the curves on the highways here have been designed poorly. One wonders if this was done out of general carelessness or a carelessness derived from a misunderstanding of automotive physics.
If you think that these challenges seem unreasonable, the challenges caused by weather for Portlanders are infuriating. You would think that a Portlander that encounters rain most months of the year would understand how to drive in it. The treacherous road conditions caused by rain in Southern California don't exist here because the stretches between rain storms is only ever a month at most in this city. Despite this, I believe that Portlanders all think that the road gets more slippery when it hasn't rained for two days. Its as if all knowledge of driving in rain vanishes at this point and the above points of idiocy that I've outlined double in severity. If more time than a week has passed, you may consider avoiding the roads altogether. This odd inability with weather also occurs if it becomes sunny, considerably colder, considerably warmer, or... basically all extreme weather change will cause chaos.
This concludes my guide to driving in Portland for the Southern California driver. I have discussed these points of annoyance with almost every person I've met here. The Oregonians, while they may agree do not comprehend my outrage. All non-Oregonians have exchanged equally sarcastic and outraged conversations with me. This fills me with reassurance that I'm not just an LA county driving snob. This doesn't mean I'm not devoid of LA county driving snobbery. Before living here I didn't know that Southern Californians are the only ones that use definite articles when talking about their highways in conversation. You'll notice that I said I-5 rather than "the" 5 in my blog post. Chalk that up to being a Portland resident. Sometimes I fear that my driving skills are going the way of Portlanders as well.
No recipes this week, though I did make pickled beets and some other tasty meals. Next weekend I hope to be canning and can share that experience with you. For now my sarcasm will have to be sufficient nourishment. I'm sure it fills your soul with hope.
Monday, January 23, 2012
No Appropriate Title
This is going to have to be a quick and messy update. I likely won't spend much time proof-reading and editing this blog entry because I really need to finish typing my lecture notes for tomorrow. I could just skip the blog altogether, but I like to keep to a schedule with this (or I'll stop writing completely), I have some photos to upload, and I have news.
First, the news: Patrick is officially and gainfully employed by a local company called Free Geek. They are a non-profit organization that recycles and refurbishes old computers. There are some other functions that they perform, but those are the primary operations of the company. He had been interning there for a few months when a position opened up in the company and they asked him to apply. Friday was his first paid day and we decided we had to celebrate.
Some of you may know that we love Asian markets and Asian snack foods of all varieties. Patrick is immensely fond of bean cakes (sweet bean paste wrapped in mochi) and I find fish flavored crackers and dried seaweed to be more delightful than is sane. I bought these, because I had been intrigued by them since seeing something similar on the episode of Top Gear where Jeremy Clarkson races Richard Hammond and James May across Japan.
Look carefully. Those are tiny crabs that have been dried whole, likely fried a bit, and coated in a lightly sweet sesame flavoring. If you find the smell of fish nauseating, I don't recommend that you attempt to eat them. Patrick puts up with my love of things like this for some odd reason. I haven't figured out why.
We bought some other odds and ends things at the market, and came home well pleased with our bounty.
This was on Saturday night, and while we still have plenty of Asian snacking delights left, we did choose to try and use up our CSA box contents for dinner last night. We didn't transition back into the world of CSA right away upon returning from the holidays - as evidenced by the current state of our fruit bowl.
It has been a struggle to sit down and plan meals based entirely on the produce in our refrigerator. On Saturday, I finally broke down and emptied every last item from the fridge, cataloged our produce selection in my meal planning document, and washed out the crisper drawer which was in severe need. I roasted beets which I really need to pickle today, and made a plan of attack for the rest of the items in our stock pile.
One such recipe that would use one head of red cabbage was a recipe called Penne with Cabbage and Cumin. I was intrigued by the recipe even if a little wary. So we made it. I initially found the recipe here, but have altered it to be gluten free. A fairly simple feat in this case. My altered recipe is below.
____________________________________________
Gluten Free Penne with Cabbage and Cumin adapted from Almost Vegetarian by Diana Shaw
2 teaspoons olive oil
1 onion, thinly sliced
1 large carrot, peeled, thinly sliced (any color carrot will do fine)
2 cups shredded red cabbage
1 medium potato, peeled and sliced paper thin
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
4 oz. fontina or taleggio cheese, thinly sliced
3 cups gluten free pasta (macaroni or penne is best)
Heat the oil in a large non stick skillet (or use more oil if using a regular skillet) over medium heat. When hot, add the onion, carrot, cabbage, potato, and cumin, and saute until the onion is soft and limp, about 8 minutes. Cover and let steam until the cabbage is very tender and the potato has cooked through, about 12 minutes. Turn off the heat. (NOTE: This took a bit more time in my case, and probably a cup of water added periotically, but I have cast iron and it doesn't function the same as non-stick)
Meanwhile, cook the pasta according to package directions. Drain, then quickly toss it into the skillet, along with the cabbage mixture and the cheese. Toss briskly with two wooden spoons and serve at once, in warmed bowls.
____________________________________________
Clearly it was delicious.
First, the news: Patrick is officially and gainfully employed by a local company called Free Geek. They are a non-profit organization that recycles and refurbishes old computers. There are some other functions that they perform, but those are the primary operations of the company. He had been interning there for a few months when a position opened up in the company and they asked him to apply. Friday was his first paid day and we decided we had to celebrate.
Some of you may know that we love Asian markets and Asian snack foods of all varieties. Patrick is immensely fond of bean cakes (sweet bean paste wrapped in mochi) and I find fish flavored crackers and dried seaweed to be more delightful than is sane. I bought these, because I had been intrigued by them since seeing something similar on the episode of Top Gear where Jeremy Clarkson races Richard Hammond and James May across Japan.
Look carefully. Those are tiny crabs that have been dried whole, likely fried a bit, and coated in a lightly sweet sesame flavoring. If you find the smell of fish nauseating, I don't recommend that you attempt to eat them. Patrick puts up with my love of things like this for some odd reason. I haven't figured out why.
We bought some other odds and ends things at the market, and came home well pleased with our bounty.
This was on Saturday night, and while we still have plenty of Asian snacking delights left, we did choose to try and use up our CSA box contents for dinner last night. We didn't transition back into the world of CSA right away upon returning from the holidays - as evidenced by the current state of our fruit bowl.
It has been a struggle to sit down and plan meals based entirely on the produce in our refrigerator. On Saturday, I finally broke down and emptied every last item from the fridge, cataloged our produce selection in my meal planning document, and washed out the crisper drawer which was in severe need. I roasted beets which I really need to pickle today, and made a plan of attack for the rest of the items in our stock pile.
One such recipe that would use one head of red cabbage was a recipe called Penne with Cabbage and Cumin. I was intrigued by the recipe even if a little wary. So we made it. I initially found the recipe here, but have altered it to be gluten free. A fairly simple feat in this case. My altered recipe is below.
____________________________________________
Gluten Free Penne with Cabbage and Cumin adapted from Almost Vegetarian by Diana Shaw
2 teaspoons olive oil
1 onion, thinly sliced
1 large carrot, peeled, thinly sliced (any color carrot will do fine)
2 cups shredded red cabbage
1 medium potato, peeled and sliced paper thin
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
4 oz. fontina or taleggio cheese, thinly sliced
3 cups gluten free pasta (macaroni or penne is best)
Heat the oil in a large non stick skillet (or use more oil if using a regular skillet) over medium heat. When hot, add the onion, carrot, cabbage, potato, and cumin, and saute until the onion is soft and limp, about 8 minutes. Cover and let steam until the cabbage is very tender and the potato has cooked through, about 12 minutes. Turn off the heat. (NOTE: This took a bit more time in my case, and probably a cup of water added periotically, but I have cast iron and it doesn't function the same as non-stick)
Meanwhile, cook the pasta according to package directions. Drain, then quickly toss it into the skillet, along with the cabbage mixture and the cheese. Toss briskly with two wooden spoons and serve at once, in warmed bowls.
____________________________________________
Clearly it was delicious.
Monday, January 16, 2012
Christmas Presents, Food Photos, and a Story of a Pumpkin
Here is our pumpkin as of Friday in the early afternoon.
This pumpkin had been sitting on our kitchen counter for about a month. Prior to this, it had sat in our friend's home for some indeterminate amount of time.
I partly cut it open to see if it was still good, and I partly cut it open to use in this recipe. I love all winter squash, and I had some other variety in the wings if the pumpkin turned out to be misleading me. The pumpkin, it seemed, was fine.
The pumpkin in question was specifically a sugar pumpkin, or sugar pie pumpkin. I spent time researching this when I first became the new owner of said pumpkin. I considered making all sorts of dishes with this pumpkin before we left for our Christmas holiday, but simply ran out of the time and energy to do so. Speaking of the Christmas holiday, Patrick and I spent three weeks in Southern California enjoying the lack of weather. There were a few days when the temperatures reached almost 90 degrees. I was in heaven.
We spent the day of Christmas both at my parents' house and also at his. We opted to take the train down to his parents' in order to avoid holiday crazies and a two hour drive. This also set up the scenario for our parents to meet when my folks came down to pick us up.
But back to Christmas. More specifically, back to the presents we got at Christmas.
For Christmas, I got a new digital camera from my parents. Patrick got the new Zelda game, Skyward Sword. From his parents we got some wonderful gloves and I got a scarf that I have already put to excellent use. Among these and other things, we also got some mesquite powder. Little was Patrick's mother aware that I have been mildly obsessed with this powder since I discovered gluten free food blogs. Specifically the blog Gluten Free For Good. Early on in my change to a gluten free life, I came across a recipe for chocolate chip cookies that called for mesquite powder and used duck eggs. At the time, we had procured some duck eggs from I don't remember where. None of them were used for baking that I recall, which is unfortunate as their yolks are much bigger and they have a richness that you can't get out of chicken eggs. I believe they were eaten on their own... not really advisable, I assure you. As we never again procured duck eggs, I also never got around to purchasing mesquite powder.
On Saturday I set out to toast my pumpkin seeds that I had scooped from the flesh of my pumpkin and rinsed the day before (See how awesome my new camera is?!). I used the recipe found here, which is the site of a local pumpkin patch. I used the savory recipe and real butter. After they had baked, I finished them off with some salt, a little freshly ground pepper, and a dash of chili powder. They were completely fabulous!
I also wanted to make cookies using the mesquite powder. I did not have chocolate chips or duck eggs, but I did have gluten free oats and golden raisins. I went in search of a recipe that called for ingredients that I had on hand. I came across this site, and on it was a recipe for Mesquite Oatmeal Raisin Cookies. These turned out fabulously made with Cup4Cup as a direct substitute for All-Purpose flour and the Mesquite powder adds a hint of chocolatey-ness to the cookies. The cookies were so delicious that I never managed to take a picture of them as a finished product.
For dinner, I made the gnocchi recipe mentioned above. These were also too delicious to bother taking a picture of the finished product... whoops.
In the future, I hope to be more diligent about documenting my food preparation since I have such a nice camera to do the documentations! For now, however, this will have to do. You should know that it has taken me three drafts of blogs and the last two days to finally get something new posted. I hope to be back to my regular schedule from now on.
As a parting gift, here are some more pictures of food.
... and a strange picture of my home that I took while playing with my camera...
This pumpkin had been sitting on our kitchen counter for about a month. Prior to this, it had sat in our friend's home for some indeterminate amount of time.
I partly cut it open to see if it was still good, and I partly cut it open to use in this recipe. I love all winter squash, and I had some other variety in the wings if the pumpkin turned out to be misleading me. The pumpkin, it seemed, was fine.
The pumpkin in question was specifically a sugar pumpkin, or sugar pie pumpkin. I spent time researching this when I first became the new owner of said pumpkin. I considered making all sorts of dishes with this pumpkin before we left for our Christmas holiday, but simply ran out of the time and energy to do so. Speaking of the Christmas holiday, Patrick and I spent three weeks in Southern California enjoying the lack of weather. There were a few days when the temperatures reached almost 90 degrees. I was in heaven.
We spent the day of Christmas both at my parents' house and also at his. We opted to take the train down to his parents' in order to avoid holiday crazies and a two hour drive. This also set up the scenario for our parents to meet when my folks came down to pick us up.
But back to Christmas. More specifically, back to the presents we got at Christmas.
For Christmas, I got a new digital camera from my parents. Patrick got the new Zelda game, Skyward Sword. From his parents we got some wonderful gloves and I got a scarf that I have already put to excellent use. Among these and other things, we also got some mesquite powder. Little was Patrick's mother aware that I have been mildly obsessed with this powder since I discovered gluten free food blogs. Specifically the blog Gluten Free For Good. Early on in my change to a gluten free life, I came across a recipe for chocolate chip cookies that called for mesquite powder and used duck eggs. At the time, we had procured some duck eggs from I don't remember where. None of them were used for baking that I recall, which is unfortunate as their yolks are much bigger and they have a richness that you can't get out of chicken eggs. I believe they were eaten on their own... not really advisable, I assure you. As we never again procured duck eggs, I also never got around to purchasing mesquite powder.
On Saturday I set out to toast my pumpkin seeds that I had scooped from the flesh of my pumpkin and rinsed the day before (See how awesome my new camera is?!). I used the recipe found here, which is the site of a local pumpkin patch. I used the savory recipe and real butter. After they had baked, I finished them off with some salt, a little freshly ground pepper, and a dash of chili powder. They were completely fabulous!
I also wanted to make cookies using the mesquite powder. I did not have chocolate chips or duck eggs, but I did have gluten free oats and golden raisins. I went in search of a recipe that called for ingredients that I had on hand. I came across this site, and on it was a recipe for Mesquite Oatmeal Raisin Cookies. These turned out fabulously made with Cup4Cup as a direct substitute for All-Purpose flour and the Mesquite powder adds a hint of chocolatey-ness to the cookies. The cookies were so delicious that I never managed to take a picture of them as a finished product.
For dinner, I made the gnocchi recipe mentioned above. These were also too delicious to bother taking a picture of the finished product... whoops.
In the future, I hope to be more diligent about documenting my food preparation since I have such a nice camera to do the documentations! For now, however, this will have to do. You should know that it has taken me three drafts of blogs and the last two days to finally get something new posted. I hope to be back to my regular schedule from now on.
As a parting gift, here are some more pictures of food.
... and a strange picture of my home that I took while playing with my camera...
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