Random's Window

A sister's visit and grilled vegetables

2011-08-12T13:20:00.000-07:00

Last week was wonderful because my sister came to visit.

On Wednesday we went to the farmer's market.

We always have a lot of fun together grocery shopping, and farmer's markets are especially fun. You always get so much local variety, and almost everything is fresh; it's the next best thing after growing your own food. We spent a while wandering up and down the row of booths, sampling and nibbling on our lunch of (very delicious) locally made pupusas. Finally we made our selections, and walked off with our arms full of eggplants, a beautiful basket of assorted cucumbers, pluots, fresh tomatoes, and a beautiful purple bell pepper!

For dinner we pulled out my cast iron stove top grill, and made a fabulous grilled vegetable medley of onions, baby bella mushrooms, the purple bell pepper, tomatoes, zucchini, garlic scapes, and rosemary.

All this we paired with a frisee and cherry tomato salad with fig balsamic vinegar dressing, and smoked salmon. It was fresh, delicious, and a wonderful meal to share with my sister!

A Ribeye Birthday

2011-07-31T11:16:00.000-07:00

A couple days ago my mother had a birthday, and I was lucky enough to be able to fly out to my hometown to celebrate with her. So I decided to make her a special birthday dinner. Both my mother and I love red meat, so I went to the store (Berkeley Bowl is AMAZING by the way) and bought us a couple 100% grass fed, organic ribeye steaks, along with some purple carrots and baby artichokes.

I cooked the steak by pan searing it on an iron skillet for a few minutes on each side to seal in the delicious juices, and then finished it off in the oven. This was the first time I'd cooked a steak this way on my own, and in this novice state I mis-remembered that the most commonly used fat for pan searing is butter, and thought it was olive oil. Well, it turned out that my mother was out of olive oil. This made me nervous, here I was with these beautiful cuts of meat, making my mother's birthday dinner, and I had to cook them with coconut oil? But they turned out great. In fact coconut oil has an extremely high smoking temperature, which makes it ideal for this kind of cooking. Sometimes I find the taste of coconut oil to be a bit overwhelming, but this time it remained relatively subtle, which was great as I really wanted to let the ribeye itself be the star of the night.

My mother doesn't drink at all, so I couldn't fall back on the pan sauce method I've used before of sauteing onions or garlic in the left over steak juice, adding some herbs and maybe some other vegetables such as mushrooms, and a liquor such as wine or whisky. Instead I added more coconut oil, some minced garlic, salt, and a heaping handful of fresh basil. I sauted it all for just a short bit so as to not let the garlic burn, and then poured it over the steak. The end result was a bit plainer than I normally would make a steak, but still quite delicious and beautiful as well!

The vegetables were very easy. I simply coated them in coconut oil, spread them out on a baking pan, and baked, sprinkling a bit of salt on top at the end.

Happy birthday mom!

Garden Update

2011-07-20T10:42:00.000-07:00

The carrots are ready! Not only are these carrots interesting because they're rainbow carrots but also just for the unique shapes many of them grow in.

This one is a favorite:

The peppers are also starting to come along...and they're SPICY!

And finally the mystery plant (anyone have an idea what it might be?). It had been growing among our peppers, and was so interesting and different than we let it keep growing until now out of pure curiosity.

Marczyk's Garlic Scape and Almond Pesto

2011-07-14T16:02:00.000-07:00

I was in the mood for something different. I like to think I'm a fairly capable cook. I don't really know what I'm doing, but my dishes generally turn out relatively scrumptious. And I definitely have a comfort zone that I've made before and know will turn out. Vegetable sautes, salads, and egg dishes are the easiest for me to whip up; who needs a recipe for a salad? But I wanted to go outside my zone; cook a meat I'd never done before, or something involving pasta (which I've actually only made once), or maybe pastry dough. So I went to Marczyk, my local high-quality grocery store to poke around for inspiration.

Now Generally I shy away from receiving any customer service telling everyone who offers to help me find something that I'm fine. And as usual when asked, I responded that I was just browsing around, and hadn't decided what I was making, just that I wanted to make something I'd never made before. This gave me a highly unexpected response. Not only did two staff members spend at least 10 minutes just talking to me about cooking, what I'd made before, what I felt like making, until we hit upon a main course, but then one of them, David I believe, walked all over the store helping me select the best ingredients and giving me both tips and samples. Even for someone as customer service shy as I it was an awesome experience to get so much knowledgable cooking help, and further more the meal that resulted was fantastic!

Menu:

Fresh greens salad with rainbow carrots and radishes and balsamic dressing

Garlic scape pesto and mozzarella bruschetta

Sea salt caramel gelato

Garlic Scape and Almond Pesto Recipe

10 garlic scapes, finely chopped

1/3-1/2 cup finely grated parmesan

1/3 cup slivered, lightly toasted, almonds

about 1/2 cup olive oil

sea salt

lemon juice to taste

Yield is approximately one cup

Combine scapes, 1/3 cup of cheese, almonds, and half the olive oil in a food processor.

Blend all ingredients, then add remaining oil, and more cheese if desired.

Season with salt and Lemon.

If you're not going to use the pesto immediately, press a piece of plastic against the surface to keep it from oxidizing.

Real Garden Fresh

2011-06-26T08:47:00.000-07:00

When I was young and growing up in California my mother and I planted a wonderful vegetable garden. We grew carrots, Indian corn, artichokes, and pumpkins. I loved the satisfaction that came from pulling up a carrot straight from the ground and popping it into my mouth. I spent hours pretending to be Laura from Little House On The Prairie making corn husk dolls. Beyond our vegetable garden we had many different fruits, plums, strawberries, guava, lemons, kumquats and loquats!

Nowadays, with the strong appreciation of fresh from the garden goods that my mother imbued in me, I try to keep a few herbs growing in my apartment windowsill, but of course I miss the bountiful garden of my childhood. So I was excited when my boyfriend asked if I wanted to work with him on a vegetable garden at his place. Of course I did!

He has four main planters in which we put...

Spinach, kale, chard, and lettuce

basil, oregano, parsley, cilantro, rosemary, and sage

Carrots, onions, garlic, chives, turnips, and radishes.

Tomatoes, peas, cucumber, raspberries, and strawberries!

And now, the lettuce and greens box, which had grown at almost a startlingly fast rate, was ready to be harvested for the first time! We went out and picked a collection of all the different kinds of leaves, which we washed, tossed with some balsamic vinegar and olive oil, and served in a truly delicious and simple salad. The flavors in fresh from your garden vegetables are often so much more intense, every mouthful was a bit of a surprise!

To accompany the salad my boyfriend made a fantastic and very pretty caprese salad with some heirloom yellow tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, basil, and more balsamic and olive oil.

I can't wait until it's time to harvest some other parts of the garden!

The First Steak

2011-05-31T11:52:00.000-07:00

I was so excited to find this steak. As I have explained in previous posts, I was, for several years, vegetarian. Even now, I don't eat much meat, as I'll only eat meat that has been raised with extremely high standards of humane treatment. Ad this, grass fed, locally raised, fit the bill!

But I was nervous. Though I used to pride myself on making great steaks (who doesn't though), it had been so long, I had virtually forgotten how to do so! But luckily, my boyfriend also loves cooking, so I turned the steak over to him for the night, and resigned myself to watching and learning.

His favorite method for steak is to start by pan frying (to seal in the juices) and to finish by baking in the oven. I'd never cooked a steak this way before, so unfortunately, my sparse kitchen supplies didn't include a pan large enough for the steak! Hense a night-time run to the store was called for.

Once we were situated with the proper pans, we began the process. First he liberally rubbed Lawrey's seasoned salt all over the steak. Then he heated a liberal amount of olive oil in the skillet, sauteed some onions, added some herbs and dropped in the steak. One does not want to move the steak at all until it is time to flip it, this ensures that the delicious steak juices are sealed inside. Once each side was cooked for a few minutes, he moved the pan into the oven to cook the inside a bit...not too much! I like my meat a it bloody :)

While the steak cooked, we went back to the skillet to take the remaining olive oil, now deliciously imbued with steak flavor, and pan a pan sauce to pour over the steak when serving. We added mushrooms, herbs, and red wine...the result was savory and amazing.

To go with the steak I made polenta cakes topped with soft goat cheese, a frisee, herloom tomato salad with balsamic vinaigrette, and a very nice italian red wine. And in the end? To me, steak had never tasted so good.

Scallops and a surprise move

2011-04-24T20:50:00.000-07:00

Wow...
It's been a while. And so much has happened! It was so hard for me to even start this post because I simply didn't know where to begin. I've moved - it was very last minute to say the least - and unexpected, even to me...I was offered a new job (starting immediately) dancing with a company back in Colorado, and I jumped on it. I packed up my stuff and drove to colorado. The whole move took me just under a week, but what a week! It was by far the most stressful move I've ever made.

I'm determined to keep my soirees going, so once I got my kitchen and new apartment (which I loooove... it's a great old building, built in the 30's, very cute) somewhat functional, I made cooking plans with a good friend. we made scallops! I've decided that wild scallops meet my extremely particular "must be treated humanely" criteria. Especially as they, well, don't even have brains.

This was the first time I was going to have had scallops in years, and I was super excited. I love scallops; seriously, I love them. I even wrote a poem about how amazing they are in high school. I was a bit nervous about cooking them properly after so long. So I skyped my mother for advice, and googled scallop cooking for backup. We settled on baking the scallops with just a bit of salt and basil.

According to our internet research, scallops are done when they feel like a "gently flexed bicep." Unfortunately, I don't make a habit of feeling people's gently flexed biceps, so I wasn't entirely sure what I was checking for, but they still turned out just about perfect.

To accompany the scallops we made a vegetable dish of steamed asparagus mixed with sauteed onions, button mushrooms and cherry tomatoes. And finally, we made little baked polenta cakes with more salt and basil. These are very easy to make, as the polenta comes pre-cooked in a long plastic tube, which you then simply cut into slices, and re-heat. Delicious!

Snow day gingerbread Pancakes

2011-02-11T20:26:00.000-08:00

We have been having the oddest weather here in TX. It's cold! Snowing, and icing. No one here is prepared for the snow, so the roads are never cleared. Thus, even the slightest amount of snow coverage causes mass alarm among the natives; stores are closed, people hold onto fence posts while walking...Coming here from Colorado, I must admit I find all the hullabaloo rather amusing...

We have now had a grand total of 5 snow days within the past two weeks. So what is one to do when in Texas with even the Walmart closing early? Cook of course! Wednesday morning I made, along with two fabulous people, my regular cooking buddy J and her beau, some delicious gingerbread pancakes!

Ahem...in the sake of honesty I should mention one hiccup I had in the making of these pancakes. In a state of absentmindedness I accidentally substituted 1/2 t garlic powder for the 1/2 t ginger powder. And also garnished the pancakes with more garlic powder. Oops. Amazingly, they were still quite good. I was a bit mortified, but luckily my friends have a good since of humor!

Recipe from allrecipes.com

The Second Saturday Soiree

2011-02-04T08:46:00.000-08:00

As a child I could never understand vegetarians; and thought they were, for the most part, insufferably annoying.

Then of course, I went vegetarian.

This did not happen overnight, but I actually can't remember when or how the transition began for me. What I do know is why.

I became aware of where meat comes from. This sounds stupid, from animals of course! But most meat consumed in the US dosen't simply come from a cow, it comes from a factory farmed cow. And factory farming entails some of the most hideous abuses to animals. This that one would NEVER do to a pet dog or cat, but to a pig (which are actually smarter than both dogs and cats)... no problem! For instance...

Breeding sows are kept in tiny gestation crates only two feet wide, so small they cannot even turn around, and are kept in a continuous cycle of pregnancy.
Kept in horribly overcrowded conditions chickens often become aggressive attacking other birds. To prevent this they have part of their beaks cut off - without anesthesia.
The slaughterhouse itself is often a nightmare for animals. Most animals are shackled upside down by their ankles and killed via electrical stunning, invariably some animals are not killed by the stun and then proceed, fully conscious to the next stage - the scalding tank where the animals are boiled alive.
Many animals are born and raised entirely indoors and do not see the daylight until they are shipped to slaughter.
For more information and sources please go to: http://www.farmsanctuary.org, images of factory farming, http://www.idausa.org, and http://www.factoryfarmmap.org/

However, after a couple years of total vegetarianism, it occurred to me that, as I'm really just protesting the inhumane treatment of animals we consume, it didn't make any since for me to also boycott farms that go the extra mile, and actually treat their animals well. So, for the past half-year or so, I've slowly begun to occasionally cook and eat meat again. Before buying any meat I do thorough research on where it came from; labeling can be mis-leading. Most of the meat from larger commercial farms, even those labeled "organic and free range" are often not actually treated that well...from United Poultry Concerns website (http://www.upc-online.org) :

"Birds raised for meat may be sold as 'free-range' if they have government certified access to the outdoors. The door may be open for only five minutes and the farm still qualifies as 'free-range.' "

For this Saturday Soiree I bought both ground beef and buffalo from local family-owned farms. And I was excited!

Our Menu:

Spinach dip twist with crudités

Tomato and cilantro soup

Fresh butter lettuce salad

Buffalo and beef sliders with goat cheese and arugula on biscuits

J made the dip; composed of mostly greek yogurt, a bit of mayonaise, various herbs and spices, and of course spinach it was very very yummy!

The soup we adapted from the Best Ever Indian Cookbook. It was fun and simple to make, and perfect for a comforting meal in the chilly winter.

Tomato and Cilantro Soup adapted from the Best Ever Indian Cookbook

1 and 1/2 lb tomatos, peeled and chopped plus 1 box Pomi chopped tomatos
1/2 T oil
4+ scallions, chopped
a couple cloves garlic, crushed
salt to taste
black pepper to taste
at least 1/4 cup cilantro
at least 6 cups water/vegetable broth
1 T cornstarch

Peel tomatos by boiling for 30 seconds to a minute then remove at let cool until easily handled. Skin should now easily peel off. The roughly chop tomatos. Heat oil in large sauce pan and saute tomatos and scallions until soft. Gradually add the salt, garlic, pepper and cilantro. Pour in water and let simmer over low heat for 15-20 minutes. Meanwhile dissolve cornstarch into a bit of cold water until forms a thick and creamy paste. Add cornstarch to soup and stir over low heat for about 3 more minutes. Enjoy!

As to the sliders, well they were delicious!

The First Saturday Soiree

2011-01-24T20:49:00.000-08:00

If anyone has not yet figured out my secret, I enjoy cooking greatly; cooking for others, even more so. I also think that cooking with others can be a lot of fun. Last Saturday a good friend, "J" and I got together to cook up a special dinner to celebrate the end of the week, and to simply unwind a bit. After much sifting through recipes and serious deliberation, we decided upon a menu.

The First Saturday Soiree Menu

Okra Marsala

Kimchi Jun (kimchi pancake)

Butter lettuce salad

So the menu was a bit all over the map that night, but it ended up going together quite nicely!

Taking pictures was the tricky part, I really must get a new camera, and some decent lighting in my apartment. My regular camera is awful when it comes to night/dimly light photography, and so I actually end up taking many of my foodie photos with my cell phone! This time, I enlisted the aid of my cooking buddy, so while I clicked away with my phone, she held our one (floor) lamp aloft in order to give me a bit more lighting! It was really quite silly, and also proves that J is both very awesome, and very patient :)

Later that night we were joined by another friend, and we dug in! Both dishes were hits, I am a humongous okra fanatic; and have an intense love of pickled things (i.e. kimchi!). Conveniently, J. is pretty much the same on both fronts. Neither of my friends had had kimchi before, but we all loved the pancakes! The only revision we decided would improve them would be a greater ratio of kimchi to flour.

Kimchi Pancake recipe can be found here: allrecipes.com

I thought the okra was good, but could use a bit more flavor, however, this was a bit to be expected as I was missing a couple of the Indian spices the recipe calls for...ah improvisation!

The Berkeley Cafe

2011-01-08T16:29:00.000-08:00

The abundance of cute, little cafes in Berkeley is amazing. I never really appreciated this until recently, but now, working in Fort Worth where one is hard pressed to find anything beyond Starbucks.

So, when I got an opportunity to go back to Berkeley over our Winter layoff at the Ballet Company where I work, and I thought I'd do a little write up about a couple of my favorite cafes.

Elmwood Cafe is an new one for me. They opened not too long ago, in the space previously occupied by Ozzy's Soda Fountain, a much loved local institution that sadly went under a couple years ago. I went here with my sister for an afternoon game of cards and chai lattes. They serve their chai in large handleless mugs, almost like bowls, which is oh so satisfying to sip from on a chilly Nor Cal winter afternoon. I have yet to eat here, but everything looked totally amazing. Being the biscuit freak I am, I can't wait to try their insanely flaky and delectable looking biscuits! For an added bonus, many of their ingredients are organic and sourced locally.

Another favorite is Nabolom Bakery. Nabolom, is perhaps the most "Berkeley" cafe of all Berkeley cafes. A worker owned collective, Nabolom takes it's name from ancient Mayan language and means "house of the jaguar". Nabalom also composts 90% of it's waste, and clearly lists which of it's menu options are vegan, wheat free, and gluten free, making it an easy place for people of just about any diet to eat at.

It's a cozy, friendly place. Great for informal brainstorming sessions, studying, and just relaxing. Last time I visited a homeless man drew and gave my sister and I this picture. Everything I've had here has been delicious, but I especially recommend their croissants, fresh, flaky, and plenty buttery!

Thanksgiving and old memories

2010-12-02T20:44:00.000-08:00

Ah, Thanksgiving. The holiday about being grateful, celebrated by elaborate feasts. Growing up, my favorite part of the holiday was the family. I have a very small family, I can count my entire family (siblings, aunts, cousins, grandparents, the whole lot) on my two hands. But despite our small size, our family has always been very spread out and Thanksgiving was the only time of year where we'd all be together.

As the years have passed, my family has only gotten increasingly spread out, I moved away to take my first job dancing ballet professionally, and much of my other family moved far far away - the sun never sets on my family's empire"! Further, as a ballet dancer, I'm dancing Nutcracker throughout the holiday season, which means I have no time to go home. All in all, we no longer have our family Thanksgivings anymore. Instead, I, along with whatever other dancers have no family in the area, hold "Orphan Thanksgivings". We all make a couple dishes, get together and share in our delicious food and each other's company! It's usually ends up being quite fun, even if we do miss our families.

This year I made three dishes for the Orphan Thanksgiving. Cranberry sauce (my favorite thanksgiving food), my mother's cornbread (the best cornbread ever!), and a festive fall salad.

Fall pear and frisse salad:

I have a thing against using recipes when making salads, mine are always created off the top of my head, and never measured, hence I do not have an exact recipe to give, only ingredients and hints!

mixed baby greens, this is the base of your salad

frisse lettuce (2 small heads)

two pears (I like mine nice and crisp, so they slice nicely)

a small handful of cranberries for color

sliced fennel

red grapes, I used the seedless holiday grapes from central market, they are amazing!
simple balsamic vinaigrette

My mother's cornbread is a classic, and always comforting, favorite of mine. This cornbread uses less "filler" flours than many other cornbreads, and the result is a denser, flavorful loaf. For a special twist my mother would mix in whole berries to the batter. My favorites to use are raspberries or fresh cranberries (dried if you want a sweeter taste).

My Mother's Cornbread

1 and 1/2 cups cornmeal or grits

1/2 cups other flour (preferably a gluten free flour, but whole wheat can also be used)

1 t. salt

2 t. baking powder

1 and 1/2 cups milk/yogurt

1-2 eggs

2 T oil

1 T honey/maple syrup (add more if a sweeter taste is desired)

fresh or dried berries. I've even used apple slices - laid thin across the top - delicious and pretty!

The cranberry sauce I've now made for the last two "orphan thanksgivings" I've attended. The recipe includes orange, and so is quite zesty and has always been a hit! Recipe can be found at: allrecipes.com

Hope you all had a very happy holiday!

Dinner Party Vegetables

2010-10-18T11:09:00.000-07:00

After finishing the first run of performances, my friends and I were all feeling a bit stretched thin, and I was (and still am) having a bit of a hard time getting my bearings in this strange new land of Texas. But we realized we had made it about a quarter of the way through our performance season, and to celebrate the milestone me and a few friends threw ourselves a fabulous dinner party!

Our menu:

Roasted vegetables (my contribution)

Fried Rice

Tamale Pie

And for desert:

Brownies

Blackstrap Molasses Cookies (my other contribution)

I didn't follow a recipe for my vegetables, (which turned out quite delicious) but there was a general idea behind the whole thing... :).

Preheat oven to 450 degrees fahrenheit Chop veggies. I used cauliflower, bell pepper, and zucchini; other good ones to use include brussels sprouts, carrots, and yams. and combine together in a large bowl. Add olive oil, at least two teaspoons to the bowl of vegetables. Mix veggies so they are coated with oil. Add spices (I believe I used salt, pepper, and garlic powder). Lay vegetables in a single layer on a baking sheet and bake for 20 min, turning 2-3 times. Raise temperature to 500 degrees fahrenheit and cook several more minutes, until tender. Add about 2 teaspoons of lemon juice and serve hot!

Sprouted bagel lunch

2010-10-08T19:24:00.000-07:00

A year or so ago, I cam across a breakfast sandwich recipe involving a sprouted bagel. Ever since then, I've craved a sprouted wheat bagel. I'm not really sure why, it just sounded exceptionally delicious.

About two weeks ago, I found sprouted wheat bagels in the frozen bread section of Central Market (the closest thing there is to a Whole Foods in Fort Worth). I was so excited! I actually never got around to making the specific recipe, but for the next few days I made delicious lunch sandwiches with the bagels.

I didn't follow a recipe, or even bother to make up my own recipe for the lunch sandwiches. I did however make up a basic formula, which I branched off of most days; Sprouted wheat bagel, a thick spread of hummus, cheese, and a vegetable (usually spinach leaves). Then I'd heat it up right before eating so the cheese was all melty and warm....mmm :)

Stepping Out with French Toast

2010-09-21T14:53:00.000-07:00

When I started this blog I was very big on anonymity. My moniker would be "Random" and no one (except my close friends) would know my true identity. But now I see that this was perhaps a bit overboard, as my policy of ultra secrecy stops me from talking about how the food I make fits in with my life. As cooking is something I really enjoy, the two are hard to completely separate. So starting today I will start to reveal more about who Random really is, for I know you all have been just dying to know :)

I recently moved from Colorado to Texas for my job - ballet dancer. On one of my first days here I made an old favorite of mine, french toast. My favorite bread for french toast is a good quality sourdough, but the bread I got was a como loaf from Super Walmart (in Colorado my local grocery store was a Whole Foods, and now it's Walmart...). However, it surprised me by actually being pretty good bread!

When it comes to French toast, I'm a purist, and my recipe is simple:

Good quality fresh bakery bread such as a sourdough.
Eggs

Either coat pan with butter or cooking spray and thoroughly drench bread in lightly beaten eggs. Place bread on heated pan. Cook until first side is slightly browned and then flip to other side. Repeat until cooked through and slightly crisp (but be careful to not overcook and burn the toast!). Enjoy.

Green Tea Mousse Cheesecake

2010-08-27T12:45:00.000-07:00

It was decided that I would make a cheesecake. But what kind? Cheesecake is simply too good! Finally, we decided that green tea was a winner. I, and the person I was making the cake for, both love green tea flavored deserts, so it sounded challenging, but perfect.

First, I had to find the matcha powder. I knew, in the worst case senario that there was an asian market...somewhere...a bit of a drive away where I was sure I could get some. But I was hoping to not have to make the drive. Instead I went to my local whole foods, where I found some sweetened matcha powder. The original recipe calls for unsweetened matcha, but I figured that I could just reduce the amount of sugar added to the recipe and it would work out.

I had a rather dramatic time preparing the cheesecake, but this was mostly due to my incorrect kitchen tools. Whisking one and a half cups of heavy cream 'till it's stiff with nothing more than a hand whisk can lead to vast issues of frustration. Especially when you whisk it for at least 20 minutes and then proceed to spill it all over your kitchen. But in the end (armed with a fresh container of cream and a friend's electric blender) it was finished, and it was delicious!

Recipe from allrecipes.com

Vegetable Extravaganza Soup

2010-07-29T14:04:00.000-07:00

I recently went through a soup phase. All I wanted was soup. And, as result, I made and ate ALOT of soup. Although I made a different soup every time, after a while I found a basic structure that I used, from which I was able to make reliably delicious vegetable filled soups.

I don't follow a recipe with these soups, but after a while, I figured out a basic formula that enables me to consistently make delicious veggie soups!

First, for the broth I'd start by sauteing either tomatoes, onions, or both. After they start releasing their juices I add a water for the broth. Optional add-ins for flavor: soy/tamari sauce, herbs (I especially liked using hot red pepper flakes, because I like it spicy!), various vinegars (I typically used brown rice vinegar), and miso paste

For the Vegetable part of the soup, I never add in the same ingredients, but my favorites are:

Cabbage (especially nappa or savoy)

Bok choy

Bell peppers

Jalapeno or serrano peppers

Wakame or other sea vegetable

Mushrooms of all kinds

An egg, cooked in the broth as you would for egg drop soup

Sprouts (to be added in at the last instant)

Pink Quinoa

2010-06-13T20:27:00.000-07:00

So, it's been a long time since I've posted. About a month! This mostly has been due to some...technical issues. Mainly, that my computer has so little memory space left, I literally was unable to upload any photos! However, now that I deleted some rather major programs (including accidentally removing my CD burning software), I've finally been able to add some new pics!

I hadn't made Quinoa in quite a while, and I'd forgotten how good it is. Quinoa makes a great hot breakfast cereal, or as a nice alternative to standard rice in soups or pilafs. This time I decided to make a fruity breakfast cereal. I cooked the Quinoa for about 10 minutes, added a good helping of frozen mixed berries to the pot, and cooked the whole thing for about another 10 minutes. Result? Delicious, pink, berry-flavored, breakfast cereal!

Gluten free pizza!

2010-05-06T20:25:00.000-07:00

In April, I got quite sick. Then, almost immediately after I began feeling better, I managed to give myself 3rd degree burns making oatmeal on my stove top one morning. I also spent a large portion of April craving pizza. In an effort to satisate my seeming unsatisable desire for pizza, I went to Natural Grocers, my new favorite grocery store (a bit on the smaller side, but they carry just about everything that I normally get, and they're cheaper than Whole Foods!), and picked up a package of "free" pizza crusts. They are so named because they are free of gluten, as well as 6 other common allergies. Not yeast free, however, which was a disappointment because I have family allergic to both gluten and yeast.

The crusts are definitely different. They are made partially out of tapioca flour, which, in my experience, has a rather bland taste. But I find their final flavor to be quite tasty. They are also very filling, and surprisingly low calorie!

I made several different kinds of pizza. My favorite may be the breakfast pizzas I made with eggs on top. This one was a veggie pizza I made. I used sliced tomatoes instead of regular pizza sauce, mushrooms, green onions, and a bit of tomato paste. Simple, but delicious!

nom nom nom :)

Spring flowers

2010-04-15T18:43:00.000-07:00

Well it finally actually feels like spring here in Colorado. Of course I'm much to sick to enjoy it. But before I got sick I was able to take a few photos of this wonderful, new, greener, and warmer, colorado.

Such classically cheery flowers!

I must admit, here in Colorado one has to look much harder to find flowers than in California, where we are practically over-run with flowers! A fact I never appreciated, or even realized, until I moved away.

Such a charming building. It looked to me like an acient monestary, or the house of a very wise but mysterious reculse. They had more flowers than anyone else I saw...and I walked for almost two hours.

A close-up of their delightful garden gate.

Siamese mushrooms

2010-03-13T18:53:00.000-08:00

I love mushrooms.

Alot.

Normally, I cook with button mushrooms (the little white ones often seen in grocery stores...properly called agaricus mushrooms) because not only do I like their taste, but they're the cheapest.

Occasionally, however, I'll splurge and get a different kind of mushroom.

About a week ago or so, I was at my favorite store (Whole Foods), picking out Crimini mushrooms from the bulk bin, when I happened upon two siamese twin mushrooms!

I thought they were super cool, so here they are:

Spanakopita Casserole

2010-03-11T18:22:00.000-08:00

Clean Eating, is my new favorite cooking magazine. It contains so many recipes, all healthful, but totally delicious looking! I love ethnic foods, and I was delighted to see that the current issue of clean eating had a feature on Greek food. The first recipe I made from the collection, was a spanakopita casserole. Now I love spanakopita. Spinach, delicate pastry, and cheese? How can you go wrong with that? Well...
I'd never worked with Phyllo dough before, so that was an adventure of it's own. In the end the crust part turned out fine, though I learned that Phyllo needs quite a while to properly thaw, and it can NOT be worked with until it has thawed.

The end result, was while decent, a bit bland. I felt like it was overly spinach-y, and needed more cheese, salt, spices, something, to balance it out...I'll post the recipe if I find a modification that makes the recipe really work!

Vegan Crustless Quiche

2010-03-01T13:32:00.000-08:00

I found this recipe on the blog Fat Free Vegan Kitchen. Now, I'm not vegan, nor do I really worry about food being fat free (I'm of the opinion that some fat is good for you!). But they do have great pictures on the site, and I enjoy reading the blog for inspiration. I was particularly taken with this recipe because...

1. The picture on Fat Free Vegan Kitchen looked totally delicious and

2. I love quiche, and the thought of miniature quiches that I could make in muffin tins was so appealing that I just had to try it.

The end result was, I must say, while decent, not all that great. I probably won’t make this recipe again unless I'm told I must make quiche for a vegan. However, the idea of quiche in a muffin tin? Genius! And a great way to make quiches for my gluten intolerant mother! Though I think next time I’ll try it with the sundried tomato pesto quiche filling I’ve used before instead.

Men At Work

2010-02-25T19:52:00.000-08:00

This is a great song, and a great music video from back in the day...makes me smile every time :)

I think my favorite part is the "vegemite sandwich".

Guinness, Chocolate, and Valentines day

2010-02-21T08:41:00.000-08:00

Chocolate Guinness Cheesecake, I decided, would be the perfect gift for Valentines day. So one night (a few days ahead) I went out, got all the ingredients I needed, came back, and worked from about 9:30pm 'till 1:00am making the perfect cheesecake. Then the next day, I, in a round about fashion, discovered that cheesecake really wasn't the best choice, and that something, pretty much anything, else would be more appreciated. I wanted it to be a really nice gift, o that night I baked a second cake, this time a regular Chocolate Guinness Cake. Then on Valentines day....surprise! You have two cakes!

My first order of business with the cheesecake was the graham cracker crust. I spent quite a while crushing tiny teddy-bear shaped chocolate graham cracker cookies with a spoon. How I longed for a mortar and pestle! Later I was informed that I could have simply put them in the blender/in a plastic bag and crushed them, how ingenious!

My next challenge with the cheesecake arrive when I realized that I had, stupidly, forgotten to pick up a bottle opener. As the was supposed to be a Chocolate Guinness Cheesecake, this was a potentially fatal error. First I tried the "open a beer bottle with another beer bottle" trick...this proved to be a fail. So I turned to my trusty friend, the internet, and google. I discovered the fork method, a bit time consuming, but in the end, I had an open Guinness.

Otherwise, the baking process went pretty smoothly, and the end result was fantastic! The other cake I made also turned out well, though the taste of the Guinness was much less noticeable, probably because of the flour. This cake also turned out to be very dense, and thick (also a tad bit difficult to get out of the pan, I'd advise a spring form), but still quite good.
Recipes:
Chocolate Guinness Cheesecake
Guinness Chocolate Cake
watch out with the Guinness Chocolate Cake...whoever wrote the recipe forgot to inculde the step where you add the sugar and chocolate!

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

2010-02-08T22:42:00.000-08:00

My friend's birthday (back in January) called for the baking of these delicious cookies. I'd never cooked with peanut butter before, but let me tell you, the crunchy peanut butter was supurb alongside the chocolate. Recipe from http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Chocolate-Peanut-Butter-Cookies/Detail.aspx

Hibachi!

2010-01-28T23:35:00.000-08:00

I recently went out with a bunch of friends to a great hibachi restaurant. Hibachi (which is more properly called Teppanyaki) is a form of Japanese food preparation where a combination of meats, vegetables, and noodles, are cooked on a flat top metal grill. In America, Teppanyaki restaurants often focus on the "show" aspect to the food preparation with the seating arranged around the grill. Let me tell you, not only is the show fantastic, (complete with volcanoes of fire), but so is the food! Seriously some of the best veggies and noodles I've ever had. And THATS a rave review.

These guys take their hibachi seriously!

Justice

2010-01-20T07:18:00.000-08:00

My good friend recently turned me onto an incredibly fascinating web series...Justice with Michael Sandel. Yes, it's a lecture series, from Harvard, not the new season of Grey's. When many people, including me sometimes, hear the word "lecture", the next words that are often thought of are not "riveting fascinating" but "oh no". Indeed, lectures, especially serial hour long lecture series, can be quite boring. But these, these are fascinating. Sandel is an excellent speaker, he's extremely intelligent but never looses his human aspect, or his since of gentle humor. The class interactions he sets up among his students are also extremely interesting and entertaining. Indeed, I find myself hanging onto Sandel's every word, and jealous of the students lucky enough to be in his class. Check it out! http://www.justiceharvard.org/

Sweet Potato Shepherd's Pie

2010-01-15T13:26:00.000-08:00

So early in January, I was so excited to find a recipe for sweet potato shepherd's pie. Sweet potato is, in my opinion, delicious, and so are shepherd's pies. The combination, I reasoned, would be amazing. I have to say, however, that the result was a bit disapointing...rather bland actually. Don't get me wrong, the sweet potato topping was great, but the filling? It could have used a bit of work. Unless someone comments asking for the recipe, I'll include it only if I decide to make the pie again...and it turns out better.

We served the pie along with a fresh dandelion green salad!

Pandora

2009-12-31T18:40:00.000-08:00

Happy new years eve everyone. Let's hope that things go better in 2010.
Not that 2009 was personally terrible for me, I'm very greatful for how my year went. but on a global scale...yech

On another subject entirely, I recently re-discovered Pandora.com, a website that allows you to create customized radio stations online. Through Pandora, I've found some absolutely wonderful music. One group that I've recently become obessed with are the Eurythmics. Here's one of my favorites by them. So dramatic (which I always love), and the music video is so playfully irreverent, a totally amazing combination.

Soup, soup, and soup

2009-12-30T12:59:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, I wanted soup.

For lunch I made wonton miso soup. Well, not entirely, I should rather say, I assembled wonton miso soup. I had been wandering the isles of Whole Foods when I saw the pre-cooked wontons (O'Hana brand) and suddenly HAD to have them. I wanted to make the wontons myself, but I couldn't find the wrappers, so frozen wontons it was. I cooked 6 (miniature) wontons in a fair amount of water, to which I added miso paste and wakame. Simple and delicious. I would have added green onions, but alas I was out of them at the time.

Now the day before a very good friend of mine had been talking about barley soup. After listening to this I began to crave barley soup. So the next day I went off to the store and bought a can of Amy's Vegetable Barley soup and had it for an afternoon snack. Normally I don't like to eat pre-prepared foods, but I really really wanted the soup, and I think when you really really want something, you should have it.

And then I also decided to make a soup. I made, Gaeng Khae (spicy Thai vegetable soup). Supposedly it's medicinal and is supposed to cure colds and fevers. It's also labor intensive...and delicious. Though it's so flavorful, after two servings last night and one this afternoon, I simply cannot finish the rest. It's also not something I'd recommend for a date or anytime you want to smell nice...very very garlicky. I got the recipe from vegetarian times.

Gaeng Khae
Ingredients (chile paste):
-15 dried chiles de arbol/japones chiles (I couldn't find these, so I used red peper flakes)

-8 cloves garlic, peeled

-1/2 t. salt

-2 stalks lemongrass, minced
- 2 shallots, minced (1/2 c)
-1 t. red miso
Ingredients (soup):
- 4 c. low sodium vegetable broth
- 2 T. low sodium soy sauce
- 1/2 c. sliced beet greens, swiss chard, escarole, turnip greens, or kale (I used kale)
- 1 c. turnip or fennel chunks
- 1/2 c. sliced mushrooms
- 1 c. firm tofu chunks (I used soft, personal preference)
- 1 c. coarsely chopped arugula
- 1/2 c. fresh mint leaves
- 1/4 c. coarsely chopped parsley

Directions:
Soak chiles in bowl of boiling water 30 minutes. Drain, pat dry and finely chop. Combine garlic and salt in motar and pound with pestle. Add lemongrass, shallots, miso, and chiles, pounding and crushing after each addition to make a thick paste.
Bring broth to a boil in a saucepan over high heat. Stir in soy sauce and chile paste. Add kale, turnip, and mushrooms, and bring to a boil. Cook 5 minutes, then reduce heat to medium and simmer 5 more minutes. Add tofu and cook 2 minutes.
Stir in arugula, mint, and parsley. Simmer 1-2 minutes or until herbs wilt.

Sunrise

2009-12-09T00:27:00.000-08:00

One of my favorite people in the world once said "You should either wake up ealy enough, or stay up late enough, to watch the sunrise". I think these pictures I took from my apartment window of the sunrise prove their point.

It's so dramatic. Almost violent. Normally when I think of a sunrise, it's all pretty, the calm silent part of the day before the storm. This sunrise is the storm.

Thai Red Curry Soup

2009-12-01T20:46:00.000-08:00

I found this wonderful recipe in Vegetarian Times magazine.

Vegetables in Thai Red Curry. Sounds so good on a cold autumn night.

Ingredients:

~1 small head cauliflower cut into florets

~1 cup green beans, stems removed and cut into 2-inch pieces

~2 T. Canola oil (I used, as I always do, olive oil)

~1 cup cremeini mushrooms, ends trimmed and quartered if large (used regular white mushrooms, cut in half)

~1 14-oz can light coconut milk

~1-2 T. Thai red curry paste (check ingredients to make sure doesn't include fish sauce)

~2 T. brown sugar (I hate adding sweetener to non-deserts, so I only put in 1 T. and it was still naturally sweet from the coconut milk. Next time I wont put in any at all.

~2 T. Tamari/low sodium soy sauce

~1small red bell pepper

~20-30 fresh basil leaves

Directions:
Blanch cauliflower 4 minutes, or until aldente, in a pot of boiling, salted water. Remove with strainer, and rinse under cold water to stop cooking. Repeat with green beans in same pot of water. Set aside.
Heat oil in skillet over medium heat. Add mushrooms and cook 5-7 minutes, or until mushrooms have browned and released some juices. Set aside.
In a wide sauce pan over medium heat combine coconut milk, curry paste, sugar, tamari, and 1/2 cup water (the recipe says to start with a small amount of curry paste and adjust for spiciness. I ended up using more paste than originally called for)
Add cauilflower, green beans, mushrooms, bell peper, and 1/2 of basil. Simmer 10 minutes. Garnish with remaining basil.

My friend, the Mysterious M, and I both agreed, it was delicious. Our favorite part was the fresh basil (right off my plant!). Next time I think I'll add even more basil.

Currently listening to:
Fraud In the '80s - Mates Of State
Devil's Dance Floor - Flogging Molly

Chocolate cupcakes for coffee

2009-11-12T21:19:00.000-08:00

A while ago, a friend and I arranged a trade. I would bake them cupcakes, and they would give me a bag of coffee from the cafe they work at. So, I set about my business.

I comed through the recipes on allrecipes.com.

I decided chocolate was a safe bet.

The batter was delicious.

As was the end result!

I had a bit of difficulty, in that the center of the cupcakes all were sort of...concave. However I solved the problem and made them taste even better by filling the dips with some homemade (and delicious!) frosting I whipped up at last minute. It was so good, and I'd post the recipe for the frosting, only I can not remember it! Never the less, here's the link to the recipe for the cupcakes: Chocolate Cupcake Recipe

Wonderful Winter Warmer Soup

2009-11-09T22:55:00.000-08:00

The heat in my apartment is not working properly, and this is a big problem for (eternally cold) me. We have steam heaters in my building, and about a week ago I noticed that my main heater was leaking - actually to the point of burning a hole in my carpet. Wonderful, this happened last year at my old apartment, and what did the management do that time? Wrap a towel around the base. Not too surprising I don't live there anymore...
Luckily, the management at my current apartment got on the problem pretty quickly. The next day I came home to see that they had already been up to my place, ripped apart a bunch of stuff, and, as far as I could tell, re-assembled the stuff back together. My heater no longer leaked.

Then I discovered a new problem. Indeed, my heater no longer leaked. It also, however, didn't turn on. Now before I make this sound more dramatic of a situation than it is, I must point out, I also have an electric heater in my apartment (though I thoroughly dislike it, loud blowing air that dries out my apartment...), as well as a small portable plug in heater. Really, I'm just annoyed because the steam heater is the only one that's output is included in my rent, and because I hate the way my apartment feels when I used the electric blowing one. So really, if I got too cold, I could, and did, turn on my other forms of heat.

Anyway, when I talked again to my management I discovered that the reason my steam heater won't turn on is because they actually removed the coil, which now has to be re-welded, and which I won't get back in my apartment for about a week. Woop-de-doo.

Anyway, after a full day of feeling chilled, I decided to take matters into my own hands and whip up some Wonderful Winter Warmer Soup (WWWS). I had heard that a good cold buster was an intense, spicy, vegifull, soup, and since I was practically shivering, and didn't want to catch a cold, I thought it would be a good idea. And, it was wonderful!

Wonderful Winter Warmer Soup
1/2 onion
1 large tomato
2 cloves garlic
1 cup chopped cabbage
a couple celery stalks with leaves
1-2 green onions
dash of peppermint tea (or water)
To Taste:
ginger powder
cilantro
chili powder
turmeric
salt
red chili pepper flakes
fresh basil leaves

Dice all vegetables. Sauté onion a few minutes, then add tomato, garlic, cabbage, and celery, pausing and stirring a few minutes between each addition. At this point add a dash of water/peppermint tea to your soup if it needs more liquid. Add remaining spices and cook, stirring occasionally, several minutes. Eat and feel the wonderful warmth!

Makes 1 serving.

Unfortunately, I seem to have left my camera at work, so no pictures of my soup. Though I find it's hard to photograph soup well anyway.

The cold pizza saga

2009-11-04T21:30:00.000-08:00

So a while back my friends and I all got together to make pizza. And it was incredibly delicious. We bought pizza crust dough from whole foods, and then went to town assembling the pizzas. Homemade truly is the best.

Now normally I don't eat much pizza. However, that delicious night fresh in my mind I realized there was one kind of pizza - my favorite kind - that I had not gotten a chance to enjoy. This, of course, was cold pizza. So on my next expedition to Whole Foods I went over to the frozen foods section and purchased an Amy's cheese pizza. I know, I know, I bought an already prepared pizza. And I had just been singing the praises of homemade as well! But let me just say this, there is a time and place for the quick convenience of the frozen food section. And when you just got off work, are tired, rushed for time, and in desperate need of a pizza to refrigerate and eat cold the next day, it's the correct time and place.

So I went home, baked the pizza, and then put it in the refrigerator where it could wait until tomorrow when it would be sufficiently cold enough and stale enough to qualify as proper leftover cold pizza.

As an side note, I had an interesting conversation with my mother who doesn't understand the concept of cold pizza. "Couldn't you warm it up again?" she asked me. See, to all those out there like her who like their pizza hot, the cold staleness is actually the appeal!

The next morning it was ready. I took out the pizza, and, yum, breakfast! However, I have to say that in some ways the experience failed to match up to my expectations. Basically, the petite slices of cold Amy's (organic, part-skim cheese) pizza doesn't measure up to the delights of cold, greasy and fatty domino's pizza. However, all in all it was a satisfying experience, and the pizza gods were appeased.

My beautiful Muse

2009-10-22T00:52:00.000-07:00

Muse is amazing. To anyone who has not heard their new CD, The Resistance, do yourself a favor and listen to it; and then go out and buy it. It's one of my all-time favorite CDs. Their music is just so powerful. Not only do they have great lyrics, but their sound is so dramatic, so intense, and yet so delecate and achingly beautiful. I simply can not stop listening to them!

Mona's

2009-10-14T22:36:00.000-07:00

I've been to Mona's, a breakfast/lunch eatery in Denver a couple of times. Now, anyone who reads my blog knows that I've a big fan of eggs for breakfast. So, true to my roots, I've always ordered an egg dish. The most recent time, I ordered an omelette. And, let me tell you, it was a good omelette. Three eggs and three toppings of your choice (my selection was traditional: spinach, tomato, and mushroom), along with an english muffin and a fresh fruit cup. A great start to your day, and Mona's definitely earns high recommendations from me.

Doesn't that looks just delicious?

Stir fry and friends

2009-10-05T20:53:00.000-07:00

Ah, the stir fry. Sometimes the simplest things truely are the best.

Recently I've been getting together with a small group of friends on weekends to cook dinner together. It's a nice, relaxing, thing to do. Great for those Sunday nights when we're feeling lazy.

In fact we're thinking of forming our own underground food society!

This time, we picked up a bunch of wonderful fresh veggies from Whole Foods (i.e. best store in the whole world), took them home, diced and sauted them in tamari sauce.

We had onion, red bell pepper, snow peas, mushrooms, and broccoli. Then we warmed some pita bread and stuffed them with the veggies. Delicious!

G20

2009-10-02T22:27:00.000-07:00

Recently the G20 summit was held in Pittsburgh. According to their website the G20 is "The Group of Twenty (G-20) Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors was established in 1999 to bring together systemically important industrialized and developing economies to discuss key issues in the global economy."

According to Wikipedia, source of all knoweldge: "Collectively, the G20 economies comprise 85% of gross national product, 80% of world trade (including EU intra-trade), and two-thirds of world population". In otherwords, the people who attend the G20 summit are really really powerful.

Of course, like all major political events, the summit attracted lots of protesters.

Horrifyingly, these (peaceful) protests were met with violent military force. Police used tear gas, sound weapons, pepper spray, rubber bullets, and batons against both peaceful protestors and innocent bystanders, including many students at the University of Pittsburgh! I know, what the hell right? That isn't supposed to happen here!

World Can't Wait, a humanitarian organization that works to end tourture and our various unlawful occupations in foreign countries has put together some more information as well as a "letter of outrage" to the city of Pittsburgh http://www.worldcantwait.net/

Chard and Cheese Pie

2009-09-21T21:16:00.000-07:00

Last night I made a delicious recipe from Laurel's Kitchen. Chard and cheese pie, and it was oh so good. Really, though, every recipe I've made from Laurel's Kitchen has been great. I HIGHLY recommend that book!

Chard and Cheese Pie

Laurel's Kitchen

1 and 1/2 bunches swiss chard (I used 2 full bunches, totaling 2.5lbs)
2 c. low-fat cottage cheese
2 eggs beaten
juice of 1 lemon
1/2 t. salt
1/2 c. whole grain breadcrumbs
paprika
(Optional) chopped chives

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Beat together cottage cheese, eggs, lemon, and salt.
Wash chard and remove stems, then chop into bite sized pieces. Next cook chard quickly in a heavy pan with no added water, stirring constantly until wilted.
Stir in 1 cup of cottage cheese mixture.
Put chard in a greased (I forgot to grease the pan, and it didn't stick even a bit) 8 x 8 pan and press down firmly with fork.
Spread remaining cottage cheese mixture evenly over top.
Sprinkle with bread crumbs and paprika.
Bake 30 min/until set
Let stand several minutes before cutting into squares and serving.

Laurel's Kitchen also says " for a refreshing summertime supper, chill and serve with garnish of crumbled bleu cheese, sliced tomatoes, and minced parsley."

When I made my pie, I didn't have paprika, so instead I lightly sprinkled on some red pepper flakes and (if I remember correctly) basil. For the breadcrumbs, I made my own by tosting a single slice of ezekiel sprouted grain sesame bread and then ripping/crumbling it over top.

14,000 ft. (part 2)

2009-09-15T11:40:00.000-07:00

First off I'd like to acknowledge that blogger has updated the editing tools it offers. This is great! Now I can easily do this, and erm...well it really is a step forward. They've made several of things (uploading pictures, editing them once they're ON blogger, etc) much easier. Thanks guys!

The walk up the mountain was shockingly beautiful. It's one of those things where you can see a billion beautiful photos but when you actually see it you're still in awe.

The rest of these photos I can't take credit for, my camera which always runs out of battery at the least opportune moments died. Luckily my friends all brought cameras, so disaster was averted.

...

Up and up we went. The altitude was seriously affecting me. There was a point when I, deathly pale, stopped walking and simply stood. Upon being asked if I was okay, I started mumbling to myself about how I "had to finish it" and then continued trudging up the mountain. And I wasn't the only one, several of my friends were dealing with varying levels of elevation sickness.

And then we reached the final peak.

No path on that thing; just a big pile of boulders. It was actually pretty scary at times. A few of those rocks were loose, and it would have been more than easy to simply fall off the side of the mountain!

right at the base of this was a miniature glacier.

Snow in summer, what fun!

But the view from the top of the glacier was my favorite, even better than from the summit

and then...and then...

...we made it to the top!

14,000 ft. (Part 1)

2009-09-07T16:14:00.000-07:00

Last weekend, my friend had a birthday. I honor of this, she decided we should climb a "14er", a mountain that's peak is greater than 14,000 ft. above sea level.

It was still dark when we set out.

But as we drove into the mountains it began to lighten

We saw lots of horses and cows! Exciting to us city folk.

Finally we reached the 14er we were to climb, and got our first glimpse of what lay ahead for us.

This picture was taken toward the beginning of our hike, and the peak we climbed is the tallest one on the right hand side.

...To be continued

Cookies!

2009-09-01T22:43:00.000-07:00

I made the most amazing cookies for my friend's birthday.

Normally, I'd much prefer a nice slice of pie, or some ice cream, over a cookie. However, this recipe is awesome!

Soft, chewy, and very flavorful, I highly recomend this recipe. The only change I made was to use blackstrap molasses instead of regular.
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Molasses-Sugar-Cookies-2/Detail.aspx

UPDATE: I've now made this recipe quite a few times, and have received rave reviews each time! Also make delicious ice cream sandwich cookies (we used pumpkin ice cream for a perfect fall treat)

Eggs

2009-08-23T12:03:00.000-07:00

"You're an egg girl aren't you"

...

That's what my friend said to me yesterday when I asked if the restaurant/diner we were going to served all-day breakfast (for the record, the didn't).
But as for eggs, I guess I am an "egg girl". I love love eggs. I have eggs almost every day at breakfast. Not only are eggs economical, but they are also extremely satisfying and energizing. Plus eggs have good, healthy fats in them, something that I'm pretty sure I don't get quite enough of. Oh and eggs are also super easy to cook, versatile, and quite good!

God, I sound like the announcer in an egg infomercial.

Anyway, one of my favorite egg dishes to make are simple scrambled eggs and toast. To spice it up, I add different combinations of vegetables and herbs to the scramble - delicious!

In the Middle...

2009-08-12T07:48:00.000-07:00

I've been informed by a reader that Misa Kuranaga has already been promoted to Principle for this season. This makes me very happy, she definitely deserves it!

Also, another reader pointed out that I did not mention what my second job is...I'm tempted to make up something exciting, but truth to be told all I do is harass people on the phone in an effort to get them to buy tickets to various performances.

So, follow up to my last post, another one of my favorites from the International Dance Festival was an excerpt from In the Middle Somewhat Elevated performed by Sofiane Sylve and Simon Ball. Sylve is amazing, she is not only extremely flexible, but also incredibly powerful and dynamic. Basically, great all around.

Misa...

2009-08-10T23:53:00.000-07:00

My poor neglected blog. Why is there always more to do than is ever possible in a day? Oh, and as a par example of my wonderful intelligence, I took a second job today. Haha now I officially have no off days.
So this weekend I went up to the mountains to attend an international dance festival. This truly was the best of the best. So many amazing amazing amazing dancers! And, let me just say, my favorite of them all Misa Kuranaga. How is she only a soloist and not a principle with Boston Ballet?! She blew me away. Not only was she pretty much technically perfect, but an amazing turner (who makes fouette patterns harder as they go? Let me tell you - Misa Kuranaga), AND an amazing artist. Below is a video of Misa and Daniel Ulbricht (who also was totally insanely amazing) dancing Le Corsaire coda on saturday.

My new obession, Icelandic yogurt

2009-07-31T18:26:00.000-07:00

Smooth, luscious, and oh so wonderfully thick. This yogurt is like Greek Yogurt, only more so! I am officially obsessed. So far I've only tried the plain, but with such interesting options (orange and ginger! acai! pomegranate and passion fruit!) I will have to try some of the flavors as well. Too bad it's not available at the small Whole Foods near by me; though in a way it's a good thing, the stuff is expensive (about $2.50). But when you're talking about skyr, it's understandable. Skyr is so good it's even prompted adoring fans to write haikus (credit for this one, which can be found on the company's website, goes to Stacy Prince)

Tangy sweet mouthful

Clean as snow and good and whole

Pudding of my heart.

http://www.skyr.com/

P.S. if you google search "Icelandic yogurt" you can find a video of a woman talking excitedly in Icelandic about her skyr yogurt ;)

I'm back!

2009-07-27T21:13:00.000-07:00

One of the first things I did?
I threw away my remaining sugar free foods!
So far I still haven't broken my resolution to eliminate Aspertame, sucralose, etc from my diet!

mmm...carcinogens!

2009-07-14T20:16:00.000-07:00

A week or so ago, I, restless and unable to sleep, reached an important decision. To quit. To quit aspartame that is. Aspartame, sucralose, and all of those other, particularly horrible chemical substances that are so popular in today's "sugar free" obsessed world. The reason I came to this decision this was an epiphany (isn't that a fun word?) I had while lying there, wide awake in my bed. I realized, that while I've always considered smoking a disgusting, and utterly stupid habit, I'm perfectly willing to food laced with carcinogens. And as someone who is totally paranoid about getting cancer, this makes utterly no since.

I've long known in a vague sort of way that these substances are horrible for you. But it wasn't until after I decided to quit and I sat down to do some concrete research on them for this blog post that I realized just HOW horrible they are. And let me tell you, I am shocked and rather disturbed. Below is some of the info I found on aspartame and sucralose, two of the most commonly used sugar alternatives in "diet", "light", and "sugar free" foods.

Aspartame, which is the chemical found in NutraSweet, Equal, Spoonful, and Equal-Measure

"...accounts for over 75 percent of the adverse reactions to food additives reported to the FDA. Many of these reactions are very serious including seizures and death.(1) A few of the 90 different documented symptoms listed in the report as being caused by aspartame include: Headaches/migraines, dizziness, seizures, nausea, numbness, muscle spasms, weight gain, rashes, depression, fatigue, irritability, tachycardia, insomnia, vision problems, hearing loss, heart palpitations, breathing difficulties, anxiety attacks, slurred speech, loss of taste, tinnitus, vertigo, memory loss, and joint pain...According to researchers and physicians studying the adverse effects of aspartame, the following chronic illnesses can be triggered or worsened by ingesting of aspartame:(2) Brain tumors, multiple sclerosis, epilepsy, chronic fatigue syndrome, parkinson's disease, alzheimer's, mental retardation, lymphoma, birth defects, fibromyalgia, and diabetes." - Mercola.com (for complete article go to: http://www.mercola.com/article/aspartame/dangers.htm)

Sucralose - the chemical in Splenda:

"The presence of chlorine is thought to be the most dangerous component of sucralose. Chlorine is considered a carcinogen and has been used in poisonous gas, disinfectants, pesticides, and plastics. The digestion and absorption of sucralose is not clear due to a lack of long-term studies on humans. The majority of studies were done on animals for short lengths of time. The alleged symptoms associated with sucralose are gastrointestinal problems (bloating, gas, diarrhea, nausea), skin irritations (rash, hives, redness, itching, swelling), wheezing, cough, runny nose, chest pains, palpitations, anxiety, anger, moods swings, depression, and itchy eyes. The only way to be sure of the safety of sucralose is to have long-term studies on humans done. " - Medicinenet.com (complete article: http://www.medicinenet.com/artificial_sweeteners/page9.htm)

All I can say is, I've been EATING this stuff?? And this is government sanctioned stuff! To anyone who's ever talked to me about why I think the FDA is pointless at best, this is why. Time for a major detox.

The Sky

2009-07-08T20:12:00.000-07:00

Is Glowing!

Independence Day...

2009-07-04T13:22:00.000-07:00

Today is the 4th of July, the date when The USA signed the Declaration of Independence from Britain. Fast-forward a couple hundred years, and this day has come to be symbolic of all things free. In today's society, where we seem in constant danger of losing our own personal freedoms, this seems an especially important message. Think about it...from huge programs such as the Patriot Act to little-known lobby-funded bills (such as Monsanto's - an incredibly powerful pesticide and GMO foods company) that are being pushed through congress - which would effectively outlaw organic farming. For more information on Monsanto go to: http://www.organicconsumers.org/monlink.cfm.

When I looked up Independence day on Wikipedia, this is what I got: "Independence Day is commonly associated with fireworks, parades, barbecues, fairs, picnics, concerts, baseball games, political speeches and ceremonies, and various other public and private events celebrating the history, government, and traditions of the United States".

Tonight, I, along with the rest of the dorm students are going on a required trip to baseball game; after which we will watch fireworks. All these are nice - after all, holiday's ought to be enjoyed; I only wish that more thought was put into their real significance.

An ode to an unlikely supermarket

2009-06-26T18:44:00.000-07:00

Surprising indeed, to anyone who knows me and my natural food obessions.

However, I'm happy to have it, as it is the only grocery store I've so far found within walking distance of my dorms. I'd never buy meat from Albertsons, as I'm sure it's all factory-farmed, but I was able to find stonyfield farm greek yogurt - score! So far, my roommate and I have been to albertsons every day save one. Among my other Albertsons treasures: peaches, apples, sparkling water, hot chocolate mix, and a GIANT ceramic mug.

Unfortunately, I will not be able to do any cooking while I'm here. The difficulties of student housing! But I really can not complain, the rooms are amazingly nice. Not only are they quite large, but each room is equipped with both a mini fridge and a microwave. Luxuries that I've never found in a dorm room before!

Excuses

2009-06-25T20:51:00.000-07:00

I haven't written on here in entirely too long...
Though I have been, horribly, stranded without internet until very recently.
Stranded, perhaps being a bit melodramatic. A more apt word, or rather description, is that I've gone off to annother city for a summer dance workshop, and am staying in dorms. Since I have only a bit of time right now, and no new pictures, so here's annother adorable picture of my puppy for the time being :)

Crepes! The Inside Scoop

2009-06-18T23:54:00.000-07:00

So, as I mentioned the the previous blog post, I made a number of crepe fillings on Saturday; Sweet poato-fennel, egg, asparagus-tomato, creamed spinach, and a mushroom sauce. mmmm! I got both the creamed spinach and mushroom sauce recipes from "The New Laurel's Kitchen", which is, by now, not new at all. It is, however, an updated and all together snazzier version of the orignial. I have, however revised the recipes to make them gluten and dairy free.

Creamed Spinach:

3/4 cup rice milk
5. T brown rice flour
1/2 small onion
1 t. olive oil
3 quarts fresh spinach (3 small bunches), washed, dried, and chopped
1/4 T salt

This makes a total of about 3 cups. At four servings per entire batch, this equals 72 calories/serving.

The spinach turned out nicely, a little watery for the crepes, but nice. I would probably add a bit of basil, or rosemary, if I were to make it again. It was also super easy to make!

Edgar Allen Poe with a side dish of crepes

2009-06-15T23:38:00.000-07:00

On Saturday, a couple of friends and I held a "Gothic Literature Party", in honor of one of our favorite authors, the wonderful Edgar Allen Poe. And in his honor, we had to, of course, not only produce a feast, read selected favorites of his works, but also dress the part.As for food, I had significant difficulty thinking of what would be appropriate for an American Gothic themed party. Most American foods are distinctly un-romantic (Cornbread, some will be relieved to hear, was quickly ruled out). Eventually, I settled for something entirely foreign, but definitely enjoyable - crepes. Now as I had never made crepes before, and I decided to do this at about 11:00pm the night before, I resignedly decided that there was no way I'd be able to learn how to make crepes so quickly. However, I had recently noticed that our local Whole Foods was selling pre-made "authentic" French crepes. So as lazy as it felt, I decided to go ahead with these, and make only the fillings myself. And luckily, they turned out, for the most part, quite well!I made several filling options: creamed spinach, creamed mushroom sauce, asparagus and tomato, and sweet potato. Details on these to come soon!

La Bayadere

2009-06-13T00:38:00.000-07:00

A week or so ago, Owl and her family graciously invited me to attend a performace of the Bolshoi Ballet in La Bayadere. This was a rare treat indeed. The Bolshoi are one of the top two companies in Russia, and one of the best in the world. La Bayadere, which follows the life, and ultimate demise, of a beautiful and sweet bayadere (temple dancer), is full of all sorts of drama from the standard love and betrayal, to fantastical, opium induced visions. La Bayadere also contains one of my all-time favorite female solos. Nikia (the bayadere), is forced to dance at the wedding of her sworn beloved to the fakir's daughter, Gamzatti. Nikia is, of course, devastated, and proceeds to dance an exceedingly mournful solo, and it all only goes downhill from there. Below, is video of Altynai Asylmuratova dancing Nikia with absoultely wonderful dramatic conviction.

Lettuce Wraps

2009-06-10T00:41:00.001-07:00

mm delicious...Owl was coming over for dinner, and I decided on a whim to make us lettuce wraps.

First the filling. I had no recipe, so I just made up my own. Onion combined with tomatoes always makes a good base for stir-frys. The onions become super soft, sweet, and just generally delicious, the tomatoes release alot of juice when cooked (especially on lower temperatures - I usually start out low and raise the temp toward the end), meaning that one really doesn't need to use any oil at all when cooking the vegetables. Note: oil, especially olive oil, has been shown to be extremely healthy in many many ways. I tend to avoid it because it does add calories, but if you're not overly concerned about this, I strongly suggest using olive oil (it'll make the whole thing taste better too).

For the filling I used,

approx. 1/2 head green cabbage
approx 15 pices okra
1 onion
1 package baked tofu
approx 2 cups cherry tomatos
tamari/soy sauce to taste
handful shittake mushrooms
one bell pepper

All this I sauted together, and wrapped in fresh lettuce leaves and corn tortillas with a bit of eggplant pesto sauce to taste.

Total: approx 610 calories/whole filling recipe (it makes ALOT of servings!)

My puppy

2009-06-08T23:18:00.000-07:00

My puppy,

is adorable ♥

Listening to:

Cup of Coffee - Garbage

The Hill - Markéta Irglová

Life 2: The Unhappy Ending - Stars

Honey, This Mirror Isn't Big Enough for the Two of Us - The Funeral String Quartet

Wolfram Alpha

2009-06-05T13:33:00.000-07:00

This new search engine is insane! Unlike google, which searches key words to find relevant web pages, Wolfram Alpha will actually find (highly detailed) answers to questions you pose to it.

I think this is awesome, obviously the product still needs a bit of modification, but it already seems to me something straight out of a science-fiction novel!

Tomato Peach Salad

2009-06-03T23:34:00.000-07:00

Oops, haven't been keeping up my blog wonderfully over the past few days - I'll do better! :)

I recently made a very nice (and very very simple) tomato peach salad. Great recipe for hot weather, though unfortunately I made it on a rather typically gloomy NorCal day, when hot soup really would have been a better idea. This is what happens when you plan your meals without looking at the weather. Credit for this recipe goes to Delicious Living, a great free magazine that's available at whole foods.

Tomato Peach Salad

4 tomatoes, diced large
2 peaches
2 T. finely chopped sweet onion (red/scallion)
2 T. finely chopped fresh basil
3 T. fruity olive oil (optional)
black pepper to taste

makes 6-8 servings

91 calories/serving with olive oil or approximately 40 calories/serving without

That's Shady

2009-05-28T23:38:00.001-07:00

Owl! In the middle of the day, the high sun making the graceful owl look rather like a gnome!

A hiddious and terrifying monster

A wistful tree

The real thing

And myself, in an earlier part of the day

A Tribute...

2009-05-26T00:50:00.000-07:00

Today is Memorial Day, the day for all of our soldiers who died in the hands of war. I don't understand why the most common sentiment today seems to be, "Happy Memorial Day, are you going to have a cookout?". Shouldn't today be a day of reflection, thought, and remembrance? Beneath is a video, which I think could be looked at as a more apt tribute to those lost.

the video below dosen't have the best sound or video quality, so here's a link to one with better quality if you'd prefer: http://www.imeem.com/eliteb/video/fXgh6lWv/my-chemical-romance-the-ghost-of-you-music-video/

My Chemical Romance - The Ghost Of You

whose Line Is It Anyway?

2009-05-24T23:45:00.000-07:00

The best show ever, available commerical free on YouTube!
For those of you who don't know Whose Line, it is an improvisational comedy show that never, ever, ceases to be funny. Enjoy!

haha I love Ryan, he is awesome in this clip!

American Italia

2009-05-21T00:24:00.000-07:00

In San Francisco we not only have China Town, but also Italian Land! i.e. Northbeach

Owl, her mother, and I went there on Saturday and then a few days later, I went again with O. Galee and her cousin.
Owl and I stopped by This wonderful bakery that uses antique machinery to prepare all of it's delicious confections.

O. Galee and I stopped at a cafe with the world's tiniest bathroom

And we ate our lunches in front of a giant church

Alone, silently,

the bamboo shoot

becomes a bamboo

(this one's for you O. Galee)

The Stinking Rose - A restaurant devoted to that wonderful herb - garlic!

these are...cakes And the best street name ever

Chocolate Decadence Cake - the recipe

2009-05-18T21:03:00.000-07:00

My dear friend P. Petunia asked for the recipe to the Chocolate Decadence Cake I made. I actually didn't even realize I hadn't inculded it - how silly of me.

Credit for this recipe, by the way, goes to Robin on Allrecipes.com - a wonderful website where users submit their own recipes and photographs, and other users can submit feedback, ratings and reviews of said recipes.

The ingredients are as follows:

12 ounces semisweet chocolate chips
4 (1 ounce) squares unsweetened chocolate
1 1/2 cups butter, melted
1 3/4 cups white sugar
1/2 cup water
7 eggs
2 cups whipped cream

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 10 inch round pan and line bottom with parchment paper. Chop chocolate squares and place in a large bowl with chocolate chips. Add melted butter. Heat water and 1 1/2 cups sugar in a saucepan until boiling, then pour over chocolate. Stir until smooth. In a separate bowl, whip eggs with remaining 1/4 cup sugar until thick. Fold into chocolate mixture. Pour batter into 10 inch pan. Place 10 inch pan on a cookie sheet in the oven and fill the cookie sheet with water. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 40 to 50 minutes. Remove from oven. Cool and refrigerate for several hours. Be extremely careful not to burn yourself on the hot water when removing the sheet pan from the oven. Dip the pan in hot water to remove cooled cake. Garnish with whipped cream and serve.
Happy baking!

Another very good friend of mine, O. Galee, made some very yummy Vegan Macaroni and Cheese at dinner tonight. She actually didn't use a pre-packaged vegan cheese substitute. Instead she used a combination of soy milk, tofu, and nutritional yeast as the topping. Although this sounds like something only a hard-core vegan could enjoy, the result - combined with a bit of paprika and garlic - was quite delicious! Even my friend's non-vegetarian mom enjoyed it thoroughly. I will have to get the recipe from Galee at some point!

A Close Examination

2009-05-17T21:26:00.000-07:00

...Of flowers, featuring:

A translucent bloom

An imposter

An opaque rose

a fairy-dusted blossom

some sunny irises

And an Andy Warhol poppy

Mother's Day picnic, chocolate decadence cake

2009-05-14T23:35:00.000-07:00

Aside from all the more healthful dishes I made for mother's day, I also made a "chocolate decandence cake". And let me tell you, it is aptly named. My mother - an exemplary eater who knows an incredible amount about being healthy - loves chocolate, the darker the better. My mother is also intolerent to gluten. So this recipe, which was described as being "the richest chocolate cake ever", and is flourless, sounded perfect! Owl and I decorated it with rose petals from my backyard.

My friend made another delicious cake, orange-vanilla almond. I'd never thought of putting vanilla bean on orange before, but it was soo good! And the idea of a cake made with almond flour was quite interesting and it made a nice, moist cake.

delicious!

Mother's Day picnic, part III

2009-05-12T12:17:00.000-07:00

More recipes!

The next dip I made was "A Lighter Guacamole". Lighter, because some of the "avocado" is actually blended green peas. Once mixed together, you actually can't tell that it isn't all avocado!

A Lighter Guacamole

1 & 1/2 c. frozen green peas, thawed
6 T. water
6 small, ripe, Hass Avocados, peeled and coarsly smashed
6 green onions, thinly sliced
6 T. chopped cilantro
3 T. lime juice (I just squeezed one whole lime into it)
3/4 t. garlic powder
pinch red pepper flakes
1 &1/2 t. salt

Process peas and water in blender until smooth. Transfer to a bowl and stir in remaining ingredients. Serve immediately. Alternately, press plastic wrap directly onto guacamole to prevent browning.

Then I had to have something for us to eat all the dips and spreads I'd made with. So I chopped up a whole bunch of vegetables and fruits (carrots, celery, apples, pears), arranged them in a tower of layers, topped them with olives, and called it a parfait!

Mother's Day picnic, Part II

2009-05-11T22:10:00.000-07:00

The Next morning I made "omelets" for my mom and I.
I made them in a rather small pan, making them relatively thick and difficult to fold, so I left them open-face. On them I put, chopped cilantro, tomato, bell peper, onion, salt, thyme, and watercress - my favorite addition, very nice and twangy.

After breafast I started making more dishes for the upcomming picnic.

I started with a Curried Egg Salad Dish I'd gotten from some free Whole Foods publication. It's pretty light and very healthy, so I'm sure I'll be making this one again.

Curried Egg Salad

2 hardboild eggs
1 T. plain, non-fat, greek yogurt
curry powder to taste
chopped scallion/celery

Finely chop hardboiled eggs and mix all ingredients together. 15calories/T

Next I made my mom's cornbread (see post "Cornbread Time!" for the recipe), only this time, midway through baking it I placed very thin apple slices on top of the whole confection. The slices absorbed some of the moisture from the bread, and came out quite nice and tender.

Currently Listening To:
Deep Thought - The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy
Last Dance - The Cure
Dear Jamie...sincerely me - Hellogoodbye
Marble House - The Knife
Ache - Peder
End Title - The Album Leaf

Mother's Day Picnic

2009-05-11T12:47:00.000-07:00

♥
I hope everyone had a great mother's day!
A friend (hence forth called Owl) and I decided to combine efforts to set up a mother's day picnic.

First we planned out the menu. Owl volunteered to make her delicious "Sweeny Todd Green Beans" (what can I say - the reason behind the name is much to long for a parenthetical clause), some fresh, home made, lemonade, and an orange-vanilla almond cake. For my part, I decided to make one dish that I'd made before, my Garbanzo Bean Spread, and a whole bunch that I'd never tried before. Great plan huh?
I started cooking the night before with the garbanzo spread - I knew I had to much to do in one day, especially for an 11 o'clock brunch. The garbanzo spread recipe is originally from Laurel's Kitchen, though I've tweaked it and it's quite yummy. It's also both relatively high in protein (garbanzo beans have 6.9 grams of protein/half cup cooked beans) and low in calories.

Garbanzo Spread

1/2 onion, chopped
2 t. oil
1 bunch parsley, chopped fine
salt to taste
1 t. basil
1/2 t. oregano
dash cumin
dash garlic
juice of 1 lemon
3 c. cooked garbanzo beans, mashedm ground, or blended

Makes about 3 heaping cups, aprox 20 calories/Tablespoon

Listening to:

Panic - Oh! - Los Abandonded
Dog New Tricks - Garbage
Parlez-Moi D'amour - Linda Ronstadt & Ann Savoy
Les Champs-Elysees - Joe Dassin
A New England - Billy Bragg
Stay Positive - The Streets
Holiday / Boulevard of Broken Dreams - Green Day

Hedgehogs are amazing

2009-05-07T22:24:00.000-07:00

and adorable...

This video's embedding is disabled, so I can't post it directly on this site, but click on the link, you wont regret it :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zXjPQYgT25Q

Berkeley

2009-05-05T14:09:00.000-07:00

land where trees twist like vines

and shed bark like snakeskin

Where wild poppies mingle with fairytale roses

As often as they mix with cacti

And great architect's buildings slowly fall to graceful disary

Where orange flowers bloom above your head

And creativity shows it's self in the oddest places

Where graffiti is intentional

And music stores are like meccas

Here I am at home

Listening To:

So Like A Rose - Garbage

Missing (Live) - Evanescence

My Lover's Box - Garbage

Jazz Thieves - Depeche Mode

May Day

2009-05-02T14:25:00.000-07:00

A Happy May to everyone! And a happy birthday to my dear friend :)

I'm back in CA now, and oh so happy about it!

Yesterday my very good friend and I went and spent a couple hours in the local whole foods. The produce here is just amazing. Here, they not only have bok choi, but yow choi. Awesome.

Cornbread time

2009-04-28T22:45:00.001-07:00

Today I made cornbread for some friends. Good stuff. It's my mom's recipe, and was always one of my favorites as a kid!

Mom's Corncakes

1 and 1/2 c. Cornmeal

1/2 c gluten free flour

1- 1/2t. salt

1 - 2 t. baking powder

1 and 1/2 c. milk

1-2 eggs

2. T. oil

add 1 T honey and 1 handful dried cranberries/person

Combine in large pan and bake at 350 until a fork inserted in the middle will come out clean. Makes 12 servings

Although I highly recomend following that recipe (it'll taste even better, and will have lots of healthy oils and omegas) if one is watching their weight you can follow my modifed version (what my friends and I call "dancer friendly") I omited the oil, used egg whites, skim milk, fresh instead of dried cranberries, and only 1 T. of honey for the entire recipe. End result? My recipe only has 48 calories in each serving!

Despite my deep fondness for cornbread, one friend of mine had a rather opposing reaction when I told them what I was going to make...

"cornbread makes me think of people who drive pick-up trucks with gun racks, drink moonshine (while driving their trucks), eat squirrel, possum and chicken-fried steak (the cornbread is to sop up the red-eye gravy), gnaw on clay because they are deficient in vitamins, and marry their cousins. I hope you have not fallen in with the wrong crowd."

:)

Hot Yoga and Cold Days

2009-04-25T18:17:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I took a hot yoga class. I, like everyone else, sweat buckets at these classes. Afterwards, once I've taken a shower, I always feel absoultely wonderful. Like totally cleansed and detoxified. I swear, even my skin looks clearer afterwards.

Even though hot yoga makes me feel so good, I still have difficulty making myself go sometimes. Those classes are intense! My advide to those who want to try hot yoga: bring a towel, things like downward dog get really hard once your hands, feet, and mat are slick with sweat!

Today it's cold out. What ever happened to the sun? :(

Listening to:

A million Ways - Okay Go

Blackout - Muse

Undone (The Sweater Song) - Weezer

Midnight Coward - Stars

Denver...

2009-04-24T03:05:00.000-07:00

...can really be quite beautiful

Listening to:

Andy Your a Star - The Killers
Honey This Mirror isn't Big Enough For the Two of Us - The Vitamin String Quartet

Don't Stay - Linkin Park

November Spawned a Monster - Morrissey

Skin, Is My - Andrew Bird

Three Holidays

2009-04-23T01:51:00.000-07:00

So how was everyone's Earth Day? As for me, I'm ashamed to say I pretty much forgot about it until about 11:00 when I logged online, and I ended up missing the festival by the capitol all together. But really, what Earth Day festival at a state capitol is over by 2:00?

Anyway, today is Book and Lover's day. Jeez, third holiday in a row.

This is what I've learned about Book and Lover's day:

"...Began in the Middle Ages with an annual festival of Roses to honor St. George, Patron Saint of Catalonia. A brave Roman Soldier, he allegedly slew a dragon about to devour a beautiful young princess. According to legend, a rosebush then sprouted from the blood of the slain dragon and the soldier plucked it's most perfect blossoms to give to the princess as a remembrance. In 1912 the traditional Rose Festival merged with International Book Day, established to celebrate the lives of Miguel De Cervantes and William Shakespeare, both of whom died on April 23rd in 1616."
...I never understand when people have celebrations on the day a famous person died "In their honor". I feel like that's something you'd do for someone you hated. Wouldn't it be better to honor people on the day they were born instead?
poor dragon!

In the afternoon I to Whole Foods a bit later - pretty much all I had left in my apartment was oatmeal and miso paste - and now I'm totally stocked up! Made a soup, Plum Tomato and Cabbage, that I got out of my friend's Hungry Girl cookbook. Everything from HG is super low-cal, though not all of it is particularly healthy...or good tasting... Anyway, the soup was fine, though undistinctive and unflavorful. I think the recipe has potential as a base, but it needs work.

I also made a "Spicy Chili Peach Dip" - my own creation. Again it needs work. I was planning to use cottage cheese as the base, but they were out of the kind I like today, so I tried using a tofu base instead. There's enough controversy over the health benefits/problems reaped from soy consumption that I don't like to use unfermented or processed soy products, on a regular basis. Never the less, I figure that even if all the anti-soyites are right, occasional soy use is fine.

In this case however, soy was "fine" but not "good". I like the dip that I made, though I would not serve it to my friends :)

Next time I try it I will use cottage cheese.

Listening to:

Lullaby - The Cure
Dead! - My Chemical Romance
Lonely Blue Boy - Connway Twitty
Spaced - Smashing Pumpkins

Tattered Cover and Veggie Gumbo Soup

2009-04-21T23:46:00.000-07:00

Walked down 16th today and stopped in tattered cover.

Has anyone else noticed how expensive magazines are now? The cheap ones are about $5. So I sat there for a while, copying down recipes from VegNews and Vegetarian Times, plus a couple books. I'm super stoked for the "yogurt Cheese" recipe I got. Now I just need to learn how to make my own yogurt...

Ah, I am ALL about the cooking! After getting viral meningitis and reading Laurel's Kitchen (I mean of course - what else was I going to do?), which is, by the way, a super awesome cookbook, I got inspired to start cooking all my own food. My goal is to make healthy, wholesome, low calorie, vegetarian foods that are still delicious! I've made a TON of food since then, but my fav recipe so far is one that I made right at the beginning, my vegetable gumbo soup. Seriously the best soup I've ever eaten.

Vegetable Gumbo Soup

makes 8-9 cups

86-76 calories per serving

1 onion, chopped
1 T. oil
olive oil cooking spray
1 green pepper, diced
4 cups vegetable stock
1 cup cooked lima beans
1 cup fresh corn
1 1/2 cups sliced okra (fresh okra if possible)
1 t. salt
cumin, salt, red pepper flakes, and cilantro to taste

Cooking Directions:

Saute onion in oil (adding olive oil cooking spray if needed) until soft
Add green pepper and stir over medium heat for several minutes
Stir in tomatoes and bring mix "to a boil"
turn down heat and let simmer 5 min
add rest of ingredients (if using frozen okra, it should be partially thawed by now)
bring soup to a boil again. Cover, and let simmer 15 min

Listening to:
- We Want More - The Living End
- Pictures of You - The Last Goodnight
- Time is Running Out - Muse
- Promise Me - The Birthday Massacre

Meet Random

2009-04-21T23:12:00.000-07:00

Meet Random

Random like to art, cook

dances alot

Random has lots of opionions