Weekday Pancakes

I love pancakes.  My love of pancakes has been previously documented here and here (and probably some other places).  Now, pancakes are normally a weekend, slow-day kind of breakfast, but I woke up and wanted, nay, needed pancakes.  And I had bananas.  Banana pancakes!

Joy the Baker loves pancakes every bit as much as I do, so I searched her site and came up with her Whole Wheat Banana Pancakes.  Yum.  So I whipped them up quickly this morning, and as I was getting ready for work, Lance cooked them.  (Go team!)  Together, we made lovely pancakes and shared them with another, and it was on a weekday.  Sometimes you just have to have pancakes on a weekday, and it makes the day a little more special.

I modified the recipe a bit (based on what I had in my kitchen), but these pancakes were things of beauty.  They were fluffy and delicious and ranked near my favorite oatmeal pancake in deliciousness and texture.  I may have to make these again, because they were that good.

Banana Buckwheat Pancakes
(adapted from Joy the Baker, who adapted it from The Gourmet Cookbook

• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup buckwheat flour
• 1/3 cup cornmeal
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 large eggs, separated
• 1 1/2 cup buttermilk
• 1/4 cup canola oil
• 1 1/2 ripe bananas, mashed

In a large bowl, combine flours, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder/soda, salt, egg yolks, and buttermilk.  Stir (but don't overmix! Use your dough whisk!) and let sit for at least 5 minutes to hydrate the flours.

In a small bowl, mash banana and add oil.  Add to the flour mixture.

Beat the egg whites until fluffy.  Gently fold into the batter.  If it's a little thick (mine was) add some more milk or water.

Cook them in a skillet and devour.

First Jam of the Year

Lance picked blueberries last week.  We also picked black raspberries from a friend's yard (and got attacked by chiggers.  Ack.)  Since berries either need to be frozen or dealt with quickly and we are berry-rich, I decided to make a quick jam.  Using my favorite canning book, Well Preserved, I looked up blueberry recipes and came across both a blueberry chutney (which I'll make later) and the Black and Blue Jam, which I made this afternoon.

It was hot, but luckily it came together quickly on the stove.  I love using my enameled cast iron dutch oven as a jam pot:

After cooking the jam for 20 minutes or so, I put it into jars.  It made three 8-oz jars and one 12-oz (or maybe 16?) jar:

It was very good on a cracker:

And now it's time for me to get ready for the 80's pubcrawl in honor of CB's going away to grad school!  I actually made my top for it, which I'm very excited about.  I'll post more pictures of my outfit tomorrow--it involves a 20-year old crimping iron and an outfit that may double for a robot costume at a later date.  A sneak peek:

Oh yeah, recipe.

Black & Blue Jam

(adapted from Well Perserved by Mary Anne Dragan)

• 3 cups black raspberries (original calls for blackberries)
• 3 cups blueberries
• 4 cups sugar
• 1/4 cup + 2 tbsp lemon juice (about 2 lemons's worth)
• zest from one lemon

Put the berries and sugar in your jam pot.  Using a potato masher, crush the berries.  Let sit at least one hour. Add lemon juice and zest.

Prepare the preserving jars by sterilizing the jars, lids, and rings in a pot of boiling water.  While the water is boiling to sterilize the jars, bring the berries/sugar/lemon to a boil over medium-high heat.  Boil rapidly for 15-20 minutes, stirring often.  The mixture will get dark and thick.  (If desired, test the set by dropping a little on a plate that has been in the freezer.  If it gets thicker as it cools and hold its set, then it's ready!)

Remove from the heat, stir, and skim off the foam (if necessarily).  Pour the jam into the sterile jars, leaving a 1/4-in head space.  Wipe rims clean and seal according to manufacturer's directions. Process the jars in a boiling water bath (your sterilization pot is perfect and already hot!) for 10 minutes.  Remove from bath and let cool.  Lids should seal as the jars cool

What to Eat

Remember last September when I decided to be a vegetarian?  I have, with a few exceptions, stuck to it.  I don't crave meat; in fact, I sometimes find the thought of eating meat a little repulsive (which is the reason I started in the first place).

Lately, I've found myself more firmly in the vegetarian camp, identifying more with a vegetarian lifestyle.  I've even been flirting a little with vegan cooking, thanks to a fun cookbook called Veganomicon.  I love the cookbook, and while I have no intentions on being a vegan (no yogurt? no buttermilk? too much smugness?), I think that there are health and environmental benefits to be had from generally consuming fewer animal products, not just eschewing meat.

Just as I'm starting to identify more strongly with the vegetarian lifestyle, I run across a review about a book called The Butcher and the Vegetarian.  Written by Tara Austen Weaver of Tea & Cookies, the book is about how after being told that she should eat meat by her doctors because she struggled with chronic fatigue, she decides to explore the world of meat.  She is scared of giving herself food poisoning, cooking it poorly, or just not knowing what to do with meat because she grew up a vegetarian.  Basically, she moves in the opposite direction of most folks who, like me, become vegetarians after growing up eating meat.

The book was an enjoyable exploration of the moral implications of eating meat: she ends up seeking out farmers who strive to produce meat that comes from an animal that is treated like an animal (and not a product) and is slaughtered humanely.  I found these parts the most interesting because I started eating less meat because of this very issue, and it's one reason I cite if people ask me why I'm a vegetarian.

Weaver also struggles with the guilt she feels about eating meat: she truly enjoys it, especially when she learns about charcuterie (preserved meats) and meets individuals who are passionate (and talented) about cooking meat.  But her mother and vegetarian background play the angel to her meat-enjoying devil, and she spends a good deal of the book wrestling with those issues.  She started trying to eat meat to improve her health, but when research shows that a vegetarian or vegan diet is usually the most healthful, she has to wonder: will eating meat really make her healthier and happier?

Ultimately, she finds that a mostly raw food diet is the cure to her fatigue and illness.  But she still eats small bites of meat here and there and cooked food--she understands that she found the key to what made her healthy and happy within herself.  Food choices often boil down to that: what works for the individual and her own convictions.  Weaver concludes:

How we feed ourselves is an intensely personal act. It brings together all manner of family and cultural traditions, issues of health--both our own and those of the world at large--and the simple fact that we want to be delighted by what we eat; we want to be satisfied and comforted.  Right or wrong, in a world that sometimes has sharp edges, food is often our solace.

We cook our food, we eat for pleasure as well as for sustenance, and this is part of the problem.  Michael Pollan is right: Our food choices present a dilemma.  For us, what to have for dinner will always be complicated.  Do we eat for our palate, for our health, for the planet? Can we have it all?...

We also don't live in a meritocracy.  Those who do a good job conserving resources don't get to advance to the next level while the wastrels get held back.  We're all in this together--vegetarians, vegans, and carnivores.  We're sitting at the same dining table.  The problems we face in regards to health, planet, and increasingly limited resources are ours.  They are ours to fix, or ours to flub.  I'm hoping we can fix them.

 This is what my decision to be a vegetarian boils down to.  I've realized that I'm healthier and happier when I'm eating lots of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and a bit of dairy here and there, and I feel bad (and gain weight) when I eat lots of meat, processed foods, sugar, and fat.  My diet works for me and what my body needs.  I don't expect Lance to ever give up meat--nor would I ask him to--and he makes his own choices based on what he enjoys and feels good about eating.  (He ends up eating mostly vegetarian too, but has been known to cook himself a piece of venison or pork when he's in the mood for it).  And sometimes he makes bacon-wrapped tofu:

Eating is an intensely personal choice, which is why some meat-eaters get up in arms about vegetarians and vegans, and why some vegetarians/vegans adopt an attitude of moral superiority and smugness about their dietary choices.  In the end, however, it simply comes down to what you want to eat and what you feel good about eating--and sometimes, it really is okay to eat a butter-filled cupcake or a piece of bacon.

Handy Kitchen Tools

I have a running group that meets on Thursdays to run.  I've brought treats a couple of times, and when I was at the half-marathon last weekend, one of the guys asked for baked goods this week.  I had bananas in the freezer that I accidentally let thaw partially, so they were no good for banana soft-serve (try it! seriously!), so I decided to bake banana-black raspberry muffins.

I would give you all the recipe, but I sorta made it up based on the Basic Muffin Recipe in Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything Vegetarian.  (I really should measure things, but I am so lazy).  I'm not going to give you all a recipe, but I am going to talk about one of my favorite kitchen tools: the dough whisk.

But first, a picture of Neko, who jumped onto the stool in the kitchen to get attention (on top of my cookbook). We have trained her using peanut butter (yes, she loves peanut butter), so she associates the stool with petted, food, or treats

I first heard about the dough whisk from Chocolate & Zucchini.  Intrigued, I decided to buy one for Lance and his brother for Christmas one year.  They both bake lots of bread.  I figured if a French woman with a tiny kitchen recommended it, then maybe it wasn't too gimmicky.

Lance and his brother both praised it as very useful indeed.  Since I usually leave the bread baking to Lance, I ignored it, content that Lance used it and liked it.  Until I started using it to mix the wet and dry ingredients for muffins and quick breads.

It's marvelous.  It works 1000 times better than a regular whisk or a rubber spatula.  AND it doesn't have dough sticking to it--the batter slides off easily and quickly.  I use it to whisk together dry ingredients:

And then to mix the wet and dry together.

You know how muffin/quick bread/cake recipes always admonish you to not "overmix" or DOOM will befall your baked treat? Well, this dough whisk gently combines the ingredients.  No overmixing!

And you know how if you mix something by hand, inevitably (even while risking the dreaded overmixing!) you miss some flour or something on the bottom?  Well, the dough whisk really gets it all.  No more flour spots lurking in the middle of your perfectly whisked batter.

If you find yourself making lots of muffins, pancakes, bread, etc, I would heartily recommend adding this to your kitchen tools.  Get rid of something pointless like one of those crappy whisks, if you have a small kitchen.  You won't regret it.

I'll leave you with an image of another well-used tool in my kitchen: the 1/2 cup ice cream scoop:

PERFECT for measuring out muffin batter.  And absolutely dead-on for the amount of cupcake batter you should portion out into each cup, as I mentioned yesterday.  Another tool well-worth the cost and drawer space!

Where to Start?

I have several posts in mind.  When that happens, it usually means I can't choose what to write about, so I write about nothing.

I had another half-marathon last weekend in Kansas City.  Which originally was going to be my topic for tonight's post...but then I realized I'd rather talk about cupcakes.

I have a passion for cupcakes.  You would think that I run just to be able to consume the cupcakes that I bake, and you would not be completely wrong.  Luckily, my cupcakes are such an undertaking (and as it grows warmer, it has to be a Very Special Occasion for me to bake in a non-air conditioned kitchen) that I can outrun the butter and sugar.  Just barely.

I realized that I had not yet posted my last cupcake baking endeavor.  I believe they were from a weekend in April, a birthday party batch.  A very fun birthday party, in fact, thrown by AB for her husband.  Cupcakes being my thing, I offered to bake them.  (I always do love an excuse to try a new recipe).

It all started when I made cookies.  I was meeting up with some people and wanted to bring something to nibble on, so I baked Coffee and Walnut Splodge Cookies, straight from Nigella Lawson's How to Be a Domestic Goddess to their mouths.  (CB declared, "You brought noms!" which made me unspeakably happy.)  They were so delicious: rich, nutty, not too sweet--a great cookie.  I never would have thought to blend coffee and walnuts, and they were pretty much perfect, unified by butter and love.

So, I had walnuts and coffee on my mind.  When I made the Super Special Birthday Cake, I had encountered a Walnut Layer Cake with a Coffee Buttercream in Regan Daley's incomparable In the Sweet Kitchen, which begged me to bake it.  PLEADED.  But I had been asked for a CHOCOLATE/coffee combination, not walnut/coffee, so I simply used that fabulous, beautiful Coffee Buttercream to frost the SSBC. And kept that walnut cake in my baking queue.

The cupcakes, I decided, would be that cake.  The frosting would be that Coffee Buttercream.  But what garnish?

I feel that cupcakes (and cakes, for that matter) should always have some special touch.  If you make a carrot cupcake with cream cheese frosting, how about candying some carrot pieces to top it? (For example).

I was home alone that weekend, so I made myself a special lunch (curried bok choy, asparagus, pumpkin, and tofu over soba noodles), complete with a glass of wine and dessert.

I had bought some beautiful strawberries at the farmers' market that morning, so I chopped a few up, threw some orange juice on them, then topped them with two of the leftover walnut/coffee cookies.  The tart of the strawberries meshed perfectly with the dense/dark flavor of the cookies, and I knew had my my garnish.

I proceeded with the Walnut Cupcakes with a Coffee Buttercream, Garnished with Strawberries, and this is what emerged:

They were so beautiful.  I was pleased with myself enormously.  These, these cupcakes.  They would be perfect for a birthday celebration.  I happily loaded them up and headed to the party.

And they went over very well.  In fact, L and D (who are both firmly Team Cake) had looks of pure pleasure on their faces as they bit into the cupcakes.  Later in the night, partygoers decided to make a cupcake sandwich, and were pleased with the results.

It took me long enough to post them, but don't you think they were worth the wait?

But first....
Walnut-Espresso Cookies
(from Nigella Lawson's How to Be a Domestic Goddess

• 1-2/3 cups flour (you might mix all-purpose with whole wheat pastry, if you like)
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 3/4 cup + 2 tbsp unsalted butter, softened
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup light brown sugar
• 2 tbsp instant espresso powder (Indispensable for baking! Buy it!)
• 2 large eggs, beaten
• generous 3/4 cup/7 oz. walnuts, chopped

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Mix together the flour, baking powder, and salt.  In a separate mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy.  Add the espresso powder, then the eggs.  Stir in the flour mixture and walnuts.  Don't overmix or you'll be sad.

Using a small ice cream scoop, scoop onto lined cookie sheets (or a baking stone), about 2 inches apart.  Bake for 12 minutes until they are golden and smell really, really good.  Cool.  Eat.

Now for the main feature! (Please do not be frightened by the obscene amounts of butter in the cupcakes/buttercream.  They are for SPECIAL occasions, which ALWAYS calls for obscene amounts of butter. And wine, beer, or whiskey/gin.)

Walnut Cupcakes topped with Coffee Buttercream

(see this post for the Coffee Buttercream recipe)

• 1-1/2 cups unsalted butter (yes, that's 3 sticks of butter)
• 1-1/2 cups sugar
• 4 large eggs, at room temperature
• 2 tbsp pure maple syrup (Grade B or C, if you're being picky)
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1 cup finely ground walnuts (this is when you really love your food processor)
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and prepare the pans with cupcake papers (or two 9-in rounds, if you're anti-cupcake.  If you are, then GET OUTTA HERE. *ahem* Carry on.).

Sift the flour (which I actually did for once), baking powder and salt together in a bowl and set aside.

In the bowl of your mixer with the paddle attachment (or a big bowl if you're a hand-mixer type), cream the butter and the sugar until pale and fluffy.  Add the eggs one at a time, beating well and scraping the sides of the bowl after each egg.  Beat in the maple syrup and vanilla, then mix in the walnuts.  Add the flour mixture to the mixing bowl in three additions, mixing just enough to moisten the flour between each.  Fold the last addition in by hand with a large rubber spatula.

Using a large scoop (known as my muffin scoop--1/2 cup capacity, I think), fill the cupcake papers 2/3-3/4 full.  Bake until done (I know, I know, so vague), something over 20 minutes, being careful not to overbake or they will be dry.  Let cool completely.  

Frost with coffee buttercream, garnish with strawberries, and share with lots of people because I don't want to be responsible for any heart attacks.

Small Potatoes

Every Sunday, we go to a potluck.  I love it.  We're a creative bunch who likes to experiment with foods and flavors, and it's always fun to see what the other people will bring.  We sometimes have themes to help us pick what to make.  I feel like it's made me a better cook, even if it's not so good for my waistline sometimes, especially when S gets carried away with the butter and cheese, which is often.

Since last weekend was Memorial Day weekend, the "theme" was grilling.  And while I'm not much of a grill-person (because Lance takes it over, and I'm more than happy to let him do so), I decided to focus my attentions on a salad of some sort.  I had gobs of greens from the garden that desperately needed using, so I started thinking of a potato salad.

Now, if you're into potato salads, you will know that there are lots of different philosophies and approaches.  Some like there's covered in mayonnaise.  Some vehemently argue for an oil/vinegar/herb dressing.  Pesto makes an interesting alternative.  Personally, I'll eat it as long as it tastes good.  My prerequisites are: enough salt and bite from vinegar or pickles (so many potato salads are bland, bland, bland) and lots of flavor.  You can leave those boring, plain salads at home.  I also usually prefer them nice and chilled.

I was in a bit of a time crunch, however, (we were just returning from Lance's grandmother's) so I know that I wouldn't have time to make a chilled salad.  A warm potato salad, perhaps?  With lightly cooked chard and beet greens?  And some boiled eggs to bulk it up a bit?  What if I roast the potatoes with some garlic and onion?  I thought and thought, and came up with an unusual combination of textures and flavors.

It may not be pretty, but it was freakin' delicious.

I'm not a huge mayonnaise fan, though I will eat food with mayonnaise in it.  Subsequently, we don't usually have it in the house, so I had to figure out some other way to dress my salad.  What about the tahini-yogurt sauce recipe I'd made for some falafels a few weeks ago?  I'd been eating the leftover on salads, and it was delightful: tangy, garlicky, and lemony, with a rich depth from the tahini.  Oh, yes.

I tasted it, and decided that it needed a bit more bite: pickles.  Since I was completely off track from a traditional potato salad, I used my homemade dilly beans (yes, there will be a post when I make this year's batch because OH MY GOD they are awesome) and some of the dilly vinegar.  Next time I'll add a bit more (I was trying to keep it light on the vinegary taste for a vinegar-hater).  The end result?  A keeper.  Everyone gobbled it up and demanded that next time I put in more dilly beans.  And here's the recipe.

Warm Potato and Greens Salad

• ~1 lb new potatoes (I used a mix of red and gold.  I also have no idea how many I used, so...)
• 1/2 onion, chopped
• several cloves of garlic, peeled and cut into halves/quarters if especially large
• olive oil spray (or just a glug)
• chard and beet greens (or just chard), chopped. (I eat stems and all.  Stems have a nice crunch)
• 4 eggs, boiled, peeled and chopped
• pickles, chopped (dills preferred).
• vinegar from pickles, to taste
• salt, pepper, nutritional yeast*, to taste
• tahini-yogurt sauce (recipe to follow)

Preheat oven to 425.  Wash and chop the potatoes into bite size pieces.  Spread on a cookie sheet with onion and garlic, and spray over with olive oil (or toss lightly in a bowl, then spread on cookie sheet).  Place in oven until brown and potatoes are cooked to preferred texture, stirring occasionally.

Meanwhile, cook the chard/beet greens: chop the greens, stems and leaves (some people don't eat the stems. I say "fools").  Heat a little oil in a skillet or pot and toss in the greens.  Stir until they start to get bright.  Add some water and cover to let them steam, stirring occasionally.  They won't cook for too long because both chard and beet greens are more tender than, say, kale or collards.

When the potatoes are done, put into a big bowl and toss with the greens, egg, pickles, tahini-yogurt sauce, pickle vinegar, and seasonings.  Taste and adjust flavors.

Tahini-Yogurt Sauce

(adapted from the estimable Mark Bittman's How To Cook Everything Vegetarian)

• 1/2 c. yogurt
• 1/2 c. tahini with oil
• 2-4 cloves garlic (the more garlic, the better in my book)
• juice from 1 lemon
• salt/pepper
• parsley

In a food processor, toss all the ingredients and let it go until combined.  Taste and adjust flavors.

(My version for the salad was heavy on the salt since it needed it to season the potatoes.  It also makes an excellent sauce for many, many other things, including salads, Greek food, etc).

*I frequently flavor with nutritional yeast.  It adds a little extra something delicious that I love.

The Pleasures of Spring

Nothing signals spring to me quite like ripe strawberries and asparagus.  I anxiously await asparagus season, which is far too brief, snatching up the crisp bundles like sacred relics.  Nothing is better than fresh asparagus, and the supermarket offerings are tawdry substitutes.

Asparagus comes first, followed closely by strawberries.  A fresh-picked strawberry is a joy and a delight.  Lance has a strawberry bed, but his come in a little later than some of the sellers at Farmers' Market, so I bought a box one week and savored them over the course of a couple of days.

Then Lance's berries began to ripen.  I awaited eagerly to eat them, savor them, enjoy them.  They make the monstrosities purchased from the grocery store taste like only the red-tinted idea of a strawberry.  These are Strawberries, pure spring delight that cannot be replicated.

I used to be ambivalent about strawberries: if offered, I would smile and take one, but I didn't go nuts for them.  Then I started eat strawberries that were picked when they were ripe (instead of slightly before and then shipped hundreds of miles), and I discovered a whole new world of taste.  Now I greedily hoard them, like a dragon protecting rubies, sharing only with those who are worthy.

This morning, I brought strawberries to work for a snack.  As I bit into one, it completely captured my attention.  It was delightful.

I wish everyone could have the opportunity to experience food in this way.  Eating can be a source of pleasure in addition to fueling the body, and understanding that will make more people pursue good quality, fresh, and local food instead of accepting the flavors of things that barely pass as fruits and vegetables.  Everyone should have access to this kind of food, not just those with the skills and resources to grow it themselves, nor the individuals who can afford to shop at Whole Foods or other stores that offer it at a premium.

Strawberries should also only be available part of the year, and  I don't buy strawberries unless they are in season, and I very rarely by them from the supermarket even when they are in season.  They are a visceral pleasure of spring, along with asparagus, that I only enjoy in its proper time.  Perhaps that's why the moment of that first bite of asparagus or the first strawberry from the garden is such a delight: I only get to enjoy it for a brief window each year until the next time spring comes around.

Lunchtime Yoga

In the summer, the pace of the office slows down for a few weeks.  Students lazily trickle in and out, staff members and faculty are often absent, and everybody just relaxes for a while.  (Then orientation starts, which is fast and furious for a month, then calms back down again).

The HPER offers a few classes at lunchtime, so I wanted to take advantage of the relaxed atmosphere to escape for a class.  Today, the schedule showed "Core Yoga" taught by Tracy, described as "A mix of practical pilates and yoga.  Starting with breath work, stretching, pilates, sun salutations, arm balances, and inversions."  Okay, that doesn't sound so bad.  Also, I keep hearing how a strong core makes one a better runner, so core strengthening is always a good thing.

I quickly changed and walked quickly down to the gym.  The sun was out, so it was a lovely walk.  The class had maybe eight to ten people, so it was nice and small.  We grabbed mats and waited for the instructor to arrive, who came breezing in, loud and full of energy.  I tried to keep an open mind and not make any judgments until the class started, but I was afraid she'd be a bit obnoxious.

I was wrong, luckily.  She was loud, but only at moments where a little extra energy was helpful.  When a pose got more difficult, her energetic cries to keep going made me laugh a little, distracting me from how hard I was working.  The class was a good environment and not at all intimidating for novices--the instructor made sure to tell us to "listen to our bodies."

My only complaint is that she didn't give a lot of modifications--I knew a few because I've done enough yoga to know, but there was one student who was having a hard time and could have benefited from modifications or direct assistance.  The instructor didn't really walk around and help anyone who was struggling, which I'm not really used to, especially in a small class.  The class was also fast-paced, so she may not have felt there was enough time to assist anyone directly.

The class flew by quickly, and I felt that I got a good arm and abs workout as well as a stretch.  In fact, I felt stretched enough that I wanted to go run because running after yoga always feels really good.  It was definitely more of a pilates/strength training class that it was a purely yoga class--we didn't hold the poses as long as I'd like to really relax and stretch out the muscles--but I still liked it.  I may have to try it again!

I'll leave you with a picture of the birthday treat I brought for my co-worker, which enjoyed after lunch:

Berry shortcake!  The cream was freshly whipped in the office (though whipping was a bitch after all the arm work I did shortly beforehand--feel the shoulder BURN).  We picked the wild blackberries from southern Arkansas, and the strawberries were from Lance's garden.  Delicious!

Savory Pancakes

I love pancakes.  I am, in fact, plotting a Pancake Fest, in which I will whip out several varieties of pancakes and feed lots of people.  (Booze, waffles, and breakfast meats will also be available).  Pancakes, however, are something that I can't eat daily for breakfast.  Something about all the sugar or something--basically, I end up hungry two hours later.

Lately my breakfast routine has been a bit rushed or dull.  I eat some fruit, and then I get a muffin from the coffee shop.  Not exactly healthy, so I obviously needed to shake up my breakfast choices.  I read somewhere that eating more protein keeps you fuller longer.  Since I'm a vegetarian, I can't really eat any meat, and while I like eggs, I usually want something else with them and too much animal fat (eggs, butter, etc) upsets my stomach. (Yes, I'm picky)

Then I remembered The Hungry Tiger had posted about breakfast lentils. Interesting!  I was lacking in many of her ingredients, but I liked the idea of something involving legumes and vegetables for breakfast.  I grabbed out my How to Cook Everything Vegetarian to see what Mark Bittman had to say about breakfast lentils.  Which was nothing.  However, he did have a recipe for lentil pancakes.

I didn't want to soak my lentils overnight, so I decided to use his recipe as more inspiration.  I'm pretty happy with what came out--it turns out that savory pancakes are almost as good as the traditional ones.

First, I cooked lentils and brown rice until they were done.  I had some leftover tomatoes from the shakshuka from dinner the night before, so I added a few scoops of that to the lentils/rice.  Then I added some spices, onion, green onion, mushrooms, celery, and garlic and pureed it in the food processor. It needed a bit more texture, so I added some oats, oat flour, and one egg.

Using my cupcake scoop, I scooped out portions and cooked them on the griddle until brown and toasty on each side.  I tried one, and they were delicious and, I imagine, infinitely customizable.  We tried one with salsa.  I imagine they'd even be good with a poached egg on top, if you're into that kind of thing.

Breakfast food experiment, success!

I also made this chickpea pancake (or socca) from How to Cook Everything Vegetarian for dinner.  It was kinda odd, but tasty--eggy, even though it didn't have any eggs.  It was also amazingly simple and contained relatively few ingredients.  I imagine it'd make a great base for a pizza-like dish.  Seriously, this book will never get old.  If you don't own, I highly recommend it.

Lentil Pancakes
Makes 10-12

This is a VERY rough recipe. Feel free to make substitutions like mad, depending on what you're in the mood for.  I'm sure you can skip the egg if you're after a vegan dish.  (I really should measure stuff when I experiment in the kitchen, especially when it's delicious.)

• 2/3 cup uncooked lentils 
• 1/2 cup uncooked brown rice
• diced canned tomatoes (~1/3 cup or so)
• onion and garlic, to taste
• celery
• nutritional yeast
• mushrooms
• spices, such as cumin, curry powder, chili powder, cayenne, salt and pepper, to taste
• ~1/2 cup rolled oats
• ~1/2 cup oat flour (to thicken)
• 1 egg

Cook the lentils.  When the water begins to boil, add the brown rice (I just tossed in a handful).  Cook until lentils/rice are done.  Drain off excess liquid, if any.  Add the tomatoes.  Let mixture cool to room temperature, then puree in a food processor with onion, garlic, and celery (I'm sure some carrots would be good--I tossed in some chopped mushrooms).  Add oats, flour, and egg, and puree.  Add salt/pepper and spices to taste.  Scoop out and cook on a griddle like a pancake and eat with whatever you think will taste good.  I suspect ketchup, chopped tomatoes, a poached egg, greens, a mixture of the above, or anything else would go well.

Chickpea Pancake (Socca or Farinata)
Adapted from How to Cook Everything Vegetarian

Feel free to substitute other flavors for the onion and rosemary.  The original called for regular onion, but I used that in my lentil pancakes.  It makes a pancake that is eggy in texture and would be a good pizza-like base--simply cook, then add toppings and finish baking, instead of broiling.

• 1 cup chickpea flour (also known as gram or besan flour)
• 1 teaspoon salt
• ground black pepper, to taste
• olive oil
• green onion, whites and greens, sliced
• fresh rosemary leaves

Put 1.5 cups warm water in a bowl and sift the chickpea flour into the water (else it'll be super lumpy).Add the salt, pepper, and 2 tbsp of olive oil together.  Cover with a towel and let stand for a few minutes or overnight.

Preheat the oven to 450.  Put ~2 tbsp olive oil into a cast iron skillet (oh, skillet!) and heat on the stove top until the oil and pan are hot (just like making cornbread, if you're a good Southerner).  Stir in the onion and rosemary (or whatever) and pour the batter into the hot skillet.  Put in the oven and bake for about 15 minutes until the pancake is firm and the edges are set.

Preheat the broiler.  Brush the top of the pancake with a bit more oil (which I forgot, and it totally turned out okay) and broil for a minute or two, or until brown spots appear.  Cut it up and eat it with salsa or whatever you want!

Dinner Quandries

You all know that I love to cook. Lance and I both are passionate and adamant about cooking and eating good food, shopping at the local market and natural foods co-op*. We prepare most of our own meals and love nothing more than to share our creations with others.

Lately, there's been a discussion going on in Google Reader on shared items involving food, food choices, food regulation, and how socioeconomic status plays into it all. Of course, I was vaguely aware that my ability to purchase fresh, organic produce or to buy from the Farmers' Market on a regular basis was a privilege. I don't make tons of money, but I make enough to afford good quality food, and we make it a priority to spend a bit more on it (instead of, say, paying for cable or eating out a lot).

I'm lucky to be able to have both the financial means to purchase organic produce and to have access to it. I realized, however, that not everyone lives where they can easily buy organic goods or can even afford them if they did have access. When I was growing up, my parents couldn't afford to purchase enough fresh fruits and vegetables to feed all seven individuals all the time (two adults and five children), and so we ate lots of spaghetti, ground beef or turkey, cheap lunch meat, white bread, peanut butter and jelly, and macaroni and cheese. We had canned or frozen vegetables mixed in (but not always), and I don't think we ever had a big green salad with our meals (which I eat almost daily now). We generally had bananas, and sometimes oranges or apples, but not always. I used to hate fresh green beans because I only ate the canned ones. We had our free school lunches, but as this blog points out, school lunches aren't exactly the paragon of good nutrition. We had plenty of food growing up, but now when I go to my parents' house, I have to bring my own food or I'll have a bad case of indigestion from the food I grew up eating. (Not to mention that they don't exactly good vegetarian-friendly dishes, so I just cook for myself and share with them, if they like).

People who are poor and live away from a good grocery store where they can buy anything fresh (let alone organic) don't have the same level of access that I now have to good quality food. They have to rely on the cheap, processed products they can afford and have access to for nutrition. Those in higher socioeconomic groups ignore the base problem of access, and insist that poor people are ignorant of their health and just need to be better educated**.

Another problem is that the government subsidizes the foods that have been shown to lead to obesity, diabetes, and cancer. If the government would switch to subsidizing salads and ensuring better food access for poor people, then maybe they would be able to afford to eat better and make better food choices.

Food and politics and morality are all tangled up in very wrong ways in America. Eating isn't a simple act. I'm fortunate to be able to be picky and shun processed foods, but not everyone has that choice. Sometimes all my parents could afford to buy us for dinner was a 25 cent box of macaroni and cheese and a package of hot dogs. They were sharply aware that it wasn't very healthy, but they didn't have a choice.

*We do, of course, occasionally eat something that might not fall into this category, like fried potato wedges on a road trip. But we try to mostly eat the good stuff, since too much junk/fast food makes us feel like crap.
**I do think that some education needs to happen, but poor people are not the only ones who are ignorant--middle-class children raised on pre-packaged food because the parents are too busy to bother cooking a real meal certainly need to learn that they need to change how they eat to be healthy. And a thin person who eats burgers and won't touch fruit or vegetables falls into that same category.

Soup School

I made another soup this weekend to eat on throughout the week. A big pot of soup easily lasts us the entire week for lunches with a dinner or two thrown in. I don't mind eating the same thing for both lunch and dinner; if I do, I'll vary what I have with it (salad? bread? cooked greens?) so I don't get bored.

I realize that one reason I can just whip out a soup without a recipe is that I use the same "base" recipe for soups and just vary what I put in it, based on what's in my fridge/freezer. Since I figure some of my intrepid readers might like to experiment with making delicious, nutritious, and filling soups of their own (without much fuss!), I thought I'd post a short course on soup making.

I like to start my soups with a mirepoix, which is just a fancy way of saying onion, carrots, and celery. If I don't have celery or carrots, I simply start with onion, but I prefer celery and carrots for my soup base. Finely dice the mirepoix and saute in butter or a splash of olive oil until the vegetables begin to soften and get fragrant.

For those who are meat-eaters or like a little meat flavor in their soup, feel free to add a ham hock or bit of chopped stew meat, a smoked turkey leg (really good with split pea, incidentally), or something like a venison neck bone that is lurking in the depths of your freezer (yes, that would be us). Searing the meat helps release some of the flavors into the soup base.

The liquid part of the soup can be plain water, a bit of flavorful stock (you really should try to make your own occasionally, or at least buy good quality stock free of MSG or preservatives), or a bit of bouillon and water. We have a salt-free vegan vegetable bouillon that is nice to use if we don't have any vegetable stock on hand. (I use a salt-free bouillon because I can add my own salt, and I'm after the vegetable/herb flavor anyway. I'm planning on trying my hand at some homemade bouillon soon.)

Now here's the hard part: what are the main components of your soup? As a (mostly) vegetarian, I obviously want gobs of vegetables and beans. There is nothing wrong with a bit of meat or dairy, of course, for those who want something a bit heartier. I find the best soups showcase the vegetables and use the meat as a flavor rather than primary component. You can use a mixture of fresh vegetables or frozen, whatever you might have on hand.

The soup I made this weekend was a freezer clearing soup: I used frozen squash and a partial package of peas, a lone can of green beans I needed to get rid of, some beans we'd tossed in the freezer a while back, a frozen pepper, frozen leek tops leftover from another recipe, and some frozen celery. I also thawed out a couple of cups of pumpkin puree to add to the liquid, which was a delicious way to add flavor and thicken it a bit. My primary seasonings for this one were an Italian herb mix, parsley, nutritional yeast (which ups the umami quotient without using animal products!), and salt and pepper.

Other ideas would be to add more legumes (like lentils or split peas) for a legume-based soup, or adding more vegetables if you want a mixed vegetable soup. Potatoes, squash (winter or summer), greens, etc. make great soups. You could even roast cubes of vegetables to change the flavor profile. Adding milk, cream, or cheese (or a combination) would make the soup creamier and thicker. Adding a vegetable puree (like potato) would also thicken it up. Adding a bit of rice, oats, bulgar wheat, or any other grain lends a different texture to the soup.

Add your vegetables, legumes, and/or grains to the pot (after the liquid) and let cook until the vegetables are done and everything is tender. You'll want to taste and adjust your seasonings, since salt levels can vary wildly, depending. (And if you accidentally over-salt, just throw in a cubed chunk of potato to simmer until tender! Potatoes absorb salt like crazy.) If you plan to add cheese/dairy, wait until towards the end of the cooking time.

Making a good soup is largely a matter of taste, what you want in a soup, and (at least for me) which ingredients are available. I would just take the soup base and experiment with adding different ingredients and seasonings to see what you can come up with!

Pumpkin minestrone

As I just learned from Wikipedia, a minestrone is a thick vegetable soup, Italian in origin. So I can officially sorta call the soup that I created the past weekend a minestrone.

It's the season for soup: when I'm craving something warm and healthy and filling (but generally light), I reach for soups. I'm not normally very good at just making up recipes, but soup is one of the things that I do easily by feel. I usually start with a sense of what I'm looking for in a soup, scour my cabinets and freezer/refrigerator to see what ingredients I have, then throw it all together. This soup was one such concoction (with Lance's spicing help).

I wanted to make a pumpkin and bean soup. I had frozen pumpkin cubes and plenty of beans. I almost leaned toward a curried-coconut milk based soup, but veered toward the lighter minestrone feel. It made a huge pot of deliciousness--I just finished off the last bowl with half an avocado chunked into it. With a hunk of crusty bread and/or a salad, this soup makes for a satisfyingly wholesome winter meal.

Sorry about the approximations on the ingredients--I really did just throw things together. The good thing about soups, fortunately, is that there is plenty of wiggle room for ingredients, so feel free to add a vegetable or three (or even some grains or a little meat, if you're into that) or make substitutions like mad! (I thought that it might be especially good with a little chopped chard for some greenery).

Pumpkin Minestrone

• olive oil
  
• 1 onion, chopped
  
• 2 carrots, chopped
• 2 stalks celery, chopped
  
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
  
• 1-2 lbs cubed pumpkin or squash
• 4 cups vegetable stock or water
  
• 1 28-oz can crushed tomatoes (I heartily recommend Muir Glen canned tomatoes)
  
• roughly 3 cups (or 1-2 cans) beans (I used baby limas, but I imagine that navy beans would be good. I put in about 1.5-2 cups uncooked lima beans in the pressure cooker and let them cook lightly, finishing them in the soup)
• salt, pepper, nutritional yeast, Italian seasonings to taste

In a big pot, heat the olive oil on a medium-high heat. Add the onion, carrot, and celery and saute until the vegetables soften some. Add in the garlic and cook a little more.

Add the pumpkin, stock, tomatoes, beans to the pot and bring to a boil. Turn down the pot to a simmer and let the vegetables cook. Add some salt and pepper and other seasonings to taste.

When the pumpkin begins to lose the corners on the cubes and gets soft, mash up a few of the cubes to thicken the soup (if you so desire--this was Lance's idea), taste and adjust seasonings as needed.

So simple and so good! I think this soup is delicious, and since it makes a lot, you could probably freeze some of it for later or share with several friends.

Fruits of the Press

Yesterday, I discussed making tofu. When I posted, I had yet to actually try any of the fruits of our tofu press. Today we had both something made from the leftover soybean pulp (or okara) and the freshly made tofu.

For breakfast, Lance fried up some soysage patties. If you like sausage, you definitely will not be fooled, but these little mock-breakfast meats were pretty satisfying with a fried egg and piece of homemade bread. I like them and will most likely continue to use the okara (soybean pulp) to make a batch every now and then.

Dinner was also soy based, as I wanted to eat the tofu while it was still fresh, since all of the tofu making guides claim it is most delicious when fresh. So I busted out Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything Vegetarian, my go-to guide for cooking, well, everything vegetarian. (A note: if you are looking for a comprehensive guide to vegetarian cooking, buy this book. Seriously.)

I decided to make Braised Tofu and Peas in Curried Coconut Milk, which while it might seem to be something to mask the flavor of freshly made tofu, it in fact proved complimentary. Luckily it made enough for many meals for the next week. Since I love peas, curry, and coconut milk (not to mention tofu), it was a recipe that pleased me. A warning: the recipe calls for quite a lot of tofu. If you are new to tofu or are uncertain if you like the texture of braised tofu, try a bit less, add more vegetables, and see how you like it. You can also freeze and thaw or press and fry the tofu beforehand to firm up the texture.

And yes, the fresh tofu definitely tasted better than the packaged stuff, but if you're new to tofu, definitely don't be intimidated. I like the ease and convenience of the non-homemade tofu as much as anybody and will probably still buy it on occasion because making tofu is sort of a pain, even if it is cheaper and tastier.

Soysage
adapted from Sam's Mom's recipe

• 4 cups soy pulp
• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 cup wheat germ
• 3/4 cup oil
• 1 1/4 cup water (original called for soymilk, which I didn't have)
• 2 cups nutritional yeast
• 1 1/2 tsp fennel seed
• 1 tsp black pepper (or more, to taste)
• 2 tsp sage
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 3 tsp oregano
• 2 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp cayenne (or more for spicy soysage)
• 2 tbsp brown sugar
• 2 tbsp liquid smoke
• 3 cloves garlic, minced (or more, if you love garlic), or 2 tbsp garlic powder
• 1 tbsp rice vinegar
• 3/4 tbsp mustard powder

Mix ingredients in a large bowl. Put into a loaf pan and steam in a wok or a covered pot on a rack for at least half an hour. Let sit until cool, then scoop out to make patties to fry.

Braised Tofu and Peas in Curried Coconut Milk
adapted from How to Cook Everything Vegetarian

• 2 large onions, quartered
• 1 28-oz can tomatoes with their liquid (I prefer the Muir Glen canned tomatoes)
• 2 tbsp neutral oil
• salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 2-3 tbsp garam masala or curry powder, or a combination--to taste. (I mixed them, and added 3 tbsp)
• 1/4-1/2 cup nutritional yeast (optional)
• red pepper or other heat (we like it spicy in the M-M household)
  
• 2 tbsp brown sugar
  
• 1 1/2 to 2 lbs (1-2 packages) firm to extra firm tofu, cut into 3/4-in cubes
• 1 1/2 cups peas (I ended up using two 10-oz pkgs because I LOVE PEAS)
• 1 can coconut milk plus a little water
• Chopped cilantro for garnish (unless cilantro is vile to you like it is to me, then I garnished with some cashews instead)
• brown rice (or other grain) for serving (optional)

Place the onion and the tomato in a food processor and puree. Put the oil in a pot and heat, adding the puree. Add salt, pepper, and spices. Cook, stirring occasionally, about 10 minutes.

Add the tofu and peas and cook for another 5 minutes, until the tofu swells slightly and the peas are tender. Stir in the coconut milk and bring back to almost a boil, stirring occasionally (though not too much, or you'll break up the tofu). Taste, adjust seasonings as needed and serve with (or without) garnish.

Homemade Tofu

I love tofu. I really do. Even before I declared myself a vegetarian, I ate tofu regularly with delight and enthusiasm. I think it's versatile and tasty, when prepared properly.

Because I love tofu so much and because homemade tofu is apparently much better (and cheaper) than store-bought, Lance bought me a tofu making kit. It sat, dusty and forlorn atop my refrigerator for a year, until finally we decided to use our Sunday to use it. I don't know what the heck took us so long.

Using this post as our guide, we dutifully soaked our soybeans, ground them, and pressed them. The first batch didn't turn out as well as expected because we didn't grind the soybeans finely enough--Lance used a hand blender. The recipe was supposed to make one tofu mold full, but we got a thin little brick instead.

Wanting to figure out what was wrong, Lance got another batch of soybeans soaking, and today we tried again with a blender. Our results were MUCH better.

Here's a picture of the mold lined with muslin and the soy curds...














And our high-tech pressing system (a jar of cherries)




















After it presses for about five hours, we'll have a nice block of firm tofu! It's all very exciting. I think we may have to invest in a soymilk maker, however, if we want to make it regularly because the most time intensive part of the process is making the soymilk. We're going to make soy sausage from the leftover soybean bits (called okara), so I may post that tomorrow.

Cupcake Review

I dressed up as a Cupcake Queen (or fairy, depending on how you look at my costume) for Halloween this year. The cupcakes in the photo are ones that I made especially for Halloween--Caramel Apple Cupcakes.

Imagine: an apple cupcake, frosted with a caramel cream cheese icing, and topped with a mini caramel apple (with tiny toothpick sticking out of it). They were brilliant and tasted really, really good. Next year I might take a stab at making my own caramel or putting caramel in the middle of the cupcakes.

My point is, of course, that I make really tasty cupcakes (I promise I have testimonies to back me up!). And there aren't really tasty cupcakes to be found commercially in Fayetteville. So when I heard that Bliss Cupcake Cafe was opening in our small town, I got excited. Cupcake shops are something that one usually finds in places like New York City or Washington D.C.

Bliss opened yesterday afternoon; since I was at work, I did not get to experience it directly, so I will only be giving a partial review based on the cupcake that was brought to me. (I plan to go experience for myself and post another review in a week or two.) I got the Pumpkin Maple cupcake: a pumpkin cupcake topped with a maple buttercream and a few toasted pecans. Lance got the Cinnamon Toast, and JH got the Chocolate Marshmallow. They told me that it was a long wait because it was busy, but I'll blame that on opening day problems--I'm sure they'll get it figured out.

Lance tells me that both the Cinnamon Toast and Chocolate Marshmallow were a bit crumbly on the cake--he wanted a moister, denser cupcake. Some folks like the crumby cake, but I prefer a tender, moister crumb myself. The marshmallow topping was really, really good, but the chocolate cake itself was fairly standard. The cupcakes were a bit small but definitely fresh.

My own cupcake--the Pumpkin Maple--was pretty tasty, but while I was eating it, I kept thinking of how my own cupcake would be better. I've made pumpkin cupcakes before, and the ones I've made are full of flavor while still being moist and a little more substantial. The cake was very moist and tender and light as a cloud--but I felt it could have offered more on the flavor end. It disappeared too quickly and didn't encourage careful, contemplative bites. I've made pumpkin cupcakes before, and the ones I've made are full of flavor while still being moist and a little more substantial. I like a cupcake that you can savor, and the cake was too airy and not flavorful enough to do that.

The maple frosting was good in concept--but I'm not a huge fan of buttercream (all sweet, not much flavor); I think a maple cream cheese frosting would have actually been better on this particular cupcake. Since the cake itself was so airy and insubstantial, a heavier and creamier frosting would have balanced it out. The pecans on top was a nice touch, though cinnamon candied pecans would have taken it up to the next notch. My overall impression of this cupcake was that the flavor was too subtle, the sweet was the major note, and it disappeared far too quickly.

Lance, JH, and I think that Bliss definitely has some potential--but they need to work out their kinks. Apparently some of the cupcakes overflowed their cups a bit or were flat--signs that the bakers didn't vary how much they filled the cups based on which recipe there were using. If we're paying roughly $3 for a cupcake, we want something special. And I want something that would inspire me to play around in my own kitchen. I look to the Cupcake Bakeshop blog for inspiration for the kinds of cupcakes I would pay good money for (I'd probably pay $4 or more for one of hers!), and I just don't know if Bliss is at that level. I will, of course, be trying again in a week or so after some of the opening kinks have (hopefully) been worked out.

Any readers try out Bliss Cupcakes? What are your thoughts?

A Driving Adventure

A couple of months ago, I got an e-mail from my favorite band adding tour dates--and, lo and behold! they would be in Tulsa. Though I had already seen the Hazards of Love concert once in Kansas City, I was eager to go again and to go with friends.

Tulsa isn't far from Fayetteville, definitely doable. And since the concert was on a Sunday, making it to work on Monday was feasible. So I discussed the trip with fellow fans and we purchased tickets and made plans to go eat Indian food (since there's not a bite to be found in Fayetteville).

A couple of weeks ago, two friends commented that they had, perhaps, maybe, lost their tickets. Oh noes! They decided to simply replace them, but it was portentous of the nature of our trip. Nevertheless, we set out to Tulsa on Sunday afternoon in high spirits. I had booked a hotel room for Lance and A and I, since the other three folks were staying with a friend.

We ate delicious Indian food (aloo parathi, saag panneer, biranyi, and dishes I don't remember the names of but consumed with great gusto), then set out to find our hotel. According to Google Maps, it was supposedly near the concert venue. When the navigator followed the GPS directions, however, we found ourselves at a hotel far away from downtown Tulsa. I popped in quickly to check that my reservation wasn't for that location, and the front desk clerk told me that I didn't have a room booked there.

We went to the concert, puzzling about where it could be, and enjoyed the show immensely. It was great--the Decemberists give a fantastic show. We happily poured out of the venue and headed to the car, confident we'd find our beds for the night.

One hour, a frustrated driver (Lance), several phone calls to area hotels, and too many U-turns later, we ended up at the hotel we had stopped at initially, which was NO WHERE NEAR the concert venue.

I was furious, since I had been told that my reservations weren't there. We get into our room, and the stench of stale cigarettes wafts into my nostrils. Apparently, when I exclaimed, "Oh, NONSMOKING, please!" the guy booking my room heard "smoking". Huh.

Since I had to sleep in a room filled with the residue of past cigarettes, I woke up with a horrible headache and a stuffy head, since I'm allergic to cigarettes. And my two compatriots were not much happier. The lessons? Jenn is not allowed to book hotel rooms; you get what you pay for; Google Maps is a LIAR.

We got to go see the Decemberists (again) and had fun, however, and our trip concluded with lunch at a charming Mennonite restaurant in a tiny town near the Oklahoma border. That bread pudding was worth all the trouble of the night before--their food was simple and divine. A good end to our driving adventure.

Return of the Apples

It's an event I look forward to each fall: which Saturday will I arrive at the market to find them waiting? It's always unexpected, but delightful when it occurs. Apple season has begun!

A freshly picked apple is a thing of joy. Crisp and sweet with a hint of tart, these apples are delightful. Most of them I eat straight, or with some peanut butter, but they do make great apple butter and pies. I plan on buying vats of apples to make Christmas gifts (along with all of the pickles I've been making).

I've always thought an apple was the perfect travel food; they are sturdy, don't require peeling, easy to eat, and make a great (and filling!) snack. I toss a couple in my bag for work so that I'm assured of having a healthy snack on hand. This morning, I needed something more than the watermelon I had before I left home, so I whipped up a quick dip of peanut butter and Greek yogurt, and ate my apple with that.

Before I give you the recipe for the peanut butter yogurt dip, I wanted to clarify some reasons behind my switch to vegetarian. For the most part, I had been avoiding animal products that came from the factory farm system and opting instead for locally-raised meat, or at very least pasture-raised, organic. I found myself slipping into eating meat more often, however, that was not raised sustainably or ethically. I felt that removing meat would help me get back into that mindset of thinking about where my food comes from and eating a diet that is more sustainable for the earth and good for the animals. The animal products that I do buy (eggs and milk) come from local farms or are organic. Luckily, it's easy to find local eggs from pastured hens around here!

Anyway, now for a recipe. If you're looking for a healthy dip, this one's pretty good--it has lots of good protein from both the peanuts and the Greek yogurt, and adding Greek yogurt to the peanut butter cuts down on the amount of fat (especially if you're using low fat or fat-free yogurt), and the peanut butter flavors the Greek yogurt.

Peanut Butter Yogurt Dip
makes 2 servings
1/4 cup plain Greek yogurt
1 tbsp natural, unsweetened peanut butter
Honey (optional)

Mix together and try not to eat with a spoon.

I like a little less peanut butter, but the original recipe uses a one to one ratio, so feel free to increase the amount of peanut butter. I also like mine unsweetened, especially if I'm eating it with an apple, but it is very, very good with a bit of honey added in, especially if you're feeding the dip to small children or people not used to unsweetened yogurt and peanut butter. This makes about 2 servings for a light snack.

Taking the Plunge

Earlier last week, I decided I was going to be a vegetarian. At least for a while.

Most reactions have been along the lines of "Oh, I thought you were already one." Lance's reaction is "Sure, until I cook you lamb." He has been, so far, taking me seriously, so that's been nice. I think I'll still eat fish occasionally because if I'm in a sushi restaurant there's no way I'm not getting some sort of tasty raw fishes. No way.

Why did I decide to take the vegetarian plunge? Most of my friends know that I don't eat much meat to begin with, but I do eat it on occasion. With moving and various other social activities, I've been finding myself eating more meat than I like. Monday was the last straw--I ate chicken and dumplings because it was what was available for dinner, and it was so...unappealing. The thought of eating meat became unpleasant, and I figured I needed to cut down on eating meat anyway, so...

Vegetarian.

Luckily, it's an easy lifestyle change for me, since I'm usually about 90% vegetarian anyway. And to make life easy for Lance, I'll probably still eat food he makes that is cooked with turkey stock or lard because we make that stuff ourselves and we have it in our pantry/freezer as it is. So, really it's not that much of a change except that I won't be eating meat when I eat out, and I'll avoid it when I go to my parents' or Lance's parents'...but I'm perfectly willing to prepare my own food, or simply eat the vegetable parts of the meals. Yay for vegetarian experimentation!

Lack of Fire

Last night, I went to see Julia & Julia while Lance watched District 9. As good as District 9 may be, I am actually not too big a fan of alien movies. And I wasn't really in the mood for an action movie with aliens, so I gathered a couple of ladies, and we went to Julie & Julia instead.

The film was just what I was looking for, though the Julia Child (played dazzlingly by Meryl Streep) far outshone the bits about Julie Powell. Powell's book was far more amusing than her portrayal in the film, perhaps because the Julie in the film was almost too sticky-sweet and doe-eyed for all her claims to bitchiness and perhaps because the Julie in the book swore frequently while drinking gimlets and destroying her kitchen.

All the viewing of cooking got me in the mood to cook, so I decided to make this pie for potluck tomorrow. Go on, click the link. I'll wait.

That's right: a peanut butter, chocolate, banana cream pie. Yum. I expect folks will enjoy it, at least if Lance doesn't try to eat it all with a spoon while simulaneously brandishing that spoon as a weapon to keep others away. I haven't topped it yet, but I'll try to post a photo of how mine turns out.

Anyway, this pie requires a minimal amount of stove and oven use: I did need to bake the pie crust and make the pudding. Our stove, however, has been causing me grief since we moved in, and I haven't even cooked very much.

The pilot lights WON'T STAY LIT.

This lack of fire when I turn the gas to "on" is both disturbing and stressful--and it has led to a few minor meltdowns vaguely reminiscent of Powell's. At first it was because I didn't know how to light the pilots, and now that I do, it is because I want FIRE when I turn the knob to ON. Is that so much to ask, stove? Is it?

Needless to say, I managed to get everything lit (the pilots went out immediately after I lit them the first time). They go out if I use the oven; they go out if I look at them funny; and they go out whenever I want to cook. I've decided that the stove despises me.

Lance plans to e-mail our landlady and spook her with the fact that the stove is GAS and OHMYGOD the pilots won't stay LIT, which means that GAS will be POURING into our house if she doesn't replace the stove IMMEDIATELY. But of course, it'll be way less dramatic and much more subtle. In fact, he'll probably word it such that the terror will come from her own fear of gas and not anything that Lance tells her. He's crafty like that.

Until then, I get to anticipate lighting the damn thing whenever I want to cook, which will be a lot because I need to pickle (or otherwise process) things:

First Dinner

Tonight, I cooked my first dinner in the new house.

Yes, I know I love to cook, but I haven't been home much. And Lance was there to cook. And sometimes we just ate stuff and didn't worry about an actual meal.

I decided to make this Lasagna Tart. For one, I had some cheese I needed to use up because it was about to go bad. Also I had been eyeballing that recipe since Heidi posted it, and our zucchini is threatening to take over the refrigerator (so are cucumbers, so we're converting them into relish and probably some pickles).

Unfortunately, it was hot. And since it was hot (and we're not really running the air conditioner when we can help it), running the oven was probably not the best idea. I started making the tart, then, after examining the instructions, realized it was going to take FOREVER to bake. It'd be well after 8pm before I'd be able to eat, so I decided to alter my dinner plans.

The tart is basically crust, cheese, zucchini, and sauce. I sauteed some of the thinly sliced zucchini, boiled some spaghetti noodles, and layered noodles, cheese, zucchini, and sauce to make myself a bowl of lasagna, essentially. It was all right--definitely edible, but not fantastic.

Another problem I ran into was my stove. It's an older stove, and I can already tell we're going to wrangle. The pilot lights on the cooktop don't like to stay lit, so when I turned on the oven, one side went out. I thought both sides were out, but one half just likes to take its sweet time lighting.

The tart finished cooking, so I'll have it for lunch tomorrow. I'm afraid that it's a bit of a dud, however, since the crust didn't do what I wanted, and the sauce is a little acidic for my tastes. Luckily, it'll still be very edible, and it'll keep me from having to cook lunch or dinner for the next couple of days.