Icy Violet's Kitchen

Ingredient of the Week: Sweet Limes

2012-05-26T22:13:00.001-07:00

I went to the fancy store today to get some fancy food.

Namely, Meyer lemons.

Alas nay! Meyer lemons were not to be found.

But there were...sweet limes.

Whaaaaat is a sweet lime, you ask?

I 'unno.

Gonna eat some and find out!

I cut one open, as you can see, and licked it.

It was sweet!

Tomorrow I'm going to make an ade of some sort out of them, or maybe just a juice if they're so sweet they don't require ade-ing.

Only experimentation of the highest scientific order can tell us.

Have you had these mysterious little citrus before? Did they blow your mind? Do they make a fine ade? Tell me what you know!

Pink Lemonade Cupcakes

2012-05-24T21:47:00.001-07:00

Vaccinations and doctor bills!

Crying that wakes me up at 3 am!

Formula slopped all over the kitchen!

I wasn't ready for a second child yet!

Still.

Sweet cuddles in the bed and naps together.

Raucous games between siblings.

And a face so pretty, you'd just die to see it.

Yes I do have a gap in my teeth.

Yup. I think I have a kitten now.

Pictures to come!

Pink Lemonade Cupcakes (taken from Let Them Eat Cake!)
makes 24

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
5 egg whites
3/4 cup frozen pink lemonade concentrate, thawed
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons buttermilk
Red food colouring (about 6-7 drops for a nice pink)

Pre-heat oven to 350° F.

In a bowl, mix together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt until well blended. Set aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer with whisk attachment, whisk together sugar, oil, egg whites, pink lemonade concentrate and vanilla until well blended.

Add about 1/3 of the flour mixture; whisk until blended.

Add half the buttermilk, whisk until blended.

Continue alternately adding flour mixture and buttermilk until everything is mixed together. Do not over mix.

Add food colouring, one drop at a time, until you get a nice pink colour.

Pour batter into paper cupcake cups in a muffin pan so that the cups is about 3/4 full of batter.

Bake for 15-18 minutes, or until a tester inserted into the center of the cupcake comes out clean.

Cool completely before frosting with this frosting, but replace the champagne with lemonade concentrate, and throw in 5-6 drops red food coloring.

Apple Carrot Muffins

2012-05-22T22:09:00.000-07:00

Apples or carrots. Apples or carrots. What do you want to grate up and make a muffin out of?

Why not both?

Soft, sweet, moist and oh so fine.

Gluten and dairy-free too, for the discerning sort.

Although to be honest the original recipe calls for browned butter, and I bet that is oh so good.

But we are on our good behavior here, so it's coconut oil for us.

And in muffins like these, swapping out the browned butter is no serious loss.

On a completely unrelated note, if you hypothetically (now this is hypothetical, you understand) had come into possession of a teeny tiny kitten that toddled around after you mewing all day, what would you name it? For this hypothetical exercise the sex is unclear.

(too young to tell)

Go!

Apple Carrot Muffins (adapted from Canelle et Vanille)
10 tablespoons (140 g) coconut oil
1 1/2 cups gluten free flour of your choice (or regular flour)
1 1 /2 tsp baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon ground caradamom
2 eggs, at room temperature
1/3 cup (70 g) light muscovado sugar
1/3 cup (80 ml) maple syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 small carrots, peeled and grated
1 medium Gala apple, peeled, cored, and grated

Preheat oven to 350F (180C).

In a microwave or a small saucepan, melt the coconut oil.

In a large bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients. In a separate bowl, whisk together the coconut oil and remaining wet ingredients. Add the wet to the dry and whisk to combine. Fold in the grated carrot and apples.

Scoop the batter into baking cups and bake for 20 minutes. Transfer to cooling rack and cool completely.

In Oregon There Are Farms

2012-05-20T21:55:00.001-07:00

On a gray day in May we went to play.

Daddy was at work. Baby had slept through our usual Baby Storytime show at the local library. The afternoon stretched uneventfully before us.

And then I remembered...

In Oregon there are farms.

Not much in season yet for the buying, although last year's harvest is a gift that keeps on giving. And local meat, fresh for the table.

Meanwhile, the strawberry fields were fierce with greens and bright white flowers. In another month...it'll be a different story.

Until then, flowers for sale.

Have you ever seen a fuchsia plant? The flowers look like teeny tiny fairy dresses.

Geraniums as far as the eye can see.

We petted (patted? putted?) ponies, and I fed them feed.

Baby was a bit young for that. Maybe next month. Or year.

I picked a fight with a rooster.

And a turkey.

Actually, they started it.

Apart from pissing off the poultry, we just sat and enjoyed the view.

Lucky enough to be exploring between rain storms.

That was our day. It was gray. And it happened to be May.

Hazelnut Chocolate Macarons

2012-05-17T21:37:00.001-07:00

I have so many things to tell you tonight.

Like about how sometimes I overthink things. Like when it's time to start something new or really take action I freeze up, like how I'd like to sell my cupcakes, but

I know that if I put up an ad on Craigslist I'm going to get overwhelmed with orders and not be able to keep up, or I won't get any at all and some rude teenager will see my flier (that I haven't made, but I'm considering a flier) and

laugh in my face because I'll happen to be standing on the sidewalk when he sees it and laughs, and then I will make my cupcakes and one of them will have a hair or an eggshell and I will get badmouthed and no on will eat Icy Violet's Cupcakes again, and maybe

sued or fined because I don't have my foodhandler's permit (yet! yet!), and I'll have to start selling them in the parking lot of the grocery store from the trunk of my car like

the tamale lady at the Smith's shouting 'lady want cupcake!?' and then ducking in case you're a cop (this woman is onto something*).

Bam. Welcome to my brain on the cusp of a new endeavor.

I was also going to tell you how I am finally jumping back on the macaron bandwagon after two years of failed batches, which in turn followed two or three marvelous successes with them when I first started out.

Beginners luck, I guess.

But chuh choo! I am back on the macaron train!

What? No one's eating macarons anymore?

It's all about the whoopie pie now?

Wait, the whoopie pie was so 2010?

Nuts to you, food trends! I'm 'onna stick with cupcakes. Let me know if you live in the Eugene area of Oregon and want some. There will be neato flavors, promise. It will all be on the flier.

Oh but don't tell the feds, kay? I'm in trouble enough as it is.

*and if anyone ever yells at you to buy the tamales out of the trunk of their car, DO IT. DO IT DO IT DON'T THINK JUST DO IT.

Hazelnut Chocolate Macarons

So macarons are famously testy. The ingredients are incredibly simple, but there are a lot of factors you need to look out for. The one that has been tripping me up lately is the humidity. Here in Oregon it's a little bit like living underwater. Wait for a day when the tide goes out, is what I'm saying. Don't make them on a rainy day if you live in a humid place.

I get my basic recipe from the brilliant Aran at Canelle et Vanille. I find this recipe is endlessly adaptable. Just add 2 - 3 teaspoons of the powdered dry flavoring of your choice to the sugar/almond mixture, or if you're using a liquid flavoring add 1 tablespoon or so to the egg whites when they are nearly whipped up. For hazelnut or other nut flavors, switch out the almond flour for the nut flour of your choice. It's brilliant. That's what I did here for a lovely hazelnut flavor, with a chocolate ganache for a filling (okay I used Nutella...but the fancy pantses out there would enjoy a rich ganache).

Other advice...adhere strictly to the drying schedule. It is really important that the tops of your unbaked cookies be dry enough to not stick to your fingers when lightly touched. Mine actually have little tips here rather than smooth domes because I overdried them. But I'd rather overdry than underdry, since underdrying can lead to all sorts of problems.

Are you wigging out over this recipe yet?

Bam. You overthought it. Just make them, you can do it.

Edamame, Coconut, and Avocado over Rice

2012-05-14T21:38:00.003-07:00

When I was little, I never liked my food to touch. Remember those little divided plates they made in the 80s and early 90s? I loved those.

It bothered me a lot. That, combined with my ritualized approach to eating certain foods, actually worried my parents. At one point they discussed whether something might be, you know. Up.

It isn't my fault if no one else can see that my way of consuming toast is the most logical and efficient!

Anyway. Despite my awe-inspiring methods of toast-consumption (if you only knew), I've since performed a complete U-turn.

Little pleases me more now than a large and varied pile of food. A mixture of tastes, textures, and colors all coming together.

I guess that is what a salad is.

And this salad has, just, everything you want.

Green, crunchy stuff for healthy. Yellow, smooshy stuff for protein. White, carby stuff for filling. All tied together with a red onion for a sweet bite, and a salty-sweet, Asian-inspired dressing.

Joy the Baker invented it. I expanded upon it (Joy's is more of a ladylike salad...mine more of a trough-filling hillock of nutrients).

I want you to have it.

Edamame, Coconut, and Avocado over Rice

4 c cooked rice (white or brown, as you prefer)

2 ripe avocados, sliced in half and pits removed

1 1/2 cups shelled edamame

1/2 cup coconut (Joy calls for unsweetened and toasted, but I only had sweetened and un-toasted on hand and it tasted just dandy)

2 tablespoons diced red onion

2 tablespoons chopped parsley

1 teaspoon sesame seeds

2 tablespoons chopped nori (optional)

4 eggs cooked how you like (or however many you are hungry for; husby likes them scrambled but I like them runny, so we did both!)

For the dressing:

1 teaspoon dijon mustard

1 teaspoon sesame oil

1 teaspoon soy sauce

a few tablespoons of fresh lemon juice

2 tablespoons olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

Put eggs on to cook to your preference.

In a medium bowl, toss together all of the ingredients for the filling.

In a small bowl, whisk together mustard, sesame oil, soy sauce, and lemon juice. Whisk in olive oil in a slow stream to emulsify. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Pour the dressing over the filling. Toss to combine. Spoon the filling into halved avocado. Season with salt and pepper. Place over rice. Top with eggs and serve.

Ingredient of the Week: Nori

2012-05-12T22:42:00.001-07:00

Ugh, better hurry tonight folks.

I've got a crying baby in the other room, and a frazzled husband doing his best to hold the fort until I come in.

I just wanted to tell you about seaweed, though.

Have you had it?

It's green. And healthy. And salty (at least this kind is...the nice man at the Asian market directed me which kind was good for direct snacking [as opposed to, you know, sushi rolling or some such], but you can buy it unseasoned too).

I think, if I can pull this off, it's going to be my new chips. It's snacky and crunchy and really scratches that itch for salt.

It's also good crumbled up and sprinkled on an avocado salad I'm going to show you soon...SOON!

But for now, well, I'd better go attend to mah precious child.

Tell me what you think about seaweed!

Blackberry Coconut Macaroons

2012-05-10T22:34:00.003-07:00

I'm a big believer in karma.

Once, when I was teaching English in Mexico (double mention this week!), the family we were staying with took us on a trip to an old hacienda in the mountains. It was ancient, practically medieval, and beautifully kept up.

I was homesick, though, and wishing I wasn't in Mexico (I love to travel, but sometimes I'm pretty terrible at it). So I was pouty the whole time.

And then a bird crapped on my head. Crapped. On. My. Head.

I'm privately pretty into politics. I wish that I wasn't, though, it's so frustrating to go round and round in circles. But this week I've been out picking fights on the internet again.

And then yesterday I got a ticket for speeding. Speeding! I never!

Well, I always speed, but I've never got a ticket before (hope you aren't reading this, officer!).

Superstitious? Maybe. But effective. And good motivation to behave myself, so what I put out there doesn't come back and smack me in the face.

When I made these macaroons, though, I must have done something wrong because the second batch?

Dumped out all over the floor of my hot stove.

At least it smelled nice as it sizzled.

Oh well. Probably for the best that I only had one batch to myself.

Because they were TAS-T. (and also GF!)

You try them and see, and get back to me about it.

Blackberry Coconut Macaroons (recipe adapted from Smitten Kitchen)

14 ounces (400 grams) sweetened, flaked coconut
2/3 cup (130 grams) granulated sugar
3 large egg whites
Heaped 1/4 teaspoon flaked sea salt or level 1/4 teaspoon table salt
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1/2 pint (6 ounces, 170 grams or 1 1/4 cups) fresh blackberries (if washed, patted very dry)

Preheat oven to 325°F. Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper.

In an electric mixer, blend the coconut with the sugar, for a minute (original recipe suggests using a food processor...I don't have one, but I'm sure that would be grand!). Add egg whites, salt and almond extract and blend for another minute. Add berries and blend just until they are largely, but not fully, broken down.

With a tablespoon measure or cookie scoop, scoop batter into 1-inch mounds. You can arrange the cookies fairly close together as they don’t spread, just puff a bit.

Bake cookies for 25 to 30 minutes, until they look a little toasted on top. Let them rest on the tray for 10 minutes after baking (or you can let them fully cool in place, if you’re not in a rush to use the tray again), as they’ll be hard to move right out of the oven. They’ll firm up as they cool.

Barbecue Bean Tacos

2012-05-07T21:57:00.000-07:00

Remember how I'm snobby about some things? That list includes maple syrup (must be real) and...wait I can't think of any more.

Okay I just asked my husband and he started listing things (cheese, bread, chocolate, butter, olive oil, etc) until I stopped him. I didn't know I was that bad. I guess I have become insufferable.

Oh well. At least I eat good food.

Anyway, anyway, one of the things I am definitely snobby about is Mexican food. This is what I'm getting at. THANKS HONEY.

Because I was lucky enough to spend a few summers in Mexico teaching the old English (not like, ye olde Englishe, you know what I mean), and I got to taste the real stuff, how it's really done. You know like the big bell of meat, fire-roasted on the street and cut to order, with the grilled pineapple stuck on top of it, slowly drizzling its juices into the meat as it cooks. Then both chopped and put, piping hot, onto a fresh corn tortilla, topped with biting onion and cilantro, and drizzled with hot, hot, hot salsa. That sort of thing.

Well, these aren't those kinds of tacos. These...these are American tacos.

Know what that means?

I'll just tell you.

It means there's sugar in them.

We loves our sugar. But guess what. In this recipe? Ain't nothing wrong with that (and actually, in this recipe, the sugar takes the form of maple syrup. Double win!).

I didn't actually catch on until halfway through this recipe that I was making a homemade barbecue sauce. Neat!

And there is coleslaw, for color and crunch. Cabbage is one of my favs.

And grape tomatoes. I don't usually spring for the tiny 'matoes, but it's worth it here for that lovely, bursting texture you get next to crunchy coleslaw and soft, sweet beans.

And avocado! A little nod to the real stuff, after all.

In short, while I still miss, and will always miss, the street food we bought in Mexico, I have to hand it to us Norteamericanos. We occasionally come through. Especially if we're allowed to add sugar.

Barbecue Bean Tacos (original recipe from Cheeky Kitchen)

1 T olive oil
2 yellow squash, cut into long "stalks"
1 teaspoon Adobo seasoning (found in most grocery store Mexican sections, otherwise Lowry salt serves the purpose)
1 can pinto beans, drained
1/3 cup ketchup
2 tablespoons beer mustard
3 tablespoons white vinegar
4 tablespoons pure maple syrup
1 cup purple cabbage, finely shredded
1 cup cabbage, finely shredded
2 tablespoons mayonnaise
2 tablespoons fresh cilantro, finely chopped
1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
1 avocado, diced
8 soft white corn tortillas, warmed
Limes for garnish

Heat the tablespoon of olive oil in a nonstick grill pan over medium-high heat. Toss the cut squash into your hot pan, season generously with GOYA Adobo seasoning and allow to cook until the squash is very soft. Set aside.

In a small pan, combine the beans, ketchup, mustard, 2 tablespoons of vinegar, and 3 tablespoons of maple syrup. Cook, stirring occasionally, over medium heat until the sauce has thickened. Season with salt and pepper, if desired.

While your beans are cooking, toss the cabbage, remaining vinegar, remaining maple syrup, mayonnaise, and cilantro together until the cabbage is well coated.

Mix the tomatoes and avocado together.

Serve the beans and grilled squash in the tortillas, topped with slaw and avocado-tomato salad. A squeeze of fresh lime juice finishes it off to perfection. Enjoy!

Ingredient of the Week? Red Pepper Flakes?

2012-05-06T21:38:00.001-07:00

I am at a loss tonight, guys. A loss.

I just don't have any original ingredients in my house right now. The best I could come up with were red pepper flakes.

You know, those things they have at pizza restaurants that you sprinkle on your pizza? Those. Everyone knows what those are though. Boring.

Yum, though. They have actually replaced black pepper at my table.

But I don' t have any pictures of them. Cause it's late and I'm tired, and it's night and the light is terrible.

I think I'm going to go watch this on netflix, due to my vague yet persistent interest in the non-scientific side of paleontology. Like Ross from friends!

But do - do eat red pepper flakes. They're the best.

Back on Tuesday with some baked-licious goodies.

Churs!

Chocolatey Quinoa Cupcakes

2012-05-04T21:51:00.000-07:00

Food-wise? It has been some week.

It was my anniversary this week, five years! I guess that is our wooden anniversary? We are supposed to buy each other wooden things, like clocks?

Thanks Victorians!

Well, we didn't get each other any clocks. Instead we focused on what we both love. And that is food.

Oh, and each other. But mostly WONDERFUL FOOD.

There was pizza and cake one day.

And a fancy dinner the next. It was really yummy. There were like, pickled fiddleheads and pork belly and boar's neck.

You heard me. Boar's neck.

Anyway. It's been a rich week.

You know what's a good antidote to a rich week?

Quinoa in your cupcakes!

You were thinking, not cupcakes, right?

Well you were wrong. The answer is something to make your cupcakes ever so slightly healthier.

Everybody is lining up to buy my diet books, right?

Anyways, so fine, these aren't like, a paragon of acai-powered spinach superfood. But they are GF. And they do have quinoa for protein and a soft gorgeous texture. And they do taste like little melty pots of chocolate that dissolve on your tongue into a lingering, slightly bitter richness.

Sound good?

Me too.

Next week: kale or something (maybe I can figure out how to put it in cupcakes!).

Chocolatey Quinoa Cupcakes (recipe from my good friend at Cake on the Brain, where she cooks up delicious GF delicacies every week)

Chocolatey Quinoa Cupcakes

2 cups cooked quinoa, cold (see note below for instructions to cook quinoa)
1/3 cup milk
4 large eggs
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
3/4 cups butter, melted and cooled
1 1/2 cups organic cane sugar
1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line the muffin tin with the 12 large-sized cupcake liners.

In a Vitamix, Blender of Food Processor, combine: milk, eggs, vanilla. Blend until combined. Add 2 cups of cold cooked quinoa and the melted butter and continue to blend until smooth.

Dump in the sugar, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt into the blender. Blend well to combine.

Pour from the blender directly into the cupcake liners, evenly distributing the cupcake batter between the 12 liners. Gently tap the tin on the counter to ensure there are no air bubbles. Smooth the tops with a small spatula

Bake in the centre of the oven for approximately 30 minutes.

Test the cupcakes for doneness with a toothpick or cake tester.

These cakes can be frosted, and she does at Cake on the Brain. It looks delicious. However I found the chocolate flavor so rich and the texture so sweet and soft the icing didn't seem quite necessary to me. Or maybe it was just a lazy day. At any rate, re: frosting, follow your heart!

Note: to cook quinoa, bring 2/3 cup raw, rinsed white or golden quinoa to boil in a heavy saucepan with 1 1/3 cups water. Cover, reduce to simmer and cook for 10 minutes. Turn off heat and leave covered saucepan on burner for another 10 minutes. Fluff with fork and allow the Quinoa to cool.

Defy the Universe with Your Sandwich

2012-04-30T22:14:00.000-07:00

Big day today, guys! I am having my first guest blogger.

Is it an esteemed food blogger, known far and wide for their creative recipes? Is it one of my dear readers, for whom I've finally gotten my ish together enough to ask?

No!

It's a bit more local than that.

For you see I am not the only cook in this house, oh no. While I entertain myself with molasses and rose water, someone stocks his cupboard (his shelf, really) with simpler fare.

But honestly, no one does simple fare better than he.

So, without further ado, I give you...the huzzzzzzzzzzzzzz! (Justin)

Also (oops here is slightly more ado) tomorrow is our 5th wedding anniversary! How do you like that. Take it from here, baby!

*Ahem*
My name is Justin. Nice to meet you. I am a man. A 6'4 tall 220 lb man. A hungry man. A man condemned to spend too much of his time hungry, too much of his time rooting around for something...something...there's got to be something delicious here to eat...

...oooh, perhaps I'll make a sandwich. But not just any sandwich. I grow tired of pb&j. Yes, I've had enough of that -- Today I want more than to fill my cavernous gut with something more than my normal lowly proletariat chow...yes! Today I want to glut myself on a sandwich so fine it defies the eternities! I will make a sandwich that challenges forth in glory and triumph. Mmm...triumph...

Man cannot live on bread alone. Man must add turkey, or pastrami, or roast beef. Man must upgrade the lowly bread to rye or sourdough or ciabatta -- something more than that dumpy whole wheat reserved for pb&j. Man begins with a bunch of onions in the cast iron pan. Many onions. Browning onions...man adds cheese --directly on top of the onions in the cast iron. This is a secret learned in the streets of Mexico City...the cheese goes right onto the pan...mmm...queso fundido.

The cheese (in this sandwich mozzarella) gets crunchy on the edges. Man adds turkey meat right on top. Then turns the whole pile over to let the turkey cook. Man has toasted the rye bread already and now adds dijon and mayonnaise. Man has no sauerkraut or jalapenos today. Man sad...man remembers! Woman make guacamole! hooray, sandwich is rescued! (happily applies guacamole).

Sandwich! (man holds above head with both hands!

Man likes chips too.

Observe this thing I have made!

Observe it!!!

Mrrrmmm...nuummmm....snarf! mrrruummmm....nummm....yum

Ingredient of the Week: Molasses

2012-04-29T21:48:00.002-07:00

Here 'tis! Ingredient of the week. Sweet, sticky, dark, bitter molasses.

What do you think? Do you like it?

When I think of molasses, there is a voice that says it in my head like, "Mohhh lasss ehhhhssssssss..." It's a very deep voice, probably with a southern twang.

And when I think of molasses, I think of southern food. And guess what! There's a reason for that.

Molasses is a byproduct of (white) sugar production. When the sugar cane is refined, all the delicious, earthy, strong stuff is stripped off so the weak and dainty can be bleached and sold to the masses (no judgments here, I have a big bag of the white stuff too).

In the past though, that earthy stuff was sold for cheap. Which means poor people bought it.

And poor people in the old South = sharecroppers, freed slaves, essentially the makers of all the best soul food.

I love the history of molasses, the way an oppressed people took something that had been cast off as worthless, and made it a treasure. They saw its value when no one else did.

And did you know there are health benefits to molasses?

Sort of like when wheat is stripped of its bran, it loses a lot of its nutrition, so with sugar cane - and molasses is that nutritious part.

It's loaded with minerals like manganese, copper, and iron. It is even high in calcium.

It can also help with a sick stomach. Because of its stomach-soothing properties and high mineral count, it's often recommended to pregnant women. It was one of the few things I could eat when I was so so so sick in those early days.

I love it in candy.

I love it in cookies.

I love it in and on pancakes.

How do you love it?

Minty Green Tea Shortbread Cookies

2012-04-26T22:33:00.003-07:00

Here are some things that are true, that I didn't always realize are true.

When you have a baby, you need to take a diaper with you when you leave the house, every time.

Every Time.

EVERY TIME.

It isn't okay to neglect that damp spot in your kitchen behind your stove just because you can't reach it.

Mold grows in Oregon, fast and furious.

Damp spots untended will give rise to tiny civilizations that will form there and eventually overthrow you and your whole family if you don't take some vinegar and/or bleach to it quick.

Baking does not mute the caffeine in green tea.

Not at all, my friends.

And when you haven't had caffeine in more than a year, and you suddenly realize you've eaten six cups worth of leaves, well, you feel it.

And when your child's primary nourishment still comes from your body, so will he.

Heed my words. Heed them!

Oh, and when you're out walking the silent neighborhoods at one in the morning with your grinning, hooting, buzzed child...just remember to bring a diaper.

Minty Green Tea Shortbread Cookies (taken from Green Tea Today)

1 cup butter, softened
1/3 cup honey
3 (2 g) bags green tea blend
1 egg yolk
1 teaspoon peppermint extract
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder

In a medium bowl, mix together the butter and honey until smooth. Empty the contents of the tea bags into the mixture and discard the bags. Mix until well blended. Stir in the egg yolk and peppermint extract. Blend in the flour and baking powder. Divide into 3 sections, wrap in waxed paper or plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. On a floured surface, roll out one portion of the dough at a time to 1/4 inch thickness. Cut into 2 inch round shapes using a cookie cutter. Place cookies onto ungreased baking sheets spaced 1 inch apart.

Bake for 6 to 9 minutes in the preheated oven, until the tops are dry, and the edges begin to brown lightly. Transfer to wire racks to cool. Store in an airtight container at room temperature when completely cooled.

Quinoa Yam Latkes

2012-04-23T21:42:00.000-07:00

Hi all! I'm back.

Taken aback that is, by this amazing recipe!

I know I know, I should go into marketing for my amazing slogans and/or puns.

I had family come and visit for the weekend, so I may have missed a few scheduled updates. It's all right though, I think we will all survive together (although I bet you are wondering what the ingredient of the week was...aren't you??? You will have to wait!).

For tonight, we will focus on how yams are DA BOMB.

What, you knew that already? All right, I know I'm late in catching onto this, as well as letting go of the phrase 'da bomb'.

But man, they're good. You can bake them up like potatoes, rub them with olive oil and a little salt before putting them in the oven.

They drizzle a little when they come out, and don't need a thang other than their own sweet, caramely syrup.

And they're good for you! They have potassium! It's not just bananas anymore!

You knew colored foods were good for you, right? Well, try some orange on for size.

They're practically Tangerine Tango.

Eat them baked, or! Do this. Shred them up, mix them with a little cooked quinoa for protein, some chopped green onions, and fry them up so pretty and nice.

You could eat these straight, like latkes (even with applesauce and sour cream, yum!), or use them as a vegetarian burger on a bun or sandwich.

You could put them in a tortilla, my GF peeps (I'm hanging onto 'peeps' along with 'da bomb' - you will pry it from my cold, dead, white fingers)!

The important thing is, make them and eat them.

And then do a yam dance, because you are so healthy! Oh yes you are! Oh yes you are! Who is healthy?

We are, my friends. We are.

Quinoa Yam Latkes (original recipe from Cannelle et Vanille)

(makes about 8 cakes)

1/2 cup quinoa, rinsed
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons olive oil, plus more for frying
1 small yellow onion, diced
1 garlic clove, minced
1 cup grated yam
1/4 teaspoon coriander
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
2 eggs
1/3 cup gluten-free, panko-style breadcrumbs (make them by drying gluten-free bread slices in the oven and chopping them in food processor, or just do what I do and chop up some rice cakes)
2 tablespoons finely chopped parsley
1 tablespoon finely chopped chives
Greens, radishes, green onions, as garnish

Bring 1 cup of water to a boil in a small saucepan over high heat. Add quinoa and 1/4 teaspoon of salt. Stir, reduce heat to medium low, cover with a lid, and cook for 20 minutes until quinoa has absorbed all the water and it's tender. Set aside to cool.

Heat a medium saute pan over medium high heat. Add the olive oil and cook the onions and garlic for 3 minutes. Add the grated yam, 1/4 teaspoon salt, coriander, and black pepper, and cook for another 3 minutes. Set aside to cool slightly.

In a bowl, whisk together the eggs, breadcrumbs, parmesan cheese, parsley, and chives. Add the cooled quinoa and yam mixture. Stir to combine.

Heat a large saute pan over medium high heat. Add enough olive oil to cover the bottom of the pan. Spoon 1/4 cup of the mixture and shape it into a round cake. Add enough cakes to the pan without overcrowding it. Cook for 3 minutes on each side or until golden. Finish frying all the cakes. Drain them on paper towels if needed.

Serve the cakes while warm with a green salad with radishes and chopped green onions.

Potato Chip Cookies

2012-04-16T21:31:00.000-07:00

Butter is the thing here.

Also potato chips.

Sweet. And salty.

Sugar beat into the butter, then the cookies roughly rolled in it.

Top with a flake or two of salt. Or just the potato chip crumbles. It's up to you.

Try not to eat them all at once, that's bad for you.

Besides, how are you going to fit them all in your mouth?

Logistics, you see.

Nuggets, buttons, dollops of sweet cookie that melt on your tongue.

I hope you enjoy them. I know you will.

Potato Chip Cookies (taken from the brilliant Smitten Kitchen)

There is an optional chocolate dip finish for these cookies. I didn't have time for it, but I bet it's to die for. I've included it here, and I hope you try it.

1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar, divided
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup chopped and toasted pecans
1/2 cup finely crushed potato chips, plus 1 tablespoon extra, set aside
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons flaked sea salt

Chocolate dip finish (optional)
4 ounces semi- or bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
1 teaspoon butter, canola oil or vegetable shortening

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside. In a large bowl, cream together the butter with 1/2 cup of the sugar until lightly and fluffy. Mix in the vanilla and table salt, until smooth. Add the pecans, 1/2 cup crushed potato chips and flour together and mix until just combined.

Place the remaining 1/2 cup sugar in a small bowl. Scoop a tablespoon-sized mound of dough and form it into a small ball with the palms of your hands. Roll the ball in the remaining sugar until coated. Place on prepared baking sheet and using the bottom of a drinking glass to slightly flatten the cookies. Cookies only need to be an inch apart; they only spread a little. Sprinkle with a few flakes of the potato chip salt, if using.

Repeat with remaining dough.

Bake cookies until lightly golden at the edges, about 10 minutes. Transfer to cool on a wire rack.

If dipping in chocolate, melt chocolate with butter, oil or shortening in a double boiler or in short bursts in the microwave. Stir until smooth. Dip half of each fully cooled cookie in the chocolate, and let dry and harden on a wire rack.

Ingredient of the Week: Rose Water

2012-04-14T22:11:00.000-07:00

Flowers, my friends.

It always comes back to flowers.

They're like vegetables, but tastier.

They're like fruits, but prettier.

They are the superior food.

Have you had anything rose flavored before? If you like how it smells in perfume/lotion, you'll like how it tastes too, I just bet.

Rose water is used primarily in Indian cooking, although I believe some farther eastern cultures use it too.

It's good in sweets, especially the yogurt drink, lassi.

I've put it into shortbread.

Lately my favorite is a very easy milkshake made with rice milk, about a teaspoon of rose water, a scoop of soy ice cream, and a pinch of cardamom.

You should try it.

So rose water. What do you think? Have you used it? What do you think and/or recommend? I'd love to find a savory use for it, if anyone has any suggestions.

p.s. the keen-eyed observer may notice that these are camellias in my photos, and not, actually, roses. Fooled you! Unless you noticed. But you know. Roses are out of season. So let's just use our imaginations, m'kay?

Shredded Chicken with Mole

2012-04-12T22:19:00.000-07:00

So baby and I are in the habit of going, once a week, to the library.

At the library we check out two baby books (he likes the ones with feely patches in them) and one CD of non-irritating kids' music (it's a crap shoot sometimes, it really is).

This last week we've been listening to Cindy Paley's Zing Along. It's fun Yiddish music for kids, and let me tell you, I really think my Yiddish has improved.

So I'm sitting there, baby plumped down next to me with a plastic easter egg stuck in his mouth, listening to Cindy Paley sing about her Zeyde and Bubbe and all these nice songs, and I'm thinking, man, I wish I was Jewish.

Does this ever happen to you? Do you ever peep into someone else's life and, like a Charlie Chaplin orphan, press your nose up against the window and wish you were on the inside?

Even though your life, and my life, is perfectly fine. And the things I'm hearing in these songs, family, history, community. I have these things.

Are you ever jealous of things you already have?

Why is it so hard to appreciate what we have? Why is it scary to live our real lives, now? It seems so much easier to wait around for something great to happen, before committing to living life great.

So I was thinking, I'm going to try to stop waiting. I'm going to think of all the things I want to own or be, and pretend I already have and am. And see what kind of person that makes me.

You want to try it too? What do you want to be?

A rock star? A judge on the food network? A world-traveling photographer? A ukelele player? Are those just my dreams?

Let's be those things already.

And maybe the rest will come. You know, the outer trappings.

But you know what? Even if they don't, it's okay.

Because we'll already be who we want to be.

Shortcut Mole (adapted from um a photocopied page of recipes my mom sent me in the mail? It says sfmarkets.com in the corner, so maybe if you go there? Anyway, thanks mom! The recipe was awesome!)

You guys know how I am with chocolate. Sweet chocolate, well, there's a place for it, but frankly I see it as one of the least interesting incarnations of the sacred bean. Theobroma cacao. Did you know that means food of the gods? Focus. Mole is a fabulous, rich, dark, savory version of the good stuff. Mix it up with shredded chicken, stuff it into a fresh corn tortilla, and shut your eyes because they're crossing and it makes your face look funny.

4 chicken breasts
3-4 dried ancho chiles
1 dried chipotle chile
4 c boiling water
1 8 oz can tomatoes
2 T coconut oil
2 large white onions, sliced
1/4 c slivered almonds
14 cloves garlic
4 pitted prunes
1 T sesame seeds
1 whole star anise
2 corn tortillas, slightly charred under broiler or over flame (alternatively two handfuls of corn chips work too)
1 T pasilla chile powder or other chile powder
1 vegetable bouillon cube
3/4 t ground cinnamon
2 oz bittersweet chocolate, chopped
1 c coarsely chopped fresh cilantro
corn tortillas
queso fresco to sprinkle on top, if desired

Put chicken breasts in a pot and cover with water. Bring to a boil, then lower heat to a low, steady boil. Cook about 20 minutes, or until done (cut one open and make sure it's not pink, and that the juices run clear). Remove breasts from water and let cool. When sufficiently cool, shred them with a fork.

Place dried chiles in a bowl; cover with boiling water. Soak until soft and cool enough to handle (about 15 minutes). Discard stems (and seeds if you don't like heat). Place tomatoes and softened chiles, water and all, in a blender.

Heat 1 T coconut oil in a large skillet over medium heat and add half the onions. Stir about 5 minutes, until beginning to color. Add almonds, garlic, prunes, sesame seeds, and star anise; continue stirring about 5 minutes, until almonds start to brown. Add to blender, along with charred tortillas, chile powder, bouillon, and cinnamon. Blend until smooth.

Heat remaining 1 T coconut oil in skillet and add remaining onion; cook until lightly colored. Add blender contents. Lower heat to a simmer, cover, and cook 10 minutes. Stir in chocolate, shredded chicken, and salt to taste. Set aside 2 T chopped cilantro, stir in the rest.

If not warm already, warm your corn tortillas with a few drops of water to soften them, in a pan or microwave. Pour mole into serving dish, sprinkle with remaining cilantro and queso fresco, if desired. Serve immediately.

Drizzled Caramel Cupcakes

2012-04-09T21:39:00.000-07:00

Ready? It's spring.

Time to give something to somebody.

Didn't you know that's what spring means? I'm pretty sure that's what spring means.

Gifts for all!

Not like Christmas, where it's expensive and ritualized. It's okay to have expensive and ritualized gifts in winter, because winter symbolizes lack, and opulent gifts suggest abundance.

I'm getting mythological on you here. Stay with me, please.

But springtime? It's time for light gifts, for fun, for friendships. For flair.

For cupcakes!

These cupcakes really go far. They spread out.

Unless you want to eat all twenty four yourself.

No judgments here.

These are good cupcakes to give to people you care about, to help them know it.

They are sticky licky good.

The frosting is cream cheese, which is just swell contrasted with the super-sweet caramel cake.

You could dizzle a few grains of salt on top too, if you wanted. To make it sparkle.

Fancy salt! If you wanted.

And then? Share them.

And then? Take a big breath of the warming up outside air.

And then? Feel happy.

Drizzled Caramel Cupcakes (adapted from Joy the Baker)

The original recipe here called for dulce de leche in place of caramel, and you are ever so surely welcome to use that instead. I had a jar of delicious quality caramel just languishing in the refrigerator that I decided to use, but feel free to go with either. Or be daring and do butterscotch!

For the Cupcakes:

3 cups all-purpose flour

1/4 cup cornstarch

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened

1 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

3 large eggs

1 1/2 cup buttermilk

For the Frosting:

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened

8 ounces cream cheese, softened

3/4 cup caramel, plus more for drizzling

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 to 3 cups powdered sugar

Place racks in the center and upper third of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F. Line two cupcake pans with paper or foil liners. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.

In the bowl of an electric stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, add butter and sugars. Beat on medium speed until fluffy and pale brown, about 3 minutes. Stop the mixer, scrape down the sides of the bowl and add one egg. Beat on medium for one minute. Add the remaining eggs, one at a time, beating for one minute between each addition. Stop the bowl and scrape down the sides as necessary. Beat in vanilla extract.

Add half of the flour mixture to the egg and butter mixture. Beat on low speed and slowly drizzle in the buttermilk. Beat until just incorporated. Stop the mixer, scrape down the bowl and add the rest of the dry ingredients. Beat on low speed until just incorporated. Remove the bowl from the stand mixer and finish incorporating with a spatula. Try not to over mix the mixture.

Divide the batter between the prepared cupcake pans, filling each liner about two thirds full. Bake for 18 to 20 minutes or until a cake tester inserted in the center of one of the cakes comes out clean. Let rest in the cupcake pans before removing to a wire rack to cool completely. Cupcakes should be completely cooled before frosting.

To make the frosting:

Place cream cheese in the bowl of an electric stand mixer. Beat on medium speed for about 30 seconds, until very soft and pliable. Stop the mixer, scrape down the sides of the bowl and add the butter and caramel. Beat on medium speed until well incorporated. Stop the mixer and add the salt and powdered sugar. Beat on medium speed for about 3 minutes, until fluffy and lighter in color. Generously spoon frosting on top of cupcakes, or use a large frosting tip to pipe on frosting.

Heat a few spoonfuls of caramel over a low flame until just pourable. Then drizzle it over the cupcakes and top with a few sprinkles or with sea salt.

Ingredient of the Week: Marshmallows

2012-04-06T21:36:00.000-07:00

Happy Easter everyone! I think Peeps may have inspired this week's ingredient of the week.

I'm not going so far as making my own this year, but tell me.

What do you think about marshmallows?

I love them. All kinds. Always have.

Peeps. S'mores. Rice Krispy Treats. Sheep-y cupcakes with marshmallows for wool (saw that on a food blog this week...neat!).

Even the semi-nasty semi-delicious ice cream sauce. I will choose it over chocolate, every time. Unless there's butterscotch (I completely just wrote butterscrotch...I probably don't want that on my ice cream).

Have you ever had homemade marshmallows? I've made them before with varying degrees of success. I think it's too damp here in Oregon for them to dry out properly. Mine stayed sticky, no matter how much I drenched them in corn starch and powdered sugar. But they tasted great. Also they're gluten-free!

If you can find fresh ones that are well done, they are so worth it. Or make your own! They aren't hard, at least if you live in a dry climate (or are a better chef than I...now now, no need to brag).

I'm also enjoying lately this roasted mallow milkshake, made with vanilla soy ice cream and rice milk (but the real stuff would do just fine), all blent up together with a couple of roasted marshmallows. Inspired by Joy, of course.

How do you like your mallows? What do you think of them, classy or trashy? Chic or kiddie? And what is your favorite mallow-based dish, if you have one?

Buttermilk Roasted Chicken

2012-04-02T21:40:00.000-07:00

I'm a little bit scared tonight. Do you ever get scared?

I love news. I've been a newshound since I was a teenager. I consider it a responsibility to be somewhat well-informed.

But sometimes things just add up and up until boom. They scare me.

Disease. War. Theft. Violence. Plain old meanness.

Lack of communication.

That is why I like food-blogging. Food blogs are places where everybody comes together and talks about what is good in their lives.

I guess some might perceive it as superficial or even dishonest, that we all run around pretending to have perfect lives. Maybe there is some of that.

But to me cheery blogging doesn't mean the bad stuff isn't happening.

It means that while all of it is happening, you also got to eat a cupcake. A crackling oatmeal cookie. Some buttermilk roasted chicken.

Blogging reminds me that most of the people in the world are good and kind. That spring time is beautiful. That just about everyone loves their mom, and the smell of cookies.

All of us are blessed with good things of one kind or another. And it does me good to take a breath once in a while and remember them.

Do you ever get scared of this big crazy world? What comforts you when you feel that way? Is it buttermilk chicken?

Buttermilk Roasted Chicken (slightly adapted from Smitten Kitchen)

This recipe is really, really easy and frighteningly good. It does start a day in advance, but once you make up the marinade it's just a matter of refrigerator to oven to plate to stomach. No muss, no fuss.

2 cups buttermilk
10 garlic cloves, peeled and smashed
1 tablespoon table salt
1 1/2 teaspoons paprika, plus extra for sprinkling (plain is fine, smoked is better)
Lots of freshly ground black pepper
2 1/2 to 3 pounds chicken parts (I used breasts, but legs and others with bone are fine)
Drizzle of olive oil
Flaked or coarse sea salt, to finish

Whisk buttermilk with garlic, table salt, paprika and lots of freshly ground black pepper in a bowl. Place chicken parts in a gallon-sized freezer bag (or lidded container) and pour buttermilk brine over them, then swish it around so that all parts are covered. Refrigerate for at least 2 but preferably 24 and up to 48 hours.

When ready to roast, preheat oven to 425 degrees. Line a baking dish with foil (not absolutely necessary, but I highly, highly recommend it as it will save you a great deal of clean up time later). Remove chicken from buttermilk brine and arrange in dish (keep garlic cloves where possible). Drizzle lightly with olive oil, then sprinkle with additional paprika and sea salt to taste. Roast for 30 minutes (for legs; approximately 35 to 40 for breasts), until brown and a bit scorched in spots. Serve immediately. We ate it with baked sweet potatoes and salad. You eat it as you best like!

Ingredient of the Week: Fresh Bay Leaves

2012-03-30T21:43:00.001-07:00

Guys. Guys. I did it again.

I'm a real dummy.

Hot yoga again, headache again, everything all over again. But I'm trying to trick it this time, you see. I bikram'd at night, so maybe I can sleep it off?

But look! First I want to share this bay with you. Because it has a neat story.

Here is the story of this bay.

I was walking to the nearby market, as I often do, as I'm lucky enough to live near a market I can walk to.

And I passed a tree. I'd passed this tree, oh, at least tens of times. Maybe more than a hundred. And I'd never, ever noticed it.

But I noticed it that day, because it was a gray, rainy day, and suddenly I saw this bright, spring green.

Did you know bay trees are evergreens? I didn't either. But it explains their musky, resin-y aroma. And how well they keep.

Delighted at my discovery, I secretly detached four or five leaves and went about my business.

Fresh herbs always beat dried, after all, and so much the better if I can forage it off someone else (oops, that's not very nice of me, maybe. But I'll never take enough that would be noticed, I can promise you that, anonymous-grower-of-the-bay-tree-on-the-way-to-the-market).

Anyways, that was a lot of dashes to type. The point is, the next day there was a huge storm that knocked the whole thing down. Yup. Clean down.

Tragic, right? So much for my fresh source.

But I was able to make off with some whole branches at least, (still not enough to notice, you scolds). So that oughtta last me.

Especially since I don't have that many uses for bay. This is where I need your help! Apart from vegetable broth (my current most common use for it) and the occasional lasagna, how do you use bay? Do you like it or find it too strong? Let's talk about it it's bay time go!

Almond Butter Stuffed Apples

2012-03-26T21:30:00.002-07:00

Oh man. I don't know what's good for me, sometimes.

I've now gone to hot yoga twice in a row.

Do you guys know hot yoga? It was recommended to me by some gorge slim friend of mine. And I was like, well, if you do hot yoga, I want to do hot yoga, gorgeous 5 foot nine friend with long red hair.

But it's like, hell. Okay? It's so hard.

It's ninety minutes in a 105 degree room of super intense yoga. There's no relaxing pseudo-Indian music playing. No mini-Ganeshas wishing me well.

Just a lady rocking spandex at the front and shouting drill sergeant type yoga instructions at me.

"Twist your arms around your heels and arch back! Move back! Stretch back! Go back! More back!"

Okay. So actually it's not all that bad. I mean it is, but you sure feel great after, you know? At least, if you're 5'9" and gorge.

But I totally overdid it and now I have this headache which is like one giant, exquisite blossom of pain curdling over my skull.

(writing!)

So I guess I'm not going to be blogging for long tonight.

But still. Almond butter apples are the perfect food for this type of situation. High nutrient, dense but light, and just perfectly, kissingly sweet. They are a recharging, high energy dessert you will never feel bad about.

Especially if you're doing hot yoga later on.

Almond-Butter Stuffed Apples (barely adapted from Spicie Foodie)

apples, rinsed (as many as you like)
almond butter (about 1.5 - 2 T per apple)
olive oil
salt
oats (1 T/ apple)
crushed flax seeds, optional

Preheat oven to 400 and have baking sheet or dish ready. Use a small pairing knife to gently core the apples. I thought this part would be difficult, but it really wasn't. Just use a sharp knife to remove the core, you want the hole to be about the size of an American quarter to get out all the seeds without removing too much of the apple. Rub a little olive oil around the apples, then sprinkle a little bit of salt on the apple skin. Stuff a few oats into the cored bottom of the apple, this is to block draining. Next place about 1 tbsp Almond Butter into the apple core. Sprinkle some crushed flax seeds over the top then use the cut apple top to cover. Place on baking sheet or dish in center of oven.

Bake for 15 minutes or until your apples are soft. Allow to cool slightly before serving.

Ingredient of the Week: Fancy Salts

2012-03-23T21:54:00.000-07:00

Salt isn't boring!

Is that what you were thinking? SALT? How boring.

Think again, mister! Didn't you see my headline? These salts are fancy salts.

These salts were a gift from husband last birthday.

I mean like, a year ago birthday.

Because I'm one of those people who, when they get something nice, they carefully put it away and only look nervously at it for a good, long time until they realize no one is probably going to take it from them and they should use it.

(Not that people commonly take things from me. People never do that. But I still worry about it.)

(Also this approach doesn't work with food that goes bad...you should have seen the state of the first black truffles I bought for myself. Needless to say, truffles DON'T keep for a year.)

But I brought these out recently, and I'm daring to use them. And guess what?

They're great! They're so cool.

There is a pink one, that's sort of round and nubby and sweet.

And a white one that is flaky and prismatic. Really cool crystalline shapes in there.

There is a black one, which I think has carbon in it? Or lava, maybe. Can't remember the labeling now, but it is BLACK. Wow.

And then this yellow one with garlick melted into it.

And then one that is smoked over hickory wood.

Those flavored ones I'm still saving, because they need to go on something really special, something that will really showcase their flavor.

Popcorn maybe? Or corn on the cob? Or some kind of salted caramel cupcake type thing?

Well, maybe not the garlic one on the cupcake. But the pink or the black? How cool would that be?

Another plus: all these salts are weird, chunky shapes that don't fit in an ordinary salt shaker. So I keep them in small fancy bowls, and take pinches from them whenever I want. It's very snooty and excellent.

Have you ever worked with such fancy salts, friends? How did you use them? And what are your recommendations for the flavored ones (smoked and garlic)?

Wild Rice Salad with Roasted Root Vegetables and Lemon Tahini Dressing

2012-03-19T21:50:00.002-07:00

I had like, the perfect day today.

I feel like I should finish it with a solid landing and my hands raised in a Y shape.

Really stick it, you know?

I thought it was going to be a bad day, because my husband, who is in school, had to spend most of the morning on campus panic-writing a paper that was due today.

I rely on him pretty heavily in the mornings to watch the baby while I get an extra hour or so of sleep, and this morning I was going to have to go without.

But it totally, totally worked out. Baby woke up sweet, laid next to me in bed and cooed to himself while I snoozed until I wasn't tired anymore (or at least, no more tired than usual).

He napped on time, and I got to sit and watch Doctor Who (nerd alert! I am so, so into Doctor Who. It started when Chunkin Punkin [look I just blog-nicknamed my baby! It finally happened!] was born and wanted to eat all the time, and I didn't get up off the couch for like three months, and Netflix was my only friend). Love Doctor Who.

Then we went to the store to get ingredients for a special dinner with friends tomorrow. I'm making my hot links and Dijon-braised brussels sprouts, plus mint chocolate cupcakes for dinner. Sound all right?

Punkin perched up in his little seat in the cart and shouted and babbled all through the store in his wee, chirpy voice.

He was a hit.

By dinnertime, Honey was back (how is Honey for a husband nickname? No? I'll keep working on it). We packed up and went on an evening walk, where I stole some leaves off a nearby bay tree (and only just took out of my now finely scented pocket, eversoslightly smooshed but still good) and some needles off the rosemary that grows so abundantly here.

And then? Baby played, put on his fuzzy Buzz Lightyear jammies, and went to bed. And so far, he has stayed there.

Bam. Perfect day. Arms in a Y.

Wild Rice Salad with Roasted Root Vegetables and Lemon Tahini Dressing (borrowed from David Lebovitz)

Healthy time! I am really off on my blogging/eating timeline though, so I made this about three weeks ago and actually had something with caramel and oatmeal in it for dinner tonight. But you folks should really try this healthy dish, and not think about caramel and oatmeal. Because this was really good! And flavorful! And perfect for the last few days of winter.

So feel free to use any root vegetables you like, or add a few other herbs into the mix; fresh dill or something else vaguely Mediterranean or Middle Eastern would be pretty tasty.

3/4 cup (125 g) wild rice
6 cups (750 g) peeled and cubed root vegetables; any mix of carrots, parsnip, celery root, beets, and butternut squash, or other favorites
Olive oil
Sea salt and black pepper
2 spring onions or green onions, minced
1/2 cup (15 g) chopped fresh parsley and chives (or other favorite herbs)

Lemon-Tahini Dressing

1/4 cup (80 g) tahini
1 tablespoon fresh squeezed lemon juice
3 tablespoons water
1 clove garlic, peeled and minced
1 teaspoon soy sauce

Put the wild rice in a saucepan and cover with plenty of salted water. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to a gentle boil and cook the rice until it’s tender, about 45 minutes.

While the rice is cooking, preheat the oven to 375ºF (190ºC). Drizzle a few spoonfuls of olive oil on a rimmed baking sheet. Spread the cubed vegetables over the pan and season well with salt and freshly ground pepper.

Toss the vegetables with the olive oil and spread them on the baking sheet in an even layer. Bake for 30 to 45 minutes, stirring once or twice during cooking, until the vegetables are fully cooked.

When the rice is done, drain it well and toss it in a large bowl with the cooked vegetables and let cool to room temperature. Once cool, stir in the onions and herbs.

Make the lemon-tahini dressing by stirring together the tahini, lemon juice, water, garlic, and soy sauce, then pour it over the salad and stir it in well. Taste, and add a bit more salt and lemon juice, if desired.

Serving and Storage: This salad is best enjoyed at room temperature; when chilled, it tends to dry out a bit because of the tahini. If you wish to make it in advance, best to make the dressing and the vegetable & rice mixture separately, then stir them together before you serve it.