Here's What You're Missing

03 July 2009 @ 08:53 pm

Next Friday we will have been married for 26 years. When I look at our kitchen equipment, I know most of it dates from that time. The Dansk pot and bakeware (gift from Aunt Dori and Uncle Henry), the Reverware pots and pans (gift from Aunt Diane and Uncle Garik), the cast iron (group gift from roommates). We have also hung onto cookware we accquired while working at Whole Earth, even longer ago. So it was very unusual for me to buy, on the spur of the moment, a new pot (on sale in the scratch and dent aisle! with a coupon!) while shopping with Roya at Bed, Bath and Beyond. Roya scored some new, mismatched dishes and mugs and a small pot while we were at it. It was like going to Goodwill but everything was new..... and when it's new, you know nobody has ever cooked any meat in it! In the end, we got four plates, two bowls, two pots and two mugs for $24.00, and everyone was happy. When we got home, there were just enough chard leaves in the garden to make the year's first batch of Cheesy Chard from one of my first cookbook's ever, Recipes for a Small Planet, by Ellen Buchman Ewald. We love this recipe, which is simple and hard to stop eating. In the past few years I've substituted many items for the cheese: vegan cheese, smashed-up tofu, tofu ricotta, or a dollop of Tofutti Better Than Cream Cheese. This time I was in the mood for something lighter, and just added chunks of avocado, and it was absolutely delicious. Another deliciousness factor was the addition of Marinated Tempeh Cubes from Claire Seguin's Cooking with Tempeh. Below is the original recipe from my original, falling-apart cookbook. I hope this isn't breaking any copywright law... I can only say, "Ellen, your cookbook has been so important in my vegetarian life I just wanted to share it with my friends!"

Note the glass lid. What sold me on this pot was the glass lid with the vent hole. When I cooked the brown rice, for once the water didn't sizzle out from under the lid and all over the stove!!!

Cheesey Chard (Original Recipe - do with it what you will :)

3/4 cup raw brown rice, cooked
1/3 cup grated cheese
oil
One large bunch chard (or other leafy green)
2 onions, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
soy sauce to taste

Chop the chard and stems separately and add stems to the onions.
In a large pot or wok, saute the onions, garlic, and chard stems until onion is transparent.
Stir in the cooked rice and put the chopped chard leaves on top. Cover and let steam a few minutes until the chard is wilted, then stir into the rice.
Add the cheese and tamari, stir and serve.

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01 July 2009 @ 09:47 pm

Finally Cooking Again!

It is good to be back at home and able to cook again. Not that we didn't cook while camping.... it just wasn't so easy, nor what we were used to doing. For one thing, the campground did not allow individual campfires, although we could use our camp stove. (Correction: we could use it whenever the wind wasn't blowing too hard!) Otherwise, we were welcome to use the communal campfire, grill, and kitchen. We actually did go and use the kitchen one evening, which was a strange but good feeling. The kitchen was in a house where rooms were rented for the night, but anyone could use it, including people staying in cabins without kitchens. The house felt like a co-op! We found that cooking at the high altitude took some getting used to, and in the end most of our dishes ended up looking like this:

Soba noodles with broccoli, seitan, a leftover chopped up Trader Joe's Masala Burger, and peanut sauce.

Right. So it was nice to come home, finish with the social obligations (wedding, graduation party, engagement party) and actually make something. Of course, on the first day I also had a potluck to attend. I adapted this colorful recipe from something I heard on the radio, which can be found here in the original.

As it turned out, I was the only one in the family who liked it! Too much ginger and lime, I guess.... but I LIKE ginger and lime! And a good thing, too, because the recipe made a whole lot more than I thought it would.

I also brought some black-cap muffins. No, not from this year's berries! I found some I still had from last year, and this year's are coming really soon!

And now, time for a funny story. Roya has been very lucky (but also very persistent in her job hunt) and has managed to score some shifts at both of the restaurants where she worked last year. But while she was gone, one of them underwent a change in management and menu. She has memorized the new menu, but either has to lie about how much she likes the specials, or just recommends them. The hard part, for her, is when her orders come up at the window. Of course, at first, she had no idea what any of the orders actually were! They were all "some kind of meat," which she could not identify! The cook had to tell her what was the cod, the salmon, the scampi, etc. If only our vegetarian-raised child had a vegetarian restaurant in which to work! Oh well, at least the tips are good :)

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29 June 2009 @ 10:59 pm

A Long Way From Hong Kong

We have just returned from a trip to Colorado. When you're traveling, it's amazing to see how different other places can be..... and depressing to see how similar many places have become! I mean, we drove across the states of Iowa and Nebraska, marveling at how almost every town had a Taco Bell, Wal-Mart, KFC, McDonalds, etc..... on one morning of all-day driving, we got off the highway for several small towns in a row to look for a little small-town cafe (like we have here at home) so a certain someone could have some eggs and toast on his birthday. Finally we found one; coincidentally in a small town similar in size to Mt. Horeb and also similarly very close to a state park. Maybe that's how they survived! The place had the same kind of character as our own Schubert's, and at 6:30 a.m. also had the farmers congregating in the corner drinking coffee and telling each other what they had done when the power went out the night before. Papa got a vegetable scramble, and was very satisfied.... I got some oatmeal with raisins and brown sugar, which suited me fine although it was the same breakfast I'd been eating in the campground. Oh well.... at least they HAD oatmeal! Some places don't, which is why I carry packets of instant. (And decaf tea. And Vegan Suncakes. And fruit leather. And almonds. I don't go hungry!)

So, back to the coporatization of America... on the other hand, while traveling one sees chains of restaurants, gas stations, convenience stores, etc. that are unfamiliar. (The most revolting one I saw was a gas/convenience chain called Kum and Go.) While driving through Colorado, however, we needed gas and pulled into a Shell station with a store we don't have in Wisconsin, and in fact I had never, ever, seen here in the U.S. Only Hong Kong! However, it must be an American chain... who knew? This photo was taken in Castle Rock, CO. Amazing!

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16 June 2009 @ 10:03 pm

This was dinner!

This afternoon Claudia texted me and said she was bringing something over for dinner so I wouldn't have to cook.... we weren't going out as we'll be going out somewhere in Colorado. This is the awesome dinner we ate this evening: she made baked tofu and tomato slices for sandwiches (cute little loaves of bread not pictured), salad, fruit and GRANOLA for our trip! We are full, happy, and lucky! Thank you, Claudia!

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15 June 2009 @ 10:04 pm

Beautiful Cupcakes

OK, I baked them. But Roya frosted them while I was at work :)

The teacher whose birthday it was liked it too! And it did turn out to be delicious....

Note the exquisite plating....

I'm supposed to be packing, actually, but will post recipe when I have time.

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15 June 2009 @ 10:03 pm

Vegan Cupcakes Took Over My Night!

Our staff has a tradition of picking names and preparing birthday treats. I picked the name of someone whose birthday is June 30th, and I wanted to get it close to the actual day. It's going to be a busy week, so this evening I made her choice, which was carrot cake. For some unknown reason, I chose a recipe I'd written down ages ago and never actually made. The instructions optimistically stated it took 30 minutes to prepare; however, that was inaccurate. In any case, I doubled the recipe, ended up with way too much, and made some cupcakes which we will keep at home. It's my birthday Tuesday and this way we'll have some cake... although it breaks my rule of never baking my own birthday cake :) I also made some frosting but that'll have to wait until tomorrow. It's taking waaaaaay too long for that cake to cool!

Because the cake took so long, I didn't do much for dinner, but the "not much" was perfect. I threw some tempeh in the oven to make Tempeh Croutons, but covered them to stay moist. Toward the end we put in some asparagus and red pepper, which I swear is really red despite my camera's insistence that it must be pink. We had it over brown rice and it was fabulous.

If the cake turns out to taste good I will post the recipe... until then, good night!

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12 June 2009 @ 10:07 pm

School's Out for the Summer!

OK; sing it with me.....
I'm sure my kids are enjoying their first taste of vacation! As for me, I still have a week of cleaning and packing up my classroom, ordering supplies for next year, meeting with other teachers and staff, etc. etc. etc. However, the pressure to produce a daily menu of hands-on, creative learning is off for the time being, and soon I'll have six weeks of vacation! (Well, that's what I work the 60-hour weeks for, right? So it all evens out.)

In our last week of school, we toured the state Capitol building and Wisconsin Veteran's museum (photos unfortunately already deleted, but on school computer), celebrated "Fun Day," (photo below), and had a class potluck in addition to our final math, spelling, writing assignments. Thursday night was Wingra's graduation, in which I saw so many of my old students. It's really touching the way so many alumni return to see their younger friends give their speeches. Of the ten graduating seniors, six had been in my class just a few years ago. It was marvelous to see how they've grown up. Many of the speeches were very emotional and all of us teachers were crying along with the parents. Some of our grads have been at Wingra for nine years, and we've even known a few of them for longer because they were younger siblings of students. So we are both happy and sad to end the year.... we get so very attached to our young ones! Below you can see the legs of my students as they participate in a parachute game at Fun Day; in the background is the water slide.

This evening I came home exhausted but ready to think outside the nightly homework routine. On my way home, I stopped at the library to take out books for our upcoming VACATION, in which we will drive to Denver for an anniversary party and then spend the rest of the week camping somewhere in Colorado. The somewhere is not set in stone, hence the need for a Colorado travel guide. I also took out some young adult literature (recommended by a student) and a book of short stories by Roald Dahl. How vacation-like!

And tonight was a first - Papa often asks me, jokingly, whether I have photographed our dinner before I began eating it, because he knows I like to my pictures - but today he actually ASKED me to take the photo. He was proud of the homegrown asparagus, shiitake mushrooms, and spinach (in salad, not pictured) in our simple dinner. Notice I had already eaten some!

The calendar may say summer officially begins on the solstice, but I say it starts right now!

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07 June 2009 @ 10:02 pm

Three Kinds of Sorry

The other day I posted about all the things we'd done in our second-to-last week of school. I did, however, omit one episode of which I am NOT proud. You know all that ice cream we made? Well, our school secretary decided to clean out the freezer, and not knowing what was in my containers, dumped all except one (dairy) flavor. I had, um, a hissy fit when I discovered it 1/2 hour before the party. In the end, I realized that I had not exactly labeled the ice cream.... whoever cleans out that freezer?.... and it was really my fault for not doing so. She was just cleaning the freezer. I apologized to her, and she apologized to me, but I still feel bad about it. I've been thinking about it all weekend. At school, we tell the kids that there are three kinds of sorry. The first is saying, "Sorry," which we all know may not sound sincere depending on who is saying it, and to whom! The second is actually feeling sorry. And the third is doing something to fix it. This reminds me of a Jerry Seinfeld routine where he describes going to the florist and telling them what he did wrong, and they give him the flowers to fix it. I decided to bake some cookies and also give her a card. This will in no way absolve me, but it's making me feel a little better..... I'll keep you posted...

These are Double Chocolate Almond Explosion Cookies from Vive le Vegan!

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06 June 2009 @ 10:52 pm

What's next, spotted dick?

Last month I made the mistake of thinking "mushy peas" sounded funny, and was roundly set straight by my British blogger friends! In fact, I have learned that mushy peas are not only vegan (despite being made from something called 'marrowfat peas') but also a delicious and traditional staple served with fish and chips. Jeni Treehugger has even offered to send me some! An internet search confirms that people around the world love them, so now of course I want to try them... I was grateful for the offer, but thought I'd be able to find some here. After all, we have many stores with imported food. It should be a snap, right? My first stop was Woodman's, which sells ethnic foods of all kinds. I already knew for a fact they carried treacle, and on the day I visited I also found some kind of pudding called Spotted Dick, which I hesitate to impugn just in case it might be a)delicious and b) vegan.... but at least I know where to find it, which is more than I can say for musy peas at this point. Woodman's didn't have it and neither, so far, has Copp's. I'm going to keep looking, though! I've also found some recipes online in case I find some marrowfat peas.

This long story is all an introduction to today's post about what we had for dinner. Today it is the weekend, high school graduation, AND the Mount Horeb Frolic (complete with midway and games... the parade is tomorrow). So of course it is fifty degrees, windy and raining! Very un-June-like! This led us to make a large pot of split pea soup, which is the closest I'll probably be to eating mushy peas this week.... we ate a whole lot of it because it is so cold in the house. Of course we have already turned the furnace off!

Today I also joined the health club where Roya works. I'm still wondering whether it was a good idea - that is, will I go enough to make it worthwhile? According to Wisconsin law I have three days to back out of it. However, I WANT to be more fit, so I will try! After joining and paying, I came home and took a 3-mile walk in the rain. Hmmm.... what was wrong with THAT picture? I could have been running on a treadmill in a nice, warm facility with the TV on.... but I like it outdoors, I guess.

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05 June 2009 @ 10:36 pm

Longest days of the year

So in a week of long days, we're extremely lucky to have, literally, longer days! Today is Friday, and I'm looking back on a mind-boggling week. In the last seven days, we have
Made four kinds of ice cream,
Laid out, edited, produced and "published" (printed out and punch-bound) 26 student magazines AND had all the parents in for the Publishing Party (with refreshments!),
Taken a day-long field trip to Platteville (mining museum), Belmont (Wisconsin's first capital) and Mineral Point (Cornish miners' settlement),
Hosted next-years students (it's called "Switcheroo Day),
Finished up this years' math, spelling and geography lessons,
Held a blow-out half-price sale with the School Store and discussed where to donate the profits,
Told 26 nine, ten and eleven-year-olds where babies come from (eeuw!), and
Done more loads of dishes at school than at home!
So it's no wonder that when I get home I'm hoping the wife has made dinner. Oh, wait.... I'm the wife! Today I was lucky - I had hauled home pizza-making leftovers from the publishing party. Well, I had leftover (kid-made)dough that had sat out too long to refreeze, assorted chopped vegetables, and grated cheese (for Papa's pizza). So I whipped up some sauce, made a little tofu ricotta, and viola! We had four pizzas..... and with Roya not home, it was a huge amount. Below are the two vegan ones... a traditional-looking tofu-ricotta-topped pie that tasted very good, and the best-tasting-ever pesto and tomato pizza. Although we didn't eat until after 7:00, it was wonderful. The pizzas look so misshapen because the dough was too tired to do anything...

There are days I do wish for a wife/servant/whatever, but I think I'd much rather cook than mow! By the time we finished eating it was 8:00 p.m., and it's so incredibly close to the Solstice that the sun was still up in some parts of the neighborhood. (That is, up out of the valley.) And it was still light enough in our yard for someone to get some more mowing in.... there is such a LOT to mow!

You know it's summer (even though it isn't as warm yet as it will be...) when you can leave for a three-mile walk after 8:00!!! I took the camera along.... we are working on a full moon, if you can see it in the sky... in real life, it's not so pale - it's huge!

The sun had long ago set in our valley, but at the top of the hill I could still catch another sunset. It made me feel like the Little Prince.

See the corn just beginning to come up?

Tomorrow, for the first weekend in a month, we don't have to get up ridiculously early. I just want to sleep late, get up slowly, and make some oatmeal. Seriously, it's my favorite breakfast... but my second favorite is granola. This cool contest/giveaway caught my eye, and it looks awesome because even though I love to make granola I don't always feel I have the time to do it. If you win, it sounds like they'll put whatever you want in it! But the coolest idea I got from Katie's blog was to "melt" a banana in the microwave before adding it to the oatmeal. That sounds delicious and I'm going to try it tomorrow!

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04 June 2009 @ 09:38 pm

That time of year....

This is the time of year when lots of things happen at once. It's the end of the school year, so I've been staying at work much later trying to get things together, and there suddenly seems to be so little time!!! The last day of school is in one week. Also, things are beginning to come up in the garden, reminding me I still have stuff in the freezer from last year. (Funny, because Andrea just posted about this same thing....) One thing I made last year that we haven't used up is pesto. That's because the recipe I made was great in a couple of respects, but nobody likes it except me. Have you ever noticed that certain bloggers/cookbook authors have favorite ingredients they use again and again? With Dreena Burton it's lemon. She loves to put lots of lemon in her recipes, and her pesto recipe (in Eat, Drink and Be Vegan) is a perfect example. I like it because it has a light taste and it doesn't immediately turn a ghastly dark color (must be all the lemon), but my family longs for the taste of a more traditional product. Still, I needed a quick meal tonight and it was there.... and quite delicious with some steamed vegetables thrown into the mix!

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02 June 2009 @ 09:23 pm

Dairy-free in the dairy state

This is my ice cream maker, which was a present from Andrea. Until yesterday, I had yet to use it. However, we've been studying Wisconsin at school, and of course we love to cook, and of course Wisconsin is the Dairy State..... so that's how we ended up making four kinds of ice cream yesterday. The kids chose Mint Chocolate Chip, Lemon, and Chocolate, and these were made from scratch with all the whole milk and heavy cream you might imagine them having. Word on the street was that they were goooooooooood. However, the fourth flavor was designated non-dairy, and my two dairy-allergic students decided that they wanted Mango ice cream. I know why: on our field trip to the Indian restaurant, everyone raved about the homemade mango ice cream, which we could not eat. On the day I went shopping, the mangos didn't look so good, and weren't ripe, so I ended up getting the canned stuff. Big mistake! Next time (and trust me, there WILL be a next time), I'll at least buy frozen chunks. In any case, the product was judged "Not awesome, but still very good" by my panel of two.... and I agree! This recipe worked very well, and was made by the kids right in the classroom using a hot plate, but I can't help thinking that just tossing some coconut milk, sweetener and mangos into the freezer compartment would end well. After all, the kids made pina coladas in Spanish class, and those would probably have made a wonderful frozen dessert. Thanks to Andrea for the ice cream maker, and the Vegan in Ice Cream Paradise!

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30 May 2009 @ 10:29 pm

Strolling at our own pace for the cure...

Today was the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure, and we participated. The day started out cold, windy and rainy - in fact, we showed up at the site wearing lots of layers and carrying umbrellas. We sat in traffic for so long that I missed the survivor photo. But it stopped raining long enough for us to walk, not run, the 5K course. It was probably just as well we got there right before the race, as we didn't have time to be tempted by free stuff we didn't really need. As it was, we had lots of free food, and of course I got a medal and a carnation. What am I going to do with all these medals? Maybe someday I'll put them all on and pretend I'm Mark Spitz :) But seriously, I am overwhelmed by the amazing energy flowing our way from all the zillion volunteers, sponsors, and other survivors. It was really something to be in the crowd of almost 12,000 people who were all happy and positive. We had a great time.

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26 May 2009 @ 08:56 pm

8 Simple Steps to a Grilled Tempeh Sandwich

Visit relatives who have grilled tofu and vegetables just for you. Realize that if you had a grill that worked (instead of the old, crummy charcoal grill in the garage) you could make something like this on your own.
On the Fourth of July, go out to buy a grill on sale. Decide not to mess with charcoal and pick out a gas grill. Forget you no longer have a family of five and get a big one.
At home, unpack the 100+ parts and spread out on garage floor. Allow to sit for two years, moving aside to accommodate car when winter comes.
Lose manual.
Two years later, read many mouthwatering recipes on vegan blogs and wish you had a grill. Resolve to assemble that grill, not matter what, once school is out. And when we're back from vacation. Seriously. After all, the manual is probably available online, right?
Pull out your friend's tempeh marinade recipe and follow directions. Make potato salad with old family recipe off the Hellman's Mayonnaise jar, substituting Trader Joe's vegan mayo.
When it's time for dinner, cook the tempeh inside on the griddle. Reflect that it is, as usual on Memorial Day, dark, cold and about to rain, and that you'd be eating indoors anyway.
Create a delicious sandwich and consume indoors with your family. Enjoy.

Claudia's Marinade for Grilled Tempeh

1/3 cup lemon juice

1/2 cup wine vinegar

1/4 cup worcestershire sauce

1 1/2 cup, or less, salad oil (note: I used a lot less)

1/3 cup soy sauce

1 TBS black pepper

1/2 tsp. garlic powder

1 TBS mustard powder
Slice tempeh in half lengthwise and then into halves sideways. Marinate at least a few hours before grilling. If you aren't a total loser, grill outdoors on your grill. If it's rainy or all you have is a pancake griddle, this will work well also.

Here's the potato salad. Note that I leave the onions in large chunks so I can pick them out at school. I don't want to breathe onions on the kids! I have terrible memories of Mrs. Charleson, my fifth grade teacher... she had the worst breath ever!

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24 May 2009 @ 02:13 pm

Spring Dinner in More Than One Home

With the garden still in its infancy...

See the row of spinach coming up?

...we are still dependent on the supermarket for most fresh items. However, we do have asparagus coming up - several stalks per day - and we still have morels. Last night I made Delicious Tempeh Croutons (I should really tag that recipe, as I've posted it more than once), sauteed morels, asparagus, red bell pepper, onions and garlic, added salt, pepper and wine, and served it all over brown rice. When Callie and Roya came home, Callie said, "That's just what we ate last night - morels and asparagus!"

We also have a struggling rhubarb plant that has been flooded out many times. This year it had produced a few thin stems before beginning to flower. I chopped them up and made a fruit crisp with (lots of) added black caps from the freezer (have to use them up before the new ones come in!) and one apple that was getting soft. For the record, the topping was 1/2 c. Earth Balance, 1/2 cup sugar, 1/2 cup oats, a sprinkle of salt, and about 3/4 cup of mixed (ground in blender) oats and nuts leftover from Passover that I had in the refrigerator. (Why from Passover? I had started to make a gluten-free "matzoh" for Eli before he told me not to bother.) I baked it for about an hour, maybe less... and we had it with Soy Delicious vanilla ice cream, even though it was quite tasty all by itself!

The other night it was a different story. I came home late because I'd had a flat tire. Before that, I'd had some dental work done and was numb for hours. By 7:00 p.m. I was ready for dinner, but my mouth was not! Although some people make shakes or smoothies every day, it never occurred to me to do so until I started thinking about what I could have with a straw. This was very simple and filling: one cup of (plain) Silk, one TBSP. of peanut butter, a squirt of agave, and a banana. And unlike our Saturday night dinner, this time all I had to wash was the blender...

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23 May 2009 @ 10:00 am

I've got the day off for once!

Last weekend we went to Minneapolis to get Roya. Ate, unfortunately, at the worst place in the world (TGI Friday's) but got a decent salad.... everything had meat on it or in it, but when I requested "no chicken" on my Southwestern Salad they happily complied and only charged me $5.00 for a large salad with tortilla strips, beans, avodado, chipotle...

All this past week we've either had thunderstorms (when we unplug the computer) or I've had meetings, appointments, a flat tire, more meetings.... so although I've peeked at the blogs of others I've been a little busy. Yesterday I went with two other Wingra teachers to this year's Progressive Education Network (PEN) regional conference in Evanston, IL. It was a long but very good day. The highlight was a keynote address by Vivian Paley, veteran educator and author of a Wingra favorite, You Can't Say You Can't Play. I attended workshops about multicultural education, which were nice, but the best part was meeting teachers from other progressive schools. Sometimes we come away from these conferences muttering that we didn't learn much and could have taught them ourselves, that we already do the stuff people are presenting as new and exciting.... but this time around I could only put myself in their shoes as I contemplate the upcoming national conference in October. If we get the funding to attend, Lisa and I have to "put our money where our mouth is" and conduct a workshop! THAT is humbling, and scary. The host school of this conference, The Willard School, provided dinner. Although there was a bunch of grilled meat, they knew vegetarians and vegans were coming and also had pita bread, delicious falafel, tabouli, hummous, and shredded salad to make a very satisfying meal. I didn't know what was in any of the desserts, so I didn't have them, but they were all homemade. The Willard School is very committed to recycling and sustainable agriculture, and our dinnerware was bambu and the drinking glasses were made from corn. Both products are said to biodegrade easily, are supposedly made in a "sustainable" manner, and more importantly, in companies that treat their workers fairly, in China and Taiwan. Do we know anyone who could verify that? (K?)

Well, I'll be back with lots of spring pics and so on, but first I have to pick up over a week's worth of stuff around the house! However, here's a nice photo from our Vegetarian Meetup dinner at Africana restaurant in Madison. There is no food visible because it took at least an hour to arrive at our table, but at this point we were still smiling :) Despite the long wait for food, meager amount of food when it finally came, and substitutions on the menu, I still plan to attend future events. The next one will be at a Thai restaurant. The question is, knowing what we know now about Thai food seasonings, will it be truly vegan? I'm going to investigate...

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12 May 2009 @ 12:13 pm

Internet problems

Grrrrr..... My internet isn't working at home, and I really shouldn't be posting from school, which is where I am now (you could always watch the movie :)..... eating lunch.....so everything is fine, and I can see comments (for some reason, email is working and nothing else!) but I won't be posting until it's fixed. Until then, happy spring!

Oh! Tonight we're going to our first Vegetarian Meet-up Group dinner, which will be at an African restaurant in Madison, and totally vegan. I'm excited!

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10 May 2009 @ 02:52 pm

Just like Euell Gibbons, that's us!

We like morels, but none grow on our property. Lucky us - someone we know has tons of morels and can't stand them! So today we found a bag of them on our doorstep. Wow! That's the good "wild" news. The bad news.... an invasive species that had barely shown its face around here last year is all over the place this year: garlic mustard. We were out of greens and I picked a bunch of them today to use in dinner.

So we steamed cauliflower, added pink beans, sauteed the morels and threw in the garlic mustard, and ate it over rice..... well, not bad!

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03 May 2009 @ 08:30 pm

What's in an AWESOME BITE?

The other day our neighbor Mary offered me an "Aussie Bite." She gets them at Sam's Club (a division of Wal-Mart). She is a vegetarian, and would never give me something I wouldn't eat.... but the minute I bit into it I could taste butter, and (politely) asked to see the ingredients, and sure enough there was. Mary LOVES these itsy bitsy muffins, and I can see why. They are studded with all good things, and I decided to try and make something like them. First, I tried to remember what I had seen or tasted in the little one I'd bitten. I know for sure there were sunflower seeds, oats, coconut shreds, and craisins. I didn't want a dry-tasting muffin, so I decided to start with the basic banana bread I already like, and just keep adding. Here's what I used...

3 large bananas
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 TBS maple syrup
1/4 cup canola oil
1 TBS smooth peanut butter (would have used more but we're really running out)
1/2 cup regular oats
1/2 cup grated coconut
1/2 cup raw sunflower seeds
1/4 cup craisins (again, would have used more but it was all I had)
1 large carrot, grated
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1 cup unbleached flour

Cream the brown sugar in the oil; cream in the peanut butter.
Blend in the carrot, oats, coconut, seeds, and craisins.
In a separate bowl, mash the banana thoroughly, then stir in the previous mixture and blend thoroughly.
Add the salt and baking soda and mix, then fold in the flour.
Spoon into mini-muffin tins and bake at 350 - 375 degrees F until browned and dry inside (you'll have to cut one open to test it :)

I just googled Aussie Bites for a photo and see that people have been trying to come up with a recipe because they love them so much.... well, I'm not going to look at theirs, because I like these just fine. And my tester LOVED them. So that's good enough for me!

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01 May 2009 @ 10:20 pm

Photos that are already four months old!

Felicity is back from Canada with all kinds of great food she can't get in Britain. It reminds me of food I saw (and photographed, to Kailah's amusement/embarrassment, depending on the situation) in Hong Kong. Hong Kong is such an interesting mix of East-meets-West, and it's amazing how the British thing pops up everywhere you go. For instance, I've never seen this item in the States, and the name just sounds British, or else like someone's parody of something British.... so what is it, exactly?
Made with real marrowfat? Can't wait to try it!
So of course that was all fascinating, but there was one store that just blew me away. I think I've already mentioned Park'n'Shop, the neighborhood supermarket, and Taste, the upscale one with the health food (and of course, the Octopus soup mix), but city'super is in a class by itself. If you are an expat who hasn't had Kraft macaroni and cheese in ages, or maybe an Amy's pot pie, then this is the place for you. They have absolutely everything, and that everything costs an arm and a leg there, but what's an arm and a leg if you've been away from America so long you're absolutely jonesing for a Claussen pickle? Which of course we buy here at home...

And maybe some Heineken beer.... is this enough?

But OK, so we saw American products one can get at any supermarket here... and then I saw it: Organic Valley cream cheese, made not far from us in Wisconsin!

I was so amazed, because there is only one place on earth where that is produced..... and then the final, most amazing thing of all:

That's right! Bagels Forever bagels, made in just one bakery right here in Madison, WI., USA! OK, I have to admit, these bagels leave something to be desired when frozen and thawed, but you can bet that if I actually lived in Hong Kong, there would come a time I'd pay that arm and leg for a bag of four of these. Let's see....$26 HK is about $3.50 US; that's almost a dollar per bagel.....

So, yeah, stuff there was imported from all over the world. Another interesting thing I saw was a line of milks, I think from Italy, made of grains you normally wouldn't even think of using here. Spelt? Millet?

I had a lot of fun looking at everything at city'super, but probably just because I knew I'd be going home soon and could buy my Bagels Forever bagels for $0.89 US. How expensive was this place? Well, some (mainland) Chinese tourists who passed me in the aisle uttered one of the few Mandarin phrases I know: "Tai guai!" ("Too much!)

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