Look at the a-m-a-z-i-n-g trifle my sister made! She’s even using what seems a proper trifle dish?  Oh yeah, she made the poundcake from scratch.

I have been cooking, yes, I have been cooking. But my camera battery ain’t what it used to be, and nevertheless I am often with folk who avoid the paparazzi aim of my lens. So lemme show off my sister who is the cat’s meow.

Photo credit: Julie T.

I enjoy every moment spent at this wonderful, warm home of 13. Everyone is inclusive, interesting, kind, and welcoming. Household members share cooking duties, and this night Alice “cleaned the fridge”, finding red quinoa (true?), lentils, golden and chioggia beets, carrots, cabbage, favas, and potatoes. Let me set the stage.  I arrive to find Alice in the kitchen with her “Yodeling Mad: Best of Country Yodel” CD playing, and she greets me with the phrase, “Everything is going in.” Into what, you might ask? Eight shepherd pies! She’s bought yummy vegan crusts, and we step by step assemble her vision into mounds of comfort and belly joy. After topping each pie with a generous helping of mashed potatoes, Alice drizzled them with olive oil, and applied pinches of sea salt and rosemary. I want to eat like this every night.

(photo credit – Glenn Bachmann)

I’ve had a lot of eggplant banter lately, and finally made some. It was a sign. Fish sauce, sugar, soy sauce, garlic, basil and eggplant. Plus, I added some gluten for meaty goodness! Of course I secured my bounty at GP. Two thanks in this one: thanks for the sweet cherries and thanks for the butterflies!! I love them.

I loved my continuing education getaway. Long walks, pie, christmas tree lights, strawberry farms, fireworks, tangy frozen yogurt, periodic roller coaster screaming and especially…app-le ched-dar qui-i-iche quiche!!

Not too many people would get creative in a strange kitchen, let alone a hotel kitchen, but those rules seem not apply to Alice! She thought to secure tortillas, salsa, avocado, pintos, watermelon, and sardines, which led to a handful of delicious meals.

Half a watermelon serves as more than just breakfast. It serves your breakfast!

(Updated May 20, 2008 )
The breakfast consisted of pintos, salsa, and avocado on corn tortillas with watermelon on the side. Didn’t realize it looked like a watermelon salsa (which to me also would be good). I ended up having all of the watermelon “juice”, shown in cup, because I am greedy-greedy with fruit. Mmmm!

Alice, are you enjoying that delectable bite of sardines in mustard on yer rye toast?

Highlights include accordion solos, and a trip to the Crystal Cathedral – replete with
“free” bus ride. Is there such a thing? No, I guess not. No matter!

Get a load of this organ [my photo didn't come out in the low light so I appropriated this
(lower front view of organ) from the crystalcathedral dot org etc website]. All the rest are legit.

MMM! When we got back we had 2 salads extraordinaire, featuring lettuce, garbanzo beans,
cucumber, carrot, tomatoes, and another with jicama, lime, and chili powder. Topped with fried
egg! Usually I expect to freak out at least once when traveling with another…this trip – I slept
like a baby.

Feast your eyes on this! Claudette and Leah came over with dinner the other night: hand crafted, lovingly patted, cheese stuffed pupusas. Thank you, Claudette, for sharing your special culinary creation, and your warm heart.

As always, this night was full of laughs.

The final plating shows the pupusa with refried beans, black beans, curtido, and salsa. I took a bite and was transported back to my early childhood. Funny how smells and tastes can do that. I described dinner to my mom, and she told me that it sounded similar to the hot water cornbread my grandma and aunt used to make. “It’s one world”, she said. I am so grateful for my friends and family. This means you!

This one was a great recipe from Deborah Madison’s Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone. Delish! I only made it (honestly it was before the holidays and I forgot to post the photos) because I wanted some breakfast cake, but didn’t want to go shopping. Well, look no further. This one was so short, I will include the recipe. Moisty!!!

1 cup rolled oats, preferably noninstant
1/4 pound (1/2 cup) butter
1 cup light brown sugar, packed
2 eggs at room temperature
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 cups flour
1 cup Pecan Streusel, which is just your choice of nut (I used almonds), sugar, butter, cinnamon, nutmeg, and a 1/2 cup flour all crumbled together

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Spray or butter and flour a 9 x 12 inch baking dish.

Pour 1 1/2 cups boiling water over the oats and set them aside. Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, then add the eggs one at a time. Scrape down the bowl and continue beating until the mixture is smooth, then add the vanilla, cinnamon, and oats. Combine the dry ingredients and stir them in with a rubber scraper or wooden spoon. Pour into the prepared baking dish, cover with streusel, and bake until a skewer comes out clean – about 35 minutes.

I have been poking around in the kitchen here and there, but I haven’t made a meal worth blogging in a while. This one is in celebration of my favorite vegetable purveyor (Golden Produce) opening their new grocery establishment — Golden Natural Foods!!! I truly love this family, and am very happy for their success. I also should note that I am grateful for the MLK holiday, and appreciative of what it took of others for me to be who I am today.

This new store is beautiful, and if you’ve never had the pleasure of visiting their produce market, GP, you should. That is, if you enjoy fresh, organic, low cost, high quality, abundant produce. I picked up some orecchiette pasta, some fresh parmesan, and anchovy fillets. There was rosemary in the refrigerator, and honey on the countertop. I spied a carrot in the crisper, and took all these ingredients as a sign. I sauteed the carrots in a couple tablespoons of olive oil, added the honey and rosemary, and seasoned with salt and pepper. When the pasta was done, I added it to the pan, along with the anchovies, and topped with peels of the parmesan:

By the way, have you ever tried Lindemans‘ lambic/gueuze called Cuvée René?

It is delicious, my new favorite beer ever. I mean ever. And I like many beer flavors. Long story short, it is available at GNF, along with a pretty nice selection of beer and wine. I was pleased. Go find out for yourselves!

PS. I love the GP family.

Thanks for the kabocha cuteness, i can has cheeseburgers  !!

This was originally planned for the Harvest Dinner menu, but by the end of dinner I was still carving into the pumpkin. Another time, perhaps? Yes.

I couldn’t find a pumpkin so I used this kabocha squash, which has a very hard, green, bumpy skin and shocking orange flesh. Since the end result has a lid I took off the stem and thin layer before cooking. Safety first when cutting into this thing!! First I brushed the kabocha with oil, seasoned it with salt, and I baked the whole thing for 30 min at 350, then 30 min at 400.

I scooped the insides (could not take out the inner flesh while raw – this is a very hard squash) after it baked and spooned in the stew. This made me happy!

You are!!

I’m back to my old self, and in the kitchen now that school applications are finished. Yay!!  Okay, these gnocchi were really good. I made approximately three dozen, and I still have half the dough. I read that once the gnocchi are cooked they can be frozen for up to six weeks. This is my plan of action.

These are sweet potato gnocchi in a brown butter and sage sauce. I usually don’t like cream or butter sauces, but this was perfect and simple. I likely will try another sauce with the leftovers – lots of options! First you make the dough. This was pretty straightforward, but I think my process could have been improved by a potato ricer or a food mill. Then you roll out ropes, cut bite sized pieces, and plop them in the salted boiling water. Finish the gnocchi in the pan with browned butter and sage.

I did find a helpful video online. Now I can finesse!

(photo credits: larisa and bianca)

Day of, Larisa arrives with her cart (name pending) containing the following items:

potatoes, thin green beans and maple
broccoli with sicilian sauce
squash with chestnuts and pomegranates
scary cheese ball with garlic crisps
pear beet greens with champagne vinaigrette
magical sangria ingredients
pumpkin roll cake
pumpkin cookies with brown butter icing
savory stuffed puff pastry roll
and a totally yummy dessert that is just like my mom’s prized pumpkin bread!

Usually this blog displays foodvisuals, but this night was captured in a slightly different way. Thanks to all of our friends who shared their nights and hearts. And a special thank you, Larisa, for making this a truly mesmerizing day and evening!