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Is it really for real April? Where has all the time gone and where the hell is the warm weather? It’s not funny anymore. I am officially OVER winter!  Ok, so now that I got that off my chest…..

Last night the misters Dad came over for a long awaited dinner accompanied by talk of life goals and what her referred to as “narratives” or the story of our lives. Some deep shit to be talking about at dinner, especially with zero alcohol to be had.

Me, being so super awesome, was all up in taking charge in making the food. Except that  last night I didn’t have a bunch of time and honestly, much energy to be doing anything.  And sure, I could have just made a pot of spaghetti, but that just felt like cheeping out. So Polenta it was. And because I just made a hug pot of navy bean, those were going into the polenta too.

Beany polenta baked in the oven with a tomato sauce cooked on the stove. About 5 minutes of hands on time and an hour to cook it all. It’s the perfect meal to make when you have guests coming over. Fast prep, into the oven and on the stove, and then you have an hour to clean and make yourself presentable. See, I am a thinker. (I ended up skipping the making myself presentable part… I stayed in my gym clothes.. no need to impress family right?) Then after about and hour you end up with a hearty healthy pretty meal, all from scratch, that seems like you spent the afternoon cooking. When in fact you spent the past hour vacuuming and watching Gilmore Girls. 

The Stuff. Cornmeal, water, navy beans and parmesan for the polenta. Crushed tomatoes, garlic, dried basil, onion, carrot, zucchini, and summer squash for the sauce. Salt, pepper, and olive oil all around.

Cornmeal and water go into a cast iron skillet (or any oven safe dish) with a pinch of salt and pepper. Give it a little mix and stick it into the oven at 400 degrees .

Once the polenta is in the oven, make the sauce. Chop up all the veggies and stick into a dutch oven or sauce pot with a pinch of salt, the basil and a good drizzle of olive oil. Stick on medium heat and let veggies cook down a bit.  When the veggies are tender, add in minced garlic, crushed tomatoes and another drizzle or oil.  Turn burner to lowest setting and simmer (giving it a stir every now and then) for about 45 minutes or until the polenta is done. After about 30 minutes when the water had pretty much all cooked down, take the polenta out of the oven and stir in the beans, the parmesan, a tablespoon or two of olive oil and salt and pepper. Smooth top out and sprinkle with more pepper, parmesan and drizzle with a bit more oil. Stick back into oven for another 1/2 or until polenta  has formed a crust and no longer giggles when you wiggle the pan.

Pull polntna from the oven and let sit for at least 1o minutes.

Two big spoons and a pile of plates. Have the people serve themselves!

Have a Happy Day! 

-C

Baked Navy Bean Polenta with Chunky Tomato Sauce

Serves 4 hungry people

For the Polenta

• 1 1/2 Cups Course Ground Corn Meal
• 4 Cups Water
• 3 Cups Prepared Navy Beans (Or just use to cans)
• 1/2 Cup Parmesan Cheese or Vegan Parmesan (Optional)
• 3 Tablespoons Olive Oil
• Salt and Pepper

For the Sauce

• One 28oz Can of Crushed Tomatoes
• 1 large Carrot
• 1 Small Onion
• 4 (or more ) Cloves Garlic
• 1 teaspoon Dried Basil
• 1 Small Zucchini
• 1 Small Summer Squash
• Olive Oil
• Salt and Pepper

Preheat oven to 400

In a large skillet, mix together the cornmeal and the water and add a good pinch of salt and pepper. Place into oven for about 30 minutes or until the polenta starts to congeal at the edge of the skillet nd most of the waster has cooked down.

Remove skillet from oven and with a whisk or wooden spoon, mix in the beans, the parmesan (if using) and 2-3 tablespoons of olive oil. Smooth out mixture, sprinkle with salt, pepper, parmesan and drizzle with olive oil. Stick back into oven for another 30 minutes or so.  Polenta is done when it no longer wiggles when you giggle the skillet.

For the sauce

Small dice the carrot and the onion and stick into a medium dutch oven oor sauce pan with a drizzle of olive oil. Place on medium heat and cook until the veggies are tender. Add in tomato, minced up garlic and basil. stir and let simmer on stove top for about 45 minutes. When you place the polenta back into the oven for the second bake, dice up zucchini and squash and add to sauce. Stir and keep on simmer until ready to serve.

Once the polenta has completely cooked, remove from oven and let sit for at least 5 minutes…10 is better to solidify.

Spoon big piles of polenta on a plate or in a bowl, top with a big heap of tomato sauce. Sprinkle with a little more parm  and maybe another dash of pepper .

Eat…..Spoon or fork is recommeded.

Happy Food!

 What is better for a bake sale then Oreo cookies?  Oreo cookies made from scratch!.

So when my sister called and asked me to make something for my nephews bake sale to raise money for his basketball team, I couldn’t say no. (or I  didn’t want to say no cause any good excuse to bake right!) Plus I had just found this awesome recipe on one of my favorite blogs, my name is yeh, for home made Oreos that I have been super excited to try, so it kind of worked out. But before I committed to the Oreo, I wanted to just double check with my nephew and see what he might want me to make because it was his bake sale. 

This is the conversation we had. And yes, it was through text.

Me- “Hey bud, what do you want me to make for your bake sale? Cupcakes, cookies, donuts, or brownies”

Jack- ” Yea!”

Me- “Yea what?”

Jack- “Make that.”

Me- “Make  what?….Hello!! What do you want me to make? Should I make Oreos?”

Jack- I WANT OREOS!”

Ok.. So it took a little while, but we got there. And after the  the basketball game and the super successful bake sale..

ME-“Did you see the Oreos?”

Jack- “What do you mean?”

Me- “The Oreos I made for the bake sale…the ones you wanted me to make”

Jack- “There was a bake sale? I want Oreos”

Yup, that’s the attention span of my 13 year old nephew. Little shit head. But for real, I had so much fun making these cookies and I am definitely going to be making them again. Plus they were a super hit at the sale.

I am the best aunt! (and sister!)

Cookie Time! Whats going on here is brown sugar and butter  have be beaten together until nice and fluffy Then a good big splash of vanilla and another 2 big splashes of coffee are added to that.(I sacrificed my last few sips of my coffee for these cookies)  The dry stuff, flour, salt and cocoa powder, are whisked together, waiting to be added to the wet.  Mix the dry ingredients into the wet and mix. I ended up just using my hand and kind of squish mixing everything together until in tuned into a nice lovely uniformed dough.  Form the dough into 2 balls and give each a few kneads to get any air bubbles out. Place dough back into bowl and stick in the fridge to sit for 10-15 minutes( it makes the dough a little easier to work with)

Once the dough has had a little time to rest and cool, remove from fridge, one ball at a time. Place on a lightly cocoa or powdered sugar dusted surface and roll out the dough. Grab any size circle (or other shape) cookie cutter and get to shaping the cookies. Notice the tin can in the bowl? I could’t find my biscuit cutters anywhere but the can was the perfect size, and it worked really well. Keep a little bowl of either powered sugar of cocoa to dip the cutter in in between making the cookies. It really helps the dough from sticking and breaking. 

When you have cut out your cookies, use a spatial and place them on a baking sheet. You can try to transfer with you hands, but you end up messing up the shape and most of them will break anyway.

Stick the cookies in the oven for about 15 minutes a batch and continute to roll and cut out the cookies until you have no dough left. 

 While the cookies are getting their cool on, make the cream filling. All you need is a stick of butter, about 4 cups of powdered sugar, some vanilla and a few splashes of heavy cream. Beat that all up until nice and creamy thick and spoon it into a pastry bag (I used a big old ziplock bag) to be piped on the cookies. Filling the cookies is for sure the best part. Separate the cookies into pairs and pipe a big blob of filling onto one of the two cookies. Take the names cookie and place on top, giving it a little smooth to the disperse the cream. Keep doing that until the cookies are all filled.

Stacks of cookies… Sold to the highest bidder! I was told that they sold out within the first half hour at $1.50 a pop….Should have charged $5…. for a good cause right?

And yes, even though he was being a space head and didn’t even care that I just  made him like 50 bucks for his team, I still saved the kid one.He just had to give me either a hug or 5 bucks for it.

I got a hug. (I really wanted the 5 dollars)

-C

From Scratch Oreo Cookies 

Adapted by Molly Yeh from My Name is Yeh!

The cookie (makes about 18 3 inch Oreos)

• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 cup cocoa powder
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 cup or 2 sticks soften butter (use earth balance for vegan)
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons brewed coffee

The filling

• 1 stick soft butter (us earth balance for vegan)
• 2 tablespoons heavy or whipping cream (use a nut or soy milk for vegan)
• 4 cups powdered sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Cookies- In a large bowl cream together sugar and butter until light and fluffy. Add in vanilla and coffee and mix together. In another bowl, whisk together the flour, salt and cocoa powder. Add dry to wet and mix together unit a uniform dough forms. Dump out onto a lightly cocoa or powdered sugared surface and knead dough a few times. Split ball into two balls, place in bowl, and stick in the fridge for 15 or so minutes.

Preheat oven t0 325 degrees

When dough is chilled, remove one ball at a time, and roll dough out on a cocoa or powdered sugar dusted counter until its about 1/4 inch thick. With a round (any shape would work) cookie cutter, cut out as many cookies as you can. In between sits, dip cutter in a sugar and cocoa to keep the cookie from sticking. Transfer cut out cookies onto a baking sheet with a spatula.  Take scraps, roll into a ball, and roll out again. Keep doing that until you can’t cut out any more. (You can either bake a weird shape cookie or just eat the dough)

Bake cookies for about 15 minutes or until the cookie has risen a bit and the tops have lost their glossiness and look cooked.  Remove from oven and let cookies dry on a wire rack.

Make the filling

Filling- Beat together butter, sugar, vanilla, and cream until completely mixed and is at your optimal consistency. Add a drizzle more cream if you want to thin out or add more sugar for a thicker cream. 

Stick the filling into a piping bag or ziplock bag an snip the end. With cookies in pairs, pipe a big dollop of filling onto one of the two cookies. Place the naked cookie onto the filled cookie and give a smooth to distribute the filling.

lick your fingers and eat a cookie. 

If selling at a bake sale, charge $3 a cookie…. If it’s for a good cause. 

Whenever my little sister comes over for dinner, I always end up making lentils in some form or another because she, like me, is awesome and loves a good lentil. It makes me so happy that she has such great taste in food and wants to eat what I make.  It’s validation from a teenage girl which is the best kind of validation. 

So last night when she came over after school for dinner and trash talk (she likes to verbally abuse Nick)  we decided  to make both of our favorites … Lentils AND sweet potatoes. How can you go wrong with that combo? Well I am telling you that you can’t. The rich creamy soft and slightly sweet sweet potato mixed up with the hearty, earthy, oh so fantastically tasty lentil. Add in a bit of kale and cheese if you wish and serve with salsa and guac… Whoa, it’s the best!!!

Such a great evening, I get to the cooking, the sister gets to the verbal abuse and the mister, begin the champ that he is, takes it and dishes it right back. 

I am the greatest(coolest) sister. 

Baked sweet potatoes, cooked lentils, chopped up kale and monetary jack cheese (Cheese is optional.. and make it vegan cheese if you want) And you don’t need then, but salsa and guacamole are the best toppings.. So you have them. 

Cut the cooked potato in half lengthwise and scoop the flesh out into a bowl. With a fork, smooth the potato , sprinkle with salt and pepper and mix in lentils and kale.

Stuff the mixture back into the skins of the potato.

And add some cheese (The mister and the sister wanted lots of cheese, no cheese for me) and stick the potatoes into the oven and let bake for another 5 or so minutes or until the cheese is all melty or the top is nice and crispy. 

Remove and plate… Serve with salsa and guacamole and maybe some corn chips.  

I am the greatest sister

-C

Makes 2 serving

• 1 Large Sweet Potato
• 1 cup Prepared Lentils
• 1 cup Chopped Kale
• 1/2 cup Grated Monetary Jack Cheese (Vegan style or not) 
• Salsa (optional)
• Guacamole(optional)

Place potato in oven at 400 degrees for 30-40 minutes or until soft a baked throughout.

While potato is baking, prepare lentils.  2 cups water to 1 cup lentils. Add water and lentil to pot, bring to a boil, add a sprinkle of salt, and reduce to simmer until lentils are tender. 

When potato is cooked, remove potato  and let cool for a few minutes. Cut in half lengthwise and scoop out most of the flesh out of the skins and place into a big bowl. WIth a fork, mash the potato a bit  Add in the lentils and the kale, a sprinkle of salt and pepper, and mix to combine. Stuff the mixture back into the skins of the potatoes and top with cheese. (if using ) Place potatoes back into oven for 5-10 minutes until cheese is melty and bubbly or the top of the potato is a bit crispy. Remove from oven and serve on a plate with salsa and guacamole.

Eat and be happy. 

This has been the week of broken things. My immersion blender broke. 2 of the 4 new bowls I bought were smashed. The hand mixer broke while I was making frosting (F**CK). The steam mop is finally completely broken and the mister smashed the screen on his phone. All in a weeks time. Oh, and not broken, but the front end of my car got stuck in a muddy sink hole. It took five badass farmers to help me push it out. It was crazy, but thankfully the car and I survived. But’s it cool. I can replace all that crap and my arms are getting a great workout now that I have to hand mix everything and hand wassh the floor on my hands and knees. ( I do it like a beast!) Because what I really am having a hard time with is that it is nearly April and still have most of my winter clothes out. I just want to but the boots away and get my chaco sandals out. It’s getting a bit ridiculous if you ask me.

Things I tell myself to keep from losing my shit

• 20 degrees.. That’t tropical compared to the -30 we were having
• I will be bitching about how hot it is in just a few short months so try to enjoy the cold now.
• Hopefully most of the mosquito population all dies this winter  and only enough  survive to be eaten by things that eat them
• Because it still so cold, its ok to spend an entire day at home in my pjs baking cookies and bread and  binge watching Kimmy Schmidt. 

See.. there is a bright side.

Here is some cool internet stuff form the week

-Love this house and will some someday have plants in every nook and crank of my home. PEEK INSIDE WORLD’S END FARM + SAIPUA PLANT SALE

-I am ready to move into a tree, if only for a little while. This one would work for me

-I looked before I read. and didn’t realize what I was seeing. Behold! The Cosmos Created From The Contents Of A Kitchen

-The Most Effective Alarm Clock Ever Brews Your Morning Joe If only it came in jumbo size.

-I love/ hate this story. I get so excited for the produce that is marked down because its not perfect. If people realize how silly it is to look for “perfection in food”  then I won’t get awesome stuff for cheap. Think Nobody Wants To Buy Ugly Fruits And Veggies? Think Again

And here are a few life pictures 

WHAT WHAT!!! The first sign of green that I have seen in the neighborhood. 

This little came over and hung out with me. I gave him a muffin and a bowl of “Carrot Chips” (really thinly sliced carrots) He at a few bites of the muffin but ate  all the carrots and wanted more…… I love him!

Oh the old man trash dog. His butt hair is finally starting to grow back after he chewed himself a big hot spot. I love this pattern for a driveway. 

March 29, 2011. Yeah sure we were in California, but still, we were camping outside.

COME ON SPRING!!!!And who doesn’t love a pineapple, or 4? 

Have a fantastic Day!

We are looking at a high in the 30’s here in VT.. WA HOO!

-C

Last night I had my sister and her kiddos come over for dinner. Nothing fancy, nothing to complicated,  just something  fast and something that I knew the littles would eat.  Spaghetti and meatballs, except replace meatballs were bean balls So they came, we played, did a little drawing and had a bit of first grad gossip. Then came  dinner time  when I was told by one little that she was not going to eat.. She had pasta for lunch. Well I made her sit anyway and she mainly just ate carrots (I was ok with that) Then the other little was all into his pasta and bean balls, 1 down, 3 more to go, when the mister let slip that the meatballs were not really meat. He ate around the remaining balls, said he didn’t want them anymore. And my sister, well she doesn’t eat anything that is not pizza.

Good thing a neighbor stopped by while we were eating. He had a few of the balls and told me that they were amazing. I needed someone to tell me that.  

So yeah, the littles were not overly enthused with the ball, but the Mister the Neighbor, and I thought that they were awesome and delicious. Maybe next time I will make sure that  pasta was not lunch and tell Nick to keep his mouth shut and stop talking about balls at the dinner table.

I feel like I don’t need to tell you how to boil pasta or heat up the sauce, so I left that portion of the recipe out. I have faith that you are capable in doing that part without my instruction.

The bean ball stuff. Chickpeas (soaked and cooked or canned), sweet potato, carrot, onion, and some chick pea flour. Dried garlic, basil and oregano. Salt and pepper and a little bit of olive oil. Small chop all the veggies and toss them and the dry spices into a skillet with a drizzle or two of olive oil. Stick on medium  heat and add about 1/4 cup of water to pan. Top with  slid and let veggies cook down until soft and fragrant.

Add the cooked veggies to a food processor or blender with  the rinsed and drained chickpeas. The mixture gets pulsed until combined,  keeping a little bit of chunkiness.  Now go warhead and taste  the mixture. Add another pinch or two of salt , pepper or any of the spices that you think it need.  Dump the mixture into a bowl and mix in the chickpea flour than stink the mixture into the fridge for a least a 1/2 hour. Cooling to off is really important to forming the balls. If you don’t, it’s much harder to keep mixture from falling apart and sticking to your hands.

After the mixture has had time to cool and set, start rolling the mixture into balls roughly the size of ping pong balls. In a shallow bowl, add a few tablespoons of the chickpea flour with a pinch of salt, pepper and garlic powder. Take each ball and roll in flour and place each ball on a well oiled baking sheet. When the balls are all rolled, stick into the oven and bake away for about 30-40 minutes, flipping balls after about 20.  After you flip the balls, get the pasta ready so its finished about the same time the balls are done.You pasta and sauce is cooked and the balls are all crispy and oh so nice.

Serve balls over pasta with sauce and eat with a fork.

Your day is now complete.. balls and all.

Happy Weekend!

-C

makes about 20 balls

• 4 Cups (or 2 cans) Cooked, Rinsed and Drained ChickPeas
• 1 Small Sweet Potato
• 1 Small Onion
• 1 Carrot
• 1/4 Cup Chickpea Flour plus extra to roll balls in
• 1 Heaping Teaspoon Basil
• 1 Heaping Teaspoon Oregano
• 1 Heaping Teaspoon Garlic Powder
• Olive or Vegetable Oil
• Salt and Pepper
• Your choice of Spaghetti (Use Vegan and or Gluten Free if needed)  Prepared as package recommends
• Marinara or Pasta Sauce of your choice

Preheat Oven to 425 degrees

Small dice the carrot, onion and sweet potato and toss into a skillet on medium high heat with a splash of oil. Add in the dry spices and add in about a quarter cup of water. stir and cover the skillet with a lid and let the veggies cook down until the water has evaporated and the veggies are tender. 

Add rinsed and drained chickpeas to a food processor with the cooked veggie mixture. Pulse together until the mixture is combined and slightly smooth, but still with a little bit of texture left.Place bean mixture in a bowl  and mix in the 1/4 cup of chickpea flour. and stick in the fridge for a least a 1/2 hour to cool. (Mixture can be made a day ahead if you want)

Once the mixture has time to cool and set up , remove from fridge and with a light head, roll mixture into ping-pong sized balls. In a separate shallow dish add a bit of chickpea flour with a pinch of salt and pepper. Roll each ball in the flour mixture and place balls on a well oiled baking sheet. Once balls ae made, stick into the oven and bake for about 30-40 minutes, flipping after about 20 minutes. The balls are done when the outsides are once and golden brown and crispy. After about 30 minutes, get to cooking your pasta and mariana sauce.

Once the pasta and sauce is done, plate it and toss on some of those awesome bean balls!

Bean balls also make fantastic bean ball sandwiches or bean balls on a toothpick. 

I don’t know if I have bitched enough about it, but I only have one window in my living space. And as much as I love love love our little tiny loft, I am a person who needs the sun. So when I am home I spend a lot of time siting in front of the window.  Over the past few weeks I have been doing a lot of watercolor painting in front of that window and somehow  between drawings of carrots and  vintage fans, I ended up making these marbled window stained glass hoops. And I am glade I did because these little watercolor gems really do make a big impact on my one source of sunlight. Even when the day is kind of gray and gloomy, having these in the window make the light seem brighter and happy. 

We can all use a bright happy window.

So this project is really easy and fast. I recommend that if you are going to go to the trouble (it’s really no trouble) of making one, you might as well make 2 or 5. I actually made a bunch (think Mothers day or Easter presents) and ended up only keeping a s couple. I am going to have to make a few more soon.

You will need-

• Watercolors 
• water
• paintbrush
• Sketch paper*
• A pan or tray with a bit of water 
• Embroidery Circles * (As many as you want to make)

*Notes

• -I tried to use a few different types of paper and found that the sketch works the best. Watercolor paper was a bit to thick and printer paper just kept ripping.
• -You can buy embroidery circles at any craft store and they usually have a good variety of sizes. Use the sizes that you like.

Take a piece(s) of paper a little bit bigger then the hoop you are working with and stick it into a pan or tray of water. Let it sit there for a few minutes until the paper is completely soaked.Take the wet paper and, oh so gently, crumple into a ball. This part can be a little tricky. You want to make as many creases as possible without ripping that paper. (I ripped a few pieces) I found that if I folded that paper a few time, then crumpled that it was less likely to rip.

Uncrumple the paper and lay it gently onto the inner part of the hoop. Now the fun part. Go to town with the watercolors. I used 2 colors per piece, but you could do 1 or 3, or more. When applying the color, use big gentle strokes and let the colors kind of meld together. Watch as all the crumple veins soak up the paint. Try using different dilutions of color. I applied some color on thinly and some on the thicker side. But really, you can’t go wrong, just keep applying paint until you are happy. I stopped a few times and held it up to the window just to see what it looked like. When it looked good, I was done.

When you are happy with the colors, let the paper dry for a while on the hoop  until it is not longer super wet. I would say about an hour or so, but if you stick it near the heater, it might dry faster. (Just don’t stick it in the oven while you are making bread like I did with one.. It just ended up setting on fire. Oops)

Once its pretty much dry, take the outer ring of the hoop and gently place around the inner hoop and tighten. Being super careful, trim the extra paper from the back of the hoop.

Place your pieces in a window and watch them glow.  Yow now have a happy window.

-C

     I love mustard, and when I say love, I mean LOVE. I eat it on anything and everything. And not just small quaintites, I buy jumbo sized containers of the stuff because I go through it so fast.  Over the past few years I even  started taking down others with my mustard eating obsession. Sisters, brothers, even some of the littles are now mustard eating feens.  One of my little nieces is now just as bad as me. I don’t think I have seen her eat a single meal without a side of mustard. Her favorite snack, clementines and mustard,  although sometimes she skips the clementines and just goes in with her fingers. Oh so good. I think that child could possible be mine.  And yes, it’s mostly the yellow grocery store variety of mustard being consumed, but yellow mustard is just the tip of the ice berg. There is a whole world of flavors, textures and colors when it comes to the humble mustard seed. Whole grain mustard, to me, is one of the best and easiest to adapt to any persons specific taste. You can make it plan or add in just about any spice, vinegar, even a little sweetness that you might like. One of my favorite variations of this mustard is to skip the vinegar and use picked jalapeño juice. Aah, my mouth is watering just thinking about it.

So if you are anything of a mustard connoisseur, you really must, at least once, make your own batch.(It’s so easy!) And you will love it and share it with all your friends and they will think you are a bad ass for making your own mustard and your life will just be so great. All because you are now a mustard maker.  Yes. 

Yellow mustard seeds, brown mustard seeds, apple cider vinegar and salt. The most basic ingredients.

Note- If you want, add in a pinch of any spice that you want.. Chili flakes, granulated garlic, turmeric…. And you can use the vinegar of your choice. I like apple cider because its mellow with a slight sweetness but white or sherry or any vinegar would be great. Even left over picked juice is fantastic too.

    In a large jar, combine the mustard seed , twice as much vinegar and a pinch of salt. Cover and let sit for on the counter overnight until the seeds have soften and look almost like caviar. 

Now blend those seeds. You might want to add another splash or two of vinegar to help  blend and to thin out a bit. Chose how creamy or seeded you like you mustard. I like to make it creamy but seedy so I blend it half way to creamy.

Taste and add another pinch of salt if its needed and……..

You have got mustard! Make sure you have a good snack ready to eat with it.. My go to is carrots. I could eat this all day long.  

Enjoy and have a great Tuesday full of mustard and stuff!

-C

• 1/4 Cup Brown Mustard Seeds
• 1/4 Cup Brown Mustard Seeds
• 1 Cup Apple Cider Vinegar
• 1 Teaspoon Salt
• Optional..A pinch of  Garlic Graduals, Red Pepper Flakes, Curry Powder (Anything you want) 

Combine all ingredients into a large jar that has at least a few extras inches for the seed to expand.  Leave on counter for 8-12 hours.

Once seeds are nice and soft and have expanded, either eat as is (Mustard seed caviar) or blend the seeds to desired consistency (I like it half smooth, half seedy) Add a pinch more or salt and another splash or two of vinegar to help blend.

Refrigerate and use on anything and everytihng.

First day of Spring!! Well kind of I guess. I think it actually starts at like 6:20 tonight, when the temperature is going to dip back done to 10.(Spring my ass) I don’t know about you people out there but here in Vermont, we are really hanging on to winter. I have to keep telling myself…” It will be warmer soon and you’ll be looking forward to this weather in a few months.. so stop bitching!”  I give myself good pep talks.

Anyway, last week at the farm share pick up, there was a nice little surprise. We got a few pounds of some sweet locally grown and milled whole wheat flour. There was a little sign with the information about the wheat and where it came from, but in my haste of gathering all of my other veggies, I failed to take notes and forgot the name of the farm that it came from. But I do know that my farm traded some celeriac for the wheat.  I was really excited because I am really into the idea of using locally grown grains and I don’t know, it just made me really happy, especially because it was a trade.  Food framing and local sharing is stuff that makes me happy.

I wanted to make something to kind of showcase the hearty, nutty flavor of the wheat and I also wanted to make something that my mister would eat for breakfast. Well what better way to do that then with muffins! Banana coconut whole wheat (that just happen to be vegan) Hearty, fruity, and smells like the word lovely and the color yellow. A few to eat and a few to share. Hanging at home, running away or  getting ready for a day of spring cleaning….This is a great weekend to make muffins! 

The stuff… Light, nutty local whole wheat flour, ripe oh ripe bananas and coconut flakes are the stars in this muffin… But we need the other stuff too. Brown sugar, vanilla, coconut oil and a chia egg.  Baking powder, baking soda, and last but not least, salt.

 Yup, that sounds about right   The salt, baking soda, and baking powder are whisked together. The banana and all the rest of the stuff are mixed up… Then mix the wet mixture into the dry. Stir until combined and then add in the coconut flakes,Scoop mixture  into 12 lined muffin cups… A scoop like mine works very nicely. Don’t have one, well I recommend you get yourself one. Until then, use a spoon. Something I always do when baking any muffin is sprinkle the tops of each muffin with a bit of  sugar or brown sugar. It melts and caramelizes and adds a sweet little crunch to the tops. 

Now stick the muffins into the oven. Remove from oven when they look like this, nice and golden brown. Also good idea to check with a tester stuck into the middle. When it comes out clean, they are done.12 happy little muffins cooling on a rack, waiting to be eaten with you mouth. 

Doesn’t the sight of pretty food make you happy, like sing a song happy? Muffins, whoa yah!!  Friday yah yah!!  Spring…What, Yah!!  Yah…Yah Yah!!!

Terrible I know, but at least you were spared hearing my actual voice. 

Have a great weekend. Do lots of springy stuff!

-C

• 2 Cups Whole Wheat Flour
• 4 Ripe bananas
• 1 Teaspoon Baking Soda
• 1/2 Teaspoon Baking Powder
• 1 teaspoon Salt
• 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
• 3/4 Cup Brown Sugar
• 1/3 cup melted Coconut Oil
• 1 Tablespoon Chia Seeds + 3 Tablespoons warm water
• 1/2 Cup Unsweetened Coconut Flakes

Preheat oven to 350

In a small bowl, mix 3 tablespoons warm water to the chia seeds and let sit for at least 5 minutes (10 is better) In a large bowl, peel and mash the bananas until they turn into a kind of chunky soupy puree.  Add in brown sugar, chia seed mixture, vanilla extract, and the melted coconut oil (make sure it’s melted or it won’t incorporate into the mixture) Mix together. In another bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Mix the wet mixture with the dry until combined then mix in the coconut flakes. 

Line a 12 cup muffin tin and fill each cup about 3/4 the way up with batter. Sprinkle each muffin with brown sugar and place in oven on center rack. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until the tops 0f the muffins are golden brown and a tester inserted into the middle comes out clean. 

Remove muffins from tin and let cool.

Serve as is or maybe with a smudge of coconut butter, or anything you want really.

No need for fork, just use you mouth.

I am so happy its Friday, but like whoa, this week has flown by so fast. I think I need to make a pie to slow things down a bit.. What Kind of pie am I making? We will get to that, but first we must make a killer pie crust, one to hold of the goodness to come.  

Crusty Stuff. Flour, a stick of frozen butter (or a stick of frozen Earth  Balance, which I have used and it turns out much the same) a  bit of sugar, some salt, ice water, and apple cider vinegar*.  

Whats with the vinegar you ask? Well first  off, don’t worry about tasting it, you won’t. Secondly, I add it because it helps keep gluten from forming in the flour, which in turns makes the pie crust more flakey and less doughy. If the though of vinegar really bothers you, you can use lemon juice or even leave it out. 

The flour, salt, ans sugar are mixed together into a bowl. Then with a box grater or hand grater with big hole, grate the frozen butter directly into the flour, stopping every few tablespoons to toss around in the flour. (DO this or you will end up with a big pile of shredded butter that is starting to melt back together) Also, hold the butter with the wrapper to keep from warming the butter with your hand.

Once the whole stick is shredded, take a fork and just toss the chunks around a bit more just to evenly distribute. Now add in vinegar and water. Toss with fork until the mixture starts to come together. If you think that dough seems way to dry, add in one more tablespoon of ice water.Dump the dough onto a lightly flour surface and kind of squish, smoosh dough into a pile. The dough is all clumpy and weird looking, Well thats what it is support to look like, so your good. Once the dough is gathered into a ball, place onto a piece of wax paper and wrap. Now is the most satisfying part..Smoosh the wrapped dough into a disk but applying pressure. Aaahh, kind of looked like pie crust. Now Stick it in the fridge for a least a hour (Don’t skip this or your crust will be blah)

Out of the fridge and awaiting a roll and a filling. 

Weekend plans for a pie are set!

Have lots of good times!

-C

Notes… You can for sure make this  pie crust vegan by replacing the butter for  a stick of Earth Balance.  Also, this is the stuff for a single pie crust but I usually habra bit left over to make a few little cutouts for the top of the pie or pie scrap cookies.

To make this a double pie crust, just double everything up.  

• 1 1/4  cups  all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter (or Earth Balace), cold or frozen
• 1/4 cup ice water
• 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar  

In a large bow, whisk together the flour, salt, and sugar. Place grater in bowl and with the biggest grate hole, grate the frozen or cold butter directly into the flour mixture, stopping ever few tablespoons to toss around in the flour so you don’t end up with a big pile of grated butter. With a fork, toss around a bit until  the butter is evenly disrupted in the flour being careful NOT to work the butter into the flour.  Add in the vinegar and water and mix as little as possible with a fork until the mixture starts to come together. The mixture will seem kind of dry and almost like it is falling apart, but thats what you want. If dough is really too dry, add in another tablespoon of ice water. Dump mixture onto a lightly floured surface and squish together to form a ball, handling as little as possible. Place on a piece of wax paper and wrap. Give it a good squish to flatten out a bit and place back into fridgerater for a least one hour, if not longer.

And then you have crust

Crust can be frozen.. just wrap in plastic wrap and place into a freezer bag. 

I swear I didn’t plan this, but today is officially Pi Day! Pi being the mathematical constant of the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its dimeter (did I say that right?) 3.1415…… And today’s date is 3.14.15.   Whoa…I guess that means that this pie was meant to be. 

But the real reason I made this pie was for a surprise treat for the mister. He left for a couple of days and me being the super assume lady love of his, thought it would be nice for him to come home to his favorite dessert.. plain old rhubarb pie.( I know, I be the best) And it didn’t hurt that when I went to the grocery store, there was a big old pile of fresh, gorgeous rhubarb staring me right in the face, and on sale to boot.

The funniest thing. Me and the mister have been together for a very long time (12+ years….we started dating in high school, so I am not that old!) and I have known that his favorite dessert is plain rhubarb pie for ever. Every time we have one of our food discussions about our favorite foods, (which happens more than it should and usually consists of me running my mouth and him grunting or nodding once in a while) rhubarb pie always comes up. He even talks about the old lady who used to make him rhubarb pie for mowing her lawn. And guess what…  I have never once made him a plain rhubarb pie. Why? Honestly, I have no idea. Maybe I secretly think I was going to screw up his one favorite dessert, or maybe I never quit had enough rhubarb for a pie, or maybe I am really just an awful lady. But for whatever reason, it doesn’t matter anymore because I finally made him a plain rhubarb pie. 

The stuff for the makings of pie… One single pie crust, flour, sugar and rhubarb. I mean, come on, this might be one of the simplest pies ever.  

Note…The first thing the mister said to me when he saw the pie was. “Where is the top crust? My response what “Screw you ass face” but then chuckled. This pie would be great with a top crust, but I was thinking how pretty it would be without it. And honestly, I only made a single crust. What I am saying is.. make a double crust if you want a top.

    The chilled pie crust gets rolled out, placed into a pie plate, trimmed and made all pretty. The bottom is sprinkled with a 1/4 cup of sugar and stuck back into the fridge while the oven preheats  to 350.  Now is a good time to dice the rhubarb into inchish chunks. Once the oven is preheated, remove crust from fridge and add in the diced rhubarb.

   The remaining sugar and flour get mixed together in a bowl  and dump on top of the rhubarb. Give it a tiny toss with you fingers just to get some of the mixture to sink down a little. (Don’t worry, the filling will be perfect when you do it like this) I also cut up the pie crust trimmings and placed on top… not necessary, but looks pretty and is a good use of the scraps.

Now cover the entire pie with tinfoil. Cut and x through the middle and fold foil back to expose the filling but keep the crust covered. (so much easier than trying to squish strips of foil together..you know what I am talking about) 

And then the pie is ready to be baked.

In the oven for 5o minutes with the foil, then 10 or so minutes without to finish.And then you take it from the oven and marvel at the beauty.

I am now truly the best super awesome lady love. I should get a freaking crown but would settle for a stand mixer or blender as a reward instead. 

Important…..Let the pie cool completely (or just about) before cutting.The filling needs a bit of time to set.

Happy Saturday, Happy Weekend, Happy PI Pie Day!!!

-C

• Single Pie Crust.. Recipe here
• 4-5 large Rhubarb Stocks (4 cups chopped)
• 1 1/4 cups white sugar
• a hefty 1/3 cup flour

Make you pie crust.. and make sure it’s chilled!

Roll our pie crust and place in pie plate. Trim and make edge all nice and pretty. Add 1/4 cup of sugar to the bottom  and stick back in the fridge to relax while you get the other stuff together.

Preheat oven to 350

Wash and dice rhubarb into inchish chunks. In a bowl, mix together 1 cup of sugar and the flour. Once the oven is preheated, remove crust from fridge and fill crust with the chopped up rhubarb. Now dump the sugar, flour mixture on top, slightly tossing it around with your fingers. Cover entire pie with tin foil and with a knife, cut an x through the middle of the foil. Fold foil back to expose the center of the pie, but keep the crust covered. Stick into oven. Bake for about an hour, removing the tin foil after about 50 minutes. Pie is done when the crust is golden brown and a fork or knife stuck into the middle of pie comes out with a thick jam like sauciness.

Let pie cool and set for a bit.

Slice. Serve on a plate with an eating utensil and maybe a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream.  Lick plate clean.