What do you think about at 5 o%u2019clock in the morning? Wait, are you awake at 5? Well I am and yes, I know that most people are not and think I am crazy for waking up so early, but it is and I do and whatever. Anyway, it%u2019s 5 o’clock and I am at the gym (yes, I wake up at 5 AND go to the gym) and me and my gym friend start talking about food (as usual) and what we were going to do with our Brussels sprouts that we got from the farm (I got her to join my CSA!). That is what I am usual thinking at 5. Food, and how to prepare it. And as the sprout conversation commerced, this is what materialized in my head. Crisp, crunchy fresh Brussels spouts, shredded up and tossed in a warm tangy cranberry sauce. My mouth was salivating and as usual, I left the gym hungry.
So I came home, drank all my coffee and then proceeded to make the sprout dish for lunch and let me tell you, this sprout slaw is amazing. Tangy and crunchy and all Brussels sprouty. It has a hardy salad feel without being heavy. It is a slaw that really get me, you know. (I actually don%u2019t know.)
Anyway, you should really get on the eating this Brussels sprouts slaw (or any Brussels sprouts dish) train now, before they go out of season and you end up buying kind of not great sprouts from the market that don%u2019t taste as good. Bad Brussels sprouts suck.
To the cranberry Brussels sprout slaw.
The stuff. Fresh Brussels sprouts, cranberries (fresh or frozen), some onion, balsamic vinegar, a little maple, dried cranberries and toasted walnuts, and salt and pepper.
Start with onion. Grab it and dice it nice and small.
Dump the onion into a skillet with a little pinch of salt and a splash of water and cook for a few minutes, just unit they are not raw anymore. Then add in the cranberries and 1/2 cup water. Cook on a low heat until the cranberries all pop and the sauce starts to thicken.
While cranberries are cooking, shred up the sprouts. Thin as you can get them.
Cranberries are now a thick and chunky sauce and oh so delicious. Add in the vinegar and maple here and give it a good stir and a taste test too. If it is too tart for your liking, add more maple. Think you might need a bit more vinegar, well splash it on it.
Now toss those shredded spouts it.
Stir it around. Season with salt and pepper and there it is.
Scoop into a bowl. Top with dried cranberries and walnuts and grab a fork.
This is good.
-C
serves 3-4 as a side or one person who wants to eat it all to themselves
1 1/2 cups fresh or frozen cranberries
1/2 a pound Brussels sprouts ( around 3 1/2- 4 cups shredded)
1 small or 1/2 a large onion
3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon maple syrup (or more to taste)
salt and pepper
1/2 -3/4 cup water
small handful dried cranberries (optional)
smal handfuls toasted walnuts (optional)
Start with dicing the onion up into small pieces. Place in a skillet with a small pinch of salt and a good splash of water and place on medium heat. Cook for a few minutes or until the water has evaporated and the onions are not raw. Add in the cranberries and 1/2 cup water. Keep on low heat and cook until the cranberries pop and start to thicken. If the cranberries are not cooked all the way and the water has evaporated out, just add another 1/2 cup.
While cranberries are cooking, shredded the Brussels sprouts, as thin as you can. A mandolin is great for this but a knife works too.
Once the cranberries have cooked down to a saucey consistency add in the vinegar and maple and stir around. Remove from heat and carefully taste the sauce. If you think it needs more maple or vinegar, add in another tablespoon until it tastes good to you. Dump in the shredded sprouts and mix. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
And then it%u2019s done. You can dump it all into a bowl and sprinkle the dried cranberries and walnuts on top, or leave it in the skillet and do the same. Me,I scooped half into a bowl for pictures sake and ate the rest right out of the skillet. I then licked the skillet clean with my finger. Then ate the bowl full. SO good.
There are a million things you can, and should, do with tomatoes. Salsa is one of those things. Especially with the super fresh and ripe summertime tomatoes that may or may not be overflowing every empty surface of your kitchen (my current predicament). And peaches. Now is the time friends to eat your peaches. In season and oh so tasty. Do it now before it%u2019s too late and those oh so deliciously ripe and sweet peaches are gone and all that is left are mealy, gross, supermarket fakes. Only eat in season peaches. That is a life lesson everyone should know.
This salsa is perfect. Super fresh, sweet and slightly spicy, with a hint of tangy goodness and just, you, really freaking perfect. A salsa that hits all the right notes with out being overly anything and underly nothing if you know what I mean. All the tastes of summertime. A darn good salsa. Darn good.
This salsa also makes me a winner at the game I am playing with myself called %u201cGet the mr to eat tomatoes and like it”%u201c. The game started when he told me he was sick of tomatoes and he didn’t want to eat anymore. I made the salsa (which also made me a winner in the other game I play called %u201cGet the mr to eat fruit in his savory dishes%u201d, because he also tells me how much he hates fruit in savory), he tried the salsa, raved about the salsa, and then went and ate the rest of the salsa with his rice and beans. .
I win again! Haha
Anyway, super fast, super fresh, super super. A great way to use up a any of your shit load of tomatoes you might have laying around and to get in a few more of those summertime peaches before they are gone again for the year.
Now to the salsa.
The stuff. Cherry tomatoes, peaches, an onion, a jalape%u00f1o, a lime, a bunch of cilantro, salt and pepper, and a little vinegar.
Start by cutting up the tomatoes into quarters. Do this carefully or else you will have tomatoes rolling around everywhere. Place chopped tomatoes into a bowl.
Then dice up those peaches into small little pieces and toss into bowl with tomatoes.
Onion gets diced up too and placed into bowl.
Jalapeno, seeds removed, diced up nice and small. Get it into the bowl.
And cilantro. Give it a rough chop and into the bowl it goes.
A sprinkle of salt, lots of pepper (to taste of course), the juice of the lime, and a splash of vinegar. Mix it all up and there you have it.
Into a jar (or you can just keep it in the bowl if you want), and it%u2019s ready for eating. Chips, tacos, to top a salad%u2026 This salsa does it all. Heck, just eat it with a spoon. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that.
-C
Makes about 32 oz of the good stuff
1 overflowing pint cherry tomatoes (red, yellow, sun gold or a mix of any)
2 ripe but firm peaches
1 bunch cilantro
1-2 jalape%u00f1os (depending on how hot you want it)
1 small red or white onion
a lime
salt and pepper
splash red or white wine vinegar
Grab the tomatoes and carefully, so they don%u2019t roll away, cut each one into quarters. Place in a big bowl. Cut peaches in half, remove pit, and dice the flesh into very small little piece and toss into bowl. Now onion, dice that into small little pieces, along with the jalape%u00f1o and toss into bowl. Cilantro gets a rough chop then into the bowl it goes. Now sprinkle in a little salt and lots of black pepper. Add the juice of the lime and a splash of the vinegar and toss it all around. Let sit for a few minutes, taste, then season with more salt and pepper if needed. Can add more vinegar for more acid if needed too.
This salsa only gets better with a little age so you can definitely make it a day or two ahead of time.
Store in a bowl to serve or a jar for longer storage. Use within a 4-5 days of making it.
Summertime is in full swing. Hot ass days, garden fresh veggies, zucchinis as big as whales, and did I mention that hot ass heat? If you have been around here before, you know how well I handle the heat. (NOT WELL AT ALL!)
I think we are all hot these days. But really, lets just focus on the good things, like fresh summa veggies!
This sandwich is all about summertime and not having to turn on a single flame or heat source and takes all of 5 minutes to make. Zucchini because it is everywhere, beans for more substance and they are delicious, all mixed up in a creamy bean and tahini sauce. Super fast, fresh and oh so delicious. I made a big batch for sandwiches but also I was just eating it with a fork. It%u2019s a tasty one that will be on the summer rotation for sure for the next few months, or until the zucchini runs out and I dare to turn the oven on again. (Ok, I am being a whine ass. It%u2019s not THAT bad and I did turn the oven on, early morning, to bake bread. So yeah.) But for real. This is a great, super fast, throw together, fresh, light but filling, sandwich situation for any and all of your summertime eating needs. What more do we need? The mr said all he needed with the sandwich were chips. Chips and a nice cold drink.
Done sir. Done.
Now to the sandwich!
The stuff. White beans, a zucchini, and a fresh spring onion. Also some tahini, a lemon, a few cloves of garlic, a little vinegar and water, and salt and pepper. And to serve as a sandwich you need bread. lettuce, and tomato. Well you only need the bread, but you get what I am saying.
Fist off. Half the white beans go into blender or jar with the tahini, the juice of the lemon, garlic, vinegar and a splash of water. Blended unit nice and creamy smooth. And yes, it is basically hummus but whatever.
Julienne the zucchini and chop up the onion.
Note. You don%u2019t have a mandolin or done%u2019t want to julienne with a knife, well just chop the zucchini into small little chunks.
Bean, onion, and zucchini in a bowl. Add in the bean tahini mixture and mix. And ta da, all done. All of 5 minutes and no heat. Good for us.
Now here is the thing. This salad is ready to eat now. You can continue onto the sandwich path or just eat it like it is with a fork. What I really liked to do is scoop spoonfuls into lettuce cups with a slice of tomato and a squirt or mustard. So yes sandwich, but also whatever else you want it to be.
But as a sandwich%u2026. Bread. And lettuce and tomato and heck, whatever else you want to throw on there. (Again, mustard is A+)
Now stop. Sandwich time.
Stay cool!
-C
makes 3-4 sandwiches
1 medium sized zucchini
2 1/2 cups cooked and strained white beans (a can will do)
1 spring onion (or a small white or red onion)
3 tablespoons tahini
2-3 cloves minced garlic
1 lemon
1 tablespoon white or red wine vinegar
2-3 tablespoons warm water
salt and pepper
And to serve as a sandwich
bread or wrap of your choice
tomato slices
lettuce
anything else you want
Place half of the beans, tahini, garlic, juice of the lemon, and the vinegar into a jar and use a immersion blender or a regular blender and blend until creamy smooth. Add in a tablespoon at a time of water until the consistency is just slightly thinner then hummus.
Grab zucchini and using a mandolin or a knife and julienne it. (You can also just cut into small little cubes.) Dice the onion up into small pieces and toss with zucchini, onion, and the other half of beans into a big bowl. Dump the bean tahini mixture all over and veggies bean mixture and toss around. Add salt and pepper to taste.
To make it a sandwich%u2026 Place a scoop onto a bread situation, add some lettuce and tomato and whatever else you want, and eat it.
It%u2019s a smoothie. And no, we have never really been smoothie people in this house, but what can I say, sometimes smoothies happen, especially when you have about 20 ripe bananas in the fruit bowl with no room in the freezer and no need for 7 loafs of banana bread.
So I smoothied. And I like it (a lot).
This is a smoothie of simplicity. Nothing fancy. Simplest of simple. Straight to the point. And all sorts of good.
You might think, does this simple smoothie you speak of taste very good? Yes, yes indeed it does. It is all sorts of fantastic. Basically if you like creamy, nutty, oaty, bananery things, you will like this. And it%u2019s a perfect breakfast, snack, dessert, or just wanting a little treat like thing that is not garbage food. A smoothie of all smoothies with the most basic ingredients. And takes about 15 seconds to whip up. Can%u2019t complain about that.
To the smoothie goodness!
The stuff. A ripe banana, some old fashion rolled oats, a pinch of salt, water, and a smidge of maple syrup if you want it.
Everything goes into blender.
And blended until smooth. Hence the word smoothie.
Pour it into a cup (or if you are feeling primal, drink it straight from the blender%u2026 it%u2019s totally cool)
And done.
A banana oat smoothie.
Let the good time roll!
-C
makes 1 smoothie
1 very ripe banana
1/3 cup raw old fashion oats
1 1/2 cups water
pinch of salt
a tablespoon or two of any sweetener you like (optional)
a pinch of cinnamon (optional)
Place everything into a blender and blend until smooth. Pour into a cup, sprinkle with cinnamon if you wish, and drink right away.
Do you ever wake up first thing in the morning with a craving, a maybe somewhat strange food craving? Lately I have been waking up and within an hour of being up, I start to think about olives. My mouth starts to water and it%u2019s like I can almost taste the salty, briny, fattiness in my mouth, which in itself is kind of weird, but for me is really really weird because up until very recently I completely hated olives. Now, well now I just want to eat them all. And first thing in the morning.
I don%u2019t pretend to understand such things. My brain is going to do what it%u2019s going do. Tell me I like olives, well all right then.
Another thing I am desperately craving is freshy fresh greens which makes complete since because I always crave greens. I am still pretty deep in root veggies and cooked things because winter and Vermont and all, but all I really really really want to eat are buckets of greens. Any kind will do, but the sweet tender baby ones%u2026. So good.
And so I combined my two cravings, greens and olives and hit those craving like POW! BAM! POOF? A salad so simple yet so amazing and mouth watering. I outdid myself here.
To the bestest, most amazingly perfect salad yet!
The stuff. A big ol%u2019 bowl of greens. Black pitted olives, half an avocado, a lemon, toasted almonds, a chunk of red onion, a couple cloves garlic, and pepper.
Almond crumbs. Exactly what it sounds like. Place almonds into a clean food prosessor and pulse until they are crumbs.
Dump the almonds into a bowl. Don%u2019t bother cleaning it out, you are about to use it again. Olives, avocado, garlic, and all the juice of the lemon now get a go in the food processor. Pulsed together into a creamy, kinda of chunky but mostly smooth, mixture of amazing. Add a few tablespoons of cold water if the mixture seems really thick, but other then that, you be done.
Very thinly slice up red onion and slice up a few extra olives.
All here, all ready to go. Just got to toss it together now.
Greens, some slices olives and onion tossed all together in a good amount of the olive avocado goodness then topped with a hardy helping of almond crumbs. Fresh pepper to finish it off.
I was barely able to stop myself from eating it all before snapping a few pictures.
All of my cravings come true%u2026
It%u2019s salad time!
-C
Makes enough dressing and crumbs to feed 2-4 people
1/2 of a ripe avocado
1 cup pitted black olives
1 lemon
2-3 tablespoons cold water
1-2 cloves garlic
1/4 cup toasted almonds
2-4 large handfuls of fresh greens (I used a mixture of baby spinach, baby chard, and baby kale. Spring mix or even chopped leaf lettuce would be grand as well)
about 1/2 a small red onion
pepper to taste
Place almonds in food processor and pulse until they are crumbly. Not to fine, a few big chunks are good.. Remove and set aside
Roughly chop the garlic and place in the food processor (no need to clean it out after the almonds). Add in the avocado and most of the olives (leave few behind to slice up). Add in the juice of the lemon. Pulse until mixture is combined but with little specks of olive left.or completely smooth if you wanted too. Scoop out into a container. You want it to be slightly loos so it will mix well with the greens. If the mixture seems really thick, add in a a few tablespoons of cold water to thin out.
Grab the onion and remaining olives and thinly slice.
Now to assemble salad. Place a handful of clean greens into a bowl. Toss a some onions and extra sliced olives into greens. Add as little or as much olive avocado dressing as desired then sprinkle as much or as little of the almond crumbs all over that. Top with freshly find pepper
Then eat it.
It’s melon season!%u00a0The past few farm shares have included at least 2,, if not 4, watermelons and cantaloupes… Can you imagine. eating 4 watermelons a week? That’s a tall order, even for someone like me who could probably eat a whole watermelon in one sitting, it’s just doing it 4 times a week might be a problem. %u00a0It’s a whole lot of melon and not enough stomach, you know what I mean?%u00a0
So what do I do with so much melon? Well first off, whenever anyone comes over I try to get them to %u00a0eat as much of it as they can, which helps a great deal. Secondly, I cut it up and freeze some. But here is the thing, I love eating chunks of frozen cantaloupe, but frozen watermelon,%u00a0never been my favorite so I usually just pass on sticking in the freezer, until now.
There is something magical that happens when you stick the frozen watermelon and cantaloupe together into a blender and making it into a slushy. It’s like eating a ray of sunshine or maybe even a rainbow, just really satisfying and juicy, and sweet but not overly sweet, and just really freaking good. Especially with all the stupid hot and humid weather we have had lately, these slushies have really been hitting the spot. %u00a0Even the mr who says he dislikes watermelon was all into these melon slushies. (he likes things that he says he doesn’t like all the time. I am pretty sure he is taste confused) Like %u00a0he was really into them. Usually I have to prompt him to tell me how something tastes, but not the slushy, he told me right away how good it was. I was like, I know dude, I just drank 2 of them myself. And I could have drank 2 more but I was trying to not get tot far ahead of myself. Moderation is key, plus I didn’t;t have any more of the melons frozen. Time to restock the freezer.%u00a0
Go make yourself a slushy, it’s juicy deliciousness will make you happy.%u00a0
The stuff. Watermelon and cantaloupe. There should be a lime in there too but it must have rolled away….%u00a0
Chop some of each of the melon up, remove the rinds, and place on a big baking sheet and stick into the freezer until frozen. You can do as little as 2 cups %u00a0of each or as much as a whole melon, it’s up to you. (I suggest freezing extra)
Frozen melon. And now you can slushy.
Equal parts watermelon and cantaloupe go into blender, along with the juice of half (or more to taste)%u00a0a lime and you are probably going to need to add about 1/2 a cup of water, to help the blender blend it all together. %u00a0And that’s it. You blend until it’s all slushy.
Pour into cups, garnish with a lime and/or little chunks of melon and you are good as golden.%u00a0
From now on, or until summer is over and I run out of melon, I will be keeping the freezer stocked, especially because I know that the next few weeks are suppose to be stupid hot again.%u00a0
Waterloupe slushies. Summertime goodness.%u00a0
-C
about 2 cups %u00a0of a watermelon
about 2 cups of a cantaloupe%u00a0
1 lime
1/2- 1 cup water%u00a0
Note. The amounts above are for two%u00a0 2 cup slushies. You can, and should,%u00a0freeze a crap load more melon for future slushies. %u00a0Also, no one would fault you for maybe adding a little nip of some clear alcohol to this slushy situation to make it more of an adult drink……
Cut up a watermelon and a cantalopjue. Eat some and reserve at least 2 cups of each. Remove the rinds from the melons and cut into cubes. Place melon on a baking sheet and stick into the freezer until frozen.%u00a0
Once frozen,%u00a0place equal parts frozen watermelon and cantaloupe into the blender with the juice of a lime. Turn blender on. Slowly add in water until the blender can handle blending the frozen fruit. Blend until smooth. Pour into cups, garnish if you want with more melon and lime, then get to drinking.%u00a0
Cucumber melon is a classic food pairing. It also reminds me of when I was a young tween, stealing my older sisters cucumber melon face mask that you smeared all over your face, let dry, then peeled off like a layer of skin. I remember thinking that that stuff was the shit and if my sisters where using it, then I really should start using it too before I got an old lady face. Plus it was cool to peel off and made me feel grown up because I was taking care of my skin. So steal it I would until I eventually started buying it myself. Then one day I realized, I could get the same results with a bottle of Elmers glue and also I didn’t really want to spend my money on face mask when I could be buying other unmentionable things.%u00a0%u00a0And that was the end of that.%u00a0
I wonder if they still sell that shit…. I wouldn’t buy it though cause you know it is probably really is just sweet smelling glue. Plus it’s to late for me. I am already old. Ha.%u00a0
Anyway. Back to the cucumber, cantaloupe, avocado, mint salad. What can I say that the name doesn’t? That is is f-ing fantastic and refreshing and easy to through together and required ZERO heat to make. Also that on the hottest of hot and nasty days, this here combination , what with the refreshing mint and crisp clean flavors of the cucumber and melon, really can make a shitty day feel a little less shitty, maybe even %u00a0a little brighter. I don’t know about you, but this past super hot heat wave week was hard for food, like I didn’t really want to eat anything. This salad was fresh and clean enough to eat all day, everyday. It was so good, even the mr liked it and he says he hates fruit in any salad situation. (I have called bullshit in this so many times. He actually does like it, he just wants to give me a hard time.)%u00a0
Fresh crisp, all sorts of refreshing. A true blue summer salad. Get on it.%u00a0
The stuff. Some cantaloupe, a cucumber or two, an avocado, a lemon, mint, cracked pepper, and even though it’s not in the picture, sea salt.
Remove seeds and rind from cantaloupe then chop into small mouth sized pieces ans toss it into a bowl.
Cut the cucumber up into simutlar sized pieces as cantaloupe and toss into bowl.
. I ended up only using %u00a0one and a half of the cucumbers so the cucumber/ cantaloupe ratio was the same. Plus I wanted to eat the half of cucumber tight then and there.. so I did.%u00a0
Scoop the avocado meat onto the cutting board. Sprinkle it with sea salt and a little squueze of lemon juice and roughly chop. You don’t want it mashed, but a little mashy avocado is good. Perfect cubes are ok too. You do you.
Mince some mint leaves. You know where they go.
It’s all there. Cantaloupe, cucumbers, avocado, mint. Salt and pepper and all the lemon juice. Now just stir it up and you are good to go.%u00a0
A simple summer dish. No heat, not sweat, just fresh and clean goodness.
Stay cool friends.
-C
Serve 2-3%u00a0
1/4- 1/2 of a fresh cantaloupe%u00a0
1-2 thinned skinned %u00a0cucumbers (like 2 Persian or 1 English)%u00a0
1ripe avocado
1 lemon
15 -ish mint leaves
sea salt and cracked pepper%u00a0
Note. This salad is so simple and easy and really, you can adjust the quantities of any of the ingredients to your liking. You could also try subing basil or dill %u00a0for mint leaves and you could use any other type of melon for the cantaloupe.%u00a0
Remove seeds and rind from melon and cut into small mouth sized pieces and place into a big bowl. Cut cucumber(s) into small mouth sized pieces (same size as cantaloupe) and toss into bowl. Scope the meat of the avocado onto cutting board, add a sprinkle of sea salt and %u00a0a little squeeze of lemon juice and with your knife, roughlycut/ slighty mash it into a chunky pile. Scope the avocado into the bowl. %u00a0Mince the mint leaves and add those to the salad. Lastly, squeeze the juice of the lemon all into that bowl too.%u00a0Grab a spoon and mix it all together. Sprinkle with pepper, a pinch more sea salt (to taste) and thats that.
Eat. Left over s last a day or two in fridge but you should just probably just eat it all right away.%u00a0
First official week of summer plus #popsicleweek means we all have to make popsicles. It is not a option, it’s a must. The question is what kind of popsicles to make.
Well here you go, I got one for you right here. Pineapple, cucumber, spinach popsicles.%u00a0I highly, highly recommend them because they are amazing and you and everyone will love them.%u00a0No joke. I had two littles tell me that they are the best popsicles they have ever eaten. Then Koko damn near ate my hand off when I was trying to slow the baby down while he was eating his so he didn’t get brain freeze. After he finished off his popsicle, he turned around and went after his brothers popsicle. It was crazy. Screaming, green faced, baby charging after a popsicle. It was like an animal planet episode.%u00a0
%u00a0And so there you have it, all the littles we into them, the mr was into his, and me, I might eaten one or two and maybe I was licking all of them in between taking pictures. Ha. And big plus, unlike a lot of popsicles,%u00a0there is no extra shit in these, like no added sugar. And there is veggies in them.%u00a0They are basically an all around, eat for breakfast, lunch, dinner, snack, or dessert popsicle.%u00a0%u00a0How can you even go wrong with that.%u00a0
You can’t.
Now it’s popsicle time!
The stuff. Fresh pineapple, fresh spinach, a cucumber, and a lime. That’s it, nothing else.%u00a0
Pineapple and juice from lime into the blender. Blend until smooth.
Add in the cucumber, blend until smooth%u00a0
Last but not least, add in spinach, blend until smooth.
Bright green goodness. And that’s pretty much it. And really, you could just stick it all into blender at once, I just blended the ingredients one by one for the sake of the pictures.
Pour that goodness into popsicles mold and either stick th sticks in now if they don’t sink or wait about an half hour after they have been in the freezer, just don’t forget the sticks (I almost did).
Mid freeze stick sticking.
Once they are frozen and when it’s feeding time,%u00a0%u00a0you pop them out of the mold and feed the people. Watch your fingers.%u00a0
Happy summer, Happy #popsicleweek
-C
Make 8 3.5 onze popsicles%u00a0
2 1/2 cups fresh pineapple*
1 Lebanese %u00a0cucumber (or half of an English cucumber)
3 large handfuls of spinach%u00a0
Juice of a lime
*Note. You can use frozen pineapple, just thaw it out so it starts to release some of it’s juices. That way you don’t need to add water to the blender to blend everything up.%u00a0
Place all ingredients into a blender and blend until smooth. Pour puree into popsicle molds and stick into freezer. After about 1/2 hour, remove from freezer and stick the popsicle sticks into the molds. Place popsicles back into freezer until completely frozen (about 4-6 hours)%u00a0
It%u2019s not too late to get in a little end of the year baking. It is actually the perfect time to bake. All the holiday hub bub is still going on so there is usually still people all around still willing and able to eat your offerings (if you were so inclined to share), the days just feel more slow and of need of warmth and lovely smells. Plus we need something to do while while waiting for New Years, because we are just all sitting around waiting for that ball to drop, right? HAHAHA. No.
Anyway, I have been wanting to make some version of a boiled clementine cake for a while now. I love that fact the the whole clementine goes into the cake, that there is no peeling or zesting or juicing. It is just boil the clems for a little while to get the bitterness out and you are good to go. And it doesn%u2019t hurt that right now is citrus season so I have a humngo bowl of clementines, plus a shit load of other oranges and other citrus to go through so the thought of tossing a good few clementines into a cake, well it was just what needed to be done.
And the family is coming over to eat and trash my house so I needed another dessert besides the half eaten ice cream cake left in the freezer from Camereon%u2019s birthday/Christmas. So I baked that they will eat. And there we go. Win win.
Now to the clementine cake.
The stuff. Flour, baking powder and soda, salt, sugar, oil, cinnamon, vinegar, clementines, and powdered sugar.
First you need to boil the clementines. Big pot, fill with water, place clems inside, bring to a boil, then simmer for 2 hours. Seems like a long time but just do it while you are making and drinking coffee or doing laundry or whatever. You don%u2019t need to keep an eye on them, other then to check that the water hasn%u2019t evaporated, and it smells so nice.
After the 2 hours are up, remove clementines from water and let cool enough to handle. Cut in half. If there are giant seeds, remove them.
Place the clementines into blender and blend until silky smooth.
Now the other stuff. Flour, sugar, salt, baking powder and soda, and cinnamon. All into big bowl.
Whisk together until incorporated then add in the clementine puree, the oil, and the vinegar. Whisk together until it becomes a uniform batter.
Scoop batter into a very well greased bundt cake pan and bake, 50-60 minutes, until tester comes out clean.
The big revel%u2026. And it went perfect! Now time to let this sucker cool a bit on a wire rack.
While the cake is cooling, make a simple glaze. Just powdered sugar and fresh (not boiled) clementine juice. Mixed unit glaze consistency.
Once the cake is pretty much cooled, pour on the glaze.
And now it is cake time.
-C
Makes one bundt cake
2 1/4 cups all pupose flour
1 cup white sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon vinegar
1/2 cup any neutral oil
1 teaspoon cinnamon
6 clementines (you need 2 cups pureed)
For the glaze
1 cup powdered sugar
1 clementine
To start, place 6 clementines into large pot and fill with water. Place on stove and bring water to a rapid boil then reduce heat and continue to simmer clementines for about 2 hours.
Once clementines are cooked, cut in half and check and discard any large seeds. Place the clementines into a blended and blend until smooth. Should have about 2 cups puree. If you are short on volume, add water to make up the difference.
Preheat oven to 350
Grab a large bowl. Dump the flour, baking powder and soda, salt, cinnamon, and sugar and whisk together until completely incorporated. Now add in the clementine puree along with the oil and the vinegar. Mix until completely incorporated. Scoop batter into a well greased burnt pan (at least 10 cup capacity) then place into oven on middle rack and bake for 50-60 minutes until a tester (or a fork) stuck in to the deepest part of the cake comes out clean.
Once baked, remove cake from oven and allow to cool for a few minutes in pan, then flip the cake out of pan, gently of course, and hope you greased it well enough for it to just pop out. Once removed from pan, allow to cool on a wire rack.
While cake is cooling, make the glaze. Powered sugar into a bowl along with the juice of a clementine. Mix together. If the glaze is to thick, add more juice (or water), to thin, a little more powdered sugar until you reach your desired consistency (pourable but not runny is good) and once cake is cooled, pour glaze all over.
December in action and we are taking it at full speed. All the activities, the birthdays, the holiday celebrations%u2026 So much and I love it all, even if I feel like a crazy lady and want to run screaming from groups of people bigger the 2. I%u2019ll deal with the interactions now and just plan to spend the month of January hiding and recovering. I%u2019ll be ok.
The week started with the hunt for our Christmas tree. The Green Mountain National Forest, seventh year running, and this year did not disappoint. A fantastic hike into the woods near a beaver pond with lots of trees, snow on the ground, and no people. Exactly how I like to find our tree. And find it we did, the most perfect (too perfect?) tree. And it only took about an hour of almost cutting down like 20 other trees. Once we were positive, the mr cut it down, we said our thanks to the world, then hiked our tree out of the woods and slid it into the back of the car. Hopped in, cranked the Christmas music, and we were good to go. A perfect Christmas tree expedition.
Then life. Kind of a busy week in terms of birthdays. The beginning of the week Justin turned older by a year, then the next day Sophia did to so we partied with spaghetti, chocolate chocolate cake with tiny apples (she wanted it to be apple shaped but I just made little apples instead), and ballerina style dancing. Then there was a little lull in activities as far as birthdays where the mr and I did some stuff like work stuff, (more him then me), decorated, hung out with Barb, did the doings.
And then Friday. After an afternoon of loading kilns next to other kilns that were 2100 degrees and almost burning my face off, it was a rush to get home and prepare for the masses. Not technically the mr%u2019s birthday, but we had his annual grilled cheese and soup birthday celebration. Pretty much the whole fam at the house again. Lots of grilled cheeses sandwiches were made, so much soup was scooped (tomato and split pea per usual), and cake and ice cream concluded the night. And I only found half a grilled cheese sandwich under the couch when I was cleaning yesterday%u2026 Progress? I don%u2019t know, but there definitely was a few big dried soup puddles on the floor. But not on the couch! So there is that.
Back to Sunday. Not sure whats on the agenda for today but I have some stuff I need to do and I know that the mr has some stuff he needs to do. Plus together we have some stuff we need to do so we will see what gets done. Mostly though, I think I am shooting for a small hike, some coffee, and a chill afternoon of reading on the couch, facing the lit up Christmas tree. That would be swell.
Check out what I checked out from the internet this week.
–The Farmers’ Almanac Winter Forecast Is Here%u2014and Brrr!. Give me all the snow!!!!
-I can%u2019t imagine a life without reading. Not A Regular Reader? 4 Strategies To Make Reading A Habit
–Why Your Kid Loves the Garbage Truck So Much. I liked the cement trucks%u2026they don%u2019t stink an they spin.
-I am sorry, but this is some bullshit. Italian Artist’s Duct-Taped Bananas Are Selling for $120,000 Each
–How to Stop Making Excuses and Start Composting Already. And in Vermont, it%u2019t the law!
-Netflix is perverted. Ha! The Brands Are (Literally) Too Horny and Must Be Stopped
–Food delivery and takeout are on the rise. So are the mountains of trash they create.I like the idea of reusable metal tin. Could we get there?
–Here’s Why Your Favorite Headband Always Leaves You With a Headache. I used o wear headbands all the time, but had to stop because of the head pressure it caused.
–How Often, Really, Do You Follow This Recipe%u00a0Instruction?. Never but always. I like to add color to food, but only when it is edible and adds flavor.
-The sink that looks kind of like a mini tub%u2026. Swoon. For a Long Winter%u2019s Nap: A Manor House and a Schoolhouse in the German Countryside, Available for Stays
What do you think about at 5 o%u2019clock in the morning? Wait, are you awake at 5? Well I am and yes, I know that most people are not and think I am crazy for waking up so early, but it is and I do and whatever. Anyway, it%u2019s 5 o’clock and I am at the gym (yes, I wake up at 5 AND go to the gym) and me and my gym friend start talking about food (as usual) and what we were going to do with our Brussels sprouts that we got from the farm (I got her to join my CSA!). That is what I am usual thinking at 5. Food, and how to prepare it. And as the sprout conversation commerced, this is what materialized in my head. Crisp, crunchy fresh Brussels spouts, shredded up and tossed in a warm tangy cranberry sauce. My mouth was salivating and as usual, I left the gym hungry.
So I came home, drank all my coffee and then proceeded to make the sprout dish for lunch and let me tell you, this sprout slaw is amazing. Tangy and crunchy and all Brussels sprouty. It has a hardy salad feel without being heavy. It is a slaw that really get me, you know. (I actually don%u2019t know.)
Anyway, you should really get on the eating this Brussels sprouts slaw (or any Brussels sprouts dish) train now, before they go out of season and you end up buying kind of not great sprouts from the market that don%u2019t taste as good. Bad Brussels sprouts suck.
To the cranberry Brussels sprout slaw.
The stuff. Fresh Brussels sprouts, cranberries (fresh or frozen), some onion, balsamic vinegar, a little maple, dried cranberries and toasted walnuts, and salt and pepper.
Start with onion. Grab it and dice it nice and small.
Dump the onion into a skillet with a little pinch of salt and a splash of water and cook for a few minutes, just unit they are not raw anymore. Then add in the cranberries and 1/2 cup water. Cook on a low heat until the cranberries all pop and the sauce starts to thicken.
While cranberries are cooking, shred up the sprouts. Thin as you can get them.
Cranberries are now a thick and chunky sauce and oh so delicious. Add in the vinegar and maple here and give it a good stir and a taste test too. If it is too tart for your liking, add more maple. Think you might need a bit more vinegar, well splash it on it.
Now toss those shredded spouts it.
Stir it around. Season with salt and pepper and there it is.
Scoop into a bowl. Top with dried cranberries and walnuts and grab a fork.
This is good.
-C
serves 3-4 as a side or one person who wants to eat it all to themselves
1 1/2 cups fresh or frozen cranberries
1/2 a pound Brussels sprouts ( around 3 1/2- 4 cups shredded)
1 small or 1/2 a large onion
3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon maple syrup (or more to taste)
salt and pepper
1/2 -3/4 cup water
small handful dried cranberries (optional)
smal handfuls toasted walnuts (optional)
Start with dicing the onion up into small pieces. Place in a skillet with a small pinch of salt and a good splash of water and place on medium heat. Cook for a few minutes or until the water has evaporated and the onions are not raw. Add in the cranberries and 1/2 cup water. Keep on low heat and cook until the cranberries pop and start to thicken. If the cranberries are not cooked all the way and the water has evaporated out, just add another 1/2 cup.
While cranberries are cooking, shredded the Brussels sprouts, as thin as you can. A mandolin is great for this but a knife works too.
Once the cranberries have cooked down to a saucey consistency add in the vinegar and maple and stir around. Remove from heat and carefully taste the sauce. If you think it needs more maple or vinegar, add in another tablespoon until it tastes good to you. Dump in the shredded sprouts and mix. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
And then it%u2019s done. You can dump it all into a bowl and sprinkle the dried cranberries and walnuts on top, or leave it in the skillet and do the same. Me,I scooped half into a bowl for pictures sake and ate the rest right out of the skillet. I then licked the skillet clean with my finger. Then ate the bowl full. SO good.
WHAT! Is it really almost Thanksgiving? Got you dessert plan yet?%u00a0Thanksgiving%u00a0doesn’t have to be all pies, pies, pies%u2026 a cookie can be the perfect ending to any holiday meal. Don’t get me wrong, pie is awesome! %u00a0I love to make pies, but whenever I show up to Thanksgiving dinner with the family, there are always maybe one or five too many. Yeah my mom thinks we all will eat 2 pies a piece This cookie is the perfect holiday combination. It says, yeah I am classy with my white chocolate chips. Cranberries are a nice seasonal flavor, and those pistachios.. this lady really went all out. %u00a0WIth this cookie, you lose the formalities of pie. You don’t have to feel the pressure of eating piece after piece of pie. %u00a0Eating cookies is a little easier. Grab a cookie and go for a walk. Have a piece of pie and chat for a while. Need %u00a0little something.. well maybe another cookie. Watching a family movie after all the clean up and dishes are done? Why yes, a cookie is a no hassle movie snack. Bonus…Left overs are easily stored in tins or plastic baggies and there is no, Hey, where’s my freaking pie plate?
For real. People love these cookies but full disclosure: the small littles not as much. Their little mouths don’t yet appreciate the cranberries and pistachios as much as some folk. When we taste tested these cookies with the littles, the loved the cookie and they loved the white chocolate chip. A few(not all) picked out the cranberries and the $20 a pound pistachios. Needless to say, a batch of plan chocolate chip cookies always wins with the small people crowd.
If you are on dessert duty this Thanksgiving, I recommend making cookies.
So simple and so elegant. This combonation is the perfect balance of the sweet white chocolate, the tart cranberries, and the crunchy yum of the pistachio.
I don’t own a stand mixer%u2026 I know, it’s really sad, but I do have several littles who have lots of energy and are easily swayed to mix mix mix%u2026Just give them the spoon and tell them they can lick it %u00a0clean when they are done%u2026.. And so goes the sugar, butter, and vanilla..creamed together by the arms of babes. Makes the cookies taste better.
In goes the dry%u2026These ladies%u00a0knows how to stir!This guy got lucky. He got to stir in the goodies. I gave him his own bowl of chocolate for his skills. It’s important to pay the help.
So there you have it, a lovely cookie to share.
White Chocolate Chip Cran-Pistachio Cookies
Ingredients
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
3/4 cup white sugar
2 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup white chocolate chips
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup pistachios
Preheat oven to 350
In a large bowl, cream together butter, brown and white sugar. Once light and fluffy, mix in both eggs and vanilla.
In separate bowl, whisk together flour, salt, baking soda. Slowly mix dry ingredients into wet. %u00a0 Add in the cranberries, pistachios and white chocolate chips. Mix until combined. refrigerate dough for 10-15 minutes before baking..
Drop dough on non greases cookie sheet. Place sheet on middle rack and cook for 9-12 minutes or until a slight golden brown.
Note: dough can be made up to a week in advanced and refrigerated.
Should make about 3 dozen%u2026 It really depends on the size you want.
Holly, jolly, fa la la. It%u2019s all the holidays and are we all just so excited and happy? It%u2019s ok if you are not, but don%u2019t tell me not to be and listen to Christmas music and bake all the cookies. I am gonna do it and really try to just enjoy it all and be happy. Easier said then done for sure, but I am committed this year. I will not get grouchy. No, that will come after the holidays when the family leaves and I find food crushed into my couch cushions or pieces of candy in my plants. Then my friends, all bets are off.
The week has been fast and plentiful of plenty. Besides the stuff of normal life as usual, we did a quick dinner at Moms. Ryan came over too to bake cookies with my mom which was just to funny. (He was able to dirty up more measuring cups then I knew my mom even owned.) I have also been to the studio a few times over the week, trying to get last minute things done, sold a few rainbows, loaded a kiln. At home we have dutifully watched the amaryllis bloom, decorated the Christmas tree (about time, only took us 2 weeks), and baked things that needed baking (cookies and cakes. duh). And I picked up the last farm share of the year which has already got me dipping hard into the freezer stock of produce so I can stretch out the fresh stuff that I got. No farm pick up for 3 weeks%u2026 There is gonna be a lot of frozen zucchini happening around for sure.
And yay for us, we finally sent out all of our Christmas cards that needed to be sent and dropped off the ones that could be dropped off. There was a lot of chatting and catching up with old friends and neighbors and we got to see some pretty fantastical Christmas trees along the way. Best card drop off happened when we stopped over at Erins to hang with the littles and give them there card. Coco took it upon himself to use the card as a hat. That kid. Too freaking cute and practical to boot.
Then the rest of the week has been just same old with a little extra this and that. Yup, just living the life and trying to be present and just enjoy.
Sunday. Already and finally. The mr and I are going to get a few more things done that need doing before Christmas and the family descends.. I am going to do all the grocery shopping for actual Christmas Day, which could possible turn into a mental melt down (I have to go go Costco and I am scared of the potential for crowds of crazy people). The mr is still finishing up the build on the new stairs at the loft so my dad doesn%u2019t fall and die when he is over there, and I think we both have a thing or two we need to do without each other. I actually am all set, just waiting to pick up the ONE freaking package that I ordered online 3 weeks ago that was suppose to be shipped to the store a week ago and it is no where to be found. I order one thing, ONE THING, from the internet and it went badly. So frustrating, but oh well, what can you do. Other then that, I am going to the gym, maybe hit the library, defiantly a long ass walk either around here or preferably in some woods. And after dinner tonight, I think the plan is for a little Christmas lights drive. Got to see the lights!
Happiest Happy Merry Holidays to you all!!! Have all the relaxing and fun you possibly can.
Internet for your enjoyment.
-The $100 billion reason not to return gifts this holiday season. Or reasons to not buy anything at all!
-Dying food with food just makes sense. How to Make Natural Food Dyes
-Yes I still call them snow tires and probably always will. But this is some good information for the next time I buy snow, I mean, winter tires. Everything you thought you knew about winter tires but didn%u2019t.
-I want to live here. A Tiny Cabin in the Woods For Creative Homesteaders In Vermont
–How to Flake Gracefully. Or go a step further and just never make plans, but then you risk not having friends%u2026%u2026%ud83e%udd37%ud83c%udffb%u200d%u2640%ufe0f
-Handmade gifts wrapped in old newspaper. Best way to go. Here%u2019s Why Messily Wrapped Presents Are Sometimes Better Than Neat Ones
–Barack Obama Says Women Could Solve Many Of World’s Problems %u2014 Which Men Have Caused. He really is a smart guy. Oh how I miss him.
-I know my house is going to be getting trashed a lot this week so I am going to chill on the cleaning and do a crazy deep clean after all the holiday crazy. I already have a list going of things I want to do. 29 Things You Don%u2019t Have to Clean Until January 6
-I don%u2019t eat candy, but the mr does and he is all about sour candy, especially sour patch kids. I don%u2019t really get it, but whatever floats his (or your) boat. A formal taxonomy of sour candies
–The healing powders of food are real.15 Kitchen Herbs and Spices with Powerful Health Benefits.
I love December, basically because it is a month long excuse to always be baking cookies. And listen to Christmas music. And have a lovely big ass tree in the house covered in lights and dried fruit. Plus snow if we are really lucky. December. It%u2019s a good month.
And we are getting to that time when now most of us have serious cookie making on the brain. I bet if you ask 5 people what they are planning on doing in the next few days leading up to Christmas, at least 3 of them will tell you they are making cookies because really, that is what you should be doing. That is if you like to bake. If not, then by all means, skip cookie baking.
Now what cookies to bake? Well you got to have chocolate chip, and peanut butter. Plus some no bakes and sugar cookies, but also, I think, some type of gingerbread.
These cookies are the gingerbread something. I added cardamon because I think cardamom is delicious and think everyone will think so too, And lemon because lemon goes with cardamom and ginger and lemon cardamon ginger just has a nice ring to it. Then crinkle because I didn%u2019t really want to roll out dough and cut out shapes (I was being lazy), but I wanted pretty and I am really Into the crinkle look.
These cookies were a huge hit. Not crispy like a snap, but not cakey or overly soft. A nice chew and deep in flavor. The mr was basically smuggling these cookies all day before I had a chance to really hide them and he is not a typical gingerbread lover but he told me that these cookies might just be the best cookies he has ever had. So yeah, I guess this is now my new winner gingerbread cookie recipe.
And no joke, these are probably the best smelling cookies I have ever made. I wanted to bottle up the smell and wear it on me like a teenage boy wears a new bottle of axe. Seriously, I kept sniffing my sweater all day long just to get a good hit of the smell. So good!
Now to the cookies!
The stuff. In one bowl there is flour, salt, and baking soda and powder. The other bowl is brown sugar and molasses. There there is a couple flax eggs, some oil, a lemon for it%u2019s zest, and spices of ginger, cardamon, cinnamon, and black pepper. Also powdered sugar to roll and crinkle these cookies.
Wet stuff. Sugar, molasses, flax eggs, and oil. Mix until combined.
Dry stuff. Flour, baking soda and powder, salt, and the spices. Add in the lemon zest too and whisk to combine.
Wet into dry. Grab a wooden spoon and mix until a cohesive dough forms. And yes you can give up the spoon after a minute and use your hands to complete the mixing%u2026 I did.
After dough is mixed and uniform, pop the bowl into the fridge for a little while to give he dough some time to rest. Half an hour is good and you could even leave it for a day if you wanted to, just cover it if you do.
And when the dough has had it%u2019s time, scoop, roll into balls, ans roll around and completely coat in powdered sugar.
Sugars balls of dough. Now pop them into the oven.
TA DA! Baked and all crinkly.
Let the cookies cool on a wire rack because that%u2019s how all cookie cool. And smell that delicious oh so lovely smell. It really is amazing, no?
Then onto a serving plate and now you have cookies for your mouth face.
Happiest happys of all the days to come! Now go eat cookies!
-C
makes around 2 dozen cookies
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon ground ginger
3/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon pepper
zest of a lemon (about 2 teaspoons)
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup molasses
2/3 cup neutral oil (I used canola)
2 flax eggs (6 tablespoon warm water mixed with 2 tablespoon ground flax seed)
1/2 -3/4 cup powdered sugar
To start, grab a bowl and mix together the brown sugar, molasses, oil, and flax seed eggs until completely combines. In another large bowl, whisk together the flour, all the spices (ginger, cardamon, cinnamon,and pepper), baking powder and soda, and salt. Pour the wet mixture into the bowl with the dry and mix together until a cohesive dough forms. Place dough in fridge for about a 1/2 hour to up to a day to let dough rest for a bit. If you are going to keep in the fridge for a while, just cover it up.
When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 and measure out powdered sugar into a bowl
Remove dough from fridge and using a scoop or just eyeballing it, scoop about 2 tablespoons worth of dough. With each scoop, roll the dough into a ball and place into the bowl of the powdered sugar and roll around unit completely coated. Place ball on a baking sheet, giving it a little pat down, NOT squishing it down, just a little indent. And don%u2019t overcrowd balls, give them a little space.
When your baking sheet full, place Into hot oven and bake for 12-13 minutes or until the cookies have puffed and flattened out a bit, are golden brown on the bottoms, and the tops are all crinkly and lovely. Once cooked all the way, remove from oven and transfer cookies onto a wire rack to cool.
Then eat a warm one. Heck, eat 2 warm ones, then do what you will with the rest.
Store cooled cookies in an air tight container at room temp for 3-4 days. They can also be frozen for long term storage but why do you need to store your cookies? Jest eat them.
It%u2019s not too late to get in a little end of the year baking. It is actually the perfect time to bake. All the holiday hub bub is still going on so there is usually still people all around still willing and able to eat your offerings (if you were so inclined to share), the days just feel more slow and of need of warmth and lovely smells. Plus we need something to do while while waiting for New Years, because we are just all sitting around waiting for that ball to drop, right? HAHAHA. No.
Anyway, I have been wanting to make some version of a boiled clementine cake for a while now. I love that fact the the whole clementine goes into the cake, that there is no peeling or zesting or juicing. It is just boil the clems for a little while to get the bitterness out and you are good to go. And it doesn%u2019t hurt that right now is citrus season so I have a humngo bowl of clementines, plus a shit load of other oranges and other citrus to go through so the thought of tossing a good few clementines into a cake, well it was just what needed to be done.
And the family is coming over to eat and trash my house so I needed another dessert besides the half eaten ice cream cake left in the freezer from Camereon%u2019s birthday/Christmas. So I baked that they will eat. And there we go. Win win.
Now to the clementine cake.
The stuff. Flour, baking powder and soda, salt, sugar, oil, cinnamon, vinegar, clementines, and powdered sugar.
First you need to boil the clementines. Big pot, fill with water, place clems inside, bring to a boil, then simmer for 2 hours. Seems like a long time but just do it while you are making and drinking coffee or doing laundry or whatever. You don%u2019t need to keep an eye on them, other then to check that the water hasn%u2019t evaporated, and it smells so nice.
After the 2 hours are up, remove clementines from water and let cool enough to handle. Cut in half. If there are giant seeds, remove them.
Place the clementines into blender and blend until silky smooth.
Now the other stuff. Flour, sugar, salt, baking powder and soda, and cinnamon. All into big bowl.
Whisk together until incorporated then add in the clementine puree, the oil, and the vinegar. Whisk together until it becomes a uniform batter.
Scoop batter into a very well greased bundt cake pan and bake, 50-60 minutes, until tester comes out clean.
The big revel%u2026. And it went perfect! Now time to let this sucker cool a bit on a wire rack.
While the cake is cooling, make a simple glaze. Just powdered sugar and fresh (not boiled) clementine juice. Mixed unit glaze consistency.
Once the cake is pretty much cooled, pour on the glaze.
And now it is cake time.
-C
Makes one bundt cake
2 1/4 cups all pupose flour
1 cup white sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon vinegar
1/2 cup any neutral oil
1 teaspoon cinnamon
6 clementines (you need 2 cups pureed)
For the glaze
1 cup powdered sugar
1 clementine
To start, place 6 clementines into large pot and fill with water. Place on stove and bring water to a rapid boil then reduce heat and continue to simmer clementines for about 2 hours.
Once clementines are cooked, cut in half and check and discard any large seeds. Place the clementines into a blended and blend until smooth. Should have about 2 cups puree. If you are short on volume, add water to make up the difference.
Preheat oven to 350
Grab a large bowl. Dump the flour, baking powder and soda, salt, cinnamon, and sugar and whisk together until completely incorporated. Now add in the clementine puree along with the oil and the vinegar. Mix until completely incorporated. Scoop batter into a well greased burnt pan (at least 10 cup capacity) then place into oven on middle rack and bake for 50-60 minutes until a tester (or a fork) stuck in to the deepest part of the cake comes out clean.
Once baked, remove cake from oven and allow to cool for a few minutes in pan, then flip the cake out of pan, gently of course, and hope you greased it well enough for it to just pop out. Once removed from pan, allow to cool on a wire rack.
While cake is cooling, make the glaze. Powered sugar into a bowl along with the juice of a clementine. Mix together. If the glaze is to thick, add more juice (or water), to thin, a little more powdered sugar until you reach your desired consistency (pourable but not runny is good) and once cake is cooled, pour glaze all over.
So how are we all doing? Enjoying all the enjoyment and taking the time to relax and be merry and all the good stuff? I sure hope so, at least for a little while at some point in your time. And now we are in the home stretch. Just a few more days and New Years. Can you even believe it? Another year gone by and into a new, shiny and fresh one. Goodbye 2019, and heeeeello 2020. Be good to us!
So the week. What a week. There was so much going on that I can%u2019t even remember it all. Besides a little bit of this and a little bit of that, there was night time light drives, long walks, a few little craft projects, food shopping hell runs (I thought I was in the clear when I didn’t have to do much of any shopping for Christmas presents but then after spending an afternoon grocery shopping a couple days before Christmas , I realized that food shopping might actually have been worse then any other store. People were ruthless and crazy and just about foaming at the mouth!). There was baking cookies, and cake, cooking food for normal consumption, cleaning and just get ready for all the holiday stuff.
Christmas Day/Camerons Birthday came. The mr and I spent a little time just the two of us in the morning, trying to take it easy (the mr was kind of sick) until the house filled up. And filled with family it did, and it was great. Food, music, a little gift exchange and then birthday cake for the birthday boy (16 like what!?) We hung out, played with new toys, Megan helped me do some dishes, and then everyone got sick of each other and were exhausted and left. (I love when they come, but I also love when they leave.%u00a0%u2665%ufe0f) Then the mr and I power cleaned for a while (the house wasn%u2019t too bad this time) before sitting dow to do our own Christmas stockings. I got him a new hatchet, some crocs (so he will stop wearing mine), made him a shrinky dink trout needle minder and stuffed some candy and kiwis in there for good measure. Me, well the mr embroidered me a napkin with so much love, carved me the most beautiful salad serving spoons, added in some crazy fruits, purple carrots, and a couple bulbs of black garlic. The napkin and spoons are amazing and my favorite, but the black garlic%u2026holy crap, that shit is AMAZING! I have limited myself to eating only a couple cloves a day, when what I really want to do is just eat it all at once. So good!
And then Anthonys birthday was the next day. Spend half of it making his cake with homemade caramel and decorating it all fancy like. Then there was his party (he is 18, wtf?!). Jeff Dad had just got into town then too so I talked to him a while, and then home we went for a little crash. Friday I spend the day doing some work and baking for Saturday and second family Christmas. It was a blink of a day because all of a sudden it was Saturday and I still had to go grocery shopping for more food and get more food ready, again. Da ja vu for real.
And so they came, again. Shannnon and I had it down and made a million mini pizzas. People were then fed and then we played, exchanged a few presents with dad, had more cake and cookies, and then they all left.. This time we were not so lucky and I was stuck with cake and sticky stuff all over the floors and light switches. The bathrooms were a disaster and the recycling/compost/ even the garbage can were over flowing. Again, not as bad as past family get togethers, but the mr and I definitely spent the rest of the night cleaning. And I still am not quite done yet. {the floors need a second moping and the rug needs another good vacuum%u2026 and some other stuff, but you don%u2019t care so why am I telling you?)
Anyway, so I am ready for a freaking break. Today I am going spend a few hours at the gym saying goodbye to the old building {last day at the current location because they built a new one) then I am going to go have coffee and bring cake to my mom, come home to make one more birthday cake for the week, and then crash. I don%u2019t want to do anything by curl up on the couch with tea, my book, which I barely have had time to even open this week, and chill the f out. One more brtihday party this week and then I am done. Hopefully this crazy storm we are suppose to get tonight will be all snow and we will end up with feet upon feet and be stuck in out own separate homes for days%u2026 One can only hope. Haha!
Links from my time on the internet.
–People Can’t Even Agree On When The Decade Ends. I never even thought about the logic. I guess it isn%u2019t really the end of a decade, is it? What are your thought?
-Speaking of decades . The Top 10 Food Trends of the Entire Decade
-This would be the perfect cabin for me to hide in.
–Are You Cleaning Your Couches Enough? I AM!
-I made the mr a needle minder with shrinky dink paper.. Don%u2019t tell me it%u2019s not magic! The Science of Shrinky Dinks
-We have a Christmas baby in out family. Not sure how he really feels about it. I know I would hate it, but that is because I like to hide on my birthday. Can%u2019t hide on Christmas. The Christmas Baby%u2019s Dilemma
–The most environmentally-friendly ways to get rid of your Christmas tree I think we are going to feed ours to some goats.
–An Expert’s Advice on Coping With Post-Holiday Depression and the Dreaded January Slump.
-It%u2019s that time of year where people often to forget to drink%u2026WATER Effects of Dehydration to Your Body
–Cabbage Is Your Next Great Vegetable Crush. Cabbage is half my diet (I for real eat a head of day). It really is the best. Cooked, raw, leaves peeled back and then dipped in mustard. The possibilities are endless and so delicious.
Pictures from the week.
Holly, jolly, fa la la. It%u2019s all the holidays and are we all just so excited and happy? It%u2019s ok if you are not, but don%u2019t tell me not to be and listen to Christmas music and bake all the cookies. I am gonna do it and really try to just enjoy it all and be happy. Easier said then done for sure, but I am committed this year. I will not get grouchy. No, that will come after the holidays when the family leaves and I find food crushed into my couch cushions or pieces of candy in my plants. Then my friends, all bets are off.
The week has been fast and plentiful of plenty. Besides the stuff of normal life as usual, we did a quick dinner at Moms. Ryan came over too to bake cookies with my mom which was just to funny. (He was able to dirty up more measuring cups then I knew my mom even owned.) I have also been to the studio a few times over the week, trying to get last minute things done, sold a few rainbows, loaded a kiln. At home we have dutifully watched the amaryllis bloom, decorated the Christmas tree (about time, only took us 2 weeks), and baked things that needed baking (cookies and cakes. duh). And I picked up the last farm share of the year which has already got me dipping hard into the freezer stock of produce so I can stretch out the fresh stuff that I got. No farm pick up for 3 weeks%u2026 There is gonna be a lot of frozen zucchini happening around for sure.
And yay for us, we finally sent out all of our Christmas cards that needed to be sent and dropped off the ones that could be dropped off. There was a lot of chatting and catching up with old friends and neighbors and we got to see some pretty fantastical Christmas trees along the way. Best card drop off happened when we stopped over at Erins to hang with the littles and give them there card. Coco took it upon himself to use the card as a hat. That kid. Too freaking cute and practical to boot.
Then the rest of the week has been just same old with a little extra this and that. Yup, just living the life and trying to be present and just enjoy.
Sunday. Already and finally. The mr and I are going to get a few more things done that need doing before Christmas and the family descends.. I am going to do all the grocery shopping for actual Christmas Day, which could possible turn into a mental melt down (I have to go go Costco and I am scared of the potential for crowds of crazy people). The mr is still finishing up the build on the new stairs at the loft so my dad doesn%u2019t fall and die when he is over there, and I think we both have a thing or two we need to do without each other. I actually am all set, just waiting to pick up the ONE freaking package that I ordered online 3 weeks ago that was suppose to be shipped to the store a week ago and it is no where to be found. I order one thing, ONE THING, from the internet and it went badly. So frustrating, but oh well, what can you do. Other then that, I am going to the gym, maybe hit the library, defiantly a long ass walk either around here or preferably in some woods. And after dinner tonight, I think the plan is for a little Christmas lights drive. Got to see the lights!
Happiest Happy Merry Holidays to you all!!! Have all the relaxing and fun you possibly can.
Internet for your enjoyment.
-The $100 billion reason not to return gifts this holiday season. Or reasons to not buy anything at all!
-Dying food with food just makes sense. How to Make Natural Food Dyes
-Yes I still call them snow tires and probably always will. But this is some good information for the next time I buy snow, I mean, winter tires. Everything you thought you knew about winter tires but didn%u2019t.
-I want to live here. A Tiny Cabin in the Woods For Creative Homesteaders In Vermont
–How to Flake Gracefully. Or go a step further and just never make plans, but then you risk not having friends%u2026%u2026%ud83e%udd37%ud83c%udffb%u200d%u2640%ufe0f
-Handmade gifts wrapped in old newspaper. Best way to go. Here%u2019s Why Messily Wrapped Presents Are Sometimes Better Than Neat Ones
–Barack Obama Says Women Could Solve Many Of World’s Problems %u2014 Which Men Have Caused. He really is a smart guy. Oh how I miss him.
-I know my house is going to be getting trashed a lot this week so I am going to chill on the cleaning and do a crazy deep clean after all the holiday crazy. I already have a list going of things I want to do. 29 Things You Don%u2019t Have to Clean Until January 6
-I don%u2019t eat candy, but the mr does and he is all about sour candy, especially sour patch kids. I don%u2019t really get it, but whatever floats his (or your) boat. A formal taxonomy of sour candies
–The healing powders of food are real.15 Kitchen Herbs and Spices with Powerful Health Benefits.
Pictures from the week.
I love December, basically because it is a month long excuse to always be baking cookies. And listen to Christmas music. And have a lovely big ass tree in the house covered in lights and dried fruit. Plus snow if we are really lucky. December. It%u2019s a good month.
And we are getting to that time when now most of us have serious cookie making on the brain. I bet if you ask 5 people what they are planning on doing in the next few days leading up to Christmas, at least 3 of them will tell you they are making cookies because really, that is what you should be doing. That is if you like to bake. If not, then by all means, skip cookie baking.
Now what cookies to bake? Well you got to have chocolate chip, and peanut butter. Plus some no bakes and sugar cookies, but also, I think, some type of gingerbread.
These cookies are the gingerbread something. I added cardamon because I think cardamom is delicious and think everyone will think so too, And lemon because lemon goes with cardamom and ginger and lemon cardamon ginger just has a nice ring to it. Then crinkle because I didn%u2019t really want to roll out dough and cut out shapes (I was being lazy), but I wanted pretty and I am really Into the crinkle look.
These cookies were a huge hit. Not crispy like a snap, but not cakey or overly soft. A nice chew and deep in flavor. The mr was basically smuggling these cookies all day before I had a chance to really hide them and he is not a typical gingerbread lover but he told me that these cookies might just be the best cookies he has ever had. So yeah, I guess this is now my new winner gingerbread cookie recipe.
And no joke, these are probably the best smelling cookies I have ever made. I wanted to bottle up the smell and wear it on me like a teenage boy wears a new bottle of axe. Seriously, I kept sniffing my sweater all day long just to get a good hit of the smell. So good!
Now to the cookies!
The stuff. In one bowl there is flour, salt, and baking soda and powder. The other bowl is brown sugar and molasses. There there is a couple flax eggs, some oil, a lemon for it%u2019s zest, and spices of ginger, cardamon, cinnamon, and black pepper. Also powdered sugar to roll and crinkle these cookies.
Wet stuff. Sugar, molasses, flax eggs, and oil. Mix until combined.
Dry stuff. Flour, baking soda and powder, salt, and the spices. Add in the lemon zest too and whisk to combine.
Wet into dry. Grab a wooden spoon and mix until a cohesive dough forms. And yes you can give up the spoon after a minute and use your hands to complete the mixing%u2026 I did.
After dough is mixed and uniform, pop the bowl into the fridge for a little while to give he dough some time to rest. Half an hour is good and you could even leave it for a day if you wanted to, just cover it if you do.
And when the dough has had it%u2019s time, scoop, roll into balls, ans roll around and completely coat in powdered sugar.
Sugars balls of dough. Now pop them into the oven.
TA DA! Baked and all crinkly.
Let the cookies cool on a wire rack because that%u2019s how all cookie cool. And smell that delicious oh so lovely smell. It really is amazing, no?
Then onto a serving plate and now you have cookies for your mouth face.
Happiest happys of all the days to come! Now go eat cookies!
-C
makes around 2 dozen cookies
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon ground ginger
3/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon pepper
zest of a lemon (about 2 teaspoons)
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup molasses
2/3 cup neutral oil (I used canola)
2 flax eggs (6 tablespoon warm water mixed with 2 tablespoon ground flax seed)
1/2 -3/4 cup powdered sugar
To start, grab a bowl and mix together the brown sugar, molasses, oil, and flax seed eggs until completely combines. In another large bowl, whisk together the flour, all the spices (ginger, cardamon, cinnamon,and pepper), baking powder and soda, and salt. Pour the wet mixture into the bowl with the dry and mix together until a cohesive dough forms. Place dough in fridge for about a 1/2 hour to up to a day to let dough rest for a bit. If you are going to keep in the fridge for a while, just cover it up.
When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 and measure out powdered sugar into a bowl
Remove dough from fridge and using a scoop or just eyeballing it, scoop about 2 tablespoons worth of dough. With each scoop, roll the dough into a ball and place into the bowl of the powdered sugar and roll around unit completely coated. Place ball on a baking sheet, giving it a little pat down, NOT squishing it down, just a little indent. And don%u2019t overcrowd balls, give them a little space.
When your baking sheet full, place Into hot oven and bake for 12-13 minutes or until the cookies have puffed and flattened out a bit, are golden brown on the bottoms, and the tops are all crinkly and lovely. Once cooked all the way, remove from oven and transfer cookies onto a wire rack to cool.
Then eat a warm one. Heck, eat 2 warm ones, then do what you will with the rest.
Store cooled cookies in an air tight container at room temp for 3-4 days. They can also be frozen for long term storage but why do you need to store your cookies? Jest eat them.
I was walking around Costco this week and they have set up all the Christmas trees and decorations. It struck me hard, like what? Did I miss something. What about like fall and Halloween and Thanksgiving. Leave it to Costco to make you feel like you are behind on your holiday preparations. Lucky Home Depot had it right and had only Halloween decorations out. Those little skeletons made me feel a little better, and even excited. Fall be coming for real soon!!!
The last week started with our usual camping Sunday. Stopped at a few pieces of property for sale (fell in love with one except it is really close to high voltage power lines and yeah, I don%u2019t know if I can live that close to that). Found a plastic Santa on the side of a dirt road in the middle of now where and was so pumped. I have been on the look out for an old vintage Santa for the house (this one was a knock off, but still cool) so we grabbed him and stuffed him in-between the tent and sleeping bags.
We got to our campsite, set up the new tent(yeah!) sat out Santa, then tooled to the woods. Did some hiking, some exploring, and just really savored all that the world is in. A good lentil and potato dinner, a fire made by the best fire starter in the world, then assed out as soon as it got dark. Camping is the best. Woke while it was still pitch dark out, made the coffee, packed up, and watched the greatest sunrise before heading to the river for the mr to go and do some fishing. Unfortunately Santa did not make it through the camping trip. When we were packing up I accidentally shattered his head while trying to stuff him back into the car. I was so pissed, but what can you do? He was a fragile old man. But the hunt continues. I will get my plastic Santa. I will.
Then back to life in town, which this week consisted mostly of me miserable because I bit a whole in my tongue (yes I did, and it was gross) and the mr on high ladders and me on the porch, painting away. We need to get this house done before it gets too cold.
Barb and the littles came over for dinner and sour patch kids, I gave the mr a hair cut, and went to Mileys first ever field hockey game (She is so dang good). Barb came over again for dinner because she really likes it when I feed her good food, and basically besides running around doing chores and errands, it was painting. Oh, and I did work at the studio, cleaning and such, and I did get a little time to start the tearing the garden apart process, but yeah, that%u2019s about it. That and I bought my first sugar pie pumpkin of the season%u2026 Gonna eat the shit out of that! So excited!
For today, it%u2019s off to the great outdoors. I think the mr was saying something about good fishing soon or whatever, so we are camping out near some rivers that he like to fish. Me, I am just excited to get my hike, and knit, and read on. We only have a few more weeks before all the campgrounds are closed and it gets to cold to camp so I am going to savor every bit of it.
Internet from the internet from the week.
-I didn%u2019t even know, or even thought to think about it. Watch How Steel Ribbons Are Shaped into Cookie Cutters
-This new blood test can figure out what time it is inside your cells Whoa. I wonder what my cell time is?
-Don%u2019t care about the hot tub, but the rest. SO COOL! Next time I am in Wales I guess. Luxury Dome Getaway with Private Hot Tub near Round Swamp in New South Wales
–Cross Back Apron. On my list of things to make within the next week (or month)
-I still use plastic containers because I have them and don%u2019t want to just toss them away, but maybe I really should.(But I probably won%u2019t, at least fora while) There%u2019s So Much to Worry About I Forgot to Worry About Plastic Poisoning
–When Your Child Believes Meat Is Murder It happens, be prepared. I remember when I became a vegetarian when I was 11, the shit I got from my family (And still sometime do, 21 year later) and I didn%u2019t know what to eat. I ended up eating lot of garbage food until I figured my shit out later in my mid teens. Not good.
-I don%u2019t really eat any food that comes in a package, but I would totally be the one to eat the package if I did. Eat Your Food, and the Package Too
-The Truth About How Much Happiness Money Can Buy. All relative though. I make far far less then 85k and I am pretty happy, I think?
–Modular A-frame homes.. Just not in America, yet.
I hate the fidget spinners, they make me anxious. Fidget spinners, weighted blankets, and the rise of anxiety consumerism
Pictures and Barb eating from the week.
There is something about purple cabbage that makes me feel like I need to share it. It sounds weird , especially because I eat about a head of cabbage a day, but that is green cabbage. I barely buy purple cabbage because it cost twice as much and I really like green , but at farm share when you get to pick what color you want, I alway pick the purple. ( Side note. I used to call it red cabbage but have since stopped because it is very clearly purple and calling red just doesn’t make any sense)%u00a0
I also feel the need to do something a little more the chopping it up and eating it raw. So I make a little fancy. pretty, almond crunchy mustard type thing because that’s what I was feeling and I figure the mr would like it too. Note that I ended up using half a green and half %u00a0the purple because color is nice and also I ended up eating the other half of the purple before I could share it. But I caught myself before eating it all to may face and was proud of myself for thinking of others.%u00a0%u00a0
This dish is good, really really good.%u00a0. It has roasted cabbage which is alway great, but slathered with maple mustard and crunchy almonds.. it’s just freaking fantastic in all the ways. It also happens to be super easy to prepare and with minimal ingredients.%u00a0It makes for a great side dish, a main dish, and is great for sharing during the holidays that are just around the corner. Or if you are like me, not sharing and eating all afternoon long. (I did save some for the m for dinner because I am so nice)%u00a0
The stuff. Cabbage, red or green or a bit of both, stone ground mustard, maple syrup, almonds and pepper.
Easy peasy. Cut the cabbages about an 3/4 inch thick and lay them on a baking sheet. Pop it into the oven once it’s preheated.
While thats going on, mix some maple with the mustard and chop up the almonds.
After about 25 minutes, pull the cabbage out and flip them. Cover the top with maple mustard and sprinkle on the almonds. Stick the cabbage back into the oven and bake another 10-15 minutes, or until it’s roasted to your taste preference (I like it really roasted)%u00a0
Just look how pretty it is.%u00a0
Serves from a baking sheet but would look so lovely on a nice plater, you know, if you want to be extra classy.%u00a0
This cabbage situation is all of it.%u00a0
Have a great weekend and hope the Thanksgiving planning goes smoothly.%u00a0
-C
Makes about 6-8 slabs
1 head of cabbage (red or green or half of both)
1/4 cup stone ground mustard
2 tablespoon maple syrup%u00a0
1/3 cup raw almonds%u00a0
pepper to taste.%u00a0
Preheat oven to 425
Slice cabbage into thick slabs about 3/4 inch thick. Try to get them roughly the same thickness so they roast evenly. %u00a0Lay the cabbage on a baking sheet, not overlapping, and stick into the oven once it’s preheated. Bake for 25 minutes or until the bottoms of the cabbage are crispy.
While cabbage is roasting, mix mustard and maple %u00a0together and roughly chop the almonds. %u00a0
After %u00a0the 25 minutes, grab the cabbage from the oven and flip each piece. Cover the tops with the maple mustard and sprinkle on chopped almonds. Place back into the oven for another 10-15 minutes %u00a0and roast until the cabbage is as crispy as you like it.
Remove from oven, sprinkle with good pepper,%u00a0and serve. Extra maple muastd is welcomed to some. Any left over (but there won’t be any) is great eaten cold before bed %u00a0or tossed onto a salad for lunch the next day.%u00a0
Happy New Year! Hope you are all waking up to sunshine in your strut, happiness in you mouth, and kindness in your soul.
So much has happened in the past few weeks. Holidays full of family, friends, birthdays (Happy to Cam, Anthony, and Judah) and all around craziness. My phone got run over by a car(still works!!!),we finally changed the summer tires to snows (thanks Justin!) and Only has now officially moved in behind the couch and is enjoying the life of an indoor cat. We are getting so close with house, so so close.%u00a0 I know a few weeks ago I told you we about the counter top and how excited I was to un-mold it. Well what I don’t think I told you was that we un-molded it and it was fantastic. Then, trying to remove the sink mold from the middle with a hammer, I cracked it! AAAGGGHHHH. That was suck a bitch if a day. But we took it it stride and just made another one. And that one, that one is even better and amazing and is all nice and perfectly perfect. Once we did that we threw up a tile wall, hood vent, light fixtures and all sorts of little things that I can’t remember.%u00a0 Last night we slid the stove into place and fired it up for the first time! It was really stinky and great and I made the mr a pizza for all of his excellent work bringing me fire. It was so freaking satisfying to use an oven and feel slightly normal again. Now all we need to do is finish the cabinets, find a faucet that doesn’t suck, hook up the sink, and a bunch of other stuff and we will be all set. But the oven works so the coming weeks are going to be full of so much oven food so watch out! (i can’t wait to start posting more recipes!!!!)
On top of all the life stuff, I have been sicko all week, and so has the mr. Actually, he has been sick for two weeks and then lovingly gave me his ick. And it sucks. I am tired and snotty and sore and cranks. I have been eating large quantities of raw garlic, swiging apple cider vinegar, and drinking turmeric tea all day. (so I don’t smell the greatest) I bought elderberries to make some syrup a little while back but left them at the loft and we let my dad stay there this week so I didn’t want to go ransack the place looking for them. He is gone now so I’ll go find them and make us a wellness potion. We will be tops soon!
So 2017. You got any resolutions or plans? Me, no resolutions, just to keep on living with intention, kindness and love and to continue to pursue my goals. We have plans for some travels (cross country awesomeness part 2), plans for some life stuff, so we got things. But basically I am just looking forward to making this year good,%u00a0 and to be better with where I place my camera. (I can never seem to find it when I want to take pictures)%u00a0
Sunday. With today, I am going to relax and recoup. Drink my fluids (tea and coffee)%u00a0 take my naps, and wash the sheets (everyone should start a new year with clean sheets!)
Internet links to click if you like.
-Happiness vs meaning…How about some of both.%u00a0 In 2017, Pursue Meaning Instead of Happiness.
–15 of Carrie Fisher%u2019s Best, Most Honest Feminist Quotes.
-I already charge my cellphone on the machines at the gym, but it it floated , well that would be swell.%u00a0Floating Gym In Paris Uses Human Energy To Sail Down The Seine River
–A Short Catalog of Foods Discontinued in 2016
-Life is bigger then all of us. As A Rough Year Ends, We Turn To The Cosmos For Some Perspective
–Cross stitching awesomeness
– Maybe 2017 will be the year that I wear pretty things. I really like this dress.
–The Best Things We Read and Ate This Year
-I really want to go back to Iceland.(maybe we will this summer?!) 15+ Iceland Photos You Won%u2019t Believe Are From This Planet
-There is sugar in everything. How Much Sugar Can You Avoid Today?
Hey there friends! You doing alright? You good? Just checking in because I care.
My week was good, even if it did blow on by super fast. That%u2019s the way it always goes for me. The closer to the end of the year, the faster time seems to fly. You too? Anyway. I am talking it all in, trying to stay sane and not get pulled into the crazy that can happened this time of year. Mostly just talking all the long walks I need and staying out of the way but still enjoying the ones around me. There is a balance you know. And I am not afraid to run away when I need to.
So besides the norm of life, Tuesday was the mr%u2019s actual birthday so we celebrated. Just the two of us. After breakfast and heart shaped balloons, we went for an awesome drive to an awesome hike in the national forest. Yes it was a little rainy and the ground was so icy and I fell and jammed by arm, but it was still so so so nice. The waterfalls we saw we raging and there was not another human soul around. It was superb. Then we got lunch (he got lunch, I packed my own) and we ate our food near a much smaller waterfall. After that, coffee and then home where we watched a movie and finished making Christmas cards. Lasagna for dinner (for him, I ate chili) and a little heart shaped ice cream cake I made him (I am the best), gave him his pencil painting, and then we just hung out, I fell asleep, and that was that. Delightful, calm, and just really nice to spend the day together.
Rest of the week went on. Me, I was trying to get a few projects done. Worked at the studio, watched all the lovely snow completely melt. The mr has been working away at this and that and is keeping itself more then.
Yesterday was the 2nd annual sugar cookie house decorating extravaganza. And what a blast we had. A bunch of littles, a bunch of cookies and a bunch of candy. Amazingly enough, everyone ate all there lunches and refrained from eating all the candy. The restraint and force I saw in these littles eyes%u2026Gave me hope for the future. HA. But seriously, they were so into it and everyones turned out so great. Even the mr got into it and made a house topped with marshmallows and cauliflower. And after the houses were built, everyone left and I turned up the Christmas jams, grabbed the vacuum and all the cleaning rags, and set to work. Turns out tootsie rolls smashed into the floor is not easily removed.
Today is a day of catch up and errands. The mr is trying to finish up a project he needs to send off to the world, I need to get on finishing off some more rainbows. And maybe we should do some grocery shopping. And maybe I%u2019ll take a trip to the library. Stuff to do yes, but hopefully still a semi relaxing day. Maybe it will even get cold enough and start to snow. I need a walk in the snow.
Interesting internet from the week.
-I am kind of shocked the the number is so low. Come on people, cooking is awesome and makes you awesome. The Grocery Industry Confronts a New Problem: Only 10% of Americans Love Cooking
–Winter camping is a great way to see more nature and fewer people. I am going to start working the mr to get him to agree to go soon.
– Is it crazy that I miss landlines? OR more so, I think I miss that says of no cell phones. And now with cell phones, you can%u2019t eavesdrop on other people conversations , or like legally and easily anymore. How the Loss of the Landline Is Changing Family Life
–These 3 supertrees can protect us from climate collapse. But can we protect them? Trees are everything so of course trees are part of the answer to helping the planet. Hopefully humans don%u2019t fuck them up too.
-Did you get into the %u201cfinding joy%u201d of all your shit? How did that go? Did Marie Kondo fans keep their houses tidy all year?
–Shopping Sucks Now. I have always though shopping sucks, but I agree, it sucks even more. There is just to much!
–Drink Up, Calm Down. Fancy expensive drinks for wellness%u2026. I don%u2019t know, I totally believe that food is medicine but some of the shit out there%u2026. I guess just beware and don%u2019t fall for fancy pants weird language saying miracle and shit.
-imoprtant. How To Reduce Food Waste
–Do I Really Have to Clean My Sheets Every Week? And 9 Other Things We Were Told Are Mandatory. Yes YES YES to the sheets!
-Lovely. %u2018The Bird & the Whale%u2019 Tells a Short and Sweet Tale Using Paint-on-Glass Animation
And pictures from the week.
December my friends. No way around it. But I am excited because I love Christmas time with all the fun christmasy things that we can do in next few weeks (there is an A Frame gingerbread village planned !). Also it%u2019s birthday season so I have already made one cake and stuck it in the freezer and only have like 10 more to make. And then there is snow, and lights, and trees%u2026 How can you not like December? Plus cookies. Need to start making cookies because what is December with cookies?
The week was good. After spending all of Sunday cleaning and putting up the Christmas lights, things went as usual with the ways of world. Tuesday Barb and I had lunch and went for a hike, just us girls, to take in nature and talk life things. She hugged trees while I deposited my knowledge that comes with my old age. HA. Later that day, Emma (the mr%u2019s sister), came over to catch up on life and teach the mr how to embroider. She was a great teacher and , I must say, the mr did a really good job being a learner. Although I was not surprised because he picks up everything so fast.
Then Thanksgiving eve. The mr gone for the day, me hanging hanging at home taking phone calls and going through the stack of papers that has been mocking me for the past few weeks. On his way home he picked up Miley so she could sleep over. We made a spaghetti dinner, she watched Nailed It Holidays and I walked her through making cinnamon star bread. The little lady kneaded, rolled, and shaped the whole thing pretty much all by herself. It was for sure a proud aunt moment for me. And then we watched Juno (I hadn%u2019t seen that movies in forever. I forgot how good it was) and I passed out. Bed for me and the mr. Miley, well I am not sure what time she actually went to bed. We let her stay up and watch whatever.
Thanksgiving day I woke up, cooked the star (Miley finished it by making and drizzling the glaze) and we just hung out until Erin and the other two littles showed up. We fed them, played them, and off they went to the Grandparents. The rest of the day was just me and the mr. We went for a nice, if not blustery cold, hike, then just putzed around the house. I read, he hung a new light fixture, then we made dinner. Being thanksgiving and all he felt the need to grill some turkey breasts and if you really want know how that went you can ask him. Me, I ate a humongous bowl of veggies and lentils and hand fulls of spinach. After an after dinner walk we crawled into bed and tried to watch a movie, but I passed (again) out and that was that.
Then the rest of the weekend has been pretty slow. Basically just hanging around the house doing little chores and some little projects. Mellow. And it has been pretty nice.
I am really excited for today. We are going to the Green Mountain Nation Forest to find us our Christmas tree!!!! My most favorite part of Christmas . And so we will head out late morning with our lunches packed, our snow pants tossed into the truck, the saw nice and sharpe, and head out into the mountains.And better yet, tt is suppose to snow later today and I am so very much hopping that we get a nice, (safe) amount of snow on our hike and tree cutting adventure. That would just be the best. YAY!
Internet links from the week, if you want to know what I know now.
-I didn’t know this about thanksgiving. And now I do. Why We Celebrate Thanksgiving On The 4th Thursday Of November
-Uh Duh, I could have told you this. Want to live longer? Surround yourself with plants
–A Brief History of Word Art, the Decor Everyone Loves to Hate. And I really REALLY hate it.
-I have been known to sit in front of the oven and watch the bread bake. Super satisfying. Here’s 36 Blissful Seconds of Bread Rising in the%u00a0Oven
–Photos of How Families Eat In The Arctic. And that is why I don%u2019t live there, it%u2019s a lot of meat.
-This makes me happy to look at. A Multicolored Library of the World%u2019s Ochre Pigments%u00a0
–Here’s To Grown-Up Siblings And The Ties That Bind. Siblings. Even when I want to punch them in the face, I still love them.
-I guess I just don%u2019t understand. Meet the $50 Strawberries That NYC%u2019s High-End Chefs Are Fawning Over
–Homemade Christmas baking is a joy %u2013 even if it is not to your taste. Agreed. Something about baking this tie of year, it is just so, well, joyful.
-On my reading list. Good Husbandry: A Memoir by Kristin Kimball. I read her first Memoir, The Dirty life, and it was A+
And pictures from the week…
Not just sweater weather, which it had been all week and I am LOVING IT, but it%u2019s lamp light weather too. I forgot that I had all these fantastic lights around my house and yesterday when it was dark out at 6 (it was raining so the sky was cloudy) I got to turn on a couple lamps that haven%u2019t had any action in months. It was soooo nice and cozy. This my friends, this is the best time of year!
Camping last week was great and not so great. The campground was pretty, but our fellows campers were very rawdy and loud and there was a party at the picnic pavilion that had a shitty classic rock cover band playing. The noisy people and shitty music echoed through the park for longer then anyone should have had to deal with it. But I guess that happens, especially on a long holiday weekend. And really, besides the buttheads, we had fun. We went for a nice hike through the woods and into giant fields of wildflowers and goldenrod then spent some great time in the kayaks on a nearby lake (away from all the people). Plus after eating dinner and then packing it in for the night, we didn%u2019t get soaking wet, which we could tell by the many car doors slamming and people screaming at 1am , a good few people did. Our tent stayed nice and dry inside and we even managed to stay dry when we got out of the tent and and realized it was sitting in a giant puddle. We even managed to stayed pretty dry packing up and getting on our way home, in the rain! It%u2019s because we are good at coming I guess.
Then the rest of the week came and went in a fast blur. Mostly some same. Had lunch with Barb, cleaned apartments for new tenants,, made cards for artwork, picked up farm share, and you know, other life stuff. I have been busy in the kitchen harvesting garden food and canning or freezing it as well. Trying to stock up on as much food as I can for the winter. Then the littles slept over Friday. We watched Dumb and Dumber and I fell asleep on the couch. Woke up made waffles (I was so excited to use my waffle iron. It%u2019s been too long) and sent them on their way home to be moody tweens because that is now happening.
Oh, and I can%u2019t forget about how some little shithead smashed in the back of our car. Yup, that happened too. But that is pretty much it. I think%u2026.
Now for today. Mt Auscunty State park if all goes to plan. Should be a fun one with lots of hiking and a big high tower and stuff. I know it is gonna get mighty cold tonight so I am packing my winter long underwear and a jacket, hat, and mittens. So excited!
Links to explore on the internet.
–Doctors are now prescribing houseplants to help treat anxiety and depression. Makes a whole heck of a lot of sense to me. And why not try this simple remedy before trying a bunch of drugs?
-I wasn’t;t surprised much when I read this. Junky processed food is so bad, especially if it is all you eat. .19-Year-Old Goes Blind Due to Diet of Pringles, Bread, Fries, and Processed Meats
–Lush Botanical Forms Translated Into Abstract Embroideries%u00a0. So very pretty.
-Another good reason to ditch that pessimistic attitude and to look at he bright side of things. It doesn%u2019t hurt to try. Optimists For The Win: Finding The Bright Side Might Help You Live Longer
–Why do clowns creep us out?%u00a0Because they are creepy, that is why.
-I want, no, I need this cabin. Totally Off-the-Grid Cabin in the New Hampshire Woods
–This Apple Might Be the Most Anticipated Piece of Produce in History. I heard about this apple few years ago. I wonder if it%u2019s gonna live up tp all the hype. We shall see.
-Why don%u2019t we have one of these? The Otter: The 1950s Amphibious Caravan That Time Forgot!
–Can Bullet Journaling Save You? I am a list maker in all the ways. I a ma doodler to no end. I love pretty things and I love hand writing and have a ton of sketch books but besides the occasional list of note in a sketch book, I have never really gotten into Buju. It%u2019s to time sensitive I think, for me anyway.
–Squeeze in a Quick Nap at Work with This Under-Desk Hammock. A new way to sleep on the job. HA.
Pictures from the week.
Summer at it%u2019s fullest and greatest. And not so great, at it%u2019s hottest. At least this past week was freaking amazing, especially compared to last weekend. That humid heat damn near killed me!
The week started off with a soggy hike and a heat soaked day of camping and fun times. Groton State forest, at the Stillwater campground. The mr and I were both a little drained and tired from being so so hot but we managed alright, went and did some hiking, the mr did a little fishing, I sat around and read. The normal, just a little slower then usually. But it all changed that night. We woke up and walked down to the water to watch the sunrise and take in the fresh, glorious, air. It was not hot and humid and we was alive again. HA
Then after camp, home we went, back to the week. Stuff happened, like stuff that needed to happen, like those taxes that I have not wanted to talk about%u2026 They are pretty much done. HOORAY!!! All the ups and downs. The few tears, the rage, the anxiety. Over. And now I can stop worring about them for a least a few more months, until next year that is. Because every year. Blah. Stupid taxes.
Besides taxes, there was a dentist appointment that I sat around and waited for but never got to be seen. (SO PISSED) Paul came over for resume help and food. The mr, Barb, Coco, and I spent an afternoon at the park. I weeded for hours in the garden. And lets talk about the garden. Whoa it is going and going. Right now it%u2019s all about the squash, chard, and greens and the tomatoes will be booming soon!!!!!!!!!! That on top of farm share, well I am just one happy, full to the brim, lady.
The rest of the week was and went.
Friday I worked the studio all day then the mr and the littles picked me up. We ran to the store to get supplies, then went home for our first backyard campout. The rule was, besides me, no one was allowed inside at all until just before bed time to use the bathroom and brush our teeth. (Or to go number two. They needed to use the toilet for that. Ha). And so I got dinner stuff ready (In the house but I needed to use the fridge and because I could), we ate dinner at the picnic table, set up the tents, made a fire, did so-mores, played with fire, and the kids ran around hopped up on sugar. We went to the park, walked around the neighborhood, and when it got dark, lit up some sparklers. It was the best! The kids were so happy, the mr and I were happy to be camping again, even if it was just the backyard, and really, it just was so great. Even when we were in our tent trying to fall asleep and all I could hear was Miley and Judah whispering and giggling and playing cards in their tent. Because that is what you do when you camp and it had me falling asleep smiling.
When we woke up (I woke up 3 hours earlier then everyone, made a pot of coffee and read on the porch) the breakfast stuff was ready outside. Eggs and toast on the camp stove. Hot chocolate, and freshly picked raspberries from the bushes in the yard. Then back to the park, and home they went. Probably some of the best camping yet. And now that we know they are awesome in a tent, we are taking them to a state park in the next few weeks. That%u2019s gonna be fun.
Today we are heading south to camp. Lake St. Katherine or maybe Half Moon. Not sure yet. The plan is to get close and see which one feels right. We were going to bring the kayaks but It might rain and thunderstorm during the afternoon and tonight so I figured we can just go hiking instead. I would rather be in the woods and not in the middle of the lake during a lightning storm. That would kind of suck. But watch, it probably won%u2019t rain, and even if it does, I am ok with that. We won%u2019t melt.
Endeavors into the world wide web.
–IKEA Upcycles Furniture Into Homes For Birds, Bees, and Bats. Some sweet ass, fun-tastic looking homes for those birds, bees, and bats.
-I am not a beach person, partially because of this. Sun, Sand And Sewage: Report Shows Many U.S. Beaches Unsafe For Swimming. Happens here in Burlington too.
–What are algae blooms and why are they bad?. Another reason I avoid the beach.
–Questions We All Ask Ourselves: Why Does the Beanbag Chair Even Exist? Because who doesn%u2019t love to sink into big ol%u2019 bean bag?
-I can%u2019t wait until the fennel starts flowing at the farm. It is the BEST! Fennel: The Best Ways to Pick It, Cook It, and Eat It
–Why Science Can Be So Indecisive About Nutrition. There is always something about something. Heck, even kale was bad for you at one point.
–This common plastic packaging is a recycling nightmare. When is the plastic craziness going to stop? And when are people going learn that just because it says it is recyclable, doesn%u2019t mean that it is actually going to be recycled. We should just stop worring about recycling and focus more on reducing freaking plastic all together.
-Not sure what I think about this. Petition to change date of Halloween gets more than 80,000 signatures
-Soemthing about these photgraphs that I really like. Murky waters: Karine Laval%u2019s dreamy photography takes you from the deep end to a surreal space
–A Needle Pulling Thread. Sashiko is the perfect simple, low-cost hobby to get you off your phone. Or just have another hobby. I have been meaning to Sashiko all the big holes in my couch cushions.. Maybe it will be my winter project?
Pictures from the week.
It is June. Already. That was fast.
The week started off great. We spent Sunday in Belvedere with family. The weather was perfect. There were barely any life sucking mosquitoes. Not to sunny, no rain. We just hung out, ate food, walked to the water falls, and basked in the glories of the world. Not to mention Judah invented a watch cookie, Shannon read my telepathically read my mind and picked me up the heart shaped baking tins that I was thinking about at a garage sale, and Sophia. She ate all my broccoli. All the littles played without fighting. All the adults talked without fighting. It was really nice.
And then we came home and by Monday afternoon, the shit starting to hit the fan. First off, it was the week before the June first rental turnovers. Always a hectic week. Always a lot of running around. It has been especially crazy for the mr this year because he was dealing with not only our tenant turn over, but a bunch of other apartments for other landlords. Painting, getting rid of garbage, fixing broken things. That in itself was not the issue. The issue was Monday afternoon, after the mr had been working all day, pulled into one of our driveways with the car to grab some paint, got back into the car, and the key wouldn’t turn. And the wheel wouldn’t turn. The car was stuck. Our newish (3 1/2 year old) car. The mr spent more then an hour trying to turn the key. I sent more then an hour on the internet trying to figure out what the heck was wrong. In the end, the car was just left for the night, the mr hitched a ride, and we ended up getting the car towed to the garage. (Note that this is the second tow in within a week.) After getting off the phone with the mechanic the next day, we were told it was going to be a few days before they can even look at it because they were so busy. We were feeling pretty screwed. Luckily for us, my mom is awesome and lent us her truck which if she didn’t , well we would be stuck with the rental car that I rented one afternoon, drove home, had a massive anxiety attack about crashing (we are having bad car juju right now), turned around and returned. I just had a bad feeling about it. So yeah, I rented a car, for about an hour. They laughed at me. I laughed at me too. Then cried a little. HAHA.
By Thursday the shop was able to look at the car. After the mechanic took a look at the car, he told us the master cylinder was stripped and needed to be replace. Or better yet needs to be. Almost a week later. The car is still there. They had to order the part and it won%u2019t be in until Tuesday. Yup. Just a week ago we were sitting pretty with a car and a sweet ass van and now, no cars. Oh, and the lawn mowers stopped working mid mowing. We think its the gas line or something.
Anyway. The week, hectic but not all bad. I found a bike on craigslist that I am going to fix up and call my new bike for a while (I am done bike shopping for the time being). Barb came over for a lunch and a walk one day. I made rainbows and popsicles another afternoon. Working at the studio was calm. That was nice. And the weather. I can%u2019t complain about that at the least bit.
Then yesterday. June first. Tenant moving day. It was cray cray. New tenants moving in and out usually isn%u2019t a big deal because most of the time our tenants are great and leave without issue. But yesterday the mr stopped over to check on all the apartments and found one in pretty awful condition. Long story short, we spent the day scrubbing filth and paint and hair (so fucking gross) off every surface then repainting the apartment while the new tenants were moving in. We did manage to have a little lunch picnic in th park with Miley and I took her on her first ever bike ride across town. That was good, but then it was back to the crazy apartment. Then we came home, ate dinner, cleaned our house, then passed the f out.
Today is going to be good. Why? I don%u2019t know yet, but we need it to be. I am not looking for anything spectacular, maybe just to find a few new good books at the library. Maybe go the day without getting 100 mosquito bites. Or maybe even just be able to take a nap. Just a mellow day. Wish us luck.
Stuff I looked at and read about on the internet this week.
–There Is Too Much Stuff. I couldn’t agree more and I hate it. Too much stuff makes me so anxious. And maybe a little angry. The piles of shit just keep getting bigger. AAGGHHH!!!!
-As a person who makes a lot of mugs with handles, this is very important. I have kept myself up all night on many occasions just thinking about mug handles. Shape, feel, visual ascetics. So much goes into a well made mug handle. But it is worth it and when you have a good one, you know.. Let%u2019s Talk About Mug Handles
–Why You Should Use a Wooden Spoon to Taste Your Food. What about a wooden fork, would that work too?
-Bad making bad worse. How pesticides can actually increase mosquito numbers
-Simple and clean%u2026 My kinda place. A HOLIDAY HOME IN PORTUGAL.
–Would you leave your life behind for a house you saw on Instagram? These people did. I love the instagram account CHEAP OLD HOUSE. And yes, I have definitely imagined buying half of them because some of them really are amazing. Maybe one of these day. Drafty windows and crumbling foundations don%u2019t scare me.
–Your Walls Need This Whimsical Magnetic Wallpaper. I don%u2019t need it, but oh boy would it be cool.
-If Ikea is doing it, then it%u2019s for real. Everyone is going vegan. HAHAHAHA. Ikea%u2019s Meatballs Will Officially Go Vegan This Fall
-As avid outdoors people, we really make evey effort to leave the outdoors exactly (if not better) as we found it. How to leave the great outdoors exactly how you found it. How pissed would you be if someone cam into your place and trashed it and moved things and picked at you?
-I eat beets eveyr single day and my pee has never turned pink but I know everyone I feed beets to pees pink. Hum? Why Do Beets Make Your Pee Turn Pink?
And pictures from the week
Hey hey hey! Happy Sunday. Hope you are finding yourself happy and relaxed and enjoying all the good things the world is giving us. Like coffee and green things. All the coffee, all the green things for sure.
Another week that came and left and now it%u2019s May. MAY! Can you even? The time, where does it all go? (an existential question for you) Our week (and time) started off with a chilly wet jaunt to a river. We were going to go out to the kingdom to watch the salmon jump out of the river but it was just to dang cold and rainy so we decided to hold off on it. But we did make our way to a river near by so the mr could officially toss in a fly line into some water. I guess fishing season started a week or two back but we have had so much rain that it has not been great for fishing, or being outside much for that matter. Anyway, he got a few casts in so he is happy.
Wet and raw weather wise was the way of the weather this week. We did have a few breaks of sun which lead to an impromptu afternoon hike just because the sun came out. It was fantastic, or started off that way. Up and down and around the woods to the very flooded lake. Half the way through the hike we ended up at a boardwalk that had a little water coverage, which was fine because someone placed nice big rocks to pass over. Or so I thought. A few steps in and the bridge gave away and into the lake I went. Just my feet and up my legs a bit, but yeah. I just stood there in shock for what seemed like minutes but eventually made my way to the other side of the bridge, drenched boots and all. The rest of the hike was soggy, but hey, I was outside and there was sun and I wasn%u2019t freezing cold so yeah. Could have been worse. It could have been the mr who went in and I really really would not want to have had to deal with him hiking back with drenched feet. Now if my hiking boats would dry out. That would be great.
Other then our little outdoor adventures, the week went the way the weeks does with work and all. The mr running around frantic, having doors, making room for giant ass wood slabs in the barn, wheeling and dealing.
Friday was all day studio work. Lots and lots of pugging clay. While I was at work the mr picked up littles (Miley, So, and Judah) and they all came to the studio to pick me up. It is always a great way to get people to listen and leave the studio when they are suppose to when a bunch of kids rush in and start demanding food. People, at least the clay people, are scared of hungry little kids. Ha. Off we all went, me covered head to tow in clay. Found out in the car that Judah was sick (so sad) so he went home and it turned into a girls night sleep over. Pizza, soup, and peanut butter sandwiches for dinner. We went walking/piggyback riding, the mr and Miley played with the new wood brander which included fire and hot metal. The mr took them to the store to pick out ice cream while I tried to clean myself up, they came back ,ate lots of ice cream, then showered and brushed hair without arguments. They picked out movies without fighting (movies about ballerinas and singing animals) and happily curled up together on the floor. Me being me with no attention span or energy left skipped the movies and went to bed. When I went to wake them up the next morning, I found out that they had woke up (or never went to sleep) in the middle of the night to draw and do yoga? Yeah, I don%u2019t exactly know what went on. What I do know is my yoga mat was upstairs and I remember waking up in the middle of the night to sounds of the wall being kicked a bunch, and there were drawings of crazy things and colored pencils everywhere that were not there when I left them the night before. Hey, if that is what they want to do in the middle of the night, more power to them.
After pancakes and cartoons, the ladies and the mr spent the morning going through a million awesome shells. I guess someone had massive shell collection and gave it over to the mr. Neither of us are really shell people, I mean a few cool ones, but this collection was INSANE. SO we gave them all to the littles. And gave the littles a boxes to bring home to their siblings. They can have all the shells, we are good here.
We dropped girls off, ran around doing errands, then came home and I putz in the yard before going about cleaning the house. Lots of dirt and mud and sticky shit on everything. I just don%u2019t know where it comes from. Well I do actually. And it%u2019s mostly not me so yeah.
Today the mr and I actually are heading out to the kingdom. We need to see some fish jump. A few hours back and forth will give me time for some open window car rid air and reading if it doesn%u2019t make me puke. Picnic lunch by the river and afternoon road coffee. Hopefully we get home in time for me to spend at least a good few hours in the garden to ooh and awe at the stuff that is starting to pop out of the ground and maybe figure out if it%u2019s a perennial I planted or just a weed. Good thing I like weeds too or else I would be terribly disappointed a lot of the time.
Have a few extra minutes? Take a look at some interesting internet from the week.
–The Obamas Are Making a Kids%u2019 Food Show on Netflix. Oh HELL YEAH! And I am not a kid but I am gonna watch it.
-What a great business/environmentally awesome/ logical/ just plain right idea. Toronto Restaurant Fights Waste By Chopping Menu Prices Till Food Is Gone
-Some serious boldness. Bold Line Drawings Layered on Top of Deconstructed Images of Fruit, Flowers, and Animals in Tattoos by Mattia Mambo.
–Rise of the Lady Backpack. Purse. Please. Back packs are the best, but to be honest, I mostly stick to nothing, just my wallet and keys in a pocket. Back pack for biking and hiking and a tote bag for the groceries, the library, or the occasional kitting project. Simple.
-I struggle hard with my OCD cleaning. I sometime wish I had the ability to let things be mess, but then again%u2026. The Unbridled Joy of (Occasionally) Letting Your Room Get Really, Really Messy
–What Comes After a Rut? Take the good with the bad and all the craziness that is the ebb and flow of life.
– Why the Kentucky Derby is a 145-year-old celebration of hats. Now imagine if people went around wearing those hats all the time. The world would be a better place.
-Maine, you so smart. Maine just banned Styrofoam food containers
–How to be assertive without being called a bitch. Why are women always considered bitches? Well I am anyway%u2026.
-I love this and only wish I was ablate %u201cGramp%u201d when my grandparents were alive. ‘Gramping’ Is the Latest Travel Trend Grandparents Need to Know About
And some pictures from the week.
Oh man, what time is it? That is going to be the theme of the day. A day to adjust new real time with what body time (like food and sleep schedule ) wants it to be. It confuses me and I end up either really hungry or falling asleep at 5pm. Lose an hour, but gain some light at night. I guess I need to enjoy it (even if I am enjoying it from my bed, ha) because it means we are heading for spring!!!!!
This week had been a week, a week of crazy dreams, lots of warm soup, the last bits of super cold weather (I am hoping) and this and thats and what nots. We took a little hike, got the car inspected and washed, and spent time trying to better ourselves of any illness by hanging low and getting good amounts of sleep. I worked a bit at the studio, started the taxes (I am behind, I know) which I don%u2019t really want to so I procrastinate whenever I can and make pierogi. The mr is preparing and starting a few projects that involve porch ripping apart and the such. Lots of outdoor work. Spring is a coming and things are going to get hectic around here fast. A good thing? Not sure yet. We are both going a little crazy right now so having some projects to do is going to be good. And we are running away%u2026 Hahaha.
Yesterday we grabbed Barb, Judah, and Coco and headed out onto the lake. Super gorgeous day. Warm and bright and all the right things that we have needed. We walked out to the lighthouse, Coco slipped and fell once. Barb slammed her ass really hard and took me down with her too. The mr and Judah managed to not fall. They are more graceful then us.. And after the ice capades we brought them all home and I came home to make lists of all the spring cleaning projects that I plan on tackling this week. Gonna wash all the windows and maybe do some touch up painting%u2026. But I might be getting ahead of myself. We shall see.
Today, besides being slightly confused by the light and when I get hungry, I am hoping to get some seeds started, pull some handles for a bunch of tumblers that I think should have handles (I think.. maybe. Still thinking about it), drink lots and lots of coffee and tea while reading, and do a bunch of laundry. I want to wash all of my winter outwear except maybe a single hat and a pair of mittens (I have many hats and mittens and scarfs and hoodie sweaters%u2026 there is a lot) and then pack it all away! I might even stick the winter boots back I the closet. Is that tempting the snow gods. Are we going get another big snow storm? Maybe, but I don%u2019t care. I am sick of it, I don%u2019t want to look (or smell%u2026 its is starting to smell funky) at any of it anymore. There is going to be 40, maybe even 50 degree weather all next week so you know what that means%u2026Good bye boots, hello CHACOS! I am pulling my sandals out and leaving them by the door. My feet are so EXCITED!
Books, coffee,,seeds and sandals. What else are Sundays for?
Here again are some internet links to read if you want.
–The People Who Eat the Same Meal Every Day. I am one of these people. Pretty much same meals everyday, give or take a few this or thats. And I can honestly say that I look forward to my meals every single day because I basically eat a little bit of every vegetable the I have (the veggies change with seasons) , lots of greens (greens also vary) and lentils and or beans. SO GOOD!
-Love. An Old Victorian House Is Incredibly Bright, Cheery, and Colorful
–Why do we hate decaf so much? Well because it sucks, thats why.
-Martha knows where the money is at. Martha Stewart partnering with marijuana grower Canopy Growth to develop hemp-derived products
-The need for a wood stove is very real.
-The human brain is pretty freaking spectacular. Human memory: How we make, remember, and forget memories
-Tomatoes and peppers are getting started today! STARTING SEEDS INDOORS%u00a0WHEN TO START SEEDS INDOORS
–Exercise Is Mood Sorcery. Yes, yes it is.
–Baby Cheese Challenge Sets the Internet Ablaze. All of a sudden I am hearing about this all over the news and radio. What the%u2026%u2026If you throw cheese at your baby, don%u2019t stick it on the internet. Duh.
-I wonder if people stopped looking up why they can%u2019t sleep on the internet, they might actually be able to sleep. Hum..We%u2019re too damn exhausted to do anything about lack of sleep
I don%u2019t think I can ever eat potatoes any other way ever again.
It started with me, doing my weekly pantry cleaning, you know, when I wipe down ever surface, count all the beans and lentils in the jars to make sure I am not running low, and inspect every squash for soft spots. I was just going about my thing when I looked over at my waffle iron. Poor, sad, underused. And it hit me. When was the last time I waffled anything? I remember how excited I was when I found it a few years back at a thrift store. Such a cutie little iron. When I brought it home, I used it a bunch of times for maybe a week or two. And then it was put away and I think I have busted it out like 3 times in the past 2 years. So not cool.
I also noticed I had a shit load of potatoes left from thanksgiving.
And there I had it, a reason to use the waffle iron and a way to use up the potatoes. And now, now I am a potato on the waffle iron addict, which is weird because I am not a overly potatoy person in general. But now with this new waffled hash brown thing, well I might just be eating potatoes all day, every day. (At least until I get sick of them or I run out of potatoes.) They come out soft and fluffy inside, super crispy in ever little nook and cranny, outside. Evenly, perfectly cooked. It%u2019s hard to explain, but they are just, ugh, so good, especially dipped in mustard for a fantastic hash brown snack. (Yes mustard, no not ketchup. Let me do me, you do you.) Or smothered in refried black beans topped with salsa and avocado (that was the dinner version). These hash browns. Just make some and you will see.
And no matter what happens with my hash brown phase, I will be damned if I ever let the waffle iron go so long without use. It deserves better then that.
To the best hash browns EVER!
The stuff. Potatoes, salt and pepper, and a little oil.
Shred potatoes. Simple, easy.
Place the shredded potatoes into a clean dish towel (avoid paper towels because paper towels are the devil) and squeeze as much of the liquid out as you can.
Dump the squeezed out shredded taters back into the bowl and sprinkle with salt and pepper and mix it around.
Oil your hot iron and pile on the potatoes. Then close it and press it down. It%u2019s a bit dependent on your iron how long they will need to cook fully, mine took about 9 minutes on high. But maybe just stand close by and check yours after 7ish minutes but expect maybe 10 or so.
Deep golden brown and crispy all over.
I mean, really look. Every surface browned and crispy. It is freaking perfection!
And then like any good waffled food, you plate it, and eat it. Me, with horseradish mustard and a big stupid smile.
Thank you waffle iron. You done good.
-C
makes 2-3 servings
2-3 small to medium sized starchy potatoes (Russet or Yukon Gold)
couple teaspoons olive oil
teaspoon each of salt and pepper
Preheat your waffle iron to high
Shred potatoes on a box grater. Once shredded, gather in a clean kitchen towel and squeeze as much of the liquid as you can from the potatoes. Place potatoes back into bowl and add in about a teaspoon of each salt and pepper and mix around.
Open iron and brush with oil. Place shredded potatoes on the iron, kind of pack together, and close. If it locks, lock it shut, if it doesn%u2019t push it down. And let cook, for about 10 minutes, checking after 7ish (you iron might have more power the mine does). Once the potatoes are a deep golden crispy brown, remove from iron.
Then eat. Any way you want. Plain, with mustard or ketchup. Next to some scramble something or another. Piled high with some black beans and salsa. Whatever. Just eat them and be happy for the waffle iron.
WHAT! Is it really almost Thanksgiving? Got you dessert plan yet?%u00a0Thanksgiving%u00a0doesn’t have to be all pies, pies, pies%u2026 a cookie can be the perfect ending to any holiday meal. Don’t get me wrong, pie is awesome! %u00a0I love to make pies, but whenever I show up to Thanksgiving dinner with the family, there are always maybe one or five too many. Yeah my mom thinks we all will eat 2 pies a piece This cookie is the perfect holiday combination. It says, yeah I am classy with my white chocolate chips. Cranberries are a nice seasonal flavor, and those pistachios.. this lady really went all out. %u00a0WIth this cookie, you lose the formalities of pie. You don’t have to feel the pressure of eating piece after piece of pie. %u00a0Eating cookies is a little easier. Grab a cookie and go for a walk. Have a piece of pie and chat for a while. Need %u00a0little something.. well maybe another cookie. Watching a family movie after all the clean up and dishes are done? Why yes, a cookie is a no hassle movie snack. Bonus…Left overs are easily stored in tins or plastic baggies and there is no, Hey, where’s my freaking pie plate?
So simple and so elegant. This combonation is the perfect balance of the sweet white chocolate, the tart cranberries, and the crunchy yum of the pistachio.
I don’t own a stand mixer%u2026 I know, it’s really sad, but I do have several littles who have lots of energy and are easily swayed to mix mix mix%u2026Just give them the spoon and tell them they can lick it %u00a0clean when they are done%u2026.. And so goes the sugar, butter, and vanilla..creamed together by the arms of babes. Makes the cookies taste better.
In goes the dry%u2026These ladies%u00a0knows how to stir!
This guy got lucky. He got to stir in the goodies. I gave him his own bowl of chocolate for his skills. It’s important to pay the help.
So there you have it, a lovely cookie to share.
THE LOVELY CRAZY
December 29, 2019 by maximios • Blog
What do you think about at 5 o%u2019clock in the morning? Wait, are you awake at 5? Well I am and yes, I know that most people are not and think I am crazy for waking up so early, but it is and I do and whatever. Anyway, it%u2019s 5 o’clock and I am at the gym (yes, I wake up at 5 AND go to the gym) and me and my gym friend start talking about food (as usual) and what we were going to do with our Brussels sprouts that we got from the farm (I got her to join my CSA!). That is what I am usual thinking at 5. Food, and how to prepare it. And as the sprout conversation commerced, this is what materialized in my head. Crisp, crunchy fresh Brussels spouts, shredded up and tossed in a warm tangy cranberry sauce. My mouth was salivating and as usual, I left the gym hungry.
So I came home, drank all my coffee and then proceeded to make the sprout dish for lunch and let me tell you, this sprout slaw is amazing. Tangy and crunchy and all Brussels sprouty. It has a hardy salad feel without being heavy. It is a slaw that really get me, you know. (I actually don%u2019t know.)
Anyway, you should really get on the eating this Brussels sprouts slaw (or any Brussels sprouts dish) train now, before they go out of season and you end up buying kind of not great sprouts from the market that don%u2019t taste as good. Bad Brussels sprouts suck.
To the cranberry Brussels sprout slaw.
The stuff. Fresh Brussels sprouts, cranberries (fresh or frozen), some onion, balsamic vinegar, a little maple, dried cranberries and toasted walnuts, and salt and pepper.
Start with onion. Grab it and dice it nice and small.
Dump the onion into a skillet with a little pinch of salt and a splash of water and cook for a few minutes, just unit they are not raw anymore. Then add in the cranberries and 1/2 cup water. Cook on a low heat until the cranberries all pop and the sauce starts to thicken.
While cranberries are cooking, shred up the sprouts. Thin as you can get them.
Cranberries are now a thick and chunky sauce and oh so delicious. Add in the vinegar and maple here and give it a good stir and a taste test too. If it is too tart for your liking, add more maple. Think you might need a bit more vinegar, well splash it on it.
Now toss those shredded spouts it.
Stir it around. Season with salt and pepper and there it is.
Scoop into a bowl. Top with dried cranberries and walnuts and grab a fork.
This is good.
-C
serves 3-4 as a side or one person who wants to eat it all to themselves
1 1/2 cups fresh or frozen cranberries
1/2 a pound Brussels sprouts ( around 3 1/2- 4 cups shredded)
1 small or 1/2 a large onion
3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon maple syrup (or more to taste)
salt and pepper
1/2 -3/4 cup water
small handful dried cranberries (optional)
smal handfuls toasted walnuts (optional)
Start with dicing the onion up into small pieces. Place in a skillet with a small pinch of salt and a good splash of water and place on medium heat. Cook for a few minutes or until the water has evaporated and the onions are not raw. Add in the cranberries and 1/2 cup water. Keep on low heat and cook until the cranberries pop and start to thicken. If the cranberries are not cooked all the way and the water has evaporated out, just add another 1/2 cup.
While cranberries are cooking, shredded the Brussels sprouts, as thin as you can. A mandolin is great for this but a knife works too.
Once the cranberries have cooked down to a saucey consistency add in the vinegar and maple and stir around. Remove from heat and carefully taste the sauce. If you think it needs more maple or vinegar, add in another tablespoon until it tastes good to you. Dump in the shredded sprouts and mix. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
And then it%u2019s done. You can dump it all into a bowl and sprinkle the dried cranberries and walnuts on top, or leave it in the skillet and do the same. Me,I scooped half into a bowl for pictures sake and ate the rest right out of the skillet. I then licked the skillet clean with my finger. Then ate the bowl full. SO good.
There are a million things you can, and should, do with tomatoes. Salsa is one of those things. Especially with the super fresh and ripe summertime tomatoes that may or may not be overflowing every empty surface of your kitchen (my current predicament). And peaches. Now is the time friends to eat your peaches. In season and oh so tasty. Do it now before it%u2019s too late and those oh so deliciously ripe and sweet peaches are gone and all that is left are mealy, gross, supermarket fakes. Only eat in season peaches. That is a life lesson everyone should know.
This salsa is perfect. Super fresh, sweet and slightly spicy, with a hint of tangy goodness and just, you, really freaking perfect. A salsa that hits all the right notes with out being overly anything and underly nothing if you know what I mean. All the tastes of summertime. A darn good salsa. Darn good.
This salsa also makes me a winner at the game I am playing with myself called %u201cGet the mr to eat tomatoes and like it”%u201c. The game started when he told me he was sick of tomatoes and he didn’t want to eat anymore. I made the salsa (which also made me a winner in the other game I play called %u201cGet the mr to eat fruit in his savory dishes%u201d, because he also tells me how much he hates fruit in savory), he tried the salsa, raved about the salsa, and then went and ate the rest of the salsa with his rice and beans. .
I win again! Haha
Anyway, super fast, super fresh, super super. A great way to use up a any of your shit load of tomatoes you might have laying around and to get in a few more of those summertime peaches before they are gone again for the year.
Now to the salsa.
The stuff. Cherry tomatoes, peaches, an onion, a jalape%u00f1o, a lime, a bunch of cilantro, salt and pepper, and a little vinegar.
Start by cutting up the tomatoes into quarters. Do this carefully or else you will have tomatoes rolling around everywhere. Place chopped tomatoes into a bowl.
Then dice up those peaches into small little pieces and toss into bowl with tomatoes.
Onion gets diced up too and placed into bowl.
Jalapeno, seeds removed, diced up nice and small. Get it into the bowl.
And cilantro. Give it a rough chop and into the bowl it goes.
A sprinkle of salt, lots of pepper (to taste of course), the juice of the lime, and a splash of vinegar. Mix it all up and there you have it.
Into a jar (or you can just keep it in the bowl if you want), and it%u2019s ready for eating. Chips, tacos, to top a salad%u2026 This salsa does it all. Heck, just eat it with a spoon. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that.
-C
Makes about 32 oz of the good stuff
1 overflowing pint cherry tomatoes (red, yellow, sun gold or a mix of any)
2 ripe but firm peaches
1 bunch cilantro
1-2 jalape%u00f1os (depending on how hot you want it)
1 small red or white onion
a lime
salt and pepper
splash red or white wine vinegar
Grab the tomatoes and carefully, so they don%u2019t roll away, cut each one into quarters. Place in a big bowl. Cut peaches in half, remove pit, and dice the flesh into very small little piece and toss into bowl. Now onion, dice that into small little pieces, along with the jalape%u00f1o and toss into bowl. Cilantro gets a rough chop then into the bowl it goes. Now sprinkle in a little salt and lots of black pepper. Add the juice of the lime and a splash of the vinegar and toss it all around. Let sit for a few minutes, taste, then season with more salt and pepper if needed. Can add more vinegar for more acid if needed too.
This salsa only gets better with a little age so you can definitely make it a day or two ahead of time.
Store in a bowl to serve or a jar for longer storage. Use within a 4-5 days of making it.
Summertime is in full swing. Hot ass days, garden fresh veggies, zucchinis as big as whales, and did I mention that hot ass heat? If you have been around here before, you know how well I handle the heat. (NOT WELL AT ALL!)
I think we are all hot these days. But really, lets just focus on the good things, like fresh summa veggies!
This sandwich is all about summertime and not having to turn on a single flame or heat source and takes all of 5 minutes to make. Zucchini because it is everywhere, beans for more substance and they are delicious, all mixed up in a creamy bean and tahini sauce. Super fast, fresh and oh so delicious. I made a big batch for sandwiches but also I was just eating it with a fork. It%u2019s a tasty one that will be on the summer rotation for sure for the next few months, or until the zucchini runs out and I dare to turn the oven on again. (Ok, I am being a whine ass. It%u2019s not THAT bad and I did turn the oven on, early morning, to bake bread. So yeah.) But for real. This is a great, super fast, throw together, fresh, light but filling, sandwich situation for any and all of your summertime eating needs. What more do we need? The mr said all he needed with the sandwich were chips. Chips and a nice cold drink.
Done sir. Done.
Now to the sandwich!
The stuff. White beans, a zucchini, and a fresh spring onion. Also some tahini, a lemon, a few cloves of garlic, a little vinegar and water, and salt and pepper. And to serve as a sandwich you need bread. lettuce, and tomato. Well you only need the bread, but you get what I am saying.
Fist off. Half the white beans go into blender or jar with the tahini, the juice of the lemon, garlic, vinegar and a splash of water. Blended unit nice and creamy smooth. And yes, it is basically hummus but whatever.
Julienne the zucchini and chop up the onion.
Note. You don%u2019t have a mandolin or done%u2019t want to julienne with a knife, well just chop the zucchini into small little chunks.
Bean, onion, and zucchini in a bowl. Add in the bean tahini mixture and mix. And ta da, all done. All of 5 minutes and no heat. Good for us.
Now here is the thing. This salad is ready to eat now. You can continue onto the sandwich path or just eat it like it is with a fork. What I really liked to do is scoop spoonfuls into lettuce cups with a slice of tomato and a squirt or mustard. So yes sandwich, but also whatever else you want it to be.
But as a sandwich%u2026. Bread. And lettuce and tomato and heck, whatever else you want to throw on there. (Again, mustard is A+)
Now stop. Sandwich time.
Stay cool!
-C
makes 3-4 sandwiches
1 medium sized zucchini
2 1/2 cups cooked and strained white beans (a can will do)
1 spring onion (or a small white or red onion)
3 tablespoons tahini
2-3 cloves minced garlic
1 lemon
1 tablespoon white or red wine vinegar
2-3 tablespoons warm water
salt and pepper
And to serve as a sandwich
bread or wrap of your choice
tomato slices
lettuce
anything else you want
Place half of the beans, tahini, garlic, juice of the lemon, and the vinegar into a jar and use a immersion blender or a regular blender and blend until creamy smooth. Add in a tablespoon at a time of water until the consistency is just slightly thinner then hummus.
Grab zucchini and using a mandolin or a knife and julienne it. (You can also just cut into small little cubes.) Dice the onion up into small pieces and toss with zucchini, onion, and the other half of beans into a big bowl. Dump the bean tahini mixture all over and veggies bean mixture and toss around. Add salt and pepper to taste.
To make it a sandwich%u2026 Place a scoop onto a bread situation, add some lettuce and tomato and whatever else you want, and eat it.
It%u2019s a smoothie. And no, we have never really been smoothie people in this house, but what can I say, sometimes smoothies happen, especially when you have about 20 ripe bananas in the fruit bowl with no room in the freezer and no need for 7 loafs of banana bread.
So I smoothied. And I like it (a lot).
This is a smoothie of simplicity. Nothing fancy. Simplest of simple. Straight to the point. And all sorts of good.
You might think, does this simple smoothie you speak of taste very good? Yes, yes indeed it does. It is all sorts of fantastic. Basically if you like creamy, nutty, oaty, bananery things, you will like this. And it%u2019s a perfect breakfast, snack, dessert, or just wanting a little treat like thing that is not garbage food. A smoothie of all smoothies with the most basic ingredients. And takes about 15 seconds to whip up. Can%u2019t complain about that.
To the smoothie goodness!
The stuff. A ripe banana, some old fashion rolled oats, a pinch of salt, water, and a smidge of maple syrup if you want it.
Everything goes into blender.
And blended until smooth. Hence the word smoothie.
Pour it into a cup (or if you are feeling primal, drink it straight from the blender%u2026 it%u2019s totally cool)
And done.
A banana oat smoothie.
Let the good time roll!
-C
makes 1 smoothie
1 very ripe banana
1/3 cup raw old fashion oats
1 1/2 cups water
pinch of salt
a tablespoon or two of any sweetener you like (optional)
a pinch of cinnamon (optional)
Place everything into a blender and blend until smooth. Pour into a cup, sprinkle with cinnamon if you wish, and drink right away.
Do you ever wake up first thing in the morning with a craving, a maybe somewhat strange food craving? Lately I have been waking up and within an hour of being up, I start to think about olives. My mouth starts to water and it%u2019s like I can almost taste the salty, briny, fattiness in my mouth, which in itself is kind of weird, but for me is really really weird because up until very recently I completely hated olives. Now, well now I just want to eat them all. And first thing in the morning.
I don%u2019t pretend to understand such things. My brain is going to do what it%u2019s going do. Tell me I like olives, well all right then.
Another thing I am desperately craving is freshy fresh greens which makes complete since because I always crave greens. I am still pretty deep in root veggies and cooked things because winter and Vermont and all, but all I really really really want to eat are buckets of greens. Any kind will do, but the sweet tender baby ones%u2026. So good.
And so I combined my two cravings, greens and olives and hit those craving like POW! BAM! POOF? A salad so simple yet so amazing and mouth watering. I outdid myself here.
To the bestest, most amazingly perfect salad yet!
The stuff. A big ol%u2019 bowl of greens. Black pitted olives, half an avocado, a lemon, toasted almonds, a chunk of red onion, a couple cloves garlic, and pepper.
Almond crumbs. Exactly what it sounds like. Place almonds into a clean food prosessor and pulse until they are crumbs.
Dump the almonds into a bowl. Don%u2019t bother cleaning it out, you are about to use it again. Olives, avocado, garlic, and all the juice of the lemon now get a go in the food processor. Pulsed together into a creamy, kinda of chunky but mostly smooth, mixture of amazing. Add a few tablespoons of cold water if the mixture seems really thick, but other then that, you be done.
Very thinly slice up red onion and slice up a few extra olives.
All here, all ready to go. Just got to toss it together now.
Greens, some slices olives and onion tossed all together in a good amount of the olive avocado goodness then topped with a hardy helping of almond crumbs. Fresh pepper to finish it off.
I was barely able to stop myself from eating it all before snapping a few pictures.
All of my cravings come true%u2026
It%u2019s salad time!
-C
Makes enough dressing and crumbs to feed 2-4 people
1/2 of a ripe avocado
1 cup pitted black olives
1 lemon
2-3 tablespoons cold water
1-2 cloves garlic
1/4 cup toasted almonds
2-4 large handfuls of fresh greens (I used a mixture of baby spinach, baby chard, and baby kale. Spring mix or even chopped leaf lettuce would be grand as well)
about 1/2 a small red onion
pepper to taste
Place almonds in food processor and pulse until they are crumbly. Not to fine, a few big chunks are good.. Remove and set aside
Roughly chop the garlic and place in the food processor (no need to clean it out after the almonds). Add in the avocado and most of the olives (leave few behind to slice up). Add in the juice of the lemon. Pulse until mixture is combined but with little specks of olive left.or completely smooth if you wanted too. Scoop out into a container. You want it to be slightly loos so it will mix well with the greens. If the mixture seems really thick, add in a a few tablespoons of cold water to thin out.
Grab the onion and remaining olives and thinly slice.
Now to assemble salad. Place a handful of clean greens into a bowl. Toss a some onions and extra sliced olives into greens. Add as little or as much olive avocado dressing as desired then sprinkle as much or as little of the almond crumbs all over that. Top with freshly find pepper
Then eat it.
It’s melon season!%u00a0The past few farm shares have included at least 2,, if not 4, watermelons and cantaloupes… Can you imagine. eating 4 watermelons a week? That’s a tall order, even for someone like me who could probably eat a whole watermelon in one sitting, it’s just doing it 4 times a week might be a problem. %u00a0It’s a whole lot of melon and not enough stomach, you know what I mean?%u00a0
So what do I do with so much melon? Well first off, whenever anyone comes over I try to get them to %u00a0eat as much of it as they can, which helps a great deal. Secondly, I cut it up and freeze some. But here is the thing, I love eating chunks of frozen cantaloupe, but frozen watermelon,%u00a0never been my favorite so I usually just pass on sticking in the freezer, until now.
There is something magical that happens when you stick the frozen watermelon and cantaloupe together into a blender and making it into a slushy. It’s like eating a ray of sunshine or maybe even a rainbow, just really satisfying and juicy, and sweet but not overly sweet, and just really freaking good. Especially with all the stupid hot and humid weather we have had lately, these slushies have really been hitting the spot. %u00a0Even the mr who says he dislikes watermelon was all into these melon slushies. (he likes things that he says he doesn’t like all the time. I am pretty sure he is taste confused) Like %u00a0he was really into them. Usually I have to prompt him to tell me how something tastes, but not the slushy, he told me right away how good it was. I was like, I know dude, I just drank 2 of them myself. And I could have drank 2 more but I was trying to not get tot far ahead of myself. Moderation is key, plus I didn’t;t have any more of the melons frozen. Time to restock the freezer.%u00a0
Go make yourself a slushy, it’s juicy deliciousness will make you happy.%u00a0
The stuff. Watermelon and cantaloupe. There should be a lime in there too but it must have rolled away….%u00a0
Chop some of each of the melon up, remove the rinds, and place on a big baking sheet and stick into the freezer until frozen. You can do as little as 2 cups %u00a0of each or as much as a whole melon, it’s up to you. (I suggest freezing extra)
Frozen melon. And now you can slushy.
Equal parts watermelon and cantaloupe go into blender, along with the juice of half (or more to taste)%u00a0a lime and you are probably going to need to add about 1/2 a cup of water, to help the blender blend it all together. %u00a0And that’s it. You blend until it’s all slushy.
Pour into cups, garnish with a lime and/or little chunks of melon and you are good as golden.%u00a0
From now on, or until summer is over and I run out of melon, I will be keeping the freezer stocked, especially because I know that the next few weeks are suppose to be stupid hot again.%u00a0
Waterloupe slushies. Summertime goodness.%u00a0
-C
Note. The amounts above are for two%u00a0 2 cup slushies. You can, and should,%u00a0freeze a crap load more melon for future slushies. %u00a0Also, no one would fault you for maybe adding a little nip of some clear alcohol to this slushy situation to make it more of an adult drink……
Cut up a watermelon and a cantalopjue. Eat some and reserve at least 2 cups of each. Remove the rinds from the melons and cut into cubes. Place melon on a baking sheet and stick into the freezer until frozen.%u00a0
Once frozen,%u00a0place equal parts frozen watermelon and cantaloupe into the blender with the juice of a lime. Turn blender on. Slowly add in water until the blender can handle blending the frozen fruit. Blend until smooth. Pour into cups, garnish if you want with more melon and lime, then get to drinking.%u00a0
Cucumber melon is a classic food pairing. It also reminds me of when I was a young tween, stealing my older sisters cucumber melon face mask that you smeared all over your face, let dry, then peeled off like a layer of skin. I remember thinking that that stuff was the shit and if my sisters where using it, then I really should start using it too before I got an old lady face. Plus it was cool to peel off and made me feel grown up because I was taking care of my skin. So steal it I would until I eventually started buying it myself. Then one day I realized, I could get the same results with a bottle of Elmers glue and also I didn’t really want to spend my money on face mask when I could be buying other unmentionable things.%u00a0%u00a0And that was the end of that.%u00a0
I wonder if they still sell that shit…. I wouldn’t buy it though cause you know it is probably really is just sweet smelling glue. Plus it’s to late for me. I am already old. Ha.%u00a0
Anyway. Back to the cucumber, cantaloupe, avocado, mint salad. What can I say that the name doesn’t? That is is f-ing fantastic and refreshing and easy to through together and required ZERO heat to make. Also that on the hottest of hot and nasty days, this here combination , what with the refreshing mint and crisp clean flavors of the cucumber and melon, really can make a shitty day feel a little less shitty, maybe even %u00a0a little brighter. I don’t know about you, but this past super hot heat wave week was hard for food, like I didn’t really want to eat anything. This salad was fresh and clean enough to eat all day, everyday. It was so good, even the mr liked it and he says he hates fruit in any salad situation. (I have called bullshit in this so many times. He actually does like it, he just wants to give me a hard time.)%u00a0
Fresh crisp, all sorts of refreshing. A true blue summer salad. Get on it.%u00a0
The stuff. Some cantaloupe, a cucumber or two, an avocado, a lemon, mint, cracked pepper, and even though it’s not in the picture, sea salt.
Remove seeds and rind from cantaloupe then chop into small mouth sized pieces ans toss it into a bowl.
Cut the cucumber up into simutlar sized pieces as cantaloupe and toss into bowl.
. I ended up only using %u00a0one and a half of the cucumbers so the cucumber/ cantaloupe ratio was the same. Plus I wanted to eat the half of cucumber tight then and there.. so I did.%u00a0
Scoop the avocado meat onto the cutting board. Sprinkle it with sea salt and a little squueze of lemon juice and roughly chop. You don’t want it mashed, but a little mashy avocado is good. Perfect cubes are ok too. You do you.
Mince some mint leaves. You know where they go.
It’s all there. Cantaloupe, cucumbers, avocado, mint. Salt and pepper and all the lemon juice. Now just stir it up and you are good to go.%u00a0
A simple summer dish. No heat, not sweat, just fresh and clean goodness.
Stay cool friends.
-C
Serve 2-3%u00a0
Note. This salad is so simple and easy and really, you can adjust the quantities of any of the ingredients to your liking. You could also try subing basil or dill %u00a0for mint leaves and you could use any other type of melon for the cantaloupe.%u00a0
Remove seeds and rind from melon and cut into small mouth sized pieces and place into a big bowl. Cut cucumber(s) into small mouth sized pieces (same size as cantaloupe) and toss into bowl. Scope the meat of the avocado onto cutting board, add a sprinkle of sea salt and %u00a0a little squeeze of lemon juice and with your knife, roughlycut/ slighty mash it into a chunky pile. Scope the avocado into the bowl. %u00a0Mince the mint leaves and add those to the salad. Lastly, squeeze the juice of the lemon all into that bowl too.%u00a0Grab a spoon and mix it all together. Sprinkle with pepper, a pinch more sea salt (to taste) and thats that.
Eat. Left over s last a day or two in fridge but you should just probably just eat it all right away.%u00a0
First official week of summer plus #popsicleweek means we all have to make popsicles. It is not a option, it’s a must. The question is what kind of popsicles to make.
Well here you go, I got one for you right here. Pineapple, cucumber, spinach popsicles.%u00a0I highly, highly recommend them because they are amazing and you and everyone will love them.%u00a0No joke. I had two littles tell me that they are the best popsicles they have ever eaten. Then Koko damn near ate my hand off when I was trying to slow the baby down while he was eating his so he didn’t get brain freeze. After he finished off his popsicle, he turned around and went after his brothers popsicle. It was crazy. Screaming, green faced, baby charging after a popsicle. It was like an animal planet episode.%u00a0
%u00a0And so there you have it, all the littles we into them, the mr was into his, and me, I might eaten one or two and maybe I was licking all of them in between taking pictures. Ha. And big plus, unlike a lot of popsicles,%u00a0there is no extra shit in these, like no added sugar. And there is veggies in them.%u00a0They are basically an all around, eat for breakfast, lunch, dinner, snack, or dessert popsicle.%u00a0%u00a0How can you even go wrong with that.%u00a0
You can’t.
Now it’s popsicle time!
The stuff. Fresh pineapple, fresh spinach, a cucumber, and a lime. That’s it, nothing else.%u00a0
Pineapple and juice from lime into the blender. Blend until smooth.
Add in the cucumber, blend until smooth%u00a0
Last but not least, add in spinach, blend until smooth.
Bright green goodness. And that’s pretty much it. And really, you could just stick it all into blender at once, I just blended the ingredients one by one for the sake of the pictures.
Pour that goodness into popsicles mold and either stick th sticks in now if they don’t sink or wait about an half hour after they have been in the freezer, just don’t forget the sticks (I almost did).
Mid freeze stick sticking.
Once they are frozen and when it’s feeding time,%u00a0%u00a0you pop them out of the mold and feed the people. Watch your fingers.%u00a0
Happy summer, Happy #popsicleweek
-C
Make 8 3.5 onze popsicles%u00a0
*Note. You can use frozen pineapple, just thaw it out so it starts to release some of it’s juices. That way you don’t need to add water to the blender to blend everything up.%u00a0
Place all ingredients into a blender and blend until smooth. Pour puree into popsicle molds and stick into freezer. After about 1/2 hour, remove from freezer and stick the popsicle sticks into the molds. Place popsicles back into freezer until completely frozen (about 4-6 hours)%u00a0
Enjoy anytime.