Pot pies. I grew up on them. But not real pot pies, no, it was those little frozen, single serve, terribly terrible nasty things. Yup. All you needed to do was turn on the oven or better yet, open the microwave, poke a few holes in the frozen pie, and 10 minutes later, food. The ultimate in afterschool snacks. Oh those days. What the heck was I thinking? But my best or, most vivid memory of those pies was when I was like 10 and was stabbing one of those frozen pot pies with a very sharp knife (again, the directions stated to add a vent hole) that went threw said pie and right into the palm of my hand. I remember screaming, blood everywhere, and thinking I just cut my hand off. Luckly, it was just a big gash and the knife didn%u2019t go all the way threw my hand so that was good. And I think that was the last time I made a pot pie. Ha.

This pot pie is nothing like those pot pies. First off, it is not frozen which is good because you won%u2019t accidentally stab a hole into your and. Secondly, it is not nasty. And third, it is freaking awesome. There are other things that make them vastly different, but you get the idea. This pot pie is full of good veggies and tofu that are nicely spiced with a creamy oat sauce that is alll wrapped up in a easy hot water pastry crust. Everything and more a real pot pie should be. Sure, it is definitely not as quick and easy as opening a cardboard box, stabbing, and tossing the contents into the microwave but screw that, we are here for the good stuff.

To the pot pie!

The stuff. Tofu, an onion, a couple carrots and a couple mushrooms, some frozen pies, garlic, oats, spicy mustard, and spices. Also salt and pepper, oil, flour, and some boiling water.

Start with the tofu. Grab a skillet, add a dash of oil and set o the stove on median heat. Cut the tofu into small cubs and pat as much of the liquid out as you can. Place tofu into skillet, sprinkle with a little salt, and let cook.

Whle tofu is cooking, cut up veggies into small, not tiny, pieces. And mince the garlic too.

Remove tofu from skillet and place into a bowl. Add all the veggies you just cut up into the skillet along with the spices and another pinch of slat ans lots of pepper. Keep on heat and cook.

While veggies are cooking, place water and oats into blender and blend until smooth. Making oat milk to thicken the whole shebang.

Once the veggies start to soften just a bit, add the tofu back in and add the mustard too. Then dump in the oat mixture you just blend up. Mix it al up and cook for a until it just start to thicken.

Now add in frozen peas, mix, and remove from heat. Set aside. It%u2019s now time to make the crust.

FLour, hot oil, boil water and salt.

Add all the stuff together and mix until dough forms.

Dump hot dough onto counter and kneed for a minute of two. It shouldn%u2019t be too hot to handle, but if it is, just wait a minute.

Once kneaded and unicorn. cut 2/3 of dough off and roll out about 1/8 inch thick either on a piece of parchment or a splat mat. IT is way, way easier to deal with then trying to roll it directly on the counter.

Place rolled out dough into spring form pan. It is going to rip and tear but guess what, no big deal. Just mush and patch the holes. That is the beauty of hot water crust. Once crust is all nice and uniform and all in the pan, dump in the filling.

Place top on, seal it up, add some vent hole and make a few little hearts with any scraps you have (only if you want too!) Now into the oven this baby goes, about and hour, until a nice golden brown.

Done and beautiful and yeah, it sprang a little leak, but thats quite all right with me.

Remove he spring form. And probably do it on a pan. Any little leaks will well, leak out a bit. But again, it%u2019s all good.

And now all you heave to do is eat it.

A pot pie in all its glory!

-C

makes one 8 inch, 2 inch deep, pie

For the filling

• 1 medium sized yellow onion

• a few white button mushrooms (about a 1/2 cup diced)

• 1/2 cup frozen peas

• 2 small carrots

• 1/2 block (8oz) firm tofu

• 1 teaspoon each thyme, dill, rosemary, and ground ginger

• 2-3 cloves garlic

• 2 heaping tablespoons spicy brown or dijon mustard

• 1/4 cup old fashion oats

• 1 1/2 cups water

• salt and pepper

• a splash of oil

For Hot Water Crust

• 1 3/4 cups flour

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 1/3 cup coconut oil,warmed

• 1/3 cup neutral oil,warmed

• 1/3 cup boiling water

Before you start cooking know that you need to make the filling first and can even make it ahead of time. The crust needs to be used right away so don%u2019t make that in advance!

Start with tofu. Cut into small 1/2 inch cubes then press as much liquid out as you can. Place a drop of oil into a large skillet and turn onto medium heat. Drop in cubed tofu and sprinkle with a pinch of salt. Cook until browned.

While tofu cooks, dice up carrots, onion, and mushrooms. Mince the garlic. Once the tofu is browned, dump it in a bowl then add the veggies and garlic to the skillet. Also add in all the spices and another good pinch of salt and lots of pepper. Stir and then cook until veggies are slightly tender.

While veggies cook, place the oats and 1 1/2 cups water into blender and blend until smooth.

And after the veggies are slightly soften, add the tofu back in, along with the mustard and the oat mixture. Stir it all around and keep on medium heat for another few minutes until the oat milk just starts to thicken. Add in the frozen peas, stir, then remove from heat. Give it a taste and season with more salt and pepper if needed.

Preheat oven to 375

Now for the crust. Place flour and salt in a big bowl and mix. Then add in warm oil (either heat on stove or in microwave) and boiling hot water. Mix unit it all comes together. Dump dough onto counter and knead for couple minutes until dough is uniform and smooth.

Cut 2/3 of the dough off and roll out in between parchment paper or on a splat mat to about 1/8 inch thick. Place into a spring form pan. It%u2019s going to fall apart a bit but that is ok, just mush and patch up all the rips and tears so there are no holes. This dough is like play dough, very easy to manipulate. Once bottom crust is in, dump in the filling. Take the remaining dough and roll out the same way you did bottom and place on top. Seal the bottom and top crust by pinching it together. You want to try and avoid any holes so the filling doesn%u2019t leak out. Once the crust is sealed, cut a little vent hole into the middle of the top then place pie into oven. Bake for an 60 -70 minutes or until crust is a nice golden brown.

Once baked, remove from oven and let cook for a few minutes. Then remove from pan by place pie on something like a bowl or cup that fits underneath the bottom of pan. Unlock the pan and slip ring down while the pie stays perched on cup. You can even pop the bottom of pan off if you feel like you can, but I say, why risk it. That is up to you. And sure, the pie might have sprung a little leak, but that is very much ok.

Now basically all you need to do is eat it so place pie on a big plate, grab a knife, and fork, and cut yourself a big ass piece of pot pie.

Leftovers store great in the fridge for a few days.

When your sister drops off 50 lbs of beets, on top of the 50 lbs that you have to harvest that are growing in your garden, what do you do?

Well chips of course.

Yeah, chips. That%u2019s right. When I got home from camping on Monday and there was a humongous pile of beets sitting next to my front door, I am not going to lie, I was a little shocked. I mean there wasn’t just a few little ones. These beets were freaking huge, like the size of my arm, and so many. But pretty much right after my initial shock I knew what needed to be done. First, eat a few roasted, second, roast extra to freeze for later, and lastly, make a few bunches of chips.

Have you ever had beet chip? They are amazing. Crispy, crunchy, tasty as all heck. If you like beets, even in the slightest, you will love these. If you hate beets, well maybe don%u2019t? Either way, beet chips are the best chip. Wha’t%u2019s not to love? Pink, and chippy. Sweet, and salty. And then you add the fact that making beets into chips is a good way to get your veggies in and that you can eat a whole bowl full and feel zero guilt because you are just eating beets. Plus making beets into chips is a good way to use up any extra beets you might have laying around or that have been dropped off at your front door.

These chips, once they are made, will not last long. So when you do make them, know you will probably be making them again soon there after. Me, I have still have to harvest all my garden beets so beet chips are happening again soon. Real soon (like this afternoon!)

To the beets!

The stuff. Beets (these are Formanova beets but any variety works) salt and pepper ,and oil.

Ok so you need to cut these bad boys reallllllly thin. Like 1/15th a inch. So, what I am saying is, use a mandolin. If you don%u2019t have one, a knife will do, but you are going to have a hard time getting them as thin as you need to and all of them consistent so baking is going to be a little more tricky so maybe you should just go borrow or invest in a mandolin.

Grab baking sheets, oil, and salt and pepper. You can either dump the oil directly onto the pile of sliced beets and really toss to make sure each one has been coasted or do what I did which was I drizzled oil into my hands and rubbed each sliced beet between my oiled hands before placing on the sheet.

After you get them on there, single layered with no overlapping, sprinkle tops with a pinch of salt and pepper.

On the way into the oven.

After the oven. Baked for about 18 minutes. You really have to watch after the first 13 or so minutes to make sure you catch them at the perfect time. Crispy, but not burnt.

A side by side shot. Crazy shrinking will happen!

Oh man, so delicious. And so pretty!.

Let the chips cool before eating, you know, so you don%u2019t burn your tongue. Plus they crisp up a wee bit more.

Once cooled, pile them into bowl, and then eat them. And eat them all. They are only beets after all. And you won%u2019t be able to stop yourself anyway. Ha

-C

Makes enough for an evening of chip eating for 1-2 people

• 2 Large beets (think softball sized)

• a tablespoon or two of oil (I used grape seed but really any would work)

• salt and pepper

Note. Making these without cutting with a mandolin will be a pain in the ass. It can be done, but if you have a mandolin, use it.

Preheat oven to 350

With a mandolin, slice the beets about 1/15 inch thick. (No need to peel the beets unless you want to.) Once beets are all sliced, either drizzle them all with a tablespoon or so of oil and toss until all are coated. OR what I did and found worked really well was drizzled oil into my hands and rubbed each beet between my oiled hands as I was placing them on the baking sheets. Either way.

Now place oiled beets, single layered, without overlapping, on baking sheets. Sprinkle with a pinch of salt and pepper and place into oven. Bake for about 13 minutes without worrying then start to check every minute or so until the beets are a deep golden brown and crispy ,which will be between 15-20 minutes. Also, even though you cut them all the exact same thickness, some might crisp up faster so you should remove done chips as they happen. Once they are done, place on a rack to cool. And then do another batch. And not, they do crisp up a tiny bit more as they cool.

Once chips are cool and crisp, eat.

Store uneaten (how did you not eat them all?) chips in an air tight container. If you notice that they turned a bit chew, just place them back into oven while preheating oven to 300 then turn oven off and let sit in there for a few minutes.

It is spring yes? I know it is officially spring but around here it has been more or less still winter which is to be expected but is, at this point, no longer welcomed. I, as well as everyone else I talk to, are over it. Enough snow. enough of the hats and jackets. Just enough.

But the bright side of the chilly, cold weather is that we can and still want to turn the oven on and cook things. And because I turned the heat off a little prematurely, I am cold so I really want the oven on.

One skillet, a little chop action, a stir, some good time in the oven and there you go, food for your belly. Not a ton of dishes to do, steps to fallow, thoughts to think (other then eating thoughts). A good old, hearty, simple to toss together, spicy, delicious skillet of goodness. Prepare it fast, pop into warm oven, sit in kitchen drawing up plans for the spring veggie garden, and then eat yourself warm. What more can we ask for?

We can ask for spring weather because seriously. But other then that.

To the goodness of cajun lentils and rice!

The stuff. Lentils, brown rice, cajun seasoning, some crushed tomatoes, an onion, a carrot, a few cloves garlic, some cauliflower, water, oil, and salt and pepper.

First off, mince garlic and chop up the cauliflower, carrot, and onion into small pieces.

Toss it all into a good sized oven safe skillet with a splash of oil. Mix in the cajun seasoning too and stick o nth stove on medium heat for a few minutes.

Cook until fragrant and slightly tender. Taste it, it is good.

Dump in the lentils and rice. Then dump I the tomatoes and the water. Give it all a mix.

And after. All done. Now dinner.

Grab some green thing to chop and toss on for some color.

Now grab some bowls, a few forks, and get to eating.

-C

Serves 4-6

• 3/4 cup uncooked brown or white rice

• 3/4 cup dried green lentils

• 2 cups crushed tomatoes (preferably not salted)

• 2 1/4 cups water

• 3 tablespoons cajun seasoning (see note)

• 1 large carrot

• 1/4 head of cauliflower (about 2 cups chopped)

• 1 large yellow onion

• 2-3 cloves garlic

• 1 tablespoon olive oil

• salt and pepper

Note. Store bought cajun seasoning usually contains salt and pepper so when seasoning, be aware of the amount of salt (if any) you choose to use.

Preheat oven to 350

Start by chopping the carrot, onion, and cauliflower into small pieces. Mince the garlic and toss it all into the skillet with the olive oil. Stir in the cajun seasoning and sprinkle in salt and pepper if it needs it. Place skillet on medium high heat and cook veggies until fragrant and slightly tender which should take about 5 minutes then remove from heat. Dump in the lentils, rice, water and tomatoes. Stir until mixed then either place a lid or foil over the top. Place into preheated oven for about an hour, removing the lid or foil after 40ish minutes and giving it a stir when you do. The bake is done when the rice and lentils are fully cooked, but if you are into a crispy top and crunchy sides, by all means, cook a little longer.

Remove from oven when fully cooked and you are happy with crispness. Let cool for a few minutes, toss on some chopped green something or another if you want, and serve it up.

Left overs store great in the fridge for a few day and freeze well too.

I feel like this salad is kind of a summery salad, or better yet, a salad that highlights all the best of what summer has to bring. All the fresh tender dill that is still growing (but not for long) , all the brightly colored and amazing veggies that are being harvested and are nearing the end (bye fresh cucumbers.) This salad might just be my little last hurrah of summer cooking before it is all root veggies and dried herbs and hot and hearty food. And not going to lie and say that I am sad to see summer go because I am so so ready for it to be over, but I will miss all the fresh fresh produce. And I will especially miss all the fresh dill because fresh dill is seriously the best.

Eat up what is left of summer now before it%u2019s too late!

The stuff. Quinoa, a bunch of dill, a cucumber, a pepper, an onion, and some cherry tomatoes. Also a clove of garlic, some salt and pepper, and red wine vinegar.

Mince the garlic, chop the onion, mince the pepper and the cucumber, half the tomatoes, and last but noblest, rough chop the dill.

All that goodness goes into. big bow, along with a sprinkle of salt and pepper, and the vinegar Tossed around and left to meld.

Uncooked quinoa with water turns to cooked quinoa

Quinoa meets the bowl of veggies

And after a good mix, viola!

You got yourself a yummers fresh dill and veggie quinoa salad.

-C

serves 3-5 as a side or 2 as a meal

• 1 cup uncooked quinoa

• 2 cups water

• I bunch fresh dill (like a 1/3 cup chopped%u2026 But use as much as you want)

• 1/2 a small red onion

• 1 clove garlic

• 1 small Persian cucumer

• 1/2 of a sweet red or yellow pepper

• handful or two of cherry tomatoes

• 4 tablespoons red wine vinegar

• salt and pepper to taste

Start by cooking the quinoa. Place the water and the uncooked quinoa into a medium sized pot. Place on high heat until sorts to boil, then reduce heat to a simmer and place lid on the pot. Let cook for about 15 minutes, checking at 10 minutes, to see if all the water has absorbed. When it has, remove from heat and let sit for a few more minutes then fluff with a fork.

While the quinoa id cooking, mince the garlic and chop all the veggies into small little pieces. Place into a big bowl. Chop up the fresh dill and toss into bowl too, along with the vinegar and a good sprinkle of salt and pepper. Mix it all around and let sit on the counter for a little so the veggies get nice and vinegary. Once quinoa is cooked and fluffed, dump into the bowl and mix around. Season with more salt and pepper if needed. Eat warm or refrigerate and eat cold. It%u2019s defiantly one of those salads that taste great right away but tastes even better the next day.

%u00a0Cabbage is probably the number one eaten food in my house. It is not uncommon for us to go through a very large head a day. And I get that it may seem odd to you, but it’s true. We are cabbage people, so much so that we will probably turn into cabbage patch people. I can see it now.

One of the reasons that we eat so much cabbage is that it is so versatile.. Raw, steamed, roasted, the possibilities are a plenty, not to mention that cabbage is pretty dang cheap. And not to far around the corner it is St Patrick’s day when cabbage is basically given out for free. During this time I stock up, buy 100 lbs and ferment, roast, and peel my way through all of it. Is it sick that I am kind of excited about that ? (there are worse things to be excited about)

This cabbage dish is one of those dishes that can be eaten on it’s own, as a side, or as a condiment. Topped on a salad, stuffed into a sandwich, or shoveled into the mouth. You really can’t go wrong eating it anyway.

The stuff. Cabbage, onions, caraway seeds, salt and pepper, and some apple cider vinegar. (I accidentally grabbed the oil)

Shred up the cabbage and onions. Thin is good, but some bigger pieces are good too.

Into a big pot sprinkled with caraway, salt and pepper. A splash of water helps to get things started. Stickon a low heat topped with a lid.%u00a0 And just let it be for a while butgive it a stir ever 10-15 minutes or so.

About an hour it’s all cooked down and sweet and tasty as can be. A splash of vinegar finishes it off.

This batch was destined for the mr’s open faced cheese sandwich. I thought I made enough to pack some for lunch, but
I ended up just eating the left overs for a snack. I don’t know why I didn’t make more.%u00a0 Next batch I’ll make it a double.

Happy day to you.

-C

makes about 2 cups

• 1 small or 1/2 a large head of cabbage
• 2 yellow onions
• 2 teaspoons caraway seeds
• 1-2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
• olive oil for pot
• salt and pepper

Thinly shred the cabbage and thinly slice the onions. Dump the now shredded cabbage and onion into a large dutch oven or heavy bottom pot that has a tiny drizzle of olive oil. Sprinkle with caraways seeds and about a teaspoon salt, a good splash or water then mix around. Place pot on a low heat and cover. Let cook down for about 45 minutes to an hour , stirringever 10 minutes or so, until the mixture has shrunk to about 1/3 it’s original size and is soft and tender. When just about done, mix in a tablespoon of the vinegar . Taste and season with more vinegar, salt and pepper if you like.

Eat as is or is or on salads, sandwiches or wraps.

It’s strange to think that only a few years ago I was not a big eggplant fan. Before I started to experiment with cooking it myself, the only time I had ever really had it was when I was young and it was deep fried, like eggplant parm style. It just wasn’t for me.

So when I started doing my farm share 5years ago and were getting lots of eggplants, I knew I had to figure something out and try new ways of eating it. Well it turns out that I actually love eggplant, like a lot.%u00a0 I went eggplant crazy and for a while was eating a eggplant a day, either roasted or tuned into soup or cooked crispy into chips. And lots of baba ganoush, or what I think of as eggplant hummus (all the hummus stuff minus the chick peas). Smooth, creamy, rich and tangy. I have been know to make a batch and eat it all to my face in a sitting.( there is absolutely nothing wrong with that) It’s that good. And bonus. Being so super busy busy, this is just so dang fast and easy to make. 25 minutes and 20 of those minutes are the eggplant roasting, and you got yourself something tasty to eat. Plus if you have a few eggplant in the fridge that might have seen better days, turning them into the baba ganoush is a great way to go.

Baba ganoush, The name just says it all cause how could something called baba ganoush be anything other then awesome.

The stuff. A couple (or three) eggplants, a lemon, some tahini, garlic, olive oil and salt.

Eggplant get sliced in half and stuck onto a baking sheet to go into a super hot oven to roast. Some people oil it, I don’t, but you can if you want.

Brown and tender. Roasted to perfection.

Toss the roasted eggplant and the garlic into a blender. Add in the juice of the lemon, tahini, olive oil and a pinch of salt.

Blend.

So silky smooth. Taste and add any more tahini, salt, lemon that you want until it taste like it should taste to you.

And into a bowl it goes. Baba ganoush all up in your face. I highly enjoy a good dusting of some zataar on top, but even just a sprinkle of pepper, or sumac, sesame seeds or even thyme is nice. Or nothing, you don’t need anything.

A big bowl of baba served with some chippers (for the mr) and cut up veggies (for me!) I wanted to make pitas but just didn’t have the time. Oh well, next time.

Be careful, this stuff is addictive!

-C

Make about 2-1/2 cups

• 2 eggplants (or 3 smaller sized eggplant)
• 1 lemon
• 3-4 cloves garlic
• 3 tablespoons tahini ( more if you like)
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• salt
• Zataar (optional)

Crank up the oven to 450

Slice eggplants in half and place on a cooking sheet and into the oven they go.

Bake for 25ish minutes, flipping over after 15 or so minutes, until the eggplant browned is nice and tender then remove from oven.%u00a0 Take the cooked eggplant and dump into a blender.(skin and all)%u00a0 Add in the juice of the lemon, the tahini, the olive oil, and a pinch of salt. Blend it all together until smooth. Taste and add more tahini and or salt if needed.( can even add more lemon too) Once you are happy with the taste, scoop into a bowl and serve with a good pinch of zataar seasoning (if your into it) and a butt load of veggies, pitas, chips or whatever you dip into you baba ganoush.

Do you have a gazillion tomatoes, like so many that they are practically coming out of your ears? Me too…. Me too. This year the tomatoes have been gang busters, a explosion of the sweetest and most delicious fruit and now I have tomatoes littered everywhere, tucked into all the corners and baskets all over the house. It’s getting kinda tomato crazy over here.

%u00a0I can only eat so many tomatoes a day before all I have eaten are tomatoes and I start to feel slightly sick. Same with the mr, he has been a tomato eating champ as well but I think he was getting a little bored with all the tomato salads that I have been making. So I thought I would try something new and make a tomato cake. I figured why the heck not, tomatoes are technically a fruit and fruit and cake are great together and yeah. So tomato cake is going to be fantastic. I also wanted to make something that the mr would eat for breakfast. I have been doing this new thing in the mornings for the mr. I have coffee ready, some breakfast food (its been zucchini bread for a while), and a little vase of fresh flowers that I pick on my morning walk, all set out on the counter for when he wakes up. I know, I am so great right. Really I do it cause I want him to eat something before working all morning and plus if I am all sweet in the morning, he can’t be an old man cranky pants (at least he tries not to be).%u00a0 Now for the next few days the tomato cake is breakfast cake and all is good.

Anyway, the cake come out great. Bright reddish orange, dense but fluffy and most, and smells so good. The mr tells me it’s amazingand I shared a chunk with some of my family and everyone (minus a little) where fans. I am for sure going to be making this again soon, although I have been toying with the idea of eggplant sweet bread (too far??) but I’ll get to that later.

Now for the tomato cake!

The stuff. Flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt (all in the bowl). Brown sugar, oil, vanilla, apple cider vinegar and a few nice and juicy tomatoes.

First off, remove the core from tomatoes and cut into some chunks. Stick the chunks into a blender and blend.

Fresh and smooth tomato puree.

Now just dump the rest of the liquid stuff into the blender now and give it a whirl to mix it all up.

And pour the blended wet into the dry and mix until incorporated.

Pretty pink batter goes in a well greases bundt pan. I had got brown sugar everywhere while I was measuring it out and decided to just toss it on the cake as not to waste it…doesn’t hurt.

And now the batter goes into a preheated oven to bake .

A bit of time later you have yourself a cake.

The scary part. Flip the pan and hope all that grease does it’s job and the cake pops out. Lucky me this one popped out like a champ.

One de-panned, let the cake cool for a bit before cutting into it.

And now all you have left to do it eat it, so eat it.

Have a great weekend. Eat lots of tomatoes and make lots of cake.

-C

Makes one bundt cake

• 2 -1/3 cup all purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 -1/2 teaspoon powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2-3 large tomatoes (2 -1/2 cups after blended)
• 1/2 cup brown sugar (for a tad sweeter, add another 1/4 cup)
• 1/2 cup of any neutral flavored oil
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar

Preheat oven to 350

Start by whisking together all the dry ingredients into a big bowl. Take tomatoes, remove core, chop into chunks, and place into a blender. Blend tomatoes until a smooth and frothy puree. Now add in the sugar, oil, vanilla, and apple cider vinegar and blend until incorporated. Pour wet mixture into dry and stir until combined.

Pour the cake batter into a greased (and floured if you want. I find it helps to make sure all the nooks are greases) and stick into preheated oven. Bake for 45-50 minutes until it’s a dark reddish golden brown and a tester (I use a fork) comes out clean when stabbed.

Remove from oven and let cool for a minute or two then invert cake, give the pan a few tap taps and hope that it comes out all nice and clean. (don’t worry if a piece gets stuck, you can just dust the top with some powdered sugar)

Let cake cool and when ready, cut a slice and eat it up. I was told no glaze, but I was going to make a simple lemon glaze (lemon juice and powdered sugar) for the top. The mr said it was perfect, but glaze would have been pretty.%u00a0 So glaze it up if you want.

As a kid, my favorite holiday was Easter. Every year my parents would fill up brightly colored plastic baskets with handfuls of neon colored plastic “grass” and top it with all sorts of candy, coloring books, bubble, and sidewalk chalk. They were beautiful and amazing.%u00a0 It was like getting a basket of fun and a bunch of sugary candy to keep you going to have all that fun all day long. And the egg hunts. Plastic eggs full of candy hidden all over the house ans yard. We would all have our emptied out baskets running around full of excitement, ready to take out any sibling in our path just to be the one to get the next egg. We were ruthless and I am pretty sure every year someone would end up crying. Now, as an adult, I am not allowed to participate in the egg hunt. (but I still try to make my sibling cry)%u00a0 Nope, now I get to hide the eggs and sit back and watch the new generation of littles tripping each other and stealing eggs from one another. The carnage!

And also at Easter there is cake. Is there a rule that says you have to make carrot cake for Easter? I think there must be because it is when everyone and their moms busts this cake out. And everyone’s carrot cake it the best because they made it the right way, like with raisins or pineapple or walnuts. There are so many things that can be added to this cake that it’s a little overwhelming. So I made a carrot cake that was mainly about the carrots. Nothing added, no nuts raisins or coconut (although you could add i if you wanted) and it’s made into a pretty bundt cake, which in turn makes mine the best.

This here cake was destined for tomorrows Easter table. I made it with no nut produces cause the nephew has the deadly nut allergy. But when I went and made the date sauce, I kinda let that slip and used almond milk. Oops. So now I have a whole big carrot cake sitting on the counter with it’s destiny shattered. So sad, but I think its will survive cause the mris really into it and has already eaten a few pieces. I figure that because it’s a carrot cake, he can eat a few more. It’s almost like eating a vegetable….almost. And now I need to make a new cake to bring over or I might just stop at the store and buy some oreos on my way over tomorrow. The littles will like that.

The stuff. A bowl containing flour, salt, baking powder ans baking soda.%u00a0 Also need a few really big carrots, a bit of brown sugar, and ground up cinnamon and ginger. Coconut oil, soy milk, an orange (for it’s zest) and a little apple cider vinegar are going into this cake too.

Start by chopping up 2 of the biggest carrots and tossing the into a pot with about an inch of water. Stick the pot on the stove and cook until the carrots are nice and tender. Then blend those tender carrots up.

I had a hard time not eating all of the carrot puree, so maybe if you want, cook up a few extra carrots ans have yourself a pre-carrot cake carrot snack.

And while the carrot puree is still warm, add in the coconut oil and the sugar. Mix it until the oil is melted ans it’s one cohesive mixture.

And take that last carrot ans grate it up into the flour. Also add in the spices and the zest of the orange.

Note. I used a small holed grater so that the carrot shreds would be small and add texture to the cake but not make it too chunky. But use a normal grater..it’s all about your carrots chunk prefernce here.

Now dump the wet carrot mixture into the dry and start to mix

Adding in the soy and the vinegar to complete the batter.

And scooped that batter into a oiled bundt pan and get it into the (preheated) oven to bake.

After about an hour, the cake is ready, golden brown and smelling like any good carrot cake should. Remove from the oven and turn the cake out from the cake pan and stick on on a rack to cool. This cake is waiting for me to decide what, or if I want to frost, drizzle, or sauce it up….. I think it wants as little something.

Ok, I figured it out. Date sauce.

The stuff. Fresh medjool dates, almond milk and sea salt.

Date (pits removed) into the food processor along with the milk and a good pinch of sea salt.%u00a0 Blend until it turns into a nice smooth, fluffy sauce.

Take that sauce and spread it all over the cake. As much or as little as you want (you might have left over date sauce but its ok, you can just eat. It will last for about a week in the fridge and goes great with just about anything) Once fully sauced, sprinkle the cake with flaked sea salt.

Sliced, plated, and ready. It’s carrot cake time.

Have a great weekend, eat all your candy at once!

-C

Makes a bundt cake (but could be made into a 9×13 sheet cake)

• 2 1/2 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/3 coconut cup oilany oil works)
• 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
• 3 large carrots (makes about 2 cups carrot puree and 1/2 cup of raw grated carrot)
• 1 heaping tablespoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ginger

Salted Date Caramel

• 1 cup medjool dates (pitted)
• 1 cup almond milk (or any milk you want to use)
• sea salt

Start by chopping up 2 of the biggest carrots and placing them into a pot with water about an inch of water. Stick on stove and bring to a boil then reduce to a simmer until the carrots are fork tender. When done, puree them with any means nessasary (hand blender, regular blender, food processor) Add the coconut oil and sugar to the warm carrot puree and mix until oil is melted.

Preheat oven to 350

In a large separate bowl, mix together the flour, baking soda and powder, salt, and the spices. Grate the smallest carrot in with the dry.

Take the wet carrot mixture and dump into the dry and mix, adding in the soy milk and the vinegar as you mix. Once everything is completely incorporated, pour mixture into a well oiled bundt pan and stick the cake into the preheated oven

While the cake is baking, make the date sauce. Just take the dates, remove pits if they have any and place in a food processor with a good pinch of sea salt and the almond milk. Pulse a few times, scrap down the sides, and keep blended, stopping to scrap sides if needed, until a nice thick smooth sauce is formed. If you want a thinner sauce, just add more milk til you get your desired consistency.

Now check cake. Once it’s golden brown and a tester comes out clean (between 50 minutes to an hour) remove from oven. Let cool for a few minutes in pan the then turn it over onto a wire rack to finish cooling off. Once the cake is cool, dump the date sauce all over it then sprinkle with another good few pinches of the sea salt.

And now eat it. This is a cake that needs no fork, but you can go ahead and use one if you must.

As I was sitting at the table making this simple little ode to spring salad, it started to snow outside. “Look away”, I told myself. “Pretend you didn’t see it.” Well, I saw it then, saw it before bed, and when I woke up this morning , there was (and still is)%u00a0 a few inches of fresh white covering up my hopes of a warm spring day. I have to admit that it is really very pretty, but what the hell.

This salad is all spring. Fresh spinach from the farm, asparagus in abundance every store I go to. Simple, crisp, refreshing. A nice change from a winter heavy with roasted roots and thick stews. I don’t know about you, but this is the time of year that all I want to eat are fist fulls of fresh green stuff. (I could insert a picture here of me sitting on the couch munching away from a bag of baby kale, but I won’t. You don’t need to see that)

Now if it would just stop snowing and be spring for real, that would be great.

The stuff. Fresh spinach. tender asparagus, a lemon, and salt and pepper..

Snap off the woody ends of the asparagus then dice up the rest.

Toss the chopped up asparagus in a bowl with spinach. Squeeze the juice of the lemon all up in that and sprinkle with salt and pepper. That is it.

Fresh, green, springtime goodness in a bowl.

-C

• 2 large handfuls of fresh spinach
• 10 ish spears of fresh asparagus
• 1 lemon
• salt and pepper

Wash and dry spinach ans place in bowl. Snap off woody end of asparagus (I save this bits for soup) and chop up the rest into mouth sized pieces. Toss the chopped asparagus into bowl with spinach. Squeeze on the juice of the lemon and sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste.

Eat.

Winter squash season is in full swing. I have already started to hoard them in all the nooks and crannies around the house. There are sugar pumpkins on the stairs, buttercups on the floor and delicatas all over the counter. Ever meal, breakfast, lunch or dinner needs to have some squash. House rule.

This hear spaghetti squash has been sitting on a stool for about a week, looming in it’s size and just waiting for me to bake it off. The spaghetti squash at farm share have been bigger then a small child so I have been a little hesitant to bake it until the mr was down with eating it with me too.

What I love about this dish is that it is really simple and easy to make.We have been working later these past few days so when we get home, we really just want to eat and go to bed (not really….kinda really) The initial baking of the squash takes a little time, but its zero hands on and can be done ahead of time. And the rest, take like 8 minutes tops. Also a lot of time people forget that you can eat a spaghetti squash with things other then tomato sauce. (although that’s good too) But really, the sky is the limit. Squash goes with everything. %u00a0

So dinner. I had the squash and went with what I had in the fridge. Beans are great, fresh pico is amazing, all atop a big pile of some warm spaghetti squash. Well that is just what we call a winner. A winner dinner!!!

The stuff. A spaghetti squash (maybe go for a smaller sized one if you don’t want a lot of left overs) precooked or canned black beans, a red pepper, and some red onion. Also need garlic, cumin (crushed or seeds) salt and pepper, olive oil, and fresh cilantro. And lastly some home made or store bought pico de gallo or any of your favorite salsa.%u00a0

You don’t see it here, but the squash went into the oven about an hour ago to cook. I did nothing to it besides stab it once andjust stuck the entire thing right on in and cranked up the heat. Simple, easy.

Ok, so when the squash has been baking for a while, start getting the rest of thestuff ready. Small dice up the red pepper and the onion and toss it into a lightly oiled hot skillet to sweat down a bit.

Once the pepper and onion are nice and soft, toss in the cumin and minced garlic. Cook a little longer until the seeds and garlic are fragrant and cooked.

Add in the beans and mix it all around. Taste, add a little salt and pepper if it needs it, and set aside.

Spaghetti-ing the squash. I took it out of the oven when it was fork tender, sliced it in half on a baking sheet and let it cool off for just a minute. Scooped the seed out then scraped the cooked squash with a fork. Fun times, just watch you your hands, the squash is hot.

And your ready for food. Squash in a bowl, topped with some black bean mixture and a hearty amount of fresh pico. Serve it with lots (or none if you don’t like it) cilantro and a wedge of lemon(or lime)

This is some good stuff friends, some really good stuff.

Alright, now I have to get ready. We are taking a handful of the little pumpkin picking….A few more pumpkins to add to the stash.

-C

Serves 2-3

• 1 medium spaghetti squash
• 2-3 cups cooked black beans (or a can)
• 1 teaspoon cumin seeds (or crushed cumin)
• a red pepper
• a small red onion
• 2-3 cloves garlic
• olive oil
• 1 cup fresh Pico de gallo or any of your fav salsa.
• salt and pepper
• a lemon or lime
• fresh cilantro (optional)

To cook the squash. Preheat oven to 400. Grab squash a stab a small hole in it so when its baking it does bot explode (this has happened to me a few times) then stick the whole squash into the oven. Let bake for 45 minutes to an hour (depending on size) It is done when it is soft and fork tender. Once done, pull squash from oven, cut in half and let cool for a minutes. Once cool enough to handle, scoop out the seeds then start scraping the flesh with a fork to create spaghetti like strands.

For the beans. Small chop up the red pepper ans onion and toss into a hot skillet with a little splash of olive oil. Sweat the pepper and onion on medium heat and when they are close to done, mince up the garlic and toss that in along with the cumin seeds and a pinch of salt ans pepper (if needed) Keep cooking until the garlic is cooked and the cumin if fragrant.

To assemble. Grab a bowl and fill with a good amount of the cooked squash, top it with a big scoop of the black bean mixture and you desired amount of fresh pico or salsa. Add lots of extra cilantro and serve with a lemon or lime wedge to squeeze on top.

Now eat it.

Note….Any left overs make a fantastic cold salad or wrapped in a tortilla.

Do you have a gazillion tomatoes, like so many that they are practically coming out of your ears? Me too…. Me too. This year the tomatoes have been gang busters, a explosion of the sweetest and most delicious fruit and now I have tomatoes littered everywhere, tucked into all the corners and baskets all over the house. It’s getting kinda tomato crazy over here.

%u00a0I can only eat so many tomatoes a day before all I have eaten are tomatoes and I start to feel slightly sick. Same with the mr, he has been a tomato eating champ as well but I think he was getting a little bored with all the tomato salads that I have been making. So I thought I would try something new and make a tomato cake. I figured why the heck not, tomatoes are technically a fruit and fruit and cake are great together and yeah. So tomato cake is going to be fantastic. I also wanted to make something that the mr would eat for breakfast. I have been doing this new thing in the mornings for the mr. I have coffee ready, some breakfast food (its been zucchini bread for a while), and a little vase of fresh flowers that I pick on my morning walk, all set out on the counter for when he wakes up. I know, I am so great right. Really I do it cause I want him to eat something before working all morning and plus if I am all sweet in the morning, he can’t be an old man cranky pants (at least he tries not to be).%u00a0 Now for the next few days the tomato cake is breakfast cake and all is good.

Anyway, the cake come out great. Bright reddish orange, dense but fluffy and most, and smells so good. The mr tells me it’s amazingand I shared a chunk with some of my family and everyone (minus a little) where fans. I am for sure going to be making this again soon, although I have been toying with the idea of eggplant sweet bread (too far??) but I’ll get to that later.

Now for the tomato cake!

The stuff. Flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt (all in the bowl). Brown sugar, oil, vanilla, apple cider vinegar and a few nice and juicy tomatoes.

First off, remove the core from tomatoes and cut into some chunks. Stick the chunks into a blender and blend.

Fresh and smooth tomato puree.

Now just dump the rest of the liquid stuff into the blender now and give it a whirl to mix it all up.

And pour the blended wet into the dry and mix until incorporated.

Pretty pink batter goes in a well greases bundt pan. I had got brown sugar everywhere while I was measuring it out and decided to just toss it on the cake as not to waste it…doesn’t hurt.

And now the batter goes into a preheated oven to bake .

A bit of time later you have yourself a cake.

The scary part. Flip the pan and hope all that grease does it’s job and the cake pops out. Lucky me this one popped out like a champ.

One de-panned, let the cake cool for a bit before cutting into it.

And now all you have left to do it eat it, so eat it.

Have a great weekend. Eat lots of tomatoes and make lots of cake.

-C

Makes one bundt cake

• 2 -1/3 cup all purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 -1/2 teaspoon powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2-3 large tomatoes (2 -1/2 cups after blended)
• 1/2 cup brown sugar (for a tad sweeter, add another 1/4 cup)
• 1/2 cup of any neutral flavored oil
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar

Preheat oven to 350

Start by whisking together all the dry ingredients into a big bowl. Take tomatoes, remove core, chop into chunks, and place into a blender. Blend tomatoes until a smooth and frothy puree. Now add in the sugar, oil, vanilla, and apple cider vinegar and blend until incorporated. Pour wet mixture into dry and stir until combined.

Pour the cake batter into a greased (and floured if you want. I find it helps to make sure all the nooks are greases) and stick into preheated oven. Bake for 45-50 minutes until it’s a dark reddish golden brown and a tester (I use a fork) comes out clean when stabbed.

Remove from oven and let cool for a minute or two then invert cake, give the pan a few tap taps and hope that it comes out all nice and clean. (don’t worry if a piece gets stuck, you can just dust the top with some powdered sugar)

Let cake cool and when ready, cut a slice and eat it up. I was told no glaze, but I was going to make a simple lemon glaze (lemon juice and powdered sugar) for the top. The mr said it was perfect, but glaze would have been pretty.%u00a0 So glaze it up if you want.

My rhubarb patch has turned into a rhubarb jungle and I couldn’t be happier. At the beginning of the spring I moved like 10 of the plants to the new patch location and was wondering if I would even get a small crop this year. Guess my soil is premo cause those plants be ginormous.

And now I am harvesting the stalks from that jungle and I have rhubarb coming out of my ears. (I will be eating rhubarb all summer long) It’s not really a problem per say, but there is so much, so it’s time to get a little crafty with the tangy sour veggie stalk.(rhubarb sword fight anyone?)%u00a0 One of the first things I made with some of it was a salad that consisted of roasted and slightly charred zucchini, onions, corn and rhubarb. I made it for the mr thinking that he was going to love it because he loves rhubarb so much. Well he didn’t love it because of all the corn. (Such a weird egg that boy) But me,I loved it, like ate it all and then some. Corn and rhubarb are such a good combination and if the mr wasn’t being such a weirdo, he should have liked that salad too. But it gave me the inspiration for the cake . A cornbread cake ( he loves cornbread) sweetened just the right amount with maple. Not exactly a rhubarb corn salad, but you get the idea. And this cake is totally multi purpose. Made as dessert and would go extremely well with a scoop of your favorite vanilla ice cream but would work equally as well served with a bowl of baked beans. I mean, can cake for dinner get any better?

The stuff. A bowl with cornmeal, flour, baking soda, baking powder, along with a little salt. Also need some maple syrup, soy milk, earth balance and apple cider vinegar.And of course we have a few rhubarb stocks,

Start with melting the earth balance and maple syrup together on the stove and letting it thicken up a bit. While it’s thickening, think about the shape of you skillet and haw you want to layer you rhubarb, like the design of it.

Then when the maple is thickened and you know how you want to layer it, chop up your rhubarb and start placing in into the bottom of the skillet. Any way you do it, just make sure that the bottom is pretty much covered in rhubarb and that its only on stalk deep.

Now for the batter. Easy easy. Just whisk together the dry and combine all of the wet into a bowl.

Wet and dried mixed together.

Pour the batter gently onto the rhubarb and smooth the batter out.

And into the oven it goes.

Pulled from the oven when the cornbread is golden brown and a tester stuck into it comes out clean. Let it cool just as it is for about 10 minutes… (give the maple time to cool and set up so it doesn’t just get sucked into the cake) then flip in. I flipped mine onto a piece of parchment and a cutting board . You could try to go directly onto a cake stand or plate, but It might get a little messy. I like to play it safe when flipping things and just use a big cutting board. Now get ready to cross your fingers…..

Ta da!. Ain’t it a beaut? And don’t worry if a little piece or two get stuck in the pan. Either scrape it out and place it back on the cake or consider it a little snack.

There you have it. A cake good to go for all your meal eating needs.

Go rhubarb GO!

-C

• 1 1/4 cup flour
• 1 1/4 cup cornmeal
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/3 cup melted earth balance + 2 tablespoons
• 1/3 cup maple syrup + 2-3 tablespoons
• 1 1/2 cups soy milk (or any plant based milk)
• 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
• 2-3 stalks rhubarb (enough to cover bottom of skillet)

Note. I baked this in a 10 inch cast iron skillet. If you don’t have one, a 9 inch circle or square pan will do the trick, you are just going to have to simmer the maple in a pot ans pour in into the pan you are using…and maker sure to grease it!

Preheat oven to 350.

Place the 2 tablespoons of earth balance and the 1/3 cup of maple into a 10 inch skillet and place on medium heat. Stir around until earth balance is melted and the maple starts to thicken. Remove from heat. Now grab rhubarb cut into pieces and layer it any way you see fit, making sure to cover the bottom of the skillet but not layering it in to thick.

In a large bowl mix together the flour corn meal, salt, baking soda and powder. Then In a separate bowl, mix together the apple cider vinegar, soy, melted and cooled earth balance and the remaining maple. Pour wet into dry ans mix until even;y incorporated.

Pour batter gently on top of rhubarb, leveling out if need be, then slide it on into the oven to bake for 25-30 minutes or until the cake is golden brown and a tester stuck into the middle come out clean.

Remove cake ans let cool for for about 10 minutes. This is really important,because flipping to soon and all the rhubarb maple will just absorb and soggy up the cake and if you wait to long, all that goodness willl harden up and get stuck. SO 10 minutes.

Now when your ready yo flip, think about size. I used a big cutting board that , but a plate would work to, just make sure it;s slightly bigger then the skillet. Then just do it flip and lift the skillet away. Any pieces that might have gotten stuck can be scraped off and placed back where they belong.

Now your cake is ready and waiting for you to eat. Sweet enough for dessert, not to sweet that you couldn’t serve it with dinner. Multi purpose cake.. the best kind!

I know what you are thinking, you are thinking “It’s Memorial Day weekend. Unofficial start of summer. Lots of BBQ’s now I have to make a potato salad!” (it’s a law right?) and “I want a pickle, dill to be specific”. Ok, maybe you weren’t thinking that, but I was. (I often think about pickles…)

Pickles. And potato salad. It only made sense to make a pickled potato salad. So make it I did. And oh boy oh boy, there is nothing better then a rich and creamy salad consisting of potatoes other then a rich and creamy and pickle tart salad of potatoes. I hit the nail right on the head with this one. The mr and I ate the entire salad all to ourselves and way to fast. Now it is gone and I didn’t get a chance to share with anyone. But it’s ok, cause this is definitely going into the summertime potato salad rotation.

Now you are thinking “creamy dill pickle potato salad.. this girl is a genius!” and to that, I say yes. I would have to agree with you on that. (hehe)

And to all who may not be a pickle fan, or need to make 2 potato salads, (it is always good to have a variety of potato dishes at any BBQ ) try this guacamole potato salad, another favorite.

The stuff. Potatoes of course and half a sweet onion, a cup or so of navy beans in the aquafaba ( bean water), left over pickle juice, fresh dill, dried dill, garlic, olive oil ,salt and a pepper.%u00a0

Yes there is a lemon pictured, but I was actually using that to squeeze into my water so yeah, not needed in the potato salad but you should grab a lemon and a big tall glass of water and drink it. Keep yourself hydrated.

Get the potatoes going. Chop them up into small piece and place into a big pot. Cover with cold water and add in a good bit of salt. Stick the pot on the stove and boil those taters.

While potatoes are boiling, strain the aquafaba (bean water) from the beans.

And chop the onion into little pieces and stick into a big bowl along with the strained (and now rinsed) beans.%u00a0 Pour in half the pickle juice and give it a good toss then set aside and let the pickle juice do it’s thing.

Now it’s the sauce time. Blend up aquafaba, garlic,%u00a0 dried dill, a little pickle juice and pinch of salt. As your blending, pour in olive oil until the sauce becomes rich and creamy dill sauce (vegan mayo my friends)

The potatoes are boiled until fork tender and drained..

Toss the strained potatoes back into the pot and add in the bean/ onion mix and the rest of the pickle juice. Give it all a good toss and stick the pot into the fridge for about an hour until the potatoes are cool.

And now we assemble. The cooled off pickle juice infused potatoes, beans, and onions are stuck into a bowl (or just leave in the pot if you want) and slathered with the creamy dill sauce and mixed with as much fresh dill as you want and lots of freshly cracked pepper

And a pickle. If you have one, I highly, HIGHLY, recommend chopping one up and adding it… I mean it is a pickled potato salad after all.

So now you have a great,%u00a0 fantastic, knock your socks off, salad to make for any of your weekend BBQ needs.

Your welcome.

Now have a great, extra long weekend!

-C

Serve 4-6

• 5-6 red potatoes
• 1 cup pickle juice (use a good pickle juice that you like the taste of)
• A small sweet yellow onion (or half a big one)
• 1 cup navy beans
• 3-4 tablespoons aquafaba (bean water)
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 2-3 cloves garlic
• 1 tablespoon dried dill
• a handful of fresh dill
• salt and pepper
• pickles (optional)

Chop up the potatoes into mouth little chunks ans place into a pot . Rinse them and them cover about with about an extra inch of cold water, Ad d in a a good sprnkle of salt (like a tablespoon) and stick on the stove. Bring the pot to a rapid boil then turn heat down a bit to a low boil and cook until the potatoes are fork tender.

While potatoes are boils, strain you beans away from the aquafaba, and keeping about 3-4 tablespoons of the liquid. Rinse the beans and place into a big bowl. Chop the onion into little pieces and add that in with the beans and about 1/2 of the pickle juice. Set aside

Now grab the strained bean juice, about a tablespoon of pickle juice, the garlic, and the dried dill,%u00a0 Either with a hand blender or regular blender, start blending all that together while slowly pouring in olive oil (about 1/2 a cup ) until the sauce is thick and creamy. Season with salt and pepper to taste and place in fridge to hang until you need it.

And once the potatoes are cooked, strain them then add them back to the pot along with the bean/onion mixture and the rest of the pickle juice. Toss around to coat evenly and place into the fridge to cool. After about a half hour its a good idea to give it a toss to make sure the juice is getting to all the potatoes.

Once potatoes are cooled, dump into a serving bowl. (or just keep in pot) It’s ok if there is a little remaining liquid.. it will get sucked up by the potatoes. Get the sauce from the fridge and pour it and toss it around to evenly coat all those yummy potatoes. Chop up fresh dill and toss that in too (as much fresh dill as you like.. more is better!) And lately, if you have a spare pickle or two, chop it up and add it on in (or place in a bowl on the side for people add in themselves)

I added the pickle. You should add the pickle. It is so good with the pickle

Like any potato salad, serve with your favorite foods and keep in the fridge when not being eaten.

Yesterday we had a few pieces of really log ass metal roofing delivered to the new house so we can finish the little side parts of the roof off. The funny thing is we ended up with way more wood then metal. The roofing is super light and flexible so it has to be strapped to a super long wooden structure. And it was perfect. The mr and I have pretty much finished the fence except for the gate from the driveway which sucks because we still can’t bring Washer over to play without it ans we pretty much fenced the yard in for him. But the long ass wooded palette things.. IT was perfect. Well a perfect for now solution. A Already constructed tall and long (too long, we had to cut it down) wooded wall that is now our temporary gate.What a score! And now the pup can spend all day long laying around outside and not getting into any neighborhood fights with the other dogs. And look at us making use of all the scraps. We are so awesome.

Ok, so besides our awesomeness and the new temp gate, let talk about this greenest freaking soup that there ever was. It is probably the best green soup that I have ever tasted. (I know,%u00a0 I have habit of proclaiming all of my soups as the best soup ever, mostly because they are.) It’s one of those soups that is super fast and so simple to make and is perfect for all the spring and summer time eating that will be going on. Eaten hot or cold and out of a bowl or a drank out of a glass. A soup for any time, any place. The mr even liked it and he says he doesn’t like peas. (but he so does). Who doesn’t like the best soup ever?

Now here is how to make it.

The stuff. A big bowl of fresh spinach and a bowl of peas (fresh or frozen.. mine were frozen) Also need an onion, a carrot, a few cloves or garlic, water, olive oil, and salt and pepper.

First thing first. Get the onion and carrot all nice and chopped up and tossed into a big pot with a drizzle of olive oil, a little splash of water,and salt and pepper. Stick that pot on the stove on medium high heat and start to cook cook.

Soften and yummy carrots and onion. I am not exactly sure if my carrots turned the onion orange or if my pot because it is so stained with turmeric that it turns everything yellow. Keep the pot on low heat and mince and stir in the garlic.

And for magic. The pot is sill on low and you are going to pile all the fresh spinach right on in to the pot. Add a few splashes of water and a lid and let it cook for a few minutes. And when you go back and remove the lid..Ca bang ! All the spinach is gone (not really, it just wilted).

It’s time for the peas and water to be added.The blender comes out and the soup gets blended until super smooth.

So green, so good.. This soup is all ready to go. But here is the thing, you can eat it at any temperature and it will be amazing so if you want to heat it up a little more, go for it. Cold soup shooters, just stick it in the fridge for a while and wait until its chilled. Or both. I ate a bowl warm then had cold soup for dessert.

And to finish, you must serve with fresh lemon and if you have it, a pretty little mint plant. I love the flavor of a little fresh mint added, but not all do. So mint if you like( it really is so good) but lemon in a must!

Enjoy all the green things!

-C

serves 3-4

• 2 cup peas (fresh or frozen.. I used frozen)
• 3 packed cups fresh spinach
• a few sprigs of fresh mint (optional)
• 3 cups water
• 1 small onion
• a carrot
• 3 cloves garlic
• 1 lemon
• olive oil
• salt and pepper

Small chop onion and carrot and toss into a big heavy bottom pot with a drizzle of olive oil and salt and pepper. Stick on stove on medium heat and cook until it becomes soft and fragrant. Now mince garlic and add that it too. Stir and cook for another minute or two then add in all the spinach and a splash of water. Place o lid on pot and let until cook until spinach is all wilted. (give it a stir to get it all cooked down). Once wilted, add the peas and the water. Stir all together and let simmer for a few minutes then remove from heat. Now blend the crap out of it until silky smooth.(use your blending device of choice).

And it’s done. You can either serve right away as a hot soup or sick it in the fridge and serve cold! Just remember that you need to serve it with cracked pepper, a squeeze of fresh lemon and some chopped up fresh mint(mint it optional but so good)

Eat with a spoon or forget the spoon and slurp out a a cup like the cool kids.

I eat a lot of hummus. Like a lot. Every day, all day long. (seriously, I am always snacking on veggies dipped in hummus) So I am sorry to all around me that my breath always smells.. (I blame all the garlic in the hummus.)

Recently, during a particularly browsey grocery shop, I ended up in the hummus case (I always end up there) and found a new hummus flavor.%u00a0 Pineapple jalapeno, WHAT.%u00a0 I grabbed it right then and there, convinced that hummus gods were rewarding me for all of my hummus eating and have made me my very own flavor.

Got home, tossed all the groceries into the fridge and busted open the new hummus, a bag of carrots, and went at it. Oh man, it was good.(to often the store bought hummus flavors are not so great) The flavors were all there, sweet and spicy, and creamy.%u00a0 It was fantastic, I ate almost all of it and I knew I had to make my own.

And I did and you know what, it was even freaking better! (Fresh it the best!)

So If you are a hummus person of any kind, this is a fantastic exciting flavor that will make you all sorts of happy.

The stuff for the hummus:%u00a0 chickpeas, tahini, olive oil, garlic, and salt and pepper. And for flavor add ins,%u00a0 fresh pineapple and a jalapeno pepper.

Chickpeas (rinsed and drained) go into the food processor with some tahini, the juice of the lemon and salt and pepper.. The garlic I actually pulsed in the processor first (to avoid big raw hunks) and some olive oil are also going in on this.

Blended until a smooth, creamy perfection.

Now for the fun stuff. Dice up the pineapple and remove seeds (or not) from the jalapeno and dice that up too

Toss it all (minus a few little pieces of garnish if you want) into that creamy dreamy hummus.

Pulse pulse pulse until the chunks of stuff are all incorporated . Make it super chunky or super smooth, up to you. I like mine kinda chunky, but not too chunky, if you know what I mean.

Into a big bowl, topped with a few little diced up pieces of jalapeno and pineapple, you know, for prettiness. And lots of cracked pepper.. Lots.

Now eat. With whatever ( I like veggies or just give me a spoon, Ican eat hummus all by itself)

Hummus for life!

-C

Makes about 2 1/2cups

• 2 1/2 cups cooked chickpeas (one can)
• 2-3 cloves garlic
• 2 tablespoons tahini
• 1 lemon
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 3/4 cup fresh pineapple
• 1-2 jalapenos
• salt and pepper

Rinsed and drain chickpeas. Add garlic and a little olive oil to the food processor and pulse until the garlic is a little minced. Add in the drained chickpeas,%u00a0 tahini, a sprinkle of salt ans pepper, the juice of the lemon and another tablespoon of olive oil and blend until smooth.

Dice up pineapple into smaller chunks and remove seeds (if you want) from the jalapeno and chop that into smaller pieces . Add to the hummus and pulse until combined. You can leave it chunky or blend until smooth. Just stop blending when you reach you desired consistency . Garnish with more chopped pineapple and jalapeno and lots of freshly ground pepper.

Serve with whatever you eat your hummus with.

Store left over (there probably won’t be any) in a container in the fridge.

Every year I play this game with myself.. Is it allergies or am I sick. The past few days I have been feeling kinda crappy, waking up with itchy, gunky eyes. My throat hurts, my head is like a balloon, and I am just feeling beat..%u00a0

I think it’s that I am sick (because I don’t want to have allergies) but whatever it is, it sucks, but usually goes away after a week (like every year because its really allergies). Blah.

But enough about my balloon head, lets talk these maple banana walnut oat squares. These yummy gems of the oat square world are just what you need in your life. Healthy, protein packed, nutty, and a touch sweet. No junk, just good stuff all made with little to no effort. If you like banana bread, you will be all into them. I was inspired to make these by the extremely ripe bananas that need to be eaten asap and the mr’s lack of eating a healthy breakfast (I want him to eat, and I want it be oatmeal). I know him well enough that if I make a snack like thing and leave it out to eat, that he will eat it. For breakfast.

So weather or not you are looking for a good way to get in some good stuff into your tummy or just want some good tasting stuff in your mouth, this is the breakfast/dessert for you.

The stuff. A couple of ripe bananas, a bunch of rolled oats, some yummy walnuts, real maple syrup, cinnamon, baking soda and a wee bit of water.

Start with the walnuts in a food processor. Turn it on and process until….

You got this walnut butter. Do not eat it, it’s for the squares (it is so good).

Add in the oats, cinnamon and baking soda and turn the processor back on until you get a nice unified crumbly mixture.

Now in goes the bananas and the maple syrup. And you guessed it, blend some more. While you are blending, if the mixture seems to dry, add in a splash of water, to wet, just toss in another handful of oat. The mixture should be like a muffin batter consistency.

And that’s it. If you want some nut chunks, add in a handful more of walnuts (do it) and pulse just to get them mixed into batter.

Then pourthe mixture into a well greased 9×9 baking pan and spread out evenly. Toss those suckers into the oven to bake.

Oh so good bananas give off the best smell when baking. After about a 1/2hour, these bars are nice and golden brown and a fork stuck in the center comes out clean, which means, they are done.

Cut into square , eat one or two, and save the rest. Eat for breakfast, as a snack, or for dessert. And a smear of peanut butter on top is aces too!

Later dudes.

-C

• 3 cups old fashion rolled oats (gluten free ones to keep in GF)
• 1 cup plus a a small handful walnuts
• 1/2 cup maple syrup
• 2 rip bananas
• 1 /2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon (optional)

Place 1 cup of walnuts into a food processor and blend until it turns into walnut butter.. about 3 minutes. Add in the oats and blend together until it becomes a crumbly mixture. Add in the maple, baking soda, cinnamon and the bananas (break into chunks) and blend until incorporated. If the mixture seems lie its too dry, add in a splash of water, and if to wet, add in another handful of oats. The batter should resemble a muffin batter.%u00a0 Once blended, mix in the remaining walnuts and pulse just to mix them in.

Pour mixture into a well greased 9×9 baking pan and stick into the fridge for 10ish minutes and preheat oven 350

And after the time in the fridge, remove the pan and slide them into the oven. Bake until golden brown and a tester stuck into te middle comes out clean. (about 30 minutes)

Remove and let cool. Pop out of pan, cut into square, and eat to you face.

Squares will last 3-4 days in a airtight container or freeze them and they will last until you eat them.

Pot pies. I grew up on them. But not real pot pies, no, it was those little frozen, single serve, terribly terrible nasty things. Yup. All you needed to do was turn on the oven or better yet, open the microwave, poke a few holes in the frozen pie, and 10 minutes later, food. The ultimate in afterschool snacks. Oh those days. What the heck was I thinking? But my best or, most vivid memory of those pies was when I was like 10 and was stabbing one of those frozen pot pies with a very sharp knife (again, the directions stated to add a vent hole) that went threw said pie and right into the palm of my hand. I remember screaming, blood everywhere, and thinking I just cut my hand off. Luckly, it was just a big gash and the knife didn%u2019t go all the way threw my hand so that was good. And I think that was the last time I made a pot pie. Ha.

This pot pie is nothing like those pot pies. First off, it is not frozen which is good because you won%u2019t accidentally stab a hole into your and. Secondly, it is not nasty. And third, it is freaking awesome. There are other things that make them vastly different, but you get the idea. This pot pie is full of good veggies and tofu that are nicely spiced with a creamy oat sauce that is alll wrapped up in a easy hot water pastry crust. Everything and more a real pot pie should be. Sure, it is definitely not as quick and easy as opening a cardboard box, stabbing, and tossing the contents into the microwave but screw that, we are here for the good stuff.

To the pot pie!

The stuff. Tofu, an onion, a couple carrots and a couple mushrooms, some frozen pies, garlic, oats, spicy mustard, and spices. Also salt and pepper, oil, flour, and some boiling water.

Start with the tofu. Grab a skillet, add a dash of oil and set o the stove on median heat. Cut the tofu into small cubs and pat as much of the liquid out as you can. Place tofu into skillet, sprinkle with a little salt, and let cook.

Whle tofu is cooking, cut up veggies into small, not tiny, pieces. And mince the garlic too.

Remove tofu from skillet and place into a bowl. Add all the veggies you just cut up into the skillet along with the spices and another pinch of slat ans lots of pepper. Keep on heat and cook.

While veggies are cooking, place water and oats into blender and blend until smooth. Making oat milk to thicken the whole shebang.

Once the veggies start to soften just a bit, add the tofu back in and add the mustard too. Then dump in the oat mixture you just blend up. Mix it al up and cook for a until it just start to thicken.

Now add in frozen peas, mix, and remove from heat. Set aside. It%u2019s now time to make the crust.

FLour, hot oil, boil water and salt.

Add all the stuff together and mix until dough forms.

Dump hot dough onto counter and kneed for a minute of two. It shouldn%u2019t be too hot to handle, but if it is, just wait a minute.

Once kneaded and unicorn. cut 2/3 of dough off and roll out about 1/8 inch thick either on a piece of parchment or a splat mat. IT is way, way easier to deal with then trying to roll it directly on the counter.

Place rolled out dough into spring form pan. It is going to rip and tear but guess what, no big deal. Just mush and patch the holes. That is the beauty of hot water crust. Once crust is all nice and uniform and all in the pan, dump in the filling.

Place top on, seal it up, add some vent hole and make a few little hearts with any scraps you have (only if you want too!) Now into the oven this baby goes, about and hour, until a nice golden brown.

Done and beautiful and yeah, it sprang a little leak, but thats quite all right with me.

Remove he spring form. And probably do it on a pan. Any little leaks will well, leak out a bit. But again, it%u2019s all good.

And now all you heave to do is eat it.

A pot pie in all its glory!

-C

makes one 8 inch, 2 inch deep, pie

For the filling

• 1 medium sized yellow onion

• a few white button mushrooms (about a 1/2 cup diced)

• 1/2 cup frozen peas

• 2 small carrots

• 1/2 block (8oz) firm tofu

• 1 teaspoon each thyme, dill, rosemary, and ground ginger

• 2-3 cloves garlic

• 2 heaping tablespoons spicy brown or dijon mustard

• 1/4 cup old fashion oats

• 1 1/2 cups water

• salt and pepper

• a splash of oil

For Hot Water Crust

• 1 3/4 cups flour

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 1/3 cup coconut oil,warmed

• 1/3 cup neutral oil,warmed

• 1/3 cup boiling water

Before you start cooking know that you need to make the filling first and can even make it ahead of time. The crust needs to be used right away so don%u2019t make that in advance!

Start with tofu. Cut into small 1/2 inch cubes then press as much liquid out as you can. Place a drop of oil into a large skillet and turn onto medium heat. Drop in cubed tofu and sprinkle with a pinch of salt. Cook until browned.

While tofu cooks, dice up carrots, onion, and mushrooms. Mince the garlic. Once the tofu is browned, dump it in a bowl then add the veggies and garlic to the skillet. Also add in all the spices and another good pinch of salt and lots of pepper. Stir and then cook until veggies are slightly tender.

While veggies cook, place the oats and 1 1/2 cups water into blender and blend until smooth.

And after the veggies are slightly soften, add the tofu back in, along with the mustard and the oat mixture. Stir it all around and keep on medium heat for another few minutes until the oat milk just starts to thicken. Add in the frozen peas, stir, then remove from heat. Give it a taste and season with more salt and pepper if needed.

Preheat oven to 375

Now for the crust. Place flour and salt in a big bowl and mix. Then add in warm oil (either heat on stove or in microwave) and boiling hot water. Mix unit it all comes together. Dump dough onto counter and knead for couple minutes until dough is uniform and smooth.

Cut 2/3 of the dough off and roll out in between parchment paper or on a splat mat to about 1/8 inch thick. Place into a spring form pan. It%u2019s going to fall apart a bit but that is ok, just mush and patch up all the rips and tears so there are no holes. This dough is like play dough, very easy to manipulate. Once bottom crust is in, dump in the filling. Take the remaining dough and roll out the same way you did bottom and place on top. Seal the bottom and top crust by pinching it together. You want to try and avoid any holes so the filling doesn%u2019t leak out. Once the crust is sealed, cut a little vent hole into the middle of the top then place pie into oven. Bake for an 60 -70 minutes or until crust is a nice golden brown.

Once baked, remove from oven and let cook for a few minutes. Then remove from pan by place pie on something like a bowl or cup that fits underneath the bottom of pan. Unlock the pan and slip ring down while the pie stays perched on cup. You can even pop the bottom of pan off if you feel like you can, but I say, why risk it. That is up to you. And sure, the pie might have sprung a little leak, but that is very much ok.

Now basically all you need to do is eat it so place pie on a big plate, grab a knife, and fork, and cut yourself a big ass piece of pot pie.

Leftovers store great in the fridge for a few days.

I have been on a good long kick here with eating oats at night for my after dinner snack. Just about every night after cleaning up the dinner dishes, sweeping the floors, going for a nice after dinner walk with the mr, I come home, put the hot water on, grab my oats, my peanut flour, and sometimes a banana. As soon as the water boils I mash up some banana (if using), add in some oats, pour in some boiling water, and let them sit. I also pour a huge jar of tea then plop my butt down at the counter to do any brain tasks that need doing like checking the email, left over billing things, maybe check the old phone for the first time in hours%u2026 After about 5 minutes of that, I stop brain tasks because I just can%u2019t, grab oats, and dump in a few big ass tablespoons of peanut flour and cinnamon and give it a good stir. Voila, snack time. A delicious, nutritious, tummy filling and easy dish that is full of all sorts of things that my body needs. I grab a spoon, my tea, and open my book. For sure one of my favorite times of day.

Now lets talk about peanut flour. I have been eating peanut flour for a few years now. Not to confuse with powered peanut butter which is basically peanut flour but usually with added sugar and salt. Peanut flour is just peanuts, with the oil pressed out and then ground up into a super fine flour. And not a flour is the typical sense. Like you can%u2019t make bread with it, but you could add it to bread. You can also use it to thicken things like soups or sauces up. Or add it to smoothies, make a cake frosting with it , or just mix it with a little water and eat it with a spoon. It is delicious and amazing and full of protein without all the added fat and high calorie content. I started to add it to foods because of the protein but now I just eat it all the time because I freaking love the stuff. (Another favorite way to eat it is cut up carrot sticks tossed in the flour%u2026 SO GOOD!) Anyway, truth be told, it is not the most widely available stuff. I have only seen it in a few store over the years, so I have been buying it online. But recently someone told me that Trader Joes is selling it now (I haven%u2019t checked yet) so I figured now is a good time to share the greatness of the flour and how you might want to use it.

Anyway, these oats here are my favorite way to eat oats. Warm and creamy, but not cooked and gruel like. They are like a cross between stove top oats and overnight oats except they take all of 5 minutes to make and you don%u2019t need to dirty a pot. Then mixed with banana for extra sweetness and flavor, the peanut flour for all the peanut butter taste and protein. These oats are unstoppable.%u00a0 Delicious and nutritious for breakfast, lunch, snack time, or dessert, these oats are all win win. Add another win just because. Win, Win, WIN!

Now to the oats!

The stuff. Old fashion oats, a small banana, peanut flour, cinnamon, and boiling hot water.

Mash up the banana until smoothish then add in half the hot water and mix. Dump in the oats and mix those too.

Top with the rest of the boiling water and let sit for about 5 minutes.

After the oats absorbed the hot banana water, dump on the cinnamon and the peanut butter flour and mix in.

Grab yourself a spoon friend.

Eat.

-C

Makes 1 serving. Can be halved for smaller portion

• 1 small banana

• 1/2 cup old fashion oats

• 2 (or more if you want) tablespoons peanut flour

• 1 teaspoon cinnamon (optional)

• 1 cup boiling water

Place peeled banana in a bowl and mash with a fork unit smooth. Add in half the boiling water and mix.. Dump in oats and mix until incorporated then add in the rest of the hot water. Let sit for 5 minutes until oats absorb all the water. Stir in peanut flour and cinnamon. Eat.

It%u2019s been 14 days since my last farm share pick up with 7 more days to go. (The farmers take a long break at the end of the year, which they all deserve but makes me sad. Or more like hungry.) It is a pretty long stretch for me to have to go without getting me some farm fresh goods. I have been making due, rationing out my roots (the greens were gone within days) and supplementing with lots and lots of frozen zucchini, Swiss chard, and broccoli, so it hasn%u2019t been bad. But now I am worried because with al the supplementing, the chest freezer is looking a little more on the empty side then I would like. And it%u2019s only January. I guess that is what happens when you eat your weight in vegetables everyday. %ud83e%udd37%u200d%u2640%ufe0f

Anyway, I am pretty much out of roots. The turnips were the last of what I had left besides the lone beet that I found stuffed in with the apples. And because they were the last roots and knowing I am not going to have any roots until next week, I wanted to do something a little special with them. That is why I hassledbacked them, which basically means I sliced them up without cutting completely through so they are cut but still stuck together. Does that make since? If not, just look at the pictures.

These turnips, oh these turnips. First off, roasted turnips are amazingly delicious and if you have never roasted one, well you need to get on it and do so. Secondly, the turnips I used are gIlfeather, which if you did not already know, are the Vermont state vegetable. But don%u2019t worry, if you can%u2019t find the gilfeather, regular old purple top turnips work and taste just as fantastic because all roasted turnips are so fantatic. When roasted I might describe them as the cooler, hipper, cousin of the baked potato. Add the avocado cream and seeds, which are the cooler friends of the cooler cousin, and you got yourself a cool dude party! Or basically just a way tastier baked potato situation with fixing.

Now don%u2019t you want a tasty cool hassledback turnip? And yes, I keep wanting to call them David hasselbacks turnips too. Because they are so cool. Am I right? Haha!

To the turnips!

The stuff. Turnip. Either a couple smaller ones or a giant one, up to you. Also need an avocado, a little red wine vinegar and water, salt and pepper, garlic powder, olive oil, and some toasted seeds (if you want).

If using a giant turnip, cut in half. If using small ones, you can cut those in half too or leave them whole. Up to you.

Now to hasselback. Using two guides that are the same thickness (chopsticks or chip clips.. whatever you have lying around that you don%u2019t mind nicking with a knife) slice into the turnip about ever 1/4 inch, right down to the guide, but not all the way through.

Lightly oil a skillet or baking sheet and also rub a little oil all over the turnips and lay them hasselbacked side up. Sprinkle with salt, pepper, and a pinch of garlic powder. Then into a hot ass oven they go.

While the turnips are roasting , make up the avocado cream. Basic, just scoop avocado into bowl (if you have a stick blender) or blender, add in a pinch of salt, the water and vinegar, and blend until smooth.

And back to the turnips. Baked for a little longer then an hour and flipped once, now they are all roasted and crispy and all sorts of ready.

A freshly roasted hasseldbacked turnip smothered in avocado cream and sprinkle with toasted seeds.. Good things here friends. Good things.

-C

serves 2-4

• 1 large or 2 small turnips

• salt and pepper

• olive oil

• pinch or garlic powder

• an avocado

• 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar

• 1 tablespoon water

• handful of toasted mixed seeds (I used pumpkin and sunflower seeds)

Preheat oven to 450

Grab turnip(s) and wash thoughtful. If you buy the turnip from the store and it has a wax coating, peel the outer skin, otherwise, you don%u2019t have to. Now to haseslback. Cut the large turnip in half or if using to small ones, you can just leave it whole. Take two, either chopsticks or something that is about 1/4 – 1/2 inch thick, and place on either side of turnip to use as a cutting guid. Slice the turnip about ever 1/4 inch , right down to the guide, but not all the way through. After cutting, place on a lightly oiled skillet or baking sheet and drizzle a little oil in our hand and rub all over. Sprinkle with salt, pepper, and a pinch or garlic powder. Place the turnips in hot oven. Roasts for about an hour, or until the slices of the turnip start to brown and come apart. Also, if you want a little more crispy edge, half way through, drizzle on a little more oil. You can also flip (which I did) the turnip cut side down to finish roasting.

While turnips are roasting, make avocado puree. Scoop avocado into bowl or blender. Add in the water, vinegar, and a pinch or salt. Blend in blender or with stick blender until smooth. If to thick, drizzle in a little more water until desired consistency.

Once cooked and all crispy like, remove turnips from oven, place on a plate and slather on the avocado cream. Sprinkle on toasted seeds and eat to your face hole.

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%u2019s up with dinner rolls? Do people eat them all year round, like on a Tuesday in the middle of March or maybe a nice blue sky sunny day in July? Is that a weird question? But seriously, think about it. Dinner rolls, at least in my world of people, are pretty much only eaten in and around Thanksgiving and Christmas. Huh. Kind of strange seeing that dinner rolls are bread which everyone eats all the time and are basically made specifically for dinner (although can and should be eaten for breakfast and lunch as well) which most people eat. Every. Single. Day. Well, whatever the reason, it%u2019s weird. So yes, I am making these here dinner rolls now at the traditional holiday time but I think as of now, I am going to start making them all the time. It%u2019s going to be my new thing. Fourth of July dinner rolls. Yup.

And so yes, we need dinner rolls right now for the holiday food feasts and these dinner rolls are the perfect accompaniment to any and all dinners. They are nice and fluffy and all dinner roll like, just as any good roll should be, but also slightly more nutty and soft and healthy because oats and wheat flour and homemade which is always the best.

And if you are like, hell yes I am a dinner roll person and hell no I am sticking to store bought cause that is that and how it%u2019s done, well hey, no judgment here. I made these for my people for our family Thanksgiving, (which is happening today at my house. There are going be so many people) and I know that everyone will love and be happy to eat them, but I too also bought some of those super white, take and bake ones that I know if I don%u2019t have on the table next to these gorgeous and amazing rolls, that I will probably get punched in the face. So we will have both. And then at dinner I can bask in the glory of all the comments about how much better my rolls are then the store bought ones. (Secretly why I am having both. Fishing for compliments. HAHA!)

Now to those soft and fluffy dinner rolls!

The stuff. Old fashion oats, all purpose and white whole wheat flour, yeast, oil, water (hot and room temperature), maple syrup, and salt.

First, take the boiling water and pour it over the oats. Mix them and let them soak and cool for 10 or so minutes.

While oats are soaking, add the room temp water to a big bowl with the yeast. Once the oats are soft and cooled off a bit, add them to the yeast mixture along with the oil, and maple. Mix together. The add the flours and mix until combined.

Dump dough onto a floured surface and knead for about 3-5 minutes, adding a little more four as needed to keep from being to sticky, but don%u2019t over flour. The dough is and should be a little tacky.

Soft and supple. Kneaded and ready.

Place the dough back into the bowl and cover with a damp towel. Leave alone and let rise for about an hour or until it doubles in size.

Once the dough doubles, dump out onto a lightly floured surface and cut into 12-16 equal sized pieces .

Roll each roll into a roll shape and place them in a lightly greased baking dish. Cover for another 15-20 minutes to let rest and rise a little more.

Rolls risen again, just a little plumper. And now right before you place them in the oven, brush tops with a maple/water mixture and sprinkle with a few oats. To look pretty. And into the oven they go, 30ish minutes, until nice and golden brown.

Baked to golden dinner roll perfection.

And there you have it. Soft and fluffy dinner rolls. Warm out of the oven, looking and smelling like all the good things that you want and need.

And can, and should, be made now and all year round.

-C

makes 12-16 rolls

• 1 1/2 cups old fashion oats

• 2 cups all purpose flour plus more for kneading

• 1 1/2 cups white whole wheat flour

• 2 cups boiling water

• 1 cup room tempature water plus 2 tablespoons for brushing tops

• 2 teaspoons salt

• 2 tablespoons maple or honey

• 2 teaspoons yeast

• 1/4 cup neutral oil

In a bowl, mix oats with boil water and let sit and soak for about 10 minutes. In the meantime, in a large bowl, mix the room temp water with the yeast and 1 tablespoon of maple and mix. Once oats have soaked and cooled to a point that they are not super hot, but still just warm, mix them in with the yeast mixture. Add the salt and oil and mix then and both the white and white wheat flour. Mix until combined. The dough is going to be sticky, but that how is should be. Dump the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 3-5 minutes, adding a little flour as needed to keep from sticking too much, until dough is nice and uniformed in texture. Place dough back into big bowl (after you clean it out and lily oil it) and cover with a damp towel. Place somewhere warm for about an hour until it doubles in size.

Once dough has doubled, dump out onto a lightly floured surface and with a knife of dough cutter, cut into 12- 16 equal sized pieces. Roll each piece into a ball, pinching any ends together and place them into a 9×13 inch baking pan. Once all pieces are in, over and let rest for another 15 minutes.

While dough is resting again, preheat oven to 350.

After the dough has rested, and right before you place them in the oven, mix 1tablespoon of maple with about 2 tablespoons warm water and brush the tops of the rolls. Sprinkle with a handful of oats and then place them into the oven to bake. 30-35 minutes, until they are a nice golden brown.

Once baked remove from oven and let cool to a reasonable temperature and serve.

These can certainly be made a few days ahead of time of eating. Just remove baked rolls from pan and let cool completely then place the into an airtight bag. To reheat, just place on a baking sheet and stick in a hot oven until warm.

Let us talk about how winter squash is like one of the best foods ever. Seriously. Hardy, creamy, rich, and full of the nutty, sweet flavors of all the good things. How anyone says they don%u2019t like winter squash is beyond me. I sometimes even feel like I put myself in danger of exploding when I am around enough cooked squash. I can eat and eat it until it%u2019s gone, which is fine if it%u2019s a serving or two, but when you roast up a 10 pound butternut, well, that is when the danger is real. I am getting better at holding back, but man, sometimes I just can’t (or don%u2019t want to?) help myself. ( You might also wonder why I cook 10 pounds of squash at a time. It%u2019s because I will eat it all in a few days and I might as well cook a bunch at once, for efficiency sake.)

Now the delicata squah. If you haven%u2019t had it before, stop what you are doing and go get one. You need to try it because it is amazing. Sweet, nutty, creamy. So good! And another good thing is that they are not giant, so you can buy one and eat the whole thing and not worry about overeating until you can%u2019t move, unless that is the goal. In that case, just buy a bunch. HA.

Anyway, it%u2019s getting to that time of year where salad is still great, it is just great warm. And with winter squash. Don%u2019t you agree? So we cook up the squash, grab the kale and make one heck of a salad to eat all to your face. Because that is what will happen. You will make it , taste it, and not want to share it. It is too good to share. (Yes salads can be too good to share, so if you are planning on feeding others, plan accordingly)

To the salad!

The stuff. Kale, a delicata squash, red onion, some balsamic vinegar, a touch of maple, spicy brown mustard, a handful of toasted seeds, and salt and pepper.

Start with the squash. Cut it in half and scoop seeds from booth sides (these seeds are great roasted). After deseeded, cut both pieces into 1/4-1/2 inch thick rounds. And NO!!!!, do not peel the skin.

Grab the onion and cut into 1/4 inch rounds too.

Place the squash on a very lightly oiled baking sheet so the pieces are not overlapping each other. Then toss on the onion which is fine if it overlaps. Sprinkle with a pinch of salt and lots of cracked pepper and pop into a hot oven.

In the meantime, mix the dressing situation together. Mustard, maple, and balsamic in a jar, mix and done.

Chop the kale too. Into mouth sized pieces.

Once squash is cooked all nice and tender, remove pan from oven. Take all the kale and toss on top then take the dressing and drizzle it all over the kale. Pop the pan back into the oven for a minutes or two, just until the kale starts to ever so slightly wilt.

Pull the pan back out and give it a good toss.

Dump it all into a big bowl, toss in the toasted seeds, and call it. Now grab a fork and start eating.

-C

Can be a main dish for 1 or a side for a few

• 1 delicata squash

• 1 bunch of kale (around 3/4 pound)

• 1 smallish red onion

• 3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

• 1 -2 teaspoons maple syrup (more for a slightly sweeter, maple-y flavor)

• 2 tablespoons brown or dijon mustard

• 1/4 cup toasted seeds of choice (I used pumpkin and sunflower)

Preheat oven to 400

Cut delicata squash in half and scoop out all the seeds (you can save seeds to toast up later if you want), then slice the squash into 1/4 – 1/2 inch thick rounds. Grab onion and cut into thin slices. Take onion and squash and place them onto a very lightly oiled baking sheet and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Don%u2019t let the squash overlap, but it is fine for the onion to overlap the squash and itself. Pop the pan into the oven and bake until the squash starts to brown and is fork tender, which should take about 10-15 minutes.

In the meantime, chop kale into small mouth sized pieces and set aside. And mix the balsamic, mustard, and maple together to create the dressing.

Once the squash and onions are cooked, toss the kale onto the pan and drizzle the whole thing with the balsamic mixture. Toss it all around and pop pan back into oven for another minute or two, just to let kale get a touch wilted.

Remove pan from oven, dump everything from pan onto a plate, and toss in the toasted seeds.

Grab a fork. Eat.

If you are a falafel fan, as I am, then this one is for you. Carrot ginger falafel. Oh yes. Warm and spicy and carroty and all the things that are good, packed into a chickpea ball of mouth sized proportions. When I thought of it it sounded good, When I made it and ate it, it was everything and more I could have asked for in a freaking fantastic falafel. As for the tahini cabbage slaw, I might just be making it in my house every dang day. Super easy, super tasty, goes with the falafel like whoa but is just as good eaten on it%u2019s own. Eaten together the pair make every inch of mouth space happy. A happy mouth space, what more can you ask for?

To the falafel!

The stuff. Cooked chickpeas, carrots, a piece of fresh ginger, tahini, soy sauce, cabbage, an onion, a few cloves of garlic, red wine vinegar, some cumin and red pepper flakes, a lemon, chickpea flour, salt and pepper, and oil.

Start off by chopping the carrots into small pieces. Then cut half of the onion into small pieces. Rough chop the garlic and the ginger as well. No need to peel ginger unless you really want to.

Place it all into food processor and pulse until a small crumble.

Carrot onion garlic ginger mixture.

Dump mixture into a skillet with a splash of water. Add in the cumin, chili flakes, and a good pinch of salt and pepper and cook on the stove for 5-8 minutes until the crumble softens and becomes fragrant.

Dump carrot ginger mixture back into food processor along with the chickpeas, chickpea flour, and the juice of the lemon. Puree until smooth.

Carrot ginger falafel mixture. Now stick it in the fridge. For a little while to a day, just to let it set up a bit.

And in the mean time you can make the slaw. Shred cabbage and cut up onion all nice and thin.

Dump tahini, soy, vinegar, and a few tablespoons warm water into bowl and mix until creamy and good.

Toss in that cabbage and onion. Now you have tahini cabbage slaw.

Now to cook falafel. Grab the batter, scoop into balls then smoosh into disks. Place in a light oiled skillet and brown each side a nice golden brown.

After browning, place on a baking sheet. Once all the falafel has been browned, place the baking sheet into the oven to finish up cooking. 20 minutes or so and you got yourself falafel.

Then eat it. Falafel topped with tahini cabbage slaw. That is how it%u2019s done, with or without wraps or pitas or whatever your want. Just as it is. Falafel, cabbage slaw, into mouth.

Good things friend.

-C

serves 3-4 people or makes 14-16 falafel balls

• For the falafel

• 2 cups cooked chickpeas drained

• 3-4 carrots (around 2 cups diced)

• 1/2 of a red onion

• 2 inches fresh ginger

• 2-3 cloves garlic

• 1 teaspoon cumin

• 1/2 teaspoon chili flakes

• 1/3 cup chickpea flour (can sub in oat flour if needed)

• juice of a small lemon

• salt and pepper

• For Tahini Cabbage Slaw

• 1/2 head red or green cabbage (about 3 cups shredded)

• 1/2 of a red onion

• 3 tablespoon tahini

• 1 tablespoon soy or liquid aminos

• 2 tablespoon red wine vinegar

• a few tablespoons warm water

Grab carrots and red onion. Chop carrots into small chunks and cut onion in half. Cut one half into chunks. Place in food processor. Take the ginger and cut into small chunks (you don%u2019t need to peel it) and peel and slice garlic and cut into small pieces. Add that to the food processor. Pulse the mixture into a very small crumble then dump the mixture into a skillet with a splash of water. Add in the cumin, chili flakes, and a good pinch of salt and lots of pepper, and place on medium heat and cook for 5-8 minutes until soft and fragrant. Once cooked, scoop back into food processor along with the chickpeas, chickpea flour, and the juice of the lemon. Turn on and and puree until smooth, stopping when needed to scrap down the side. Then either dump mixture into a bowl or leave in the container you processed it in and place in fridge for 1/2 hour to a day.

When ready to cook, preheat oven to 400.

After letting the dough sit for a bit, remove from fridge. Grab skillet and lightly oil it and place on medium heat. Take a cookie scoop or just a spoon and scoop balls of falafel into your hand and roll them around so they are packed together. Smoosh then balls a little into disks and place into hot skillet. Let cook until bottom is golden brown then gently flip and cook the other side until browned. Place cooked falafel on a baking sheet. Once you have browned all the falafel, place into oven to bake for about 20 minutes or until the falafel has firmed up to your liking.

To make the tahini cabbage slaw. Shred cabbage and cut the remaining half of red onion into thin pieces. Place tahini, soy, vinegar, and 2 tablespoons warm water into a big bowl. Mix together until light and creamy. If the mixture seems to thick, add another tablespoon of warm water. When happy with consistency, add in the cabbage and onion and toss around until everything is coated.

Now when the slaw is made, the falafel is cooked, you eat it. Serve with warm pita or wraps or a bed of greens or nothing. Just slaw on top of falafel. And FYI, this whole shebang can be eaten hot or cold or anywhere in between.

I love me some falafel. I love me some peppers. So I guess it is natural that I would want to stuff falafel inside of peppers and eat them all to my face right? I think so.

As we all already know, most of what I cook is depicted by whatever I get at farm share. And the past few weeks we have been getting a lot of peppers. I have been happily eating one or two a day, just as they are, but I figured it was time that I did something else with them. Now what is the first thing that comes to mind with peppers? Stuffed peppers of course. And there you have it, falafel stuffed peppers.

So I am not going to lie and say the mr ate them and swooned. He is not the biggest fan of peppers (I am starting to realize that he doesn%u2019t have all the right taste buds in his mouth. So sad for him.) so he dumped the falafel out of the pepper and ate it with most of the pickled onions, the tahini, and rice. That he really liked. Lucky me, I wanted his pepper anyway because roasted peppers are freaking fantastic amazing and whatever him. Me, as a pepper and falafel lover, I found these stuffed peppers to be everything that I wanted and needed and then some. Eaten pretty much right away warm, with pickled onion and covered in all the tahini, it was a very very satisfying meal. But also a left over stuffed pepper that was stuck in the fridge, eaten cold standing in front of said fridge, right before bed. That was something great as well. I might have even gone in for a second one%u2026%u2026

Anyway, a pepper stuffed with falafel is a good idea if you want food, like peppers, like falafel, and are cool. Just saying.

To the falafel stuffed peppers!

The stuff. A few sweet peppers, some cooked chickpeas, chickpea flour, an onion, a bunch of fresh cilantro and parsley, a few cloves of garlic, red wine vinegar, a little water, tahini, cumin, chili pepper flakes, and salt and pepper.

First, take the onion and cut in half. Take one half and cut into very thin slices, place in a bowl, sprinkle with a pinch of salt and toss with the vinegar and a few tablespoons of water. Set that bowl aside. The other half of onion just cut into a few smaller chunks.

To make falafel. Add the chunks of onion and garlic to food processor and pules a few times to start chopping it up. Add in the cilantro and parsley, the chickpeas and chickpea flour, the cumin and chili pepper flakes, and a good few pinches of salt and lots of pepper. Pulse until completely combined but still a bit chunky. OR pulse until smooth if you would rather it like that. It%u2019s up to you.

Grab peppers and cut each in half. Remove the ribs ad the seeds.

Take falafel mix and stuff it into peppers.

Place peppers onto a baking sheet and into the oven they go.

In the meantime while the peppers are cooking, toss the onions around in the brine a few times. Then right before you take the peppers from the oven, drain the brine from the onions into a jar with the tahini and mix until smooth. Add a splash of water to the mix if you need to loosen it up a bit more to make the consistency of the tahini drizzle-able.

And out they come when all roasted and crispy and my oh my, so good!

Now you eat. Garb a bowl, maybe a grain of some sort if you like (I made the mr rice), plop a pepper down, add some pickled onions and drizzle that tahini all over.

Eat.

-C

Makes 6 half peppers stuffed

• 3 medium sized sweet peppers

• 2 cups cooked and drained chickpeas (or one can)

• 1 large onion

• 1 bunch (about 1/2 cup packed) cilantro

• 1 bunch (about 1/2 cup packed parley

• 2-3 cloves garlic

• 2 teaspoons cumin

• 1 teaspoon chili peper flakes

• 1/3 cup chickpea flour or oat flour if you don%u2019t have chickpea

• salt and pepper

• 1/4 cup tahini

• a few tablespoons water

• 3 tablespoon red wine vinegar

Preheat oven to 425

Grab the onion and cut in half. Take one half and cut into very thin slices and place in a bowl. Spinkle with a pinch of salt and dump in the vinegar along with about 2 tablespoon water. Toss around until all the onion is coated and set aside.

Take remaining half onion and cut into big chunks. Toss into a food processor along with the garlic and pulse a few times until the onion is chopped up. Add in the cilantro, parsley, chickpeas, chickpea flour, cumin, chili pepper flakes, and a good pinch of salt and lots of pepper. Pulse the hole shebang until the mixture is combined, the herbs are incropeted, but there is a little chunk left. Or you could make it smooth if you wanted too. It%u2019s up to you.

Grab the peppers and cut them in half. Remove the ribs and seeds then take the falafel mixture and evenly distribute it between the peppers halves.

Place stuffed peppers on a baking sheet, falafel side up, and place into oven to bake for about 45 minutes. You want the falafel mix to have a chance to cook inside and out and to get nice and golden brown and crispy on top.

Right before the peppers are done, grab the onions and the tahini. Toss the onions one last time in the briny mix it%u2019s been sitting in, then drain that brine into the tahini. Mix around until smooth. The tahini should be at the consistency to drizzle so if it is still to thick, add in a splash of hot water to loosen it up.

Once peppers are cooked, remove fro oven. Place on a plate with or without some grain, toss on some pickled onion and drizzle tahini all over.

Eat.

Store left over peppers in a the fridge. To eat, just reheat or eat cold. I really enjoyed eating one cold.

 I’ll let you know now, I am a make and eat soup all year long person. I can think of few things better then sitting outside, basking in the sun, hopefully with a light wind, a book in hand, enjoying a nice big cup of some good homemade soup. (Doesn’t that sound so freaking lovely?) This soup right here is perfect for just that. Parsnips are the best, kind of like a big white sweet, yet starchy carrots. And cooked together with a little bit of light and lemony thyme, rich earthy turmeric and a couple more chopped veggie….. you got yourself a nice thick and fragrant bowl of happiness that fills you up without weighing you down. It’s food you can eat that fills you up, leaves you feeling cozy, yet still wanting to hop on a bike or lace up the running shoes.  Hearty without the feeling of all the heaviness.

A perfect soup for spring! (or summer, winter, or fall)

The stuff. Parsnips, carrots, onion and garlic. Thyme and turmeric, salt and pepper. the tinniest bit of oil and water (water not shown)Chop all the veggies and the garlic, drizzle a dutch oven or a pot with oil, toss in the veggies. Add the turmeric, the thyme, and 1/2 cup of water. Sweet sweating the veggies. Turn pot on medium and cook until the water completely cooks out. When the veggies start to brown and stick to the pot, deglaze with water. Give a good stir and keep cooking. Repeat the deglazing process until the veggies are super soft and ready to blend. (I did this 4 times.. it only took 10 minutes)Add enough water to cover the cooked veggies. And now blend the heck out of it.. Go as smooth or chunky as you want. I blended as smooth as I could get with this crappy immersion blender. (Blender on loan until I finally decide on, and buy a new one)And there you have it. Scoop into bowls, add lots of cracked black pepper, and go to town. I made enough to save a bowl for later…  it didn’t last for later. 

Soup so good. 

-C

• 4 large parsnips
• 2 carrots
• 1 whole onion
• 3-4 cloves garlic
• 2 teaspoons thyme
• 2 teaspoons turmeric 
• salt and pepper
• olive oil
• water

Dice up the parsnips, carrots, garlic and onion and place into a large dutch oven or pot. Drizzle with a bit of olive oil,  sprinkle on the spices, salt and pepper and add about 1/2 cup of water. Turn heat on medium and start cooking down the veggies. Once the water evaporates and the veggies start to caramelize, deglaze pot with about a 1/2 cup of water. Give pot a stir, and continue to cook until water evaporates.  Repeat this 2-3 more times until the veggies are super soft and fragrant. 

When the  veggies are ready, add enough water to the pot to submerge the veggies. Bust out the immersion blender or dump into a blending device and blend until smooth (or the consistency that you want) Have a cup of water ready to thin out if needed. When blended, taste for salt and pepper, add more if you want, and cook on low heat until you are ready to serve.

Garnish with a lot of good cracked pepper

Eat from a vessel, use a spoon

I am pretty sure making pretzels was one of the best ideas that I had all week. Making them into the shape of hearts, that WAS the best idea I had all week. Take note. Making anything into the shape of a heart is always the best idea.

So why pretzels? Well why not. I make so much bread in this house that I felt like making a little something different. I was thinking bagels, but I didn’t really want to have dough in the fridge for a day and plus I wanted to do something then and there and have it be done. Like pretzels. From start to finish they takes less then 2 hours. And you get to twist the dough and boil it and it is just fun. Like I could totally see making pretzels with a few littles or maybe a friend or a %u201cfriend%u201d. A pretzel making date. Now that is a good idea. Oh me, I am so full of all those good ideas. HAHA!

These pretzels are of the soft variety. And to make them pretzels, and not just bread, the kneaded dough gets shaped and then boiled in a baking soda bath (not lye%u2026don%u2019t have any lying around). Then they are sprinkled in course salt and baked til a deep golden brown. They come out soft and chewy just like a good soft pretzel should be. Then they need to be eaten right away, slightly warm, because that is how you are suppose to eat them.

And so the pretzels were made. The mr came home right after I pulled these puppies out of the oven and went for a walk to get some fresh air. When I got home I found him salivating over a plate, waiting for his cue to eat. The cue was given (once I put the camera away) and eat one he did. And then another. And another. Because really, what the hell, I made him heart shaped pretzels. He loved them so much that I just let him eat as many as he wanted. He was happy, I was happy, there where hearts. No complaints. Even when I told him he was having pretzels for all meals until they were gone. He just smiled he pretzel filled mouth at that.

To the pretzels!

The stuff. Flour, salt, course salt, brown sugar, yeast, water, and some baking soda.

The yeast, brown sugar and warm water go into a big bowl to activate. Once it starts to bubble, dump in the flour and salt and mix until a shaggy dough forms.

Dump dough onto a floured surface and knead for about 5 minutes.

Kneaded all nice to soft and supple.

Place the kneaded dough into a clean bowl and cover. Let sit for about an hour or until it doubles in size.

Once doubled, dump dough onto a lightly floured counter and cut into 12 equal pieces.

Now to shape. Roll each piece into a long rope, 16-20 inches long if you can. Fold the ends together and twist then fold twisted ends down back into itself.

Pinch the end into a point and there you go. A heart! %u2665%ufe0f

And then do it to all the dough.

Water and baking soda bath boiling away.

Grab the hearts and place a few at a time, gently, into the water for about 45 seconds then pull them out with a slotted spatula.

Onto a baking sheet either lined with parchment or a splat mat.

And don%u2019t forget to sprinkle them all with course kosher salt.

Into the oven they go.

About 18-20 minutes later%u2026 PRETZELS

Get them onto a cooling rack to cool just enough.

And then you just eat them because what else are you suppose to do.

And yes, grab the mustard because duh.

makes 12 pretzels

For the dough

• 3 1/2 – 4 cups all pupse flour

• 2 teaspoons yeast

• 1 heavy tablespoon brown sugar

• 1 teaspoon salt

• 1 1/2 cups warm water

• 2 tablespoons course kosher salt (for topping)

For water bath

• 7 cups water

• 2 tablespoons baking soda

Start by placing yeast, brown sugar, and warm water into a big bowl and mix. Let sit for a few minutes to activate yeast. Once active, dump in the lesser amount of flour and salt. Mix until a shaggy dough forms. If the dough seems super wet, add in a little more flour. Dump dough onto a floured surface and knead until soft and elastic for about 5 minutes, adding in a little more flour as needed to keep it from getting too sticky. Once dough had been kneaded, place into a clean bowl, cover, and let sit in a warm place for about an hour or until the dough doubles in size.

Once dough has doubled, preheat oven to 450. Also get the water bath ready by placing the water into big pot and placing on heat.

Back to dough. Dump the dough onto a lighty floured surface and cut into 12 equal sized pieces. Then shape each piece by rolling the dough into a rope between 16 to 20 inches long then twisting the two ends together a few times. Fold the ends over to the middle of the dough and pinch the end into a heart. (check images above if that doesn%u2019t make sense) Once all the dough has been shaped, its time to boil. When the water is at a rolling boil, dump in the baking soda and mix around. Place 2-3 pretzels gently into the water at a time and boil for about 45 seconds. Remove from water with a splatted spoon or spatula and place on a parchment or lightly oiled baking sheet. Repeat until all dough is boiled. Make sure when you place the pretzels onto the baking sheet you give them room so they are not touching. If you need to, use 2 baking sheets. And now before the placing them into the oven, sprinkle them with the course salt.

Now into the hot oven they go, for about 18-20 minutes or until they turn a deep golden brown.

Once baked, pull from oven, place on a wire rack to cool a bit, then eat them. Dipped in mustard or any other dipping situation you find appropriate.

Left overs, should there be any, should be stored individually either wrapped or in a bag at room temp for a few days. OR better yet, just freeze them. And when you want to eat one, just warm it up again in the oven.

What%u2019s up with dinner rolls? Do people eat them all year round, like on a Tuesday in the middle of March or maybe a nice blue sky sunny day in July? Is that a weird question? But seriously, think about it. Dinner rolls, at least in my world of people, are pretty much only eaten in and around Thanksgiving and Christmas. Huh. Kind of strange seeing that dinner rolls are bread which everyone eats all the time and are basically made specifically for dinner (although can and should be eaten for breakfast and lunch as well) which most people eat. Every. Single. Day. Well, whatever the reason, it%u2019s weird. So yes, I am making these here dinner rolls now at the traditional holiday time but I think as of now, I am going to start making them all the time. It%u2019s going to be my new thing. Fourth of July dinner rolls. Yup.

And so yes, we need dinner rolls right now for the holiday food feasts and these dinner rolls are the perfect accompaniment to any and all dinners. They are nice and fluffy and all dinner roll like, just as any good roll should be, but also slightly more nutty and soft and healthy because oats and wheat flour and homemade which is always the best.

And if you are like, hell yes I am a dinner roll person and hell no I am sticking to store bought cause that is that and how it%u2019s done, well hey, no judgment here. I made these for my people for our family Thanksgiving, (which is happening today at my house. There are going be so many people) and I know that everyone will love and be happy to eat them, but I too also bought some of those super white, take and bake ones that I know if I don%u2019t have on the table next to these gorgeous and amazing rolls, that I will probably get punched in the face. So we will have both. And then at dinner I can bask in the glory of all the comments about how much better my rolls are then the store bought ones. (Secretly why I am having both. Fishing for compliments. HAHA!)

Now to those soft and fluffy dinner rolls!

The stuff. Old fashion oats, all purpose and white whole wheat flour, yeast, oil, water (hot and room temperature), maple syrup, and salt.

First, take the boiling water and pour it over the oats. Mix them and let them soak and cool for 10 or so minutes.

While oats are soaking, add the room temp water to a big bowl with the yeast. Once the oats are soft and cooled off a bit, add them to the yeast mixture along with the oil, and maple. Mix together. The add the flours and mix until combined.

Dump dough onto a floured surface and knead for about 3-5 minutes, adding a little more four as needed to keep from being to sticky, but don%u2019t over flour. The dough is and should be a little tacky.

Soft and supple. Kneaded and ready.

Place the dough back into the bowl and cover with a damp towel. Leave alone and let rise for about an hour or until it doubles in size.

Once the dough doubles, dump out onto a lightly floured surface and cut into 12-16 equal sized pieces .

Roll each roll into a roll shape and place them in a lightly greased baking dish. Cover for another 15-20 minutes to let rest and rise a little more.

Rolls risen again, just a little plumper. And now right before you place them in the oven, brush tops with a maple/water mixture and sprinkle with a few oats. To look pretty. And into the oven they go, 30ish minutes, until nice and golden brown.

Baked to golden dinner roll perfection.

And there you have it. Soft and fluffy dinner rolls. Warm out of the oven, looking and smelling like all the good things that you want and need.

And can, and should, be made now and all year round.

-C

makes 12-16 rolls

• 1 1/2 cups old fashion oats

• 2 cups all purpose flour plus more for kneading

• 1 1/2 cups white whole wheat flour

• 2 cups boiling water

• 1 cup room tempature water plus 2 tablespoons for brushing tops

• 2 teaspoons salt

• 2 tablespoons maple or honey

• 2 teaspoons yeast

• 1/4 cup neutral oil

In a bowl, mix oats with boil water and let sit and soak for about 10 minutes. In the meantime, in a large bowl, mix the room temp water with the yeast and 1 tablespoon of maple and mix. Once oats have soaked and cooled to a point that they are not super hot, but still just warm, mix them in with the yeast mixture. Add the salt and oil and mix then and both the white and white wheat flour. Mix until combined. The dough is going to be sticky, but that how is should be. Dump the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 3-5 minutes, adding a little flour as needed to keep from sticking too much, until dough is nice and uniformed in texture. Place dough back into big bowl (after you clean it out and lily oil it) and cover with a damp towel. Place somewhere warm for about an hour until it doubles in size.

Once dough has doubled, dump out onto a lightly floured surface and with a knife of dough cutter, cut into 12- 16 equal sized pieces. Roll each piece into a ball, pinching any ends together and place them into a 9×13 inch baking pan. Once all pieces are in, over and let rest for another 15 minutes.

While dough is resting again, preheat oven to 350.

After the dough has rested, and right before you place them in the oven, mix 1tablespoon of maple with about 2 tablespoons warm water and brush the tops of the rolls. Sprinkle with a handful of oats and then place them into the oven to bake. 30-35 minutes, until they are a nice golden brown.

Once baked remove from oven and let cool to a reasonable temperature and serve.

These can certainly be made a few days ahead of time of eating. Just remove baked rolls from pan and let cool completely then place the into an airtight bag. To reheat, just place on a baking sheet and stick in a hot oven until warm.

It is exactly that time of year. Apples galore, cool days in need of a little extra warm, meaning a warm oven is welcome, if not needed. It%u2019s the best time of year, or at least one of them.

And so I bake bread. Sometimes just a roll, and sometime a loaf, almost everyday. I love bread baking because, well just because. Plus it%u2019s what people want to eat and will always eat because I guess bread=love. Makes sense to me.

This bread was made from a small dip in the 2 gallons of applesauce I made the night before. (We had sooooo many apples). The mr isn%u2019t the biggest fan of applesauce, says he would rather eat a fresh apple. I kind of get it, but dude, warm, chunky, slightly cinnamon-y applesauce%u2026 I mean, that is happiness right there. Right? Anyway, I am trying not to eat all the applesauce to my face by myself at once (it has been a challenge) and plus I needed to make the mr some bread, so I figured what the hell. I%u2019ll just use applesauce as my liquid in the bread. And so I did and that is that and now that mr really like applesacue (when it is baked into bread)

This bread is a basic sandwich type bread. The apple taste is there but not overwhelming so it can be used for sandwiches of all kinds, toast, just eating with a smear od something, or not. Just a overall good loaf of bread with a little extra from the apple. And braided because I was feeling classy. It%u2019s amazing what at little braiding of bread dough can do for your self esteem. Made me feel like I was the coolest person in the world. Haha!

Now to the bread.

The stuff. A few apples, regular all purpose and white whole wheat flour, salt, applesauce, maple syrup, yeast, and warm water.

Applesauce, shredded apple, maple, yeast, and a little water get mix up and let to sit for a few minutes to activate yeast. Then the salt gets mixed in, along with all the flour. Stir until dough forms. Dough should be slightly sticky, ut not wet. IF wet, add a handful more flour. To dry, add more water.

Dump the dough onto a floured surface, cover your hands in flour, and knead dough for about 5 or so minutes, adding more flour as needed to keep dough from sticking, until the dough is a nice and cohesive texture.

Nice looking dough. Now roll dough into a ball.

Place dough in a clean wet or oiled bowl and cover with a damp cloth for one to one and a half hours or until dough doubles in size.

Dump dough onto floured surface.

Cut dough into 3 equal pieces and roll out into long longs.

Braid logs together. You can stop here bake it this way or%u2026

After placing it on a parchment lined baking sheet, tuck the ends of the braids underneath each other and make it like this. Either way. And once you have the dough on the baking sheet, brush a little water or plant milk on top and let dough rest for 15 minutes of so while the oven preheats.

Before oven and after oven. Classy, right?

Then for shin and soft crust, rub warm loaf with some plant butter.

And for the hard part. Let it cool before slicing it. Ok sure, a little warm is fine, but wait at least 20 minutes (an hour would be best) and then eat you some bread.

Eat you some bread. That%u2019s a t-shirt right there.

Happy Fall friends!

-C

makes pretty one loaf

• 2 cups all purpose flour

• 1 1/2 cups white whole wheat flour plus more for kneading

• 1 cup unsweetened room temperature applesauce

• 1 large or 2 small apples ( about 2/3 cup shredded apple)

• 1/4- 1/2 cup warm water

• 1 tablespoon maple syrup or honey

• 2 teaspoons active yeast

• 1 teaspoon salt

• 1 tablespoon or so plant milk or water

• 1 tablespoon plant based butter (optional for rubbing on finished bread)

Grab the apples and shred them until you have 2/3 cup shredded apple. In a large bowl, mix together the applesauce, shredded apples, yeast, 1/4 cup warm water, and sweetener.and let yeast activate for a few minutes. Add in salt, the all purpose flour and the 1 1/2 cups white wheat flour. Stir together until dough forms. The dough should be a little bit sticky so if the dough seems to dry, add in 1/4 cup more warm water. If it seems really wet, add in a handful more flour.

Dump dough out onto a well floured surface and knead for about 5 minutes adding a little bit of flour to the counter as needed to prevent it from sticking. Once dough is cohesive in texture, roll into a ball and place into a clean wet or oiled bowl. Cover with a damp towel and allow the dough to double in size. Should take between an hour and an hour and a half.

Once dough doubles in size preheat oven to 400

Dump risen dough back onto a well flour counter. Cut the dough into 3 equal sizes and roll each piece into long logs about 20 inches or so long. Place each roll next to each other and braid. Grab a baking sheet and line with a piece of parchment paper. Sprinkle with a bit of flour and place braided dough onto sheet, either as a braid or if you want, like I did, wrap the braid around itself into a rounded braid situation. Tuck ends into each other and under the loaf. Brush the top gently with a little plant milk or water and let rest for about another 15 minutes or so.

After the rest, place dough into preheated oven. Bake for 35-45 minutes (Less if left long braid, more if wrapped braid) or until the top is a deep golden brown and when tapped on the bottom, it sounds hollow. Also can use an insta read thermometer and check temperature. You want it to reach 190 degrees.

Once bread is baked, remove from oven. If you want the top to stay a little crispy, don%u2019t do anything but let it cool. For a softer, shinny crust, rub the top while it is still warm with some plant based butter.

Let bread cool completely before cutting.

Then eat it like you would eat bread. Any and every way.

Store cooled loaf in a airtight bag on counter for 2-3 days but if not eating that fast, slice and place into freezer. That way you can pull out individual pieces and toast as you want.

I am obsessed. For real. That might seem like a strong statement for a feeling about a food, but right now, it is truth. I spend more time then I want to admit thinking and drooling over Socca, which is, to those who do not know, the most basic chickpea flour pancake-y bread thing. Chickpea flour, water and salt. Cooked fast under the broiler in a screaming hot skillet. That is it. And it is amazing. Depending on how you make it, it can be creamy and soft or more cracker like with some crisp crunch to it. Either way, it is just so freaking good. Of course, what I am dreaming about regarding it is not just plan basic socca (which I have made 3 times in the past 3 days) but different flavored soccas (I have experimented with lot of seasoning, and they are all A+) with all sorts of different topping and using it in all sorts of different ways. But for now, I wanted to keep basic so we all know how good simplicity is. We will go from here.

There is no stopping me. There is no stopping the socca.

Now to my new favorite food, the socca.

Chickpea flour, salt and water. That is it. Mix it all up.

Batter all smooth and now in need of a rest. Half an hour or up to a day of rest is good.

Now to cook the socca. You need to use something oven safe like cast iron. The trick here is to preheat the skillet while you are preheating the oven. Crank oven to 450 with the skillet in oven and once the oven reaches temp, turn oven over to a high broil. Let the skillet get really hot for another minute or two then remove skillet from oven (carefully!!!) and give it a splash of oil. Don%u2019t preheat the skillet with oil in it or else it will start to smoke and get gross.

Now that you got a nice hot and oiled skillet, grab the rested batter and pour half of it in. Tilt skillet around to coat bottom then stick skillet back into oven under broiler and cook for 4-8minutes. ( It depends on your broilers strength and your preference for blisters)

Out from the broiler. Cooked and slightly blistered. I went easy on this one. The next one got a few more blisters.

2 soccas, one a little thicker then the other. One a little more blistered then the other. Both in my belly.

So many Soccas to come.

So. many. Soccas.

-C

makes two 10 inch soccas

• 1 cup chickpea flour

• 1 cup room temperature water

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• olive oil for pan

Mix chickpea flour, salt and water together into a bowl until smooth. Let mixture rest for at least half an hour or up to a day.

When ready to make the socca, preheat oven to 450 with a 10 inch oven safe skillet (I used cast iron but any oven safe dish would work) in oven.

Once oven reaches temp, turn oven over to broil and place skillet under it for a minute to really heat the skillet. Carefully, with oven mitts, remove hot skillet from oven and brush or pour a smidge of oil into the hot skillet to coat bottom. Pour in half the batter and tilt around until bottom is coated then place skillet back into oven under broiler and cook for 4 -8 minutes or until the socca starts to blister. (it kind of depends on your broiler so keep a close eye on it) Remove from oven and slip socca onto cutting board. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Drizzle with olive oil if you like. Then all you do is cut and eat.

Left over socca can be stored in fridge and reheated in oven or toaster.

Note. IF you want a slightly thicker socca, use a 8 inch skillet. For a thiner, more cracker like socca, pour in 1/3 of the batter at a time (you will end up with 3 instead of 2)

Bread is probably, no, definitely one of my upmost favorite things to bake. There is just something so gratifying about the whole process of mixing ingredients, kneading, watching it rise, shaping, then baking. It calms me and make me a better person. Seriously.

And this might sound sad, but this week when my Dad told me that my grandmother died, well I went home and made bread because that is what felt right to do. It gave my mind and hands a good something to do far a little while. Plus I ended up with a loaf of bread to feed people with. I also like to feed people when I am feeling sad.

I chose to use cinnamon and cardamom because of the smells. They are just delightful and happy smells. And swirls are happy so a happy swirl of happy smells in a loaf of bread that I was making to share that was (and did) make people happy. (See, bread baking is making me so nice because I am sharing it) It was just the right thing to do.

So if you are in need of a little happy pick me up, may I suggest making some bread? It might make you feel a little better, or at least get your mind off of things for a bit. And you will have bread so there is that too. It%u2019s a win win.

Now to the bread, which you can also make when you are happy. Or bored, or hungry, although it takes some time so if you are starting off hungry, you will be starving by the time it is done. Maybe eat a snack will you are making it%u2026..

The stuff. White and whole wheat flour, salt, sweet potato puree, soy milk, yeast, brown sugar, oil, cinnamon, cardamom, some flax seeds, and an orange.

In a big bow, mix together the yeast, warm milk, sweet potato puree, a little sugar, and oil. Let it sit for a minute to active yeast.

Flours and salt get a good mix to be mixed.

Then dry gets dumped into the yeast mixture along with the zest of the orange.

Mix it until a dough forms then dump it out onto a lightly floured surface.

Knead dough for about 6-8 minutes or until supple, uniform, and smooth.

Place dough into a well oiled bowl and cover. Let rise for about and hour or so or until it doubles in size (could take a little longer then a hour)

Place risen dough back out onto a lightly floured surface.

Roll it out about 2 feet long and as wide as a bread pan.

Don%u2019t forget mix up your brown sugar with the cinnamon and cardamom.

Brush rolled out dough with the flax mixture. This will help the cinnamon cardamon sugar stick.

And evenly distribute the mixture all over the dough.

Roll it up nice and tight and once it%u2019s all rolled, pinch then end to the rest of the dough.

Gently place the rolled dough, pinched side down, into a well greased bread pan. Cover in a plastic bag for about another hour or until the dough has risen a good amount and is doming over the rim of the pan. Now preheat the oven.

Once the bread is sufficiently risen, place into hot oven and bake for 40-45 minutes.

Now the hard part. Get it out of the bread pan and get it cooling off. You cannot cut into it until it cools or you will smoosh the swirl and make it gummy. Just wait, at least a half hour. For real. Wait. You can do it!

And when the bread cools and the wait it over, slice and be amazed. A thing of beauty that smells of greatness.

Bread is so great. Great great great! Especially a swirl bread. I mean. Look at that.

Happy day to you.

-C

Makes 1 loaf

• 2 cups all purpose flour

• 1 cup white whole wheat flour

• 1/3 cup sweet potato puree

• 1 cup soy milk

• 2 teaspoons (or one packet) yeast

• 3 tablespoons neutral oil like canola

• 2 tablespoon light brown sugar

• 1 teaspoon salt

• Zest of 1 orange

• For the cinnamon cardamom filling

• 1/2 cup light brown sugar

• 2 tablespoon cinnamon (I used Vietnamese Cinnamon which is a little spicier and sweeter)

• 1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom

• 2 teaspoons ground flax mixed with 4 teaspoons warm water

Start by grabbing a big bowl. Mix together the yeast, the 2 tablespoons brown sugar, warm milk, sweet potato puree, and oil. Let sit for a minute to active yeast. In a separate bowl mix together the flours and salt. Dump the dry mixture into the wet. Zest the zest of an orange into bowl and mix it all together until it forms a dough. Dump the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 5-8 minutes or until the dough gets supple and shinny and uniform. Place dough into a well oiled bowl and cover for about an hour or until doubled in size.

Once dough has doubled, dump out onto a well floured surface and roll out to as wide as a bread pan and roughly 24 inched long. After you have rolled it out brush the flax and water mixture all over surface . Combine the brown sugar with the cinnamon and cardamom and evenly distribute the mixture all over flaxed dough. And for the fun part. Careful roll the dough into a log. Roll it tightly so the bread doesn’tt end up with big gaps after it bakes. Once rolled, pinch the rolled end and place the log rolled side down into a well greased bread pan. Place dough into a a plastic bag with plenty of space for dough to rise. Let sit for about another hour or until the dough has risen a little bit above the rim of baking pan.

Preheat oven to 375

When dough has risen, place on middle rack in hot oven and bake for 40-45ish minutes or until bread is a deep golden brown and when you give it a tap, it sounds slightly hollow. Also check it with a intsant read thermometer. Get it to 190.

When it done baking, pull from oven and remove from pan. Place on a wire rack and let completely cool. Seriously, you got to let it cool for at least 1/2 and hour, but longer is better!

When it%u2019s cooled, cut into slices. Eat as you wish.

Uneaten bread stores well for a day or two in a airtight plastic bag but if you don%u2019t eat it that fast, cut into slices and freeze. That way you can just pop a piece out and stick it into toaster. Smart.

You know when you eat something that you haven%u2019t had or haven%u2019t had in a long time and it%u2019s all you want to eat?

I am having a moment with apples and onions. Roasted and raw, it%u2019s on my mind every time I am making food. Weird? I don%u2019t know, but it%u2019s sweet and savory and all fall like and comforting. It%u2019s a good moment.

So now I am passing on my moment in the form of cornbread. Why cornbread? Well I think cornbread is a fine fine vessel for things that could be perceived sweet of savory. This cornbread is in fact not sweet, but not not sweet. It is a little both and suits the the apple and onion moment quite well.

People ate it, at first somewhat suspect that it was not going to be good, but after a bite or two they too appreciated the apple onion combination. And the cornbread. Even got a lady that doesn’t even like cornbread to like this so that is something right?

Embrace the moments.. To the cornbread!

The stuff. A couple apples, an onion, cornmeal, flour, salt, and baking soda. Also soy milk, oil, apple cider vinegar, maple syrup, pepper, Sansa little earth balance.

Start by thinly slicing the onions. Toss them into a oven safe skillet with about a tablespoon of earth balance and place on a medium heat.

Once the onions are cooking, thinly slice the apples too.

Toss the apples in with the onions and stir around wait a few minutes and stir around some more until the stuff all looks like%u2026

This. The apples ans onions are super tender sans soft and amazing and do not eat them all, but maybe have bite or two.

Scoop the mixture out of the skillet ans melt another tablespoon of earth balance into the skillet, trying to evenly coat the bottom.

Now to the cornbread. Mix together all of the dry ingredients.

Then add in all the wet and gently mix until completely incorporated.

Pour the batter into the greased skillet

Top with the apple union mixture then pop into the oven for about 40-45 minutes to bake.

Golden crisp and amazing smelling. Check for donees with a tester stuck in the middle and when its done, its done.

Now the hard part. Let it cool. You can go right at it, but it will crumble and fall apart. This bread really needs a little time to chill.

Then it%u2019s time. Eat what you need. Careful, it might be all of it.

-C

If you come around my house in the cold months, you will more times then not find yourself faced with fresh bread. Why? Well because I like to bake bread. But mostly, if I am honest, when I am cold, I bake. (We keep the house heat off until at least November 1. After that we keep the heat at a low 60 when it%u2019s on.) I like the house to be kept on the colder side, but sometime, it%u2019s a little brisk so if I am home and cold, I am probably just going to bake something, to stay warm of course. This focaccia was my first foray baking to stay warm of the cold season. It was 40 degrees out and the heat still wasn%u2019t on, and I just so happen to be going through my spice drawer and found a batch of everything bagel seasoning that I had mixed up a couple months ago that needed to be used. Hence the bread.

Cold weather+found seasoning+I should make something for dinner=everything bagel focaccia. Or you can just make it because it is super easy and every time I make focaccia it gets gobbled right up. Especially this time. Barb and the mr ate half of it at dinner. And I think the other half was gone by the next day. To quote the mr. %u201cThis focaccia is professional%u201d. He said it with a mouth full of bread. No shit dude. I am professional. Ha

The stuff. Flour, yeast, warm water, everything bagel seasoning, sea salt, pepper, and olive oil.

Start with getting the yeast and warm water mixed together. Let it sit for a minute or 5, just to make sure it is active (this is more important to do if you are not using fresh yeast)

Once you are sure your yeast is alive, add in the flour and mix together until you are having a hard time mixing anymore.

Dump dough onto a floured surface and start to knead. Probably for 5 minutes, until you dough looks like%u2026.

This. Kneaded until smooth and beautiful .

Place dough into a deep bowl and drizzle with olive oil. Make sure the whole ball is coated. Then cover with a damp cloth and stick in a warm place to rise for about an hour, or until the dough has doubled in size.

Once dough has doubled, grab your baking sheet (can use a pan) and coat the pan with about 2 tablespoons olive oil.

Place the dough into pan and spread it out using your fingertips. Flip the dough over if you need to and keep dimpling the dough until it hits all the sides. Drizzle on another tablespoon of oil on top.

And don%u2019t forget the seasoning. Sprinkle on all the everything seasoning along with the sea salt and some cracked pepper. Make sure to be somewhat liberal with the seasonings too because you know that%u2019s what you want.

Into the oven for 30ish minutes then out of the oven

Look at all the everything.

Drizzle the top of the bread with a little more olive oil, pop it out of the pan, stick it on a cutting board, and that%u2019s it. Now watch your slab of bread disappear.

Happy bread baking. Stay warm.

-C

make a 9×13 slab of bread

• 4 cups all purpose flour (plus a little more for kneading)

• 2 cups warm water

• 2 teaspoon yeast (or one packet)

• 3 tablespoons everything bagel seasoning*

• 1 tablespoon sea salt

• cracked pepper

• about 1/3 cup very good olive oil

*Note To make your own everything bagel seasoning mix up equal parts dried minced garlic, dried onion flakes, sesame seeds, and poppy seeds. Or I think you can buy it now at the store with all the other spices. But it%u2019s probably cheaper to make it yourself.

To start, place yeast and warm water in a big bowl. Mix until incorporated and let sit for a minute or two or until you see little bubble form, just to make sure the yeast is active. When your sure it%u2019s good, add in 4 cups of flour. Mix with a wooden spoon or dough mixer until it becomes hard to mix anymore. Dump the dough onto a flour surface and start to knead, adding a little bit of flour as you go if it became to sticky, until the dough is smooth and uniform. Should take about 5 minutes. Place the kneaded dough back into bowl (scrap any of the extra bits out first) and drizzle with olive oil. Make sure the whole dough is coated. Cover the bowl with a damp towel and place in a warm spot. Let dough rise for an hour, or until it has doubled in size.

Preheat oven to 375.

Once dough has doubled, grab a 9×13 baking sheet or pan and coat with 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Really make sure the pan is well greased. Place dough into pan and with the tips of your fingers, smoosh and spread dough until it has filled up the pan. Drizzle with another tablespoon of oil then take your seasoning and evenly spread it all over the top. Sprinkle with salt and add a little cracked pepper. Now pop it into the preheated oven. Bake for 30 -35 minutes or until the bread has turned a nice golden brown.

Remove from oven and right away drizzle on another tablespoon or so of olive oil. Let sit for a few minutes to absorb then pop the bread out of the pan and place on a rack or cutting board and either let cool, or not. Warm focaccia is loved by all.

I really am just trying to find new ways to use up as much corn as I can. The mr won’t really eat it (he says he hates it, but doesn’t really, but is now really not eating it) and the littles can only eat so much. I have some in the fridge pickled, some in the freezer, and yet every time I come home from farm share I end up brining like 15 more pieces home with me. So I had to get a little crafty with this last batch. I milked it and made biscuits. And it was exactly the right thing to do. Making corn milk was genius (which makes me a genius?) and I am now going to be baking everything with it until I use up all the corn.%u00a0

These biscuits are very versatile, like all good biscuits should be.%u00a0I served them to Barb and the mr with chili and of course they loved them but also I smothered raspberry jam all over a few and the mr was into that. Butter or almond butter too, or just plain. They can be eaten in all sorts of yummy ways.%u00a0%u00a0And if you really are into the corn milk part but not the jalape%u00f1o or lime-ness of the biscuit, just don’t add that stuff in. A simple corn milk biscuit would be just fine too. %u00a0Aaannd if you have a corn hater in the house, they still will probably like theses, or so this goes my experience, although I still don’t think he hate corn. But what do I know?%u00a0

To the biscuits.

The stuff. Corn, soy milk, a lime, a few jalape%u00f1os, and earth balance. In the bowl we have some %u00a0flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.

Cook tha corn. A quick few minutes in boil water will do the trick.%u00a0

Get all that corn off those cobs. Sure you can nibble, it’s hard not to.%u00a0

Fresh corn and soy milk go into the blender and blended until all smooth and creamy. Taste it.. it is pretty creamy dreamy. %u00a0

That is the corn milk. You could drink it just like this and it would not be weird. It is delicious.%u00a0

Get you jalape%u00f1os, remove seeds, and give them a good small dice and toss them into the bowl with the flours and stuff.%u00a0Also zest the lime into the bowl with the flour.

Cold plant butter goes in first and cut in (I used fork, but you could use a pastry blender) until the dough looks crumbly. Add in the corn milk and the juice from the lime %u00a0and gently stir to just combined.

Dump the dough onto a floured surface and gather it all together then lightly press it down until %u00a0it’s about an inch thick.%u00a0

This is the best part,%u00a0(%u00a0Because I love the look of the cut out dough.. It apeals to me in some great way that I don’t yet understand)%u00a0cut the biscuits. I went and grabbed a biscuit cutter which I barely ever use, so that was a win.

Once you cut out the first biscuits, you can gather the dough and gently press it back together and cut out %u00a0more until you use all the dough.

Place the cut out biscuits on a baking sheet and brush the tops brushed with a little corn milk then into the hot oven they go.

Out they come looking all biscuity and such.. And don’t mind the red reflection. That be my shirt. Note to self and to all.%u00a0Don’t wear red while taking pictures with reflective materials.%u00a0

Letting the biscuits be cool, just for a few minutes.

Still slightly warm all cozied together.%u00a0

Nothing like a basket of biscuits to make people happy.

-C

makes about 15 smaller biscuits%u00a0

• 2 1/2 cups flour
• 2 ears of corn
• 1 cup soy milk
• 1 teaspoon salt%u00a0
• 1 teaspoon baking podwer
• 1/2 teaspoon basking soda%u00a0
• 1/4 cup %u00a0cold vegan butter
• 2 jalape%u00f1os%u00a0
• I lime%u00a0

Cook corn by removing husks and %u00a0dropping into a pot of boiling water for about 5 minutes. When corn is cooked, remove from water and allow to cool.%u00a0%u00a0Once cooled enough to handle, cut all the corn off the cob and place into the blender with the soy milk. Blend until smooth. It should measure out to be a little more then 2 cups. If you have less, add in more soy milk until is measures 2 cups. %u00a0Place corn milk in fridge for at least 1/2 hour to cool.%u00a0

Preheat oven to 450.

Place flour, salt, baking soda, and baking powder into a large bowl.%u00a0Zest the lime in as well and mix it all together.%u00a0Grab jalape%u00f1os, cut in half, remove seeds, then dice into very small pieces. Mix those into mixture. %u00a0Now cut in the butter with either a fork or pastry blender until the mixture is crumbly. Add in juice of the lime and 2 cups of %u00a0the cooled corn milk and mix until just barley incorporated.

Dump the mixture onto a flour surface. Gather it al together and then press it flat until its about an inch thick. With a biscuit cutter, or a knife if you want square biscuits, cut out biscuits. If you use a cutter, place cut biscuits onto a baking sheet then gather the remaining dough and gently press back together and cut out more biscuits until dough is used up. %u00a0Once all the biscuits are on the baking sheet, brush the tops with corn milk %u00a0if you have a little left over or just plain soy milk then place them into the hot oven.

Bake for 17-22 minutes or until the biscuits are a nice golden brown. Once baked, remove from oven and place on a cooling rack to cool, or toss into basket with a tea towel and serve warm.

Then eat them.

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.

I eat so much hummus. Everyday, all day. Homemade, store bought. If there is hummus, I will be consuming it. But the thing is, I usually don%u2019t eat more then a little at a time. (A little being like 1/2 a cup). And sure, sometimes that is just fine and enough, but other times, what I really want to do is garb a spoon and a bag of carrots and eat it all. And then I do.

But there is that little voice in the back of my head telling me that if someone where to catch me eating mounds of hummus, they would liken my eating behavior to that of someone eating a jar of mustard (Not going to lie, it happens sometimes) or of a bottle of ketchup (but I don%u2019t eat ketchup) and that have a problem and shouldn%u2019t being eating it like that. Because hummus, for some reason, has been put into the condiment category. It%u2019s treated like a dip or a spread and that is fine and dandy to eat it as such, but hummus is so much more. It can, and should be treated more like a main component to a dish. So let us step outside of that box and eat it how we really want to eat it.

Hummus by the bowlful. I know right! It just makes so much sense to me. And now to you too. We need to stop stopping ourselves from just a scoop or two because really, that is just not enough. Nope, this is for real. A bowl, full of hummus, topped with roasted veggies because that is just more deliciousness. And we get to eat it all.

Life can be pretty great sometime, you know. HA

Now to the bowl of hummus!

The stuff. We got chickpeas, tahini, a lemon, red wine vinegar, garlic, salt and pepper. And Veggies. Brussel Sprouts, broccoli, onion, Swiss chard, and kale.

Chop up the broccoli, the onion and half or quarter the Brussel sprouts. And separately, chop up the kale and chard.

Toss the chopped Brussels, broccoli and onion into a baking sheet or oven safe skillet and season with salt and pepper. IF you want to toss in a little oil, go for it. Then pop the veggies into a hot oven to roast away.

Once the veggies are just about done to your liking, grab the chopped kale and chard and off to the veggies. Toss and roast for a few more minutes.

Hummus. Chickpeas with liquid, garlic, tahini, juice of lemon, and blend. Creamy smooth and delicious.

Dump that hummus into bowls.

And top with roasted veggies.

Would you look at that. Now all you need to to is dig in. Serve with extra lemon and black pepper. Grab your utensil of choice and eat.

-C

makes 2 servings if eating as a meal

• 3 cups cooked chickpeas in liquid

• A lemon

• 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar

• 2-3 cloves garlic

• 1/4 cup tahini

• salt and pepper

• 10 or so Brussel sprouts

• A small head of broccoli

• A small onion

• 5-6 kale and or Swiss chard leaves

Note. Use whatever veggies you want. Fresh or already prepared. All and any leftovers would be great.

Preheat oven to 450.

Cut Brussel sprouts in half, chop the onion into small pieces, and cut up the broccoli and toss onto a baking sheet or an oven safe skillet. Sprinkle with a little salt and pepper and stick into the oven to roast for about 20 ish minutes or until nice and roasted. Feel free to toss the veggies in a little oil if you want. Chop up the kale and chard into smaller pieces. Once veggies are just a few minutes from being cooked to you liking, remove from oven, and toss in the greens. Cook for another 5 or so minutes until those are nice and wilted. Remove veggies from oven.

While veggies are roasting, make hummus. Place chick peas with liquid, the juice of the lemon, vinegar, garlic, and tahini into a food processor. Blend until smooth and creamy. Taste and season with salt and pepper to your liking. Dump into a bowls.

And when you have hummus make and veggies roasted, its time to compile. Dump the hummus into 2 bowls. Dump half of the roasted veggies into each bowl.. Squeeze more lemon juice onto both then grab a fork.

Eat. And yes, lick bowl clean. No shame.

It is exactly that time of year. Apples galore, cool days in need of a little extra warm, meaning a warm oven is welcome, if not needed. It%u2019s the best time of year, or at least one of them.

And so I bake bread. Sometimes just a roll, and sometime a loaf, almost everyday. I love bread baking because, well just because. Plus it%u2019s what people want to eat and will always eat because I guess bread=love. Makes sense to me.

This bread was made from a small dip in the 2 gallons of applesauce I made the night before. (We had sooooo many apples). The mr isn%u2019t the biggest fan of applesauce, says he would rather eat a fresh apple. I kind of get it, but dude, warm, chunky, slightly cinnamon-y applesauce%u2026 I mean, that is happiness right there. Right? Anyway, I am trying not to eat all the applesauce to my face by myself at once (it has been a challenge) and plus I needed to make the mr some bread, so I figured what the hell. I%u2019ll just use applesauce as my liquid in the bread. And so I did and that is that and now that mr really like applesacue (when it is baked into bread)

This bread is a basic sandwich type bread. The apple taste is there but not overwhelming so it can be used for sandwiches of all kinds, toast, just eating with a smear od something, or not. Just a overall good loaf of bread with a little extra from the apple. And braided because I was feeling classy. It%u2019s amazing what at little braiding of bread dough can do for your self esteem. Made me feel like I was the coolest person in the world. Haha!

Now to the bread.

The stuff. A few apples, regular all purpose and white whole wheat flour, salt, applesauce, maple syrup, yeast, and warm water.

Applesauce, shredded apple, maple, yeast, and a little water get mix up and let to sit for a few minutes to activate yeast. Then the salt gets mixed in, along with all the flour. Stir until dough forms. Dough should be slightly sticky, ut not wet. IF wet, add a handful more flour. To dry, add more water.

Dump the dough onto a floured surface, cover your hands in flour, and knead dough for about 5 or so minutes, adding more flour as needed to keep dough from sticking, until the dough is a nice and cohesive texture.

Nice looking dough. Now roll dough into a ball.

Place dough in a clean wet or oiled bowl and cover with a damp cloth for one to one and a half hours or until dough doubles in size.

Dump dough onto floured surface.

Cut dough into 3 equal pieces and roll out into long longs.

Braid logs together. You can stop here bake it this way or%u2026

After placing it on a parchment lined baking sheet, tuck the ends of the braids underneath each other and make it like this. Either way. And once you have the dough on the baking sheet, brush a little water or plant milk on top and let dough rest for 15 minutes of so while the oven preheats.

Before oven and after oven. Classy, right?

Then for shin and soft crust, rub warm loaf with some plant butter.

And for the hard part. Let it cool before slicing it. Ok sure, a little warm is fine, but wait at least 20 minutes (an hour would be best) and then eat you some bread.

Eat you some bread. That%u2019s a t-shirt right there.

Happy Fall friends!

-C

makes pretty one loaf

• 2 cups all purpose flour

• 1 1/2 cups white whole wheat flour plus more for kneading

• 1 cup unsweetened room temperature applesauce

• 1 large or 2 small apples ( about 2/3 cup shredded apple)

• 1/4- 1/2 cup warm water

• 1 tablespoon maple syrup or honey

• 2 teaspoons active yeast

• 1 teaspoon salt

• 1 tablespoon or so plant milk or water

• 1 tablespoon plant based butter (optional for rubbing on finished bread)

Grab the apples and shred them until you have 2/3 cup shredded apple. In a large bowl, mix together the applesauce, shredded apples, yeast, 1/4 cup warm water, and sweetener.and let yeast activate for a few minutes. Add in salt, the all purpose flour and the 1 1/2 cups white wheat flour. Stir together until dough forms. The dough should be a little bit sticky so if the dough seems to dry, add in 1/4 cup more warm water. If it seems really wet, add in a handful more flour.

Dump dough out onto a well floured surface and knead for about 5 minutes adding a little bit of flour to the counter as needed to prevent it from sticking. Once dough is cohesive in texture, roll into a ball and place into a clean wet or oiled bowl. Cover with a damp towel and allow the dough to double in size. Should take between an hour and an hour and a half.

Once dough doubles in size preheat oven to 400

Dump risen dough back onto a well flour counter. Cut the dough into 3 equal sizes and roll each piece into long logs about 20 inches or so long. Place each roll next to each other and braid. Grab a baking sheet and line with a piece of parchment paper. Sprinkle with a bit of flour and place braided dough onto sheet, either as a braid or if you want, like I did, wrap the braid around itself into a rounded braid situation. Tuck ends into each other and under the loaf. Brush the top gently with a little plant milk or water and let rest for about another 15 minutes or so.

After the rest, place dough into preheated oven. Bake for 35-45 minutes (Less if left long braid, more if wrapped braid) or until the top is a deep golden brown and when tapped on the bottom, it sounds hollow. Also can use an insta read thermometer and check temperature. You want it to reach 190 degrees.

Once bread is baked, remove from oven. If you want the top to stay a little crispy, don%u2019t do anything but let it cool. For a softer, shinny crust, rub the top while it is still warm with some plant based butter.

Let bread cool completely before cutting.

Then eat it like you would eat bread. Any and every way.

Store cooled loaf in a airtight bag on counter for 2-3 days but if not eating that fast, slice and place into freezer. That way you can pull out individual pieces and toast as you want.

When your sister drops off 50 lbs of beets, on top of the 50 lbs that you have to harvest that are growing in your garden, what do you do?

Well chips of course.

Yeah, chips. That%u2019s right. When I got home from camping on Monday and there was a humongous pile of beets sitting next to my front door, I am not going to lie, I was a little shocked. I mean there wasn’t just a few little ones. These beets were freaking huge, like the size of my arm, and so many. But pretty much right after my initial shock I knew what needed to be done. First, eat a few roasted, second, roast extra to freeze for later, and lastly, make a few bunches of chips.

Have you ever had beet chip? They are amazing. Crispy, crunchy, tasty as all heck. If you like beets, even in the slightest, you will love these. If you hate beets, well maybe don%u2019t? Either way, beet chips are the best chip. Wha’t%u2019s not to love? Pink, and chippy. Sweet, and salty. And then you add the fact that making beets into chips is a good way to get your veggies in and that you can eat a whole bowl full and feel zero guilt because you are just eating beets. Plus making beets into chips is a good way to use up any extra beets you might have laying around or that have been dropped off at your front door.

These chips, once they are made, will not last long. So when you do make them, know you will probably be making them again soon there after. Me, I have still have to harvest all my garden beets so beet chips are happening again soon. Real soon (like this afternoon!)

To the beets!

The stuff. Beets (these are Formanova beets but any variety works) salt and pepper ,and oil.

Ok so you need to cut these bad boys reallllllly thin. Like 1/15th a inch. So, what I am saying is, use a mandolin. If you don%u2019t have one, a knife will do, but you are going to have a hard time getting them as thin as you need to and all of them consistent so baking is going to be a little more tricky so maybe you should just go borrow or invest in a mandolin.

Grab baking sheets, oil, and salt and pepper. You can either dump the oil directly onto the pile of sliced beets and really toss to make sure each one has been coasted or do what I did which was I drizzled oil into my hands and rubbed each sliced beet between my oiled hands before placing on the sheet.

After you get them on there, single layered with no overlapping, sprinkle tops with a pinch of salt and pepper.

On the way into the oven.

After the oven. Baked for about 18 minutes. You really have to watch after the first 13 or so minutes to make sure you catch them at the perfect time. Crispy, but not burnt.

A side by side shot. Crazy shrinking will happen!

Oh man, so delicious. And so pretty!.

Let the chips cool before eating, you know, so you don%u2019t burn your tongue. Plus they crisp up a wee bit more.

Once cooled, pile them into bowl, and then eat them. And eat them all. They are only beets after all. And you won%u2019t be able to stop yourself anyway. Ha

-C

Makes enough for an evening of chip eating for 1-2 people

• 2 Large beets (think softball sized)

• a tablespoon or two of oil (I used grape seed but really any would work)

• salt and pepper

Note. Making these without cutting with a mandolin will be a pain in the ass. It can be done, but if you have a mandolin, use it.

Preheat oven to 350

With a mandolin, slice the beets about 1/15 inch thick. (No need to peel the beets unless you want to.) Once beets are all sliced, either drizzle them all with a tablespoon or so of oil and toss until all are coated. OR what I did and found worked really well was drizzled oil into my hands and rubbed each beet between my oiled hands as I was placing them on the baking sheets. Either way.

Now place oiled beets, single layered, without overlapping, on baking sheets. Sprinkle with a pinch of salt and pepper and place into oven. Bake for about 13 minutes without worrying then start to check every minute or so until the beets are a deep golden brown and crispy ,which will be between 15-20 minutes. Also, even though you cut them all the exact same thickness, some might crisp up faster so you should remove done chips as they happen. Once they are done, place on a rack to cool. And then do another batch. And not, they do crisp up a tiny bit more as they cool.

Once chips are cool and crisp, eat.

Store uneaten (how did you not eat them all?) chips in an air tight container. If you notice that they turned a bit chew, just place them back into oven while preheating oven to 300 then turn oven off and let sit in there for a few minutes.

I am obsessed. For real. That might seem like a strong statement for a feeling about a food, but right now, it is truth. I spend more time then I want to admit thinking and drooling over Socca, which is, to those who do not know, the most basic chickpea flour pancake-y bread thing. Chickpea flour, water and salt. Cooked fast under the broiler in a screaming hot skillet. That is it. And it is amazing. Depending on how you make it, it can be creamy and soft or more cracker like with some crisp crunch to it. Either way, it is just so freaking good. Of course, what I am dreaming about regarding it is not just plan basic socca (which I have made 3 times in the past 3 days) but different flavored soccas (I have experimented with lot of seasoning, and they are all A+) with all sorts of different topping and using it in all sorts of different ways. But for now, I wanted to keep basic so we all know how good simplicity is. We will go from here.

There is no stopping me. There is no stopping the socca.

Now to my new favorite food, the socca.

Chickpea flour, salt and water. That is it. Mix it all up.

Batter all smooth and now in need of a rest. Half an hour or up to a day of rest is good.

Now to cook the socca. You need to use something oven safe like cast iron. The trick here is to preheat the skillet while you are preheating the oven. Crank oven to 450 with the skillet in oven and once the oven reaches temp, turn oven over to a high broil. Let the skillet get really hot for another minute or two then remove skillet from oven (carefully!!!) and give it a splash of oil. Don%u2019t preheat the skillet with oil in it or else it will start to smoke and get gross.

Now that you got a nice hot and oiled skillet, grab the rested batter and pour half of it in. Tilt skillet around to coat bottom then stick skillet back into oven under broiler and cook for 4-8minutes. ( It depends on your broilers strength and your preference for blisters)

Out from the broiler. Cooked and slightly blistered. I went easy on this one. The next one got a few more blisters.

2 soccas, one a little thicker then the other. One a little more blistered then the other. Both in my belly.

So many Soccas to come.

So. many. Soccas.

-C

makes two 10 inch soccas

• 1 cup chickpea flour

• 1 cup room temperature water

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• olive oil for pan

Mix chickpea flour, salt and water together into a bowl until smooth. Let mixture rest for at least half an hour or up to a day.

When ready to make the socca, preheat oven to 450 with a 10 inch oven safe skillet (I used cast iron but any oven safe dish would work) in oven.

Once oven reaches temp, turn oven over to broil and place skillet under it for a minute to really heat the skillet. Carefully, with oven mitts, remove hot skillet from oven and brush or pour a smidge of oil into the hot skillet to coat bottom. Pour in half the batter and tilt around until bottom is coated then place skillet back into oven under broiler and cook for 4 -8 minutes or until the socca starts to blister. (it kind of depends on your broiler so keep a close eye on it) Remove from oven and slip socca onto cutting board. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Drizzle with olive oil if you like. Then all you do is cut and eat.

Left over socca can be stored in fridge and reheated in oven or toaster.

Note. IF you want a slightly thicker socca, use a 8 inch skillet. For a thiner, more cracker like socca, pour in 1/3 of the batter at a time (you will end up with 3 instead of 2)

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.

It is getting oh so much nicer out yeah? Springing and such, well kind of. Still a wee bit chillier then it should be around here but still, it is spring and I am taking it.

And with the spring, I feel the itch, the itch to spend all of my free time outside. Out doing things that are not inside because I spent the last 7 long months inside way too much. I needed to be outside as much as possible and as it gets even nicer and warmer and garden temperature-able, I am basically going to be living outside.

Bring in sesame noodles. Super fast, super easy, super duper in every way. Make a big old batch and eat now, eat later, eat hot or eat cold. Everyone loves them, they love you, etc. etc%u2026 A perfect meal to have in rotation when you know that you are not going to have or want to spend much time cooking in the kitchen because you will be outside playing in the dirt and soaking up the sun. And think about all the picnics and BBQ%u2019s to come. These suckers are fantastic to have at any outdoor eating event. They are even peanut free so you can safely bring them to potlucks and such and don%u2019t have to worry about accidentally kill a peanut allergy person. And you can make them gluten free as well if you sub in your favorite gluten free pasta. These noodles, I am telling you. They are a winner in every way.

So with out further ado, the noodles!

The stuff. Spaghetti noodles, tahini, a few cloves of garlic, some toasted sesame oil, soy sauce, red wine vinegar, honey (used whatever sweetener you like), red pepper flakes, tasted sesame seeds some cabbage, half a red onion and a carrot.

Get pasta cooking. Boil water, drop noodles in, you know the drill. Cook as long as the the noodles need cooking, just make sure to not over cook them cause soggy noodles are nasty.

Chop, shred and julienne the cabage, onion and carrot. Nice and thin.

Mince the heck out of the garlic. Or use a garlic press if you want.

Now make the sauce. Add the minced garlic, along with the soy, sesame oil, vinegar, sweetener, and chili flakes to the bowl with the tahini. Mix, mix, mix until it is all incorporated and not lumpy. And that is that.

Noodles should be done by now so strain them out.

Add the prepared veggies to a big bowl.

Add in the cooked noodles

Cover with sauce and toss all around until all the noodles are coated and delicious. Sprinkle with sesame seeds and a pinch or so more of pepper flakes.

And then it is time. Eating time.

Happy spring!

-C

serves 3-6

• 3/4 lb (3/4 of a package) of your favorite spaghetti noodles (or linguine or similar noodle)

• 2 tablespoons toasted sesame oil

• 1/4 cup soy (low sodium if you have it and gluten free tamari if needed)

• 3 tablespoons red wine vinegar

• 3 tablespoons tahini

• 2-4 teaspoons red chili flakes

• 1-2 teaspoons sweetener of choice (maple, honey, or brown sugar)

• 4-5 cloves garlic

• 1-2 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds

• about a 1/4 head of cabbage

• a carrot

• small red onion

Bring a pot of water to a boiling cook the noodles as directed on package. You want them al dente, cooked all the way, but barely. No soggy noodles. (unless you like them soggy)

In the mean time, shred the cabbage, julienne the carrot (or shred it) and slice the onion so very thinly. Place into a large bowl. Now mince garlic and place into a bowl along with the soy, sweetener, vinegar, tahini, sesame oil and a teaspoon or two (more for spicier) of chili flakes and whisk until completely incorporated. Taste and adjust if needed. Add more tahini for more body, more sweetener if needed or more hot pepper flakes for more spice.

Once noodles are cooked, drain and place into large bowl along with the shredded and julienned veggies. Pour in the sauce and toss it all around until all the noodles are covered. Sprinkle in the toasted sesame seeds and a small pinch more of the red pepper flakes.

Eat. Eat warm, room temp, or cold. They are delicious any way.

Any left overs just stick in fridge. Can be reheated or not. Also, you can make the sauce and the noodles a few day ahead of time of when you want to have the dish Just mix the sauce with the noodles when you are about to serve them%u2026 So simple!

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.

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.

As of right now, these are by far the best cookies I have ever made. Look at them. They are SO CUTE!. Worth all the effort, seeing that I do not own a ghost cookie cutter (although I think my version of ghosts are pretty fantastic) and had to hand cut out each cookie with a knife and a ghost cutout I made a few weeks back. They make me happy just looking at them. That right there is saying something. And I don%u2019t know about you and where you are, but it is getting pretty freaking cold out and I refuse to turn the heat on for a few more weeks so I do what I need to do to stay warm. If that means turning on the oven to bake cookies, then so be it. I have a feeling I am going to be making a few more batches of cookies before the months over. HA! (For reals though.)

These cookies are more or less a traditional sugar cookie with a chocolate ganache type filling, both with a hint of coconut flavor from the use of coconut oil. Something about the whole combination; the cookie, the coconutieness, and the chocolate that really had everyone (I gave them out a Barbs birthday party) praise my amazingness. I guess they are pretty freaking delicious.

Cute and delicious. Best kind of cookie!

And quick note. Yes these are ghosts but think of all the fun shaped sandwich cookies you could make. I am thinking moose shaped cookies next or maybe Christmas trees%u2026 Oh the possibilities!

Now, to the cookies!

The stuff. White sugar, coconut oil, flour, baking powder, salt, vanilla, almond milk, cocoa powder, and powdered sugar. For cookies and filling.

To make cookie dough. Beat toghetet the coconut oil with sugar and vanilla until smooth and fluffy. Add in all the dry ingredients and the almond milk and mix until a dough forms.

Wrap dough in plastic and squish tight. Place in fridge for an hour or up to a day.

After dough has had time in the fridge, grab it and roll it out on a lightly floured surface to about 1/4 inch thick.

Cut out cookie shapes. If you want to cut out eyes or a few different shapes, remember each cookie needs a top and bottom so even numbers folks.

Place cut out cookies on a baking sheet then into the oven they go.

Bakes and ghostly! Place them on a wire rack to cool and keep baking the rest of the cookies.

While cookies are cooling, make chocolate filling. Super soft, almost melted coconut oil goes in a bowl with vanilla and gets beaten together. Add in the cocoa powder, powdered sugar and pinch of salt and kept beating slowly anding in a bit of milk until the whole shebang comes together into chocolate filling awesomeness.

Once the cookies are completely cooled, fill them. The filling might have tightened up a bit so if it is not spreadable, pop into microwave for like 8 seconds to get it to move. Scoop or smear equal amounts of filling onto the bottoms of the cookies and top them off with their tops.

Done, and ready to eat.

Ghosts cookies for all your ghost fueled festivities.

-C

makes at least 16 sandwich cookies

For the cookies

• 2 1/4 cups all purpose flour

• 3/4 cup white sugar

• 1 teaspoon baking powder

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 1 teaspoon vanilla extact

• 2/3 cup soft coconut oil

• 5 tablespoons plant milk (I used almond)

For the filling

• 1 1/2- 2 cups powdered sugar

• 1/3 cup cocoa powder

• 4 tablespoons melted coconut oil

• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

• 2-3 tablespoons plant milk

• 1/8 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 350

In a bowl beat together the white sugar with the coconut oil and vanilla extract. Add in the flour, baking powder, and salt and start to mix with a spoon or fork, adding in the milk as you go. Keep mixing until completely incorporated and turns to a ball of dough. Gather together into a ball and wrap in plastic. Pat flat and place into fridge for an hour or up to a day.

To cut out cookies. Roll fridgerated dough out on a floured surface to about 1/2 inch thick. Cut out shapes, making sure to have a top and bottom for each cookie. Gather left over dough into a ball and repeat until all the dough is used.

Place cookies on a baking sheet and bake for 13-15 minutes or until they are just starting to lightly brown around the edges. Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cook.

For chocolate filling. Beat together the melted coconut oil with vanilla. Add in the lesser amount of powdered sugar, salt, and cocoa powder. Beat on low, adding in 2 tablespoons plant milk. Beat until mixture comes together into a thick but spreadable consistency. If it seems too thick, add more milk, too thin, a little more powdered sugar.

Cookie assembly. 2 cookies at a time. A top and bottom. Spread about a tablespoon of chocolate filling to bottom cookies and pop the top on.

Eat cookies. Store what is not eaten in a airtight container for up to a week, but these ghosts will definitely not last that long.

Kind of a spur of the moment cake situation. I was in the middle of doing some paper work and remembered that I had made plans with the littles to go bike shopping and do dinner. Usually when they come over for dinner I don%u2019t make a point to have a dessert (they are happy with a handful of chocolate chips if I have nothing) but I felt the need to have something special. I mean, bike shopping, that%u2019s a big deal and they were so excited so I wanted to have a little celebration cake thing. A, YIPPIE YOU GOT BIKES! cake. It just seemed like the right thing to do.

So I made cake. I running a little short on time (yet I still had time to take pictures%u2026.) so I went with my trusty one bowl, super easy chocolate cake. (This is everyone in my families favorite cake). Peanut butter frosting because it was right in from of me and really, it was for Coco the fat baby. He basically eats nothing but peanut butter these days. And of course because peanut butter and chocolate together are never going out of style. I cooked the cake in a loaf pan because I was just feeling loafy I guess. But This cake could totally be cooked into a cake round or square if you wanted to.

And that was that. I made that cake, they got the bikes (YEA!!!!, although I told them both that they sucked because they walked into a store and picked out bikes in less then an hour. I on the other hand have been bike shopping for more then a month and still haven%u2019t made a decision.) We then came back here to my house, biked around for a while, then ate cake (after dinner of course.)

Anyways. This cake. Rich, dense, chocolatey peanut butter goodness. Has been described as the best cake ever and like a Reese peanut butter cup. If you are into any of that, well this is the cake for you.

To the cake.

The stuff for the cake.. Flour, baking soda, salt, cocoa powder, oil, coffee, vanilla. brown sugar, and apple cider vinegar. And the stuff for the frosting. Peanut butter, butter, powdered sugar, and almond milk.

In a big bowl, whisk together the dry stuff, pinching and breaking apart any big clumps of cocoa or sugar. Then just dump in the wet.

Whisked until glossy and smooth. A perfectly perfect chocolate cake batter.

Pour batter into a greased and lined loaf pan and into the oven it goes. 50-60 minutes or so or until a tester poked in the middle comes out clean. Then pop the cake right on out. Remove cake from tin and let cool on a wire rack.

While cake is cooling, make frosting. Beat together powdered sugar, peanut butter, butter, and milk.

Fully beaten. Ready to frost a cake.

Once cake is cooled, cut in half down the middle, length wise. Then frosting the middle. (Make sure it is cooled in the middle before frosting. If it is still warm, let it cool)

Pop the top back on and frost the rest.

And don%u2019t forget the sprinkles. Went with chocolate and gold because. But you do you and use whatever sprinkles you want.

And then you eat the cake.

I ended up stick it in the freezer to hide for a while%u2026 I guess this cake cold or slightly frozen is just about the best thing ever. The littles damn near ripped my arm off trying to get seconds.

-C

makes 1 loaf cake

• For the Cake

• 1 3/4 cup all purpose flour

• 1 cup packed light brown sugar

• 1/3 cup cocoa powder

• 1 teaspoon baking soda

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 1/2 cup neutral oil

• 1 1/2 cups warm coffee

• 1 teaspoon vanilla

• 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar

• For frosting

• 3/4 cup minus 2 tablespoons peanut butter

• 2 tablespoons vegan butter

• 1/4 cup plant based milk

• 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 350 and grease and line a loaf pan.

In a large bowl mix together the flour, baking soda, salt, cocoa powder, and brown sugar. Break apart any big clumps of sugar or cocoa with your fingers. When that%u2019s mixed, dump in the wet and whisk together until just fully incorporated. Pour batter into the greased pan and stick into oven.

Bake for 55- 60 minutes or until a tester poked into the middle comes out clean.

Once cooked, remove from oven and carefully remove from pan. Place on a wire rack to cool.

While cake is cooling, make the frosting. Just beat together the butter, peanut butter, and milk until nice and creamy. If you find your frosting be too thin, add in more powdered sugar, too thick, a splash more milk.

When it is cooled, cut the loaf in half length wise. Make sure the inside is complete cooled as well. I totally stuck my cake in the freezer for little bit to speed up the cooling process%u2026..

When the cake is cut and completely cooled, frost it. Spread a little less then half the frosting on the bottom layer, stick top back on, and finish the frosting. Cover with sprinkles (if you want) and then that is it.

Serve room temperature or what my people really like is served slightly frozen, which is great because I just cut the cake up and froze individual pieces making for a perfect quick dessert.

These are definitely my favorite shaped cutout cookies I have ever made. I mean seriously, carrot shaped carrot cookies, what could possibly ever be better? Nothing, and that%u2019s truth for you.

Not only are they carrot shaped, they are also carrot flavored. Yup, Carrot shaped, carrot flavored, awesomeness. A little cinnamon added to the cookie for little extra boost of flavor and an orange glaze because it works and orange is good and fresh and springing. All good stuff.

You might be thinking, huh, carrot puree in a cookie, well that doesn%u2019t sound right. But it is, it is right. And you know how I know that these cookies are awesome? Well I packed them up, (2 dozen of them) and took them over to the littles house for an after school treat. When I got there, the two older ones had friends over. I asked them if they wanted a carrot which earned me that look that said %u201care you serious%u201d but them showed them the cookies. Of course the wanted a carrot so I gave them each one. They ate their cookies then proceeded to beat the shit out of the mr. Then they asked for another cookies and beat the shit out of the mr some more. This when on and on for about a 1/2 hour until all the cookies were gone and the mr was crouched in the corner with a broom trying to defend himself against 4 rulely kids who where slashing at him with light sabers and spraying him in he face with kitchen cleaner. It%u2019s because they wanted more cookies. (and yes, the littles are getting crazy). So yeah, the cookies are good. Ass kicking good.

Anyway, a cookie with some goodness mix into it, shaped into a great shape, that will make everyone smile and happy. You could make them by yourself, make them with your friends, make them with some kids, with some old people. They are the perfect cookie to leave out for the easter bunny(do you leave carrots out for the easter bunny?) or to serve up at any easter party, spring party, or any garden party you might be attending. This cookie is pretty much perfect for any and every occasion that required a cookie. Or a carrot because carrots are always welcome.

To the carrots! I mean, the cookies!

The stuff. Flour, baking soda, salt, sugar, vegan butter, carrot puree, cinnamon, an orange, some powdered sugar, and food coloring.

Into a big bowl the sugar, vegan butter, and carrot puree go.

Beat for a minute or two until completely incorporated.

Add in all the rest of the dry stuff and mix by hand until it turns to dough.

This is the dough it turned into.

Gather the dough and wrap it or place in a plastic bag and stick it Into the fridge for a few hours or overnight. The dough NEEDS to chill.

After you let the dough be, remove from fridge, liberally dust counter, and roll out dough about 1/4 inch thick.

And then it%u2019s time to cut the cookies out. I unfortunately do not have a cookie cutter so I improvised and make 2 carrot cutouts from paper and hand cut each cookie. That worked but took forever so I got crafty and used a fat Christmas tree cookie cutter then just did a little trim and pinch to make it into a cookie. (I am a genius for that). Any way works, and you can also do other shapes too, the cookies don%u2019t change taste in different shapes. (but that would be so cool if they did)

Carefully place cut out cookies onto a baking sheet, giving them a little space because they do spread a tiny bit.

And into the oven to bake they go.

Out in 10 minutes looking all carrot like.

Carrots waiting to cool so they can be glazed.

The glaze. Pretty straight forward. Just zest orange into powdered sugar and juice the orange into the sugar and mix.

Divide glaze and dye one orange and one green

And glaze away. I recommend doing it over a rack and baking sheet to minimize mess because they do drip a bit.

Now just you look at that, carrot shaped carrot sugar cookies .What a sight!

And of course, carrots come in bunches. HA

Enjoy some carrots!

-C

makes about 2 and a half dozen (depending on size)

• 2 1/4 cups all purpose flour plus more for dusting

• 1 teaspoon baking soda

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 1 teaspoon cinnamon

• 1/2 cup vegan butter

• 3/4 cup granulated sugar

• 1/2 cup carrot puree ( see note about how to make puree)

  For the glaze

• 2 to 3 cups powdered sugar

• on orange

• orange and green food coloring

Note. To make carrot puree, steam a couple carrots until completely soft them blend until smooth.

Place sugar, vegan butter, and carrot puree into a big bowl. Beat with a beater until light and fluffy. Add in the flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon and mix by hand until completely incorporated and mixture tunes into dough. Gather dough into a disk and wrap in plastic or place in a plastic bag and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or up to overnight.

Once dough has chilled enough and you are ready to go, preheat the oven to 350.

Place dough on a flour dusted counter and roll out about 1/4 inch thick. Cut out the cookies with a cutter or by hand and place on a baking sheet. Bake cookies for 10-11 minutes or until just starting to turn slightly brown around the edges. Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool.

Once cookies are all baked and cooling, make the glaze. Place powered sugar into a big bowl, zest in the orange then add in the juice od half the orange. Mix completely and check consistency. You want it to be slightly running but not liquid, but also not to stiff. Add more juice or more sugar to get it right. Once it is the right consistency, separate into 2 bowls. Dye one green and one orange. Now glaze you cookies. A knife or small spatula works best and yes, the glaze drips a little so do it over a baking sheet, but after about 10 minutes the glaze hardens.

And then you have carrot cookies and all is good. Now go eat a carrot cookie!

Store uneaten cookies in an airtight container for up to 5 days. They can be frozen too.

I have a bag of coconut flour that I need to use up so I have made coconut snack cake a few times the past couple weeks. Once with orange instead of lime. Once I added chocolate chips. This time I stepped it up made a little glaze action, toasted a little coconut for some extra coconutiness and took these here pictures and wrote down the recipe. Just. For. You.

Not that I don%u2019t know already that my snack cake creation is good, but I guess it was just super A+++. I threw this one together right before the mr and I headed down to PA to hang with my dad. As soon as he (and sister and nephews) started in on it, well the responses were more then average. My dad even snuck a piece off and hid it for later. They really, really, really were into it. Wanted me to make another right then and there. Normally I would but my dad doesn%u2019t keep coconut flour on hand and I don%u2019t make it a habit to travel with any myself. (I might have to change that.) Next time he will know to stock the coconut flour.

I didn%u2019t realize my people were such coconut people. Good thing for them that I like coconut people. As a matter of fact, I consider myself a coconut person. And coconut is not code for awesome, but I am that too. HA

Anyway enough about me. Coconut snack cake is what you want to know about. It is soft and dense. Moist, not overly sweet. Lots of lime and coconut flavor and is just perfect for snack time. Eat it with a fork on a plate with coffee or tea or grab an piece and eat it walking down the street while thinking about green leaves and warmer weather. Or wherever and whenever. If you make it then it%u2019s up to you when and where you eat it. That only seems fair.

Now to the snack cake of your coconut lime dreams.

The stuff. Gonna need all purpose flour, coconut flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder, a couple flax eggs, some warmed coconut oil, plant milk, brown sugar, vanilla extra, apple sider vinegar, a couple lime, some powdered sugar, and some lightly toasted shredded coconut.

Grab a big bowl. Add in the brown sugar, flax eggs, warmed coconut oil, apple cider vinegar, and vanilla. Mix it all up until evenly incorporated.

Dump in the flours, baking soda and powder, and salt. Zest in lime, squeeze in lime juice and start to mix. Add in the milk as you are mixing.

Cake batter mixed and done. Now to bake it.

Dump the cake batter into a well greased baking pan and level it off with a spoon or spatula.

Now it%u2019s oven time to bake into a great and well cake.

A cake out of the oven, great and well. Golden brown and smells of all the goodness that a coconut cake could possible smell.

While cake is cooling, which it should be now, make the glaze. Powdered sugar, lime zest, and lime juice. Mix until it%u2019s glazy.

Pour the glaze all over cooled cake.

Don%u2019t forget the shredded coconut. Get it on before the glaze starts to set.

And then it%u2019s just the matter of cutting cake%u2026%u2026.

You know once you cut it, that means snack time right? Coconut lime snack cake for all of your coconut time, lime time, hungry snack time needs.

Keep it good.

-C

Makes a 9×9 cake

• 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

• 1/2 cup coconut flour

• 3/4 packed cup brown sugar

• 1 teaspoon salt

• 1 teaspoon baking soda

• 1 teaspoon baking powder

• 1/2 cup coconut oil (warmed to liquid)

• 1 1/4 cup plant milk (I used almond)

• 2 flax eggs (2 tablespoons ground flax seeds with 1/2 cup warm water)

• 1 teaspoon vanilla

• 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar

• A lime

• For the glaze

• 3/4 cup powdered sugar

• a lime

• 1/4 cup or so toasted shredded coconut to sprinkle on top (optional)

Preheat oven to 350

In a large bowl, mix together the bbrown sugar, flax eggs, warmed coconut oil, vanilla, and apple cider vinegar until completely incorporated. Next dump in the flour, coconut flour, salt, baking soda and baking powder. Zest the lime into bowl. Start mixing, adding in the juice of the lime and the plant milk. Mix it all together until completely incorporated.

Dump mixture into a well greases 9×9 baking pan and level off with a spoon or spatula. Place into oven and bake for 30-35 minutes or until golden brown and a tester stuck into the middle of cake comes out clean.

Once baked, remove from oven, let cool in pan for a few minutes then carefully remove cake from pan and let cool on a wire rack.

While cake is cooling, make the glaze. Just zest other lime into powered sugar then add the juice (or as much juice as you needed) of the lime until a pourable glaze forms. If your lime is not particularly juicy enough and the glaze is still really thin, just add a splash of water to thin out as needed.

And when cake is completely cooled, pour glaze all over cake and cover with toasted coconut flakes.

Now cut. And eat.

Store left over cake in a air tight container for 3-4 days. Individual pieces freeze well for all your future snacking needs.

Currently it is like 50 degrees outside and raining buckets of cats and frogs and what not. I live in Vt for a few reasons, and one of them is winter, so the warm rain is just not nice. Apparently these cookies are the closest thing to snowflakes I will be seeing for a little while%u2026(sad face inserted here) But I am hoping that juuuust maybe it will turn, and all of a sudden it will be snow coming down and not rain. And that it snows and snows and snows, like a foot or 2 of it. I want so much snow that I am stuck in my house for a least a solid 24 hours (of course with the power still on and all the necessities I would need) and the only way out being by foot or sled. And you know what I would do if I was snowed in? Lounge around in my pj%u2019s all day (or at least until like 10 am), have a never emptying cup of hot coffee in hand, play around outside and make a snow fort, and definitely make cookies. Doesn’t that just sound so nice?

But I am not snowed in, and wasn%u2019t snowed in and probably will not be snowed in for the foreseeable future. But I can still, and did make cookies so there is that. Chocolate cut out snowflakes with orange glaze to be exact. A good all around chocolate cookie jazzed up with a citrus kick. Simple, elegant and perfect for all of your holiday cookie needs. Plus it is just a really pretty cookie. I just might make a few more batches and liter the front yard with them. I%u2019ll make my own freaking snow, even if it is out of cookies. Then I really wouldn%u2019t be able to leave my house due to the crazy fat squirrels attacking the lawn. That would be something. HA.

To the snowflake cookies! (They can be any shape really, but snowflakes are so nice)

The stuff. Sugar, vegan butter, flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, salt, canola oil, brewed coffee, grind chia seeds, vanilla extract, an orange, and some powdered sugar.

First, mix the ground chia seeds with the coffee for caffeinated chia eggs.

Beat the butter with the sugar to give it a good fluff, then add in the oil, vanilla, and chia eggs to the mix.

Place all the dry into a bowl and whisk together until fully incorporated.

Dump the mixed dry into the were and grab a wooden spoon. Start mixing.

Cookie dough is a-formin.

Collect the dough in some plastic and smash into a disk. Place in fridge to rest for at least a few hours, but a day is good too.

Chilled dough, flour, a cookie cutter, and a rolling pin. I think you know what to do. Just really make sure to keep the counter and rolling pin floured or else the dough will stick and that is just so annoying.

Yes this dough is a little delicate, but not in a bad way. It might tear or slightly crumble but you just smoosh it back in there and you are all set. Anyway, after rolling dough out to about 1/2 inch thick, cut cookies out with a well floured cutter.

Cookies on the baking sheet ready for the oven.

Cookies on a baking sheet right out of the oven.

Now those cookies got to cool so get them on a rack.

While cookies are cooling, fix yourself some glaze. The powdered sugar, zest of orange and juice of orange will do the trick.

A good looking glaze. Thick put drizzable consistency.

And to finish. Drizzle the cookies with glaze, dunk the tops in the glaze, or do a little of both (I say both). The glaze does harden after a few minutes so these are very much stackable cookies.

And then what you do with the finished cookies is up to you. I let the mr eat a good few, saved a few for Christmas and dropped some off to some peps. They were well received for sure.

Hope you are enjoying the weekend and are able to get in on some cookie making.

-C

makes about 3 dozen cookies

• 2 1/2 cups flour

• 1/2 cup cocoa powder

• 1 teaspoon baking powder

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 1/3 cup vegan butter

• 1/2 cup oil

• 1 cup white sugar

• 1 teaspoon vanilla

• 2 tablespoons ground chia seeds

• 6 tablespoon coffee or water (coffee brings out the chocolate flavor more)

• 1 orange

• 1 cup powdered sugar

In a large bowl, cream together the white sugar and butter until light and fluffy. Add in the oil, vanilla, and coffee chia eggs. Mix until incorporated. In a separate bowl mix together the flour, cocoa. salt. and baking powder. Dump dry into wet and mix until a dough forms. Gather dough into a ball and place in plastic and flatten into a disk. Place in fridge for at least an hour or overnight.

When you are ready to bake, preheat oven to 350

Take dough from fridge and unwrap. Place on a well floured surface and roll until it is about 1/4 inch thick. The dough is delicate and a little crumbly, but don%u2019t worry to much, just squish it back together and keep rolling it out. With a floured cookie cutter, cut your shapes and gently place them on a cookie sheet. Gather remnants of dough back into a ball and re-roll out and cut more cookies until you have used up all the dough. Place cookies into oven and bake for 11-12 minutes or until the cookies have puffed up a bit and the bottoms are slightly browned. Once cookies are cooked, let cool on a wire rack.

While cookies are cooling make the glaze. Mix about a tablespoon of the zest of the orange with the powdered sugar and add in a few tablespoons of the juice of the orange until the glaze is slightly runny. Once cookies are cooled either dip the tops in the glaze or drizzle the glaze on top of cookies (or do some of both). Then eat. If you wait a little while, the glaze will harden and then you can stack them and then if you want, maybe wrap on a few in little packages to give to someone you like. Either way, place uneaten cookies in a airtight container. Should last about a week, but can you not eat them for that long?

I have been making at least one cake, if not 3, a week for the past month. Last week I did not have a cake that I needed.to make, so what did I do? I made a cake.

I might have an alternative motive here, I have started my winter squash stash, and already it is looking pretty impressive. I have delicata, acorn, kombucha, and sugar pumpkins littered all over the house. As of now I think I have a count of about 27. Some came fro the garden, some from (and still coming, all winter long) from farm share, and some came from when they went on sale at the grocery store and I filled the shopping cart up. The cashier checking me out thought I was crazy, but I get that a lot. (Like when I buy 20 heard os cabbage.. it%u2019s like I scare them) The alternative motive is that some of the squashes don%u2019t have the shelf life of some of the others so I need to get on to eating the ones that don%u2019t last as long, like the delicata and pumpkins, which I am doing, gladly might I add. So while I am eating those, I figured I would use up an acorn squash for cake because well, I don%u2019t want to have a million acorn squash laying around and I am just too busy eating the pumpkins to get the acorn. And this is why I made an acorn squash cake.

What does acorn squash cake tase like? Basically like pumpkin cake. Every time I make any sweet thing with any squash other then pumpkin, no one really seems to notice the difference, but that is not to say there isn’t one. I would say that acorn has a slightly sweeter and nutter flavor then pumpkin so you might get a more flavorful flavor out of an acorn squash. And really, if you like pumpkin, your gonna like the acorn. And people love them some maple frosting so smothering that along with walnuts on this cake, well I know made some people really really happy.

That%u2019s the real reason why I made this cake. To make some people happy. Jeeze, I am just so nice. Ha HA!

The stuff. A roasted acorn squash. flour, baking soda and baking powder, spices of cinnamon, ginger and a pinch of nutmeg, salt, oil, soy milk, brown sugar, white sugar, and a little apple cider vinegar.

Start by pureeing your squash If you haven%u2019t already which basically involved removing seeds and skin (save seeds to rest, eat skin, it delicious) and blending the squash until smooth.

You are now ready to cake. Add squash puree and oil into bowl with the sugars and mix until completely combined. Whisk together all the dry ingredients then add in the sugar, squash, oil mixture to the wet along with the milk and apple cider vinegar. Mix until just combined then stop mixing so you don%u2019t over mix.

Batter then gets poured evenly into two greased and lined cake pans.

And into the oven they go.

Golden brown and smelling all nice and cozy. A tester in the middle making sure that they are cooked completely.

Cakes get popped out of pans and and placed on a rack to cool completely. In the mean time, make the frosting. Powdered sugar, salt, vegan butter, maple syrup, and maybe a splash of soy milk (you might or might not need it). And don%u2019t forget the walnuts.

Sugar, salt, butter, and maple get beaten together until creamy and smooth.

Toasted walnuts get chopped into bits.

And now it%u2019s cake assembly time. Place one completely cooled layer on a cake plate and spread half the frosting on top. Sprinkle with half the chopped nuts. Place second layer on, spread rest of frosting on top, and sprinkle with the rest of the nut.

Now eat.

Enjoy the fall weekend and all the squash.

-C

makes and 8 inch 2 layer cake

For the Cake

• 2 1/4 cups all purpose flour

• 1/2 cup white sugar

• 1/2 cup brown sugar

• 1/3 cup neutral oil

• 2 cups acorn squash puree*

• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

• 1 teaspoon baking soda

• 1 teaspoon salt

• 1 tablespoon cinnamon

• 1 teaspoon ginger

• pinch of nutmeg

• 1 1/2 cups plant milk (I used soy)

• 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar

  For the frosting

• 3 cups powdered sugar

• 1/2 cup earth balance or any vegan butter

• 1/2 cup real maple syrup

• 1/4 teaspoon salt

• 1-2 teaspoons plant milk (if needed)

• 1 cup toasted walnuts

Note. For acorn squash puree. roast an acorn squash by place entire squash into oven at 425 degree for about 1/2 hour or until fork tender. Once cooked, cut in half, let cool a few minutes, then scoop out all the seeds. Remove skin and blend the squash until smooth.

Preheat oven to 350

Place brown and white sugar into bowl along with the oil and squash puree. Mix until completely incorporated. In a larger bowl, mix together the flour, baking soda and powder, salt, and spices. Pour wet mixture into dry almond with the soy milk and apple cider vinegar. Mix until just completely incorporated then stop to prevent over mixing.

Grease and parchment line two 8 inch cake pans. Pour batter evenly between pans then place into oven for 30-35 minutes or until Depp golden brown and a tester stuck into middle of cakes comes out clean. When it%u2019s done, remove from oven, let cook a few minutes, then remove from cake pans. Place on a wire rack o cool completely.

While cake is cooling, make the frosting. Beat together the powdered sugar, salt, maple, and earth balance until nice and creamy. If the frosting seems to thick, add a splash of milk, to thin, add a 1/4 cup more of powdered sugar.

Chop walnuts into small bits if they are not already.

Once cakes are completely cooled, assemble. Place first layer on cake plate and spread 1/2 the frosting onto first layer and sprinkle on half of the chopped walnuts. Place on second layer, spread the rest of the frosting on top, and sprinkle on the rest of the nut. And that is it. Now you just need to eat it.

Store any left overs in for a day on the counter, but any longer place in an airtight container in the fridge. I even froze a few pieces and the mr loved them frozen to if you like frozen cake%u2026..

Who doesn’t like a good bun, right? %u00a0And just because this is where my mind wonders, peachy sweet buns. Doesn’t that sound like a pick up line or something you say to your significant other. Like, “Oh hey peachy sweet buns, you are looking good. Woo hoo”…….. Anyway, this is not about anyones peachy sweet buns, it it about actually sweet buns so u-hum, yeah.%u00a0

I am not trying to float my own boat here, but I am really really good at making buns, and you know what, I bet that you are too. They may seem a little intimidating, but really, it’s quite easy. I think what throws some people off is the yeasted dough and having to knead and waiting for the dough to rise,%u00a0but don’t let that stop you from sweet sweet buns. They are no harder to make then a boxed cake (maybe a little harder) and the results are by far more amazing and delightful (we don’t use the word delightful enough around here) then any old box or pre-made thing will ever be. Ever. Freshly made buns are what is right in this world.

If you are awesome and decide to make buns like any good person with a baking itch or a need for some sweet bun goodness does, make them peachy because its peach season and how can a peach bun not be that much more amazing? %u00a0Just think. Soft sweet dough, jammy cinnamon peaches, covered in a sweet lemony glaze……

Go on now, go and get yourself some peachy sweet buns.

The stuff. Flour and salt in the bowl, melted earth balance, brown sugar, yeast, warm soy milk, cane sugar, cinnamon, powdered sugar, a couple of lemons, and af course, peaches.

Warm (not hot) soy milk, yeast, cane sugar, an melted (but again, not hot) earth balance go into a big bowl and get whisked around. Then add in the flour and salt ans mix around until you just can’t.

Time to knead. Dump the dough ad all the little bits onto a flour surface. Gather it all together and knead away, for about 5-8 minutes, or until the dough looks like….

This. Nice and soft and glossy. %u00a0Lightly grease the bowl ans stick the dough back into it, covered with a towel, and set for about 1 hour to rise and double in size.%u00a0

As soon as the dough is set ti rise, start on your peach filling. Chop up enough peaches that you have about 2 1/2 cups of chunks.

Brown sugar and peach chunks go into a pot and stuck on a medium heat until they start to bubble then set to a low simmer for about 20 minutes or until the peaches all break apart and reduce by half.

Add in the cinnamon and stir.. Peachy goodness. Now quick and stick that shit in the fridge or freezer to cool down.

BOOM. Dough did what it’s job and doubled. Time o make the buns.%u00a0

Place the dough on a lightly floured surface and roll our into a rectangle of sorts that is about 1/2 an inch thick%u00a0

Cover the surface with all the peachy jammy goodness, and sprinkle on the remaining finely chopped peaches.

And roll, as tightly as you can, without squeezing all the filling out. I roll towards me, but roll away from you if it is easier. %u00a0It might get a little sloppy… it’s ok, just lick your fingers and keep going.%u00a0

Rolled and cut into 12 pieces.

Place the rolls carefully onto a grease and parchment lined baking 9×13 baking dish. In my picture I used a baking pan, which was not what I wanted to do, but I wasn’t thinking properly and so that’s what I did. Something with sides is preferable, but the baking pan did the job so really, your call.%u00a0

When you place the buns in the dish, place them toughen a bit, it helps then bake up high instead of out. %u00a0And any remaining go on jam that spilled out can get scraped right on top of the buns,%u00a0if you didn’t already eat it.

Now into the preheated oven these %u00a0babies go.

Look at those beauts. And they smell. A-MAZ-ING!!%u00a0

Right away get that glaze made. Powdered sugar, lemon zest, ans lemon juice. Super easy, just add the zest and juice to sugar and mix until smooth and glaze.%u00a0

Pour glaze over warm buns. Make sure to hit them all or someone is going to be pissed they didn’t get enough glaze…..%u00a0

Then it’s really just up to you whether you wait for coffee or tea or not, but really, just eat right away. There should be very little time between newly glazed buns and a bun in your face.

Enjoy the peaches!

-C

Makes 12 Buns

• For the Dough%u00a0
  • 3 1/2 cups all purposes flour
  • 1/4 %u00a0cup cane sugar
  • 1 cup warm soy milk
  • 2 teaspoon or 1 packet yeast
  • 4 tablespoons melted vegan butter%u00a0
  • 1 teaspoon salt
• For the Filling%u00a0
  • 3-4 good sized ripe peaches (about 3 cups chopped peaches)
  • 3/4 cup brown sugar
  • 1 tablespoon cinnamon
  • Juice of half a lemon
• For the Glaze
  • 1 lemons
  • 1 1/2 cup powered sugar

In a large bowl mix together the yeast,%u00a0warm (not hot) soy milk,%u00a0sugar, and melted but cooled butter. Now add in %u00a0the salt and the flour. Mix until it’s too hard to mix then dump it all onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 7-10 minutes until the dough is %u00a0soft, elastic-y,%u00a0and smooth. Place dough back into a clean lightly greased bowl and drape with a damp towel. Let dough rise for about 1 to 1.5 hours or until it has doubled in size.

While the dough is rising, chop the peaches up until you have about 3 cups.%u00a0Place 2 1/2 cups of the %u00a0peaches into a medium sized pot with the brown sugar and lemon juice and stick on medium heat. Set the rest aside. Cook for about 20 minutes, stirring and mashing with a wooden spoon every few minutes,%u00a0until mixture has become thick and reduced by about 1/2. Remove from heat, stir in cinnamon,%u00a0%u00a0and place in fridge to cool.%u00a0

Once thee dough has doubled, dump onto a flour surface and roll our into a retacnge that is about 1/2 inch thick %u00a0Grab your peach mixture and spread the mixture evenly over the dough. Evenly distribute %u00a0the remaining chopped peaches over jam. %u00a0And then it’s the to roll.

Start from the long side and start to roll toward the other end, keeping it as tight as possible without squeezing out all the filling. %u00a0Once rolled, slice into 12 even sized buns.

Place on a lightly greased and parchment lined 9×13 inch baking sheet or pan and let rest and rest for another20 minutes or so. OR if you want to wait to bake them off,%u00a0cover them with plastic and set into the fridge for up to 24 hours. When you are ready to bake, remove from fridge and let the buns set on counter to come to room temperature before baking.%u00a0

Preheat oven to 350.

Place rolls into oven. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until all the buns have gotten a nice golden brown on top, and if you want to take the internal temp, that the temp has reached 190.%u00a0

Once the buns are done %u00a0baking, mix together the zest and juice of the lemon and powdered sugar. If the glaze seems to thick, add more juice or water, to think, add more sugar. Pour glaze all over warm (but not hot) buns.

And now all you need to do is serve up those buns right away, nice and warned.

Any left overs should be stored in the fridge for 3-4 days but should definitely be warmed up in the microwave for a minute or two before serving. They also freeze well too.%u00a0

I am pretty sure making pretzels was one of the best ideas that I had all week. Making them into the shape of hearts, that WAS the best idea I had all week. Take note. Making anything into the shape of a heart is always the best idea.

So why pretzels? Well why not. I make so much bread in this house that I felt like making a little something different. I was thinking bagels, but I didn’t really want to have dough in the fridge for a day and plus I wanted to do something then and there and have it be done. Like pretzels. From start to finish they takes less then 2 hours. And you get to twist the dough and boil it and it is just fun. Like I could totally see making pretzels with a few littles or maybe a friend or a %u201cfriend%u201d. A pretzel making date. Now that is a good idea. Oh me, I am so full of all those good ideas. HAHA!

These pretzels are of the soft variety. And to make them pretzels, and not just bread, the kneaded dough gets shaped and then boiled in a baking soda bath (not lye%u2026don%u2019t have any lying around). Then they are sprinkled in course salt and baked til a deep golden brown. They come out soft and chewy just like a good soft pretzel should be. Then they need to be eaten right away, slightly warm, because that is how you are suppose to eat them.

And so the pretzels were made. The mr came home right after I pulled these puppies out of the oven and went for a walk to get some fresh air. When I got home I found him salivating over a plate, waiting for his cue to eat. The cue was given (once I put the camera away) and eat one he did. And then another. And another. Because really, what the hell, I made him heart shaped pretzels. He loved them so much that I just let him eat as many as he wanted. He was happy, I was happy, there where hearts. No complaints. Even when I told him he was having pretzels for all meals until they were gone. He just smiled he pretzel filled mouth at that.

To the pretzels!

The stuff. Flour, salt, course salt, brown sugar, yeast, water, and some baking soda.

The yeast, brown sugar and warm water go into a big bowl to activate. Once it starts to bubble, dump in the flour and salt and mix until a shaggy dough forms.

Dump dough onto a floured surface and knead for about 5 minutes.

Kneaded all nice to soft and supple.

Place the kneaded dough into a clean bowl and cover. Let sit for about an hour or until it doubles in size.

Once doubled, dump dough onto a lightly floured counter and cut into 12 equal pieces.

Now to shape. Roll each piece into a long rope, 16-20 inches long if you can. Fold the ends together and twist then fold twisted ends down back into itself.

Pinch the end into a point and there you go. A heart! %u2665%ufe0f

And then do it to all the dough.

Water and baking soda bath boiling away.

Grab the hearts and place a few at a time, gently, into the water for about 45 seconds then pull them out with a slotted spatula.

Onto a baking sheet either lined with parchment or a splat mat.

And don%u2019t forget to sprinkle them all with course kosher salt.

Into the oven they go.

About 18-20 minutes later%u2026 PRETZELS

Get them onto a cooling rack to cool just enough.

And then you just eat them because what else are you suppose to do.

And yes, grab the mustard because duh.

makes 12 pretzels

For the dough

• 3 1/2 – 4 cups all pupse flour

• 2 teaspoons yeast

• 1 heavy tablespoon brown sugar

• 1 teaspoon salt

• 1 1/2 cups warm water

• 2 tablespoons course kosher salt (for topping)

For water bath

• 7 cups water

• 2 tablespoons baking soda

Start by placing yeast, brown sugar, and warm water into a big bowl and mix. Let sit for a few minutes to activate yeast. Once active, dump in the lesser amount of flour and salt. Mix until a shaggy dough forms. If the dough seems super wet, add in a little more flour. Dump dough onto a floured surface and knead until soft and elastic for about 5 minutes, adding in a little more flour as needed to keep it from getting too sticky. Once dough had been kneaded, place into a clean bowl, cover, and let sit in a warm place for about an hour or until the dough doubles in size.

Once dough has doubled, preheat oven to 450. Also get the water bath ready by placing the water into big pot and placing on heat.

Back to dough. Dump the dough onto a lighty floured surface and cut into 12 equal sized pieces. Then shape each piece by rolling the dough into a rope between 16 to 20 inches long then twisting the two ends together a few times. Fold the ends over to the middle of the dough and pinch the end into a heart. (check images above if that doesn%u2019t make sense) Once all the dough has been shaped, its time to boil. When the water is at a rolling boil, dump in the baking soda and mix around. Place 2-3 pretzels gently into the water at a time and boil for about 45 seconds. Remove from water with a splatted spoon or spatula and place on a parchment or lightly oiled baking sheet. Repeat until all dough is boiled. Make sure when you place the pretzels onto the baking sheet you give them room so they are not touching. If you need to, use 2 baking sheets. And now before the placing them into the oven, sprinkle them with the course salt.

Now into the hot oven they go, for about 18-20 minutes or until they turn a deep golden brown.

Once baked, pull from oven, place on a wire rack to cool a bit, then eat them. Dipped in mustard or any other dipping situation you find appropriate.

Left overs, should there be any, should be stored individually either wrapped or in a bag at room temp for a few days. OR better yet, just freeze them. And when you want to eat one, just warm it up again in the oven.

I have been on a good long kick here with eating oats at night for my after dinner snack. Just about every night after cleaning up the dinner dishes, sweeping the floors, going for a nice after dinner walk with the mr, I come home, put the hot water on, grab my oats, my peanut flour, and sometimes a banana. As soon as the water boils I mash up some banana (if using), add in some oats, pour in some boiling water, and let them sit. I also pour a huge jar of tea then plop my butt down at the counter to do any brain tasks that need doing like checking the email, left over billing things, maybe check the old phone for the first time in hours%u2026 After about 5 minutes of that, I stop brain tasks because I just can%u2019t, grab oats, and dump in a few big ass tablespoons of peanut flour and cinnamon and give it a good stir. Voila, snack time. A delicious, nutritious, tummy filling and easy dish that is full of all sorts of things that my body needs. I grab a spoon, my tea, and open my book. For sure one of my favorite times of day.

Now lets talk about peanut flour. I have been eating peanut flour for a few years now. Not to confuse with powered peanut butter which is basically peanut flour but usually with added sugar and salt. Peanut flour is just peanuts, with the oil pressed out and then ground up into a super fine flour. And not a flour is the typical sense. Like you can%u2019t make bread with it, but you could add it to bread. You can also use it to thicken things like soups or sauces up. Or add it to smoothies, make a cake frosting with it , or just mix it with a little water and eat it with a spoon. It is delicious and amazing and full of protein without all the added fat and high calorie content. I started to add it to foods because of the protein but now I just eat it all the time because I freaking love the stuff. (Another favorite way to eat it is cut up carrot sticks tossed in the flour%u2026 SO GOOD!) Anyway, truth be told, it is not the most widely available stuff. I have only seen it in a few store over the years, so I have been buying it online. But recently someone told me that Trader Joes is selling it now (I haven%u2019t checked yet) so I figured now is a good time to share the greatness of the flour and how you might want to use it.

Anyway, these oats here are my favorite way to eat oats. Warm and creamy, but not cooked and gruel like. They are like a cross between stove top oats and overnight oats except they take all of 5 minutes to make and you don%u2019t need to dirty a pot. Then mixed with banana for extra sweetness and flavor, the peanut flour for all the peanut butter taste and protein. These oats are unstoppable.%u00a0 Delicious and nutritious for breakfast, lunch, snack time, or dessert, these oats are all win win. Add another win just because. Win, Win, WIN!

Now to the oats!

The stuff. Old fashion oats, a small banana, peanut flour, cinnamon, and boiling hot water.

Mash up the banana until smoothish then add in half the hot water and mix. Dump in the oats and mix those too.

Top with the rest of the boiling water and let sit for about 5 minutes.

After the oats absorbed the hot banana water, dump on the cinnamon and the peanut butter flour and mix in.

Grab yourself a spoon friend.

Eat.

-C

Makes 1 serving. Can be halved for smaller portion

• 1 small banana

• 1/2 cup old fashion oats

• 2 (or more if you want) tablespoons peanut flour

• 1 teaspoon cinnamon (optional)

• 1 cup boiling water

Place peeled banana in a bowl and mash with a fork unit smooth. Add in half the boiling water and mix.. Dump in oats and mix until incorporated then add in the rest of the hot water. Let sit for 5 minutes until oats absorb all the water. Stir in peanut flour and cinnamon. Eat.

When your sister drops off 50 lbs of beets, on top of the 50 lbs that you have to harvest that are growing in your garden, what do you do?

Well chips of course.

Yeah, chips. That%u2019s right. When I got home from camping on Monday and there was a humongous pile of beets sitting next to my front door, I am not going to lie, I was a little shocked. I mean there wasn’t just a few little ones. These beets were freaking huge, like the size of my arm, and so many. But pretty much right after my initial shock I knew what needed to be done. First, eat a few roasted, second, roast extra to freeze for later, and lastly, make a few bunches of chips.

Have you ever had beet chip? They are amazing. Crispy, crunchy, tasty as all heck. If you like beets, even in the slightest, you will love these. If you hate beets, well maybe don%u2019t? Either way, beet chips are the best chip. Wha’t%u2019s not to love? Pink, and chippy. Sweet, and salty. And then you add the fact that making beets into chips is a good way to get your veggies in and that you can eat a whole bowl full and feel zero guilt because you are just eating beets. Plus making beets into chips is a good way to use up any extra beets you might have laying around or that have been dropped off at your front door.

These chips, once they are made, will not last long. So when you do make them, know you will probably be making them again soon there after. Me, I have still have to harvest all my garden beets so beet chips are happening again soon. Real soon (like this afternoon!)

To the beets!

The stuff. Beets (these are Formanova beets but any variety works) salt and pepper ,and oil.

Ok so you need to cut these bad boys reallllllly thin. Like 1/15th a inch. So, what I am saying is, use a mandolin. If you don%u2019t have one, a knife will do, but you are going to have a hard time getting them as thin as you need to and all of them consistent so baking is going to be a little more tricky so maybe you should just go borrow or invest in a mandolin.

Grab baking sheets, oil, and salt and pepper. You can either dump the oil directly onto the pile of sliced beets and really toss to make sure each one has been coasted or do what I did which was I drizzled oil into my hands and rubbed each sliced beet between my oiled hands before placing on the sheet.

After you get them on there, single layered with no overlapping, sprinkle tops with a pinch of salt and pepper.

On the way into the oven.

After the oven. Baked for about 18 minutes. You really have to watch after the first 13 or so minutes to make sure you catch them at the perfect time. Crispy, but not burnt.

A side by side shot. Crazy shrinking will happen!

Oh man, so delicious. And so pretty!.

Let the chips cool before eating, you know, so you don%u2019t burn your tongue. Plus they crisp up a wee bit more.

Once cooled, pile them into bowl, and then eat them. And eat them all. They are only beets after all. And you won%u2019t be able to stop yourself anyway. Ha

-C

Makes enough for an evening of chip eating for 1-2 people

• 2 Large beets (think softball sized)

• a tablespoon or two of oil (I used grape seed but really any would work)

• salt and pepper

Note. Making these without cutting with a mandolin will be a pain in the ass. It can be done, but if you have a mandolin, use it.

Preheat oven to 350

With a mandolin, slice the beets about 1/15 inch thick. (No need to peel the beets unless you want to.) Once beets are all sliced, either drizzle them all with a tablespoon or so of oil and toss until all are coated. OR what I did and found worked really well was drizzled oil into my hands and rubbed each beet between my oiled hands as I was placing them on the baking sheets. Either way.

Now place oiled beets, single layered, without overlapping, on baking sheets. Sprinkle with a pinch of salt and pepper and place into oven. Bake for about 13 minutes without worrying then start to check every minute or so until the beets are a deep golden brown and crispy ,which will be between 15-20 minutes. Also, even though you cut them all the exact same thickness, some might crisp up faster so you should remove done chips as they happen. Once they are done, place on a rack to cool. And then do another batch. And not, they do crisp up a tiny bit more as they cool.

Once chips are cool and crisp, eat.

Store uneaten (how did you not eat them all?) chips in an air tight container. If you notice that they turned a bit chew, just place them back into oven while preheating oven to 300 then turn oven off and let sit in there for a few minutes.

We have officially kicked off our summer camping adventures. And with camping comes all the greatness of all the things, including camping food.

Recently a friend asked me what it is that we do for camp food. So I told her. Camp food is basically aways the same and consists of a big pot of spiced warm lentils or split peas (both cook really fast and have lots of protein), a shredded summer squash in the summer, or pumpkin in the colder months, maybe fresh tomatoes or a bunch of kale to chop and mix in, and a side of cut up carrots, cucumbers, green beens or whatever else I have.. Then I’ll bring a hunk of bread for the mr to eat and me, usually a small head of cabbage to squirt mustard on and crunch into. (Always have the mustard on hand.) And I bring apples to snack on too, but that usually it. (Sometime I%u2019ll back a desert for the mr. If I am feeling nice.)

She was a little taken aback. Said when she (and basically everyone in the world, which I disagreed with) goes camping it is bags of chips, cookies, meat, and everything and anything that she (they) wanted. Basically that camp food was junk food and that she though we were weirdos. But cool weirdos so you know.

So our camp food%u2026 not like many others. But honestly it is everything that I want to eat and I love it so whatever whatever. As for the mr, he is happy with the food and when he is not, he brings along something else, but that rarely happens because my lentils be so good. HA!

But she got me thinking that I should have a few more snack options beside cut up carrots and apples. So that is why I made crackers. These chickpea chili lime, freaking amazing crackers. Because crackers are a very appropriate snack food, and these crackers in particular are even greater because they are made with the goodness of chickpea flour which is packed full of protein and is well received after a day of hiking or other fun outdoor camping activities. And how can you go wrong with chili lime? Well i%u2019ll tell you, you really can%u2019t

So the plan was to make a batch, eat a few, save the rest for this camping weekend. But guess what? I have to make another batch. They didn%u2019t make it. We ate them all. (not sorry) At least I know we will be liking our new camping snack addition well and right.

So if you like crackers, camping or elsewhere, you should really gives these a go. They will not disappoint.

Now to the crackers!

The stuff. Chickpea flour, chili powder, a lime, a little baking powder, olive oil, salt and pepper, and water.

Combine the flour, zest of the lime, half the chili powder and half the salt, and the baking powder and some pepper in a bowl. Mix until completely combined then add in the oil, water and the juice of the lime.

Mix until dough forms. It might feel a little sticky, if that is the case, just mix other tablespoon of chickpea flour.

Knead dough on a well chickpea floured surface for a good minute until the dough is a even consistency then let it sit for a few minutes to rest. Once rested, cut dough into 2-3 pieces because working smaller is easier.

Roll out your first piece of dough about 1/8 inch thick. (Again, make sure to really flour your work surface and rolling pin.) Mix salt and chili powder together and sprinkle on top. Cut out your crackers (squares are nice but triangles would be nice too) then poke each cracker with a fork.

Crackers on a baking sheet before baking and after baking looking all crackery and delicious. And yeah, they shrink a bit.

And lastly, cool the crackers on a cooling rack. They will crisp up a even more. Then it%u2019s all you.

Ready to eat whenever you make the move. You can pack them away for later or place these delicious crackers in a very pretty bowl and eat them away. Or both.

A cracker win!

-C

make 75 crackers

• 1 1/2 cups chick pea flour plus about 1/3 more for dusting and rolling

• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

• 1 tablespoon olive oil

• 1/3 cup room temp water

• 1 teaspoon chili powder split in half

• 1 lime

• 1 teaspoon salt split in half

• 1/2 teaspoon fresh crackers pepper

Preheat oven to 350.

In a bowl combine the chick pea flour, baking soda, pepper, 1/2 teaspoon chili powder, and half a 1/2 teaspoon salt. Mix until evenly incorporated. Add in oil, the juice of the lime, and and water and mix until a dough forms. Dump dough onto counter and knead until completely uniform in texture. Add more flour if the dough is really sticky. Set dough aside for a few minutes to rest.

To make the crackers, really dust the counter with chickpea flour. Cut the dough into 2-3 pieces and roll1 piece out at a time to about an1/8 inch thin. Again, really flour the surface and rolling pin or else the dough will stick Once rolled, combine the remaining chili powder and salt and sprinkle the top with it. And then cut the crackers. Take a knife of bench scrapper or pizza cattier and cut the dough into inch long strips vertically, then diagonally. Poke each cracker with a fork then gently place them onto a baking sheet. Repeat with remaining dough.

Bake crackers for 15-20 minutes or until a nice deep golden brown. Remove from oven and let cool on a wire rack.

And then eat.

Store uneaten crackers in an airtight container for about a week.

I am obsessed. For real. That might seem like a strong statement for a feeling about a food, but right now, it is truth. I spend more time then I want to admit thinking and drooling over Socca, which is, to those who do not know, the most basic chickpea flour pancake-y bread thing. Chickpea flour, water and salt. Cooked fast under the broiler in a screaming hot skillet. That is it. And it is amazing. Depending on how you make it, it can be creamy and soft or more cracker like with some crisp crunch to it. Either way, it is just so freaking good. Of course, what I am dreaming about regarding it is not just plan basic socca (which I have made 3 times in the past 3 days) but different flavored soccas (I have experimented with lot of seasoning, and they are all A+) with all sorts of different topping and using it in all sorts of different ways. But for now, I wanted to keep basic so we all know how good simplicity is. We will go from here.

There is no stopping me. There is no stopping the socca.

Now to my new favorite food, the socca.

Chickpea flour, salt and water. That is it. Mix it all up.

Batter all smooth and now in need of a rest. Half an hour or up to a day of rest is good.

Now to cook the socca. You need to use something oven safe like cast iron. The trick here is to preheat the skillet while you are preheating the oven. Crank oven to 450 with the skillet in oven and once the oven reaches temp, turn oven over to a high broil. Let the skillet get really hot for another minute or two then remove skillet from oven (carefully!!!) and give it a splash of oil. Don%u2019t preheat the skillet with oil in it or else it will start to smoke and get gross.

Now that you got a nice hot and oiled skillet, grab the rested batter and pour half of it in. Tilt skillet around to coat bottom then stick skillet back into oven under broiler and cook for 4-8minutes. ( It depends on your broilers strength and your preference for blisters)

Out from the broiler. Cooked and slightly blistered. I went easy on this one. The next one got a few more blisters.

2 soccas, one a little thicker then the other. One a little more blistered then the other. Both in my belly.

So many Soccas to come.

So. many. Soccas.

-C

makes two 10 inch soccas

• 1 cup chickpea flour

• 1 cup room temperature water

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• olive oil for pan

Mix chickpea flour, salt and water together into a bowl until smooth. Let mixture rest for at least half an hour or up to a day.

When ready to make the socca, preheat oven to 450 with a 10 inch oven safe skillet (I used cast iron but any oven safe dish would work) in oven.

Once oven reaches temp, turn oven over to broil and place skillet under it for a minute to really heat the skillet. Carefully, with oven mitts, remove hot skillet from oven and brush or pour a smidge of oil into the hot skillet to coat bottom. Pour in half the batter and tilt around until bottom is coated then place skillet back into oven under broiler and cook for 4 -8 minutes or until the socca starts to blister. (it kind of depends on your broiler so keep a close eye on it) Remove from oven and slip socca onto cutting board. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Drizzle with olive oil if you like. Then all you do is cut and eat.

Left over socca can be stored in fridge and reheated in oven or toaster.

Note. IF you want a slightly thicker socca, use a 8 inch skillet. For a thiner, more cracker like socca, pour in 1/3 of the batter at a time (you will end up with 3 instead of 2)

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.

I have a bag of coconut flour that I need to use up so I have made coconut snack cake a few times the past couple weeks. Once with orange instead of lime. Once I added chocolate chips. This time I stepped it up made a little glaze action, toasted a little coconut for some extra coconutiness and took these here pictures and wrote down the recipe. Just. For. You.

Not that I don%u2019t know already that my snack cake creation is good, but I guess it was just super A+++. I threw this one together right before the mr and I headed down to PA to hang with my dad. As soon as he (and sister and nephews) started in on it, well the responses were more then average. My dad even snuck a piece off and hid it for later. They really, really, really were into it. Wanted me to make another right then and there. Normally I would but my dad doesn%u2019t keep coconut flour on hand and I don%u2019t make it a habit to travel with any myself. (I might have to change that.) Next time he will know to stock the coconut flour.

I didn%u2019t realize my people were such coconut people. Good thing for them that I like coconut people. As a matter of fact, I consider myself a coconut person. And coconut is not code for awesome, but I am that too. HA

Anyway enough about me. Coconut snack cake is what you want to know about. It is soft and dense. Moist, not overly sweet. Lots of lime and coconut flavor and is just perfect for snack time. Eat it with a fork on a plate with coffee or tea or grab an piece and eat it walking down the street while thinking about green leaves and warmer weather. Or wherever and whenever. If you make it then it%u2019s up to you when and where you eat it. That only seems fair.

Now to the snack cake of your coconut lime dreams.

The stuff. Gonna need all purpose flour, coconut flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder, a couple flax eggs, some warmed coconut oil, plant milk, brown sugar, vanilla extra, apple sider vinegar, a couple lime, some powdered sugar, and some lightly toasted shredded coconut.

Grab a big bowl. Add in the brown sugar, flax eggs, warmed coconut oil, apple cider vinegar, and vanilla. Mix it all up until evenly incorporated.

Dump in the flours, baking soda and powder, and salt. Zest in lime, squeeze in lime juice and start to mix. Add in the milk as you are mixing.

Cake batter mixed and done. Now to bake it.

Dump the cake batter into a well greased baking pan and level it off with a spoon or spatula.

Now it%u2019s oven time to bake into a great and well cake.

A cake out of the oven, great and well. Golden brown and smells of all the goodness that a coconut cake could possible smell.

While cake is cooling, which it should be now, make the glaze. Powdered sugar, lime zest, and lime juice. Mix until it%u2019s glazy.

Pour the glaze all over cooled cake.

Don%u2019t forget the shredded coconut. Get it on before the glaze starts to set.

And then it%u2019s just the matter of cutting cake%u2026%u2026.

You know once you cut it, that means snack time right? Coconut lime snack cake for all of your coconut time, lime time, hungry snack time needs.

Keep it good.

-C

Makes a 9×9 cake

• 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

• 1/2 cup coconut flour

• 3/4 packed cup brown sugar

• 1 teaspoon salt

• 1 teaspoon baking soda

• 1 teaspoon baking powder

• 1/2 cup coconut oil (warmed to liquid)

• 1 1/4 cup plant milk (I used almond)

• 2 flax eggs (2 tablespoons ground flax seeds with 1/2 cup warm water)

• 1 teaspoon vanilla

• 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar

• A lime

• For the glaze

• 3/4 cup powdered sugar

• a lime

• 1/4 cup or so toasted shredded coconut to sprinkle on top (optional)

Preheat oven to 350

In a large bowl, mix together the bbrown sugar, flax eggs, warmed coconut oil, vanilla, and apple cider vinegar until completely incorporated. Next dump in the flour, coconut flour, salt, baking soda and baking powder. Zest the lime into bowl. Start mixing, adding in the juice of the lime and the plant milk. Mix it all together until completely incorporated.

Dump mixture into a well greases 9×9 baking pan and level off with a spoon or spatula. Place into oven and bake for 30-35 minutes or until golden brown and a tester stuck into the middle of cake comes out clean.

Once baked, remove from oven, let cool in pan for a few minutes then carefully remove cake from pan and let cool on a wire rack.

While cake is cooling, make the glaze. Just zest other lime into powered sugar then add the juice (or as much juice as you needed) of the lime until a pourable glaze forms. If your lime is not particularly juicy enough and the glaze is still really thin, just add a splash of water to thin out as needed.

And when cake is completely cooled, pour glaze all over cake and cover with toasted coconut flakes.

Now cut. And eat.

Store left over cake in a air tight container for 3-4 days. Individual pieces freeze well for all your future snacking needs.

Nothing here but a mere craving, the fact that I had a fresh head of cauliflower, and I really wanted tahini. TA DA. I made exactly what I wanted and it was so so sooooo good. Maple Cumin is one of those super A+++ taste pairings and anything roasted cover in tahini is basically going to be a win so I had no fear when making this dish that it was going to be anything but fanatic.

And of course I was right. It was so freaking good, like now I am going to make it again and again because I don%u2019t want make cauliflower any other way ever or at least until I get sick of it or of roasted vegetables. But that probably won%u2019t happen for a while.

So if you like cauliflower and tahini and amazingness, here, make this.

To the cauliflower

The stuff. A head of cauliflower, tahini, maple syrup, cumin powder, red wine vinegar, salt and pepper, and olive oil.

Break or cu the head of cauliflower up into florets and toss with a little oil, the maple and cumin, and a little salt and pepper.

Scatter on a baking sheet and stuff it into a hot oven.

Meanwhile mix tahini with vinegar, salt and pepper, and enough warm water to thin out.

Roasted all nice and crisp and delightful.

And now you gather up all that cauliflower and cover with all the tahini you want. Grab a bowl, or just eat off baking sheet, and get to it.

And there is no shame in eating a whole head of cauliflower because hey, its cauliflower.

-C

Makes a meal for one or a side for a few

• a head of cauliflower

• 3 teaspoons cumin

• 2 tablespoons maple syrup

• olive oil

• 3 tablespoons tahini

• 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

• 2-3 tablespoons warm water

• salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 450

Break or cut the cauliflower into medium sized florets. Place in a bowl and drizzle with a teaspoon or so olive oil and toss around. Drizzle in maple, add in the cumin, and a pinch of salt and pepper. Toss until coated then dump the cauliflower onto a baking sheet. Place in hot oven for 25-30 minutes or until roasted to your liking.

While that%u2019s roasting, mix up the tahini, vinegar, and a pinch of salt and pepper. Add in warm water until the mixture is a drizzlable consistency.

Once cauliflower is out of oven, cover with tahini.

Now eat.

There will be no left overs so don%u2019t worry about it.

I am pretty sure making pretzels was one of the best ideas that I had all week. Making them into the shape of hearts, that WAS the best idea I had all week. Take note. Making anything into the shape of a heart is always the best idea.

So why pretzels? Well why not. I make so much bread in this house that I felt like making a little something different. I was thinking bagels, but I didn’t really want to have dough in the fridge for a day and plus I wanted to do something then and there and have it be done. Like pretzels. From start to finish they takes less then 2 hours. And you get to twist the dough and boil it and it is just fun. Like I could totally see making pretzels with a few littles or maybe a friend or a %u201cfriend%u201d. A pretzel making date. Now that is a good idea. Oh me, I am so full of all those good ideas. HAHA!

These pretzels are of the soft variety. And to make them pretzels, and not just bread, the kneaded dough gets shaped and then boiled in a baking soda bath (not lye%u2026don%u2019t have any lying around). Then they are sprinkled in course salt and baked til a deep golden brown. They come out soft and chewy just like a good soft pretzel should be. Then they need to be eaten right away, slightly warm, because that is how you are suppose to eat them.

And so the pretzels were made. The mr came home right after I pulled these puppies out of the oven and went for a walk to get some fresh air. When I got home I found him salivating over a plate, waiting for his cue to eat. The cue was given (once I put the camera away) and eat one he did. And then another. And another. Because really, what the hell, I made him heart shaped pretzels. He loved them so much that I just let him eat as many as he wanted. He was happy, I was happy, there where hearts. No complaints. Even when I told him he was having pretzels for all meals until they were gone. He just smiled he pretzel filled mouth at that.

To the pretzels!

The stuff. Flour, salt, course salt, brown sugar, yeast, water, and some baking soda.

The yeast, brown sugar and warm water go into a big bowl to activate. Once it starts to bubble, dump in the flour and salt and mix until a shaggy dough forms.

Dump dough onto a floured surface and knead for about 5 minutes.

Kneaded all nice to soft and supple.

Place the kneaded dough into a clean bowl and cover. Let sit for about an hour or until it doubles in size.

Once doubled, dump dough onto a lightly floured counter and cut into 12 equal pieces.

Now to shape. Roll each piece into a long rope, 16-20 inches long if you can. Fold the ends together and twist then fold twisted ends down back into itself.

Pinch the end into a point and there you go. A heart! %u2665%ufe0f

And then do it to all the dough.

Water and baking soda bath boiling away.

Grab the hearts and place a few at a time, gently, into the water for about 45 seconds then pull them out with a slotted spatula.

Onto a baking sheet either lined with parchment or a splat mat.

And don%u2019t forget to sprinkle them all with course kosher salt.

Into the oven they go.

About 18-20 minutes later%u2026 PRETZELS

Get them onto a cooling rack to cool just enough.

And then you just eat them because what else are you suppose to do.

And yes, grab the mustard because duh.

makes 12 pretzels

For the dough

• 3 1/2 – 4 cups all pupse flour

• 2 teaspoons yeast

• 1 heavy tablespoon brown sugar

• 1 teaspoon salt

• 1 1/2 cups warm water

• 2 tablespoons course kosher salt (for topping)

For water bath

• 7 cups water

• 2 tablespoons baking soda

Start by placing yeast, brown sugar, and warm water into a big bowl and mix. Let sit for a few minutes to activate yeast. Once active, dump in the lesser amount of flour and salt. Mix until a shaggy dough forms. If the dough seems super wet, add in a little more flour. Dump dough onto a floured surface and knead until soft and elastic for about 5 minutes, adding in a little more flour as needed to keep it from getting too sticky. Once dough had been kneaded, place into a clean bowl, cover, and let sit in a warm place for about an hour or until the dough doubles in size.

Once dough has doubled, preheat oven to 450. Also get the water bath ready by placing the water into big pot and placing on heat.

Back to dough. Dump the dough onto a lighty floured surface and cut into 12 equal sized pieces. Then shape each piece by rolling the dough into a rope between 16 to 20 inches long then twisting the two ends together a few times. Fold the ends over to the middle of the dough and pinch the end into a heart. (check images above if that doesn%u2019t make sense) Once all the dough has been shaped, its time to boil. When the water is at a rolling boil, dump in the baking soda and mix around. Place 2-3 pretzels gently into the water at a time and boil for about 45 seconds. Remove from water with a splatted spoon or spatula and place on a parchment or lightly oiled baking sheet. Repeat until all dough is boiled. Make sure when you place the pretzels onto the baking sheet you give them room so they are not touching. If you need to, use 2 baking sheets. And now before the placing them into the oven, sprinkle them with the course salt.

Now into the hot oven they go, for about 18-20 minutes or until they turn a deep golden brown.

Once baked, pull from oven, place on a wire rack to cool a bit, then eat them. Dipped in mustard or any other dipping situation you find appropriate.

Left overs, should there be any, should be stored individually either wrapped or in a bag at room temp for a few days. OR better yet, just freeze them. And when you want to eat one, just warm it up again in the oven.

What%u2019s up with dinner rolls? Do people eat them all year round, like on a Tuesday in the middle of March or maybe a nice blue sky sunny day in July? Is that a weird question? But seriously, think about it. Dinner rolls, at least in my world of people, are pretty much only eaten in and around Thanksgiving and Christmas. Huh. Kind of strange seeing that dinner rolls are bread which everyone eats all the time and are basically made specifically for dinner (although can and should be eaten for breakfast and lunch as well) which most people eat. Every. Single. Day. Well, whatever the reason, it%u2019s weird. So yes, I am making these here dinner rolls now at the traditional holiday time but I think as of now, I am going to start making them all the time. It%u2019s going to be my new thing. Fourth of July dinner rolls. Yup.

And so yes, we need dinner rolls right now for the holiday food feasts and these dinner rolls are the perfect accompaniment to any and all dinners. They are nice and fluffy and all dinner roll like, just as any good roll should be, but also slightly more nutty and soft and healthy because oats and wheat flour and homemade which is always the best.

And if you are like, hell yes I am a dinner roll person and hell no I am sticking to store bought cause that is that and how it%u2019s done, well hey, no judgment here. I made these for my people for our family Thanksgiving, (which is happening today at my house. There are going be so many people) and I know that everyone will love and be happy to eat them, but I too also bought some of those super white, take and bake ones that I know if I don%u2019t have on the table next to these gorgeous and amazing rolls, that I will probably get punched in the face. So we will have both. And then at dinner I can bask in the glory of all the comments about how much better my rolls are then the store bought ones. (Secretly why I am having both. Fishing for compliments. HAHA!)

Now to those soft and fluffy dinner rolls!

The stuff. Old fashion oats, all purpose and white whole wheat flour, yeast, oil, water (hot and room temperature), maple syrup, and salt.

First, take the boiling water and pour it over the oats. Mix them and let them soak and cool for 10 or so minutes.

While oats are soaking, add the room temp water to a big bowl with the yeast. Once the oats are soft and cooled off a bit, add them to the yeast mixture along with the oil, and maple. Mix together. The add the flours and mix until combined.

Dump dough onto a floured surface and knead for about 3-5 minutes, adding a little more four as needed to keep from being to sticky, but don%u2019t over flour. The dough is and should be a little tacky.

Soft and supple. Kneaded and ready.

Place the dough back into the bowl and cover with a damp towel. Leave alone and let rise for about an hour or until it doubles in size.

Once the dough doubles, dump out onto a lightly floured surface and cut into 12-16 equal sized pieces .

Roll each roll into a roll shape and place them in a lightly greased baking dish. Cover for another 15-20 minutes to let rest and rise a little more.

Rolls risen again, just a little plumper. And now right before you place them in the oven, brush tops with a maple/water mixture and sprinkle with a few oats. To look pretty. And into the oven they go, 30ish minutes, until nice and golden brown.

Baked to golden dinner roll perfection.

And there you have it. Soft and fluffy dinner rolls. Warm out of the oven, looking and smelling like all the good things that you want and need.

And can, and should, be made now and all year round.

-C

makes 12-16 rolls

• 1 1/2 cups old fashion oats

• 2 cups all purpose flour plus more for kneading

• 1 1/2 cups white whole wheat flour

• 2 cups boiling water

• 1 cup room tempature water plus 2 tablespoons for brushing tops

• 2 teaspoons salt

• 2 tablespoons maple or honey

• 2 teaspoons yeast

• 1/4 cup neutral oil

In a bowl, mix oats with boil water and let sit and soak for about 10 minutes. In the meantime, in a large bowl, mix the room temp water with the yeast and 1 tablespoon of maple and mix. Once oats have soaked and cooled to a point that they are not super hot, but still just warm, mix them in with the yeast mixture. Add the salt and oil and mix then and both the white and white wheat flour. Mix until combined. The dough is going to be sticky, but that how is should be. Dump the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 3-5 minutes, adding a little flour as needed to keep from sticking too much, until dough is nice and uniformed in texture. Place dough back into big bowl (after you clean it out and lily oil it) and cover with a damp towel. Place somewhere warm for about an hour until it doubles in size.

Once dough has doubled, dump out onto a lightly floured surface and with a knife of dough cutter, cut into 12- 16 equal sized pieces. Roll each piece into a ball, pinching any ends together and place them into a 9×13 inch baking pan. Once all pieces are in, over and let rest for another 15 minutes.

While dough is resting again, preheat oven to 350.

After the dough has rested, and right before you place them in the oven, mix 1tablespoon of maple with about 2 tablespoons warm water and brush the tops of the rolls. Sprinkle with a handful of oats and then place them into the oven to bake. 30-35 minutes, until they are a nice golden brown.

Once baked remove from oven and let cool to a reasonable temperature and serve.

These can certainly be made a few days ahead of time of eating. Just remove baked rolls from pan and let cool completely then place the into an airtight bag. To reheat, just place on a baking sheet and stick in a hot oven until warm.

It is exactly that time of year. Apples galore, cool days in need of a little extra warm, meaning a warm oven is welcome, if not needed. It%u2019s the best time of year, or at least one of them.

And so I bake bread. Sometimes just a roll, and sometime a loaf, almost everyday. I love bread baking because, well just because. Plus it%u2019s what people want to eat and will always eat because I guess bread=love. Makes sense to me.

This bread was made from a small dip in the 2 gallons of applesauce I made the night before. (We had sooooo many apples). The mr isn%u2019t the biggest fan of applesauce, says he would rather eat a fresh apple. I kind of get it, but dude, warm, chunky, slightly cinnamon-y applesauce%u2026 I mean, that is happiness right there. Right? Anyway, I am trying not to eat all the applesauce to my face by myself at once (it has been a challenge) and plus I needed to make the mr some bread, so I figured what the hell. I%u2019ll just use applesauce as my liquid in the bread. And so I did and that is that and now that mr really like applesacue (when it is baked into bread)

This bread is a basic sandwich type bread. The apple taste is there but not overwhelming so it can be used for sandwiches of all kinds, toast, just eating with a smear od something, or not. Just a overall good loaf of bread with a little extra from the apple. And braided because I was feeling classy. It%u2019s amazing what at little braiding of bread dough can do for your self esteem. Made me feel like I was the coolest person in the world. Haha!

Now to the bread.

The stuff. A few apples, regular all purpose and white whole wheat flour, salt, applesauce, maple syrup, yeast, and warm water.

Applesauce, shredded apple, maple, yeast, and a little water get mix up and let to sit for a few minutes to activate yeast. Then the salt gets mixed in, along with all the flour. Stir until dough forms. Dough should be slightly sticky, ut not wet. IF wet, add a handful more flour. To dry, add more water.

Dump the dough onto a floured surface, cover your hands in flour, and knead dough for about 5 or so minutes, adding more flour as needed to keep dough from sticking, until the dough is a nice and cohesive texture.

Nice looking dough. Now roll dough into a ball.

Place dough in a clean wet or oiled bowl and cover with a damp cloth for one to one and a half hours or until dough doubles in size.

Dump dough onto floured surface.

Cut dough into 3 equal pieces and roll out into long longs.

Braid logs together. You can stop here bake it this way or%u2026

After placing it on a parchment lined baking sheet, tuck the ends of the braids underneath each other and make it like this. Either way. And once you have the dough on the baking sheet, brush a little water or plant milk on top and let dough rest for 15 minutes of so while the oven preheats.

Before oven and after oven. Classy, right?

Then for shin and soft crust, rub warm loaf with some plant butter.

And for the hard part. Let it cool before slicing it. Ok sure, a little warm is fine, but wait at least 20 minutes (an hour would be best) and then eat you some bread.

Eat you some bread. That%u2019s a t-shirt right there.

Happy Fall friends!

-C

makes pretty one loaf

• 2 cups all purpose flour

• 1 1/2 cups white whole wheat flour plus more for kneading

• 1 cup unsweetened room temperature applesauce

• 1 large or 2 small apples ( about 2/3 cup shredded apple)

• 1/4- 1/2 cup warm water

• 1 tablespoon maple syrup or honey

• 2 teaspoons active yeast

• 1 teaspoon salt

• 1 tablespoon or so plant milk or water

• 1 tablespoon plant based butter (optional for rubbing on finished bread)

Grab the apples and shred them until you have 2/3 cup shredded apple. In a large bowl, mix together the applesauce, shredded apples, yeast, 1/4 cup warm water, and sweetener.and let yeast activate for a few minutes. Add in salt, the all purpose flour and the 1 1/2 cups white wheat flour. Stir together until dough forms. The dough should be a little bit sticky so if the dough seems to dry, add in 1/4 cup more warm water. If it seems really wet, add in a handful more flour.

Dump dough out onto a well floured surface and knead for about 5 minutes adding a little bit of flour to the counter as needed to prevent it from sticking. Once dough is cohesive in texture, roll into a ball and place into a clean wet or oiled bowl. Cover with a damp towel and allow the dough to double in size. Should take between an hour and an hour and a half.

Once dough doubles in size preheat oven to 400

Dump risen dough back onto a well flour counter. Cut the dough into 3 equal sizes and roll each piece into long logs about 20 inches or so long. Place each roll next to each other and braid. Grab a baking sheet and line with a piece of parchment paper. Sprinkle with a bit of flour and place braided dough onto sheet, either as a braid or if you want, like I did, wrap the braid around itself into a rounded braid situation. Tuck ends into each other and under the loaf. Brush the top gently with a little plant milk or water and let rest for about another 15 minutes or so.

After the rest, place dough into preheated oven. Bake for 35-45 minutes (Less if left long braid, more if wrapped braid) or until the top is a deep golden brown and when tapped on the bottom, it sounds hollow. Also can use an insta read thermometer and check temperature. You want it to reach 190 degrees.

Once bread is baked, remove from oven. If you want the top to stay a little crispy, don%u2019t do anything but let it cool. For a softer, shinny crust, rub the top while it is still warm with some plant based butter.

Let bread cool completely before cutting.

Then eat it like you would eat bread. Any and every way.

Store cooled loaf in a airtight bag on counter for 2-3 days but if not eating that fast, slice and place into freezer. That way you can pull out individual pieces and toast as you want.

I am obsessed. For real. That might seem like a strong statement for a feeling about a food, but right now, it is truth. I spend more time then I want to admit thinking and drooling over Socca, which is, to those who do not know, the most basic chickpea flour pancake-y bread thing. Chickpea flour, water and salt. Cooked fast under the broiler in a screaming hot skillet. That is it. And it is amazing. Depending on how you make it, it can be creamy and soft or more cracker like with some crisp crunch to it. Either way, it is just so freaking good. Of course, what I am dreaming about regarding it is not just plan basic socca (which I have made 3 times in the past 3 days) but different flavored soccas (I have experimented with lot of seasoning, and they are all A+) with all sorts of different topping and using it in all sorts of different ways. But for now, I wanted to keep basic so we all know how good simplicity is. We will go from here.

There is no stopping me. There is no stopping the socca.

Now to my new favorite food, the socca.

Chickpea flour, salt and water. That is it. Mix it all up.

Batter all smooth and now in need of a rest. Half an hour or up to a day of rest is good.

Now to cook the socca. You need to use something oven safe like cast iron. The trick here is to preheat the skillet while you are preheating the oven. Crank oven to 450 with the skillet in oven and once the oven reaches temp, turn oven over to a high broil. Let the skillet get really hot for another minute or two then remove skillet from oven (carefully!!!) and give it a splash of oil. Don%u2019t preheat the skillet with oil in it or else it will start to smoke and get gross.

Now that you got a nice hot and oiled skillet, grab the rested batter and pour half of it in. Tilt skillet around to coat bottom then stick skillet back into oven under broiler and cook for 4-8minutes. ( It depends on your broilers strength and your preference for blisters)

Out from the broiler. Cooked and slightly blistered. I went easy on this one. The next one got a few more blisters.

2 soccas, one a little thicker then the other. One a little more blistered then the other. Both in my belly.

So many Soccas to come.

So. many. Soccas.

-C

makes two 10 inch soccas

• 1 cup chickpea flour

• 1 cup room temperature water

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• olive oil for pan

Mix chickpea flour, salt and water together into a bowl until smooth. Let mixture rest for at least half an hour or up to a day.

When ready to make the socca, preheat oven to 450 with a 10 inch oven safe skillet (I used cast iron but any oven safe dish would work) in oven.

Once oven reaches temp, turn oven over to broil and place skillet under it for a minute to really heat the skillet. Carefully, with oven mitts, remove hot skillet from oven and brush or pour a smidge of oil into the hot skillet to coat bottom. Pour in half the batter and tilt around until bottom is coated then place skillet back into oven under broiler and cook for 4 -8 minutes or until the socca starts to blister. (it kind of depends on your broiler so keep a close eye on it) Remove from oven and slip socca onto cutting board. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Drizzle with olive oil if you like. Then all you do is cut and eat.

Left over socca can be stored in fridge and reheated in oven or toaster.

Note. IF you want a slightly thicker socca, use a 8 inch skillet. For a thiner, more cracker like socca, pour in 1/3 of the batter at a time (you will end up with 3 instead of 2)

Bread is probably, no, definitely one of my upmost favorite things to bake. There is just something so gratifying about the whole process of mixing ingredients, kneading, watching it rise, shaping, then baking. It calms me and make me a better person. Seriously.

And this might sound sad, but this week when my Dad told me that my grandmother died, well I went home and made bread because that is what felt right to do. It gave my mind and hands a good something to do far a little while. Plus I ended up with a loaf of bread to feed people with. I also like to feed people when I am feeling sad.

I chose to use cinnamon and cardamom because of the smells. They are just delightful and happy smells. And swirls are happy so a happy swirl of happy smells in a loaf of bread that I was making to share that was (and did) make people happy. (See, bread baking is making me so nice because I am sharing it) It was just the right thing to do.

So if you are in need of a little happy pick me up, may I suggest making some bread? It might make you feel a little better, or at least get your mind off of things for a bit. And you will have bread so there is that too. It%u2019s a win win.

Now to the bread, which you can also make when you are happy. Or bored, or hungry, although it takes some time so if you are starting off hungry, you will be starving by the time it is done. Maybe eat a snack will you are making it%u2026..

The stuff. White and whole wheat flour, salt, sweet potato puree, soy milk, yeast, brown sugar, oil, cinnamon, cardamom, some flax seeds, and an orange.

In a big bow, mix together the yeast, warm milk, sweet potato puree, a little sugar, and oil. Let it sit for a minute to active yeast.

Flours and salt get a good mix to be mixed.

Then dry gets dumped into the yeast mixture along with the zest of the orange.

Mix it until a dough forms then dump it out onto a lightly floured surface.

Knead dough for about 6-8 minutes or until supple, uniform, and smooth.

Place dough into a well oiled bowl and cover. Let rise for about and hour or so or until it doubles in size (could take a little longer then a hour)

Place risen dough back out onto a lightly floured surface.

Roll it out about 2 feet long and as wide as a bread pan.

Don%u2019t forget mix up your brown sugar with the cinnamon and cardamom.

Brush rolled out dough with the flax mixture. This will help the cinnamon cardamon sugar stick.

And evenly distribute the mixture all over the dough.

Roll it up nice and tight and once it%u2019s all rolled, pinch then end to the rest of the dough.

Gently place the rolled dough, pinched side down, into a well greased bread pan. Cover in a plastic bag for about another hour or until the dough has risen a good amount and is doming over the rim of the pan. Now preheat the oven.

Once the bread is sufficiently risen, place into hot oven and bake for 40-45 minutes.

Now the hard part. Get it out of the bread pan and get it cooling off. You cannot cut into it until it cools or you will smoosh the swirl and make it gummy. Just wait, at least a half hour. For real. Wait. You can do it!

And when the bread cools and the wait it over, slice and be amazed. A thing of beauty that smells of greatness.

Bread is so great. Great great great! Especially a swirl bread. I mean. Look at that.

Happy day to you.

-C

Makes 1 loaf

• 2 cups all purpose flour

• 1 cup white whole wheat flour

• 1/3 cup sweet potato puree

• 1 cup soy milk

• 2 teaspoons (or one packet) yeast

• 3 tablespoons neutral oil like canola

• 2 tablespoon light brown sugar

• 1 teaspoon salt

• Zest of 1 orange

• For the cinnamon cardamom filling

• 1/2 cup light brown sugar

• 2 tablespoon cinnamon (I used Vietnamese Cinnamon which is a little spicier and sweeter)

• 1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom

• 2 teaspoons ground flax mixed with 4 teaspoons warm water

Start by grabbing a big bowl. Mix together the yeast, the 2 tablespoons brown sugar, warm milk, sweet potato puree, and oil. Let sit for a minute to active yeast. In a separate bowl mix together the flours and salt. Dump the dry mixture into the wet. Zest the zest of an orange into bowl and mix it all together until it forms a dough. Dump the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 5-8 minutes or until the dough gets supple and shinny and uniform. Place dough into a well oiled bowl and cover for about an hour or until doubled in size.

Once dough has doubled, dump out onto a well floured surface and roll out to as wide as a bread pan and roughly 24 inched long. After you have rolled it out brush the flax and water mixture all over surface . Combine the brown sugar with the cinnamon and cardamom and evenly distribute the mixture all over flaxed dough. And for the fun part. Careful roll the dough into a log. Roll it tightly so the bread doesn’tt end up with big gaps after it bakes. Once rolled, pinch the rolled end and place the log rolled side down into a well greased bread pan. Place dough into a a plastic bag with plenty of space for dough to rise. Let sit for about another hour or until the dough has risen a little bit above the rim of baking pan.

Preheat oven to 375

When dough has risen, place on middle rack in hot oven and bake for 40-45ish minutes or until bread is a deep golden brown and when you give it a tap, it sounds slightly hollow. Also check it with a intsant read thermometer. Get it to 190.

When it done baking, pull from oven and remove from pan. Place on a wire rack and let completely cool. Seriously, you got to let it cool for at least 1/2 and hour, but longer is better!

When it%u2019s cooled, cut into slices. Eat as you wish.

Uneaten bread stores well for a day or two in a airtight plastic bag but if you don%u2019t eat it that fast, cut into slices and freeze. That way you can just pop a piece out and stick it into toaster. Smart.

You know when you eat something that you haven%u2019t had or haven%u2019t had in a long time and it%u2019s all you want to eat?

I am having a moment with apples and onions. Roasted and raw, it%u2019s on my mind every time I am making food. Weird? I don%u2019t know, but it%u2019s sweet and savory and all fall like and comforting. It%u2019s a good moment.

So now I am passing on my moment in the form of cornbread. Why cornbread? Well I think cornbread is a fine fine vessel for things that could be perceived sweet of savory. This cornbread is in fact not sweet, but not not sweet. It is a little both and suits the the apple and onion moment quite well.

People ate it, at first somewhat suspect that it was not going to be good, but after a bite or two they too appreciated the apple onion combination. And the cornbread. Even got a lady that doesn’t even like cornbread to like this so that is something right?

Embrace the moments.. To the cornbread!

The stuff. A couple apples, an onion, cornmeal, flour, salt, and baking soda. Also soy milk, oil, apple cider vinegar, maple syrup, pepper, Sansa little earth balance.

Start by thinly slicing the onions. Toss them into a oven safe skillet with about a tablespoon of earth balance and place on a medium heat.

Once the onions are cooking, thinly slice the apples too.

Toss the apples in with the onions and stir around wait a few minutes and stir around some more until the stuff all looks like%u2026

This. The apples ans onions are super tender sans soft and amazing and do not eat them all, but maybe have bite or two.

Scoop the mixture out of the skillet ans melt another tablespoon of earth balance into the skillet, trying to evenly coat the bottom.

Now to the cornbread. Mix together all of the dry ingredients.

Then add in all the wet and gently mix until completely incorporated.

Pour the batter into the greased skillet

Top with the apple union mixture then pop into the oven for about 40-45 minutes to bake.

Golden crisp and amazing smelling. Check for donees with a tester stuck in the middle and when its done, its done.

Now the hard part. Let it cool. You can go right at it, but it will crumble and fall apart. This bread really needs a little time to chill.

Then it%u2019s time. Eat what you need. Careful, it might be all of it.

-C

If you come around my house in the cold months, you will more times then not find yourself faced with fresh bread. Why? Well because I like to bake bread. But mostly, if I am honest, when I am cold, I bake. (We keep the house heat off until at least November 1. After that we keep the heat at a low 60 when it%u2019s on.) I like the house to be kept on the colder side, but sometime, it%u2019s a little brisk so if I am home and cold, I am probably just going to bake something, to stay warm of course. This focaccia was my first foray baking to stay warm of the cold season. It was 40 degrees out and the heat still wasn%u2019t on, and I just so happen to be going through my spice drawer and found a batch of everything bagel seasoning that I had mixed up a couple months ago that needed to be used. Hence the bread.

Cold weather+found seasoning+I should make something for dinner=everything bagel focaccia. Or you can just make it because it is super easy and every time I make focaccia it gets gobbled right up. Especially this time. Barb and the mr ate half of it at dinner. And I think the other half was gone by the next day. To quote the mr. %u201cThis focaccia is professional%u201d. He said it with a mouth full of bread. No shit dude. I am professional. Ha

The stuff. Flour, yeast, warm water, everything bagel seasoning, sea salt, pepper, and olive oil.

Start with getting the yeast and warm water mixed together. Let it sit for a minute or 5, just to make sure it is active (this is more important to do if you are not using fresh yeast)

Once you are sure your yeast is alive, add in the flour and mix together until you are having a hard time mixing anymore.

Dump dough onto a floured surface and start to knead. Probably for 5 minutes, until you dough looks like%u2026.

This. Kneaded until smooth and beautiful .

Place dough into a deep bowl and drizzle with olive oil. Make sure the whole ball is coated. Then cover with a damp cloth and stick in a warm place to rise for about an hour, or until the dough has doubled in size.

Once dough has doubled, grab your baking sheet (can use a pan) and coat the pan with about 2 tablespoons olive oil.

Place the dough into pan and spread it out using your fingertips. Flip the dough over if you need to and keep dimpling the dough until it hits all the sides. Drizzle on another tablespoon of oil on top.

And don%u2019t forget the seasoning. Sprinkle on all the everything seasoning along with the sea salt and some cracked pepper. Make sure to be somewhat liberal with the seasonings too because you know that%u2019s what you want.

Into the oven for 30ish minutes then out of the oven

Look at all the everything.

Drizzle the top of the bread with a little more olive oil, pop it out of the pan, stick it on a cutting board, and that%u2019s it. Now watch your slab of bread disappear.

Happy bread baking. Stay warm.

-C

make a 9×13 slab of bread

• 4 cups all purpose flour (plus a little more for kneading)

• 2 cups warm water

• 2 teaspoon yeast (or one packet)

• 3 tablespoons everything bagel seasoning*

• 1 tablespoon sea salt

• cracked pepper

• about 1/3 cup very good olive oil

*Note To make your own everything bagel seasoning mix up equal parts dried minced garlic, dried onion flakes, sesame seeds, and poppy seeds. Or I think you can buy it now at the store with all the other spices. But it%u2019s probably cheaper to make it yourself.

To start, place yeast and warm water in a big bowl. Mix until incorporated and let sit for a minute or two or until you see little bubble form, just to make sure the yeast is active. When your sure it%u2019s good, add in 4 cups of flour. Mix with a wooden spoon or dough mixer until it becomes hard to mix anymore. Dump the dough onto a flour surface and start to knead, adding a little bit of flour as you go if it became to sticky, until the dough is smooth and uniform. Should take about 5 minutes. Place the kneaded dough back into bowl (scrap any of the extra bits out first) and drizzle with olive oil. Make sure the whole dough is coated. Cover the bowl with a damp towel and place in a warm spot. Let dough rise for an hour, or until it has doubled in size.

Preheat oven to 375.

Once dough has doubled, grab a 9×13 baking sheet or pan and coat with 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Really make sure the pan is well greased. Place dough into pan and with the tips of your fingers, smoosh and spread dough until it has filled up the pan. Drizzle with another tablespoon of oil then take your seasoning and evenly spread it all over the top. Sprinkle with salt and add a little cracked pepper. Now pop it into the preheated oven. Bake for 30 -35 minutes or until the bread has turned a nice golden brown.

Remove from oven and right away drizzle on another tablespoon or so of olive oil. Let sit for a few minutes to absorb then pop the bread out of the pan and place on a rack or cutting board and either let cool, or not. Warm focaccia is loved by all.

I really am just trying to find new ways to use up as much corn as I can. The mr won’t really eat it (he says he hates it, but doesn’t really, but is now really not eating it) and the littles can only eat so much. I have some in the fridge pickled, some in the freezer, and yet every time I come home from farm share I end up brining like 15 more pieces home with me. So I had to get a little crafty with this last batch. I milked it and made biscuits. And it was exactly the right thing to do. Making corn milk was genius (which makes me a genius?) and I am now going to be baking everything with it until I use up all the corn.%u00a0

These biscuits are very versatile, like all good biscuits should be.%u00a0I served them to Barb and the mr with chili and of course they loved them but also I smothered raspberry jam all over a few and the mr was into that. Butter or almond butter too, or just plain. They can be eaten in all sorts of yummy ways.%u00a0%u00a0And if you really are into the corn milk part but not the jalape%u00f1o or lime-ness of the biscuit, just don’t add that stuff in. A simple corn milk biscuit would be just fine too. %u00a0Aaannd if you have a corn hater in the house, they still will probably like theses, or so this goes my experience, although I still don’t think he hate corn. But what do I know?%u00a0

To the biscuits.

The stuff. Corn, soy milk, a lime, a few jalape%u00f1os, and earth balance. In the bowl we have some %u00a0flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.

Cook tha corn. A quick few minutes in boil water will do the trick.%u00a0

Get all that corn off those cobs. Sure you can nibble, it’s hard not to.%u00a0

Fresh corn and soy milk go into the blender and blended until all smooth and creamy. Taste it.. it is pretty creamy dreamy. %u00a0

That is the corn milk. You could drink it just like this and it would not be weird. It is delicious.%u00a0

Get you jalape%u00f1os, remove seeds, and give them a good small dice and toss them into the bowl with the flours and stuff.%u00a0Also zest the lime into the bowl with the flour.

Cold plant butter goes in first and cut in (I used fork, but you could use a pastry blender) until the dough looks crumbly. Add in the corn milk and the juice from the lime %u00a0and gently stir to just combined.

Dump the dough onto a floured surface and gather it all together then lightly press it down until %u00a0it’s about an inch thick.%u00a0

This is the best part,%u00a0(%u00a0Because I love the look of the cut out dough.. It apeals to me in some great way that I don’t yet understand)%u00a0cut the biscuits. I went and grabbed a biscuit cutter which I barely ever use, so that was a win.

Once you cut out the first biscuits, you can gather the dough and gently press it back together and cut out %u00a0more until you use all the dough.

Place the cut out biscuits on a baking sheet and brush the tops brushed with a little corn milk then into the hot oven they go.

Out they come looking all biscuity and such.. And don’t mind the red reflection. That be my shirt. Note to self and to all.%u00a0Don’t wear red while taking pictures with reflective materials.%u00a0

Letting the biscuits be cool, just for a few minutes.

Still slightly warm all cozied together.%u00a0

Nothing like a basket of biscuits to make people happy.

-C

makes about 15 smaller biscuits%u00a0

• 2 1/2 cups flour
• 2 ears of corn
• 1 cup soy milk
• 1 teaspoon salt%u00a0
• 1 teaspoon baking podwer
• 1/2 teaspoon basking soda%u00a0
• 1/4 cup %u00a0cold vegan butter
• 2 jalape%u00f1os%u00a0
• I lime%u00a0

Cook corn by removing husks and %u00a0dropping into a pot of boiling water for about 5 minutes. When corn is cooked, remove from water and allow to cool.%u00a0%u00a0Once cooled enough to handle, cut all the corn off the cob and place into the blender with the soy milk. Blend until smooth. It should measure out to be a little more then 2 cups. If you have less, add in more soy milk until is measures 2 cups. %u00a0Place corn milk in fridge for at least 1/2 hour to cool.%u00a0

Preheat oven to 450.

Place flour, salt, baking soda, and baking powder into a large bowl.%u00a0Zest the lime in as well and mix it all together.%u00a0Grab jalape%u00f1os, cut in half, remove seeds, then dice into very small pieces. Mix those into mixture. %u00a0Now cut in the butter with either a fork or pastry blender until the mixture is crumbly. Add in juice of the lime and 2 cups of %u00a0the cooled corn milk and mix until just barley incorporated.

Dump the mixture onto a flour surface. Gather it al together and then press it flat until its about an inch thick. With a biscuit cutter, or a knife if you want square biscuits, cut out biscuits. If you use a cutter, place cut biscuits onto a baking sheet then gather the remaining dough and gently press back together and cut out more biscuits until dough is used up. %u00a0Once all the biscuits are on the baking sheet, brush the tops with corn milk %u00a0if you have a little left over or just plain soy milk then place them into the hot oven.

Bake for 17-22 minutes or until the biscuits are a nice golden brown. Once baked, remove from oven and place on a cooling rack to cool, or toss into basket with a tea towel and serve warm.

Then eat them.

The other day the mister and I started reminiscing about some of our earliest memories of what our parents fed us or what they used to eat when we were growing up. One of the dishes that we both remember eating was the classic creamed beef on toast, or as my mom use to call it, shit on a shingle.   Yup, shit on a shingle. (who ever started calling creamed meat on toast is a freaking genius) I think that as a kid, I liked  the dish just for the mer fact that I could say the word shit and get away with it.  I think my mom liked it for few reasons; she could make a big butt load of it really fast, for a crap load of kids, on the super cheap. And I think that she just really like it.  

Shit on a shingle is one of those foods that I like to call “trash food”, you know stuff like beefaroni or pork and beans. Stuff that we all loved as little kids but might think twice about feeding to anyone now. ( I’ll still feed nick a can of beefaroni.. he likes it) As a throwback to our earliest food memories, (also a lack of food in the house and wanted to make something fast, easy, and cheap.. thanks mom!) I made the mister my rendition of the classic. Creamy Lentils and Mushrooms on toast. Not quite as trashy as creamed beef (lentils, mushrooms and onions are not trashy) but you get the same reminiscing feeling. I guess I could call it something like “stuff on a shingle” or lumps on a shingle”, but what kid (or adult)  would want to eat that. Let’s just stick with shit, it makes it more awesome to eat it.

The shit….. A few mushrooms, a bit of onion, cooked lentils, flour, milk, oil, salt and pepper, and garlic powder. And the shingles.. 2 pieces of thick white country bread. Slice the mushrooms and the onion and toss into a skillet with a drizzle of oil. Cook on medium heat until browned and fragrant..Remove from pan.In the empty pan still on medium heat, add in the olive oil and the flour. Whisky constantly, slowly add in the milk. Keep whisking until sauce thickens. Remove from heat. Add in  salt, pepper, and garlic powder.Add the mushrooms and the lentils into the sauce and give it a good mix. Oh, and don’t forget to  toast up the bread. Now dump that shit all over those shingles! Oh the memories.

If you need to, make it classy by serving it with a cloth napkin and a nice fork and knife. But eat it however you need to. (As kids we like dirty hands and no fork, preferably with a big tall glass of overly sweetened red flavored kool-aid)

Enjoy this fantastic Spring weekend!

-C

 Shit on s Shingle (Creamy Lentils and Mushrooms on Toast)

One serving

• 1 cup cooked lentils
• 2- 3 mushrooms
• 1/2 small onion
• 1 cup milk (cow, nut, plant… whatever you want)
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 tablespoon flour
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• salt and pepper
• 2 pieces of nice thick but soft white sandwich bread

Slice the mushroom and onion and toss into a pan or skillet with a drizzle of oil. Cook on medium heat until brown and fragrant than dump onto a plate. In same skillet, add the oil and the flour and mix with a whisk while slowly adding in the milk. Keep whisking until sauce starts to thicken. Turn heat to simmer and add in the cooked lentils and the sautéd mushrooms and onions. Push down the bread in the toaster.. and when it pops up, dump the shill over it.