10 years old, this guy. %u00a0I can’t believe that we have had him for nearly that long (we got him when he was 8 weeks old)%u00a0

He has come a long way as our puppy. When we first go him, he was this little tiny fur ball that was so pathetic, he could barely walk down the street without whining. And his little puppy teeth and sticky puppy breath%u2026. so sharp and stinky, but oddly so cute! And then he got bigger, and although still super cute, he wasn’t as timid and puppy like anymore. He entered a stage of crazy dog, chewing up the floors and windowsills,%u00a0maybe even trying to bite your hand off if you went near his food, and needed at least 3 hours of outdoor exercise . What I am saying is, he turned into a beast dog. And he got big, like 75 lbs and as tall as a horse (not really that tall), which was all fine and dandy, but he still had it in his mind hat the was a little lap dog. (We didn’t discourage the is behavior)%u00a0%u00a0But we got through that stage (2 years later) and he came to be a more mellow, stop destroying everything, not trying to bite your hand off, pup that still needed at least 3 hours of exercise %u00a0a day. Alway happy, always %u00a0ready for a good hike, swim, or run.. This lasted about 8 years, his golden years.%u00a0And now, now he is 10 and has entered a new stage. He is still ready for anything, but %u00a0does it at a much slower pace. He doesn’t need 3 hours of exercise %u00a0%u00a0anymore and %u00a0is happy just to lounge around. All he wants is love and food. . If one thing has been a constant %u00a0in this dogs life is that he is a food lover.. like steal your food right out of your hand, kind of love.%u00a0

So for his 10th birthday, the mr and I took the guy for a long hike (which kicked his butt for the rest of the day and the next) and I made him some treats. All for him.. my old man puppy. And sure he might now know exactly why I have been giving him treats (we try not to reward him with food.%u00a0cause we don’t want him to get fat) but he sure has been enjoying them. Every time I came home he comes and sits and drools all over waiting for a biscuit. It has turned into his thing.

Anyways, my pup really likes these (although he would probably eat anything) . They are simple, healthy for the dogs, and honestly not that bad a a human snack. And we are coming up %u00a0on the holiday season%u2026 maybe making some for your puppy or even making and gifting some to your friends with dogs.%u00a0%u00a0(Just and idea)

The stuff. Buckwheat flour, an apple, some peanut butter and some pureed pumpkin.

and dump the apple, along with the peanut butter and pumpkin puree into the bowl with the buckwheat flour,

Mix it all up until its fully incorporated and is kind of the consistency of play dough.

So here is the deal, you can totally roll the dough out %u00a0and use a cookie cutter, but I couldn’t find my bone shaped cutter so I hand made the bone shape, which I think came to pretty good. I also was able to make a different sizes. (you know, big ones for when he is really good, little ones for when he being ok).. And really, you don’t need to use a bone shape, any shape will do. Whatever you decide %u00a0to do. just make sure the cookies are all about 1/2 inch thick so they bake

Stick the cookies on a baking sheet and place them in the oven to bake Then when they are done, leave them in the oven to cool.

After chilling out in the oven, pull them out%u00a0

And give one to the pup and stick the rest in the puppy cookie jar.%u00a0

And p.s. Not the best tasting human treat, but are actually not to bad. (Just sayin)

-C

makes 18-24 cookies (depending on the size)

• 1 1/2 cup of Buckwheat flour
• 1 heaping cup pumpkin puree%u00a0
• 1/4 cup peanut butter
• 1 apple grated

Preheat oven to 350

Stick everything in a bowl and mix up until fully incorporate. If the dough seems to wet, add in a little more flour until the dough is workable with your hands, kinda like play dough.%u00a0 Roll dough into small balls %u00a0and shape into bones that are about 1/2 inch thick or,%u00a0%u00a0roll dough out to about 1/2 inch and use a cookie cutter and cut out bones (any shape works)

Place cookies on baking sheet and stick into oven. Bake for 20-25 minutes then turn the oven off but leave the cookies in the oven to dry. Once the cookies are cooled, remove from oven.. And thats it. Give a treat to your pup and stick the rest in cookie jar.%u00a0

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.

This treat is a long time coming, like almost a years time%u2026Let me explain.%u00a0

One of the littles had requested a dessert of some type of almond pear situation for his birthday%u2026..last year. Of course I said yes, no problem, for your birthday, you got it. But I never got it. I actually completely forgot. Then a few months later, I remebemered, felt like a big D-bag and told %u00a0myself I still had to make something for the guy%u2026 and I forgot again.%u00a0Next time I remembered, I had just bought a bunch of pears and that was it. Make the kid something you bitch (is what I told myself) but heres the thing, I figured he forgot too and those pears were mighty tasty.(I know I am horrible)%u00a0

So just last week I was at the store, meandering through the produce, and noticed that local pears were on sale. This was it.%u00a0I knew it had to be done. I bought a large quantity (enough to bake with and eat) and got to making that little his birthday treat request. I went with bars.. nothing to sweet, nothing to crazy, lot and lots of almond and pear flavors. Perfect for breakfast or an afternoon snack, and made even better by the fact that they were made for him, and it isn’t even his birthday.

So I made them, and brought them to his house, waited for him to get off the bus from school, and handed him his long awaited pear almond treat. He was so happy, it made me feel like shit.(I so should have made him something a year ago)%u00a0%u00a0But oh well,%u00a0%u00a0he got them right? And this way is much more a surprise then if I had actually made them when I said that I would. An unexpected, not your birthday, birthday treat!

Right here guys%u2026Still the Best Aunt EVER!

The stuff. Alond flour, oat flour, baking soda ,salt, earth balance and a little honey. We also need some rolled oaths almond butter and almonds. And of course we need pears, with a little corn starch and a smidge of cinnamon.

Nice ripe pears get thinly sliced, seeds and stems removed.

Tossed into a bowl with the starch and cinnamon and set aside.%u00a0

The oat and almond flour gets mixed together with the salt and the baking soda, then mix together with the earth balance and honey until it turns into a dough.( I used my hands to mix it together%u2026it worked better then a fork)

Break off about a 1/4 of the dough and stick back in bowl. Take the rest and evenly press into the bottom of a 9×9 baking pan.

Take the remaing dough and mix in the almonds, oats, and almond butter to form the crumble.

Dump the pears on the crust, making sure the are level and pretty evenly layered.

And crumble the crumble on top.

Give it a little press to compact the crumble and into the oven it goes!

When all browned and crispy and nice, remove from oven and let cool. Cut into squares and go for it.

Look at that, so much goodness.Go ME!%u00a0

Happy Wednesday people!

-C

For the crust and crumble

• 1 1/2 cup oat flour
• 1 1/2 cup almond %u00a0flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1/2 cup earth balance (can use butter)
• 1/4 cup almond butter
• 1/2 cup oats
• 1/4 cup almonds

For the pear filling

• 4-5 ripe pears
• 2 tablespoons corn or arrowroot starch
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350

In a large bowl, mix together the almond and oat flour, baking soda, and salt. Add in the earth balance and honey and mix together until a dough forms (I find using my hands to work swell). Roll dough into a blob and tear about 1/4 of the dough away and set back into bowl. Press the remaining dough into he bottom of a 9X9 inch baking pan. With the remaining dough, mix the rolled oats, the almond butter and the chopped almonds and set aside again.

Now slice up your pears %u00a0into 1/4 inch thick slices (remove seeds and stems)%u00a0and toss into a bowl with the cinnamon and starch. Take pears and layer ontop of the crust, trying to keep the pears evenly distributed. And dump and distribute the crumble topping all over the pears. Gie the whole thing a few pats to compress the crumble a bit.

Stick into the oven and bake for about 45 minutes, or until the crumble topping is all nice and brown and crispy.%u00a0

Remove from the oven, let cool and cut into squares.%u00a0

Great as breakfast lunch snack or dinner. Eat with you hands and lick crumbs off plate.%u00a0

Sunday was the first, and probably the biggest Thanksgivings we are going to this week. It was my family, which consists of my mom, 8 siblings (plus a few spouses) and 9 little%u2019s. A small little house bursting at the seems with a bunch of shit heads. There was a pumpkin pie food fight, secret Santa%u2019s name picking that had to be redone 3 times (because we cant count) and much to much time devoted to sister selfies.%u00a0 It was a blast.

%u00a0And my mom always requests everyone to bring something to diner so I of course wanted to contribute a pie.%u00a0One pie, something that would appeal to as many of those crazies with dietary restrictions as possible, that was a not gross, but still not full of crap, and that people would want to eat. So I went with an apple and acorn squash pie that happen to be vegan, gluten free, and a little on the less sweet side. (Look at me trying to be all nice an accommodating)

%u00a0But guess what. My mom, well she bought 5 other freaking pies from the farm stand to supplement my pie. And yeah, when the time came for dessert my pie got a few nibbles, and I was told that it was fantastic, but they all went for the super sugary, full on butter and fat, custard pies%u2026 Dietary restrictions thrown aside. And I am ok with that because my pie got divided up between a few of the ladies and they ended up easting it for breakfast. So my pie turned out to be the day after thanksgiving breakfast pie. And that might even be better then being the night of pie cause everyone knows that left over pie eaten for breakfast is the best kind of pie!

So if you are looking for a good pie that is great the day of Thanksgiving and be good for breakfast the next day, this is the pie for you.

The stuff. Apples, an acorn squash (only going to need half), some old fashion oats, earth balance, brown sugar and a lemon. Also need a little bit of cinnamon, ginger, and salt. oh, and a bit of water.

Oats, earth balance, some sugar, a pinch of salt and a bit of cinnamon all go into a food processor to blend.%u00a0While its blending, add in a tablespoon or two of water to help all the stuff come together. %u00a0Once it starts to pull away from the sides, turn off and call it ready.%u00a0

remove about 1/2 a cup of the crumb and set aside for topping and dump the rest into a pie plate. Press into the dish until it looks like a pie crust.

Stick into the oven to pre bake.%u00a0

The crust is in the oven and the apples and the squash are not going to cut themselves up so you are going to have to do it. And personal preference here, peel the stuff or don’t (I wouldn’t usually but I know the people eating %u00a0the pie and they are peeled people) So remove all seed and stems and slice both the apple and squash intto 1/2 inch slices. Cut the squash into pieces that are similar to the apple,%u00a0

Earth balance into the skillet first then topped with all the chopped stuff, the spices and some sugar and stick it on the stove to cook down. You want to get the pan hot with a medium high heat then turn it down to a low heat, stirring and them placing a lid on the stuff until the squash and apples are slightly tender (not falling apart)%u00a0and the sugar has caramelized.

And note.. If you notice that the sugar is caralized before the squash and apples are tender, just add in a splash of water and mix around to prevent the sugar from burning.

Filling all ready to go, just add in the juice of the lemon here.

The left over crust crumble, some more earth balance, cinnamon, oats and sugar get mix together to make a little crumble to sprinkle on top.%u00a0

And now all there is left to do is to put it all togehert. Filling goes into pre-baked crust.

And gets topped with the crumble.%u00a0

Into the oven it goes (give it about 45-50 minutes to bake)

And pulled out when the top is all golden brown and smelling pretty.

Left to cool for a few minutes, then sliced into thinck pieces and shared all around!

Now thats a pie that’s meant for breakfast!

-C

Makes 1 pie

The Crust%u00a0

• 3 cups %u00a0old fashion oats
• 2 tablesppon brown sugar
• 4 tabelsoons earth balance
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1-2 tablespoons water

Filling

• 1/2 %u00a0acorn squash (about 3 cups chopped)
• 4-5 %u00a0apples (any kind will do)
• 1 tablespoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ginger
• 1 lemon
• 4 tablespoons earth balance
• 6 tablespoons brown sugar

Crumb topping

• 1/2 crumb that is set aside
• 1/2 cup old fashion oats
• 2 tablespoon earth balance
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 3-5 tablespoon brown sugar (more if you like it sweeter)

Start by making the crust. This crust is going to be prebaked so preheat the oven to 375.

Stick the oats, some super soft or even melted earth balance, brown sugar, a pinch of salt and cinnamon, and a splash of water into a food processer and pulse until a fine crumbly crumb is made. Remove about 1/2 %u00a0cup of the crumb and dump the rest into a pie plate. Press into the dish evenly and once you are happy with the looks of the crust, stick it into the oven. Bake for about 20 minutes or until the crust is just starting to brown.

While crust is prebaking, peel (if you want),%u00a0core and slice apples into %u00bd inch pieces. Now grab the squash while you are at it and cut it in half, remove seeds, peel (if you want) and slice into %u00bd inch pieces (make them about the same size as the apple pieces.) Get yourself a big skillet and add in the earth balance, all the chopped up apples and squash, the spices and the sugar and stick on the stove one medium high heat. When the skillet is nice and hot, the butter all melted and the sugar is starting to melt, turn heat down to medium low, stick a lid on the pan, and cook for a few more minutes (like 7 minutes) until the squash and apples are slightly fork tender , but not falling apart. If the sugar starts to caramelizes before the stuff is tender, add in a splash or two of water to stop the sugar from burning.%u00a0Remove from heat, add in the juice of the lemon,%u00a0and set aside.

%u00a0And for the crumble. Just add all the crumble ingredients together and mix around (I used my fingers).

So crust is pre-baked, filling is precooked, and crumble is ready. So now all you need to do is put it together.

Dump the filling into the crust and then top with the crumble. Stick the pie into the oven and bake for about 45-50 minutes or until the filling is fork tender and the crumble on top is nice and golden brown.

Remove from oven and let cool for at least 5 minutes (15 minutes is even better), and serve it on up!

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.

Today is the day, the moment of truth. The concrete counter tops that we poured a few days ago are getting un-molded, flipped, and set into place. I am so super excited and very much scared. Finally we will have a counter and we will be that much closer to a finished kitchen. But what if?%u00a0 What if something happens between removing the mold and placing the counter, like what if it doesn’t fit right or maybe it breaks? I shouldn’t be even thinking about that. It will be great and awesome and the best freaking counter ever.%u00a0 (and Ikea is only a few hours away and sell emergency counter tops)

The house. Oh have we got ourselves a little gem. All week we have been staying here, doing all our living here (minus showers, we take those at the loft) and still managing to get a bit of work done here. Working in the place you live is such a bitch.%u00a0 Plus it’s the holidays which makes everything not covered in tinsel and lights seem unimportant, but we are getting there. A few more weeks and I tell you, we will most likely have ourselves a pretty nearly done 98% livable house.%u00a0

Even though the house might not be perfect, we still had a the littles over for a school night sleep over where we finished decorating the tree, watched the Santa Clause, made claims on table settings and ate black beans for breakfast. That was a tough morning with -20 cold and no desire to leave the house. We might have been a few minutes late for school, but hey, I never drive in the mornings and didn’t realize 20 minutes wasn’t enough time to compete with the crazy ass traffic. And they might not have been late, so yeah. (I didn’t ask) What else….Well have been on the hunt for doors and glass for doors and all the odds and ends that we need. Every day it seems we end up at the hardware store, the junk store, or the salvage yard looking of that one thing that may or may not exist. It is driving me nuts. The mr, he is really good at the back and forth. Me, not so much. I really wish there was a store made for just me that sold (or gave me for free) everything that I could possible need. Doors, carrots, socks. That would be great. Oh and my crock pot. It has turned into the center of our living because it’s not our main source of hot food. It has been entirely new territory for me (never used a crock pot before last week) and there were a few soups that might not have so great, but I think I have got the hang of it and we have been eating hot food from the crock like champs. I’ll have to share some of my soups and tips with you guys soon. (once the kitchen is done there will be sooooo many new recipes and food fun coming your way!)

So besides the counter tops today, I think I have some serious cleaning to do. The loft is a mess, the house is getting a little on the dusty side, and the pile of dirty clothes has gotten out of hand. I might drag the hamper to the loft, be domestic for the afternoon and do some chores. A little Christmas music, lots of coffee, and amazon prime last minute gift shopping. It should be an interesting afternoon to say the least.

Links brought to you by the internet.

-I want this, it would bring me so much joy. This Infinity Galaxy Puzzle Has No Beginning or End

–5 of Humanity%u2019s Best Ideas of What Dreams Actually Are

-Lapland is on my travel bucket list. 10+ Reasons Why Lapland Is The Most Magical Place To Celebrate Christmas

–Meet The Spleen, The Strange Little Organ That Can Multiply

-Gift idea for your stinky loved ones. Shreddies flatulence filtering garments

-The mr and I are starting to plan our next cross country trip. National Parks all the way (free days are great but if you are planning on going to a lot of parks, get the pass) WHEN TO VISIT ANY US NATIONAL PARK FOR FREE IN 2017

-An Eleven-Story-Tall Tree Hugger Sprouts on the Side of a Building in Chile. Imagine painting that…..

-Food is always a good present.10 Last-Minute Recipes to Make for Homemade Food Gifts

The week in pictures.

Yes that is a giant tree monster about to eat a Christmas tree. So good.

Have a great day!

Sometimes, no matter whats going on with the week, Monday seems like, well, like a Monday. I drag a little on Mondays. I think it stems from the Monday through Friday school week that was beaten into me for 16 plus years. Hate Mondays, Love Fridays.. Yup, I blame the public educational system(I have to blame someone) I want my day back. I don’t want to feel the drag today. I am going to have a fantastic day.  I’m getting excited, pumped up and ready for the week. I am turning my Mondays into fun days. Funday Monday…Yes, yes I did just say that. .  See, don’t we all feel better already?

On this Funday, I don’t want to worry all day what I am going to make for dinner, I just want something tasty and easy. .Whats better than a plate of fries?……. a plate of roasted rutabaga fries! Yes! See, we are already having a great day. A plate of fries, easy, delicious and nutritious. Not a bad start to the week. You can eat them with  just about anything, a grilled cheese tomato and avocado sandwich, a bowl of curried lentil soup..or just straight up eat a big old pile of these roasted rutafries (That a word, I swear) Just have fun with it. Its funday Monday after all.

One large rutabaga… This one fed 2 as a side… but if your eating just the fries, eat a whole one to your face. It’s totally cool.Chop the rutabaga into fries and toss with a smidge of oil, salt, pepper and ground up rosemary. Don’t like the rosemary… don’t use it. Maybe try something else like sage or garlic and onion powder or curry powder. Just use whatever you like. Throw into a 425 degree oven for 20 minutes, give them a flip and back in for another 15, Simple. Easy.

Remove from oven when crisped to your liking and eat.

Yes, this was a dinner of rutafries and brussel sprouts, is that a problem? I don’t think so .A suggestion, .dip in mustard….its fantastic, but go the ketchup route if that s your fancy.

Alright people..Have a great day and remember to not let today be a drag of a Monday, make it fun, looking forward to a  plate of rutafries for dinner and think of how great the rest of the week is going to be!( I might have been a motivational speaker in a past life)

FUNDAY MONDAY!!!!!

What, you don’t have a large trough full of kittens?

Yup, that’s right, the mr and I are currently foster parents to 4 little itty bitty kitties and oh hell are they cute and stinky and all sorts of crazy. But lets back it up here. The beginning of the week started off like any other. Did some work, picked a shitload of berries and all the cucumbers, had the kiddos over for brinner (breakfast for dinner), you know, the usual.%u00a0 Then on Wednesday we went to Belvidere and spent some time with my family in the most magical place..We played in the waterfall, the mr went fishing, we found some cool rocks, just hung out with my people. Then it happened. Thursday, the mr and I were over at one of our apartment buildings where we have a barn that we keep all of scrap wood looking for well, wood. And there they were, a pile of freaking kittens, tiny as can be, living in the pile of wood in the barn. Long story short ,a few hours of super carefully moving wood, we managed to grab them all and get them in a box. And now they are living with us until they can find new homes. We have four crazy kitties that went from swatting and hissing to snuggles and love and now are the neediest little things ever.%u00a0 Only is mad at us and doesn’t want to come inside. I think he is jealous. We feel kinda bad so he got a can of tuna.

Barb came over Friday night to have a sleep over kitten party.%u00a0 I had planned an epic night of Wayne’s World watching (she hasn’t seen them..Asphinctersayswhat?) before the morning trip to Ikea, but the evening turned into kitten time. And honestly, it’s all turned into kitten time, but that’s ok, we will Wayne’s World party time, excellent soon.We did end up named them; Farro (the only boy) Quinoa, Tofu, and Jumper. Tofu because she is the runt and barb so tofu is the runt of the meat world. Jumper because she is constantly trying to jump out of the box, and Farro and Quinoa because we were talking dinner and that happened.

After finally settling down and getting a little sleep,%u00a0 we woke up. played with kitties, the headed north of the border to Ikea where barb and the mr eat handfuls of hot dogs, we got a new kitchen faucet and some clothes hangers, then drove back through the craziest rainstorm any of us have ever seen. We all thought we were going to die. But we didn’t because we needed to get back to the kittens..

Needless to say that today is probably going to a kitten heavy day. The mr made a little playpen for them to play in and I found that last night I ended up watching them for like an hour without even noticing.%u00a0 Plus they all pooped last night next to the litter and managed to walk all in it so now all the kitten are covered in poop and I have to wash them all. So cute, so nasty….this is my new life for a little while.

Email me if you want a kitten. (seriously)

Stuff I saw on the internet that isn’t about how to bath kittens.

–Gnawing Questions: Is Sugar From Fruit The Same As Sugar From Candy? Candy bar or bag of grapes…. Go with the grapes.

– How to Be Better at Stress. We could all be better.

-I have been on the seltzer wagon for a long time now. I drink Polar. Vanilla, grapefruit , and the new pineapple grapefruit are my favorites. Seltzer’s Popularity Bubbles Up In The U.S.

-100 Years in the Kitchen: A Century of Kitchen Color Trends. I am all about the70’s colored appliances. My fridge is harvest gold with wood accents and it’s the best. 100 Years in the Kitchen: A Century of Kitchen Color Trends

-I want one of these. I have a very real fear that me or the mr are going to lose some fingers. Despite Proven Technology, Attempts To Make Table Saws Safer Drag On

–A 100-YEAR-OLD, PERFECTLY PRESERVED FRUITCAKE WAS DISCOVERED IN ANTARCTICA. Eat up!

-My sister wore this shirt all throughout her tween and early teen years. This shirt and kissing Steven Tyler posters. She was scary.

–What Brands Are Actually Behind Trader Joe%u2019s Snacks? I knew it!!!

-So much neon light. Ultraviolet Break of Day: A Midnight Walk Through the Neon-Hued Streets of Asian Cities

–Traffic Accident Leaves Arkansas Highway Covered in Frozen Pizzas

This summer I have gotten like 5 lbs of blackberries, a humongo bowl of raspberries, so so so many pears, and lots of random veggies, all from my neighbors and their gardens We live in a very giving and generous neighborhood. And it helps that they can’t possible eat all that they grow and that I am always willing to take it off their hands (and put it into my mouth) In return we have given out rhubarb and jars of honey and overall charm and smiles. (the charm and smiles are on the mr to give out)

The other day on a walk, the mr and I saw this sign outside of a neighbors house. Plums, please take some! Well pull my arm, I guess I will have too, because the sign said please right? Anyway, these little plums, not sure what kind they are, but they are so good. Sweet and bite sized and pretty. I ate a few then decided that I needed to share my shared plums and went about making a cake to stick those said share plums into.

I made the cake, invited my mom and a couple of sibs over. Mom didn’t come but Barb and Paul did so they got the cake, Well they got half the cake, the mr ate the rest. I was told that this cake is one of the best. I bet it is when you used share plums because sharing is caring and sharing cake is all that good stuff.

The stuff. A bowl with flour, baking soda baking powder, and slat. Then you have brown sugar, coconut oil. vanilla extract, soy milk, and a little apple cider vinegar. And plums of course.

Once you have started preheating the oven, cut your plums in half and remove the pit.The best way to do this is to run the knife along the pit all the way around the plum and then twist to break in half. Pop the pit out with you finger.

Set plums aside while mixing cake

Warmed coconut oil, brown sugar, and vanilla all get mixed together into a smooth consistency then dumped into the bowl of dry stuff.

Soy milk and vinegar get added and mixed in.

Batter gets poured into a very well greased cake pan and the plums get placed, cut side down,right on top. A sprinkle of sugar to top it off is not a bad idea.

Into the oven it goes to turn to cake!

Pulled from the oven looking so nice. Let the cake cool completely in the pan before taking it out. Hot cake is hard to handle!

And as soon as you get it out of the pan you can start eating.

Enjoy the last bits of summer. Share if you can!

-C

Makes a 12 inch cake

Ingredients

• 2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking sods
• 1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 3/4 cup coconut oil (warmed so it’s liquid)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup soy milk
• 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
• 12-14 small plums (the plums I used where golf ball sized so you might need less for larger plums)
• 1 tablespoon white sugar

Preheat oven to 350

Start by slicing the plums in half and removing the pits. Set them aside. Hint. for slicing, the best way to do this is to run the knife along the pit all the way around the plum and then twist the plum in half. Pop the pit out with you finger or spoon.

In a large bowl, whisk together the salt baking soda and powder, and salt . In a smaller bowl mix together the coconut oil, brown sugar, and vanilla until smooth. Pour the wet into the dry and add in half the milk, mix together, then the rest of the milk and apple cider vinegar. Mix until all incorporated and smooth.

Pour batter into a well greased 12 inch round cake pan.%u00a0 (If you don’t have that a 9×9 square pan will work) Smooth out the top then grab your sliced plums and stick them, cut side down, on top. Give each plum a little push into the batter so it half submerged. Sprinkle the top with white sugar and pop into the oven

Bake for 45-50 minutes or until a fork or toothpick stuck int he middle comes out clean.

Remove and let cool completely in cake pan, it’s easier to remove the cake when it is not hot.
And once it’s cool, remove cake gently and ta-da. Cake time

The house next door to us is for sale and in the backyard of the house is a whole lot of blackberry bushes. The mr and I have been hopping the fence over there like ninjas and filling large bowls of berries and sneaking back home to eat our weight in those blackberries. (Ok, not entirely true. We are not good enough ninjas to jump the fence so we have been walking through the fence gate. Plus we checked with the current owner, she told us to pick all we wanted to. We are not asshole ninjas stealing fruit)

So many berries. I check every few days and they just keep on coming and I am not one to let perfectly good berries (or any food) go to waste, so I just keep picking. I froze some , ate so so many, and then I was going to make a straight up pie but decided to do pie bars instead because one, I couldn’t find my pie plate (I think Shannon has it) and two, these are just a bit less formal, like pie can sometime be. Plus easier to share because they are cut into little squares and hold there shape really well. And lets be honest, I didn’t want to have to roll out pie dough if I didn’t have to.

Such a good way to use up and share an excess of berries. Now off you go to make some pie crumble bars while I go play with the kittens (I’ll tell you all about the kittens tomorrow….)

The stuff. Flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. A little soy milk and coconut oil, a lemon, and arrowroot powder. And of course lots of blackberries.

The flour, salt, baking soda, and sugar get mixed in a big bowl then the coconut oil get mixed in into a crumble.%u00a0 Now in goes the soy milk to get it all a little wet.

A little more then half the mixture gets patted down into a greases and lined pan

Berries, sugar, arrowroot powder, lemon juice and lemon zest go into a bowl. Give it a mix.

Dump and distribute all over recently patted down dough..

And crumble the rest of the crumble all over the top.

Now into the oven it go.

All cooked and cooling while you put away the clean dishes (or anything that will distract you for at least a half hour while they cool.)

And when they have cooled enough to cut, it’s time for you to eat.

And yes, these are totally perfect for dessert and breakfast.

-C

makes 16 squares

For the crust

• 2 1/2 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2/3 cup coconut oil melted then cooled to soft
• 2/3 cup cane sugar
• 4 tablespoons soy milk

For the berry filling

• 3 cups fresh blackberries
• 3 tablespoons arrowroot powder
• 1/3 cup cane sugar
• zest and juice of a lemon

Preheat oven to 375

Mix the flour, sugar, salt, and baking powder together in a large bowl. Add in coconut oil and incorporate with a fork or pastry cutter until the dough looks crumbly, add in soy milk and mix in with for again just til until incorporated. (think pie dough-like)%u00a0 Don’t worry if some of the dough seems dry, it’s fine.

Grease and line a 9×9 pan. Dump a little more then half of the dough mixture in and pat down to cover bottom of pan. Try to make sure it’s all an even thickness.

In a separate bowl, toss together the berries, sugar, arrowroot powder, lemon zest and juice of that lemon. Dump the mixture into pan and evenly distribute over dough. Take the remaining dough and crumble all over the top then just stick it into the hot oven.

Bake for about 50 minutes or until the crumble on top is a nice golden brown.

Remove and let cool completely before cutting.

Cut then eat.

Store squares in fridge, some even say they taste better cold.

I am running extremely low on food in my house, like there isn’t a can of beans or a box of pasta left. Yeah, I have a few zucchini left, but I think that mr might be getting a bit sick of it. (He has had zucchini noodles for lunch and dinner for the past few day). And I was going to go to the grocery store before dinner, but then I didn’t. Why? well because I didn’t really feel like it.

Turns out that I didn’t need to go to the store for dinner.I had a few mushrooms, an onion, and a few stalks of chard left in the fridge. (but pretty much nothing else) I just bought a 25 lb bag of flour so I am all stocked up on that and last minute I found a avocado that I thought was a beet in the fridge. All I needed to make a dinner, and a quick and easy, and really tasty one to boot. Plus being so mother F*ing hot, it was perfect because there was no need to turn on the oven.

Now the question is,now that dinner was made and being that the fridge is so empty, should I clean and defrost it? Answer is yes, yes I should, but am I going to? Probably not. I just don’t have it in me to stand in font of the fridge, hacking ice away with a large spoon and boiling water for an hour. It’s to hot. I’ll do it later.

The stuff. Flour, baking powder, olive oil, salt ans water for the skillet bread. A few humngo stalks of red chard, a couple mushrooms (I would have used a few more if I had them). an onion, and a few cloves of garlic.%u00a0 Missing is the pepper and the avocado and lemon that I found while rummaging the fridge.

The bread is super easy. Just whisk together the flour salt, and baking soda then add in the oil. Mix until it’s crumbly then mix in the water until it turns into a soft dough. Gather into a ball and stick in bowl then into fridge for a few minutes to let the dough rest.

After the dough has rested, take it and cut into 4 equal pieces. Roll each piece into ball and then roll out as flat as you can. Heat up a skillet to high heat and once hot, place rolled out flat onto (dry) skillet. Cook first side for about 3-4 minutes or until browned and cook, then turn heat down a bit, flip and cook other side until browned. Remove bread, turn heat back up, and repeat with remaining flats.

For the rest. Remove the leafy part of the chard and set aside .Thinly hop up the mushrooms, onion, and the chard stalk. Mince up the garlic. Toss it all (not the garlic yet)into a lightly oiled skillet , season with salt and pepper, and cook on medium heat until starting to brown. Now toss in a few splashes of water and the minced garlic, mix around, and cover wit a lid. Cook for another 8-10 minutes until the veggies are nice and soft.

Cooked and ready, but wait, chop up the chard leaves and toss them into skillet. Another splash of water and a few more minutes under a lid will wilt them up real quick.

Skillet beads are made, veggies are all nice and cooked up. The avocado and lemon where found, sliced.

Not bad for a last minute-lean out the fridge of all food-dinner. Not bad at all.

Don’t melt

-C

Make 4 flatbread

For the skillet bread

• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 4-5 tablespoons cold water

For the rest

• 2-4 white mushrooms
• 2-3 large stalks of chard (any color)
• 1 sweet onion
• 2-3 cloves garlic
• salt and pepper
• olive oil
• water
• An avocado and a lemon (optional)

To make the skillet bread. Mix together the flour, salt, and baking soda in a large bowl. Pour in olive oil and mix until crumbly then add in 4 tablespoons of water (5 if it seems to dry) until a dough forms. Gather dough into a ball, stick in bowl and cover, and place in the fridge to rest for about 10 minutes. Once dough has chilled, remove and cut into 4 equal sized pieces. Roll each piece into a ball then, on a clean surface, roll out as flat as you can. Grab a skillet and place on high heat. Once skillet has heated up, place a rolled out dough on hot, un-oiled surface and let cook for about 3-4 minutes or until the bottom cooked with golden brown spots. Turn heat to medium and flip bread. Cook the other side for another 4-5 minutes or until browned. Remove flat and turn heat back up. Cook the rest of the bread like the first one.

For the rest. Remove leafy parts of the chard from the stalk and set aside. Take stalk and chop into pieces about 1/ 2 inch think. Slice onion and mushrooms up as thinly as you can. Mince garlic. Garb a skillet, stick on medium heat and drizzle with a little olive oil. Toss in chard stalk, onions, and mushrooms, sprinkle with salt and pepper and mix around until the stuff starts to brown a bit. Add in a few good splashed of water and the garlic and then place a lid on the skillet. Cook for about 10 minutes, giving the mixture a good stir every few minutes. Once the veggies are all soft and yummy, chop up the remaining chard leafs and place them into the skillet. Add another splash of water and place the lid back on. Cook until the leaves have wilted.

To assemble. Flat bread on plate. Scoop some of the sauteed veggie mixture on top. A few slices of avocado on top with a squeeze of lemon juice and a bit of cracked pepper…You are good to go.

The mr is a saltines fanatic. I personally don’t get it, but he really, truly loves a good fresh package of those salty crispy crackers, and loves to make a little cracker crumb mess. (I think it does it to drive me crazy)

%u00a0The other night during a particularly crumby saltine cracker snack, he declared that the saltine people (who are these people?) must come out with flavored saltines. I then continued to burst his bubble and told him I am pretty sure the saltine people have, in fact, come out with flavors, but he was skeptical and did not believe my words. Whatever dude.

But then I got to thinking, “why the hell haven’t I made flavored saltine crackers yet?” So make flavored crackers I did. I know that the mr is really into dill pickled chips (beause I can smell the when he eats them) and I have been buying these mammoth jars of pickles from the Costco superstore (I love pickles but more then that I need the gigantic jars). so I had me a shit ton of pickle juice. It was meant to be.

The first time I made the crackers, I did a really small batch and wasn’t expecting anything amazing, just going for a decent whatever cracker. But no, the few that I managed to make, the mr went nuts for. He told me they were the best fucking cracker that he has ever had and I now have to make them for him all the time, and that it is now a birthday tradition (it was his birthday). He said they were the prefect dilly-ness, the pefrect texture and just the right amount of salt. Perfection.

Well that made me happy so instead of waiting for his next birthday, I just made a big batch. Again, more proof that I am the best girlfriend ever!

The stuff. Flour, dill pickle juice, olive oil and some dried dill and salt.

Flour into a bowl gets drizzled with olive oil and mix around with a fork.

%u00a0Then in goes the pickles juice , same deal, mix together with a fork until the mixture forms a dough. (almost resembling a pie dough)

Place dough down on counter. Let it sit there for a few minutes to give it time to rest.

After the rest, roll the dough out as thinly as you can (try for about an 1/8 inch).

I found that when I slightly damped the counter that the dough was easier to roll. It might be because I have wood counter top so this may or may not work for you, but is worth a try.

And with a knife or dough cutter (or fancy cracker cutting tool), trim off sides (if you want) and cut into 2 inch squares.

Note. IF you want to, poke a couple little wholes into the tops of the crackers. Doing so will prevent the crackers from poofing up (I was told the poof is good)

And place the crackers on a baking sheet, brush tops with the pickle juice, then sprinkle with chopped dill and a tiny bit of salt.

Stick into the preheated oven.

Bakeuntil they start to turn a light golden brown and arepoofing up a little (go ahead and grab one now for quality control)

These crackers be cracking. And wouldn’t you know it, they are already all gone. Next time I make them I am going to have to hide them.

Have a great weekend!

-C

Makes about fifty 2×2 crackers

• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 6-8 tablespoons pickle juice
• 3 tablespoon olive oil
• finishing salt to taste
• tablespoon chopped dried dill

Preheat oven to 350

Place flour into a shallow bowl and drizzle the olive oil in. Mix around with a fork. Grab pickle juice and drizzle in 6 tablespoons of the juice and mix with the fork until a dough forms. Add in another tablespoon or two if the dough needs more moisture to come together.

Form dough into a ball and let rest on the counter for a few minutes (good time to wash the dirty dishes)

After the rest, take the dough and roll it out to about 1/8 inch or as thinly as you can. Weirdly enough, I found that I was able to roll my dough out better when I damped my counter. The dough didn’t slide around and it still lifted up easily with a spatula.. but do what works for you.

Once you have rolled the dough, trim sides to clean lines and cut into 2×2 inch squares (you can cut into any shape and or size you like) Any trimming reform into a ball, roll out, and make a few more. (If you want a more authentic looking cracker, you can poke little whole into them. Doing this also make the crackers not poof up when bakes)

Place crackers on a lightly colored (or parchment lined) baking sheet. Brush each cracker top with a little pickle juice and sprinkle the tops with salt and dill. Place in the oven to bake for about 12 minutes or until the crackers have poofed up and are turning slightly brown.

Remove from oven, let cool completely and either eat right away or place in a air tight container for later.

These crackers had no later.

This cake was born from my anxiety. Whenever I am feeling crazy,%u00a0anxious, kinda sick, or even just really happy, I want to be in the kitchen making something. It’s probably some deep seeded control issue that I have (I can’t control my brain, but I can control bread dough), but whatever.%u00a0Being in the kitchen takes my head out of life , even just for a little while, and let’s me concentrate on something else that really has nothing to do with whatever I am thinking about (unless I am thinking about food, in which I bake whatever food I am thinking about) Does this all make sense or am I just nuts?

So yeah, the other day I was having one of those days. I was extra crazy (for so many reasons) and really needed to just step away from my thoughts. I rushed home and just started grabbing stuff.. cake stuff.%u00a0%u00a0I figured that If I was going to bake something that I might as well bake a little snack cake for the mr, especially sense he has to deal with this crazy. I had a large quantity of pears that were all ripening %u00a0at once sitting in the fruit basket, so I grabbed some of those. And I grabbed the ginger%u2026 well because why not.

And I made this cake.. and I felt better. And the mr got cake (also brought some to my sisters.. her and the kids ate it all within minutes). It was a win win situation.%u00a0

So now you know. If you are my friend and I am feeling some feelings, at some point,%u00a0you will proably get a cake.

The stuff. A few pears,some fresh ginger, brown sugar and cinnamon. %u00a0Also have some white whole wheat flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. And some oil, apple cider vinegar and a little bit of water.

Start with the pears. Cut in half, remove seed and stems, then chop/mince the crap out of them. It’s cool to have a few big chunks., it adds some good texture. Take the pears and as much as the juice you can scrap from the counter and stick into a bowl.

Grate up a few good tablespoons of fresh ginger..

Tip.%u00a0I keep my ginger in the freezer. its easier to grate and it doesn’t go bad!

The ginger goes into the bowl with the pears, along with the oil, cinnamon,%u00a0sugar, water and vinegar. Mix it all up . Then all that wet mixture goes into the bowl with the flour, baking soda and powder and the salt.

And that get’s all mixed.. and now you have cake batter!%u00a0

Depending on you pears and how juicy they are,%u00a0you might find that your batter seems to dry, just add in another 1/4 %u00a0cup of water. The batter should be the consistency of like greek yogurt, not ruing, but not stiff either.

Preheat you cook box (oven)

Dump the batter into a well greased 9×9 inch pan. Slice up another pear into thin strips (I only used half, then ate the other half)

Lay the slices on top to make it look all pretty. Do what I did, or some other design (it’s your cake to make pretty any way you want). Once you do that, stick the cake into the oven.

When the cake is a nice deep golden brown, take it out of the oven.

Maybe let it cool for a few minutes, letting the smell wrap around your head so that you smell like baking all day. No cut yourself a slab, grab some coffee, and go for it.%u00a0

Enjoy

-C

Makes a 9×9 inch single layer cake

• 2 cups white whole wheat flour
• 2 cups minced , super ripe and jucey pears (about 2 whole pears)
• 2 tablespoon freshly frated ginger
• 1/2 cup canola oil
• 1/4- 1/2 cup water
• 2/3 %u00a0cup brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar

Preheat oven to 350

Take pears, remove seeds and stem, and chop the crap out of them until they are tiny little pieces. Scoop pears, and any juice they leave behind into a bowl. Add in the sugar, oil, cinnamon, %u00a0ginger, vinegar,%u00a0%u00a0and %u00a01/4 %u00a0cup of water and mix until incorporated.%u00a0In a seprertare big bowl, mix together the salt, baking soda and powder with the flour. Add in the wet mixture and mix until fully incorporated.%u00a0%u00a0If the batter seems to dry (should be the constancy of whipped potatoes or greek yogurt), add in another 1/4 cup of water.%u00a0

Scoop batter into a greased 9×9 inch baking pan.%u00a0If you want to make it pretty, grab another pear and cut into thin slices and place right on top of the batter in any fashion you like.%u00a0

Place cake into oven and bake until a nice dark golden brown,about 40-45 minutes ,or until a tester stuck in the middle comes out clean.%u00a0

Remove, let cool in pan, and cut yourself a big slab, grab some coffee e to tea, grab a book, and eat it.%u00a0.

This weekend was pretty fantastic. I got a lot of little things done around the house that needed to be done and spent half of that time hanging out in my pjs. (Pjs can be working loathes too) And all the while I was doing stuff, I was making these rolls. (I am nothing if not a great multi-tasker) That’s my favorite kind of weekend.. Baking, while doing house chores. and maybe watching tv or listening to music. (or NPR.. but saying that makes me sound so old).%u00a0I am like a little old house wife (I am close) and it makes me feel like I have achieved greatness!

And baking bread is the best. I love making bread. I %u00a0love the act of mixing and kneading the dough. The waiting and anticipation of the dough rising.The smells of good bread baking. It’s a very cathartic experience, and it also results in some very tasty bread that,%u00a0in my house, get’s eaten at an alarming speed (fresh bread doesn’t last long with the mr) But don’t let all that time waiting around scare you away from making bread, cause when you take out the time spent letting dough rise, bread really takes about 8 minutes to make. And people who make fresh bread are always the coolest people.%u00a0

So these rolls. These rolls are soft and fluffy and tender,, slight sweet, slightly spicy, and all over freaking fantastic.%u00a0I mean, it’s parsnip and pepper so what can go wrong with that?. The mr ate a good few pretty much as soon as I pulled them out of the oven(again..fresh bread doesn’t last long)%u00a0and when I brought the rest over to my sisters house, those were devoured as well. Even the littles were super into them. %u00a0And I now that it’s a few weeks away but%u2026. Thanksgiving is only a few weeks away!!! It’s creepy up oh so fast (as usual) and I am not going to let it get the best of me this year. And now that I got my roll game down for the big day (or 3.. there are 3 Thanksgivings that we are attending), I can move onto more pressing things.. like al the pies.(I’ll be sharing some pies with you soon)

The stuff. %u00a0We gots some flour, salt, cracked pepper and a really big parsnip. Also have water, yeast, sugar and some melting earth balance .%u00a0

To start, chop up the parsnip into small chunks and stick them into a pot with enough water to fully semerge the chunks. Place on stove and bring to a boil then turn heat to medium high and let the parsnips cook.

Once the parsnip are fork tender, strain the water (reserving 3/4 cup of that water)%u00a0and puree the parsnip until smooth.

Take %u00a0that parsnip water and (once cooled a bit) place in bowl with the sugar and the yeast and mix it all around. Let sit for a few minutes until the yeast is visibly active.

Now dump the parsnip puree and melted butter into with the yeast and mix it all up

Salt, pepper, and flour mixed into a bowl

The yeast and parsnip mixture goes into the flour.%u00a0

And mix until it looks kind like this. When it’s no longer mixable with the spoon, dump dough out onto lightly floured surface and knead, adding a little bit of flout to the work surface when needed to prevent it from sticking..

And keep kneading unitl dough is all nice and smooth and pretty.

Dough then goes into a lightly oiled bowl %u00a0and is covered with a towl and let to sit for about an hour until the dough doubles in size.%u00a0

When the dough has doubled, dump onto the counter and cut into 12 equalish sized balls. (my balls were not equal)

The balls then go into a %u00a0large, lightly oiled pan. Let those sit for some more time,covered with a towel,%u00a0unit the dough %u00a0doubles again and the balls are all touching each other. They are ready to bake.. but right before you place them in the oven, brush the tops with a little melted earth balance.

And into the oven they go!!!

And when the rolls are all golden brown and smelling so nice,%u00a0remove from oven. Brush tops with some more melted earth balance and sprinkle with salt and more pepper.

Serve up to people you like

Have a n awesome day!

-C

Makes 12-16 rolls (depending on the size you make them)

• 3 3-1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 2 big parsnips (need 3/4 cups mashed parsnip)
• 3/4 cups parsnip water (the water you boil the parsnips in)
• 2 teaspoons yeast
• 2 teaspoons cane sugar
• 2 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon cracked pepper (more if you like pepper)
• 4 tablespoons melted earth balance or butter (2 for the dough- 2 to melt on top)

To start, chop parnsips into chunks and place into a pot full of water. Bring to boil and cook until the parsnips are fork tender. Remove parsnips from water and measure out 3/4 cups of the water and set aside Take cooked parnsips and stick in a blender and puree until smooth. Measure out 3/4 cups of the puree.(any left eat as a snack)

Let both the puree and water cool enough that %u00a0you can stick a finger in it and its not to hot (or a thermometer that says its below 110.. your call).

Once cooled, stick the water, sugar, and yeast into a bowl, mix around, and let yeast activate. When yeast is foamy and clearly noted that it is not dead, dump in the parsnip mash, 2 tablespoons melted earth balance,and mix together. And then for the flour. Mix in the salt and pepper to the flour mix in the parsnip yeast mixture until a dough forms. The dough should be a little sticky, but still workable. If the dough seems to wet, add in another 1/4 cup flour at a time, just till it is bot overly sticky.%u00a0

Dump dough onto a floured surface and knead for about 5 minutes, or until the dough starts to look glossy and ihas an elastic quality to it.%u00a0

Stick dough into a greased bowl, over with a towel, and place in a warm place for about an hour, or until the dough has doubled in size. Once doubles, dump dough out onto counter and using a dough cutter or serrated knife, cut the dough into 12 -16 equal pieces Take each piece and roll into a ball and place into a greased 9×12 baking pan. Once all balls are in, cover with towel and let the dough rise %u00a0until the balls are doubled in size and are toughing each other,for another 30 minutes or so. Preheat the oven to 350. Once the rolls are double again, right before you stick them into the oven, brush tops with melted earth balance

Place rolls into preheated oven and baked for about 25 minutes or until the tops are golden brown.%u00a0

Remove and right away, brush on any remaining earth balance to the tops and sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Serve right away!%u00a0

Best eaten the day the are made.. but will last a few days in an air tight container.%u00a0

%u00a0%u00a0There is irish soda bread in your future. I can see it. A nice hardy hunk slathered in butter and honey, crumbs all over the place.%u00a0 So all you have to do know is make it.%u00a0

I remember reading somewhere (I wish I could remember where) that irish soda bread is just four ingredients, flour, sea salt, baking soda and buttermilk and adding %u00a0anything else would make %u00a0it a cake. So when I decided to make irish soda bread, thats all I used. ( I made it with some wheat flour) What you end up with is a highly dense, super fragrant, soft, chewy bread with a crunchy crust. Definitely not a cake.

Note%u2026.You can for sure add in a bit of sweetener or even little fat to make it richer and softer, but then it wouldn’t be bread (or so that’s what I read) There are tons of other recipes out there that have other stuff in them. This is just a really simple basic recipe.%u00a0

White whole wheat flour and all purpose flour mixed together. Salt baking soda and buttermilk. That’s it.All the dry whisked together and in goes the buttermilk. Mix together until dough starts to form then dump onto a floured surface. %u00a0Handling dough as little as possible, knead into ball.

Place on a baking sheet and dust with flour. Take a sharp knife and cut %u00a0an X through the top about 1/2 inch deep.

Stick in into the oven for 50 ish minutes, or unit la tester stuck into the middle comes out clean and there is kind of a hollow thunk when tapped on.%u00a0

And now you have a very pretty, dense hunk of irish soda bread.%u00a0

Cut and serve with butter and honey (thats how the mister likes it) or whatever you want to eat it with.

-C

Irish Soda Bread

• 1 cup all purpose flour%u00a0
• 1 cup white whole wheat flour (or you can use all purpose)%u00a0
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup buttermilk (or your choice if milk plus a tablespoon lemon juice)%u00a0

Preheat oven to 375

In a large bowl, whisk together flours, baking soda and salt. Mix in buttermilk until the dough starts to come together. If the dough seems to dry, add another splash or two of milk. Dump out dough onto a floured surface and shape into a ball. transfer onto a baking sheet, dust with flour and cut a x about 1/2 inch into the top. Stick into oven for 50 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean and the bread makes a hollow sound when tapped.

Let cool enough to handle.

Cut into and serve with a smear of whatever you want

Best eaten within a day or two

I made the decision to not go grocery shopping for the rest of the week so I can completely empty out and unplug the fridge while we are on our adventures. Why? Well if I unplug it, I won’t have to de-ice it when we get back and that would be great. Plus why use electricity when were are not here to enjoy it? But yesterday I realized, we don’t really keep a lot of food in the fridge. No that’s not true. When I go grocery shopping, I buy a shit ton of veggies. like 5 lbs of greens 10 lbs of carrots, and 5 lbs more of other veggies… and it’s gone within 4 to 5 days.%u00a0 So yesterday when I opened the fridge, it was basically already empty besides the few condiments that I keep in there like mustard, soy sauce and pickle juice (all of which can be left out of the fridge when we are gone). What I did have were a few mushrooms. and a little bit of spinach. It was really sad. So I went grocery shopping. A big, fill the fridge with tons of veggies shop. And I will probably will have to do it one more time before we leave so I am going to stop worrying about emptying the fridge. It empties out pretty fast already.

What can I say, I like me some veggies.

Putting the grocery hall away, the last of the mushrooms and the spinach came out first to be consumed. I have a bunch of onions that I need actually do need to be eaten before we leave and it close to dinner time.. So I grab that stuff and some farro. Yup, farro, a kinda hardy wheat grain that all the cool kids are eating right now. I figured that I should be a cool kid too and make a farro bowl with those veggies. Roasted stuff tossed with balsamic vinegar and cooked farro, served in a pretty bowl. So good. so cool.

What do you think of farro?%u00a0 I am curious because I am totally into it (me being a cool kid) But the mr, not so much.%u00a0 I though for sure he would love it, but no. He said it was too chewy and too seedy and just not great. I think that maybe if he wasn’t a cranker butt last night that he might have actually liked it, but whatever. You win some you lose some. I consider this a win cause I get to eat it all myself. Like all the cool kids.

The stuff. A onion, a bunch of crimini mushrooms, and a few handfuls of baby spinach. And we also have some farro, balsamic vinegar, water salt, pepper, ans a bit of olive oil.

Get the farro going by dumping it into a pot with water ans a pinch of salt and bring it to a boil. Once boiling, stick a lid on it and turn heat down to low and let it simmer.

Now chop up the onion and mushrooms and toss in to a oven safe skillet or baking sheet with a drizzle of olive oil and some salt ans pepper

Stick into the oven to roast.

After a good 20-25minutes of so, the mushroom onion mixture is all nice and roasted. Remove from the oven for a sec, dump in some balsamic vinegar, mix to coast everything and stick the skillet back into the oven for few more minutes until all the liquid has absorbed and the vinegar starts to caramelized. (but not burn)

Remove it again from the oven and now toss in the spinach.

And the farro should be done by now too(It should be soft but still a bit chewy.) If there is any extra liquid left in the pot, just strain it out.

Then mix he cooked farro into the roasted stuff.

Serve into a bow with a little more vinegar if you want and pepper. Lots of cracker pepper.

Now eat it and serve some to your boyfriend who says he doesn’t like it, then eat his too!

Happy day to you

-C

serves 2

• 1 cup dried farro
• 2 1/2 cups water
• 1 medium onion
• 6-7 crimini mushrooms
• 2 big handfuls of baby spinach
• 4-5 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• salt and pepper
• olive oil

Preheat oven to 400

Combine the water ans farro into a pot, sprinkle in a pinch of salt and place on the stove top on high heat. Bring to a boil then place a lid on pot ans turn heat to low. Let farro simmer for about 30 minutes or until tender but still slightly chewy.

Once you have the farro on the stove, chop the onion into 1/2 inch chunks and dice the mushrooms into smaller sized pieces. Place on a baking sheet or cast iron skillet, toss with a drizzle of olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Place into oven and roast for about 20 minutes or until the mushrooms and onion are nicely browned and yummy looking. Remove from oven and mix in the balsamic vinegar. Place back into over for another 6-8 minutes or until all the vinegar has been absorbed. Take back out of oven and mix together with the spinach and the cooked farro.(If farro is cooked but there is still liquid left, just strain it out.)

Serve with a cracked pepper and a splash more of vinegar if your feelin it.

Also tastes great at room temperature of cold out of the fridge.