Um.....Yum!

I owe you this. I owe you other updates, but at least this. Because when I'm bored, I do this. When I'm sad, worried, joyous, alone, with friends, awake in the middle of the night, I do this.

I bake.

Here's what I've been doing lately:

I made a super-deluxe German Chocolate cake for my Dad's 50th, 100% from scratch.

When I got to Arizona, Peter's mom and I made Almond milk...

...And Eclairs. Which were DELICIOUS, to scream the least.

Peter's Dad and I made croissants together, using my new french rolling pin.

 Les croissants...A bit diminutive, but so flaky and good!

Raspberry danish/ Spiced apple danish

Pain au chocolate....CHOCOLATE CROISSANTS!

Peter's Mom and I saved the ground almonds from the almond milk, dried them, and made almond meal. I used that in an Apple & Frangipane tart...which turned out surprisingly amazing. A definite keeper for my future bakery...

Yummy tart with a sweet shortbread crust!

We needed to use up some avocados that were going soft too soon, so it was time for Avocado Ice Cream!

Avocados blended with sour cream, sugar, and citrus...

...lots and lots of yummy citrus!

I know it sounds weird, but trust me, you should try it. (just a tip-- I used a ton more citrus than recommended)
I served this with a key-lime/whipped cream tart, but it was eaten before photos were possible. Apologies.

Oh yeah....and....I'm going to Hawaii in about 2 weeks to work on a farm. More on that one later...

Making things!

As I am an upstanding, anti-capitalist, feminist youngster, this past Sunday I held to my beliefs and did not watch the super bowl. Well, except for a few passing glances that I couldn't actually control-- every TV in my parent's house was on, after all. Instead of partaking in the screaming and avid commercial-watching, I took advantage of a visit to my parent's house, and spent the whole afternoon playing with herbs with my Mom.

My Mom is a big fan of herbs and all things natural (including childbirth...she's a midwife, in case you didn't know), and makes amazing salves, lotions, toners, etc. out of organic herbs. Most of the time she has at least a few jars full of suspicious liquids and floaty things, but they always turn in to magical salves that cure practically anything.

Her herb collection is so extensive that I was able to make some cooking goodies that I've been pining after for a while now! AND, I have pictures!

Remember that lavender rosemary salt that Kate and I used in our hummus? Well, all I had to do was mix together Kosher salt, dried rosemary, and dried lavender, and my Mom and I now have beautiful (and oddly fancy for me) savory salt!

Making vanilla sugar was even easier. Somehow I hit the jackpot when I stumbled upon vanilla beans in my mom's collection, so I made us some vanilla sugar simply by cutting the beans in half, and places two halves in each jar with some sugar. The sugar takes on the scent & flavor of the vanilla, and the jar can be re-filled with sugar until the beans loose their scent.

I'm going to use this in whipped cream, coffee, ice cream, etc.-- I won't even have to add vanilla extract!


The next mini-project was some "woman tea". It contains a whole mess o' herbs that promote health in womanly-bits, and is not just for crampy times. I mixed together:
Nettle-- one of the best all-around herbs for women.
Dandelion-- improves breast health, can lower toxins in the body and assist with digestion.
Lavender-- for aromatherapy, blood health, mental health, headaches, and easing muscle tension.
Rosemary-- Reduces inflammation.
Chamomile--Calming.
Rosehips-- High in Vitamin C and Iron, aka sweetness when you have your period.
Stevia-- Umm...sweetness :)

I added near-equal parts of everything, but took it easy on the lavender, rosehips, and stevia. Should be delicious!

My last little project won't actually be ready to use for another 3-4 weeks, but I am SO EXCITED!
Olive Oil + Rosemary + Garlic + 3-4 weeks of soaking = rosemary-garlic cooking oil! I'll strain it in a few weeks and make delicious things!

Another exciting thing: I finally got the cookbook I've been lusting for ever since Kate showed it to me:

Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone has over 1,400 wonderful recipes, and encourages you to shop for groceries that look fresh, interesting, and delicious-- and cook from those ingredients. Time for me to start cooking!

In other news, I quit my ultra-corporate job at Borders...yes, after only 1.5 weeks. I just couldn't stand the way the whole corporate system worked. It made me sick to my stomach to try and sell people things they didn't want, just so my "numbers looked good". Still, the silver lining is very shiny on this one: I got a job at my favorite coffee shop, Victor's Coffee Roasters!

We roast our own beans in the store, and the whole environment is really relaxed and fun. Sooo much better than being watched all the time by somebody at "Corporate". And I get to learn to make coffee-- and become a coffee snob! The perks are endless.

Well, I must leave you now, and of course I'm leaving you with a TED talk. Although she is a bit dorky, this woman really does tell a fascinating story about what it's like to experience a stroke.



Last thing-- let me know if you end up making herby things! I would love to make more!

Tax Return Orzo Salad

Because I actually did my taxes this year, I got my first tax return! The excitement was unbearable; and, of course, I used a bit of it for food. And I made myself a little recipe of my own!

You need:
1 cup Orzo
Garlic (3+ cloves)
Diced tomatoes (About 1/2 a can, or 1 whole tomato)Small Onion
Olive Oil
Pure lemon juice
3 tsp Pimentos (I got mine in a little jar for 99 cents at QFC)
Salt
1 tsp Basil
1 cup Kalamata olives
Parmesan cheese

1- Cook the Orzo in boiling water with 1 tsp Olive Oil
2- While the Orzo cooks, chop 3 cloves garlic and about 1/2 of the onion. Place onion and garlic in a pan with 1 tbsp Olive oil and the diced tomatoes. Simmer until Orzo is al dente.
3- Drain orzo and rinse in cold water, allow to cool.
4- Take simmering tomato mixture off heat and set aside. In a separate container, mix the dressing:

• 1 tbsp Olive Oil
• 1 tsp pure lemon juice
• 3 tsp Pimentos
• 1/4 tsp salt

5- In a large bowl, toss orzo with dressing and tomato mixture. Add in grated Parmesan cheese to your liking-- I added about 3 tbsp. Toss in 1 tsp basil and 1 cup Kalamata olives.

Serves 4 people, 6 as a side dish.

We had this with Caesar salad and grilled asparagus. Delicious. Next time, I want to add in garbanzo or kidney beans for a little extra protein. And, next time, pictures.

Hummus!!

{My first recipe* post!}

* = I don't have real measurements because I cook by adding things until it tastes good...so...well, good luck.

Today, I hung out at my friend Kate's place and made sprouted hummus! Kate has been working on sprouting garbanzo beans over the last few days so that we could make hummus without cooking the beans. That means each bean packs a whole lot more nutrients than a cooked bean due to all the goodness produced from the newly grown sprouts. 

Look at these beauties and their lovely little sprouts!

Here are some simple directions on sprouting your own garbanzo beans:

1. Put 1/2 cup dry beans in a large glass jar after rinsing them clean. 
2. Cover beans in 1 to 1.5 cups of cool water, and lay cheesecloth over mouth of jar. Allow beans to soak for 8-12 hours.
3. Drain beans completely. 
4. Rinse and drain beans. Place jar out of sunlight at room temperature for 8-12 hours.
5. Repeat step 4 three more times (a total of 3-4 rinses). Sprouts are ready to use when they reach at least a few centimeters in length.

Kate was very prepared, and not only had sprouted the beans, but had tried out a batch of Kalamata (sp?) olive hummus!

I forgot to mention that Kate's kitchen is AMAZINGLY beautiful. My new mission is to move into her complex in April. The entire place is amazing! And cheap!

 Beautiful olive hummus. Soo tasty.

Once you have your sprouts, it's hummus time! 

We found that the best texture comes from starting with the garlic cloves. By blending these in a food processor (best Xmas gift ever, by the way) first, you get a smoother mixture in the end. For about 3 cups of sprouted beans, we used more than 5 cloves of garlic. 

By the way:

Benefits of garlic include treating acne, preventing yeast infections, controlling cholesterol, repelling mosquitoes, and warding off the common cold (and common vampires/ vampire-obsessed teens). So, in my opinion, the more garlic the better.

Next, we added the sprouts. This is where it gets a bit weird. The consistency isn't going to be the same as cooked beans, because the sprouted beans are much firmer. They will still blend, but the mixture will be a bit more grainy. Next comes the tahini.

We kind of added our tahini a bit willy-nilly-- the important thing to keep tasting for is a creamy texture and the nutty flavor of the tahini.

Cool tip: if the flavors just aren't mixing, stick 'er in the fridge and cool down the mixture. The food processor really heats up the hummus, which makes the flavors less distinguishable. 

Now the flavor-boosters. Lots of lemon and lime, a tablespoon or two of olive oil, a few teaspoons of salt, and a bit of water. I know, I know, I'm not giving the specifics you want...but really, just add the ingredients according to your taste preferences and the kind of texture you are looking for. Reserve some chickpeas if it gets too watery so you can thicken it up, but just keep in mind: when in doubt, add salt, garlic, or lime. Delicious.

Once we had our base, we decided to play around with flavors.

Our first was a chili-lime hummus, inspired by one I bought at a farmers market in Squamish. We just added a bit of cayenne pepper (to our preffered spicy-ness) and some extra lime and salt. Yummy!

The second was just plain magical. Kate introduced me to this amazing salt from Whole Foods --- Rosemary Lavender Salt. It's incredible! 

We added some to plain hummus, adding a bit more tahini and lemon. It has a nice suttle taste, and an after-taste of lavender. Like I said, magical.

Overall, a delicious evening. Then I went home to slow-cooker potato soup! Gawd, I'm sickeningly kitchy. But it was fun-- lemme know if you try it!