One-Word Sunday…circle

for One-Word Sunday: Circle

Weekly Photo Challenge: Express Yourself…cooking

I like to express myself through cooking, although  unfortunately I can’t claim the ability to create recipes.  I find good ones and use them.  Taking cooking classes extended my repertoire.  The favorite recipe to come from the classes is homemade ravioli with walnut sauce.  The sauce comes from an Italian grandmother (not mine) and gilds the lily or, in this case, the ravioli.  This the dish demanded for all major holidays and not difficult to make, although it’s a bit time-consuming.  But there’s something satisfying in making it and in eating it!

This week I have very, very limited internet, but I’ll do my best to visit as many of your posts as possible.

When life give you tomatoes…

…make soup.

Simple pressure cooker applesauce

I used to make applesauce in a large pot, cooking the apples for several hours, then putting them through a food mill.  Then I discovered pressure cooker applesauce and my life became much easier.  Now I make applesauce regularly and freeze it as well.

Farmer’s market joys

Saturday mornings at the farmer’s market are wonderful when the sun is shining and it’s warm enough to take the time to saunter and peruse, rather than bolt through and rush back to the van; better for the vendors, too.

What’s a stranded traveler to do? Shop. Eat. Cook.

(I know you probably think the title should say, “Shop.  Cook.  Eat.”  But it shouldn’t.  It’s correct as is. Trust me; you’ll see.)

Peter, please, it’s pancakes!

My default breakfast is cold cereal with almond milk, preferably with fresh fruit.   But sometimes I want something else, so I was excited when in a copy of The Vegan Diner, I found a recipe for a whole grain pancake mix.  It’s always great to have something homemade that’s also quick, delicious and healthy, which this recipe is.

You’ve got the cutest little Babycakes

Do you like doughnuts (or donuts?) If so, you’re in luck and it doesn’t even matter if the Krispy Kreme near you went out of business, because the people from Babycakes gave me permission to share their recipe for chocolate cake donuts with you.  Here’s the good news…besides tasting great, these doughnuts are baked, not deep-fried, gluten-free, vegan, and low in pretty much anything bad except they use some sugar.  They’re easy to make and the cost won’t give you sticker shock the way many commercial baked goods do these days, even with the different flours.  An aside on the flours, I’ve found these some places in bulk or Bob’s Red Mill carries all of them and many more products besides.  You can keep the rest in the freezer and you’ll have plenty for lots more doughnuts.

A few recipes

I’m not an innovative cook, I just find good recipes. But occasionally I come up with something that tastes good and is easy. Here’s my latest tiny contribution to the world of food and to making your life just a little bit easier. Enjoy!

Janet’s Easy Lunch Bowl

Chickpeas
Artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
Avocado, diced

Put chickpeas in the bottom of a bowl. Put the artichokes pieces on top of the chickpeas. Top with avocado pieces. I told you it was easy. But it tastes good and is fast and nutritious as well.

You may use plain artichoke hearts, marinated artichoke hearts (in which case, you can use some of the marinade as a dressing) or some of the artichoke tapenade from Trader Joe’s. It’s not really called tapenade, but I don’t remember offhand what it is called. It’s basically chopped up, marinated artichokes, from the taste of it and a very tasty taste it is, too. Anyway, any of these work well. If you use plain artichoke hearts, you might like some sort of marinade. Or you might not.

When I made our bowls today, I added some chopped scallions/green onions. Yum! This works well on top of salad greens, too. Feel free to innovate from here.

Here’s another delicious appetizer, dessert or tapa recipe, based on a tapa we had once at an excellent (and excellently priced) tapas restaurant in Naperville, Illinois, Macarena Tapas, http://www.macarenatapasnaperville.com/.
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My Best Date Ever
Ingredients:

Dates, chèvre, bacon or prosciutto, honey

1. Remove the pits from the dates.
2. Stuff each date with chèvre.
3. Wrap with bacon or prosciutto
4. Broil (turning if necessary) until bacon is cooked or prosciutto is crisp.
5. Plate and drizzle with honey.

Perfect as an appetizer, dessert or tapa.
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Finally, cucumber slices topped with olive tapenade are excellent. To gussy them up a bit, top with a toasted walnut piece.

Weird & wacky stuff

I’m always seeing things that make me laugh or hearing things that don’t come out correctly or just stuff that’s weird and not as I’d expect it to be. Don’t give me any scientific explanations for any of it, either. It ruins the fun.

In no particular order….

When I’m at a restaurant and a waiter/waitress/waitperson/server comes up, they’ll often say, “If you need me, my name is (fill in the blank).” OK, what’s your name if I don’t need you? Sorry, but it’s a struggle for me every time someone says this not take ask them that follow-up question. I don’t, but I’d really, really like to.

Why do pancake recipes tell you to only turn the pancakes once? What horrible thing could possibly happen if you turned them a third time? What about 4 or 5 times? I’ll be brutally honest (and you don’t even have to bring out the comfy chair)….I have turned pancakes more than one and occasionally maybe even four times. Does that make me a bad person? What did it do to the person who ate the pancake so terribly abused? Please don’t tell anyone.

Why is it that leftover pancake batter, like diamonds, is forever? I can fill the empty bowl with water and let it sit all day. When I pour the water out, the leftover mix is still at the bottom, seemingly just as it was hours earlier. Even if I carefully wipe everything, then wash thoroughly, there always seems to be some pasted-on, dried-up batter somewhere, hanging on, like a barnacle on the bottom of boat, for dear life. I guess that’s why you can make paste with flour. Makes me wonder what my insides look like? Guess all those enzymes and things in there are pretty tough!!

Why should anyone selling coffee or any coffee-related beverage, tea or hot (remember the “hot” part) chocolate (excluding all designer drinks that have any of these in them but are made cold), have to put cautions on the cups or elsewhere warning people that the beverage is hot? (Do NOT give me the legal reasons. Just don’t.) You wanted a hot beverage; you paid for a hot beverage; you’re annoyed if your hot beverage isn’t hot. Why wouldn’t you expect it to be hot and behave accordingly? Now if you ordered iced tea and it was hot, you’d have something about which to complain.

Our mailman isn’t male. I guess that makes her a mailwoman, but not a male woman. Mailperson not male person. And no one, male or female, wants to be a garbageperson.

Have you ever thought about how many brain cells are occupied with words from songs from your past? I can hear something from the 60’s or 70’s and often chime right in without realizing I even know so many of the words! Some of the songs were shorter but still. For instance, I know all the words to “Secret Agent Man”, “Red Rubber Ball” and “Happy Together”, but I also know “Bye, bye Miss American Pie” and “Scenes from an Italian Restaurant”, plus lots and lots of things…including much of “Smoke on the Water”. Anyone for a rousing round of “Inagaddadavida”? Would I be a brain surgeon (maybe on my own brain) or a rocket scientists if I had all those cells otherwise occupied? But if the latter, then I couldn’t say “It isn’t rocket science”, because it would be.

Having done and proofed bulletins and newsletters as well as having been part of a committee to re-work the constitution of our church, I’ve always wondered at the plethora of extraneous capital letters that abound in church missives. “We will meet in the Narthex of the Church. The Pastor will lead the Congregation in singing from the Song Book. Please remember that Dogs are not allowed in Church any day of the Week, unless they are Service Dogs.” (Sorry about the pun.)

Did you ever think about the fact that a fiend is only one letter removed from a friend? Literally one letter removed. Makes you think.