Chocolate Pretzels

In addition to my Christmas gift granola I have been attempting to make chocolate-dipped pretzels. I bought fancy chocolate chips and melted them over a double boil, but the whole process was much more of a pain in the ass than I remember. I made these back in my sophomore year of college; this was when Stephanie and I were roommates together. I remember actually burning the bottom of her plastic cereal bowl in the microwave as I tried to melt the chocolate bits by nuking the shit out of them. But after I realized that I just needed to gently warm the chocolate, it was smooth sailing from there on. I'm thinking now that the chocolate may have been easier to melt because I was using craft-store grade candy-chocolate bits, which are full of scary hydrogenated oils and plastics that do a great job fluxing the chocolate to melt.

So my friend Sonia, who is a very talented and creative chica, told me to lay all the pretzels out of a cookie sheet and place a Hershey kiss or a Rollo on each one. Then you gently melt them in the oven(170F 4-6min), and when they come out you press an M&M or something of the sort into each melty kiss. Cool in fridge and bag.

I made it even easier on myself, I just got 'em good and melty, then banged the tray gently on the counter top to settle down the chocolate and dashed on some Christmas sprinkles. They look great, no M&Ms needed!

I even did these with gluten-free pretzels and chocolate!

Salmon Fillet/Homefries

Last Friday night I had a frozen salmon fiasco: I didn't know that cooking fish in cast iron is a bad idea, and I totally stank out my new cast iron pan. I didn't realize this was an issue until Monday night's homefries. I came home from a late night at work, deciding to do breakfast for dinner during the car ride, and heated oil to start the onion while I parboiled the potatoes AND THEN THE SMELL HIT. What baffles me is that my salmon didn't reek so terribly when I was actually cooking it!!! I had to boil vinegar and water for a long time to try and cleanse my precious pan. Then I made Snickerdoodles to make the apartment smell nice. I was a brave and courageous girl as I was able to bring myself to freeze 2/3 of the batch to save for Christmas.

Homefries

Ingredients (use the amounts you would like):
-potatoes, peeled and 1" cubed
-chopped onion
-safflower oil
-seasoning salt(mix your own at home!

Directions: parboil the potatoes until almost done; in the meantime saute the onion on medium heat for approx 5 min. Drain potaoes and add to onion and cook for 10 min or so on medium-medium high heat. Season to taste with seasoning salt and pepper.

Single-Serving Baked Salmon Fillet(a quick and healthy meal)
This recipe is for a 4oz frozen salmon fillet. Defrost in microwave or overnight in fridge, place skin-side down on heavy duty foil and fold up the sides to create a pouch. Season with 2T white wine, 1/2 t seasoning salt, dill, and 1/2 T butter. Fold up the sides of the pouch and crimp the ends together, and bake in toaster oven for 10 min at 350F. Serve with frozen peas and instant or leftover mashed potatoes.

Sweet Chili Sauce

I made a fancy stir-fry for lunch today. I whipped up a sweet chili sauce from a recipe that I found at ThaiFood.com. It was FANTASTIC--and very easy to make. I had everything on hand except for the sherry, so I used white wine instead. I would use the full amount of chili powder next time; although if I had been using actual crushed chili peppers instead of Ocean State Job Lot chili powder the results would most likely have been different, so use your noggin' on that one!

Sweet Chili Sauce (Click HERE for link to ThaiFood.com)

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup rice vinegar (or substitute white vinegar)
• 1/2 cup + 2 Tbsp. white sugar
• 1/4 cup water
• 3 Tbsp. fish sauce
• 2 Tbsp. sherry (or cooking sherry)
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 to 1 Tbsp. dried crushed chili (1 Tbsp. makes spicy-hot sauce)
• 1+1/2 Tbsp. cornstarch dissolved in 3-4 Tbsp. cool water

Preparation:

1. Place all ingredients - except the cornstarch-water mixture - in a sauce pan or pot. Bring to a rolling boil.
2. Reduce heat to medium and let boil for 10 minutes, or until reduced by half. (Note that the vinegar will be quite pungent as it burns off. Generally, I find rice vinegar less strong than regular white vinegar).
3. Reduce heat to low and add the cornstarch-water mixture. Stir to incorporate and continue stirring occasionally until the sauce thickens (about 2 minutes).
4. Remove from heat and taste-test. You should taste "sweet" first, followed by sour, then spicy and salty notes. If the sauce isn't sweet enough, add a little more sugar. If not spicy enough, add more chili.
5. Pour sauce into a small bowl or jar and serve as a condiment with chicken, fish, and seafood, or as a dip with finger foods such as chicken wings, shrimp, or spring rolls. Also makes an excellent marinade for grilled chicken, fish, or seafood. ENJOY!

Gingerbread Cookies

I'm searching for the recipe my mom cut out of a newspaper when I was little, I think I found it on Allrecipes, or something similar. Click HERE for the link. This recipe is unique because it calls for evaporated milk and lemon extract. Also, it only takes four cups of flour, where other recipes require six or seven. I have to pick up a couple more things before I start, I'm even going to try substituting the evaporated milk with soymilk, as I know there will be dairy allergies on Christmas. Soymilk is fantastic in frosting, so that wont be a problem for the decorating. I have been coveting the natural flavored cane sugars I found on the top shelf at the grocery store at $6+ for a large jar. But I think that it will be worth investing in; the deep rasberry cane sugar will be incredibly beautiful, and not full of trash ingredients. So, more to follow!

Christmas Granola

Last night I made the first batch of my Christmas gift granola. Cranberry-Vanilla-Pecan with home-toasted sunflower seeds.

4 C rolled oats

2 C crispy brown rice cereal

1 1/2 C toasted sunflower seeds

1 1/4 C shredded unsweetended+unsulphured coconut

1 C dried sweetened cranberries

1 C chopped pecans

2 T tablespoons cinnamon

2 t vanilla extract

3/4 C grapeseed oil

3/4 C maple syrup

Preheat oven to 250 F. Make sure you can fit two 9x13" pans (I prefer glass Pyrex) comfortably on either the top or the 3/4 up rack in your oven. Gently mix all dry ingredients together in large bowl. In seperate bowl whisk the wet ingredients, then add to the dry and gently mix with untill evenly coated. I like to use a silicone bowl-scraper for this step. Spread evenly in the two pans, bake for 30 min, remove and toss gently (I use a wooden spatula for this step) then bake for another 30 min. Stir gently once more to prevent total sticking to the bans, cool and store airtight!

Ginger Oatmeal-Raisin Cookies

This year my birthday falls on the day after Thanksgiving, and rather than having my friends be forced to go out and spend money at a restaurant, we are having a get-together at our apartment. The down side to the whole day is that I will be working my butt off after having woken up at an ungodly early hour. So I might well fall asleep early at my own party. But that's ok, Johnny can be the hostess with the mostess just this once.

Since the chocolate chip cookies went over so well and I have all the ingredients already, I am going to make some Oatmeal Raisin Cookies with ginger in attempts to satisfy Johnny and I's love for gingersnaps.

Vanishing Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) plus 6 tablespoons butter, softened
• 3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon salt (optional)
• 3 cups Quaker® Oats (quick or old fashioned, uncooked)
• 1 cup raisins

Preparation

Heat oven to 350°F. In large bowl, beat butter and sugars on medium speed of electric mixer until creamy. Add eggs and vanilla; beat well. Add combined flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt; mix well. Add oats and raisins; mix well.

Drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets.

Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until light golden brown. Cool 1 minute on cookie sheets; remove to wire rack. Cool completely. Store tightly covered.

• Prep Time: 20 min
• Cook Time Time: 08 min

Sweet and Spicy Cranberry Sauce

I am finally taking the plunge with my unique cranberry sauce. The previous post had a link that went bad, my apologies, and below is an altered form of one of those recipes that had originally enticed me. This version is for a double-batch; go big or go home.

Sweet & Spicy Cranberry Sauce

6 cups fresh cranberries (usually this is 2 bags)
2 cups water
1 cup maple syrup+ 1/2 cup cane sugar
2 tsp each of grated lemon and orange rind
1 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice

Combine cranberries, maple syrup, sugar and water in a heavy, nonreactive saucepan. Cook over medium-high heat until cranberries start to pop and juice is boiling. Reduce heat to low and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the berries are soft and juices thicken, about 25 minutes. The sauce will continue to thicken as it cools. Stir in the lemon or orange zest and the remaining spices.

Almond-Chocolate Chip Cookies

I'm having my girlfriends over tomorrow night, and for once it seems that everyone can make it. I'm a little worried about not having enough of things such as booze, snacks and plates--I really have to remember to grab some paper plates from my mom's house tomorrow. We still have plastic cups from the summer picnics, so I am all set there. I probably do have enough glasses, but as I have no dishwasher I still need plastic. So my menu is homemade almond-chocolate chip cookies, tortilla chips, carrot and celery sticks, and sour cream dip. I figure with this many people coming, the bright side is that someone else is bound to bring something. I'm probably going to have to splurge on some more cheap wine, and make some pitchers of iced tea/lemonade, and depending on the booze I lift from my mom I may be able to squeeze out some martinis. A lot of running around for me tomorrow.

There is nothing like cookie batter. I haven't had it in so long, I forgot how awesome it is.

Unique Cranberry Sauce?

This LINK is to a page I found with some interesting recipes.

Not sure which one I will try...I think maybe just the sweet and spicy version. I'd love to the the Rosemary/Port Wine, but probably not with the general family Thanksgivings.

Pea & Potato Soup

Instead of going out to a bar after my shift ended to booze and socialize until my BF got out of work, I manned up and went home to make dinner. I still had some of my farmer's market celery in the fridge which HAD to get used, along with the potatoes that I had bought in hopes of doing more slow-cooker meals. The freak snow storm and subsequent power outage--and lets face it, the hangover I had on Sunday--really cramped those plans as I had to chuck my frozen meats. So, I rummaged through my bin of dry goods and found some dried green peas leftover from last winter's soup adventures. I poked around and found some recipes for pea and potato soup, and this is what I came up with:

Pea & Potato Soup
1T grapeseed oil (or butter)
1 large onion, diced
2 large cloves of garlic, minced
4 stalks of celery, sliced
1lb dried split green peas
4 medium potatoes, peeled and cubed
2 liters H2O + 1/3C red wine* (or you could use stock)
1t Hawaiian Red sea salt (I had it, and since I was using plain water instead of stock, I used this in hopes of adding flavor)
1t dried Italian seasoning
1t cayenne pepper

Garnish
-freshly ground black pepper
-crushed red pepper
-sour cream

Saute onions for approx 5 min in grapeseed oil, I like to do this directly in my soup pot. Add garlic and celery and saute until onions are nicely translucent and celery is tender. Add your water/wine mixture (or stock) then the peas and potatoes. Crank the heat to high and bring it to a boil. Stir and lower to a simmer for 30 min.

Next is the fun part: if you are smart enough to own a hand blender, use it! I actually do own a hand blender but I use it for mixing ceramic glazes. Or, blend the soup in batches in a standard blender, but be sure to leave a bit of texture so it seems more like a hearty soup than baby food.

Return soup to pot and warm it up just a bit; stir well before you serve, as separation does occur--and I do think this is one of those soups that is better the second time around, as the texture will improve. Garnish individual bowls with a little sour cream and pepper. Serve with bread and olive oil/butter, and beer (I opted for Saranac Big Moose Ale). I think that beer is important here because it's such a light vegetarian soup, you'll need the beer to help you fill up. Think of blazing-hot fires in stone fireplaces...in dark Irish pubs with low ceilings on a cold and wet winter night!

*So, back to the stock issue: I don't like using store-bought stocks and broths because they kind of gross me out and contain lots of sodium, weird ingredients, etc. I may make my own sometime in the future, as I get more and more adventurous with cooking meat. As for the veggie kind I do like the Trader Joe's low sodium veggie broth packets, but I tend to be out of those more often than I actually have them on hand. The Bloodroot cookbook calls for 1T Tamari soy sauce to be added to soup, generally after the simmering/blending step. I left my Tamari at my parents house when I moved out, so I opted for some red wine. I do think a nice Balsamic would have done the job as well.

In other news, I made the chocolate "dump" cake again, this time for my Grandma's 80th birthday party. I used 2 tier round pans, and it's a little short cake. I'll be decorating it tomorrow with my friend Danielle. I sawed off the top of the lower layer, for storage and transportation reasons. And this is a yummy cake!!! So please refer to earlier posts for that recipe!

Morning Grapefruit

Long day at the farmer's market yesterday; I did OK with my sales and I even managed to trade some toothpicks for some fancy Jersey Girl cheese. I also had one splurge on some expensive trail mix called Morning Grapefruit, I am very interested in the candied citrus aspect, as it may be something I can include in my Christmas granola this year. I am allergic to the sulfates in many dried fruits, so making my own is key.

Watermelon Margaritas

I had a fabulous cocktail this summer in Newport, Rhode Island; they called it a Hot Summer Love. Jalapeno-infused tequila with muddled watermelon and sour mix, and if I recall correctly it was topped off with club soda. Well, I infused the tequila a couple weeks ago, acquired the watermelon last week, and this week I finally got around to making the sour mix from scratch. Too bad I forgot the club soda. So what I have come up with tonight is basically a jalapeno-watermelon margarita, and I do enjoy it!!!

I have had such a long day today: farmer's market, check in at HQ, short 45 min hike with Jenn O, store, home, make dinner, make huge mess in kitchen, and I still have clean this huge mess and pack the car for work tomorrow. BOO.

Sweet Orange Icing

I had a really nice massage today--I wish I could go every week instead of every 6 months! So I am feeling pretty relaxed on this sunny Monday.
The chocolate cake from Thursday came out very well; it was not too sweet and had a nice texture and light but firm consistency. Since my birthday girl was allergic to nuts and hated cream cheese, I opted for a citrus flavored icing. So here is my personal creation:

Sweet Orange Icing (half batch)
1 and 3/4 C powdered sugar
1/2 t orange extract (I usually find these at TJMaxx, Homegoods and Marshalls)
1 t vanilla extract
2 T milk
1/4 C very soft unsalted butter
1/2 t dried orange peel (I used Penzey's)

Blend all of the above with electric mixer, adding 1/4 C powdered sugar if necessary.

This is enough to realistically cover the top of a 9"x13" cake or 24 cupcakes with light layer or icing. If you are going to frost the sides of a cake I would definitely double the amounts. Mine was a little liquidy the first time, maybe due to the fact that I had totally melted the butter. But this did make it easy to apply to my cake, I just poured the icing on in a line down the center and then gently brought it to the edges with a spatula. I don't like clear vanillas, so this is a warm off-white icing. Since I had left my cake in the pan for time/travel purposes I just did a border of rainbow sprinkles around the edges to make it a bit more professional.

Well, now I am off to go Rustoleum my new/old filing cabinet and to clean up the dirt from my cats knocking over my plants.

Emergency Birthday Cake

I totally forgot that I was supposed to make a birthday cake for my friend Anne! So having limited time and no money I Google searched "quick cake recipe" and resulted with Country Living Magazine's Chocolate "Dump Cake." So I decided to give it a go--substituting grapeseed oil for the butter, and using a 9x13" Pyrex. The batter seemed fairly liquidy--but I've had amazing results with liquidy batters in the past so I am not too worried. Smells great in the oven now! Here is the recipe link below, I will report back tomorrow with the results!

Easy Chocolate Dump Cake Recipe

Good luck!

Cookies for Breakfast.

Last year I made Rosemary-Kissed Orange-Thumbprint cookies from a magazine recipe that a friend gave me by the pool one day. They were FANTASTIC--although I did not use the almond extract at the time because I thought I was still allergic to nuts. I am over that now thank God!!! I must have been reacting to something at one point though. Even my almond massage lotion would make me react. I may have lost the recipe, but was able to Google search and find it again! Click the link below to experience one of the best cookies I've ever had (I was the fat kid so that's high praise by the way).

Rosemary-Kissed Orange-Thumbprint Cookies

I experimented with agave and cookies last night--they taste great but do not end up crispy/chewy--more cakey than anything. I think that agave would best be substituted in those large cakey cookies with frosting--like the pumpkin cookies or the black and white ones. I was in need of some serious chocolate a couple weeks ago, I made a box mix of Ghiradeli brownies with grapeseed oil and they were indeed perfectly chewy and crusty--which is what I look for in a brownie. A little hard to get out of my glass Pyrex pan in the beginning I have to say. But it lasted my boyfriend and I two weeks because we didn't share!

My next experiment will be to make cookies with grapeseed oil. I'm probably going to start with 1/2 butter 1/2 grapeseed oil to begin with. Or if anyone has any good cookie recipes that use Canola oil??? I had some Canola cookies at Whole Foods that were bangin' and I'm sure it can be done! And in case anyone ever actually reads this, grapeseed oil makes very nice cake/cupcakes as well!!! Light and fluffy!

cat toys and patio chairs

I've been crocheting little cat toys for Django and Winnie--it's in the round creating a parabola. very visually interesting, the sculptor in me lusts after the forms! I don't actually really know how to crochet, I learned with wire at UConn a long time ago, and now I am just kinda winging it. I made some ugly hats the other day. The beauty of this craft is that I already own the yarn and hooks from a few years ago. Also this is cost effective because my kittens seem to destroy and lose all their toys, which are kinda expensive.

The container garden is going well, I still need some more companion herbs in there. I really hope the new neighbors and their kids leave it alone. I'm sure they spend all their time playing with their iphones anyways. Worst case I pick it up and move it to a safe location.

My next projects will be locating some kind of French Cafe table and chairs for our patio. Our upstairs neighbor says we're not allowed to use her patio set, which takes up the majority of the patio, btw. But it's in the blaring sun anyways for lunch, so we need something smaller for the shade. And purchasing a couple window markers for our bathroom window. The neighbors can see in, and we had a piece of fabric up, but it just keeps falling off. I will draw a fun scene with markers and it will block out the bottom half of the window and still let in some light.

Farmer's Market

I worked my first farmer's market today selling oil and vinegar...I have no idea how much money I'll make in the end, but I hope to God it's at least $50. It was so freaking hot and muggy--if I hadn't been able to set up my display so I was standing in the shade I would have been scorched and melted by the sun. Tomorrow is market #2, and it had better be awesome. I am so broke, but I don't get any cash until Friday when I clean. :( sad...

I had to make my car payment in Plainville today, so I headed there right after my day job...and now I am bumming around at my parents house until it's time to leave for my cocktail shift. I hope to God I make some money tonight. I have less than $100 in my bank account and had to take tomorrow night off because of the wedding I am in on Sunday morning. I have about 2/3rd tank of gas in my car and all I have to pay for is a pre-wedding pedicure tomorrow with the girls, so I should survive the end of this month and the start of June.

It's all about surviving...

Searching for decent recipes...

Diet shakes anyone? A little digging and I found a comprehensive list HERE. Some of them still include pudding mix and splenda, but not all. Now I have to buy whey protein powder...

And below I have posted a very decent recipe for a blueberry/banana/flax shake!

Ingredients

3/4 cup frozen Blueberries
1/2 banana
3 tablespoons Vanilla Flavor Whey Protein Powder
1/2 cup skim milk (or non-dairy substitute)
2 teaspoons honey (optional)
3 ice cubes
1 tablespoon ground flaxseed

Method

In a blender, thoroughly combine berries, banana, protein powder, milk and honey by pulsing a few times. Add ice cubes and blend until very smooth. Pour into a 16-ounce glass and sprinkle with ground flaxseed.

Shade Garden

Well, the granola was very very nice!! Easy, and the possibilities are endless! I may have found an apartment for us, and it's got some great potential for a shade garden!!! I've been doing research, we should know by tomorrow if we are going to put a deposit down or not, and if so I'll be buying seeds! Yay!!!

Here is a link to growing shade gardens in Connecticut:

http://www.gardensbydesign.com/articles/the-natural-shade-garden.php

Maple-Nut Granola

There are two local Connecticut (vegetarian) cookbooks that I have; The Best of Bloodroot from the Bloodroot Restaurant in Bridgeport and Clean Food by Terry Walters. Bloodroot is fairly complex and calls for somewhat obscure ingredients when it comes to the novice--but it definitely has some easy soups and a few simple recipes. Clean Food is a bit more user-friendly, with more descriptive instructions. BUT either way these two are on my must-have cookbook lists.

Last night John and I were discussing the second-shift problem of over-snacking before bed. He gets out at 11:00pm and we don't get to sleep until 3:00am some nights. I did some research and came up with some healthy snacks that will hopefully keep us decently satisfied without lots of acid-reflux and weight-gain. A little bit of granola and plain yogurt is one of them, and who really wants to spend $8 on artisan granola? Not I...the following is a total money-saver; yes the ingredients may be a good chunk of change--but this is baking in bulk--you do the math.

Tonight I am making my own homemade Maple-Nut Granola--a much modified version inspired by Clean Food, and I want to note that it's only modified because I did not have all the ingredients at hand, so I used what I had. And I only made a 1/2 batch in case I screwed up.

2 C rolled oats(I used gluten-free)

1 C crisped rice cereal

1 T cinnamon

3/4 C shredded dried coconut

1/2 C chopped walnuts

1/2 C chopped almonds

1/2 C dried blueberries

1/4 C whole flax seeds (this may have been too much!)

3oz canola oil

3oz maple syrup

1/2 t almond extract (I only used less than 1/4)

Preheat oven to 250F and have on hand a 13x9" glass baking dish. Mix all dry ingredients well, and in separate bowl whisk up the wet. Combine in large bowl.

NOTE:When it comes to mixing various things such as this I like to shake them up in a large tightly-lidded tupperware bowl--helps to coat and evenly distribute. You may need to open and stir here and there because finer ingredients may settle--use your best judgement. Make sure there is enough room in the bowl--if I had made the full recipe I would have had to use an extra large bowl and a spatula for the mixing.

Spread mixture in the glass baking dish and bake on top rack for 30min, stir and bake 30min more. Cool, break-up the chunks and store in air-tight container.

Please remember this is a very modified version, for the full and unmodified version of this recipe, please see Terry Walter's Clean Food--a must-have book!!!

From Russia with Pop Tarts

I just finished gorging on sauerkraut pierogies...It's Monday and I went to a yoga class taught by a friend I went to high school with. So I am now in a yoga/food coma. I have decided to try and make homemade pop tarts...I bought some fig jam a couple weeks ago and I thought I should try to make something special with it. I found an interesting recipe that uses pie crust. I will link it here: Pie Crust Pop Tarts

Non-Pie Crust Pop Tarts Here

I watched Dr No last week, it being the first of Sean Connery's James Bond movies; good flick but I got distracted in the middle of it--hard to watch movies in a house full of people. From Russia With Love is on for tonight!! Whoo hoo, thanks Netflix.

Today has been my first day with gluten back in my life since Jan 2nd. I got to eat Cheerios this morning. It was a nice change from the Price Chopper rice chex, as those got really boring. Other than that I didn't really get to indulge on anything I've been missing. The bakery was closed because of the snow. I went snowshoeing on my own today (I was only behind my house, people knew where I was, and oh yeah I left a trail a mile wide) and it was a fun-filled and wonderfully exhausting experience. The snow was really too deep, but I blazed a trail for the next time. I fell about five times trying to hop over the small creeks--it's really hard to get up in snowshoes.

That was the highlight of my day, as most of it was spent getting to and from Glastonbury for an appointment. I made a nice chicken dinner with Grandma's butternut squash we've been saving for a few months, but I screwed up and should have cut the other vegetable up smaller, the squash was done but they weren't. I'll have to attempt to remember that squash cooks quick. But I like to cut up potatoes, carrots, mushrooms, celery, garlic, etc and chicken--arrange it all in a large and deep baking dish that has a glass lid. Then you make a salad dressing/marinade, preferably one with wine, vinegar, citrus juice and lots of olive oil. Add all your fav spices, shake it up and pour it all over everything. Or just dump a bottle--but beware the sodium and crappy oils.

Note on baking dishes: I think we have Corell here. The thick ceramic and glass makes for even heating, kinda acts as a pressure cooker, and is less wasteful than tinfoil. We tried this recipe with a metal pan and tinfoil, but it did not come out nearly as good. I think this is due to even heating and a tighter lid.

My tomato seed catalog came in the mail, and it's frustrating because I don't think I am going to start many seeds this year...I don't know what my garden situ will be like...and I have no cash to start the hydroponic vegetable garden of my dreams. My plan so far is to let the early re-seeded crop do what it can...which should be interesting, then when it comes time to plant I will hopefully get my father to spring for a new roll of the weed-blocker to cover the whole thing and he can buy whatever seedlings he wants. This summer Anna showed me how to make the teepees for squashes and cukes. Constructing them will be so much fun, I am psyched to do some functional sapling sculptures.

Heirloom Beads

I made my first batch of vanilla-scented salt beads! They are a peachy-orange in color. I think I have to try and make some red, yellow and brown to go for a retro look. I don't know how long they take to dry, as the recipe did not specify. So that means they will not be done in time for Steph's birthday present. I will try to scent the brown ones with coffee and cocoa powder, which will be yummy yummy if it works; I had some plaster in college not cure due to cocoa powder.

In other news I've been way too lazy today, the kitchen needs to be cleaned up big-time after all this beading and home-fries. So I am off to drink more water and clean clean clean!

Dreams and Relics

I slept from 4AM to 2:00pm today. I had an epic 3-part dream...one involving camping or Vermont, some rustic yard setting. Then I was being chased through an "artsy" city with a large body of water running though it. By a flying demon abominable snowman evil creature. But I could fly too, and it was as though being over the water was more unsafe, no where to hide in the open space. It was easier to hide behind/in buildings. Then later we discovered he couldn't really see me--he could only recognize me by my eyes, my open eyes. I have no idea why he was chasing me, or what would happen if I was caught.

The second part, I was more of a "refugee." There was a forest-covered small mountain within a stone wall...there was a building with an elevator...I was not the only one on the run, I was with other people being chased, we were hiding from a group of people. Some of us were in danger but other weren't, and they were helping us. I can't remember the reason for the discrimination. I was able to successfully hide in a ditch by covering myself with dirt and mulch and leaves. The bad people had left the enclosed area and I ended up safe. When I was trying to run and hide, I felt so sluggish like I physically couldn't get there and do it. I've felt like that before in my bad waitressing nightmares. I just can't make my body move to get to the table fast enough, even though the consequences are huge.

What do you make of this?

My mom gave me a stack of volumes of The Workbasket from 1955-1956ish, I looked on Ebay and determined that they are not worth anything really...but then I opened one and was instantly inspired. Retro patterns, information on how to make things...valuable lost information. Also funny things like an advertisement for "Fat Girl Diets." There was an article on how to make scented salt beads...which I think is just so cool!!! New project that does not involve me inhaling silica particles!!!

12 Days Left!

That's right, we've got 12 days left until it's GARLIC NAAN TIME!!! Can't wait!

Tonight I am going bowling with some of my friends. It should be a good time--we were going to have ladies night at the casino, but cancelled it due to lack of funds.

I am currently driving my BF around while his truck is being worked on. I am using a lot more gas than usual, but it's been nice seeing him every day. I only used to see him a couple days a week when we were first dating, and for a long while after that. Just Sunday's and Wednesday nights.

I've actually been throwing some pots...just to have quickly made things that will balance out the firings for the tiles. I am going to try using some alternative fabric for the slab roller, and I will dry out some of the brown clay before I roll them...to cut down on dust and warping.

I'm getting better at the wheel--slightly. I am even going to try changing the direction to see if I do better counterclockwise.

Coriander?

Hmm, the weekend has ended. I am so out of it with days blurring together and all. But it really is Monday. I am currently making more GF banana bread--sans chocolate chips this time, as they sunk the last one. I also put the 1t of ground coriander in this time, I am very intrigued as to how this will taste.

I made some rice noodles last night for dinner, they have to cook a lot longer than the directions say on the package. They were much better today for lunch after I microwaved them well with LOTS of watery sauce.

I have a job "interview" kinda-thing tomorrow, the job involves fine olive oils. I hope that I can get a few decent-paying gigs out of this. I was hoping to get a check in the mail today, but alas it was not there when I got home. I did get a Paypal payment which I had thought was never going to happen...but it came through. Every little bit helps. Maybe one day I will actually get a credit card machine.

Snowstorm!

It actually snowed six inches = snowshoeing tomorrow! Yay! Last night my GF meatloaf turned into something more like Shepard's pie; Johnny really liked it, so I have to remember that will be a good meal to make for him in the future. In other news I had a good gluten-free day: eggs and homefries at the diner, soup and cornbread for lunch, and a perfect little avocado grilled cheese for dinner with chocolate chip banana bread for snacks and desserts! So far I decided that soup and GF bread is the most easy and satisfying meals so far on this diet. The Udi's GF bread is supposedly the best, but very pricey! Putting it in the freezer definitely shrunk it even smaller than it already was, but I made the CUTEST grilled cheese of my life so far. And I didn't even burn it (8 out of 10 grilled cheeses I burn)! Very tiny, it makes a good addition to soup, but you'd have to eat two on their own with chips etc to make it a filling meal.

I have learned that chocolate chips sink to the bottom of the GF banana bread, I am glad I didn't make 2 loaves. Next time it will be cranberries anyways, and I will drop a few on the top of the batter and hope the float. Tomorrow I will try and make a vegetarian chili with the leftover Boxed Goods "Reds" as the sub for meat. It was the last meal I had before I came down with that cold, so I haven't wanted to eat the rest of them with veggies.

I didn't have to work tonight, which really sucks because I need the cash. I am actually tired, so I am gonna get in bed and watch Firefly and fall asleep. Yes, I am a nerd.

GF Day #4

Wow, so I actually decided that I was sick enough to see a doctor. Hoping for antibiotics, but alas, they told me to just go buy some Zyrtec. BOO. But anyways I should be picking up within the next couple days. Damn shopping carts and their cooties.

The vegetarian split-pea soup was just as good today, I found some GF crackers but they are really weird. I am going to make some GF bread in my bread machine tonight. I think if I use the electric knife(usually for turkeys) it will cut decent for sandwiches. Because grilled cheese is a staple in my poor-girl diet. Then I am going to find my seed sprouting kit and sprout some alfalfa--which actually is fab in grilled cheese. And if you want to get fancy: tomato, alfalfa and cream cheese makes a good sandwich too. Add raw chopped onions at your peril.

My friend Amy brought up a buried memory today--my evil ex once told me that I smelled like garlic "most of the time". Which is terrible, did others not notice? But maybe he had super-sniffing abilities and could just pick it up like a basset hound? Jerks.

I applied for two jobs today, and I have another in the works. It's all part-time and piecemeal--but I need the cash. So the hard part is over, all I have to do is wait! Well, got to really work on my website--but first the bread goes in the oven!

Split-Pea Soup

I am sick as a dog. Terrible headache and swollen glands, etc. Luckily I have been avoiding dairy(which unfortunately cuts down my GF options) and I am not really stuffed up. Even luckier I don't have to work until I clean a couple hours tomorrow--which I'm hoping may even be Thursday if I feel worse.

So the GF diet was not hard until today, when all I want is salty crackers and soup. So I am making my GF cornbread, and researching split-pea soup recipes. My real-estate agent found me a gorgeous apartment with a full basement in Cheshire. It would probably be perfect, but I don't have the down-payment yet. :(

Such a beautiful day today and I spent most of it in the basement watching movies. At least I was not able to take a nap--which at this point is good because I will be able to sleep at night.

Gluten-Free Vegetarian for 30 Days.

Day 1 (is not over yet) But I went shopping and lots of different stores and spent lots of money on GF food. Thank God for Ocean State Job Lot, they have the Bob's Red Mill GF mixes. The GF english muffins are really weird so far--probably would have been better if I hadn't put gross freezer-burned butter on the one I had this morning. Cereal is the easiest thing, just add milk. I was stationed next to Boxed Goods at the Made in CT Fair; they have the most amazing rice mixes. Tonight I made a little bit of the Reds and mixed it with frozen peas and seasonings--pretty awesome! Just 1/2 dry cup of Reds made two decent servings when cooked. This mix is supposedly a good substitute for ground beef in chili--DEF going to try that sometime soon.

This is kind of like my "Friday night" as demos are not so good on M/W/Tu at most grocery stores. Lunch with Grandma tomorrow, then I am going to take a friend to a yoga class at night. I can't spend any more money, I just hope I survive the month.