Grapefruit Jalapeno Martini

V is for Variety and G is for Grapefruit Jalapeno Martini

Welcome to the Vegan Month of Food (VeganMoFo)  I intend to post 20 times during the month of September – all about vegan food. Check out the gals who organize the project here, and search out other fantastic vegan bloggers. I decided on the theme of “V is for Variety” because, honestly, once I quit the chicken breast – my food choices exploded! Join me!

Wow your friends or just drink alone. Either way, you won’t be sorry. I have been drinking these all week….sometimes with a touch of vodka and sometimes with extra soda water. Tart and spicy and totally refreshing!

Here’s what you need:

2 C grapefruit juice

½ fresh jalapeno, seeds and veins intact

Soda water

(vodka for you grown-ups out there)

Here’s what you do:

Simmer the juice and pepper for about 15-20 minutes or until it’s beginning to thicken and get syrupy just a bit. Strain out the pepper and any stray seeds. Chill. I used ¼ C of juice, one shot of vodka and then topped it off with soda water for my pretty martinis.  For a super refreshing afternoon drink, make it 50/50 juice and soda. 

Mexican Hot Chocolate Snickerdoodles from Post Punk Kitchen

V is for Variety and A is for Aztec

Welcome to the Vegan Month of Food (VeganMoFo)  I intend to post 20 times during the month of September – all about vegan food. Check out the gals who organize the project here, and search out other fantastic vegan bloggers. I decided on the theme of “V is for Variety” because, honestly, once I quit the chicken breast – my food choices exploded! Join me!

Ok, so I want everyone to think way, way back to their 6^th grade geography teacher blathering on and on and on about Hernando Cortez and the conquest of the Aztec Indians way, way back in 1519. Remember any of it? (Probably that the Aztecs performed human sacrifice and ate the beating hearts of those whom they conquered, but I digress.)

Actually, historians (of which I am one) would call the meeting between the native Aztecs and the conquering Spanish one of the most dramatic and caustic clashes of culture ever experienced, anywhere, at any time, in all of world history. I believe I once read that Cortez remained atop a horse in the presence of Montezuma to instill fear and awe. Can you imagine how Montezuma, who was actually awaiting the arrival of a great god, felt when he saw those Spanish ships drawing near his shore? No wonder he gave Cortez so much gold! And speaking of gold, did you know that many Spaniards actually drowned while trying to escape Teotihuacan, which was up in flames? The reason? Their pockets were stuffed with gold and it weighed them down.

Of course we know how it all played out: Aztecs – zero …. Spaniards – one.  

I never tire of learning more about the Aztec culture. I have been to Mexico City to see the ruins and museums and the floating gardens of Chapultepec Park. I look forward every year to teaching a long Aztec unit to my own 6^th graders and seeing how they learn to love this ancient culture, from its language, its art, its architecture and not least to its food!

I bet some of your favorite food is Aztec in origin: tortilla, avocado, tomatoes, corn, beans, CHILIS and CHOCOLATE!

Aztec dudes eating spicy Snickerdoodles. 

You can find this excellent recipe here at the Post Punk Kitchen. I followed it to the letter. 

Caution: these little Mexican Snickerdoodles pack quite a punch; they are not for your toddler’s lunch box. There is a serious cayenne kick in these, but the Aztecs often mixed chili with chocolate, so let’s just call these authentic. Take them to work and watch the faces of your co-workers! I love them and I hope you do also. 

Tabbouleh Salad

V is for Variety and V is for Vacation! 

Welcome to the Vegan Month of Food (VeganMoFo)  I intend to post 20 times during the month of September – all about vegan food. Check out the gals who organize the project here, and search out other fantastic vegan bloggers. I decided on the theme of “V is for Variety” because, honestly, once I quit the chicken breast – my food choices exploded! Join me!

From the far reaches of Northern Michigan to the Cumberland Plateau in Tennessee – I have been on vacation! What a special treat to see so much of my family this summer. So much laughter and I guess a few tears also. Really, when it comes down to it, our families make each us the of unique individuals we are. Without them, where would we be?.... um.... alone!  Our histories, our memories, all the unspoken bonds that hold us together. If you are a hobbit lover, then you will appreciate this J.R.R. Tolkien quote, which I guess applies to some families: “I don't know half of you half as well as I should like; and I like less than half of you half as well as you deserve.” Can't you picture Bilbo saying that at his 111th birthday party? 

 A few of us were brave enough to test the cold waters of Lake Huron.

 Others huddled in blankets. 

Huge meals were prepared together. 

I actually got brave and made this awesome vegan cheese for the family - *yes* I lugged my Vitamix to Tennessee. Everyone loved it! I mean, like crazy-loved it. 

A special shout out to my mom who was so gracious to prepare vegan food for me – she really out did herself! Today I share her tabbouleh recipe, originally from Ina Garten, as you can see from my mom’s notecard.  I could eat it by the tubful and I encourage you to do the same. 

(one note.... soak the bulgur and then prepare the dressing to pour over- Mom's note might be confusing. notice also that you could serve this in pita bread or with feta cheese.)

Soak the bulgur. Chop the veggies. Make the 

dressing.

Add all the lovely chopped veg. Pour over the super lemony dressing. Mix and serve. 

To round out my month of vacation, I moved our three kids to their new apartments, got them all settled in where they need to be. College, College, Work. I started to tidy up the house (now that we are empty nesters it should stay clean....yeah, right!)

Rhubarb Butter

V is for Variety and O is for Old-fashioned

Welcome to the Vegan Month of Food (VeganMoFo)  I intend to post 20 times during the month of September – all about vegan food. Check out the gals who organize the project here, and search out other fantastic vegan bloggers. I decided on the theme of “V is for Variety” because, honestly, once I quit the chicken breast – my food choices exploded! Join me!

Some old-fashioned things are great, like this Rhubarb Butter. My grandmother’s Apple Butter will never go out of style either. Handmade quilts are another old-fashioned thing that I will never tire of. I love the feel of layers of quilts on my bed in the middle of a cold Michigan night. Sunday dinners, roaring fires, board games, tomato sandwiches, singing around the piano, homemade pasta, reading out loud to someone, neighborliness: these simple things top my list of great old­-fashioned stuff.

Other old-fashioned things need to go away: film cameras, record players, red food coloring, eating so much meat (there, I said it), saying ‘groovy,’ cream of mushroom soup from a can….the world is just filled with so many great and new items, why settle?  

Here’s one old-fashioned thing that we MUST say bye-bye to: the homemade laundry soap recipe I shared a few weeks ago.  Yuck! It doesn't work, it leaves clumps of soap on the clothes, it never dissolves, and it was not good for anything – not even rags. (I decided not to delete the original post, because it includes a great picture of my little puppy, Cabby, who we recently lost – I cannot bear the thought of deleting her!!)

My advice about old-fashioned things? Quit the soap. Make the Rhubarb Butter.

Rhubarb Butter

Here’s what you need:

6 cups chopped rhubarb

½ C water

1 C white sugar

1 C dark brown sugar

1-1 ½ t cinnamon

3 pint jars

Here’s what you do:

Place chopped rhubarb and water in food processor and process until the rhubarb is in tiny bits. You might want to do this in batches.

Place rhubarb and all its juice, sugars and cinnamon in a heavy bottom pot. Simmer and stir until thick. I like mine pretty thick, so I cook it until a spoon scraped on the bottom of the pot actually parts the butter in two.  You must babysit the butter while it’s cooking so it doesn’t scorch. It goes from runny to thick pretty quickly.

Spoon butter into 3 clean pint size canning jars. Wipe the rims of the jars clean with paper towels and seal with new lids. Carefully lower jars into simmering water, using rubber tongs or special canning tongs so you don’t drop the jars.

Process in boiling water for 10 minutes, remove and wait for the ping which tells you the jar is sealed.

Zucchini Tart

Food as art. This is what I see when I look at this gorgeous tart. Colors, textures, pattern. I never in a million years thought I could manage this recipe, but I tell you in all honesty, it was simple. Using my hands to make those lovely circles was very satisfying. A true creation.

The recipe comes directly from the fantastic blog, InVegetables We Trust and you can find the original recipe here.  I made a few changes including making it larger than the original. I also used a Pillsbury Brand crust, which is made with lard, so unfortunately, I can’t include this in the VeganMoFo. Speaking of which, anyone out there want to join me in the Vegan Month of Food? You don’t have to be a blogger or even a vegan, just a lover of great food. See what it’s all about here.

Here’s what you need:

6 medium zucchini, both green and yellow

3 T olive oil

Black pepper

Basil

One pie crust

Sesame seeds or poppy seeds for garnish

Course sea salt for garnish

Here’s what you do:

Prebake the pie crust at 400 degrees for 10 minutes. Be sure to prick the crust so it doesn’t bubble up while baking. I used a 10 inch tart pan, but the original recipe calls for an 8 inch pie plate. Basically, the bigger the pan, the more zucchinis you will need.

Meanwhile, slice the zucchini lengthwise as thinly as possible – I used my mandolin, so there was a little bit was waste cuz there’s no way on earth I’m getting close to the killer blade on the mandolin. Drizzle the slices with olive oil and liberally season with pepper and basil.

Roll the veg up in circles, adding on to where you left off. Surprisingly, they all just kinda stuck together because of the oil. Keep going until you have enough to fill your prebaked pie shell. I actually recommend using a tape measure or ruler to measure the diameter of the crust.

Carefully place the circle of veggies in the crust and use a fork to arrange them in a pleasing way. I had to flatten the layers of zucchini a bit in order to actually fill my crust.

Bake for about 30 minutes, checking every 10 minutes. Sprinkle with sesame seeds and course sea salt.

Important!! Cool a bit before cutting. Use a serrated knife. Gently hold the tart with your hand while cutting. 

The Empty Nest

I am an empty-nester and I’m not sure what that means.

                No more wet towels on the bathroom floor?

                                Fewer trips to the grocery store?

                                                Yet another change in the way we eat?

                Certainly fewer cars in the driveway.

Different types of TV?

                                Board games after dinner?

                                                More time playing piano?

                Certainly more afternoon walks.      Certainly more time creating care packages.

                Will that pile in the basement go away?

                                And what about late night bonfires?      

                                                Who will ask me to do stuff?

                                                                “Mom, can you_____?”

                Certainly fewer laughs and funny stories.

I am taking it in stride: looking to my future.

I am relying on myself.

I am remembering long years of laughter and tears and worry.

I feel satisfied and melancholic.

Black Bean, Quinoa and Sweet Potato Croquettes with Pumpkin Seed Chipotle Cream

(from Let Them Eat Vegan by Dreena Burton, pg 146)

Anyone out there interested in participating in the Vegan Month of Food 2013?  (VeganMoFo) The fun starts in September. You can see my VeganMoFo2012 posts by clicking here. 

I keep dreaming of having a vegan dinner party. You may recall that I almost pulled it off for a party on St. Patrick’s Day, but I gave in to fear and served the classic Irish menu: Corned Beef. Don’t get me wrong, it was great and my guests were pleased, but I think I’m ready to ‘go public’ with my new vegan diet and host a vegan dinner party.

I admit, I am not 100%  vegan, but I am doing pretty well, all things considered. I understand a true vegan gives up much more than animal foods. They give up wearing and using leather. They give up cosmetics and other products that are tested on animals. They are probably active in the animal rights movement. They lead a very compassionate life, actually. 

Me, I just wanted to lower my cholesterol and made the decision to try vegan meals for one month last October. I guess it stuck, cuz here I am staring my one year anniversary in the face.

The recipe can be found here. I followed it to the letter. These little croquettes were absolutely fantastic! A tiny bit smoky from the chipotle. A tiny bit sweet from the potato. The hint of lime was perfect. And the pumpkin seed cream was heavenly!

How would you feel if you came to a dinner party and saw this on your plate?  

Pineapple Coconut Ice Cream

Anyone out there interested in participating in the Vegan Month of Food 2013?  (VeganMoFo) The fun starts in September. You can see my VeganMoFo2012 posts by clicking here. 

Becoming vegetarian/almost vegan has come naturally to me – I guess because I love food and I love to cook and I love to experiment in the kitchen. Using new foods and flavors was not really that difficult for me.  I can understand, however, why people might think it’s radical to have so many beans and grains in the pantry, and not one slice of cheese in the fridge. Some might comment that new foods are strange or unappetizing, but I think that’s just because they haven’t attempted to incorporate them into their diets. Tofu is an example of one of these foods I am talking about. It’s still pretty new to me, but I no longer FEAR tofu!! I actually EAT it !!

And this is where the idea of a learning curve comes in. Remember learning how to cook a boneless, skinless chicken breast…. how to keep it juicy and tender….. how to create the various sauces and flavors to overcome the ‘sameness’ of the meat? Remember all the dry, unforgiving chewy chicken early in your cooking career? Well, it’s kinda the same when using any new food, like tofu. There is a learning curve. Some failures at first, true, but then you get the hang of it.

I will publicly admit that only a year ago, I had no idea what tofu even was! Talk about growth and learning! I now not only know what it is, I understand the different types of tofu and I’m even starting to use them in my weekly menus.

Come on, try a new food. Don’t be put off by the thought of failure. Just remember the early days of the boneless skinless chicken breast staring you in the eye and the dread of creating something appetizing from that dull piece of meat. If you can conquer that, you can conquer anything. 

The weather is pretty cool up here in Michigan today, but it's never too cool for ice cream. This one is fantastic! 

Here’s what you need:

2 C fresh pineapple chunks

1 can coconut milk (full fat)

1/3 C agave nectar

½ C coconut milk beverage (Silk brand, for example) 

1 t vanilla

Here’s what you do:

Blend in high speed blender until smooth. Chill for at least 3 hours. Freeze in an ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s directions. 

Two Changes in My Life: One Small, One Big

DISCLAIMER!!!

 Hey, before you make this soap - read this! Turn out, after using this soap for a while, I actually did not like it AT ALL! 

Change Number One

 I started making my own laundry detergent. It's great. I will never use the name brand stuff again. 

Grate one bar Fels-Naptha soap.

 Add 1 C Borax and 1 C Arm and Hammer Washing Soda. 

Use 1-2 T per load. 

I put my grated soap in the processor to make it a smaller shred. 

After I added the Borax and Washing Soda, I gave it all a big whirl. 

Change Number Two

We lost our beloved puppy, Cabby, when she was hit by a car. My house is quiet and my heart is heavy. 

Cauliflower Dal with Panch Puran

 (from Susan Voisin at www.fatfreevegan.com)

Anyone out there interested in participating in the Vegan Month of Food 2013?  (VeganMoFo) The fun starts in September. You can see my VeganMoFo2012 posts by clicking here. 

I can’t quite recall when I first heard of the Indian spice panch puran , but I can tell you that I have been thinking about it ever since. Something about the thought of all those seeds popping and jumping around in a hot skillet. Mustard seeds; cumin seeds; fennel seeds: those I knew.  Unknown to me were kalonji seeds and fenugreek. The colors. The aromas. The sensation of those beautiful seeds in my hand. I couldn’t resist. They are gorgeous.

You can find the panch puran (also spelled panch phoran  and panch phoron) at an Indian grocery store or online. It brings a warm and spicy taste to the dal and makes the kitchen smell out of this world. It would be very good on potatoes, rice, lentils….. think flavor and crunch and a nice bite.

This recipe was found on the excellent website Fat Free Vegan Blog by Susan Voisin. She also has a great double layer pumpkin cheesecake that you MUST try!

I encourage you to click here to see the recipe. I encourage you to step out of your food comfort zone and explore new flavors. I encourage you to bring the leftovers to work and watch your co-workers drool with envy..... or shrink back in horror! ha ha!