Kale chips, eclairs, knit hats and a cat
March 24, 2009
Throughout the past week I’ve cooked, baked, knitted, and visited my mom’s house where one of my cats takes up residence.
I made these about a week ago..
a little bit of apple cider vinegar, olive oil, salt, and pepper.
Really make sure to lay them flat or the entire piece won’t get crispy. They truly do melt in your mouth,
but don’t let them overbake.
Friday, March 20th was both my boyfriend and my birthday. I was at my mom’s for a few days and wanted to make him something special. He loves eclairs, and I have been meaning to make him one for a while now, so I decided it was no better time than for his birthday.
The first recipe I used was horrible. I kept stirring over the heat and the dough never dried out so I had to trash it. Then I used this recipe and it worked out well. It does take quite a while to get the dough to form one ball and separate.. actually, I’m not sure if it works, because I was too tired and still had to finish knitting something, so I didn’t want until it formed one ball. Maybe I should have though.. the dough was very dense.
The recipe said it would make about 10, but it only made 4 for me, but that’s probably because I made them pretty large. I actually forgot to set a timer so I had to use one of them as a tester.
10 seconds after I took them out of the oven, they deflated. The cream I made didn’t work out, it curdled.. So I used heavy whipping cream to just make a simple whipped cream since I had no time to try the thicker cream again.
I used 2oz bittersweet chocolate, melted it with a bit of butter and spread it on.
I also knit a squirrel for Cameron, since he thinks they are the cutest animals ever. I used a penguin pattern because I couldn’t find a free squirrel pattern that I liked. But of course I altered the penguin pattern to make it more squirrel-like, using the penguin pattern as more of a guideline. I was actually up until 2 a.m. two nights working on it. I didn’t have any black round beads at my mom’s, nor did I have time to knit on hands and feet but I’ll be doing that soon.
I finished another hat this weekend with some beautiful yarn called manos del uruguay, as well as knit some ears on an ear-flap hat made from alpaca (sooo soft!).
And an extra photo of my kitty at my mom’s.
Hamantaschens
March 10, 2009
So.. I’m not really into religion, but I do like having an excuse to make something new. Since today is Purim, and yesterday I went to a Pre-Purim festival because I was invited to hang up some of my photos, I decided to go along and bake something tonight.
I tried searching for an already-tried agave hamantaschen recipe, but the only ones I found were gluten free too. And although I’m all for gluten free, I didn’t have the right flour substitutes. So I used this recipe for the dough. I only used a third of each ingredient, replaced the sugar with agave, and lowered the oven temp 25 degrees. I melted the butter in the microwave for 20 seconds, and mixed it with the agave and egg before adding the dry ingredients. I came out with 8 hamantaschens about 3.5 inches in diameter, and one baby hamantaschen about 2 inches in diameter.
I decided to use two fillings: poppy seed and Crofter’s Super Fruit Spread (Cam’s favorite with peanut butter sandwiches).
With the poppy seed filling, I halved the recipe and used 2% milk.
I used a pint glass to cut out the circles, but ended up flattening them even more with the palm of my hand… Apparently that wasn’t even flat enough (not for my likings anyway).
I couldn’t grind up the poppy seeds very much in the mortar and pestle, but it turned out fine without grinding.
Though it was a bit runny, and could have used something to thicken it up.
I put the dough in the fridge while I was making the poppy seed filling, and then put the filling in the fridge to cool down while I did some dishes. When I took everything out, the dough was a bit dry and stiff, so I wet my fingers with water while folding the sides… but the dough kept cracking. Luckily it wasn’t too hard to seal up.
I kept them in the oven for 10 minutes, turning the baking sheet around halfway through.
They came out nicely. Kind of cakey, and they reminded Cameron of breakfast scones. I think it’s hard to make anything crispy/crunchy with agave. I had made 3 with the Super Fruit jam filling and the rest with the poppy seed filling and still had some filling left over. Cam favored the jam hamantaschens, and even put some more on.
notes for next time:
use less milk in the poppy seed filling
if using heat with the poppy seed filling, do it before making the dough so it cools down when the dough is ready
roll out dough thinner
bigger variety of fillings
Mmm, pesto
March 7, 2009
A friend (hi Morgan!) has been growing indoor basil for a few months now, and kindly gave me two sandwich-sized baggies filled with delicious leaves.. during class.
What’s the best thing to make with basil? pestoooo!
It was the perfect amount for a dinner for two.
so delicious and simple. (made this yesterday)
i had half a leftover butternut squash from making a casserole dish the other day (that did not come out that well.. it called for greek plain yogurt.. way too sour. uck). i’ve had this squash since september! ah, storage vegetable indeed.
today i made banana bread. adapted from: http://www.seasaltwithfood.com/2009/02/banana-bread.html
i used 3 large bananas, 1/2c butter, a little more than 1/2c agave instead of brown sugar, lowered the temp 25 degrees, and added walnuts
Baked yams and boiled bagels
March 1, 2009
I’ve never baked or cooked with yams, so I decided to give it a try. I used about 2/3 of a large yam. To get them ready for the oven, I put them in a bowl with sunflower oil, salt and pepper, making sure all the pieces were coated. Baked them at 375F for 40 minutes. After the first 20 minutes I spread them around flipped them order so all the sides would bake evenly.
They get cold quickly, so eat them within the first 10 minutes out of the oven.
Adapted from: http://smittenkitchen.com/2007/09/bronx-worthy-bagels/
I changed the recipe in the following ways: used whole wheat pastry flour instead of bread flour (couldn’t find any at the local grocery), added 1tbsp of wheat gluten per cup of pastry flour, halved the recipe, made them mini-bagels, and used an egg wash in order to get the toppings to stay on. Unfortunately, the onion pieces had a difficult time staying put on the bagel..
the next morning i boiled them for 1 min 30 sec on each side, and put them in the oven to bake for 10 minutes, halfway through i turned the baking sheet 180 deg. and lowered the temp 25 deg. They did not grow in size, like they should have.. and I assume that it’s from using pastry flour instead of bread flour. They’re still tasty though!
The Happiest Place on Earth
March 16, 2008
the following links are mostly links to photos
Yes, Iceland. Nicknamed The Land of Fire and Ice for it’s icebergs, geysers, and volcanoes. What more can you ask for? How about some cute, fluffy, icelandic, horses, arctic foxes, and puffins?
According to the Human Development Index, Iceland, as of 2007, is ranked number one for being the most developed country. Looks like Icelanders figured out how to live efficiently on sustainable energy.
Now, it wasn’t until i discovered the music of the band Sigur Rós a few years ago, that I started becoming interested in Iceland. Their music is intense. Of course, it’s all in icelandic, and even some hopelandic (made up language by the lead singer), so I don’t understand what’s being sung at all, but his voice, plus the instruments delivers a dramatic feeling. A very strong feeling indeed, enough to give me goosebumps at certain points in some of the songs. Last year, in October, they came out with a film called Heima, where the band played a series of free shows around Iceland, some outdoors and some indoors. I’ve never seen a film quite like this. It was a documentary film, for the most part. Members of Sigur Rós talked about Iceland, and their music in English, but with a terribly thick Icelandic accent, which was sometimes hard to understand. While songs of theirs were played, images of the Icelandic landscapes moved across the screen, and it was absolutely exquisite. The landscapes fit so well with the songs, making it all very moving. If you didn’t have an interest in visiting Iceland, you definitely will after watching Heima.
There are some other fantastic musicians from Iceland that I have really enjoyed, including Múm, whose albums are very very eerie sounding, which may creep some people out. Emiliana Torríni’s music, whom my boyfriend, Cameron, introduced me to (thanks Cam!) sings in English, with a slight Icelandic accent. By the way, I’m always open to Icelandic musicians, so feel free to suggest some!
Two of the top things on my list of Where to Go and What to See Before it’s Too Late, include both Iceland and auroras. What could fulfill me more than seeing the auroras in Iceland? Plus, the landscape in Iceland is just breathtaking. I hear it’s pretty expensive in Iceland though, especially their biggest city and capital, Reykjavík. Even so, I am determined to visit there within the next five years. Flights from Baltimore, MD are pretty cheap ($200) during certain times of the year. The hot springs (pic: wow, how neat would that to be to camp out right there!) are a must. So, someday soon, I will make the money and find the time to visit Iceland.
Painted bodies
March 11, 2008
Alright, so on Saturday evening, there was a Naked Bike Tour here in Eugene, Oregon. I didn’t go, (I should have!) because I wasn’t even sure how advertised it was, and it was absolutely freezing. Anyway, it was apparently a huge thing, there was even an article on digg. Of course the Eugene police had to get involved, which turned the peaceful ride into a chaotic one.. I remember checking out this site about the World Naked Bike Ride a while ago, and liked the concept of painting bodies.
