That’s a long title. Probably because it attempts to make up for the lack of posting (thank goodness Krisla saved us in March). Baking and cooking have been lagging in the past couple months…I definitely haven’t stopped eating, though.

World: meet Kate’s aunt’s extra-delicious simple salad!

I’m slightly bummed to be out of film. But Michael’s iPhone sure does come in handy!

Hope you’re having a good nap, Michael.

Heh. So this salad is extra-delicious. And simple. My dear friend, Kate, whipped it up for us at a Christmas dinner…though she used mixed greens instead of spinach. I myself prefer mixed greens (whatever out-of-season-leaves they may be comprised of), but spinach was all that Fred Meyer had to offer me. And so! I made due.

Ne’er fear; it was still excellent.

Friendly kitchen note from sister Maggie

Anyone watch Game of Thrones? Thank mooses it’s back on.

Since about February, Michael, his brother, some sporadic, kind volunteers and I have been renovating the ol’ farmhouse we currently inhabit. It sits atop a hill with a view of some of the remaining agricultural-type lifestyles in our county.

I’ve screwed up in this remodeling process – several times.

But darn-tootin’ if I haven’t learned a whole bunch! We’ve ripped up floors, sanded them, sanded them again, wanted to die a little, stained them, danced on them, and painted and eaten and inhaled toxic shit that I’m sure I should look into further, and well, we kind of let other stuff go to the wayside.

There’ll likely be more on that in a next rant, though.

Meanhwhile, back at the ranch, here’s the fine, fine salad from Kate’s aunt. I had it for lunch today, paired with a hodge-podge wrap of chicken, cheddar cheese and red peppers on a whole wheat tortilla (aka what happens when you don’t buy groceries and are hungry as a gnome after a wahay too early shift). With a little pepper, of course!

Kate’s Aunt’s Extra-Delicious Simple Salad (called Amanda’s Thanksgiving Salad in real life)

total time involved: about 15 minutes tops, depending on how hungry you are

makes 4-6 servings but can be altered with ease

recipe from Kate’s Aunt Amanda

Ingredients:

• 1 bag of baby greens (mixed, spinach, arugula…whatevs)
• 3-4 oz. goat cheese, sliced or crumbled (absolutely my favorite part of this salad, maybe even of life)
• 1/2 cup dried cranberries
• 1/2 cup nuts (candied, raw, walnut, pecan, cashew…also whatevs)
• 1/2 apple cut/diced into bite-size pieces (I’m Gala-partial)
• 3 tablespoons good olive oil
• 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• 1-2 cloves relatively fresh garlic
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Mince the garlic. Or press it. I won’t judge you; sometimes corners must be cut.
2. In a small bowl, whisk together the olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Don’t feel like a failure if it doesn’t mix, just forget the old cliche and then realize that you have opposable thumbs and can whisk the crap out of the liquids to make them mix swell-like. Twirl the garlic in.
3. Add salt and pepper to the small bowl to taste. Yeah-yuh.
4. The thorough way of compiling this salad is to mix the dressing with the greens and the goat cheese in a large bowl, just before serving.
5. Then, add the cranberries, apple and nuts.
6. THEN, serve on fancy peacock dishes, possibly from Anthropologie – allow yourself time to worship the magnificent simplicity.
7. Eat! Yums! Some hearty, grainy bread scoops up any leftover dressing beautifully.

-Bette Jane

I made these for the Superbowl a while back and decided to make them again just for kicks. And let me tell ya, they definitely have a kick ;) I know you guys have missed my lame jokes.

Sriracha. This spicy, slightly sour, intimidatingly red sauce is a staple in my family’s kitchen. Mostly because we eat my mom’s delicious homemade pho, and it’s just not right if you don’t have a dabble of Sriracha and hoisin sauce. But you can really put this stuff on anything and it’s totally ‘in’ these days:

• Sriracha lip balm (ummm ouch?)
• Lay’s Sriracha potato chips (I can probably get along with these)
• Sriracha lollipops
• Bon Appetit’s 25 Ways to Use Sriracha

Update: I conveniently posted this during the so-called Sriracha Week. Totally did that on purpose….

These wings are Asian-inspired, but when I first saw that the recipe called for cumin I was a little skeptical. In my mind I was all like, “Say whatttt?! But cumin is in taco seasoning!” But believe me, it works. These wings don’t taste like tacos at all. Although taco wings probably taste good, too…

Spicy Sriracha Sesame Chicken Wings

Recipe adapted from Season with Spice

Ingredients:

Wings:

• 15 chicken wings, split into two
• 1/4 cup of toasted sesame oil
• 2 tsp soy sauce
• 2 tsp fish sauce
• 1 1/2 tsp ground cumin
• 1/4 tsp ground ginger
• 2 tsp light brown sugar
• ground pepper to season

Sauce:

• 1/3 cup of sriracha hot sauce
• 1 tsp honey
• juice of half a lime
• white sesame seeds and chopped cilantro and green onion, to garnish

Directions:

1. Prep your chicken wings. You should have about 30 pieces total (wings + drumsticks)
2. Whisk the soy sauce, fish sauce, cumin, ginger, brown sugar, and sesame oil together in a small bowl. You now have a marinade!
3. Put the wings and the marinade in a gallon sized Ziploc bag and marinate for at least 2 hours in the fridge. You can also do an overnight marinate.
4. When ready to cook, preheat the oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit.
5. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and place chicken on it. Bake for 20 min. After 20 minutes, flip the chicken and bake for about 15 more minutes until the chicken is golden brown and slightly crispy.
6. While the chicken is baking, make your sauce! Whisk together the sriracha, honey, and lime juice.
7. When the chicken is done, brush the wings with the sauce. Sprinkle with the sesame seeds and greens and enjoy!

-Krisla

Do you have regular fridge-rummaging sessions? You know, the hours-long appointment in which you take out all those drawers, shelves, and rancid white-thing-that-used-to-be-orange? And you eventually make it to the freezer, where you find collard greens that you vowed to use six months ago in a really healthful and subtly gourmet extravaganza, probably featuring “Specialty Items” like tahini and unpronounceable produce?

I don’t really think I do. I mean, I find things like collard greens and unrecognizable species when I fridge-clean. But it’s more of a long, long overdue apology to the fridge…but perpetually, which means it is always long overdue. When I clean the fridge, it means I have said to myself (or to anyone who gives a shit about my fridge hygiene – aka my cats who have tuna investments), “Wow, that mysterious substance underneath the jalapeños is 13-month-old beer?”

Maybe this is the norm. If so, I would find its universality (that is, the Fridge Complex) to be perfectly justified; who the heck has sufficiently renewable courage, or the necessary industrial rubber suits, to go in there on a consistent basis? Anyway, upon my last fridge-and-freezer-raid, I found some bananas that looked super questionable, like they abuse their tanning-salon memberships questionable, but they were ideal for these Banana Poppy Seed Muffins (really)!

Enter muffins.

Okay, one thing to mention here: I adapted the original recipe into vegan-ness. Hence the flax.

And this was not my first egg-butter-milk-less-rodeo! Which is why I am very puzzled at the result. Especially since I actually did my research on the science, the logistics and the important steps to take when substituting with flax eggs.

Questionable banana (mush mush mush mush mush).

I’ve just winged it with almost all other vegan endeavors previously taken up. Not typically recommended risks to take when baking, period, right?

And yet! There I stood with half a pan of sort of wizened-looking muffins, the other half of acceptable (but only in dim lighting and overall hazy contexts) muffins. Of course, there are countless factors that contributed to their fate.

They were g.d. delicious, though, so I didn’t write it off as a total failure, and thus I share the experience with (little to no) discretion advisory. Just a puzzlement…oh my gosh I typed that thinking I would get the red underline and would have to ignore it because I didn’t want to forfeit “puzzlement” but it is TOTALLY a word.

Get real.

Banana Poppy Seed Muffins

Total time involved: 1 hour ish, if meandering down the vegan road with the refrigeration of the flax eggs

Makes approximately 15 muffins, from my trial

Adapted from: Crêpes of Wrath

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups whole wheat or all-purpose w.w. flour
• under 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 3 large bananas, unthawed if frozen, VERY ripe and mashed, or else throw in another nanner
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 1/4 cup milk of choice
• if vegan, add about 1/2 – 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar to milk
• 1/4 cup honey (I think I used about 2 tablespoons, maybe less, but my bananas, as you recall, were ripe mofos)
• 2 large eggs, room temperature (aka flax eggs à la Bonzai Aphrodite)
• 2 tablespoons poppy seeds
• raw sugar, for sprinkling (optional)

Directions:

1. If baking vegan, then start with your flax eggs. Bonzai Aphrodite recommends you refrigerate your flax first (assuming your fridge is freshly-organized and beer-stain-less…heh) anyway, as well as after you make yer eggs.  She offers the many flax-grinding means of blender, coffee grinder (totes what I did — thanks, Michael’s caffeine dependency!), food processor, mortar and pestular…pestle…you get it. 
2. After beating your flax seeds to a pulp, mixing them 1 tbsp. ground flax to 3 tbsp. water for the grandest of totals:  2 tbsp. flax with 6 tbsp. water, refrigerate the gooey business for at least 15 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, back at the ranch, preheat your oven to 350°F and line or grease your muffin pan.
4. In a large bowl, mix your flour, sugar (I know, weird), baking soda and salt togetha. Set aside, out of the reach of cats.
5. In a slightly larger bowl, beat together your mashed bananas, vegetable oil, milk, honey and eggs.
6. Add the slightly slimmer of the two bowls (that is, the dry ingredients) to the wet ingredients and combine MAIS only just so it is evenly distributed.
7. Fold in yo poppay seeds.
8. Pour/scoop/whatevs about 1/3 cup of the batter into each muffin cup.
9. Sprinkle with raw sugar yay!
10. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until lovely and gold and firm, not jiggly upon touching (in an ideal world, right? Chuckle just kidding jiggle is wonderful).
11. Allow to cool a wee bit before serving, if you can. Heh.
12. YUMS get real!

-Bette Jane

I love bagels. They get such a bad rap, though, and I’ve been feeling a little defensive for them. Innocent bread circles, wonderfully round, thick and beautiful – what have they done to deserve such criticism, such shunning!

So, I have decided to do some sort of half-assed internet research. Are bagels six times worse than a slice of bread? What does that even mean? Do they, in a single bagel, really have as much calories and carbohydrates as a loaf of bread? How are they made? Did they save cream cheese from the brink of extinction?!

All these and more, tonight on Bette Jane’s Bagel Hour.

Just look at ‘em. Are they truly the starch pariah we make them out to be?

Upon my first google search of “is one bagel equivalent to one loaf of bread” (remember, I said half-assed), I found this link:

http://www.nytimes.com/2001/06/19/science/l-weighing-in-on-bagels-870722.html

I’d like to start off with the first troubling component of this article: its date. June 19th, 2001. Approximately 11 years ago…I think we all know what kind of fashion was going on in the early 2000s. Yehh.

But anyway. The article is about an anonymous dietitian who wrote to the editor, stating that most of their patients come to them for weight loss, and when bagels come up, they tell them that an average New York bagel is equivalent to 1/4 (up to more than 1/2) a loaf of bread, and that if the patients simply must indulge in a bagel, then they should probably just pick it apart and give a portion to the birds. Gets ‘em out and walking, right?

The thing is, there are many factors at play here. This dietitian is anonymous – they could be anyone, a down-right bagel hater, as biased as I am. Then, what is a New York bagel? How does it differ from, say, the eight-grain Seattle Bagel Bakery one I had about 27 minutes ago (with goat cheese, oh it was delicious)? And, even locally sourced, it still contained small additives-of-sorts that these homemade babies do not.

Do bagels range in bad-for-weight-loss-ness based on calories and ingredients (i.e. flour type and carbs and sugar and salt)? I did my best today with the Seattle Bagel Bakery, chuckle. I can only hope eight-grain also means whole wheat flour.

What is the rest of this person’s diet like, this client who comes in with bagel urges? Do they pine for jalapeño cheddar? Plain? Asiago? Pizza with dollops of cream cheese?

Calories are like money, right? We need to budget them in order to sustain or exceed respective success (success being relative, of course). So, if I’m interested in losing a couple pounds and I cannot let the bagels go, I would definitely benefit from limiting my consumption and considering the caloric density that bagels often have. I could eat one on a day I exercise, for example, or have a bagel for breakfast and enjoy a lower-carb lunch and dinner.

Also, consider what kind of bagel it is, as I previously mentioned. I recently discovered that Noah’s bagels (offered at my local Costco) have an excessively long list of ingredients, many of which are both inexpensive as well as dispensable to our health (and the integrity of the bagel, chuckle), like high fructose corn syrup. Not to mention they are enormous.

Upon doing this Bagel Research, I’ve realized I’m in over my head. I’m not even an anonymous registered dietitian. I have no nutritional background. I just know my body, my tastes and tolerances, my health and food-passions. Bagels are one aspect of my food culture that I value, just like good quality bread and potatoes and pasta, which I consider to be staples. I’m not gluten-intolerant, obesity does not run in my family, and I exercise.

Well, I try to exercise. I do yoga. Plus, I really like to walk, and everyone drives in the suburbs–I almost got ran off the road the other day! Maybe I need a neon vest like the one I loathed and whispered dark curses to at my old grocery store job.

I’m full of excuses.

But I digress. I think one of the reasons that we get so hung up on diets, why we hate on certain kinds of food based on trends in those diets (red meat vs. carbohydrates – GO!), and therefore have so much trouble deciding what to eat, is that our average neighborhood market is not a market.

It’s a grocery store, a supermarket, with products from Jamaica and Chile and the U.S. and Europe; mysteriously sourced, varying extremely in price and quality; independent of seasons; chalk-full of unpronounceable additives and preservatives. Bagels, a lot of times, aren’t really just bagels. In the U.S., we are a country of choices, which is wonderful. But we are also a country in need of some standards.

In my opinion. Heh.

My point is, I love bagels, and I’ll eat them at my discretion (or lack thereof). One of the most brilliant opportunities of my time and age is figuring things out for myself, discovering who I am and all that stuff we’ve heard about before. To decide for myself (and with a little help from my M.D. sporting friends) what healthy is. Indeed, while we don’t necessarily have a clear path of what to eat, we do have the endlessly educational challenge of deciding, of considering all the factors and of ranting about them on our food blogs.

Yay bagels.

Whole Wheat Everything Bagels

Print This Recipe!

makes 10 mini or 6-7 medium-large bagels

total time involved: about 1 1/2 hour, including dough-rest-time

adapted from the baker chick

Ingredients:

• 1 ½ c warm water, about 110 degrees
• 4 ½ t active dry yeast (or 2 packets)
• 3 tablespoons sugar (or honey or agave)
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 2 cups bread flour (I used whole wheat bread flour)
• 1 ½ – 2 cups(I used all-purpose whole wheat flour)
• 1 egg white and 1 tablespoon water for the egg wash (I imagine you could easily use a flax meal wash)
• toppings: 4 tsp each of dried garlic, dried onion, poppy seeds and sesame seeds and 2 tsp kosher salt all mixed together in a bowl (this, of course, is totally up to you!)

Directions:

1. Dissolve sugar in water and add the yeast. Let it stand until the mixture bubbles, for a few minutes. I do not understand why (I have my suspicions though…old yeast…heh) but my mixture bubbled as half-assedly as my bagel research. If this is the case, and while I first recommend fresh yeast, then don’t fret – my bagels turned out fine!
2. Meanwhile, back at the ranch, sift together the bread flour, 1 ½ cups of the whole wheat flour, and salt.
3. Form a well in the center and add the yeast mixture. Stir right nice to combine. Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead for about 5 minutes (getting the yeast all excited), adding extra whole wheat flour as needed.
4. Place dough in a large, greased bowl, then cover and set in a warm place -let it rise until it doubles in size (way coo), about an hour.
5. Once it’s gotten large, divide the dough into small pieces with a bench scraper/knife. Shape each into a ball and allow to relax for a few minutes.
6. Flatten each round with the palm of your hand. With your thumb, press into the center of the bagel and tear open a hole in the center with your fingers. Pull the hole open.
7. Cover the bagels with a kitchen towel and let rest for about 10 minutes.
8. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
9. Bring about 2 quarts of water to a boil and add 1 tablespoon of sugar. Reduce heat to maintain a gentle simmer. Put 2-3 bagels at a time in to the simmering water for about 30 seconds, turning once (this sounds way more intimidating than it is; really, you just plop them in and turn them over).
10. Drain and place on parchment-lined baking sheets. Brush with the egg wash (or flax meal wash) and sprinkle with your toppings of choice. Using a spatula or your fingers, flip bagels over and repeat with egg wash and toppings.
11. Bake for 30-35 mins or until goldenly (that’s a word) browned.
12. Eat with organic cream cheese, fresh chêvre or even peanut butter and bananas! Make a sandwich (yum) or take a picture and frame it because, hey, these are damn good bagels.

-Bette Jane

P.S. I experimented with a near-constant open aperture; it’s so funny to think that Ansel Adams and his photographic affiliates were anti-open aperture and insistent on focus — on perfect depth of field (in their early days, I should emphasize, because I believe he amended his previously, arguably elitist views).

P.P.S…S. if you’re a music lover, check out this sweet sound.

I bring you cinnamon rolls. As Bette Jane has mentioned, we missed November. (I also missed October, but we won’t talk about that.) So sorry.

Last month, I also spent Thanksgiving in Colorado with Mike’s family. It was so great spending time with his family, playing games and eating good food. Have you tried fried pickles? You should. I don’t even like pickles and I thought they were delicious. Colorado is beautiful and I can’t wait to visit again. And, they have buffaloes munching on grass on the side of the freeway! Whaatttt.

After my first interview and with the quarter coming to an end, I spent the weekend winding down with some freshly baked cinnamon rolls. These babies are super rich and buttery, perfect for treating yourself to something special. Better yet, bake these and share the specialness with friends and family!

Remember to be grateful for all the wonderful things in your life this holiday season:)

BONUS! Here are some awesome links:

• This kid is the coolest. Everyone, meet Caine.
• We’re not so bad after all. (Yes, I got the above video from this post.)
• Christmas experiment??
• Kid + Dog + Puddle. ‘Nuff said.
• This brings me back to my elementary school days.
• S*%# my students write.

Cinnamon Rolls with Cream Cheese Frosting

adapted from Cannella Vita

makes 8 large rolls, or 16-18 small rolls

Ingredients:

• 1 cup warm milk (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
• 2 eggs, room temperature
• 1/3 cup butter, melted
• 4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup white sugar
• 2 1/2 teaspoons (1 package) active dry yeast

• 3/4 cup brown sugar, packed
• 3 tablespoons ground cinnamon
• 1/4 cup butter, softened ( I substituted this for coconut oil)

• 3/4 package cream cheese, softened
• 1/4 cup butter, softened
• 1 cup confectioners’ sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/8 teaspoon salt

Directions:

1. In a small bowl, mix the yeast and warm milk and let it sit for ~5 min.
2. In a stand mixer, mix the eggs, melted butter, flour, sugar, and salt together to form the dough. Add the yeast and milk mixture, and knead with a dough hook until well combined.
3. Put the dough into an oiled bowl, cover, and let it rise until it is double in size (~2 hours). I usually place the bowl in the oven with the oven light on to keep the temperature slightly warm (~80 degrees F).
4. When the dough is done rising, roll it out on a floured surface until it is about 12 x 16 in and about 1/4-inch thick. I rolled mine out thinner so I could make smaller rolls.
5. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
6. Mix the cinnamon, brown sugar, and butter (or coconut oil) together and spread evenly onto the rolled dough. Go as close to the ends as possible!
7. Carefully roll the dough along the longest edge and slice into 2 inch slices. Then you get pretty swirls!
8. Place into a baking dish, flat side down. The rolls will double in size while baking so leave some room for expansion. I only baked half of my rolls and froze back the other half for later. Bake for 20-25 min or until golden brown.
9. While the rolls are baking, make the cream cheese frosting: beat the cream cheese, confectioner’s sugar, vanilla, butter, and salt together until smooth and well blended.
10. When the rolls are done, spread the cream cheese frosting on top and serve! Best served with a cup o’ joe. Or tea, if you’re into that. I know I am.

Enjoy:)

-Krisla

P.S. Here is a recipe to make your New Zealand family, Miley Mullivan.

We missed November. Blast. It was the one thing I inwardly vowed, to not leave the blog empty for a month’s entirety. And yet, December, here we sit, fatter, colder and not all that jolly.

Alas! Med. school applications and job fiascos took over our front burners. Sure, we still cooked, baked and ate, but I have a feeling that Krisla and I both looked at our cameras and computers…then back to our food…then to the effort-requiring-technology…then back to our food – and then we kept eating. All through November.

So, in some way (I hope) a consolation (if not to any passerby-reader, then to me) I will do a sort of re-cap of what my November looked like: what I was eating, dreaming of, reading and listening to. And, not doing at all…this post might as well be called Everything I Wasn’t in November.

Is this an excuse to remember all the stuff I need, and want to follow through with, and otherwise, probably, wouldn’t? Well, who’s counting…

First and foremost, I GOT ANOTHER KITTEN. It didn’t take much convincing for my dear friend, Michael, to invest in a companion for Luna.

And so I give you: Sir Cosmo Bacon Eugene Achilles Kramer; we call him Cosmo.

Second, I went through a great deal of books last month, but not in the productive sense. I began, leafed through then trailed away from the following:

The Omnivore’s Dilemma by Michael Pollan.

This is, by far, one of the best books I’ve read in a long time. It is concise and elaborate, clever and focused, honest and fair. To me, Pollan’s book on the American Eating Disorder (we may as well call it a corn-fetish in short) is ideal because he multitasks in cracking me up, educating and motivating me (to research the now-even-more-illuminated-flourescent-supermarkets and to look up that word he used in Chapter 2 and 4 that I pretended I understood for ten pages but I really didn’t). Why did I put it down? Laziness. Sheer, disgraceful laziness. But I won’t forget it.

The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffeneger

I know, I know. Rachel McAdams, Eric Bana. Most people have probably assumed this is another book/movie Siamese twin birthed by the rather handsome and excessively formulaic Nicholas Sparks (incidentally, I kinda have crushes on both those actors…). But seriously, this is one of the better written fictions of our modern (and I mean late 20th to the 21st century modern) time that I’ve stumbled upon. It is so funny, original, and ironically human, alongside a smart plot and beautiful characters. Perhaps it is more relatable to the ladier folks out there. I still vote for this book. I stopped reading it because it was probably my fifth time and I didn’t want to be sad (dun-dun-dun).

Emma by Jane Austen

Oh Emma! Although Pride & Prejudice will (likely) have my heart the most of all the Austen works, this is a real competitor. Re-reading Jane Austen’s books is an excellent way to realize how ignorant you were when you last read them, chuckle. Just me? Oh, well. Jane Austen is (yes, yes, you’ve heard it before) my literary and personal inspiration. Her sense of humor and great balls of fire are why I finally kick myself into writing every self-depracating day. Emma captures, from what I understand of her and her work, the best aspects of Jane Austen’s wit, extro…spective and introspective. I think I get afraid of commitment when it comes to this book, though, because I want to be able to devote all my attention to it and whenever  I pick it up, I seem overwhelmed with thoughts of what I’m going to wear tomorrow and Has it really been that long since I’ve had a bagel!

Paris to the Moon by Adam Gopnik

This one stuck! Not for any reason to speak of its superiority, per se, but more because I am so lost in daydreams of traveling. I can hardly wait to explore the world more, and Adam Gopnik is keeping me grounded with hilarious, poignant truths about Parisians, New Yorkers, Americans and Europeans. I love it and heartily recommend it. He loves commas, too.

Third, Thanksgiving happened. I’m sure it happened at your house, too, if you’re American and into turkey. Or maybe you had ham. That’s weird, but whatevs. Which brings me to something I haven’t really wanted to confess (not so much out of shame as I didn’t want to take the time to rant…again, laziness): I have returned to meat.

I can’t handle red meat (as I learned the hard way, though I do give in when I know how much heart was put into the meal and when I can, roughly, guess where it came from). But I have discovered a new love for seafood (generally speaking…I’m not that bold), and I do enjoy a Boarshead turkey sandwich every now and then. My guiding light for this whole meat-thing, though, is feeling good about how the animal felt and/or lived. Without getting too thoughtful about it, I should say. I had lamb for my first time when I went to Fontaine de Vaucluse, then again in Paris (the first time was rough – I couldn’t really feel okay about it, but the second time was, honestly, too delicious).

And I had salmon, and ham, and chicken, and charcuterie…okay yeah I had a good amount of meat. But here’s the thing, man, (and yes Europe-traveling-Americans tout this a good deal): the Europeans just do their meat right. Really, they do their food right. Of course there are supermarkets and chains and slaughterhouses like most other societies. But down the street from your apartment is a butcher, a seafood merchant, a baker, a fromagerie, a charcuterie, a winery, and you can ask them where it’s all from. If it’s from Algeria three months ago, you’ll know. If it’s from a farm a few kilometers away in northern France, you’ll know. And it’s not because they’re better human beings than us, necessarily; it’s because that’s the way it’s been. Their history, their culture, their lives depend on plants and animals, and how they raise them. The French with their wine and cheese and pasta and bread, the Italians with their pasta and bread…and wine and cheese. It all varies, of course, but they care, and they care consistently.

Whew.

Fourth, I’ve been trying to write. I really have. It’s going pretty swell.

Fifth, I got a job, left a job, then got a new one again. I feel pretty good about it!

Sixth (jeez), Michael and his undecidedly-named-band, Turn Out the Dark, have been recording and I’ve been lucky enough to listen to it. I think they’re freaking great.

Seventh, Michael’s sister, Jane, visited us from Paris for a month. She and Michael’s mom and grandpa are pretty much a rag-tag team of culinary, life and whiskey wisdom.

Also, eighth, we had a Black Friday Party! This named confused most of the guests. We didn’t go shopping. We just talked and ate and drank and oh it was grand! I made these pumpkin cupcakes from Joy of Baking and added a lot of cream cheese to the frosting (plus swapped nutmeg for the cloves, as The Cake Merchant recommended). Delicious.

And now! December. I say that like the first two weeks haven’t already passed.

To food! To family! To love!

-Bette Jane

I came late to berry season. Upon waking up every morning, I thought, “BREAKFAST” closely followed by, “BLACKBERRIES”. After several weeks (I exaggerate not), a 21st birthday (and subsequently a renewed, heinous license that I will be subjecting bouncers to for the next five years), four dank bananas (which are rarely dank enough to not bake with) and a kitten (Duchess Lady Luna-Bear Elaine Athena Indica Rooney Artemis Cheese the III, aka Luna) later, I finally ventured out into the wild grass-wood-land that is our backyard…and frontyard…to collect a heaping bowl of blackberries. Meanwhile, my dear companion, Michael, barely scraped together a cup’s-worth.

It was totally the other way around. Whatever! Caterpillars!

Photo cred: radical drummer, Michael Hannon

After getting a wee kitty, I’ve found myself wondering how the hell people reproduce. Well, not how, per se. In fact I’m pretty clear on the whole reproducing bit. It’s the post-coitus series of events that I’m losing clarity on.

Maggie is a maniac at 7 am/when she’s hungry/when she’s frisky/when she sees her reflection, not to mention my kitten, Luna. How do parents do it?!

A “cat lady” future is not so unappealing. Maggie, my aforementioned 17-year-old sister, has three cats. Willy, Nelson, who is now approaching obesity, and Kitten (the latter is considered schizophrenic by the household; she wasn’t ever really named…sometimes Maggie calls her Voldemort). They have a nice life together, funded mostly by our mom.

“…three cats feels like 40 when it’s feedin’ time,” -Maggie Camp.

Anyway, Michael and I picked some blackberries yesterday. I researched several recipes for banana bread candidates (I think you can guess what I mean by research). I feel like you just gotta do that with such staple recipes as banana bread, kind of like chocolate chip cookies. Although, after a while, they all start to look identical.

With some of my dad’s forgotten bananas and a handful of my forgotten blackberries, this bread has proved to be delicious beyond forgetting.

I incorporated honey into the mix, instead of using all granulated sugar. It’s more photogenic. Chuckle.

*Not for cats.*

*Still not for cats.*

*Apparently, for cats. JUST A BITE.*

Blackberry Banana Bread

makes 1 9 x 5 inch loaf

total time involved: about 1 hour, 20 minutes

recipe adapted from Shelly Albeluhn on allrecipes

Ingredients

• 2 cups white whole-wheat flour, or all-purpose, or 1 1/2 cups white w.w. to 1/2 cup w.w. as I did
• 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 tsp cinnamon (spice according to your life, yo)
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 cup butter room temperature, or 1/4 cup butter with 1/4 cup applesauce (I used the former)
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1/4 cup organic (my preference) granulated sugar
• 2 eggs, room temperature
• 2 1/3 cups (about 6, I used 4 wishing I had at least another) overripe bananas (I’m talkin’ dark as the night)
• 1 cup of  fresh blackberries

Directions

1. Foremost, get those eggs and butter out so as to bring them to room temp. This recipe is totally veganizable, if you will; flax eggs and applesauce, yeah!
2. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F and lightly grease yer loaf pan. You could also make muffins! YUMS! I’m not sure how many this recipe makes in terms of those guys, though, so I would plan on at least two muffin pans.
3. Defrost bananas if previously frozen (I popped ‘em in the microwave for about a minute) and mash away.
4. Combine flour, baking soda and salt in a large bowl.
5. Cream together butter and sugar (and/or honey) in a separate, medium-sized bowl.
6. Stir in eggs and mashed bananas with the sugar/butter mixture, then add vanilla and cinnamon.
7. Scoop liquids of the medium bowl into the dry ingredients along with the blackberries, stirring with a wooden spoon just to combine. Over-mixing leads to dense, dry bread in most circumstances because of over-worked gluten. Careful, yos!
8. Pour batter into loaf evenly. I sprinkled cinnamon and raw sugar over the top (and the blackberries, because I definitely forgot them until this point. Heh.).
9. Bake for 60-65 minutes; mine took closer to 70.
10. Let cool for a few minutes on a wire rack after initially taking the bread out.
11. Enjoy with or without a kitten trying to help you eat it!

Last-minute blackberry additions.

-Bette Jane

P.S. I’ve been wondering if the randomly inserted link-references are annoying; I mostly find them amusing, a hidden surprise like a gnome.

Patients waiting to be checked into clinic

Grandmotherland? Is that a thing? Well, it is now. You see, I was born in Seattle, but both of my parents emigrated from Vietnam when they were young. So, Vietnam is my grandmotherland.

Reunited with my cousin!

It’s been 7 years since I’ve been back and my memories of the trip are such a blur. But there are certain things about Vietnam that will stick with you forever. The distinct smell of the Vietnam air as I stepped off the plane in Saigon, motorbikes driving in all directions, tons of fresh tropical fruits, and the simplistic lifestyle of the people. Oh, and how could I forget the food and how wonderfully cheap everything is over there!

Tons of fruit at the market

This time, I returned to Vietnam with a group of 70 volunteers and health professionals to provide free healthcare to the rural areas of Hue. There is no way I can accurately describe my experiences this time around. But… I’ll try:)

After getting his bag of medicine, rice, and personal hygiene products

Being in Vietnam with my peers really allowed me to open up and embrace something that has been part of me all along. During our mobile clinic days, I polished off my broken Vietnamese and helped translate for doctors and consulted patients on how to use their medicine. Clinic days were fast-paced, sweaty, and tiring. But never did I hear one person complain because we were all there to serve those who need it most. Together, we helped over 2,000 patients!

Not only did I learn more from clinics than I ever could in a classroom, I had the BEST time with all the friends I’ve made on the trip. Even though we spent about 8 months together prior to take-off from Seattle, we grew so much closer during the 17 days we were in Vietnam. Wandering the streets trying to find a delicious and somewhat sanitary restaurant for dinner, hanging up the dang tarp that provided shade every clinic day, playing taboo and charades to pass the time, haggling with street vendors for the best deals, singing Disney songs while packing hundreds of pills to prepare for the next day of clinic… I’m so glad I got to share my experiences with all of you!

As a second-generation Vietnamese American, going back to Vietnam isn’t much of a culture shock because I am immersed in some form of my culture everyday. It’s more of a reminder of where my family came from, the struggles they faced, the reason they are the way they are, and an overall better appreciation and understanding of what makes me, well, me.

Can anyone really sleep on airplanes? If you can, please tell me your secret (but if it’s nyquil I want none of it; that’s just been descension into further airplane purgatory with every swig). My present plan-of-attack is to watch four movies and hope to Jesus there is some earth beneath those wheels soon after. I must admit, however, the proceeding hours of looking and acting much like an alert meerkat are not worth the aerial ones spent with Jason Segel and Emily Blunt (oh my gosh, though, were they FUNNY).

One revision I can speak of with certainty (and dignity, might I add) is to bring moelleux au chocolat with me. What’s that, you say? Oh, just a light, moist muffin-like creation of heaven with a French accent. And a mustache.

No beret, though.

I read an article several months ago about the serious lack of traveling going on in American youth today. Now, what the heck is that about? Money? Fear? Aversion to foreign smells? I mean, I can sympathize; trips are often ordeals, from paperwork to digestion disagreements. Plus, some people just aren’t travelers. Take my grandma for instance: heart of a lion, curious as a cat with the wisdom of  an owl (?), but she went to Hawaii in 1950 and hasn’t voyaged since.

Still, what about the rest of us? Where’s the innate sense of adventure born within every other bouncing baby (at least)? Has this gene dwindled in face of a dominant, home-body one? I don’t think so. My suspicion is that, more often than not, we ‘Mericans have gotten very comfortable. So much so that we’ve met a point of not wishing for other worlds, of not longing for their experiences.

Forgive the generalization. As previously shared, I do accept the non-traveling trait. But Tennessee Williams’ simple and strong advice of: “Make voyages! Attempt them! There’s nothing else,” refers to more than a Hollywood tour in L.A. or the weekend getaway of a lifetime: Dallas, Texas.

Let’s make endeavors and journeys. Let’s challenge ourselves in every way, so we have everyone around us learning, too. Let’s work to live. Let’s try.

So I went to France! If there is no inference of such an excursion between the moelleux and the pictures (and the mustache) available, that is. I experienced anxiety like a great bout of stage fright minutes before a performance. I missed my train in Paris. My plans changed entirely within a few days of being there. I learned my French is a poor excuse for the language. Also, that public bathrooms are comparatively immaculate in the States. But holy salami did I sing the song I’ve fallen asleep to since I can remember!

That is, it was wonderful.

Wonderful like moelleux. Lighter and heavier than expected like moelleux. Au chocolat like moelleux. Inspiring and unforgettable like moelleux. Hence this lovely though not exact recreation! An offering to the (food blog) world, a chance to share what France shared with me.

Moelleux au Chocolat, Oh Yeah

total time involved: approximately 20 minutes

makes 4 small ramekins, or 8 muffin-pan fellows

adapted from: Juls’ Kitchen

Ingredients:

• 25 grams or about 1.7 tablespoons butter, room temperature recommended
• 175 grams or about .90 cup (I pretty much made the 1 cup mark) chopped dark chocolate, 60-70% cacao preferred
• 75 grams or 2/3 ish cup sugar, though I went to just over 1/2 cup organic
• 2 free range (oh yeah) large eggs
• 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
• a pinch o’ salt
• 25 grams or about 1.7 tablespoons flour (I used white whole wheat which yielded a more glutenous, muffin-y moelleux, as opposed to an almost pudding-like truer version)

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 200°C or about 400°F.
2. Butter and flour the muffin pan or ramekins. I used the paper sort but not without thought toward the environment, I assure ye.
3. Put a pan in either to help the oven heat up or induce the warmth of the pan/expediting a good crust and soft inside; both ways are potentially helpful, eh (I’ve yet to straighten out the myths).
4. Set up a double boiler, whether with a pot and a heat-proof bowl or an inclusive set. Simmer water, then add chocolate in the top and melt without burning. It should be smooth sailing after a few minutes of melting, even if there are still lumps (they’ll blend in with stirring). Set aside to cool slightly.
5. Cream the butter and sugar together (by hand-mixer or KitchenAid fanciness) until pale and fluffy (crumbles are okay).
6. Beat in eggs one at a time, followed by vanilla. It’s handy to have a Krisla around to keep the mixer going while cracking eggs one-handed (I swear it looked like no-hands) so you can drop the vanilla in right after. But mostly to feel pleased with yourselves.
7. Stir in the flour until just combined, then gently fold (sans mixer, avec wooden spoon) in chocolate. Things will be looking quite thick from here on out!
8. Divide between the muff-pans or the ramekins. If the latter, then stick the ramekins on top of the preheated pan in the oven.
9. Bake for 8 minutes! You’re looking at an under-baked lovely by nature, so don’t expect a solid top. They’re fluffy and light to the touch.
10. Eat! Oh, yay! Bon appetit, mes amis! Santé!

-Bette Jane

P.S. Note how Krisla sports the new Northern look.

Summer means…

…mini family vacations to Hood Canal. I caught my first fish. It was a good 6-inch flounder. Ya better believe it, honey.

…working as a summer unit leader at a camp for kids with special needs. I MISS CAMP!

… spending quality time with this cool guy:)

… making and trying new and exciting food!! I made this on a whim. I had extra bacon after making a version of this awesome salad from Espresso and Cream. The bacon is sweet, salty, and a little spicy! And I know, the coffee part sounds intimidating, but the flavor is subtle and adds a unique touch to your regular ol’ bacon.

Coffee Bacon Crostinis

Adapted from Joy the Baker

Ingredients:

• 8 slices of thick cut bacon
• 1 tsp of fresh coffee grounds
• 1/4 tsp of chili powder
• 1 tbsp of molasses
• 1 tbsp of brown sugar
• 1 tbsp of water
• 4 oz of cream cheese
• 4 dates, pitted and chopped
• 1/4 tsp of crushed red pepper flakes
• 1 tsp of olive oil
• arugula or baby spinach leaves
• Half a white onion, sliced
• slices of toasted bread

Directions:

1. In a plastic bag, mix bacon, coffee grounds, chili powder molasses, brown sugar, and water. Let the bacon marinate for at least an hour. (I didn’t have patience so I did only 20 minutes. Heh.)
2. Place marinated bacon on a baking sheet and bake at 375°F for 20 minutes, or until it has reached desired crispiness. Flip the bacon over halfway through cooking.
3. In a bowl, mix the cream cheese, dates, pepper flakes, and olive oil together  and set aside.
4. Caramelize them onion slices! Cook in 1 tbsp of olive oil on medium-low for 15 minutes or until soft and browned.
5. Toast your bread slices!
6. Once the bacon is done, cut into smaller slices to assemble your crostinis.

Spread the date cream cheese → lay on a leaf of lettuce → stack on a slice of bacon (or two) → top with some onions!

Enjoy! P.S. If you’re wondering why I’ve been making all the posts lately, the other gnome (Bette Jane) is currently a world traveler. She’ll be back soon, don’t worry!

-Krisla