time for some oldies

Show me your Grillz

I am the grill master

Yes, this new grill pan is gunna get a workout in this house! Nothing really exciting happened today except for cooking since I stayed home. I decided to make Seitan Asado again which doesn’t seem new but I’ve baked in the past rather than grilling the seitan. Dinner for tonight probably took around 3 hours to make which wasn’t as labor intensive as it sounds but still a decent amount of work.

I sort of changed my asado marinade recipe…it usually consists of lemon (I always forget to buy limes so they stand in for limes), O.J., garlic, oil, chil powder and maybe some salt. I added more chili pepper this time, paprika, cilantro, sugar and cumin which all are used in Latino/Mexi/Spanish/etc cooking so I figured it would taste good. Oh and I added turmeric for color but the chili powders kind of overwhelmed the turmeric so I don’t think I’ll add it next time.

Anyway, I made some fresh seitan today so I added about 1/2 cup of the broth to the marinade and then sliced the seitan into thin strips that reminded me of fajitas. I started making some salsa verde since it’s so tasty and luckily I still had some fresh peppers to use. Used up all my tomatillos which is nice since a couple were starting to rot. The bag label called them ‘Husked Tomatoes’ which made me laugh because they do look like that. So random how people describe objects around them. Started up some Spanish rice although my Tomato paste had some mold so I ended up using a bit of our pizza sauce to replace it. Then I made some guac and started up the grilling!

I kind of added a bit too much peanut oil but oil is yummy so I didn’t mind too much. I first grilled up the red bell peppers which should have been blanched but I totally forgot to do that step so I just let them cook longer and flipped them randomly. Then I simply grilled the seitan strips that look so cool and were 100 times better grilled than baked. I think the combination of the new marinade, the thinner slices, and the grill pan made my Seitan Asado perfecto! I doubt I’ll have to modify the recipe anymore and we ended up eating all of the grilled peppers and seitan.

So that is pretty much all I’m gunna write. Just wanted to post my cool grill pictures. Mmmm..

My, what a large cucumber you have!

Happy Post St. Valentine’s Day!

You know, the older I get the more I enjoy the holiday not so much because I have someone special in my life but because it’s just so fun to be happy and feel like we all love each other. Although I must say having someone to share that silly holiday is super nice. Apparently people in santa cruz also find the holiday fun because our local market ran out of food dye which never happens since they usually carry a bunch. And Chefworks was totally out of ‘cherry red’ food dye but they had christmas red  and burgundy.

I really wonder what cooking items people were making since I’ve never baked anything special for St. Val’s and it always seemed like the holiday in which men take their women out (or possibly the more dominant partner) and wine and dine ‘em if you know what I mean. Maybe I’m becoming a cute little woman who thinks baking for my man is super special but I really just love an excuse to eat some sweets here and there.

So I decided to make cupcakes because they are super cute and tasty. Plus I hadn’t really thought that far ahead to make something really fancy so cupcakes fit into my lack of time. I was kind of bummed because I should have bought another bottle of food dye because the cupcakes didn’t come out as red as I had hoped since it had a bit of coco powder mixed it which made the cupcakes a lovely chocolate color with a deep red tint. The only other thing that went slightly wrong is my baking powder…I think it’s a bit old since I got Bob’s Red Mill or something and most of their products come in plastic bags which isn’t that great for powder items. I tried taping the hole but the powder would end up sticking to the tape and so I’m sure the powder got a bit exposed. Plus I’ve had that package for awhile so the point of this is simply that my cupcakes didn’t rise as much as they should have. But just because they didn’t reach their maximum potential doesn’t mean I don’t love them any less. In fact I’m sure they wouldn’t have been nearly as good. simple but so divine.

Anyway, I topped them off with a vegan cream cheese icing and I used a new recipe which came out nicely. Lastly I sprinkled some edible glitter on top and ate about half the batch myself…well not really since I made Nathan eat some just so that I could justify eating a few the next day. Mmm. cupcakes.

Dark picture but the flash was bleaching out the glitter so I had to turn it off. And yes I didn’t make the frosting smooth for a reason…I think they look a bit windy and unique with their smattering of icing. That and I have yet to buy that special icing spatula but I do think they look like cute little snow-capped mountains.

So yes that was fun. Although I wanted to really get into a cat fight with some bitch at Chefworks. I know, I know…I’m a horrible person but I do try to be nice to people and I’m just one of those people who lets it fester until I get home and then I’m raging mad. It must be some twisted idea about taking the high road and being nice to people to their faces and in public even though they aren’t very nice.

Anyway, so I’m at chefworks looking for sprinkles and some more silicone cupcake holders since I previously only had 6 and I want to be more eco-friendly by not wasting paper cupcake liners. Although now I’ll have to look up and see if silicone ware is even sustainable and if silicone workers are treated nicely. So I’m humming to myself trying to find the right size and beneath the cupcake liners are shelves of cookie cutters and cookie related items. This woman next to me was reaching for some cutters right as I was getting some silicone liners so I excused myself and let her grab her item first. So she asks me, ‘oh what are you making?’ to which I reply, ‘Um…cupcakes!’. The stupid bitch goes on to laugh and say ‘ oh well those are so much easier to make than cookies’ and then walks away.

So I’m standing there thinking ‘what just happened’ and did that woman really need to tell me something that isn’t even true? Seriously, there are some fancy cupcakes in the world and vegan and non-vegan cooks make crazy, beautiful, interesting cupcakes all the time. And seriously? Cookies? Not romantic at all unless she’s in a time warp and thinks it’s still christmas or some other holiday. Ugh…imagine walking down the street and you see someone eating a cookie. Personally, I don’t think I’d imagine how sexy that person is because it’s a cookie…it’s something you make with your kids or eat during a movie or something. But cupcakes are sexy. Fluffy and when you bite into them your teeth sink right in and the smooth icing is just heaven.

Cupcakes 10…Cookies 4 (and I’m being nice)

And even if someone wants to argue that cookies are just as sexy as cupcakes I still would argue that the woman was way out of line. I didn’t ask for her opinion and there are a lot of easy cookie recipes just as there are for most dessert items. Makes me so mad. Plus cupcake batters and some other batters are rather hard to deal with since they can’t be over mixed or else they collapse or do something weird. Which is why I like doing my sweet baking foods by hand rather than buying a mixer because I have more control over the batter. But anyway, that woman was not nice.

All this talk about sexy cupcakes reminds me of how sexual food is. I’ve been thinking about it for awhile now and I know it’s not a new idea. But I sort of feel like desserts are the only foods that are often discussed as sexy. But sometimes when I’m describing foods or thinking about them I realize how pervy it can be. Even just shopping for certain items like cucumbers…aka huge wieners..or when I’m evaluating tomatoes…boobs or cajones…it’s all just so sexual. And I suppose fruit in itself is somewhat sexual because they are the fruit of a tree…we consume the seeds (or eat around them) and in nature poop them out and hopefully the little plants will grow. I mean we’re not part of the reproduction in the explicit sense but we still are apart of it…whether it be humans or animals or nature like the wind. But maybe I’m weird in thinking about this but I guess being around so much food during the week leads me to think about our connection to food and how these food items make us feel. Food isn’t just about nutrition but also about how it makes us feel. Like oils are very sexy…sexy little olive oils that come in different tones and people love to explore taste or another favorite of mine is peanut oil now. I can really taste the difference in cooking some items in it and it gives it a great and interesting twist.

Anyway, I don’t feel like writing a huge book about sexy food so I’ll let you all off the hook from potentially being uncomfortable about food in this aspect. So I finally bought a cast iron grill pan and it’s super sexy. It was actually cheaper at Chefworks rather than online which was surprising. Although I was looking at Williams Sonoma and their stuff is rather pricey so it’s not like I shopped around a lot online. I’m the proud owner of a cute little cherry red Le Creuset cast iron pan and it’s even made in france. Says so even on the pan…underneath the lip it has an imprint that spells out ‘france’. I even watched some weird video on their factory process and how awesome they are and everything.

It sort of makes me feel like a capitalist and consumer (or bad consumer I suppose I should imply) since there were cheaper ones in the store but I had to buy an expensive one because maybe it really is that great. Plus the red enamel is beautiful. But I try to justify my/or our shopping habits by telling myself that if I buy good quality stuff it will last me forever which is very frugal. Quality items are a luxury but I can’t say I know all that much about the cast iron industry to promote buying one brand over another. It’s really hard and laborious to research companies which is a shame since we really should have more transparency within companies so that we know what we’re buying or promoting. Our food is often times local and organic and if it’s not local it’s usually organic, fair trade, and/or sustainable because they have little certified labels on. And some of our health items (dish soap, face soap, lotion, hand soap, vitamins, lip balm, etc) is usually eco-friendly, not tested on animals and sometimes local as well. But when it comes to items such as cookware it’s really hard to figure out how these companies opperate since they don’t like to discuss it. I actually once emailed Fiji water company asking about their sustainability and local relations and if the company was run by the locals, etc but they wrote back that they couldn’t discuss it and unless I start a company that encourages others to promote these good acts I can’t really do much research. I could but being that it’s currently not my career path it is somewhat hard to investigate.

So yes, I wish I knew more about the over all cast iron industry but for now I’m simply happy that I bought one that is super cute. The only thing that annoyed me was that they apparently hired some new guy who thinks that all twenties need to be marked and looked through the light before punching in the given amount of money. I got him twice, once on Valentine’s for some items and then today for my grill pan, which was really irritating. I’ve worked retail and Nathan works with money all the time and we both know fakes (well him more than me). SC actually had a problem about 8months ago because some guy was using a bunch of fake money but I don’t think the cops ever caught him. Anyway, those markers don’t really do anything if I bleach out the the bill and then reprint the new amount on top since it’s really just figuring out the type of paper. And I highly doubt I’d be able to find a black market for cooking items. It would be easier if I worked at a plant and stole some and sold them for a lower price or something. Ugh, like I’m some thief trying to sell off pasta makers and flour shifters. This guy was so lame.

Plus I just think it’s a bit rude. I never marked anything unless it was a hundred or a fifty and even then I think it’s way easier to steal items with a credit card than with cash since many places don’t ask for I.D. If anything stealing with fake money is somewhat impressive but whatever…maybe he was just a cash hater. I only like one older man who works there because he’s always so nice and helpful. If he had a beard I’d call him Santa because he has snow white hair and just so nice. All the other people can continue to be weenies.

I seriously ramble…I think it’s actually worse online. Well my grill pan, I used it tonight since I just had to. I’ve been wanting to make Tofu Satay ever since Nathan took me to this place called Thai Peru which oddly enough is both of those types of food. So tasty and since we don’t have an outdoor grill we’ve never made it. I looked up a few recipes and changed certain things. I used coconut milk for the first time which was scary since I generally hate all that is coconut. The marinade was coconut milk, garlic, some ginger, curry paste, turmeric (mainly for color), cilantro, bit of peanut oil, and a dash of salt. Cut the tofu into 8 pieces and let it marinade for about 2-3 hours.

Next was the peanut sauce which was peanut butter (obvious, and Santa Cruz made!), coconut milk, water, curry paste, brown sugar, and some lime. Came out really tasty and half the reason why I love Tofu Satay is the sauce. I used to go to this Thai place that closed, the King and I, and I would order extra sauce and just eat it plain. Mmmm! I sauteed some Broccoli Raab since eating a big block of protein doesn’t sound all that balanced and set the tofu to grill. Super fun and I asked Nathan to help since it was a new pan and so interesting. We had fun haha.

Mmmm I wish I had more Satay since it was so good! I might buy the panini press since I’m human and didn’t cut the tofu pieces evenly which is clear since the gril marks aren’t consistent. It’s really not for looks but I love the somewhat crunchiness of the grill marks but either way it was great. I ended up finishing off Nathan’s left over peanut sauce too…I guess a mini dessert.

That’s the news from beautiful SC. Boring but wonderful

Friday the 13th

Happy friday the 13th.

Spooky day which seemed even more eerie due to the rain. But I love the rain although it has disrupted my routine quite a bit since I don’t really enjoy riding in the rain. Only got caught once this week and I had a ton of groceries on me but I figured the cold would act as a mini fridge while I rode home. I even had my little lights on to make sure that no one ran me over since most people drive even worse during the rain.

I’m really proud that we got our registration done on time this year and with no tickets! I love going to the dmv because it’s so weird. We played a guessing game of which window we’d get and sort of cracked jokes about the employees. Nothing too bad but honestly it seemed like every time a window would clear up the employee would get up and walk around their area with seemingly no goal in mind. Only to meander back a few minutes later. It might be inefficient but I’m sure if I worked at the dmv and having to deal with people all day that I’d find the excuse to walk around to get some exercise. Some of the people look so crabby but thankfully we either a. get lucky or b. exude a quirky aura in which dmv people start loving us. So far we’ve gotten really great dmv people who laugh and joke and kind of poke fun of us just like we poke fun of them while we wait for our call.

It’s actually what I hate about all these stupid indie movies that come out portraying middle class, every day, technical work sectors to be like. Everything seems drab, the people don’t care what’s going on and seem to never have a brain or only want to stick to the guidelines, and generally sort of patronizing the middle class/working class arena even though fancy pants rich people are still forced to participate in these areas. But in reality when I go to places that would be an ideal indie setting I find that people respond to us usually because we treat them like humans…not some atm machine in which I want to get my business done and over with. I really have issues with the media and movies. It’s probably why I’m willing to watch horrible cheez-ball movies while I hesitate on award winning Oscar nominated movies or hit indie movies.

I think what really bothers me about some of these movies is how depressed the characters are because of how shitty everything in their life is when I feel that often times these movies are implying how depressed these individuals should be instead or maybe that we should feel depressed for them because they can’t see how horrible and mundane their lives are. I suppose I simply resent these representations because it’s a ‘holier than thou’ attitude or possibly trying to escape the horrible life because we can do so much better. And since I spend a lot of time around people who live lives that could parallel some movies I suppose it makes me wonder why all these working class/middle class people haven’t offed themselves already. Well I know (or make theories about) why they haven’t and it comes down again to elitism from intellectual and socioeconomic arenas. These movies and everyday talk about ‘normal’ people are constantly viewed from the perspective of some type of elite group which can’t even critique their own blatantly mundane activities. Maybe working class people understand that they don’t live an exciting and ’stimulating’ life but that expectation is somewhat classist. I look at some shows that try to portray how working class/middle class people enjoy life and  I try to pick up on it throughout my own daily activities. I always see families or mothers with their children walking along the bike/walk path and hanging out at the park. I see people play basketball and attempting tennis but these people obviously aren’t upper class or even upper middle class since most of those people don’t utilize public spaces anymore. That’s what clubs are for…pay a fee and wear a cute outfit and play racquetball. Not that racquetball is mainly an upperclass type activity but I’m just using it as an example.

Anyway, I’m not sure this is making any sense but I suppose I get tired of listening and seeing medias from a certain class/intellectual perspective especially since it’s quite often degrading or at least somewhat offensive. I guess what I had originally wanted to also point out is: why does the media need to stress how depressed working class/middle class people should be? And why is it only important to look at that single emotion? Sure, I could argue that these classes might have it harder on many levels but I think as a species we’ve learned to create new ways of happiness to balance us out. Whether that be backyard parties, playing online games, going to religious events, using public areas, etc. I think (I think I think I think, I need to remember not to use that opening so often) that being depressed isn’t always a bad thing because sometimes our lives don’t go the way we want them to but we need to remember how to be happy and how to reestablish connections with people so that we can support each other. There are so many reasons why the non-elite have trouble living happy and healthy lives but I believe that many of the issues are systemic rather than coming from individuals choices.

I know many would argue with that but if we look at all the talk about trying to get consumers to spend to stimulate the economy then how can we really blame non-elite classes when they engage in these practices also? Sure on a macro level there are many different theories as how to get the economy going and I acknowledge that I have no business training but I still see sales everywhere and the culture we’ve created has demanded that we keep consuming. Anyway, this is going in a direction that I’d rather not go on about so I’ll end this part here.

So yes, annoying media which seems to be at the center of many lives. I can hardly bring myself to listen to npr at the moment because it just seems so out of touch with what I see every day. Like the plane crash in N.Y. which was really horrible and totally reminds me of why I refuse to fly anywhere that has snow and ice. But I felt a bit upset because although they haven’t fully released the names of the passengers they did know that two women on the plane had been killed who were activists and had been on npr before. So they highlighted what they had done and things they had supported which is great but again it made me feel that npr was taking for granted that these intellectual and socially notable women were worthy of a report which would give the audience some more insight to the crash. But what if I had been on that plane? I doubt they would have gone to the trouble of talking about my life and the things I did because I’m not really all that interesting in the grand scheme of things but yet I think I’ve done a pretty good job at being a decent person. I just wonder about all those other people and wondering if they will ever get a tribute on a national/state level regardless of what they did for a living. Well, I hope that just thinking about those people gives them some remembrance even if it is all the way across the country.

~~~

Ah I love that little ~ great little guy. So changing gears ever so slightly nothing new or interesting here in the great SC. We did finally get one of our streets repaved but the great part is that they only repaved the car lane so us bikers still get the shitty, old pavement while the cars next to us glide on by. I suppose I could argue that we are cooler b/c we rough it but really…after some flat tires and my bike rack screws popping off I will gladly accept a newly paved bike lane.

I haven’t really made any fun new food lately because I’ve been busy cleaning and cooking and knitting and just simply not that creative since it takes a lot of time looking up new recipes and how I want to change them and then trying to figure out what will go nicely with the dish. I did make posole but that really turned out to be green chile stew with posole in it. MMM….I re-hydrated some pinto beans and hominy and home cooked beans are so much better I can’t get over it. Anyway, I bought some poultry rub so I rubbed up my seitan and ‘browned’ it a bit and scooped it out. Then I just added onion and garlic and let that sizzle for a bit and then added serranos and spices. Poured in the broth, green chile, seitan, beans, and hominy and let it all cook for what seemed forever (about 2 hours) and it was the best thing ever.

I’ve been attempting to sort of make my own personal foccacia bread since I like certain aspects of different recipes. My first attempt wasn’t that great because the dough got really thin for some reason while I was laying it out to ‘relax’ so I had to end up rolling it up and sort of shape it on the stone. I added some cipollini (I think that is how it is spelled) onions which are so alien looking but in a good way. Sauteed them up in some olive oil but I had so much left over even though the dough really should have been bigger. So I ended up eating the onions but some of them weren’t very cooked so I woke up the next morning thinking my stomach was going to explode. Nathan even told me that he thought that eating too much onion could make me sick but they were so good! Ugh I’m so over onions right now…Anyway, I tried another way of making foccacia but this time it came out a little too bland. Totally tasty with olive oil but not as salty as I would have liked if I were to eat it plain.

So pretty mellow on the home front. Although I’m really ready to kill our upstairs neighbors because they make so much noise I want to strangle them. And I think I should start a Kitty Naming Board since our apt.s have so many cats with terrible names. Like this one cat which we took care of for awhile because his owner (or friend) abandoned him…anyway, we named him raccoony because he has a bushy tail that is ringed like a raccoon…I know not totally creative but his owner had named him felix…so I don’t want to offend anyone with a felix cat cuz it’s a cute name but felix the cat? That’s like naming my mouse Mickey…or my dinosaur Barney…just sort of not that original. Now one of our neighbors adopted him and they named him…Bubbles. How degrading! Bubbles for a boy? He can’t honestly walk up to a girl kitty and say, ‘hey babe, my name is Bubbles…wanna hang out sometime?’ Thankfully, it seems none of the other cats have been around when we’ve heard them calling for him so his secret is safe. Our next door neighbor has a really cute cat but I swear I want to steal it and give it a better name. They’re alright but kind of indie and annoying well at least the girl is…and I know I sound like a hater but I write people off when they aren’t neighborly so it’s all her fault. The guy is nice but I don’t see him too often and her friends are kind of annoying. Anyway, this all builds up to the cat’s name…Taylor…and it’s a girl. Seriously? Taylor…that is like me naming my cats Maria. Unless I’m living in the midwest or south I don’t think any cat should have the name taylor especially if it were a girl. If it had been ‘hello this is my cat President Taylor’ then I think it would be funny but whatever..I’m not the one who is gunna pay therapy fees for the poor cat.

But now I’m probably gunna be notified for cyber bullying which I really hope no one does. Although I do think it’s pretty sad that people are total nutters and do mean things to people like that. But I figure since I name no names and I don’t actually talk about really personal things that I am ok. But I also know that since I write about what I personally hate that I must be on many people’s other lists so it’s ok. I’m better than them.haha jk. I have way too many peeves at this point that I feel bad b/c I know some of my family members partake in them but I just think of it as hating the act rather than the person.

Like I went off to my mom about how I hate when people use debit/credit cards when they buy things because it takes way longer anyway which is one reason we love the mulah. But then I feel bad because I know most people (including my family) use cards all the time and I’m sitting here on the phone or online ranting. But I use them too but it’s just a thing I think about so it’s not personal and I won’t go stabbing everyone because they can’t figure out which button to push and want cash back and still haven’t bagged their stuff. I think I need to whip people into shape because I can bag, load and pay for my stuff in half the time because I’m just so cool like that. I even look up at the screen to figure out how much I think it will come out to and how much time I have until the cashier is done ringing it up so that I don’t make people wait. Then I hand over the cash and I’m out…Geez who needs bag persons when they got me?

Groundhogs are mystical

Well I haven’t posted since the server was going down for maintenance and then I had to recharge my camera battery.

Last week was focused a bit on Italian food which was a nice change. Made some lasagna and I used theppk.com recipe book for making tofu ricotta. It was pretty fun to make since I got to squeeze and crumble the tofu and then added the spices. Nathan ended up wanting twice as much nut. yeast so we added it and it came out lovely. Used some veggie Italian sausages and cooked up some onion and spinach for a pretty traditional lasagna.

I also made kind of a funky pasta with broccoli, broccoli raab, and mushrooms in a garlic/olive oil/buttery sauce although I did add some broth to give it a little more flavor. I had bought some fresh pasta from the farmers market (garlic and rosemary) but I must say I liked the rosemary noodles more. Stronger taste I suppose. I also made some ciabatta bread this week but I think I should have mixed the water and yeast beforehand but the recipe wrote to just mix it all together. I noticed that parts of the bread weren’t as developed as I had hoped but it still came out wonderful and I used the bread for an appitizer last night.

Nice little loaves. I cut down the recipe since we can’t consume that much bread in a few days since it goes stale quickly and freezing bread seems to weird to me. I made this really great recipe that is in vegetarian times this month and I can’t get over how complex and great it tastes. I can’t remember the name but I roasted bell peppers and a serrano and then peeled the skins…new experience for me. Sliced it up and tossed in toasted pine nuts, mint, Italian parsley, garlic, olive oil, and some spices. The recipe also had me simmer some balsamic vinegar with agave nectar which I’ve been wanting to try. That nectar is so weird! Totally doesn’t have a smell at least not that I could readily pick up. I should have sliced the ciabatta in thicker slices but I hadn’t really thought how limp and slick the peppers would be. Kind of a crappy picture cuz I was super hungry and didn’t want to make a nice picture with my almost dead battery.

This is probably the best recipe I’ve tried from that magazine since it is vegetarian and not vegan so many of the recipes don’t cater to our habits. Plus, I’m always wary about trying out their recipes since they can be on the plain side since I think many people don’t like to experiment with spices and different types of foods. Yum, yum!

In other news I’ve finished one of my mittens which I got off of knitty.com (hopefully the link works). They are a bit big since I added about 15 more stitches than the swatch called for but I really didn’t want to have super snug mittens. I’ll post pictures when I finish the second one since I can’t remember where I put my tapestry needles to weave in the ends. Really cute and they have a version that is more ‘manly’ which I want to make for Nathan. It’s pretty exciting to have the finished item and I feel like M.J. with my one mitten which gives us a good laugh.

A bit tired to write much more…Hopefully I’ll get around to making tamales on thurs. since they seem pretty labor intensive. I already have my husks and I bought a bag of tomatillos to make more salsa verde which sounds really good with some seitan tamales. Ah, another thing I need to make…more seitan. So much planning which is horrible since I never like to plan.

I’ll try to update more but until then I hope everyone stays happy and eats good food.