Gothic Granola

...Because 99.9% of the food produced in this household befits the adjective "mysterious," to the uninitiated.

If you have some Italian in your heritage and you have two X chromosomes, you should know how to make sauce. And pizzelles...you should know how to make pizzelles , tiramisu , and cannoli.

Today was Hoodie-Hoo Day, according to WellCat.

Continuing on the theme of last Saturday's post , I realise since March I have patronized quite a few restaurants in the DMV area. Sometimes I was on dates, or artist's dates, or out with friends or family. As I pointed out last week, there is a difference in being veg*n or gluten-free by choice or by force. What do your vegan and gluten-free date's eating habits say about her bedroom habits?

Delicious. Mood music: "Shakes" by Tones on Tail

They really do. I served over 250 squares of cacao goji hemp protein bars on Wednesday for Foodie Call. This week's theme was Whole Body, the supplements department. I modified this superfood bar from Earthsprout , having bookmarked the idea when Eleanor included it in her newsletter earlier this year.

For a theme of "curry," I made peach plum coconut chutney. While it may not meet the Wikipedia definition of chutney (which I have no doubt is authentic; no sarcasm here) as it is uncooked, it's delicious. I would serve it with something plain, like tofu or noodles, since it is vibrantly spicy. You could add a hot pepper or some cayenne and take it up to your desired level of spiciness. The curry powder you choose also influences the heat.

Seasonal Switch Cliché: when faced with a challenge, go with your strengths. Thinking: when faced with the unknown, what’s in your toolbox?

Part I of a three-part series about cheese, cheeze, cream cheeze, and cheeze curds. Greetings, Earthlings. It’s been done before: vegans rhapsodising about cheese, missing the taste, texture, ineffability of cultured dairy.  Let’s not do what other people have done before, not reinvent the wheel, as a lot of people say.

Thoughts from lunch break.  The sandwich opposed mindfulness in its first use.  The Earl of Sandwich wanted to do two things at once—eat and play cards, as the story goes.  “What Sandwich is having” facilitates speed of consumption.  Granted, combinations of food aren’t inherently unmindful, and one can eat a sandwich mindfully, focusing all five senses on the object.  Howeer, the sandwich is oft associated—as is the wrap and the Western sushi roll—with grab ‘n’ go fare, meant to be consumed while doing something else (driving, checking email, playing cards).  One’s attention is thus divided and weakened towards both tasks.  One does not appreciate the ingredients of the sandwich as individuals or in harmony when eating and doing something else.

What do you do with a big zucchini What do you do with a big zucchini What do you do with a big zucchini Fresh from grandma’s garden? Bake it in a pie until it’s tender Bake it in a cake for sweet-tooth splendor Whirl it into mush in a high-speed blender Holy cats, I’m starving! Plentiful, prodigious zucchini, meet pie, cake, and pasta sauce or soup base. Zucchini Pie Modified from my grandmother’s recipe Makes one 9-inch pie Note: Crust and filling can both be assembled separately the night before baking. Crust: 1 1/2 cup walnuts 1/4 cup brown rice flour or sticky rice flour 1/2 cup cornmeal 2 tablespoons coconut oil, solid Filling: 1 teaspoon olive oil 1 large onion 1 medium zucchini 1 medium summer squash 12.3 ounces silken tofu (firm) 1 small clove garlic 7 leaves fresh basil (or 2 tablespoons of vegan pesto) 1 ½ teaspoons dry or wet mustard 1 ½ teaspoons apple cider or white wine vinegar Preheat oven to 375 degre...

Sometimes I see a recipe or make something and have a conviction that it’s a dish for someone I know.  Even if I’m not going to see him or her, I  know  that s/he will enjoy this dish.  Sometimes it’s obvious based on people’s preferences (chocolate cookies for my chocolate-loving mother, pudding for my aunt), but sometimes it’s more obscure.

Have you ever stood in the shower, fiddling with the knob for the water and discovered there’s a point above which the water’s obnoxiously hot?  A mere millimetre below that spot, the water’s glacial.  Then if you spend about five minutes, undressed, messing with the dial, you can have a perfect blend of lava and ice floe.  Of course, having two knobs—one for hot and one for cold—simplifies this matter.  As you may suspect, I just took a shower.  Mind you, taking a shower is not a big production for me; I don’t mention showering because it’s unusual for me to do so.  Freshman year, my roommates noted that I take short showers.  Taking a less than ten-minute shower was called taking a “Q-rate shower” amongst residents of Buyers 12.  When I was younger and had less surface area, I took really short showers (OK, so, my brother and I would time each other…bragging rights for the one who took the quickest showers and managed to scrub everywhere despit...