beauty that moves

fruit cobbler topping - for the freezer

I promise someday I will talk about things unrelated to food, but today is not that day. It's the time of year when gardens and farm stands are quickly filling up and overflowing - so there is a quite a bit of cooking and putting by that is taking place.

I love fruit desserts. Thinking about it, I can't imagine a single fruit dessert I don't love. And berries? Well, seldom was there a more perfect food.

Pies are great fun to make, but in the summer (straight up, fresh fruit aside) I prefer the ease of a quick cobbler or crisp. My pie crusts tend to perform better in the cooler months - do you find this to be true in your kitchen?

A few weeks ago I set out searching for the perfect cobbler recipe. The one I'd name as my go to source for this summer's fruity feasts. I should mention I was drowning in rhubarb at the time. Not a bad problem to have.

My search led me to Mother Earth News. This is definitely a recipe you'll want save.

Let's see... I think the only changes I made were:

• added nutmeg to the topping (a good pinch)
• used sucanat for sweetener
• chose lemon zest
• used milk instead of 1/2 & 1/2
• 425 was too hot for my oven (which runs true), 375-400 was better

Make sure you bake this on a cookie sheet or you will have quite a bubbling mess on the bottom of your oven!

After I made the first cobbler, I remembered a friend told me that she mixes up a bunch of topping and freezes it in individual containers, enough to make one cobbler. I went ahead and copied my wise friend's practice and mixed up a triple batch of the topping portion using this recipe, leaving the milk out. Then I divided it evenly into jars, labeled it (with a quick note about adding 3/4 cup milk or cream when cobbler making commences) and stacked them all in a line in my freezer. I love having food prepared and lined up in my pantry or freezer.

This reminds me, I used to make prepared flavored rice mixes and keep them in the freezer. Similar to the processed kind you buy at the store, only not processed and filled with herbs, spices, good parmesan, brown rice, etc. I should revisit that... not sure why I haven't done it in ages.  

Anyway, back to the cobbler.

Now, in the heat of summer, when the berries and peaches are pouring into my kitchen, I won't have to fuss with zesting fruit and cutting in butter.

Hmm... I realize this makes dessert making more convienient. (Sorry!)

do you need a dinner idea for tonight?

Good morning! Aren't we always in need of new and interesting dinner ideas? Today you should head on over to Renee's and check out her Noodle Salad Recipe ~ Cooking a Meal for 25 (I did not make it for 25). 

I quickly pan-fried the tofu in a bit of coconut oil, but otherwise followed Renee's recipe pretty closely. It was wonderful! I love recipes like this where everything can be chopped and combined in a big bowl, dressing prepared and stored in a separate jar, and kept in the fridge (or cooler) until serving time, then everything gets tossed together and served. 

We are entering the season of Sunday night summer concerts on the green, late afternoon trip to the beach, and early evenings coming off the trail... this recipe will definitely remain in the rotation for such outings. I hope you get to make it too! 

Do you have a favorite go to summer meal?

friday afternoon falafel making

On Friday I made The World's Easiest Falafel  & Tzatziki. To be honest, I've only made falafel from the mix you get in the bulk bin at the natural food store. (Though I've eaten plenty of good, authentic falafel over the years.)

Tzatziki is something I've made many times and this was a straight up, easy recipe. But I think the ease this recipe title is referring to lies with the falafel recipe.

Considering my lack of experience, I can't say if it's the world's easiest falafel recipe, but it was indeed simple enough and definitely over the top delicious.

My falafel notes/changes:

• I didn't "air dry" the beans after soaking for very long. They did sit in the strainer for an hour or so, then I just sort of rolled them around on a tea towel. (Would have been helpful if I read through the directions first.)
• I doubled the garlic. I always double the garlic.
• Added more than "2 pinches" of sea salt. It may seem like a lot, but seeing as the beans are uncooked, they have no seasoning and the recipe can handle a good amount to really bring out all the flavors.
• Doubled the cumin. 
• I have a standard size food processor and this was a lot to try and process at once. I had to do it in batches and then once everything was nice and fine, I fit it all back in for a final whirl together.
• I used coconut oil instead of canola, and got away with about 1/2 cup. 
• The mixture seemed really wet, I did not think the patties would form. Trust. They will, very nicely too!
• Recipe makes a good amount - about 18, three inch patties.

You should make these. They are really good.

We don't always eat dinner on Friday night, it's usually popcorn and hot cocoa (something adult for mama). For over ten years Friday night has meant Movie Night for our family. We feast on popcorn! (Maybe a simple sandwich, salad, or platter of sliced fruit if one of us feels like a little more.)

Once in a while though, I put a little spread on the table. And when a recipe makes 18 little patties, it affords me the added bonus of quick snacks and meals for the weekend too! 

(Please do not judge my swill beer in the photo. My dad drinks Rolling Rock, I drink Rolling Rock. You know how it goes...)

Happy Monday everyone!

our family's breakfast experiment

We tried... we really did try. And it was a yummy, fun experiment indeed. In the end though, it took about four or five days for us to realize that it wasn't working for us at this time. Oh well, it was a tasty failure at least! 

In theory it could have worked. Actually, more so at this point in our lives than any other. Emily and I are home (of course) and for the last couple of years Adam has had a more normal 9-5 type work schedule. There is no rush for us to carpool to school, he does not have an hour long commute, our family has seen both over the years. Yes, we could have indeed gathered each morning for a family meal. 

However, there were a few factors that I forgot to consider. 

• I am a big believer that teens need a full nights sleep. Having her get up around 6:30 to fall asleep at the breakfast table (okay, maybe not quite) was not really working out. I have no idea how her friends that go to regular school get on the bus at 6:40am and go to bed at 10:30 after doing homework make it through the day.
• I've started going to the gym in the morning which puts me out of the house for about 1 1/4 hours, family breakfast meant I wasn't able to do that. 
• I don't really eat breakfast! It was kind of funny how I'd make these amazing meals and then just stare at my plate gathering the will to pick up my fork. It usually takes me about 2 hours after rising to feel like eating.
• I was giving myself more work! We were still having dinner as usual, and I make a pretty mean homeschool lunch (if I may say so). Considering my recent cry for help when it comes to being a working homeschool mom... why was I adding another item to my schedule?
• As for my husband? Well, he was just thrilled to be fed but agreed it did take away from our gym time (we take turns going each morning), and Emily was better off staying in bed for just a little longer. 

It was great to try it out though. How would we have known it wasn't a fit otherwise? We've always been, and still are, big weekend breakfast people. Of course, we do that more as a brunch than a bright and early sort of thing. I guess weekend breakfasts might be about all we can handle for now, and I'm okay with that. 

Do you have breakfast together as a family in the morning? If so, you might want to give these potato pancakes a try... you will be so glad you did. 

So, it didn't work for us. That's okay, I'm glad we tried, and trying it out is something I would definitely recommend to other families. I'm always up for trying new things that might offer our family even more time together. That's always a good thing.

quest for the perfect homemade pizza

During the 30 Day Vegan Workshop, the lesson of being gentle with one's self and withholding judgement was quickly conveyed. I'm so glad participants understood this important message, it really is the catalyst for growth and healing. The world and media is ready and willing to do all of that ugly, self-deprecating work for us, we certainly don't need to join the effort. Why waste our energy on finding flaws, adding labels, or being unreasonably tough on ourselves? No thanks.

We talked a lot during the program about "what foods, if any, we were missing..."

To the surprise of many participants, there wasn't a sense of deprivation that one might have anticipated going into a 30 day program of committed clean eating. This is actually explained fairly easily by the theory of putting so much good into the body, that more good is exactly what the body is asking for, not junk. It was beautiful to watch that awareness felt by many, and was one of the things I had hoped for them to experience. 

There were of course certain foods that some people missed, myself included. To have such a clear understanding of this was very enlightening. It was never a random "I miss meat!!" It was more mindful than that. "In addition to all of these abundant plant foods, my body could use a piece of fish or raw cheese 2-3 times per week." See the difference? When you take away the casual placement of meat or dairy on the table for each and every meal, and increase abundantly the amount of plants in the diet, the body starts to communicate it's true needs and it is fascinating to observe.

There were of course feelings about "missing cream in my coffee" and things like that. But again, once we enter a place of clean, mindful eating, it becomes easier to clear the cobwebs and identify an emotional attachment to nourishment versus a physiological need for something. Both have their place, seeking an appropriate balance though is ideal for feeling our best.

So what does all of this have to do with pizza? 

I had this silly idea at some point during the workshop that I wanted to get really good at homemade pizza. Really good. I've made it plenty of times over the years, but as someone who appreciates a perfectly made thin crust wood fired pie - it has been a challenge to duplicate such a thing at home. My friends built a beautiful cob oven in their backyard... now those are some fine looking pizzas. I wonder if zoning allows for cob ovens here in the city?

Anyway, I filed the idea away until after the program, and as fate would have it, Vegetarian Times had an article this month about pizza making with Mario Batali. It's pretty easy to trust his recommendations about anything food related so I went for it. His technique specifically asks the home cook to par-bake the crusts on the stove-top using a skillet. This really caught my attention because the correct crust doneness is the very thing I wanted to improve on. It worked really well! I'm thinking (for convenience sake) that these could be par-baked and frozen for easy weeknight meals. Oh! And once the crusts are par-baked and topped, he has you broil them rather than bake in a super hot oven, interesting. I used a stoneware pan to broil in the oven. There's always room for a little tweaking after trying something new only once, but I will definitely be working with this method again and again. 

Do you have any tips or secrets to share for creating the perfect homemade pizza?