Good Story, Hansel. Happy Birthday, Jeremy!

I wear contacts. But, I don't always put them in on weekend mornings. Like yesterday, for instance. I got up and started baking immediately so that I could have Jeremy's birthday cake finished by the time we were going to a Friendsgiving. Halfway through the baking process I thought, "Oh hey, I should totally take pictures of this!" So I picked up my camera to shoot.

"Oh. No," I thought. "My camera is BROKEN!!" Nothing I did could get it to focus. I switched modes. I tried working it manually. I had my own personal Zoolander-Hansel technology moment.

Nothing.

And then:

DUH.

I hadn't put my contacts in. There was absolutely nothing wrong with my camera. Drrrrr. But did I put contacts in at that point? Nope. I just shot away and checked in the playback screen to see if the result was what I wanted. For making such a labor-intensive cake, that is one lazy move, letmetellyou.

I don't think it affected me too much, though, since I got this in the end:

Jeremy's favorite is carrot cake, so that is what I made. Carrot cake takes a lot of work, but I think it turned out well. I was also super proud of my frosting job since I haven't frosted a cake in FOREVER. Cupcakes -- yeah, a lot. But it's been a while since I've gotten cozy with a cake. I also haven't written on a cake before . . . I was happy with that, too, considering. Seeing all those cakewrecks, I'm just pleased I spelled everything correctly.

This is another gluten-free recipe. I also made my carrot cake nut free. After the shredding of the carrots, which takes a million years, the rest of the recipe is easy to follow. First, before you do anything, put your raisins in a bowl (or mug) with about a shot of rum. I let mine marinate overnight, but an hour will do. Also, grate those carrots!

Ah, the shredded carrots. I'd say it's about three to four carrots per cup and you'll need three PACKED cups of carrots. I grated my carrots against a grater so all the carrot pieces are small. Then I was like, "Hey, self, you have a Vitamix . . ." So I used that to chop up about half the carrots into even tinier pieces. Set those aside for now.

In a mixer, blend together the sugar, oil, and apple sauce. Then add all the other ingredients in order of how they are listed below.

 Ok, carrots, it's your turn to shine! We welcome you back into the (batter) fold.

 

And now our raisin friends are invited to the party. What am I saying? They ARE the party. (It's ok if the party juice gets in the batter. And by "party juice" I mean "rum.)

I forgot to take pictures of the frosting steps because at this point I was running behind. That's what you get when you decide to run to Hallmark and buy surprise birthday balloons and drop them off at Jeremy's house while your cake cools.

Gluten-Free Carrot Cake

Ingredients:

1 cup oil

½ cup apple sauce

2 cups sugar

4 eggs

2 cups Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free all-purpose blend

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon xanthum gum

1 pinch salt

2 teaspoons cinnamon

¼ teaspoon nutmeg

1 teaspoon vanilla

3 cups (fully packed!) grated carrots

1 1/3 cup raisins, soaked in rum 

Directions: 

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease three 9" cake pans. Line with parchment paper and grease that.

2. Soak raisins in rum. 

3. Grate carrots. 

4. Beat oil, apple sauce, and sugar.

5. Then add eggs.

6. Add and mix the rest of the cake ingredients in the order given. 

7. Pour into 3 9" cake pans.

8. Bake at 350 degrees for about 35 minutes. For cupcakes, bake for 20 – 22 minutes.

5. Wait for the cake to cool ENTIRELY before icing. 

 

A Cooker, a Baker, a Green Salad Maker

Honestly, if Jeremy and I end up eating pasta as much as my family did when I was younger, we'll have a special homemade pasta sauce recipe down in no time.

 

In some ways, I doubt we'll eat as much pasta as I did growing up (back then known as "spaghetti"), since now I'm gluten-free. Pasta isn't cheap when it's GF! But, I have found some favorites that are totally worth the extra bucks. Bionaturae has so far won over my GF taste buds, but if you have any other suggestions that I should try, please leave me a comment!

 

Pizza is another family specialty -- in fact, when my brother and I were little, we planned on opening a pizza restaurant in the backyard. I'd write up the menu (fancy handwriting and swirly accents, of course) and my brother would do most of the cooking. Obviously the dessert was up to me. And, being from a family of entrepreneurs, we expected our parents to pay for the meal -- did they think the menu with prices was just for fun?! That we were PLAYING?! No. We worked hard; we made dinner: now pay us. (Using kid logic, it somehow escaped us that we actually didn't BUY any of the ingredients ourselves . . . so we were asking our parents to pay for food they had already paid for. However, should we not have been compensated for our labor in this whole arrangement? What about the presentation? The ambiance?)

So, now Jeremy and I are working on a pasta sauce. Here's what I'm learning about cooking: it's not like baking. I knew that -- I mean, baking is a science and your recipe is a list of precise directions to follow. If baking is like architecture, cooking is like Jackson Pollock. In other words, baking and cooking are both art forms -- but they come together as masterpieces in very different ways.

In baking, I do a lot of planning ahead of time. I think of flavors that go to together and how to achieve the final product before I start. With cooking, you determine the result as you go.

Salads are way easier for me to figure out than spices in main dishes. Maybe because the ingredients are more pronounced than spices? Here I made a spinach salad with green apples, dates, and some feta. I wanted to use goat cheese, but that goat cheese was WAY beyond using (buh-bye).

I'm also getting into making my own dressing (basically I study the labels of dressings I like and try to replicate it). If I don't make my own, then I use Tessemae's. They're a new local company and so far everything I have tried has been a winner. I think they're exclusively at Whole Foods, and to me, it's worth the trip (refrigerated section in produce). Bwahaha, who am I kidding? I'm at Whole Foods anyway. (If I'm not at MOM's Organic Market -- a great local organic food store.)

What about you? Are you a cooker, a baker, or a green salad maker?

(p.s. I mentioned these products because I like them. They don't know me; it's just unrequited love here.)

Crappy Mood ---> Head Outdoors

Some days are just crappy days. I do my best to keep gratitude in the forefront of my mind, but stress creeps in. Little things become big things. My mind magnifies the minute to the point that the positive is pushed out. Instead of opting for "cranky pants" I put on a full suit. And then I go outside.

And then the armor of anger sheds more easily. It seems to melt off. I notice the small beauty within the expansive space.

I am able to feel more clearly. Something about being outdoors helps me to see myself, situations, emotions, others through a different filter -- or perhaps without one at all. 

Too often I feel like we only share "the best" -- we post what we want people to see. We construct our image and identity through our selfies and status messages, but leave out the hard times. I get it. Who wants to broadcast when things suck? But, sometimes they do. Sometimes for legit reasons. Sometimes because you've been looking at Facebook for too long and it's pretty easy to put on cranky pants.

And then I think it's good to get outside.

Remembrance

I was really pleased to see so many tributes to Veterans today on Facebook. I created the above image by taking one of my photos from the Iwo Jima memorial and doing some post-production on it. Then I added the text over top. It's what I posted today.

I think more often than not, we forgot about all sacrifices our members of the military make -- as well as their families. As more and more vets from WWII get older, I think it's vitally important to recognize them and thank them for their service.

In September I was teleworking. Since the weather was gorgeous, I was sitting outside working on my laptop in front of the library, when I noticed a very elderly gentlemen sitting at a nearby table. I felt compelled to say hello -- he had on a Seabees hat, so I assumed he was a vet -- but had no idea what I would say. I just kept typing along and coming up with possible introductions, without actually saying anything at all. 

After a while, his wife walked out of the grocery store with a couple of bags of groceries. He slowly got up, held her arm, and using his cane they walked toward me. I made a passing comment about enjoying the weather . . . and it led to me hearing a hilarious "how we met" story, how they've been married for 65 years (!), their move from the northeast to Oklahoma, and her love of the ocean. It was certainly the highlight of my day -- and I'm so glad the opportunity arose to talk to the couple for a while. I think, though, that we all need to make those opportunities arise on our own. I hope next time, I go up and make sure that happens. 

Thank you to all who have served and are currently serving. 

An Eighty Dinner

Confession: Since Jeremy came into my life and my kitchen, he does a LOT of the cooking. And I end up doing more dishes. I hate doing dishes. A couple of roommates ago, my roommate M and I created the perfect arrangement -- I would leave my dishes in the sink and she would load the dishwasher. She hated unloading the dishwasher, so that became my job. Perfectly balanced! Her fiance at the time (now husband) could not figure it out and warned us that it would never be that symbiotic again. In some ways that's true; I have more dishes to do now. In other ways, a new balance has been created: Jeremy cooks great food a lot!

We like to collaborate in the kitchen, but he really does take the lead there for cooking (especially when I've had a long day). Roles flipped the other week though and he was the one who had a long day -- so I made dinner. All by myself! Baking is my wheelhouse, but cooking? Let's just say when someone holds out a spoon with a taste and asks the question, "What do you think this needs?" you get wide-eyed paralysis on my part. I HAVE NO IDEA. Spices?

But, casting that fear aside, I danced my fingers over to the Eat Eighty Twenty blog. I can't remember when I discovered it -- it was in its early stages a couple of years ago -- and since then the recipe lists have grown even more and provided me with some solid dinner ideas. I especially like the thinking behind it -- 80% healthy, 20% indulgence. I can do that. After scoping out some recipes and determining what I was in the mood for (a process that takes longer than cooking the dinner itself), I landed on these two: A pistachio encrusted mahi-mahi and an arugula and pear salad.

See? I'm getting better at documenting while cooking! Although, I'm a little superstitious that if I am photographing AS I am cooking, the meal I am cooking is guaranteed not to turn out. (Although you'd think that all the food bloggers out there would make me realize my fear is totally irrational. Not yet.)  

Shelling pistachios is the pits! (See what I did there?) Actually, it's fine. I put on some music and it was done in a jiff. I used two filets instead of four, and gluten-free breadcrumbs (they exist!). I did venture out of my militant-baker mindset and added some salt, pepper, and other spices that weren't in the recipe. I'd probably add more next time, or maybe flavored breadcrumbs. I also ended up cooking the fish a little longer -- closer to what the fish market guy suggested at Whole Foods.

I also made the salad. I'm a huge fan of arugula and this was easy. Luckily, I had pinenuts in my fridge. They're like eating gold. Because they are so expensive. But I think they're great additions to salads.

I wanted some more greens, and I knew that one piece of fish and a salad wouldn't be enough so I added some potato wedges and green beans. I'm a big fan of "stick the whole bag in the microwave" technique. Yeah, I may pay a little extra, but I save with the ease of it. I was able to pull the meal together relatively quickly. Considering Jeremy stayed at work late and I did this one solo (what? you mean I have to taste and answer the "What does this need?" question on my own?!), I was pretty proud of this moment: 

 TA DA!

Fancy Hair

There's something about putting my hair in a 'do that makes me happier about getting up each morning. I don't know if it's the creative challenge or just that I feel more put together, but when I've done my hair . . . well, watch out, World!

This was actually relatively simple and just requires lots of bobby pins. I pulled my hair to the side and secured it with a clear elastic. Then, I took sections of my hair and wrapped them around the elastic, then pinned them in place. After I took these pictures, I actually ended up putting in another bobby pin so that the knot was a little more round and less pointy. As long as all the loose ends are tucked in, it looks really polished.

Cat says "Meow" . . . But what does the fox say?

 

Each year, my mom and I get together and carve pumpkins. This year we went with an animal theme -- she carved out a cat (Did you know that tomorrow is actually National Cat Day? Did you know that there even IS a National Cat Day??) and I made a fox.

Despite having had this tradition for decades now, I just realized that you can cut the BOTTOM off the pumpkin instead of the TOP. Why? Well, several why-didn't-I-think-of-that reasons I came to find out.

1. It makes for an even base instead of a round one, so no balancing act on the pumpkin's part.
2. You can place a candle on the ground -- flat surface, no tipping risk.
3. You can light that candle FIRST, and then place your pumpkin over top of it. No burning fingers. ((mind blown))

After you cut out the bottom and scoop out the insides (once I get better at this blogging thing I'll remember to take pictures of each step), it's time to carve. Personally, I like to sketch out my idea on paper and black out the areas I'm cutting out. Then, I draw directly on to the pumpkin with a washable marker. It comes right off when it's wet! Although my hands did markered up, that didn't really bother me since we have soap and water at my parents' house and I can wash my hands . . .  Then, I got to work sawing away. Another big pumpkin carving tip: buy those kits. Totally worth the four bucks -- even if you break a tool mid-way like I did (pro tip: go slow).

I always like to test out the pumpkin with a candle to see the effect before I declare it complete and demand an audience. And I do demand an audience. I called Jeremy and my dad back in to the kitchen (several times) to see the pumpkins in their full glory with lights off, candles glowing.

Next stop: front porch!

Moneyball

"I am totally using the big red bat," I thought as I selected the larger "girl bat" when it was my time to step up to the plate. I channeled everything I could remember about how to hold a bat that I had seen my brother do when he hit home run after home run going back for as long as I can remember. Jon is an AWESOME baseball player. He played in high school, college, and professionally post-college. But, I am not my brother. While I can row, run, and yoga flow with the best of them, baseball was never my sport. Heck, I never even wanted to play on a kickball team -- all those people watching you while you're up to bat?! No thank you. The idea of batting struck fear into every bone of shyness in body.

But somehow Katie had convinced me this would be fun, and who doesn't like fun? I had already survived being picked last for the team (granted, the captains didn't actually know my name since I was meeting most of these people for the first time), so how much worse could batting be? As I placed my feet next to home, I repeated the "keep your eye on the ball" mantra, bent my knees, put my right elbow up, and tried to breathe like a normal person.

And guess what?! I scored the first run for my team! Boom. Up to bat six times, hit the ball six times, AND got on base six times. That's right, batting 1,000. So apparently my younger brother isn't the only one in the family who got the hand-eye coordination genes after all. What is it they say again? Only the best play in October? Yeah, not a bad way to spend a Saturday.

Walk and Talk

Went on a great walk this morning with my friend, Aniesa. Between the busyness that is life, we found some time to catch up, see some fall foliage, and grab some coffee. We walked around the neighborhood before picking up some pumpkin lattes. (I'm more of a plain latte kind of girl, but this just seemed so fitting -- and we both love a theme.) Then, we went along a nearby trail where Aniesa held my coffee so I could snap some fall pictures and we talked about life. I'm so grateful for this friendship -- Aniesa and I met in high school and kept in touch as we both traveled the world during and after college. (Thank goodness that the Internet was created before we began globetrotting! Granted, you had to pay by the minute in seedy "Internet Cafes", but at least email existed.)

And, while I know that their time in the States was just supposed to be a stopover on the way to more exotic places, I'm so glad I've had this time with them the past couple of years! Wherever they are headed next, whenever that may be, they should plan on having some house guests . . .

tbt - Jumping Pics

Steph and I invented jumping pics. Truth. This was from 2006. Who knew how to jump and catch that moment in [digital] film before 2006? That's right -- no one.

That was an epic trip across the country to Oregon. Here we are on Mary's Peak in Corvallis. Steph found a tree stump and we put our automatic timer (and legs) to work. As we traveled around that Pacific Northwest state we stopped at pretty much every overlook along the coast and took pictures at each one. Love that girl. Loved that trip.

(Hey, when are we traveling again?? I'm sure the "where" we can make up as we go . . .)

Orange you happy to wear a scarf?

When I was little, my school had a "Career Day" where all the kids dressed up as what they wanted to be when they grow up. I dressed up as a teacher. Basically, this meant wearing a long skirt of my mom's, a blouse, and a silk scarf tied around my neck. That's probably how my scarf-wearing started, although there was a long break between second grade and adulthood. But, once I entered the classroom as a teacher, those scarves were back on! (Classrooms, like office buildings, don't always have the best heat/AC.) Even though I'm no longer teaching, it seems I have yet to abandon the scarf. This one was a gift from my dad and has been safely living in its orange box -- until now. I never wore this one while teaching -- can you imagine first grade fingers on Hermes?!

o-m-g. These are gluten-free?!

Let me introduce you to the best gluten free (GF) cookies in all of the land! I took a couple of recipes, changed some ingredients, adjusted amounts, and this was the outcome. Now tell me these don't taste as good as gluten-full cookies. Just kidding. You can't.

INGREDIENTS:
- 3/4 (rounded) cup of granulated sugar
- Just under 3/4 cup of brown sugar
- 2 sticks (1 cup) of butter, ALMOST melted
- 1 large egg
- 2 cups Gluten Free Better Batter Flour
- 2 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup shaved/chopped dark fancy chocolate
- 1 cup chocolate chips


DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line two cookie sheets (I just reused one) with parchment paper. Lightly butter paper.

Whisk the flour, baking soda, and salt in a bowl and set aside. Mix the sugars, butter, vanilla, and egg together with an electric mixer until completely blended. Stir in the flour. Blend. Fold in the shaved/chopped chocolate pieces. Once evenly incorporated, fold in the chocolate chips. Place about 12 cookies on a cookie sheet, for a total of 24 cookies. Bake for 10 minutes (rotate if your oven has hot spots), then bake for 2 to 4 more minutes. Take out of the oven and place cookie sheet on a wire cooling rack for 5 minutes. Then remove cookies to rack to cool completely.

Yields about 24.

I have no idea how long they last because they don’t – they get eaten!

Bring Baby Greer Home

elephant love shower, gouache and ink on paper, 5"x7"

giraffe love bites, gouache and ink on paper, 5"x7"

lovebird, gouache and ink on paper, 5"x7"

monkey love, gouache and ink on paper, 5"x7"

My friends Kelly and Jason are trying to adopt a baby. Adopting can be a very expensive process so Kelly and Jason are trying to do some fundraising to help offset the costs. When they told me they would be hosting a yard sale, I immediately started thinking of ways I could help and of course painting came to mind.

Without telling Kelly exactly what I was up to, I asked her to send me some photos of the baby's nursery. Since they are working with lots of hand-me-downs, Kelly explained that it didn't quite have any "theme" but showed me an elephant art print that she had liked a lot. That was all I needed! I decided to do some love animals -- since I know that Kelly and Jason both already have so much love to give. You can see that there are hidden hearts in every print -- from an elephant ear to a monkey's tail.

Kelly auctioned off prints of these images at her yard sale and ended up bringing in a solid profit! I am so happy that I could help. If you'd like to learn more about their story, or if you would like to help, please check out their blog: http://bringbabygreerhome.wordpress.com/.

(not for duplication) © 2013 Andrea Greenwich