Truly the best gift of Christmas was this AeroGarden from my Mom-in-Law, Connie.
I made my initial "planting" of the gourmet herb garden nearly three weeks ago.
In the seed pods are a variety of basils, chives, and other nice cooking herbs. For 18 hours a day, the grow lights beam onto the little pods, and water courses over the bottoms of the pods, which contain the seeds in a spongy mass. Every two weeks I add nutrient tablets.
Here you can see the basil just beginning to poke up through the label after just a few days.
After the new growth emerged from the label (about a week later), I removed the little plastic cover that acted like a greenhouse.
And, today, I moved the top part of the lamp up to accommodate all the exciting new growth from my wee herb garden. Unfortunately, it looks like the cilantro may be a dud, but everything else is doing very well.
Do you have an indoor herb garden? If so, what are you growing?
Back before the December holidays, John and I drove up to Ithaca, NY, for a tiny getaway. Good thing we bought the Subaru because the drive up there in the sleet and snow was harrowing, to say the least. But, the following day, although the sky was still gray (portending more snow), the snow blanket made everything all the more beautiful.
During the time I had to myself, I vowed I would lunch at Moosewood Restaurant, home to some of my favorite cookbooks. The place did not disappoint me. Because the menu changes every day, I asked my server if I could save mine, and I'm glad I did because I didn't know I'd wait this long to share the story with you.
When I arrived at the restaurant, I was seated right away. It tough to choose between a steaming fragrant soup or a salad, but since I'd decided on an entree, I would have a salad anyway. I selected a fresh, tangy lemon-tahini dressing for my salad topper. It was a delightful dish of organic greens, olives, tomatoes and carrots.
For the entree, I had a mushroom pecan tofu burger. It was topped with the most wonderful, savory caramelized onions and sharp cheddar cheese. It was easily the best tofu burger I've ever tasted.
The service was speedy and attentive, and the atmosphere was just what you'd expect from a college-town vegetarian restaurant -- friendly and lively.
Prior to lunch, I had time to explore the campus of Cornell a tiny bit. Even in the dead of winter, it's a very pretty place. Probably my favorite place was the Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art.
It's an interesting building with a wide range of art on every floor, except the 3rd and 4th floors, to which the public has no access. However, there's lots to see from the basement up to the top floor, which has some spectacular views on all sides.
It was nice to be able to walk around the Asian art, turn the corner, and see this
Here's another view
Here you can see one of the region's famous finger lakes in the distance (not a very far distance, actually).
Taking that short trip to upstate NY made me think once again how lucky we are to have so many interesting places to see just a few hours away. Oh, and so many great places to eat!
Have you ever been to Moosewood, or another place that spawned a cookbook (or two) that you use on a regular basis?
The past few times I've baked naan bread, John has said that it would make a superior pizza crust. Well, he was right.
Using a pizza stone and cranking the oven up as high as possible, we made these awesome naan pizzas. While they may look a bit white, I assure you, they were seriously tasty and golden brown on the bottoms. But, they were even better as leftovers.
I used the naan recipe from here, and topped the pizzas with my homemade tomato sauce; grated cheeses (mozz., fontina, parmigiana and asiago); oregano; and on mine, soy sausage. They were the best homemade pizzas we've made yet. I'm really looking forward to making them again some time.
And, I promise, just for Adam Kuban of Slice, I will take a photo of the upskirt. ;D
This was a very snowy Christmas in Utah, for a change. On the day John and I arrived, we had to shovel over 10 inches of snow from his parents' driveway (they were away). But the next day at Alta, the skiing was great!
I took another lesson with Terry, a fun instructor who said, "When in doubt, belly button out!" This is Terry.
We skied a few times until my knees gave out, and even then, I went with John to Brighton and read a good book while he skied for a few hours. It was a bit chilly, even indoors in the cafeteria, which by the way, was way too small for the number of people snaked across the thing and back waiting on line for fries and burgers. However, I made the most of it, sat in the sun and watched all manner of snowboarder wipe out on the final slope. Ha!
We tend to go to Alta because it's for skiers only, and it's really a nice place to ski. People are generally kind (except the tourists who do NOT respect the skier's code, especially the part of yielding to the downhill skier) and it doesn't get overly crowded, at least in the morning.
Other than skiing, we spent a lovely Christmas vacation and New Year's with John's parents and sister's family. They're such nice hosts!
John's mom gave my the best present:
The Aero Garden!
I'll be posting much more on that in a future blog item.
But for now, have a good laugh at my silly home movies of the snow we experienced during our vacation.
I know Amazon.com says they're out of stock on the agave nectar, but have no fear, if you are the winner of my raffle prizes, by the time the winners are announced on 9 January 2008, the agave will be in stock.
One of the questions I get a lot is "How much of my money actually goes to those kids in Lesotho?" Well, to quote Pim, the grand mistress of the Menu for Hope,
For every $100 donated to Menu for Hope, nearly $87 goes directly to the school children and farmers in Lesotho.
Here's how we came to that number:
0% go to Menu for Hope management We don't take any cut at all from this. All the bloggers participating do it for free.
7% go to The UN World Food Programme The WFP uses no more than 7% of their total funds raised each year for their operational overhead. You can see the entire 2006 operating report for yourself here.
Firstgiving 7.35% 6.35% go to Firstgiving Firstgiving, the online fundraising company we use to manage Menu for Hope donations charges a service fee of 7.35%, which covers credit card processing, hosting, security, administrative, service, and all other services they provide.
Donors can make an online donation with a credit card. Firstgiving collects and processes the payments and, at the end of the campaign, transfers the donations in one lump sum to the WFP. This is a win-win situation for all parties involved. The bloggers never touch the money. The WFP don't waste overheads on processing mini-donations, the majority of which were between $10-$50, that's a whole lot of tenners to make up 60K.
Last year, Firstgiving was kind enough to donate back 1% of the total amount we raised back to the campaign. This is in lieu of a discount on their already small fees, so, basically, Firstgiving only charges our campaign about 6.35% fees! Thank you so much Firstgiving!
The rest, 85.65% ~86.65% goes to the children and the farmers. You can meet them here.
Knowing that so much of my donated money goes directly to the targeted folks is one of the key reasons I participate in this raffle. You can see what I bid for here.
To find out exactly how to participate, please see this post.
Well, it's more like why you should participate at all.
All the funds raised by Menu for Hope 4 raffle go to the UN World Food Program's school lunch program in Lesotho, Africa. This particular program enables the WFP to buy supplies specifically from local, subsistent farmers who practice conservation farming.
You can see amazing photos of the folks in Lesotho here.
This post explains everything you need to know about bidding for a copy of Veganomicon and a 6-pack of raw, organic agave nectar to raise funds for the Menu for Hope.
Please join us in our efforts to help those who need it the most.
Note: If you visit both Altered Plates and Here and There, you'll notice that the posts will be similar because I'm promoting the Menu for Hope fundraiser (and my prize, in particular) on both blogs.
For the past four years, a fellow food blogger, Pim of Chez Pim, has organized the Menu For Hope fundraiser in support of the UN World Food Program. Five years ago, the devastating tsunami in Southeast Asia inspired her to find a way to help, and the very first Menu for Hope was born. In 2006, Menu for Hope raised US$60,925.12 to help the UN World Food Program feed the hungry all over the world.
As Pim says, "We may never eradicate hunger from the face of the earth, but why should that stop us from trying?"
Each year, an ever-growing group of us food bloggers from all over the world join forces to host the Menu for Hope online raffle, offering an array of delectable culinary prizes. For every US$10, the donor receive a virtual raffle ticket toward a prize of their choice. This year, I'm offering a copy of "Veganomicon" and a six pack of raw, organic agave nectar bottles (23-oz each) for my raffle prize.
"Veganomicon">Veganomicon," by Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero, is the third book by the famed Post Punk Kitchen Duo of Brooklyn. The recipes are very easy to produce, tasty and easy to alter, if necessary. Because there are so many different types of healthy and delicious recipes, it's a book everyone should have in their kitchen, not just vegetarians. The recipes use easy-to-find ingredients and most take fewer than 10 steps to make. Makes a great gift for a new cook as well as a seasoned chef.
Madhava raw organic agave nectar is 25% sweeter and one-third as glycemic as sugar. It's a vegan, delicious, and natural processed sugar substitute. It has the consistency of honey, but without the heavy flavor profile. It's perfect for drizzling over Greek yogurt. Comes from agave cacti in Mexico. Kosher.
To Enter
If you're interested in participating in the raffle, here's what you need to do:
3. Please specify which prize you'd like in the 'Personal Message' section in the donation form when confirming your donation. You must write-in how many tickets per prize, and please use the prize code. VERY IMPORTANT INFO: MY CODE IS UE21. Example:
Each $10 you donate will give you one raffle ticket toward a prize of your choice. For example, a donation of $50 can be 2 tickets for EU01 and 3 tickets for UE21. Please write 2xEU01, 3xUE21. Example:
4. If your company matches your charity donation, please check the box and fill in the information so we could claim the corporate match.
5. Please check the box to allow us to see your email address so that we can contact you in case you win. Your email address will not be shared with anyone.
Check back on Chez Pim on Wednesday, January 9, 2008 for the results of the raffle.
Thanks for your participation, and good luck in the raffle!
Crunchy, yummy, and low fat are three ways to describe this tasty new snack available from Thou Shall Snack. Latke Crisps are very light, not at all what you'd expect a potato pancake crisp to taste like. What they do taste like is rice crisps -- most likely because the second ingredient is rice flour.
I liked the sour cream and onion variety so much I ate the entire 1 oz. bag. Lucky for me, that's only 110 calories and 1.5 grams of fat. They come in other flavors such as original and zesty veggie.
The best part about Latke Crisps is that they're not fried -- they're baked! I know, I love friend food too, and I know that it's Hannukkah (well, when the sun sets in a few hours). But think about all the heavy, caloric food you'll be having this holiday season. Don't you want a light, crunchy, savory snack that isn't going to cost you hundreds of calories?
Overall, I'm not sure they really remind me of actual latkes, but I liked the flavor, texture, and novel idea behind them. You have to admire the company name, too, Thou Shall Snack. Although I keep wanting to type it as "Shalt" instead of "Shall." Oh well.
Happy Hannukkah! May all your dreidels land on Gimel. :D
Today I made some truly amazing, gooey, cheesy baked macaroni and cheese. I loosely followed Mark Bittman's recipe from How to Cook Everything, and used a bit more cheese.
I'm a huge admirer of Bittman and his work. Each Thursday, I look forward to the New York Times Online posting his Minimalist cooking segments. More than anything else, I enjoy tinkering with his recipes. They're so flexible and easy, that's it's hard not to like them.
This home-cooked mac and cheese has risen to the top ranks of yummy comfort foods in my book. It's pretty cheesy stuff, so a little goes a long way.
So, for your enjoyment, here's a short movie of my experience making this very tasty dish.
Oh such a delicious savory pie! Another Deb, aka Smitten Kitchen, created this marvelous dish that has become my family's newest Thanksgiving favorite!
Here's my brother at the end of the buffet table (after taking a large serving of the butternut squash and caramelized onion galette) showing his gratitude for the feast.
If you noticed a family resemblance, that's because he's Tyler's dad.
About the galette, I made a few alterations to the original recipe, including using non-fat Greek-style yogurt instead of sour cream in the crust, and mozzarella cheese for fontina in the filling. But, because I know you enjoy these, I made a movie of how I made the galette. I apologize for the clippy audio. No idea how that happened, except maybe in the upload from my camera to the computer. Also, it was my first time using the camera staged on a mike stand with a Gorilla pod. I will improve, I promise. For now, though. Hope you enjoy the movie below. It's divided into three segments because the whole thing is 23 minutes long.
Back in August, I was contacted by DK Publishing to review the new book by Chef Masaharu Morimoto, Morimoto -- The New Art of Japanese Cooking. I finally had some time to read the gorgeous, coffee-table-sized cookbook and try a couple of the recipes.
First, the majority of the recipes in this book are NOT for beginners. However, I did try the Crab Naan and Bagna Cauda Morimoto-Style recipes a couple of days ago, and was duly impressed with the results. Normally, I noodle around with the recipes, but in this case, I followed them strictly to the letter.
What would be useful in a future edition (or a future book by Morimoto) is the approximate length of time each recipe takes to prepare. Had I not budgeted time in advance, I would have failed to deliver the bagna cauda with the naan.
On the other hand, the ingredients for this recipe were pretty easy to find (unlike some of the other recipes in the book) and use.
As far as the flavors and taste were concerned, my guest, Thom and I were not disappointed. Thom thought the naan tasted more like naan than previous versions I've made. He also like the addition of the crab. Because I had a job interview the following day, I didn't eat too much of the bagna cauda since it was pretty much pure garlic. But, it was tasty. I would make both again, but I probably would add some spices to the naan. Other than the crab, it was plain.
Overall, the book is very well done, but probably targeted to a more advanced foodie than I am. Also, not many of the recipes are vegetarian, so I'm not sure I'd recommend it for my vegan or vegetarian friends. It would probably make an impressive gift for someone who truly enjoys trying new Asian foods and cooking complex recipes.
Below is a short movie that shows how I made the recipes. I've also included a bonus recipe for Pakoras that I thought were far tastier than the naan and bagna cauda.
If you've been reading the food blogs for a while, you should be familiar with Famous Fat Dave, The Hungry Cabbie. If you have never heard of Dave, it is my pleasure to introduce you to him. Everyone, meet Dave.
Before becoming a New York City cabbie back in 2001, Dave worked for a variety of food stores: Orwasher’s Bakery, Guss' Pickles, Nathan’s hot dogs, and Murray’s Cheese. But Dave is probably best known for his wonderful food tours of New York, Famous Fat Dave’s Five Borough Eating Tour On The Wheels Of Steel.
Because I've long wished to experience Dave's food tours, I asked him if he could take me (and my young nephew Tyler -- you've seen him before on this blog) on a vegetarian tour, specifically the Chunky but Funky Monkey Package. Dave readily agreed.
Almost two weeks ago, Tyler and I took the train from New Brunswick, NJ, into Penn Station, where we met up with Dave and his wheels of steel.
After only seconds in his car, Dave surprised us with a cheesey appetizer -- Ewephoria sheep's milk gouda from Murray's Cheese Shop. It was mighty tasty. Tyler and I both enjoyed breaking off tiny pieces of the cheese because we knew we were just at the beginning of a foodie odyssey.
Dave explained our options to us as we munched on the Ewephoria.
We decided not to spend an inordinate amount of time in the lower east side's eateries, but to get a taste, our first stop was Kossar's Bialys. If you've never had a bialy before, you would think it was a cousin to a bagel. You'd be correct to a certain extent, except that bagels are boiled before baking and bialys are not.
Dave selected one garlic and one onion bialy for Tyler and me to try. We both enjoyed the chewy, doughy bits, but saved most of the bialys so we could use them to cleanse our palates between tastings. (And, we didn't want to fill up early. We had several hours of grazing ahead of us.)
Next came the pickles.
We drove to the Pickle Guys store and tried a variety of pickles (new, half-sour, three-quarters sour and full sour).
We also tried pickled garlic, which was surprisingly sweet, pickled green beans, and olives.
I liked the almond-stuffed olives the best.
We spent the majority of our time in Brooklyn after the pickle experience. First, we stopped at Waterfalls Cafe for a truly excellent sandwich of fried cauliflower and tahini. We didn't eat in the cafe, however, because Dave had a delightful surprise for us.
We dined by the Hudson River, Tyler and I, sharing the tasty, tangy pita sandwich. Way in the distance, we could see the Statue of Liberty.
Tyler and I agreed that one of the highlights of the dining experience was the pita sandwich. It was like falafel, but ten times better.
Next, we traveled to Ferdinando's in Brooklyn for some squid and octopus salad (for Tyler and Dave) and broccoli rabe (for me, primarily).
Next off to Red Hook...
We sat in this lovely greenhouse of sorts in front of the legendary Steve's Authentic Key Lime Pies in Red Hook, eating our seafood salad and greens.
Tyler really liked the seafood salad, but what about the broccoli rabe?
It was a bit bitter.
After we picked up a "swingle" for Tyler, we headed out to a nice little park with a great view of the Statue of Liberty. Yes, that's me on the left.
Here's Tyler's "swingle," the dark chocolate-dipped key lime pie on a stick.
He LOVED it.
Next, we headed out to Bensonhurst for thick pizza slices (Sicilian style) at L&B Spumoni Gardens. (My apologies for the poor audio in the next clip.)
Soft, yummy slices with the cheese under the sauce. It's very traditional and tasty.
Tyler also tried the spumoni.
It's served in a traditional Italian ice cup, but it looks more like gelato.
Probably my favorite new taste came when we headed back to the Gramercy Park neighborhood of Manhattan for a warm sesame bagel spread with fresh whitefish salad at Ess A Bagel.
It was like great tuna salad, but much less fishy and so much more tastier. I'm definitely going to have to visit a Jewish deli soon for another great warm bagel with whitefish salad.
Finally, we ended our trip at Pommes Frites, Belgian-style fries served with a huge variety of flavored mayonnaises. I'm not a big fan of fries with mayo. Too artery-clogging and rich for me, but the fries were pretty good. We tried parmesan peppercorn, horseradish and pesto mayos.
The fries are served at these odd little tables with holes to hold drinks and the fries, which are served in paper cones.
Overall, Dave's food tour was loads of fun, and I'd definitely recommend it to anyone visiting New York City. Just remember that our tour was customized for us. He usually takes people to some of the places, but you can ask for exactly what you want, and I'm sure he'll accommodate your needs.
Yes, I know. I haven't been a vegan in quite some time. However, I love vegans, vegan food, vegan cookbooks, vegan blogs and things veganesque. Speaking of vegan bloggers, Bazu at Where's the Revolution posted a meme with all kinds of interesting questions. Since Bazu tagged all readers, I'm taking up the challenge with the meme below. Please consider yourself tagged if you haven't already participated. Let me know when you've posted yours. I'll happily come read it.
1. Favorite non-dairy milk? Currently, it's unsweetened vanilla almond milk, although vanilla rice milk comes in a close second.
2. What are the top 3 dishes/recipes you are planning to cook? Coconut biscotti, carob orange French cake, and another pear pie.
3. Topping of choice for popcorn? I'm a purist. Salt.
4. Most disastrous recipe/meal failure? Either millet or the time I murdered a pound of asparagus with several lemons.
5. Favorite pickled item? Pickled string beans from the Famous Fat Dave food tour (soon to be posted here).
6. How do you organize your recipes? Not very well. John and I were just talking about buying me a very large accordian folder for the printouts and pages from magazines.
7. Compost, trash, or garbage disposal? We use trash and the garbage disposal. I wish I owned my house and yard in a place where we could compost. Unfortunately, our homeowners' association is way behind the times.
8. If you were stranded on an island and could only bring 3 foods...what would they be (don't worry about how you'll cook them)? Bananas, avocados and brown rice.
9. Fondest food memory from your childhood? Mom teaching me how to eat pomegranates.
11. Most loved kitchen appliance? A tie between my immersion blender and stand mixer (both by KitchenAid).
12. Spice/herb you would die without? Salt
13. Cookbook you have owned for the longest time? Ironically, although I've technically owned my Moosewood cookbook the longest, it was in my mother's bookshelves for 10 years.
14. Favorite flavor of jam/jelly? Orange ginger marmalade.
24. Favorite vegan candy/chocolate? Carob mint creams.
25. Most extravagant food item purchased lately? Non-vegan items I won't say.
26. Veganaise or Nayonaise? Mustard!
27. What is one recipe or ingredient or cooking technique that you've become familiar with in the last year that you can't imagine you ever lived without? Using pureed white beans to replace up to 1/2 the fat in a recipe. Super idea!
28. What would be your last vegan meal? Definitely an Indian feast ending with my vegan ice cream.
29. Make up your own question to put here (and answer it!)
I probably complain about my oven at least once a week (if not more, depending on how often I use it). Appliance experts have examined it and declared it to be of sound mind and body. I beg to differ.
To prove the point, I purchased a Maverick Digital Oven Thermometer, which works via a probe hanging from one of the oven shelves.
What I've discovered is that my oven will not keep a steady temperature of 325 degrees F. That's a huge problem since most baking recipes call for 350 degrees F, which I must cut by 25 degrees F when I use agave nectar. Yesterday, I found myself turning the dial to nearly 200 degrees F in order to achieve a good result when baking a cake. What a pain!
In the meantime, I'm saving my pennies for a new oven.
Do you use an oven thermometer? If so, how accurate is your oven?
Update: It occurred to me that I hadn't actually reviewed the device above. So, here is my review: It is very easy to use right out of the box. The thermometer allows you to use it as a timer and monitor (with a built-in alarm) when the oven temperature is not at your prescribed baking temperature. The only drawback is the overly long cable from the oven probe to the display piece. However, there's a nice, strong magnet on the rear of the thermometer, so you can place it where you wish on your oven or other metal surface. Finally, with all the nice features this device has, along with its low price, I recommend it with 4.5 stars out of 5.
