Jul 19th 2012

joy of baking

I love to bake. I love to bake because I love to eat sweets. I love it because I enjoy experimenting and trying to create things I’ve never made before. I love following instructions and coming out with something a little bit magical. I like to try recipes until I find the right one. Baking is relaxing for me (mostly).

Sometimes when you love to do something you have to step away in order to find your love for it again. If it becomes to routine, the joy is lost. So there hasn’t been a whole lot of baking happening in my life of late. And yet these cherry hand pies called to me to be made. After my last cherry pie, which left me unsatisfied, I had to tackle them again. So small pies were the plan, something a little different, something a little more fun.

I didn’t worry too much how these looked in the end. I just put them together in a way that pleased me. They weren’t perfect looking but the filling was almost divine. I admit, I made a mistake or two in the preparations, but I learned something wonderful: tapioca makes an amazing pie filling.

So here is to adventures in baking, whether they yield glorious or disastrous results.

» food

Jul 16th 2012

outdoors

The past few weeks I’ve been longing for quite. With warm summer weather and holidays celebrated with outdoor BBQ’s, I feel like I’ve been the unwilling audience to recent neighborhood events. Sound echoes against all the nearby buildings and most often it’s difficult to escape the sounds of my street. Never before have I wanted a yard, but now I’m longing for a private outside space of any kind.

Yet again, Los Angeles and it’s strange places comes to my rescue in the form of a giant park. It is big enough to still have secluded areas, but close enough that I don’t have to drive over half an hour to get there. It’s amazing what a small walk on a quiet trail can do to improve my mood. I’ve lived in Los Angeles, my whole life, but I feel much more myself in more natural areas, away from the frenetic environment of the city. As usual, I need to remind myself to get away a little.

More so, I’m really looking forward to an upcoming trip to New England for a friend’s wedding. Can’t wait to explore more rural areas and traverse new places.

» adventure

Jul 12th 2012

veggie heaven

This week we got our first CSA box and I’m possibly a little over excited about it. The truth is I’m really awful at shopping for vegetables, and it’s rare that I buy fruit ever. So having someone else pick out some perfect organic fruits and veggies and deliver them to my door is the best. I feel like this is the impetus for my diet to be transformed from 90% carbs to maybe a little bit lower percentage. Granted, I am already dreaming of making cherry tarts and zucchini bread (I blame these ladies for posting zucchini bread instagrams for that) which isn’t quite the healthiest way to prepare these fruits and veggies, but at least it’s a step in the right direction.

Mostly I’m just happy to have really fresh and delicious foods. It’s easy to forget how good simple foods can taste when you’re used to drowning them in sauces and seasonings. Yet it’s entirely pleasing to just eat a peach or a cobb of roasted corn.

The other perk is getting creative with foods I wouldn’t normally buy. Celery for instance. While I’ll occasionally purchase celery for a recipe, it’s not on my usual slate of vegetables. Since we got some in this box, I was inspired to make some chickpea salad. It’s a recipe I make all the time, but leave out the celery. Who knew that the celery actually makes it taste way better. So here is to expanding my vegetable vocabulary. And to celebrate, here is my easy chickpea salad recipe.

Chickpea Salad

1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1 celery stalk, roughly chopped
1/4 cup vegenaise
1 Tbsp mustard
1 1/2 tsp rice vinegar
salt & pepper to taste

In a food processor, mash the chickpeas until they are sort of mushy. Add the other ingredients and blend until combined. I like my chickpea salad on the smooth side, but you can go chunky too.

» food