Monthly Archives: June 2011

Stuff for the Soul

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Today has been a very fulfilling soul-nourishing kind of day.

Went to study over a cup of “bowl of soul” (fig and cinnamon steamed tea, soy milk, and honey with lots of delicious froth… I’ve died and gone to heaven) at Verve for several hours, sang this song out loud (very, very loud) about four times, eating lots of delicious chocolate tea cookies, drinking more tea out of my favorite mug, and it’s raining. Thank GOD for the rain. Oh yeah, and dreaming about Portland. Yeah. There’s always that, though. Check this out:
Picture 3
As I quickly scanned the list, I realized I’ve been to about 40% of these places (and some more than once).
Not bad for just 3 visits.
I know what shit’s good.
So yeah, I imagine this is going to be a pretty rad book that I will never need but of course will pick up and thumb through every time I see it at the bookstore.
Oh hey! And a rad illustrated guide to mixing your own cocktails.
Oh yes, and here’s some Etsy drool.

Oregon State print. NEEED.
These are a few of my favorite words: douglas fir, NO SALES TAX, microbrews, mountains, PORTLAND, loggers, runners, mushrooms. Love it.
Always sound advice…


(But not for $1,200, thanks.)
Speakin’ of teeth, my summer anesthesia class is going quite well.
I started off with this:
Mr. Hot Dog responded well & is profoundly numb.
and progressed to a real human yesterday and ROCKED IT.
Gave an infiltration and ASA injection all in less than 5 minutes.
I wasn’t nervous ONE BIT. I didn’t shake. I didn’t pull blood.
Have I done this in my past life already or something?
Oh and let me introduce you to my new loves:
Newshoesnewshoesnewshoes.
I haven’t owned a pair of Campers since FOREVER.
Yay for being able to switch up my shoe routine and not having to wear Dankos every single day.
Yummy foodz, pretty photography.
More beautiful food porn here and here.
New favorite cutie girl blog alert.
Oh yeah and I made ghee on the full moon two weeks ago. And NAAN! For the first time!
Nothing better than making deliciously spiced indian flatbread and straining butter in the middle of the night with good company.
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If you haven’t heard about all of the benefits of making ghee on the full moon, allow me enlighten you. In the Vedic culture of India, ghee is made on the full or waxing moons, which is known as “shukla paksh”, the “white part of the moon”. All of the qualities the moon represents increase to their maximum during this phase of the moon cycle, and since the moon is considered to rule/control “soma” (the juice or essence of life and plants) and the Vedas speak of milk as the essence of grass or plants and consider ghee to be an essence of milk, this apparently plays an essential role in producing the very best possible ghee with all of it’s encompassing properties. Yeah, call me crazy, but at least it encourages me to make sure I get my ghee-making time in once a month.

I’ve been wanting to devote and entire post about ghee and how to make it, but for now I’ll leave you with this. And if you’re just so inspired to make some naan along with it, here ya go. The next full moon is July 15. Mark your calendars ;)

Beet Cake, Mixes, & Clever Cards

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Lately I’ve been addicted to making 8 track mixes on this website 8tracks.com.
Have any of you heard of this/been listening/created mixes?
Let me know… I’d love to hear some new stuff!
Here are all of mine so far…
Second of all, I was browsing the local bookshop today looking for a birthday card for my friend and came across this awesome one and couldn’t resist… I wish I would have bought the entire stack to give out to hygiene friends/teachers/cohorts!


Too awesome.




And here are some more great ones… I love this company!
I can’t remember the last time a greeting card actually made me laugh!
So clever.
The most beautiful cooking/baking video documentation I have ever seen.
How to make a beet cake.
I’m gonna do it.
Oh yeah and to keep up with this ice cream trend I seem to have been going on (on average, about every other day this past month? NEWS FLASH: ice cream is a health food!), here is something you need to be aware of (if you are not already):
Ben & Jerry’s “Late Night Snack“.
More like “Late Night Crack“.
CHOCOLATE COVERED POTATO CHIPS.
Enough said.
It’s okay.
You’re totally allowed to make a mid-night trip to Safeway in your PJ’s and slippers just to acquire a pint of this. I won’t tell anyone… the secret’s safe with me.
You probably wear cute PJ’s too, so that’s totally allowed.
Just don’t run over your neighbors cat as you frantically pull out of the driveway…
I know you’re on a mission now.
Between homemade ice cream sandwiches, late night post-bar nothing-is-open-”I reluctantly have to resort to Cold Stone” runs, Humphry Slocombe in the city pre-Iron & Wine show going (peanut butter curry and cinnamon brittle, anyone?), and the new local Penny Ice Creamery (pistachio cardamom chocolate chip, balsamic cherry), I have been on the longest ice cream kick of MY LIFE! No joke, folks. I swear I’m not pregnant. But my hormones have been pretty whacko lately and all I have been wanting is cold creamy goodness. A little salt and sugar mixed in don’t hurt either. Oh lovely hormones… you make the world go ’round.
Oh yeah, and because ice cream and beer go so well together and one without the other on a warm summer evening would just be a sin, here is a new seasonal one out by New Belgium: Somersault ale. Being a fan of all things limited edition and seasonal, I bought a 6-pack today and must say it’s quite delicious. Looks like it is temporarily replacing the past summers of Skinny Dip. As it’s described on the label:
“Somersault Ale is a fun roll around on the tongue and a perfect, summer lounge-around beer that is easy to drink. Color is blonde with a suggestion of amber. Somersault tumbles out with citrus aroma from Centennial hops, a tuck of soft apricot fruitiness, completed by a smooth, upright finish with oats that were fermented in a long, slow mash. Somersaults all around!”
Yum! At least some beer descriptors don’t sound as pretentious and ludicrous as most wine labels… I can handle talkers like this. I’m glad I just now discovered their website! I’m diggin’ the food pairings and un-recipe “recipes”. The peach goat cheese arugula candied walnut salad may be the next to-do on the list…
And a lovely new Vetiver song (that I just can’t get enough of) to leave you with for now…

Avocado Mango Cheesecake

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WHATTTT?!? Yes. Avocado mango cheesecake. You can stop giving me weird looks right about now. I already know what you’re thinking.
Everything about this just sounded right. A nice, cool dessert for a summer day and an excuse to get that good HDL boosting avocado fat. And it’s actually quite light, also. The gelatin cuts down the need for the typical 4 packages of cream cheese type recipe. You really can’t even taste the avocado, either. The citrus zests with the lovely anise-spiked graham cracker walnut crust compliments it all very well.
The recipe recommended topping it with a raspberry sauce but for some reason I thought I could improve on the suggestion. Luckily I didn’t have to go much further than my freezer because thank goodness I already had some frozen pureed mango! AHA! Avocado + mango = pure love. Yay!
Anyway, yeah, this is awesome and definitely making its way into my “keeper” recipe box. It should make its way into yours, also.
Cheers to making more avocado incorporated desserts in the future! This one’s next. And probably a few of these, too.
Look… I’ve already eaten so much of this my nails are turning green!
Just kidding! I’m on an avocado lime green kick, though and I’m sure loving it.


You know you want this.



Avocado Mango Cheesecake
serves 10
adapted from The Amazing Avocado

3/4 cup shelled walnuts

1 cup graham cracker crumbs

1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon sugar, divided

1/2 teaspoon crushed anise seeds

1/4 teaspoon salt (lemon salt and/or fleur de sel)

1 envelope unflavored gelatin

1 lemon and/or 1 lime

1 1/2 cups almond milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 fully ripened avocados, halved, pitted, peeled and diced

8 ounces neufchatel, softened and cut in pieces

Heat oven to 350°F. In food processor, pulse walnuts until finely ground. Add graham cracker crumbs, 1 tablespoon sugar, anise seeds and salt; pulse just until combined. Add 2 tablespoons water; pulse until ingredients are thoroughly combined and resemble wet sand. Press into bottom of an 8 1/2-inch springform pan. Bake 18-20 minutes until lightly browned; cool completely.

In measuring cup or small bowl, combine gelatin with 2 tablespoons water; let stand for 5 minutes. With vegetable peeler, remove strips of lemon/lime zest (skin portion only). In saucepan, combine milk, 1/2 cup sugar, vanilla and zest; bring to boil. Add gelatin; simmer until gelatin has completely dissolved, about 1 minute; strain and discard lemon zest. In food processor, combine avocados and cream cheese. Pour hot milk mixture into processor; process until very smooth. Pour into baked crust; cover and refrigerate at least 2 hours or until set. Remove side of pan; cut cheesecake into 10 slices. Serve with mango sauce (if desired).

For the mango sauce: puree frozen cubes of mango or buy the already pureed frozen packs at Trader Joe’s. Submerge into warm water to liquefy and snip an end of the packet. Drizzle on top of individual cheesecake slices. Trust me on this.

Vegan Mexican Chocolate Snickerdoodles

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Just to warn you, these are probably the most addicting cookies I have made all year. Not that that’s a bad thing. But I’m just sayin’… they’re that good.

Vegan. Chocolate. Spicy. Sugary. Salty. Cinnamon-y. Crackle-y. YEAH!

And it’s worth mentioning… these are rad ice cream sandwich cookies. Like, blow your mind rad. I’ve eaten five (sandwiches) in the past 24 hours. FIVE. Filled with pumpkin ice cream, vanilla bean, and german chocolate (with coconut and caramel).

Yeah. I’m going to start my period any second. TMI.

Ok, bye.

Vegan Mexican Chocolate Snickerdoodles

Makes 24 cookies

adapted from VCIYCJ

For the topping:

  • 1/3 cup sugar
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

For the cookies:

  • 1/2 cup canola oil
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 1/4 cup pure maple syrup
  • 3 tablespoons almond milk
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 teaspoon chocolate extract
  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • 2/3 cup white whole wheat flour
  • 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/4 teaspoon chocolate salt (or regular)
  • 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1/2 teaspoon cayenne
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper.
  2. Mix the topping ingredients together on a large dinner plate. Set aside.
  3. In a medium-sized mixing bowl, use a fork to vigorously mix together the oil, sugar, syrup, and milk. Mix in the extracts.
  4. Sift in the remaining ingredients, stirring as you add them. Once all ingredients are added, mix until you’ve got a pliable dough.
  5. Roll the dough into walnut-size balls. Pat the dough balls into the sugar topping to flatten into roughly 2-inch discs. Transfer the dough balls to a baking sheet, sugar side up, at least 2 inches apart (they do spread). This should be easy as the bottom of the cookies should just stick to your fingers so you can just flip them over onto the baking sheet. Bake for 10-12 minutes; they should be a bit spread and crackly on top. Remove the cookies from the oven, let them cool 5 minutes, then transfer them to wire racks to cool completely. And let the addiction begin.
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