Love and Pumpkin. Preferably both.

I love this girl.

She is Steve's sister, and is alternately called Teen, Bean, Tina, and Christina. If you ever walk into a hospital and see her in the white coat, you thank your lucky stars because you've landed in the best medical care you're ever gonna find. She teaches me so much about how to assemble myself in a semi-cute way, what fearlessness looks like, how to shake off the words others sometimes throw at you, and how to be confident in myself--just the way I am.

For all these things and many, many more: I just adore this girl. I love her so much, I wanted to make her favorite cookies on her most recent visit home. Howeva...

I love her so much, I could not bear to make her cookies with 2, count 'em, TWO sticks of butter. That's like 1/2 a tablespoon of butter per cookie.

Teen's Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Cookies.

• 1 C. white flour
• 1 C. wheat flour
• 1 1/3 C. steel cut oats
• 1/2 tsp. nutmeg
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp. allspice
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. salt
• 2/3 C. sugar
• 2/3 C. brown sugar
• 2/3 C. applesauce
• 2 T. agave nectar (or honey!)
• 1 T. ground flax
• about 1 C. fresh pumpkin puree (or you can use the canned stuff, I just happened to have the real deal in the freezer)
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• chocolate chips in the amount of your liking (I used about 6 oz.)

Combine the flours, oats, spices, baking soda and salt in one mixing bowl. In another, mix the sugars, applesauce, agave, flax, pumpkin and vanilla just until combined. Fold the dry ingredients into the wet mixture, about 1/3 at a time. Add the chocolate chips, then spoon onto a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper (or not. I like p. paper because it makes clean-up a breeze and I think it keeps the flavor a little more pure, but that's just my craziness.). Bake for 10-12 minutes at 350 and try not to burn your tongue.

Here's the best part: I baked about 12 cookies, which was about half the dough, then rolled the rest up in some wax paper, froze it, and sent Teen on her merry way back to NYC with some ready-to-bake, stuffed-with-love, just-a-touch-on-the-healthier-side cookie dough. Or she doesn't even have to bake it--no eggs! Eat it raw if you want to, Teen! I won't tell anyone!

And speaking of 1%... These cookies can swing either way! If you're working your way slowly into the quinoa side of life, tinker with the flour and sugars a bit. If your personal pendulum is presently swinging the way of the pizza, go all in! Use 2 sticks of butter! I promise I'll still love ya.

getting you through the day

It was one of those mornings. 
This morning, I woke up, and felt the burden to be a good wife/mom/lady - but no ability to do any of those things. I was just too burnt out.
The only remedy I knew was some quiet time reading and praying and nutella pumpkin pancakes. To be honest with you - it didn't HAVE to be nutella pumpkin pancakes. 
It just needed to be something that I could make that would feel like a celebration for my family, something I could make well and figuratively just give them a little hug though their tummies. 


It worked. 

Not vegan. Not low-fat or low-calorie. Not light on love either. 
I even used half and half instead of almond milk. 
Because it was one of those days that I needed to use cuddling over "please-watch-the-tv-while-I-do-blank" and on those days, lavishing your babes with pancakes seems fitting. 

What is for you, today?
What's the extra excitement that will add inspiration? 
What can you do well to make the world a little fuller? 

If it's nutella pumpkin pancake's - here's my recipe: 

Nutella Pumpkin Pancakes

2 cups flour of your choice

1.5 cups milk of your choice

handful of dry oats

.5 cup of canned pumpkin

2 eggs
2 tbsp honey

2 tablespoons baking powder

sprinkle of salt

squirt of vanilla

dash of cinnamon, nutmeg

3 tbs oil of choice

generous, generous dollop of nutella

Kohlrabi Latkes. Trust Me.

Ever seen one of these beauts?

It's okay, I hadn't either, until my brilliant CSA farmer gave them to me. It's called kohlrabi, which means "German turnip," although it's in the cabbage family. I first tried slicing and eating these raw on a salad. Really not a fan. But I think we've discussed here how much guilt I carry about wasting food. I'm also a touch on the competitive side, so the idea of being beaten by a vegetable just doesn't suit.

Now, there's an added challenge here: my sweet boy has a tendency to distrust vegetables. Something about an apple pie that was actually zucchini... I don't know. It's his emotional food baggage, I respect that. But I also need some help eatin' all these dang vegetables.

Well if there's 2 things I love, it's hanging out with people in my kitchen and promptly feeding them. So when our dear friends Nick and Kara returned from a long vacation recently, I was way too excited to have them over to play Medford's Test Kitchen. Luckily for me, Nick will eat anything and Kara is way too polite to ever tell me no. Ever. So together we tested an idea I had for using up these kohlrabi: kohlrabi latkes. We ate, critiqued, and tried again. Here is what we came up with:

Peel and grate these.

Finely chop this.

Do this to those. (You may want to squeeze them out with a couple of paper towels. If you don't get enough water out, you'll have soggy latkes. Gross.)

Crack these into a bowl with the grated business, plus a handful or two of breadcrumbs. (Or try Jessi's fab trick of making your own oat flour!)

Add these to the taste of your liking.

Do this in that. (I used canola oil. I use olive oil for everything, but I was frying these at medium-high, so I didn't want the oil to burn. Pick your favorite oil. Then tell me how much you love it!) Try 3-4 minutes on each side.

This made about 12 little pancakes, which was sufficient for two dinners for 2 people. I ate mine with soy sauce the first time we made them. This time I used sour cream and some Trader Jose's turkey chili.

Holler!

Figgy Pudding? No way.

It's Fig Jam!

It's about jam time!

Jam-a-lam-a-ding-dong!

Oh, jam it all to heck...

(I'm sorry, my mother got the better of me.)

Last fall, Mrs. D. made this amazing fig jam and I have been desperately waiting for Papa Joe's fig trees to start raining.

The time, my friends, has arrived.

Here we go...

• 12-14 good-sized figs, washed and quartered
• 3/4 cup of sugar
• 1/4 cup of water
• 2 or 3 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 cinnamon stick

Dissolve the sugar into the water over medium heat, then add the figs, lemon juice, and cinnamon stick and simmer.

Let 'em get to know each other.

Very well.

Very, very well. The recipe I was given suggested 1 hour. Perhaps my clocks were broken. 1 hour was much more like 2, but we all know how good I am at making mistakes, so I could have had the heat all wrong.

Wrong never tasted so right...

I assure you, that jar has been cleaned of all salsa flavors and aromas.

So I made some toast, spread some jam and discovered something:

I'm not a huge fan of figs.

What's a girl to do? Like most fruits, I like the flavor of figs, but am not too wild about them in high-density forms. But I do love Fig Newtons! I remembered seeing a recipe on one of my new favorite blogs, Peas and Thank You, for something like a Nutrigrain Bar. Perfect! I made a few modifications, and here you have it:

• 1 1/2C. wheat flour
• 2 1/2C. TJ's steel cut oats
• 2t. baking powder
• 1/2t. salt
• 1/4C. sugar
• roughly 1C. applesauce
• 1/4C. vegan "butter"
• Fig Jam!

Couldn't find the jam in the fridge? That's probably because it was hiding in a salsa jar.

Lessons Learned:

1. I need a rolling pin. The two doughy halves were very thick and a little dense.

2. The applesauce is a rough estimate because you just need to get the dough wet enough to be workable. You mix the dry, then the wet, then combine. If it's too dry, add more applesauce a little at at time. It's kind of like making play dough. Who knew all those years teaching preschool would come in handy?

Now... Can anyone think of a fun way to make Fig Newtons my own? I mean, Paul Newman got lucky. Fig Newmans? Too easy! How the sheez am I supposed to do that?

Fig Newt-agriffs?

Fig Carissatons?

Cafigsa Hanewtonagriffs?

Mmmm Sauce.

Alright, are you ready? It's sauce time. Hunker down, this is going to be a long one. That's how sauce rolls.

Let's start this party by making one thing clear: everyone has a different recipe for sauce and I strongly encourage you to make up your own. There are a few undeniable basic elements (um, tomatoes, duh), but otherwise, you've got a lot of freedom. And you know me; I almost never make it the same way twice. One rule I hold fast to: I only make sauce on the weekends. You'll see why.

So we've been getting plenty of tomatoes (to-MAH-toes, as my farmer calls them) from Luna Farm and I've been trying to be creative with them. When we got these bad boys from Steve's grandfather, however...

Please note that the cantaloupe is used here for size comparison purposes, not sauce-making purposes.

I knew it was sauce time. Steve's Papa Joe has been organic since long before organic was cool. He has more biodiversity and richer soil in a 20x30 foot garden than I've ever seen. It's just stunning. I'll post pics of him and his Garden of Eden soon!

So we've got these maters.

I always start my sauce with onions and garlic sauteeing in oil. Today I used half of a large white onion and one entire head of garlic from Papa Joe. Once those onions are a little bit softer, I add some aromatics. Take your pic. If you've got fresh stuff on hand, knock your socks off. The dry stuff works fine. I like rosemary, thyme and oregano. (Side note: I never cooked with thyme until I lived in Italy; I learned thyme as "thymo," so I have trouble calling it anything else. Please forgive, I promise not to go around acting like Giada. I will never, never, never pronounce it "pan-CHATE-tuh" or "moootz-a-rell-uh.") Many people use one or two bay leaves in their sauce. Please, dear friends, if you love me at all, please don't tell my grandfather that I don't use bay leaves. You see, I love to eat. So the thought of putting something in my food that I ultimately have to pull out is just upsetting. Please don't tell PeePaw I said that.

Steve's mom uses baby carrots in her sauce and I always find it a pleasant surprise, so I decided to try it. We had some white Luna Farm carrots kicking around, so I sliced them on the bias and tossed those in to soften.

In the meantime...

start choppin'.

Many people remove the skins and seeds from the tomatoes. I'd love to know where they find the time. Mrs. D uses some sort of contraption and that sounds lovely, but I don't have one of those thingamajiggies. I usually just leave 'em on and call it "rustic." Anyone who has a problem with it is welcome to come and make me some sauce. For now, I'm trying something new: the blender. (I know I promised you a cushy life, Blendie, but come on... they're just tomatoes!)

This worked beautifully.

Here's a step I would try next time: drain off some of the liquid. I thought if I pureed the tomatoes, it would make a bit of a paste while also chopping the tomato peels to smithereens, but it didn't quite work. Back story: I've been trying for ages to make sauce without using tomato paste. There is nothing wrong with paste. It's perfectly natural (provided you buy a natural brand) and, as Steve loves to remind me, even his grandmother used it (and trust me, her kitchen was the Holy Grail of all things delicious), but I'd like to avoid it. If I can make an entire meal using real whole food, I will be so proud of myself.

My pride will have to wait.

So once the onions, garlic, carrots, and spices are all enjoying their little party, pour in the tomato puree. Steve and I both like a few chunks in our sauce, so I added some chunks of tomato to the mix. As I said, most people don't like the peels. Peeling is a pain. When your tomatoes are this big, however...

It's no big deal to peel it by hand. Which I did. I squished up the chunks in a strainer to get some of the excess juice off, and tossed them into the pot.

Huge. H-U-G-E

And that's really it. Everything dances around on low heat for a while (I'm sorry, were you hoping for a time?) until your whole house smells like heaven and you wish it was raining cappellini.

One for the fridge, one for the freezer! (And yes, I reuse old jars without peeling off the labels...)

Then take some pictures and tell me how it turns out!

Me and Joey Tribbiani.

"Sandwiches? I love sandwiches!"

Me too, Joey. Me too.

Here's one of my current favs.

Start with some good, hearty bread. Take your pick. I'm currently using 3-seed and honey from the Artisan collection at Trader Joe's.

Next, apply the newest little bitty in my kitchen; this stuff really makes my skirt fly up.

Guacamole Hummus. You heard me. It's at Trader Joe's, too.

Listen to me, y'all. If you don't live near a Trader Joe's, you need to move.

Next, ham.

Then turkey.

Hey, while you're moving, please find yourself a good deli. That stuff they're hocking over at TJ's does not count. And that's the only TJ's complaint you'll hear outta me.

This little fella is a big fan.

Next, one of my favorite additions to any sandwich: cucumbers.

Put that in a baggie, add some fruit and haul yourself to your first day of student teaching (holla!). Maybe, if you're in a really good mood, you'll make one for your pal Steve-O.

Healthy Comfort Food

No, that's not an oxymoron. I promise.

Sometimes you just need a little comfort food. You know that feeling: all you want is carbs, carbs, carbs. Tell me I'm not alone in this one (and don't you dare tell me if I am). Last Thursday, as I unpacked our veggies from our CSA share and processed those that I wanted to store for fall and winter, I thought about the ones I couldn't save. Leaves, for example, don't store quite as well as firmer fruits and vegetables like squash and zucchini. Here's how I basically tackled several foods that were going out of style like, well, like it's going out of style, but still satisfied my need for comfort.

A few pounds of potatoes, cut into similar sized pieces (to ensure even cooking), boiled in salty water.

1 red pepper and 1 red onion, diced, sauteed in olive oil and...

a pinch of cayenne and a pinch of red pepper flakes.

1 small head of cabbage, more or less shredded, added to the saute pan...

with about 1/3 cup of salsa.

Once the potatoes are cooked through, add them to the pan and let that saute until the cabbage has softened.

Be advised: If you do not saute that cabbage enough, it will be bitter. Like your ex-'s new lovah is way hotter than you are bitter. Cook it well!

Top with sour cream and guacamole and enjoy.

Oh, Hello. Welcome.

Dear Blender,

I want to thank you for your faithful service. For over a year now, I have subjected you to harsh work conditions; thank you for not calling OSHA. I've asked you to grind hazelnuts, tackled rock-hard chickpeas, and puree basil to smithereens. You've done them all to the best of your abilities, and with a smile, but it's time to rest. I'm relieving you of your extra-curricular duties. I'm letting you go back to your cushy life of milkshakes and smoothies. Don't worry, I adore smoothies. So we'll stay close friends.


Hello, Food Processor! Welcome to the house! I know it hurt your feelings when your old owner, BQ, called you "old, loud, and awful!" He didn't mean it. He was grumpy because he's moving to Western Mass. I love you. My partner, D-Mart, loves you. And, yes, oh yes, basil loves you.



Welcome.

• 1 part basil leaves
• 1 part olive oil
• 1 handful of pine nuts (or walnuts, yum!)
• 2 or 3 cloves garlic
• a pinch of salt
• 1 part grated parmesan (or romano--hello!)*

*If you want to freeze your pesto (which I highly recommend--save it!), leave out the cheese and add it when you're ready to cook it.