what does it take to have a good time? PIE!

This is a picture off my patio this am. So beautiful!!!

I can't believe it! This upcoming Saturday, there is going to be the Portland Pie-off. What luck?!?! I love pie. I love to make and eat pie. I love sharing. Now the only question becomes what type of pie to enter into this contest. I think I am shaking with excitement, oh, wait, that might be from all the coffee. So many kinds of delicious pie. What kind to make? I wish the plums in my tree were ripe.

Chad and I had a great weekend of eating out and hiking around town. Friday night we walked to the Corbett Fish House. I guess this is where all the Green Bay Packer fans gather to watch the green and gold. Let's just say, they do not have any Wisconsin beers. Surprise, they have a fish fry. Not much for vegetarians. The beers are served in huge (not) pint glasses. I was so full just from my beer. Bonus- they have the Walking Man IPA and I am a fan. The restaurant is OK, but the bar is decorated with all the essential Green Bay Packer memorabilia. It was very homey and made me a touch sad. On a side note, this is not a place that we can walk home. We picked up this Southwest Portland Walking Map last weekend and used it to navigate to the Corbett Fish House. In order to get there we had to walk down about 1000 ft through a park w/ switchbacks and on these trails that go under the highway. I am all for an adventure, but on a Sunday AM going to a Packer bar - I'll just take the bus, thanks.

On Saturday AM, I really wanted to go out of town to hike, but after spending the morning lounging, we decided to again utilize our trusty Southwest Portland Walking Map. I've now learned that just because it is marked on the map as a "walking route" doesn't mean there will be sidewalks, a well groomed path, or that the path will be well marked. We decided to walk from our place to Council Crest Park, the highest point in Portland proper. It was a quite a walk. I knew we were going to go uphill the whole way, but it was still pretty intense. The lack of trail labeling added to the excitement (or irritation when were slightly lost). Luckily, we knew we were going to the highest point in the area so we just kept going up. At one point, a nice lady stopped her mercedes and asked if we were lost and gave us directions. The houses up on the very top of the hills are crazy. A lot of them are on stilts. I guess I don't think I'd feel all that comfortable sleeping in a house on stilts. We saw garages on stilts. It is pretty insane. How do you get homeowners insurance?

mt hood from council crest on a semi clear day

the tower (sort of near our house)


Anyways, we got to the top of Council Crest and the veiw was breath taking. You can see Mount Hood, Mount Rainer, Mount St. Helen's. It is a really cool park. After enjoying the view, Chad and I took the 51 bus downtown for dinner. The 51 is the craziest bus ride I've ever taken. It goes on the hilliest and curviest roads I've ever bussed on. I can't believe the driver didn't take out a porsche or a audi along the way (or at least clipped a mirror). We ended up taking another bus to the NW where we both had tofu crepes at a restaurant called Virgo and Pisces. Yes, I was attracted to their celestial name. It was very good. Strange menu, but I both of us really enjoyed our tofu crepes. I know must learn how to make these crepes. Finally, we bused back to downtown, then back out to our neighborhood. When we were almost there, the bus driver pulled over and told us he could no longer drive the bus because it was unsafe to drive and we all had to get off. He had broke his glasses and could not see. We soon caught another bus and were on our way. What a day.

OK. On to the food.

So, we ate out a bit this weekend, but I have still been busy in my kitchen.
On Sunday, we went to Baker Spice for espressos. Very nice. Then to the Farmer's market. I love the Hillsdale farmer's market! It is awesome. I am so glad that I moved from somewhere I could walk to the farmer's market to another part of the country where I could walk to the farmer's market. That is pretty cool.



Sunday night I made falafel. Used the recipe from Vegan w/a vengeange. Turned out to dry then I added water - that was bad. It was kinda flat, but the flavor was perfect. I'll try again. I served it in a pita w/ tomatoes, lettuce, and homemade goddess dressing. Delish.


Last night, I had a bit of a dilema. I had tempeh that went bad (which I was pissed about because it was before the expiration date on the package). It had a lot of mold on it. I didn't notice cause it was in the package, but I almost tossed my cookies when I opened it and it was green and PINK. Now that is some scary mold. I threw it out, took out the trash, washed hands and wiped out fridge. YUCK. My dilema was that I had already made the marinade for the tempeh and had not had any other back up dish in mind. So, I pressed some tofu and then used the tempeh marinade (for grilled tempeh in Veganomicon) to marinade the tofu. I used my grill pan to fry up some peppers, onions, zucchini, and daikon radish. Then I grilled the tofu. I love my grill pan. It is awesome. I didn't know what I was going to do with the veggies and tofu so I just decided to serve it on top of a toasted pita. It worked out really great. I have to admit I was surprised how good it was. Finally, I looked in the freezer and noticed I had some leftover samosa potato filling so I defrosted that in the micro. Samosas are so good, but such a pain to make that I like to make extra filling so I can have just the potato, pea, onion potatoes if I want the flavor w/o all the work. Here is last nights dinner!


This morning I tried to make fried millet slices. I thought it was good. I mean, it tastes kinda healthy, but I really like the nutty taste of millet. Last night I just cooked the millet in a saucepan. Then added some soy milk, maple syrup, cinnamon, and nutmug. I let it sit till it was like thick oatmeal and then pressed it into a loaf pan. This morning I sliced it and fried it in a pan and served w/ 100% maple syrup (not HFCS). Chad didn't really like it. He thought it was going to be like french toast or pancakes. He kept saying how much he liked the cornmeal pancakes. I know, I know. He loves cornmeal pancakes w/ blueberries- I mean, who doesn't?

a bright new day

It is beautiful Friday afternoon and just before I go sit outside in my hammock and read my book, I thought I'd drop a quick note.

I've been reading this really interesting book by David Wann called "Simple Prosperity: finding real wealth in a sustainable lifestyle." There are many ideas within this book that I feel are worth sharing. One of the key points in this book is that by purchasing less unnecessary junk, we get a lot more out of life.

I 'm only about a third of the way through the book, but I am finding it very enlightening. Maybe it is just because I am trying to figure out what I am going to do with the rest of my life, but I really want to have a job that I feel passionate about. I want to do something that will bring good things to humankind, not waste.

Here is a great quote from the first page of the book. I'll probably write more about it after I've finished the book. I'm only 1/3 through.

"Currently, more money is being spent on breast implants and viagra than Alzheimer's research. So in the very near future there should be a large elderly population with impressive breasts and magnificent erections, but no recollection of what to do with them."
-Sally Feldman

On to the good stuff.

Well, I made a huge pot of chili con carne this week - not real carne - seitan sausage! I am a lucky gal because my man loves some seitan. I followed the recipe in (yet again) Vegan w/ a Vengeance. I just can not get enough of that book! I added a few more veggies than it called for. I just can't do w/o my veggies! Fortunately or unfortunately, the recipe made a lot so we ate chili most of the week.



Tonight I am going to make a frittata! I have some zucchini, peppers, mushrooms, onions, oven dried tomatoes, and spinach! It is going to be a treat (plus we can have left overs tomorrow for breakfast)! Tomorrow we are going to go hiking. I am pushing for a trail on Tom Dick and Harry Mountain that has an elevation gain of 1500 ft and is like 3 miles total. Sounds pretty awesome to me. The views from the top are supposed to be spectacular. We will see if I can get Chad up and ready to roll early enough to go.

More food will be made next week. I am planning trying some new reciepes. I don't want to rush into autumn, but I could really go for some butternut squash!!

In other action today, I missed my bus home from the SW Community Center by 1 min! So, I figured I could either wait 45 minutes or just walk. I got home in exactly 45 min. Now I 'm tired.

the cool down

What am I cooking up today? Oven dried tomatoes!!! sliced. placed on parchment paper. baked at 175 for 8-10 hours or till all dried up.




Finally, the temperatures have cooled off here in the pacific northwest. It was unbearable for the last 4 days. I am so happy not to be sweating and just sitting here! I thing the highest temp was about 104, which is hot even in a dry heat. I'm not going to lie, I couldn't get my lazy ass to work out in that kinda heat. As I sit in our home office, I feel a slight breeze and am actually considering a sweatshirt. Wow. It is so refreshing.

We had a nice weekend of sweating. On Friday, we were lazy and just chilled out here laying in the hammocks and drinking ice waters. It was so hot we had to set up a fan system in the bed room so we could just kinda sleep. On Saturday, we decided to brave the heat and head out to Multnomah Days. I got a cool new map of the trails in SW Portland and a nifty bike kit from Portland DOT. We pretty much decided the best option was to hunker down somewhere w/ air conditioning. Enter Renner's Grill. We stepped in a for a refreshing mojito and some decent company. It is my understanding that they don't have the best reputation in the area, but the people are as unpretentious as they come out here. Everyone was very friendly (or drunk) and the atmosphere was near perfect - good music, good drinks, and interesting crowd. The only drawback is Renner's is smoky. The smoking ban in Oregon takes place January 1, 2009 and I can't wait.

On to the food part of the weekend. Well, we didn't eat much really cause it was really too hot to eat anything more than salad. I went to the farmer's market yesterday and got a bunch of fresh zucchini, beets, blueberries, potatoes, spinach, locally roast coffee (zbeans - so good), tomatoes, a cantaloupe (!) and I bought a fresh basil plant for $2! I made some pesto, but froze it before I could take a photo (hence the tiny crystals). I love to make pesto, but Chad doesn't like really strong basil flavor so I use half fresh basil and half fresh spinach. It keeps the pesto nice and green, but mellows the flavor a bit. You can freeze it for up to 1 month. I think this recipe is about 2 entrees. I usually just freeze half. Here is my new baby!




Basil Spinach Pesto:

1 c fresh basil
1c fresh spinach
4 -8 cloves of garlic
drizzle of olive oil
splash o water
1/4 c pine nuts (sometimes i used walnuts or almonds for a change)
crushed red pepper flakes - a few

put ingredients in food processor and pulse till combined.

I love to use pesto as a sandwich spread w/ grilled veggies, but you can always do it w/ pasta.

If you've ever been to Tex Tubbs Taco Palace in Madison, WI, hopefully you've tried their uniquely wonderful daikon radish tacos. Well, I have been trying to emulate them. I think I just about got it down. They aren't exact, but they are pretty darn close.

Daikon Radish Tacos
1 daikon radish washed, peeled, and cut into match strip pieces
red onion
2 grated carrots

saute in pan for 5 minute.

spicy sauce
splash o water
about 5 splashes Tabasco sauce
2 cloves garlic finely chopped
1 t hot chili powder
1/2 a spicy pepper chopped
a dash to 1 T rice vinegar (depends on if you like vinegar - i do!!)

add sauce to saute and simmer 2-4 minutes.

serve in corn tortillas w/ spicy salsa!

here is a picture of the daikon radishes in spicy sauce.

OH, I almost forgot my latest love - indoor grilled veggies! Our movers destroyed our Weber grill (they wrote us a check for it) and we haven't made it out to get a one yet. I was just craving veggies so I whipped out my panini grill pan and fried up some veggies. Cooked on medium heat for quite a while, they had the same flavor as grilled veggies without all the hassle of charcoal. I need to remember this one for winter!


OK now on to my favorite snack! When I am hungry, but no quite ready for lunch or dinner, I like to have this light and healthy lentil salad. I first had something like this at Gotham Bagel's in Madison, WI and I fell in LOVE with how great it tasted and made me feel. It made me feel like a super hero. Here is my easy version.



Red Lentil Super Hero Salad
1 c water
1/2 cup rinsed red lentils
2 T rice vinegar
1/4 t dried thyme
salt and pepper to taste

additions if you like: 1 grated carrot, chopped green onion, minced garlic, cilantro.

heat water in saucepan till boiling. Add lentils. Stir. Replace lid. Turn down heat and simmer no more than 5 minutes. Turn off heat. Let sit till water is absorbed. The tinier your lentils are the quicker they will cook. Bigger lentils need a bit more time. It took me a long time to learn not to over cook the lentils. It is still good over cooked, but much better when they are still in tack.

I have other stuff to do today so I should go work on that rather than sit here and go on and on about food. I leave you w/ pictures from my cookies I made this AM.

These are Dark Chocolate Chip cookies w/ dried cherries. I used earth balance faux butter, but I forgot to buy some flax so I just used regular eggs.

The devil's candy - high fructose corn syrup

I'm going to start off by appologizing in advance for sounding preachy. We all have our opinions. I have very strong opinions about pretty much everything, but freedom of speech being what it is, I will blog.

I don't know anyone who would say that they like high fructose corn syrup, but people are consuming tons of it all across America. I know, I know, no one wants to hear any more about me and my obsession from steering clear of high fructose corn syrup (HFCS). I can't help it, people. I'm obsessed. I know I have a very high standard for food (aka food snob), but let's face it, we are what we eat.

If you haven't already, the two basic documentaries you must see are:

"Supersize Me" by Morgan Spurlock watch it here
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-1432315846377280008

and

"King Corn" by Aaron Woolf, Curt Ellis and Ian Cheney - see trailer here
http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/kingcorn/

After seeing King Corn last spring, I have made a much more conscious effort to eliminate or at least minimize HFCS from my diet. I didn't realize all the foods that it is in! Prior to minimizing HFCS, I was purchasing whole grain bread, whole grain crackers, ketchup, bbq sauce, juice, salad dressing, mayo, and who knows what else with HFCS. When I looked at the ingredients of my favorite "all natural" dressing and it said high fructose corn syrup, I was shocked. Items can still be considered all natural and contain HFCS. That is CRAZY! There is nothing natural about high fructose corn syrup. It is hard for me to explain how frustrating it is to shop at Fred Meyer. The bread that they offer in the all natural section is $5.50 or more per loaf! That is crazy. Plus, I want to buy my bread locally. I don't want bread that was made in California. All I want is 100% whole wheat bread that has NO SUGAR and is made in Portland, OR. You'd think that wasn't a tall order. I don't have a car and currently, I can only walk to the Fred Meyer. I can take the bus to the New Seasons Market or wait for Chad to come home and use the car, but I just would rather walk (duh, I'm stuborn). I can't wait for the new Food Front Coop in Hillsdale, Portland, OR to open. Finally, I will be able to walk to get groceries!

Let's talk briefly about syrup. I like pancakes. I haven't bought maple syrup yet because it is so expensive. Sure, I could buy Mrs. Butterworths or Aunt Jemima, but quess what folks? That is not pure maple syrup. It is mostly high fructose corn syrup. I copied the ingredients listed from the Aunt Jemima for their original syrup from their website.

INGREDIENTS: CORN SYRUP, HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP, WATER, CELLULOSE GUM, CARAMEL COLOR, SALT, SODIUM BENZOATE AND SORBIC ACID (PRESERVATIVES), ARTIFICIAL AND NATURAL FLAVORS, SODIUM HEXAMETAPHOSPHATE.

Who wants pancakes now? GROSS. Not only is there high fructose corn syrup, but also corn syrup. The top too ingredients are unnatural processed sugar and that is NASTY.

The problem is the cost of natural 100% pure maple syrup. The cheapest I've seen is $6.99 at Fred Meyer vs. aunt jemima which is around $2. That is just crazy.

I have also been reading books about food for a while now. I really like the book "Cooking the Whole Foods" way by Christina Pirello. I've also been rereading "Diet for a Small Planet" by Francis Moore Lappe and the Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan (I can't wait to read his other book, "In the Defense of Food").

Here are some articles I've been reading.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/02/business/yourmoney/02syrup.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/03/06/AR2008030603294.html

I hope I didn't come off too strong. I believe we need a food revolution in this country. Let's start with lobbying corporations to remove unnessary additives to food. Let's start eating more natural whole unprocessed foods. That would be a great beginning! I'll end with a quote from the second article I posted above.

"The bottom line: The more fuel, energy and chemicals that go into processing a food, the less nutritious that food probably is. So steering clear of high-fructose corn syrup can't be bad for your health -- or the planet."--evianna hartman

Some healthy options for treats??

Here are some!

HUMMUS
I make my own with dried beans, tahini, olive oil, water, garlic, lemon juice, and salt. Serve w/ oils and whole wheat pitas. Sprinkle with paprika.


It is really hot here this week and I can't bare to turn on the oven so I made a raw mixed berry pie! It turned out really good!



I will admit was a little weary of a raw pie, but it tastes awesome and if you like, serve w/ ice cream (w/ real sugar not HFCS!).

Here is the recipe I adapted for a few that I read on line. Now this is healthy dessert!

Mixed Berry Raw Pie
Crust
1 1/2 c raw nuts - i used walnuts
3/4 c dried pitted plums - you could use date if you like

soak together in water for 30 minutes or more. drain. pulse in food processor till combined. press into pie plate.

Filling
5 cups mixed berries - i used 4 cups sliced strawberries and 1 cup blueberries
8 dried plums - pitted and soaked in water for 30 min.
lemon juice

arrange 4 cups of berries in pie crust. put remaining one cup of berries, drained dried plums, and lemon juice in food processor. pulse till combined. dump over sliced berries in crust.

refrigerate for 30 min or more to set.

There you have it. A no added sugar raw pie bursting with tons of fruit flavor and made with all natural ingredients. If you like berries and nuts, you'll love this pie.


Beth

So far, so good

This week is almost over and I've made quite a few new things in the kitchen. For the most part, I like to go out for dinner on the weekends because I am just hanging around the house during the week. Therefore most of my cooking takes place during the week. This week I had some huge successes in the kitchen (thank you vegan w/ a vengence!).

First of all I made blueberry pie. Oh, yeah. I'd never made a blueberry pie before and let me tell you - IT IS AWESOME! I just used the standard pie filling recipe - 5 cup fruit, 3/4 cup sugar, 1/4 cup flour, a dash of lemon juice, and some lemon zest. Stir, fill crust, bake! I did cheat a little and buy a vegan whole wheat crust at New Seasons! side note - OH, Food Front Coop in Hillsdale, please open your doors!!!

Next, I made some White Bean and Tempeh Sausage Patties! The are SOOO good. They don't taste like sausage at all, but have a ton of flavor. This recipe is in Vegan with a vengeance!


I served the White Bean and Sausage Patties w/ tahini dressing from the recipe called Garicly Kale with Tahini Dressing also from Vegan with a Vengeance. Chad doesn't like any cooked greens (BOO), so I just made the dressing. It tastes exactly like Goddess Dressing, but is so much better! I used cilantro instead of parsely cause I don't think parsely tastes like anything - oh, and cause I love cilantro. I also love Goddess Dressing. LOVE IT! I could really eat it on just about anything. I also made some Olive, Millet, and Tomato Stuffed Zucchini, but those were gone so fast, I forgot to take a picture. Seriously, so good. Again, from Vegan w/ a Vengeance.



Last night, I was stuck in a book on the hammock enjoying a Full Sail IPA waiting for Chad to come home from work and thought up this little quinoa dish.

Very Veggie Quinoa
1 c quinoa
1 carrot - juilenned
1/2 and onion sliced
1 ish cup chooped broccoli
1 small (TINY) eggplant -thai if you can get it
1/2 yellow pepper chopped
2T olive oil
1 t dried thyme
3 cloves garlic minced
1 t fresh ginger minced
2 c. veg broth
cilantro to taste
salt and pepper to taste.

Rinse quinoa well. Bring veggie broth to a boil. Add rinsed quinoa. Bring back to a boil. Turn down, cover, and simmer for about 20 min. In mean time prepare veggies and stir fry over med heat till cooked, but still a little crunchy. Add ginger, garlic, cilantro, thyme, salt and pepper. Cook a few minutes more. Add cooked quinoa and stir fry for 5 minutes. Serve w/ whatever you like. A salad. A beer. Some gravy. I made mushroom gravy from Veganomicon. SO good. Chad loves gravy.



Next up I made cornmeal pancakes with homemade blueberry sauce. I got this recipe for Iowa Corncakes from Cooking the Whole Foods way by Christina Perella (?). It is basically flour, cornmeal, a bit of sugar, baking soda, and soy milk (you could probably use reg milk if you wanted). Chad loves corn bread, corn muffins, so I thought I'd try this one! It turned out great, but I think next time I'd add some lemon juice to the pancake batter. I think lemon and blueberries are great together! You might have noticed that I make lots of stuff w/ blueberries. I do love blueberries. Also, they are fresh and not too expensive at the farmer's markets here in SW Portland!

I love pie. Then I'm done talking about food!















Big news! We bought a couch! Finally, a comfy place to sit and lay! It won't arrive for a few weeks, but I am so excited to have a couch before my parents fly out in October. It would have been a long week of Chad and I sitting on the kitchen chairs!

This has been been a kind of lazy week for me. I've read three books, sat in a hammock, done lots of yoga, aerobics, and taken lots of walks. Since Chad has started work, I've had to sit at home and wait quite a bit. I had to wait for the clothes I ordered for him to arrive. I had to wait for Comcast to show up. I've had to wait for Richard, our landlord, to show up to fix the dryer. It has been somewhat frustrating. Hence why I've read 3 books (I actually have two others I'm reading as well).

I've only applied for one job. I haven't really seen anything that I'm interested in plus I don't want to be working while my parents are here. I figure I'm going to try to find something part time. The job I applied for is a Front Desk person at an acupuncture clinic. I'd like some free acupuncture, it's on the bus line, and only 15-20 hours a week.

Today I am saying screw waiting around! My landlord is supposed to come over and look at the dryer vent in the basement because it is leaking into the ceiling and looks like there might be (most likely is) mold up there. However, I am not sitting around all day waiting for him. I just can't! So, since it is supposed to be 100 degrees today, I am going to take the bus downtown to the mall. I am going to enjoy the air conditioned commercialism that is Pioneer Plaza. We went to a movie there last Friday and I never knew there were so many expensive shops in Portland! I'm not planning on buying anything, but I could really use a new purse :)!!! After my shopping extravaganza, I'm going to take the 44 to Multnomah Village to visit their Thursday farmer's market and have a beer or coffee and sit outside. If Chad gets off at a resonable time, he can meet me down there.

Hopefully I can get some great stuff at the Multnomah Farmer's Market. I'd like to make a no bake fruit pie. I wonder if that is possible???

first post

Hi. Look at me, I'm blogging! Yah! After my myspace blog has been messed for the last few months and they apparently don't feel like fixing it, I'm starting a new one!

This is my blog and I will be writing a little about everything in my life. I just moved to Portland, OR from Madison, WI and have lots of exploring to do. I also don't have many people to talk to, so that gives me plenty of time to write and try out new recipes. Lately, I've been in love with the cookbook Vegan with a Vengeance by Isa Chardra Moskowitz. It really is an awesome book. Most everything I've made has turned out great. Some/Many things take a little more time than I have allowed, so we end up eatting a little later than planned. Oh, I'm married and my husband, Chad is great and willing to eat anything, lucky me!

The topics of this blog will include, but are not limited to, vegetarian cooking and baking, my personal life, exploring/rating Portland, OR, and well, whatever else I feel like.