bolt fabric - week one.

here's the uncut fruit (ha! see what i did there?) of this week's assignment from lilla roger's studio school. this first section is devoted to bolt fabric design.
please pay no mind to the fact that the poisonous amanita muscaria is pictured right alongside cooking equipment.
i can honestly say that i was a little out of my comfort zone creating images to be used on fabrics such as aprons, tea towels, quilting supplies, as well as a multitude of other items. it seems that most folks rely heavily on digital media for this type of work. while i am a traditional-media kind of girl, i did learn quite a bit about creating refined icons this week.

cerulean.

'hick's orchard' • 7X10" • watercolor on paper

what an amazing bright, spring weekend, eh? (except, perhaps, if you live in minnesota or wisconsin.)

•

i got my hands in the dirt and wrangled some early weeds. adam mowed the lawn for the first time this year. we grilled our saturday night dinner and i finally think i (may have) mastered a vegetarian "meat" sauce for loaded veggie dogs. we finally watched '7 psychopaths' which i think is my current favorite movie. it reminded me of 'reservoir dogs' although not quite as violent.

•

we have a very exciting vacation planned for the end of this month. i plan to take full advantage of the time to relax as i have a couple big projects planned for june. 

more on june to come!

spiced whole wheat oatmeal cookies.

perhaps it's time to revisit and share one of my most popular recipes. i still follow the the ingredient list closely but tend to add a bit more of one thing, and change up the fruit or chips each time i make it. sometimes i add some extra spices like ginger or cayenne.

1¾ cups whole wheat flour
¾ tsp baking soda
½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
½ tsp cinnamon
½ tsp freshly ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp cloves
1/4 tsp allspice
½ lb (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1½ cup packed brown sugar
¼ cup sugar
2 large eggs
2½ tsp vanilla extract (definitely NOT the imitation kind)
1 cup dried cranberries, blueberries or other fruit
1 cup white chocolate, cinnamon or butterscotch chips
3½ cups old fashioned rolled oats (not quick cooking)

preheat oven to 350 degrees fahrenheit. lightly grease cookie sheets or line with parchment paper.

whisk together all dry ingredients except the oats.

beat butter, sugars, eggs and vanilla until well blended.

stir the flour mixture into the butter mixture until well blended and smooth.

stir in dried fruit and oats (and get a great shoulder workout).

keep dough chilled until ready to bake.

drop the dough by heaping tablespoonfuls onto cookie sheets, about 2 inches apart. bake about 14 minutes, one sheet at a time, until cookies are lightly browned and just barely firm when lightly pressed in the center. rotate sheet halfway through cooking time for even browning. 

remove sheet from oven and let stand until firmed slightly, about 2 minutes. transfer cookies to racks to cool.

(the recipe makes about two dozen cookies.)

supernova sauce.

what's a girl to do with an overwhelming harvest of habanero peppers that happened to all be ripe at nearly the same time? how 'bout make a hot sauce that is so extremely, ridiculously spicy that it will take a year to use!

supernova sauce

(makes approximately 12 ounces)

20 fresh habanero, stemmed and seeded
10 cloves garlic, peeled
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup water or orange juice
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1 teaspoon garam masala
1 tablespoon agave nectar

•preheat the oven to 350 degrees fahrenheit.
•roast the habanero and garlic for about 20 minutes on a baking sheet. toss occasionally to prevent burning.
•place the roasted habanero and garlic in the food processor or blender with the remainder of the ingredients. blend until smooth. feel free to add more or less liquid to achieve your desired consistency.

mushroom, cashew & leek veggie burgers.

it's time for another try at a veggie burger recipe. my first attempt seemed successful but considering that i haven't made the recipe since, i suppose we couldn't have liked it too much.
after pouring over my "burger" board on pinterest, i referred again to veggie burgers every which way and chose to try a patty with cashews. there are quite a few recipes on the internet that are similar and apparently they are all based off a mother recipe created by cook's illustrated.
truthfully, this is a labor intensive recipe with many steps. i used half of the pans in our kitchen to make these burgers but it was worth it. the texture of the patties is dense and holds its shape in a bun. there's not many things worse than a veggie burger that squeezes out of the sides of the bun on your first bite.

mushroom, cashew & leek veggie burgers
(makes 6 patties)

1/3 cup red lentils
1/3 cup bulgur
4 tablespoons olive oil
8 crimini mushrooms, sliced
2 medium leeks, cleaned and thinly sliced
1 teaspoon of thyme
1 teaspoon sage
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1/2 cup raw cashews
2 eggs
2 teaspoons dijon mustard
1/4 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
1 cup bread crumbs

•cook the lentils in a pan covered with 1 cup of water. bring the lentils and water to a boil, then simmer until the lentils are tender and beginning to fall apart, about 20-25 minutes. drain any excess water, then set aside to cool.

•bring 2/3 cup water to a boil then stir in the bulgur. cover, remove from the heat, and let stand for 15-20 minutes or until all the water is absorbed. set aside to cool.

•preheat oven to 375ºF.

•sauté the mushrooms in 1 tablespoon of the oil at medium heat. cook until the mushrooms release their moisture and the fluid cooks off. set aside to cool.

•sauté the leeks, sage, and thyme over medium heat until tender and beginning to caramelize, approximately 12-15 minutes. add the garlic and tomato paste and cook for another few minutes. combine the leek mixture and the mushrooms in a bowl.

•using a food processor, pulse the cashews, eggs, mustard, and pepper until combined. add the mushrooms, leeks, and half of the lentils and bulgur. pulse until roughly combined. return this mixture to the bowl, adding the remaining bulgur and lentils. work the breadcrumbs into the mixture until it just holds its shape.

•form the mixture into 6 patties.

•in an oven safe pan, sauté the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil over medium-high heat. cook the patties until browned on the bottom, about 2-5 minutes, and flip to cook the other side. transfer the pan into the oven and bake for 12-15 minutes, until the burgers are firm and cooked through.

(i will try to freeze a few uncooked patties wrapped in waxed paper. some of the other web based recipes suggest adding a little extra bread crumb to the patties that will be frozen as they will become wetter once they are thawed.)

oh, hi there.

happy july to you all. it's hard to believe that summer has only just begun. it seems that the vegetable garden and the flowers are so much further along than usual. it also seems that every spare moment of time has been filled with some task or activity.
here is an abbreviated list of some recent happenings:
   •we put new floor in the kitchen and pantry.
   •we celebrated adam's 35th birthday at one of our local favorite restaurants, bistro tallulah.
   •a gloriously uneventful day was spent on lake george.
   •i unexpectedly learned of the death of a client of more than seven years in a sudden and unexplained way.
   •i made a small effort to restart written correspondence.
   •two new recipes made it into the repertoire: honey habanero tofu and carrot cake cookies.
   •i updated my illustration website a wee bit.
   •we spent a relaxed day catching up with friends, being charmed by their children, and floating around glen lake.
   •and finally, we're getting our packs ready for the first backpacking trip in quite some time. we have four days in the backcountry lined up with the goal of hiking both allen mountain and mt skylight.

(whew, no wonder i'm tired.)

i am a faker*...i mean, baker.

*to be sung along to this tune.

chilly, late fall weather screams for baking, no?
plus it's a great opportunity to try out some of the recipes i have been socking away on my Pinterest pages. (i have invites left for Pinterest. comment on this post or email me if you're interested.) this is a bit of a Franken-recipe as i pulled from three separate cupcake recipes to make this one.

 

Spicy Chocolate Stout Cupcakes

(makes about 24 cupcakes)

 

1 (11.2-ounce) bottle Guinness stout

1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

3 large eggs

3/4 cup sour cream

2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour

2 cups granulated sugar

3/4 cup natural unsweetened cocoa powder

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon fresh ground nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon cayenne

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

1/2 teaspoon fine salt

preheat the oven to 350 degrees farenheit. prepare muffin tins with liners and set aside.
in a medium bowl, combine the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, cayenne, baking soda and salt.
in a large bowl, combine the Guinness, milk, vegetable oil and vanilla. add the eggs, one at a time, whisking until completely incorporated. mix in the sour cream.
add 1/3 of the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and fold to combine. gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet, folding to combine. divide into the prepared tins.
bake 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the muffins comes out clean. set pans on a wire rack to cool for 5-10 minutes. remove cupcakes from the pans and allow to cool completely before frosting.

Bailey's and Cinnamon Buttercream

1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature

2+ cups powdered sugar

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

4 tablespoons Bailey's Irish Creme

pinch of salt

beat the butter until light and creamy.
beat in 1/2 cup of sugar, cinnamon, vanilla, Bailey's and salt until combined.
continue to add the sugar 1/2 cup at a time until desired consistency and sweetness is reached.

despite my name, i am not french.

today is the last day of my four day weekend. i've been pretty lucky with the weather and have been able to get out, dig around, rake and uncover the new growth in the yard. happily, our first tulip opened and it looks like my rose bush survived the winter.
i'm trying to occupy my mind in the kitchen as i wait for fed ex to deliver my new macbook pro. i am typing this post on my old macbook and i feel a little sheepish about how excited i am for the new machine; like i'm cheating or something.
i decided to try a recipe that i've never made, nor have ever eaten. it's a vegetarian version of choucroute garnie which i found in one of our many cookbooks. apparently, this cookbook has what might be the only vegetarian version of the recipe because after only a quick google search i found that choucroute garnie is possibly the least vegetarian dish around. images are of a dish piling over with sausages, bacon and other animal products.
no bother; it was an excellent excuse to go to our local natural food store and pick up some veggie sausages. the recipe also calls for reisling. it's an odd feeling to be in a liquor store at 9:30 AM on a tuesday; the merchant hadn't even put cash in his register yet.
all but the sausages & tempeh are in the crockpot and hopefully my delivery will arrive soon so i can steal some time up in the studio before going back to the office tomorrow!

doldrums.

adam cooking something sure to be delicious.

recently it feels like things are moving at the speed of light and in slow motion at the same time. i'm no physicist but i'm pretty sure that's not possible. it seems that i have a task list a mile long and am always working on something but when asked what i've been up to, the answer is always, "not much".
it's times like these when you take inspiration from where ever you can find it; like here, here, here and here. and you know i can always get inspired by food and recipes like this, this and definitely this.
speaking of food, what's for dinner?

housekeeping.

i have been tidying up some of my online accounts.
i decided to consolidate my flickr accounts, having two separate ones was becoming a bit of a hassle. i will now be posting my artworks to my "main" photo page: adrndack.
i posted a few new prints at my etsy shop and cross posted them on facebook.
i disabled my portfolio website some time back and am still trying to figure out what to do with the domain. it's inevitable that i will need to reactivate it, but there's so many different web hosts that it's difficult to figure out the best option. any advice or recommendations?
i have also been fussing around on pinterest. it's a fun alternative to using delicious for bookmarking. i like to be able to see all the recipes i've saved for future cooking as a colorful pin board.

(parentheses)

hi all.  it might be a little quiet around here for the next week.
we're hosting thanksgiving at our place, so please send me your most peaceful and well organized thoughts.  adam's making his first turkey (16 pounds!) and i will be preparing some delicious meatless loaf (although "loaf" isn't the most appetizing word).
i've also got a fancy new printer coming in the mail tomorrow.  i spent a pretty penny on it, but it comes with a $300 mail-in-rebate (which i would like to receive before the next ice age).  that printer will (hopefully) be the gateway to me making (and selling) some prints of my artwork.  i forsee some trial and error in my near future.
happy holiday!

veggie burger experiment.

i eat a lot of veggie burgers.  there's probably three to four boxes in the freezer right now.  i get anxious if the supply drops below two boxes.  i like to have a variety of choices; black bean and "chicken" patties are a necessity.
considering my near addiction to these easy meal makers, it's a wonder i waited so long to try my hand at making them from scratch.
i figure the best place to start is an attempt to replicate my favorite frozen burger flavor-black bean.
i would say that the outcome was positive.  on the next try, i will certainly bake the burgers longer, perhaps at a higher temperature.  they were a little soft on the inside for my tastes, but were otherwise delicious.


chipotle black bean burgers
adapted from veggie burgers every which way by lukas volger

3/4 c TVP (textured vegetable protein)
2/3 c boiling water
1 can black beans, thoroughly rinsed (1 1/2 c)
1/2 onion, roughly chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped
3 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, minced, plus 1 TBSP sauce
1/2 c frozen corn, thawed
juice of one lime
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
1/4 tsp dried chile pepper flakes
1 cup cooked brown rice
3 TBSP whole wheat flour
3/4 c panko bread crumbs
2 TBSP oil

•preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
•reconstitute TVP by pouring boiling water over it.  let sit for 10 minutes.
•combine 1/2 cup black beans, garlic and the onion in a food processor and pulse until coarsely pureed.
•place remaining beans in a bowl and coarsely mash with a potato masher or a fork. add the bean-onion mixture to the mashed beans, and then gently fold in all the remaining ingredients. let stand for 10 minutes.
•shape into 6 burgers.
•in an oven safe sauté pan, heat oil over medium-high heat.  add burgers and cook until browned on each side, 6-10 minutes total.  transfer pan to oven and bake for 12 to 15 minutes, until the burgers are firm and cooked through.

double decadence.

we don't do much for valentine's day around these parts.  i tend to think of it as a commercial holiday, much like most of the other holidays that exist.  adam and i don't exchange gifts...ever.

but what we always do (holiday or not) is EAT!
here is adam's contribution to yesterday's meal:

broccoli and squash macaroni & cheese via 30 days, 30 ways with macaroni & cheese








and here is what i contributed:

cinnamon roll cheesecake (sans frosting) via culinary concoctions by peabody.

i should also mention that this was my first cheesecake making experience and i was a little bit nervous.  it turned out fantastic and wasn't hard at all.

whattcha been up to?

so you've probably been noticing that i've been kinda callin' it in for the last two weeks. let me give you an abridged version of what's been going on.

•my vegetable garden has been crapping the bed. it never really took off this year, mostly because of our wet and cool summer. my eggplants are only now starting to really set fruit and the tomatoes all "caught the blight". the flowers haven't really fared much better. it's most obvious with the sage and snapdragons. everything just stayed pretty small and hasn't been very spectacular. it's not a total failure as any gardener knows, because this year's failures have taught me many lessons for future gardens.

•i've been recently obsessed with cooking with eggs. it started with this article from the kitchn, then it just took on a life of it's own. frittatas, carbonaras (sans bacon), etc.

•i picked up working on my family tree. i added a little more than a hundred people, bringing the total tree to more than one thousand people. a few years back i got stuck and had given up the researching. recently, i found an error in my tree around 1800 which had caused the problem. my great (x4) grandfather, edward had three wives (a double widower) and i had listed the wrong wife in my tree. fixing this has brought me back to the 16th century, which is where i'm stuck again.

•hosting a garage sale is a great way to people watch. especially since the people come right to your house.

•i am particularly finicky about jewelery, but recently found a very awesome beach glass "cairn" necklace on etsy. it was hand made by sarah schneider in california. you can see her work here.

•we FINALLY got to bring home our new "child", louie blu yesterday. he's adjusting pretty well; especially since he's never met a dog before. it will be a few weeks for everyone to find their niches but it will all work out.
here is a gratuitous kitty shot:

domesticity.

it happens that we had some bananas left over from our camping trip to putnam pond.
(at the campsite we had made "banana smores". bananas, stuffed in their peel with chocolate & marshmallows, wrapped in foil then thrown right in the campfire for about 15 minutes. YUM!)
what to do? make banana bread!


whole wheat banana bread with chocolate chips

2 cups whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon allspice
1/2 cup butter
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs, beaten
2-3 medium over-ripe bananas, mashed
1 cup chocolate chips

•preheat oven to 350 degrees farenheit. lightly grease a 9x5 inch loaf pan.
•in a bowl, combine flour, baking soda, cinnamon, allspice and salt. in a another bowl, cream together butter, vanilla extract and brown sugar. stir in eggs and mashed bananas until well blended. just barely stir banana mixture into flour mixture; do NOT overmix. put batter into pan.
•bake in preheated oven for 60 to 65 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into center of the loaf comes out clean. let bread cool in pan for 10 minutes, then cool completely on a wire rack.

keepin' it low pro.

•nothing of much consequence has happened this week. you can call it apathy or laziness if you want, but i'm gonna say it's "resting up". we're going backpacking on friday and plan to hike the four high peaks in the seward range. 'nuff said.

•we went to our friend's restaurant, The Long Horn on Lake Vanare yesterday. great "adirondack" ambiance, AND they have a veggie burger on the menu. they're still waiting on a liquor license (since february!), but once they get it, they'll be serving dinner in addition to breakfast and lunch.

•i've been dehydrating this weekend; food that is. this is my first test run making backpacking food. we'll be bringing commercially prepared stuff just in case i totally farked this up, but we'll also be eating baja burritos made by moi. here's a shot of some shriveled up cabbage...doesn't it look...well...shriveled? hopefully it'll taste better than it looks.

excluded erroneously.

i made oatmeal cookies today in preparation for our annual retreat to the friend's lake cabin for tara's birthday. i used the cookbook adam and i made ("Stuff We Eat") for holiday gifts as a guide. imagine my horror as i noticed that an essential ingredient was missing from the printed recipe!!! how embarrassing!!!! an email has been sent to all of the recipients of our cookbook, but i will also post it here just to be sure...

truth be told, i change the ingredients a little each time i make these cookies (although i NEVER omit brown sugar). this time i added cinnamon chips, which i recently discovered at the local grocery store, with the usual dried cranberries.

1¾ cups all purpose flour
¾ tsp baking soda
½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
½ tsp cinnamon
½ tsp nutmeg
½ lb (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1½ cup packed brown sugar
¼ cup sugar
2 large eggs
2½ tsp vanilla extract
1 cup dried cranberries, blueberries or other fruit
3½ cups old fashioned rolled oats (not quick cooking)

preheat oven to 350 degrees fahrenheit. lightly grease cookie sheets or line with parchment paper.
whisk together dry ingredients.
beat butter, sugars, eggs and vanilla until well blended.
stir the flour mixture into the butter mixture until well blended and smooth.
stir in dried fruit and oats.
keep dough chilled until ready to bake.
drop the dough by heaping tablespoonfuls onto cookie sheets, about 2 inches apart. bake about 10 minutes, one sheet at a time, until cookies are lightly browned and almost firm when lightly pressed in the center. rotate sheet halfway through cooking time for even browning. remove sheet from oven and let stand until firmed slightly, about 2 minutes. transfer cookies to racks to cool.

little bits.

•i must sing the praises of one of our favorite meals. or maybe i should say sauces? because you could put a massaman curry on a dirty shoe and it would be outstandingly delicious. if you don't know, massaman is a thai curry that is muslim in origin. it's made with chiles, galangal, garlic, lemongrass, cumin and about a hundred other spices. i buy a pre-made paste (at the Asian market on Colvin Ave in Albany) and mix a few tablespoons with coconut milk. last night we put it over roasted cauliflower, garbanzo beans and peas. all of this over jasmine rice...yum!

•lately, in lieu of the gym, we have been taking crosbi on long walks around the city of Glens Falls. the city is only three square miles, but we haven't taken the same walk yet. oddly, as much as i want to move further north in the future, Glens Falls continues to grow on me. heck, with the newly remodeled Crandall Library, Siam Thai's return and the continued renewal efforts it's hard to hate this place.

•to those who believe that adirondackers are all cut off from the world, chopping logs and wearing overalls, please check out the adirondack almanack. john warren has been on top of the important and often controversial (cell phone towers, MSM vs local coverage) topics "inside the blue line" since 2005. now he has two additional contributers and a snappy new header. congratulations on four years, adirondack almanack!

•i am close to sharing my little project with you . my personality is such that i would like to "make everything perfect" first, but in the words of ivan turgenev, "if we wait until the moment when everything, absolutely everything, is ready we shall never begin". stay tuned...

what'd it ever do to you?

poor cilantro...
why do people dislike you so? is it because you make food so delicious? or because you taste fresh and bright?
mexican food, especially guacamole, isn't quite right without you. trust me, i know, because i have a cilantro hater right in my own home. all too frequently i have to cook without you to avoid revolt.
i still love you though. you will always have a place in my garden. even if you do go to seed so damn fast.

mmmm...

so, i finally decided what to make with my birthday gift from corin at a walk in the park.
she generously gave me some honey from the bounty of her family's beekeeping efforts.

some jazzed up apple crisp was in order, especially considering we have quite a few apples still remaining from our trip to hick's orchard.

thanks again corin!