Pancit

I was hungry for Pinoy food, so I stirred up this tasty noodle dish.

• rice noodles
• peppers
• green beans
• broccoli
• veggie sausage
• peas
• onions
• carrots
• soy sauce

Vegan Tofu Sandwich

• olive oil sautéed tofu seasoned with applewood smoked salt
• red & yellow peppers
• lettuce
• avocado

Served on made-from-scratch focaccia bread and garnished with tomato and fresh-from-the-garden basil

Peach Cobblerettes [ghetto good]

"Ghetto good" is a term I heard on Master Chef.  The idea behind the phrase is, something that's inelegant, but is still too good to be overlooked. So, here's one of my favourite ghetto goodnesses.  All of the ingredients are commercially purchased and machine processed.  These are the opposite kinds of food that I enjoy, but this is just too good:

• canned peaches (drained)
• pie syrup (corn starch, sugar, salt, vanilla, pie spices, liquid)
• frozen biscuits
• whip topping

Bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes

These ingredients have a long shelf life, so you can keep them on hand for any unexpected company... or if you're just craving fresh cobbler, but only have 30 min.

Absolutely ghetto-good

Aus dem Garten [update]

New things growing: Shallots, garlic, potatoes, grapes, blueberries and lemon

Phanaeng Curry with Chamorro Red Rice

Improvising here with:

• lettuce
• tofu
• peppers
• tomatoes

Seasoned Breads

Here's two batches of bread made simultaneously:

• The white bread is garlic bread: garlic and olive oil mixed into the dough.
• The yellow mix bread: turmeric and paprika with basil and parsley.

Garden Progress

Here's the latest in the garden: The onion sets thriving:

Nectarines:

Peaches:

Pecan & Blueberry Waffles

• waffle mix (yep, sometimes I use a mix)
• ground flax seed
• frozen blueberries
• chopped pecans
• olive (or coconut) oil
• egg whites

Pinot Noir Cake with Vanilla Cream Frosting (no alcohol)

--A new take on Red Velvet

Sorry again for no recipe - nothing got measured, but here's the ingredient list:

• sugar
• coconut oil
• 3 whole eggs
• dutch cocoa
• baking powder
• salt
• red food colouring
• unbleached flour
• unfermented pinot noir (grape juice)
• water

Bake until a toothpick comes out clean:

Cool on wire rack:

Then prepare the frosting:

• greek youghurt
• granulated sugar
• icing sugar
• cream cheese
• vanilla bean

Fresh vanilla bean - nothing else will do:

Whip then chill:

  Final Product:

Complete: Asymmetrical Collar Pullover

Original sketch found here:  Concept: Asymmetrical Collar Pullover Constructed from cotton blend interlock knit. Final product:

Baguette with Black Truffled Brie

A nice and crusty baguette is amazing; complemented only by the exotic black truffle brie... and a few microgreens for some colour and nutritional value.

Concept: French Cuff Dress Shirt with Contrasting Collar/Cuffs

A new way of planting

Generally things get planted under the soil.  However, for root crops, that means a lot of digging.  This year I'm trying a new method:

• First, till the ground - very shallow; 1-2 inches.
• Then sprinkle a bit of rich soil atop the ground and arrange the root seed on the soil.

• Then cover with adequate mulch

• Finally top with more soil - it will eventually wash through the mulch, so expect to add a bit more before the shoots appear.

I'll see how it goes and keep posted on the progress.  You may have noticed that I planted a lot of potatoes in a small space.  I generally dig potatoes when they're new, and small.  You can always thin them later if you decide it's too dense.

Bon week-end!

Lots of friends over at jLAmode today.  We cooked a mixed cuisine with Italian/Mediterranean, American and Asian food.

• Antipasti
• Curry
• Tinaktak
• Chamorro Red Rice
• Penne & Marinara
• Caprese salad
• Olive bread
• Monkey bread
• 5 layer bars

Towards the evening, we worked on some couture things.  We didn't end up with a lot of final product, but had fun with design ideas and working with the machines.

I forgot to take photos before we devoured it all, but here's some of it:

Taters and Onions

This afternoon was unseasonably warm, so I got a chance to work in the garden... and mow the lawn. I put in some cold weather crops: red, yellow & white onions and red potatoes. It was fun work, but I'm glad for the Day of Rest.

New textile stock

I just got some new fabric stock.  They're kinda pricy but they're some of my favourites. Natural fibres: Silks, linens, cottons and wool.

Tomorrow's also going to be a good day - got some friends coming over to jLAmode to learn/design and create.

Roses in the winter! [Aus dem Garten - first post]

Here's the first post for the Aus dem Garten category. It's only February, and sill winter here, but the roses are are already sprouting leaves!

In spite of recent rain, making the ground sloppy and heavy, I planted some new nursery stock:  The JFK Hybrid Tea Rose.

So far it's the only white rose I have in the dozen+ that grow in the garden.  As they start producing, I'll post a gallery for 2012's rose blooms.

Greek Yoghurt Parfait

Although best with fresh fruit, some frozen can be used.Simply layer yoghurt, granola and fruit.

(don't use granola with raisins)

You can use vanilla yoghurt or make your own: Mix nonfat, unflavoured Greek yoghurt with vanilla, sugar, honey and a dash of cinnamon.

Fleece lined Jacket

Cocoa!

Vanilla frozen youghurt with cocoa puree; garnished with fleur de sel and cocoa nibs.

On a whim, I decided to try making chocolate.  It didn't work out at all, but I was able to repurpose the concoction.

First, take cocoa nibs: (these are organic, fair trade cocoa nibs)

Then, pulverize them in a food processor with sugar, vanilla and olive oil... that's where things didn't work so good.  Even processing for 3o minutes, it never got ultra smooth.

Since cocoa is about 50% fat, much of it saturated, it solidifies quickly. Also, to ensure consistency, strain the purée.

This was the result:

It was surprisingly good and given its naturally rapid solidification, I supposed that it would make a good shell for ice cream (or fro-yo).