weekending

Makin salsa - tomato, peach, onion, garlic, a little kombucha, salt, and seasonings to follow after I post this - we'll have this with corn chips tonight before roasted chicken & kale.

From instagram last week - I've started trying to precut my tougher, hardier veg at the start of the week to simplify things. Going well so far!

Spicy chicken tacos with plantain tortillas. 

Leftover chicken, zucchini noodles, celery, green cabbage, tomato, cheddar, balsamic vinegar, garlic, don't remember what else, it was amazing.

My handsome husband cooking at my mom's last weekend.

Me serving lazy sangria cocktails...

Boxed red wine, orange juice, ginger, raspberry, green apple & ice.

Beating egg yolks with hot milk syrup to make custard (and eventually ice cream popsicles).

We have also been enjoying outdoor eating lately... Sigh! Could life be any better? (Maybe if Sam were here ;) I start TWO new classes tomorrow that will end July 10, it's going to be mental; the real test of whether I can handle five classes in the fall. Anyway things will be a bit quiet here, though I hope to report after my birthday party, which will be fantastic. I am already happily making to-do lists in my head. I've got to get fermenting!

Peace to y'all, and happy weekending!

Brunch Time

So I've taken it upon myself to host a brunch for 8 ladies and myself next Sunday to celebrate one of my closest friend's 25th. To give you a short background note, she mostly organized my bachelorette (and it was awesome), has always made a point of participating to everyone's celebrations, and is just plain around always been there for everyone. On top of that, she's been under a lot of stress (new baby, etc) so I really want to make this girly and stress-free and beautiful for her. Here is my plan, I invite you to please comment and give any advice!

 

Here is my food plan:

 

• The iron skillet will have a hash of sweet potato/onions.turkey sausage with eggs
• Breakfast enchiladas of eggs, cheese, bacon, peppers
• Overnight apple pie oatmeal will eb served directly in my mom's cute small crockpot
• Overnight French toast strata with real maple syrup (none of that fake shit) and layered with whatever berry will be on special (Im hoping blueberries or raspberries)
• On a 2 tier tea biscuit tower: bottom layer will have buttermilk waffles cut into quarters and dipped into dark chocolate, and the top tier will have thin crisper bowls filled with fruit salad
• Making granola and filling champagne cups with strawberry layered granola (I did a test run of that and it looks soooo pretty)
• A salad of baby spinach, toasted pecans, grapefruit segments, and dried cranberries with a sweet poppy seed dressing
• a basket of banana/oatmeal.chocolate muffins and almond croissants with a couple of jars of my jam.

There will also be a 'drink bar' with a fruity mimosa punch bowl, coffee, tea, hot chocolate. I've also organized a pitch in to buy a floral arrangement for the food table that she will take home as a gift from all of us. And lastly I've invited all the ladies to wear their cute dresses and floppy hats as a theme, and will set up a DIY photo booth with accessories. I'm largely deleguating the photo booth to one of my friends who has a camera and accessories that she can set up, and the mimosa is the responsibility of another friend. The photo booth friend is sleeping over the night before to help me prep and some things can be made this weekend and frozen (waffles, muffins, granola). Im feeling confident about this, and I really want to do this right for her.


Any thoughts/criticism/advice?

 

rainbow cake!

So fun!

I've had this recipe pinned forever, and we decided to make it for Ambrose's birthday party. We got a car this weekend, visited our dear friend Carolina, Brazilian coffee-maker extraordinare and juicer-owner, and juiced a bunch of fruits and veg for dyes, then had a little peach juice party. Just juicing was good fun! We want one now!

I greased all the pans but didn't flour them, so they generally didn't cooperate well in coming out. Still, the whole process was really neat, the cake tastes great (we slapped it together for family sampling), and it really doe slook gorgeous, even though my purple layer looks kind of gray. Whatever! Rainbows and clouds (cream cheese and yogurt, no sweetness at all, just a bit of nutmeg) and rain drops (edible silver ball bearings)!!! So much cuteness!

I have to make more spinach juice and make a new batch of cakes, lined with parchment paper this time, and freeze them for thawing and assembling Saturday, the day of Ambrose's party. Yee haw!

Recipe note: I don't have 5.5" cake pans, so I used a multiplying factor of 1.45 on all ingredients to translate it to 8" dimensions. The flour combo was 40% ground almonds, 60% white rice flour. As usual, no lab gums. Delish! I also used an extra egg yolk with the carrot juice for the orange layer. Next time will use more beet juice.

lined up for duty! my faith in the blackberry juice faltered so I also bought grape juice. not a good idea actually.

look how frothy and abundant the beet juice was!!

Beating the dry ingredients - my kitchenaid mixer needs to be repaired, so I actually had to use a hand mixer. Weird! Also notice how white it is!! I bought white sugar for the first time in... ever? for this cake.

dyes mixed into the batter portions

"look at all the fascinating colours!!" he said.

Ambrose was delighted with the colours, and we had a lot of beet, so I used tiny amounts of beet juice to dye his yogurt (and a few cups of milk) pink.

mixed. notice how similar the blueberry and blackberry/grape look? They do look distincitve when baked.

tah dah!

It was fun. I need to get silicone cake pans. I don't know how I can go back to eating regular cake, now.

Julia's baby shower

The spread: veggies with green onion and mayo dip; brie and jalepeno havarti; pain d'epi bread (cut into chunks arranged to look almost braided, like a wheat stalk - easy for parties, you just break off a chunk and don't worry about slicing); zatar; chocolate sour cream cake; lemon meringue sugar sandwich cookies.


the heart stencil is easy to make - cut it out of thin cardboard and tape on a thin finger handle for easy lifting when you're done.


assembling meringue cookies.



Julia & Sam.

Jake enjoying bread with cheese, with Ambrose in hot pursuit.


Olive loves dried apricots.

I love parties!

Sam's partay

I threw Sam a party for her bird-day.

The lesson here is: presentation is everything.

I once heard a great example of this in the realm of pastoral ministry for youth. The writer emphasized the importance of using good and beautiful things to serve others to make them feel valuable. If you use vessels of value, it sends the message that your guests are of value. When having a tea party for the young women who come to youth group, or the drop-in center, whether they are Christians yet or not, use lovely things, and they will feel lovely, and the teaching of the dignity of the human person will be easier to believe. The writer included a thought experiment: imagine a tea party where 14 year old girls come to the center and are served tea in disposable wax and paper cups, and cookies from a box on paper napkins. They would probably have a fine time and not notice - many young people today do not have homes where they would expect any more than that when serving guests, or in daily use. Now imagine they were served in the center's plain mugs and simple (mismatched) plates. Ahh, that feels homier, right? The girls might even help wash the dishes and share a sense of accomplishment. Finally, imagine using the finest, fanciest china you own, with homemade cookies, of course - what does this say to young girls who so often feel objectified, uncared for, put down, unloved? It says yes, they are worth it, yes, we believe in you and your ability to live up to this, yes, we care about you enough to spend some extra time baking and washing dishes to please and delight you!

I am never insulted per se when I go to a party and am served food on disposable plates. It is normal. That is how I grew up. That's how my mom and aunts and uncles still do it. But for me, I have made an inner vow: to not serve the salmon on the shiney cardboard it came on, to not let people eat out of tupperwares, and to just say no to plastic forks.

Because you are worth it! Happy birthday, Sam!

lemon cake

Today we had our house blessed, did the enthronement of the Sacred Heart, and served this lemon cake to celebrate. Sam, who actually took these photos, was present, and requested the recipe. It's a Jamie Oliver, who has it online - check it out! Mine looks nothing like his, for reasons I don't know! Oh well! My only other comment is that I used whole wheat pastry flour and it worked beautifully.