Apricots & Plums

Last week, I picked 10 gallons of plums in my backyard - that resulted in 3 gallons of juice and nearly 2 gallons of puree - and I picked about 150 apricots on Wednesday. Today is going to be a big canning day. If you'd like to visit to see how I do it - drop a line here!

In priority, today's projects will include:

• Apricot infused vodka (first because it's the easiest!)
  
• Apricot jam (plain apricot, apricot chipotle)
  
• Apricot chutney
  
• Apricot fruit leather
• Candied apricots (they can hang out on the back burner)
  
• Plum fruit leather (might be tart, though!)
  
• Plum jelly (plain plum, plum serrano, plum habanero)
  
• Plum sauce

Before I get started, I want to inventory current preserves still on the shelf. Then, Wash and prep all the jars. Next, a quick trip to BevMo to get the vodka, and then I will swing by Oakland's Chinatown to get the ginger (you can't argue with 50 cents a pound and ginger is not a highly pesticided crop, so...).

These apricots are massive - they are the size of small peaches! I put some into the dehydrator last night, so we'll see how they come out, if at all dried!

Jenn's Killer Carrot Cake

I like my carrot cake moist, rich and very cake-like. When I first tried the recipe in The Joy of Vegan Baking - I have to say, I was impressed but had to tweak it and went so far that I made a completely different carrot cake. I like to make cupcakes and also bigger baking dish sizes of carrot cake - and often do triple proportions of what the Joy of Vegan Baking calls for (that results in 42 muffins). Here's a slightly scaled down version of my take:

• 6 Tb ground flaxseed
• 1 c water
• 1 c unsweetened applesauce
• 1/3 c canola oil
• 3 c grated carrots (peel only if bitter, otherwise just scrub well!)
• 2 c chopped pecans
• 2 c raisins (or sub 1 c. for chopped dried apples, apricots, persimmons or other dried fruit)
• 3 c unbleached AP or whole wheat pastry flour
• 1 c sugar and 1 c blackstrap molasses or sorghum (slightly less to 1.5 c total is ok - or sub with 1.5 c Sucanat which is sugar with molasses still in it but remember it cooks differently and may need more moisture from somewhere!)
• 3 tsp baking soda
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp ground cloves
• 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp ground allspice
• freshly grated ginger - you like ginger? load up - you can't put too much in here, I swear!
• 1 tsp salt

1. Preheat the oven to 350, lightly crease your pan(s).
2. Whip flaxseed & water in blender til thick, then add oil, applesauce and blend til mixed.
3. Mix up carrots, nuts & fruit - stir in flaxseed/oil/applesauce mixture and molasses or sorghum.
4. In a big bowl, mix the dry ingredients (flour, sugar, spices, salt).
5. Stir in the wet ingredients until thoroughy combined. I like to use my kitchen aid - it's a lot easier than stirring this by hand and usually breaks up all the renegade dry mix globs!
6. Spread into pan or muffin tins - I found that 1/4 cup into the muffin tins worked pretty well, though 1/3 cup is nice for bigger muffins.
7. Bake until done - some people like the toothpick test, but this seems to bake so quickly, I can just touch the top and tell. Cupcakes finish in less tha 20 minutes!
   

Cucumber Salad with Pickled Carrot & Red Onion

SUMMER POTLUCKS are one of my favorite events - a great chance to improvise and use whatever fresh produce I can get at the farmer's market. Today, I got some amazing cucumbers, carrots, radishes and red onions. So, I thought it might be nice to pickle the carrots and onions, and then add that all to the cucumbers - that way the cucumbers are still nice and crispy and will pickle slightly in the vinegar brine, making the leftovers more of a pickle than a salad.

1# carrots, peeled & cut up
1 med red onion, thinly sliced
3 cloves garlic
spices - anise seed, dill seed, mustard seed, black pepper, salt, clove
3/4 c. sugar
1 c. apple cider vinegar
2-4 T. sea salt
fresh ginger - big chunk, peeled and sliced thin
1-2 serrano chiles

6 cucumbers
1 bunch radishes, sliced thin
1/2 bunch parsley
1 bunch peppermint

1. Peel & cut up the carrots - I have a coarse grater that makes 1/2" wide shreds - or julienne the carrots into small sticks about 1 1/2" to 2" long.

2. Drop the carrots into 3 c. boiling lightly salted water and simmer for about 1 minute. Drain into a colander, rinse with cold water and then thoroughly drain (a casserole dish lined with a clean tea towel folded to fit or paper towels works great). Leave the carrots and occasionally turn them to drain better.

3. Add spices to water and return to boil, boil it down about 1/3 or so. Add the apple cider vinegar, return to boil and then add the onion slices, serrano & ginger. Simmer about 3 minutes.

4. Remove the towel from the dish where the carrots are resting - pour on the onions & brine & spices. Stir together and let rest.

5. Using a zester, remove some of the cucumber peel - it makes a nice edge and will help the cucumbers keep some shape. Halve the cucumber and cut into 1/4" thick slices. Add to carrots & onions, toss gently to mix and cover.

6. Scrub & thinly slice radishes (reserving the greens for eating later - yum!) and add to the salad.

7. Chiffonade parsley & peppermint - toss into salad. Use a slotted spoon to transfer to serving bowl. Store remainder of salad in large mason jar, make sure it is covered with brine - should keep a week in the fridge (unless you eat it all).

Mint Pesto

This mint pesto turned out beyond my expectations - it really works and it keeps well in the refrigerator. If you have mint growing wild in your garden, this is a really great use for it. The proportions for this recipe are estimated and your mileage may vary!

Ingredients:
7-8 cups washed mint leaves (no stems)
1/2 - 3/4 c raw pumpkin seeds
1/2 - 3/4 c raw almonds
1/2 c pumpkin seed oil
2-4 T agave syrup
3-6 peeled & coarsely chopped or smashed garlic cloves
2 serrano chiles, seeded & coarsely chopped
Sea salt, to taste
Olive oil, as needed

1. Wash and strip enough good mint leaves to fill your 7 c Cuisinart
2. chop 1/2 c raw pumpkin seeds and 1/2-3/4 c raw almonds
3. Add a few handfuls of leaves to the food processor & process til it starts to blend up a bit
4. Add some pumpkin seed oil, alternating with olive oil for taste
5. Coarsely chopp 2 serrano chiles and add to food processor with more mint leaves
6. Coarsely chop 3-6 cloves garlic, add to food processor with more mint leaves
7. Add juice from 2 limes and more mint leaves
8. Add sea salt and 2 tb agave syrup and rest of mint leaves
9. Process the heck out of this til it's smooth - add water or veg broth to thin it out if necessary.

Be sure to tap your storage containers to get out air bubbles, then cover the pesto with a layer of olive oil to help keep it fresh.

This pesto is great on pasta, mixed into potatoes and everything. Plenty of mint, so plenty of opportunities to experiment!

Garden Update - Tomato Relocation Project

James graciously offered to help with my tomato relocation project - in fact, he had some great ideas and mapped out my rows and we put in some seedings from his house, and moved little tomato plants so they are in better rows. It looks promising!

I've noticed that since my garden is so late in getting going, there are a LOT more weeds. The cucumber plants are doing great - they are popping out of the ground and surrounding their little mounds. Even the kabocha squash seems ok.

The broccoli rab & chard are happening, but all too close together. I picked a TON of mint while James reorganized the volunteer tomato seedlings. When we went inside, we got into some trouble in the kitchen - a giant load of mint pesto. It came out so great that I will definitely be making more of this next time I weed the garden.

SEEDLING FAIL - again!

You know what they say, right? Third time is the charm? Well, they LIED!

OK - for real, the seedlings were doing MUCH better. The weather was warm so I put the tray outside to harden off and had high hopes. That is, til I came home from work the day after a return from camping with a friend to discover that - will good intentions - he had put the clear plastic cover back on the seed tray and they all DIED while I was at work on Tuesday.

*sigh*

I told my friend and he was very sorry - in fact, he respectfully converted the little seed cup markers to tombstones of varying faiths (cross, star, crescent moon,peace sign, and I think an ankh) before I got home Wednesday. I just found the cute seedling marker modifications tonight when I got home. I love this friend - he has a really endearing cute streak.

Time to move to Plan B: relying on volunteers and seedlings from James.

Garden Update

The kale, broccoli rab & chinese broccoli (basically like broccoli rab) are growing and may be ready to nibble early next week. Chard is going like crazy and getting TALL! I think I have to re-plant chard seeds. Cilantro, fennel, dill & parsley not growing as expected. Lettuces planted didn't grow well though two heads of romaine popped up 10 feet away (I think seeds got on kitty or raccoon paws - birds must've eaten rest of seeds).

The potato condo is doing very well. Lots of vines, no flowers yet - am going to add a few more sprouted potatoes to the condo.

Lots of tomato volunteers in the garden - 31 at last count though I spotted a few coming up amidst the kale.

My seedling tray is sad and pathetic.

I am going to just buy a TON more basil seeds and sow direct to soil because I'm tired of them not growing in the tray, and have to go buy some more tomatoes so I can have 50 or so again this year. *sigh*

Buying tomato plants. What is this world coming to?

Another Cookbook Contest!

My friend Karen Solomon just published a book called "Jam It, Pickle It, Cure It" with Tenspeed press. A blogger named Erin is giving away a copy on Erin Cooks - so please hop over and leave a comment before 6pm today if you want to try to win Karen's book!

Vegan & Wheat Free Desserts!

Ricki at Diet, Dessert & Dogs has just announced the completion and impending release of her new cookbook Sweet Freedom. She's been tempting us for months with photos of delicious looking desserts and is also offering a give-away of several copies of her books - all you have to do is got to her blog entry and leave a comment. You can get additional entries by e-mailing the information to friends or posting it to your own blog. I'm determined to win a cookbook, so I've done both. :)

More Strawberries!

Oops, I did it again! Bought another flat of strawberries! This time, I managed to make up a big batch of delicious strawberry jam. It came out really fantastic! I can't wait for blueberries & cherries to come up!

YIELD:
8 c. strawberry jam in 8 and 12 oz jars

SEEDLING FAIL, Redux

I am very worried for my seedlings. The seedlings are way too long and leggy. The conditions are the same as last year - except that I started the seeds in March, and here it is already May. So, I set up two grow lights and put a heating pad under the tray. I pulled out the really leggy seedlings that look seriously doomed and replanted -- fingers crossed!

Garden Update

Very exciting to report that the garlic is positively flourishing! The dill and fennel are coming up, and the tomato plants I got from the farmer's market seem to be doing ok. There are dozens of volunteer tomato plants in the garden - in fact, they are growing strong and seem to be doing pretty well. The kale & greens are all coming up - but sadly, the seedlings for parsley, cilantro and lettuces are not. Potato condo looks amazing. I swear - I have photos - just haven't uploaded them yet!

James Seedlings: SUCCESS!

Last night, I went to James' house to check out his garden and seedlings. He has already put in posts for his tomatoes - he is doing Florida Weave but on 3 sides of his garden so that the tomatoes are all along the outside edges, with beans and stuff between the tomato plants.

The seedlings he started from my saved seeds look MUCH better than mine - so I hope to get some good seedlings from him once they are healthy.

I was also treated to my favorite vegan Japanese dishes - I especially adore the way he makes hijiki with tofu pocket slices -- it was such a nice gardening & dinner evening with a good friend.

Ravioli, Redux!

Another round of Stinging Nettle & Wild Chanterelle Ravioli from the Millennium cookbook - why? Because it's AWESOME! This time, I made up a very big batch of candy cap balsamic reduction well in advance - two bottles of balsamic and 1/2" oz of dried candy caps later, I've got a decent 2 cups of syrupy reduction to add to dressings and sauces.

The ravioli turned out amazing - even though two of my guests couldn't eat wheat, I saved the filling for them to eat with the salad and they pronounced it delicious. In fact, one guest said "This is the best meal I have ever had!"

The ravioli were served on a bed of mixed greens (I'm in love with mizuno), and a salad of roasted beets with candied pecans and arugula. Homemade strawberry ice cream for dessert.

Strawberries & Berkeley Earth Day

I swore I would stay the heck away from Berkeley Earth Day - but when I was out with a couple of friends to check out garage sales, well - we somehow ended up there and it was fun. It helped that we got there early and the crowd wasn't very big. I even managed to find a nice organic hemp/cotton belt with lots of grommets!

Swanton Berry Farm was there - so I bought a flat of strawberries - some were nearly as big as a tennis ball (most were bigger than golf ball size). Oh yeah! Berry goodness! Strawberry season has ARRIVED!

Vietnamese Spring Rolls & Scrabble

I am beginning to think that there is just no way to screw up Vietnamese spring rolls. The rice flour/tapioca wrappers are cheap and you can just do so much with these! A group dinner & Scrabble night at a friend's seemed like the right occasion for DIY spring rolls. I had to do all the chopping at their house - so we had all these yummy ingredients to put inside:

- Vietnamese rice stick noodles
- red bell pepper slices
- fresh peppermint
- fresh chopped cilantro
- chopped peanuts
- smoked tofu
- sliced mango
- chopped green onions
- sliced avocado

We put together some dipping sauces - and guests also helped themselves from other fixings put out for salads to put together their spring rolls. Some of the wrappers really fell apart - and some folks preferred to just do taco style - but most of us got the burrito style rolling technique down. Nobody went hungry, that's for sure!

New North Oakland Restaurants!

Awesome news from Becks' blog -- we're getting Burma Superstar and a Champagne Bar in Temescal!

The importance of a good hot soak...

This past weekend was spent at Harbin Hot Springs - I need hot water and spring wildflowers in greater doses, please! Weather was outstanding - it was absolutely beautiful. I passed giant fields of lupin off of Hwy 101 -- thanks to the late spring rains, we have some kind of show going on in Northern California!

I spent hours in the very hot pool this weekend - and it really helped my neck. This makes me realize that it really a muscle tension issue which can be resolved with more time in hot water. The problem is that I have not lived in a place for 5 years which has an adequate bathtub. My current abode of 3 years has such a small tub that I can't straighten my legs and to get hot water on my neck, I have to stick my legs in the air on the wall over the faucet & taps - and even with a completely filled tub, that means my chest is not covered (and I'm not that big - about 5'10" with a 32" ribcage!).

Indeed, I have always been the soaking queen - I would have one good hot soak every week with bath salts, candles, book and music. I would get so hot that I'd be all flushed and red and rest on my bed with a dizzy head for five minutes in my robe with a towel on my hair. But in the last five years, my soaking opportunities are limited.

About 2 years ago, my friends who gave me free access to their hot tub in the Berkeley Hills behind the Claremont started suffering a series of mechanical failures and it became to expensive for them to maintain the tub. Soaking at local bathhouses is spendy - $20 for 1 person for an hour at Piedmont Springs ($30 for 2 people).

I'd consider putting in a bigger tub in my current apartment - at my own expense, even - but the bathroom just isn't big enough. And, yes - I have been looking around for alternate apartments -- basically since I moved in here (well, at least I have heat now) but the market is just that bad. I don't want to live with roommates (3 cats - remember?), I can't afford much more than I'm paying now ($1200), I do love my neighborhood and my yard...

so, how can a girl get her weekly hot soak on? My neck & stress demand it!

The Leather Question - Where Green & Vegan Butt Heads

Eddo's First Trip to The Wall

A dear friend & yoga instructor, Chris, gave me this fantastic vintage women's racing suit - it's about 35 years old, leather and has all the shoulder, back, hip and knee armor in it. It fits me perfectly - and, aside from a few high stress points where threads are occasionally going out (near the zipper bottom on the jacket front, first the left, then the right) and the failure of the pants zipper -- I imagine I'll be wearing this for a very long time.

As a vegan and as someone who tries to be "green", I do not buy new leather. The processing of leather is toxic -- cruel both to animals and to the people working in the industry. Regardless of what people may think, leather is not strictly a by-product of the meat industry.

However, as someone who believes in re-using and re-cycling, I don't think it makes sense to purge your wardrobe of every animal product. What good will that do? The animal has already suffered -- and truly, I cannot afford to buy a new motorcycle suit and it makes little sense to jettison 12 year old cashmere sweaters (it's all I can do to keep the moths off of them). I will continue to hang onto my old leather coats - and shoes - and wear them until they completely fall apart or I find a new homes for them with people who can give them better use.

How do you reconcile your concerns for animal with your concerns for the environment where they intersect and may conflict?

Easter Brunch & Back on the Bicycle!

SUNRISE EASTER RIDE to Mt Tam on motorcycles is a long and growing Easter morning tradition. Many of my friends and acquaintances got up (or stayed up) to meet at various locations in the East Bay and SF to ride up to the top of Mt Tam. I, however, did not - I slept in! The idea of riding en masse, in the dark and fog and chill, on unfamiliar roads, totally did not appeal.

Instead, I opted for being the bearer of a nice bottle of champagne to brunch at the home of two nearby friends and heard all about the ride while eating yummy food. After a long leisurely brunch, much relaxing and story telling, which lead to giving a friend a massage - we found ourselves back at Barlata.

I have to say - I am really becoming a huge afficionado of Barlata - the atmosphere is pleasant, the staff are charming and timely, the food is delicious and the chef is happy to feed me though I don't eat animal products (unlike that other tapas place). I'm a big fan of their patatas bravas - way better than the other place, and they have some excellent grilled mushrooms, grilled bread with garlic & tomato and fantastic, affordable wines. What more could a food loving vegan ask for in a restaurant to share with her meat eating friends?

Despite the problems with the economy, it seems like restaurants are doing pretty well in Oakland and people are still eating out a lot!