Roasted Cauliflower and the Raw Food Breakfast of Champions: Or, Way to Go, Momma Mo!

Much congratulations and high-fives are due to my good buddies Maureen and Joe, who - in addition to being just overall awesome individuals - have generated new awesomeness with the birth of their son, Leo. Ha zah!

Leo and his parents are still navigating the new family thing, so Tony, Heather and I decided it'd be a great idea to provide Mom and Dad with some homemade treats for an evening. Heather made a stunning Jambalaya Lentil dish (a recipe I will be poaching at a later date) while I brought a Roasted Cauliflower and White Bean Salad with Orange-Olive Oil Dressing.

Tony did his part and for reasons I have yet to figure out joined Joe in an episode of "Kipper."

Kipper, if you haven't seen it yet, is the latest British import focused on brainwashing your children, much in the same vein as Bob the Builder, Thomas the Tank Engine, or those demon-spawned BooBah. Except this time, it's a cute little dog and his equally adorable friends. Parents and their expendable incomes beware!

The other culinary treat to which I've been introduced this week is the Small & Mighty. I'm not much of a breakfast person - unless coffee counts as a meal. I can barely function in the a.m. and I'm usually just not that hungry. So coming across this recipe was a serious find.

It takes all of 30 seconds to put together and depending how you top it, it tastes like peanut butter-banana ice cream. While Katie over at Yes, I Want Cake prefers cinnamon, I've opted for the chocolate syrup route, with plans to explore grape or strawberry jelly in the near future.

Trust me - if you dig cold treats during sweltering heat waves (I'm looking at you, Baltimore...) - or just need something easy to get your through the morning that didn't come in plastic wrap - you'll love this stuff. I'm already hooked!

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The Small & Mighty

(Courtesy of Yes, I Want Cake)

1 frozen banana

1/3 cup raw rolled oats

1 tbsp peanut butter

Optional toppings: chocolate syrup, nutmeg, cinnamon - just go nuts

1. Make life easier on yourself and slice the banana and place it on a baking sheet. Slip the sheet into the freezer and let the pieces harden. (It's easiest to take care of this step the night before.)

2. Place the banana, oats, and peanut butter into a food processor and blend until smooth.

3. Add your toppings of choice and enjoy!

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Roasted Cauliflower and White Bean Salad with Orange Olive Oil Dressing

Courtesy of Herbivoracious.You can check out the recipe on Michael's blog here!

Dark & Stormy Cupcakes: Vegan Version 2.0

Happy Summer Solstice, people! And happy belated Father's Day to all you dads and dads-to-be out there. Here in our little corner of the city, I decided to take a stab at some vegan baking to commemorate another great event: our friend Meredith's birthday.

Meredith, bless her, has been abstaining from both alcohol and baked goods this month, so I decided to let her indulge in both by tweaking the Dark & Stormy cupcake recipe from this month's baby shower. This was followed by a LOT of prosecco and some so-so tapas at 13.5 in Hampden.

(Just a quick note: Egg replacer can seem like a pain to dig up, but any store that carries vegetarian-friendly or gluten-free foods should carry some. I prefer Enger-G myself.)

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Vegan Dark & Stormy Cupcakes
(Adapated from Gosling's Rum)

(NOTE: Go ahead and double the recipe. This version makes approx 8 cupcakes.)

Ingredients:

1 cup flour
1/4 cup sugar
2/3 cup ginger beer
1/4 cup Vegan butter (I used Earth Balance), at room temperature
2 tablespoons dark rum (Goslings) or 2 teaspoons rum flavoring
1 1/2 tsp egg substitute, or equivalent amount equal to 1 egg
2 teaspoons ground roasted ginger*
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350. Grease and flour or line 6 wells in a cupcake pan. In a large bowl, cream together vegan butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add egg substitute, rum, and ginger beer beat well. Add the flour, baking powder and salt. Beat until the batter is light and fluffy. Fold in the ginger. Fill each well 2/3 of the way. Bake approximately 15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle of the middle cupcake comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack. Frost with dark & stormy frosting and top with a slice of candied ginger.

*McCormick makes it. Look for it in the spice aisle.

I went a little freehand with the frosting. Basically, I took some vegan-friendly vanilla frosting (Cherrybrook Kitchen makes a good-sized jar), and then doctored it with roasted ginger and about 1/4 cup of rum. Then I added vegan butter and powdered sugar, to make it more of a buttercream frosting.Frost the cupcakes after they've cooled completely. Top with some a light dusting of ground ginger and some pieces of candied ginger. Enjoy!

Serious Online Goodness

This isn't my Conan update, but rather an announcement about some serious online awesomeness.

Sweeteeth (the confectioner I mentioned in a previous post) has opened their online shop! You can actually buy some A'Chocolypse and Cinnapsis bars of your very own!

DO IT!! Do it now!!

[And remember to thank me for it later :) ]

Seriously, check it out at https://sweeteethchocolate.com/shop.

Enjoy!

June Runaround 2/3:Giving Momma What She REALLY Wants

Tony and I are currently wrapping up our second wave of Friends-having-Babies this year. Happily, two of the expectant couples actually live in Baltimore, so I was happy/not thinking with crystal clarity when I volunteered to throw a joint baby shower for our two expectant mommies, Monica and Maureen.

The weekend was a bit of a junk show: Thursday we received and entertained a good friend who recently returned from Wellington. Friday I cleaned. A lot. And also ran around the city purchasing menu items and baby presents. Friday night we drove to Pittsburgh, where we spent Saturday preparing for and then celebrating Tony's dad's retirement. (Excellent party, by the way.)

Saturday night we headed back to B'more and made it home around midnight. Just in time to start cooking. A lot.

After a 3hour nap Tony and I resumed baby shower prep (with the help of one of Monica's saints...er, friends) and by 11am the party was under way.

The theme: Stuff Mommy Couldn't Have. The idea was to have a shower menu that gave the moms-to-be a chance to indulge in foods/flavors that couldn't have during their pregnancies. So for this party, our menu consisted of:

*Dark n' Stormy Cupcakes

*Mini Margarita Cheesecakes

*Decaf-Coffee Ice Cream

*Dessert Sushi

*Asparagus Cigars

*Bahama Baby Bump Breeze

*Faux-pagne

Monica, bless her, also brought a nice quiche for everyone to enjoy. It was a great time! The event was mostly game free (per the moms' request), with the exception of one event we held for the dads: Pin the Baby on the Changing Table. Both dads did surprisingly well! Tony somehow managed to drop his baby on the floor. Good thing we're not pregnant.

And, of course, there were presents. Lots and lots of presents. Baby tubs, homemade outfits - even couture baby clothing Indira picked up in Madagascar. (Ooh la la!) All in all it was a fabulous time.

Tony and I crashed the moment our last guests had closed the front door behind them :)

Part 3/3 of the June Runaround: Entertaining Gingers in Philly: Watching Conan O'Brian Do His Thang

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Dark & Stormy Cupcakes
(Courtesy of Gosling's Rum)

(NOTE: Go ahead and double the recipe. This version makes approx 8 cupcakes.)

Ingredients:

1 cup flour
1/4 cup sugar
2/3 cup ginger beer
1/4 cup butter, at room temperature
2 tablespoons dark rum (Goslings) or 2 teaspoons rum flavoring
1 egg, at room temperature
2 teaspoons ground roasted ginger*
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350. Grease and flour or line 6 wells in a cupcake pan. In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add egg, rum, and ginger beer beat well. Add the flour, baking powder and salt. Beat until the batter is light and fluffy. Fold in the ginger. Fill each well 2/3 of the way. Bake approximately 15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle of the middle cupcake comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack. Frost with dark & stormy frosting and top with a slice of candied ginger.

*McCormick makes it. Look for it in the spice aisle.

Frosting:

Ingredients:
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup dark rum (Goslings)
2 egg whites
3 inch knob ginger, sliced
pinch salt


DIRECTIONS:
In a medium saucepan, bring sugar, ginger slices and rum to a boil, stirring occasionally. Continue to boil until it reaches soft ball stage (when a drop of the syrup forms a soft ball when dropped in cool water) while continuing to stir occasionally. Meanwhile, beat the egg whites and salt to soft peaks. Keep the mixer running (for best results you need a stand mixer or a friend to complete this next step) while you strain a continuous stream of the molten syrup into the egg whites. Add the food dye. Beat for about 5 minutes or until the frosting is fluffy, glossy and cool. Frost cooled cake.

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Decaf Coffee Ice Cream
2 cups heavy cream2 cups whole milk3/4 cup granulated sugar2 tablespoons instant coffee granules>6 egg yolksChocolate curls, for garnish

DIRECTIONS:

Combine the cream, milk, sugar, and coffee in a medium, heavy saucepan. Bring to a gentle boil over medium heat. Remove from the heat.

Beat the egg yolks in a medium bowl. Whisk 1 cup of the hot cream into the egg yolks. Gradually add the egg mixture in a slow, steady stream, to the hot cream. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, until the mixture thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon and reaches 170 degrees F. on an instant-read thermometer, about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and strain through a fine mesh strainer into a clean container. Cover with plastic wrap, pressing down against the surface to keep a skin from forming. Chill in the refrigerator for 2 hours.

Remove from the refrigerator and pour into the bowl of an ice cream machine. Freeze according to the manufacturer's instructions. After the ice cream is made, transfer to an airtight container. Cover tightly and freeze until ready to serve. Garnish with chocolate curls.

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Asparagus Cigars
(aka Asparagus in Phyllo Dough)
(Courtesy of Paula Deen)

Ingredients:

8 or 9 asparagus spears, depending on size

1/2 (16oz) package frozen phyllo dough sheets, thawed

1/4 cup butter, melted

• 1/4 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese

• red pepper flakes (optional)

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Snap off the tough ends of the asparagus, and peel the stalks if thick-skinned. Blanch the asparagus in boiling water for 1 to 1 1/2 minutes. Drain and pat dry.

Unwrap the phyllo and cut the stack in half lengthwise. Reserve 1 stack for later use. Cover the phyllo with a damp towel to keep it from drying out*. (*This is very important. Working with dry phyllo is a waste of time.)

Take 1 sheet of phyllo and brush lightly with some melted butter. Sprinkle with some Parmesan. Place 2 to 3 asparagus spears on the short end of the sheet. Roll up, jelly-roll style. Place each piece, seam side down, on a baking sheet. Brush with more melted butter and sprinkle with more Parmesan. Repeat until all the asparagus spears are used up.

Place baking sheet in oven and bake for 15 to 18 minutes, or until golden brown and crispy.

June Runaround Entry 1/3: The Art of Gaman

Tony and I have/will be spending a great deal of June running back and forth between different events. So far I've described our trip to SC, but now I'll fill you in on our trip to DC to check out The Art of Gaman showcase at the Smithsonian American Art Museum.

Gaman is Japanese for the act of bearing the seemingly unbearable with dignity and patience. It's a fitting description and tribute to the generations of Japanese and Japanese Americans who were forced into internment camps during World War II. Members of my mother's family, as well as family friends, were forced to live in camps spread across the western and mid western US. Japanese Americans were given a week's notice to gather their family, along with some linens, cutlery, and clothing - but only as much as they could carry - before each family/person was assigned an identification number (written on a tag that was literally pinned to each individual) and "relocated" to one of 17 detention centers. (German American and Italian American camps also came into existence around this time.)

The Gaman exhibit is a showcase of the art that internees created while in the camps. It's a testament to their artistic skill - many artists hadn't created anything prior to interment and several never created anything again after. Without sounding too cheesy, it's also a poignant example of a people's refusal to be deprived of their humanity.

I can't recommend the exhibit enough. It's at the Renwick Gallery, and - bonus! - is free to the public. You can check out a slide show of some of the exhibit pieces online. However, I managed to snap some photos before one of the security guards politely reminded me that was a no-no.

These pieces are actually made out of pipe straw cleaners and surplus mayonnaise jars.

Orphans of Japanese decent were also sent to camps. Caretakers made an attempt to make the camps as comfortable as possible for the children. This photo, taken taken by Ansel Adams, depicts the pond and garden of the Manzanar Relocation Center in the Eastern Sierra region of California.

Chiura Obata was an art professor at UC Berkley before he was relocated to a camp in Jerome, AK. Prof. Obata painted this picture of an incident at the camp, where a guard shot and killed an old man who had been chasing a dog that was near the camp fence. The old man, who was deaf, was unable to hear the guard's order to stop, and was killed because the guard thought he was trying to escape.

Geta are a traditional Japanese sandal. The conditions of the assembly centers and camps - which were usually old race tracks and fair grounds, as well as reservations (Native Americans who lived in these areas were forced to move - again) - made shoe and sandal use a necessity. These geta were fashioned from scrap wood found around the camps.

I took this photo because I love to crochet. This purse was created by a resident of the Gila River Relocation Center in Arizona. It's hard to see, but the handles are actually painted with a scene from the camp.

Congress has since determined that the evacuation of US citizens of Japanese decent was unnecessary. However, it's still on the book as being completely legal, which I find infinitely disturbing. I hope more people turn out for the exhibit, if for no other reason that to educate themselves on a darker, but no less important, part of US history.

Part 2/3 of the June Runaround will be decidedly more chipper. Coming up: Dual Baby Showers: Giving Momma What She REALLY Wants.