convalescent love

Remember when Justin and I found a balloon with a tag on one of our hikes in Idylwild?


Well, I finally sent them a letter with photos and a map:


And just a couple of days ago, I got a response!!!



Aren't they so adorable! It made us so happy to hear back from them. And from the sound of it, they were happy to hear from us. They said they let the balloons go on May 14th, 2009 and we were the first and only people to write them back! They ended by saying that they would like to hear from us again... so we have pen-pals now!

Like I mentioned before, this really touched me because I have an aunt who is currently living in a convalescent home recovering from cancer. She is so young, only 42. I hope to share more about her soon...

It's Monday...

... and I am trying to be here and trying not dream about being here:

Zucchini

I had no luck with a vegetable garden this year; turns out you need sun to grow vegetables. Who knew! But the potted herbs make me happy. The teeny tomatoes from the last post were from my garden. They were a bit of a surprise considering I didn't plant them... They just sprouted up, I'm guessing from the compost. Anyway, on to Zucchini... which is not from my garden.


When I have a surplus and some time, I like to do some research. We had lots of zucchini from last week's CSA, so I made chocolate zucchini muffins (twice!) and these fritters. I made them for breakfast and they were good. I bet they would be really good with a poached egg, mmmm.


Zucchini Fritters
adapted from here

• 1 pound zucchini, grated
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 jalapeno pepper, chopped
• 1 tablespoon masa corn flour
• 1 whole egg, beaten
• 1 tablespoon fresh oregano
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• salt and pepper to taste
  

1. Grate the zucchini and salt them. Let stand for 30 minutes to an hour in a colander. Squeeze the zucchini dry with your hands or wring it out with a kitchen towel.
2. In a large bowl, add the zucchini and the rest of the ingredients, except the oil. gently mix.
3. Heat the oil over medium heat in a cast-ron skillet, a comal or a non-stick sauté pan. When hot, add the batter by the heaping tablespoon. Spread a little to make a pancake shape.
4. Cook for about 3 minutes, or until golden. Turn over with a spatula and cook for another 2 minutes or so.
5. Salt while draining on paper towels.

Yogurt topping: Greek yogurt, lemon juice and cayenne pepper.

What We Need is Here

I have so many ideas floating through my head, so much I want to do, that it leaves me paralyzed. I want to cook, I want to take photos, I want to go on trips, I want to be a part of projects, I want to be with friends and family.

Those are all good things, but ... what I really need to do is learn to relax.

What We Need is Here

Geese appear high over us, pass, and the sky closes. Abandon, as in love or sleep, holds them to their way, clear in the ancient faith: what we need is here. And we pray, not for new earth or heaven, but to be quiet in heart, and in eye, clear. What we need is here.

-Wendell Berry

Blueberries

I have some amazingly talented friends.


My friend Jeremy recently made a movie called Dive: Living off America's Waste. It's excellent and I hope it gets the attention that it deserves.


Here is the case that I took some photos for. The artwork is great, I love it ... ha!

Because of the work on this documentary, I have been introduced to the world of dumpster diving. I have gone a few times myself, but I mostly enjoy the benefits from friends doing the "dirty work" ... what can I say, I'm a moocher.

It's amazing what is thrown away. Perfectly-good-food.

Recently there was a bunch of blueberries from the dumpster that my housemate, Audrey, so kindly cleaned and put in the freezer. I used some of them to make this - with some minor adaptions, of course, because I can't help myself. I can't.




This is for you Holly & Jen:

One store's trash is another woman's Blueberry Crumble

Filling:

2 cups frozen or fresh blueberries

Juice from lemon

1/2 cup agave

3-4 teaspoons arrowroot powder

a pinch of salt

Crumble:

2/3 cup whole wheat white flour

2/3 cup unbleached white flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

6 tablespoons sucanat (that's what I used, but brown sugar or sugar in the raw (or whatever you have) would be fine)

Zest of one lemon

1 stick (1/2 cup) of melted butter

1. Heat oven to 375°F. Prepare topping: In a mixing bowl, combine flours, baking powder, sucanat and lemon zest and add the melted butter. Mix until small and large clumps form. Refrigerate until needed.
2. Prepare filling: Toss blueberries, lemon juice, sugar, arrowroot and a pinch of salt in a 9-inch deep-dish pie plate.
3. Remove topping from refrigerator and cover fruit thickly and evenly with topping. Place pie plate on a baking sheet, and bake until crumble topping is golden brown in places and fruit is bubbling beneath, about 40 to 50 minutes.

Eggplant Curry

Eggplants are in season - and here is something that we LOVE to make with eggplant. Love it, it's so darn good. Curry is one of my favorite things to eat, but it always seems so intimidating to make, but this is easy, so simple. Only thing that is time consuming is making the ghee, and that's not hard at all. Last week we had two small-ish eggplants in our CSA and we added this squash because it has a similar texture, and it turned out great.

So, I have great news that has nothing to do with this curry...
I'm going to Bangladesh!! I am being hired to photograph artisans at a fair-trade paper company! We leave November 19th. I'm so happy-can't-control-my-excitement ecstatic! I am so grateful for this opportunity. And I am so happy that Justin gets to go on the trip too.

And back to curry...


This isn't the most attractive dish, but don't let that fool you...

Eggplant In Coconut-Curry Sauce
adapted from Food Network

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup ghee
• 1 yellow onion, chopped
• 1 tablespoon curry powder
• 1 cup unsalted cashews, coarsely chopped
• 1/2 cup shredded coconut
• 2 cups unsweetened coconut milk
  
• 2 cups vegetable broth
• 2 medium eggplants (or 1 eggplant and 1 white squash)
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 1 dried red chile
• Salt
• 1/2 lemon, juiced
• Mint leaves, for garnish

Directions

1. Heat 1/4 cup of the ghee in a large pot over medium flame, add the onions and sprinkle with the curry powder. Cook and stir for a few minutes until the onions are soft. Add the cashews, shredded coconut, coconut milk, and vegetable broth. Bring up to a simmer and cook for 15 to 20 minutes. In the meantime, prepare the eggplant.
2. Cut the eggplant into chunks. Heat the remaining 1/4 cup of ghee in a deep skillet or Dutch oven and add the eggplant. Cook and stir until the eggplant gets charred and sticky.
3. Puree the coconut sauce with a immersion blender, until it’s pretty smooth (I had to use my blender, the hand-held wasn't working that great for me). Pour the sauce over the eggplant and toss in the cinnamon stick and chile. Season with salt, to taste, and simmer for 15 minutes until thick. Give a squeeze of lemon to brighten the flavor, garnish with mint leaves, and serve with steamed basmati rice and/or flat bread.

This is why

we get a CSA Box:

Amazing! It's exciting to open the box every week and see what we got. Watermelon, cantaloupe, butternut squash, spaghetti squash, okra, eggplant - it was heavy this week. And it's always fun trying to figure out how to use all the stuff up. Don't get me wrong, sometimes it's hard - but we are eating a lot more vegetables now-a-days, and loving it.

If you are the slightest bit interested you should try out your local CSA at least for one week. If you live in the L.A. area check out: South Central Farmers.

Anyone know what this is called? Is it just called "white squash"? Whatever it is, it's pretty tasty...

Spicy Vegetarian Chili

It's hard to even think about cooking right now. It's very hot. And when we open the windows for relief, there's smoke!

So, cooking chili sounds insane. But I've been feeling rather insane recently, so this is appropriate.

We have a CSA box full of amazing vegetables begging to be made into something delicious - it's worth it to make the house a little warmer.

I make this chili all the time. And, honestly, chili usually doesn't grab my attention, but this dish is different. It's good. The fennel makes it interesting. I usually up all the spice quantities because I like things really flavorful.

I hardly follow the directions to a tee. They are more like a guideline, and it all depends on what we have on hand. This time I used what we had in our CSA box. So, if you are wondering what to do with your loads of squash, bell peppers, eggplant and okra, and you can stand to turn on the stove, try this.






Spicy Vegetarian Chili
Adapted from Simply Recipes

• 4-5 okra chopped
• Olive oil
• 2 yellow onions, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 medium zucchini, diced
• 2 medium summer squash, diced
• 2 large bell peppers, cored, seeded, diced
• 1 to 2 jalapeño peppers, seeded, finely minced
• 1 28-ounce can Italian plum tomatoes
• 1/2 cup red wine
• 1-2 Tbsp chili powder
• 1 Tbsp ground cumin
• 2 Tbsp fresh chopped oregano or 2 teaspoons dried
• 1 teaspoon fennel seeds
• 1 1/2 cup cooked white beans (1 15-ounce can, drained and rinsed)
• 1 1/2 cup cooked kidney beans (1 15-ounce can, drained and rinsed)
• (if you can prepare ahead of time and could soak and cook the beans it saves money!)
• Zest of one lemon
• 3 Tbsp lemon juice
• 1/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

1. Heat 3 Tbsp olive oil on medium heat in a 5-6 quart Dutch oven. Add onions, cook for 4 minutes. Add garlic, cook for a minute more. Add zucchini, summer squash, okra, bell peppers, and jalapeños. Cook 5 more minutes, stirring occasionally.
2. Coarsely chop the canned tomatoes, add to pot with their liquid. Add wine, cumin, oregano, and fennel seeds. Add chili powder to desired heat. Simmer for 20 minutes over low heat.
3. Add beans, lemon zest, lemon juice, and cilantro. Add salt and freshly ground pepper to taste. Simmer for 5 minutes.

Top with Greek Yogurt if you'd like. We like it very much!

North Lake

Justin and I are on a marathon of weekend-camping. It just so happens that Justin has had Friday-Sunday off for the last three weeks, which is pretty rare, so we've been taking full advantage. ... and it has become an addiction.

This last weekend we went to North Lake in Bishop. It's a little campground about 9,600 feet up in the Eastern Sierra; just far enough away so we could get some fresh air amidst all these fires. It's bad here.

Justin went to this same campground with some guys for our friend Matt's bachelor party back in June. When I heard they were going up there I got so jealous I immediately booked a ticket with Jen up to Berkeley to visit Cait. Take that!

But now I get the best of both because I got my girl trip AND I got to go to this great campground!

our campsite:

I found out on this trip that I'm severely allergic to mosquito bites. I didn't even know that was possible? It seems like every time I get bit a lot, the reactions get worse and worse. When we hiked the Baldy Ski Hut I got bit on the forehead and it swelled up pretty nice. This last weekend it happened again, but the swelling spread through out my face. I looked horrible. I can't even post the photo here. Too embarrassing, but too funny not to share. We jokingly called me the "Hunch Forehead of North Lake."

More photos from our trip here.