Eating Cake on the Rooftop

On at least three separate occasions I have been asked if I’m still doing Meals with Morri. The short answer is yes. The longer answer obviously has more to it than that. 

When I first started, I was cooking and posting and writing on the regular, and in doing so I learned how to cook and post and write. I met a lot of talented and amazing people along the way. Companies and publishers reached out to me to write reviews for their products and cookbook authors. I learned to be picky, and when to say no.

But with the evolution of Meals with Morri, particularly the person behind it (i.e., yours truly), I started to become very critical of my art. If it wasn’t something I thought people wouldn’t like, it wasn’t posted. If the photos I took were not good enough, the recipe itself would have to wait. This doesn’t particularly bother me, because I have really blossomed with the food I’ve made, and the stories I’ve written about them have refined. The problem I am facing now is the realization as to why I love to cook, and why Meals with Morri has been lacking in recipes per month recently.

My motivation in making food is just that: making food. Not for me, but to share with others. Eating the same food with other people is such an important ritual for me. It’s a sacred act of connecting with others at the table. I had experienced a similar revelation while I was in Malta. When I lived alone, I just made food. There was nothing more to it than insuring I was eating enough. But when CK and I visited each other or I made food for the office, suddenly the creative juices were flowing in overdrive. And perhaps the underlying reason is to validate my art, to see that Meals with Morri was doing something positive in person. But really, I’ve come to realize that, like my previous aspirations to be a chef, I really love it when people eat and enjoy the food I make for them. 

Living with my parents after over a year of not doing so has meant that what they eat and what I eat doesn’t mesh as often as it used to when it was my responsibility to make dinner for the family. There’s nothing wrong with this, of course, but not sharing food I make with other people has affected my motivation to create and share recipes online. I like there being a reason for my art, and I want to experience that shared moment in person, in real time. CK and our two dear friends H and J have risen to the challenge in helping me see that it's equally important for me to enjoy my art, and are more than willing to help give me ideas in what to make (thanks, guys).

Last night, I was invited to a friend’s birthday party, and although I wasn’t asked, I made a cake that I knew I’d be able to eat. It was a rooftop party, one that overlooked other Washington, D.C. apartments and offices, the Washington Monument blinking lazily far away. The already present cupcakes had been eaten, and to my surprise, my cake was used to sing to him “Happy Birthday” (which I unashamedly conspired with his girlfriend in making happen). The cake was said to be quite good, and only a few people knew that it was gluten free. 

Rooftop Carrot Cake with Honey Sweetened Cream Cheese Frosting

For the cake
120 g White rice flour*
1/2 tsp. Baking soda**
1 tsp. Cream of tartar**
1/4 tsp. sea salt
1 tsp. cinnamon
2 eggs
1 tsp. Vanilla extract
150 ml olive oil
200 g coconut sugar
5 Carrots, grated

Preheat the oven to 350°F, and grease (I used butter) and flour (I used the white rice flour) one 9-inch pan.
In a medium bowl, sift together the rice flour, baking soda, cream of tartar, sea salt and cinnamon.
In the bowl of a stand mixer (or a larger bowl with a hand mixer), combine the eggs, olive oil, coconut sugar, and vanilla, and beat on medium-low speed until the mixture is slightly frothy.
Reduce the speed to low, and add the flour mixture in small increments, making sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula each time.
Stir in the grated carrots, mixing until combined, and pour the batter into the prepared baking pan.
Bake for 40 - 50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean (for me, this was 50 minutes).
Let the cake cool in the pan for 10 minutes, and then turn out onto a parchment lined wire rack to cool completely.
Once cooled, decorate the cake with frosting and other toppings you may enjoy (such as unsweetened coconut shavings).

Makes 1 cake, or 12 slices.

For the frosting (courtesy of this recipe)
8 oz package or 240 g Cream cheese, softened
56 g Unsalted butter, softened
85 g Honey
Unsweetened coconut shavings, as topping (optional)

Whip the cream cheese in a standing mixer until soft, then add the butter and honey to blend.
Mix on medium speed until smooth and creamy.

Makes 12 – 18 servings.

* NOT to be confused with sweet rice flour. If you do, you’ll get a mochi-like consistency.

** The baking powder equivalent is 1 1/2 tsp.

The Magic of Making Food with Others

In the kitchen, it’s a sacred ritual for me to make food happen. For many years I have either made the meals or created the weekly menu for dinner. It became an individual almost meditative practice, feeling the heat from the burners or oven for the main meal, or the cool touch of washed vegetables as they are transformed into a salad. Water is poured and silverware is laid out. Dinner is served.

And I was okay with cooking alone and being in charge of the kitchen, until I realized how wonderful it is to share the process with another person. Since then I have craved cooking and eating with people. It is a way of connecting with others toward the same goal, that is, the making of a delicious meal. You prep the ingredients you are individually using, dancing around each other in the kitchen like it was rehearsed. The aromas of your share entwine with theirs, and when you bring it all together…

You feel so proud of what you put on the plate and feel even more connected with them than before.

I used to be Diva Chef incarnate once upon a time. People would sit on the couch watching me jump from counter to counter, keeping me company and even assisting in cutting up ingredients or stirring (when I'd let them). Perhaps it was a trust thing, more likely a control thing; but when you let the need of control go, you look outside the box to discover how wonderful a dish can be with collaborative effort.

I wholeheartedly and happily blame CK for wanting to cook with people more often. When he and JS came down to visit HL and I, he taught me how to make paneer from scratch, causing me to fall more in love with Indian food and recipes with multiple components in general. He reminded me of how food brings people together and how fun it is to make something with another person. HL is always fermenting something, and in a frilly apron taught me how she makes her sour beets. And then there was Mama Dazz, who helped make this recipe possible.

Whenever we’ve had a long week or Sunday turns out being a particularly lazy “chill out” day, we tend to look to put something on the dinner table that is neither on our typical menu roster (chili, huevos rancheros, baked chicken) nor prepared in the usual way (pressure cooker, on the stovetop, oven-baked). I had in mind to create a barbeque sauce from scratch, and Mama Dazz was craving ribs. Like clockwork she prepped the ribs with spices and placed them in the oven and I focused on the sauce and made the side dishes. When we sat down together for a Hallmark mother-daughter moment, we savored our efforts and bonded over dinner while I took the photos.

Barbeque sauce is hard to find that fits my dietary lifestyle, but is super easy to make from scratch. Perfect on meat and vegetable alike, it will suit any outdoor potluck you plan on going to.

Mesquite Barbeque Sauce

160 g Tomato paste
60 ml Unrefined apple cider vinegar
30 g Honey (or maple syrup for the herbivore crowd)
30 ml Olive oil
90 ml Filtered water
1/2 tsp. Sea salt
1/2 tsp. Mesquite powder
1/2 tsp. Cacao powder (regular cocoa powder is fine)
1/8 tsp. Chipotle powder
1/8 tsp. Spanish style smoked paprika
1/8 tsp. Garlic powder

In a small mixing bowl (able to contain at least 2 cups or 500 ml of liquid), start with the tomato paste and slowly integrate the ingredients one at a time in rapid stirring motions.
When it is thoroughly combined, use it for whatever recipe calling for barbeque sauce or put it in a closed container (preferably a glass jar) in the refrigerator until needed.
Use within 3 – 5 days of making.

Makes roughly 1 1/2 U.S. cups of sauce.

Reminiscing the Old and Planning the New

I am a planner. I like to plan things out, lay it out in manageable stages of logic of where I’ve started and how it will end. Starting things and ending things have always been a relatively easy task for me. The middle part on the other hand… not so much.

December passed by in a blur of anxiety, accomplishment, illness, sorrow, and people. There was a week following my final papers that consisted of a 101°F fever, coughing and sneezing and fairly vulnerable. All the plans I had for December, all those recipes, climbing problems, and yoga practices, didn’t happen. And for once, my plans to have everything done on time, precise and accurate, were tossed to the wind to make way of a much-needed break from it all. I slept. I wept. I ate. I loved.

I feel so grateful for this “shift or be shifted” year, with months of “aha” moments and triumphs and changes:

January was all about trying new ways to be physically active and making the perfect cornbread recipe.

February was a month of adventure, learning about various eating lifestyles, and the start to taking photography seriously as an art form/science.

 
March was the month of honoring my progression and loving myself, regardless of the bumps along the way.

April celebrated my one-year blogversary with what I learned and what I planned to learn before April 2013 rolled around.

May was the start of understanding how diet and exercise helped in healing a hypothyroid condition. Oh, and let’s not forget Graduation, which inspired me to continue my academic career in the graduate program in the School for Conflict Analysis and Resolution.

June was an honest month, and finally realizing how important taking care of myself really is.

July was the start of experimenting with pareve bento box snapshots, heartbreak on multiple levels, becoming adamant in weekend farmers markets, and supporting local food sources with a social justice twist.

August brought with it a movement of fermentation and homemade nut butters, personal growth and graduate school classes.

September gave me my first product review and coming face-to-face with hidden depths of life's grievances and growing pains.

October brought series of hard lessons, new priorities, a deeper relationship to family that will always be there no matter what, and loving all things simple.

 
November was my month of experimenting with Primal Blueprint eating, playing with gluten free beer, and twenty-three things I learned by my twenty-third birthday.

 
And December finished the year on a sweeter note than I could have ever hoped for.

With the last day before the New Year, I thought to share a recipe I was quite proud of. Even with many of December’s plans (there’s that word again) left undone, I have had plenty of time to get ready with January’s plans, more so intentions than they are resolutions. 

Happy New Year, everyone. Have fun and be safe!

 

Winter Gingerbread Cut-out Cookies (inspired by this recipe)

150 g Garbanzo bean flour
75 g Flaxseed meal
75 g Coconut flour
50 g Mesquite powder
1 tsp. Baking soda
2 tsp. Ground ginger
1 tsp. Cinnamon
1 tsp. Raw cacao powder (regular cocoa powder is fine)
1/4 tsp. Sea salt
1/4 tsp. Cracked pepper
125 g Unsalted butter, chilled and cut into small cubes
175 g Honey
1 Large egg

Measure out the flours, baking soda, and spices and pour into the bowl of the food processor to mix (a few pulses should do for mixing just fine).
Add the butter and blend until the mix looks like breadcrumbs, and then add the honey and egg until a sticky ball of dough forms.
Remove the dough from the food processor and mold into a thick disk to wrap in with parchment paper or saran wrap.
Place it in the fridge for 15 minutes to set.
Preheat the oven to 350°F, and line two baking trays with parchment paper.
Roll the dough out to a 1/4-inch thickness on a lightly floured surface (I used additional garbanzo bean flour).
Using your choice of cutters (I used my Ikea animal shapes, plus a few people, hearts, trees, and moons), cut out the shapes and place on the baking tray, leaving a gap between them.
Bake for 12-15 minutes (my oven’s baking time was between 13 and 14 minutes), or until lightly golden-brown.
Leave on the tray for 10 minutes and then move to a wire rack to finish cooling.
Continue cutting out the dough and baking until all of it has been used.*
When cooled decorate with the writing icing and cake decorations of your choice, but they are delicious as is and perfect for dunking into hot drinks.

Makes (roughly) three dozen cookies.

*Be sure the baking trays have cooled down completely before adding another batch!

At the Thanksgiving Table

Thanksgiving was a week ago and I still haven’t posted my Turkey Day recipes. Even with the oven going wonky on our four pies, the turkey itself turned out as amazing as we’d hoped it would, and our other oven-based delights were baked in our “small” convection oven instead. My vacation from school and work was filled with love and great food, with traveling and new experiences, with wonderful lessons and deeper friendships made. It’s the kind of thing you will remember for the rest of your life, something you will always be grateful for specifically. 

Now that’s my kind of Thanksgiving. (If you are interested, click here to for a glimpse of last year's Turkey Day round-up.) 

As always, Uncle R brought his infamous pot of collards to share. Meanwhile Mama Dazz made a delightful cranberry sauce (some of which was stevia sweetened for Grandma D and me), sweet potato biscuits (not gluten free, sadly), a large dish of cornbread stuffing (also not gluten free), and three of the four pies I mentioned (pecan, coconut macaroon, sweet potato). I focused my energy on three things: the turkey, stuffing I could eat, and my pumpkin pie.*

Is it worth brining your own turkey and making your own stuffing from start to finish? Yes, my friends, it is. There is something similar to pride to know that you bought your bird from a farmer you know and respect, and seeing how beautiful the end result is to have a perfectly cooked and flavorful turkey. I can safely say I don’t intend on buying turkey from the store in the many holidays to come.

In fact, this reminds me of a funny scene from the show Portlandia, taken from YouTube for your viewing pleasure.

 

Holiday Bird Brine (Inspired by this recipe)

1 Small yellow onion, coarsely chopped
1 Celery stalk, coarsely chopped
3 Garlic cloves, halved
3 Bay leaves
1 tbsp. Black peppercorns
1 tsp. Yellow mustard seeds
130 g (or 1/2 c.) Sea salt
Filtered water (1 gallon to start the brine, and then enough to submerge your bird)**

Place the ingredients in a large cooking pot and cook on medium heat until steam and slight simmering is visible.
Turn off the heat and let it come to room temperature before doing anything at all with the bird.
Prepare your bird by removing the organs and neck*** and placing it in a very large cooking pot that enables you to completely submerge it in brining liquid.
Carefully pour the brine over the bird and continue to add more water until the brine covers it completely.
Cover the pot and place it in a cold environment (either your refrigerator or a tall cooler with plenty of ice) for a period of 12 – 24 hours.
When finished with brining, remove the excess vegetables and spices from the bird and roast in the oven as usual.****

Makes over 1 gallon of brine.

*Although this year's gluten free pumpkin pie didn’t turn out as I had hoped, the grain-free pie crust was delicious (with enough left over to make another pie with in December). You can find a recipe that did work here.
**The bird we enjoyed weighed around 14 lbs.
***We use the organs and neck to help in creating tasty gravy, and also add it to our stuffing for additional nutrition.
****We didn’t do it this year, but I think cooking the brine along with the carcass would make an excellent stock. Has anyone ever done this before? I’d love to hear how it turned out.

As I said, I made stuffing I was very satisfied with. I wasn’t in a mashed potatoes sort of mood, so at the last minute (and by last minute, I mean three hours before the feast itself) I decided I wanted to make stuffing I could eat. After my not so pleasant experiences my body dealt with going Primal for three weeks, I’ve been eating grains and other sources of carbohydrates at practically every meal. I could have easily made this a grain-free delight, and perhaps for Yule I will, but I was craving cornbread something fierce. The cornbread itself was solely made for the stuffing, so when it came out of the oven it was a tad dry and unappetizing and something I wouldn’t recommend as a finished product. As part of a stuffing, however, I’d say it was the perfect component to a moist yet sturdy spoonful of dressing.

Cornbread Stuffing

For the cornbread:*
240 g Coarse corn flour
1 Large egg
250 ml Filtered water
42 g Butter, melted**

Remaining ingredients:
200 g Pulsed turkey organ and neck meat***
1 Celery stalk, finely chopped
1 Small yellow onion, finely chopped
2 Large eggs, beaten
1 tsp. Sea salt
1/2 tsp. Baking soda
1/2 tsp. Unrefined apple cider vinegar
1/4 tsp. Powdered or rubbed sage
1/4 tsp. Rosemary powder
1/4 tsp. Thyme
1/4 tsp. Cracked pepper
240 ml Filtered water

Preheat the oven to 350°F.
Combine the ingredients in a medium sized bowl and mix until thoroughly combined.
Pour into a greased small cast iron pan and bake for 45 minutes or until done.
Take the pan from the oven and begin cubing the bread with a knife.
With a large spoon or spatula, remove the cubes from the pan and pour them into a large mixing bowl.
Add the remaining ingredients and fold carefully.
Pour the dressing into a 8x8” baking pan and cook for 1 hour and 15 minutes, or until the internal temperature has reached at minimum 165°F.
Remove the pan from the oven and slice or spoon onto the plates
Serve hot.****

Makes 4 – 6 servings.

*If you happen to have cornbread or any gluten free bread on hand, use about 600 g and cut into bite-sized cubes.
**For a dairy free version, replace the butter with your preferred baking oil of choice like olive oil, coconut oil, and various nut/seed oils.
***Should you like to keep this vegetarian or you don’t have organ meat on hand, I’d recommend pulsed walnut/cashew pieces, left over mashed potatoes or pumpkin/sweet potato/butternut squash puree.
****Stuffing is a lot like pizza, in that it’s a great leftover food eaten hot or cold.

Twenty-three Things

It was a glorious birthday weekend. I rock climbed and made primal-friendly brownies. I had a 1920s/Prohibition themed birthday party with mead making, classy friends, and laughter. I walked around with Daddy-O after a light lunch and returned with a Belgian waffle maker in tow. And now, with primal eating and my body in a love-not love relationship at the moment, I am taking it easy by writing this post, my birthday spirit still intact.

On Friday the 16th I turned twenty-three. I’ve heard people give up on the birthday magic after a certain age (most notably in the U.S., becoming legal to drink alcohol on your twenty-first), but not me. Turning twenty-three was awesome, because I feel my age in the most positive of aspects. I may not know what life has in store for me this year, but I have learned a lot thus far.

1. Living safely is not the same as living smartly.
2. I stopped aiming for perfection, and started living for progression.
3. Community is not only something you find; it’s something you make.
4. It’s okay to not be everything at once, and it’s okay to not be everything at once at twenty-three.
5. It is never too late to learn something, and it is never too late to start something new.
6. When asked “What is the point of life?”, this was my response: “I think there really is no one single answer to this question. My meaning is not your meaning, and your meaning isn't mine. Some people spend their entire lives looking for it, while others run into it one random November day. It may take seconds, minutes, days, weeks, months, years, decades, and lifetimes to figure it out, but you won't know unless you put yourself out there for the Universe to show you what it offers. Sometimes dreams and goals take time, even grunt work and sh*t work that you may not like. Ask yourself ‘Is it worth it?’ for each and every dream and goal you have. If the answer is ‘no’, then move on to something that is.”
7. Observe without judgment; behind every action is a need.
8. There is no such thing as one perfect body, fitness regimen, or dietary lifestyle. (More on the this after Thanksgiving.)
9. The language your body speaks to you with is possibly one of the hardest and easiest languages you could learn.
10. How do you start to become great at something? By deciding you’re great at it.
11. When in doubt, make belief.
12.  I’m like a chess piece playing the best game I can with the squares I have accessible to the rules of the board.
13. You don’t have to be “on” all the time to be productive.
14. Being genuine has gotten me further than being nice.
15. I strive for community service that is for more than just humanity.
16. My progress is my progress, and it is still progression regardless of the time it takes.
17. Bettering yourself (looks, diet, fitness, education, work, life, etc…) just to prove to someone else what your are worth will never give you the satisfaction you think you’ll get from it.
18. If you treat your body like it’s something to control and fix, it will always be in constant rebellion.
19. Comparing myself to others is a disservice to both parties.
20. I am not my condition.
21. Living in optimism does not mean living with unrealistic expectations.
22. What climbing and yoga have taught me is to reach even with the fear of falling, to be flexible and self-aware, to breathe with purpose, to accept the not-today’s and celebrate the little wins, and to always keep trying.
23. Life is the biggest science experiment there is.

Primal Birthday Brownies (inspired by this recipe)

180 g Coconut oil, solid and at room temperature
125 g Cocoa powder
240 ml Whole milk
100 g Honey
3 Large eggs
240 g Almond meal
1/2 tsp. Sea salt
1/2 tsp. Bourbon vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 325°F.
Place the coconut oil and cocoa powder in a bowl and mix well.
Add the coconut milk, honey, eggs, almond meal, and spices and blend until combined.
Pour the brownie mixture into a greased 8x8” pan* and smooth the surface of the mixture.
Bake for 30 minutes, then remove and allow it to cool before cutting into individual servings.

Makes 20 servings.

*I was able to make two batches with this recipe, though I do believe the thicker the brownie layer, the gooier and less cake-like it will be.

Busy Bees

It gives me great pleasure to write this post, because it has three things I love in this world: family, food, and photography.

Every couple of years, my family (both biological and extended) brews mead. It is a drink of fermented honey (sometimes labeled “honey wine”) found throughout Europe, Asia, and in some parts of Africa over a period of eight thousand years. To us, like our ancestors of which we take precedence, we view it as sacred work. It is a craft that requires all to assist, from sanitizing the five-gallon carboys to measuring out the honey and water ratio to pouring in the yeast and mixing it all together. This year was our largest batch yet: forty-five gallons of newly made mead. And after nine months, it will be ready to bottle.

 

Now, before everyone gets excited, we cannot distribute mead for the purpose of making money, as we are not legally certified to do so. We make it for personal consumption and to share with friends at our monthly get-togethers. Those who take part are of drinking age and drink responsibly as stated in U.S. law. Plus, should you wish for a taste of what we refer as “The Drink of the Gods”, by all means brew your own. I am personally hoping to create a gluten free honey beer this summer, a recipe I will most certainly share with you all. This post, on the other hand, is to share the experience of making mead, with the permission of everyone involved… oh, and share a honey-based recipe to follow.

I love honey. It is my sweetener of choice besides naturally sweet foods and pure stevia. Before my family started brewing, I thought the only honey flavors out there were clover, wildflower, and buckwheat. But oh no, there is so much more variety than that. For our brewing purposes on Saturday, we used the following: wildflower, avocado, killer bee (which tasted like grape), and Scottish heather. They not only differ in color, but in consistency and taste. We purchased our honey from The Bee Folks (they also sell mead making kits) in one-gallon containers as well as a whopping five-gallon bucket from the Amish farm we buy from once in a while. Just imagine: nine gallons of honey for nine carboys. This particular batch is likely to last us for five years at least.

And of course we had sticky fingers from tasting the leftover honey.

 

Along with honey, I love the beings that make it: the bees. When I was part of the Benjamin Franklin Summer Institute of South and Central Asia, some of the kids who didn’t have host families for the week spent the weekend in a beautiful home where Environmental Studies on the Piedmont is located. I came up for the day to hang out with the kids and learn all about bees and beekeeping. 

And maybe I was giving off acceptable pheromones or maybe it was my respect for these small sentient beings, but I was not afraid and I didn’t get stung once. There is nothing quite like honey straight from the hive, and chewing on warm honeycomb like gum. I had more respect of where an important source that is essential to living comes from, and I hope humanity works toward helping the bee population grow to its utmost potential.

Four hours of grueling work meant a hungry group of people. As I was in charge of the menu, I was inspired to put honey in everything. I made a simple salad dressing of grapeseed oil, lemon, and honey, which was also used as a glazed for the salmon. Honey liquor was used to marinate the chicken. And finally, honey took part in making an amazing pie.

I was first inspired to make a coconut “cream” pie when five pounds of dehydrated coconut pieces came to my door from Essential Living Foods. (I also ordered coconut nectar sugar, which comes from the blossom and not the palm.) I gave a little under a pound to a good friend of mine, but I still have enough to last me quite a few recipes in the future. Seriously, the bag is the size of a baby, so if you have any recipes you think I should use them in please leave a comment below.

Chocolate Coconut Custard Pie (inspired from this amazing recipe)

1/2 of Morri’s pie crust recipe
Butter, for greasing the pie pan
4 Large eggs
640 ml Canned coconut milk
105 g Honey
1 1/2 tsp. Bourbon vanilla
1/2 tsp. Sea salt
15 g Cocoa powder, sifted
50 g Raw dehydrated coconut flakes

Preheat the oven to 425ºF.
Roll out the pie dough on a lightly floured surface until formed into a large flat circle, about one-eight of an inch thick.
Transfer the dough into a greased nine-inch pie pan and smooth the edges (you are not likely to have leftover dough scraps).
Evenly lay out the dehydrated coconut pieces on the bottom and set aside.
In a large mixing bowl, combine the eggs, coconut milk, honey, vanilla, salt, and cocoa powder with an electric mixer until thoroughly integrated.
Pour the custard into the pie pan and bake for 15 minutes.
Decrease the temperature to 350ºF for an additional 40 – 45 minutes, or until the center has firmed slightly.
Take out of the oven to cool on the counter-top until room temperature (at least three to four hours), and then place in the fridge to chill (at lease three to four hours).
Serve chilled with whipped cream, ice cream, and coffee.

Makes 8 – 16 servings, depending on the size of the slices.

Turkey Day Round-Up

Thanksgiving. A holiday focused on food, family, food, getting together, food, telling stories, food, and more food. I mentioned the food, right? 

My Leftovers Day Plate

Good.

I only had class on Monday this week, so much of my time was spent cleaning, cooking, and nervously awaiting the arrival of our other guests. We were eight around the table: Mama Dazz, the Burt-man, Grandpa B, Grandma D, Uncle Rich, myself, and the boyfriend’s father and brother. He came later in the evening, back from his five-day excursion in Mexico.  The energy at the table was enormous, and food was plentiful and beyond delicious. It wasn’t completely Morri friendly, and being grain-free and sweetener free made it slightly more difficult (I indulged with a sliver of pie), but the food that I could and did eat did not leave me wanting. Plus, it was my first Thanksgiving back from Sweden, so I was just tickled pink to be there.

First and foremost, the Turkey, a bird named after the country the English believed it originated (The Turks called it the Hindu, I think, though the bird comes from Northern America). We typically buy the all-natural Trader Joe’s turkey each year, which came with its own brine. Only, upon further inspection, I realized that the brine wasn’t Morri friendly because of the sugar, so we ended up getting the smaller and yes, more expensive Kosher bird. 

Regardless, it was totally worth the extra few bucks, because not only did it taste amazing but it occurred to us that maybe the bird was raised and fed differently due to its, uh, Kosher-ness. It wasn’t some hulking, too-big-for-its-own-legs, obese thing. It was smaller, with some of the feathers in the skin, and juicier than I remember turkey ever being. Next year, I’m going to look in buying a Morri friendly bird online and see where that goes.

As I was going grain-free, I decided not to make a gluten free stuffing which, until I got sick earlier this month, I was making it with a spoon bread base. Instead of putting it in the bird it was baked like a huge bread pudding and a whole onion was put in its place. The onion was my “stuffing”.

There were two kinds of greens, my Uncle Rich’s infamous collard greens, cooked with salted fatback, water, pepper flakes, and salt and pepper, and I made green beans with a delish twist, and whose recipe will be posted shortly.

Like many Thanksgiving dinners around the United States, our menu was rather heavy on the carbohydrates, but I think we did rather well in bringing color and balance to the table. Instead of mashed potatoes, we went with “small” sweet potatoes, baked at 400 ºF for 1.5 to 2 hours. The result is a caramelized and sticky exterior with a gooey middle that melts in your mouth. 

We had two sauces, turkey gravy and cranberry sauce, both homemade, grain-free, and definitely not out of a can. I'm doing my best not to brag too inanely, but our cranberry sauce was beyond amazing, and I wish I had written down the recipe (we used this one for inspiration). Mama Dazz started off with two bags of fresh cranberries, used two cups of orange juice instead of water to cook them, and finished it off with fresh orange pieces and walnuts. Before adding sugar to the whole thing she poured a bit into two ramekins, one for me and one for Grandma D, who has diabetes. I personally liked it unsweetened, but she used a sweetener for hers.

Except for the turkey and Uncle Rich’s collards, I was surprised that most of the things I put on my plate (and made) were vegan. Then again, since everything was mixed into a tasty jamboree of flavors, I guess it wasn’t so vegan after all. Oh well…

As for drinks, I made two kinds of ice tea, Irish Breakfast (caffeinated) and Green Rooibos (non-caffeinated), and poured them into wine bottles for a change of pace. We also had chilled white wines, a 2010 Da Vinci Chianti Big Sergey brought (along with pink roses), and sparkling apple cider. 

Mama Dazz's Apple-Quince Pie (Not GF)

Mama Dazz's Sorghum Pecan Pie (Not GF)

Dessert was a Thanksgiving feast in its own right, with four (count 'em, four) different pies, vanilla ice cream, homemade unsweetened whipped cream, and lots of coffee. Mama Dazz made Grandma D her own special single-serving berry pie as one, but she also made pecan pie and an apple-quince pie for the gluten eating crowd. I made a gluten-free pumpkin pie with a dairy free filling, using the second half of the pie crust recipe I made for last month’s Gluten Free Ratio Rally.

Grandma D's Three Berry Pie

My GF Pumpkin Pie!

It was weird having pie, with its not-so-much grain-free crust and honey sweetened filling, not to mention eating more than one fruit serving a day (the cranberry sauce was my second serving). After we picked him up from the airport, I ate a tiny sliver of my pie while he ate a reheated plate of amazing deliciousness. I felt loopy and slightly intoxicated after that, and my stomach didn’t know what to make of it. It wasn’t a bad feeling, though I did feel off. I think having a grain-free/sweetener free/limited fruit servings diet for a while may help, but it may end up becoming a long-term thing. FiveLac has been helpful; I just don’t want to take 3 – 6 packets every day for the rest of my life. And as long as I have garbanzo bean flour, I'm golden.

All in all, this Thanksgiving gave me a lot to be thankful for; you know, besides being thankful for the family I have. For my birthday I have this idea that, for every year after my birthday that’s the number of hours I give to doing community service (i.e., I’m twenty-two, so this year I do at minimum twenty-two hours). I am thankful that my lifestyle enables me to do that. I am thankful for the world I live in, for the people in it, and for the life I lead. I am thankful for every experience, every lesson, every mistake, and every success. I am thankful for my education, for my job, and for my bright today and the tomorrows that follow.

I am thankful for this year’s harvest, whatever that may be.

I end this post with a Happy Day After Thanksgiving to you all. May you have food in your cupboards and pantries all year long, a roof over your heads and a fireplace to keep you warm and dry, and finally, an open heart that grows with each passing day.

Dijon Green Beans with Almonds and Mushrooms (adapted from this recipe)

1 lb 8 oz French-cut green beans, preferably frozen
10 oz Baby Bella mushrooms, thinly sliced
1 oz Almond slivers
1 oz Coconut oil
5 Garlic cloves, left whole
1/2 tsp. Sea salt
1/2 tsp. Cracked pepper
Dash nutmeg
2 oz Dijon mustard

Put a large pot over medium heat and add the coconut oil.
Sautee the mushrooms, almond slivers, and the garlic cloves until thoroughly cooked and browned (careful, though, the almonds can burn if you are not watching).
Add in the green beans and stir until the ingredients are completely integrated.
Cover the pan with a lid and lower the heat to medium or medium-low for up to three minutes.
Pour in the spices and Dijon mustard in the final minutes of cooking (i.e. the green beans are still a vibrant green and lukewarm).
After it has cooked, let it sit for five minutes before serving.

Serves 8 – 10 people as a side dish, with a very likely chance of leftovers.

Protein Packed BBQ (Beef, Bean, & Quinoa) Patties with Cornbread Rounds

Arr! Thar be photos ahead!

As the spring semester comes to a close, exams are just around the corner and student anxieties are on the rise. Last week alone I was going to bed late working on one thing or another, and then having to get up early to do something else. By Friday the family and I were doing the finishing touches for our weekend camping trip (some of the photos are posted), and it happened.  

 

(Various photos of the fam at the campsite)

I crashed. 

The maypole ceremony

My heart was beating so loud from my chest it felt like the bells of Notre Dame were tolling. I had a slight fever at 99°F, and simply standing took the breath out of me. Tears streamed from my eyes in panic, my mind racing from one thought to another. I didn’t have time for this; I had packing to do and things to help out with. Nausea resulted from the simultaneous pains from my head and stomach, and my limbs were shaking. Mama Dazz sent me back to bed to lie down. I ended up sleeping for two hours.

The Burt-man in thought

This is what happens when your body to tells you to slow down while on Armour Thyroid.

As mentioned previously, I was/am a Worrier. Once I become worried, it takes quite a lot of effort to calm me down. I used to have anxiety attacks quite often. I was so busy focusing on things I couldn’t control or the lists upon lists of things I had to do that I forgot how it affected me in the present. 

Things don’t bother me as much anymore. I’ve had a lot of training in this department: people, books, philosophies, and life in general. I discovered Taoism the summer between my freshman and sophomore years in college from The Tao of Pooh and The Te of Piglet by Benjamin Hoff. (Actually, I had the idea of Taoism in my head before I knew what Taoism was. It was a there’s-actually-a-discipline-to-my-personal-beliefs kind of thing.) The idea of simply "being" had such a phenomenal impact on my teenage brain that I spent that summer and the semester following feeling one with the Universe.

But here’s the reality: simply being is freaking hard. When there is more money leaving your wallet than there is coming into your bank account, classes to attend, drama to avoid, the whole “Oneness with the Universe” concept seems like a hard thing to accomplish, no matter how noble and desirous it is. There is one part of Taoism that has never failed me and saw me through the bumps in the road: trusting the Universe to sort itself out.

I learned that summer to get out of my own way, to trust in the precise workings of the Universe to smooth out the rough edges. Sometimes the end result may not be what you wanted or expected, but it almost always is what you needed. The lessons in our lives will continue repeating themselves until we get the message, until the lesson is learned. We are happy when we focus on the things we can control and miserable when we focus on uncontrollables.

This reminder was a hard one for me to grasp. 

 

(More fab fam photos)

Regardless of the Friday morning feeling useless, the rest of my weekend camping was a blast. My extended family and I packed multiple cars and headed to Stanardsville, Virginia, to celebrate the coming of May (also known as Beltaine). Groups that ranged from two to fifteen people were there with the overall census of fewer than two hundred pitched up tents and outside kitchens. Many were dressed in a Renaissance festival or gypsy garb, while others stuck to typical camping apparel. There were venders selling an assortment of wonders surrounding a large bonfire circle, next to the maypole where the May King and Queen were handfasted. There were train cars modified into living quarters, each with a bathroom, a kitchen, a common area, and a bedroom. Drumming and laughter could be heard throughout the night while various holistic arts were taught during the day.

 

 

I thought this was the coolest thing!

I was still rather lethargic from Friday morning’s episode, so I didn’t wander from camp often, except to see the maypole ceremony, to visit a family friend for lunch, and to use the facilities. Much of my time was spent taking pictures of the people I loved, the campground, the food, and reading Gaiman and Pratchett’s Good Omens.

(Photos of food... XD)

Gluten free chili

I have to admit I was a tad worried about what I would be eating on this trip. I anticipated not being able to eat much of what the others would be eating and packed accordingly: Granny Smith apples, So Delicious unsweetened coconut milk, raw vegetables, rolled oats, a can of beans, raisins, almond butter, almond slivers, two kinds of already cooked rice, potatoes, and canned salmon.

My family wasn’t having that. 

Half of the stuff I brought came back with us, simply because I was accommodated for the main meal. We had two types of chili, both Morri friendly (but one was made with my own spice blend), with quinoa on the side. The breakfasts were also Morri-friendly, but I tend towards hot cereals in the mornings.

And of course, there was coffee.

This weekend further proved how much I love my family, even adding a few more on the roster.

By Monday, I was having an off morning, and it may or may not have been because of the news that the whole world seemed to be watching. Things were not going according to plan. Half of me really wanted to just lie on the couch and watch cartoons all day, to forget how the real world can be a scary and unforgiving place. By my Tai Chi class, that changed completely.

I truly believe Tai Chi is Taoism in movement (which, incidentally enough, it actually is). For the majority of the classes I had been having a hard time memorizing the form, completely forgetting parts and simply frustrated with the right hand being dominant (I’m left-handed) with the sword. Except for slight mistakes that were easily fixable, I was able to do the entire form yesterday, with and without a group.

It was a small victory, but one such as this truly makes all the difference.

And then, there was dinner with the boyfriend. While I was out camping he went to Nashville, Tennessee, to participate in a half-marathon run with a mutual friend. He regaled me with his misadventures and achievements while I cooked up a new inspiration, showing off his new cowboy boots with the smug attitude of being taller (he and I are practically the same size, except he is a centimeter or so taller). In two weeks he will be gone until late August for an internship in Texas, so dinners (any meal, really) like this one will be happening as often as we can before he leaves.

Protein Packed BBQ (Beef, Bean, & Quinoa) Patties with Cornbread Rounds

For the patties
1 lb. Ground Beef
1 c. Refried Beans (I used Trader Joe’s refried black beans with jalapeños)
1 c. Cooked Quinoa
1/4 tsp. Sea salt (may be omitted, as the end result is rather salty)
2 tsp. Crushed garlic
Red chili pepper flakes (optional)

For the sauce
1 c. Trader Joe’s Garlic Chipotle Salsa
1 c. Water

Thoroughly combine the ingredients for the patties in a large mixing bowl.
Place a skillet (I recommend your biggest one) on medium heat with your choice of cooking oil coating the bottom.
Scoop up the mixture in 1/4 c. increments (or larger in you prefer) and form them into patties (give or take, 10 to 12) onto the skillet.
After a few minutes, add the water and salsa into the skillet, cover the pan, and allow to cook for ten minutes.
Flip over the patties, reduce the heat to medium-low, and let cook for another five minutes until done (the result will be softer than your typical burger patty, but it should still feel rather firm in the middle).

Makes 11 patties. Serve with cornbread rounds and a side of French-cut green beans.

* Even though I used 1 ounce less of fat than what Ruhlman calls for, the result still gave a greasy crumb, though it tasted wonderful and had a wonderful crust. (So, to my fellow gluten free bloggers of the GF Ratio Rally, any tips on how to fix this?)

Cornbread Rounds

3 oz Cornmeal
2 oz Arrowroot starch
2 oz Amaranth
1 oz Millet
0.5 oz Agave nectar
1/2 tsp. Sea Salt
2 tsp. Baking powder
8 oz. Whole milk
2 Large eggs
3 oz Coconut oil, room temperature)

Preheat oven to 350ºF.
Combine the flours, baking powder, and salt in a medium-sized bowl.
Using a blender, combine the milk, eggs, coconut oil, and agave nectar until it has a smooth consistency. (This is important for the coconut oil, as it hardened on contact with the milk.)
Pour the wet ingredients into the bowl, and mix the wet and dry ingredients using a whisk or hand-held blender until thoroughly combined.
Pour the batter into muffin tins (greased or wrapper-lined).
The muffins take about 50 minutes to bake, but check to make sure they are done with a toothpick or knife.

Makes 8 – 12 muffins.