An Abundant Kitchen Talk Notes and Resources

This Saturday's event at My Dead Aunt's Bookstore was a successful and fun event.  A big thanks to everyone who came out; it was great to see your smiling faces!  I delivered a talk covering the basics of plant-based eating and we reviewed a few of the many vegan and vegetarian cookbooks from the collection that I had the opportunity to curate for the store.  We also snacked on some samples of a few of the recipes from the cookbooks to inspire everyone to see what they could make at home.   We covered quite a few resources, and I wanted to pull them all together for everyone to reference (plus a few more) .  Even if you didn't have the opportunity to come to the event in person, you will find helpful information below.

We sampled:

Donut Holes  Here is a previous blogpost I penned about this recipe which is from Ani's Raw Food Kitchen (I substituted both dried mango and apricots in the event batch)

Chocolate Brownie Bites were this recipe from Deliciously Ella's blog (without hemp hearts, added cacao nibs) and also a version in her cookbook

Jerk Spiced Tofu - from the cookbook The Vegetarian Grill

Green Smoothie - similar to this one from Kris Karr, subbing frozen pineapple and mango for the apple

Where do you get your protein on a plant-based diet?

Movies about healthy eating

Books about healthy eating/plant-based diet

Cookbooks



Thanks for reading!

Hot Lemon Ginger Tea

This winter is starting off cold and damp for where I live this year.  It's the kind of weather that makes you want to snuggle in with a good book or movie and a steaming mug.  This tea has the refreshing tartness of lemonade with a slight tingle from ginger.  This delicious beverage offers both comfort and the health benefits of vitamin C and antioxidants that are anti-inflammatory and immunity boosting.  If you prefer to avoid caffeine, you can use a decaffeinated green tea or choose an herbal tea like lemon, mint, or hibiscus instead.

Hot Lemon Ginger Tea

1 ginger tea bag (I used Yogi brand)

1 green tea bag (I used Celestial Seasonings brand)

1/2 lemon, washed and sliced

Sweetener, to taste (maple syrup, agave nectar, stevia, or any favorite sweetener)

1-2 slices fresh ginger root (optional)

Boiling water

In a large mug (at least 10 oz), place the sliced lemon and a small amount of sweetener (I used dried stevia from my garden which is what those dark green flecks in the cup are plus a teaspoon of maple syrup).  With a spoon, mash the lemon slices, sweetener and ginger (if using) together to release some of the juice and oil from the lemon.  Add both a green tea bag and ginger tea bag and fill the mug with boiling water.  Let steep for 5 minutes, then remove the tea bags.  Stir and adjust by adding more sweetener if desired.  Enjoy!

   

Thanks for reading!

If you liked this post, check out some other recipes found here.  

Garden highlights - 2017

Heirloom tomatoes

This year's garden was about compromise.  Work and studies left me little time to nurture seeds from start to transplant, so I opted for heirloom seedlings from online sources and the local nursery.  I was pleasantly surprised that the selection wasn't as narrow as I had feared.   Happily, I was still able to stock the freezer with tomatoes of about half a dozen varieties for making soups and stews over the winter, and there was usually something available for harvest fresh from the garden on most days.  Sadly, the basil was ready for harvest as I studied for a final and then was away on vacation.  Because of this, I didn't get to stock up on homemade pesto this year, but I think the neighbors enjoyed the windfall.  Another casualty to this year's weather was the garlic, which only yielded a few scrawny bulbs at harvest.  On the plus side, I was able to deter the deer that like to nibble our green bean plants.  This time, I tucked the bean seeds among the prickly leaves of zucchini plants, which the deer avoid.  This seemed to have made our garden no longer on the equivalent of the deer's Zagat guide of best places to eat because they seemed to have been frequenting our neighbor's flowering bush instead.  This year's gardening experience was certainly a bit pared down over the last few; however, I'll take it over not having one at all.  The seed catalogs have arrived in the mail just as we're settling in for a couple of weeks of below freezing winter weather, so it's time to snuggle up to the fireplace and start planning for next spring.

Although I didn't get to share the progress throughout the growing season, I did manage to capture it in photos.  Here are some of the highlights from the garden this year.

Flowers in an urn, a raised bed, a fig tree, zucchini and yellow squash

Daily harvests

Some of the flowers from this summer

Swiss chard, Italian eggplant, tomatoes ripening on the vine, strawberries

Highlights from 2016

Farm view - Rural Retreat, VA

Well, they say it's better late than never...so, I'm finally getting to complete this post started many months ago.  For me, 2016 was shadowed by my sadness over my mother's passing away in February of last year.  I spent much of the rest of the year just taking things as they came as I realized that I wasn't going to be in control of things the way I usually like to be.  As I incorporated the responsibilities of settling an estate into an already busy schedule, I had to come to grips with the reality that grief makes you move at a slower pace through life.  I had to let some activities go in order to cope.  Despite that, there was still plenty to celebrate during the year.  The year was also filled with plenty of personal reflection, and I marked the end of the year by doing a look back to celebrate the highlights from 2016, picking a word and setting goals for 2017 as I have been doing over the past 10 years or so.

Here are some of the highlights from 2016:

I started and completed 1/4 of the coursework in a graduate school program in transpersonal psychology.  This partial stack of school books in the photo below kept me busy during the year.  My coursework has a large experiential component requiring a great deal of inner work.  My personal meditation practice has become even more consistent as I explored a variety of both Eastern and Western techniques.  I delved into a journey of self-discovery uncovering the mythologies of childhood and culture that are influencing me today, and immersed myself in discovering the science behind the powers of the human mind and the the mysteries of our dreams.  I've included a resource list of some of the books I explored in class and some others just for fun in case you are looking for something to add to your reading list.

Because of my studies, the garden didn't get as much of my attention as I would have liked to have given it.  However, the harvests still offered an abundance of fruits and vegetables plus beautiful flowers for bouquets.

I attended a weekend program on intuition and dreams at a farmhouse called the Big House in Rural Retreat, VA.  In addition to gaining new knowledge, it was a weekend of much needed rejuvenation, beautiful scenery, and making connections with a like-minded community.  After the program, the road trip continued with visits to family in Kentucky and Indiana before heading home and back to work and my studies.

The Big House in Rural Retreat, VA

Other highlights for the year included:

spending time with my brother and his family

a photography workshop with my favorite zen master

high tea at an historic inn with some of the ladies in the neighborhood

a fun summer evening at a traveling carnival with a girlfriend and her family

performing dance at a charity function

a special night at the 10-year anniversary celebration of  the release of Hip Tranquil Chick

my husband taking me to a performance of Love Letters by Ali MacGraw and Ryan O'Neal

a beautiful local Christmas light display

monthly volunteering with my son at the local food bank

As I have done for many years, I completed Susannah Conway's Unravelling exercise of reflection for the year past and set aspirations for the year ahead.  Last year's word was IMMERSION, and that came about when I dove into my studies and also coped with being unexpectedly immersed in grief.  For 2017, I have chosen AUTHENTIC as my word to explore as my knowledge and worldview expand with my studies.  I'm looking forward to watching the rest of 2017 unfold and the adventures it might bring.

Thanks for reading!

Reading list:

Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life
Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear
Personal Mythology: Using Ritual, Dreams, and Imagination to Discover Your Inner Story
Dream Solutions! Dream Realizations: The Original Dream Quest Guidebook
Extraordinary Knowing: Science, Skepticism, and the Inexplicable Powers of the Human Mind
Meditation for Beginners
Living Deeply: The Art & Science of Transformation in Everyday Life
When the Soul Awakens: The Path to Spiritual Evolution and a New World Era
The Secret History of Dreaming
The Essential Edgar Cayce
Succulent Wild Woman - Dancing With Your Wonder-full Self!
Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less

   Rose in full bloom in my garden

Summer Harvest Salad

Summer Harvest Salad

As summer draws to a close and the warm weather fruits and vegetables are at their peak of ripeness, it is easy to create a colorful, nutritious dish with just a few fresh ingredients from your garden, local farmers market or produce section of the grocery store.  This salad requires no cooking.  It is a great dish for summer picnics or potlucks or when it's too hot to cook.  This dish comes together in very little time because the season's best ingredients need very little to bring out their full flavor.   With the addition of some grilled tofu, fish or chicken and some crusty bread, you have a light meal ready in no time.

Summer harvest salad

2-3 large ripe tomatoes, sliced
2 ears of fresh corn, shuck and remove kernels from cob
1/4 ro 1/2 small red onion, finely chopped
1/2 lemon
micro-greens or sprouts
fresh chopped herbs of choice (basil, thyme, mint)
sea salt and pepper
olive oil (optional)

Arrange the tomato slices on a serving platter.  Sprinkle the corn kernels over the tomato slices.  Sprinkle the onions over the corn.  Sprinkle the chopped herbs over the onions.  Season with sea salt and pepper to taste.  Top with some micro-greens or sprouts.  Squeeze the lemon over the salad and drizzle with olive oil (if using).  Serve at room temperature or slightly chilled.

Thanks for reading!

Harvest from my garden

Discovering aquafaba - Vegan Lemon Pound Cake

Pound cake is a favorite dessert from my childhood, and every family seems to have a prized recipe.  My Aunt Carolyn makes one of the best as does my friend Lisa.  Now, how to make this delicious treat vegan friendly...

I was inspired by Popsugar's recipe for a vegan version of Starbuck's lemon pound cake and research into aquafaba (canned chickpea water) as an egg substitute.  Vegan baking can have mixed results as the chemistry isn't always quite right when you substitute for an ingredient like eggs, let alone all the dairy products in a recipe.  The finished recipe can sometimes be quite dense and sometimes more soggy than the original version; usually still edible, but not always as satisfying as imagined. That being said, I've had mostly good success with my vegan baking adventures because I do so much research to learn from others' mistakes beforehand.  I am happy that the aquafaba worked well and that I again have a great pound cake recipe for special occasions.

Vegan Lemon Pound Cake

makes 12 slices

Lemon cake:
1 1/2 cups unsweetened non-dairy milk
2 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
1 1/2 cups white whole wheat flour
2/3 cup almond meal (ground raw almonds)
1 tablespoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt (optional)
1 1/2 cup sugar
2/3 cup oil (coconut, olive, canola)

2/3 cup aquafaba (water drained from canned chickpeas)
Juice from half a small lemon (about 1 tablespoon)

grated lemon rind from half a small lemon
2 teaspoons almond extract

Lemon Icing:
1 cup powdered sugar

Juice from half a small lemon (about 1 tablespoon)

grated lemon rind from half a small lemon

1 -3 teaspoons non-dairy milk

1. Preheat oven to 350ºF. 
2. Lightly oil or spray a large loaf pan.
3. In the medium bowl add the milk, aquafaba, vinegar, oil, lemon juice, and vanilla extract, grated lemon rind and mix well.
4. Make a well in your dry ingredients, pour in the wet and stir until just combined and fairly smooth. 
5. Pour batter into the prepared loaf pan, and bake for 45-60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
6. Let sit for about 10 minutes before removing from the pan to cool thoroughly on a wire rack.
7. Whisk together the powdered sugar, lemon juice and rinding for the icing and drizzle in just enough milk until you have a smooth icing that is not too thin.  
8. Drizzle icing on top of the completely cool cake.

I'll definitely be ready with this cake next spring when the strawberries are ripe in the garden to make a strawberry shortcake.

Thanks for reading!

Resource Library - when creativity needs inspiration

Some of my tools for creativity:  books, magazines, videos and art supplies

I'm always looking for a good book or website to get my creative spark ignited and get the next project going.  Every room of our house seems to be filled with books of one kind or another, tablets with access to ebook selections, blogs and podcasts and the Internet have all become our endless library that is open 24 hours a day.  My favorites are still books from second hand book shops, thrift stores, online used book sellers and The Book Thing in Baltimore, MD.  These provide me with frugal ways to keep my collection refreshed as well as an outlet to give retired selections a new home.  There are so many options that I sometimes have a hard time narrowing down my choices so I have time to actually to read them all or create the projects they inspire, but I enjoy taking in as much as I can.

I wanted to share some of my favorites with you so I created a resource library page on the Resourceful Cookie website.  You'll find my favorites cookbooks, gardening references, books on art techniques and inspiration of all kinds.  I'll keep updatng it as I find new resources, so check back from time to time.

If you have favorite books, movies or websites please share in the comments below.  I'm always looking for something new to explore and share with others.

Thanks for reading!

Kitchen adventures: Vegan parmesan sprinkles

Vegan parmesan sprinkles on popcorn

I'm always looking for creative ways to pack more nutrition into any recipe but still have it taste great.  I'm always grating veggies into my recipes to replace some of the fat; like finely shredded zucchini or carrots into muffins, pancakes and waffles.  I also add a handful or two of spinach or kale to any smoothie without it changing the flavor but providing a vitamin and fiber boost.

Another thing I like to add to boost nutrition is spirulina.  It has been around in health food stores for quite a while, but is becoming more widely known as "superfoods" are gaining popularity.  It is a blue-green algae that is packed with nutrients.  Below is an infographic explaining the benefits of spirulina, and you can also learn more here.

Add some to your favorite homemade salad dressing or smoothie like in this smoothie bowl.

This bowl contains a spinach, raspberry, frozen banana and coconut water smoothie enriched with spirulina that is topped with granola, coconut, raspberries and drizzled with fig syrup.  Fantastic for breakfast or a snack.

Here's another tasty way to give spirulina a try as pictured at the top of the post:

Vegan parmesan sprinkles

makes approximately 1/3 cup

2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
2 tablespoons ground hemp seeds
1 teaspoon spirulina powder
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
1/2 teaspoon sea salt (optional)

Put all ingredients in a small bowl and mix well.
To serve, sprinkle over pasta, popcorn, soup or salad.
Store in a covered container in the refrigerator.

I hope you give it a try.

Thanks for reading!

Spring garden update

Swiss chard

After a late start, spring is finally underway.  The seedlings have been planted in the outdoor beds with just a tray of cabbage seedlings left to grow for another week or so before they are moved outside.  Here are a few photos of how things are shaping up so far.

Rhubarb, blackberries, strawberries

Kale, butter lettuce, Asian stir fry mesclun 

Peas, squash and cucumbers, garlic, green beans and tomatoes

I'm looking forward to sharing the garden with you as it continues to grow.

Thanks for reading!

Peony

Winter garden uncovered and spring prep

Repaired raised beds with a new irrigation system for the backyard garden

The winter garden that was started in the fall of 2014 and was snug under covered tunnels during a cold winter has shed its cover of garden fabric and plastic leaving the bare hoops visible.  Covered tunnels are a great way to get a jump on spring growing season.  The crops above survived the winter cold and many are ready for harvest already in April while others will continue to mature in the coming weeks and be ready for harvest soon.  There is nothing so satisfying as having a small crop of fresh produce to pick so early in the season.  Pictured are:

• carrots
• Swiss chard
• kale
• collard greens
• onions
• leeks
• salad greens
• arugula
• cilantro
• garlic

Rainbow chard grown over the winter

As you can see from the new wood,we've made some repairs to our 5 year old raised beds in the back yard about 2 weeks ago.  The past weekend, we spent a few hours installing an irrigation system to help save time watering, and I pulled countless weeds that had sprung up over the last months.  I'm getting a late start this year, but the cold weather lingered longer than anticipated and travel kept me from getting seeds started indoors.  However, things are will be in full swing soon.  The table, heat mats and seed starting mix are at the ready and 3 cubic yards of compost has been delivered to replenish the garden beds.  I expect we will soon have summer crops well on their way in a few weeks.

If you are planting a garden this year, I'd love to hear what you are planting this year in the comments below.

Thanks for reading!

Collard greens harvested for dinner

Photo essay: a walk along the river

 Sun setting over the water

Just after the winter solstice, we enjoyed a walk along a branch of the Anacostia River near our home on an unexpectedly warm afternoon.  Here are a few photos from the walk.

 Moss growing on the rocks

Rope

A little winter greenery

Enjoying a walk along the river

Thanks for reading!

Summer garden wrap-up

Bounty from this year's garden including winter squash, bell and jalapeno peppers, heirloom tomatoes, zucchini, eggplant, raspberries, ground cherries, Asian, green and wax string beans

Winter has settled in here.  It seems as though the start of summer was such a short time ago, Somehow life just got in the way so I'm only now posting my wrap up for this year's summer garden. People often ask how much our garden really produces.  My answers have varied from - enough tomatoes so I don't have to buy tomato sauce until May or enough frozen pesto to get us until the first basil harvest the next year, but I didn't really know for sure.  So this year, I decided to keep track of the weight of the harvest. We found a nice vintage scale and general store weight sets after my digital kitchen scale gave out after about a month.  Here are the totals for the 2014 summer garden harvest,

An antique store find

Summer 2014 harvest (in pounds)

Basil, sweet		1.40		Ground cherry		3.20		Potatoes		8.00
Basil, Thai		0.05		Kale		1.00		Raspberries		7.54
Blackberries		0.27		Lettuce		0.68		Rhubarb		1.29
Broccoli		1.20		Mint		1.23		Soy beans		4.50
Carrots		0.53		Melon		35.86		Squash		32.27
Collards		2.95		Onion		0.95		Stevia		0.23
Eggplant		20.07		Oregano		2.00		Tomatoes		150.87
Garlic and scapes		2.11		Peas		0.73		Zucchini		8.56
Green beans		16.96		Peppers		24.36

Each year I learn a little more about raising an edible garden with the weather and nature making each year a challenge and a surprise.  I didn't have as much success with cucumbers and melons this this year after last year's never ending bumper crop, so it was nice to have a break after a diet saturated with everything from cucumber-melon juice to cantaloupe jam.  This year, we had an abundance of eggplant and winter squash for me to find creative new ways to use.

Here are some of my favorite photos from this year's garden adventures:

January through September in the garden beds

Garden fun preserving the harvest for the winter

Harvests

In the bed, on the vine and at some colorful harvests

Garden beauties

It was a pleasant journey reviewing this last summer's work on a cold, dreary day.  I'm looking forward to getting back into the swing of writing, creating and sharing with you in hopes that you are inspired to explore something new or revisit a forgotten creative endeavor.

"A bird doesn't sing because it has an answer, it sings because it has a song."  ~ Maya Angelou

Thanks for reading!

Zen photography

Under the shade of a canopy of trees at the US National Arboretum

This spring, I took a 4-week workshop called Zen Photography that blended mindfulness and the art of photography.  Our zen master, Tuan Pham, is an award winning amateur photographer.  He used meditation and exercises such as one-eye seeing and relaxed awareness to teach us wise attention so we could look at the world around us with awakened awareness.  Our classes included drawing and other creative exercises along with time spent taking photos in the US National Arboretum.  Each class ended with a slide show of our best shots from the previous week.   The course ended with a family day where everyone got to participate in mindfulness and creative exercises to see what we had been up to.  There was a final exhibition of all of our favorite photos taken over the weeks.

The course focused not so much on the technical aspect of taking photographs, but on how we see things and how our thinking minds influence how we see.  We were challenged to try things to get out of our comfort level and stretch ourselves.  I experimented with taking some photos that were outside of my usual style and was pleasantly surprised by the results.

Here are a few of my favorites:

Reflection - one of my classmates during a moment of stillness before going off to take photos

Water series - reflections in the water

The inside of an iris growing in a neighbor's garden

Close up of the ice cubes in a glass of iced tea

The end - a dog enjoying a rest in the shade at the arboretum

I really enjoyed the course and feel that it helped me view my surroundings in a slightly different way than before.  It is being offered again this fall and I've signed up to take it so that I can expand on what I've already learned and to apply it to my photography as well as all my other creative endeavors.

I hope you pause from time to time to take in the scene around you with fresh eyes and enjoy the beauty in the everyday.

Thanks for reading!

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