Bumper Sticker

I saw this today on the back of a black pick-em-up-truck and it gave me a little chuckle.

“RELIGION is what keeps the poor from killing the rich.”

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Water conservation or bad parenting?

I just saw a little boy, maybe 5 years old, peeing onto the ground near a tree in the front yard of what I would assume to be his parent’s home.  And he wasn’t like somewhat camouflaged by a bush or anything; his little ‘thing’ was clearly visible from about 5 yards away as I drove up the street heading home from the grocery store.  I don’t live amongst corn fields and farmlands either, this is in urban Portland.  This anerves me as it wasn’t but 2 weeks ago when I was driving home and the same thing was happening.  What the hell is going on?  I thought only juvenile boys who were too drunk to bother finding the bathroom peed outside in broad daylight.  Maybe I’m just old fashioned but it seems to me that we should be teaching our young to use the appropriate facilities to relieve themselves as we have the luxury of plumbing.

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The Corny Kind

Cornmeal pizza crust!  Had a slight resemblance to cornbread but it still tasted good.  The version that was thinner and crunchier than mine was said to be quite delicious (his was on the larger pan, hence the difference in thickness).

The way it goes:

1 C cornmeal
1 C wheat flour
1 C unbleached AP flour
1 T garlic
2 tsp salt
½ – 1 tsp pepper
¼ C olive oil
1 C hot water (115 degrees)
1 T sugar
2 ½ tsp of yeast (or 1 package)

Mix sugar and yeast to hot water and let stand for about 10 minutes; it should foamed at this point. If not you’re technically supposed to start over but don’t go throwing out 10 batches of yeast; if 2 don’t foam just go about the rest of the steps.

While yeast is foaming (activating), mix the rest of the ingredients except the oil. After the 10 minutes are up, mix in oil and yeast mixture with the flour and knead into a ball. If your dough is too sticky add a little more flour until it stops sticking to your hands.

Rub olive oil on kneaded dough, put it in a large bowl and cover with plastic wrap and a towel and let rise for 2 hours.

Roll it out, sauce it, top it, and cook it at 475 degrees for about 12 – 15 minutes, or until golden brown.

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my, my, my, my Marinara

I really like this sauce.  It’s chunky though so if large tomato chunks aren’t your cup of tea just use crushed tomatoes.  I use this on pizza and pasta and whatever else floats my boat.

28oz crushed tomatoes
28oz diced tomatoes (partially drained depending on how liquidy you want the sauce)
1 medium onion, diced
3-4 garlic cloves, minced
mushrooms, sliced (optional)
bell pepper, diced (optional)
Olive oil to saute the veggies, I use less than 1 T
1 T sugar
1 T italian seasonings
red pepper flakes (optional)
smidge of salt
pinch of black pepper
sometimes I put some red wine in the sauce too

Sauté the onions and bell pepper (if using) over medium until they are soft.  Add garlic and mushrooms and continue cooking for about 5 minutes.  Add the remaining ingredients, reduced heat, cover and simmer for about 20 minutes or so.

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A plight for wine of the boxed variety

Yes, I realize it’s missing the nostalgic charm of the age-old container called glass, but it’s pretty damn tasty and should not be shunned merely because it’s in a bag, inside of a box.  Not only is this a more eco-friendly design, it’s a ton cheaper and also very convenient as you don’t have to worry about drinking the entire bottle before it goes bad (which for some of us is not much of a problem anyway, oh well).  While consumption of such a product may result in people making fun of you because you have “wine on tap” I dare say it’s worth a shot.  Here in Portland you can find it for roughly $15 a box, which is equivilent to 4 sparkling glass bottles.  I’ve tried almost all of their wines (a lush might you say) and have not been disappointed yet.  The chardonnay is good for drinking OR cooking should the need arise.  And while the word “hardy” may render your mind incapable of thinking beyond beef stew or a hardware shop, your taste buds won’t follow its lead.

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my Lunch

I’m giving you the pre-eaten version, in case you were concerned.  I decided to try to make these: http://blog.fatfreevegan.com/2009/03/colcannon-puffs.html.  I subbed spinach for kale as that’s what I had in the ole kitch, and decided some grilled eggplant would be lovely (I <3 eggplant).  Not so bad.  I would recommend making the potato puffs not so puffy and more pancakey, and also fry them versus baking as I think they will end up crunchier.  I then topped it with my marinara sauce.

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the Herbivore

In case you haven’t heard of this fun and animal-friendly store I wanted to give it a little free publicity, little being the key word as not too many people are coming to my site yet (but that’s ok, I’m new).  The Herbivore Clothing Company is on SE 12th and Stark here in Portland, right next to the Sweetpea Baking Company which has uber delicious desserts in case you have a sweet tooth.  Herbivore has everything from trendy vegan t-shirts to buttons to cookbooks; I can attest to the awesomeness of Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World (it rocks).  You should give it a whirl someday, and whilst you’re there grab a piece of cake from next door.

http://www.herbivoreclothing.com/

http://www.sweetpeabaking.com/

Me and my t-shirt, appearing to be deep in thought (don’t be fooled!!)

Yes, I am always in this chair should you notice.

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Do what you say

If you tell somebody you’re mailing them something (and refuse to drop even the slightest hint as to what it is that you’re mailing) actually mail the damn thing!  23 days later and an uber important mystery package hasn’t arrived….

24 days…

33 days….  Guess whatever the hell it was/ is isn’t that pressing.

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Pizza: the thorn in my side

So I started trying to make pizza from scratch about a year and 1/2 ago.  It’s been a battle ever since.  If anyone has any ideas for continual success at getting the yeast to foam, please pass it on.  It doesn’t seem to matter what I do or how exact I get the temperature of the water, it never foams.  Except for this one time.  The only time the yeast has ever foamed for me ended up in the best pizza I have ever made.  It’s topped with roma tomatos, zucchini, grilled eggplant, and mushrooms.

the dough:

1 C hot water (110 – 115 degrees)
2 – 3 tsp yeast
1 T sugar
1 ½ C wheat flour (or 1 C wheat and…)
1 ½ C unbleached AP flour (… 2 C all purpose)
¼ C olive oil (or grape seed oil works well if you have a store of it in the cupboard)
1 T Italian seasonings
½ – 1 T garlic powder
2 tsp salt
Red pepper flakes (optional)

Mix yeast with 1 cup hot water and 1 T sugar and let sit for 10 minutes. This is where the yeast is supposed to foam, let me know if you succeed. Mix the rest of the ingredients, sans the oil, in a food processor if you have one, else just a large bowl. Once the yeast mixture is ready add the oil to it. If you’re using a processor, turn it on and slowly pour in the yeast mixture; once all of the mixture is in it takes about a minute for it to be kneaded. If you are mixing by hand, pour some of the yeast mixture in and mix. Repeat this until everything is combined. If you are doing this by hand, you’ll need to knead the dough for about 15 minutes. Once kneaded, form the dough into a ball, put some olive oil all over it and set it in a large bowl covered with plastic wrap and a towel for about 2 hours. You can prepare your pizzas at this point or put it in a plastic bag and throw is in the fridge. I usually get 2 med – large pizzas from this.

the sauce:

If you don’t want to use a premade sauce, this is typically pretty tasty: http://parsnipsandsprockets.wordpress.com/2009/03/29/my-my-my-my-marinara/

Baking it: If you have a pizza stone, bake the pizza on it at 475 – 500 degrees for about 10 minutes.  If you don’t have one because it broke in half like mine did and you’re too cheap to buy another one just use a baking sheet with the holes throughout it.  It usually takes about 10 – 15 minutes at 475 on the bottom rack.  Cut and enjoy!

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Portland and the rain

It’s supposed to rain today.  I actually am quite fond of the rain.  It seems to be the main contributing factor to why the Pacific Northwest isn’t more crowded, but I’m quite alright with that.  Portland seems to draw people to it, probably because it’s the cheapest city to live in on the west coast, but it nonetheless has a personality all its own.  It’s like an unpretentious San Francisco, without so many hills.  Typically, it rains here about half the year.  Not torrential downpours just linger rain hovering over most of your days; makes a soppy winter for a newcomer.  I swear I couldn’t get warm for the first 6 months I lived hear.  The rain seems to seep through your skin into your soul and no amount of coffee or sweater can warm you.  It is like Portland’s initiation process; if you can make it through the winter without becoming an alcoholic or throwing yourself back from which you came then you’re good.  This rain and general continual gloominess causes a certain lack of vitamin D in most patrons of the city.  The depression rate of the PNW is said to be quite substantial due to all the rain; seems a lot people depend on the weather for their mood stability.  I have always liked the rain though.  The problem this winter however has been that the rain hasn’t been joining us much.  It’s probably rained less than half as much as last winter, and then we also got hit with an “arctic blast” in December which blanketed the city in snow and ice for like a week and a half as the city is totally unprepared to deal with such inclement weather as we aren’t supposed to get it here.  I miss the rain.  I miss the sloshy, dreary Sundays and misty Thursdays.  My prediction is that our summer will be quite wet as the winter has not been, but I obviously have no basis for my opinion, given I’m no meteorologist and all.  Never the less, it’s supposed to rain today.  I hope the clouds open up and give us some of the sprinkling goodness they’ve been so ungenerous with these last few months.  It would do my soul good to have some rain today.

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