Housekeeping and Mudslide Pie

Greetings from the land of the two-hour-long spectacular sunrises!

Some Housekeeping:

I've been doing some major photograph-organization: things were getting out of control. Thankfully, blogger was co-operative yesterday.

I snagged some pina colada photos and added them to yesterday's post.
I added a couple pictures to my kefir woes post that wouldn't go at the time. Of course, that story had a happy ending too.
I uploaded the photos of raw chocolates sampled in London that I was unable to upload at the time.

I'd still love to hear others' thoughts on my Conversation about ground rules for nutritional research and self-experimentation.
And if you haven't heard about my piece of good news, please refer to this post!

I had a little crust left over from the pomegranate cheesecake, so I extended it with a little liquid vanilla and shredded coconut to make a half-size 'heavenly mudslide pie' (from Sweet Gratitude but low-sugar-ized) as a surprise for our friends we'll be staying with in Anchorage these next few days...

So beautiful! And yummy too.

Speaking of 'housekeeping,' I was very excited to be given an apron as a holiday gift by some good friends. Phil and I had some fun shooting pictures featuring it (and nothing else) outside in the snow, but I'm feeling a little shy, so will just share a more 'modest' version.

Brrrrr!
We're off to Anchorage for a few days--will check in as I can.
much love

Chocolate and Other Adventures; Funny Faces

Happy Holidays to everyone! We had fresh snow for Christmas day, and lovely times with family and friends. After a late night last night, this morning was the first morning in a while that I didn't leap up and start making chocolate of some sort, or other goodie-prep, and funnily enough my appetite is better today. I didn't make the de-stress connection at all - my clever husband had to point it out!

Here's some of what I was up to:
-spread out to chill atop our freezer out on the stoop: the good thing about how cold it is here is that chocolate firms up fast. That's also the bad thing, because it's hard to make the initial chocolate without getting congealed cacao butter _everywhere_!

 The above picture became these nut-seed bars: so delicious, so beautiful, Phil's daughter's new favorite breakfast!...

...and these ginger ganache truffles.

I also made white chocolate-blueberry truffles...

...more hazelnut-amaretto-cherry truffles...

...chocolate-dipped mint bars (in process here)...

...and still had some congo bars from earlier.

The mint bars were based on the recipe in Living Raw Food by Sarma Melngailis; the truffles and bars were somewhat based on recipes in Sweet Gratitude. That's why I NEED to own that book--I could barely restrain myself from making everything in it!

Did I mention--my major adaptation was to make everything very low sugar. I used, variously, stevia, xylitol, erythritol, glycerine, coconut nectar and a special syrup I'll tell more about in a moment.

Taking a break from chocolate--first thing Christmas morning I peeled six pomegranates for cheesecake!

That's a lot of pomegranate!

And the juice (ready to go with cashews etc in the blender here) is just so beautiful!

 Boy, were my hands sticky at the end of that process! And then imagine, with this chocolate-and-cheesecake factory, and no running water, how mess can build up and cleanup can be tricky!

 Don't even think about washing that mesh bag from the pomegranate juice... Yes, that blue jug only holds six gallons of water, and it goes fast when you're prepping up a storm...

My Special No-Sugar Sweetener--OK, it's not mine, it turns out. But as I was running out of coconut nectar and loath to spend another $10 for less than 2c of it, I wondered about making a xylitol syrup. And I googled around and discovered that it could be done! I followed the suggestions on this link and got me a syrup that isn't raw at all but is very low-glycemic and neutrally flavored.

I boiled the syrup a little too long, evidently, because apart from what I used that morning and blended very well, the rest crystallized. Beautiful crystals, though:

I didn't manage to take pics of everything I made, and I forgot to picture the coconut whisky I made using the xylitol syrup, and the to-die-for colada mix to go with it. Raw pina colada with coconut whisky because Phil's daughter doesn't do well with rum and it was as well to make it sugar-free too!

Update 12/27--Managed to snag pics of the pina colada at Phil's daughter's last night!

Take a break to watch this rooster pheasant high in the tree enjoying some frozen mountain ash berries. They are big birds to be so high in the trees. Take a break while Phil goes skiing, and I'll pass over the big cleanup and frantic gift-wrapping operation I undertook, and the moment when I almost set the cabin on fire through a mishap with parchment paper in the oven when I had run out of water...

 ...and here we are at our friends' house, dressed up and party-moded, putting stuff together...I didn't get a good picture of the mango salad I made from Raw Food Real World per request,but you can sort of see it below... I love playing in David's kitchen!

 ...together with a tantalizing choccie pic. And here's a slightly better one together with my usual green salad. You can always use and enjoy a green salad--or I can!

 I love the texture of the julienned mango, and was really impressed that I managed to peel four mangoes and julienne three of them in about 15 minutes flat!

I also made a thai-flavored stew with eggplant, yam, onion and napa and purple cabbages, simmered in lemongrass, ginger, turmeric and coconut milk...

 Back to the chocolates - all together now!

Yummies...

And here is the pomegranate cheesecake--double yum! I'm so glad that I asked our hosts to look through the books and make requests: it helped me to focus somewhat.

Well-enjoyed just as is...

...or with pina colada the next day.

Again--all of these sweets and desserts were low-glycemic (sweetened with coconut nectar/xylitol syrup/glycerine/xylitol/erythritol/stevia) and dairy/gluten free, with the exception of a batch of licorice caramels I made 'regular' because Phil loves them so.

Now to some pictures of People!
One of the games we played among ourselves and our extended family elsewhere was to find unusual/unintended uses for gifts and post pictures of those. Phil has a great flair for that, and for making faces!

This hilariously over-felted hat will be perfect if Phil ever goes to Israel with me to meet my family!

This was a joke-hat, but the dangly thing is like a piece of bait for him...

I got him long underwear and he decided to ditch the yarmulka and go for an Arafat look! That face just cracks me up every time I see it!

Our neighbors...

...with the innovative wrapping-paper hat... gave everyone these beautiful star-lanterns that you put a lightbulb inside to light up the night. We decided that those would make great hats too.

So first off: Miss Vaa-Vaa-Voom, Phil's gorgeous daughter!

...and our lovely hostess, Miss O...

My turn!

Happy Holidays to you all--much love, peace and joy.

My Good News and Humbug Tummy

I am joining the many people who are experiencing transition, life-change, movement into closer alignment with their highest goals.

My good news: I've been accepted into the Low-Residency MFA (Master of Fine Arts) program at Pacific Lutheran University: The Rainer Writers Workshop! This was the only program I'd applied to thus far and, for various reasons, it was my top choice. So I can be done with the applications process and move on to the celebration, and to the acceptance and acknowledgment that I'm being invited to do exactly what I'd been wishing for: to take myself seriously as a poet and to put much of my energy into it.

I didn't finish my Phd dissertation (although I am writing that book) because I didn't think I wanted to become a professor of Classical Literature as my life path: I was too concerned with practical environmental issues, nutritional research, and the distillation of beauty and hideousness into words. (Yes, it's possible for some people to be both and do both, but I turn out not to have that level of energy that is necessary and that I used to think I had.) But getting my book of poetry ably critiqued, joining a milieu of current writers, writing more books of poems...this is my dream come true! Lots of work to be done, and for most of it I can stay right here and continue doing my thing. And then every summer for three years, a residency: melting pot of wonderful writers, both faculty and students, all coming together to inspire and be inspired, in Tacoma, WA! It will also be an opportunity to explore Seattle and Tacoma, which I haven't yet, and maybe do some more hiking around Mt Rainier, which I have.

I'm going to be a poet! Or, I am already. And now to find a way to build something of beauty and utility on my writing practice, my nutrition research, cheffing flair, and concern and care for environmental issues. Watch this space.

So, much to celebrate and also an injunction from my ND to break my food rules on a regular basis, and a regular chocolate factory in my kitchen, and my tummy is saying 'bah humbug!'

Even this gorgeous fudge isn't appealing to me

...nor the hazelnut-amaretto-cherry cups I made

...they whet everyone else's appetite. Do they whet yours?

(More pictures to come soon from the chocolate factory ;) )

So, I guess I need to head out into the spectacular light we have here and find other ways to enjoy and celebrate my wonderful news, since my tummy's saying 'humbug...'

much love

Hail the Vitamix, Revisiting Old Loves and Finding Some New Ones - Chocolate et al

Hello again! A quick note about scheduling, since I've been so mia recently. I am trying to get as much work done these few days so that I can take a day or two off at the end of the week. I've also started making holiday treats, so generally am feeling that there are not nearly enough hours in the day at the moment! I will share my good news tomorrow, and postpone my disquisition on polyunsaturated fats and nutritional information until after the holiday tide has crested and broken. The holidays should be a time when we let go and enjoy as much as possible: something that is particularly hard for me to do, and I think that not focusing on dietary research that might lead to my demonizing some foods until after the holidays would be sensible.

Before I get on to other things, did you guys see the moon? This was the view from our doorstep on Tuesday morning: the moon cleansed and renewed after the eclipse of the night before. Being as far west as we are, we got to see the eclipse very clearly: magical and unique indeed.

Hail to Vitamix!


Deja vu??

For today, I start with a big shoutout to Vitamix! About three weeks ago, I taxed my Vitamix for the first time, making a raw refried-beans-type pate with sunflower seeds, dried tomatoes, etc. I'd never asked that particular machine to do something that challenging until that day, but used to do so routinely when I cheffed. It never got to the 'shut down' point, but it did begin to emit a smell of burning rubber. When it was still emitting a strong burning-rubber smell just making smoothies for several days after, I contacted the company, concerned. They started by giving me some troubleshooting tips, and told me to keep in touch with them and let them know if it didn't clear up. When it continued to smell 'wrong' I let them know, and they sent me a shipping label. As soon as I sent out the machine, they sent me a new one!

Not only am I delighted and impressed with that level of customer service: being without my Vita for five days really brought home to me how very much I enjoy having it. I can't believe I went along so long making smoothies with my little immersion blender! They are simply not as good, although that is also a wonderful tool. I was so happy when we got home from hiking on Monday morning and there was the box on the doorstep.

Revisiting Old Loves and Finding Some New Ones - Chocolate and Other Delectables


With the holidays approaching, it's been time for me to make a big mess in the kitchen get some serious treat-making done. Since I've had the Vitamix again, this place is turning into a bit of a chocolate truffle factory but over the weekend,  I was making what I could without the horsepower.

Remember this mess I showed the other day? The contents of the food processor get explicated with full recipe over on Lori's blog as part of her 12 Days of Christmas Progressive Post.

For the rest of my multitask, I made the 'Congo bars' from Sarma Melngailis' Living Raw Food as well as getting a whole lot of chocolate and chocolate sauce prepped.

I don't own a piping bag (yet), so I made that drizzle with a ziploc bag with a corner cut out of it!

Classy?

And while I'm relaxing some inhibitions, I did make this a very-low-sugar version. I used powdered xylitol instead of maple powder and a mixture of vegetable glycerine and coconut nectar instead of agave.

We took half of it to a holiday party with friends of Phil's who are very conventional eaters, and everyone loved it, and no one knew it was low-sugar.

I'm so glad we still have half of them for Saturday!

But now I have the Vitamix back, I can try some new things too! For a beautiful piece of serendipity, I got a copy of Sweet Gratitude through interlibrary loan right around the time that I got some irish moss and some flavor extracts from Elaina Love. I miss being so close to Cafe Gratitude, I miss doing raw chef work and I miss Elaina: she was a wonderful head chef to work with and for.

Now, though, I think I'm in love. Both with the book, which I think I need to own, and with the irish moss. This morning, I made my usual smoothie for breakfast but put some irish moss paste and some blueberry flavor extract instead of a cup of frozen blueberries. I actually stayed full for longer with the little bit of irish moss than with blueberries, and it tasted great!

A coconut chai at lunch, with coconut milk, coconut oil, a little coconut cream powder, cinnamon, ginger, cardamom, cloves, allspice, a bit of fresh turmeric root (which is why it's yellowish) and some irish moss paste:

and a carrot on the side...

A question: do you taste along when you're fixing goodies? Generally, I don't, partly because I worry about calories way too much, and partly because so much of the time I'm fixing foods that I can't eat and so am used to not putting my hands (or any of the food) anywhere near my mouth. The one thing that I find it hard not to taste along with is chocolate! It's so tactile, so sensual, so close to our own body temperature in melting point... And just a few licks when cleaning up after making chocolates is enough to put my adrenals in a bit of a spin. What to do?

much love