Homemade Tamales

I love tamales and have wanted to try to make them but been intimidated by the thought. I had dinner at a friend's house who was making tortillas and asked him if he'd made tamales, he said he had, talked me through the process and assured me I could do it. So, with that boost of confidence I made my first attempt at tamales.

Ingredients
corn husks (soaked in water to soften)
corn meal dough (I got Harina P.A.N. and followed recipe on the side)
black beans (sautéed garlic, onion, poblano peppers, added water and black beans and simmered until cooked)
butternut squash (steamed, mashed with cinnamon and salt)
queso blanco

Spread corn meal dough on corn husk, spread filling (squash, beans, cheese) and roll up the corn husk so that filling is encased in corn meal dough. Use strips of corn husk to tie husks closed.

Steam the tamales for about an hour.
Enjoy! I served them on sautéed kale from the garden with some fresh sliced avocado on top.

Mediterranean Inspired Snack Plate

There was hummus, pita, olives feta and an eggplant in the fridge so I decided I'd make some baba ganoush, roasted vegetables and tabouli

I set the oven to 400, sliced the eggplant in half and drizzled the middle with oil then laid it on tinfoil on a cookie sheet (oiled middle down). Then I cut up vegetables (carrots, beets, mushrooms, brussels sprouts, onion, garlic) and tossed them with olive oil and za'atar spice mix and added them to the cookie sheet in the oven and let everything cook about 45 minutes until the eggplant was mush and the veggies were cooked but still had texture.

Baba Ganoush  (based on recipe from Simply Recipes)

1 medium oven roasted eggplant
2 Tablespoons tahini
2 tablespoons olive oil
4 cloves garlic
juice from 1 lemon
cumin, cayenne pepper, salt, ground black pepper to taste
cardamon - I had some on hand so I removed the seeds from 3 pods and added those
chopped parsley
pomegranate seeds

scrape the eggplant out of the skin and discard the skin, mix in all the other ingredients with a fork.

Tabouli

cooked couscous
tomatoes
cucumbers
red onion
fresh parsley
fresh mint
juice from 1 lemon
olive oil - just a little
sal tand pepper to taste

cut up the veggies, parsley and mint and mix all ingredients together

Hola Granola

Still getting used to the time change I was up at 5 a.m. (which felt like 9) so I decided to make the most of it and make some granola for breakfast.

1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup maple syrup
1 tablespoon vanilla
1 cup flaxseed meal
3 cups oats
1 cup sunflower seeds
1 cup slivered almonds
salt to taste
1 cup chopped banana chips
1/4 cup coconut

*flaxseed could be substituted for wheatgerm, seeds and almonds could be substituted for other nuts, banana chips and coconut can be substituted for dried fruits 

Preheat oven to 375

Put oil, syrup and vanilla in a large bowl and then mix in dry flaxseed, oats, seeds, nuts and salt and spread mixture out on a cookie sheet with edges 

Bake for 15 minutes, then check and mix the granola, then every 5 minutes after that check and mix the granola again about 3 times. Remove from oven, mix in bananas and coconut and let cool 

Then enjoy! I had it with some yoghurt and fresh raspberries from the garden. 

flying through the night

I just looked out of the window at sea of stars. I have vague memories of Winkin Blinkin & Knod but can't really recall much of their adventure.

I boarded this plane a few hours ago and grumbled to myself, old, giant Airbus with my knees touching the seat infront of me. Incredibly flying to a foreign country should feel fast in 4.5 hours compared to my usual commutes across the US but all I can think about at first is discomfort and the lack of my own tv at my seat for entertainment and things I've grown accustom to.

It amazes me how quickly I lost sight of this amazing thing I'm privileged enough to experience. I am flying over the ocean, a small spec in the universe, among the stars and in a matter of hours will arrive on an island that until recently I never even imagined I'd see. How incredible!

With a little reminder from the stars of perspective I am filled with gratitude for this amazing opportunity, to fly through the sky, to travel somewhere new, to eat airplane food as unappetizing as it is (I can't remember the last time I was served a meal on a plane), to the people who have made and continue to make air travel possible and to have this moment to celebrate even celebrate a bit of discomfort.

There has been so much incredible change just in my lifetime already - computers for example and the fact that at this moment I am holding and typing on a tiny one in the palm of my hand. iPhones are amazing and are already taken for granted. When I was learning to drive my mom liked to tell me "driving is a privilege not a right." So is flying and having a cell phone and a computer... there are all these things that have become such a part of this mainstream idea of every day life that we've begun to think of them as a "right" and not a "privilege" and we don't appreciate how amazing they are we just expect them. We need to work to keep the appreciation for these amazing privileges we have and pass that on to the next generations. And we need to be sure that we don't get so wrapped up in this technology that we lose track of celebrating what is right infront of us and the amazing accomplishments of mother nature.

So at about 2:30 am where I left and 6:30 am where I'm going without sleep and after a bit of a tangent and rant I am watching the sun come up, as I fly through the air with my iPhone and reminded that this is an amazing privilege and I am incredibly grateful to to enjoy this engineering and see this beautiful universe all at once.

Backyard Beautification - Concrete Counter

This project ended up being a long process but we are thrilled with the result. We had a large sink not being used in our house when we bought it and had been trying to decide how to repurpose it. We've also been curious about concrete counter tops so decided we could try making a concrete counter for the backyard to hold the sink. 

First my husband built a frame for the counter. 

We used glass bottles we had to put glass in the counter. 

My husband built a frame for the concrete and attached foam for the sink hole. Then we arranged the broken glass in the frame

we mixed concrete filled the frame about half way and pressed it down, then added some rebar and filled the rest of the frame with concrete 

we tried to shake down the concrete to get rid of any gaps and smooth the bottom by dragging a board across it 

we covered it in plastic so the concrete would not dry out too quickly and left it for a week 

we flipped the counter over and removed it from the frame then used a wet polisher 

we used caulk to secure the counter to the wood frame and then put the sink in it

we're looking forward to using this new counter space when we cook outside, have backyard parties and to rinse off fruits and vegetables from the garden before we bring them inside 

Sneaky Garden Friend - Praying Mantis

There is a praying mantis in my garden. It's pretty cool to watch it but it seems to always sneak up on my somehow. The first time I met it I was picking basil and there it was! The second time he was with the cucumbers and today I was picking raspberries.

Brussels Sprouts Growing Tip

I planted Brussels Sprouts this year and although the stalk is strong and growing and leaves are growing the sprouts do not seem to be developing... 

So I got a tip, take down the leaves. We'll see if it works!