Love and Cooking

Since most of my friends and I are not much in the Football Fan department, my big foodie weekend was the weekend before the Superbowl, where I did a lot of the food production for our Annual Meeting. (More later on our easy pizza dough recipe, and mini-quiches with puff pastry crusts. Those latter are definitely a "party in your pantry" as they can be cooked from frozen.)

This past week, I heard of an emergency call for help from the Alameda County Community Food Bank. They needed volunteers to sort and box Food Drive food.

So off I went, in the rain and cold. I went in the afternoon, so I could go to the Farmer's Market in Berkeley (where I saw Derrick, Melissa, and Marc).

It wasn't as efficient as when the process-oriented food bloggers helped out at the San Francisco Food Bank (seriously, for that kind of thing, it helps when an engineer is looking at it and giving orders ;), nor was sorting through the bins nearly as much fun as about twenty people all pitching rotten oranges at the "compost" bin. (wheeee!) But we got fourteen pallets of boxes done in our afternoon shift, and made a significant dent in the Food Bank's "food that needs to be boxed up" supply.

The ACCFB's "Food Drive" containers are winery crates ('cuz they're available cheap, or are donated, and are a nice consistent size) that are taped up and filled with a variety of food. There was a real variety in the bins. Most of it was great for the boxes (tuna, peanut butter, rice, beans, canned veg), some of it got pulled out for the salvage aisles for the member agencies (finding a #10 can of tomato sauce made me find the supervisor and ask), some of the packages were damaged so we dumped the contents in a pig slop bin (those will be happy, well-fed pigs), and some of it was "WTF?". As one example - I pulled out a bag that had two partially-eaten large bags of chips in it. I appreciate the charitable impulse, but, really, WTF? Those went into the pig bin.

We also got a large number of bags of Indian groceries that looked perfectly fine but were not commercially labelled - we pulled those out for agencies, but they couldn't go in the boxes.

As an asides, my phone number is on the new church web site somewhere as some sort of emergency food contact. I get odd calls at odd times about food donations and stuff. The most recent one was "can I donate expired cans somewhere?" and my answer was "I sure wouldn't". My rule was "If I wouldn't eat it myself, or serve it to guests, I'm not fobbing it off on the poor, either." Now I know definitely that the FB will pitch expired cans. :)

Labels: food bank

I have a young friend at the church who is allergic to dairy. His name is Patrick and he is in first grade. He is a good kid and a pretty good sport about things. I have started using Earth Balance in some of my baking so he can have something to snack on. (I have also learned what common kid snacks have dairy in them or not. I can report that Nilla wafers are safe for the Sunday school.) I also passed along the Lenten Chocolate Cake recipe to his folks.

When I was chatting with his mom at a Christmas party, I got good news: Patrick is only allergic to *cow* milk.

So he can eat goat cheese and yogurt and other good things like that. They are regular customers at the Redwood Hills Farms booth at the Berkeley Farmer's Market.

Hearing about Redwood Farm's generosity to my friend Patrick inspired me to visit the stall when I was finally well enough to get to the market today. I bought some feta (I'm making pizza for the annual meeting and if Paddy shows up I want him to be able to eat some) and a yogurt, just to try it out.

And you know what? When he heard I was a Friend of Patrick, he gave me an extra goat yogurt ... for Patrick.

Isn't that great!?! Support your local farmer's market!

Labels: buy local, friends, market

I'm trying to get back more in the blogging habit in 2008, so expect more regular updates.

I've got the monster sinus thing that seems to be running around, so a lot of my diet recently has been Chicken Soup, Tea, and Toast. After I do some decluttering (I think I'm up for a short round of kitchen clean-up before the next meds-and-nap cycle), I might make my cross between minestrone and Italian wedding soup - chicken broth, meatballs, and lots of chopped chard with traditional minestrone veg. I get the low-sodium broth and the meatballs from Trader Joe's (and sometimes the chopped chard!) so it goes together in a flash. Of course it would be completely sublime if you have real chicken broth, but it's pretty good for Good Dinner Fast.

If I am still feeling good after the soup, I might try baking the spaghetti squash I got from Pedrick Produce in Dixon, where I like to stop for Valley-fresh, Valley-priced produce after visiting my parents. (Winter squash, and how to fix it in ways I like, was my big discovery of the fall of 2007.)

Trader Joe's also gets my gratitude for saving me the effort of putting together my tradtional New Year's Day eats with its Spanish lentil dish pre-made. I had the jambalaya-in-the-pouch with it and it had black-eyed peas, so I'm hoping that's double money ju-ju for 2008. (I need it!)

I have three major food goals for 2008:

- Get my "wasted food" level way the heck down.
- Keep up with "Strive for Five" (servings of produce)
- Eat more beans in an effort to both save money and lose weight. (I lost 20# on a "Bean soup for lunch" diet, and it's high time for me to do it again.)

Is this thing on?

Well, I have now joined the ranks of the "cool kids" and become the Featured Local Blogger in a news feature. I was interviewed by the Oakland Tribune for their piece on vegan cooking. The featured recipe was Josephine's Lenten Chocolate Cake, from Sam's"I can't believe I ate vegan!" IMBB contest.

It's not a full-on book tour (with segment on the Today Show!), a full above-the-fold pic in the Chron like Sam, a photo spread/byline in the NYT (like the ever-fabulous Pim), or an appearance on a nationally-syndicated NPR program (say hi to Clotilde, Pim, and Guy), but I still feel "special".

I also learned that there is a vegan donut shop in Berkeley now - it's in part of the old Eclair bakery on Telegraph just south of Dwight. Charlotte Bob plans to check it out.

Labels: Berkeley, cake, in the news

12 dozen peanut butter cup cookies - done, to be delivered to church tonight

4 dozen mini-quiches (asparagus and goat cheese) - done, to be delivered

(Why, yes, all the pans I found myself with after Christmas have come in handy.)

Banana bread - in progress (raisins done, bananas defrosted, might do tonight or tomorrow am)

Punch materials - purchased

Before I leave tonight:

start boiling eggs for hard-boiled eggs and fridge

Still to make:

hummus for roll-ups
roasted peppers for roll-ups
roll-ups (ham and chutney, hummus and roasted red bell)
hard-boiled eggs

For years, I have been going to the Homemade Cafe in Berkeley, and not even bothering to look at the menu, because I know what I want.

Huevos Rancheros.

Two eggs on a tortilla over easy, topped with cheese, guacamole, sour cream, and salsa.

Served with spicy black beans, some more tortillas, and a pile of the best homefries in town.

I would waddle back home, contented, and not need to eat for the rest of the day.

I went less after I figured out how to make it for myself. Except for the homefries part, but I could deal with some things in order to not have to hassle with the usual weekend wait.

Yesterday when I went in, though, I was extra-double-plus jonesing for potatoes, and I was open to the possibility of something else, because the potato portion with the huevos had shrunk somewhat over the years. That, or I'm just what Bud Trillin might call "a big hungry girl" these days, because I used to not be able to eat it all and had to take the extra beans-n-taters home for breakfast the next day.

I saw the specials board: EGGS BENEDICT, FLORENTINE, OR BENJAMIN $8.50

After determining that "Benjamin" (smoked salmon) was not what I wanted, and that homefries did indeed come with it, I ordered the Florentine. (Eggs Benedict usually means "sub-par bacon/ham" to me.)

Two perfectly poached eggs on a bed of fresh spinach and mushrooms, with tomato slices on the side, COVERED in Hollandaise. Reminded me of Vera's in Seattle, where M and I ate a lot, where the sauce pooled on the plate. Yum.

And a veritable mountain of homefries. Between the produce on the muffins and the taters, it almost qualified as your five servings of fruit and veg on one plate. Bliss.

I couldn't finish it! Guess what I'll be ordering if I see it again there.

(Instead of trying to catch up on all my activities since I last blogged, I'm just going to post what I can, and hang the dates. Otherwise I would just get too overwhelmed. So some posts are going to be seriously out-of-synch.)

Before I completely forget here, I was part of the Second Annual Food Blogger's Picnic. It was at the fab Owen's house in Lafayette - pool, deck, the works.

I was a bit tired because I had gotten very sunburned at the Giants game the day before (how often do people get sunburned in San Francisco, eh?) and had done coffee hour at the church that morning.

I brought Kahlua truffles, and they unfortunately melted in the heat after a certain time. (I scalded some more cream and mixed it in the leftovers..)

The food, and the company, was fabulous.

Pictures here (thanks pengrin) (I got there late ... now I see why Guy was teasing Sam about "muffins"), a nice writeup by Sam, the always delightful Bunrabs, Kim, Amy, and Shuna.

It was great to schmooze with people. I renewed acquaintance with people I had met previously and met some new folks. Amy, when she learned that I had been surviving off Trader Joe's due to illness, reminded me that I should blog Trader Joe's. Point taken. I will say that the delicious pan bagnat at the event inspired me to make my own on Monday night, although I was a bit tired after making peanut butter cup cookies, banana bread and a blueberry lemon bundt cake I found on epicurious for coffee hour. And scooping the truffles.

This week has unfortunately seen a return of my, erm, need to consume plain food but I have been enjoying tomato sandwiches and various things on herb foccacia (bought at TJ's).

I have had many food-related adventures in the last almost two months.

I had my first frybread and a kick-ass green chile burger in Santa Fe.

Peaches and tomatoes are in the market. Which I have started going to again.

I had some New York style pizza that made me aware of what the damn fuss was about.

I met Clotilde of Chocolate and Zucchini on her whirlwind US road trip. (Yes, she is as lovely and charming as she appears. And Maxence is a great guy.)

But I've been Too Damn Tired to blog about it.

I did, however, wish to inform the world of something.

For the first time in a very long time, I messed up the kitchen on the night after my cleaners came. By cooking. I even pitted olives.

I took a picture of what I made.

I'll post it later, when I feel like editing and uploading it.

But I wanted to say ... Brain is working along normal directions.

I am still not cooking much, although I have ventured into the area of preparing some (very basic) food for myself. I'm almost back up to something resembling "real" food prep. (Trader Joe's has really been my friend lately.)

A few observations:

I went to Poulet on Shattuck for the first time in forever because Shuna is doing the desserts there these days. I missed out on the caramel cake (that would have been a great way to go off the no-sugar wagon) but the lemon cream was great. I also liked the classic chicken salad.

My crispy Baja taco search in the area is over: La Calaca Loca is it.

Another thing that Bake Sale Betty does to perfection is toasted pecan shortbread.

I was glad I made the effort to make a whackload of truffles for Dave's visit, as that meant I had some left over when Elissa came.

As someone who has been involved in TEH INTARWEB!!1! for a while, I think that the current moves to kill "net neutrality" are killing the goose that laid the golden egg of the high-tech boom.

Help save the net. Write your congresscritter.

Thanks, as is not infrequent in this sort of endeavor, to the fabulous Pim.

It was a busy Holy Week for me in various kitchens, despite still being low energy.

Palm Sunday evening - per an inspiration from Nosheteria, I made savory palmiers with Pepperidge Farm puff pastry and goodies from Trader Joe's spreads section inside for the Evensong reception. The experiment in Liturgically Correct Food paid off.

Wednesday - made a double batch of dough for Mom's Peanut Butter Cup Cookies

Thursday - broke the bowl that the dough was in, scraped off the ceramic splinters, and rebowled it. Went to Berkeley Bowl to shop for lamb and was exhausted!

Friday - made Nigella Lawson's Banana Bread for Sunday and some hot cross bun dough before going shopping for our feed-the-homeless enterprise

Saturday - managed to burn the hot cross buns. Helped dye Easter Eggs for the church. Stayed out of the kitchen during the Feed-the-Homeless enterprise - we had two teams from the university doing an "Iron Chef Soup Kitchen".

Sunday - got through the early service on adrenaline and crashed hard. Ham, asparagus strata, and a mimosa revived me. I was a bit hungry when I got home but napped instead. Got to Trader Joe's just before they closed.

Today - finally marinated the lamb. Will probably cook it tomorrow as I have class tonight.

hot cross buns.

I have the meshugginah notion that I will make hot cross buns for the parish Easter breakfast. It is meshugginah because I will spend most of Saturday at the church, not home in my kitchen, can guarantee that I will be exhausted when I get home, and need to be at the church around 5 am on Easter.

But I pulled several recipes from rec.food.cooking and am going through them. My first batch tasted ok, but taught me that 1) I didn't want to make them too small and 2) they don't look right if they aren't egg glazed before baking. That batch is going to end up as bread pudding.

The second batch (slightly different recipe) came out more to my liking. I will see how they taste tomorrow morning.

Otherwise, not cooking much ... low energy. Not even reading food blogs much. Trader Joe's has been my friend.