Wednesday, August 20, 2008

to make my mother proud


a detestable food from my childhood. my mother used to make me sit at the table until i finished my eggplant. the colder it got, the worse it tasted, all mushy and disgusting...

but, these two lovely eggplants getting their picture taken were indeed bought my me. that's right. they were so beautiful when i passed them at the farmer's market, that i decided to take some home. i even went as far as eating one of them. i stir fried it in olive oil with fresh rosemary and grated cheese on it afterward. no, i don't have a picture of the finished product - i was too hungry at the time. the other eggplant is slowly dying, just waiting to be eaten - either by me, or some fruit flies. eaten, none the less.

Tuesday, August 12, 2008

sweet, sweet, granola




as a wee child, i loved granola. but only the granola my mom made. her secret? well, everything she made (99% everything. i spent hours and hours at the dinner table not eating my eggplant) was/is amazing, but i personally think it boils down to the copious amounts of sugar she used in the granola. anyhow, i attempted her granola recipe, and it is almost like i remembered it: sweet and crunchy!

here is the recipe, courtesy of my mother, with a few notes by me. the recipe she gave me was double what i used, but since i'm not feeding a family of 5, i halfed the recipe for myself. what you see below is the halfed recipe, in case i brought about some confusion with my excessive phrasing.

4 cups oats (quick oats is what i used)

sauce:
1/2 cup oil/butter (i used coconut oil - smells amazing combined with the sugar)
3/4 cup dark/brown sugar (or 1/2 cup honey)
1/2 tsp salt
2-3 T water

bring the sauce to a boil in a saucepan, and set aside.

granola: stiry fry method***

this method takes a bit of upper arm strength. if you don't work out, ever, like me, your arm will get tired from constant stirring. if this happens, just suck it up and don't go whining about it on your blog. :)

in a large wok, on top of high, but not too high, heat, dry fry the oats for about 15 minutes while constantly stirring. turn the temperature to medium before you pour the sugar sauce on top. pour the sugar sauce on the hot oats and continue to stir, making sure the sugar doesn't burn. continue to stir, again, for about 20 minutes. that's it. done. this in when you would add other fancy ingredients like baked slivered almonds, or coconut flakes. cool the granola, store in an airtight container, and let it wait to be devoured in bowls of milk.


***if you don't own a wok, you can also bake the granola. (apparently baking granola is more 'normal' but i wouldn't know anything about that...) for baking, pour the oats onto a cookie sheet (or two) and just pour the sauce mixture while hot on the oats and bake at 350 F, checking and turning every 7 – 10 minutes. bake about 30 minutes or more til browned and crispy.

Sunday, August 10, 2008

sweet pluot plums


i love the color of these sweet pluot plums. and unlike some fruits i've tasted recently, they actually taste as good as they look! fancy that...

weekend breakfasts

on the weekends my breakfasts generally have this layout: coffee, eggs of some sort, toast, and last but not least: entertainment. generally its either the simpsons, seinfeld, or arrested development. arrested development has especially become a bit of a household meal-time ritual.

Wednesday, August 6, 2008

farmer's market


went to our local farmer's market again last weekend. took my camera along, but was too engrossed in all the wares that i ended up taking only 2 pictures (this is my excuse. i also feel awkward taking pictures in public places). pictured are onions, but i bought lemon basil from this stall. the basil smells amazing...