My Comfort Food of the Moment

Yes, it's pasta. Whole wheat pasta with an anchovy, lemon juice and olive oil sauce topped with a blend of grated romano and parmesean cheeses, with a spoonful of capers to finish it off. It's surprisingly easy to make and exactly what I've been in the mood for the past couple of weeks. I know it's not for everyone, as many people don't look twice at anchovies. But if you've ever had a decent Caesar salad, and enjoyed it, I think you'll love this as well:

Ingredients:

Pasta of your choice, cook enough for 2 Servings

1 Tin of Anchovies packed in Olive Oil

Juice of half a lemon

1/4 cup good quality Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Grated Cheese (Romano or Parmesean, or both)

Optional: Small spoonful of capers, drained



Directions:

1. Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain, and set aside in bowl.
   
2. In a blender, combine whole tin of anchovies, olive oil, and lemon juice and blend until mixture is finely pureed. Pour mixture over pasta to taste.
   
3. Sprinkle with grated cheese and add capers if desired.
   

Note: I sometimes throw in a handful or two of spinach leaves into the cooking pasta just before I'm about to drain it. Just wait until it wilts, then proceed with the rest of the receipe. You can be proud that you're eating your veggies!

Flowers From My Garden

I rode my lovely bike down to my community garden plot again to do a bit of harveting. My sweet peas are finally in bloom. I've been waiting on them for a while. They're an heirloom variety and the smell is quite heavenly. American Sweet Pea is their name. My plot yielded today, a pint of strawberries, two stalks of asparagus, an artichoke, a tomato, some lovely flowers, and nastursium leaves that I love to use to decorate a plate with. They look like lily pads and look so cute as a liner on a plate. As I reveled in my joy, I kept thinking about something someone said to me: That anything worth having is never easy. I've had a difficult time with this statement because it's not how I live my life. I find a lot of worth in things that are right before my eyes and it's always been enough for me. I've never been very goal-oriented. Everything has been an organic experience. I do what comes naturally and what I need usually comes naturally as well. But I do see how many people struggle, daily, to obtain something, or get to where they want to be. I faulted myself for not being overly ambitious or competitive. All I ever wanted out of life is to be happy. And sometimes, happiness to me, is peeling apples for an apple pie, or digging in the dirt.

Pictures Last Forever

Too delicious to forget. I found a picture of my birthday cakes from over a month ago. (Yes, I meant cakes with an 's,' I had four little ones) I thought I must include it on my blog to inspire me and remind me of the good things in life. I was able to share these with my family and had such a wonderful day. I definitely encourage you to take a bit of tea and cake at Masse's on Shattuck Avenue in Berkeley when you have the chance.

A New Look!

Right now, I'm in a "Neopolitian Ice Cream" kind of mood. And so I've changed the look of this page. Yummmm.... Chocolate and Strawberries. Maybe that'll be my next baking project!

Besides Jam.....

I finally did something different with my bounty of strawberries today. I made a fresh strawberry and almond tart. Well, the receipe said tart, but it's more like a torte, a flourless cake. Just when I got sad that I couldn't reach anyone to come share this cake with me, I got through to my friend Nicole and my friend Sarah called me back. And they both were able to join me for some tea and cake. (Iced peach & mint black tea with honey to be exact) And being able to share my creation just made my day. Here's the recipe if anyone's interested.

Ingredients:

4 eggs separated

3/4 cup of almond flour (trader joe's sells it)

4 tablespoons sugar

1 teaspoon almond extract

1 pint of strawberries washed, hulled, and halfed

1/4 cup of strained jam

2 tablespoons of slivered almonds

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F
2. Spray an 8½" Tart pan with removable bottom
3. In a mixer, whip the egg yolks with the almond extract at high speed for about 3 minutes or until it looks thick and lemon colored.
4. Fold the almond flour into the egg yolk mixture.
5. In a clean bowl, whip the egg whites with the sugar until they form medium stiff peaks.
6. Add a quarter of the egg whites into the egg yolk mixture to loosen up the batter. Then fold in the remaining egg whites until blended.
7. Pour batter into the prepared pan and bake until the edges are golden brown. About 5-8 minutes.
8. Let cool for 15 minutes. Remove from pan and allow to cool completely.
9. Warm the jam or marmalade in a microwave and strain. I used a strawberry with balsamic vinegar and black pepper jam I made earlier this morning. Brush the top of the tart with the jam.
10. Lay the strawberries on and then brush them with the rest of the jam. Top with slivered almonds and Voila! A light dessert to share with friends.

 

Back to Eden

yummy!
"What might these bright colored morsels be?" you may ask. After dragging the love of my life over to the garden to collect strawberries, he demonstrated his agility by scaling the plum tree and collecting about 5lbs. of fruit. The picture does not show the whole bounty. It shows the first batch I scalded to get the tart skins off the fruit. The second challenge was getting the pits out of these precious, juicy morsels. Which explains this next picture.

My handy kitchen-aid broke them down into a pulp, which I quickly put on the stove with a good amount of sugar and the juice of one lemon. I yielded 4 and a half jars of plum jam. Whoo-Hoo!

Jam Time Again

I was a busy bee yesterday. I did a major room redecorating and cleaning, made some more jam, and invented a new dish to use up the organic eggplants I got on sale. I made the above three jars with strawberries, lavender and lemon. I was careful not to put too much lavender in it as most food things I've had with lavender in it makes me feel like I'm eating soap. But I also wanted to make sure that it's presence was felt. And I think I've succeeded. There's a hint of a floral je ne sais quoi that makes you feel all dainty and lady-like. As for dinner, I made mashed potatoes with the Finnish potatoes I got at the store. They have very flakey and papery skins and are an incredible butter yellow color on the inside. For the main course, I had eggplants stuffed with a chevre mixture and baked in a tomato sauce with a parmesean crust. It was delicious! And now that school is out, I can peruse the aisles at the berkeley bowl market at leisure.

Sweet Strawberry Success

I'm currently obsessed with strawberry jam. I've never made jam before. But my community garden plot has been taken over by some strawberry plants I planted last year (not that I'm complaining) and I get a good basketful of strawberries every other day. Three basketfuls if I wait a couple more days. Which brings me to being the happy jam maker at least once a week! My first attempt was inspired from a recipe garnered from a wonderful blog that makes me salivate on a daily basis called, "Chocolate & Zucchini," written by Clotilde Dusoulier, who in turn, was inspired by Christine Ferber's (aka: the jam fairy's) book, "Mes Confitures." Clotilde's receipe was for a strawberry jam with black pepper and mint. Mine was a strawberry with key lime, chocolate mint (grown in a pot outside my door) and black pepper jam. I made sure to put enough pepper so that there was definitely a bite to it. As a taster remarked, "there's something slightly burning in my mouth." The key lime can be tasted. But sadly, the mint is quite overpowered. Nonetheless, I will make one sometime this season where the mint does come through forcefully. The jam is sublime. I ate a jar and a half before I started in on the next week's jam which was, strawberry with balsamic vinegar with just a hint of black pepper jam. Equally tasty. And now that I can bike over to my garden, I'm zipping over there more often so that I can whisper sweet, tender encouragements to my growing gems. Ah..... a girl couldn't be happier.

Yikes! What Will They Think of Next?

Pinch yourselves! Then read this article in the BBC about the invisibility cloak.

Can a Bike Teach You About Love?

It must have been fate. When my "boyfriend" canceled out on me again yesterday, I found myself perusing the craigslist classified section, looking for something, anything, that would take the blues away. Let me note that I usually am not one to partake in shopping therapy. It's not that I don't appreciate beautiful things. It's just that it's always been more satisfying to create something with my own bare hands, be it paint a picture, cook delicious foods, or sew something practical. It's been years since I've owned a bike. The last bike I bought was in college. And if you know the UC Berkeley campus at all, you'll know that it can be quite hilly in some places. I chose an impractical bike. A 3-speed schwinn cruiser, metallic blue. It was the closest bike I could find that matched my vision of the ideal bike. My ideal was based primarily from watching Ingmar Bergman films. A bike with fenders, old school, with a basket in front. I went to the bike section because I couldn't find a decent moped. What I found in the bike section, was this beautiful masterpiece. It's a 3-speed Swedish make bike like the ones made for the army in WWII. This cream colored Kronan has a light in the front and back, a built-in tire pump, a rack in the back, and the beautiful, beautiful basket in front. Dare I say, I fell in love? The woman who sold it to me let me test ride it. I realized that this was a practically all-steel bike. A heavy 46 pounder. And since I live upstairs, I'd have to lug it up the stairs and down. It's made for the average Swede which is, I presume, taller than your average Asian female. And last of its faults, it's only got 3-gears. Hills are going to be hard. Fortunately, I live pretty much in the flats now. But it's going to take a couple of rides around the block to see if it's too much for me to handle. Half-way through test riding it. I called my sister (aka: the voice of reason.) I explained the pros and cons. And realized that this bike was a metaphor for my romantic relationships. I'm deeply in love. yes. But is the relationship practical? no. My stubborn streak always wins out though in the end. I always follow my heart. I bought the bike. And was so exhausted after riding it home and carrying it up the stairs that I had to take a nap for 3 hours and rest my weary body. Will it make me a stronger person in the end? You bet. I can already feel muscles growing.

Class Trip

Today, I accompanied our two kindergarten classes on their trip to Angel Island in the San Francisco Bay. That's the lovely Golden Gate in the background. It was the perfect day weatherwise. Sunny, yet with a very cool breeze. We hiked to this beach and back and found things such as a crab claw, various seaweeds, beautiful stones, sea glass, and tons of tiny jellyfish remains littering the beach. Watching sailboats go by made me miss having a boat. Like, having impromptu overnighters in a protected cove, having the wind take you wherever it blows. The bay area is so beautiful to see from the water. We picnicked after our hike and then took the ferry back to Tiburon where we boarded our bus back to school. Now I'm back at my apartment waiting for traffic to die down so that I can decide whether or not I want to make a trip down to San Jose tonight. I think I'll enjoy being a last minute type of person today and leave this question unanswered.

Adventures in Medicine

I went to an acupuncturist earlier this week to see is there's anything to be done about the fact that I've been sick at least 5 times this year. Currently, I have this strange itchy rash that is driving me insane. I tried to go to a traditional doctor, only to find out that my health insurance no longer covers "preventative care" (aka: doctor visits.) They'll pay if I end up in the emergency room, but until then, I'm meant to suffer. Luckily, a parent at the school I work at is a doctor of oriental medicine and is supposed to be very good. And she's kind enough to see me at a very reduced rate. I feel so lucky! This is the route I'd want to go anyway. After putting 9 needles in me, 2 in each leg, 2 in each hand and one in my ear, I became extremely relaxed, as if I had just had a massage. I was given a bag of pulverized herbs to drink 3 times a day. Needless to say, when I mix the powder with water, it looks like mud water, with floaty little bits that look like pieces of tree bark. (It probably is) It's bitter and I have to drink it warm. My first mistake was mixing the teaspoon of bitter herbs into my biggest cup and filling it up with warm water. Having to down a large warm mugful of bitter mud water made me want to gag by the end of it. I wised up and realized that if I mixed it with as little water as possible, it'll be horrible and potent, but it'll be over sooner. And I'm happy to say, I just drank the last cupful for today.