raw kelp noodles with peanut sauce

For the past few years, January has been a month of self-reflection for me. A big part of this is clean eating and abstaining from toxins like caffeine, alcohol, and tobacco. This year, I decided to give a raw diet a try. I was really reluctant to do this. I thought it would be difficult and expensive. But I was wrong.

I absolutely love it. I've never felt so amazing in my life. I've been unusually happy for this time of year, I have tons of energy, and my insides just feel good. I don't know how I'll feel at the end of the month, but right now I am considering staying on a high raw diet indefinitely.

I've been going crazy trying different dishes. And for the most part they've been delicious. This weekend I was craving pad Thai, so I made a raw version. It was absolutely amazing. I used my own raw peanut butter, but you could use any raw nut butter in its place. This would also be amazing with almost any fresh vegetable. Zucchini, bell peppers, cucumber, or whatever you have on hand. I'll definitely be trying some different combinations over the next few weeks.

raw kelp noodles with peanut sauce

Base:
1 package raw kelp noodles
1 carrot, cut into thin strips
1 handful of spinach
1 handful of chopped red cabbage

Sauce:
2 tbsp nama shoyu
2 tbsp raw nut butter
2 tbsp fresh cilantro
1 tbsp agave
1 garlic clove
1 inch of fresh ginger, peeled
juice of 1 lime

red pepper flakes, to garnish

Combine kelp noodles, carrots, and spinach in a large bowl.

In a food processor, mix all of the sauce ingredients until smooth.

Pour the sauce over the noodles and vegetables and garnish with red pepper flakes.

new music monday

so long, 2013

2013 was not the best year for me. I've had some health problems, went through a tough break-up, and, most recently I lost my grandmother.

But it wasn't all hard.

I have so many memories of beautiful things too. It's not always easy to capture them. Sometimes it feels like trying to make out a reflection in rippling water. Only distorted glimpses remain, but I treasure them.

Climbing a spiraling staircase to the top of an old lighthouse and taking in the endless lake on one side and endless trees on the other.

Running so far that it feels like you've left your body and you could run forever.

Lying on the bow of a boat watching the wind blow through the sails.

Carefree road trips, without schedules or plans.

The birth of my tiny red-haired niece.

My hope for 2014 is that it's more of those little happy moments and so much less heartache and loss. My priorities and interests have all seemed to have changed so much over the last year. At first I discounted them, because they were different. But now I'm going to embrace them and allow them to become valid in my mind.

Happy New Year, internet.

winter weekends

Winter is the most bittersweet of seasons.

There are times when it feels like magic. When the snow is falling softly and you're walking in the woods and the world looks untouched. When there's a house to return to with a toasty fire and strong coffee.

But even the most magical winter days feel shrouded in a sort of sadness that I can't really explain. I suppose it's the knowledge that this cold, dark world will continue for months.

I spent the weekend making things. I went to my mother's house in the country. It's on a little spring-fed lake, which is particularly scenic when it's frozen over.

Saturday, we canned dill pickles and made marmalade.Sunday morning, we ate cornmeal waffles with bourbon syrup. We went into town and traipsed about the antique stores. I bought tiny old-timey tourist trinkets that remind me of people who are too far away. As if drinking from a frosted glass could somehow bring them closer to me. Later we gathered herbs and pine boughs and made tiny wreaths.

I returned to Detroit and hung a tiny wreath on my door and listened to a Bing Crosby Christmas record I found at an antique shop. I settled into the sort of peaceful sadness that winter seems to bring.

simple autumn wedding cake

Alcohol often leads to a surge of confidence in people. So it's no surprise that I agreed to make a wedding cake for my friend Holly after a night at the bar. I woke up the next day with the sinking feeling of making a promise I couldn't keep. But I decided to stick to my word and go for it.

I'm incredibly fortunate to have laid back friends. Over the last few years, I've been in quite a few weddings and all of the brides have been wonderful. Rather than throw high-pressure, high-maintenance events, they've had simple, beautiful, non-traditional days that I will remember forever. So with no direction and knowing that any attempt would be appreciated I went forth. 

My first attempt was a ginger, carrot cake. Another girlfriend and I tried it out one Friday evening a few months before the wedding in her new house.

It was an utter disaster.

We made the cake and put it in the oven. Then we talked in the kitchen over a few glasses of wine while it was baking. At some point, I leaned back against the oven and the door fell off. We scrambled to keep it in place, at least as long as the cake was still baking and managed to rig it to stay on.

We managed to scrape through disaster number one only to find that the cake was super crumbly and fell apart when we removed it from the pan.

So we scratched that recipe.

My second attempt went far better. This one, a carrot apple cake, didn't break anything and stayed together wonderfully. I brought a taste to the bride and groom and they gave it the green light. So that was that.

I have been utterly in love with naked cakes lately. There's something so simple and natural looking about them and I prefer the sparse frosting. I made the cakes the day before. The morning of the wedding I frosted them and headed to Eastern Market to buy fresh flowers to decorate. The reception was at the Gaelic League, so I brought the cake there and threw some flowers on top.

It wasn't perfect looking, but it didn't have to be. Love is always a little flawed.

simple autumn wedding cake

2 cups whole wheat flour

1 1/2 cups granulated cane sugar

2 1/4 teaspoons baking soda

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

2 teaspoons unsweetened cocoa powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup vegetable oil

4 large eggs plus 1 egg yolk, lightly beaten

1 1/2 cups grated carrots

1 1/2 cups grated granny smith apple

1 cup chopped raw walnuts

Preheat oven to 350° F. Grease three 9-inch round cake pans and coat in a light layer of flour. Mix all of the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Combine oil and eggs in a small bowl, then add to dry mixture. Add the carrots, apples, and walnuts until just mixed.

Divide the batter into the three pans and cook for about 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Place on a cooling rack for 10 minutes and then remove cakes from pan to cool completely.

*I frosted these cakes with a simple buttercream. The recipe will make a three layer cake. I made two batches to get four layers. I had no extra frosting, but two leftover layers of cake. Fortunately, this cake is still delicious without frosting.

where to begin?

When I moved to Michigan I thought all of the change was done. I was engaged and had a job and a tiny house with a garden. But life is never that easy. And I was miserable.

It took me far too long to realize it. I hurt people who didn't need to be hurt and made promises I couldn't keep. And when everything fell apart I had an overwhelming sense of guilt that seemed to crush my entire being.

But I'm not a villain. What I did was incredibly brave. It is often easier to just let life happen to us than to make the choices that will make us happy. I've finally realized that what other people think or feel about my choices doesn't mean a whole lot to me. They don't have to live my life. I do.

So I'm beginning again.

This time in Detroit proper. And I'm in love with this city.

I live in a tiny sparsely furnished flat with my cat. I can walk and bike anywhere I want to go. And the city has so many things to offer.

My favorites:

Exploring the labyrinth that is the main branch of the Detroit Public Library. Going in without a plan, getting completely lost in the stacks, and leaving with an armful of books I would never have planned to read.

Wandering the galleries of the DIA and being brought to tears by every painting of the moon.

Waking up early on Saturdays to get fresh produce, flowers, and coffee at Eastern Market. Having little girls there tell me I'm pretty and they like my flowers. Giving flowers to said little girls.

Late-night drunken fires and archery tournaments in backyards full of chickens and gardens.

It's lovely. It's perfect. It feels like home.

Finally.

bourbon & ginger

We spent a long weekend wandering through Kentucky. It was the first time we'd ever let ourselves be spontaneous on a road trip. We went without a schedule or reservations. It was amazing. We did more in four days than I ever would have thought. We saw cities, small towns, and the country-side. We ate some of the best southern food I've ever tasted. And we drank loads of Kentucky Bourbon.

I'm a beer drinker, but I will occasionally drink a whiskey drink. My drink of choice is Whiskey & Ginger. This homemade version was inspired by all of the amazing cocktails I had in Kentucky.

bourbon & ginger

Ginger Ale recipe from my photo journal

1 ginger root, peeled & thinly sliced
1 cup sugar
2 cups water
club soda
2 limes
Kentucky Bourbon

Heat ginger, water, and sugar in a small saucepan. Simmer for 10 minutes until sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat and strain to remove ginger from syrup. Allow syrup to cool. Mix 1 part bourbon, 1 part ginger syrup, and 3 parts club soda. Squeeze a bit of lime juice into the glass, and garnish with a slice of lime.

coffee ice cream with cacao nibs

It's unofficially summer.

We sort of skipped spring altogether. It's so hot in our tiny attic bedroom that it's hard to sleep at night. But I never do in the summer. There's too many reasons to stay up. All I want is to travel, eat ice cream, drink beer, and visit with friends. Everything else is an obstacle.

I kicked off my summer trips last weekend with an impromptu trip to Cincinnati to help my very talented friend, Jodi, to help her at a craft fair. Although, I was only there for a short time, I really enjoyed the city and will be passing through again in a few weeks.

I can't wait for more adventures. I already have plans to go to northern Michigan, to explore caves in Kentucky, to go to Pitchfork in Chicago, and to hold our annual craft camp in teepees in Ohio.

I have also started making homemade ice creams. I refuse to break down and buy an ice cream maker, so I'm sticking to no churn recipes for the time being. When I was in Cincinnati I picked up a growler of cold brew coffee from The Coffee Emporium. I had never seen a growler of coffee before. What a cool idea! I used that to make this coffee ice cream and it was stellar.
 

coffee ice cream with cacao nibs

recipe from The Vanilla Bean Blog
 

new music monday

If you haven't listened to Acid Rap yet. You are seriously missing out. 

Lemongrass Udon Soup

There is something about a bowl of noodles that's inexplicably comforting.

For me, udon tops the list. Biting into those thick, chewy noodles is the food equivalent of falling into a bed made with a giant comforter and so many down pillows that you feel you are sinking. A bowl of udon soup is the perfect compliment for a melancholy mood. The kind that is painful

but beautiful too

so you sort of bask in it while it's around. Those are the sort of days when a noodle shop is the most splendid thing you've ever seen. It's better still if it's raining. You watch the fragments of light caught in drops sliding down the window. You are lost in the steam from the bowl in front of you.

My udon is never comparable to the stuff found in a good noodle shop.  And the noodle shops here aren't comparable to the noodles I had in Japan. Old men hanging around a counter. Picking out your bowl from a vending machine that shoots out colorful chips. Not knowing what you are ordering, but certain that it will be amazing.

I just found out that my dearest friend is coming to Michigan from Japan on holiday this summer. It will be this first time back since he moved there 7 years ago. I am elated. I only wish he could bring me a bowl of noodles in his suitcase.

Lemongrass Udon Soup

Recipe adapted from Food, Pleasure, and Health

4 cups of vegetable broth
1 package of udon noodles
4 scallions
1.5 tbsp fish sauce
1.5 tbsp soy sauce 
1 lemongrass, chopped
5 cremini mushrooms, sliced
bean sprouts and cilantro, to garnish

In a medium sauce pan bring broth, scallions, lemongrass, fish sauce, soy sauce, and mushrooms to boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 20-25 minutes. Cook the noodles seperatly according to package instructions. Add cooked noodles to broth and serve. Garnish with bean sprouts and cilantro.

new music monday

new music monday

earl grey tea loaf

A few weekends ago I went on a bit of a Virginia Woolf kick. I have never read any of her novels, though I intend to. But I'm currently engrossed in reading her letters, which are collected in six volumes. I picked up one of those as well as a book of correspondence between Woolf and Vita Sackville-West, with whom she had a love affair which simmered into a friendship.

The letters are enchanting, from both women. I can't stop reading and re-reading passages more beautiful than anything anyone could ever say. And I can't help but feel a yearning to be privileged and English in some other time. As if it would make me a better writer or more desperately in love. Take this passage from a letter from Virginia to Vita.

I try to invent you for myself, but find I really have only 2 twigs and 3 straws to do it with. I can get the sensation of seeing you—hair, lips, colour, height, even, now and then, the eyes and hands, but I find you going off, to walk in the garden, to play tennis, to dig, to sit smoking and talking, and then I cant invent a thing you say—This proves, what I could write reams about—how little we know anyone, only movements and gestures, nothing connected, continuous, profound.

It's Perfect.

At the end of that rainy, English weekend I made an Earl Grey tea loaf, which seemed fitting. I am terrible with conversions, and completely botched the correct measurements for the tea loaf. Somehow it turned out well enough, but I won't bother with sharing my flawed directions here. I found the recipe on Vanillyn.

new music monday

new music monday

cherry & whiskey upside down cake

 Stiff Peaks

Whenever I read these words in a recipe I have a panic attack. I can never get stiff peaks to form. I'm not even sure what constitutes a stiff peak.

I made this cake for Trevor's birthday and I was able to form half of the required stiff peaks. That is, I successfully made homemade whipped cream. Whiskey whipped cream at that. I'm not a huge fan of whipped cream, but a little whiskey can make anything amazing.

Cherry & Whiskey Upside Down Cake

Recipe, nearly verbatim, from Endless Simmer

Almond Meal:
1.5 oz salted almonds
1/2 cup flour

Topping:
1 cup sugar
6 tbsp water
6 tbsp butter
9 1/2 oz cherries, stemmed, pitted, and halved

Cake:
1/2 cup almond meal
1 cup all purpose flour
1 teas baking soda
1/4 teas salt
1/2 cup sugar
3 large eggs, separated
1/4 teas vanilla extract
1/4 teas almond extract
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup whiskey

Whiskey Whipped Cream: 
1 cup heavy whipping cream
2 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp whiskey

To make the almond meal, place almonds and flour in a food processor until the mixture resembles sand.

To make the topping, place sugar and water in a saucepan and stir until dissolved. Let the dissolved mixture come to a boil, and, using the handle, swirl the occasionally. Continue to boil until the mixture becomes a medium amber. Remove the pan from heat and add butter. Stir until combined. Pour the topping into the bottom of your cake pan and place the cherries cut-side down into caramel mixture.

To make the cake mix the almond meal, flour, baking soda, and salt in a bowl until combined. Beat the butter until fluffy (using a stand mixer, if you are so fortunate, but I did it by hand in a pinch). Add the egg yolks, one at a time, and beat until combined. Add half of the flour mixture, followed by the buttermilk, followed by the other half of the flour mixture. After each addition, beat until just combined.

Place the egg whites in a clean glass bowl. Beat until foamy and soft peaks form. The mixture should triple in volume. Slowly sprinkle in 2 tablespoons of sugar and mix until combined. Pour in the whiskey and beat until combined. Fold a third of the egg mixture into batter with a wooden spoon. Gently fold in the remaining egg mixture.

Spread the batter evenly over the fruit topping. Bake for 60-70 minutes, or until a knife comes out clean. Let cool on a wire rack for 15 minutes.

To make the whipped cream, place the wipping cream in a cold bowl and beat until medium peaks form. Slowly sprinkle the sugar onto the cream and beat to combine. Slowly pour the whiskey down the side of the bowl and beat to combine. Do not overbeat.

new music monday

pistachio & currant camping bars

When I was around 7 years old my best friend and I made an elaborate scheme to run away to the woods. We marked the date on my calendar and planned everything down to the most minute detail. We hoarded jugs of water and snacks. Our bags were packed, our red wagon was loaded. I don't remember what stopped us from going. Perhaps we were discovered by a perplexed parent. Maybe we always knew deep down that we weren't really going to go.

Even as a child I loved camping. In the summers, my dad would set up his giant green army tent in the back yard and we would sleep outside. When we took family camping trips it always rained and the people next to us always jammed to CCR and drank cheap beer around the campfire late into the night.

Lately, all I can think about is camping. Days spent hiking through the forest and reading on the beach. Stopping in your tracks to gaze at the stars because you forgot how beautiful they are without imposing city lights. The wafting scent of a campfire from your unwashed hair. Subsisting on only bison jerky, trail mix, and beer.

This year I thought we could expand our camping food repertoire. I love larabars and I've seen a lot of homemade versions floating around the 'net. I love a pistachio, so I thought I'd make some with those. I liked the bars a lot and will definitely be trying different combinations of fruits and nuts.

Pistachio & Currant Camping Bars

1/2 cup pitted dates
1/4 cup pistachios
1/4 cup almonds
1/2 cup dried currants
1/2 tbsp water

In a food processor, blend the dates, pistachios, and almonds until a crumbly dough is formed. Add the currants and process until combined. If the mixture seems too dry, add a tiny bit of water at a time until it begins to stick.

To shape the bars, put 1/4 of the mixture into wax paper and press into a bar shape. I used a small cutting board for the top and bottom and a large knife to flatten the sides.

Store in the refrigerator.

Makes 4 bars.

new music monday

vanilla coconut ice cream with dark chocolate chips

I am not religious, but I have the overwhelming guilt and love of altruistic abstinence that comes with being raised Catholic. So, I celebrate Lent. This year, I gave up gluten and animal products.

I think I enjoy the challenge of not being able to have a lot of foods. It makes you try new and unusual recipes that you might not if you have an easier alternative. This ice cream was one of those recipes.

I had never cooked with real vanilla beans or coconut before. This was mostly due to being a starving student living in an expensive city. It turns out that these items are both expensive and difficult to work with. The vanilla wasn't so bad, but the coconut had to be pounded open with a hammer and nails. Yikes!

The result was worth it. Lovely, animal and soy free ice cream without the need for an ice cream maker.

Vanilla Coconut Ice Cream with Dark Chocolate Chips

adapted from This Rawsome Vegan Life 

3 cups raw cashews, soaked in water for 3-4 hours
1 1/2 cups coconut meat
2 1/2 cups water
1/2 cup raw agave syrup
Seeds from one vanilla bean
1/4 cup coconut oil, melted
Chopped organic dark chocolate, to taste


In a blender or food processor, blend all of the ice cream ingredients, except the chocolate until smooth. Once, you ice cream looks creamy, add the chocolate until just blended.

Place in a sealable container and freeze. Remove your ice cream and defrost for 20-40 minutes. Place back into a blender or food processor and blend again. Spoon back into container and re-freeze. Remove from freezer at least five minutes before serving.