Random Recipe Wednesday: Gingered Carrot-Pineapple Slaw

I have a stack of old magazines lingering in my room.  And by lingering I mean collecting dust.  Don't get me wrong, I read them cover to cover multiple times, but when the pile is literally knee-deep it's time to do some recycling.  About a third of these magazines are food magazines.  I decided (again) to page through them just one more time before tossing them for good.

Random Recipe Wednesday: Carrot Cake Breakfast Bites

Sometimes I get things a little backwards and eat cookie dough for breakfast.  This time I made what some would call breakfast cookies and ate them for supper, snacks and pretty much everything but breakfast.

I hesitate to even say breakfast cookie, because these really aren't cookies.  Let's call them breakfast bites.  Without any butter, oil or sugar you can not have a cookie.  What we do have is a hearty and satisfying breakfast/snack that leaves you feeling full, healthy and energized.  Dried fruit, nuts and oats are ground in the food processor then mixed with shredded carrot and apple and a mashed banana.  See, it's breakfasty but it's not a cookie.

Tuesday's Twist: Lemon-Ginger Quinoa Soup

Tuesday's Twist:  A basic recipe with a fun twist.  In other words, just another excuse for me to play around with weird recipes I've been dying to try.

 My hands are always cold, always.  Whenever I shake hands with someone there is an 85% chance they will comment on how cold my hands are.  This is followed by a 15% chance that they will continue to hold my hands for an awkwardly long time attempting to warm them up.  Not my thing.  Clearly you're telling me I must make hot bowls of soup more often to warm up those chilly hands.  I like the way you think.

Tuesday's Twist: Lemon-Basil Lentil Soup

Tuesday's Twist:  A basic recipe with a fun twist.  In other words, just another excuse for me to play around with weird recipes I've been dying to try.

Chilly winter days call for soup.  Fun bowls and spoons definitely help chase away the winter blues.  The bowl was a Christmas gift from my mom.  It was handmade for the Empty Bowls project to help fight hunger.  After a simple meal of bread and soup participants take home an empty, handcrafted bowl as a reminder of the all the hunger and empty bowls around the world.  The hand-carved wooden spoon stands up on its own and is nothing short of amazing.

Weird Recipe Wednesday: Veggie Noodles with Citrusy Dill Dressing

Weird Recipe Wednesday: Because some recipes are so weird I just HAVE to try them.  My curiosity always gets the better of me.

I've tried on more than one occasion to convince myself I like spaghetti squash. It's okay sometimes (despite this adventure), but I'm just not that into it.  It certainly doesn't taste like spaghetti, but then again, I've never been into spaghetti either.  I wouldn't eat anything tomato-based growing up, including spaghetti, lasagna or ketchup.  Thank goodness I grew out of that phase.  However, I'm still not a huge pasta eater.   Vegetables, on the other hand, I will gobble up like there's no tomorrow (you know, to balance all the cookies, peanut butter and chocolate).

Weird Recipe Wednesday: Citrusy Carrot Marmalade

Weird Recipe Wednesday: Because some recipes are so weird I just HAVE to try them.  My curiosity always gets the better of me.

This recipe started as the uniquely creative kind of weird, but wound up a little differently than preferred after an impulsively irreversible decision on my part.  In other words, I unintentionally upped the weird factor.

You see, I was in a bit of a hurry and the marmalade just wouldn't thicken.  Adding pectin was my first choice, and I even had a spare box of pectin on hand, but the amount of soupy orange mixture boiling away on my stove wasn't enough to warrant an entire package of pectin.  What would I do with a partial package of pectin lurking in the pantry?  And so, just before I tore open the package, I stuffed it back in the box, stood tip-toe, and placed it back on the top cupboard shelf.  Soon I spotted a box of unflavored gelatin packets.  My fingers reached into the box, tore open a packet and sprinkled it over the simmering pot.  Blast, why did I do that?

Weird Recipe Wednesday: Nutty Orange Harvest Soup

Weird Recipe Wednesday: Because some recipes are so weird I just HAVE to try them.  My curiosity always gets the better of me.

This orange soup has such a smattering of weird ingredients I wasn't sure if I wanted to post it.  I debated back and forth, snapped a few pictures just in case and finally decided to just go with it.  I've seen orange fall soups popping up everywhere on the blogosphere lately and decided this might not be way too wired after all.  And even if it is, that's exactly what Weird Recipe Wednesday is all about. Since it's Halloween, it seems like as good a time as any for a slightly strange bowl or orange liquid.  Annnnd now that I've hesitated and stalled a little longer I suppose we can get to the soup.

Friday Fun: Birthday Cake

It's the weekend to celebrate birthdays around here.  Birthday cakes are not meant to be measured, tested and photographed, they just happen.  In our house carrot cake is a family tradition for my dad's birthday.   I made his cake before leaving on my trip and thought I'd share a little with you.

The faded, old recipe comes out each year, but is rarely followed.

Stains and spots are always indicators of well-loved recipes. 

A heap of carrots follows the whole can of pineapple.  The memories and stories from years past prove that recipes made with love turn out just as well as those with precise measurements.

A palmful or two of cinnamon and mounded spoonfuls of nutmeg and allspice join the party. 

The old wooden spoon and same yellow mixing bowl are used year after year.  

Beater bars and that timeless spoon are set aside. 

Waiting to be licked clean. 

Tweaks and changes are made as the years progress, but one thing remains, the peanut butter frosting.

 Yes, peanut butter frosting on carrot cake.  It's a family tradition that started before I was born.  The love and memories that go into the frosting are as immeasurable as the ingredients themselves.  I'm not usually a big frosting fan, but this frosting makes the cake.  Memories made with love (and peanut butter) make the frosting everyone's favorite part.

Happy Birthday, Dad!

Food for Thought: "No book is really worth reading at the age of ten which is not equally - and often far more - worth reading at the age of fifty and beyond." -C.S. Lewis

Fermented Friday: Asian Slaw

Fermented Friday: recipes featuring yeast, wine, beer or some form of fermentation

This recipe is a bit of a stretch for Fermented Friday, but technically it qualifies since soy sauce and rice vinegar are fermented products.  Soy sauce is made by fermenting soybeans with roasted wheat or barley.  Vinegar is produced when bacteria convert a fermented product into acetic acid.  The word itself comes from the French term for "sour wine" vin aigre.  Rice vinegar is made from, you guessed it, fermented rice.  See, we're still using fermentation.

Actually, I've just been craving this crunchy slaw for the past few weeks and needed an excuse to make it.  Okay, that and I put in enough hours at work this week that I didn't quite find time to finish the beer-cheese recipe I'm working on.

Tuesday's Twist: Spiraled Zucchini-Carrot Rolls

Tuesday's Twist:  A basic recipe with a fun twist.  In other words, just another excuse for me to play around with weird recipes I've been dying to try.

After seeing pictures of vegetable tarts like this, I knew the concept had a lot of potential.  I wanted to try it out, but didn't want to make another vegetable tart like everyone else.  I came up with several ideas to put my own spin on it and finally settled on this one.  Other ideas may surface here in the near future depending on how much zucchini appears on my counter.

Fermented Friday: Peanut Sauce Pizza with Beer Chicken, Veggies and Basil

Fermented Friday: recipes featuring yeast, wine, beer or some form of fermentation

I actually had something completely different in the works for today, but I found out the hard way that the spare jar of baking powder was expired.  Of course I used up the last of several other key ingredients at the same time.  After trips to several grocery stores and a few empty shelves, I still didn't have all the ingredients for a second attempt.  With a sore throat and zero energy I decided to save that recipe for another day and go with pizza instead.

Weird Recipe Wednesday: Peanut Butter and Basil Quinoa Salad

Weird Recipe Wednesday: Because some recipes are so weird I just HAVE to try them.  My curiosity always gets the better of me.

I haven't been able to get the idea of peanut butter and basil out of my head since I saw this Peanut Butter and Basil Sandwich.  A million weird ideas are floating around my head. In fact, they're probably too weird to share with you right now.  Instead, I'll introduce you to this flavor combination in a dish that's a little  more normal.  (After it grows on you I'll utilize this duo in an application even I consider weird.)  

Tuesday's Twist: Zucchini Carrot Mushroom Burgers

Tuesday's Twist:  A basic recipe with a fun twist.  In other words, just another excuse for me to play around with weird recipes I've been dying to try.

I never intended to post this recipe and it's a bit of a stretch to post it under Tuesday's Twist. But in real life the zucchini and mushrooms in the refrigerator needed to be put to use and I had all the right ingredients without going to back to the store. The recipes I had planned for this week need a little more work and one of the ingredients melted in the car.  All this means you are temporarily being dragged into my quest for a decent homemade veggie burger.  Don't worry, I'll keep most of them to myself (unless my chocolate chips melt into single entity on a weekly basis).