GF Chocolate Banana Cookies

I just made this gluten free cookie recipe. I used almond meal, quinoa flour and added banana slices. They are a little crumbly but holy crap they're delicious.  Originally posted here on Cookieandkate.com. 

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup almond flour or almond meal, firmly packed
• 1/4 cup coconut flour, firmly packed
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon fine grain sea salt
• dash cinnamon (optional)
• 1/2 cup butter or coconut oil, melted
• 1/2 cup real maple syrup (preferably grade B) or honey
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 6 ounces dark chocolate, chopped, or 1 cup chocolate chips

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flours, baking soda, salt and cinnamon. Pour in the melted butter (or coconut oil), maple syrup (or honey) and vanilla extract, and mix thoroughly. Stir in the chocolate.
3. Let the dough rest for 5 minutes so the coconut flour can absorb some of the excess moisture (or let the dough chill in the fridge for 10 minutes if you want fat cookies, like those shown here). Scoop dough, one tablespoon at a time, in mounds onto the baking sheet, leaving a couple inches around each cookie.
4. Bake for about 11 minutes, until golden brown.

Banging Little Soup

When I Googled "soup" this picture of Obama and Al Sharpton sharing soul food appeared. 

I found myself home sick yesterday without anyone to bring me chicken noodle soup. Also, I've been trying not to eat meat and I'm gluten free. Using what I had in the house, I was able to whip up this tasty little ditty and wanted to share.

What you need:
- 1 small onion, chopped
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 can garbanzo beans
- red pepper flakes
- yellow curry
- handful spinach
- handful kale
- vegetable stock
- water
- olive oil

Gettin' 'er done:
Heat up some olive oil with the red pepper flakes and curry. Once it smells good, add the onions and garlic. When those get squishy, add a few cups of vegetable stock (depends on how much soup you want). Bring that to a boil, let it boil for a few minutes, then add the greens and beans, and salt and pepper. Simmer for 10 minutes. Once you let it cool a bit, use a hand blender, regular blender or food processer to smooth it out. Good stuff and seems to be even tastier the next day.

BELIZE

In a week I will travel to Belize with my beloved roommate, to visit our former roommate who is now a chocolate exporter in southern Belize. More on that operation here. If you've ever wondered what chocolate looks like in the wild, she's currently got some great pics up of cacao pods and common threats to the crop.

We're off to Punta Gorda, in the Toledo District, an area known for its rainforest, mountains, rivers and Mayan villages. I might just not come back.

New Recipe! Multicultural Casserole

Sadly, I realized after I made this dish, that I was SO proud of, that the fake meat I used in it is not gluten-free. I ate it all anyway.

Here's what happened: I made a crap-ton of yellow rice and pigeon peas, or Arroz de Gandules, and got sick of eating it after a couple meals so I turned it into a casserole. I took it to work several days in a row with spinach on the side and it was really super banging after 2 mins in the microwave, all melty and shit. Mmm.

Ingredients:

1. One package yellow rice
2. One can pigeon peas (Can be found in any grocery store catering to Puerto Ricans, Haitians, and/or Jamaicans)
3. Some kind of cheese, shredded
4. Canned tomatoes
5. One jalepeno
6. One habenero
7. Corn tortillas
8. Some kind of vegetarian "ground beef". I used Smart Ground Mexican Style seasoned veggie protein crumbles (Not gluten free!!)
9. Onion
10. Garlic
11. One bell pepper of your choice. I use orange and yellow because they supposedly have more vitamin C and it's winter, so we could all use some of that.

Directions:
Cook a package of yellow rice according to the directions. Add a can of pigeon peas and mix well. Eat that if you feel like. Then, to make the casserole, start by chopping an onion, mincing some garlic, and throwing it all in a pan with some olive oil. Add in peppers, let 'em cook, then add tomatoes and stew for a long time. Throw in some S&P or whatever you like, maybe a little Slap* if you have some and you're feeling saucy. Grease a casserole dish and line the bottom with tortillas, the same way you'd start assembling a dish of lasagna. Then throw in the rice, most of the sauce, and the fake meat and stir. Add cheese and another layer of tortillas, then top it with sauce and cheese, pizza style. Then cook the whole shebang in the oven at 350 for 30 mins or until it looks delicious. Let me know what you think.

*Slap refers to Slap Ya Mama, a cajun seasoning made in Ville Platte, Louisiana. We use the white pepper blend at home but there are three varieties. I first had it on a delicious burger at little bar in Iowa City called George's Buffet. If you ever find yourself in Iowa, don't miss it. The burgers come from cows down the street, or at least they did when I was there.

Anais Nin and The Common Ground Fair

Dear blog and readers,
I'm sorry I've been neglecting you. I've been doing a lot more writing in my journal lately and spending my other free moments with the New Yorker and Anais Nin's Henry and June. I'm a bit obsessed with both. Anais Nin was so cool and it is her writing that has inspired me to journal again. I think she began writing at age 9 and kept at it until her passing in 1977. Henry and June is like a high brow beach read, filled with exciting affairs (many at once), and vivid sex scenes, as well as detailed discussions on writing and art. She uses the "f" word a lot, which surprised me. I didn't realize it was already widely used in the 30s. Now I know. More on Anais here.


Sunday, I bathed in a lake. That was just one highlight in a fun-filled weekend in Dover-Foxcroft, Maine, the childhood home of my roommate Veronica. We were joined by Emily and Wyatt, and had a wicked good time with her ever welcoming and entertaining parents. They sent us home with homegrown squash, local apples, cookies, and all kinds of pickles and relishes.

Part of the impetus for the journey was attending the Common Ground Fair, one of the largest and oldest agricultural fairs in New England. Mostly we just ate until we couldn't eat anymore. If you ever have a chance to go the fair, try a pie cone and/or the fried shitake mushrooms. The fair is run my MOFGA, the Maine Organic Farmers and Gardners Association, so everything at the fair is organic and, for the most part, local. For example, there is no sugar at the fair but they've made an exception for coffee. The fair offers countless workshops on everything from beekeeping to the benefits of keeping and eating your own placenta. (I'm not joking.) There were also all kinds of demonstrations and juried exhibitions of livestock, vegetables, and flowers. I especially enjoyed hanging out with the mules and squishing their noses. I spent much of the weekend trying to imagine how I might make enough money to start a farming operation large enough to necessitate a mule, especially a Percheron-donkey cross like this one.


More photos soon.

Aggregated Goodness

Here is an amazing blog post on the hardships of trying to be a responsible adult. I'm pretty sure that the author of Hyberbole and a Half is my long lost best friend. Even the title is so me. More than a few people in my life have been bothered by my hyperbolic tendencies.

Apparently Chinese basketball players have trouble with starting sh*t on the court. One team recently beat the crap out of the Georgetown team at an exhibition game in Beijing.

If you live in Boston and you haven't yet RSVP'd for the Boston Cyclists Union First Annual Meeting, please do so now. I have acquired some really swell raffle prizes including, but not limited to, a free CSA from Allandale Farm for next season, a gift certificate to Salmagundi (sweet hat store in JP), free bike tune ups, a helmet, a tire pump, and a 10 class card to South Boston Yoga. I'm planning on buying $20 worth of raffle tickets and you should too. RSVP for the sweetest bike party of the year here.

Gardening Rules

This post is dedicated to Dan Abrams, whose enthusiasm for this blog never ceases to surprise me.

Cucumbers in the front yard,



Bigger, in the kitchen,



And pickled as spicy half sours




Raspberries from the community plot!

Raspberries, Rye Rye and Iced COFFEEEEE

Team Robeson Floor 2 Circa 2010 reunited this weekend to raspberry pick at Smolak Farms. Luckily for us, other people either didn’t find or didn’t know what to do with the white raspberries. Holy crap, they’re delicious. It was totally worth the traffic, sunburn and $14 I endured to get three quarts of them. The super ripe ones taste like peaches and a lot of them were huge. We also went to Salisbury Beach and enjoyed some spectacular people and seagull - watching.

There is a tie for music of the week: Beyonce’s new album 4 has some winners on it and Rye Rye has released a mix tape, for free, which includes her bitchin’ cover of “Party in the USA.” There is some awesome dancing in the video below.

Even though I think driving is the devil, I must say that I love babysitting my little brother’s Cadillac. Even if it earns me $40 parking tickets, something my bike would never do, I love it because it affords me ample time to explore Boston’s radio offerings and sing at the top of my lungs. While rocking to some 90s classics on Saturday morning, it occurred to me that one great thing about 90s rock songs is the abundant use of the long, drawn out, or oft repeated “yeah.” When songwriters ran out lyrics, they’d throw in some dramatic “yeahs.” In some instances, this bridge of sorts is the best part of the song. It’s like negative space in art. When used well, it can make a masterpiece. Please correct me if I’m wrong, but I find the “yeah” is notoriously absent in the repertoire of today’s indie hipster post-post-80s revival songwriters. Today’s music is like the opposite of negative space. Sometimes, maybe more so in pop music, it sounds like folks are trying to use all the crayons in the box and cover every inch of white space. I really hope the next wave of music involves a “yeah”-revival: a tribute to Counting Crows, Red Hot Chili Peppers and other masters of “yeah.”

While we’re on the topic of 90s rock, I should mention that I was sad to learn this weekend that Alanis Morissette was not saying “It’s not fair to deny me of the cross-eyed bear that you gave to me.” Oh man. Lyrics. What tricky little things they are sometimes.

Iced coffee. I'm addicted. I’ve been averaging 1.5 cups a day and Lordy, I’ve been paying for it. I normally try not to pay for coffee and I've decided I can’t let myself do it any longer. I’m in such denial that I’ve been rotating between three coffee shops to make it seem like I’m not a regular at any of them. Who does that? This girl. So, to remedy the situation, I’m trying the Pioneer Woman’s recipe for make it yourself iced coffee. She uses Café Bustelo, recently selling at 2 cans for $5.00 at Stop N Shop, so I am hopeful that I can fulfill my need to suck cold caffeine through a straw without needlessly sucking my bank account dry. I’ll let you know how it tastes/goes.

Here is Rye Rye's "Party in the USA" for your listening and viewing pleasure.

Overcoming obstacles to growing your own vegetables and herbs

These notes are meant to compliment a presentation at the 2011 Boston Skillshare entitled No Space? No Cash? No Problem! Overcoming Obstacles To Growing Your Own Vegetables and Herbs.




When getting started with your first gardening project, think about it like a newspaper story. Be sure to figure out the who, what, when, where, why and how.

Who can help you?
What are you planting?
When will you start?
Where will you plant? Community plot, porch, sunny window, driveway?
Why? (this is an easy one)
How? Will you use grow lights indoors, vertical trellising on the side of your building or hanging containers on your porch?

Hot tips:
- Wash your containers before using or reusing. There could be diseases, bacteria, etc. lingering in there.
- Get your soil tested!!!! (UMASS Amherst)
- Learn about common pests, diseases
- Store seeds in the freezer
- Plants have different needs - know what your plants like best in terms of soil, light, etc. For example lavender like sandier soil and less water than a basil plant so your probably don't want to plant them together.
- Clean your tools. It's good for the tools and for preventing the spread of disease, pests, etc.
- Potted plants need fertilizer, especially perennials. Find out what your plants like best. A little side dressing of compost or worm castings (worm poop) usually goes a long way.
- Mulch is your friend. It helps keep soil moist and prevents weeds. You can use newspaper (no magazines please) or shredded leaves, among other things.
- While not absolutely necessary, planning, labeling plants, and tracking the success of your plantings is highly recommended.


More fun stuff

Acquire this book: The Urban Homestead by Kelly Coyne and Erik Knutzen

Make your own self-watering containers

Landless Gardening: Use a potato sack and put it anywhere! Make it yourself or buy a kit from Landless Gardening with everything you need for $20.

Living Wall
Living walls can be a great way to grow a lot in a small space inside or outside.

The Boston Gardener in Dudley Square carries the pumps, filters, and growing medium you need to build your own irrigated system. See a demo in this video:



Wallypockets are pre-made plant bags that you can mount on the wall and water like you would any potted plants.

Get a head start on the season with winter sowing. This involves making a tiny greenhouse so you can sow seeds outdoors in the late winter. Use milk jugs, takeout containers, and even clear plastic bags. More at WinterSown.org



Terrariums are fun and back in fashion. While they are most commonly made with ornamental plants, you could make a nice one with herbs.



Resources:

Allandale Farm
Boston Natural Areas Network
Container Gardening Guru
Garden Girl TV
Organic Gardening Magazine
RootSimple (By the authors of The Urban Homestead)
TruckFarm (what I was trying to show early in the session)
Urban Homesteader's League (Boston Area)
Urban Farm Magazine
Wormjava (order worm castings online to enrich your container plants)

Tracking the "T" and New Workout Songs

To revisit my constant love/hate relationship with the "T," Boston's subway system, I wanted to share this great website that Wyatt turned me on to. It's called HowFuckedIstheT? and it will tell you the average wait time for the red, orange, green and blue lines.

I guess the silver line is too f-ed to be included. The last time I took it to the airport it took almost an hour to get from South Station to Logan. I could have limped there faster.

In other news, Veronica and I discovered that Outkast Pandora is pretty much the best thing ever. Great for the gym as well as the kitchen. It brings up Biggie, Snoop Dogg, Dr. Dre and lots of other songs I tend to forget about.



We've started a tradition of musical themed weekday breakfasts. By that I mean, we've done it once so far. Our trial run was a reggae-themed blueberry pancake breakfast and it was a fantastic way to start the day. We may never get up early enough to do it again, but we have plans for Destiny's Child, Outkast Pandora and Black Keys breakfasts.

A Sandwich Named "Awesome"

A little known fact about me is that I adore banh mi. Pronounced "bon-me", the traditional Vietnamese sandwich is made on a baguette with pickled carrots and daikon radish, chili peppers, paté, cilantro, mayonnaise and cucumbers. Popular fillings include chicken, ham, tofu and pork belly, but there are many variations. At New Saigon Sandwich in Boston's Chinatown, you can get a delicious banh mi for $3. The place is the size of a closet, but if it's a nice day and you can eat outside, it offers one of the best lunch deals in town. I'm not the only one who has figured this out. The place was written up in the Globe a few years ago. Still, I'm shocked by how many people know neither the delicious sandwich nor the Chinatown landmark.

Somewhat surprisingly, Hi Rise Bakery on Brattle Street in Harvard Square also makes a mean banh mi.

Today I was inspired to try and make my own. My roommate scored three free loaves of bread at our local bakery last night and, while I'm supposed to be eating super healthy right now (like maybe not stuffing my face with bread), I couldn't resist the opportunity to make my favorite sandwich. It was not super authentic, especially given that I did not use a baguette, but it was still an extremely satisfying sandwich.


Noelle's Quick and Dirty Banh Mi:

- toasted free bread
- mayo
- thinly sliced jalapeno, cucumbers and carrots* (the local Stop N Shop does not carry daikon)
- ham
- fresh cilantro

*I put up some carrot sticks in white wine vinegar in the fridge, which I plan to use in the next sandwich.

If you use tofu and sub the mayo for veganaise or chili or fish sauce, this can be an amazing vegan sandwich.

Soup and Soul

Spring is just rising its cute little head in Boston. It's enough to get me thinking about tomatoes and flip flops but, of course, it flurried today, so not too excited.

I've found that nothing kills the bad weather blues like Wyatt's roommate's sausage ravioli soup. Jim is his name and he uses lots of sausage and puts mozzarella straight in the soup. It's heaven in a bowl. I'm supposed to stop eating dairy so I made my own version without the cheese and used squash ravioli. It's not quite as awesome but still very satisfying.


Sausage Ravioli Soup with spinach, peppers and tomatoes.

On my buddy Norm's recommendation I've been listening to Fitz and the Tantrums almost exclusively. The band's website calls their music "familiar but distinct" and I'm not sure I can say anything more fitting than that. It's a little hokey but in an endearing way. Imagine the Scissor Sisters and Meat Loaf coming together as a neo-soul outfit. Listeners can expect some soulful voices, saxophone, and lyrics you can learn on the first listen. Fun facts: they've toured with Sharon Jones, they recorded their album Pickin' Up the Pieces in the band leader's living room, and the female singer is named Noelle. Noelle Scaggs.

"Money Grabber" Gold Digger 2.o

"Winds of Change"


This is definitely good music for the gym, by the way.

Farm Blog, Seedlings, Bread, Tickets

Good News: I got two tickets to see Jeff Mangum. After struggling for 10 minutes to get them on-line I literally ran to the Harvard Box Office to get them in person. Thank God the show is at Harvard, where I work.

Music adventures aside, I have been very wrapped up in food matters. I am currently doing research for a story on food security and obesity for my journalism class. If it turns out well I may try to pitch it to real publications (by "real" I mean not this blog).

My new favorite blog is that of my old boss, Farmer Jim Buckle of Allandale Farm. In the most recent post he shares his feelings on the impending slaughter of his buddies, Allandale's two Scotch Highland cows, Curtis and Willard. Even as a big proponent of eating meat, Jim admits he'll have a hard time saying goodbye. I love those beasts too, even though Willard once almost impaled me with one of his horns and I got sick of explaining to customers that no, they are not in fact bison or buffalo, just super furry cows.

With my seedlings at three inches high in my kitchen, I am getting super pumped about spring planting. I will be attending my last Master Urban Gardener class this week so, in theory, I am now better equipped to grow the garden of my dreams, and help others do the same. The plan this year is to both increase yield and integrate flowers into the bed at 34 Robeson. More on that here. I have already started holly hocks, cosmos and zinnias, though I recently read you're not supposed to start zinnias indoors. Oops. We'll see what happens.

I recently made my best loaf of bread to date. I didn't try to use whole wheat flour this time and I think it made a big difference. All together this loaf was made with bread flour, oatmeal, wheat germ, flax seed, salt and some multi-grain mix. I also coated the loaf in olive oil before baking. The crust was incredible.

Happy Weekend!

A New Idea In the Food Movement

For about a year I've been wanting to launch a radio series that involves sitting down to dinner with some of the country's top food and farming experts. The aim would be to unearth some good ideas, maybe even a winning policy handle for addressing food deserts, food security, factory farming, or any number of the food related issues we face in this country. I also wanted to shed light on what IS working in America.

While it isn't a radio show, someone else beat me to the punch. Ellen Gustafson, FEED Foundation co-founder has launched a new initiative called The 30 Project. Here's her TED talk on the subject.



Ellen wants "engaged citizens" to have 30 person dinners where they talk about food in their communities and how they might "recreate basic food distribution and consumption patterns." I sure hope she has good organizers working on this. It sounds like a great, feel-good idea, but if dinner participants are not engaged, it might not lead to any real change. All kinds of people have been talking about our food problems for years. What we need is a forum for idea sharing on solutions so that we can establish best practices for solving our food problems at the local, regional and national level.

Something else fun:
Now you can see street art around the world with Street Art View, a collaboration with Google and Red Bull.

I am a casserole-making badass.

What's inside: potatoes, chunks of homemade bread, sauteed leeks and onions, eggs, milk, cheese, chicken sausage, salt, pepper and Slap Yo' Mama Cajun seasoning. Just 30 minutes at 350 degrees.

A Valentine's Dinner

Scallops in roasted tomato butter with wilted spinach and watercress



Pork butt


+ Mirepoix


+ sauce and four hours


= damn good ragu for homemade gnocchi



Chocolate mousse cake with vanilla ice cream and raspberry coulis

After eating all that love and affection, Wyatt and I got to watch both Top Chef Masters and Cee Lo's hilarious Grammy performance, complete with feathered pants and a muppet back up band. Valentine's Day is kind of a silly holiday but I couldn't ask for a better way to spend it.

Vortexes, Radicles and the Healing Powers of Water

The temperature in Boston is currently in the low teens and we're expected to get more snow tonight. It saddens me that while we're getting bombarded with all this snow, and even people in Atlanta are getting hit by blizzards, residents of the arctic city of Iqaluit, Canada had to cancel their New Year's snow mobile parade because of unseasonably warm conditions. Apparently, the crazy weather of last two years cannot yet be attributed to global warming but might be a result of a weakening polar vortex. I wish there was something I could do, like send that vortex a care package full of Campbell's Chunky Soup and EmergenC. "Beef up vortex! You can do it! Hold that cold air up there!"

As huddle in my sweaters, cursing the vortex and awaiting New England Snowmageddon: Part 6, there are some things I am thankful for. On Saturday I attended the first session of the Boston Natural Areas Network's (BNAN) Master Urban Gardener (MUG) program. In eight weeks, I'll be a super volunteer for BNAN, equipped with new knowledge on pest management, composting, starting community gardens and other fun things. This means I'll be helping out in community gardens across the city. I'm hoping I can also use my new skills and new network to both start a community garden in the empty lot on my street and launch an annual Jamaica Plain Garden Tour. If fancy neighborhoods like Beacon Hill can have garden tours, why can't we? There are plenty of amazing private and public gardens in the neighborhood, as well as people who like plants.

In addition to being excited about the knowledge I'll gain in this program, I am very pleased with the diversity in my class. I was expecting the crowd to be mostly middle aged white women but we've actually got a great mix of ages, races and backgrounds, and there are a lot of dudes. Some folks know little about gardening and others have been gardening in zone 6 for decades. I feel like I already have 30 + new friends to dork out with and with whom I can make stupid jokes about seedlings being radicle. Most of all, I look forward to being addressed as "Master."

After my first class, Wyatt took me to the famous Cuddles and Bubbles hotel in Hyannis on the Cape. Some might find themed hotels tacky but I found hanging out in a hot tub all night to be particularly satisfying. We had wine, cheese and strawberries in the tub before heading to Main Street for dinner. After dinner, we got back in the water and ate chocolate. I'm not sure I've ever felt so relaxed. I felt like poop on a stick all last week and now, three bubble baths later, I feel like a rock star. Leslie, our AfroFlow Yoga teacher, always reminds us we're more than 60% water and praises the elements' healing properties. Especially now, I feel there is a lot of truth in that and I'm adding baths to my list of healthy habits. On the not-so-healthy habits front, my boss just brought me a box of Arab sweets from Jordan and I feel like the post-holiday diet is never gonna get off the ground. Oh well.

Oh America...

Three Cool Ideas

1. The Good Gym
Help someone run an errand while you get your work out in.

2. Neighbors for Neighbors in Jamaica Plain just started SnowCrew, a group of volunteers who help their neighbors shovel after big snowstorms. You can sign up to shovel or get help via text message.

3. In urban food deserts like Detroit, why not let Walmart move in to establish small stores?

Holiday Highlights and The Tallest Man on Earth

The Jankas eat Turducken! In case you haven't heard of a Turducken, it's a chicken stuffed inside a duck which is then stuffed inside a turkey. A mail order from Louisiana, this one also had a lot of Cajun stuffing in it.






This is what I ate at La Rosa, a world famous Cuban place in Miami. It's a seafood stew named something that begins with a "z". We had one night in Florida on the way home from Belize and tried this place based on the Yelp reviews. It turned out to be phenomenal. My parents had skirt steak and lamb shanks in wine sauce, and my brother had house-made chicken cordon bleu. Our waiter, a Costa Rican guy, was really friendly and funny, definitely a plus after a long day of airports and airplanes.

I'm sitting in an airport again, the third time in three days and I've been listening to The Tallest Man on Earth's Wild Hunt. One of the songs on it was on all the best of 2010 lists and two friends that give me all my best music recommendations told me I'd love it. I feel like I am missing something. To me it sounds like Xavier Rudd remaking Bob Dylan and doing it badly. It feels similar to Ryan Adams' Cold Roses, a tribute to the Grateful Dead, complete with dancing bears inside the cover. It was sad. At least, it just wasn't that compelling. I feel the same way about Wild Hunt. And Kristian Mattson's voice is so annoying. Perhaps with time, I'll feel differently.






This is my brother with his Christmas gift, a Hezbollah shirt straight from Beirut. And we wonder why people think we're terrorists...

Can you Belize it?

Toucan.

You can see some more photos here.