Crying over smoked milk
This post is being submitted to the Wild Things roundup over at Hunger and Thirst. If you [still] haven’t checked it out, please do! Few things are as evocative as smoke. It’s primal. We humans have been using smoke since we started using fire. Which, if you think about it, was a long long time ago. It’s magic stuff– stuff that gets into your lungs and into... Read More
Rosemary- lavender- black pepper polenta cookies
(the magic of rosemary) My friend Leandra had a cookie party on Sunday night. She wore Christmas bauble earrings and fluff-topped elf socks (and looked rather like an elf herself), and told all of us to bring a big batch of cookies because there’s going to be a contest. After four batches of macaron failures, I was out of almond flour and powdered sugar and decided that it’s... Read More
Rose and cardamom mava cakes
When it gets hot like this, I can’t help but think of India. Where every dusty afternoon I’d retreat to my little room and fling the windows open and the fan on, while Pushpa looked at me disapprovingly for wasting electricity. Truth be told, it was my least favourite time of day. Because everybody else was taking a nap, but I couldn’t nap because of the heat.... Read More
Banana-almond muffins
Some things are just meant to be eaten on top of a mountain. You know, picnic style. With the cold wind whipping around your face, and the ocean far away in front of you, and the sweat on your back starting to chill but not enough that you need to get moving again. Mountain top snacks. Like banana-almond muffins that aren’t too sweet and taste more like a breakfast muffin... Read More
Acorn Gnocchi
I spent the first few years of my life in a garden full of oak trees. I mean, there was a house there, but the part I remember the most is the garden and the trees. Some of my earliest memories are of sitting under those big beautiful boughs, staring up at the sky through the leaves. Needless to say, the oak is my favourite tree. Followed closely by the rowan tree, and then the... Read More
Beet Kvass– nicer than it sounds
The first time I ever tried beet kvass, I drank it for the health benefits alone. My mind couldn’t get around the salty beet flavour, and, as it turned out, my gut couldn’t either. My digestion wasn’t that great at the time, and so after a couple of pints, I was doubled over in pain. For the record: Lots of bacteria + unhealthy gut = gas pain for days. To compound... Read More
Lavender-honey ice cream
I kinda have a thing for lavender. It started when I was at university in Santa Barbara. I was a junk-food vegan. That is, a person who is vegan who eats nothing but vegan junk foods– vegan cookies, vegan muffins, vegan pasta dishes– and assumes that they’re healthy because of the vegan label. On one of my health-food store trips, I discovered these vegan lavender... Read More
Chicken Livers Redux
Visits to my grandparents’ house for dinner were always a double edged sword: on one side, I’d get to see them, get lots of love, hang out, eat the chocolates that are for guests only (did your grandparents have the chocolate stash too?). On the other, I’d have to, inevitably, eat chopped liver. My grandparents on my step-dad’s side aren’t like you... Read More
A salted caramel frozen yogurt recipe… or, 'when life gives you a failed yogurt experiment'
I had ordered a few different cultures from www.culturesforhealth.com– a viili culture, and a matsoni yogurt culture. There are special instructions to make these things with raw milk, and in my excitement, I tried to get them going a bit faster by keeping them next to the stove. I didn’t realise at the time, but I’d totally killed the matsoni yogurt culture, which... Read More
If you're gonna eat liver…
Let me start this post by letting you know that I hate liver. In fact, it’s not even hatred, it’s complete and utter revulsion. So imagine my surprise a few months ago when I was walking past the meat counter in Whole Foods and my body started craving liver upon sight. Who would dare to ignore the cravings of one’s body just because of sheer abhorrence? Not me…... Read More
