Studio XIV

New Photo Tricks

2010-09-27T13:21:00.000-07:00

Audrey taught me some fancy new techniques with my camera when we rendezvoused on Whidbey Island. This is what we came out with.

A Postcard from the Volcano

2010-09-23T03:09:00.000-07:00

"A Postcard from the Volcano"

a poem by Wallace Stevens

Children picking up our bones

Will never know that these were once

As quick as foxes on the hill;

And that in autumn, when the grapes

Made sharp air sharper by their smell

These had a being, breathing frost;

And least will guess that with our bones

We left much more, left what still is

The look of things, left what we felt

At what we saw. The spring clouds blow

Above the shuttered mansion house,

Beyond our gate and the windy sky

Cries out a literate despair.

We knew for long the mansion's look

And what we said of it became

A part of what it is ... Children,

Still weaving budded aureoles,

Will speak our speech and never know,

Will say of the mansion that it seems

As if he that lived there left behind

A spirit storming in blank walls,

A dirty house in a gutted world,

A tatter of shadows peaked to white,

Smeared with the gold of the opulent sun.

Welcome, Autumn

23/09/2010 03:09

It's been a while

2010-09-20T20:53:00.000-07:00

Oh hey, blog. Sorry I've been MIA for the past 5 months. Here's a peek at what I've been up to this summer. It's a recipe book that I made as a wedding gift for a couple of good friends. (Watch out. These photos are a little contrasty...I had some technical difficulties and accidentally deleted the original files).

This is a link stitch bind, which is similar to the Ethiopian coptic bind, but uses only one needle and thread instead of 4.

A bag of flour made for the paste-downs on the inside cover

The tabs read: (1) Beverages, (2) Soups, Salads & Starters, (3) Entrees, (4) Sweet Things

An antique bicycle sticker on the back cover to match the tandem bike theme of their engagement photos and Nicole's bridal shower.

"...these are a few of my favorite things."

Lemon Pesto

2010-05-23T23:19:00.000-07:00

They all gobbled it up before I had a chance to take a picture of it, so by special request, here's another photo from last year's Lavender Festival.

Lemon Pesto

1 bunch of cilantro

1 handful of pecans

3-4 lemon slices (rings, with pith, zest, and all)

a few good shakes of dried basil

5-6 mint leaves

4 cloves of garlic

1.5-2 tsp salt

enough olive oil to process

Throw everything in a food processor and process until chunky and pesto-looking.

We spread it over some chicken breasts and baked it for about 1 hour at 350 F. It was also great spread on Orange Cardamom bread (recipe coming soon!).

The Thai House

2010-04-26T19:23:00.000-07:00

By request of a former Thai House roommate, I'm posting some pictures of the updates I've made since she's left. There's still much work to be done (like the backyard. Whoa, that's a work in progress if I ever saw one). And sorry I'm lacking in "before" pictures, but here is a before of the kitchen:

After.

Notice the cheery walls, coordinating wall decor, tulips from the tulip festival, new table/chairs, seat cushions from Anthropologie:

The Living Room.

Notice the new grandfather clock...

repainted bookshelf, birdcage, Jesus picture, coffee table with doily, new matching floor lamps, plant bench, basket o'apples...,

to-be-painted canvas above the mantle, lavender from the lavender festival, fireplace screen, basket o'blankets, basket o'firewood...

basket o'piano music, tiffany lamp, upright grand piano.

Close-up of the stencil on the wall:

Shelf with eucalyptus in the hallway:

The Family Room.
3 couches! An old broken coffee table, oh and we have an entertainment center and better TV now, but sorry, you can't see them. They're against the opposite wall. And the old dining room table is in the back for games/crafts/whatever.

New blue curtain to hide the lawn mower, central vac, other ugly stuff (there you can see a corner of the entertainment center)

Matching blue curtain to hide the paint cans

The international downstairs bathroom.

Notice the watercolors from St. Petersburg, world map shower curtain...

and Scott Jarvie print of the Eiffel Tower:

My bedroom.

Note the coordinating turquoise furniture, Lauren's old nightstand thing with antique knobs, home-made lamp (constructed from a bottle of Rite Aid lotion, home-made purple curtains on the sliding glass door.

antiqued dresser (drawer pull is at top of post), Jesus picture by the door, and the stacked furniture with hidden food storage! Looks like I might need to make a curtain to cover those bookbinding supplies too...

fin.

Nostalgia

2010-02-02T22:34:00.000-08:00

Tonight I rode my bike past someone smoking on the street.

It reminded me of a friend in college whose dad was exiled from Guatemala as political enemy during the 1980's. She has the most fascinating life story and every detail about her makes me want to be cooler.

She plays a mean flamenco guitar. We used to have music nights at her house. She brought out her bowling bag full of percussion instruments: castanets, tambourine, maracas, egg shakers...there were more than I could count. Of course we had someone on the bongo, and there were a couple guitars floating around the room. We passed the microphone and the lead guitar down the line and everyone would play a song. I played a Russian folk song. She loved it.

We reunited a few months after I graduated at the Springville Museum of Art, which has an entire floor dedicated to Russian art. Because of the high-society nature of the excursion and because my audience was this girl who was too cool for me to hang out with, I felt this unspoken obligation to impress her--to talk about really shocking things so she could say something like, "Yeah, man. That's deep," which is totally something she would say, a little sarcastically, but always with an underlying sincerity. So after discussing the definitions of art and beauty, and of course citing Lev Tolstoy's essay, "What is Art?" (because, hello, it was Russian art, so how could I not talk about Russian literature?) I was feeling pretty good about the depth of the conversation, but all of a sudden there was a silence. And of course I felt the need to just say something so my silence wouldn't give me away. Luckily she saved me and asked a question first.

"What does Russia smell like?"

"Cigarettes," I said impulsively, already feeling embarrassed at the speed and banality of my response. To my surprise, it got her attention. I told her that every time I walk past smoking, even before I recognize the odor as smoke, I stop and say, "Smells like Moscow." The scent brings a cascade of memories and I suddenly feel like I'm stepping through Moscow again.

Every time.

Double Feature

2009-11-11T20:30:00.000-08:00

Why do I blog about food? I don't know. I thought I made this thing to showcase my bookbinding and photography, but instead you get to see what I eat. And it's mostly weird food and I doubt anyone even tries the recipes I post. And I'm not even taking pictures of my food anymore so you get random pictures of banana squash dressed like a snowman from 2006. Whatever.

Tonight I made black bean hummus and rosemary beets and then I thought I should try them together. Definitely a good choice. Yesterday I had cajun potatoes. Also a good choice. Here you get two easy, delicious, gluten-free, vegan meals in one little post.

Black Bean Hummus

1-2 cups cooked black beans

1-2 Tbs grapeseed oil (or other cooking oil)

1 clove garlic, minced

1-2 Tbs tahini (or whole sesame seeds + sesame oil)

1-2 Tbs cumin

1 1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp black pepper

dash paprika

Dump your beans in a blender. Heat the rest of the ingredients in a skillet. Dump them in too. Liquify. If it's too stiff, add a little water. Chill.

Rosemary Beets

1 large beet

1 sprig fresh rosemary

garlic powder

salt

italian seasoning

Slice the beet. Lay slices on baking sheet. Sprinkle with seasonings. Bake at 350 for a long time, or until tender, but don't over-bake because they don't get more tender. They get crunchy. Delicious with black bean hummus.

Cajun potatoes

1 potato

1/2 cup tomatoes--canned or fresh, diced

1 cup or so sliced okra

Old Bay (cajun or creole) seasoning

Slice the potato. Lay slices on baking sheet. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Bake at 350 for a long time, or until tender. Meanwhile, Heat the okra and tomatoes in a saucepan and add the Old Bay seasoning. Serve with the roasted potatoes.

Stuffed Things

2009-11-06T01:12:00.000-08:00

Get ready. The megapost you've all been waiting for. The recipes from my Stuffed Things dinner party on Memorial Day! [I know. I'm only 5 months late]

The day was filled with buzzing in the kitchen while all of my roommates were out of town. I had to the place to myself. I turned up some Carla Bruni, I put on my red and white apron, and I covered myself in cold flour like pixie dust.

The menu consisted of:
Sushi

Stuffed Croissants
Mochi
Stuffed Cider Crepes

Bacon-egg stuffed loaf of bread
Penguin Hor d'oeuvres
Lettuce wraps

Mmm. yeah I think that's it.

Stuffed Croissants

I'm not sure exactly the recipe I used, but you can Google "croissants" just as well as I can and find a decent recipe. I stuffed them with spinach, gorgonzola, and mushrooms.

Mochi (recipe from Vegan Yum Yum)

Daifuku 

Makes 10-12 Filled Cakes

1 Cup Mochiko 

1/4 Cup Sugar 

2/3 Cup Water 

2-3 Drops red or green food coloring, optional Cornstarch or Potato Starch, for dusting

Anko 

Makes enough for 3-4 batches of daifuku

1 14 oz Can Adzuki Beans 

1/2 Cup Water 

1 Cup Sugar 

1 Tbs Vegetable Oil 

1-2 Pinches Salt

Heat water and sugar separately until boiling and sugar is dissolved, turn off heat. Drain and rinse beans.

Stuffed Cider Crepes (from Carina Forum - in Russian)

350 grams flour

1 tsp salt

1 tsp sugar

2 eggs

700 ml apple cider

Mix the wet ingredients. Beat in the flour. Chill 40-60 minutes. Cook in a greased skillet. Fill with your favorite rice pilaf and tie with the stem of a green onion.

Bacon-egg stuffed loaf of bread (inspired by Cooking Stuff)

Oh man, I wish I took a picture of this beast. It was really amazing. Inspired by this totally random blog by someone who just throws any random thing in bread dough and bakes it, and then blogs about cats every Sunday (what?). It was essentially this:

Make some pizza dough

Slice the edges so it's all filleted-like on the edges (seriously, look at the blog. There are detailed instructions)

Lay some strips of bacon in the middle

Set a few hard-boiled eggs on top of that

Throw in some onions if you're brave

Fold over the edges of the dough so it looks like a swaddled baby

Brush the top with egg white

Bake it

It was truly astonishing. I didn't eat any because I don't eat bacon, but it got good reviews.

Penguin Hors d'oeuvres (From All Recipes)

18 jumbo black olives, pitted

1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened

18 small black olives

1 carrot

Cut a slit from top to bottom, lengthwise, into the side of each jumbo olive. Carefully insert about 1 teaspoon of cream cheese into each olive. Slice the carrot into eighteen 1/4 inch thick rounds; cut a small notch out of each carrot slice to form feet. Save the cut out piece and press into center of small olive to form the beak. If necessary cut a small slit into each olive before inserting the beak.

Set a big olive, large hole side down, onto a carrot slice. Then, set a small olive onto the large olive, adjusting so that the beak, cream cheese chest and notch in the carrot slice line up. Secure with a toothpick.

Lettuce wraps

Spanish rice-filled romaine leaves, plus cheddar. Secure with a toothpick.

Wheat Germ Cookies

2009-10-25T22:34:00.001-07:00

No pictures of these ones. They were so good they disappeared before I could pull out the camera. So instead you get these sweet pictures I took of my on the Boise River this summer.

For a while I worked at Specialty's Bakery, where you can get an Oatmeal Wheat Germ Bran Chocolate Chip Cookie, which somehow people think is healthier than the Peanut Butter Chocolate Chunk cookie. Not really true. I mean, you might get more vitamin E and fiber, but you're still getting a 1/4 pound of butter and sugar (or rather margarine and sugar if you get the Wheat Germs, so no cholesterol either). A friend of mine went through several batches trying to get the perfect recipe and finally gave up because it was getting expensive and she was gaining wheat germ weight. She never followed my advice though, and this is the only thing I know about Specialty's cookies: The dough weighs 1/4 pound per cookie. It is refrigerated at least 24 hours before they are baked. They are always baked at 400 degrees for 15 minutes.

So sorry to disappoint you, but this is by no means a recreation of the Specialty's Oatmeal Wheat Germ Bran Chocolate Chip Cookie. It is a combination of King Arthur's Wheat Germ Cookies and the Oatmeal Raisin Cookies recipe (which, by the way, is WAY better with fresh cranberries than with raisins, especially if you add walnuts) I got from 1000 Vegetarian Recipes (Thanks Aunt Debbie), but mostly just my own creation. Have at it.

Wheat Germ Cookies

3 Tablespoon butter

1 Tablespoon grapeseed oil (or any other cooking oil)

3/4 cup brown sugar

1 large egg

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 cup oats

1/4 cup + 2 Tbs all purpose flour

3/4 cup wheat germ

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

1 Tablespoon sesame seeds

1/2 cup walnuts (not chopped. leave them big and chunky)

1/4 cup raisins

Heat butter, oil, and brown sugar in a large saucepan, on low stirring until the butter melts. Let it cool for a minute, and then add the egg (so you don't get scrambled eggs in your cookies) and vanilla.

Stir in oats, flour, wheat germ, soda, salt, and nutmeg. Then add the sesame seeds, walnuts, and raisins.

Roll into golf-ball size balls and bake on ungreased cookie sheets. Bake at 375 for 7 minutes. Cool for 2-3 minutes before transferring to a wire rack.

Makes about 15 cookies.

The Samoa Challenge

2009-10-20T14:44:00.001-07:00

I don't know who challenged me or why, but if a challenge involves cooking, I usually take it pretty seriously. Or maybe I was just trying to use up the leftover caramel from Ben's caramel apple birthday cake (which, by the way was ridiculously awesome and his parents are still talking about how good it was and how his mom just couldn't recreate it). Either way, I made Samoas. They were quite a bit larger than the Girl Scout version, so I could only stomach one bite. But I had the missionaries over for dinner that night, and one of them ate two cookies in one sitting because they were that good. That was shocking.

Homemade Samoas

1 cup butter, soft

1/2 cup sugar

2 cups all purpose flour

1/4 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

up to 2 tbsp milk

Preheat oven to 350F.

In a large mixing bowl, cream together butter and sugar. Mix in flour, baking powder and salt at a low speed, followed by the vanilla and milk, adding in the milk as needed to make the dough come together without being sticky (it’s possible you might not need to add milk at all). The dough should come together into a soft, not-too-sticky ball. Add in a bit of extra flour if your dough is very sticky.

Roll the dough (working in two or three batches) out between pieces of wax paper to about 1/4-inch thickness (or slightly less) and use a 1 1/2-inch cookie cutter to make rounds. Place on a parchment lined baking sheet and use a knife, or the end of a wide straw, to cut a smaller center hole. Repeat with remaining dough. Alternatively, use scant tablespoons of dough and press into an even layer in a mini donut pan to form the rounds.

Bake cookies for 10-12 minutes, until bottoms are lightly browned and cookies are set. If using a mini donut pan, bake for only about 10 minutes, until edges are light gold.

Cool for a few minutes on the baking sheet then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Topping

3 cups shredded coconut (sweetened or unsweetened)

12-oz good-quality chewy caramels

1/4 tsp salt

3 tbsp milk

8 oz. dark or semisweet chocolate (chocolate chips are ok)

Preheat oven to 300. Spread coconut evenly on a parchment-lined baking sheet (preferably one with sides) and toast 20 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes, until coconut is golden. Cool on baking sheet, stirring occasionally. Set aside.

Unwrap the caramels and place in a large microwave-safe bowl with milk and salt. Cook on high for 3-4 minutes, stopping to stir a few times to help the caramel melt. When smooth, fold in toasted coconut with a spatula.

Using the spatula or a small offset spatula, spread topping on cooled cookies, using about 2-3 tsp per cookie. Reheat caramel for a few seconds in the microwave if it gets too firm to work with.

While topping sets up, melt chocolate in a small bowl. Heat on high in the microwave in 45 second intervals, stirring thoroughly to prevent scorching. Dip the base of each cookie into the chocolate and place on a clean piece of parchment paper. Transfer all remaining chocolate (or melt a bit of additional chocolate, if necessary) into a piping bag or a ziplock bag with the corner snipped off and drizzle finished cookies with chocolate.

Let chocolate set completely before storing in an airtight container.

Makes about 3 1/2-4 dozen cookies.

Simple

2009-10-10T01:54:00.000-07:00

It was one of those days when I only had a couple items of fresh produce in the refrigerator and I just decided to throw them together. Quite possibly the best spontaneous combination I ever made. And so simple.

Pink Lady Salad

2 Pink Lady apples

1 Avocado

3 small English cucumbers (pickling size) or 1/2 of a long English cucumber

A few fresh mint leaves

Rice vinegar

Salt

Nutritional Yeast

1. Quarter and core the apples, then thinly slice the quarters short-ways (ie hamburger style, not hot dog style).

2. Halve the avocado, take out the pit, slice short-ways (once again hamburger style), and scoop out of the skin with a spoon.

3. Thinly slice cucumbers.

4. Combine in a bowl and toss with whole mint leaves, rice vinegar, salt, and nutritional yeast to taste.

5. Smile.

Vegetable Roast

2009-09-27T10:30:00.000-07:00

For my nutrition class I had to go one day without eating any processed foods. I don't eat a lot of processed foods anyway, but I tried to follow the project as closely as possible, meaning I didn't eat any refined oils, salts, or sugars in addition to cutting any pre-packaged foods. I threw a bunch of vegetables in a pan. Doused them in lime juice, covered with cabbage leaves and roasted until tender.

Beet & Mango Chutney with Chicken Dumpling Pancakes

2009-09-15T23:27:00.000-07:00

These pictures certainly aren't my best, but it was delicious, so I'm putting it up anyway. Unfortunately I once again did not write down any of the quantities of the pancake ingredients so these are just estimates. The beet sludge was also tasty with whole wheat pancakes.

Beet - Mango Chutney

2 tsp olive oil

1 onion, chopped

2 mangoes, cubed

2 large beets, boiled or baked and diced

2 Tbs white vinegar

1/2 tsp cajun seasoning (Old Bay, for example)

Heat the oil in a pan with the onions and saute over medium heat until golden. Add the beets, vinegar, and seasoning. Let simmer on low while you make some chubby pancakes to serve with the chutney.

Chicken Dumpling Pancakes (in estimates)

1 cup flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp black pepper

1 cube chicken bullion

1 egg

3/4 cup water

1 Tablespoon butter

Mix the dry ingredients in a bowl. Separate the egg. Whip the yolk with the water and melt the butter in a frying pan. Beat the egg whites until soft peaks form. Stir the egg yolk mixture into the dry ingredients until just combined. If it's too dry, add a little water. If it's too dry, add a little flour. It should be thick-ish. Fold in the egg whites. Then stir in the butter that you melted in your frying pan and start cooking your pancakes.

Hummus, sans garlic

2009-09-03T09:47:00.000-07:00

Okay before you accuse me of blasphemy and preaching false doctrine, let me tell you a story.

Viktor and Allison lived happily in their Seattle home with their new baby Emily. Allison loved hummus. In her college days it's how she survived the gluten-free, sugar-free diet that helped her fibromyalgia. Viktor hates garlic. That means Allison cannot eat hummus anymore because even if she doesn't share with Viktor...well, she still smells like garlic. The solution: garlicless hummus. Unfortunately, such a thing does not exist.

So I've been working on perfecting the recipe for them. I got it perfect--TRULY perfect the first time--and Viktor raved about it all night long. The only problem is this: I didn't measure anything and I have no idea what the proportions were. As a result, the second batch failed. Miserably. Luckily I discovered that if you remove the skins from the chickpeas, the texture is like 10 times better (plus one). Go figure. If only I had read the package directions.

So here is my third attempt. I wouldn't say it was perfect, but it was pretty dang good. Especially if you don't like garlic.

Garlickless Hummus

1 1/2 cups cooked chickpeas, skins removed*

1 1/2 cups carmelized onions(about 1 large onion), (see below How to Carmelize Onions)

Juice from 1/2 lemon

2 Tablespoons tahini

2 Tablespoons olive oil

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Dash of paprika

Put everything in a blender with enough water to liquify it (I used 2/3 cup but it was a little runny). Blend. Pour in a serving dish and garnish with additional paprika.

*Cook dried chickpeas according to package directions, plus one or two hours. Put the chickpeas in a bowl of water and rub until the skins all fall of and float to the surface. Alternatively, use canned chickpeas.

How to Carmelize Onions

Slice the onion thinly. Heat in a skillet over medium low until onion slices are soft and brown. If they stick to the pan, add a little water.

Smart People Potluck (2 in 1)

2009-08-30T22:54:00.000-07:00

(I really love this picture.)

When I moved to Seattle I made friends. This is a good thing. One of those friends threw a Smart People Potluck, which might be the best idea ever. Bring food and a book to exchange. Go home with a full belly and someone else's book. I ended up spending the evening talking about poetry with some girl whose name I cannot remember. It was awesome.

I was privileged to help in the kitchen before the event started also, which means I made some chutney with cherry tomatoes, yellow bell peppers, vinegar, sugar (I thought it was salt though so it ended up being heavy on the sweet side), probably some herbs. Then we sliced some kind of baguette, spread goat cheese on top, and the chutney on top of that. Delish.

So what did I bring? Nothing less than Fig-Hazelnut-Rosemary-Fennel Seed Bread because I had to bring something impressive. It really was beautiful. And quite tasty. Although if I did it again, I would probably leave the rosemary out. I decided I don't much care for rosemary and anise in the same bread. I'll leave it out of the recipe, which I originally got from Apple Pie, Patis Pate.

Hazelnut, Fig, Fennel Seed bread.

2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour

2 1/3 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon instant yeast

1 3/4 cups water + 1 Tablespoon lukewarm water

4 teaspoons fennel seeds

2/3 cup hazelnuts

2/3 cup whole dried black figs, stems removed

Toast the hazelnuts on a sheet pan at 375 F for 12-14 minutes until lightly browned. Let the hazelnuts cool completely. Rub the cooled hazelnuts between your hands to remove the papery skins.

In a large bowl, whisk together all of the flours, salt, and yeast. Add the water and mix until the dough is thoroughly hydrated and a shaggy ball is formed.

Knead 6-8 minutes, until the dough is stiff and no longer sticky. Add the fennel seeds towards the end of kneading and continue kneading until evenly distributed in the dough. Add the hazelnuts and figs. Fold the dough over gently until the hazelnuts and figs are evenly distributed in the dough.

Let rise 60 minutes at room temperature.

Stretch and fold. Let rise again 60 minutes at room temperature.

Divide dough into two pieces and preshape into loose rounds. Let rest 10 minutes, then shape into tight round or oval loaves. Let rise 60-90 minutes at room temperature or until 1 1/2 times its size. While dough is rising, preheat oven to 450 F. Score the loaf by drawing a sharp knife down the center, from one end to the other.

Pour 1 cup of boiling water in a heavy steam pan (Cast iron is preferred, but I used a 13x9) and put on the bottom rack of the oven. Bake loaves on a sheet pan, on the center rack, 20 minutes at 450 F. Then rotate the loaves and immediately lower the heat to 435 F for another 20 minutes.

--------------------

You know there's only one thing to do with leftover Hazelnut, Fig, Fennel Seed Bread:

Hazelnut, Fig, Fennel Seed French Toast.

Eggs

Milk

Vanilla

Lemon

Honey

Really all ingredients are arbitrary/optional/unmeasured. You want cinnamon? Knock yourself out.

Dip the bread in the batter and pan fry in a buttered skillet, flip like a pancake. Top with freshly squeezed lemon juice and honey.

Cardamom Bread

2009-08-23T00:46:00.000-07:00

I just made this bread on Wednesday. I have probably 10 other recipes that are aging nicely on my hard drive--and will eventually be posted--but by special request, I'm posting this one first. I can't remember where I found the recipe, so I don't know who to credit (not that I followed it exactly anyway), but this is what I did:

Cardamom Bread

(makes one loaf)

1 1/4 cups water or milk (plus 2 T if the dough appears to dry)

4 T butter

1 heaping teaspoon active active dry yeast

1/3 cup sugar 

1 1/2 t ground cardamom 

4 cups flour (I used 3 cups all purpose flour and one cup whole wheat)

1/4 t salt 

1. Melt the butter in a small saucepan and add water. Let cool down until luke warm and add yeast.

2. Combine flour, salt, cardamom, and sugar. Mix and add butter mixture. Knead the dough until it is elastic and doesn’t stick anymore (ca. 8 minutes). If you want to add a half cup or so of raisins, this is the time to do it, but I was all out of raisins.

3. Cover the bowl and let the dough rest until it has doubled its size (ca. 1 hour). On a lightly floured surface knead for another 1-2 minutes.

4. Shape your bread. There are an innumerable amount of ways to do this. Easy option: grease a loaf pan shape the dough into a smooth loaf (you know, tuck the ends under, etc). Or make a braid like I did: Divide dough into three even portions. Roll or spin to make logs about 12 inches long. Pinch one end of each log together and loosely braid the strands. Bring the end of the braid up to the top of the braid. Press together and tuck underneath the loaf so it's round. Sprinkle with flour. Move to greased or lined baking sheet. Cover with a damp kitchen towel (or a plastic bowl if you're worried about lint or sticking to the dough or whatever) and let rise until doubled in size (approx. 1 - 1.5 hours).

5. Preheat oven to 375°F. Periodically (once or twice during the bake) dump a cup of water on inside of oven door to steam. Bake for approx. 40 minutes total or until a candy/meat thermometer inserted into bread reads 200°C. Let cool before slicing.

Broccoli Slaw with Papaya Seed Dressing

2009-08-15T02:13:00.000-07:00

Papayas were on sale. And I mean they were really cheap. And who doesn't like papaya? Well I don't, but I had forgotten that, so I bought one. I didn't quite know what to do with it once I decided I didn't like it at all. It seemed to go on forever. I tried all kinds of recipes to try to use up that puppy. Ginger papaya stir fry, peanut papaya croquettes...really the works. None of them were good. But I also discovered, during my search for recipes, that papaya seeds are edible too. And not only edible, but they are pretty little black rounds, and they give a spicy little kick to your palate.

I found well over a dozen recipes for papaya seed salad dressing, but I wanted to do something cooler like papaya seed soup or something. But I gave in and made the dressing and poured it over some broccoli slaw.

It was spicy, tasty, maybe a little too much. I mean the first couple bites were intriguing, but I don't think I could have handled leftovers. Luckily I had company so I sent the leftovers home with them. They seemed to like it just fine.

Broccoli Slaw with Papaya Seed Dressing

For the salad:

Broccoli

Raisins

Chopped red onion

Sunflower seeds

For the dressing:

3 Tablespoons papaya seeds

1/2 cup plain, fat-free yoghurt

4 Tablespoons ground sunflower seeds

1 Tablespoon honey

1 Tablespoon lemon juice

pinch salt

1 Tablespoon olive oil

Put all of the dressing ingredients in a blender and blend until it thickens a bit or until you get sick of the sound of the blender (that's what I did). Then toss over enough salad ingredients that it's not soupy, but the flavors can be adequately distributed.

I spoke in church today

2009-08-09T22:50:00.000-07:00

A lot of people were asking me for copies of this so I decided to just post it, since I had already typed the thing up. And here's a completely unrelated photograph that I took of Laura last summer. I'm so glad she wore royal blue that day. It made for great photos.

Whenever one of my friends gets engaged to be married, the more time I spend with that friend, the more I hear the story of how they met and how he proposed. That’s what everyone asks…how did you meet? When did it all start? Let me see the ring? When is the date? But nobody asks about what happens in the middle. I mean, I never really thought to ask, so what happened 8 weeks later? or 9? Or 10? Because after they meet, well, “The rest is history,” or so they say. Well one time I had been dating a guy for a while, and one night, after having a really awesome conversation with him I realized I had never really been that far in a relationship before. And I said that. He said, “Me either.” And so I asked him, “What do we do next?” Consequently we broke up a week later, but at any rate, the question is…

What do we do next? In any situation really, and in the gospel specifically, don’t you get to a point where you’ve done everything you know how to do and then they say, well, endure to the end. Don’t get off the strait and narrow path. Just keep going. We hear conversion stories, and they are wonderful stories, but can we just conclude them with, “the rest is history?” I often hear those stories and think, what am I missing? Why am I not as excited about the gospel as they are? I know I had that once…what have I forgotten? How do I continue? I think the answer is in one word: “Begin.”

Instead of looking at the straight and narrow path as one long endless road through eternity, look at one step. The next step. It will take you forward and you will be one step ahead of where you were before. Every time you take a step, it’s the first time you took that step. Every step, every choice, every thought is a beginning, so much more than it is a continuation.

“In the beginning, God created the Heavens and the earth” (Gen. 1:1)—in the beginning, God created. If we are to follow God’s example, we too will make creation a part of our living, and a part of each beginning that we embark upon. President Deiter F. Uchtorf defined creation as, “…bringing into existence something that did not exist before.” That may in fact refer to creative works of the arts, or engineering, or gardening, or baking, but I believe it also gives sway to all the materials in our reach: the formation of friendships, the addition of a new skill, the accomplishment of a goal, the repair of something that is broken, the cultivation of a growing testimony. In each of these things, we look at the environment around us not merely as objects that we surround ourselves with, but as potential materials for a work of our creation. Every thing becomes a tool, a blessing, an opportunity to begin something.

David A. Bednar spoke of prayer as a means to practice this creation. He cited Moses 3:5, which reads, “For I, the Lord God, created all things, of which I have spoken, spiritually, before they were naturally upon the face of the earth.” Then he said, “We learn from these verses that the spiritual creation preceded the temporal creation. In a similar way, meaningful morning prayer is an important element in the spiritual creation of each day—and precedes the temporal creation or the actual execution of the day.”

In other words, take those moments every day, kneeling before your Creator in prayer, to counsel with Him on what you will form from the materials available to you in the forthcoming day. Every morning is a new beginning. An opportunity to take another step down the strait and narrow path.

I am partial to the art of photography. Not only because it’s simple and accessible enough that even I can create something decent looking with a digital camera, but I love seeing what other people create—even with the same camera, the same subjects, the same lighting, the same scene, and yet a completely new piece of art can be formed based on how it is framed, cropped, colored, angled. Every photograph is a window into how the photographer views the world around himself. And so it is with our testimonies. We can testify of that same gospel that is in fact the same today, yesterday, and forever, but as we cultivate our own views of the world around us, each of our testimonies is a creation, reflecting the personal experiences we have had with the gospel, and our interpretation of the same subject, that same light, that same scene. Nurturing your testimony is the opportunity Heavenly Father has given you to practice in an act of creation. To practice the same art that God himself practices, of bringing something into existence that did not exist before. To begin where before you may have been simply continuing.

Doctorine and Covenants 93:38 reads, “Every spirit of man was innocent in the beginning; and God having redeemed man from the fall, men became again, in their infant state, innocent before God.” To this same doctrine, Nicodemus asked of Christ, “How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother’s womb, and be born? Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again” (John 3:4-6).

I believe that Christ would have said the same unto you or me: ye must be born again. We must become “as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father.” When I think of how to have that same excitement about the gospel as someone who only just heard the message of Jesus Christ for the first time, I do think of when I was a child, and of the moments when I had that same excitement. I try to recreate those situations. To begin again as I was, in my innocent state.

In fact I often recall one particular time when I was young and came to church on a fast Sunday. I was hungry. And when the sacrament portion of the meeting began, I was so excited to have one morsel of bread in my belly to satisfy my hunger, one lick of water on my dry lips. And though at that moment I thought only of my physical desires, later I thought, why do I not have that same anticipation every time I partake of the sacrament? I ask myself if I fully understand the covenants that it represents, and whether I truly hunger for the bread of life and the living water that Christ offers. The sacrament is the most significant beginning we encounter each week. It is the opportunity to renew the covenants we made at baptism when we were clean and innocent before God. We have opportunity every Sabbath day to have that same beginning when we sacrifice our broken hearts and our contrite spirits.

In Alma 32, Alma compares a testimony to a seed.

“Now, if ye give place, that a seed may be planted in your heart, behold, if it be a true seed, or a good seed, if ye do not cast it out by your unbelief, that ye will resist the Spirit of the Lord, behold, it will begin to swell within your breasts; and when you feel these swelling motions, ye will begin to say within yourselves—It must needs be that this is a good seed, or that the word is good, for it beginneth to enlarge my soul; yea, it beginneth to enlighten my understanding, yea, it beginneth to be delicious to me…

“And behold, as the tree beginneth to grow, ye will say: Let us nourish it with great care, that it may get root, that it may grow up, and bring forth fruit unto us. And now behold, if ye nourish it with much care it will get root, and grow up, and bring forth fruit.

“And because of your diligence and your faith and your patience with the word in nourishing it, that it may take root in you, behold, by and by ye shall pluck the fruit thereof, which is most precious, which is sweet above all that is sweet, and which is white above all that is white, yea, and pure above all that is pure; and ye shall feast upon this fruit even until ye are filled, that ye hunger not, neither shall ye thirst.

“Then, my brethren, ye shall reap the rewards of your faith, and your diligence, and patience, and long-suffering, waiting for the tree to bring forth fruit unto you” (Alma 32:28, 37, 42, 43).

The only way by which we can harvest that fruit is by a continual nourishing of the seed. Furthermore, Moroni said

“Doubt not, but be believing, and begin as in times of old, and come unto the Lord with all your heart, and work out your own salvation with fear and trembling before him” (Mormon 9:27)

Begin as in times of old, he says. Come unto the Lord. This is an invitation that is always available and we must choose every day to accept it. This life is a test of our choices. Choose today to begin to come unto Christ. Choose every day. I testify that he is our Savior and that through faith on him we can return to our living Heavenly Father. I testify of these things in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

On Atheism and Resurrection

2009-08-06T22:19:00.000-07:00

I heard these two poems today. I liked them a lot. So I'm sharing. (Audio tracks available h e r e and h e r e)

Staying Power

In appreciation of Maxim Gorky at the International Convention of Atheists, 1929

BY JEANNE MURRAY WALKER

Like Gorky, I sometimes follow my doubts

outside to the yard and question the sky,

longing to have the fight settled, thinking

I can't go on like this, and finally I say

all right, it is improbable, all right, there

is no God. And then as if I'm focusing

a magnifying glass on dry leaves, God blazes up.

It's the attention, maybe, to what isn't there

that makes the emptiness flare like a forest fire

until I have to spend the afternoon dragging

the hose to put the smoldering thing out.

Even on an ordinary day when a friend calls,

tells me they've found melanoma,

complains that the hospital is cold, I say God.

God, I say as my heart turns inside out.

Pick up any language by the scruff of its neck,

wipe its face, set it down on the lawn,

and I bet it will toddle right into the godfire

again, which—though they say it doesn't

exist—can send you straight to the burn unit.

Oh, we have only so many words to think with.

Say God's not fire, say anything, say God's

a phone, maybe. You know you didn't order a phone,

but there it is. It rings. You don't know who it could be.

You don't want to talk, so you pull out

the plug. It rings. You smash it with a hammer

till it bleeds springs and coils and clobbery

metal bits. It rings again. You pick it up

and a voice you love whispers hello.

________

Dismantling the House

BY STEPHEN DUNN

Rent a flatbed with a winch.

With the right leverage

anything can be hoisted, driven off.

Or the man with a Bobcat comes in,

then the hauler with his enormous truck.

A leveler or a lawyer does the rest;

experts always are willing to help.

The structure was old, rotten in spots.

Hadn't it already begun to implode?

Believe you've just sped the process up.

Photographs, toys, the things that break

your heart—let's trust

they would have been removed,

perhaps are safe with the children

who soon will have children of their own.

It's over. It's time for loss to build

its tower in the yard where you

are merely a spectator now.

Admit you'd like to find something

discarded or damaged, even gone,

and lift it back into the world.

Yummy summer salad

2009-07-22T20:32:00.000-07:00

Sorry I didn't take a picture of it. I was too hungry to wait for my batteries to charge, but I figure it's been nearly 6 months since I posted and I don't know if anyone actually reads this anyway, but I'm here to inform you that I've whipped up a bunch of tasty tasty recipes and I have pictures that I'll probably upload soon. In the meantime, here is one from the Lavender Festival in Sequim, Washington last week.

Salad!

1 Handful of fresh, clean yucca petals

A couple tablespoons of pickled black grapes

A few chunks of dill Havarti cheese

and maybe some of the pickle juice from the grapes.

I got the pickled grapes recipe here. They're divine.

Pineapple Meringue Pie

2009-02-23T10:39:00.001-08:00

I spotted this delicious AND easy (and beautiful!) recipe on Tastespotting but I was out of brown sugar and cream of tartar that the original recipe called for, so I just used white granulated sugar and someone said white vinegar works as a substitute for cream of tartar. Who knew?

Pineapple Meringue Pie

Graham Cracker Crust:

1 3/4 cups graham cracker crumbs

3 Tbsp sugar

1/8 tsp salt

1/4 cup butter, melted

Preheat oven to 350 F. Butter a 9" pie plate. Mix together crumbs, sugar, and salt in a medium bowl. Add melted butter. Stir to combine. Press evenly into prepared pie plate.

Creamy pineapple filling:

2/3 cup sugar

1/3 cup cornstarch

2 cups canned, crushed pineapple and juice

5 egg yolks

1/2 tsp vanilla

Whisk together sugar and cornstarch in a medium saucepan. Add yolks and pineapple. Cook over medium heat, whisking constantly, until mixture thickens and bubbles, about 8 minutes. Stir in vanilla and any leftover pineapple chunks. Pour into prepared crust.

Meringue:

5 egg whites

1/2 tsp white vinegar

1/3 cup sugar

Put egg whites and vinegar in a glass bowl and mix with an electric mixer unil soft peaks form. Add sugar one tablespoon at a time, until stiff. Pile meringue on top of pie, making sure to spread to edges of pan. Bake at 325F for 15-20 minutes, until golden. Chill at least an hour, then refrigerate.

Beet Cauliflower Soup

2009-02-23T10:08:00.001-08:00

I had beets in the fridge. Cauliflower was on sale. I came home and googled "Beets Cauliflower" to see if someone had already invented a way to combine the two. This was the first recipe I found on Tofu for Two (a finnish and now a favorite blog) and definitely a keeper. I didn't follow the recipe exactly. Here is what I did:

http://tofufortwo.net/2008/09/16/beet-cauliflower-soup

-3 large beets, thinly sliced

-1 medium cauliflower, chopped

-1 medium, chopped

-1 Tbs olive oil

-1.5 tsp salt

-2 cups water

-1/4 cup almonds

-lemon juice

-lemon zest

-Old Bay seasoning

Heat up the oil, fry the onions until brown. Add some of the Old Bay, fry for a bit. Add the cauliflower and beets. Fry for a few more minutes, then add the water, almonds and salt. Steam until beets are tender (20 minutes).

Puree the soup in a blender, adding water as needed, and maybe some more if you like thinner soup. Add the lemon juice and zest, a little more Old Bay or cayenne. Salt to taste. Dollop of plain yoghurt or sour cream if you like.

Welcome

2009-02-15T17:50:00.000-08:00

Welcome to Studio XIV! I still haven't decided exactly what my studio's focus will be...some combination of bookbinding, graphic design, and photography. Maybe it will become a food blog and I'll post my favorite inventions. So for now, here's a little of my new favorite: food photography.

Studio XIV

New Photo Tricks

A Postcard from the Volcano

It's been a while

Lemon Pesto

The Thai House

Nostalgia

Double Feature

Stuffed Things

Wheat Germ Cookies

The Samoa Challenge

Simple

Vegetable Roast

Beet & Mango Chutney with Chicken Dumpling Pancakes

Hummus, sans garlic

Smart People Potluck (2 in 1)

Cardamom Bread

Broccoli Slaw with Papaya Seed Dressing

I spoke in church today

On Atheism and Resurrection

I heard these two poems today. I liked them a lot. So I'm sharing. (Audio tracks available here and here)

Staying Power

In appreciation of Maxim Gorky at the International Convention of Atheists, 1929

Dismantling the House

Yummy summer salad

Pineapple Meringue Pie

Beet Cauliflower Soup

Welcome

I heard these two poems today. I liked them a lot. So I'm sharing. (Audio tracks available h e r e and h e r e)