Trick or Treat, Smell My Feet, Give Me Something Good to Eat...

Happy Halloween, Boos and Ghouls! I hope you're ready for the one night out of the year where it's socially acceptible to run around from house to house, banging on the door for free snacks! You're probably already sugar-coma-ed out from all the pre-holiday candy you've enjoyed; you know what I'm talking about, the bag of Reese's peanut butter cups you bought on sale weeks before Halloween, but then started to slowly eat them one by one before the 31st...  So instead of sweet, I went with savory for Halloween. Along with a peek at our spookily pimped out Halloween house, I bring to you a Ghoulishly Green Tomato Chili! *Insert Vincent Price cackle at end of Thriller song *

The Prime and "V" wishes you a Happy Halloween! - Photo by Wasabi Prime

This post is very Halloween-like, in that it's just a big UnRecipe post wearing a scary holiday costume. I wasn't planning on making "green" chili, it was more like our tomato plants were starting to die off from the cold, there were too many green tomatoes still on the vine, and there's no way I was going to just sacrifice them to the Compost Gods without a valiant effort. So our garden boxes are cleaned out for the season, resting in the chill and rain for another year, and I found myself with several pounds' worth of green tomatoes of all sorts, from a collection of heirloom plants and other varieties. I let them sit in brown paper sacks for a few days, but when it's this green, there's no magical ripening powers that are going to make them bright, juicy red. But that doesn't mean you can't use green tomatoes. Aside from the usual suspects like fried green tomatoes, I wanted to see how they would do in a chili. Green tomatoes are known for being really tart, the sugars haven't really developed yet, and they're quite firm, almost like a tomatillo. Which, by the way, I had a few of those from a CSA delivery. Those are kind of Halloween-y as what's up with the weird sticky film that's on the surface of tomatillos when you remove the paper-like husk? And the fact they kind of taste like apples? Ingredients with costumes and their own sticky ooze -- It's the Great Tomatillo, Charlie Brown!

The Green Tomato Caper, as captured on iPhone camera - Photos by Wasabi Prime

I didn't want to just stew the green tomatoes and tomatillos in a pot, I roasted them first, to cook off some of their liquid and intensify their flavor. There were a lot of pans and casserole dishes full of green tomatoes roasting away in the oven for a few days, as I had several batches. Not everything went into the chili, but the bigger Early Girl and heirlooms were what eventually made it into the slow cooker for the final stew. For the chili, I had a large pork loin that I cut into large chunks, browned in a pot, then softened onions and garlic in the drippings before throwing in several pounds' worth of the roasted green tomatoes. As for the chili seasoning, I went heavier on the cumin than the typical chili powder. I like the smoky flavor of cumin and thought it would go well with the tartness of the green tomatoes. The thing I was most surprised about in the cooking of green tomatoes is even after the oven and slow cook time, the tart citrusy flavor never really went away. Which is a good thing, as it ends up brightening the dish quite a bit. I didn't have fresh cilantro on-hand, just coriander seed, but fresh sprigs of that would have been nice as well. The green of the tomatoes eventually cooks down to a brown color in the slow cooker, especially after adding the spice mixture of cumin, coriander and a personal dry mix I make that has chili powder, finely ground coffee, mustard powder and pepper.

Can't you tell how much I LOVE this time of year??? - Photos by Wasabi Prime

So how was the Ghoulishly Green Tomato Chili? Not ghoulish at all, pretty tasty, in fact. For something that came together out of necessity, as most of our dinners end up being, it was nice to work with the underripe tomatoes and see how they work with other ingredients. It makes me less hesitant to plant tomatoes during iffy seasons, knowing even the green ones have their own unique uses. And having the oven and slow cooker doing most of the work gives me extra time to deck our halls with Halloween decor! I'm a total nut for fall and autumn colors, and L-O-V-E Halloween. I have to stop myself from buying more decorations because I can never provide an acceptible answer to the voice in my head that says: "Sure, it's cute now, but where are you going to store it for the rest of the year?" Pesky voice of reason. I will kill you with more beer, just you wait.

Getting skully with it (no Mulder, har-har) - Photos by Wasabi Prime

And given the fact that it's Halloween, I'm indulging myself in sharing some non-food photos. I was obsessed with skulls in the last few weeks. Seriously, they were everywhere, and not just for Halloween. I was browsing one of my favorite shops, Common Folk, over in Bellevue, and they had glitter skulls and spooky wreaths -- wanted to buy everything, but you know, that pesky Inner Voice of Reason crashed the party in my brain. So I took photos instead of taking my wallet out. Same goes for the Alexander McQueen scarf I reeeeeeeeally liked, but couldn't justify the $200+ price tag for, yes, a single scarf. Maybe I'll treat myself to a little gold skull ring if it's still around and on sale after the holiday... Happy Halloween, y'all. Stuff your face with candy and get your drawstring pants ready -- it's November tomorrow, and you know what's coming up next: Thanksgiving! *Vincent Price cackle*

OMG a Recipe (if you get this new book): Me-Oh-My, it's Mini Pies!

I've confessed of my deep, abiding love for miniature food in the past. Mini burgers, aka the ubiquitous "slider," pigs in a blanket, I love them all -- but what about pastries, or more to the point, pies? All the delight and enjoyment of a slice of delicious pie in a single bite -- brilliant. And besides, it's kinda funny to see the look on people's faces when you tell them you ate a whole apple and pumpkin pie in one sitting. *burp*

Apple Chai Mini Pie - it's a superstar! - Photo by Wasabi Prime

I had the opportunity to check out a friend of a friend's (thanks, Chuckman!!) new cookbook that just came out, Mini Pies by Christy Beaver and Morgan Greenseth. It's exactly that, a cute little book full of miniaturized sweet and savory pies, and techniques over how to make this mini-magic happen in your own kitchen. Christy and Morgan are the dynamic piemaking duo behind Mini Empire Bakery, a shop in Seattle making all kinds of yummy desserts with a focus on quality local ingredients and having a full menu of options including vegan and gluten-free choices.  I know that probably sounds like a typical bakery to a lot of people lucky to live in large cities or in regions close to a bounty of fresh produce, but we forget there's quite a lot of places where a bakery like this would be a dream come true. We forget what a rare gem quality bakeries can be! So a cookbook like this is especially nice, as people everywhere can still have a taste of Mini Empire Bakery, even if they are hundreds of miles away. The book includes instructions for making vegan-friendly pie crust, there's a lot of soy milk used in recipes, and there are different options for how to fill or top a pie however a person may choose, whether they have dietary needs or not. The book is full of inspiring photos of wee baby pies, and creative ideas for flavors.

With this book, you can create your own Mini Empire at home! - Photos by Wasabi Prime

I could have made a big batch of mini pies and sat on the couch to graze on my dessert bounty, watching my thighs grow. But no! I wanted to make several of the mini pie filling recipes and also foist some gently-used clothing on friends for a clothing swap brunch. Mini pies, like the full sized ones, have the same challenge as most desserts -- you can't just make a little bit. Even with the miniature size, you get the equivalent of a full pie, just portioned out in single servings, so invite friends over or package them up as a gift, because they're ridiculously adorable as they are dangerous to have around. You'll eat all of them, I swear. I decided to make a range of pie options, two savory and two sweet. I went with the season, choosing their classic pumpkin and a spicy number, a chai apple for the dessert pies, and a caramelized onion with olive tapenade, and a spinach and cheese quiche for savory. Mini pie brunch and a clothing swap -- it's not a bad way to try some new recipes and trade some wardrobe goods amongst friends. I have to say, clothing swaps are my new favorite thing, and it doesn't have to be clothing, could be anything -- books, kitchen tools, etc. It's kind of like an indoor rummage sale, except that it's a swap and everyone brings their own stuff to trade.

Pie filling factory - Photos by Wasabi Prime

I modified some of the recipes a hair -- I had some leftover turkey slices, so I sliced and crisped it in a pan, while wilting some fresh spinach for the savory egg and spinach quiche. It made them a little more hearty, since I had more sweet than savory options. For the caramelized onion pie, I used kalamata olives for the tapenade versus a mix of olives. Again, I was going more with what I had available, but their recipe would yield a nice creamy tapenade with the combination of olives. For the sweet pies, I had fresh roasted pumpkin on hand, which I mixed with the other ingredients in a food processor to help blend down the chunks. About one small sugar pumpkin is enough to yield the 8 ounces needed in the recipe, if you decide to go with fresh squash. For the chai apple filling, the recipe calls for Granny Smith, which are ideal for dessert pies since they're nicely tart and firm. We had a surplus of Fuji apples from our CSA, so I went with those instead, which turned out perfectly. When you're making multiple pie fillings, I recommend making or preparing as much of the fillings ahead as possible, so they're ready to fill the readied dough shells. Our kitchen may have looked like a mad array of bowls and dishes full of oddball things, but once the batches of filled mini pies were going into the oven and baking away, it went pretty fast.

Filling pies and cutting the dough just right - Photos by Wasabi Prime

As to the tools of the trade -- I didn't have specialty miniature pie tins. A lot of bakeries are starting on this trend, and there are mini pie tins available at kitchen supply stores. But the Mini Pies cookbook suggests using your muffin and cupcake pans, which work just dandy. I have multiple sizes: wee bitty appetizer tart pans, regular cupcake-sized pans, and Texas muffin-sized pans. I had mixed amounts of filling for the savory pies. Since they were more chunky with the whole ingredients, I thought they would fill the small bite-sized appetizer pans better, showing off their texture. I did have extra spinach and turkey quiche filling, but that was by design -- I baked off the excess in ramekins for a quick breakfast while I was working. The cook's gotta eat too, right?

I saved the larger cupcake-sized pans for the dessert pies, since I had more filling for those. The real trick was getting the sizing right for when the pie dough needed to be placed into each tart or cupcake mold. It needs to be cut in a large enough circle to make a fully-formed shell up the side of each mold shape, so you find yourself hunting around the kitchen for round shapes that can make a nice, clean cut. A biscuit cutter was perfect for the little bite-sized pies. The standard cupcake pans required something larger and I was pleased to find that the metal top for a cocktail shaker makes a just-right circle! Plus the sharp, clean metal edge ensured a clean cut. I know people say to use a wine or cocktail glass for cutting pastry rounds, but some glasses have rounded, blunt edges, making it harder to cut. Plus, it's glass and you hate to mess around with that if there's an accident. It's all fun and games until someone gets a big shard of glass in their dessert.

Savory mini pie goodness! - Photos by Wasabi Prime

The mini pies were a hit. Sure, it requires a little extra effort versus making one large pie, but gosh darnit if they're not cute as all get-out. And it inspired me to consider doing mini pies for Thanksgiving. I'll still make the traditional pumpkin pie, but maybe pecan and apple or pear, in mini form, so there's less hard decisions to make when dessert comes around. You could easily have two of these small pies in one sitting. Even three! 

Much thanks to the girls at Mini Empire Bakery for letting me cook through some of their recipes and enjoy their wonderful new book,  Mini Pies. This is a great gift idea if you're looking for something to make/give to someone for the holidays -- the book is small and would go nicely with a batch of mini pies!

UnRecipe: Summer Retrospective and a Hearty Welcome to Fall

It of course comes as no surprise to anyone that summer has Peaced-Out. The golden hues of autumn are literally setting the trees ablaze in color, there's a distinctive nip in the air, and I spent part of this past weekend covered in dirt and smelly stuff, putting our vegetable garden "to bed" for the winter, turning and amending the soil with our collected compost for the year and planting what I hope are the last of the future spring bulbs I had on order. Digging around in the dirt and causing mass hysteria to the local earthworm community, I thought of the summer goodness we were able to enjoy, from our own garden as well as our CSA Box o' Mystery Goodness (which I believe will continue through winter, but no idea what we'll be getting beyond mountains of kale).

Peach and nectarine crostata - farewell, Summer! - Photo by Wasabi Prime

Some of the last truly summer dishes I made this year included making some desserts with what felt like the swan song of stone fruit from our CSA delivery and enjoying fresh heirloom tomatoes from our own garden. We received a bunch of peaches and nectarines in one delivery, but you could tell they were pretty firm, you didn't get a heady scent from the fruit implying ripeness and probably picked early, before they could get super-sweet. I know you can bag-ripen the fruit and let the sugars develop further, but I was also getting ready to head out of town and didn't want to be wondering what to do with several pounds' worth of super-ripe fruit before getting out of Dodge. Desserts are some of the best ways to use a surplus of fruit, and the underripeness I think helps with baking, as there's not too much excess liquid and the dessert isn't overly sweet. I made two things, a regular pie and a crostata, sort of a rustic cross between a pie and a tart. I had too much fruit to pile into a single pie, and most pie dough recipes provide enough to make two bottom pie shells. I like crostatas as they're desserts you can make in a pinch, with just about any fruit, and it's meant to be imperfect, since you're not using any special dishes or molds to make it. You literally roll the pie dough flat, lay your filling evenly in the center, leaving enough room to fold the excess perimeter of dough over to create a barrier to hold everything in. Brush an egg wash or some milk on the exposed dough and sprinkle with some large sugar crystals to give it sparkle before baking it off. Not that pies are particularly fussy, but crostatas are even more easy and basic, and the finished dessert literally frames the fruit filling, so it truly celebrates your ingredients.

Stone fruit celebration - desserts with the last of the summer goods - Photos by Wasabi Prime

I know everyone loves the pretty lattice-work of a classic pie. I've done it a few times and it's lovely. But lately I really like seeing the fruit in a pie, so I skip covering it up and just make a crumble crust to top the pie. I use oats, sugar and some flour (basic fruit crumble topping; can use from any favorite recipe), which help give it a little crunch along the top, it helps absorb extra liquid from the fruit, but you still see the filling in all its rustic glory. I also don't trim off the excess overhang when you lay the bottom shell into the pie pan. I just add the fruit filling and take the excess dough and fold it over, so it keeps the fruit contained along the edges and you keep that unfinished, rough-hewn look. When you brush it with some milk or an egg wash, it browns nicely and helps keep the shape of the pie slice when you cut it, just like with the crostata. Again, it's that whole rustic, unfussy look I've been gravitating towards. It's due in part to a bit of laziness and a desire to see the ingredients and know what you're eating.

Enjoying tomatoes in the raw or slow cooked - Photos by Wasabi Prime

I got really excited when I harvested this year's tomato crop. And I mean REALLY excited, because were I to be judged as a fit garden-mommy, the Garden Protective Services would have to step in and haul my precious veggies away. I was a baaaaaad garden mom. I picked out several different heirloom tomato plants of all sorts and sizes, getting several from the local farmers markets. I got varieties like Early Girl, for its fast maturation, some smaller varieties like a cherry-sized Black Krim, as the wee ones usually can be harvested earlier, and some other ones that had equally short maturation periods as we already knew the summer would be a short growing period. I had all these good intentions, got the soil all ready for tomatoes since the plants can be a bit of a drain on nutrients, but when the heat of summer really hit, I admit, I got lazy with watering and for all intensive purposes, I didn't deserve to harvest anything. Granted, I didn't get a booming crop of ripe tomatoes, but I got enough, including one big fat red heirloom, to make a couple of sauces and get a nice summer salad. The Garden Gods smiled upon me with amazing kindness!

I don't know if it's normal to pair fresh tomato with canteloupe, but I really wanted to enjoy the big red heirloom tomato in its raw, fresh goodness. I sliced the tomato and shuffled it with slices of fresh canteloupe that came from the CSA. A sprinkle of salt, pepper and a drizzle of olive oil and balsamic vinegar was all it needed, and I layered it with crumbles of goat cheese. It was sort of a riff on the traditional Caprese salad, minus the fresh mozzarella and basil, but the canteloupe's sweetness was so nice with the fresh tomato and the tangy flavor of the vinegar and cheese.

I roasted the rest of the tomatoes I had, making a Bolognese style sauce with some other CSA vegetables, which topped roasted portobello mushrooms. That wasn't meant to be a particularly fancy dinner, I just had a wicked craving for lasagne one night, didn't want to get filled up on pasta, so made a hearty sauce that could go on a big mushroom and shaved a pile of Parmesan over the whole thing. This was around the crunch time of getting work done before leaving town -- dinners during that time are like an epicurean version of Gone in 60 Seconds, where instead of boosting cars, I'm busting out fast-paced meals that are using up whatever's in the fridge and can be good next-day lunches the Mister can bring to work.

Even if we weren't struck with a spoil of summer's bounty, we enjoyed every bite! - Photos by Wasabi Prime

As with most things, you never get to enjoy your own party, and our meals and desserts using the last of summer's sweet goodness were fleeting and I probably didn't enjoy as much of it as I'd have liked. A combination of being rushed before a vacation and the ingredients being in short supply were the dueling culprits. The crostata was given away to a friend for a game night. The pie was really good, and I had a couple of slices, but I knew the Mister appreciated the sweet treat even more, so let him whittle that down. I took my lion's share of the fresh tomato and canteloupe salad, but that was the last of the large ripe tomatoes. But I'm not sad about not having weeks worth of summer's fresh bounty on our table. I've had this discussion with others before -- while the downside of cooking with whatever's in season means you are at the whim of whatever's fresh, even if there's not much of it, but the upswing is of course you make the most of every bite, however fleeting.

FoodTrek: If It's Not Scottish...Well, You Know the Rest...

Maybe I'm showing my age (I never thought I'd be saying that about Mike Myers when he still used to be on Saturday Night Live), but I totally had his "If it's not Scottish, it's CRAP" SNL sketch in my head when I was at the Eastside Bartenders Association Scotch tasting event a wee while back.

Low lighting, slightly blurry image to reenact Whisky Goggles - Photo by Wasabi Prime

Honest Wasabi Confessional: I have a soft spot for Scotland. And not just because the men like to run around in wool skirts and no underpants. That's just a bonus. I had just turned 21, my parents and I had come to the mutual agreement that I'm not a kid anymore and they were going to retire and move away soon, so we came to the solution that a final family trip to England and Scotland sounded dandy. Who was I to complain? So we spent almost a month dashing around from pub to museum, to more pubs again, and I remember getting a chance to spend some quality time with my dad. Not that we never spent any time together before -- I've known him my whole life, after all -- but it was one of the first times when I really felt like he was ready to treat me like a kinda-sort-of adult. Which means lots of drinking, as the man has the liver of a Herkemer battle jitney. He especially enjoyed Scotland for the chance to try a bunch of different whiskys that would be hard to find in the States, and I remember a few nights where he'd let me try a few sips, I'd make my "holy hell, I'm gonna die" squinchy-face, and I'd settle in with a pint for the rest of the night. This doesn't sound like the most elegant of father-daughter bonding, but for me, it meant the world. And ever since then, I think I've been trying to really make an effort to develop my palate so that when I sit with the Old Man, I can drink like one, too.

Martin Daraz, Brand Ambassador and spinner of tales that go nicely with a wee dram - Photos by Wasabi Prime

Fast forward several years, and I found myself with the opportunity to attend a Scotch whisky tasting at LOT No. 3, with the very marvelous Martin Daraz, Brand Ambassador to Highland Park Single Malt Whisky. What does a Brand Ambassador do, exactly? Well, aside from knowing all the in's and out's of making the spirit they're ambassadoring, in Martin's case, he's there to tell it like it is, from the true heart and soul of a Scotsman. Hailing from Glasgow, the place he described gleefully as a rough, but friendly town with a notable murder rate, where if you get killed, it'll be done with a smile. His stories are as priceless as they are entertaining, his character is true, and he's just a really extraordinary personality, if you're ever fortunate to see him speak. EBA was lucky to have him for a small, intimate Scotch tasting, with a range of Highland Park whiskys, as well as MacCallan and Black Grouse.

I don't know that much about whisky. What seems basic to some will sound like cold fusion to me. So when Martin describes how the MacCallan 12 and 15 year whiskys were aged in sherry casks to give them a sweeter, lighter flavor, and less of the peaty-smokiness of Black Grouse or the Highland Park 12 and 18 year numbers, my palate goes, "Wowza, that makes sense." So, what the heck is whisky and what's with the whisky vs whiskey spelling? I'm not the expert Martin Daraz is, but this is the skinny on Scotch in just a few words: it's a bit like beer, in that it uses malted or water-soaked/germinated barley, that's then dried and cooked in a mash to further extract the plant sugars that the malting process kick-starts. This plant sugar is what will feed the yeast that in turn creates the alcohol, that if this were beer-making, you'd be halfway there, but for whisky, the alcohol from this mixture is extracted through distillation and eventually gets stowed in oak casks, to be aged for no less than three years. For a whisky to be considered "single malt," that just refers to the use of a singular type of grain; kind of like making wine, when there's a single varietal versus blends of different grapes. The whiskey vs whisky spelling is a regional spelling preference, but generally, if you're talking about traditional whisky made in Scotland, you remove the "e," and it's just a faster way of saying "Scotch whiskey," as you just have to say "whisky" to infer that it's whisky made in the land of Zero Crap. This is a super dumbed-down way of explaining an age-old method of tradition, blood, sweat and tears, but it's mostly to prove that the numbers and single-malt whisky/whiskey terms aren't just nonsense made up to fill the space on a label. It's telling the story of where the spirit came from, and the Scottish are known for good yarn or two.

The how-to's of whisky tasting, and the art of taking one's time - Photos by Wasabi Prime

Scotch is not an easy drink. It's complex, moody and churning with the undertones of a history rife with angst, human struggle and a restless literary spirit. It's totally not the first sip of slushy-Slurpee strawberry daquiri that tasted like candy and has you guzzling them like a high-schooler with Four-Loko. There's a reason they say Scotch is the stuff that puts hair on your chest, as the alcohol content can be quite hefty, and a more traditional Scottish whisky has that distinctive smoky heft of charred peat that pretty much knocks you in the face if you're not expecting it. But this doesn't mean it's a bad thing. It's an adult drink, that's really all it comes down to, and you have to learn to nurture what's in the glass to really appreciate the qualities that bloom over time. Which means, don't chug it in a single swig, you popped-collar fratboy. Martin couldn't emphasize enough the importance of really smelling the whisky before drinking. Let the nose truly take in what's in the glass; really inhale it for a good 10-20 seconds or more. You have to be patient, let that initial umbrage haze of alcohol evaporate, to eventually reveal a whole symphony of rich, oaky fragrance, tippled with golden notes of honey sweetness, depending on the whisky. Or perhaps a hearty waft of fire-scorched oak, which takes your imagination to a distant land of endless rolling hills, surrounded with misty fog, and the only way to cut such a landscape of melancholy was a drink that captured the blaze of an open flame.

All that in just a whiff? Fine -- now you can take a sip. But let the whisky sit in your mouth for a bit. Martin described it as "chewing the whisky," where you're literally moving it around with your teeth. For some of the stronger flavored tastes, like the incredible Highland Park 18, you wanted to savor every sip/bite, and it absolutely had a lingering sensation, which blessed the tastebuds after the whisky was imbibed. To truly enjoy liquor is to let it be experienced by all the senses, even its ability to leave a haunting impression of an aftertaste. Maybe that's why they're called spirits -- even after it's gone, a part of it remains.

Hearty drinks with hearty food - two great combinations in one spot - Photos by Wasabi Prime

And like everything, I always have an ulterior motive -- aside from an excuse to eat hearty food after strong drinks (bacon peanut butter sliders or sloppy joe, anyone??), I was glad to have experienced a memorable whisky tasting, so that I can work my way up to eventually appreciating Mr. Wasabi's latest prized purchase, a bottle of Pappy Van Winkle's Bourbon Whiskey, aged 23 years. I know Bourbon is a different animal from Scotch, but the ability to appreciate them is similar, in that your palate should be schooled a bit before taking a sip. And I needed to do my own homework, as Mr. Wasabi has yet to claim last year's Christmas present, which was a whisky tasting of several different bottles that have been hidden away for months. I know, what's the holdup, right? Well, now that the weather is much more whisk(e)y-friendly, I think that will happen soon enough, so stay tuned for a post, as it should be a memorable one!

Much Wasabi Thanks Again to Eastside Bartenders Association for putting together yet another fantastic event, LOT No. 3 for hosting in their whisky-perfect location, and of course Highland Park and Martin Daraz for presenting some incredible whiskys.

UnRecipe: Gimme Some Sugar, Baby

Yes, I'm back! I'm back! Thanks to those who followed and wrote me while I was visiting family in Hawaii. I'm back on the Mainland and ready for action. Well, more like ready to get caught up on the mountain of work that had to sit while I was away, but hey, life moves on. We'll see if I do a post about my latest trip; it's going to depend on how photos turned out, but regardless -- it's good to be back in the bloggosphere.

This aptly-named post title, aside from that being one of my favorite lines by the fantastic Bruce Campbell in Army of Darkness (if you haven't seen this movie, shame on you. It's awesome. As are all the Evil Dead movies), refers to the fact I wanted sugar. Lots of it. And while this isn't representative of all the poor eating habits of a single day, it does contain all the major sweet tooth cravings I've had over the last month or two. Let the sugar rush... commence!

Coffee and ice cream, afo-ghetto - Photo by Wasabi Prime

No, I'm not pregs with fertilized eggs, but I am a lady-girl, who sometimes has lady-girl cravings. Ladies, you know what I'm talking about. And since I don't often crave sugary things, when I do get the hankerin' for something sweet, it's super-specific, and if I don't get it, the universe and everyone within my immediate vicinity are in for a world o' hurt. It's not always chocolate, but chocolate more often than not is a likely culprit. Even though we're cutting back on caffeine, I'll still have a cuppa Joe now and then, which feels like getting struck by lightning, if you must know. I craved both sugar and coffee for a potent dessert, so I made a dark cocoa-coffee ice cream and then put a scoop of it in a dessert cup, pouring hot coffee over it. The traditional way of enjoying affogato is gelato with espresso and sometimes a little dash of a liqueur, consider this afo-ghetto, since I was just working with what I had, and ice cream and coffee is effin' delicious.

The holidays are nearly upon us... start the caramel corn - Photos by Wasabi Prime

I started to think about the holidays. It's not like I just sit in a room and suddenly ponder the meaning of Christmas. But it's been getting to look a lot like Halloween, even back in August when Costco started putting bulk candy out and even now, I see holiday wrapping paper showing up on shelves and decorated trees are showing up in department stores. Retailers are insane. These are like not-so-subtle reminders, much like the Hammer of Thor beating upon your skull, that holiday season is on the horizon, so get crack-a-lackin' on what to make/bake/buy for gifts this year. I do rely on baked goods as inexpensive gifts, especially since at this point, most of the people I know don't need more stuff, but something sweet is appreciated. And I bake in bulk, so whatever I make has to be something that isn't fussy, can be done in large batches, and made a few days in advance of giving/mailing out. This year may be a caramel popcorn year. So, Friends of Wasabi, start practicing your happy/surprised face when you get a big ol' box of caramel corn this year!

I started some early recipe tests, some more successful than others, trying different ingredients to make the caramel more unique. Homemade caramel can't be beat, this is not news to anyone, but when you eat caramel corn you made from scratch and compare it to the store-bought kind, it's no wonder Cracker Jack had to put a prize in their boxes to convince people to eat it. I'm kidding, I still love Cracker Jack. But the homemade stuff really is better. And if you can avoid burning your skin off with the napalm-like hot caramel, that's just icing on the cake.

Campfire goodness, baked into a cookie - Photos by Wasabi Prime

I was feeling a little nostalgic towards s'mores. Mostly because I didn't get a chance to really enjoy the great outdoors this summer and making a sticky mess of a delightful fireside dessert. I had a bag of mini marshmallows. They're cute. They're full of mysterious preservatives. But they're still cute. I think they were 99 cents at the store, and the spirit of the impulse buy possessed me to get them. I spent one afternoon putting them on toothpics and toasting them over a lit candle. That was kind of fun. But you don't go through a whole bag of mini marshmallows like that and would feel Epic Shame if you did. So I looked for a recipe that used them, chocolate chips and buttermilk. Why buttermilk? I had half a carton leftover from making blueberry muffins, and it needed to be used up. Lo and behold, I found a recipe for whole wheat s'more cookies on Epicurious. It was like the junk food gods said, ask, and ye shall receive, you sugar-addled junkie. They were pretty tasty. Not the prettiest things in the world, but they were like big, sticky-sweet bombs of chunkasaurus rex goodness. They bake up and set nicely, but they got really sticky after a couple of days. It could have been the moisture in the air, and the fact that marshmallows are just stabilized forms of sugar-goo. The marshmallows are added whole and during the baking they melt down into gooey little craters, but in a few days they get almost syrupy, so it turns into a bit of a messy cookie, FYI. I sent some to Mr. Wasabi's parents, gave little bags of a few cookies to friends, and the rest were promptly eaten by us. I'm still deciding on whether or not to include this in the holiday baking roster, as I know friends would enjoy it, but may have to avoid sending these to family in Hawaii, as the humidity may turn the cookies into The Blob. And that's not very holiday-like.

What about you? Are you already planning your army of baked goods to send out to friends, family and the like?

Out of Office Reply: Catch You on the Flip!

The annual last-chance visit before the holiday rush is here, and I'm off to visit family for a few days. Me and this here blog are takin' a break. I'll be back in about a week and a half with a super-sweet post, and depending on what eats I discover, I may do a post, but we'll see. You guys have to be sick of me posting about the same comfort foods by now! I'm not sick of eating them, though, so stay tuned to my Tweets while I'm visiting Wasabi Mom and Dad, stuffing my fat face with much tasty ono kine grindz. Much love, Mahalo plenty, and will be back soon!

Aloha, Bitcholas - Photo by Wasabi Prime

UnRecipe: Date Night (at Home)

If you've been in a longterm relationship, you know that you can't live in the honeymoon stage forever. Nor would you want to -- trying to be Mr. or Ms. Perfect, hiding your weird habits like tweezing eyebrows (yo, they don't just shape themselves!), and sometimes you just want to be comfortable and lounge around in your stretchy drawstring pants all day without worrying that you're not made up to the hilt. But that doesn't mean you don't make it a point to have regular meals together now and then -- enter Date Night at Home!

Date Night, supplied by our CSA delivery box - photo by Wasabi Prime

Date Night is different for everyone. Plenty of people like going out, and who can blame them -- no dinner prep, no dishes to wash, and there's likely enough time to catch a movie afterwards. Mr.Wasabi and I like going out, don't get me wrong, it's just one of those situations where the work week has consistently kicked our collective booty-hinds and by the time it gets to be the dinner hour on a Saturday night, quite frankly, we're ready to pass out on the couch, we're so tired. Weekends have become a sacred 48 hour period -- two days where there's no work (if we can avoid it), recharging the human batteries is a must, spending some quality time with Miss Indy the dog and quite honestly, doing as little as possible. God has one day of rest, we take two. We're certainly not the Almighty and dangit, we're just tiiiiiiired and want the weekend to be as low key as possible.

But we still try to have a special meal together on weekends, even if it means enjoying it in our favorite t-shirt and jammie-pants, and seeing whatever Netflix thinks we'll enjoy. I feel even more inclined to stay at home, given our bar-like collection of alcohol and the constant supply of fresh fruits and veggies with the CSA deliveries. Even though we're only doing a once every two week delivery, that box is filled to the brim and we rarely go through everything in a week's time. The bounty of stone fruit and summer squash gave rise to a simple pork tenderloin dish on an at-home Date Night not so long ago. I seared little medallions of pork, then deglazed the pan with some wine and threw in some chopped fruit and onions to make a chunky fruit salsa to finish the pork. Nectarines, plums and apricots all go really well with pork -- a nice mix of sweet and sour. Some roasted squash and mushrooms made for an easy side dish. Mr. Wasabi got experimental with the booze and mixed some drinks, and we had a nice cocktail hour before our meal.

Who needs to go out when you've got a bar/restaurant at home? - Photos by Wasabi Prime

Fancy? Not really, but a nice reminder to make sure we don't get too caught up in our schedules, nor should we get caught up in making a dinner so complex we're too wiped out to enjoy it afterwards. It's easy to get lost in the weekday jungle and lose sight of the partnership at home, so having dinner with the one you love is most certainly a worthwhile priority.