"Quinoa Cake, Carnivorous Again, and a Blogiversary"

Is it a tacky internet faux pas to have multiple sappy posts in a row? 

Yes? Well... ugh... I'll be fast!

Today (October the 5th) is my blogaversay! My blogirthday! The Full Woman (previously Vanilla Black Cherry) turns one year old today (another Libra in the family! woop!) and looking back at my first few posts I'm so proud to see how far I've come and how much my photography has improved (woo for stuff on tastespotting!).

I bought myself a giant cast iron skillet as a blogirthday-versary present. In a way it's kind of a challenge for my savory side. In the past year I've learned pretty well how to bake ( I even made up with cake!) but I'm still pretty limited when it comes to dinner time. And by "limited" I mean terrible. Like "God is it supposed to smell like that?!" kind of terrible. The current theory is that  because I don't love on raw meat like I do butter and sugar the end product isn't as good, but mostly I think it has to do with being inexperienced and (pun, pun) chicken.

However, WE WILL BEAT THIS! I am determined to improve on my savory cooking by my next blogaversary. AS GOD IS MY WITNESS I'LL NEVER BE HUNGRY AGAIN!


As a start I tried out this recipe for Rosemary Skillet chicken ( to break in my lovely cast iron). I tried to picture myself as Nigella Lawson, completely unconcerned with the idea of meat having any kind of germs, lovingly massaging oils and herbs into the skin with carefree bare hands. But I still wasn't quite getting it, and I was kinda sorta still making the church lady face.

I think the visualization did actually help a little the end product turned much out better than usual (actually edible! what?!) the cooking process though, still came with my usual brand of savory food hijinks, (mysterious funk anyone?) which could have been avoided if I'd bothered to use my brain.

Pro tip, if you ever roast stuff with rosemary, use some common sense and nestle those pretty sprigs down there in the juices. Don't sit them on top and let them burn up/ make your house smell like a Pine Sol breathing dragon just crashed though. Don't be like me (your boyfriend will thank you).

Baby steps, baby steps.

Anyway, on a positive note, I also baked my little blog a blogirthday cake (that didn't smell like dragons), and not just your average regular old blogirthday cake. A crazy quinoa upside down cake! 

Quinoa! Upside Down!

What's the point of a quinoa cake you ask?  Where's your sense of whimsy!?  Honestly, I'm thinking from  just a few indicators (applesauce, whole wheat pastry flour) that this was intended to be sort of a novelty-wheat grass-Birkenstock type of baked good, but once I got a hold of it... it sort of wasn't anymore. There seemed to be delicious amounts of brown sugar and butter in there that weren't around before. So, that healthy idea? We're not talking about that.

Other subjects we won't be discussing :

1)  Funky asymmetrical apple patterns in the center of cakes 

2)  Shouting "KEEEN-WAH!" while you're baking (that's between you and your oven)

3)  Eating an entire cake by yourself in a single afternoon (that's between you and your zumba teacher)

Happy Blogerthday- versary Blog!  

Enjoy the cake(I left you some crumbs)! 

And I promise that once I figure it out, I'll cook you a night fancy dinner too. One day...

You can find the Skillet Rosemary Chicken recipe I used here

Quinoa Apple Upside Down Cake

Original Recipe Here

Topping:

4 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

1/2 cup light brown sugar

Pinch of salt

1-2 Golden Delicious apples (depending on size. I used only one because it was HUGE) -peeled, cored and cut into 1/2-inch wedges

Cake:

1 cup cooked white quinoa

2 large eggs, separated into yolks and whites

1/3 cup light brown sugar

1/2 cup plain, low fat yogurt

1/3 cup unsweetened apple sauce

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

3/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour or regular cake flour

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

Preheat the oven to 375° and line the bottom of a 9-inch cake pan with parchment paper. In a large bowl, blend the butter with the brown sugar and salt. Spread the mixture evenly in the lined cake pan. Arrange the apples wedges in the pan in 2 concentric circles. Place cake pan in oven and bake the topping for 20 minutes (watch closely to make sure it doesn't burn). Remove from oven when the apples look lightly golden (we're going for a halfway roast here) and let cool slightly while you get the cake batter together.

To make cake:
 In a food processor, process cooked quinoa, egg yolks, sugar, yogurt, apple sauce, and vanilla until very smooth. About 2 minutes.

In a large bowl, whisk together flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In another bowl, beat egg whites until stiff peaks form.

Add quinoa mixture to flour mixture and stir until no flour streaks remain. With a spatula, gently fold egg whites into quinoa batter until just incorporated. Gently spoon batter over the baked apple layer in the cake pan.

Bake in centre of oven for about 35 minutes, or until a skewer inserted in cake comes out clean. Allow cake to cool in pan, for about 10 minutes, before running a thin knife around edges and inverting cake onto a plate. 

"She is Fast, Thorough And Sharp As A Tack. She's Touring The Facility And Picking Up Slack"

Once upon a time there was a wild little girl named Ashley Elise.

She had long curly hair, tall strong legs, and skin the color of sunshine.

She did not like rules or dresses or keeping still, and if she had things her way (as she usually did) she'd spend the day doing cartwheels, singing songs, and dancing, dancing, dancing.

That girl is my sister (and she's having a birthday!).

When I think of my sister I think about cheesecake. Cheesecake and apricots.

I spent a lot of time studying her when I was little, she was two years older and my absolute heroine. The way she laughed and ate and styled her hair were cataloged in my mind, so that when I was old enough I could do things exactly the same in that perfectly effortless way.


The eating part though, it never really stuck. My sister's food habits are weird. While I was always pretty consistent, (delicious food all day every day) she was (and is) a tiny dancer and for the most part all I remember her eating was dried apricots, sushi and iced tea. The quirky part came when it was her birthday,  and instead of continuing the pattern of light, dainty, and healthful she always requested a cheesecake. A cheesecake,  pretty much the densest most decadent dessert you can make. It blew my mind! For ages this confused me, baffled me, since it seemed to be completely out of character. But when I think about it now it makes total sense.

From the day she was born her personality has always been that of go big or go home, it's partly why I studied her so much. She isn't a toe in the water type of girl, with worries and sunscreen and plans, she's a run, and a jump and a CANNONBALL!!!  Blue hair? She had it. Party til dawn? Been there, done that. Charm artists, steal airplanes, command snakes with your parseltongue? All in a day's easy work.


So if we're talking birthdays you sure better believe that we're having the cakiest cake there is out there. We're having a cheesecake. And we're totally eating it.  We are EATING. IT. ALL.

These days I rarely see her. Life gets in the way, or I have to work or she's off on a pirate ship somewhere. But every year around this time I still think about my heroine.  I think about her infectious laugh, her cartwheels and the ferocious way she lives her life and I find myself baking up things for her like she was still close by. Things like cheesecake, and apricots.

Apricot Cheesecake Bars For Ashley

Martha Stewart Living

18 graham crackers

1 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar

Coarse salt

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted

10 ounces apricots (about 4), halved, pitted, and cut into eighths

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

OR 3/4 cup Apricot jam 

2 packages (8 ounces each) cream cheese, room temperature

1/2 cup sour cream, room temperature

1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

2 large eggs, room temperature, lightly beaten

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a food processor, process graham crackers, 2 tablespoons sugar, and 1/4 teaspoon salt until fine crumbs form. Transfer to a medium bowl and stir in melted butter until crumbs are moistened. Wipe processor bowl clean. With a flat-bottomed 1-cup measure or glass, press crumbs evenly into a 9-by-13-inch baking pan. Bake until crust is firm, 15 minutes. Let cool on a wire rack. Reduce heat to 325 degrees.

If you're not using jam

In a small saucepan, bring apricots, 1/4 cup sugar, and pinch of salt to a boil over medium-high, stirring, until sugar dissolves. Reduce heat and simmer, stirring frequently, until mixture is shiny, 10 minutes. In food processor, puree apricot mixture, lemon juice, and 1 tablespoon water.

2.  In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat cream cheese and sour cream on medium until smooth. Add 3/4 cup sugar and beat until smooth. Add vanilla and pinch of salt and beat to combine. Add eggs and beat until smooth, scraping down bowl as needed. Pour cream-cheese mixture into cooled crust and smooth top.

3. Randomly drop small spoonfuls apricot puree or jam on cream-cheese mixture. With a skewer or thin-bladed knife, gently swirl puree. Bake just until set, about 25 - 30 minutes (mixture will still be a little jiggly until it fully chills) Let cool slightly in pan on rack, then refrigerate until chilled and firm before cutting into squares, 2 hours.

"You Say Goodbye, and I Say Hello"

It's mid September, nearly autumn, and while most people are busy choking back sobs as they pack away their flip flops, I  personally (strange girl, maverick) am readying myself for my all time favorite season.

My flip flops honestly have been packed for weeks, and already I'm spelunking the depths of the internet scouting out cute boots and winter coats I don't need. I'm blasting the Beatles (cause it's autumn music. It's true. No! Yes! SHUT UP!) and I'm clearing out disk space for all those golden leaf/blue sky pictures I'll be taking just the second Nashville decides to (FINALLY) pick a season. Autumn and I (despite the allergies) are hardcore awesome bffs there is no denying it.

I know it's nothing new or fancy, that every year the earth will move and the leaves will change and the only difference is my mind, my fantasy and the skip in my step, but all the same I will blast the Beatles, spend hours on Zappos and take eight thousand pictures of leaves like this is a one time deal.

My plants at least seem to be on board with this whole "accepting fall" idea, most of them are getting that droopy look, like they want a robe and a pipe and a nice long bath which sounds like a good idea to me. We're saying our goodbyes (for now) in the most delicious of ways, with soups, and seeds and pestos, and I welcome my little break from gardening, until we meet again in the spring.

Goodbye Summer Pesto with Pecans and Orecchiette

2 cups fresh basil leaves

2 garlic cloves

1/4 cup olive oil

1/8 cup pecans toasted and chopped

3/4 cup grated parmesan cheese divided

1/2 cup ricotta cheese

3 cups steamed broccoli florettes

1lb orecchiette

1.Cook the orechiette according the package directions, drain and set aside.

2.Add basil, garlic, olive oil, pecans and 1/4 cup of parmesan cheese to the bowl of a food processor and pulse until smooth. Salt to taste.

3.In a small mixing bowl combine 1/2 cup ricotta cheese, 1/2 cup parmesan and the whirled up pesto from the food processor and stir to combine.

4. Add the broccoli florets, and the pesto/ricotta mixture to the hot cooked pasta and gently toss together.

Serve hot topped with an extra little grating of parmesan cheese.

"Oh Snap It's That Time Again" or "# 62... Schweddy Balls"

Vanilla Ice cream with a hint of rum and loaded with fudge covered rum and malt balls

I was ten in '98 but don't judge me. There's a 90% chance that the night the Schweddy Balls/Delicious Dish sketch (Season 24 Ep 9) originally aired I was fast asleep in a bunk bed, completely unaware of Snl or double entendres or Alec Baldwin. But believe me I caught up. If you fast forward four years you'll find me deep in a Jimmy, Tina, Lorne obsession that dominated my Saturday plans for the duration of my teens. The fact that NBC made the glorious decision to air dusty reruns of SNL late into the wee hours only fueled the fire and eventually I had watched the entire back catalog of SNL episodes all the way to the start in 1975. Weirdo? Me? Totally.


Ben and Jerry's lately has been in my brain, it's almost like they've sent spies out to follow me and suss out just what exactly would be the perfect new flavor to make my heart flip flop. If they come out with a Doctor Who flavor, you'll know for a fact that this is exactly what's going down, until that day this is just a theory.

But back to the Schweddy Balls.

"They're made from a secret Schweddy recipe. No one can resist my Schweddy balls."

Usually when there's a new B&J flavor I have some advance notice, like an email, or a facebook notification, or a ray of light from heaven letting me know that my life's quest may continue. But this time, nothing. In fact I wouldn't have known about this flavor at all if hadn't been standing behind a guy with a fresh icy pint of it sitting in his grocery cart at my job. I totally geeked out. Like full on. I had to stop myself from snaking this guys ice cream as he left by telling myself surely there was more left in the store and p.s. stealing a customer's ice cream is probably a really embarrassing way to get fired. And arrested.

So skip ahead, this ice cream? Delicious. It tastes like a Dairy Queen dipped cone deconstructed, only nix the cone and add malted milk balls. What's that you say? Barftown?  I know. I'm pretty sure the world is divided on whether or not malted milk balls are the most disgusting thing on this planet or the most delicious. But if you think that they're gross I'm totally with you. But don't worry, something about being frozen and surrounded with ice cream and rum infused chocolate globs makes them about a 1000% less grody. In fact they seem a bit more crispy, and almost toffee like. If that still doesn't float your boat,  there's not a ton stuck in there, they're intermixed with these little boozy hunks of chocolate shell that are almost like junior mints or milk duds without the filling inside.

Final words, I dig this flavor.  It might not make my top ten but even with the malted milk balls it passed the test and didn't last more than two days in the freezer.
And P.S. if in the future they come up with a flavor for Schweddy  Wiener they just might win my life long admiration.

"Looking For The Campfire Light" or "Eating The Oatmeal"

The savory world is being mean to me. I'm trying to stay true to my word backflip into the healthy, salty, green and leafy but I haven't quite got it down.I miss my comfort zone, I miss baking and I NEED A BROWNIE STAT!

The thing about baking, and doing it well is that once you get cozy you start to really know what does what, and why this is in there and after a point you can just eyeball a recipe and figure out if it's going to be worth your time.

My problem with salty stuff is I have no radar ( at least not yet) for jolopy recipes. Honestly sometimes I think I'm actually a magnet for duds. Like the recipe I tried today from Food Network Magazine, I should have known just from looking at it that even though it said including meat in the soup was optional, it totally wasn't. But instead I was charmed by the idea of a bean-noodle-kale soup and kept on trucking even though
my nose told me that nothing was going on in there.  Always trust the nose.

The upside is that is wasn't nasty or anything, just sort of boring and meh, and it's relatively veggie loaded and healthy so even though I will be eating bison for diner for the next year it shouldn't do too much damage.

Hopefully one day I'll look back on this post a seasoned skillet of a cook and laugh at myself (while eating Coq au Vin).