I have been watching with great interest as my husband of 10 years has begun to follow his bliss. I am so happy to see him so happy. I’ve been watching him teach himself all the things he needs in order to grow these beauties. I thought he was crazy, yes I admit this. Who the heck just jumps in with two feet like this? Don’t people start things small then work their way up? Well, who am I to talk?

Now that he has over 100 tomato plants growing and thriving, after overcoming obstacle, after obstacle, after broken down car, he’s harvesting and I couldn’t be more proud. The restaurant he works at (The Palms, Fresno), just bought his tomatoes and will be selling them starting tomorrow night. I’m excited for him and proud. How many people have what it takes to go out and do what they want? I think we all have a tendency to get stuck, to do what’s expected of us. Well, kudos to you my love, do what you love and love what you do. I’m glad I know you, thanks for growing great kids too. With lots of love and the willingness to teach yourself what you need to know to do it. You are quite the man, here’s to the harvest, you’re a farmer now.

Gena

1. Place a drop of water at the center of the clean slide and place a thin layer of skin peeled off from the inner surface of onion bulb, Allum cepa L. With a dissecting needle, put a cover slip on the specimen by tilting it along one side of the slide so that one edge touches the water. Gently lower the cover slip by withdrawing the needle slowly to prevent air bubbles.

2. Examine one cell under the HPO.

2.1 Is the cell wall uniform in thickness?

Yes

2.2 Can you observe the narrow canals or depressions along the walls? If yes, identify these structures.

Plasmodesmata

2.3 Can you distinguish the protoplast clearly?

No

2.4 Can you see the cytoplasmic strands? No

3. Using filter paper as absorbent, remove the water from the slide by gently pressing one side of the coverslip. Immediately apply a drop of iodo-potassium iodide solution on the opposite side of the coverslip. The solution will slowly replace the water. After a minute or two,wipe off the excess solution

3.1  Do you observe the cytoplasmic strands now?

Yes

3.2 In what part of the cell is the nucleus found?

Cytoplasm

3.3 Do you see more than one nucleolus?

Yes

3.4 What structure(s) is/are between the cytoplasmic strands?

Organelles

4. Take a leaf from the actively growing shoot of a water plant, hydrilla, Hydrilla verticillata (Roxb.) Royle which has been previously exposed to bright light. Make a water mount by placing the upper surface of the leaf next to slide. By moving the  LPO up and down, you can see two layers of cells. Under the HPO observe the streaming protoplast (cyclosis) and note the direction of its movement.

4.1 What structure in the cell contains the green pigment?

Chloroplast

4.2 What is the shape and arrangement of the structure?

In stacks (grana)

4.3 Do they move along with the streaming protoplast?

Yes

6. On a slide, make separate mounts of the skin and pulp of a ripe fruit of tomato, Lycopersicon lycopersicun (L.) Karsten and red pepper, Capsicum frutescens L.

6.1 What structure in the cell contains the pigments?

Chromoplast

7. Make water mounts of both upper and lower surfaces of the leaf of boat of Moses, Rhoeo discolor (Hert.) Hence. One surface contains a vacuole pigment and the other a plastid.

7.1 What types of pigment are found on each surface?

Anthocyanin – vacuole

Chlorophyll – chloroplast

7.2 How do these pigments differ from those of the tomato pulp and hydrilla leaf?

Differ in location and color.

8. Prepare free-hand sections of any 5 of the following specimens representing the different types of crystals: petioles of Begonia sp.; castor oil plant, Ricinus communis L.; the laminae of santan, Ixora sp.; bowstring hemp, Sanseviera zeylanica Roxb.; the midribs of fringed waterplant, Raphidophora merili Engl.; dumbcane, Diefferenbachia sp.; guava, Psidum guajava L.; pigweed, Amaranthus viridus l.; purslane, Portulaca oleracea L.; sweet potato, Opomoea batatas Lam. and stem of Pilea cadieri.

8.1 Identify and sketch the types of crystals observed.

9. Examine prepared slides of a cross-section of any stem or root and fresh surface sections of the lower epidermis of the leaf of the boat of Moses under the LPO and HPO. Locate cells that ar bounded by a single cell wall called the primary cell wall. Locate the middle lamella (the intracellular layer) between the primary walls of adjacent cells.

9.1 What must be the function of the middle lamella?

Cement adjacent walls together

10. Examine fresh sections of green and ripe tomato fruits.

10.1 Compare the appearance of the cells

Cells in the unripe tomato fruit are closer together

10.2 What happens to the middle lamella when fruits ripen

Loss of cell wall components particularly pectin, which makes up the middle lamella

11. Scrape cells from a shell of a coconut, Cocos nucifera L. and stain with 18% alcoholic phloroglucinol-sulfuric acid solution. Examine under the compound microscope. Lignin will turn red with this solution. These cells have both the primary and secondary walls.

11.1 Draw a cell and label parts

a basic sketch of cell from coconut husk (sclereid cells)

Notes:

Some questions are dependent on the specimen and therefore differs for each student. Questions 2.2,. 2.4, 3.1, 3.3 may be answered yes/no dependent on what you observed.

For the types of crystals:

CaC₂O_4:

prismatic

raphides

druses

styloids

CaCO_3:

cystolith

wormlike cystolith

Your instructor will draw a basic sketch of what these crystals look like and that’s pretty much it.

A while back I discovered a recipe for tomato basil soup, I can’t even remember where. It was supposed to be a copycat recipe for the one at La Madeline restaurant. Since I haven’t had the one there I don’t know how close it is, or even how much I’ve changed it since then, but it’s a soup I’ve made over and over again, loving it each time.

I’ve always used canned tomatoes for this soup, but now that tomatoes are coming in from my CSA I am going to give it a shot with fresh ‘maters soon. Mmmm. Tomatoes.

Roasted vegetable stock, simmering

Anyway, it’s a really simple recipe, although for the first time I made vegetable stock to use with it. Using the roasted vegetable stock recipe from How to Cook Everything, I made a stock using carrots, onions, celery, potatoes, garlic, shiitake mushrooms, fresh parsley from the back deck, peppercorns and salt. It was a simple process, just took a while to make – mostly unattended.

To a quart of my fresh stock, I added three cans of diced tomatoes and simmered them together for twenty minutes or so. I let it cool a bit, then processed the heck of out of it in my food processor along with a handful of fresh basil. It went back into the pot with a stick of butter. Once that’s melted in, I added about 3/4 of a cup of half and half. (It’s better with heavy cream, but half and half is what I had on hand.) Heat through and you’re done!

Kung Fu Cup o' Soup

I had some gruyere left hanging out in the fridge so I shredded it and toasted some home made bread for a little cheese toast. Ahhh. Heavenly.

It was so dark out today! Whenever I went to take a picture, the sun was very well hidden, and it kept threatening to start raining (spitting) but never quite came. Or I may have simple changed locations before the rain actually came in some cases.

Anyways, a blender action shot for breakfast. That monster contained a mango, chia seeds, and a whole lot of collard greens.

For lunch I had a salad mess containing cucumber, asparagus, carrot, red pepper and tomato with a Peach Bourbon BBQ sauce topping.

And in the afternoon half a pint of raspberries and a banana dissappeared.

I went to Whole Foods today for the first time in a couple of months, and spent some time browsing, which resulted me in sending too much money, but ending up with lots of fun new things to try. One of those things was a hunk of Marti cheese, which is a raw ewe’s milk cheese that to me tastes kinda like a cross between parmesan and muenster (aka pretty awesome). I used it as a topping for my dinner, a big bowl of blended soup containing zucchini, carrot, lots of red pepper, a couple small dates, thyme, sage, salt, pepper, and olive oil.

And some honeydew for dessert.

Another Whole Food purchase that I just tried is Stash Mint green tea powder. It’s made of regular tea leaves that are ground superfine so they dissolve instantly in cold water for iced tea. Unfortunately, I’m really not a fan, I even dumped out the rest of that glass. Though to be honest, I probably should have known I wouldn’t like it given my distaste for matcha green tea. So if you do like matcha, I say give it try, you’ll probably love it

So how about a quick, impromptu mini contest? If you do like matcha, or are just curious, leave a comment by Sunday night and I’ll randomly choose 3 people to mail a few packets of Stash Mint Green Tea Powder. I’d like to see some of you readers come out of the woodwork!

Some good news! One of our tomatoes is actually turning red! I doubted that there was enough sun to grow anything on our balcony, but it seems to be working. Hopefully I can make a tomato salad by August.

It’s hot in my apartment right now. That comes with living on the third floor, I guess. Cheaper rent but higher temperatures. I feel bad for our cat and rabbit, because they’re always lying around trying to beat the inevitable afternoon heat. 

Exhibit A: Cute but immobile bunny

Sometimes you just need something simple, undemanding. A meal you don’t need to really think about, plan for or work up a sweat to pull off, something you know you’ll love just by reading the recipe title.

Indian spiced? Vaguely. Certainly not the kind of aromatic and mouth-watering way that I think of when I crave Indian food. It’s one of my favorite cuisines, my most requested meal away from home. These pitas made me think more of Gyros than Indian food.

But quick, simple and uncomplicated was in order for dinner, and once all the fixins’ were ready, we stuffed our pitas and then our mouths. I don’t know when I’ve seen a sandwich disappear so quickly. Mine was so full that the pita basically exploded.

Delicious? Absolutely. We both went back for seconds.

I have a confession to make; see those red onions above? Superbly sliced thin and perfect? The tomatoes, all in a row and the same size? The perfectly julienned spinach? Anyone notice the regimented slices of beets in my last post?

I did it all by hand; a bit scary, it’s so neat and perfect, huh? But here’s the deal; when I was in culinary school one of the coaches for our student competition team told me that I was a perfectionist and I got kind of ticked off. He said something to the extent of  “Why would you get mad about it if it’s true?” Problem was, I didn’t know it was true and it irked me that he was pointing out a truth to me that I hadn’t realized. Once I accepted it, it made my life easier, and quite frankly, I was able to tone down a lot of that need for perfectionism after recognizing and acknowledging it. It makes it easier on my psyche for accepting the inevitable errors and mistakes, whether in the kitchen or elsewhere in my life.

But that doesn’t mean I don’t like to WOW the masses with my ‘human mandoline’ skills when I can.  If you like how I can slice that onion, you should see what I can do, by hand, to a clove of garlic.

Indian Spiced Chicken Pitas
Eating Well magazine, June 2009

1# chicken breasts
2 T. garam masala
1/4 c. olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

Toppings for pitas: sliced tomato, sliced red onion, shredded romaine or spinach

Blend garam masala and oil and brush on chicken. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and refrigerate for about an hour. Prepare to liking either on your grill, stovetop or oven method.

Cucumber Raita
Classic Indian Cooking by Julie Sahni

1 medium cucumber, peeled and seeded
1 medium tomato
1 green chili, optional
1 c. plain yogurt
1/4 c. sour cream
1 t. roasted and ground cumin seeds
2-3 T. finely minced cilantro or mint (both together is divine)
1/2 t. kosher salt

Blend yogurt and sour cream with a whisk. Stir in chopped cucumber, chili, tomato and seasonings and stir to blend. Allow to sit for at least 30 minutes before serving.

Stuff pitas with chicken and toppings, serve dressed with raita.

KATE’S NOTES:
I added some finely minced green onion to the raita and about a teaspoon of garam masala. We did not have sour cream on hand. The raita would have been slightly more tangy and sour with it, but it tastes just fine without it too. Sahni’s recipe calls for removing the pulp from the tomato but I left it in. It also calls for grating both the cuke and tomato. That would be entirely up to you. I like a chunky raita so I chopped them. I do, however, highly suggest fresh cumin seeds- really for everything- because the flavor is much more pronounced and brighter than pre-ground cumin. You would need a dedicated spice grinder or a mortar and pestle for them. Both work well.

I have been surprised by the quantity of rolls, cakes, fruitcakes which are sold in China cities. They look and taste as ours. Probably that  is true. I tried traditionally Chinese pastry products – for example an unsweetened stick, prepared in hot fan. The taste is unusual. Definitely not for me!

Give me a dish with corn and you are giving me a successful eating experience.  For years, corn and potatoes were the vegetable of choice.  Now, I have expanded my horizons and can say, I like many vegetable combinations but that is very recent.  I am a slow learner, at least with liking healthy food.  Never too late……

I wonder how much your recipes and photographs have inspired me to make those veggie dishes and thus develop a taste for them.  I thank you all.

“Maque choux , approx. “mock shoe”) is a traditional dish of southern Louisiana. It is thought to be an amalgam of Acadian French (Cajun) and Native American cultural influence, and the name is likely to derive from the French interpretation of the Native American name.”

To our corn dish:

Macque Choux

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

1 small onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced (I skipped this)

2 cups corn (I used frozen)

1 medium red pepper, diced

1/2 cup water

1 medium tomato, chopped

3 scallions, sliced

1/4 teaspoon dried thyme

1/2 teaspoon paprika

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper, or to taste

Method:

Heat oil in large skillet over medium heat.

Add onion and cook, stirring until starting to soften about 2 minutes.

Add bell pepper and garlic and cook, stirring, for 2 more minutes.

Add corn kernels and water and cook, stirring until tender, about five minutes.

Renove from heat and stir in tomato, scallions and spices.

* I got this recipe on the Internet and when I went to get the URL, instead I got a warning message about having the security from another website. 

BEEF STOCK Ingredients:

Left over bones from Roast.
Trimmings from Veg from roast!
Method:

Cover bones in tomato pure, pop in oven until black.
Transfer to pot cover wi COLD water and bring to a gentle simmer.
Don’t boil it or it’ll go cloudy.
Add carrott, onion, leek, celery trimmings (no parsnip or turnip, it’ll go cloudy)
Add garlic and hard herbs.
Cook 2-3 times if possible.
Top up with cold water regularly.
Let it cool, refrigerate overnight, the fat will settle and you can pick it off the next day.
Pass through a sieve or cloth to get the finest liquid possible.
Heat/reduce the beef juice until you get a nice thicker consistency.  (cheers marky!)

SOUP Ingredients:

2 tablespoons olive oil 600g gravy beef, trimmed, cut into 2cm pieces
1 medium brown onion (150g),
chopped coarsely 1 clove garlic, crushed
1 litre (4 cups) water 3 cups of homemade beef stock
400g can diced tomatoes
2 trimmed celery stalks (200g), cut into 1cm pieces
1 medium carrot (120g), cut into 1cm pieces
2 small potatoes (240g), cut into 1cm pieces
fresh sweetcorn (scrape of cob into pan)
1⁄2 cup (60g) frozen peas

METHOD:

Heat half of the oil in large saucepan; cook beef, in batches, until browned.
Heat remaining oil in same pan; cook onion and garlic, stirring, until onion softens.
Return beef to pan with the water, stock and undrained tomatoes; bring to the boil.
Reduce heat; simmer, covered, 1.5 hours.
Add celery, carrot and potato to soup; simmer, uncovered, about 20 minutes or until  vegetables are tender.
Add corn and peas to soup stir over heat until peas are tender.
Serves about 6, accompany with a tasty cold cider…….. Fooockin delicious!

Only half a day left to what has been a pretty crazy busy week! And it looks like I’ll actually get the weekend off, yay! All the better for going to see some wizarding action at the movies. However, tomorrow will also likely bring with it the posting of my tuition fees to my account, ewwww. I’m predicting $9400, which I know isn’t that much compared to some American schools, but compared to Arts and Science programs at most Canadian universities, that’s high! Silly engineering being a professional program.

Anyways, this morning started off a bit differently since I didn’t have to go to all the way up to work (in Markham) right away, only to Spadina Station for the morning. I thoroughly enjoyed a bowlful of oatgurt topped off with a peach and a spoonful of maple syrup. This bowl was truly divine!

I was able to stop off again at home around noon to drop off my hard hat, vest, and safety boots and grabbed some melon while I was at it to hold me over for the ride up to work.

Once there I munched through a container of cucumber, red pepper, carrot, and cherries. Plus I had most of a fresh whole wheat bagel I found in the work kitchen for someone’s birthday. And yes, I’ll admit it, that is a hair in my lunch and not on your computer screen. It was removed after the picture. At least it was my own

I was a busy bee all afternoon and didn’t get home till almost 8, at which point I made sliders! Not your typical slider though. On a base of collard greens I stacked tomato, cucumber, Sol Falafel patties, and the tahini-lemon sauce they came with. Om nom nom. Those patties are pretty awesome.

Chicken taco salad.  Carrburrito’s, Carrboro.

Tomato gazpacho is not redundant.

Gazpacho got its start in Andalusia, the southern-most province of Spain, sometime between the 8th and 12th centuries – long before the tomato arrived on European soil.  Owing to its origins and its meaning – gazpacho comes from an Arabic word meaning “soaked bread” – some food historians believe the Moors brought the dish to Spain as a sophisticated field ration.

Other food historians trace the dish to the early Romans, who soaked their stale bread in vinegar and olive oil, before puréeing it.  In that case, they believe the Latin word “caspa,” meaning “residue” or “fragment” came to inspire the word gazpacho.

All of which means that gazpacho is more about bread and vinegar, than it is about tomatoes.  Indeed, a white gazpacho, ‘”ajo blanco,” made from almonds, bread, garlic, vinegar, and garnished with green grapes, remains incredibly popular in Malaga, Spain.  Another white gazpacho, from the Estremadura region, mixes eggs and cucumbers into the bread, vinegar, garlic, and oil mixture.

So no matter which gazpacho you decide to make, it  should include olive oil, garlic, and a good vinegar (I like to use sherry vinegar).  For tomato gazpacho, fat, juicy, vine-ripened tomatoes are best, but if unavailable, canned tomatoes will work fine.  When using bell peppers, red or yellow are preferable to the bitterness of green peppers.  Finally, gazpacho is best made in advance.  Allowing the gazpacho to chill for several hours helps the flavors to blend and ripen, while allowing the vinegar to fade into the background.  I kept my tomato gazpacho in the refrigerator for several days, and each serving seemed to be better than the last!

When serving gazpacho, it’s common to pass around bowls full of croutons, diced tomatoes and cucumbers, and finely chopped scallions, allowing each guest to individually garnish their gazpacho.  If you’re making croutons, a good white bread is probably the most common, though I was quite pleased with the croutons I made from my leftover brioche!

Tomato Gazpacho

PREP TIME: 10 minutes, but chilling recommended
YIELD: Serves 4

WHAT TO GRAB:
3 large tomatoes, chopped
1 small red onion, chopped
1 cucumber, peeled, seeded, and chopped
1/2 red pepper, seeded and chopped
1 clove of garlic, peeled and chopped
2 tablespoons olive oil
4 tablespoons sherry vinegar
3/4 cup water or tomato juice (depending on desired thickness)
Kosher salt and pepper to taste

FOR THE CROUTONS:
6 slices of brioche or crusty bread
2 to 3 tablespoons olive oil

HOW YOU DO IT:

1.  Combine tomatoes, onion, cucumber, pepper, garlic, oil, vinegar, and water in a blender.  Process on low speed until well combined, but still thick.  Pour the mixture into a large jar or bowl.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.  Refrigerate for at least an hour before serving.

2.  Heat a large skillet with olive oil over medium-low heat.  Dice the bread into half-inch cubes and fry them until browned.

3.  Serve the chilled gazpacho in bowls or ramekins, and garnish with a thin slice of cucumber and a handful of croutons!

I saw Oliver’s Twist the other day, a TV programme of Jamie Oliver’s created for syndication all over the world. It’s little seen in the UK until recently, when the Good Food Channel started running them. In this one, he was making food for his then-14 month old daughter Poppy. The minestrone soup he made really caught my eye, and my tongue!

I found his recipe for minestrone on his site. ‘Minestrone’ loosely means “the big soup” and has no set recipe; it’s an Italian staple designed to use whatever vegetables are in season and stretch them out for soup. I had some cauliflower and courgette leftover from yesterday’s curry so they were definitely going in, along with some tomatoes and asparagus tips I had.

I started by sweating down a diced onion and some crushed garlic, along with some finely chopped basil stalks. I find the stalks of basil plants infuse your soffritto with such perfume, it’s really delicious backnote. I wasn’t impressed with the quality of my tomatoes so I added a squirt of tomato puree here too. I then added the diced veg as above, spaghetti snapped into 2 inch pieces and vegetable stock. I let it simmer until the pasta was al dente, then scooped into deep bowls topped with shredded basil. The final genius touch by Jamie was a generous dollop of pesto; it sounds a bit odd but the powerful ingredients seep gently into the broth and infuse it with sunny flavours. Very tasty, and one that will stay with me all year depending on what’s in the cupboard!

Beware…rando eats ahead!  Since I’m heading off to the Windy City for a ladies’ weekend o’ fun in a mere 1 1/2 hours, I have not replenished with a fresh food stash this week.  Hence, today’s eats so far are a slapdash mash of whatev was left in the kitch.  Starting with brekkie…

AB + smashed naner + Ezek + cinnamon (x2 of course!)

This beauty held me over for awhile, then it was grazing time!  A little bit of scone yumminess from Bread & Chocolate, one of my favorite St. Paul haunts, courtesy of a coworker…

1/2 Berry Lemon Scone - have I told you how much I LOVE scones? Because I do.

Blueberry lovin', and yes, I ate all of them.

I tried this new Kashi dude, courtesy of Angharad of Eating for England, who I met up with last night for a delectably delicious bloggy dinner.  The verdict?  Well, as soon as I opened it up, the sweet smell of coffee wafted into my nose.  That is a good start.  A very good start.  Overall, the bar was really good – it’s definitely not my fave by any means but when you mix chocolate + coffee, you have a winner in my book.

Kashi Dark Mocha Almond Love

More gorge heirloom tomatoes...

Banana Nut Cheerios + vanilla almond milk...my CEO called me Cheerio-head when I ate this, FYI.

Look at those chunks of jelly in my new fave AB+PB+J trail mix from Trader Joe's...mmmmmm!

So, yes – yours truly ate a real slapdash (definition: in a careless or reckless manner) of foods on this lovely Thursday.  I guess that’s what you get when you fall asleep on the couch and wake-up at 12:30 having done nothing you needed to get done don’t plan ahead.  Sorry to make this an extremely uninteresting post, but I gotta run out the door and get my buns on the road to Chi-town ladies and gents!  Woowoo for an early weekend!

In the meantime, check out my guest post at No Meat Athlete to get more of your Healthy Everythingtarian fix.  I’ll explore the wonderful world of global vegetarian food… (hint, hint: beer totally counts!) 

I won’t be blogging in Chicago, but stay tuned on Sunday for a recap of the weekend’s eats, fun, purchases (shopping WILL be involved) and shenanigans.

Hope y’all have a fabulous weekend!

Hellloooo, yummy!  Why is it I have never heard of such a thing as roasted tomato sauce?  I’ll be honest, my idea of making spaghetti sauce consisted mainly of opening up a bunch of cans of assorted tomatoes, dumping them in a blender with some spices, zipping around a few times to remove most of the chunks, and transferring the slurry to a big pot to bring to a slow boil.  Not the all day event my mom used to endure every time she made her sauce….and it tasted just as good.  Sorry mom, but it’s true!  (sidenote:  this is also the woman who spent all day cooking our Thanksgiving turkey, waking before the crack of dawn, painstakingly basting it every hour….until I introduced her to those giant bags you can cook a turkey in!  LOL!)

Anyways, I ran across a recipe for roasted tomato sauce and thought, wow, that sounds like it would be really good!  I got home, plucked a bunch of tomatoes from the garden, quartered them up and seasoned them just so.  Tossed them in the oven for an hour, and presto!  Roasted tomatoes.  Let them cool a titch, toss them in the blender, pulse a few times until it resembled sauce and well what do you know?  I’ve got a tasty new sensation going on over here!

So here’s what you do:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
Wash the tomatoes and quarter them.  Toss them in a bowl.
Douse them liberally with your favorite oil and balsamic vinegar.
Sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste.
Mince some fresh garlic and toss that in the bowl, too.
Lastly, add in some fresh chopped oregano and basil and you’re done.

Mix it all up good, arrange the tomatoes in a single layer on a baking pan, and slowly roast those bad boys for about an hour.  When they look all roastedly-delicious, pull them out and let them cool a bit before pulsing in your blender.

That’s IT!  Nothin’ to it.  Clean.  Whole. Delicious.  (….and good for you too!)

Are you salivating yet? Is yo'momma?

The BST^2, featuring bacon, spinach, tomato, turkey and pesto,  is not for those with back pain, heart palpatations or motion sickness. It is for those who want the ultimate thrills and chills for their pallet.

Here’s what you need to make a party in your mouth:

• 2 pieces of  whole wheat bread
• 3 slices of turkey
• 2 pieces of turkey bacon (or regular)
• 3 slices of tomato
• A couple leaves of spinach
• Pesto (see previous blog for recipe, or use store bought)
• Optional: couple slices of raw zucchini–gives a nice, cold crunch

Toast bread and cut up veggies. Smear pesto on each piece of toast then stack zucchini and spinach. Fold the turkey pieces in half and then half again.  Then, add tomato and bacon.

Strap on your lap belts, hold onto your safety restrains and try not to scream with delight from every bite.

A fast lunch fix.  Julia had hers with goldfish crackers floating on it.  Couldn’t really tell the egg was there — I think going vegan with it and using tofu would be better. Not bad, but needs a little work.  Its main virtue is quickness — esp with impatient 5 year old around. I can have her mess with beating the eggs while I’m dealing with the rest.

INGREDIENTS

• 32 oz carton of Imagine “No Chicken” Broth
• 4 plum tomatoes, diced
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1 tsp grated ginger
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• 4 egg whites, beaten
• 2 green onions, minced for garnish

DIRECTIONS

Boil the broth.  Dump in tomatoes, sugar, and ginger and cook for 2 minutes while beating the egg whites.  Pour the egg whites into the soup while stirring all the while. Garnish with green onions and serve.

Yesterday afternoon and evening were rather creative and domestic as my evenings go—especially for a weekday. There’s something about creative days that makes me happy. I’ve always wished I was more creative. And pottering around in the kitchen is good for the soul, I am convinced.

Libby and I were rostered on to bring some home-baked treats to work for morning tea today, so that was the spur for all this domesticity. We decided on a theme of ‘favourites from an Australian childhood’. This had twofold benefits: all the Aussies (young and old) would get a trip down memory lane, and everyone who didn’t grow up in Australia (at least half the people at work didn’t) would get to try something new and share in the communal nostalgia.

We made chocolate crackles, honey joys, and fairy bread. Yum!

It’s possible I ate far too much fairy bread this morning. Possible, but sources can’t confirm.

I also managed to get some knitting done, on something that is ultra-cute but unfortunately secret. More news on that later.

The most exciting and creative project of the day was the peculiar inside-out rolls I made after Libby went home. I really have to think of a better name for them, so I’d better describe them. I’ve been thinking about making this sort of bread for a while—basically it’s a roll which has filling baked inside it. This way you don’t have to make a sandwich in the morning, you just grab one of these and off you go. It came about because I was trying to think of things that are convenient for Phil to take to work. He travels around a lot during the day and often doesn’t have microwave or fridge access, and some things are liable to get squashed in his bag. My immediate thought was pasties, but the unhealthiness of pastry turned me off a bit. I thought, what if I replaced the pastry with bread? And here we are.

These have a ham, cheese and tomato based filling, but I imagine you could fill these with anything you like, depending on if you want to eat them at room temperature or warmed up. I imagine leftover stews, curries and the like would work well, but I think fresh ingredients would also shine here. I’m thinking of trying pumpkin and feta ones, maybe with a bit of spinach. Or roast capsicum with onion and lemon zest. Use your imagination!

Peculiar Inside-Out Roll Things

1 quantity of Jamie’s basic bread dough (I used half bread flour, a quarter wholemeal plain flour, and a quarter white plain flour, but use what you like)

about 200g ham, sliced

grated cheddar

2 tomatoes, chopped

black pepper

fresh continental parsley, chopped (or other herbs, I used chives when I ran out of parsley).

Follow the recipe for bread dough up to the end of Step 4. While it is rising, mix together your filling ingredients (I basically used the quantities that suited my taste for this filling, but if you like more cheese and less ham or whatever, adjust as you see fit).

At Step 5, after you knock back the dough, divide it into 8 pieces. Press and pull each of these pieces into a circle about 1cm thick; it should be about 18-20cm in diameter. Place a mound of filling in the middle (I used about 3-4 tablespoons’ worth), then fold the dough up and over the filling, squashing it all together so none can escape.

Put the rolls sealed-side down on a baking tray, cover with a clean tea-towel and allow to rise as Jamie suggests.

Once they have risen, cook your rolls in a 220°C oven for around 20 minutes, or until they sound hollow when tapped and are nicely brown.

Leave them to cool for as long as you can stand it, then dig in!

I adore green soups. I mean soups from fresh vegetables.
There is also and green peas.
I took the recipe from a Chinese cuisine, and changed it a little bit.
The main secret is all fresh vegetables!

soup