because it's still summer, dammit!

Ok, I'm seeing too many fall-related blog posts lately! People, it's still summer until this coming WEDNESDAY. I don't want to hear about your pumpkins and squash and Halloween costumes and hot cider! It's summer! I refuse to give in to fall until I absolutely have to!

So in that vein, a little flashback post from last summer...

What do you do when you come across some insane heirloom tomatoes in the Downtown Syracuse Farmers Market? Like the big buddy above, weighing in at around 4 pounds?

How about a tomato focaccia?

How about letting them play the star role in the meal? Doesn't a nice fat tomato drizzled with olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt, pepper, and fresh basil look so much better than some big roasted dead thing?

Oh god, I am do damn vegan...

because it's still summer, dammit!

short, warm, and sweet

Ever since we got back to Syracuse, Daiku and I have been trying to get back into our normal routine- cooking, eating, working, etc. I have to admit, though, when it comes to eating, we are still a little bit discombobulated, relying a lot on pantry foods and quick meals, most of them not blog-worthy. However, we have eaten a few sweet goodies that are definitely blog-worthy.

First, Daiku made these gorgeous cinnamon rolls. For anyone hanging out in the vegan blogosphere, or on the PPK, Evan's cinnamon rolls are old news, but we haven't had a chance to make them until now. And I'm so sorry we waited so long, these babies are magnificent! Daiku used half white and half spelt flour, and the infusion of whole grain didn't have a bit of negative effect- these were fluffy, soft, sweet and gooey- everything a cinnamon roll should be. Instead of making all the icing the recipe called for, we made a small batch and put them on individual rolls as we ate them - this way, we could warm them up without worrying about runny icing, and we used much less icing.

On a slightly less virtuous note, Daiku also made these raspberry chocolate chip blondies from Vegan with a Vengeance. I was always intrigued by the beautiful combination of blood-red raspberries, dark chocolate chips and fluffy white cake in this recipe.

Unfortunately, it appears that we under-baked it a little, it was gooey in the center. But we ate around the gooey parts while it was still warm and it was still satisfying.

On the freak produce front, here's a slightly x-rated specimen, from a package of freeze-dried mangosteens from Trader Joe's. I've never tasted fresh mangosteen, and like durians, I'm saving myself for them until I have a chance to take a trip to their home base of Southeast Asia. The freeze-dried ones are pretty good snacks, though!

I was looking through old photos and found this one, which I think you guys will like. My friend Natalie manages to be a genius cake-decorator in addition to teaching art history and working on her dissertation. When one of our favorite professors was leaving to teach at another school, she baked this cake in the shape of a film reel for his good-bye party, since he teaches film courses. Pretty cool, eh?

Finally, when gooey vegan baked goods aren't enough, you need really warm slippers to survive the Syracuse winter! I've been looking for ages, and finally managed to find these warm, soft, lined booties. Vegan fluffy booties on clearance, $10. Coziness and warmth on a freezing night, priceless.

short, warm, and sweet

the produce post

I had a few summer wishes that hadn't come true until very recently, which is why I have been obnoxiously clinging on to the passing season. Among these, raspberry picking, blueberry picking, peach picking, one last trip to the beach, one last BBQ, one last road trip. Well you've seen some of these happen lately (hello raspberries! nice to meet you BBQ!). It's too late for me to pick blueberries this season. Whew! Just admitting that is liberating! In this post, I bring you some more items that I've been ticking off my summer checklist, bringing me closer and closer to accepting the end of that season and the beginning of another.

Behold...

Peaches! I had been wanting to go peach-picking for weeks. Not only would picking the peaches ourselves be more fun, but it would be way more cost-effective than buying them at the market. My environmentalist and frugal tendencies would nudge me in this direction. But the closest peach orchards to us were about an hour away. So... how many fossil fuels am I willing to burn for the idyllic thrill of picking fresh local peaches? Support local farmers and save money, but drive 150 miles round-trip, put out carbon emissions, spend $20 on gas? Decisions, decisions.

Fortunately, the decision was made for me one Saturday at the farmers market, when I met a man selling this huge bushel of "seconds." They were seconds not because they were overripe or damaged, but because they were cosmetically compromised by hail! Basically, I got a box of ugly buy perfectly delicious peaches for $5. Local, meet the farmer? Check. Cheap? Check. Lots of peaches to have fun with? Check and check.

At the market, we also got a huge basket of these tiny plums, which as you can see in the photo above, were about the size of large grape tomatoes. I kept wanting to use the plums to cook or bake something fabulous, but they were just so damn tasty to pop into my mouth. Somehow, Daiku and I went through these before anything got made. Going delirious with a huge glut of produce and eat them all before you can make anything with them? Check!

One of the best buys we have made from the market in recent memory is the world's biggest and best bunch of spinach ever. See that huge bunch I'm holding up in the above photo? That was only, say, 1/8 of the entire bag. We had so much spinach, that we used some almost every day, but didn't finish it for over a week! We kept fearing that it would go bad, but this never happened. Basically, this was fresh local spinach, pulled out by the root, so it stood up to refrigeration admirably. We used it for pizza topping, pasta, soup, salad, and more, as you've seen in my last few posts.

But the coolest thing that came from the spinach was... green smoothies! I've always wanted to experiment with throwing greens into smoothies. I've made smoothies with powdered spirulina, and I've juiced kale, but I had never gathered up the courage to just throw a bunch of greens into a smoothie until now. I figured the spinach was so fresh, tasty, and tender that now was as good a time as any to try it.

And boy, was it good! As you can see from these photos, the spinach completely dissolves in the smoothie, so there are no chunks hanging around. There is also no lingering flavor- all the spinach leaves behind is this beautiful emerald color. I was amazed at how much spinach I could cram into a small smoothie. So for breakfast, I could have 2 or more servings of greens (in addition to the banana, soy yogurt, orange juice and other goodies I threw in there) before the day had even begun. It felt really virtuous and good. Get a huge amount of perfect produce, enough to experiment with? Check!

With all these lovely summer produce experiences, I have been comforted enough to finally let autumn in. The photo above is from our second apple-picking excursion. It's so fun to bring home a huge amount of apples, and now that different varieties are coming in, there's even more we can do with them. In future posts, I will share the crisps, juices, pies, and sauces these apples have been yielding, but for now, I want to share my apple theory with you.

You see, when I go apple picking, I always pick these apples with the freckly markings on them. Not only do I love imperfect produce, but I'm convinced that these are the apples with the best flavor and texture. So far, I haven't been proven wrong. See, this is the fun of picking your own, whatever the produce item might be: getting to see the charming, quirky, irregular, or ugly fruit that you might never encounter in a supermarket. It adds immeasurable pleasure to the eating experience to come to terms with your food in its original context.

What about you? Do you have any "theories" about what makes the best-tasting produce? Are there any rituals or superstitions that you have to share about how you go about gathering the food you eat? Share them with me!

one year ago today: on 2 October 2006 I asked, what's on your skin?

the produce post

dandy eggplant warhol

After this post, a lot of you asked what Daiku and I ended up doing with the crazy, multi-knobbed white eggplant that we brought home from the farmers market.

Before I can answer that question, I must start by talking about another fantastic Melody tester recipe:

This was her Teriyake Glazed Tempeh, which we enjoyed with brown rice, garnished with toasted sesame seeds and scallions. The teriyake glaze was quite delicious, and the recipe left us with quite a bit extra. It was this extra glaze that we doctored up to make...

Miso-grilled eggplant! By adding some miso and rice vinegar to an already great sauce, we had the makings of a great marinade for the sliced eggplant. After marinading the eggplant for a while, we grilled it up, along with some pineapple slices and scallions. More marinade was brushed on everything as it grilled, adding moistness and flavor. I was amazed how sweet and lovely scallions become after being grilled.

These grilled goodies got served atop a bed of mixed greens (dressed with the marinade!), with a bit of brown rice and some more toasted sesame seeds. This was an incredibly satisfying meal, using flavors that we don't eat as frequently as we should!

Here's Mr. Eggplant in Warhol form. He's almost... lifelike, isn't he?...

**Walk For Farm Animals Update** To all who donated money, offered words of support and encouragement, or decided to embark on a walk of your own, thank you SO much! This is my first fundraising attempt, and it is already successful beyond my wildest expectations! There is still time to donate, by clicking on the widget on the sidebar or going directly to may page at: http://firstgiving.com/bazu. You guys all rock, and the farm animals will be very happy indeed.
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dandy eggplant warhol

living it up, farmers market style

So as many of you know, summer is still alive and well in my mind. I calmly go about my day, ignoring Halloween decorations in stores, pumpkins in the supermarkets, bloggers' posts about soups and pot pies, and the weather forecast that says Saturday's high in Syracuse will be around 50 degrees! La la la la la. What's that you hear? The sound of Bazu covering her ears and trusting the calendar that says it's still summer, goshdarnit!

Daiku and I made a trip to the farmers market and came home with the booty that you see, above. We got: tomatoes (red and yellow), romaine lettuce, broccoli rabe, garlic, canteloupe, plums,

And a couple of the wonkiest white eggplants you are likely to have ever seen!

First of all, can I say, fresh local garlic is a revelation?? Ok, for someone who supposedly blogs about the joys of local food, this is going to sound pretty lame, but I never really buy garlic at the farmers market. It's one of those things that's so easy to throw in your cart at the supermarket and then forget all about. But these huge bunches of garlic were so fresh, so fragrant, so potent, it was a revelation. Like much else, garlic tastes better when it hasn't been shipped for thousands of miles and stored for months. *slaps forehead*

So with this revelatory garlic, and the broccoli rabe and multi-colored tomatoes from the market (and some fresh basil and oregano from the garden), we made this pasta dinner. It's a really improvisational dish, so I won't give a recipe, rather a guide to what I did:

• boil some water for pasta, boil some water for the broccoli rabe
• blanch the broccoli rabe by dunking it in salted boiling water for 1 minute, drain
• while pasta is cooking, warm up a generous amount of extra virgin olive oil on medium-low heat
• add a bunch of red pepper flakes and crushed garlic, allowing them to release their fragrance
• add drained broccoli rabe, some salt, and pepper to the oil and heat through
• turn off heat, add some diced tomatoes, a tiny bit more of garlic, and some chopped fresh basil and oregano to the mixture. cover and allow the flavors to blend
• drain pasta and add it to the veggie mixture. stir to combine, then serve, garnishing with more fresh basil and oregano.
• from chopping to dinner on the table in way less than 30 minutes - take THAT, Rachael Ray!

These Italian plums remind me of my mom, who used bring home huge amounts of them, and then laugh as I would proceed to eat them all. They are just so fragrant and delicious, with sweet flesh and tart skin, the way a plum should be!

And perfect for baking, too! When I saw this recipe on Emmie's blog for almond plum pie, I just knew I had to have it! I saved it for a special occasion and made it for our anniversary last week. Oh man, it's good. I'm not much of a pie baker, so these pictures aren't that great, but I assure you, the pie is. I loved the cinnamon/cardamom/almond combination, it was definitely the perfect flavor combo.

I didn't have the apricot marmalade called for in the glaze, so I used plum jam instead. I think it worked o.k. Thanks, Emmie!

As for the mutant eggplants? That's for a future post...

One year ago today: What I was blogging about on 12 September 2006

living it up, farmers market style

weird day

Today has been a strange day.

First, my cats got into a huge fight. Bijou and Marble don't exactly love each other, but they do stay away from one another- so when I heard hissing and meowing, I knew they were up to no good. I found a very angry Marble and a Bijou with a scratched up nose. Why? I have no idea. But for the rest of the day, these two cats slunk around the house, royally pissed off.

So then I go to the store to pick up some toilet paper and laundry detergent. Uh, guess what a friendly bird decided to deposit on my toe just as I was walking into the store. This is supposed to be good luck, right?

Look what I found at the supermarket! I had to bring this guy home. I'm a fan of mutant produce, I always feel like if I don't take them no one else will! (Kind of like on "Friends" when Phoebe felt bad for the puny Christmas trees, remember?)

Fortunately, there was a happy ending to a rather bizarre day. Bridget brought this tortilla soup by! I'd never had tortilla soup before (crazy, right?) and she instructed me to eat it with the tortilla strips, fresh avocado, and sour cream. It was so flavorful and spicy. Thank you Bridget! (Go to her blog for the recipe link)

I'm going to go to bed now, and hope tomorrow is slightly less Twilight Zone-ish!

weird day

farmer's market bounty

Even though we knew we knew our days in Syracuse were numbered, Daiku and I could not resist making repeated trips to the Syracuse Regional farmer's market, which is just beginning to burst with fresh summery produce. This is actually not my favorite farmer's market, since much of their produce is not local (plums from Chile? Peaches from California? I'd rather go to the supermarket wait until those things can be had regionally) My favorite market, the Downtown Syracuse farmer's market, does not open until later in June.

All that said, we still managed to get too much and had to quickly figure out how to use and/or save them until we would be back home.

I was so excited to see a lady selling rhubarb! That is actually all she was selling. Even though I adore the tangy, sour-sweet flavor of rhubarb, I'd never actually worked with it. However, I had promised myself that this summer would be it. The lady was really nice, she gave me detailed instructions on how to bake a pie, and tips (like to watch out for the amount of moisture they give off). However, I did not get around to baking a pie before I left. Instead, I cleaned, chopped, and cooked down the rhubarb with sugar and just a touch of orange juice. I froze this filling and reserved the liquid. Now, when I get back home, rhubarb pie will be a freezer door (and a crust) away.

Here is an incredibly hydrating and refreshing hot-weather concoction: I call it sushi juice. I simply juiced some organic carrots, daikon, cucumbers and a small piece of ginger. Try some! (Don't worry, it's not savory, it mainly tastes like carrot juice with a slightly cooler, mellower kick)

Here is the tomato we affectionately call "mutant" hanging out with his tomato buddies from the market. Hmmm. These were called "Rochester tomatoes"- does that mean tomatoes from Rochester? Or... Rochester brand tomatoes from California or something...? I'll just assume they were local- they certainly were tasty. Like a lot of other farmer's market bounty, most of these tomatoes went toward cooking for our end-of-the-year party. But a couple of them went toward this simple and satisfying lunch:

Tomato and zucchini slices, simply brushed with olive oil and grilled to perfection, then topped with a bit of fresh thyme. Daiku and I made sandwiches with these veggies and wondered why we don't grill more often.

I hope that wherever you all are, you are able to enjoy fresh local produce- from your own backyard, or from the friendly farmers in the markets!
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farmer's market bounty

Rochester? I hardly even know her!

John's Tex-Mex Eatery, Rochester, NY

Two weeks ago, our region had a veritable heat wave. You know, the kind that makes you forget all about winter, the kind that gives you serious spring fever? This is what is so nice about living somewhere with drastic seasons- you feel the changes in weather so accutely, and you feel really in touch with the cyclical nature of the seasons. In short, it rocks! So we decided it was the perfect excuse to take a road trip, and we headed west to Rochester.

It was our lucky day- we caught the tail end of the first public market of the year, a 100 year-old institution. I hadn't been to a farmer's market in ages, and because we got there as it was ending, we scored some great deals- a large bag of crispin apples for $1 and this entire box of mangoes for $2. I was especially excited that they were smaller, green mangoes, since I have a strange love of unripe fruits (Oh, crispy, sour, unripe fruit, how do I love thee...Back when I lived in Irvine, the farmer's market sometimes featured specialty Mexican produce such as green mangoes and I crave them to this day. Are green mangoes just unripe mangoes or a whole different variety? Either way, I love them both). Daiku was excited because he finally got to try his hand at...

Homemade mango pickle. So far, it's like a science experiment sitting on our windowsill, but soon, we will get to taste it and see if it's good! (or, you know, if we die from botulism or something)

Another thing I liked about these mangoes: their pits were freakishly small, so you got more mango for your buck! I've seen small avocados with tiny pits, but never the same with a mango. How cool!

Back to Rochester...

Next, we headed to lunch, at John's Tex-Mex Eatery. Now here's where we made our big mistake. Instead of having a light lunch and saving room for dinner, we got excited by the menu and each ordered a giant burrito. (In our defense, we didn't realize how giant the burritos would be!) You get your choice of filling, so I picked tofu, pinto beans, jalapenos, guacamole, and salsa.

Daiku picked tofu, black beans, cheese, jalapenos, guacamole, and salsa. Sorry for the food-porn shots- there is no way to make a burrito look pretty, is there? But they were delicious, especially with some salsa verde and chipotle salsa on the side. Smoking hot, but good.

We walked around, peeking into some little shops as we went. We of course visited the Abundance Co-op, since I feel the need to check out every food co-op I see! (pssst: they carry Temptation ice cream too!) I loved this crafty idea I saw in one shop: they had put hooks in this vintage picture frame. Practical as well as adorable- I have to try to replicate it soon.

For dinner, we had planned on going to an Ethiopian restaurant, since we don't have any in Syracuse and you just crave Ethiopian food sometimes, you know? But our massive lunch made that seem less appealing. We just wanted to sit somewhere cozy where we wouldn't have to eat a lot, and could just relax instead. We decided to go to The Old Toad, a British pub (with honest to goodness British bartenders and servers!). We figured, it was almost St. George's Day anyway, why not celebrate it?

We ordered some ales and chips. The server asked us if we wanted gravy with the chips, since it was free. As soon as he saw the slightly horrified looks on our faces, he hastened to add, "it's vegetarian gravy!" Well, we said ok, we'll try anything once provided it's free and vegetarian! The gravy was ok... but I'm still more than satisfied with just plain chips topped with a touch of malt vinegar. The beer list at this pub was astounding- basically any European beer you've ever heard of, and then 100's that you haven't.

We people-watched, played darts, pored over the beer list, and then left to go home, satisfied after a long, warm day in such a vibrant (and might I add very vegan-friendly) city such as Rochester. Next time, though, Ethiopian food for sure.

Here we are on the shore of Lake Erie Ontario, just outside of Rochester. I was pretty sure I saw Canada on the other side!

Some more sights from that memorably hot and sunny weekend:

Only in upstate NY: Daiku in flip-flops, standing in a pile of snow on an 82-degree day.

Our flowers!

The blizzard didn't kill them, yay!

Click here for a comprehenseive list of vegan and vegan-friendly restaurants in Rochester.

Rochester? I hardly even know her!