shining egg

rolling

i made tortillas and beans for dinner last night.  i've become so enamored with homemade tortillas that i can't bring myself to buy them at the store anymore, which is both good and bad.  it's good because, of course, homemade is better, healthier, all around.  but it's bad because i don't always have the time to make my own, or the inclination to cover the entire kitchen - counter tops, floors, everything - with flour.  but last night i did, and i'm so glad.  and today there will be quesadillas for lunch.

as an aside, while i was cooking the beans, after i had soaked them and sauteed the onion and the garlic, and just as i was about to pour the broth over the pot of yumminess, i realized that i was out of cumin.  luckily there was only one child at home with me at the time, and he acquiesced to going with me to the market down the street.  the beans were delicious, in the end, and they'll be in the quesadillas at lunch today, too.

but while i was rolling (and rolling and rolling) the tortillas yesterday afternoon, i realized that i have, um, five rolling pins.  which seems excessive, even for someone who does a lot of rolling.  there is the marble rolling pin we got as a wedding gift that i have never (ever) used, and which weighs about two hundred pounds.  there is the old wooden rolling pin with handles that i adopted when we packed up my grandmother's apartment, what seems like many moons ago.  there is the straight pin i bought for myself several years ago, needing one without handles.  and, there are still two more.  

there is the tiny rolling pin i bought for the kids, but which turns out to be the very, very best for rolling tortillas.  it's lightweight, easily maneuverable, you can see it in the first photo; i've grown quite attached to it.  and there is the most special rolling pin of all (also in the first photo) - the extra-long, straight, and well-loved rolling pin that belonged to my great-grandmother.  it lived with my aunt for many, many years, and when she passed away two years ago, the rolling pin came to live with me.

i think i'll get rid of the others - the marble pin and the straight pin i bought for myself - find them new homes where they will find use and bring enjoyment, while i roll and roll and feel grateful for the history and the future and the possibilities i hold in my hands - and for tortillas and beans.  yum.

coconut cupcakes are yummy

today is my mother's birthday. and also her mother's birthday.

can you imagine!? my mother was born on her mother's 23rd birthday. what a gift.

coconut cake is their favorite. (convenient that they have the same favorite, isn't it?) i've been making the same coconut cake recipe for a few years now, and though i love the cake, i wasn't crazy about the seven-minute-frosting. so today i tried something new: a coconut-cream cheese frosting. it's a bit thinner than i had imagined - not thin enough to be a glaze, but a wee bit thinner than a traditional frosting - but it's creamy and shiny and absolutely delicious. d.e.l.i.c.i.o.u.s.

i'll tell you how i made it. but only if you promise not to say a single word about my arteries. it's frosting, after all. and it's two birthdays rolled into one. ok? ok.

coconut-cream cheese frosting - makes more than enough to frost 18 cupcakes
(adapted from this recipe)

1 8-ounce block of cream cheese, at room temperature
1/2 stick unsalted butter, at room temperature
1.5-2 cups confectioners sugar
1/4 cup unsweetened coconut milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

beat the cream cheese and butter together until smooth.
add all but 1/2 cup of the confectioners sugar and beat until smooth.
add the coconut milk and vanilla and the remaining confectioners sugar.
beat until smooth. (there's a pattern here, you see?)
frost the cupcakes, trying not to eat as much of the frosting as i did along the way.
and enjoy.

happy birthday mom and gramz. i'm proud (and also feeling pretty lucky) to be your daughter and granddaughter. i'm wishing you love and joy - and most of all, peace - in the coming year.

green week, 3

so much green going on out there in this little slice of the internet! and honestly, it makes me happy to see so much green. to see so many people celebrating green. practically giddy, i tell you.

today, just these bits of green from my kitchen. a favorite mug. a little dipping bowl, presently used as a salt cellar. some cucumbers. (a certain five-year-old somebody is loving cucumbers right now, can't get enough of them.)

and links! to all of the lovely bloggers who have joined the green week fun since i posted the first list on monday. there are more of you, too, i know, who are not on this list. it's fun to find you around and about. if you'd like to be added to the list, do let me know.

jo

jade

suzanne

erin

capello

shari

leya

amy h

coastal girl

beth h

kt

shelly

chris

molly

clara

joanna

miscellany of me

happy green, everyone!

waffles and pancakes, made from scratch

in honor of mama urchin's from scratch week, i thought i'd share my recipe for waffles and pancakes. this one is a favorite around here - waffles on weekday mornings (or for a fun weekday dinner), pancakes on the weekends. and we add chocolate chips for a special treat.

we used to eat the kashi frozen waffles. until i could no longer stomach paying more than three dollars for a box of frozen waffles. for so many reasons. so two years ago i bought a waffle maker (after much hemming and hawing - to buy or not to buy, which one, etc.), and i have never looked back.

waffles (and pancakes)
adapted from the joy of cooking

in a small bowl, mix together:

1/2 cup all purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/8 cup wheat germ
1/8 cup ground flaxmeal

in another bowl (i use a large glass measuring cup), mix together:

2 cups plain yogurt (not non-fat)
2 tablespoons maple syrup
1 beaten egg
2 tablespoons melted butter (i like to melt the butter before i do everything else so that it cools before i add it to the rest of the wet ingredients)

mix the wet ingredients into the dry until blended
allow the mixture to sit for 5 minutes (or until your waffle maker heats up)
spray waffle maker with cooking spray (i use olive oil spray)
pour 1/2 cup mixture into the waffle maker, close the lid, and wait for the green light

this recipe makes approximately 6 large waffles. my kids generally eat 3 at one meal, and i freeze the rest for another meal.

top with jelly. or peanut butter. or almond butter. somehow my kids have never caught on to waffles with syrup, but that would be yummy, too.

enjoy.