put an egg on it.

We have recently joined together with some friends to create an egg collective. "What is an egg collective?" you may be asking yourself. Or you may be asking, "how did I end up on this hippie-dippie, new age, tree-hugging blog, anyway?"

Well, if you're still here, I'm telling you: an egg collective is a great idea, that's what it is. Basically, about 20 of us pay for a months-worth of eggs up front at the beginning of the month, then we pick up our fresh, local, organic and lovely eggs weekly from this little urban farm run by my good friends Shannon, Amy and Andy. They don't supply the eggs, but they organize the whole thing, provide a spot for them to live while they await pick up and are usually getting up to some hi-jinks when you come around for your weekly carton.

So anyway, since joining in with this collective, we occasionally find ourselves overly rich in ova. When this happens, my mantra has become: put an egg on it. Eggs can add a punch of protein to veggie-heavy meal. They can make a snack into something much more satisfying. Breakfast lunch or dinner...just put an egg on it.

 

Polenta with black bean stew and avocado? put an egg on it.

Olive-oil crostini with feta, spinach and bacon? put an egg on it.

Red-leaf lettuce and red peppers? put egg salad (and sunflower seeds) on it.

Green salad with roasted corn, potatoes and feta? put a (hardboiled) egg on it.

Spicy sesame stir-fry noodle bowl?  put an egg on it.

Chickpea and chicken sausage stew with avocado and crispy tortilla? put a (hot-sauced) egg on it.

A Space Odyssey and an on-point prediction

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I am about half-way through reading A Space Odyssey: 2001 by Arthur C. Clarke. I have always been a fan of Kubrick's film version and after I bought what I thought was the original story in book form, I learned that Clarke's book and Kubrick's screenplay were written simultaneously. Very interesting.

But, this post is about an interesting passage I came across while reading. Turns out, Arthur C. Clarke invented the ipad. At least, the idea of the ipad. In the images above, you can see, in both the cover art of the book and a scene from the movie, characters using almost ipad-identical devices.

He even was close with the name! Check it out:

When he tired of official reports and memoranda and minutes, he would plug his foolscap-sized Newspad into the ship's information circuit and scan the latest reports from Earth. One by one he would conjure up the world's major electronic papers; he knew the codes of the more important ones by heart, and had no need to consult the list on the back of his pad. Switching to the display unit's short-term memory, he would hold the front page while he quickly searched the headlines and noted the items that interested him....

...Floyd sometimes wondered if the Newspad, and the fantastic technology behind it, was the last word in man's quest for perfect communications. Here he was, far out in space, speeding away from Earth at thousands of miles an hour, yet in a few milliseconds he could see the headlines of any newspaper he pleased. (That very word "newspaper," of course, was an anachronistic hangover into the age of electronics.) The text was updated automatically on every hour; even if one read only the English versions, one could spend an entire lifetime doing nothing but absorbing the ever-changing flow of information from the news satellites.

It was hard to imagine how the system could be improved or made more convenient. But sooner or later, Floyd guessed, it would pass away, to be replaced by something as unimaginable as the Newspad itself would have been to Caxton or Gutenberg.

From 2001: A Space Odyssey , by Arthur C. Clarke.
Published by Del Rey in 1968


This was 1968 people. We hadn't even landed on the moon yet. I don't know about you, but I find this pretty impressive.

Let's just hope the whole HAL thing doesn't come true any time soon.

How Does Your Garden Grow?

daffodils

violets

the prettiest little white blossoms

buds coming out on the lilac bush

mustard greens sprouting on the windowsill

fresh parsley picked from the garden

moss

 Here in Victoria, spring comes early. Things begin to blossom in February and don't seem to stop until, well...ever. Living in a coastal rainforest means that the environment stays green for most of the year. My favourite part is the moss. I have an obsession with how fuzzy and squishy and lush it is. I wish my bed were made of moss.

Of course, you can't argue with the all the pretty blossoms popping up either. Our whole yard is covered in flat-leaf parsley left over from the gardening efforts of previous tenants. And I can't even explain to you how excited I am for the blossoming of the giant lilac that hides our front porch.

I've got six egg carton trays of seedlings on the living room windowsill and they all seem to be coming along nicely. Mustard greens, basil, kale, tomatoes and peppers. Our little garden in the making!

Cinnamon Swirl Fruit and Nut Bread

Yup, it's bread. It's swirled with cinnamon sugar. It has all manner of nuts, dried fruit and grains. It is delicious and not even that hard to make (I swear).

I used to have a bit of a fear of bread-making, which I am led to understand is quite common. I think it's that whole (it's alive!) yeast thing and the whole (must have hulk arms) kneading thing. But, then I got a stand mixer and it was like the doors to bread heaven opened to the song of celestial beings.

You don't need a stand mixer to make bread and you certainly don't need a bread-maker. Don't you  just hate it when you find a recipe that looks good until you get to the part where you need a bread/ice cream/doeverythingforyou maker. I am a bread-maker..that is why I need recipe. c'mon.

This is essentially a nice simple bread recipe with a little pizzazz. I encourage you to throw in whatever you think would be tasty when paired with cinnamon and slathered with butter or cream cheese in the morning. So...pretty much anything.

Recipe adapted from this one at 101 cookbooks

Ingredients:

Bread
1 1/4 cups / 300 ml warm water (105-115F)
2 teaspoons active dry yeast (one packet)
1 tablespoon runny honey
1 cup / 4.5 oz / 125 g unbleached all-purpose flour
1 cup / 5 oz / 140 g whole wheat flour
1 cup / 3.5 oz / 100 g rolled oats (not instant oats)
1 1/2 teaspoons fine grain sea salt

1/2 cp dried apricots (chopped)

1/2 cp raisins

1/2 cp walnuts

1 tbsp sunflower seeds and 1 tbsp milk (for topping)

Cinnamon Swirl

2 tbsp butter

1/4 cp brown sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp salt

Method:

Whisk warm water and honey together. Sprinkle yeast on surface of water and allow to stand until foamy (about 5 minutes).
In a separate bowl, mix together all dry ingredients. 

Slowly add yeast mixture to flour mixture, combining with a wooden spoon or the bread paddle on your stand mixer.

Knead on low for 6-10 minutes (less if using the mixer, more if using your hands)

After kneading bread should be a smooth and slightly firm ball.

Drizzle some oil in the bottom of a bowl, add your dough ball, turn to coat, cover and set in a warm place to rise. (Inside the oven works well...make sure it is off though!)

While the dough is rising, melt butter in a saucepan on low.

Add brown sugar, cinnamon and salt.

Cook on low until slightly thickened.

Remove from heat and set aside.

After about an hour your dough baby should be about double in size. 

Take it out and gently flatten the dough onto a floured cookie sheet. It should be about an inch thick.

Spread your cinnamon sugar mix evenly over the dough. 

Starting at one end, carefully roll the dough up like yule log or cinnamon bun.

Once rolled, tuck each end under the loaf and set in the center of the pan.

Brush with milk (I used almond) and sprinkle with seeds.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bake loaf for 45-50 minutes or until golden brown.

grey days

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I know spring is just around the corner and we've actually had quite a few sunny says here on the usually rainy West Coast, but...I just can't get enough of grey lately. Normally, my wardrobe is colourful and earth-toned. But for some reason,  right now, I've really got a case of the greys.

Easiest Ever Vegan Parmesan

Ok, so this recipe is almost too easy to post. I feel like I am patronizing you somehow by toting this as some revelation in the vegan cheese world. But, in all my dairy-alternative searching, I have never come across this particularly awesome version of parmesan. I like to think I invented it, but chances are it's just so simple that people are just walking around thinking "like...duh. Of course that's how you make vegan parmesan."

But to me, it was a revelation. It is perfect on tomato-sauced pasta. As a topping for baked macaroni. Sprinkled over squash.

And, if I must confess, since my posts have been few and far between, I thought this would be a nice quick little post for Saturday afternoon.

So, without further ado...the best and easiest vegan cheese topping...ever.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup raw cashews
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp mustard powder
1 - 1 1/2 tsp sea salt



Toss all ingredients in a food processor and pulse until cashews are finely crumbled.
Serve on anything  and everything you'd put parmesan on.
Ta-da!

Store leftovers in a sealed container. No need to refrigerate!

Shop Update - Dressed, Bloused and Coated

A new year means new items in the shop. Pristine whites, deep oranges and pretty little candy stripes. Enjoy.

Ruffled and Just So

Heart on Fire and Gold Dust

Gwynnevere and the Candyshop

one cozy Runaway coat