Beginner's Palate

Cody's really late birthday "cake"

Doesn't she look so pathetic?

Every year Cody asks for carrot cake on his birthday, and being the oh so devoted partner and enthusiastic baker that I am, I of course have no problem fulfilling this request. And it seems like every year his cake gets better. It's weird, I make carrot cake once a year, but somehow it keeps improving. But hey, I'm not complaining. Well, we've been especially busy lately and for one reason or another his cake was continuously being postponed. About a week after his birthday I was finally ready to bake but it almost seemed wrong making an entire birthday cake at this point. The festivities were over and we definitely did not want an entire carrot cake sitting in the kitchen, oh no I do not need that temptation or the guilt that accompanies that kind of self-indulgence. What to do? When in doubt make cookies! This works for pretty much any situation. Really, you should try it. Plus, cookies are much easier to give away than half of a cake, or a quarter of a cake, ya know whatever's left after the carnage. I found a great recipe for carrot cake cookies on epicurious, tweaked it a bit, although not too much, and wah lah! Happy late birthday Cody! Unlike many of my recipes these are not healthy at all, unless you count the carrots, but I mean they are for a birthday. I do love to make healthy food taste unhealthy, but you have to take a break sometimes. They're also super duper rich and super duper delicious. I took them to work the next day and they did not last long, which is always a nice little confidence boost. They're also easy to make, so there's really no excuse not to try them.

Carrot Cake Cookies

• 1 1/8 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 stick unsalted butter, softened
• 1/3 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 cup coarsely grated carrots (2 medium)
• 1 cup pecans, chopped
• 1/2 cup raisins
• 8 ounces cream cheese
• 1/4 cup honey

Preheat oven to 375 degrees and grease 2 baking sheets.

Whisk together flour, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt in a bowl.

Beat together butter, sugars, egg, and vanilla in a bowl with an electric mixer at medium speed until pale and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Mix in carrots, nuts, and raisins at low speed, then gradually add flour mixture and beat until just combined.

Drop 1 1/2 tablespoons batter per cookie 2 inches apart on baking sheets and bake, switching position of sheets halfway through baking, until cookies are lightly browned and springy to the touch, about 12 to 14 minutes. Cool cookies on sheets on racks 1 minute, then transfer cookies to racks to cool completely.

While cookies are baking blend cream cheese and honey with electric mixer .

Smoosh flat sides of cookies together with desired amount of cream cheese mixture.

Yum.

The pathetic face totally won.

It's been awhile

Yes, it's been awhile. Almost a year in fact. I thought I'd given up on this blog, but there was something in me that kept calling me back. A little voice that, every once in awhile, would remind me that I started this blog for a reason and I need to continue. I have no recipe, no picture, just some thoughts that I felt like sharing. I've been thinking a lot lately about what I want to do with my life. I'm hitting that point in school where I need to make some kind of decision, and with a family that pressure is pretty heavy. So, I've been trying to focus on the things that I excel at and the things I'm passionate about and smoosh them together into a perfect, amazing, beautiful career for myself. You know, something that I'm just going to think of one day and say "Of course, this is what I'm meant to do. How have I not seen this before?" Well, I don't think it really works that way. I think it takes baby steps most of the time, and revelations only come to a lucky few...like my fiance...but I am not jealous. Oh no, this self-exploration will make me a better person in the long run. Right? Anyway, that's what I tell myself.

Okay then, to date, here are the things that I'm truly passionate about.

Food. Yes food. But not just any food. I am not passionate about McDonald's cheeseburgers, or even the finest dish from the finest restaurant in town. Although, I do like going out to eat and I do appreciate gourmet food, these things are not my passion. I am passionate about food that nourishes your body. I think about my meals in terms of vitamins and minerals, fats and carbs, fruits and vegetables. I think about what the body needs. What have I done today or what am I going to do today? How will food help me with this? Because our diet does so much more than most of us give it credit for. Since I've had my daughter my nutritional needs have just not been the same and I'd been having some problems in certain areas of my life (yes, I'm going to leave this vague). Someone recently suggested that I might need more essential fatty acids. Ding! Ding! Ding! The difference is amazing. No, eating more fish and nuts has not completely solved my problems, but it has made a distinct difference, and I think it's pretty amazing that a simple choice can have such a profound impact on how we feel and function.

Exercise is another one of my passions. Yoga specifically. I am not a fun person to be around if it's been too long since I last exercised. Strange, how this goes hand-in-hand with the whole food thing. Yes, I've thought about being a physical trainer, but I just don't think this is for me. The thought of being at the gym all day, everyday with sweaty, testosterone filled, grunting men, and yes it's mostly men, is just not appealing to me. And no, I'm not an exercise addict, I don't spend hours at the gym everyday. I'm just exercise dependent. It makes me a happier person, period. What more reason do I need, or does anyone need to make it apart of their lives?

Writing is also a passion of mine. Words have always just come naturally to me. Writing papers for school has never been an issue, and I am very thankful for this because writing a 10-page paper must be hell if you're not a writer.

So, what do I do with these things? That is the question I'm facing right now. I guess I start small. I continue with school in the best direction I know how and I continue this blog. I wait and see what happens, and hope that maybe someone else gets a kick out of reading my journey.

Summer salads

The market is bursting with fresh, local fruits and vegetables right now. Cantaloupes, watermelons, squash, tomatoes and much more. We've been taking full advantage of this by piling our basket high every time we go. All of this variety is pretty inspiring, and it's gotten me thinking about flavor combinations that I normally wouldn't. Especially salads. It's so easy to whip up a salad with such fresh ingredients and you barely have to dress them because flavors are at their peaks right. As are colors, so not only can you make fresh, delicious salads, but they're also gorgeous. I think summer is a time to let food speak for itself, and I'm all for that, especially since we've been under a heat advisory for a week now, and the idea of turning the oven on isn't exactly a pleasant one.

This salad was crazy easy to make. Again, I can't recall the exact amounts of all of the ingredients but there aren't many and you can just throw them together in whatever proportions you think would be good. Start with cantaloupe, red onion, cucumber, and radish. Chop all of the ingredients into bite-size pieces and mix together. I would use mostly melon and cucumber and add the radish and onion more sparingly, but that's just me. And now you're already more than halfway done! I told you this one would be easy. Next, mix a few tablespoons of apple cider vinegar with a bit of honey and pour over the salad, it doesn't take much. Sprinkle on a little bit of salt and voila!

And once more...Falafel!

We've been falafel crazy around here...well that recipe made a ton of it so we've had to be. And we've had to get creative too. This time we added radish, carrot, and onion to the falafel mix and made veggie patties. After adding egg to the mix it becomes almost like a pancake batter, so we were able to just heat up a skillet and cook them like pancakes. They were really good, and they held their shape really well, which can sometimes be a problem with veggie patties. We didn't eat these on buns though. They're pretty filling already so we just piled some veggies and spicy mustard on top and ate them with a fork.

Baked Falafel

Falafel. Fun to say, fun to eat. What more could you ask for. It's great. I love going out for falafel. I don't however, love making falafel. It always falls apart. Made from scratch or a box mix I always seem to get the same results. I don't know maybe I'm just falafel-impaired, but I always end up with crumbly, half pieces of falafel instead of those perfect little rounds you get at restaurants. But as I said, I do love the stuff and even if I only end up with crumbles, every once and awhile I get the urge to whip up a batch. I mean no matter what it looks like it still tastes good. So, while we were in New Orleans this guy on the street gave me this cookbook called The Higher Taste for a mere dollar. Yeah, pretty good deal. It's a vegetarian cookbook that highlights the advantages, economic, health, and spiritual, of eating a meat-free diet. So far the recipes within have produced pretty fantastic results. And one of these recipes is a falafel recipe, which I just had to try. Unfortunately, but not unexpectedly, I got the same results as usual, but it was delicious all the same. I only used about a third of the mix the first time, so I still had quite a bit leftover, not to mention all the fixings for really great falafel sandwiches. So the next night I decided to add an egg to the mix and bake it. Perfect. Restaurant worthy falafel...ok, ok they were a bit on the dry side, so next time I'll probably add a little oil to the mix. But other than that these were great sandwiches, and I think I've finally found my go to falafel recipe.

• 1 1/4 cups raw chickpeas, soaked overnight and drained
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 1/4 cup chopped parsley
• 1 tsp ground coriander
• 1 1/2 tsp ground cumin
• 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
• 2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 3 eggs

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Process chickpeas, garlic, and olive oil in a food processor until finely minced. Remove mixture to a bowl, mix in the rest of the ingredients, knead, and let sit for 30 minutes.

Form mixture into about 14-16 balls. Place on lightly greased baking sheets and bake for about 20-30 minutes. I honestly can't remember how long they were in the oven. Just keep an eye on them, they'll be golden brown on the top when they're done.

Serve with flat bread, veggies, and yogurt sauce. I made a really simple yogurt sauce out of plain yogurt, dill, and a splash of lemon juice.