Lost Series Finale

At first I didn’t want to post on Twitter in case any of my friends were unable to watch, but then I gave up that noble idea and had fun with my fellow Lostie Twitterpals. I wrote a wee bit more for myself than I did for Twitter, so here are my unedited reactions to last night’s Lost finale. And as one of my Twitterpals (@amandamcpherson) noted, I should’ve sent in a “final transmission” that said, “OHAI DESMOND! OMNOMNOMNOM!”

And here we go:
Magic Leprechaun?! I <3 Sawyer. I <3 Hurley's Star Wars lines. Awesome. Yoda... bad feeling... hah! Damn, Charlie. You've looked better. Sayid's face! Perfect. What was that? that was charlie. "As long as you're watching... why don't you join us?" Uhhhh... Ben and Sawyer? I smell a slash fan fic. Paw prints? VINCENT!!! Rose and Bernard!!!! YEAHHH!!!! Don't you dare hurt Rose and Bernard, you smoke bastard! OHAI, RICHARD!!! What happened? You got a face full of Smokey, that's what. Juliet, the baby doctor! YAY! Sun and Jin. Goosebumps, y'all. No no no no! Is Juliet going to shoot someone? Like in that flashy time travel bit? Been bracing myself for that bit. Don't let it be miles or Rich... HEY!... LAPIDUS!!!!! YEAH. Showdown. Mom = Juliet. Surprise. Hope she and Sawyer still go out for coffee. :) See you in another life, Brotha. Shannon and Boone!!!! D'awwww. Charlotte! Daniel! charlie! so good. Wow, it really was a cork. Charlie and Claire and Aaron = Niagara Falls. cry cry cry Lock and Jack. Man of Science. Man of Faith. Well, at least we know where that neck wound came from. Confused Detective Sawyer is confused. "I don't believe in a lot of things. But I do believe in Duct Tape." <3 Miles Aw. Dang, you guys. Sawyer and Juliet. sigh. I do not like it when Hurley cries. Too upsetting. Mmmm, puddle water Jack: I'll see you in another life, brother. Come on FRANK!!! YEAH! Hey, this Jack turned into a Desmond. Hugo and Ben, great duo. But how did Ben get his memory of the island? And how the hell is Locke walking after spinal surgery? Didn't expect Christian to show up in a corporeal live form. weeeeird. huh. Sideways world = dead. Hmm. Wasn't expecting that. Well that answers a lot of things, and poses a zillion more questions. Well, that's that, then. Goodbye, Lost. Thanks for the ride.

Sunday Eats! Potatoes Faux Gratin

This is one of my favorite dishes to make, because it’s super tasty and very easy to prepare. The oats thicken up the sauce and the cashews add a wonderful creaminess.

Ingredients:

• 3 large potatoes (or 5 medium potatoes)
• 1/2 c. quick cooking oats
• 1/2 c. cashew pieces (preferably unsalted)
• 1/3 c. nutritional yeast
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp onion powder
• 1/8 tsp turmeric
• 1/8 tsp paprika
• salt and pepper to taste
• water

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly oil a casserole dish.

Scrub up and de-eye the potatoes. Slice them to 1/4 inch thickness or thinner if you can. If you’ve got one of those fancy mandolin thingies, try that, but they don’t need to be transparently thin or anything. I prefer to think of them as “rustic slices.” Give them a quick rinse under the cold tap to get rid of some of the excess starch. Drain and plop them in your casserole dish.

In your blender or (if you’re a lucky gal like me) Super Vitamix 5000 combine the remaining dry ingredients and a cup or so of water. Add more water so the whole mixture is about 2 1/2 cups or so. You want it good and liquefied, with an even consistency. No bits of nuts or oats floating about- you don’t want gritty potatoes. If you don’t think your blender is powerful enough, and if you’ve got a food processor, grind up the cashews, oats, and nutritional yeast, before adding the rest of the ingredients.

Taste and adjust seasonings as needed. If you are using salted cashews, don’t add the salt until after it’s blended and you’ve tasted it. Once you’ve got it flavored to your liking, pour the liquid over the potatoes in the casserole dish. Give it a quick shake side to side to get the liquid between the potato slices. Bake for about 45 minutes. It’s done when the potatoes are soft and the liquid has thickened. If you cut your slices fairly thick like I do, you’ll probably need to bake it for another 10 minutes or so. Once it’s out of the oven, remove the lid and let it rest for several minutes so it sets up a bit. You can also take the lid off a few minutes before it’s done so the top gets a little brown.
I like to serve it with toasted sesame seeds on top. Or for a variation, you could blend a tablespoon or two of toasted sesame seeds in with the liquid before baking. Enjoy!

Next time on Sunday Eats! Summer Rolls!

Sunday Eats! Crumb Cake

This has become one of my favorite cakes ever. I could eat this for every meal. Not healthy for the long term, but at least I’d die blissfully happy.This is from My Sweet Vegan. You really need to buy this book. It’s amazing. And Hannah Kaminsky is very charming and fun. I started with her Plum Good Crumb Cake and altered it a bit to suit my tastes and the fact that I don’t have a stand mixer. (One day I’ll be posh enough to own a Kitchen Aid stand mixer. If you’re buying for me, I’d like one in “Yellow Pepper,” please.)

I veered from the original in the following ways: bit more butter and less salt in the crumb topping, more vanilla in the cake batter and I omitted the fruit. Oh and I mixed the wet and dry stuff separately and then combined.

For the crumb topping (my favorite part)

• 1 c. flour
• 1/2 c. brown sugar
• 1/2 Tbs. ground cinnamon
• 1/8 Tbs. ground cardamom
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1/4 c. margarine

For the cake

The wet stuff:

• 1/2 c. almond milk
• 1/2 tsp. apple cider vinegar
• 1/2 c. margarine
• 1 c. granulated sugar
• 3/4 c. vegan sour cream
• 3/4 c. soy yogurt
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

The dry stuff:

• 2 c. flour
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1/4 tsp. salt

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease an angel food cake tin (tube shaped tin).

Make the crumb topping: In a small bowl sift together the flour, cinnamon, cardamom, and salt. Add the brown sugar and stir to combine, making sure to break up the brown sugar lumps. Melt the margarine and drizzle over the top of the flour mixture, stirring with a fork as you go. This will form crumbs of various sizes. If you accidentally over-mix and end up with a buttery dough, fear not. Just use your hands to crumble it up. Set aside.

Whisk the almond milk and vinegar together in a small bowl and set aside.

In a medium sized bowl sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

In a separate, large bowl cream together the sugar and margarine. Stir in the almond milk mixture, vanilla, sour cream, and yogurt until combined and nice and creamy. (Try to resist licking up too much of this stuff. I’ve thought of mixing up a batch of just this bit and adding some agar to make a lovely custard for custard tarts. But I digress.)

Gradually stir the dry stuff in to the bowl with the wet stuff. Be careful not to over-mix, but be sure to scrape down the sides and the bottom of the bowl to make sure all the dry stuff is incorporated.

Glop it into the cake tin. It’s a thick batter, so you’ll probably have to gently spread it out with the back of the spoon or rubber spatula. Top with the crumble mixture, making sure to spread it ’round evenly. Bake for 50 minutes. If your oven heats unevenly, you may want to spin it ’round half way through baking. It’s done when a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

It will be difficult, but leave it in the pan to cool completely before you begin devouring it. Wouldn’t want to spoil the presentation by letting it fall to pieces as you attempt to take it out of the pan while still hot.

This cake is a delicious accompaniment to tea (Earl Grey. Hot.) or with a chilled glass of almond milk. Enjoy!

Next week on Sunday Eats! Potatoes Faux Gratin.

Sunday Eats! Veggie Oat Casserole

I was trying to think of a way to get myself to blog more often. My crafting is so intermittant that I didn’t want to rely on a weekly crafty update. But what do I do every day? EAT!

Lunch is my favorite meal of the day. It’s the one meal that I actually sit down to eat and the one meal that actually gets planned ahead, since Jesse and I make food and pack lunches the night before. My lunch paraphenalia is always really bright and cheerful. I’m a sucker for cute lunch boxes and lunch bags and colorful cloth napkins. (Spoiler alert: Been sewing like mad lately. Napkins and lunch bags soon to be added to my Etsy shop! I know, I hear you say, “She has an Etsy shop?” Yes. Just, ahem, never used. But I digress.)

I spend most Sundays cooking dishes that will be used in our lunches throughout the work week. So I thought for this first installment of “Sunday Eats” I’d give you the recipe for one of my new favorites, the Veggie Oat Casserole. (It’s a very loose adaptation from several recipes I saw for veggie haggis.) I tried to think of a more clever name for it, but I’m stumped. If you think of a better one, please leave a comment!

I’ve put up the occasional recipe before, but I’m always such a slacker when people ask for my recipes. I rarely measure things and everything I use is based on what’s in my fridge or pantry at the time. Then I stress out about perfecting the recipe before I put it online. And I never get around to it because it’s never quite ready.

Yeah, then I got over myself. What you get here is basically a running commentary of how I put together this dish. I try to give approximate measurements so you can at least have a starting point before you tweak it for your own tastes. Really, any measurement I give is just a guess after the fact.

Enough babbling! On to the food! I was going to take pictures but I got distracted. I even had things out in little bowls like on those cooking shows! Ah well. Next time.

Ingredients:

• 4 cups chopped veggies. Rough chop is fine, as long as they’re in very small pieces. I used onions, celery, carrots, and mushrooms.
• 1 cup steel cut oats
• 1 can kidney beans
• 1 Tbs veggie bouillon paste
• 1 Tbs miso paste
• Water
• Olive oil

Preheat oven to 350 (F). Lightly oil a large casserole dish.

Sautee the veggies with a bit of olive oil in a stock pot. I started with the onions and celery, then when those got a bit translucent I added the carrots and mushrooms. Stir and cook for few minutes.

While the veggies are cooking, throw the kidney beans and the bouillon and miso pastes into a blender. Add water and blend until the whole mess measures about 3 cups. If you can’t find bouillon paste, use veggie broth instead of water. Taste it several times, and add whatever seasonings you want. It should be a bit salty, as it’s going to balance out the plain oats. Once you’ve got it to suit your taste, add the bean mixture to the stock pot. Stir and bring to a boil.

As soon as it starts to bubble, turn the heat down and stir in the oats. Simmer for about 10 minutes, stirring a couple of times so it doesn’t stick to the bottom. It will start to thicken up as the oats cook.

Glop everything into the oiled casserole dish and cover. Bake for 35 to 45 minutes. It’s done when the liquid is absorbed and the edges around the top start to pull away from the sides. Let it stand for a few minutes so it sets up a bit before serving.

Enjoy!

Next time on Sunday Eats: Crumb Cake! With pictures, I promise.