TEXAS GIRL

RawR!

2009-08-18T15:40:00.000-07:00

News Flash... My MOTHER is at Culinary School. Not just any school, a RAW Culinary School. I am so proud of her, and I can't wait for her to share more of her recipes when she gets home.

My husband Jeff had no idea what raw meant, so I took him to a great raw and vegan resturaunt here in Portland called Blossoming Lotus.

Located in the trendy Pearl District, Blossoming Lotus serves all organic vegan fare. They offer a wide variety of raw options, smoothies, and even organic beer and wine.

We ordered live cashew hummus to start, and it was so good, I forgot to take a picture before we had devoured every drop! Luckily, I got pics of our entrees.

Jeff had a live wrap...

And I had the Monk Bowl...

Overall, it was a delicious experience. The only negative I have is that not all of their offerings are gluten free, (including Jeff's wrap) but they do designate which ones are. We went back again this past weekend, and it was just as good as we remembered. I scrounged around and managed to find the hummus recipe, I can't wait to try it! (I will post a picture when I do!)

Blossoming Lotus Live Cashew Hummus

Ingredients:
2 cups cashew pieces
½ cups lemon juice
½ cups raw tahini
½ cups extra virgin olive oil
3 garlic cloves, slivered
1 tsp salt, or to taste
1 tsp cumin seed, ground
½ tsp cayenne
1 cups water, or as needed

Directions:
1. Sort and rinse the cashews. Soak the cashews in four cups of water for one hour.
2. Drain the nuts well and place in a food processor with all the ingredients except the water. Begin processing and add water as needed to form a thick paste. Let the mixture break down for one minute and then add more water to make a thin paste.
3. Taste for seasoning and, once adjusted, serve with flax crackers and garnish as you see fit with olive oil, cayenne powder, olives or minced parsley.

Yields approximately four cups.

Somebody has a case of the Mondays!

2009-07-13T22:36:00.000-07:00

Ugh. Monday. I usually am not a big Monday hater. Really, a nice new week can be refreshing sometimes. NOT today. I woke up and couldn't move my neck, was grumpy all day at work.....and then...

I really fed up a recipe. I should have known better than to try something totally new, from a source I had never used before while grumpy and not able to move my still sore neck. It upsets me when something doesn't come out right, or when people don't like what I make. I would like to quote the great Molly Wizenberg in her book A Homemade Life...

"It's going to sound silly, I know, but I think that what it all comes down to is winning hearts and minds. Underneath everything else, all the plans and goals and hopes, that's why we get up in the morning, why we believe, why we try, why we bake chocolate cakes. That's the best we can ever hope to do:to win hearts and minds, to love and be loved."

Amazing. That girl has "152 insights into my soul!"(Name that movie)

Do you get upset when you don't get things right? In food or in life?

I'm baaaacckkk!

2009-07-12T21:04:00.000-07:00

First off, I apologize for my absence. Life is what happens while you are making plans. I had the opportunity to work for a few weeks, and I jumped at it. I am lucky, especially in this economy.

Secondly, back to my favorite things, I have a HUGE announcement.

Ready?

Check this out!

I am the proud new mommy to a beautiful new Canon XSi DSLR camera. It’s it cute?

Did I mention in addition to the lens included my amazing Husband found me a 50mm 1.8 lens?

Everywhere in Portland was sold out, and we got lucky! Sorry, if you don’t speak photography, it is an amazing/ affordable lens that I have been ogeling (sp?) for months over.

I am in need of subjects to photograph, I have already taken 2,348,922 billion pictures of my dogs and Jeff is annoyed. If you are in the Portland or Vancouver area and want your picture taken, email me, I would love to! After all, you can only take so many pictures of this face, before they start to all look the same…..

Sorry, enough of that. No more, I promise.

Oops, that one just slipped out.

Yes I am in love with my new camera.

More posts and recipes to come this week! Thanks for sticking with me!

Kelly

** I would like to apologize abundant use of exclamation points in this blog, I am particularly excited this weekend. For more on that please visit my personal blog here.

My Favorite Things and A Recipe

2009-06-15T10:36:00.000-07:00

Every day this week, I am going to post one of my Favorite things. No, you won't be bombarded with photos of my husband, dogs or extended family, I mean material everyday things that I have a grand appreciation for. These are not advertisements, or anything, just me, telling you, how much I love and can't live without particular items.

Ready?

I will start with none other than, my Cuisinart. (Sorry, Cuisinart is a brand, but in my family, it is slang for the Food Processor.)

This thing is amazing. Growing up, my mother used hers frequently. I loved hers then too. Mine was a wedding gift from my grandmother Doris, who being a foodie herself, knew I couldn't survive another day without one.

The processor comes with different blades, a slicing, a dough, and the chopping blade. I us the chopping blade most often. Last night for instance, I made cilantro pesto.....

Trust me, I love the traditional basil pesto, but you have to switch things up sometimes.

Fresh Cilantro Pesto

1 bunch Cilantro, tear off the bottom stems
2 garlic cloves
1 shallot chopped (can use 1/4 cup chopped onion)
1/2 cup unsalted chopped pecans (can use pine nuts, almonds or mac nuts)
2 Tablespoons Red Wine Vinegar or Lime Juice
1/4 cup shredded Pecorino Romano (or Parmesan works too!)
1/3 cup olive oil

Pulse all ingredients except olive oil, until almost a paste. (At this point you might want to scape sides with rubber scraper.) Turn processor ON and slowly pour in olive oil. Presto!

Spread this yummy stuff on a toasted piece of bread, toss it with pasta, or simply spread it on your steak! Right now, I'm eating it on a tortilla, with some goat cheese. Mmmmm...

What is your favorite kitchen appliance? Or favorite thing in general?

Welcome

2009-06-05T01:40:00.000-07:00

My name is Kelly. I am a twenty something foodie with a love of my home state. Born and raised in Texas, I never imagined living in Washington. However, life is what happens while you are making plans, and here I am. Well, here we are.

We live in Vancouver Washington. About ten minutes from Portland OR, we tend to tell people we live there. Why you ask? Because when you say Vancouver, you get "Canada eh?" and we really don't feel like explaining it to you. No offense, just don't feel like it.

My husband Jeff, me and our two Boxers Bella and Cash Buddy.

Welcome to my life!