A few summers ago, Auntie Bridgett sold her art at the Quatorze Juillet Fête put on by the Alliance Français at Jamison Square.
When we were packing up, one of the organizers gave Bridgett two big bunches of lavender.
It was a lovely gesture, and the car smelled great on the way home.
That lavender has been sitting in two large vases in the front room ever since.
And with Halloween decorations going up, we decided it was time to process all that lavender goodness. It’s not a difficult process, but a bit fiddly.
The bits of stems and dried blossoms tend to fly everywhere. I plucked and rubbed with both hands over the biggest pan I have and still got seeds on the floor, the stovetop, and on the counter top across the way.
But after twenty minutes or so, those two huge bunches were scooped up and stored into three pretty jars to await their future in sachets for Christmas presents.
Now, I just need to decide what the sachets should look like. Crazy Patchwork? Embroidered? Painted? Maybe all three?
Auntie Bridgett has been trying to change her diet lately, so there has been some experimental baking going on. She found this recipe for gluten-free blondies (like brownies but with less chocolate). We used the recipe as she wrote it in her sketchbook.
Feeling up to the challenge, I jumped in, helping and photographing. First, a can of chickpeas got drained and dried. We saved the juice!
Then some oats got ground into a rough flour in the food processor and everything else got added to that.
In less than a minute, it was a nice smooth paste. We added a handful of walnuts and chocolate chips,(because of course we did.)
The whole batch got poured into a greased and parchment-lined pan and put in the oven at 350 F for half an hour.
While it was baking, we tried what seemed like a very unlikely task… making meringue from the chickpea juice!
Amazingly, with some agave, a pinch of cream of tartar, and whole bunch of whisking, zbridgett turned this into a tasty topping.
The hardest part of the whole process was waiting for the blondies to cool so we could eat them!!
Though not anywhere near a health food, these are a nice baked treat for folks who are sensitive to gluten.
The new cookie place has opened!! Nate’s Oatmeal Cookies, run by a fine fellow named Nate, of course, (I haven’t found out his last name yet) has opened just down the block on Belmont, and they are wonderful.
Six different kinds of cookies, three of which are vegan and gluten-free, are on offer for $4.00 each, or $20.00 per half dozen. This is not cheap, surely, because Nate uses quality ingredients. Nate even lists the ingredients in his website so you know what you are getting.
As a way of making an objective taste test, we bought one of each. Auntie Bridgett was very happy with the gluten-free Trailblazers, with their cake-like texture and crunchy nuts and chewy raisins. The Snickerdoodles were also delicious, though a bit dense for a snickerdoodle, because of the oatmeal.
The only drawback is that the gluten-free cookies use Vegan butter, which is made with coconut milk, and Auntie Bridgett is allergic to anything coconut. Being a cookie-loving woman, this makes her very sad.
But, thinking positively, I get the rest of the cookies!
I especially loved the Cherry Almond, which have a unique chewy, almond-y goodness.
Everyone should stop by and find their favorite at Nate’s Oatmeal Cookies! Smiling Channing will be happy to sell you some.
Grandpa Nelson, Auntie Bridgett and I have an Easter picnic planned at Laurelhurst Park with Auntie Katie, Cousins Jasper and Kestrel, and Katie’s pal Douglas. We are providing most of the food, so there was a lot to do!
First, of course, was cookies. Donna Spicer’s sugar cookies always turn out delicious, so I made a double batch.
As you can see, I have included the “traditional” Easter dinosaur. (Maybe it is traditional somewhere…)
Once the cookies were baked and cooled, I iced them with plain white frosting and painted them with food coloring.
The colors are sort of Easter-ish, even if there are no bunny cookies. Cats, yes, and flowers, and a happy face.
But you can’t have a picnic of just cookies, so we made some deviled eggs.
We sliced the eggs a little differently, mixed the yolks with spices and mayonnaise, and filled the eggs back up.
Then Auntie Bridgett put on the tops and gave them little eyes made of peppercorns. Little chicks hatching from their shells! Aren’t they cute?
So now, the night before Easter, I feel ready for the picnic. We have cookies, deviled eggs, fruits, veggies, meat and spreads, pickles and other goodies. Auntie Katie will bring lots of bread, and we’ll be fed!
So now I can watch Yul Brynner give in to Charleton Heston in “The Ten Commandments” and head off to bed.
You know I’m feeling better when I start looking at new recipes. Our Portland weather is cold and is set to get colder, and cooking new things feels very homey and comforting.
An article on the Eating Well website promised Mediterranean One Pot meals, which had an element of poetic justice to it. The reason I cook in cast iron is that I inherited two wonderful pans from your Great-grandpa Lowell, and the reason I cook Mediterranean is that I inherited his faulty cardio-vascular system. So, thanks Dad.
Every recipe in the article called for the use of cast iron, of which I own two; a deep skillet and an even deeper Dutch oven. Cast iron holds heat well and can go in the oven as well as on the stove top.
For the recipe I needed chicken thighs, a lemon, a bunch of kale (I used baby spinach), chopped garlic, chicken broth, and baby red potatoes. It also called for tarragon, but I used oregano. The whole thing would take 45 minutes.
I did all the chopping and slicing, and had all the ingredients laid out in little bowls before I turned on the burner.. This “mise en place”method makes me feel more confident and less likely to be surprised as I go along. No one wants to be caught desperately chopping something as their chicken over-cooks.
I browned the chicken thighs and put them on a plate to wait. Then I browned the potatoes in all that yummy chicken-y olive oil. I then added the chicken broth, lemon, and garlic and the chicken to the pan and hefted then whole thing into a 400 degree oven for 15 minutes.
After the 15 minutes in the oven, I hefted the pan out and stirred in 6 cups of kale, enjoying the wonderful garlic lemon steam wafting up at me. Four more minutes in the oven, and it was done!
The chicken, broth, and olive oil had become a wonderful sauce that coated everything. The lemon had blended with the kale to make a sunny-tasting greenery side dish right in the pan. The kale was a bit too wilty (maybe two minutes would be better), but all in all, a victory for Eating Well and ME.
With rain all this week and snow predicted for the weekend, it will be nice to feel fortified with some tasty dinners.
Dear Liza 