holiday delights

2 years ago i made vegan chocolate truffles, and they were DEElicious. i'm going to make some this year, and i'm thinking about flavors.


in the past, the flavors i made were:

peanut butter
pumpkin spice (nutmeg, clove, cinnamon, mace)
curry-lime
chili-hibiscus

and they were delicious.

i used dagoba baking chocolate as well as some ghirardelli chips, and for the inside of all the truffles, i mixed the melted chocolate with cocoa butter, coconut milk, coconut butter, and the flavorings. i mixed them over the stove in a double-boiler, then put them in the fridge once they were uniformly mixed. when they cooled, the texture was like modeling clay. i used a melon baller to scoop out circles, then used a wooden skewer to dip each one into melted plain dark chocolate. i dusted each one with appropriate spices or decorated it with little dried bits of the ingredients.

anyway. this year i'm thinking of making more intricate little guys. like making a creme or something to put in the center with the chocolate instead of just blending the flavors in with the chocolate, like putting actual penanut butter on a bit of chocolate instead of blending the two. so you bite in and see peanut butter and chocolate. am i being redundant? i aim for clarity through this foggy mind of mine right now. i'm going through nicotine withdrawal. please forgive me.

so flavors i was thinking about maybe:

raspberry, using raspberry preserves

mint (maybe with a cream?)

peanut butter and honey

vanilla + sea salt

eh? eh? sounding good? i'm not sure yet.
also i think im making these for new years rather than christmas

oooh also maybe some liquors? a local place makes these champagne truffles that are SO damn good... i wonder how they do that. i want to do that!

maybe some with this lambrusco i bought a case of...

ok, well, we'll see how they turn out! let me know if you have any suggestions! <3

working like a dandelion

i'm working on a real website! i can be so scattered and silly about these things.

this one blog is difficult to maintain because i set a parameter around making this a food/health/garden blog. but i also like to make pretty things and sing and dance and party and travel and space out and wonder and wander, and i want to tell you about all those things, too! the other hard part is my lack of design skills. my craftswomanship is very simple. i have grand visions, but a tough time with the execution of it all. anyway. it isn't quite ready yet, but it may not be for awhile, so if you'd like to have a gander, mosey on.

late august garden update

so summer is falling down and its been raining for 4 days. i can't believe its almost over. this transition, summer into autumn, is my least favorite time of year. it makes my heart sink. all i can think about is making some big change in my life to keep me occupied enough not to fall prey to the sadness. the dreary-time-of-year deep blues. i better stock up on vitamin D supplements while i have an income. i'm already thinking of jumping off the deep end and moving to an unfamiliar place...

anyway. the garden is just becoming abundant. here and there i had little harvests, but now there are real meals going on. and soon it will be even more plentiful! there are so many big green tomatoes about to turn, and about a dozen cucumbers almost done plumping. the corn, oh, the corn! its not ready yet, but its got ears! and hair! like a real baby! i love my corn babies. i can't wait to partake in their delicious! here are some pictures:


the whole darn thing


nature's candy, sugar cherry tomatoes, everyones' favorite snack.


flamingo peppers... i'm not sure if they're done maturing so i let them get a little older for now...




the flowering bloody butcher corn, so pretty!



ground cherries. of the cossack pineapple variety. these things are so amazing. nutty and sweet and tangy and buttery almost... they're so odd and delicious!!! yum. and prolific plants, man.


sugar snap peas and muskmelon leaves... i can't wait for the melons!!!

there a lots more garden pics on flickr- cayenne pepper, 5-color peppers, more corn pics, broccoli, and such if it fancies you to look at growing things.







love

summer salad

i do not like lettuce. only butter/boston/bibb lettuce that is green and watery and not bitter at all. i do NOT like bitter lettuce. keep your endives and frisee, you gourmand. give me the sweet stuff.

i like to use herbs as my salad greens, and pea shoots are another fave. anyway. here's an easy, delicious salad to make when peaches are ripe and beautiful heirloom tomatoes are juicy.



cilantro, tomato, avocado, peach, and squeezes of lime+orange juices. that's it.
so good.

i made a small, personal portion and put it in a tortilla wrap, to go.

saucy saucy sauce.

my girl, disaster, has some garden-happy neighbors. they gave her enough roma tomatoes to fill a shopping basket to the brim. more the microwave-and-takeout type, she kept trying to pawn them off, and i'd have gladly taken them, but she was piqued when i said, SAUCE!

so. we did it!

roma tomatoes are made to be sauce. they are the sauciest saucy tomatoes.
they have nipples, like this:



to remove the skins, you can blanch them (boil in vigorously boiling water for about 30 seconds) and bathe them in cold water, then puncture the peel with a knife and it will slide right off.



"this must be what eyeballs feel like, right when you take them out of a skull and they're still warm." -jenny

after they're peeled, you have to squish them into submission.


it feels really smooshygoobleyucky like, in a fun way.



we sifted the seeds out, lots of them anyway, by using a collander and a sieve.



you end up with this brainy meaty paste and the juice


other ingredients:
garlic (a whole head, if you like it) diced
a large onion, diced
a handful of fresh herbs that you like- i used a whole bunch:
parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme, and oregano, and basil, all fresh from my garden, except the oregano.

i used a dash of red wine vinegar and paprika also.



i added chpped parsley and basil to the onions and garlic while browning them in a little cooking oil, with salt, and added the dash of vinegar at this stage also.




add the brains



and the juice


and sizzle it for awhile on low.

jenny made separate sauce. she added canned tomato puree and didnt use the tomato brains from the romas we prepared, just the juice. her sauce was a lot saucier:


she put a little too much crushed red pepper, and it was a spicey spicey sauce. still delicious, just a point to watch for next time.

i ate my sauce with gluten-free corn+quinoa spaghetti, and jenny used some ziti noodles. SOOOOOOOOO YUMMMY!!!!!! i saved the seeds so next year i can plant a giant roma tomato crop and do it again at greater volume. YUM.

simple snack/light meal

snack, originally uploaded by jacquelinedandelion.

times when i ate gluten and dairy, i would snack on buttered toast or grilled cheese when i was too hungry to cook. now, i make things more like this.

while i toasted a rice tortilla in the toaster, i got all the toppings out. easy peasy.
pea shoots, cilantro pesto (my mom made it earlier, cilantro, pine nuts, salt, olive oil, i think that's it) hummus (store bought) and hot sauce. yum. snack on.

garden update,early july

so, its easy to see that i planted late as my luscious little growing things are dwarfed by other local gardens. its ok, though, they're growing as well as they can.



cherry tomatoes have green future fruits, a couple of other tomatoes have flowers, as well as the zucchini, cucumbers, and musk melon.





also, my ground cherries have little husk pod things, like tomatillos do. last year, i had to give away my plants when i moved out of my apartment in august, and i gave away my ground cherries, which were assumed to be tomatillos and were consumed as such. so, i'm not sure what to expect from them. they're called pineapple ground cherries, so i assumed they would resemble one of those fruits in taste....

my brassicas were all chewed up. i pulled two caterpillars (cabbage worm) off two broccoli plants, and four more off the brussels sprouts. i am not sure if they are going to do well, they were pretty eaten up, plus they haven't grown much since i put them in the ground over a month ago... i hope they do. also, caterpillar poop is kind of cool looking, little green balls...



also, every eggplant plant i planted (plant a plant, plantyplants) has major bug bites. the leaves look like lace. i wonder why! i planted all the nightshades together, with aromatic herbs all about, and marigolds as well, with some carrots in between. i read that this was a way to repel the bad bugs. apparently, the eggplants are too delicious for the insects to resist... there is minimal damage to a few tomato leaves, and surprisingly to some basil, too, which i thought was unnatractive to leaf-eaters... apparently not. i hope some eggplants come up anyway, as i planted a variety of colors and shapes, and i just love eating things that look pretty and different. imagine the pretty kebabs! i rubbed all the leaves, hoping to kill any bugs i can't see. fingers crossed it works.



tomorrow, i'll sprinkle them with cayenne and hope that helps, too. i know its good for keeping animals away, not sure about insects... vinegar? does that work? soap? i've heard these things help... anyone? experience?

check out the little baby cornfield bed! there are like a hundred plants in here. 2 types, blue iriquois sweet corn and bloody butcher. i couldnt resist. i hope there will be speckly purple corn in the middle.



love <3

singing a song

here's a song i wrote while working on my friend's farm (one woman farm) last autumn. (read about it here:bigskydandelion, september 09




let's go to bed like carrots in the ground
carrots in the ground sleep so sound
ooh let's be carrots in the ground

let's go to sleep like weeds under the sea
weeds under the sea swaying in our dreams
ooh let's be weeds under the sea

let's make love like flowers do with bees
flowers and bees make the honey sweet
oh, let's be flowers, let's be bees

let's float along like dandelion seeds
dandelion seeds carried on the breeze
oh, let's be dandelion seeds.

july pie

july pie, originally uploaded by jacquelinedandelion.

here is a fun, festive, delicious project. it took precious time, but the end product was decadent and well-enjoyed. make this! its fun!

gluten free, vegan, made without sugar. mostly raw. made with so much love.

each layer was put in the food processor (except the garnish layer)

crust: dates, macs, almonds, vanilla bean, himalayan sea salt- pulse quickly, leaving the nuts chunky. use just enough dates to make it stick together.

thick chocolayer: avocado, cacao powder, agave nectar, cayenne (a pinch)- blend until smooth.

thin fruit layer: fresh raspberries, dehydrated watermelon, process well.

extra thin spontaneous layer: fresh mint, agave, lime juice, tiniest bit of fresh ginger, not really necessary, but added a little zing. process well.

creamy layer: coconut milk, lime juice, agave, ground fresh mint- this works well if you keep the coconut oil in the freezer for an hour or so, not to completely freeze it, but make sure its creamy. if your coconut milk separates into clearer watery stuff and cream, just use the cream. process to smooth. break the mint down on its own before adding everything else.

garnish: dehydrated watermelon slices cut into stars with cookie cutters + fresh chocolate mint.

i found it incredibly delicious. i never made anything like this before so i was nervous putting it out there for my friends and family, but the response was almost unanimously in love.

botany of desire

watch this movie: the botany of desire

featuring michael pollan, narrated by frances mcdormand, this film talks about how certain plants (apples, marijuana, potatoes, tulips) and humans depend upon each other, and manipulate the other to serve its own needs. its really interesting and a fun way to look at the evolution of species. enjoy!

smooth like butter

there's nothing like butter. since i don't eat bread, either, its not really a big deal. there was a time when i would occasionally treat myself to gluten-free waffles with earth balance or some such not-butter spreads. i always felt weird about it, not being a big fan of soy products. after soy, there's the canola business, which also makes me wonder. canola is a hybridized form of rapeseed, often genetically engineered. these things raise flags. i hate to eat things i feel weird about.

but occasionally you get that hankering. maybe your neighbor gave you a batch of homemade fig jam, or perhaps you've concocted a sensational vegan, gluten-free cornbread, which begs some melty goodness atop. who says we can't all have our toast and butter it, too?

at thanksgiving, i made pumpkin pie and had to find a substitute for the gobs of butter in the recipe. i wanted a delicious crust, and a delicious crust i had! my concoction has passed taste tests on all sorts of butter-begging goodies. it does NOT taste just like butter. but it IS delicious, spreadable, smooth, melty, and SO deliciously satisfying in its own right. and it is super super simple to make, having only two ingredients.

the secret?

coconut oil and nutritional yeast. that is all. i blend it in a food processor and put it back in the coconut oil container. once, i added a little apple cider vinegar, which i found delicious, but my mom disagreed. so, suit yourself.

i just can't keep it to myself, so yummy.

recent drawings + crafts

things i've been up to

sunny side, originally uploaded by jacquelinedandelion.

a card i made for the lovely caitie koch before she away'ed to panama. (more cards)


wild mint for smoking, drying on the bureau


all dry


right before i smush my toes in the mucky part. mmmmm.



growing babies! mostly tomatoes. the garden peach variety is doing well! some holy basil, 5 other types of tomatoes, 3 varieties of eggplant (i'm excited for the turkish orange variety)... genovese and lettuce leaf basils, marigolds, white cucumbers, hmmm.... and i guess we'll see what else comes up... its hard in the house, there's no good place for them to get a lot of light. this house has porches on the east and west sides which block sun from the windows, and only tiny windows to the south. also, i am gone 3 or more days a week, so its hard to make sure they're doing well. i give them lots of love while i'm here though. and i send them good vibes from far away. (if you haven't, you must read the secret life of plants)

bigger babies from the first round of planting. tomatoes looking good. summer squash, some flowers (hollyhock and foxglove) and peppers. yeah. they need more sun.



my dad and i have been digging and building, and soon they'll be at home in the ground. fence in progress.



meanwhile i have to move them around the house to catch the light.

i've got designs on this nettle. its surrounded by some kind of mint that looks like chocolate mint but tastes like peppermint. shrug. its delicious.

holes in my moccassins

we're getting ready to build raised beds at my parents' house this weekend. of the hundred plus seeds i planted, about 10 of them popped up. i work far away for 3 days a week, and i often go down to baltimore or elsewhere on my 4-day weekends, so i only spend random time at my folks' where the plants are. i've got plenty of guilt over being a neglectful plant mom. dense potting soil, mold, lack of enough sunlight, overwatering when wrongly guessing on weather patterns, and simple lack of attention resulted in the poor showing i got this year. i planted a new tray of mostly tomatoes last week, but that one doesnt look that promising either. its hard being rootless and away, and trying to raise up a garden. i may have to buy seedlings at a farm or something. we'll see. anyway. i hope at least the garden peach seeds come up. they are my favorite.


this morning i watched a groundhog eating the tall dandelion stems in the yard. now i know why they're called hogs. that guy ate like a little oinky pig. it was super cute. he was smart to be in our yard. my parents had a fully disturbed dirt yard after building a new house about 5 years ago. they never planted grass, so our yard is all weeds and grass that came in on its own. a lot of wonderful weeds. the groundhog was wiser than i- i wish i collected a bunch of dandelion leaves to eat before my dad mowed this afternoon. i did, however, get to collect a bunch of wild mint leaves, which are drying in my room. i'm planning to smoke them. i haven't smoked cigarettes in about 3 weeks, but i've gone that distance and way more before. i like smoking, i just hate how it makes me feel. so, i'm drying the mint to roll into cigarette papers, for a harmless smoke. mullein and sage are also good herbs for smoking. smoking mullein can actually help reverse lung damage from smoking cigarettes, and can help with asthma and bronchitis. sweet. i haven't seen any mullein growing in this yard, though i do know where i've seen it in past years, so i'll probably bring that into my new smoking habit soon, too. you can smoke most dried leaves, so i may experiment with different blends in the future. for now i'm into the wild mint. i bruised a few leaves and enjoyed them in my sparkling red wine. yum.


i've started carrying a bag in my back pocket for foraging. this encourages me to actually do it more, instead of making mental maps of where i see edible things i recognize. i'd like to go on a weed walk soon, with the Wildman. i went once, when i was ten or so. i think i'd get much more out of it now. also, i'm ordering these books by Samuel Thayer.


i want to start using road kill, not to eat. for craft. preparing small leathers or furs and burying their remains into the soil appeals to me more than to see them decay on the asphalt. this has been a goal for awhile and i'm only baby steps closer. on one drive back from baltimore i kept thinking about stopping for the next big dead bird i found. i always think about doing that while i'm driving, but i'm usually going so fast on the highway that its hard to decide to stop and act with the right timing before it just seems like a silly thing to do. so, but this time, i was prepared. right before i found the big, dead, turkey vulture, i knew i was about to find it. i felt it about to happen, so i actually slowed the car a little before i found it, and pulled over not 20 yards past.

from the safety of my moving vehicle, it seemed like an easy task- go collect feathers! not so, my friend. those feathers don't just pop off their wings. this great bird had to be a recent kill. i had a feeling if i laid my hands on its body, it would have a trace of warmth. i didn't. i was afraid of bugs and bird disease. i pick up feathers all the time, mind you. off of any ground. city, forest, chicken coop. i have hundreds of feathers on my craft desk. but i was spooked a bit. i tugged on some of the outer feathers to no avail. i realized i would need tools in the future, to do this seriously. plastic gloves, for sure. ziplock bags. scissors, perhaps, maybe. this time, i collected a few of the loose feathers that were around it, moved the body from the asphalt to the grass, and gave thanks. the feathers i kept had tiny mites on them. i shook them off and wrapped them in a plastic shopping bag from the floor in my car. i washed them in soap and water when i got home. three very long, brown, striped feathers, and a tiny one.

the other baby step is that i've got an email address for an artist who i know through 2 degrees of separation, who uses furs from roadkill in her work. i'm not exactly sure what to ask her, yet. i'm sure i'll figure that out soon.

anyway. happy spring. eat it all! ramps, field onions, violets, and dandelions!


<3jacqueline p.s. here's a great post on digging up dandelion roots and making dandelion coffee. (what in the wild?!)

april showers of love

the internet is a crazy place. humans are so interesting and complex. and boring, too. there is such a vast amount of information, colors, ideas, links and connections... somehow we navigate, and each follow some unique path. here are some sights along the way i'd love to share:


my house, by leriverrose


chocolate, oh chocolate. chocolovely love. by now, most people are aware of the beautiful, health-giving properties of this super, indeed, food. cacao, itself, is good for the heart/blood/vessels, is high in antioxidants, has magnesium, iron, and phosphorous, regulates insulin levels, can inhibit cancer growth, and on and on... blah... SO GOOD! EAT YOUR CHOCOLATE!
but wait---- what's in your chocolate? refined sugar? buttermilk solids? soy lecithin? how much chocolate is in your chocolate?
try to eat the darkest chocolate you can find, with the highest quality ingredients. here, i've found it: gnosis chocolate a RAW food chocolate of superior ingredients, chosen carefully by vanessa barg to be the most healthful ingredients, acquired in the most ethical way.
i just received my case of supercounselor bars which are jam-packed with super super foods. tulsi (holy basil) cat's claw, ashwaganda, reishi mushrooms... its a crazy amzing thing. and its delicious. silky and satisfying. i'm going to give them out to some moms i know, for a certain, arbitrary, spring holiday that's on its way.
ps-peep the chocoblog



Delaware Phoenix Absinthe.... i read about this in the recent
edible hudson valley (click and fing the Edible for your community! full of info on farms, restaurants, and other slow-food style projects in your area)...
delaware phoenix absinthe sounds like a beautiful beverage. the second of two versions, "meadow of love" is distilled as such: "The core six herbs are grand wormwood, anise, fennel, roman wormwood, hyssop, and lemon balm in different proportions than the Walton Waters. The seventh herb is violet." (walton waters is the other, more traditional of the two absinthe varieties available. for now, these elixirs are only available locally in NY's hudson valley and some places in NYC (see the website for details) but online ordering seems to be coming soon. I'm going up to Rhinebeck, NY to purchase some. *edit:demand is high, supply is low. still waiting for my taste... artisan wine shop in beacon, ny, will be carrying it in a week or two. i'm excited. now, i'm looking into home-distilling...


erin gleeson keeps a wonderful blog, Let's Be Self-Sufficient, where she has been detailing her backyard chicken coop, home-brewing gluten-free beer (!), making soap, and other such forays. she's supercute and funny, to boot. check it!


much love.


p.s. its prime time for preparing dandelion wine

sprouted quinoa with ume vinegar, nori, apple, avocado, white radish, leek, dulce, and spring garden greens:mint, arugula, basil, shiso, cilantro, chives....

plus a nasturtium for *zing*

and BAM



sprouted quinoa nori maki
a most delicious meal. raw, vegan, gluten-free, + yum.

the quinoa needs to be sprouted before hand, +everything else is good to go.

february slush and starch

i've been eating a lot of gluten-free bagels lately. comfort food. i'm so ready for this winter to be finished!!!

note- this post puts my scattered brain on display.

today i bought smoked sea salt! i'm excited about it. have you tried it? i've never even heard of it, but my local health food store has a wonderful bulk section and so i happened upon it- between the pink himalayan salt, and black volcanic salt. the last time i bought pink salt, it was a long while ago, to put on vegan chocolate truffles. salt + chocolate... yum.

i'm trying to circumnavigate the winter blues- i'm always trying. for my birthday instead of gifts or flowers or anything like that, my mom got me supplements. whew. after researching (very important book and some important health-related websites from which you can search articles on specific ailments gary null, weston a. price, dr.Mercola --- you may find conflicting advice between these sites, as these are all boundary-pushing medical and nutrional experts. practice due diligence and trust your instincts.) i'm taking holy basil, a liquid D3 vitamin, iron, B complex, Essential Fatty Acids, and magnesium. apparently magnesium is really important in depression. I got my supplements from quantum nutrition labs" who make very high quality products.

a bunch of these supplements are liquids. if you take liquid supplements, first see if they can be mixed with other things. if so, a smoothie is certainly the way to go. the EFA's i'm taking are impossible for me to swallow on a spoon. today i made a smoothie with:

* all my liquid supplements
* frozen dark cherries
* banana
* flax
* chia seeds
* maca powder
* a splash of coconut milk
* cranberry juice to cover
* almonds
* dried hibiscus

it was delicious. now i have no excuse not to finish cleaning and rearranging my room, or to deal with my hair emergency.... (i was going for platinum and accidentally turned it blue...)




i'm scattered mentally, physically and psychically right now. 3 days a week i work in the city, 3 days i'm at my folks (1.5 hours away from nyc), 1 day i'm confused about where i'm sleeping.... so there's that. there's my winter blues to contend with. i want to share with you my favorite foods, but i'm not eating them right now! most days, i'm eating bananas+dried fruit+nuts or g-f bagels or toast with coconut oil in the morning, with coffee! i eat jalepeno potato chips and a v-8 on the train, and i snack on fruits and nuts all day. today i had french fries. the other night a weird lentil soup at an italian place while all my cousins ate pizza... sushi 2 or 3 times last week. i'm just not that creative at eating right now. but i think its coming soon! i've got an income now, and the supplements should help. so. see you soon! with lovely food!

<3