Walnut Sauce

 I've made this recipe a couple of times now and it's the kind of dish that is fairly easy but seems involved.  It also features some superfoods: cauliflower and walnuts.

It's from The First Mess cookbook which I actually own but I found the recipe on another blog here.

This is definitely something I'd like to try to cook for a dinner party sometime, allergies depending of course.  It plates up quite beautifully, the sauce can be made ahead, and the cauliflower prepared for the oven well ahead of time too.

 Served with some green salad, some bread, maybe a soup course to begin... perfect!

I've been lazy about posting this week and the reason is I've been preoccupied with things I can't really write about.  Nothing terrible, just accounting work and things, but my MrBP has been away working too which is never a happy time.

We've been dealing all week with the aftermath of the three day ice storm, and I wish I had a picture to share with you of the giant block of ice that took up residence on the hood of my car.  I felt like I was driving around with an iceberg in front of me, it was a ridiculous hazard and I couldn't budge it.  Our driveway too was a giant mound of ice that made me grateful for my truck-like vehicle.  Heroes of the week turned out to be The Rowing Team, who showed up to clear the drive, had to leave due to the impossible nature of removing the ice, and then returned with axes and garden hoes to take care of it!
Those kids are getting a bonus.
I hope you're having a good week and that maybe it's even springtime where you are.
xoxDani
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Stuffed Spaghetti Squash

I remember trying spaghetti squash back in the days when I was on a gluten-free diet and it was just all too depressing:  this was meant to be a substitute for beautiful pasta?
 Now that I'm back into eating real pasta  I thought I'd try spaghetti squash again, and think of it as the healthy vegetable it is, rather than a substitute for something quite different.

This is a great recipe because it's basically a loaded half of a spaghetti squash that requires no cooking besides roasting the squashes themselves.  Considering that this only involves cutting them in half and shoving them in the oven, it really is a no-fuss meal.

 I did brush some olive oil on the tray, and after scooping the seeds out of your spaghetti squash you'll want to sprinkle them with some sea salt.  Then lay them face down on their tray and roast for 45 minutes at 375.
Once you've taken them out of the oven you'll want to carefully turn them over (they'll be hot and steaming as Hades) and gently pull the squash apart into spaghetti-like strings.

I then filled them with raw kale, finely chopped (place this in the centre of the squash, right down in the hollow where you removed the seeds, the heat will wilt the kale a bit) and a very satisfying mixture of julienned sun dried tomatoes and whole walnuts.

I topped this with pitted kalamata olives and a squeeze of lemon juice.

The original recipe came from a digital cookbook of "reset" recipes I bought from Simple Green Smoothies (you can see their website here).

The recipes are part of a seven day "cleanse" type program that is actually quite nice.  I'm not really doing the program (nothing comes between me and my morning coffee) but there are plenty of really terrific smoothie recipes and delicious plant-based dinners.

One recipe I will take away from the collection for sure is one for a "vegan cheeze" topping.  I used it to top this spaghetti squash, and it added some protein as well as flavour.
Basically you get out your food processor, add a cup of raw cashews, a cup of raw almonds, half a cup of nutritional yeast and a teaspoon of large, flaky sea salt (such as Maldon sea salt).  Give that several pulses in your processor until it looks like fine breadcrumbs and voila, a lovely topping for this dish and all sorts of grain dishes, soups and vegetable dishes that would benefit from a sprinkling of "cheeze".
I've got mine stored in a big jar (which you can see above on the left), and I'll keep it in the fridge to be sure it stays fresh.

This dinner was so good I'm going to buy more spaghetti squash today!
Hope your day goes as well as it possibly can,
xoxDani

White Noise

 Last night at book club we discussed White Noise by Don DeLillo. Such a strange, darkly funny read! Interesting too to discuss themes of "consumerism as life" in modern America on Cyber Monday.  I recommend, four out of five stars.

So exciting to have my friends over to discuss our book and everything else on a Monday evening.  I went in for some calorie-dense snacks:

I bought some chocolate almond truffle things, threw out some olives and apricots and whipped up this really yummy vegan walnut pate in the food processor:

Raw Food Walnut and Herb Pate Recipe

I varied mine slightly, using fresh basil instead of rosemary, and omitting the Nama Shoyu (which I would typically substitute soy sauce for... but I tried that the last time I made this and even I found it too salty).

I can't say I did any Cyber Monday shopping, well not online at any rate.  I did buy some perfume for my daughters for Christmas, only because I was at the drug store buying shampoo anyway.  I do try to get my Christmas presents all purchased and wrapped before December 1st though, and I'm nearly there.  Once I get that out of the way I can concentrate on more urgent tasks, like baking Piggy Cookies!

Today it's meant to be in the 50's here and sunny! I can't believe it, such warm weather for this time of year.  I'll be going for a long walk with Scout after I attend yoga class with two of my friends.  I wonder if I'll fall down while trying to maintain Warrior Pose... it's highly possible.

Have a lovely day and try to stay upright,
xoxDani

Organized Calm

 What could be more calming than an organized pantry cupboard filled with food stored in gleaming glass jars?  At the end of July I was feeling overwhelmed with a general feeling of mess and disorder, something had to be done.  I started with the pantry and then just kept going through the house, one room at a time... success builds on itself is my working theory.

Polished.

 You'll be pleased to know I found an excellent recipe for spiced walnuts.  I omit the sugar too so the only sweetener to them is a bit of honey.  The recipe is here... try it with double the honey and no sugar, it works very well.

Look, spicy walnuts.

 They are so delicious in a salad with green leaf lettuce and blue cheese.  I know, not everyone is a blue cheese fan, you could try it with goat cheese, or a sheep's milk feta would be nice too.

This is my favourite salad.

 Even though it's hot as Hades I've been cooking up a storm:

 How about this fetching little brass planter?

Bought it on Etsy last winter, threw some potpourri in it.

 With all of my crazy hungry Rascals I figure I've baked at least 9000 batches of chocolate chip cookies.  Taking them out of the oven though, smelling so wonderful, it just never gets old.

Cookies.
I'm trying Stephen Andrew Jones' recipe next.

 Anyone else have a pie dragon hanging around?  This one was my Grandma Jean's, it's a treasure:

 I bought this wonderful new edition of one of my favourite children's books when we were at Stratford with our friends Ade and Tony.  Look at the cover:

 We're on holiday this month but that's not stopping me from looking forward to September.  I'm going to embrace cooking, baking, organizing and polishing just as September deserves.

Ready for some cooking.

 It wouldn't be August without baskets full of zucchini everywhere, and that old standby Zucchini Crusted Pizza by Mollie Katzen continues to be an A+ recipe year after year.

 Here's the link to the zucchini fabulousness.  I omit the flour and use ground almonds to make it gluten-free.

Zucchini.

Ready for some toppings.

I hope you're having a lovely August with many moments of feeling either organized or calm or ideally both at the same time.
xoxDani