Piroshky Piroshky!

Hello. Long time, no post. I need to either commit to this regular post malarkey or find a new job...

Moving on to the actual point of this post, recently my family and I romped around in downtown Seattle whilst running a few "errands".  (Really, all activities par-taken in where on a to-do list). The highlight for me was a bite to eat at Piroshky Piroshky, a Russian bakery at the far end of Pike Place Market, closely followed by brother modeling a pink tailored blazer at H&M. If only I had taken a picture.  Both the piroshky and pink suit were beyond words. Thankfully for all of you, I took pictures of the piroshky. 

A few things to note about Piroshky Piroshky: 

1) The line at the bakery looks like something you would see in Disneyland. It snakes out the door, around the corner and back behind some specialty shop that sells cocktail olives. Forget the wait and just get in line. The lady making piroshky by the window will keep you entertained for the next 15 to 20 minutes. If It's A Small World was worth it. These piroskhy will be really worth it.

2) Staring at the menu for 15 to 20 minutes in a hypnotic gaze will make the decision of which stuffed bun to choose a sh*tload harder. For someone with decision making issues--not pointing any names or naming fingers here--pick the first item on the menu that strikes your fancy.  It will taste nummy. And now you have an excuse to come back.

3) This could easily become my new--as much as I hate using the phrase--"comfort food."  Move aside Mac and Cheeze, you have temporarily been ousted.

Random photo of my shoes.  Frankly, this must be something I do when I am bored as I have about 5,346,789,721 pictures of my feet + lower body in my photo archives.

A toasty sauerkraut, carrot and cabbage piroshky.  If only I had the technology to publish the smell...  Step it up Microsoft!

My mum selected a salmon piroshky shaped like a fish. Adorable, eh? Just looking at it makes me happy.

Any of you stopped by Piroshky Piroshky before?  What bun was/is your favorite?

Cheers,
kaite ;]

Wickedly Perfect Poridge

As my Halloween treat to you, I present "wickedly perfect porridge" doctored up 2 ways: 

 1) The healthy stick-to-your-ribs version, and

 2) The healthy for your emotions version.

After all, we need a little bit of both in life.

Version 1 reminds me of Frankenstein.  I used black rice instead of oatmeal, which makes the porridge more spooky and devilishly high in antioxidants. Right after you cook the rice it appears vibrant purple and cools down to a deep purpley-black.  This purple pigment is called anthorcyanin--which is a protein similar to melanin in human skin.  In a sense, black fruits/veggies/grains just have a serious tan.  Anthorcyanin may not cure cancer, but this porridge might help with your sugar hang-over from Halloween festivities :)

Ingredients:

1/4 cup dry black rice, cooked

1 tsp dark miso, diluted into 2 tbsp water

3 dried plums, chopped

1 green scallion, chopped

2 tbsp cilantro, chopped

1 tbsp green pumpkin seeds

1-2 tbsp dark chocolate bits (I used Theo Dark Sipping Chocolate)

Directions:

Place the first 3 ingredients into the crock-pot; stir well to incorporate.  Turn crock-pot on HIGH and allow the porridge to sit for about 15-20 minutes.  The rice will absorb the extra moisture from the miso as it warms up.  After rice is thoroughly heated though, add the last 4 ingredients to the rice mixture.  Transfer to a porridge bowl and dig into a Frankenstein breakfast.

Version 2 is the ultimate "smores-gasbord."   Marshmallows may have no nutritional value, buts that is perfectly okay here.  Graham cracker oatmeal, chocolate, and fluffy marshmallow all piled together make the ultimate breakfast 

Ingredients:

1/4 cup of rolled or steal-cut oatmeal, uncooked

1 HUGE homemade marshmallow, cut into chunks (or about 5-6 Dandies)

1 tsp barley malt syrup (or honey)

1-2 tbsp dark chocolate bits (I used Theo Dark Sipping Chocolate)

Directions:

Cook your oatmeal in whichever way works best for you.  I made mine fresh out of the crock-pot, but if you are a microwave person or have the luxury of a stove top, be my guest. Once oatmeal is cooked,  gently stir in the last three ingredients.  It's ready to devour.

I made a slight variation of this porridge a few nights ago where I substituted the malt syrup with raspberry jam. Equally as yummy.

I hope everyone has a happy Halloween and still does't think they are too old to go trick-or-treating.  Yesterday I went "trick-or-eating" with a group of students from the university.  Instead of collecting candy, we knocked on doors in our consumes and asked for non-perishable food items to donate to the Missoula Food Bank.  It was a rather fun way to get our trick-or-treating fix and help a good cause.

What's everyone going to dress-up as for Halloween?  I am Linus from the Peanuts.  The blue blankie and "WELCOME GREAT PUMPKIN" sign are great excuse to bow out the festivities early.  Linus has exams to study for... and needs to go welcome the Great Pumpkin upon its arrival.  

Cheers, kaite ;]

Granola Stuffed Apple

I noticed the other day that I have yet to post a dessert recipe.  This doesn’t mean I haven’t been eating/making desserts (crock-pot brownies, rice-pudding, pancake things and cookies are just a few examples), I haven’t bothered taking pictures of any of them.  Mostly, this is due to the poor lighting in my dorm after the hour of 6.30pm.  Every picture I take looks ridiculously RED.  It is very strange and misleading.  No, my oatmeal is not bleeding or riddled with jam + cinnamon, it just looks that way in the light.  Ugg.

But, after fighting a bit with the angles of lamps in my dorm room, I managed to snap a few pics of my attempt to make the blah, cold-storage apples on campus more palatable.

Ingredients:

1 medium apple, preferably a flavorful baking kind (such as Gravenstein, but as per-mentioned, a so-so one will work just fine)

1-2 tsp coconut oil

1 tbsp honey + extra for drizzling,

(or maple syrup if you want to keep it vegan!)

1 tsp cinnamon, heaping

¼ cup granola, I used a flax-seed kind from the campus store’s bulk section

1 tbsp carob chips

Directions:

Turn crock-pot onto HIGH to warm up. 

While the crock-pot warms, oil a coffee mug with the coconut oil and core out the apple. To core an apple: use a paring knife to cut out the stem section of both ends at angle, similar to how you would core a strawberry and/or jack-o-lantern.  Once both ends are hollowed out, take your knife and cut in a circular motion through the core of the apple to connect the two hollowed-out sections at each end.  The guts should drop out nicely and you can see through your apple!  Yay!

Place the cored apple inside the mug.  Drizzle the whole apple with the honey and stuff the center with the cinnamon.  If you want an extra sweet kick, stuff a few raisons inside the hollow of the apple.

Put the mug inside the heated crock-pot and switch setting to LOW.  Allow the crock pot to bake the apple for about 2 hrs.

When the apple is soft and slumped looking, carefully take out the mug (it will be quite hot :P).  Rotate the apple a couple of times in the mug to coat with the sugary syrup formed at the bottom of the mug.  Then, stuff the center of the apple with the granola and carob chips.  Top it all off with the left over granola + carob chips and drizzle with a touch of extra honey.  Dig in with a spoon!

Cheers, kaite ;]

Think Food for Thought!

Where there are exams and major essays, there is unequivocally studying, ceaseless revision and stress.  All of which put a damper on the whole cooking shin-dig.  In my pursuit to find a distraction-free haunt—that also made sure I kept well fed :P—I found my new favorite diner in Missoula.  The two major selling points: 1) It is literally a 3 minute walk across the street from my dorm and 2) they serve scrambled tofu and vegan omelets until 2 in the afternoon + endless coffee.  I am a pig in poo.

As you may already notice from the pictures, the University (if not all of Missoula) is a bastion for bicyclists.  The bike racks outside of the dorms and along the streets are congested with two-wheeled pedaling machines like macaroni and cheese in an artery.  Parking your bike can be just as bad as trying to park your car around here!  An they keep on coming.....

I figured that I would spare you pictures of my books and study-gear, so I have just included a sampling of photos from the inside of Food For Thought (FFT).   I love how their menu is displayed: a bunch of black-boards hung hodge-podge about the ceiling. If you are into the tofu and beans, there's a blackboard for you.  If you are there for eggs and breakfasty type times.  There are 3 whole blackboards for you.  Chicken? burgers? salads? sandwiches? COFFEE? There's a blackboard filled with creative combinations to choose from.

For breakfast here, I usually order only eggs, toast and a vat of raspberry jam.  Although, last Thursday I figured that I should try their 'taters' that everyone goes on and on and on about.  Apparently their browns are the best in the city.  The FFT people cut up huge wedges of potato, toss them liberally in oil and seasonings and then broil the little puppies until crispy.  Not sure if I am a tater kind of girl...but I believe I will be sticking to my toast and eggs from hence forth.  If you like your hash-browns, then FFT's version will probably taste like ambrosia (as I am led to believe).

 Art changes every few months.  Local artists put their works on display for purchase and admiration. While I will never fall into the former category, I always sit at the same table at FFT because of a particular painting.  It has a striking blue background splashed with crimson poppies.  Very cheery.  Exactly what I need while trying to tackle the less-than-merry prospect of studying.

 I practically did the little "Snoopy dance" when I saw a vegan quesadilla on the menu.  Instead of cheese, FFT uses a mixture of tofu and hummus-garbanzo-bean-mush.  Sounds bizarre, but crazy yummy.  I could eat one of these every weekend.  (I thought it was ironic that the dish is labeled 'vegan' but sour-cream still comes as an accompaniment haha).

Outside the diner, Summer flowers are still in full bloom.  Sunflowers, holly-hocks, poppies and different vines litter the garden along the South side of the restaurant.  I am not much of a plant photographer, but these orange-splattered sunflowers were something special.  That pumpkin-spice ring around the bloom's nucleus is probably my favorite color.  Memorizing, eh?

 Technically the study-fests never cease. They just come in "aaah, I can't look at another problem or analyze another frexing poem" waves and "There is much light at the end of the tunnel" waves.  At least while I am in hiatus mode, I will post blog entries.  Is there anywhere in Missoula anyone would like to here about?  I can just do general "travel log" posting about different restaurants/places as I discover them . . . or not.  Let me know what you want to hear and/or see.  (I like NOT writing about campus specifically as I spend nearly every freaking hour there.  It would be like blogging about your bedroom.  Here is my bed. Here is where I listen to lectures by Dr. Cracolice.  This is the food zoo; I don't eat hear as often as I should.  Over there is the Liberal Arts building where I have never been as I am a science major. Really? Do you want to read about that?)

Comments are appreciated!  The idea machine needs a direction to run with once and awhile, less this turn into a Mad Hatter blog.

Cheers, kaite ;]

Mac + Cheeze and Bits About Campus

I've gotten pretty nostalgic lately for mac & cheeze.  The only problemo with making the ambrosia-like-stuff is it requires either a stove top or a few good hours of prep in the crock-pot.  Ihhhhh.  College-mentality has severely kicked in folks.  I want my vegan-cheeziness NOW. On the upside, the campus grocery store does stock Amy's Frozen Soy Macaroni and Cheeze.  On the downside, Mum and Dad don't want to know how many UMT$ the little frozen box cost...  Yesterday, I broke down while purchasing my outrageous $3.75 carton of soy-milk and added the Amy's macaroni to my check-out stack.

Admittedly is does contain a small amount of casein in it (milk protein), but this cheatin' vegan lunch is well worth it when the goings get tough.  I added a chunk of frozen peas and a touch of cilantro to jazz up the flavor. Yum.  Cue Handel's Messiah, someone.

Over Labor Day some friends and I drove up to Glacier National Park to go hiking/exploring. Our day started at 5am and we didn't land back back in Missoula until 11pm.  Loooooong, but very fruitful day.  Unfortunately,  most of my photos are in "transit mode."  Everyone took shifts manning a camera, so Ellen (co-hiker) has taken on the duty of consolidating the best of the pictures into one file.  UPDATE ON GLACIER SOON!  Please leave comments on what in particular you would like to see and or hear about.  And just because I know you are going to ask Dad, NO, we did not see a bear.  But we did encounter much bear scat.  Animal tally = fish, many birds, a chipmunk with a nut, half-dozen mountain goats, butterflies and a fleeing coyote.

HERE IS A "SNEAK PEAK" of my Glacier Nat'l Park pictures:

Its kinda sad... you can see the glacier melting before your eyes.  The wet sludgy bits along the edge of the snow are the eroding glacier.  Me thinks the scientists were right when they said all the glacier would be gone by 2030.

Anywho.  Life on the campus of UMT has a few quirky bits to share too.

This maxim is plastered on every recycling bin on campus and around the city.  Its a nice little reminder that I am not the only one pitifully separating my glasses, plastics and papers to deposit into their corresponding bins.

Reminds me a bit of Capitol Hill in Seattle.  They just keeping posting over and over and over the old signs.  Seriously.  These bulletin-bagotas have about an inch think of paper products adhered to them.

These pictures do not to the bike brigades justice.  In the heat of the day, all of the bike stalls are PACKED.  Its frexing difficult to find a place to park your bike if a lecture hall class is in session.  NOTE: these pictures were taken last week when we had a solitary morning of drizzle.  Now we are back in the 90s.  May my fan have a second wind...

Really bad view of the central clock tower, but I was trying to get a decent picture of the 'M'.  Unfortunately the wild-fires on the other side of this hill make the campus super smokey in the mornings.  The University clock tower is just like the glockenspiel in Marienplatz, Munich.  Promptly at noon each day it plays a five minute bell chorus.  Ahhhhh. Its a nice highlight I look forward to while scampering from Writ 101 to the Food Zoo (or more likely, my dorm).

Cheers, kaite ;]