Banana Apple Bread

Recently I have been on a baking stint. Perhaps it's the cooler weather we have been experiencing in California, but baked treats have been appealing to me as of late. The other day I had a hankering for banana bread and so I feverishly searched the web for a good recipe. I found what I was looking for at this link: http://awhiskandaspoon.com/2008/04/20/moms-banana-apple-bread/ .This recipe for banana bread utilizes apples instead of nuts and is extremely moist and decadent.  Here are some photos of my banana apple bread loaf. Enjoy!

Banana bread with chunks of camalized apples!

Golden brown, moist slices of heaven!

The Mighty Kabocha!

Fall in California brings an abundance of squash and pumpkins. Orange orbs dot agricultural fields and await their part in the upcoming holiday seasons. I really enjoy dishes that showcase pumpkin as their main ingredient, but I have to admit that I am quite partial to squash. My favorite squash is the Kabocha squash. Kabocha squash resembles a pumpkin except that it has a green exterior when its ripe. The interior of the Kabocha is bright orange and its seeds look like pumpkin seeds. Its heartier than your typical squash, yet smoother, richer and more flavorful than your typical pumpkin. I would even venture to say that if a pumpkin and butternut squash had a baby, they would produce a Kabocha!



A kabocha squash

 Kabocha squash are very versatile. You can make curries with them, pies, cookies, stews, chips, and soups. They are great roasted in the oven with a wee bit of olive oil, salt and pepper or boiled and mashed to replace mashed potatoes. I personally love to make a beautiful bisque with this lovely squash. It's perfect comfort food and it's fun to eat creamy, orange deliciousness! Here is a recipe for my Kabocha Bisque:

1). Peel and cube one large Kabocha squash
2). Peel two cloves garlic
3). Cube one tablespoon fresh ginger
4). Cube half of a Maui sweet onion or a regular
sweet onion.
5). One can coconut milk.
6). One quarter cup nutritional yeast
7). One table spoon hot chili oil
8). Salt
9). One teaspoon honey.

Boil the Kabocha and ginger together until the Kabocha is soft. While the Kabocha is boiling, use a frying pan to cook the garlic, onion, and honey together. Once the kabocha is soft, remove it from the flame and add the cooked onion, coconut milk and the rest of the ingredients. Stir and let sit for a few minutes. After it sits, blend the chunky broth in a blender. Add a bit of cilantro if you like. Put the blended soup back onto the stove and let simmer for 5 minutes. Add salt to taste and enjoy your bisque.

Kabocha Bisque!

Hot Days and Cool Grinds

I hate eating heavy meals when it's hot. Temperatures of 109 especially make me furious and I tend to lay on the floor naked cursing the Sun and crunching down popcicles. Refreshing food is important when temperatures are soaring during the summer and early fall months. Melons, shaved ice, popcicles, grapes are a must in my house. There's nothing more refreshing than a slice of cool cantaloupe on a sweltering day! I typically forgo hearty breakfasts of eggs and potatoes when its hot outside and instead settle for a cup of cool creamy yogurt. For hot summer dinners, I like to chow down on cool baby greens, lush red tomatoes and tuna salad. Or if I feel like something a bit more heartier, I will make a pot of rice and a simple stir fry of vegetables and tofu. I use fresh ingredients and keep the flavors light and fresh. Ginger, sesame oil, and lemon grass are nice cool flavors for summer and fall. Try this menu the next time there is a heat wave in your area:

Breakfast:

Cubed Thai water melon, chilled grapes and blended ice water with a mint leaf and a slice of lemon.

Snack:

baby carrots and cup of yogurt

Lunch:

Large salad of mixed greens, diced tomato, diced celery, diced green apple, can tuna, diced green pepper and a light salad dressing and fresh lemon juice.

Dinner:

Jasmine rice with toasted sesame seeds sprinkled on top.
Tofu Vegetable Stir fry (see recipe below)
Cup of mango juice with ice

Stir Fry Recipe:

Dice two cloves garlic
Grate one tablespoon ginger
Dice one table spoon fresh lemon grass
Dice two table spoons cilantro or Chinese parsley
Cube two cups tofu
Two cups snap peas
Cube one zucchini
Slice one cup button mushrooms
One teaspoon red chili pepper flakes
One tablespoon sesame oil
One tablespoon sesame seeds
3/4 cup sweet onion
Soy sauce to taste

Heat a wok and coat it with oil. Once the oil is heated, add the chili pepper flakes, garlic, ginger and lemon grass. Add a pinch of salt. Add onion, and cook for a few minutes. Add the rest of the ingredients except for the cilantro. Stir. Add soy sauce to taste and a pinch of sugar. Cook until vegetable glisten and there is broth in the wok. Add cilantro and remove from stove. Serve immediately with rice and diced avocado.

Stir fry for a warm night!

Yum!

A Short Work of Food Fiction: My Husband

I am on the deck, sitting and staring out at the pearl of a moon. Spanish olive trees sway in the distance and for a moment, I think I hear them whisper soft songs of yesterday. My husband is in the kitchen, humming to himself, the tune, I do not know. It's comforting having him here again, in my life that is. I think that I was ill without him, that somehow having him here, cooking us supper and humming that tune had brought back the essence to my life. We have been married for 40 years, a lifetime for some. There have been hard times. Times where I thought that our marriage was a mistake. There have been times when his drinking led us to marriage counseling. Times when I had been tempted to have a fling with the silver haired Adonis that lived three houses down from ours. There have been good times too. The birth of our daughter, the long walks on the beach in the evening. Laughter in the shade of our garden and the comfort of one another's arms.

 There was a time when I thought these good times would never return, never grace us with their presence. Last year my husband left me. He said that he needed time to think about his mortality. Time to find himself. I told him he was having another midlife crisis. He said I was probably right, but that did not change the situation. He went to some island in the Pacific. He ate coconuts and sent me postcards of aqua blue beaches and emerald green shores. I sulked. I spent my days watching "The Bold and the Beautiful," and ate quarts of chocolate ice cream. My girlfriends said to leave him. My mother said to give him time. "Men need their caves. Let him have his cave Dear," she would sniffle over the phone and promptly start to fuss about her garden. I listened to my mother and threw myself into my work. I went out with the girls and drank wine on Sundays.

My husband called me on a Wednesday. He sounded rested and happy. He asked how I was doing and told me he loved me. I listened as he told me about his surf lessons, how the sun had tanned his skin, how he had lost 8 pounds eating fresh fish and guavas. He also told me he was learning to cook. " Learning to cook?" I had asked surprised. My husband never cooked anything besides toast and eggs our entire marriage. He explained that he discovered this new hobby in my absence. " You always cooked for us Yvonne," he reminded me. We got off of the phone.

My husband was gone for three months before he returned to me. I picked him up from the airport and wore my best dress. He looked good and I told him so. He smelled of sand, salt and island and tasted of tobacco and something sweet when I kissed him hello. We went home. We made love. As we lay in the bed, I felt angry. Angry that he had left me, but happy that he was back. A strange unsettling combination. "I am sorry," he said as he studied my confused face. Then he got out of bed and proceeded to the kitchen naked.

The aromas that greeted me later that evening were warm, reactive and captivating. Chili oils, gingers, and lemon grass danced in the kitchen as delicately as a ballet. My husband cooked for me. He cooked a meal finer than anything I had ever made for him. We ate in silence, slowly as if this meal was our last. At the conclusion of of grilled chicken, jasmine rice with saffron, ginger lemon grass soup, and coconut tapioca, I spoke. "Thank you." He spoke. "I will never leave you again."

Tonight, as I admire the full moon, I hear him humming. I hear him chopping and stirring and tossing things. I close my eyes and picture the expression on his face. Lips pursed, eyebrows slightly knitted and head cocked slightly to the left. Occasionally he smiles at his genius, revealing deep dimples. Other times he curses as he accidentally burns the tips of his fingers. He is my husband. He is Tom.

Brunch at Morro Bay

What a view!

My fiance loves breakfast. If he had a choice, he would eat breakfast for lunch and dinner. I enjoy breakfast, just not as much as him. My fiance's love of morning vittles makes him a brunch lover candidate. Brunch is pretty neat because it can be so eclectic. This is perfect in the case of my fiance and I;  he can have his bacon and eggs and I can have lunch food. We actually went out for brunch the other day and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.  I had a lovely dark green salad with slices of sugar sweet strawberries finished off with a toasted focaccia grilled chicken breast sandwich. Yum! If this sounds like your sort of Sunday meal (brunch is traditionally a Sunday ritual), try out The Inn at Morro Bay. They are nestled along the Central Coast of California and provide not only a fine dining experience, but a beautiful view of the Morro Bay. Bon Appetit!


The Inn at Morro Bay
60 State Park Rd
Morro Bay, CA 93442
(805) 772-5651    





Toasted foccacio bread, grilled chicken breast, baby greens, avocado, tomato, purple onion
fresh mozzarella and herb spread.



The Ambiance





Baby greens, fresh strawberries, carrots, celery, sweet onion, tossed in a
creamy avocado vinaigrette.