Nut Butter Date Bites

Don’t you love meeting someone new who you immediately feel an all-pervading connection with? Someone you skip all the strangeness and even sense of mystery with, jumping right into the feeling of a special bond, where all you want to do is spill your guts about everything that’s happened to you, and hear about everything that’s happened to them?

Today that someone happened to be my film teacher. She talked with her hands, wore all black with cat-eye leopard print glasses, changed her voice when she talked, and sang phrases. I just want to share a bottle of red wine with her and talk until 1 am. She talked about how film was a medium that was capable of combining all the art forms and that was why she loved it so much; Music, photography, food, writing, fashion, landscape, all of it. Anybody that can use the word “seductive” to describe their profession (with the purest intention), is somebody I have the highest regard for. My dad is one of these people, who describes the art of farming with such fervor and passion, you feel chills up your spine as well as the utmost appreciation for life, creation, and the ability to feel and experience the things we do. 

Anyway! FOOD…

This class is 3 ½ hours long! Damn! I watched people race to the vending machines at break, coming back with diet cokes, snickers bars, and bags of chexmix and doritos. I had already drank my suspiciously thick and green protein concoction on the subway that morning, but needed some more quick energy. I decided to make these “cookies” tonight that  I saw a recipe for a while back.

They’re great for kid’s snacks, or for YOU to bring to work, on the train, on the plane, in the car, whatever! No flour, sugar, dairy, or ingredients you can’t pronounce; Just good ol’ fashioned nuts and fruit.

They don’t smell, make crunching noises in class, or go bad. They’ll also fill you up with enough protein to get through to the next meal of the day and satisfy any sweet craving you may be having.

Ingredients:

3/4 cup almonds
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1 cup pitted medjool dates
1/2 cup peanut butter (Almond or sunflower butter would work too)

Directions:

1. Chop almonds in food processor until you get a coarse meal.
2. Add all other ingredients and pulse until the mixture looks well blended (May need to add peanut butter)
3. Make  Tbsp.-sized balls with your hands and then press cross-hatches into them with a fork
4. Cover and keep in the fridge

I also popped some amaranth (on a skillet over high-heat) and added about 1/2 cup to the mixture for some extra crunch, protein, and fiber.

As always...get creative. Coconut flakes? Cocoa nibs? Cocoa powder? Maca powder?

Homemade Almond Milk

Listening to: Grace Potter & The Nocturnals- "The Lion The Beast The Beat" album

Never again will I buy almond milk…

Making it is so much cheaper, satisfying, and delicious. Miry and I were spoon-feeding ourselves the frothy top; "ooh-ing" and "ah-ing" over its resemblance to a vanilla milkshake. YUM. 

What you'll need: 1 cup raw almonds, 4 cups filtered water, 1 tsp. vanilla, 1/8 tsp. salt, 1/4 tsp. maple syrup or honey (optional), 1/4 tsp. cinnamon, 1/4 tsp. allspice, a glass quart jar with lid, and a blender.

(The sweeteners and spices are optional. Get creative!)

Here’s how it’s done:

•  Soak about 1 cup of raw almonds in a bowl of filtered water for up to 48 hours. (Putting a top on the bowl and sticking it in the fridge is a good idea to avoid bacteria and random floating stuff from the kitchen)

• Drain the almonds, discarding the water. 

•   Put your soaked almonds, 4 cups of pure, unfiltered water, your sweetener, vanilla, and spices into a high-speed blender until it looks frothy- about 1-2 minutes.

 

• Pour the milk through cheesecloth into a glass quart jar, squeezing the bulk to get every last drop out. 

 

• Store the milk in the refrigerator for up to 5 days max. 

 

I use almond milk in lots of things: smoothies, muesli, baking, etc. It has a pretty neutral flavor with just a hint of nuttiness, plus the texture is full and thick, mimicking the consistency of whole milk pretty closely. It’s lower in fat and calories than cow’s milk and still contains a good amount of vitamins A, D, and E, as well as calcium. On the downside, there’s not very much protein in almond milk. But that’s what all the things you add to it are for!

The idea of throwing out the almond pulp broke my heart a little so I got to thinking…

1. Mix it with coconut oil for a face/body scrub?
2. Use it to crust fish instead of panko or breadcrumbs?

  For now, It’s in a zip lock bag in the freezer. I’ll let you know what I decide!

Union Square Market

Whenever I miss the farm and have an overwhelming feeling of being a black sheep here, I head to Union Square market where not only will I be surrounded by fruits, vegetables, flowers, baked goods, meats, and cheeses (Singing: "These are a few of my faaavorite things!"), but I’m also bound to see a familiar face or two from home. 

Today was about 55 degrees in the city! It was so nice to walk with my head up instead of burrying as much of my face in my scarf as possible and my arms swinging by my sides instead of stuffing my clenched fists in my pockets. Everybody seemed a little happier today, which makes me happy. 

I bought some lavender (recipe to come) and some sunflower sprouts, but the highlight was seeing my friend Caitlin at the Feather Ridge tent, with a beautiful bouquet of yellow roses that I'd been eying seconds earlier as well as the last deviled egg sample I snatched up. Ahh the little things...

The Mood That I'm In

 Sweet Salty Earthy Gooey TRUFFLE-y Grilled Cheese...

 You probably just sighed? Or drooled?

Today was my first day (night) back to school. Ugh. I was reminded of the reasons I was so unhappy last semester, mostly the two hour commute. I think it’s mainly rush hour on the subway that’s so horrific. Everybody looks like they just got beaten up…It’s a real downer. All these people are smushed together, wanting nothing more than to be home with their families, or by themselves for that matter. Instead they’re smelling the stranger next to them, close enough to see every pore on their face. Everybody is silent, collectively hating the person blasting r&b through their headphones unaware of how loudly they’re chomping on their gum. Am I right? People are nodding off, staring ahead with a dejected emptiness in their eyes. The ones with any energy left are playing games on their phones or reading on their nooks. I’m writing in my little red moleskin, about how much I hate the subway. 

Anyway, I had just gotten out of class and stood the majority of the subway ride home, thinking all sorts of things, but mostly what I was going to eat when I got home. Stepping off the platform into the wet cold night, visions of cheesy, bready, hot, gooeyness danced in my head. I had an insatiable craving for mac n’ cheese, but since I just had pasta out the other night, I moved on.  Grilled cheese? YES. With that truffle oil Michael got me…and the truffle salt I got yesterday…and that cheese I got the other day…and hmmm…something sweet…The honey my mom brought me from home. There you have it ladies and gentleman…Pretty damn fancy comfort food to cheer up my beat-down spirit on a cold rainy night in my Queens apartment.

 I have no measurements, temperatures, or specific instructions for you on how to make this. I will just tell you that as I opened the bottle of truffle oil, I almost fainted. That smell makes me crazy, seriously. It’s like cat-nip. I even wrote a college paper on truffles. I'm absolutely obsessed.

Did you know that: "Legend has it that the first being on the planet to devour truffles was a female wild boar. A farmer watched the sow dig up and eat the presumably poisonous underground fungi and waited patiently for her to die. Instead, she flew into a fit of passion and attracted so many lovesick suitors that the species began to proliferate in hot haste. Hoping to become fruitful and multiply, the story goes, the farmer sampled the magical tuber. His previously childless marriage reportedly gave rise to a brood of 13."(ParisTempo)

I brushed the sides of some multi-grain bread with truffle oil, layered some tome chabrin cheese (I think gruyere cheese would be best) in between the slices, sprinkled some truffle salt, drizzled some honey, and peppered it with some dried thyme I had hanging in the kitchen. I grilled it on my cast-iron skillet and there it was! Absolute gooey perfection. You might even say I burnt it a little bit. But I'd tell you that you were wrong...It's just the way I like it. I kept going with the fungi motif and also made a hot bowl of mushroom broth (since the usual tomato would not exactly go with honey and truffle). This combination was magnificent.

The Meadow: Salt, Chocolate, Bitters, Flowers, Living

You know those random happenings that jump-start your brain, reminding you of something you meant to do or take care of?  Happens to me all the time, except in a relatively “out-of-the-box” way, sending me on a trip into my alternate universe, leaving everyone I’m presently with behind. (Sorry about that guys).

Well upon returning home from doing laundry, I looked down at my salt-crusted boots, snow (more-so sleet) still fresh in my hair and remembered “Ahh, salt! I wanted to go to that salt place!” So I ditched all the “important” things I had to do, and went on an adventure.

Over the summer when it was so disgustingly hot and smelly in the city (hard to remember a day like that right now), I remember strolling along Hudson St. where I used to live, staring longingly into The Meadow’s window full of chocolates and salts, promising myself I’d return for one of their “make-your-own salted chocolate ice cream sandwich”. Those days are over, but a little cold hasn’t kicked my craving. (Salty brownies the other day… Case and point).

So I hopped on the subway and headed to my old stomping ground in the west village.

Once I opened the shop’s door, my nose immediately filled with delicious scents: mainly the array of beautiful flowers through the middle of the store. Blocks of Himalayan pink sea salt lay stacked on palettes in the corners and shelves upon shelves held large glass vessels of salts from all over the world. Opposite that wall: Chocolates…Every kind you could imagine. And at the back of the store, shelves of bitters in so many flavors you could get lost: lavender, bergamot, citrus, cardamom, etc. The presentation was exquisite, a figure of my imagination: budvases of dried cotton plants, peonies and roses, twinkly lights; It was beautiful. 

As if I wasn’t in la-la-land enough already, the girl behind the counter stops me: “This might sound really weird, but are you Caroline?” Turns out she went to Bard and knew me from the farm stand! Funny how moving to the city can make the world feel smaller. Lowell was so sweet and really knew her stuff: from the salts to the aromatic bitters in the back. We sampled, my knees wobbled, I went dizzy with excitement, we giggled…It was awesome. She even snuck me some goat milk candies from the jar at the counter.

I was solaced to find there are people who are so incredibly fanatical and passionate about the powers of finishing salts:

“Patter the pink flesh of fresh-caught trout with the stratified lacework flakes of Halen Mon and brace yourself against the sure compulsion to make offerings of hecatombs and burnt flesh to the sea god Poseidon. Let fall dark crystals of Turkish Black Pyramid salt on medallions of Armagnac-seared pork and plantains and you will feel the turgid rush of Incan discovery. Grind smoked salt on hand-churned ice cream and you will trade your house for an igloo. Salt sates the Alchemist’s desire, transmuting food to fantasy.”- Mark Bitterman, Selmelier- The Meadow

PREACH!

I left with a jar of black truffle salt, one of the Taha'a Vanillas, and the promise to return for some lavender bitters.

Visit or check them out online: At The Meadow Shop