Say, is that a meal?

Breakfast Veggie Dog and Sweet Potato/Onion Hash (November 2023)

What a mish mash of things! This recipe basically came about for me to use up whatever food was in my fridge, especially the sweet potatoes and onion. I signed up for a CSA this year and boy was it a love/hate relationship. I loved getting fresh, local veggies every week but they gave me a LOT of vegetables and finding ways to use them up every week became a real struggle by the end of it. I probably won't do it again unless I can split it with a friend or something.

Anyway, I also had some veggie hot dogs laying around (I'm a vegetarian but love hot dogs) and so I thought, why not? Throw an egg on that bad boy and we got ourselves a breakfast.

Basically for the hot dog I fried it in a pan with oil, then also fried an egg in a pan with butter, and threw the egg on top of the dog in a bun. I also added sauerkraut and mustard which might sound weird but trust me it was delicious.

I also had leftover Japanese sweet potatoes which are described as a little firmer in texture and more savory in flavor than a 'regular' sweet potato. I previously cooked these in the oven and made them nice and soft, and was planning to just eat them up with a bunch of salt, pepper, and butter (the way my mom used to make them). I'm not a fan of overly sweet sweet potatoes so I usually try to make them as savory as possible. So for these, I mashed them up real good with more butter/salt/pepper, fried up some onions in oil, then added the SPs into the pan with the onions and cooked them up until they started to get crispy on the edges. Delicious!

Coconut Milk Coffee with Almond and Vanilla Extracts and Sugar Cubes

A lot of 'ands' to this recipe! I was inspired by a coworker who told me she learned how to make her favorite coffee shop drink so she'd no longer have to spend so much time and money at the coffee shop. I've tried making various coffee/tea drinks at home in the past, but I eventually landed on just drinking plain black coffee because it's easy and predictable. Once I start messing with sugar, milk, etc., I never know how it's going to come out and I get frustrated.

But on a particularly frazzled morning on which I'd woken up earlier than usual, I had time to experiment.

• Coffee grounds (and a coffee maker that will accept them)
• Sugar cubes (or really any sugar format, probably)
• Coconut milk
• Almond extract
• Vanilla extract
• Some cinnamon if you wish

Brew the coffee in the coffee maker according to the instructions. Meanwhile, throw your desired amount of sugar into a pitcher or whatever container will eventually hold your beverage. (I made a large batch to keep in the fridge.)

Pour the hot coffee over the sugar and stir to make the sugar melt. Add in the coconut milk, almond extract, and vanilla extract to taste. Almond extract is pretty strong so a little goes a long way--and it's delicious! Top your drink with cinnamon if you'd like, and there you go! You can drink it hot or leave it in the fridge and drink it cold.

Homemade blueberry syrup

This recipe was very easy! I got it from Homemade with love : simple scratch cooking from In Jennie's Kitchen.

I mixed frozen blueberries with sugar, water, and a little bit of almond extract in a pot. On medium-high heat, I brought the mixture to a boil, then lowered the heat and let it simmer very slowly for about twenty minutes. Then I let the mixture cool. The results were not as syrupy as I had imagined; it was more watery, so perhaps I need to cook it longer next time. The syrup can be added to drinks or whatever. I mixed it with vodka, lemon juice, and club soda (with lots of ice) for a nice summer drink. Thank you, Jennie.

Creamy Lemon Orzo with Chickpeas & Broccoli

This was a good one! Got it from thefirstmess.com. At first I was confused about putting uncooked orzo into a pot with oil and shallots, but it eventually all made sense. My partner was a big fan of this one and even put on their snooty foodie voice and said it tasted very clean. Pinky up! Note that my ingredients/instructions are slightly modified from the recipe you will find on the original website. Also note that I typically don't measure things when I cook; I prefer to eyeball! 👀

Ingredients

• Some vegan whipping cream and some vegan cheddar cheese shreds
• Olive oil
• Broccoli, chopped up
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1 shallot, diced
• Minced garlic
• Sprinkles of thyme
• Some lemon juice
• Pinch of chili flakes
• A box of orzo pasta
• Can of cooked chickpeas, drained and rinsed
• Vegetable stock... or broth, in my case. I still can't figure out the difference between stock and broth. Maybe one day.
• Some parsley

Instructions

Place a large pot on the stove over medium heat. Once it’s hot, add some olive oil.

Add all the broccoli to the pot and stir it around in the oil. Season the broccoli with salt and pepper, stir some more, and then transfer to a bowl and set aside. Apparently it will continue cooking which is good?

Return the pot to the heat. Add some more olive oil and swirl it around. Add the shallot to the pot and stir. Cook shallots until softened and translucent, about 4 minutes. Add garlic, thyme, lemon juice, and chili flakes. Stir and cook until the garlic is quite fragrant, about 30 seconds to 1 minute. Add the (uncooked!! to my surprise) orzo pasta and stir to coat in the seasoning and shallots. Add the chickpeas, stir to combine, and then season with salt and pepper.

Add the vegetable stock/broth to the pot and stir. Bring the creamy lemon orzo to a boil (here's where it gets cooked!) and then simmer until orzo is soft, about 8 minutes, stirring and scraping the bottom of the pot often. The orzo will want to stick to the bottom of the pot! Just keep stirring and adding more vegetable stock if necessary. You want to keep the consistency nice and fluid.

Once the orzo is soft and the mixture is starting to get creamy, add the vegan whipping cream and some cheddar shreds to the pot and stir to combine. Add some lemon juice to the creamy lemon orzo and stir. Add the broccoli back in and stir. Bring the creamy lemon orzo back up to a simmer. Check the dish for seasoning and adjust if necessary (more salt or lemon or whatever). Stir in the parsley and serve immediately with some parmesan and extra chili flakes.

Raspberry [or Strawberry] Almond Kiss Cookies

Got this one from Allrecipes.

Don't do what I did if you make this recipe! I did not have enough flour but went ahead anyway. And actually, the cookies still came out pretty good, they were just very flat. But anything with almond extract in it is pretty much guaranteed to taste delicious, let's be real.

I used strawberry preserves instead of raspberry jam. I also did not have Hershey Kisses so instead I used leftover chocolates from an advent calendar, ha!

• 1/2 cup vegan butter, softened
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon almond extract
• However much flour I had in my pantry, which might've been 1 cup or so
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup white sugar for decoration
• A bunch of leftover advent calendar chocolates
• 1 cup confectioners' sugar
• 1 tablespoon almond milk
• 4 teaspoons strawberry preserves
• 1/4 teaspoon almond extract

Mix together the butter, 1/2 cup white sugar, and brown sugar until smooth. Add in the egg and 1 teaspoon almond extract. Combine the flour, baking soda, and salt; stir into the other mixture. Cover dough and refrigerate for at least 1 hour, or until easy to handle.

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit. Roll dough into 1 inch balls (or however large you can, in my case). Roll the balls in the remaining white sugar and place them 2 inches apart onto ungreased cookie sheets.

Bake for 10 to 12 minutes in the preheated oven, or until golden brown. While hot from the oven, immediately press an advent-calendar chocolate into the center of each one.

In a small bowl, mix together the confectioners' sugar, almond milk, strawberry preserves, and 1/4 teaspoon almond extract until smooth. Drizzle over cooled cookies.

Tröegs Nugget Nectar (7.5% ABV)

This beer has some nostalgia value for me. I first drank it back in my younger days when I worked in a beer bar. It was kind of a big deal to get this beer at the time, for whatever reason. I remember people being excited about it. In all honesty, I don't know if I'd like it as much as I do without this piece of memory. But now whenver I have one I feel memories, and I like it. Plus overall it's a solid beer with just the right alcohol content: not too high, not too low.

Rauchschloss Smoked Lagerbier by Human Robot (5% ABV)

I recently had the Rauchschloss Smoked Lagerbier by Human Robot (5% ABV). It tasted like bacon because it was so smoky. But I enjoyed it. A nice change from what I usually order.

Samuel Smith's Organic Chocolate Stout (5% ABV)

Had a nice bottle of this classic the other night. Always so smooth and delicious!