Back to the land of Green Chile

 

Green Chile?  Yes please!

Oh, hello there internet!  I'd almost forgotten you were here!  How're things?  Oh, you're ready for me to come back?  Why not?  It's not like I have a life or anything.

Oh wait, I moved back to New Mexico.  I DO have a life!  HA.  Take THAT internet. 


Moving back to NM means that I a) no longer live with Ex (which was awkward and uncomfortable), and b) HAVE FRIENDS AGAIN! 


On the down side, I don't have access to my own kitchen anymore.  On the up side, I get to eat Dion's whenever I want (pretty darn good pizza, certainly some of he best in the Southwest).

Despite my lack of kitchen, I've still found some time to make some pretty kick-ass treats.  I know I haven't posted, but that's  because I've been too busy playing in this:  

A friend of mine owns this puppy.  It's one of the original 5 from the TV show. 

My life is awesome.  Next time, recipes.  I promise.

One of the best things about Hawaii and I love Scones

Ladies and gentlemen, may I introduce you to the macadamia nut?  Macadamia Nut, mainlanders.  Mainlanders, Mac Nut, star of everyone's favorite Subway cookie, the white chocolate macadamia nut cookie.

Here in Hawaii we're lucky enough to have these things at every ABC Store (word on the streets says ABC stands for All Blocks Covered, since you can't throw a stone without hitting one), every grocery store, farmer's market, and hot damn they make good pancakes with 'em almost everywhere.

Macadamia nuts are rich in flavor and are pretty nutritious, even though they have one of the highest fat contents of any nut.  My favorite to eat plain are the honey roasted Mauna Loa brand nuts, but the best for baking are their pre-chopped nuts.  It saves a pretty drastic step in the baking process for those of us who have minimal gear, meaning no choppers of any kind except for knives.

Which brings me to scones.

It's the best I've ever made.

This is not the last loaf of bread I made.  The last loaf of bread I made was a tasty Challah bread that I'll post later.  I need to finish doing some back-posting before I get to that.

The other day I went exploring.  See, I get stuck in Waikiki.  If you've ever been on the island of Oahu, you'll know that Waikiki is the most touristy, urban, noisy part of the island.  It's easy to get stuck here, especially without a car.  However, when I do I enjoy it immensely.  It was a nice, only slightly windy, day when I got off the bus only about two miles into town away from Waikiki.  I felt like I was in a whole new world, so instead of catching a bus home again I decided to walk.

This wonderful walk took me to a bakery where I enjoyed an azuki bean bun and a fresh cup of coffee, then to one of the only locally owned co-op type grocers, Down to Earth.   It's actually all vegetarian, so they don't even sell eggs, which I was informed of by an elderly woman in the bulk food aisle.

Speaking of the bulk food aisle, I was in heaven.  Wheat germ, gluten-free flour, buckwheat flour, bulk steel rolled oats, bulk this, bulk that, bulk everything I might EVER WANT TO BAKE WITH!  Including 9-grain cereal.

9-grain cereal is a mix of any cracked whole grains, and exactly what I've always wanted to make bread with.  I'm not sure all the grains in this particular mix, but I'm sure it had oats, corn, rye, flax, and hard red wheat.  I don't always like to follow recipes, nor do I always like the search for a good recipe.  So what I did was go to a trusty source, find a recipe that was at least a little bit like what I wanted, and dealt.

This is what I like to call "modifying" a recipe.

So I went to my first love, A Year in Bread and used Susan's Honey Bran Honey Whole Wheat Sandwich Bread as a jumping off point.

The recipe itself is amazing, I'd check it out if I was you, and my modifications made what my roomie  called, "the best bread you've ever made."  And he likes all the bread I make, so that's saying something.

 I should also say that I like baking bread more than I like baking anything else.  I'm one of those people who'd rather have a big hunk of white bread than a cupcake or a cookie.  I'd rather have a thick slice of whole grain bread toasted spread with peanut butter than a hunk of white bread.  Plus, making bread is one of the most satisfying things I've ever done.  It seems like a miracle as the yeast comes to life, making the dough grow, and kneading?  Pure, physical joy.  I love it.  I love the way it all comes together and how I know now exactly how it should look and feel.

Yes, it took time.  Yes, it took patience and practice, but I'm so happy I did it.  I'm so happy I got to where  I am with bread, and this ladies and gents is proof to me that I'm on the path I want to be on.  At least where baking is concerned.

At last!

I have been so incredibly lazy lately.  I know.  See, so much has happened that my blogging has fallen to the wayside.  One of the big things I've been using as an excuse is the pain and preparation for my wisdom tooth extraction.

That's right guys, they're gone.  Finally, all four teeth are GONE!  So it's all soft foods and Buffy for me.

Good news for the blogosphere though because it means that I have plenty of bored and drugged up time to edit and post pictures.  Since pictures are the things that hold me back from posting most of the time, this is a good thing.

I've been taking requests at work, and this is the first of many posts to come about it.  SO, without further ado:  Heather's Desire, Peach Cobbler Cheesecake:

I haven't stopped baking

Hello!


I've been a very lazy blogger.  I could list all my excuses, such as dealing with a rather odd breakup and buying a ticket to visit family in North Dakota this summer, but instead I'll just say:


Look forward to Peach Cobbler Cheesecake and Delicious 9 Grain Bread!

By Friday, I'll have them both posted.  With pictures!!!!!

Always Shocking, Never (actually) Shocked

I'm always shocked when I eat something I would put on a "no" list, such as Bomb Ass Mac-N- Cheese followed by Banana Bread Bread Pudding (topped with Nutella and drops of crème anglaise), that I did not actually gain a hundred pounds, or even five pounds.  NOT A SINGLE EXTRA POUND.  Not even a food baby, I'm just full.  I might even venture to say that I'm simply satisfied.

If you're wondering what a "no" list is, it's something that those of us who are crazy and neurotic and obsessed with counting calories and grams of fat put on a list (whether it's mental or written, doesn't matter.  Mine happens to be internally stored somewhere between "crazy things to say when you're fighting with your significant other" and "mean things to say to yourself after you've said crazy things to your significant other."  It's such a happy place, don't you think?

Anyway.  Bomb Ass Mac 'N Cheese is a specialty of mine and above mentioned significant other.  I make the noodles, sauce and insist on adding veggies while he fries chicken in a whole lot of olive oil with a whole lot of herbs and spices.  We made it shortly after I moved to Hawaii, while we were broke as a joke and liked to split a 40 of Micky's with our meals.

We've certainly moved on from that point and now enjoy a cheap glass of chianti and some Coors Lite with our meals (or whenever), but this recipe was just asking to be made again.  It's what I like to think of as a edible drug, or something you don't ever NOT want in your mouth.  The pumpkin custard my mother makes is another such food, I'll post that sometime.  Probably in the fall.  Because I'm behind on posting recipes anyway.  Alright, I'm babbling. 

Here's what we all came here to look at anyway.  Currently no pictures, but the recipes are delicious even if you don't get to see them first.

Banana what? Banana Bread!

This is what I'd like to think of as a house-keeping post.  Because frankly, no one should go any of their lives without a good loaf of homemade banana bread.  Banana nut is better, and banana chocolate chip is the best if you're feeling decadent and rich.

This is one I've been using since I lived in a house with other cancers (I'm one too, so there was a lot of drama at the house.  Plus I may or may not have slept with one of my roommate's significant others.  I was recently out of a long relationship, also just recently "out," so things got out of control.  Anyway, I remember this recipe because I made it a lot and the roommate who I screwed over said to me, after our confrontation, "I think this might be a good thing.  Sometimes it takes horrible things like this to see people as real instead of just caricatures.  You're a real.  You have real flaws.  You're not just a cartoon in the kitchen baking banana bread."

I moved out shortly thereafter, but I'll never forget what she said.

So dear friends, this is the recipe for Guilty and Sexually Deviant Banana Bread, from the Cartoon in the Kitchen!