Taking On The V-Con Pt. 6

Keeping with my non-lazy theme this will be post number three for the day. I took a bit of a hiatus to help my dear friend Jefe hand his art in a local gallery. Jeff is a super talented guy and thanks to me (insert pat on the back) he is having his very first art show. His artist's reception isn't until October because it is way too hot to draw a decent crowd, but his art will be up until then...bonus! Here is a peak at his work.






pretty good, huh?

After that Timmy and I went to the fancy Whole Foods in Chandler and got some Gardein tacos and supplies for my upcoming baking adventure. Now my tummy is full and I can focus once again. Drum roll please...

This weeks V-Con challenge makes me think of a cooler Autumnal day, in other words perfect biking weather. The sweet potato and pear tzimmies would be a treat after a long day spent on the green belt cycling around watching the Frisbee golfers, the beautiful cranes flying over the many parks on the belt and all of the happy cyclists rolling up an over the many hills that make up the belt. I imagine I would come home, a bit tired but happy and would put together this wonderful side dish in order to heat up my house and appease my senses. The smell of the tzimmies in the oven is divine, an olfactory orgy. The vitamin packed sweet potatoes, the energy giving properties of the pecans, the subtle sweetness of the agave, all would be a welcoming dish for all of my senses to enjoy. I am painting this picture because although I really liked this dish the preparation and even the eating of it was not as joyous as I would have preferred. I had been painting my kitchen and making a cake as stated in an earlier post, went out with a friend and had a friend over for a visit so everything was a bit rushed and made with zero energy, I followed the recipe exactly and I wish I would have made a few slight changes. Next time Rikki, in Fall you will make this recipe and you will be delighted.

Sweet Potato and Pear Tzimmies with Pecans and Raisins
ingredients:
2 lbs Sweet Potato (I used three sweet potatoes and who knows how much they weighed?)
3 pears (I used two)
1 T. veggie oil
2 T. Mirin / Sweet cooking Wine (I used Sangiovese)
1/2 tsp. Cinnamon
1 T. Maple Syrup (I used agave)
3/4 cup Pecan halves
3/4 cup raisins



Put all ingredients sans raisins in a pan and cover and bake at 350 degrees for 1/2 hour. Remove from oven, uncover, add raisins and bake an additional 1/2 hour. Eat!

Live Chocolate Mousse

As I mentioned yesterday it is heating up here in the desert and the thought of turning on the oven to bring sweet treats to my grumbling tummy is not a pleasant one. Sometimes I imagine my famine filled face passing out as the oven heat waves leave me light headed. From there I fall gracefully into a heap on the kitchen floor and my dessert, my master prize, burns to a blackened mess all the while I dream of butterflies. I will awaken to the smell of burning delicacies and cry my weak heart out as I find my pie, my chocolate cake, my sweet tray of cookies have become inedible. Though this has never happened, I fear it. I have haunting nightmares of burned sweets.

But I will not fear, there is hope that lies outside of the soul scorching oven, it is called...the refrigerator!

Okay, enough of the drama, yesterday I mad a delicious chocolate mousse out of avocados. It sounds crazy but it is not only a healthy treat but an amazingly tasty treat! The recipe is adapted from a simple recipe from the Vegetarian Times magazine.



1 1/2 avocados
1 banana
5 medium strawberries
1/4 cup raw cacao powder (you can use cocoa if you like)
1/4 cup raw agave nectar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
Additional fruit to top the mousse with (optional)

Toss all ingredients into a food processor or blender, mix until smooth and refrigerate for at least one hour. Enjoy!

Fudgy Agave Brownies

Today was a good day. I got up early and ate a bagel with peanut butter and jelly, I did laundry, mowed the yard, worked out, helped my sister in a crisis, started a new book, "The Year of the Flood" by Margaret Atwood and baked the best brownies I have ever tasted. I wanted to do something for National Meat Out Day (tomorrow) and for my dear friends Alyssa and Owen with whom Timmy and I will be sharing our Meat Out day with. I wasn't really thinking of creating a new recipe, I just wanted a basic brownie that everyone would enjoy. Well upon close inspection of my fridge I noticed I was out of earth balance, I did not have any almond milk, nor did I have as much bittersweet chocolate as most of the recipes called for. This is when I got crafty and started tossing in what I thought would resemble a brownie mix and crossed my fingers hoping for a decent result. What I got was more than decent, it was glorious!

And now my friends, I share the recipe with you!




2 T. flax meal
1 cup filtered water
1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1/2 plus 2T. agave nectar
1/2 cup canola oil
1 tsp. pure bourbon vanilla extract
1/4 cup chocolate chips
1/4 cup morello cherries

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees

In a blender mix flax meal and water until semi gooey. Combine flour and cocoa powder and set aside. In mixing bowl combine agave, canola oil and vanilla. Then add in flax mixture. Mix wet ingredients thoroughly then add dry and beat until it becomes a thick fudgy batter.

Pour into well greased 8x8 inch baking pan and top with chocolate chips and morello cherries. Bake for 30-35 minutes.

I get my morello cherries jarred at Trader Joe's and they are fantastic!


topped with Ricemellow