Yep, it’s food porn.

Ding ding! Round three! The Virtual Vegan Potluck is such a wonderful highlight in my blogging world. It’s amazing that so many bloggers get together and make this whole thing happen! There’s 169 bloggers from around the world this time. Of course, there’s a few superheroes at the helm that keep us all in check: Annie at An Unrefined Vegan; Somer at Vedged Out; and Jason at Jason and the Veganauts. Hurrah and huzzah to these lovely folks! It must be like dealing with a huge class of kindergarteners.

And this time I’m doing a dessert—homemade Schnickers Bars—after two rounds of main courses. If you want to check those out, they are here and here. I’m happy to say that you can make this a raw vegan dish, but I used roasted salted peanuts and roasted peanut butter, so it’s not technically raw. You could make this paleo by subbing the peanuts for almonds, but I didn’t have time to do that. But at the rate these treats are going to get eaten, I’ll have a chance to try that out very soon.

When I found this recipe I was so excited! I have changed it, and frankly, the original left a lot to be desired. Not so much on the concept—which of course is awesome!—but on the execution. I don’t know about you, but I’m not a chocolatier, and need a little more explanation than “Coat the sides of your container with chocolate.” How? How do you get it to stick to the sides of a silicone container? And also, they said to make the chocolate first, and didn’t tell me why. Now I know it’s because it needs to cool down a bit so that it gets less runny. So please, make the chocolate mixture first.

Another thing that bugged me: “Add the caramel”. Okay, sure. HOW do you add a bunch of sticky stuff to a pile of chocolate and peanuts? Help me out here! I muddled my way through it, but seriously, they could have given the reader a little more to go on.

But when you know you’re going to basically have a version of a Snickers bar without all the crappy soy-lecithin laden chocolate, corn-syrup caramel and a dozen other ingredients I can’t pronounce, you persevere. And it was worth it. It was so very worth it!

I hope you enjoy these as much as we did. The Husband asked for seconds, and would have gone for thirds but I think he was a bit embarrassed to ask. To be honest, I work from home and they’ve been calling to me from the freezer all day. I’ve resisted so far, but I know that at least one more will disappear tonight…

Note: I used both a big silicone ice-cube tray and a regular standard ice cube tray for these. The silicone made it marginally easier to get out, but I like the miniature size of the regular ice-cube tray variety. Up to you! I’m sure there’s candy bar-sized silicone trays out there to make full-sized bars with. Have fun!

Homemade “Schnickers” Bars

Chocolate Ingredients:

• 3/4 Cup virgin coconut oil, warmed until just liquid
• 3/4 Cup cacao powder
• 1/4 Cup natural maple syrup (I used grade A)

• 1 Cup pitted dates, soaked in hot water for 30 minutes and drained
• 2 Tbsp agave nectar
• 2 Tbsp creamy salted peanut butter
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 2 Tbsp virgin coconut oil (Doesn’t have to be melted)
• 1 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract

• 1 Cup roasted and salted peanuts

Directions:

Place chocolate ingredients in a blender or food processor and blend until smooth. Pour into a pitcher to make it easy to pour the chocolate with control later. Set this aside in a cool place.

Blend all caramel ingredients in a food processor until smooth. You’ll need to scrape the sides down once or twice. Place the caramel into a pastry/frosting bag or into a plastic bag. You can cut the corner off to use as a pastry bag.

Coat your silicone molds or ice-cube trays’ bottom and sides with a fairly thick layer of chocolate. How? Well, make sure the chocolate is at a temperature where it’s fairly thick. Pour an equal amount in each of the molds and gently tilt the mold to coat the sides. I would suggest doing this little by little, adding more chocolate in stages to coat them well. Once you’ve got a good, thick coating, place it in the freezer for a few minutes.

Cover the bottom of each chocolate with whole peanuts. Using your pastry bag, add a good dose of caramel, and use the tip of a butter knife to smooth out.

Pour the remaining chocolate on top of the caramel, coating well. This “top” of your chocolate will actually be the bottom when you pop them out! Gently place in the freezer on a level plane for one hour. During this hour you may need to leave the house to refrain from eating them. I must admit using the peanuts to dip into the leftover caramel while I waited for them to be ready.

If you used regular ice-cube trays, run a little hot water over the bottom of the trays to loosen them from the sides, then pop out over a rimmed cookie sheet or tray to keep them from scooting off the counter and on to the floor. I ate the one that fell anyway, but this way you can learn from my trials and not have to wipe off the cat/dog fur before eating any of these little darlings.

If any survive the first outing, keep them in a tightly sealed container in the freezer until serving. By the way, I didn’t do half of the things I’ve said to do here, and mine still turned out very tasty.

Now, if you’ve just jumped to my blog from my Facebook post or whatnot, please go back and visit Ode to a Mung Bean’s post by clicking on the link below. They’re from the UK, my old stomping grounds! So really, their dessert will be called a pudding. And they do awesome puddings over there!

Keep on the VVP train! Go to the next in the Potluck at Happy to be Just a Table of Two for more delicious vegan dessert yumminess:

Who doesn’t love a good lasagne?

I’ve been wanting to post this blog for some time. Not just because I love writing my blog, which I do, but it also turned out so delicious!

But man, I tell you, I love my new house too. I’ve been doing a bunch of cooking, but now that I don’t live in a 650-sq.ft. house with a tiny yard, I’m going crazy. I’ve got all sorts of things happening in the garden, from kale and radishes to squash and peas. Even turnips! Anyone know when it’s time to pick turnips? I’m guessing not quite yet, since I started them from seed a few months ago.

Hey, who else is shocked that it’s May next month? That’s also what’s freaking me out. We moved to our new place officially in December, and almost five months have blown by? I guess that shows how seriously romanced I’ve been by this city and our home. Between the two, sitting at my computer for more than what’s necessary for work is hard to do.

Rich sauce for the lasagne, easily made vegan with some soy crumbles.

Another great thing is that I’m running again! Remember that sad, self-pitying post I wrote just about a year ago about how I was going to have to hang up my running shoes? Oh no. The power of Meetup, Santa Barbara and some pretty awesome people have changed all that. Granted, I’m having a few IT band issues after about eight miles, but overall, I’m doing awesome. I even ran a half marathon this weekend—and beat my own record I set about three years ago! So thank you, Santa Barbara Striders, for helping me get my groove back, and most of all for the friendship!

So I guess that running 18-23 miles a week means that I can chow down on some lasagne, right? But Jenn, you can’t have gluten! How can you make lasagne? You’re right on the first, but wrong on the second. Thanks to a fantastic company called Cappello’s, I can make my lasagne and eat it too.

Cappello’s to the rescue!

Another reason it took me so long to even make this pumpkin lasagne—that I’ve wanted to make since pumpkins were in season seven or eight months ago—was that I wanted to wait til we got settled in the house before I ordered the Cappellos products. Colorado has some clever food people. If I didn’t love SB so much, I’d move there. Even with the snow. Because frankly, between Mulay’s sausage and Cappello’s, Colorado rocks!

The kind and wonderful geniuses at Cappello’s have made pasta out of almond flour. Whaaaat? Oh yeah. And it is wonderful. The best thing is is that the fettuccine cooks in 45 whole seconds. Booyah. Their other two products are gnocchi and lasagne sheets, and their packaging is beautiful.

Once that cool package arrived (a cooler with dry ice packs), I couldn’t wait to make this lasagne, which I cobbled together from several recipes and the strange parts of my mind that like to put ingredients together. And this is what happened.

Raw vegan ricotta. It is just too delicious!

I love the fact that this can SO easily be made vegetarian/vegan! Sub that sausage out for veggie crumbles and omit the bacon, and you’re all set. And the raw ricotta makes a truck load, so be prepared to use it in other dishes. I think it would make great stuffed shells, but my vegan friends put it on sandwiches. I personally ate at least a cup with a spoon.

Don’t wait until pumpkins are in season. Do what I did and substitute butternut squash. You’ll be happy you did!

Fresh herbs I am trying to grow in my garden. Basil is not cooperating.

Paleo Pumpkin/Butternut Squash Lasagne

First prep the pumpkin or squash by peeling it and chopping into 1-inch square cubes. Coat with olive oil, sea salt and freshly ground black pepper and roast in a 400°F oven until soft. Let cool and purée, set aside.

Butternut squash or pumpkin will work just fine for this recipe.

Then make the sauce:

16 oz. of strained tomatoes (I used Pomí)
1/2 cup stewed tomatoes
4 hot Italian sausages (I used Mulay’s, natch)
1/4 of mixed fresh basil & oregano, chopped fine
4 cloves garlic
1 medium yellow onion, chopped
1 Tbsp. dried oregano
Sea salt & freshly ground black pepper

Saute the onions in a healthy dose of olive oil over medium heat until they are softened. Add garlic, cook for three more minutes. Remove sausage from casings and add to onions and garlic. Break up and cook until browned.

Add tomatoes and herbs; cook for at least an hour for the flavors to blend and the sauce to reduce a bit. Taste and add salt and pepper to taste. Let cool.

Sautée the chard until just wilted.

Then make the raw ricotta:

6 cups of raw cashews, soaked and divided in half
1 cup chopped red bell pepper
1 cup filtered water, divided
1/2 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice, divided
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil and oregano
1 Tbsp. nutritional yeast
4 cloves garlic
1 Tbsp. sea salt, divided

In a food processor with the metal blade, process the following until smooth: red pepper, 1/4 cup water, 1/4 cup lemon juice, herbs, nutritional yeast, garlic and 2 tsp salt. Add half the soaked cashews and process until almost smooth, scraping down the sides once or twice as necessary during the process.

In a high-speed blender, combine the remaining cashews, water, lemon juice and salt. Blend on high until smooth and creamy; add to red pepper mixture and fold gently, using a rubber spatula. Either use immediately or it can be stored in the fridge for up to four days. There’s a lot of this stuff, so you’ll have leftovers.

Finally, the last layer:

1/2 lb. organic crimini mushrooms, sliced
10 leaves of Swiss chard or kale, with stems, sliced
2 pieces of spicy bacon
3 cloves of garlic

Render the bacon in a frying pan until almost crispy. Add the mushrooms and garlic and cook until softened, then add the chard. Cook until the chard is wilted. Take off the heat.

Creamy squash purée with the chard/mushroom mix on top. But you can layer it how you wish.

Assemble your lasagne:

I coated the bottom of the pan with a little sauce, added a layer of noodles, topped with pumpkin/squash, chard, more sauce then another noodle layer. Add a layer of ricotta, more noodles, then chard, then pumpkin then the last layer of noodles. Cover with sauce. Add more ricotta to the top if you like.

Bake at 350°F for 45 minutes or until heated through. Serves 10.

If you’ve been reading this blog for a while, you know I’ve got a serious curry addiction. And although there seem to be many Indian people in Santa Barbara, the few Indian restaurants seem to have changed their food to make it more to American tastes. Boo! But let’s be honest—I love cooking it at home whether or not there’s a good curry house down the road.

So with one last pound of ground lamb from Da-Le Ranch, I decided to delve into my wonderfully (and sometimes intimidatingly) large India cookbook by the delightfully named Pushpesh Pant. And I’m so glad I did. This is one of those recipes you can’t wait to make again!

And for those Paleo/gluten-free folks out there, I’ve amended the recipe to suit us perfectly. But I’ll note the changes I made for those who don’t have dairy issues. Vegetarians and vegans, I’d use some chunks of seitan or maybe whip up a recipe of vegan meatballs to throw in to this sauce.

Please be warned—this dish is SPICY. Tone down the chilli powder by at least half if you are not a spicy food lover. The recipe calls for Kashmiri chilli powder and garam masala, but I just used cayenne and regular garam masala and it worked a treat.

This is a great dish for a cold day (especially for my friends in the UK and back East who seem to be having a terribly long winter!), but it worked on a mild spring night in California too.

Kashmiri Kofte
(Adapted from India by Pushpesh Pant)

Serves 2 with a little leftover for lunch

For the meatballs:

1 lb. ground lamb
1 Tbls mustard oil
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp fresh grated ginger
1/4 white onion, grated
2 cloves of garlic, grated
1/2 tsp cayenne
1/2 tsp. asafoetida diluted in a little water
1 Tbls mayonnaise (he uses yogurt)
1/2 tsp garam masala
(Pant does not add the onions or the ginger to the meatballs. I couldn’t help myself!)

For the sauce:

2 Tbls coconut oil
1 tsp garam masala
5 cloves
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp asafoetida
1 tsp cayenne
1 tsp turmeric
6.5 oz. coconut cream (he uses 1 cup plain yogurt)
1 tsp ground ginger
1 star anise
1 tsp sugar
Sea salt
2 cups roughly chopped spinach

First make the kofte, or meatballs, by combining all the meatball ingredients in a bowl and mixing together with your hands. Roll into little 3-inch long football shapes and set aside in the fridge.

Heat the coconut oil in a large, heavy-bottomed pan over high heat, then turn off for 5 minutes. Turn heat to medium, and add the cloves, cumin seeds and asafoetida. Stir for 3-4 minutes, then add the cayenne, turmeric and four tablespoons of water. (Be careful—hold your breath as the spices will get into the air and make you cough!)

Stir constantly for 2 minutes, then turn off the heat and add the coconut cream. Return to a low heat as you stir constantly, blending the sauce into a reddish brown sauce.

Pour in 500ml (2.25 cups) of water, then add the ginger, star anise, sugar and 1/2 tsp salt. Stir to combine, especially if you’re using yogurt. Gently add the meatballs to the pan and bring to the boil. Simmer for 30 minutes or until the sauce thickens. Turn meatballs gently during the cooking process to coat with sauce.

Remove the meatballs with a slotted spoon and keep covered and warm. Add garam masala and spinach to the sauce and let the spinach cook for 2-4 minutes. Reduce to your desired thickness. Return meatballs to pan and stir carefully to coat.

Serve with cauliflower rice (if paleo) or basmati rice. I made my cauliflower rice with ground cumin, 1/2 tsp of turmeric and a tsp of mustard seeds.

Would you like to win these lovely products? Read on!

This blog post is a little late—my sister Mary (yes, the one who made that table laden with Christmas goodies a few months back) gave me these awesome, natural cleaning products for Christmas and wrote a blog about it, but I haven’t had a chance to post it yet.

Here it is, Mary! I will also add that I’ve been using the products since Christmastime, and I really like them. They clean well, the scents aren’t overpowering and at the end of the day you know you’re not using chemicals in your house. What’s not to love? Don’t miss the contest at the end! Now I’ll turn it over to Mary:

When were you done with your Christmas shopping? Was it sometime before Thanksgiving, after Thanksgiving, or are you the type that waits until Christmas Eve and power shop until you drop? Do you also wait for the last minute to pick up that birthday gift for family or friend? I find there is someone that is very hard to buy for and you just don’t know what to give them.

I have a girlfriend who started her own company with two young daughters to raise as a single mother. Her story on her website says that she became concerned with the toxic and irritating chemicals in most commercially available laundry products that her daughters were exposed to, so she decided to make the products herself. Thus GrabGreen was born. She has created a successful eco-friendly approach to laundry products. She has now expanded into the kitchen. One of her signature scents was voted the winner in the best fragrance category by Real Simple magazine. Her products have also made a guest appearance on the Today show. Basically, I love her products and I wanted to get my family and friends excited about them too. The question to myself was how do I get them to try these products without dragging them into a Sprouts or another grocery store and force them to buy the items.

Before Thanksgiving I called my friend and told her what I had decided to do for my Christmas presents to friends and family this year. I was going to buy six items from her kitchen line, and put a basket together for everyone. Everyone on my Christmas list received the same thing this year. I guess I should tell you that I don’t have many creative juices running through my veins. I know my way around a Home Depot much better than a Michael’s craft store. However, Michael’s was showing 50% off baskets and other Christmas crafty items, so I took the plunge and stepped through the double doors into the unknown. I bought 10 baskets, the red, green and beige ‘grass’, some gold string, clear plastic ‘basket’ bags and name tags. I really stressed over whether the baskets were big enough, would they be a basket that someone would like to use again? How was I to arrange these 10 wonderful products, so they were displayed to their full potential? How would I tell my friends and family how to re-order these fantastic products? I relied on my years of sales and marketing experience to answer these important questions.

The baskets were just the right size. I designed a simple card that I set inside each basket with the GrabGreen logo, the order phone number and website address. I tied the clear plastic basket bag with the gold string, attached the nametag, and presto – Christmas shopping was done! Did I mention this was all done BEFORE Thanksgiving? The only other person I know of that could get all of her shopping done before Thanksgiving – well, if the truth be told she was done by the first day of school each year, was my Mother, rest her soul. I joke that heaven is a much more organized and better dressed and decorated place now that she is up there. However, I digress.

I have given these baskets everyone on my list but one, including my sister, Jennifer, the owner of this blog. So far, I have had rave reviews as well as congrats on bringing whatever creative juices I have to the surface for the brief time it took me to put these baskets together.

I felt very good about my gift choice this year. I am promoting a company of a good friend, a company that supports eco-friendly products for the kitchen and laundry, and I created a way to have my friends and family try these amazing products easily, without having to drag them anywhere at absolutely no cost to them. That is a ‘win-win’ situation in my book.

There is one downside to this gift – what will I do next year? I now have to figure out how to top this next year. At least I have about 11 months to decide.

Answer this question and you could receive a free gift from GrabGreen. All comments need to be added by Sunday, March 24th at midnight, and all will be put in a random drawing.

+ What was the first eco-friendly product that you purchased?

Yes, this was just my first serving…

Well, it has been hard finding time for this blog since I moved into the new house. I have to admit it’s because we’ve been so wonderfully spoiled with our new home! First of all, we’ve got the landlord to beat all landlords, a ridiculously big lot perfect for planting a garden and letting the dog run like crazy, a spare room for guests, plenty of storage space for bikes and a spare freezer…oh, the list goes on. Sorry to go on about it, but after living in what now feels like a cave for five years, I’m more than a little excited about what I’ve got now!

And between having our lovely friends drop in for visits, digging and planting the garden, training for a half-marathon and actually working, it’s been hard to sit down and get some of the recipes on to the blog. This is one that I conjured up with stuff out of the fridge a few weeks ago when The Husband was back down in Laguna on business and I was all on my lonesome.

I put it down for breakfast, lunch and dinner categories because I actually ate it for all three meals. That’s how good it was! I made it with my favorite sausage—Mulay’s all the way—but if my vegan friends wanted to sub Soyrizo and use some vegan cheeze, you’d have a mighty tasty meal. Seriously. This was hard to share with The Husband when he got home. Actually, he’s lucky there was any left!

This is a great thing to make with spaghetti squash, especially if you need a cold-weather dish of comfort food. And a tip I learned recently—stop trying to cut the squash in half! If you’ve got the time, bake it whole. Stab it a few times (carefully) with a knife, then stick the whole thing in the oven on a baking tray for 40 minutes at 350°F. At that point, cut the stem end off, then slice in half. See if it’s fully cooked; if not, roast it open faced for about 10 more minutes.

Also, I only cooked the squash al dente, as this gets cooked a little more at the end. Enjoy!

Fresh from the oven!

Spaghetti Squash Chorizo Bake

2 Tbs coconut oil
1/2 package Mulay’s chorizo**
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 small onion, chopped
1 pasilla chile, chopped
Half a large or one small spaghetti squash, cooked and shredded
2 cups of kale or arugula, chopped
1/3 cup cilantro, chopped
1.5 cups grated cheddar or queso anejo, plus more for topping**
Splash of almond or coconut milk
1/4 cup almond flour or breadcrumbs

**Use Soyrizo and vegan cheeze as substitutes for a totally vegan dish

Preheat oven to 350°F. Cook your chorizo in the oil until nice and crispy. Remove from pan with a slotted spoon; drain on paper towels. Use the chorizo drippings in the pan and cook the onion, garlic and chile until softened.

Seriously, Mulay’s is the best. Chorizo. Ever.

Add the kale or arugula and cilantro and cook for about two minutes until wilted. Get a very large bowl and mix the cooked spaghetti squash, veggies, almond milk and cheese together and put into a casserole dish. Sprinkle with almond flour or breadcrumbs and a little extra cheese; put in the oven for 15 minutes, or until heated through. Enjoy with a green salad. Try not to eat the whole thing at one sitting.

Productive day outside! Very proud of my fledgling garden here at the new house. As you can see, Kayla has been “helping” me garden, mainly by chasing lizards in the bushes.
So far, I’ve planted: carrots, beets, Swiss chard, strawberries and parsley.
Now time for a refreshing cocktail with the oranges from our tree!

Ain’t brunch grand?

Note to vegan readers—this post really isn’t going to rock your world. You should probably come back later. 

Although it’s been pretty crazy with the move, the holidays, then The Husband’s birthday celebrations, we’ve still managed to do a bit of entertaining in the new house. We’ve managed to make a few new friends up here, and we invited Jonelle over one Sunday after a walk in the park with our doggies.

The day before, I was panicking a little bit, because I wasn’t sure what to make for brunch. I wanted something hearty, something delicious and something paleo that everyone would enjoy. As I wandered the Santa Barbara farmer’s market for the first time, I spotted Jiminez Farms, a local rancher and purveyor of hormone-free, free-range meats.

Straight out of the slow cooker. It was so tender, and the seasoning was subtle but delicious.

Pork belly? Oh yeah. I was inspired. I was then further inspired by the fact that you could cook pork belly in the slow cooker. How cool would that be, I thought? It will take so much work out of the morning! Well, that didn’t exactly happen, but it was nice to have it cooked that morning.

A warning though: cooking anything in the slow cooker overnight is a mixed blessing. Yes, you have a delicious meal waiting for you when you wake up, which is fantastic. What’s not so fantastic is waking up STARVING because the smell of pork belly has been driving you crazy in your dreams for the last two hours!

But readers, it was delicious. I made a Japanese yam rösti topped with garlicky sautéed kale, crisped pork belly and fried egg. Oh, and redeye gravy. Life was good, what with the brunch, some spicy Bloody Marys and mimosas, and sitting on the porch afterwards watching the dogs enjoy the yard.

The dish isn’t really difficult, it’s just getting all the elements ready at the same time. And if you don’t have a slow cooker, you can braise the pork belly in the oven for several hours instead.

Slow-Cooker Braised Pork Belly

2 lbs. free-range pork belly
1 cup white wine (any will do)
Several sage leaves, fresh
1 Tbsp. honey
3 cloves of garlic, peeled
1 Tbsp. Celtic sea salt
Several grinds of fresh black pepper

Throw the pork belly in. Cover with the rest of the ingredients. Turn the slow-cooker to its lowest setting for 6-8 hours. Mine has a timer, so it will go off without you doing anything. It was a lovely Christmas gift!

Once the pork belly is cooked, you’ll want to crisp it up before serving. Cut it into 3-inch square pieces (or whatever size you think is best for your guests), and put on a foil-covered baking sheet. As close to serving as possible, get them under a hot grill or broiler to make sure that top level of fat gets nice and crispy.

Serve with whatever floats your boat!

Redeye Gravy

It’s not traditional, but I took the drippings from the slow cooker and added about 1/2 cup of espresso. I pulled about 1/4 cup of the mixture out, blended it with 3 Tbls. of arrowroot and whisked it into the gravy to thicken it as it reduced. Simmer for 30 minutes to one hour until a thick gravy forms.

Japanese Yam Rösti

2 medium Japanese yams1 white onion
2 Tbls coconut flour
Celtic sea salt
Freshly ground pepper

Throw the yams and the onion in the food processor using the grater disk. If you don’t have one, you’ll have to go old-school with a box grater. I hope you have some onion goggles, because I was crying even with the food processor.

Mix the flour and the spices into the grated veggies, making sure it’s coated. Heat oil, butter or bacon fat in a frying pan and put in the mixture, spreading out as evenly as possible. Cook on medium low heat until it’s crispy on one side. Flip as carefully as possible—I think the traditional way is to put a plate over the top of the pan, flip it over, and slide it from the plate back into the pan. But my dinner plates weigh 5 pounds each, so that doesn’t work for me. I just massacre it by trying to flip it with a spatula.

Once crispy on both sides, place it in a low oven until ready to serve.

I really don’t have to tell you how to make garlicky sautéed kale, do I? No, I don’t. Now get in the kitchen and make some damn pork belly. You’re welcome.

Trucking up the Newport Coast, leaving the OC behind.

Whew. Well, I apologize for such a long pause on the blogging, but exciting things have been afoot. I also apologize for never revealing the Tiny Kitchen Remodel in its fullest, because now there’s no need.

Yes folks, there’s a new kitchen in town. In fact, it’s a new town and a new home. The Husband and I packed up the furry kids, most of the house and the surprisingly large amount of kitchen equipment I have and put it in a U-Haul. We survived the freeways of Los Angeles (see This Is LALA Land for more info on that—she’s a stronger woman than I) and crossed into our hallowed land of Santa Barbara.

A real live porch!

It seems that asking the universe for things can work on occasion. My esteemed, wise and wonderful mother-in-law encouraged us to decide what house we wanted, and seriously—we have the pictures to prove that we got exactly what we wanted, and then some. But apparently, the universe wants me to have dishpan hands, as it refuses to provide me with a dishwasher. Yet.

But I’m not complaining, I swear I’m not, because we basically got a new house, even though we’re renting. Huge front and back yards with several citrus trees and large areas for vegetable gardens (yes, prepare for gardening posts!), a porch, a spare bedroom, windows galore, an ocean view (!!) and an office each for The Husband and I. Oh, and more storage space than we know what to do with.

It’s new, it’s shiny and not-so-tiny…

And the kitchen. I actually got to take the plastic off new appliances (though not a dishwasher, as previously mentioned) and kept opening the oven to see how much space was inside. What? You mean I can fit a cookie sheet SIDEWAYS?! The fun thing is that the layout is the same as the Tiny Kitchen, but expanded, so it didn’t take too long to get used to it. But now what do I call my blog? The Not-So-Tiny Kitchen Stories? Doesn’t have quite the same ring to it. Suggestions on a postcard please, readers.

So you can imagine that moving house right before the holidays was a little stressful, juggling work (thank you, patient clients!), social engagements and packing. We didn’t even have time to put up any Christmas decorations, but in the end that didn’t matter, as about three streets away there was a house so overdecorated you could see if from space. I’m not kidding—the photo only shows the smallest part of the lights and decorations that rampaged across this property. I’m sure you could have supplied a small African country with power for a year with the electricity they used over the Christmas period.

I think that’s a polar bear. It was hard to see anything past the mass of lights.

But now we’re settled in, and meals have been made, breaking in the new kitchen very nicely. It’s been nice finding our new routines, like morning coffee together on the porch, enjoying the view and throwing the frisbee for Kayla while the cat looks on from the window. Enviously, as he’s lost outdoor privileges due to coyote proximity. (Don’t feel too bad for him—he’s an elderly purebred Maine Coon with about as much street smarts as a Tellytubby.) I’ve joined a running Meetup and have already gotten up to 6.5 miles, and regular readers will know what a pleasant surprise that was for me. They’ve got a farmer’s market twice a week in town, which seems like a total luxury and only fair since the only Whole Foods is all the way across town.

The Husband and I have even had some friends over, and that’s where this recipe stems from. I had invited my dear friend Rose over for tea and to see the house, and had nothing to serve with our hot drinks. A quick trip to the store after an internet search for inspiration produced these lovely muffins. They’re paleo, of course, but still light and fluffy.

The morning light in my house is awesome for pics!

Paleo Banana-Blueberry Muffins

Makes one dozen.

2 cups almond flour
3 eggs
1 whole, very ripe banana, peeled and mashed
3 Tbls maple syrup
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
Pinch of salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 Tbsp almond or coconut oil
1 cup blueberries

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line your muffin tin with paper cups and set aside.

Whisk the eggs together well, then add the rest of the wet ingredients: Banana, syrup, vinegar, extract and oil. In a separate bowl, combine the dry ingredients: Almond flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt.

Combine the wet and dry ingredients, and stir just until mixed. Fold in the blueberries carefully, then evenly fill the muffin cups.

Bake for 25 minutes and eat at least one while still warm.

Fresh from the oven and golden brown.

A veritable cornucopia of Christmas treats!

Since the Tiny Kitchen’s been in the middle of a move (full story to unfold shortly!), my sister Mary kindly volunteered to share her baking story with my lovely followers. I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas, and are looking forward to a wonderful New Year’s Eve celebration. And to my UK friends, happy Boxing Day. (To find out what I baked this year, click here.)

Last year, Jennifer and I shared with you the Myers family holiday traditions: the Baked Cheese Fondue, my mother baking goodies for friends, colleagues and neighbors and my best friend Tina and I taking up the baking goodies tradition for our friends, neighbors and colleagues. I also shared with all of you the Nut Roll recipe that has been a long standing holiday tradition in the Myers family, and as Jennifer stated last year, “it’s just not Christmas without it!”.

I started at 8:30am and finished baking around 6:00pm. By the time I finished dividing everything up for the 20 people that were anxiously awaiting these holiday treats, it was 8:30pm. I am not too proud to say that Motrin and an Icy Hot patch helped keep me on my feet without too much pain throughout the day. The In-N-Out burger after a long day really hit the spot. I wasn’t in the mood to make myself dinner, I am sure you can understand.

I just love baking; for me it is relaxing. I connected my iPod to my stereo, cranked up the volume and started my day. Heads up: don’t try to sing, dance and use the ‘call me’ hand gesture when Call Me Maybe, by Carly Rae Jepsen is playing with hands covered in dough. It can get messy – trust me!

I also enjoy trying to figure out how best to organize what to bake, when. I start off with the nut rolls because you need to raise the dough twice. However, I have to remember not to leave the Cream Cheese, Fruit Filled Cookies as the last item to bake. The recipe makes quite a bit of cookies, and they are very time consuming to put together. I hope to remember this next year – however, my memory isn’t as good as it used to be!

I know that everyone that I share these treats with enjoy and appreciate them. Not many people actually make ‘homemade’ gifts anymore. My annual holiday baking day gives me the opportunity to do something I love as well as give personal gifts to people who take care of my hair, nails, car or are just great friends. My family also benefits from my holiday baking day. I prepare goody bags for them to enjoy as well.

This year I decided to have a couple of different cookie options. The entire list is below. Recipes are available upon request—just ask in the comments!

• Cream Cheese, Fruit Filled Cookies
• Chocolate Chip and Pecan Balls (also known as Mexican Wedding Cookies)
• Red Velvet Bars
• Chocolate Chip Cookies
• White Chip Island Cookies
• Chocolate Fudge
• Nut Rolls
• Lemon Bars
• Snickerdoodles

I want to close by saying my heart and prayers go out to the families in Connecticut who have lost a child, friend, colleague or relative. This should be a time of wonder and joy when you look forward to spending time with friends and family and looking back at the year thankful for what you have. So many lives were cut short this year, please keep them in your thoughts.”

I completely agree with Mary’s last statement—I’m still horrified by that tragedy, and hope that it doesn’t make the holidays a painful time for all of those who lost someone this year.

+++New Info!+++Some of you have requested a few recipes, so I’m including them below:

LEMON BARS

2 Cups flour

½ Cup powdered sugar

1 Cup butter

Mix and pat in 9 x 13″ pan and bake @ 350° for 20 minutes.

4 Eggs, beaten with fork

ADD

2 Cups sugar

6 Tbls lemon juice

Grated rind of one lemon

2 Tbls flour

1 teas baking powder

Pour over crust and bake additional 25 minutes.  Sprinkle powdered sugar on top when done.  Cut into bars.

CHOCOLATE-CHIP & PECAN BALLS

Roll these Mexican wedding cookies twice in confectioners’ sugar, once the cookies are warm and once again when cool, so they’re snowy white when served.

¾ Cup pecans

1 ¼ Cups confectioners’ sugar

1 Cup butter (2 sticks), cut up, softened (no substitutions)

1 teas vanilla extract

2 Cups all-purpose flour

¼ teas salt

½ Cup semisweet-chocolate mini chips

Preheat oven to 325°F. In food processor, with knife blade attached, pulse pecans and ¼ cup sugar until pecans are finely ground. Add butter and vanilla; pulse until butter is incorporated. Add flour and salt, and pulse until evenly moistened. Transfer dough to medium bowl; stir in chocolate chips.

With floured hands, shape dough by heaping teaspoons into 1-inch balls. Place balls, 1 inch apart, on ungreased large cookie sheet.

Bake cookies 20 to 22 minutes or until bottoms are lightly browned. Transfer cookies to wire rack to cool slightly.

Place remaining 1 cup confectioners’ sugar in medium bowl. While still warm, gently roll cookies, 1 at a time, in sugar to coat. Place cookies on wire rack to cool completely. When cool, gently roll cookies in sugar again.

Repeat with remaining dough and sugar. Store cookies in tightly covered container up to 3 weeks.

RED VELVET CAKE/BARS

 ½ Cup butter or margarine, softened

1 ½ Cups sugar

1 teas vanilla extract

1 Tbls white vinegar

3 Large eggs

1 (1-ounce) bottle liquid red food coloring

2 ½ Cups all-purpose flour

2 Tbls cocoa powder

1 teas baking soda

½ teas salt

1 Cup buttermilk

Cream Cheese Frosting

Beat butter at medium speed with an electric mixer until fluffy; gradually add sugar, vanilla, and vinegar, beating well. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating until blended after each addition. Add food coloring, beating until combined.

Combine flour and next 3 ingredients; add to butter mixture alternately with buttermilk, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Beat at low speed until blended after each addition. Pour into 2 greased and floured 9-inch cake pans.

Bake @ 350° for 20 to 22 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pans on wire racks 5 minutes; remove from pans, cool on wire racks.

Spread Cream Cheese Frosting between layers and on tops and sides of cake.

To make bars: Bake @ 350° for 25-30 minutes using a cake roll pan. Only make ½ of the cream cheese frosting for bars.

 CREAM CHEESE FROSTING

2 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, softened

½ Cup butter, softened

2 (16-ounce) packages powdered sugar

2 teas vanilla extract

Beat cream cheese and butter at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy. Gradually add powdered sugar, beating until light & fluffy. Stir in vanilla extract.

It’s a merry Christmas here in the new not-so-tiny kitchen!! More to come in the new year…