Month: December 2009

Calling All Cakes!

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I woke up this morning to a TON of snow!  It’s so lovely!!  So I slipped on my stylish new snow boots (over my pajamas) and headed out to take some pictures.  I was chic:

Not sure how I’m going to get my car out…

I’ve been a busy bee as of recent.  I have a presentation for my land use class tonight and my group poster is a DISASTER!  I hate group projects but mostly jerks who can’t work with others.

After that I will be working on my stats paper… When it comes to stats I sort of feel like this:

Image not mine

Anyway, It’ll get done!

Luckily my oats this morning were lovely!

On to cakes!

I need your help!

While part of my December Recipe Challenge was to hold off on baking sweets, my friend Liz’s birthday is today!  Happy Birthday Liz!

Isn't she cute?! Gentlemen, she's single!

So this weekend, my roommate and I are hosting an Ugly Sweater/Liz’s Birthday Party.  What kind of a birthday party would it be without the cake??

So if I’m only going to bake one thing then it better be good!  She said her favorite cake is anyone that she doesn’t have to bake.  So that leaves me with a blank slate! 

I need suggestions for an amazing birthday cake! Cupcakes are also appreciated!

Let’s make Liz’s birthday cake amazing!

Please leave me comments with cake suggestions/recipes!

Note: This does not have to be your original recipe, but please give authors due credit.  Also, this doesn’t have to be fancy from scratch.  Doctored cake mix is great!  Creativity is appreciated but simplicity is classic!

I’ll pick the top three by tomorrow and Liz will vote on which one I should make!  The winner will get something special sent to them 🙂

Have a great day!

Copenhagen

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In the news, you’ve probably seen a million articles talking about Copenhagen.  What does this mean exactly?

Yesterday, started the 15th meeting of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP15).  It’s a meeting on climate change to follow up the Kyoto Protocol.  The Kyoto Protocol was an international agreement adopted at the end of 1997, as a way to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the world.  The goal was to reduce GHG emissions to the level that they were in 1990.  As of now, 187 national governments have ratified the Kyoto Protocol.  The US has not (this is not to say the US is not doing anything to prevent climate change).

If you click on the Kyoto Protocol link above, it takes you to the UNFCCC website that has a good summary of the Kyoto Protocol and the mechanism of implementation (for some reason I’m a fan of the “carbon market” idea).  Although the Kyoto Protocol doesn’t expire until 2012, preparations are being made for a new program to reduce GHGs.

Since the meeting at Copenhagen just started, I can’t say too much about it.  But I encourage everyone to read the news. Here is the first press briefing (only 2:39 long… pretty short):

Here are a few key points I find particularly interesting and I hope are discussed in Copenhagen:

  • Tension between environmental protection/prevention of climate change and development.  Can we have both?
  • How are we financing this?
  • What are the governance structures and power relationships involved?
  • Where are they looking to cut GHG emissions?  Transportation? Agriculture?

You may be wondering what this has to do with food security… I think it’s a crucial aspect as one of the causes of food insecurity is natural hazards.  Granted the changes in the global climate may be small, but this could effect food production in the future.

Also, food production produces a significant amount of GHGs.  While I don’t think may politicians would promote reducing food production to reduce GHG emissions, it could interesting to see if green agriculture is talked about.

What are your thoughts on Copenhagen?  Are you interested in this or not a whole lot?

Should we be worrying about this now?

I know as a planning student, I’m surrounded by people who feel very strongly about it and are working toward solutions, but I’m always interested in hearing other perspectives.

December Recipe Challenge: Quinoa Mediterraneana

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Ordinarily, when invited to a gathering, I bring a baked good.  I like to bake and I’m not too bad at it, so I figure why not.  However, I’m trying to break out of my comfort zone and get a little healthier.  So in the spirit of the December Recipe Challenge, I’m bringing Quinoa Mediterraneana to my department’s Dish-to-Pass Holiday Party today!

I found this recipe on Food Network.  I made a few changes and omitted pine nuts (because they’re just too expensive and they didn’t have any in the bulk food section so I couldn’t just just a handful) and parsley (because I’m not a fan so why would I waste 99 cents! Every penny counts!)

Here’s my version:

Quinoa Mediterraneana

adapted from Food Network Quinoa Mediterraneana

2 cups dry quinoa
3 and 1/2 cups water (The recipe calls for 4.5 and I used that but my quinoa turned out WAYYY too mushy, so try less water)
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp sea salt
1/2 canned artichoke hearts
1/4 cup or 1 small 2.25 oz can of black olives
1/2 bunch about 3 cups of chopped spinach (you can chiffonade–cut into strips– as the recipe says, fancy right??)
2 Roma tomatoes diced
Greek Dressing (recipe follows)
1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese

First gather your ingredients…

Rinse your quinoa and put in a big big pot with water, salt and oil.  First I thought I was going to use my littler bit pot but turns out I needed the jumbo pot!

Bring to a boil and simmer for 15-2o minutes.  Let the quinoa chill for a bit while you do the rest.

Chop up your ingredients and set them aside

Then start making your dressing

Greek Dressing:

zest of 1 lemon
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
Juice of 1 orange
2 Tbsp olive oil
2 tsp dried oregano
salt and pepper to taste

To make the dressing:

Zest your lemon and juice squeeeze your orange juice.  You can use a zester or a microplane (I want one of these so bad but haven’t been willing to pony up the dough for it).  You can also use store bought orange juice(recipe actually calls for this).  I didn’t because I don’t like orange juice and it was cheaper for me just to buy an orange.

Combine all the ingredients and set aside.

Add the tomatoes, artichoke hearts, olives spinach and dressing to the cooked quinoa.

Mix it up and top with crumbled feta!

It was pretty quick and easy to make, not mention colorful!

Enjoy!  I tried a little bit and I really like it!  Great flavor combination.  I just wish my quinoa hadn’t turned out mushy but that can be fixed next time with less water 🙂

I hope everyone at my party likes it 🙂

Have a great day!!

Guatemalan Black Beans: Part II

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I’m glad you all enjoyed Part I of the Guatemalan Black Bean Saga.  Here’s part II:

But first another picture from Guatemala…

Me in front of Lake Atitlan in Guatemala on a very hazy day!

Once you’re tired of eating whole beans, you can use your left overs and make some refried beans!  Growing up we had refried black beans, eggs and tortillas for breakfast on weekends.  It’s still one of my favorite breakfasts (and I LOVE breakfast food).  Soo good!

Frijoles Volteados:

2 cups Cooked Black Beans (Reserve some of the liquid)
1/2 small onion diced (optional I didn’t use any)
1/2 tbsp olive oil
salt to taste

Step one: add as much beans as you want to make in the blender (I recommended two cups above but I only had about a cup).  Add a little bit of the liquid and blend until smooth, almost like a thick soup.  (You can stop here if you want to enjoy some frijoles licuados, essentially a black bean soup).


Step two: Dice your onion into small pieces.  Heat 1/2 tbsp of olive oil in a pan on medium to high heat. Add onions to heated pan, cook til onions are cooked through.  Skip this step if you choose not to use onions as I did

Step three: add blended beans to the pan.  Stir until thick (this will take about 10 minutes), watch out for splashing beans!  They burn!  (My mom warns me about this every single time I tell her that I make these).

Then as they thicken, it’ll start to separate from the pan, once you shake the pan and they form a solid log shape, turn them onto a plate.  You can slice it with a butter knife to serve… Doesn’t look very cute, but tastes delicious!

Step four: Enjoy with scrambled eggs, tortillas and sour cream or queso fresco!

I wish I had nice thick corn tortilla and plantains.  Unfortunately in upstate NY, they’ve only heard of flour tortillas and plantains don’t exist (I keep meaning to check the Asian market to double check this).

Once you try these, you’ll never want to buy a can of refried beans again!

In Other News… In case you hadn’t noticed… this site is now officially http://www.foodologie.com!  Woo!

Purely Delicious

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Did you know: Ice cream sundaes were invented in Ithaca, NY!

In honor of that, and the fact that my friend Sara quit her waitressing job, a few of us took a study/paper-writing break and went to Purity Ice Cream!

This place is like the ultimate sweet shop!

They also had Legos to play with!  So we reverted to 3 year old status…

Sara and I shared a Brownie Sundae with Goose Traks and Bulldog Crunch!  Mmm delicious!

Obviously we hated it…

On to a long night of paper writing!  Wish me luck!

Guatemalan Black Beans: Part I

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Black beans are a staple in the Guatemalan diet.  Most people don’t know a whole lot about Guatemala, so I figured why not share one of my favorite foods (and pretty much the thing I miss most about living at home).

My grandma eats black beans every day and is convinced it keeps her healthy.  Whether or not that’s true, I grew up eating them quite a bit.  I think they’re pretty tasty and would be totally okay with eating them everyday, health benefits are an added bonus!

My Grandma and Me, walking through some ruins in Guatemala

Black beans can be enjoyed in many, many ways, but the two most common ways they are enjoyed in Guatemala is whole beans (parados) often in a soup form or refried (volteados).  This recipe is how my family makes them.  Obviously, each family has a  different recipe, but I think these are pretty tasty and simple.

Frijoles Parados:

1lb of black beans
1 garlic clove
1 large onion
salt to taste (we’re salty eaters so we kind of use a lot)

*I made less than this since it’s just me eating: I used about a cup of dry beans, 1 small onion and a 1/2 tsp minced garlic since I didn’t have a whole clove.

Step One: Sort through your beans to make sure there are no rocks or shriveled old beans up in there!  Soak your beans over night or at least 4 hours in a pot.

Step Two: Drain the soaking water

Step 3: Cut the ends off an onion and peel a garlic clove place them in the pot with your beans.  Add some salt (1/2 tsp? 1 tsp? depending on  how much you make).  Add enough fresh water to cover your beans and most onion.

Step 4: Bring water to a boil then simmer for about an hour and a half or until beans are tender.

Step 5:  Ladle some into a bowl and enjoy with a dollop of sour cream!

Coming Soon… Part II of the Guatemalan Black Bean Saga…

I must be really into series posts…

What Causes Food Insecurity: Part IV

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In case you missed it, here are Part I, Part II, and Part III of What Causes Food Insecurity.  Here is the final part of this segment.  While more could be said about each of these topics, remember I’m simplifying a lot of this for the purpose of readability (and this is a blog not an academic paper!).

Here are two more reasons that are commonly cited for increases in the cost of food and subsequently food insecurity.

Fuel Costs: You may recall in early to mid-2008 the price of oil rose dramatically ($140/barrel… in the Bay Area gas was over $4.00/gallon) and all of a sudden there were riots in various developing countries (I remember Haiti, since I was working at a government agency dealing with food security issues).  The price of oil is largely controlled by OPEC (Organization of Oil Exporting Countries).  Increases in the cost of fuel means increases in the cost of food for a few reasons.

  1. Gasoline and other petroleum based chemicals are inputs for a lot of agricultural production (i.e. tractors, fertilizers, etc).  When the cost of production increases, generally that cost is incurred by the consumer because the producer doesn’t want to (and often simply can’t afford to) lose profits.
  2. Transportation.  Certain places have better climates for growing.  If you live in the the United States, chances are a lot of your produce comes from California or Mexico.  The cost of transporting food is reflected in the price of the food.  If it costs more to ship some grains around the world then food is going to cost more.

Increased Demand from Emerging Nations:  It is argued that certain developing nations namely China, Brazil and India have increase in wealth and improved quality of life in recent years.  This has created increased demand for food, particularly meat and dairy products, which require more land and agricultural products to produce.  Increased demand with a constant supply causes an increase in price.

Here’s my opinion on this last point:

I don’t think it’s fair to blame developing nations for increasing the cost of food.  I’ve never been to China, and was too young when I went to Brazil to observe this kind of thing, but India still has extreme levels of poverty and hunger.  I wonder how much their consumption has increased actually affecting food prices.

Developed countries have been consuming at unsustainable levels for decades.  Can we honestly tell countries like China, Brazil and India that they cannot enjoy the same luxuries that we do? I think curbing consumption is extremely important for attaining food security and environmental sustainability, but we cannot expect certain nations to limit themselves when we do not.  This is the major reason why I am a vegetarian.  I feel like if I reduce my consumption of meat, more people in the world might be able to eat and the Earth will be a bit healthier.  Some would say it’s a drop in the bucket, but I think it’s worth it.

What are your thoughts?  Do you see any solutions to these issues?

Is there anything you’d like to know more about?

Snow + Squash

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Snow for real!  I’m pretty excited.  Today was the first time I really saw snow fall (more the few flakes I saw last week).  Super exciting!!

Today has been one of the most unproductive days of my life!  I have a paper due Monday and I need to work on a presentation on Wednesday.

I managed to:
-Go to Wegman’s, you can now rest assured that I will not run out of bananas
-Watch an episode of Ugly Betty (mildy obsessed)
-Read a million and 1 blogs
-Talk on the phone with the madre
-Listen to Lady Gaga’s Bad Romance, Jason Derulo’s Whatcha Say, Blue Oyster Cult’s Don’t Fear the Reaper, Bon Jovi’s Wanted Dead or Alive, and Miley Cyrus’s Party in the USA, each about 50 times.  Thanks Grooveshark!

That’s pretty much it.

I also made a tasty dinner.  I’ve had an acorn squash sitting in my kitchen for about 2 weeks and thought it’s about time that I actually use it.  I cut it in half and baked it for about 45 minutes.  Then I filled it with some leftover quinoa, dried cranberries and sour cream then topped it with some shredded cheese.

Not bad.

I fully intend on getting a lot done tonight!  Wish me luck!

Coming up soon… next recipe for December Recipe Challenge and next post about Food Security!

Brunch at the Carriage House

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I don’t usually eat out two meals in a row, but since the lovely fella is leaving we decided to make the most of his time here in Ithaca.  It was 26 degrees out (eek!!) so I suited up before walking to breakfast!

I look kind of like a marshmallow but seriously, this jacket kept me ridiculously warm! Despite the fact that it was pretty cold, it was a lovely walk.  Then we arrived at the Carriage House.  They’re known for having a really good brunch, so I was pretty excited to go.  I love brunch! I prefer breakfast foods to any other meal!

The decor was lovely and the ambiance was very cozy.

And they had Bon Appetit magazine at each table!!  Great reading material for when you’re waiting for your meal!

I ordered the scrambled eggs (cage free!) with ciabatta toast and a side of garlic home fries (served with house-made tomato-ginger ketchup).  The tomato-ginger ketchup was interesting.  A little too sweet for my liking but a great flavor combination, almost reminded me of a chutney.

Overall, this place was pretty good.  Their coffee was tasty, food was pretty good and the decor was great!

What’s your favorite restaurant??

Moosewood

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Since the lovely fella is leaving tomorrow 😦 we decided to go on a “hot date.”  So in a foodie’s life that means go out to a great restaurant.  We decided on Moosewood because I’ve been obsessing over it heard it’s delicious.  You may have heard of Moosewood because of their cookbooks.  Moosewood is a collectively-owned, vegetarian restaurant and pretty much an Ithaca landmark.  Their menu changes daily and most items have the option of being vegan as well (i.e. omitting cheese)

Dinner was pretty delicious.

I started with a glass of wine, the lovely fella got an Ithaca Pale Ale while perusing the menu.  Both were delicious

Then came the house salads.  Oh my goodness.  This salad was probably the best part of the entire meal!  I got the Lemon-Tahini dressing.  It was fantastic!  I’m going to try to recreate it ASAP!  The lovely fella got the house dressing, which was a creamy spinach-basil dressing.  It was equally delicious.  I can’t decide which one I liked better.

As my entree, I got the Savannah Stew (Sweet potatoes, kale, green beans, celery, bell peppers, zucchini, yellow squash and tomatoes simmered with Old Bay seasoning, lemon and thyme, topped with cheddar cheese (opt.) and  served with freshly baked scallion cornbread (v))  That is the menu description.  The (v) means vegan.  I got the cheese on top so it was not completely vegan.

Oh man!  This was one of the best stews I’ve ever had!  It was so flavorful and hearty!

The lovely fella got the Roasted Vegetable Lasagna (Layers of lasagna noodles, roasted portabello and white mushrooms, eggplant and zucchini, whipped (local organic Ithaca Soy) tofu “ricotta”, baked in a savory tomato-basil wine sauce;
topped with mozzarella cheese (opt.)).  He liked his, but I wasn’t a fan.  The tofu was really bland (as tofu generally is) and slightly bitter.  Sure glad he liked it!  The lasagna minus the tofu was great!  Here he is with his dinner 🙂

Then of course came dessert.  The menu said there was carrot cake, so we ordered that.  However, the waiter let us know this is was actually banana cake!  I was instantly sold, as I am a banana fiend.

Honestly, it wasn’t the best I’ve ever had (on that note, the best Banana Cake I’ve ever had was in the Azores, Portuguese Islands, I studied abroad in Portugal and seriously I still dream about that cake).  The frosting was a little too sweet and the cake was kind of dense.

That being said it was still tasty and greatly appreciated!

Overall, Moosewood was pretty good and I recommend it to anyone in the Ithaca area.

Also, tonight was the first time I felt like a food blogger haha.  I took pictures of everything.  I lugged the big camera.  It was less nerve wracking than I thought it would be and now I’m glad to have the pictures.  So if you hesitate at all to take pictures in public, don’t!

Now I’m stuffed and off to either work on a project or watch a movie.  I can’t decide… I have a feeling it’ll be the movie since the lovely fella is leaving tomorrow 😦

Goodnight!