Friday Feasts: Sunbutter

Posted on January 18, 2013 by Monique

Well, it’s three weeks into 2013 and I finally got around to getting my stuff together.

As said before, the company Katie and I worked at together closed their doors after being in business for thirty-something years. I use to long for time off before I jump started into a new adventure. I really truly thought my attitude was going to be different, but that hasn’t been the case. I miss my routine and it seems I work better when I’ve got one. I believe that my biggest problem was setting expectations for myself and not meeting them. I often do so and I end up just being mad at myself. I don’t like it one bit–my head sometimes goes to places I don’t want it to go. I’ve got a thinking problem. My brain likes to multitask 24/7 instead of focusing on the now.

Anyways…I got that icky sickness that’s been going around on New Years and this week I’m just starting to feel better. Maybe the combination of being on house arrest and spending way too much money on Christmas (not the first time!), added to my little rut.

But, this week has been great! I made a couple new recipes and I can’t wait to share them with you all.

First one on the list is sunbutter. I’ve been wanting to make it for a long time now and finally got around to it!

It’s like peanut butter, but made with sunflower seeds. It’s nutty and raw and very flavorful. So far it’s been great on an English muffin with honey on top. I added it in a smoothy yesterday and it was excellent that way too.

The color is very interesting. Looks like wet concrete to me.

All it takes is four simple ingredients and a good food processor. This is the food processor I got. 100% worth every penny. I actually think it was gifted to me. I don’t know what I would do without this thing. I like it better than my Kitchenaid stand mixer. Serious! I do!

Sunbutter!

First toast, 3 cups of shelled, raw, unsalted sunflower seeds on the stove top. Toast until their light golden brown in color. Do not go and buy already toasted nuts, the process will not work… so they say.

Next, move them over to your food processor. Using the “on button” start processing. At first the seeds will look kind of like a dry powdery mixture, but the more you process the more of their oils start coming out. At this point, add 3/4 teaspoon of fine salt and 1 teaspoon of sugar.

After about five minutes of continually processing them, add a teaspoon or more of honey or agave. Every couple of minutes I stop the machine and scrap down the sides of the bowl. The consistency should start looking like this.

Keep going. The total processing time is about ten minutes plus. Like I said, the longer the sunflower seeds process the more of their oils come out. I read that most people give up after a few minutes when they see nothing happening. Just keep going, I promise something will happen. Patience, patience, patience!

Once you see the mixture looking like peanut butter might, drizzle in a tablespoon or two of olive oil until you get the consistency you want. Two tablespoons worked for me.

Store in an airtight container in a cool dry place for a couple weeks. Oh! And it’s totally normal for your sunbutter to be warm after processing.

Yum, yum!

Have fun and happy weekend!

Recipe adapted here.

Happy Twenty-Thirteen!

Posted on January 1, 2013 by Katie

Ah, the new year.

Typically, this is when we begin to swear off junk food, promise to eat thirty servings of vegetables every day, commit ourselves to nine days of exercise each week, and promptly forget that we have all-consuming jobs and responsibilities that make slicing out a part of our day and reserving it for resolutions feel impossible by the second week in January. And while I, too, will be making good-health commitments to my body along with most of the rest of the world, my resolutions have a lot more to do with making the most of those tiny slices of time.

See, I started a new job in November that’s tacked on an extra two hours-ish of commute time to each of my days, and pairing that with taking one class a month to finish my bachelor’s degree has made the initial transition trying. I decided to take a month off of school for December, considering the new-job-exhaustion I was feeling and the likelihood of transforming into a full-fledged Scrooge over not being able to bake as many Christmas treats as I wanted or to make sure each and every gift was as perfect as possible. And, while that time off did help, I now know that in order to experience a holiday season as magical as I expect for myself and my loved ones, I’m going to have to prepare sooner. A lot sooner.

That said, I am resolving to begin now. I know plenty of crafty people who create the entire year and stash their future presents for gift-giving situations and it’s time for me to become one of them.

The second important note is: to create with variety. Here I am speaking only about knitting, but that could translate into any of the other homemade things in which I dabble. Christmas rewarded me with four volumes of knitting stitches that will help me — finally! — create my very own knitting pattern. More than homemade, I love the possibility of being original, so I expect to get a lot of use from those books. (Thanks, Mom!)

And the third, and final, craft-related resolution is to use that spinning wheel! I’ve been so intimidated since my first attempts of making a giant mess of my roving, but over the last year I’ve seen such an improvement in my knitting, I expect that, too, just needs time and practice. I can hear my friend Kathy right now: “Just fifteen minutes a day, Katie.” It’s enough to practice but not enough to get angry about the errors. I think that I should be able to spare that much!

Hopefully you’ve all recovered from any party-induced weariness by now and have written your own (small!) list of resolutions. By announcing them to the world, I give my friends and family free license to nag me, all year, on the status of my resolutions. I suggest you do the same!

Good-bye, 2012. We learned a lot this year, whether it be about life and love or cumin and cables. Looking forward to all the new information 2013 will bring!

Banana Sour Cream Bread

Posted on December 17, 2012 by Monique

Another holiday treat coming your way!

This banana bread has got the best crumb E-V-E-R. The recipe makes a lot which is perfect for gift giving. The sour cream gives it an extra insurance of moistness and the hint of cinnamon and nutmeg just makes it way over the top. Your taste buds won’t know how to handle the first bite.. serious. Everyone will probably tell you you’re the best banana bread baker (say that five times). I say raise your head high and soak it all up. Chaa… there’s nothing wrong with a little bragging.

Banana Sour Cream Bread

Slightly adapted from: allrecipes.com

Ingredients

1/4 cup white sugar

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon salt

3 teaspoons baking soda

3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened (1 1/2 sticks)

1 1/2 cups white sugar

1 cup brown sugar, packed

3 eggs, room temperature

6 very ripe bananas, mashed

2 cups sour cream, full fat

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans (optional)

Directions

Preheat oven at 300 degrees F. Place racks in the center of the oven.

Spray three to four loaf pans with non-stick cooking spray. I use the disposable ones which are great to use if you will be gifting these.

In a small bowl mix together 1/4 cup sugar and 1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon. Sprinkle on all sides of the sprayed loaf pans.

Next, in a medium sized bowl whisk together all dry ingredients. Set aside.

In a bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, mix together butter and sugar for about 3 minutes on medium speed. Scrape down sides and add eggs, mashed bananas, sour cream, and vanilla. Mix on medium speed until just combined.

Scrape down sides once more and add half the flour mixture. Mix on low/medium speed until just combined. Scrape down sides again and repeat with the other half of the flour mixture. Do not over mix, just mix until combined. If you’re going to add nuts this would be the time you’d fold them in.

Fill loaf pans about half full and bake for about 1 hour to 1 hour 10 minutes, until toothpicks comes out clean.

See!? Super simple!

Let them cool completely and wrap them very well if you’re going to freeze them. Bread is best eaten within two days.

PS – my trick to tasty banana bread is making sure that the bananas are black. Keep them in a paper bag for a while and they’ll get there in no time.

Saturday Night Hooking: It’s Levi-oh-sa, not Levio-sah!

Posted on December 15, 2012 by Katie

Let’s be clear about one thing this morning: I love Harry Potter.

The world, yes. The movies, yes. The story with all its foreshadowing and multi-level themes, yesyesyes. But even more than that? I love what Harry Potter did to the world. Every photograph and news story about children and parents lining up at midnight for book releases, parties to celebrate the newest novel, Halloween costumes composed of round-framed glasses and hand-drawn forehead scars: magic. Not the same wizard magic found in J.K. Rowling’s pages, but the kind that makes children (and adults!) fall so deeply in love with characters that they remain lifelong invisible friends.

Every time I hear of someone thanking Rowling for their childhood, I tear up just a bit.

The skein pictured with the beginnings of a scarf that it just wasn’t destined to become. Like Harry, this yarn had a very specific fate.

Continue reading →

Vanilla Bean Snickerdoodles

Posted on December 8, 2012 by Monique

WOW! It’s December.

Have you started any of your holiday baking? Or even shopping?

Like Katie mentioned in her last post, the company that we both worked at together shut their doors after almost forty years in business. I was one of the last ones there to close out my department, followed by my direct boss. Saying goodbye was bittersweet, but it’s been nice having the last few weeks off. My house hasn’t been so consistently clean, EVER and dinner has been on the table almost every night. I’ve been enjoying it a lot. It’s really nice not working around the holidays.

Since I’ve had the time off I’ve had the chance to try some awesome cookie recipes. Which leads me to sharing these Snickerdoodles with you.

They’re perfect in every way. Not too crispy, but not too soft. The cinnamon/sugar seems to melt in your mouth after the first bite. The smidge of vanilla bean adds to the final touch of perfection.

Wrap these in a cute treat bag and take them to your neighbors or your next holiday party. Your friends will think you’re even more amazing.

Vanilla Bean Sinkerdoodles

Adapted From: Joy the Baker Cookbook

Ingredients

2 3/4 cup all-purpose flour

2 tsp cream of tarter

1 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1 cup of unsalted butter, softened

1 1/2 cups white sugar

2 large eggs, room tempature

1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract

1 vanilla bean, scraped of seeds

Directions

First, to make the cookies, in a medium mixing bowl whisk together flour, cream of tarter, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

In a bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, beat together the butter and sugar for 3 to 5 minutes until light and fluffy. Scrape down butter/sugar mixture and beat in eggs one at time on medium speed for one minute each, scraping down sides after each step. Add vanilla extract and vanilla bean seeds and beat until just combined.

Scrape down butter/sugar mixture. Add flour mixture mixing on low speed just until combined. Finish incorporating mixture by hand with your favorite rubber spatula or wooden spoon. Do not over mix.

Let cookie mixture rest in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes. This hardens the butter back up, so during baking time your cookies don’t become a hot mess.

While the cookie mixture is resting, mix together 1 teapsoon of ground cinnamon and 1/3 cup of white sugar in a small bowl.

Preheat oven at 350 degrees F placing oven rack in the center of the oven. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Using a cookie scoop, scoop tablespoon sized dough balls into cinnamon/sugar mixture and roll around until well coated.

Place on cookie sheet and bake for 12 to 14 minutes. I found that 12 minutes is perfect.

PS – more holiday recipes coming!