the adventures of grapefruitgirl

Experiment

June 2nd, 2009

These past few days I have been a cooking machine. I find my daily zen in the solitude of getting my mise en place: peeling away papery garlic layers, slicing and dicing vegetables, zesting lemons. The surplus gets stashed away in the freezer for later use.

Recent culinary feats include savory piroshskis, spicy crockpot chili, delicious homemade hummus, and not so tasty roasted chickpeas. I suppose that is why cooking is sometimes called an experiment. At times, success. Others, barely edible failure.

Time constraints in my life prevent me from taking photos of my current epicurean adventures. I just wanted to take a moment to pump some fresh blood into this website. The cooking is happening offline. Now, to work on bringing my cooking back to the tubes.

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Growin’ Up

June 15th, 2008

It is amazing how productive you can be when you chill out from partying all the time. The romanticized Hemingway mystique that you have to be wasted to create proper art is utter and complete bullocks.

School gives you the focus to do so, but there can be many motivators for turning over a new leaf: a tight cash flow; sobriety; or simply growin’ up. Not to say that grown-ups can’t have a good time. Hell, we only live once and it’s vital to enjoy ourselves. Yet enjoying ourselves doesn’t have to entail liver deteriorating activities.

You used to think that people who stayed home and got shit done were boring tea totalers. Yet now you realize the deep satisfaction that comes from fruitfulness. Like cooking a fantabulous meal; and teaching yourself to knit knee-high socks; and figuring out how to chop up then restyle back together your clothes DIY-esque; and building invisible bookshelves; and gardening; and the endorphin high of exercise; and…

You have an addictive personality and you acknowledge this fact. Instead of watching your cash literally blow away in smoke plumes, you channel your restless energy into productive tasks. You are pleasantly shocked by how well your life is going (in a humble and non-boastful way). You honestly did not know life could be this good and you allow a seed in your soul to grow: you may very well fulfill your dreams/goals before you die. This thought fills you with immense happiness. Your life is completely what you make it. You have the power to create your own reality. It is an empowering and humbling epiphany.

A lovely rendition of a lovely song ::

~

This post is dedicated to an amazing, brilliant, and beautiful person whom you love very much.

~

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Eden

June 4th, 2008

Your fingers smell of tarragon and thyme. Each time you work in the garden you feel a sense of refuge and sanctuary, a welcome respite from pressures of daily life. There is something timelessly centering about working in the dirt; watering then watching something you planted emerge from the ground as part of the cycle of life; then eating the fruits (or vegetables in this case) of your labor.

You lovingly tend to the lettuce, spinach, basil, pepper, tarragon, and thyme, diving your finger into the dirt every few days to make certain that your nourishment is itself nourished.

You grasped your initial understanding of composting from this vidi. Then yesterday you slipped into gardening gloves and turned the compost pile for the first time. Instead of needing to lift weights at the gym for upper body strength conditioning, you plunged the pitchfork into the three parts nitrogen / one part green pile and tossed a fork full of steaming nitrates into the next worm home bin.

Worms in soil create the optimal environment for plant growth. These plants then nourish our collective bodies. If we choose to be buried in the ground upon our hearts last beat, the worms from the soil eat through our skin to the bone.

~
Your partner in crime recently made a trip to the local wholesale store and stocked up on restaurant-sized containers to hold bulk food items such as flour, sugar, rice, and oats. As the weeks pass, your baking skills become more refined and you reap immense satisfaction in cooking for others and bringing freshly baked creations to your lovely friends. You are quite pleased with the deliciousness of the healthy fare you’ve been baking recently.

Carrot Muffins

4 eggs
1/4 c vegetable oil
1 c applesauce
3/4 c white sugar
3/4 c brown sugar
3 tsp vanilla extract
2 c ap flour
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
3 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/2 c raisins
1/2 c pecans or walnuts
3.5 cups shredded carrots

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease muffin tin. In a large bowl, beat together eggs, oil, sugars and vanilla. Then mix in flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Stir in carrots, raisins, and nuts. Pour into muffin tin. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out dry. Let cool, consume and enjoy.

…Also, Imogen Heap is adorable. She has mad skills with layering the tracks in this ditti::

mood: grateful
soundtrack: Switched on Bach
lit: Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts

~

Posted in healthy, food, baking, gardening | No Comments »

May 23rd, 2008

i appreciate banksy’s art. a lot. case in point ::

dancing as the toxic titanic sinks in the distance.

~

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Posted in fading American empire, urban decay, not the healthiest choice | No Comments »

Got Grains?

May 9th, 2008

Despite being poor and living in a hovel, you relish the luxury of indulging in the sushi lunch special around the corner. It’s been week’s since you’ve gone there. Instead you’ve survived as of late on the ever-popular San Francisco taquería fare. Back at the sushi restaurant, when you get your normal lunch special of chicken teriyaki with rice, salad, miso, green tea and California rolls, you notice that the rice bowl looks skimpy. Since a hearty portion of rice with the chicken teriyaki is essential in your book, you ask the waitress if you can have more rice. She says its ok this time, but they are now cutting back on the amount of rice they give to customers due to the tremendous increase in rice costs as a result of the rice shortage. The waitress said that, for her restaurant, rice recently jumped from $26 to $42 for the same amount. After coming home and doing some cursory intertube research, you learn that this is in line with the ongoing grain shortage world. The causes of the grain shortage (rice, wheat) are not conclusive, but the increasing costs of these staples for the world population is undeniable. While first world countries will see increasing costs of things like rice, pasta and butter, the people of developing countries who can’t afford such costs will go without.

Here is NPR’s recent coverage of the current food predicament.

Mood: apocalyptic
Lit: The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood

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Posted in food shortage | 1 Comment »

Experiment

Growin’ Up

Eden

Got Grains?

What dat is?

Old School

Community

Ingredients