School is really intense right now, and I just don’t have time to read the stuff that usually gives me things to blog about, and I don’t have time to do the stuff that makes for interesting blog accounts, so there’s just not much…happening on the green front.

But I just had one small thing this morning, more a puzzlement than anything else…

I made a half recipe of my Bundt Cake of Endless Autumnal Substitution, only in half recipe form it fits into a 9×9 square pan. I used pumpkin that I’d frozen from the autumn, and brown sugar since I am out of white. (In hindsight, I should have tried honey; that would have been delicious.)

But when I was halving things, somehow along the way I forgot to halve the baking soda, baking powder, and salt (though I always halve the salt anyway). You know, those ingredients thay always tell you are absolutely crucial to measure correctly?

So in the end, the cake has twice the leavener it’s supposed to.

It’s a little salty-tasting (the salt itself combined with the sodium bicarbonate from the baking soda), but not horrible. Very edible. Not something I’d serve to guests, but the kids will be taking it in their lunches this week.

Seems bizarre to me; once I realized what I’d done I figured it would be an outright disaster. But oh well…lesson learned! Never try to bake at breakfast time when people are talking to you and wandering around the kitchen.

Except they are neither…if we want to eat, if we want fruits and veggies and grains, and for that matter meats that ate the fruits and grains, we need plants to pollinate each other, and we need bees for that.  And they are not scary or stingy–that’s wasps, to which they bear an unfortunate resemblance. Bees are furry and peacable, at least the honey-making kinds. (I hadn’t realized, but wasps are also pretty important, since they are predators, and they to a lot of eating of other bugs which might otherwise be munching on my garden.)

So this article made me cringe:

Honeybee Problem Nearing a Critical Point

It’s one of many areas where it thoroughly ticks me off how Monsanto and the rest of the pro-pesticide ag-culture can so completely ignore what seems obvious, with studies and fact-based conclusions behind it: the GMO pesticide-engineered plants are killing the bees.

It needs to stop.

Five Packaged Foods you Never Need to Buy Again

Give it a read; it’s worth the time! (Not to scoop it or anything, but I’ll give one away–there’s NO reason to buy grocery store soup. Seriously. It’s like saltmush in a can with a side of BPA. And it’s so amazingly easy to make on your own…)

Fortunately, it’s wintertime, and that means that Various Legume Soups are all ideal dinners. Beans I’ve done for years, ordinary brown lentils have been one of my standbys since before I was married, and garbanzo beans are an easy way to make great cheap low-fat hummus.

But until last week, red lentils, the tiny orange cousins of our accustomed little olive-drab discs, were sort of a mystery to me. I bought some probably 3 years ago in bulk, and they have been sitting in my neat little Ikea container in the cupboard ever since. (That’s another thing you’ve got to love about dried beans–they keep literally forever.) I decided it was time to get going.

Here’s the thing: because of their size, they cook even faster than the brown ones, and do not retain their lentilly shape and form; they sort of dissolve into a mushiness that reminds me of overcooked quinoa. But they taste lovely.

I’m currently collecting red lentil recipes to see where this journey takes me…so far top of the list is Orange Lentil Soup, which looks easy and yummy. Whole Foods’ webpage has one for the very unglamorous-sounding Red Lentils with Onion and Garlic, which appears to be exactly what it sounds like, and lets face it, who can argue with the idea of lentils with onin and garlic? And this one for Spicy Red Lentil and Tomato Soup looks like fun too…combine any of these with some barley or brown basmati rice, and you’ve got a really nice meal for a cold night.

I made a kind of Dal (the Indian word for, as far as I can tell, Lentils Cooked With Spices And Veggies–it might just be the word for lentils, actually) the other night, adapted from this recipe but made in a significantly more slap-dash manner. It turned out really really well; give it a shot!

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Red Lentil Dal Recipe

Heat a little olive oil in a pan; add 1 tbs nice curry powder (or make your own) and stir till nice and fragrant.  (If you like spicy, add a shake of red pepper flakes as well.)

Add 1 medium onion, chopped, and a few cloves of minced garlic; cook till soft.

Add (stirring after each addition):

• 1 can (unless you were smarter than me and canned your own tomatoes over the summer) diced tomatoes
• 2 cups hot water
• 1 cup dry rinsed red lentils

Bring to boil, then reduce heat and cook about half an hour or until it reaches desired consistency.

At the end, correct the seasonings–you will likely want to add as much as another tsp. curry powder and a pretty good amount of salt and pepper.

Serve with brown basmati rice.

*****

We really enjoyed this, and I will be bringing it for lunch next week too…

So, I’m serious–any other readers use red lentils? What do you cook with them?

But by New Year’s Day I begin to get a little tired of it. Oh, I will still use it in place of creamer for my coffee for another week or so, but at some point it’s just enough, you know?

So for breakfast this morning I tried one of my odd little experiments, which actually turned out quite good. (Since I didn’t have the energy to try this recipe, which looks delicious!)

Eggnog and Sweet Potato Oatmeal (or, Easy Single Serving Gussied Up Oatmeal)

In a bowl, put 1/3 cup old fashioned rolled oats.

Add 2/3 cup liquid–I did 1/3 cup eggnog and 1/3 cup water, though you could go all eggnog if you like really sweet.

Add up to 1/2 cup fruit or veggie of choice–I did about 1/2 cup leftover cooked sweet potato, though pumpkin or applesauce or banana are also good. I don’t think I’d do banana with eggnog though, that’d be too sweet, even for me.

Sprinkle nutmeg, or nutmeg-and-cinnamon, or pumpkin pie spice, or whatever you like, over the top.

Microwave about 3 minutes, checking periodically to make sure it’s not exploding. Stir/mash/whatever, let cool slightly, and pig out.

*****

Again, this is totally just a variation on my fondness for turning oatmeal into something more exotic and exciting. And after the pigginess I have been exhibiting over the past week, having a simple and healthy breakfast where the worst–only–offender is 1/3 cup organic eggnog is a good thing. Especially when it tastes so decadent.

And if anyone does try the Eggnog Oatmeal Custard recipe, please let me know how it turned out! It looks divine.

A few articles here with links to information:

Wealthy D.C. Suburb Adopts Sweeping Bag Tax (Forbes)

Montgomery County Bag Tax to take effect with New Year (Washington Times)

Marc Gunter’s “In Defense of the Plastic Bag” 

Stiv Wilson’s “In Defense of Plastic Bag Bans”

I personally think it’s a great idea–it’s not that much money per bag, and if it helps people remember to bring their own–hell, to just double up a few single use bags from the last time you shopped and stuff ‘em into your purse, if nothing else–it’s a step in the right direction.

But I’ll still make the cranberry compote–this recipe in various forms is flying all over the internet, but this is what I’ll be doing:

In a small pan, combine:

• 12 oz. or so cranberries, frozen or fresh
• 1 tsp ground spices, either cinnamon and nutmeg or pumpkin pie spice or whatever sweet spice blend catches your fancy
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup orange juice
• 1 tsp. orange zest (opt) or a few drops orange extract

Heat at medium high just to simmer; heat a few minutes more over medium or just until berries start to burst and get all compote-y. Chill up to a few days. If you don’t eat it all over the bread pudding, toss some into oatmeal or make a spice cake or something.

I can’t wait…Thank you, Bakerlady!

(Although, by the way, you can do a fairly one to one substitution with honey or maple syrup from one of the typical recipes you’ll find with any ordinary search…)

These are not much like most of the rum balls you’ll find. They are also more decadent and, IMO, tastier. On the other hand, they do not have all the nice dried fruit goodness, and are generally less “good for you” than the typical recipe…

I adapted it from this recipe, but it’s honestly going to be really flexible…

Chocolate Rum Balls (recipe easily doubled)

• In a large bowl, mix: 2 cups ground vanilla wafers, graham crackers, or gingersnaps (About a 9 oz. box worked well for this) and 1 cup ground nuts such as almonds, pecans, or walnuts
• In a Pyrex-type measuring cup, put half a cup sweetened condensed milk and half a cup semisweet chocolate chips. Melt on half power a minute or two, just until they can be stirred smooth.
• Pour chocolate mixture and 1/4 cup rum, brandy, bourbon, amaretto, or other spirit of choice over cookie-crumb mixture and stir well.
• Chill at least half an hour, or better still an hour or two.  Find something else to do during that time so you don’t keep picking at the bowl while they are chilling.
• Shape into small balls and roll in confectioner’s sugar, ground nuts, or coconut.

You can try two different cookie/nut/booze combos to use up the full can of sweetened condensed milk, or just double the one you have.

Delicious.

(UPDATE: I tried these a second time, with chocolate cookie crumbs and frangelico for the booze, and they were spectacular. )

A few weeks ago I had to go to the regular grocery store, for probably the first time in a year or two. I purchase about 11 items. They sent them home with me in 8 bags. Two of the bags were doubled.

Insane. Absolutely NUTS.

So I offer the recipe here–give it a try! Make up a batch, either for someone else or just for your own nibbling! And enjoy the season!