Migration to a Town Where Tree, Swallows, Houses

Golden delicious apples on California black bread,

crunchy almond butter, drizzled with avocado honey on top.

Saturday simplicity:

-waking up to rain

-yoga

-abhyanga self-massage

-meditation

-writing

-preparing the above with a cup of peppermint tea

-the forest and the outdoors

So easy to make and quite delicious. Putting it under the broiler for about 3 minutes partially cooks the apples so they're all nice and soft and crisps up the bread a little. I found the avocado honey a few weeks ago at this great little fruit and vegetable stand on my way home from Ayurveda school one evening. The adorable pea green label caught my eye at first, and then I saw that it said avocado. AVOCADO HONEY?!? You've got to be kidding me. Genius. The avocado is very subtle but I'd like to say it rounds out the honey with a little more of a creaminess and nutty flavor. There are tons more of honey flavored infusions too, like orange blossom, or sage, for example. I can't wait to sample some of the others once I finish this one.

Went for a trail run in the forest when the rain took a break and it was invigorating and delightful. It was almost like an obstacle course. Tree trunks to hop over and under, puddles to jump around. The ground was soft and moist and muddy and dirt was splattered all over the backs of my legs and the bottom tracks of my shoes are completely saturated but oh it was so much fun. Laughing at myself and smiling whenever I was close to slipping and falling on my ass and/or down the cliff. No one around. The crisp and dewy smell of fresh rain oxygenating my blood. Sixty minutes of solitude, sweat, and good music. And the icing on the cake was washing it all off in the new outdoor shower.

Today has felt like a DIY retreat. Putting health and well-being first I believe is crucial for everything else falling into place. It's good to take care of yourself. Now off to the kitchen to do a spin off of a ReadyMade recipe to make some sweet potato and beet pancakes with a thyme and lemon zest sour cream sauce.

I'm loving life.

(And the fact that James Mercer is coming back to my music library with some awesome new tunes with Danger Mouse in about a week and a half. YES! Is it just me or is he looking more and more like Kevin Spacey these days?)

**EDIT: Full album now available for streaming here! Thank you NPR!**

Chanterelle Risotto

ri·sot·to (r-ztt, r-st)

n. pl. ri·sot·tos

A dish of rice cooked in broth, usually with saffron, and served with grated cheese.

[Italian, from riso, rice, from Old Italian; see rice.]

risotto
[rih-SAW-toh, ree-ZAW-toh]
An Italian rice specialty made by stirring hot stock into a mixture of rice (and often chopped onions) that has been sautéed in butter. The stock is added 1/2 cup at a time and the mixture is stirred continually while it cooks until all the liquid is absorbed before more stock is added. This labor-intensive technique results in rice that is delectably creamy while the grains remain separate and firm. Risottos can be flavored variously with ingredients such as chicken, shellfish, sausage, vegetables, cheese, white wine and herbs. The famous risotto Milanese is scented with saffron. The use of Italian arborio rice is traditional in the preparation of risotto.

Oh, risotto. How I feared you for so long. Hearing claims of how "labor-intensive" you are made me a little timid at first, but I am so very glad I finally decided to take you up for the challenge and pair you with some wild chanterelle mushrooms, white wine, and truffle oil.

Really, it wasn't that bad. The "hardest" part is just standing next to the stove for a good forty or so minutes, stirring, stirring, stirring. But if you have your iTunes library nearby and handy and you're listening to some good jams and you're in a good mood, there's no need to worry. You definitely need to have some time on your hands and start it a little early before you start to get too hungry, but I've had worse. The high-maintenance reputation is highly overstated.

The ingredients are a bit pricey and can add up quick. Arborio rice, cheese, chicken stock, white wine, truffle oil, chanterelles. The best part was getting the "imperfect" chanterelles for free. That's what jump-started this whole idea of making them into risotto in the first place. Otherwise I probably would have ever made this. Even in season, they run about $15 a pound. That being said, thank you thank you produce co-worker friends for looking out for me. I love you. The white wine was also my first alcoholic purchase from a grocery store. Of course, it would only be practical for a cooking recipe. I have a feeling 99% of the alcohol I will be buying from here on out will be solely for cooking and baking purposes. I'm a practical girl, what can I say...

Anyway, yes, this turned out ridiculously deliciously bomb. Fancy-ass, if I do say so myself. I had all of the leftovers to myself for the rest of the week too since my family isn't really into mushrooms. My dad was brave enough to try a little hot off the stove and all he could say was "not bad". NOT BAD?!?!? I took it personally for about ten seconds and then realized that, yeah, my dad would say something like that. His taste buds aren't really up to par for something with such complexity of flavors. He's more of a simple chicken and broccoli kind of guy if you know what I mean. My mom loved it though. Either way, I have confidence that this recipe is a winner and I do make a damn good risotto, thank you very much.

Chanterelle Risotto

Recipe adapted from Tyler Florence on the Food Network

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

1/4 cup ghee (clarified butter)

2 shallots, minced

1 pound fresh chanterelle mushrooms, stemmed and sliced

3 sprigs fresh thyme, leaves only

1 fresh bay leaf

2 cups white wine

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

2 cups arborio rice

6 cups chicken stock

2 tablespoons fresh parsley, minced

1/2 cup Parmesean (I used a mix of Parmesean, basil asiago, and grana parma)

truffle oil, for topping and serving

Warm a wide large heavy-bottomed pan over a medium-low flame. Add 2 tablespoons olive oil and 2 tablespoons ghee and melt together. Add shallots and cook for 2 minutes, or until translucent, and then toss the mushrooms, thyme, and bay leaf into the pan. Cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the mushrooms have released their moisture and begin to turn golden brown.

Pour 1 cup of the wine into the pan, and bring the liquid to a simmer, allowing the wine to evaporate. Continue cooking until the mushrooms are dry, about 5 to 7 minutes. Season with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. Remove mushrooms from pan and set aside. Discard the bay leaf.

Reduce the flame to low, and add the remaining ghee and oil to the pan and melt. Stir in the rice and coat with the oil until the kernels are shiny, about 3 to 5 minutes. Pour in the remaining 1 cup of white wine and let evaporate.

Add the chicken broth, 1 ladle at a time, allowing the rice to absorb the liquid. Do not add too quickly so as to prevent the kernels from exploding. Stir over a gentle flame until each ladel of the liquid is absorbed. Repeat until most of the broth is incorporated and the risotto rice is al dente, about 25 minutes (BS- this took me about 40 or 45 minutes. Just sayin...).

Fold the mushrooms back into the rice and season with salt, pepper and parsley. Stir in the Parmesean and cheeses and finish with an ounce or two of white truffle oil. Serve immeeeeediately, obviously.

P.S. I so wanna do this! Bake and participate in it... seriously, a cupcake camp... wish I'd thought of it first.

We Fall Into Our Winter Den Below

1. Owl, 2. feets included, 3. IMG_7553, 4. everything, 5. Hot Amazake Drink, 6. Untitled, 7. Untitled, 8. IMG_6527, 9. between the lupines and the tree, 10. tyler park, 11. breakfast, 12. IMG_2937, 13. 297/365 Wet and Yellow Fall

A few recent Flickr favorites that make me smile.

This rain is really nice, and so is coconut rice.

(Alongside a parsnip carrot curry.)

Also, new favorite blog alert!

Don't Blame It On Me...

They really do.

The werewolves have taken me on some pretty good adventures though.

For example...

Going up to the mountains to study alternative medicine, learn tongue diagnosis, sanskrit, meeting the best Ayurvedic Indian guru's.

Eating tons of kitchari.

And indian food.

And oatmeal and tea.

Dr. Vasant Lad is such an inspiration.

Having a pulse and tongue diagnosis on my birthday was the best gift ever.

I've literally been above the clouds...

Then went to the complete opposite spectrum to celebrate my 21st birthday.This almost made me cry: Vegan chocolate peanut butter owl cake. Enough said.
Yay! I can buy Hitachino Nest Beer now! But it's not like I will because I really don't like to drink.I just can't get over their geniusness. I mean, c'mon, look at those labels!I pretty much die a little inside every time I look at them.



And went to Vegas. Two days was plenty.Don't think I'll be going back for quite a while...


So yeah, and that's only half of why I've been a little MIA lately. Starting school and figuring out that balance again. There hasn't been much time for cooking or baking. Like tonight, for example. I purchased this awesome new (well, used but in great condition) Martha Stewart Living cookbook yesterday for just $6 and had the greatest ambition to make this moroccan glazed squash recipe tonight but didn't feel into it at all once 7PM rolled around, post-studying. And then I can't help but feel a little guilty but I just have to let it go. Sometimes spending two hours in the kitchen to make one thing isn't always appropriate. Time is really precious right now. So instead I'll probably just keep on making huge batches of kitchari and eating it throughout the week. Cost effective, healthy, and delicious.
In the meantime, I'll be out with the werewolves again but hopefully they'll return me back here soon to finally report on some baking action.
By the way, I love this illustrator Laura George so much (who the top illustration is done by).Met her at the Renegade Craft Fair and purchased a few of her prints and I can't get over her clever artistry.Check out her Etsy store and you'll be in awe.

Excuse me now while I venture out into the woods with the wolves to go and hug some more trees... you know where I'll be.