Novel Eats » agave nectar

Pfeffernuesse Cookies

Samantha — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 00:58:39 +0000

As I am getting older, I am understanding more the whole issue about Christmas – and holidays in general – being about materialism and less about sharing cultural and familial traditions. If you’re anything like me, you find yourself doing some last minute shopping online, hunting around for coupons and wondering what on earth this [...] Related posts:

How to make Kimchee

Samantha — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 01:02:29 +0000

If I remember correctly, the first time I was introduced to kimchee was when I was living in a dorm. One of my friends was Korean, and she would sometimes have good homemade Korean food after being at home for the weekend or on vacation. At least one of those times she brought kimchee. I [...] No related posts.

Coconut Ice Cream

Samantha — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 23:25:27 +0000

Summers in New York are typically very hot and very sticky. As you walk through the heat you can feel the heavy weightiness of the humidity, and if you do not have air conditioning, you probably experience a kind of misery that only ice can abate. This summer, though, is a whole other story. We’ve [...] No related posts.

Strawberry Lemonade

Samantha — Sun, 03 May 2009 16:58:30 +0000

This is yet another post in my series of how to save money in the kitchen. I haven't priced out how much this costs this time, because this is more about making do with what you have. If you have these few ingredients on hand or others (like grapes or other berries of some kind), it can be very inexpensive to make. Cheers!

Last weekend was our first official hot weekend of Spring. It was the kind of weekend where the air was sticky and warm, and where we wished that we had gone ahead and put in the air conditioners (no central AC for us). It was also a weekend where we thanked ourselves for having all the right ingredients to create a drink that was exactly what we needed: cool and refreshing. No related posts.

How to make Pita Bread

Samantha — Sun, 08 Mar 2009 21:55:13 +0000

This is another post in a series focused on how to be more frugal in the kitchen. Recession or not, it's a great feeling to know that you can create good homemade food for less. I love pocket pita. I love dipping it in baba ghanoush or hummus, and I love cutting it in half and filling it with avocado and sprouts for a simple, yet delicious sandwich. I usually buy pita at the store, but lately I've decided to start making my own to save money. Not only that, it's actually kind of fun to make pita because of how interesting it looks as it puffs up in the oven. Related posts:

Vegan Sugar Cookies

Samantha — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 00:46:04 +0000

Valentine's Day is probably one of my favorite holidays. Maybe it's because of all the girlie colors and hearts and flowers, or because of the shallow romance courtesy of department stores, but I just can't help but like it. Of course, I'm sure that I resented the holiday when I was single or forlorn over someone that wouldn't “Be Mine”. That's probably a given. Now Valentine's Day offers me an excuse to get into the kitchen and try to make something that has equal parts romance and flour and KitchenAid mixer. Related posts:

Lavash Crackers with Artichoke and Sundried Tomato Dip

Samantha — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 20:29:33 +0000

This morning I thought I'd check in on the Daring Bakers website to see how much time I still had to make this month's challenge. I discovered that today was my deadline! I had actually hoped to get this one created earlier in the month, but we had family over, then I was sick last week - and sadly I'm still sick. I am on the verge of wellness, so I figured that I could still make and post these lavash crackers and dip today. And hooray! Here we are! No related posts.

Raw Homemade Almond Milk

Samantha — Sat, 07 Jun 2008 13:09:33 +0000

Back when my husband and I tried the raw food diet for a month we wound up making a lot of food from scratch that we might have normally purchased at a store. One of those things was almond milk. At first making this sort of thing was truly intimidating, but once done we realized how easy it could be. Prep time is minutes, although twiddling your thumbs takes hours. No related posts.

The Fourth Bear – Prohibition Porridge

Samantha — Sat, 20 Oct 2007 22:25:02 +0000

The van's doors were open, and several bags of contraband were heaped in the back, all taped up in clear plastic bags. A few of them had already been transferred to a waiting wheelbarrow. Tarquin was looking around furtively as another bear wearing faded Levi's and a BEARZONE T-shirt cut open a packet of the contraband and carefully drew out a spoonful. He sniffed it suspiciously, mixed it with milk and heated it over a lighter before adding some brown sugar and salt, then sipping the result. "This is good," he said at last in a deep voice, making a few lip-smacky noises. "How much you got?"

-The Fourth Bear by Jasper Fforde

Reading Jasper Fforde's novels is like watching Monty Python or a Leslie Nielsen film (Naked Gun movies come to mind) - the comedy is cheesy and completely funny, but mostly the language and dialog are clearly representative of a writer who loves wordsmithing. No related posts.