back in the kitchen

First and foremost, thank you all. You know, for all the friendly encouragement on my little green dilemma the other day. I'm feeling much better now (not that I was that upset), but a little encouragement never hurt anyone, right? I'm also especially pumped at the prospect of building my own compost bin. Hopefully, I'll get around to that on Sunday afternoon. Also, M pointed out that I'd forgotten to mention that we purchase renewable energy. So, there you have it. Moving on.

I'm back in the kitchen today. Do you do that? Somehow manage to not make anything new or spectacularly yummy for a few days and then you break down and decide to make anything and everything you have ingredients for? I'm sort of there. I did bake a cake last weekend (three layers of chocolate-y, chunky deliciousness with mint in the icing), but that sucker has been gone for days. Days. My FIL brought over some brownies last night that his neighbor had brought him, so I'm not making any desserts today. That will be tomorrow- after we go apple-pickin'. Yum.

Anyway, I've got two things going right now. The first is soy-fig butter. There is a recipe on the back of my bag of soy nuts that has been staring at me from its perch on the counter for weeks. I just never had any dried fruit around. So, today, I ventured into the dried fruit aisle of the grocery and grabbed a bag of figs. The soy nuts have now been roasted, and they are patiently cooling in the Cuisinart until I go add a little oil and the chopped figs. I'll let you know how it turns out. The second is bunny muffins. The recipe actually came out of a baby food cookbook that I bought forever ago. The idea of carrot muffins sounded good, though, so I'm playing with it, and I look forward to having bunny muffins for breakfast tomorrow morning. Oddly enough, S won't be able to eat them because I haven't allergy checked her for apples yet, and I won't until after the aforementioned apple-pickin'. So, despite the fact that the recipe originated in Well Fed Baby, S will have to wait. The carrots are steaming now so I can puree them for the batter. Again, I'll let you know how it goes.

Beyond that, I look forward to trying out my first recipe from Barefoot in Paris this weekend. Of course, it's Spinach in Puff Pastry, which sounds a lot like a little Greek dish I like...spanakopita. So, it doesn't sound French at all, but it does sound good, so I'll have a go anyway. Also, I'm trying to use up the last of the tomatoes in the garden, so I'll also be making a tomato tart this weekend. I am super excited about that. That's about all I know, peeps. Have a good one.

FIVE SENSES FRIDAY
Sight: the trees in the backyard, swaying in the breeze
Sound: S "zerberting" the couch over and over
Smell: roasting soynuts, basil
Touch: aching muscles from finally going back to the gym
Taste: mint chocolate chip ice cream, red peppers from the garden