The obvious is that I get to taste delicious food, but cooking means more to me than that. It has become something therapeutic for me and draws out many metaphors about life. I cook with spices and seasonings and I think about the different flavors that foods offer. Much like my motto for life: it shouldn’t be bland! Moreover, cooking is time I take out of my day for me – to do something I want and like to do. I think it’s important for people to incorporate “me time” in to their daily lives. You are wonderful, so why not? Cooking also has it’s financial advantages, but that’s not really my motivator. While grinding mustard seeds to a powder I started thinking. I realized that cooking has helped me get this sense of independence. Knowing that I am able to make so many things by myself and constantly learning new things is precious to me. Making things out of scratch – “hey I made that!” It’s the simple satisfaction I get after I put the fork and knife down when I’m done eating a delectable meal.
So let’s the put the fork and knife down and look at some things I’ve recently put together.
That's a wrap! Not really because we're just getting started.
I stuffed it with a readymade chickpea dish from the Indian store and my leftover spiced parsnip and carrot puree + coconut oil.
Nighttime = snacktime
I noticed a pear in the fruit basket that was definitely ready to be eaten. I decided to make a pear sauce with cinnamon, amaretto, and sugar. I crumbled some honey grahams on top and warmed it up. Then I remembered Jessica’s favorite nighttime snack and I put white chocolate chips on for the final touch. I love using amaretto to make sweet things!
My breakfast is smiling at you!
And I definitely smiled back! I spread Sunland banana peanut butter on one slice of my English muffin and dark chocolate peanut butter on the other. Oh my goodness I absolutely loved the banana peanut butter. It was such a wonderful sweet spread. The dark chocolate one was good but not quite what I expected. I couldn’t really taste the peanuts in it – it reminded me of Nutella actually. Which is fine by me! If you go to Sunland’s website you can see all the other peanut butters they have. There are so many intriguing flavors like sweet molasses, Thai ginger and red pepper, vanilla cranberry, and onion parsley!
Top with banana slices, naturally!
Cookbook review!
Awhile ago I had a cookbook by Chef Tal Ronnen sent to me. Actually, one of my Thanksgiving recipes is one of Chef Tal’s creations (not from the book though). Anyway, this book is bursting with colorful, fresh dishes and all of it is vegan. I loved reading all the stories, tips, recipes, and they even have an upscale vegan restaurant guide. One of the restaurants happens to be in my very backyard (and they serve incredibly delicious food). Anyway, this book also includes a cashew cream that is used in a lot of recipes. I loved seeing how versatile certain foods can be and how creative one can get with cooking. One thing that stuck out to me the most was in the foreword: “When I crossed over to vegetarianism as a teenager, I didn’t abandon my taste buds. I took them with me. In fact, I took them further.” That’s exactly how I feel! Even if you’re not vegan, I’m sure these recipes will get your mouth-watering with the pictures alone. In fact, both my parents browsed through the cookbook and constantly oohed and aahed.
The first recipe I tried from the book...
This was my first time using daikon radish - it's much milder than the Cherry Belle radish.
Vietnamese-style tofu hero and Asian slaw
It's time for your close-up!
This was so good (loved the Asian slaw) and tasted very different from what I usually have. Actually, I don’t think I’ve ever tried Vietnamese food. I believe this counts as a food adventure!
Next up...
I got some sweet basil from our backyard.
We also have Thai basil!
Heirloom tomatoes are so beautiful.
They remind me of watercolors.
Voila!
Oh my goodness! Crisping capers in olive oil is amazing. I highly recommend doing this! They gave this simple dish a satisfying salty and delicious crunch!
A great and colorful dinner in my book!
Later on I made a smoothie.
One of my friends from Brazil said that she never understood why people put avocados in salads because in Brazil they eat the avocado as a fruit – with sugar or in a smoothie! Technically it is a fruit! It’s also nicknamed a butter pear – so fitting! I found this so intriguing and I immediately started to concoct smoothie recipes in my head. So in this smoothie I blended together some ice cubes, 2 cups vanilla soy milk, a large banana, half an avocado, and 2 large dates. I usually never measure things out (except when I bake) but with smoothies I find it helpful to measure out the liquid part. This was enough for 3-4 servings. You must try this! It’s so easy and so delicious.
I'm becoming a granola girl!
The folks over at Udi’s Granola sent me an incredible package of their granolas to try out. Every flavor sounds delicious and today I opened the Vanilla granola. I had it with raspberries, Bekah’s “scented” almonds, vanilla yogurt, and crumbled Newman’s Own Organics chocolate chocolate chip cookies. I approve! This granola was like it was just made! No chunks because once their granola is done baking they massage it by hand to break it up. Moreover, they also hand-mix in the dried fruit if the recipe calls for it. Check out more of their flavors here! Which flavor should I try out next? I can’t decide!
Anywho, you know what’s funny? Remember over the summer I was on a mission to find the elusive kabocha? I checked everywhere and I finally found one at an out-of-the-way Asian market. Now the other day I went to Whole Foods and what did I see? About 20 kabochas right in front of my face. Either they’ve been reading blogs or it’s just a happy coincidence! I hope you all have a fantastic Thursday. Before you know it the weekend will be right at your doorstep!
p.s. If that wasn’t enough eye candy for you, here are some more pictures from Art Basel.
Go baby go!
"DESIRE"
This looks like it was made with felt but it's as hard as a rock!
These neon lights were funny!
Every once in awhile something would subtly move and make a whimsical noise
Suspended and cast in bronze playing frisbee!
p.s.s. Check out Maggie’s vegan Bountiful Cookies giveaway. Remember those cookies with intention? Remember how much I loved them? Go check this giveaway out!
“That’s a wrap! Not really because we’re just getting started.”
Just laughed out loud at that caption, hahahaha
Love your cooking philosophy – it’s definitely more than just preparing food and eating it.
I too eat avocados in a savory manner, rather than as a fruit… oh well, haha.
I think you should try the Udi’s cranberry flavor next!
Thank you for more Art Basel photos – so much talent and vision!
love the art pictures
& i am really jealous of your cooking!! I think it is something I would love, but haven’t really gotten into yet. Your eats look deliciousss.. that banana peanut butter is probably incredible!! & im lovin the sound of that granolaa. i like the vietnamese recipe too
xoxo
shelley
http://findinghappinessandhealth.wordpress.com
I agree with you on the cooking. I love to cook, and consider it to be really relaxing and “me” time. I love to cook for myself, but also for other people, and make them happy with yummy meals.
I tried avocado in a smoothie, and I love how it makes the smoothie creamy and yummy
Yes yes cooking is for sure my quiet relaxation time! And loving the use of avocado. I actually always used it as a veggie too until I became vegetarian and realized it replaces butter and cremes beautifuly in sweet dishes too!
xoxo
Maggie
haha you are ADORABLE! “thats a wrap”.. that cracked me up!
i love all of your BEAUTIFUL food pictures, for real, they brighten my day along with your cute personality!
i cant imagine avacado as a fruit!! but ive been to Brazil before and they do treat it like one, i thought it was totally strange but im sure we do many things in america that they think is totally strange too.
have a great day love!
Totally agree that cooking is so much more than the finished product. Atm even though I’m on vacation I just have so much work to do that fun cooking has kind of fallen awayside
It’s really annoying as I was really looking forward to being able to enjoy my kitchen these holidays. I’m gonna try and find more time as it’s really important to me and we all need some me time! Beautiful food as usual- especially love the look of those tomatoes. xxxxxx
I couldn’t agree with you more. My husband always asks me how in the world I can come home after working all day and get to work right in the kitchen for an hour. He always says “Don’t you just ever want to relax?” But honestly, cooking is my relaxation time. It’s entirely therapeutic and I wouldn’t want to unwind from my day any other way!
All of your creations are beautiful. Loving that tofu sammie. I have some tofu to use in my fridge and was just wondering what to do with it!
Hope you are well lady!
katharina, i am utterly inspired and in awe of your beautiful food. i hope to one day be able to combine flavas like you do…and vietnamese food is AMAZING! when we meet-up (notice i say when, not if), i say we make vietnamese our date, no? some yummy pho and slaw sounds magnificent right now!
lots of love to you mama!
Hey lady,
Your post is really awesome. It is so nice that cooking is theraputic for you! It is true we should take times out of our day to relax and unwind….I think I should spend more time preparing food. I have a tendency to grab and go and not really enjoy food as much as I should, don’t get me wrong I ENJOY food but I should enjoy it to the fullest like you do!
Happy Thursday
http://katiechangesforkatie.blogspot.com/
I don’t even know where to begin on this post. You inspire me so much with cooking and remember why I am so passionate about it. You also tend to use all of my favorite ingredients and make my mouth water! That smoothie sounds divine! I just got a raw food recipe book that has some with avocado and dates and I was like “How have I not thought of that??”
You are brilliant and beautiful, as always.
The heirloom tomato salad AND I can tell all the recipes from that book are just amazing. But you’re an amazing cook, and I feel as you do with what you said here:It’s the simple satisfaction I get after I put the fork and knife down when I’m done eating a delectable meal.”
Totally agree. 100%.
The Banana PB AND The Choc PB. Nice. Very amazing! And the smoothie and the Art B.
Great post, as usual my love
You can see that you love cooking! Lovely eats:)
xxx Julia (Taste of Living)
Look at all those beautiful meals! Wanna come cook dinner for me??
Our philosophies on cooking are identical. I agree with everything you said!
Especially those tomatoes looking like watercolors…gorgeous!
When I was in Brazil, I never saw avocados near anything green nor salty. I can only imagine how fantastic your smoothie must have tasted!
cooking is definitely therapeutic for me as well! i love to cook for others even if i dont get to eat whatever i made~i just love preparing it! the breakfast smile was cute. the one thing i LOVE about all your food is you are an artist and you make all your food look like a work of art. hands down the best looking/arranged food out of any blog i read. love you!
Oh my goodness, dark chocolate peanut butter! I think I am drooling. That sounds so delicious! I need some. Haha.
I love all the art pictures from art basel, it looks like so much fun. Down in Lafayette, we have a thing called Art Walk, which sounds pretty similar to that. That cookbook looks so amazing, I might have to go and buy it….
All the dinners/lunches/breakfasts you made in this post looked divine. (:
We’ve messaged a bit on facebook, but now I’m officially a member of the blog world… so hello again!
I must confess I’ve never been much of a cook. My endeavors always seem to result in disaster, whether it’s a smoke alarm fiasco or thumb coated in band-aids. However, reading your post definitely inspired me to give chefdom another shot!
By accident my previous comment was from a wordpress account I made before learning that I’m def. not tech-savvy enough to work it… Whoops! Here’s the link to my real blog: rubyconverseandcurls.blogspot.com
Oooo crispy capers and heirlooms. Man Katharina, you are speaking to my heart.
Yayy for the almonds! Perfect combination with the yogurt, granola and cookie. Yum.
In reply to your comment:
1: have not tried the lychee in a can; will put it on my list.
2: cheese and bread are two foods I don’t eat on a daily basis- so yeaah when I do, they’re gonna be the 20 dollar block of parm and some local artisan bread. For suree. B/c you’re right, its gotta be the real deal! Speaking of bread- I have drafted an entire post dedicated to my love of bread, although I don’t eat a lot of it. But I’m super excited to post all my yummy pics. hehe.
I wish I understood art just a little better.
Daikon radish is very mild. A much gentler cousin to our fiery white radish.
Greetings! The recipes here are fanstastic. Thanks for having this site. I just found a recipe for Eggplant Parmesan that I LOVE! The eggplant flavor is like beef, but without the fat and calories. It’s a really nice substitute for meat. Visit my site if you’d like to read more. Thanks again – great site!
Omg Katharina!! I was just eyeing one of my mom’s cook books this morning and it happens to be the one featured here! And I even bookmarked that heirloom tomato recipe–we’re such twins
And so glad you enjoyed a little spin on one of my favorites nighttime snacks! I’ll have to try your version asap, esp now that i’m home!
Oh, and maybe try Udi’s Hawaiian granola next since you’re such a coconut-lovah! I bet it’s amazing!
Hey girl!!! Thanks for the sweet comments on my blog, we must keep in touch!!!!
Strawberry Pretzel Salad is so good!!!!
Its made with Strawberry Jello, Cream Cheese, and Crushed Pretzels!!!!!
Here is a link to the recipe!!!
http://www.cookeatshare.com/recipes/pretzel-salad-44757?ref=p_pic
I could eat a whole tray!! lol!!!!
I wish I was able to cook! Your food always looks so wonderful and yummy!! I love the art pictures btw you really have a gift for art and seeing things from a different perspective