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| From An Opera Singer in the Kitchen |
Greetings! I am writing to you from New Mexico where it is SO freaking hot. You know how hot? 104 degree weather hot. It is strange having gone from 75 degree weather in Michigan to this very dry area. Quite a change but we are managing, or at least I am. Ryan and I are going to encourage each other to be postive about the extreme weather. Let’s just say we have been spoiled by the nice weather in Michigan, but I won’t belabor the point.
All-state choir camp has officially started for Ryan and our friends, whom we are staying with here in Portales, New Mexico. Our friends work at Eastern New Mexico University and usually plan a fantastic choir camp for high schoolers. I have had the pleasure of hearing the finished product at the end of the week, but in the meantime I am chef of the week. While they have hours of practice and preparation for the students I will be working and planning evening meals for our friends. I am looking forward to it. Portales is definitely NOT the place to eat out since it only has fast food joints and literally HOLE in the wall restaurants.
Last night we ventured to a steakhouse after we arrived from our flight. I looked over the menu prior to our sitting down to see if there were any vegan options. I was nervous, but Ryan insisted I make sure there was something that I could eat. I assured him that I would make do. I regretted having made that decision FOLKS. This restaurant had a huge salad bar with different options but I decided to have the waiter make me a mushroom burger with only mushrooms and sauteed onions in little oil. I asked him to add avocado and the regualr veggies that come with a burger. He then asked me if I was vegan. WOW. I was surprised the guy knew that term. I sighed with relief because I somehow felt I would be taken care of from then on. HA! I got my burger on whole wheat bread and 5-6 pieces of mushroom! I was so shocked.
I just kept looking down at my plate. The lettuce was wilted and the tomatoes were transparent, egad!!!! Ryan immediately told the waiter that my dish was NOT acceptable and to please bring more mushrooms. 10 minutes later, my mushrooms appeared. I even ordered the salad bar, which was disgusting, but I made do with this situation because I knew what I was supposed to expect from this town. I simply looked over at Ryan and said “The Lord supplied me with food which others do not have…I will be happy.” Tomorrow was another day. It was seriously laughable!
So, needless to say, I am SO happy I will be preparing meals this year because I like planning and I like good food. Everyone is too busy to think about food preparation so I was glad that I could step up and volunteer this, so stay tuned for yummy goods. Here are a few pictures of my surroundings and please imagine 104 degree weather while you are at it. 😉
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| From An Opera Singer in the Kitchen |
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| From An Opera Singer in the Kitchen |
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| From An Opera Singer in the Kitchen |
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| From An Opera Singer in the Kitchen |
I am enjoying it! Can you tell? Our friends’ dog is precious. His name is Bartok and he happens to be such a friendly dog too. I am not a pet person but he is so easy to handle that I have fun with that
BY the way, I wrote a guest post at Kirsten’s Kitchen featuring a Greek Flatbread recipe. Visit HERE!
Before I left on my trip I did have time to enjoy a recipe I found on a great website. I had been in the mood for biscuits so I decided to search for a vegan recipe and then I added a touch of my own.
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| From An Opera Singer in the Kitchen |
My mother recently brought me a bag of milled sunflower and pumpkins seeds from Ireland. I have not seen anything like this in the US but I am sure anyone could make it at home in a food processor, but it was nice to have this bag of nuts. I decided to add a 1/2 cup of them to the biscuit recipe and wait to see how they turned out. This recipe was OUT of this world! The biscuits rose significantly and the texture was so tasty.
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| From An Opera Singer in the Kitchen |
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| From An Opera Singer in the Kitchen |
I split these in half and enjoyed with Crofter’s Cherry Jam but they would also go well with a tofu scramble. Hmmmm….so yum!
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| From An Opera Singer in the Kitchen |
Mix and set aside to curdle:
- 1 cup very cold soymilk or almond milk
- 1 tsp apple cider vinegar
Sift together:
- 2 cup Bob’s Mill whole wheat -white flour
- 2 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp salt
- Add 1/2 cup crushed sunflower seeds / pumpkin seeds
- Add to flour:
- 5 tbsp Spectrum non-hydrogenated vegetable shortening
