My Life In Pictures

I think I picked up a little bug in New Orleans, where you'll find a lot of these photos are from, because even though I've been working every single day I get real rundown real quick like and I have to come home and just veg out.  The couch has been my base of operations because the porch is now over 100 degrees and I've watched a bunch of tv both good and bad from there all while reading cookbooks and paying bills and researching flowers.  Oh my gosh, y'all.  American Gods and The Handmaid's Tale = so good.  I'm hooked.  But I also watched Howard The Duck and Spaceballs with absolutely no regrets.  Same with @midnight.   I don't think I've watched this much TV since I was a kid!

Going back to New Orleans because, duh, New Orleans.  I want to go to there all the time except when it's 110 and muggy.  Can you tell I freaking hate the heat?  Bleh.  Luckily this trip was on the cooler side so we were able to walk everywhere (read: places with food or plants or art or sometimes all 3) without looking like we just went swimming in a really gross pool.  Because hot + muggy = sweaty mess with frizz hair.  Anyhoo, I love that city and we're planning on going back for the holiday season like we did 2 years ago.  It's my dream to move there and get a cute place with purple shutters, lots of jasmine on the front porch and a big, powerful air conditioner installed inside.  Maybe one day.

You know, when I think about posting here, which has become a rarity I'm sorry to say, I usually have it all nice and neat and typed out in my head.  Like a David Sedaris story come to life.  It never plays out here though and I feel like I weird ramble about stuff and not the good weird ramble.

I must be sicker than I thought!  Hehehehe.  Seriously though, I'm beat and already ready for bed at 7pm.  I'm going to grab Winthrope, who's been extra needy lately...he misses Tullah Belle a lot as do we all, and snuggle til I doze off.  Sounds good, eh?

Have a great upcoming weekend y'all!

Botanical Gardens // City Park, New Orleans

Fin.

May // 5 Little Goals

If you've known me for a while either via this here ol' blog or face-to-face interactions then you'll know that I'm a big fan of ellipses, forward slashes and making lists of goals.  Lots of lists with lots of goals.  You should see my daily bakery to-do list.  It's obscenely long and I never get more than 1/4 of it done.  Can you say job security though?  Always so much going on in the world of flour+sugar = magic.  And my biggest list of goals here on the interwebs was my 40 Before 40 which I'm still proud of!  I didn't get them all because I made some unrealistic ones (um, meeting Tom Waits is a dream and, yes, a goal but a pretty unattainable one...but I'm still not completely giving up hope because you never know when you might run into your favorite musician in the world) in addition to a shit ton of practical stuff but it was fun and helped keep me motivated.

Nowadays I know that I just don't have the time to try to do a million things outside of work and home because I'm just too darn busy or, to be truthful, the exact opposite aka 'lazy' on my day off.  So a small list with some easy goals is jussssssssstttttt the ticket.

For May I'd like to:

1. Identify 5 new flowers // Georgia's spring blooms are absolute gorgeous and early summer isn't too shabby either so now's the time to break out one of my wildflower books to see which ones I can officially identify this year.  So far I've seen the above pictured Pinxter Flowers otherwise known as Pink Azalea (Rhododendron periclymenoides) as well as Birdfoot Violet (Viola pedata) and Spotted Fairybells (Prosartes maculata).  I'm going hiking on Sunday a bit north of here so I'm thinking I can find a few.
2. Try one recipe a week from my recently acquired mountain of cookbooks // We just cleaned out some storage areas at The Grit and there were a ton of cookbooks that we just didn't need anymore.  So I snagged them.  Score!  They're all vegetarian (duh) but there are many recipes that look challenging to me especially within those with Indian cuisine.  We're shopping locally much more than we used to and cooking our meals fresh daily (with the exception of that Little Italy pizza we scarfed last night) so I'm hoping to squeeze the experimental recipes in with no problems.  Moosewood Restaurant Cookbook, Thug Kitchen and Chubby Vegetarian all have bookmarks too.  I seriously racked up some great books.
3. Take a trip to somewhere, anywhere for a few days // This one might already be in the bag!  My assistant is leaving in 2 weeks for almost 4 months of touring and if I'm going anywhere it needs to be STAT and it will be necessary to get out of Athens.  Working with one newbie assistant for the next few months is going to be a lot of stress (not his fault, of course, but it is a lot to train someone on so many minute details) and I'm serious need of decompressing.  We're looking at taking 4-5 days and driving down to our favorite city - NEW ORLEANS!  But we're also looking at driving to the mountains.  Decisions, decision, decisions.  Bah!  Who am I kidding?  We're 99% going to New Orleans!
4. Make the bed every single day // If my Mother were to see this post she'd say FINALLY, SHE'S MAKING HER DAMN BED AND IT ONLY TOOK 42 YEARS.  Sorry Mom!  She's been making her bed daily forever and I never realized she's been on to something good all this time.  I recently read an article about how making your bed can make you feel better and it also helps you be more productive.  And I need both those things!
5. Give away 10 books // The other day I raved about an old friend/acquaintance Janice Ray and her outstanding book Ecology Of A Cracker Childhood to one of my garden gals then promised to loan her a copy that I had at home.  When I went to look for the book and pop it in my bag I realized that I had not one, not two but three dang copies!  The same thing with The Poisonwood Bible and A Confederacy Of Dunces and pretty much every single Tom Robbins tome.  When I like/love a book I tend to pick them up at thrift stores pretty regularly with the intent of those editions being my travel book so I don't have to take my nice hardbound book to location a, b or c and risk them getting damaged.  But I just didn't realize that I owned so many multiples.  It's my goal this month to give at least 10 of my books away to people who I think would enjoy them.  Books are such a personal item for me even after all my years of culling (it only takes moving 8 big boxes of book cross-country a few times for you to realize that you shouldn't keep them all) that I'm still overloaded.  

I've got a good feeling about these.  Let's see how it goes...

Y'all got any goals for the month?

Vegan Blackberry Cheesecake

One of my biggest joys within the bakery is finding something new to serve folks.  Because most of the recipes at The Grit have been there for years and have been perfected via decades of trial and error, you can imagine how important it is to me that my customers love what I create from my own ideas.  I've come up with a number of new cake flavors and pies over the last few years and while a few have been a bust (biscotti made out of grits is freaking disgusting) most have been successful and a few have even become highly requested by our diners.  I must have enough of my Nana's soul in me because I get so darn giddy when people rave about my baking.  Although my Nana would be quirking an eyebrow at all this vegan stuff (somewhat of a blasphemy to her deep southern rural roots) since her idea of vegetarian had always been beans and rice...with ham in it.  That woman could cook like a dream though.  Gosh, could she cook.  Her 27 layer chocolate cake is something I still dream about.  With her love of baking desserts, I'd like to think she'd be proud of my banana spice cake or that I grow my own lavender buds or that I use a LOT of butter in that tiny corner of the store that I call home-away-from-home.  So, even though vegan cheesecake might not have been something she would've served us after Sunday dinner I like to think she'd still be happy that I'm trying out different versions of sweets for those folks who can't eat all the things that she loved so dearly - eggs, dairy, etc.  You know, that non-vegan stuff.

A friend of mine gave me the bare bones of this recipe a while back (she couldn't remember where she found it and there are similar ones out there so I don't know who to credit the original idea from) and then I adjusted'/added/tweaked til I got it just where I wanted it.  It's creamy but a touch grainy like most traditional cheesecakes.  The addition to sunflower seed butter instead of peanut butter ensures that it adds richness without overwhelming the citrus flavor and it allows those with peanut allergies to still enjoy this treat.  You can also make your own sunflower seed butter so easily!

Here's what you'll need...

A 10" springform pan to hold it all.  We have this one at work and it does a great job for the price.  Pssst.  This is NOT an affiliate link.  Just a visual and a suggestion.  Buy local when/if you can but if not then lots of bigger stores will have them.

For the crust

Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups finely crushed graham crackers or gingersnaps or whatever cookie you desire
1/2 cup white sugar
3/4 cup melted butter, warm-ish but not hot

Mix together the graham cracker crumbs and the white sugar.  

Slowly add the melted butter and mix until everything is incorporated.  No dry crumbs!

Scoop into the springform pan and press down evenly making sure that all areas are covered.

Place in freezer for 30 minutes then remove and bake for 20 minutes at 300 degrees.

Remove and allow to cool.

For the cheesecake

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon vanilla
2 boxes of silken plain tofu, crumbled
2 cups white sugar
6 tablespoons sunflower seed butter
1 teaspoon sea salt
2 tablespoons lemon or lime zest
4 tablespoons of cornstarch or potato starch, or 8 tablespoons of tapioca flour dissolved into scant 3/4 cup of fresh (that's important!) lemon or lime juice
2 cups blackberries, separated into 1 cup portions
optional crushed berries for topping when cooled

Pile everything but 1 cup of the blackberries into a food processor and puree til smooth.  Be sure to scrape the sides regularly to make sure all is incorporated.  

Add in the other cup of berries and do a quick blend.  Not too much!  

Ta-da.  You've got an excellent filling.

Bringing it all together

Pour the cheesecake mixture into the springform pan with the graham crust and bake on center rack for at least 1 hour 20 minutes at 300 or until the center is puffed and not jiggling and springs back a bit plus the edges should be pulling from the pan.  If you pull it out of the oven too early it'll cave so be sure that it's ready!

Cool on a wire rack for several hours.

Run a knife along the edges of the pan and then slowwwwwwwly open the springform.  You don't want to pull the cheesecake apart!

Top with crushed berries or leave it just how it is in plain perfection.  Either way, chill for a few hours then serve.

Store in a tightly sealed container in refrigerator for up to 3 days.

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I must admit that I tried variations of this that were not citrus/fruit oriented and it didn't get a great response.  A chocolate chip version is being experimented with but it's a totally different recipe.  So, just keep that in mind.  You can definitely switch up the fruit and/or your topping and maybe even add a savory element to it and if you're a fan of chocolate+citrus then you could probably tweak this to your liking.  Our customers are very partial to the fruit+citrus so that's what I stick with!

Enjoy!

My Life In Pictures

left to right / top to bottom

// Started seeds a while back on my front porch and now I have a veritable garden with tomatoes, lavender, peppers, mints, stevia, watermelons, sunflowers, etc.  I also started a few raised beds and they're flourishing it what appears to our very-early-summer-but-what-the-hell-happened-to-it-being-spring weather.
// Brady and his corn feather ring game moves.  Now that's a weird sentence.  But he's got 'em.
// Curious goats on a bed of slightly stinky compost.  You know, the usual.
// Right after Tullah Belle passed I got this tattoo and it brought me comfort for a bit but dang if I don't miss her now more than ever.  That little dog had a hell of a big personality.
// Brady's got some serious competition in the whole 'who is my favorite guy?' category.  Because baby Kylo is the coolest and he's always glad to see me and up for a trip whenever I want.
// When we have severe weather I'm torn between being at work and surrounded by lots of people in a building that's probably infinitely safer than our wood clapboard home that's already been hit by 3 trees since we moved in OR hurry back to that rather rundown home of mine to be with my critters and to be surround by comfortable things.  Well, when you're at work and the rain leaves what seems to be a foot of water on the ground then that decision is out of your hands.  I took photos and tried to warn customers that they would be drenched by tidal waves of water and drank buckets of coffee.
// BABY SQUIRRELS HAVE SHARP NAILS.
// Me + Kylo again.  I tell you, he's the bestest.  He and I share a love of the goats.
// Mama Kitty is the floofiest sweetest dirtiest kitty ever and she loves to pose up a storm on our clean sheets.
// A few weeks back I finally hung up that hammock we got in Puerto Rico and now all I want to do is lounge around in it.  Like, all the time.  Like, I'm at work and I'll start daydreaming about this hammock.  Since I've been trying to take it easy lately this situation is alllllright.
// I've been taking photos of local future graduates and I'm learning so much about how to navigate the world of portrait photography.  Now I'm not saying I'm good at all but rather that I'm learning a lot.  It's fun.  And I get to visit with delightful people like my friend Linzi who's beautiful inside and out.
// Some friends from work and I are playing BINGO pretty regularly nowadays.  This BINGO is all grape sodas, cheese nachos, fanny packs and serious dabbing of numbers.  We haven't won a damn thing yet but I'm keeping my fingers crossed that one of us will be winner winner winner.