“Banana Balls!”

Hello.  My name is Jessica and I am a Conchordoholic.

That’s my confession for those of you who don’t know me.  For most of you who do, you’re probably surprised that I haven’t mentioned Flight of the Conchords until now.  They’re two guys from New Zealand (I have become embarrassingly predictable) who sing funny things while playing guitars and such.  Of course there is much more to them than that, but that’s the Cliff’s Notes version.

On Sunday night, they were special guests on the 22nd premiere of The Simpsons, which is a pretty big deal.  In honor of that, I’m writing about an idea that crept into my mind a few weeks ago.

New Zealand Yams

I am such a sucker for anything claiming to be from New Zealand.  Is it possible to have a crush on a country?  Evidently…  It’s not just because I’ve been there.  Oh, no.  Why would a girl with an unstamped passport just pack her bags on a whim and head to New Zealand of all places?  Don’t most Americans tend to make Europe their first big trip?  I mean, I’ve never even been to Canada, let alone Mexico, which is probably about a 3 hour drive away.  New Zealand customs were suspicious!  And then, you’d think that since I’ve been there, I’d be satisfied, yet every day my thoughts are consumed with the place.

I haven’t gone completely off my rocker, though.  The nearby snooty grocery store sells 24-packs of New Zealand water.  Seriously, folks.  I bought a bottle of water once in Auckland, and it was at an outdoor music festival where containers weren’t permitted through the entrance.  So, no, I haven’t been tempted by the imported water…yet. 

Elvis Smoothie!

Who likes peanut butter, banana, and honey sandwiches??  If you’re ever forced to be on a liquid diet (wisdom teeth?), you’re in luck!   Well, you’re also in luck if you like smoothies.

Legend has it that peanut butter banana smoothies are pretty epic, so I finally made one this morning.  Mm-mmm, gooood!   It was super creamy, and not overly sweet.  The hardest part is cleaning the blender.

Flourless Salted Cashew Butter and Caramel Cookies

You know when you have this really great idea in your head that you just have to try?   You’re so convinced that it’s going to work out a certain way and think that it’ll be the most amazing thing ever…right?

Enter these cookies.

I’m so wired to think “peanut butter cookies” that all of the other nut butters have just never stood a chance.   Then a few weeks ago, my brain woke up. Cashew butter…I could just swap it for the peanut butter, right? Brilliant!  Oh, and what do I associate with cashews?   Caramel, of course!   (Ben & Jerry might be responsible.)  Nuts…caramel…SALT!  Eureeeeeka.

Joy the Baker (I know, I just mentioned her in my last post!) posted a recipe for flourless peanut butter cookies that is awesome because it only involves four ingredients.  I made them several months ago, and they were a hit among gluten-free and gluten-full friends and colleagues.   A few even asked for the recipe!  I thought about just subbing cashew butter for the peanut butter, but then was curious about what cashew butter recipes might be lurking around the internets.  One of the first recipes I found was very similar, but used an extra egg and a bit more baking soda.   Sure, why not!

The recipe that started it all…

It’s my baby niece’s fault.

You see, they found out she was allergic to dairy and soy about a year ago.   My sister therefore had to change her own diet since she was nursing.  This was around her 35th birthday last year (today!), so I felt like I needed to somehow make a dessert that my sister could eat.  I don’t remember what I searched for that actually led me to it, but the recipe that intrigued me the most was Joy the Baker‘s Vegan Chocolate Avocado Cake.

Joy’s blog was actually my first true introduction to the world of food blogging.  Up until then, I would just blindly look up recipes on AllRecipes.com or look through cookbooks (I still do both, of course).  It was all over from there. I started bookmarking any blog that seemed interesting, and still check them all almost every day.  I must have immediately felt like blogging was something I’d like to do, as evidenced by all the photos that I took while making and serving this cake.  Since then, I’ve almost always made a point to photograph at least the finished products.

As you can see by the photos above, the wet ingredients of this cake make an interesting…soup.  Once you add the dry ingredients though, it definitely looks like chocolate cake batter.  This was my first time making a vegan dessert, so I learned about the vinegar/baking soda trick to make the batter rise!

Fresh Ginger Ale!

If you can boil water, you can make your own ginger ale!   I bet that all you’d need to buy would be some fresh ginger and sparkling water, too.  My friend and I made some last night and it cost about $3.  If you go by the serving suggestion, that’s about 18 glasses of ginger ale for approximately 16 cents each!

And if that’s not enough to excite you, there isn’t any corn syrup or food coloring in this, plus you can control just how gingery you want it.

Take that, ___________!  (insert your favorite brand of ginger ale)

Said friend forced me into getting a library card the other day while Hermine was blowing through.  The lights went out while we were perusing the cookbook section(!), but I managed to walk away with one of Mark Bittman’s giant books. He sure does have a lot to say!

Pasta with Greens and Ricotta

Ever since college and grad school, I’ve been in the habit of making a full recipe when I cook even though it’s usually just for lil’ ol’ me.   Sure, that sometimes means 4+ days of leftovers, but I guess I’m kind of a lazy cook!

This recipe is certainly no exception.   I found it in my Moosewood cookbook, which I’d bought quite a few years ago and had shamefully forgotten about.   I really should have halved it because one pound of pasta??   So far, four heaping bowls have just gotten me to the halfway point…oy!  It says it serves 4-6, but I’m thinking more like 8-10.

Anyway, this is apparently a simplified version of pansoti from northern Italy, which is a pasta filled with greens and topped with a ricotta walnut sauce.  It’s a good way to get in some more servings of greens, and it sure does make a bright-colored dish.