Sweet Potato Pancake with Pomegranate Seeds

Sweet Potato Pancakes Garnished with Pomegranate Seeds
Sweet Potato Pancakes Garnished with Pomegranate Seeds

Before he left our cozy, lovely nest for the warm waters of the Pacific coast, we enjoyed our last breakfast together, Sweet Potato Pancakes with Pomegranate Seeds. The orange from the pancakes and the magenta in the pomegranate seeds are visually entertaining and refreshingly different. Thankfully, this final breakfast was a success, before we briefly parted ways.

During the last two years we’ve been together, every dish made was either a failure or a success. He is the chief taste master. He kindly and patiently tastes various dishes, and he reminds me it’s not the end of the world if a recipe didn’t fare well. What people don’t see are the bad dishes, and the unlucky boyfriend who eats an ill-tasting dish as if it’s their last, choice meal in life. With failure, lessons are learned and a better dish is made than the last one. Read more

Open-Faced Sandwich with Sauté Mushrooms and Amaranth Greens

Open Faced Sandwich with Saute Mushrooms and Amaranth Greens
Open Faced Sandwich with Saute Mushrooms and Amaranth Greens

Is it breakfast, lunch or dinner? Is it healthy? Does it taste good? Can it be prepared and served in less than 15 minutes? Can it quickly please royalty? The Open-Faced Sandwich with Sauté Mushrooms and Amaranth Greens is the recipe that answers all five questions. We had our sandwich for breakfast, because egg dishes are a routine meal. Of course, the next option is to make pancakes, but we didn’t want a sweet dish. So, I glanced in the refrigerator for more ideas. Rosemary bread. Mushrooms. Amaranth Greens. A little sheep cheese. There’s fresh rosemary outside. Then I had memories of eating open-faced sandwiches while studying design in Scandinavia. The food was always fresh, delicious and organic. Those countries introduced me the living green and environmental lifestyles. The cool air from the refrigerator reminded me of the fresh air in Denmark, and a new sandwich idea was promptly created with ingredients brought from the farmer’s market and the Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) share. It’s a simple, quick recipe made to please a picky eater. Enjoy it warm. Skål! Read more

Ginger Carrot Muffins

Carrot Muffins
Carrot Muffins

This is a first. Here it comes, “Summer, you were too hot for me.” There I said it. Out. Loud. Those are words of regret as I walk from two inches to six feet of snow by next winter. Being a child of the summer, I feel guilty. Those words are of the highest betrayal to my greatest love of the seasons. My love is now with the fair weather seasons of fall and spring. Summer smothered me with too much love this year.

I went to bed breathing in humid air. My skin was forever damp from the excessive sweating in our apartment sans air conditioning. The fan moved with me from room to room. My sunny disposition melted into an irritable attitude. Don’t. Touch. Me. Recipes requiring no oven were mandatory. Other food blogs enjoyed making pies, tarts and warm savory dishes. My food blog was mostly green salads, seared meats and frozen desserts. Luckily, there were a few cooler days to make birthday cakes, frittatas and enchiladas.

As August comes to a close, summer is dancing with fall. As this post is being written, Hurricane Earl isn’t being destructive, for it’s constructive. It brought cooler air. Such temperatures are a fresh breath of relief. I’m cooler, now. Read more

Blackberry Wheat Muffins

Blackberry Wheat Muffins
Blackberry Wheat Muffins

Wheat flour is the new experimental ingredient in the kitchen. It has a bit of a heartier and earthier taste. It’s unusually made with a rich sweetener, such as molasses or maple syrup; to tame it’s coarseness. Since this blog has started, the purchase of white flour is more frequent. Ordinarily, I should try to reduce the amount of baked recipes, but the thought of experimenting with other types of grainier flours was intriguing. Then, quickly baked goods could be part of a healthy breakfast on a weekday morning. Read more