6.05.2012

Don't tell Jillian about the donuts, though

I'm going to lead off with the weekend's crowning achievement, which also happened to be the only non-Bon Appetit recipe: mini rainbow vanilla bean donuts. Look how far I've come in terms of not making donuts that look like turds!

Awesome unicorn turds, maybe.
Okay, and now back to Serious Food Business, aka this project that I am both already tired of and also care deeply about for no apparent reason. I need to figure out how to classify recipes that are listed as one thing but contain multiple elements, such as the roast chicken from last week. Part of me just wants to keep BA honest on its 60 recipes claim, and I think if it's giving you "a recipe" but actually counting the pistachio salsa as something separate, for example, then that is uncool and I will CALL THEM ON IT. Because one week in and I'm already itching to CALL THEM ON SOMETHING. On the down side, that means that as of the last posting I was only two recipes in, making this taqueria guacamole BA#3.

This was goooood, though, because it was made of mushed avocados. Point to BA, with the qualifier that guacamole is hard to screw up.
BA#4 and #5: Rajas poblanas tacos with fresh corn tortillas. These were also very good, and I credit mostly the onion-cooking technique, so consider this the first whole-hearted recipe endorsement so far.

I suspect the "Tacos! Tacos! Tacos!" page and I are going to get along fine.
The following is technically BA#6, but it ended up so far from the original recipe that it feels like cheating to count it (don't worry, I am still counting it). It's supposed to be brown rice salad with crunchy sprouts and seeds. First of all, I do not understand what "dried sprouted legumes" are, but if I can't find it at Central Market, it's getting skipped. So much for the "crunchy sprouts" part. The recipe notes parenthetically that "Cooked lentils and mung beans work well, too," and that is what I used, so it is still in the spirit of the thing. Second, I underestimated how many chives it takes to make up one cup packed, so this was a little light on dressing. Third, if you look at their picture, there are clearly onions or spring onions or SOMETHING that is not at all listed on the recipe, and now I'm wondering if someone at BA doesn't know what "scallions" are.

And I am here to CALL THEM ON IT.
BA#7: Cantaloupe-basil agua fresca. I just want to suggest that if anyone ever describes something as "easy to make" then proceeds to tell you to strain two cantaloupes through a fine mesh sieve lined with cheesecloth not once but twice, you should call them a liar and kick them in the shin.

Or, if they are a magazine, grump futilely about it in your blog.
So, I have 53 recipes and 25 days of working out left to go and I am considerably more optimistic about the latter because I'm pretty sure Jillian has my best interests at heart and won't make me waste a whole afternoon straining fruit.

Ivy is embracing summer rind-first.

This is what I like to see.
I'm afraid Anna is planning a retreat from summer and is already attempting to dig her way to a different, wintertime hemisphere.



I figured she may as well have proper tools.


And now, a play in one act, based on real messages I sent to my Meetup group yesterday:

10:37 AM: "We're here, but I don't know where the sand pit is..."
11:29 AM: "Haaaaa you guys we're at the wrong park."

ELAPSED TIME: 52 MINUTES. THE END.