Saturday, February 28, 2009

Peace for the East Muffins

I don't know why people try to fix issues concerning violence with food, or lack of, but they do. Our Salinas mayor Dennis Donohue fasts for peace, and I have made muffins with peace symbols on them. 

Thursday night I arrived at Acosta Plaza to find hundreds of people swarmed around yellow tape, watching as two young men, one 16 years of age and the other 17, were taken away on stretchers to hospitals were they died of gunshot wounds. The next afternoon after hearing "victim of a shooting" on the scanner at work, I arrived at a similar scene less than 1 mile from where I had been the night before. The man shot at this scene died as well.

I do my job and take photographs of the victims

...but after on the car ride back to the office I feel sick to my stomach. Without knowing what to do, and not being one to pray, I tried to clear my mind by baking vegan muffins. After all, vegans don't like to hurt any living being, not even those dirty, smelly piglets.

Combine 1 1/2 cups of flour, 1/2 cup of sugar, 1 teaspoon of salt, 2 teaspoons of baking powder.
Mix well.
Add 3/4 cup of soy milk, 1/4 cup of vegetable oil
Mix well.
Fold in 1 cup of blueberries


In separate bowl, mix together one 8 oz. package of vegan cream cheese and 1/2 cup sugar


Place cupcake papers into muffin pan.
Fill papers half way with blueberry mixture.
Add layer of cream cheese mixture on top of blueberry mixture.


Place blueberries on top of cream cheese mixture in a way that forms a peace symbol


Bake muffins in preheated oven at 400 degrees for 25 minutes


While waiting for the muffins to rise, read about this weeks shootings on The Salinas Californian's website. These muffins are so delicious and make you feel so positive about life that maybe you'll think of going vegan. Check out this site to learn how it's more than just a diet. It can help animals, the environment, as well as our health.

Thursday, February 26, 2009

Flannel Brownies

It's fashionable in California, and functional in Maine. You can't go wrong with wearing flannel, so why not dress up your brownies with the fuzzy design?

Stir together boxed brownie mix as instructed


Spread brownie mix evenly into greased pan. Sprinkle coconut ontop of mixture in checkerboard fashion


Bake brownies as instructed on box


While waiting for these cozy-feeling treats to bake, check out one of the coolest East coast guys, Adam Metterville and his most recent edit of snowboarding in Worcester, Massachusetts. After all, brownies are his favorite, and you may even catch some real flannel in his videos.



Snow Shots, Worc Mass from Adam Metterville on Vimeo.

Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Wicked Scones

This time next week I'll be back in my home state of Maine. In anticipation of my trip, I decided to bake a breakfast treat using a fruit that Maine is known for - blueberries. Most everyone seems to enjoy these tart little orbs, so how about adding some chocolate and carbohydrates? It will have you saying "these are wicked good!"

Combine the following ingredients in a large bowl:

2 1/4 cups of flour


2 tablespoons of baking powder


1 teaspoon of salt


1/4 cup of sugar


Now, dice 1/4 cup of chilled butter into pieces and add to mixture


Now, for the best part! 

Add 3/4 cup of white chocolate chips into mixture


Add 1 cup of fresh or thawed frozen blueberries into mixture


Drizzle 1 cup of buttermilk to mixture. Toss either with spoon or fingers until all ingredients are held together

Spread dough into a 9x9 square on a floured surface. Cut into thirds, then cut each third into three triangles


Place triangular dough pieces onto greased cookie sheet. Sprinkle sugar onto the tops of each piece and bake in a 375 degree preheated oven for 15 minutes.

While waiting for the dough to turn itself into eatable scones, start watching my favorite horror movie of all times, which just happens to be based off a book written by Maine author, Stephen King. The sink-into-your-seat thriller, The Shining will have you pleased you're home cooking, instead of vacationing in a winter-wonderland.



The finished result will be soft, sweet scones that anyone and everyone will enjoy at the breakfast table!

Monday, February 23, 2009

Green Energy

They're green, are shaped like blades on wind turbines, and won't be an eye sore to all those living on Cape Cod. Maybe Obama should consider serving this at lunch in his new dining hall the next time he meets with world leaders to discuss alternative energy.




Enough silliness, here's the recipe:

Slice 2 large avocados in half, and remove the pit

Dice 1/2 of one large white onion


Mash the avocados with a fork, and mix diced onions into them


Add 1 1/2 cups of sharp cheddar cheese to the mixture


Divide the mixture in half, and place each onto it's own flour tortilla

Fold the tortilla in half, with mixture laying in middle, like a calzone. Butter a frying pan, and fry the stuffed tortilla on low heat, flipping until both sides are golden brown. Slice into 4 pieces, and enjoy with salsa.


While getting your daily fix of green energy, check out how Obama wants to get his.

California Tearjerkers

These hot little numbers will get your nose sniffling, and your eyes watering.

Stuffing: combine 8 oz. of cream cheese, 8 oz. of sharp cheddar cheese, and 1/4 cup of mayonnaise

The mixture should look something like this:

Peppers: slice 15 jalepano peppers down one side and remove all seeds and insides


Coating: stir together 2 large eggs with 1/2 cup of milk

On a plate, crush 1 1/2 cups of corn flakes

Put it all together! Dip each stuffed pepper in the milk and egg mixture, then roll the pepper in the crushed corn flakes. Lay peppers on baking sheet.

Place pan with peppers in preheated oven at 350 degrees for 30 minutes, or until cornflakes turn golden and filling begins to bubble.

While waiting for the tearjerkers to bake, take a run to the store and pick up a 6 pack of Pacifico, my personal favorite Mexican beer. Maybe you'll even be lucky enough to come across one of these buses. You will need something cold to wash these treats down with. If you plan on kissing anyone later in the day, you may consider some freshmint tic tacs as well.

Your end result should look as delicious as this: