estoy bien.

guys,
you know what yesterday was, right?
uh-huh.
once again,
me and ampy-d had to have a little somethin' somethin' that was
alliteratively appropriate to the weekday dinner scene...
duders,
c'mon,
it's never just tuesday IS it?
no way.
it's only ever acceptable when you give it the due and proper respect
of the honorific: it's mutha-flippin' TACO TUESDAY!!!
and the terrible tinieblas quite simply can't compete
with that bright bright bright sunshiny hottness folded over,
and turbo-fresh-to-death on our plates.
that's no joke.
this time around?
we went for spicy.
mmhmmm.
picante excelente is the way of the future,
and we're not about to keep living in the past, if you feel me...
check the muy-mucho-mas-type teleporte':

that's the NOISE right there, neighbors.
yup.
loud, fresh, and soft-shelled-
because the crawnchy jauns are what poor people do.
hahahah.
stop it.
don't let my firmly entrenched, ingrained, and embedded innate avoidance
of hard corn crap crisps detract from the floury circles of sexxiness, tho.
they were SO good.
i made a little batch of very garlicky, very jalapenified slasa fresca,
and ampy-d took care of the fiesta rainbow guacamole,
so there were ample opportunities for thickness to emerge on top.
nootch-boosted buttery refried beans, with onion, jalapeno, and garlic,
plus that GPOP-rockin' nutrient-rich ho'sauce-upgraded activation,
because that is the lady's favorite part;
i had to hook those up, in the spirit of teamwork an' that.
...oh,
so you wanna know about that tofu?
ok.
smoky, thick crisp teeny cubes of crucial taste and texture-
packed with regular and smoked paprika, toasted cumin, oregano,
fried tomatillo and vidalia onion,
nootch, GPOP, black pepper, cayenne, liquid smoke and a splishy-splash of soy.
it's got an afterburn that pleasantly piques the palate, and i like that sort of tingle.
i do.
three sisters-style succotash hash?
don't mind if i do.
red onion and red pepper, tossed with grilled corn, black beans,
and fried summery squashes,
for a tres hermanas magical bruja brand of sorcery that transcends any one element!!
yum.
friends,
i like to freak it off,
and those pluots did the trick.
fruit on tacos is expert,
especially with a sour cream cilantro garlic lime sauce!
tomatoes, scallions, cilantro, baby spinach, red lettuce, AND pea shoots
all played their roles to perfection,
and a few lime wedges really dressed the dish up right.
you know the rules, man-
too much is the right amount.
anything else is disrespectful to the Folk Life & Liberty Fortress,
and to the feats of feasting i've come to appreciate as a matter of fact.
*
good food makes for good times,
and spanning time in the presence of picturesque presentation is good for you.
that's the truth.
there's a system in place, whether or not you choose to see it.
gratitude and generosity;
active participation and professional appreciation;
spirit and memory;
high definition super stereo surround, bass-boosted and barbarian battle-blasted-
these are the tenets that define my daily doings,
and that's the way i'm going to continue to immerse myself in my life.
dinner is just one aspect, kiddo.
it's ALL really happening,
and there's NO time for wasting,
only for tasting and testing and striving towards being the best version
of your potential self.
look,
there's full moon magnetism, and werewolfen wherewithal
pulling from without and within,
and there're tough times, long nights, hard styles, and rough treatment
all around all of us trying to chart a coarse course through tight spots and deep waters.
here's the thing, though-
nature wins.
each and every time.
infinite nature is just an extension of mama nature,
so i s'pose it makes more sense to stop fighting the berserker animorphic
metabolic alchemy of taut tendons and temper tantrums,
and follow the rhythm into a synced steady hard-style pounding drum/heart/breakbeat.
y'know?
no?
stop thinking, and start activating-
that's what's on the menu today!
i've got moves to make,
and i'm going to pursue my pugnacious prerogative to the pinnacle
of participatory prowess.
there's no time to worry,
only to DO some things.
rye in the oven,
seitan on the stove,
chee'cake in the processor,
and every single cell packed to the permeable membrane with intentional expertism.
today is the day,
and it's GOT to be a good one;
never quiet, never soft.....

PIZZA PARTY!!!!

holy crap, kids-
it's been a little minute since i last made pizza.
now,
that's not to say i haven't tuned up a ton of pizza pie in the interim,
just that the homestyle jauns were absent since the 4th!
that's too dang long, duders.
so,
in the interest of making the magic happen,
and saucing up the sorcery of kitchen wizardy all the way to eleven,
last night was the well-nigh, perhaps high-past time for a supersized
PIZZA PARTY!!!!
woooooooooohooooooo.
customized high-hydration dough is dope-
i went heavy on the semolina, and added wheat gluten,
to ensure it was stretchy, and crawnchy, and expert.
mmhmm.
the dough was on point,
so that just left the assembly up to us.
ampy-d was right on top of the mise en place.
so much so that i only had a few little tweaks and twerks to work out,
while i marveled at the splooshy consistency of our makeshift-silken-underchee'.
whoa!
that's a molto wet variation,
but,
it sure bakes up sooo nicey-nice in a HOT hot oven.
and the hottness wasn't just in the steel firesquare, either.
no way.
it spilled out onto three half-and-half howitzers
of high-power cannonfirin' crucial pizza partytime power!!!!
we'll start at the beginning,
and check the g-darn-type teleport:

'ZA'ZA'ZA'ZA'ZA!!
get that corn outta my face!!!
guys,
the split pie big time optimized option action is my new favorite.
it's essentially MORE kinds of pizza, only faster.
on the one side, there's crispy-edged brussels sprouts,
over caramelized onions,
with fried garlic sprankles ( a new mandatory item over here);
and then, on the other half,
there's those grape tomatoes, sweet mini red pepper rings,
and grilled sweeeeet corn,
plus,
a finishing move of scallion and red onion spranks!!!
kaBOOM.
it's a pure-being in-the-moment burst of oneness with the world,
with crushed tomatoes, daiya mozzerella, and underchee' holding it down below.
that's right.
and that's just the third of it.
check it out:

WORD!
broccolini is like more exxxpensive, rangy broccoli,
that makes it better in my book.
fancier and uglier is sort of my thing, y'know?
hahaha.
so, when i can fire up soem onions, tomatoes, brox, sauce, chee' and underchee',
all at once?
i gotta do it to it.
i mean,
pizza is as pizza does, and if you aren't doo-dooin' it as hard as you can?
you're probably an A*-hole, and i'll never really love you.
oh, and the right hand side?
i got a real white pie wonder poppin' off.
underchee', and daiya,
fried red potato crisps, grilled leeks, fried garlic sprankles,
and fresh red onion for the victory!
damn, friends.
that's the ticket to the ovenly valhalla of victual virtuosity,
but,
too much is the right amount,
and that's why there's still a whole other 'nother other one.
check it:

i love pizza.
it's a very satisfying thing to make.
start to finish,
from the first activation of the yeast, in my secret sugarwater flaxmeal nutrient bath,
all the way past the cold proof, and the preheat, and the mise en moflippin' place-
i get psyched every single time,
and this last time, right here, is no exception, although it is exceptional.
recognize.
i got that margherita jammie, with tomato, cashew-garlic chee' on the top and bottom,
and garden fresh basil,
this one with the onion scraps from all the other halves dropped on there, too-
why/
because i like onions, because onions have ALL the flavor man,.
c'mon.
you know that.
and homemade vegan sausage, and onions,
with our traditional underchee', daiya, and crushy-crushed 'matoes.
with the breadcrum/parm style nootch-boost to take it to eleven.
just like i always say we will.
i'm all about that molto classico, yo.
the delicious levels are off the meter.
the crust could've been just a little bit less bready,
but i'll attribute that to four pies' worth of dough,
and only three pizzas worth of toppings.
next time,
you'll see it really become something supreme.
so i had a little exxtra doughski dopeness,
but it didn't actually hurt anything.
the tops were top notch,
and the crispiness was upper tier, too.
when it's time to (albie)rock a (pizza)party,
i do what i do because that's precisely what i'm here for.
*
if you're not into pizza,
i feel bad for you, son.
this sort of meal is the TRUTH,
and while it's a bit of a labor,
it's a labor of LOVE,
and that makes it matter more,
as well as totally worth every second of effort.
i hope your dinners are as delicious,
your intentions every bit as elevated,
and your gluttony as boorishly wild boarish
and as feeding-frenzied sharklike as ours.
the indulgence is real,
the work is tough but it's fair;
never quiet, never soft....

dents and dings

so,
i made some cookies.
yeah, yeah-
what else is new?
ha.
oh, c'mon, neighbors;
i thought you guys liked cookies?
ohhh, you DO do you?
well,
these new soft and chewy chunks are what's good in the woods,
and i want you to check this mutha-'ucking teleport:

YEAH!!
i started out with just a desire for thumbprints.
y'know?
dents in the middle, stuff in the center, all of that...
but,
once i got started, i couldn't stop activating,
and i ended up with peanut butter coconut chocolate chip softies,
with strawberry frosting swirls,
AND powdered sugary sprankles.
mmhmmm.
MORE cookie means MORE awesome,
and too much is the right amount, anyway.
the recipe, however, is a little bit of a hot mess.
why?
mostly because i just kept throwing sh!t in a bowl until it looked right.
-
*
COOKIE TIME
-
i know for sure i used around a third of a cup of freshly ground coconut,
a whole stick of butterish,
about a cup of mixed sugars (bottom of the bag style)
a third of a cup of natural, wet and blarpity peanut butter,
5 ish ounces of applesauce
a big squirt of agave, because it seemed molto dry
two cups of flour
a pinch of salt
a tiny shake of  baking powder,
and a generous handful of those terrific little-sized chocolate chips.
yup.
*
they're just this side of greasy,
and they're well past the point of chewy.
i baked them at 375F for thirteen unlucky minutes,
and re-poked the centers while they cooled.
neighbors,
sometimes, wet cookie bater doesn't keep it's dented shape,
and you gotta hit it with a secondary thumbprint.
i'm prepared, with a pair of thumbs, to do what i must-
otherwise,
the nestled nook i needed for the strawberry fill wouldn't be there,
and they'd look way too tall.
nobody really loves a too-tall cookie.
too round?
that's fine.
too rich?
sure, that sounds impossible.
too big?
heck yes, giant cookies are rad.
but,
too tall?
ew.
that's not an appropriate cookie trait.
***********
there's NO time to waste,
but there's no free time either.
it's ALL expensive,
and expansive,
and elusive, really.
i gotta mow this lawn,
because that jaun is getting too tall.
and much like the world of cookies,
that's some weak sh!t.
i need to have a shorter blade scenario around the firepit,
for two reasons-
one: it's a FULL MOON TONIGHT,
and i think we should burn our piece of the woodsly goodness high and bright
in celebration.
and two: my children, harvest and maple will be here soon,
for more family togetherness, and the lyme diseasey length of tick-hiding turf
isn't the best way to encourage some outside time for those two shut-ins.
i'd rather be chopping weirdie scraps of found wood,
but i s'pose a speck of responsible homeownery ornery adulthood has the priority.
yuck.
there are obligations, both real and imagined,
that weigh heavily on the brow of your buddy over here.
there's more to be done than i can do alone,
but jeez, louise,
the white mountain sourdough is already in the oven,
the seeded rye is bulk fermenting on the counter,
the starters have been fed and so has crabtree,
Tea'N'Toast was served an hour ago,
and still,
i'm waiting for a respectable time to get out there and make some noise.
uh-huh.
loud fresh hardness is most unwelcome in the soft hours of the morning-
duders,
i'm even opening the windows wider,
to wake up the neighborhood with the aroma of fresh baked greatness....
just so i can start up the spinning blades sooner.
life isn't always the big deluxxxe epic i'd hoped,
but it sure as sh!t isn't ever boring.
it's all really happening,
and i'm pushing participation to the limit;
never quiet, never soft.....

ampy does it.

guys,
i gotta tell you about what's poppin'!
ampy-d made something expert,
and i'm pretty psyched about it.
i came home to a flippin' elite dinnertime,
and i ate pounds of it before i even realized what i was doing-
mmmhmmmm.
that's no joke.
check the potful-of-power-type teleport:

CUBAN BOWL!!!!!
farro and mixed greens on the bottom,
black beans, tofu, sweet potatoes, avocado, fried plantains,
and homemade pico de gallo on top!!!
holy crapola,
it's a giant tub of pure hottness,
and it was already ready when i walked i the door.
sunday nights get righteous when there's exxxtra time for dog walks
and long talks with a lovely ladyfriend,
because the food is good, and hot, and waiting to be devoured
without any post-work prep time.
neighbors,
i'm lucky to have somebody who gives enough of a sh!t about me
to spend half a day off making something great.
a second plus-sized bowl made that evening walk a mandatory excursion.
for realsies.
i couldn't pretend i would resist mashing my face into another heaping helping,
and i helped myself to it like i was entitled to all the edible excellence in my edifice.
hahahaha.
i'm just so super into eating food, dudes.
radical vegan eats,
and radical vegan sweets,
and radical vegan treats,
all for me!!
*
there's dough on the counter, kids.
lots of it.
i got one sourdough bulk fermenting right now,
and i've got another waiting to mix-
i've ALSO got a super-semolina high-hydration pizza dough proofing, as well.
it's party time over at the Folk Life & Liberty Fortress,
and even though nobody else is coming,
because nobody else is invited,
there's still a whole lot of productive preparation underway.
i do that sort of sh!t,
because i look forward to enjoying solid sustenance,
shoved soulfully into my contrarian countenance.
ha!
there's tasty piece who made me a superior sunday supper
who deserves a return of the favor,
and i'm pretty sure a pile of pizzas is gonna pull me about even with her effort.
it's ALL really happening,
and yeah,
it usually revolves around food,
but since when is THAT weak sauce?
this is What Is,
and it's best way i can think of it being;
never quiet, never soft.....

mycology.

neighbors,
the very rainy nights and mornings,
plus the cool-hot-muggy-wet-cool temperature cycle
are all the stimulus that all the secret underground natural world needs
to signal the eruption of all the fruity spore carrying weathermakers
that have been patiently waiting in the soil,
enriching the mould with their fungy freshness.
what?
oh.
guys,
it's mushroom time up here in the woodsly goodness.
check the teleport:

i'm just sayin',
nature sure knows how to surprise me.
every day, there are new toadstools and turkey tails and buttons bursting
up and out along my daily walking route,
and it's exciting to me.
from one day to the next,
the whole landscape is altered with all these colorful caps.
crabtree couldn't care less,
and if he's noticed at all,
it's to step on them,
not eat them;
which i s'pose is a good thing,
since a super-sick hallucinating canine battle-beastly battering ram
is NOT what i need in my life.
there are fairy/faerie fury rings,
and little villages of gilled globes,
and all of them, all around me,
are pretty flippin' expert.
check it:

perfect!
it looks like a pine-needle covered one-legged jellyfish!!
that's pretty cool if you ask me.
plus,
there's plenty more where that came from:

c'mon!
nature wins, duders.
*
i like it when there's flora flourishing.
and i also like it when there's fresh-baked bread!
wait, what?
i'm speaking on natural living secret organisms making their presence felt, man.
get with it.
i'm making connections,
and i'm following the train of thought to the next stop.
check the white-mountain-white-sourdough-type teleport:

......badaboooooooom.
another 'nother loaf of that bright white bouncy big business.
high hydration, bubbly crumb, subtly sharp sour flavor,
and a crust that is zero percent weak.
i'm on it.
and i'm really getting comfortable with what i'm doing.
we're going on a month, now.
yeah.
a whole new adventure,
wherein i make my own,
do it myself,
and create something from the simplest of stuff.
it's kind of the way it's always been,
just taken to a more deliberately independent level.
guys,
i'm a hermit on a hill, filling up this Folk Life & Liberty Fortress.
one the ones, i'm walled in by mountains,
and beset upon all sides by easier ways and shortcuts that must be avoided.
the hardest smarter way is what i'm choosing-
with more work, invention, attention, and intention,
and i'm allowing the wider wooded wolds of my small small world
to include me in their gentle, understated unfolding along the
creases and folds of a secret plan that is slowly revealing itself.
i am grateful for the time i have been given,
and for the places where i'm spanning the minutes among the mycelium;
never quiet, never soft.....

too hot to oven.

ha.
hey guys-
yesterday was too hot to use that oven.
i could've gone for some pizza, to be sure-
heck,
i can pretty much ALWAYS get into the idea of pizza...
but,
it was just not a option, as the mercury in my kitchen was rising
higher than the outdoor ambient temperature should've allowed.
so,
it was quantifiably too hot for pizza,
at least,
it was too hot to MAKE pizza.
we could've probably ordered up a few pies,
but,
i mean,
c'mon,
it's better to do it yourself if you've got the wherewithal to create something great.
.....and i doo-doo that freaky-diki sh!t no matter what the thermometer says,
because hottness is a byproduct of the ferocious cast-iron boilerplate furnaces
on the INside of each and every red-blooded lava-pumping hard-hearted warrior poet.
word up.
i just kept myself from being the stinkiest sweatrag of sweatiness by only using the stove.
mmhmmm.
guys,
if simple sandwiches are good,
then slightly more complicated sandwiches are MUCH better.
check the saturday-night-'guini-type teleport:

crushing that 'burguesa game is a must.
black bean barbarian burger business,
with molto fixin's,
on a fresh-to-death flatbread?
WORD.
-
neighbors,
i used a half a cup of whole wheat sourdough starter,
and added into a half a cup of all-purpz,
with another 1/3 of a cup of crushed oats,
and a 1/3 of a cup of water,
plus two teaspoons of baking soda,
and the results were F*ing expert!
i wasn't set up for sandwiches,
but the improvised activation really had me feeling positive.
once the bread scene was sorted,
it was time to get crackin' on the burgers.
-
this time around i used:
12 oz. black beans, rinsed;
four cloves of roasted garlic;
1 small sliced onion, caramelized;
2 T GPOP;
3/4 tsp roast cumin;
1 T smoked paprika;
two shakes of coriander;
2 T olive oil;
1/4 cup wheat gluten;
1/4 cup garbanzo flour;
1 tsp blended chia & flaxmeal
all pulped up in the food processor,
pressed flat and allowed to marry together for a bit,
before a slow pan frying....
easy.
-
i dressed it up with red cabbage,
red onion, red ripe tomatoes, and a bunch of almost-overripe avocado,
which really smoothed it out,
and creamed it up,
and added the silky sexxxiness to every bite.
sandwiches, man.
they don't have to be boring,
and even when they're simple, they should still be dope.
rules is rules, after all.
.....
and what's up with that chipotle tofu?
yep.
dried chipotle pepper, ancho pepper, ho'sauce, GPOP,
and olive oil,
frying high on the skillet,
with a splash of liquid smoke to activate all those tastes a little more,
and then tossed with a combination of scallion and cilantro sprankles.
it's so straightforward,
but it smells like fanciness!
it's a good little side of awesomeness, for sure.
*
friends,
there's salad too.
nothing crazy.
mixed greens, grape tomatoes, red onion, cukes, sweet orange bell pepper,
and lemony tahini dressing.
i need some cool greens when there's naught but hot kitchen and hot spice in my face.
-
dinnertime is important around here.
it's where and when we recap, reconnect, and refuel,
after our respectively loooong days of doo-doo buttery spreading out.
making stuff, and making the best of it,
and making damned sure we're unwound and unwounded,
before we dig in and hurt ourselves on heroic quantities of nourishment,
is the way we stay sane,
and keep our ties tight.
y'know?
we got that table solidarity jaun,
but mostly because of family togetherness,
and not because we want the d!ckturds to feel more comfortable.
that's a thing.
we stick together over here.
me, ampy-d, and this A*hole dog.
dinner for all,
and all for dinner;
never quiet, never soft.....

winner winner!!

duders,
i wanted some comfort in my mouth,
and i also might sometimes miss my old italian chicken-eatin' elderlies
from back in the not-so-good-ol' days.
when i think of my grandma,
a woman i never ever EVER called grannie, gram, nana, or any of that noise,
i think, inevitably of chicken.
damn.
she ate a whole lot of chicken.
i mean, a LOT.
i'm not about that poultry life, but i do associate those flavors with mae.
yeah, mae.
she was born amora, which means love, yo.
i only ever knew her as mae,
and i dunno how kids end up deciding what you're gonna be called,
but she was mae when first i met her,
and she was mae when she shrugged off the mortal coil.
here's the thing, neighbors-
i was thinking of her, and all the times i used to spend at her place as a kid,
where the whole flippin' house smelled like roast chicken more often than not.
food as a tool of spirit and memory is some powerful stuff.
it's been twenty years since i had any of her yardbird,
and fifteen since i said goodbye to the old battleaxe,
but i was missin' on her something fierce,
so i made the most of what i had around,
and cooked up a little tribute to that chicken-lickin' instigator from my youth.
check the teleport:

boom.
spelt, chia, and flaxmeal crepes,
super thin, very soft, and totally awesome,
seasoned with salt and pepper, and ready to receive the blessings of a big meal.
i put it down with a little crawnchy salad style produce first-
red cabbage and pea tendrils to be precise,
and on top of that,
things really started happening.
broth-braised fried red potatoes, with butterish, and GPOP,
cubed all sorts of small, and boiled off and sizzled up,
for a full-bodied supersaturated mash-up of hot and heavy starchy marching
directly into the next layer of deliciousness-
steamed, garlic-glazed brussels sprouts quarters.
mmmmmmmmmm.
garlic oil at the end of a searing steam session really browns up the edges,
and boosts the flavors into the atmosphere-
guys,
the whole house smelled just like my childhood weekends.
i love it.
i HAD to fire up some tofu in the style of the old st. john street gas oven, too.
rosemary, GPOP, paprika, ground mustard seed, sage, thyme, nootch,
paprika, black pepper, malt vinegar, soy sauce, liquid smoke,
and every last ounce of nostalgia i could summon from the cupboards in my heart.
awwwwwwwww.
then,
just because i know the rules,
i also added jalapeno-laced fried red onions,
juicy sweet red grape tomatoes,
and a blend of parsley and scallion sprankles.
they're big, they're very full,
and they taste like the far-flung corners of warmth and good times that
haven't been around in some time.
i ate every last morsel,
and i felt fatter than i have in years,
while feeling full in a different way, albeit since a span of similar duration.
*
i think sometimes a singular focus, or a sequence of excoriating events
can subtly alter the path of progress,
so,
while there's a lot of motion, commotion, confrontation, and consternation,
a little backtracking might be necessary to set the road to success aright.
yikes.
i don't know how far back i've got to double back on;
i figured a detour down the double-decade driveway of family togetherness
couldn't lead me far astray from where i want to go, though.
some time ago i might've lost track of where i wanted to go.
i've kept moving, slogging along straight through the swamps,
and honestly, i thought that pushing on, harder and harder,
was the no-questions absolutely right call-
now, however,
i'm starting to suspect that standing still for a second or two might
illuminate just who and what are travelling alongside me,
and what's running away faster than i can catch up.
damn,
one good meal,
and i've got introspection welling up like a fountain.
it's all really happening,
we've just got to find out where it's heading;
never quiet, never soft.....

BLACKBOTTOM!

black bottom!!
what?!
yup.
i said what i meant-
black.
bottom.
pie.
yeah!!!!
and i'll freely admit that i was inspired by the internet on this one.
that's right.
how many times can i see, and two-tap heart up on,
a pretty picture of a perfect pie,
and not get excited to try my hand at freaking it off at home?
seriously,
i'm the type of fella who gets motivated by the competent, capable,
accomplishments of other activated experts out there in real life.
WORD.
i doo-doo that psyched-up-inspirational-style sh!t.
how could i not?
i mean,
i've said it before, and i'll repeat it now because it's the truth-
a good idea is a good idea.
...and i'll use those ideas to make a little magic of my own.
so,
now,
the black bottom pie is now in effect.
what is it?
it's fan-F*ing-tastic, that's what it is.
check the teleport:

c'mon!
creamchee'-fluffed pastry dough,
with a third reserved and infused with cocoa,
for that sexxxy two-tone love jones that's sweet, crunchy, flaky, light and dark!
so dope.
i got the braids, the stars, and the reverse stars all poppin' off,
but it's what's inside that really bumps up the hottness, neighbors.
i mean it.
dark, rich chocolate ganache forms the second skin within!
yuuuuuuup.
pastry, chocolate, and then the strawberries.
oh, riiiight.
those are strawbz, by the way;
and boy oh boy are they ever juicy!
local berries have all the size and sweetness anybody could ask for,
but,
that didn't stop me from sugaring, starching, and lemon enhancing
all that big red flavor with the exxtras and upgrades i needed to have.
sure, kids,
they ARE good all on their own,
but,
too much is the right amount.
that's a thing.
and besides,
a perfect ten cold always use a boost off the charts......
and i'm biting down on a black-bottomed eleven over here.
secret chocolate undersides are good.
i mean it.
i guess a recipe isn't really necessary is it?
*make your preferred pie crust.
*simmer some berries in sugar, vanilla, lemon, and starch, to thicken it up,
so you don't get a filthy curdled pectin sludge. (yuck)
*keep your dough COLD.
*melt up some ganache-
(i use dark chocolate, powdered sugar, vanilla extract,
and a little baby bit of soymilk to emulsify it,)
let it cool to a still spreadable level of meltitude,
and coat the innerunderside of that pie crust like a chocolate-lovin' lion
of majestic secret society sumptuousity!!
mmmmmmmm.
*throw in your simmered, set and sealed berries, and decorate that jamie-jammer.
i bake all my pies at 425F, for at least 30 minutes,
and then, depending on how they look, i'll give 'em a little more.
y'know-
to get that fit and finish in full effect sometimes it takes more time.
here's the thing, friends:
intuition should be your guide in these things.
i've seen close personally-important people F* up a well-regulated recipe,
and i've also seen a long line of my antecedents and progenitors regularly
flip it and reverse it, without any guides or measurements.
on the one hand,
recipes are great foundations,
on the other,
i'm quite probably genetically predisposed to not following directions.
that's no joke.
anyway,
what i think its essential to consider is:
maybe food is as much about feeling as following directions.
no?
really?
well, yes, man-
obviously learn some basics,
don't burn your house down trying some foolishly uninformed maneuvers,
but,
also don't worry if your brussels are a bit undercooked-
after all,
there's no dead animals rotting and possibly killing you with diseases
if they're not at a safe serving temperature.
i'm over here cooking entirely by instinct,
not because i'm great at it,
but because i'm trusting my brain-mouth-bellyhole
to be honest with me about what i wanna eat.
then,
i make whatever that is.
and while i may use a measuring cup,
it's not to mete out a predetermined amount,
it's to determine how much so i can tell YOU,
so that hopefully,
you'll take that as a suggestion,
and then casually veer from the pre-forged path.
mmmm.
i'm making black bottoms because i saw some,
but i'm making up my own version,
based off of the picture, not a premeasured page of plans.
look, man,
all i'm trying to get across here is the blackbottomline:
trust yourself, guys.
you're most likely way smarter and able than you realize;
never quiet, never soft.....

CAKE.

dark brown sugar in a cake?
sure,
i don't see why not?
in fact,
in lieu of any lighter sugary sweet crystals,
i went whole hog hearty on the molasses-blasted big business,
with the darkness taking up all of the sweetenin' responsibilities.
no, i'm serious-
cake is what's up,
and a cupful of that dark brown jaun is how it's happening.
well,
that, and vanilla beans.
mmmmm.
the gritty little bits from the pulpy insides of those madagascar orchid seeds
just make everything taste so flippin' good.
now,
here's the thing, neighbors-
sometimes,
i get distracted in the kitchen,
and the next thing i notice, when i start to pay attention like i'm s'posed to?
wooohooo.
there's been a cake!
and while i'm not positive about what i was doing BEFORE my mind wandered,
i'm certain there's nothing negative about accidentally starting a cake.
check the thin-disc-twin-frosted-type teleport:

CAKE!!!!
what's in it?
this:
1 cup dark brown sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 stick (8T) butterish
2 tsp vanilla bean paste
1 cup soy yogurt (i used vanilla)
2 cups of flour
1/3 cup tapioca flour
1 tsp each baking soda and kapowder
1 cup non-dairy milk (i used vanilla almond)
-
simple, right?
i KNOW!
the process is the same-
sugar and fat, heavy wet, flours, really wet, whisk-
i baked it in two 9" pans,
and the batter was thick while the layers were thin,
and at 350F for 27 minutes, it baked up jusssssst right.
yuuuup.
two tight circles of taste, essentially out of thin air.
i think i was going in to make some tea?
i left with a perfect pair of rich rounds cooling off on the counter.
expert.
....i noticed that the frosting scene doesn't cooperate when it's too hot out.
nope.
not one little bit.
like,
i had to refrigerate the fats,
and re-refrigerate the whipped end results,
to keep the whole mess from melting somewhere other than my mouth.
that's not cool.
i opted for a little lemon juicy zip in my frosty topping,
and it really lends a little adult flavor to that big brown tasty cake.
i like that.
with what i had left over,
i pulped up some strawberries, and boosted up the dry sugar bulk,
and added those pink and lovely accents around the top.
guys,
strawberry and lemon are basically best friends,
and the hang out together a whole lot.
for an off-the-cuff impromptu nighttime cake creation,
this one has a bunch of great things going on.
it's not an accident, or even so much as a surprise,
that cake just sort of happens here at the Folk Life & Liberty Fortress.
this is my makey bakey place,
and that's exxxactly what i've come to appreciate the most about it.
home is here the hottness activates.
i'm here doing my thing.
in fact,
i'm baking bread right now.
why?
because we eat a ton of toast, man.
that's it.
food is a huge component of Folk Life.
i mean,
we have to eat,
so eating lots of what we make at home,
and making it good,
has got to be a priority.
*
i do what i do because i believe in it-
i say what i mean for the same reason.
i believe in myself,
not in a body-positive self-loving way-
c'mon,
i'm not that dude.
but,
i'm affirmatively firm in my sentiments and structure,
so i say and do the things that i do because i have a heartfelt belief
in the truest stories being the best ones,
because they've got accurate accountable recounting
of heartfelt words and deeds.
word up.
somewhere out there in the wider world,
i bet there are people who can endorse that course of right action.
i'd like to meet a few more,
i'm trying my hardest,
and then trying even harder,
to be the kind of person i can respect.
that's a tall order,
since i only reserve that for what is earned.
accidental cake is great.
don't think for a second it's not-
but that's not the recipe for self-respect.
it's every bite of a delicious distraction,
i just need a F*ing saga, son.
bigger, louder, fresher, harder, MORE.
it's out there, at the edge of my awareness,
and i'm on the hunt for true stories to tell truly,
because it's all really happening,
and i'm simply trying to get involved;
never quiet, never soft.....

inGRAINED.

baking bread on 90 degree days?
oooooooof.
it's SO hot.
so,
when the loaf spreads,
and then rises about 0%?
yup.
it's *awesome*.
i mean, c'mon-
you get to sweat your whole flippin' face off,
and then still stare at a piping-hot deflated doo-doo plop.
uh-oh.
the thing is,
i knew i'd have a dense bomber on my hands when i freaked off
the initial blend, neighbors.
33% whole wheat,
33% spelt,
33% white flour.
1 % crossed fingers.
flavorwise,
it's the superfresh stunner i knew it'd be-
heck, the crumb is even irregularly bubbled throughout,
albeit in underimpressively tight patterns.
look:

that crust is the BOSS,
and the texture is expert,
chewy, but not wet, sour but not bitter,
firm, but not dry.
it's got all the elements that should be wowing me-
but for the height, though, kids!
it's NOT rockin' my socks, man.
nope.
sourdough is a fickle mistress.
on that you may always rely.
check the opposite end of the spectrum:

100% white, from a white starter, with medium hydration,
it looked like the saddest sack of sh!t when i dropped it in the oven,
but the ovenspring SPRUNG,
and it blew open like a balloon, frozen mid-'splosion.
it's got holes in all the right places,
and the pentosans are deep into that crusty shell.
i think i might've even underproofed it in the fridge,
because the far-sweeter lactobacillus gave it a prominent yogurty zing.
all in all, a terrific loaf,
and one that got devoured in toast at an almost-alarming pace.
i'm falling down the rabbit-hole of doughs and techniques.
this new hobby is a heck of a gamble, each and every time,
as my by-eye tendencies are still unhoned and underdeveloped,
naturally, my inclinations are all but forcing me to bake MORE bread.
i don't like it when i'm not great at something.
i freely admit it.
but since i am determined to do this myself,
there's nothing for it but to DO it.
i'm making it work, and the magic is happening.
natural fermentation is the inevitable result of the right ingredients combined.
i'm applying the principle to my whole entire summer,
and we'll soon find out if i've got enough of everything to bake a crucial life
right alongside the perfect loaf.
good bread makes better people,
and i need that to be even truer than it already is;
never quiet, never soft.....

battlebeasts

wow!
duders,
i spent so much time walking around in the woodsly goodness yesterday
i didn't cook a damned thing!!
yikes.
i was on a mission, guys.
that's real.
out scavenging conifer burls, root balls, and effed-up looking branches,
while crabtree tried to eat all of them as fast as i could collect them.
yeah.
me and my dog, struggling, straggling, searching and searching for fresh finds
among and within the hillside trees of this pretty elite secret neighborhood.
y'know-
the Folk Life & Liberty Fortress doesn't really connect to any other streets.
it's on a dead end,
and that's (hopefully) NOT a metaphor,
but it's a free standing offshoot of the normal byways and backroads,
and as such,
it stands apart.
huh?
oh, well, i mean,
if you go creepin' through some yards and trails,
sure,
you'll hit roads eventually;
but it's got the same challenge that i face surrounding it-
it's in the desirable designated demographic,
but it lacks convenient accessibility.
no joke.
my home is a parallel to my person....
fringe elements of new hottness,
just far away enough from the transverse traffic that might call attention to it
to be a refuge from everywhere else,
but jussssssst close enough that with a little effort,
there's community and cooperation waiting on the outskirts.
ha.
so,
i spent some time trekking,
and some more time collecting,
and then,
when i couldn't stand the sun burning my body to cinders any longer?
i walked home and started making something.
neighbors,
check the folk-art-battle-beasts-type teleport:

.......and they don't even look like this anymore!
nope.
they're more like this:

and this:

a lot of minutes went into the staining, painting, arranging, and
ornamenting of these inaction figures...
i do have to admit:
it's harder than i thought it'd be to make coarse and rustic creations.
i keep moving things around, and adjusting the broken bits
until they start to get just a little too smooth.
what?
no.
i'm not braggin',
i'm lamenting.
i guess i always want to add MORE,
until it stops being primitive,
and just becomes fancy garbage.
too much is the right amount,
but maybe what i need to focus on is too much sh!ttiness,
and a little less effed-up unnecessary accessorizing?
we'll see what happens, if i get five minutes to do something besides tattoo today.
that's real.
i've got a full schedule of hard styles and tough calls,
and as much as i CAN fit in, i'm GONNA fit in.
if that means my boxy beastboards lay headless for a little longer,
well,
i didn't even cook anything yesterday,
so they've already received ample attention from me.
*
scrap wood;
leftover wood stain;
found debris;
paint;
hot glue;
pegs and nails;
and time, which is the only thing i spent yesterday.
i s'pose it's good, once in a while,
to just get up and get going on something.
i should've maybe mowed the lawn?
i dunno.
the grass will still be long today and tomorrow, too,
whereas inspiration strikes when you least expect it,
and it seems wasteful to squander it.
today is a new day,
and we'll see how it moves;
never quiet, never soft.....