That’s Totally Okay

Looking back through today’s pictures, I still don’t know how I was as productive as I was.

I guess that explains how it’s already 6 pm, though. Last I checked it was 10am!

There was lots of learning to be done, though. Both of the educational sense as well as the personal sense.

Like how it’s totally okay to completely mess up your pancakes, only to discover they’re the best you’ve had all week. Even if they look like they’ve already been digested once or twice.

…and it’s also totally okay to realize that maybe the only reason you make mini loaves of bread is not because you like it better fresh – but because it’s so much fun to make and smell.

Sarena’s bread has yet to disappoint. I don’t think it’s possible for it to. It is so quick, so simple and so delicious.

Roasted Red Pepper & Garlic hummus from Appetite for Reduction

Realize you’re home alone for 25 minutes? Well – it’s perfectly reasonable to go on an insane food-processor rampage, right?

For some reason, I can’t get the rest of my family to welcome with open arms the amount of noise required for making hummus and nut butters. On a Sunday morning, no less.

When people should be waking up to the smell of bacon, not the sound of hummus.

And yes, it’s totally okay to combine hemp seeds, sunflower seeds and peanuts in your quest to make the perfect unsweetened peanut butter. Just don’t forget the pinch of salt!

But hey – why not try a flavored cashew butter for once? I’ve never had anything other than “normal” cashew butter, so I decided to give it a try. Verdict? totally okay.

• 2 c. roasted & salted cashews
• 1 t. olive oil
• 1 t. date syrup
• 1/2 t. vanilla extract
• 1/8 – 1/4 t. ground cinnamon
• 1/4 c. golden raisins

Method: Process the cashews until they form a ball. Break it up and add in the oil, syrup, extract and cinnamon. Process again until smooth. Add more oil depending on how runny you like it. Add in raisins and pulse a few more times to combine.

And by the way…if you just so happened to have made peanut butter before this…and didn’t feel like washing and trying your processor…it’s totally okay to just use the processor with the peanut butter residue still in it.

Not that I would have ever ofund myself in this situation or anything.

Haven’t done laundry in two weeks? Totally okay – it just makes you find all those old clothes you don’t know why you still have…but then realize why when you have nothing else to wear.

Again, not that I would know anything about that.

Yes, it’s perfectly fine to consider your workout for the day simply walking up a hill.

…but it’s probably easier to buy when the snow is up to your waist, and your dog might hate you for it.

Sorry for the butt shot…but this just had to be done. Kaia found that it worked best if she just tried dragging herself along on her belly.

We have so much snow right now. And we had a thundersnow storm last night!

It was kind of creepy and I was ready for the apocalypse.

I also realize that lately I’ve been hardly creative in the kitchen on my own, but rather have been making recipes out of books like it’s my job.

Well, I do wish it were my job…

But hey, that’s totally okay. I’m calling it “fine-tuning my technique.”

Because really, I don’t actually know anything about cooking or baking.

It’s totally okay to instantly think of your childhood when creaming “butter” and sugar.

Isn’t it a requirement of growing up to eat the butter and sugar when making cookies?

Not quite enough dried figs for your homemade “Fig Not-Ins” after you absent-mindedly munched on a few?

Using some golden raisins as filler is perfectly okay.

Adding anise extract, on the other hand? Totally not okay. Sambuca has ruined anise extract for me for the rest of my life, I think. I can’t have peppermints anymore because of peppermint schnapps, either.

Luckily, the anise was just an accentuating flavor, not a main player. I followed Vegan with a Vengeance‘s recipe because I wanted to have a more dough-like newton. The recipes I found online were more like a date bar – but with figs. I wanted more of a distinct fig newton! But, adding the anise idea came from this recipe.

Ironically, rolling the dough out for this was very time consuming and difficult and it will probably be many moons before I do it again. That and the directions confused me. I don’t think they were confusing, I think I was just having a “moment.” A “what the kale?” moment.

And if you lose patience with it, it’s totally okay to end up just making two giant tarts with the last of your dough.

And by the way – taste-testing your fig filling? Perfectly fine. In fact, I think it’s required. Mainly if you have some fresh bread and cashew butter to accompany it. D’oh.

Having paprika that’s older than you are? Well, that’s probably not okay, but I use it anyway. It probably doesn’t taste like…well…anything…to be perfectly honest with you.

I kid you not, I remember having this paprika when I was, like, three.

Because I was definitely using paprika as a wee little three year old. I distinctly remember burping “mo’ papriikay!” a time or two.

But until I finally remember to buy new paprika, this old stuff had to do for the mushroom and cannellini paprikas in Appetite for Reduction.

And in case you were wondering – it’s also totally okay to have sweet potato fries with every meal…and still not know whether you prefer them with barbeque sauce or hummus.

And lastly – it’s perfectly fine if you just watch the Superbowl for the commercials. I’m not a football fan…I prefer real sports.

Other things that are totally okay:

• Realizing you haven’t gotten out of your pajamas all day. Which probably means they’re really gross considering the fact that I was definitely sweating walking up that hill.
• Not putting away your laundry even if it’s all done.
• Realizing you sort of enjoy the reading for your recent classes.

What was your “totally okay” moment of the day?

And I’ve gotta ask…Superbowl – yay or nay?

Chutney Chickpeas (and TEDDIE!)

I finally got the chance to play with my favorite little furry four-legged today!

…just a shame Vermont can’t plow roads this winter. I could have made it there much faster? Even in this picture you can see where someone started swerving!

With all the fashion blogs out there today, I thought I’d join in on the trend. Here I am modeling my gloriously fab boots, snow-pant breeches and Carhartt knock-off.

This is why I’m hot.

Naturally, being so bundled up didn’t make for optimum riding gear. So why not just hop on bareback (er…blanket-back…) and go for a snow ride?

That was Teddie’s thought as he took great joy in making me get an additional workout trying to climb atop him.

He may be short, but damn, when you’re wearing bulky clothing, you’re sinking up to your butt in snow, and you have an excited pony walking in circles around you because he wants to visit with everyone, it’s a lot easier to say “hop on” than it is to actually hop on.

When I finally got halfway on he was at least patient enough to stand still while I made like a seal as I flopped the rest of myself up and over.

We had fun. Maybe we’ll just become snow riders for the rest of the winter. Or pick up skijoring.

And in case you thought I was too hot to handle before, it got even better when I put my helmet on:

I realize I look like dorkus maximus, but look at Ted!

daaaaaaaamn! Oughta have put a warning sign on this blog.

See all that snow on his bridle? He took great pride in trudging along with his nose buried in the snow while I thought he was going to roll on me. Luckily, the only time I had to bail was when I accidentally steered him into a drift that was up to his belly. It was probably deeper than that, but his belly kept him from sinking further, luckily.

Sorry, Ted.

Oh,yeah…anyways. About that food thing.

Truth be told, when it came to dinner tonight, I almost just sauteed up some spinach, garlic and barbecue sauce with barbecue tempeh and called it a night. And if I didn’t have to work tomorrow, I totally would have.

Sauteeing spinach in olive oil with garlic and BBQ sauce is way better than it sounds, fyi.

But, I kind of like making enough dinner the night before working to be able to pack an easy lunch to bring the next day. Sauteed spinach wasn’t going to cut it.

Especially sauteed in garlic. I can still smell my breath from having it for lunch, and that was 5 snacks and a dinner ago.

I might as well just dedicate this post to Rachael Ray, what with using her bench scrape, knife and recipe.

They were Christmas presents! (…but I still love Rachael Ray.)

I’ve made this “Chutney Chicken One Pot” and posted about it before – well, raved about it before – but just linked to the recipe with all of my swaps written separately.

Well, usually I don’t break my “link-back” rule, but since this is one of my favorite meals (I’ve gotta go there) and I’ve made some substitutions over the couple times I’ve made it, I’m just going to go ahead and post how I make it.

Chutney Chickpea One-Pot

serves 2 as a side, adapted from Rachael Ray’s Chutney Chicken One-Pot

This dish is easily customizable to your likes and dislikes. Check out my notes after the recipe! Not only that, but once you’ve got everything chopped it comes together in a handful of minutes! And I know I just talked about a fear of long ingredients lists – and this one is…but it’s SO easy and you’ve probably got it all on hand.

• 2 t. olive oil
• 1 granny smith apple, peeled and diced
• 1 small yellow onion, chopped
• 1/4 c. diced celery
• 1/4 c. diced green or red peppers
• 1/4 c. diced dried apricots
• 2-3 dried Turkish figs, chopped
• 1 c. chickpeas
• 1/2 t. ground cumin
• 1/8 t. curry powder
• 1/2 t. allspice
• 1/8 t. ground ginger
• 1/4 t. ground cinnamon
• 1 T. apple cider vinegar
• 1 T. dijon or whole-grain mustard
• 2 1/2 T. unsweetened applesauce
• 1/2 c. vegetable broth
• 2-3 handfuls baby spinach

Heat the oil in a nonstick pan over medium heat. Add in the apple, onion, celery and peppers. Saute until slightly soft. Add in the spices, dried fruit and chickpeas. Stir and then add in the broth, applesauce, vinegar and mustard. Reduce heat and bring to a simmer. Simmer about five minutes, until sauce thickens slightly. Add in the spinach, stir and cover. Remove from heat, leaving covered until spinach wilts.

Serve with some crusty bread or a grain!

Last time, I made it with tofu instead of chickpeas, and mixed in cooked bulgur instead of serving it with bread. There were other differences, but I also didn’t add the spinach. I much prefer it with spinach! I also think I preferred it with bread instead of a grain.

I love dishes that mix a sweet element with savory, and this one hits the nail on the head. Change it to your tastebuds, though. I chose to use applesauce instead of jam because I figured jam would be pushing the envelope on too sweet. You can also easily use a bit less dried fruit, and use what dried fruit you have on hand. I love apricots and figs, but raisins are good, too!

Decisions, Decisions, Decisions!

I had a lot of decisions to make today.

Now before you go getting all concerned, relax! Relax. Fortunately for me, the hardest decision I have on days like today is what I’m going to have for dinner. Before you laugh, that’s a pretty big decision. I mean, it can make or break your day! …or maybe I’m just a little dramatic.

In case you haven’t heard, it’s snowing all over the northeast.

I’m guessing you’ve heard.

My first decision I faced was whether I wanted to call in to work or not. I’m guessing you can figure out pretty quickly that I called in.

Which meant that I decided sauteed apples were in the forecast for breakfast this morning. I was awed when I saw that my beloved Gala apples were on sale at Hannaford’s. Unless they’re fresh picked from the farm down the road, they’re the only apples I truly enjoy. (okay, so I probably prefer them over the local McIntosh apples, but I fear that might be un-Vermontan of me to admit, so I won’t. We have maple laws for Pete’s sake, I wouldn’t put it past us to have an apple law, too)

My, oh my, how I’d forgotten how amazing sauteed apples are.

I polished off the last of my bread yesterday, and knew I had to make more today. The decision?

Do I keep it as the original inventor intended, or mix it up again?

I kept it as intended, and think this loaf is a bit prettier (re: less embarrassing) and so won’t withhold the name of the kind woman who shared her recipe with me this time – it was the lovely Sarena, of course! I don’t think there is anything she can’t do in the kitchen. And if you don’t want to see really delicious looking pancakes with a beautiful pour of maple syrup, definitely don’t go to her blog right now.

While that rose, I faced another decision: strength or cardio?

Cardio won.

But these things can only keep me entertained for so long. It was 9:00 and I was already looking for my next project.

Biscotti or granola bars?

Biscotti, says mother – who also had a snowday.

Orange chocolate chip or cranberry almond?

Orange chocolate chip. Best biscotti I’ve ever made all thanks to Veganomicon. No I can’t share the recipe and no I can’t find it either. Buy the book. The biscotti and the chickpea-quinoa pilaf are worth that $15.

…but do I want peanut butter, jelly or maple cream on my hot-from the oven bread?!

Maple cream.

But what kind of nut butter do I want smothered into my date?!

It doesn’t matter because I’ll have another one in five minutes.

If I have hot cocoa in my Easter mug, will it be Spring tomorrow?

…probably not, but you can try.

I love this Dagoba hot cocoa!

Should I shovel multiple times so that I only shovel a couple inches at a time, or once so that I’m shoveling more than a foot – but only one time?

Uhhh, well, I banked on multiple times, but this so-called “storm of the century” fizzled out, and I didn’t need to shovel after the once.

As it is, though, the snowbank to the side of our front porch is taller than the front porch, and if I venture off the beaten path I am up to my waist in the fluffy powder.

I hope I can go to the barn tomorrow so I can ride Teddie in it! Hopefully he won’t be like my Corona pony and decide it’s more fun to roll in said snow than it is to play in it. I’m not worried about getting rolled on, I’m worried about my saddle getting saturated. I paid more for the saddle than I did for the pony.

Do I make buffalo tempeh or barbecue tempeh?

Both! Sorry, guys – but I think I’m getting tempeh burnout. I’m sort of bored with it. When this block is done, I need to bid goodbye for a couple weeks. Needless to say, I do adore buffalo tempeh! Especially with the last of my caesar dressing and red onion (I heart red onion + buffalo + caesar)

I think I struggle making the decision between sweet potato fries or whole-baked sweet potatoes more than I struggle with the decision about what to wear.

It takes me a while to figure out what to wear in the morning. It’s too early to think clear, so I just stare into my closet for at least five minutes as if it’s some other-worldly realm.

And in case you were wondering, a whole baked sweet potato won, but I didn’t get to use this picture yesterday and was pretty proud of how perfectly baked and cut those fries are. Not to toot my own horn or anything.

Dinner was a big decision today, but I couldn’t be happier with the outcome.

I knew I should use the eggplant I had in the fridge, but nothing was particularly speaking to me.

Yes, when I flip through recipes certain ones call to me. I can plan “ooh I want to make that!” until I’m blue in the face but I can never decide what I want for dinner until 3:00 that day.

What did speak to me was Chickpea Piccata. (< Lucky for you guys, Isa has the recipe for this one on her website!)

But what to have it with?

Eggplant!

But how?

My new favorite way ever, of course!

I was flipping through my binder of recipes,and saw this very plain-jane recipe for roasting eggplant originally from Cooking Light. I was a bit apprehensive that it would be all that great – it is basically eggplant straight up, after all – but combined with the absolutely amazing piccata, this meal was enough to make me fall head over heels in love with…well, everything in site. It turned me into a hippie peace-love flower-girl.

For the eggplant, though:

Roasted Eggplant

slightly modified from cooking light, for one eggplant:

• 1 medium eggplant, about 1 lb.
• olive oil for brushing (I used basil oil)
• pinch salt, pepper and herbs de provence

Preheat oven to 450*. Carefully slice your eggplant the “long way” into 1/4″ slices, leaving the end in-tact. Cover a baking sheet with aluminum foil and fan out the eggplant. Brush with olive oil and bake for 15-20 minutes, until lightly tender. Remove from oven, press down to fan out more, and brush again with olive oil. Sprinkle with salt, pepper and herbs. Bake 15-20 minutes more or until tender and skin is beginning to crisp.

My mom: “are you going to eat that whole eggplant?”

Don’t mind if I do!

Decisions – do you find yourself sometimes having a terrible time deciding over the silliest of things, too?! Please say yes so I’m not alone. And don’t ask me who you should marry. I’ll just say “everyone! peace and love!”

BLOC Pancakes!

I finally got my wish!

Okay, well maybe not my full wish…the snow isn’t up to my waist, after all…but I woke up to beautiful, fresh snow rather than rain!

Since it fell overnight, though, I was bummed that I didn’t get to watch it storm. I love sipping hot cocoa/cider/tea inside while the outside is a winter wonderland.

Oh, well – beggar’s can’t be choosers, right?

Of course, Vermont could maybe think about using more than salt shakers to salt and/or sand the road. I’m pretty sure I could have counted the grains of sand if I wanted to. We also don’t plow very well.

I left home the same time I always do – 7:20 am, and usually get to the barn around 8. Today, I wouldn’t have gotten there until 8:30, so had to drive right by so I could get to work on time. Yeesh!

But all’s well that – starts well? Yeah, that sounds right And this morning started well! Microwaved quick oats with some oat bran and almond milk, chia seeds, cinnamon, dried figs and banana…topped with fig jam, cashew butter, date syrup and cashews. I was in heaven.

Though I’m not certain it was quite as good as the pancakes I had this past weekend.

I think I’d be okay with eating these blueberry-lemon cornmeal-oat bran pancakes for B, L, D if I had no other options. Unfortunately, I’m busy working for the man this week and it’ll probably be a while before I see them again.

I’m getting teary-eyed just thinking about that…

This was also the first time I’d smeared my pancakes with cashew butter. The marriage between it, the fresh blueberries and the mealy-yet-hearty texture of the pancakes was something to write home about. Which is a little weird, since I’m already home, but whatever.

These were so enjoyable, it had to be repeated, though the next day I made it with lime zest in place of lemon.

Don’t worry – those were promptly sent back to the kitchen to be drizzled with date syrup, the element that tied everything together.

If anyone comes up with a name for these that is shorter than “Blueberry-Lemon Cornmeal-Oat Bran Pancakes,” I’ll send you some in the mail. Maybe. Probably not.

I could call them BLOC Pancakes – but then the long name will have to be blueberry-lemon oat bran-cornmeal.”

• 2 T. cornmeal
• 2 T. graham flour
• 2 T. oat bran
• 1 T. wheat germ
• 1/2 T. poppyseeds
• 1 T. chia seeds + 2 1/2 T. water
• 1/4-1/2 t. baking powder (I’ve honestly never measured. I just shake it in)
• 5 T. almond milk (a.k.a. 1/4 c. + 1 T)
• 1 t. vanilla
• zest of one lemon (or lime or orange)
• juice of one lemon (or lime or orange)
• 1/2 – 3/4 c. frozen blueberries
• optional: 1/2 – 1 t. sugar , 1/2 T. (?) earth balance or butter(see Note)

In a small bowl, mix together the chia seeds and water. Set aside and allow to “gel” while mixing your cornmeal, flour, oat bran, poppyseeds, wheat germ and baking soda together.

Begin heating a nonstick skillet over low heat.

Add the milk, vanilla, lemon zest and lemon juice to the chia seeds. Mix and add to the dry. Stir just to combine. If it’s too thick, add a little bit more milk, just a tablespoon at a time. Fold in the blueberries.

Melt the earth balance on the skillet, and then spoon on the batter – I made two pancakes. Cook until it looks like it is beginning to set around the edges, and flip. Cook until golden on both sides.

Topping suggestion (although it’s more of a demand than a suggestion ) smear cashew butter on pancakes and top with more blueberries. Drizzle with date molasses.

Note: I added just a pinch of sugar so the lemon wasn’t too sour – they weren’t too sweet, nor too sour. However – I knew I’d be topping them with sweet things. If you’re planning on just eating them plain, I’d probably add a bit of sugar. Also – I love the taste of “frying” these in Earth Balance – you can just as easily use non-stick spray. I usually just melt the spread, spoon on the batter, and spray the tops with non-stick spray before flipping just as an extra precaution.

Enjoy!

Extremes

First of all, thank you guys so much for your kind words after yesterday’s post. You’re all too sweet! I hope I didn’t sound like too much of a Debbie Downer – in all honesty, days like that, I can’t help but to laugh a little! Keeps ya from crying, ya know? But in all reality, nothing seriously catastrophic happened (okay, well, the computer crashing stinks, but it really wasn’t my fault, lol) but how often does everything happen all at once like that? haha.

Secondly, I don’t think I can ever ask what your favorite ______ is ever again! Why? I’m way too jealous of all the awesome jams you guys can find in your areas! Fig? Creme of Dates with Almond? Ginger? Vanilla chestnut? Seriously – every single suggestion about had my mouth watering! I think I would especially kill for Creme of Dates with Almond 😉

But anyways – on to today!

Lets just say…it was the extreme opposite of yesterday!

In the Base: bulgur, oats, TVP, and wheat bran mix, with cinnamon, nutmeg, goji berries, 1/4 banana, and orange zest.

In the “Icing”: greek yogurt, chia seeds, sliced pineapple, and almondmilk.

On the Top: flax, toasted coconut, toasted macadamia nuts, 1/4 banana, orange zest & wedges, pomegranate strawberry jam, Naturally Nutty White Chocolate Coconut PB, and poppyseeds – just because!

Holy Yum! Sometimes there’s no such thing as too much of a good thing, I guess!

I realized that this PB will still last a year if I don’t refrigerate it. Safe to say – it won’t last that long, so I’m leaving it out now! It gets too hard in the fridge. I like it to melt in! And with the new knowledge – I’m not so afraid to open the others *gasp*at the same time. For some reason I thought they went bad way faster.

This peanut butter is seriously amazing. I love that it’s not very chocolatey, and the coconut is allowed to take center stage 🙂 Probably because it’s white chocolate, not dark. Which, I actually just realized this morning as I was thinking to myself how glad I was that it wasn’t overly chocolatey. Uh, duh, Jess….just read the label. lol…

floating oats!

Yes – these were taken outside.

It was cold. But they look so much pretty outside, don’t you agree?

Sorry – I got a little photo happy this morning, I’d say. 

Before I left for my first classes I threw together some “overnight oats” consisting of plain oikos, almond milk, chia seeds, oats, goji berries, maple sizzurp, and a crumbled mate energy bar. I wasn’t sure if I would be able to make it home for lunch like usual because there was a possibility – weather permitting – that I would be shooting someone’s senior portrait. It was supposed to start snowing right around noon – when I get out of class – and we were supposed to shoot then, too. 

Well, the shoot got rescheduled because she was too sick – and good thing, too! It’s finally storming pretty darn good! Started right when I got off the phone with her. So, I [slowly!] made it home – the snow really started sticking to the roads, and fast.

And, with the wintery weather, couldn’t decide if I still wanted cold “over morning” oats! So I opted for the best of both worlds:

In the Pita Panini: turkey bacon, spinach, roma tomato slices, red onion, almond mozzarella, and maple-dijon mustard.

On the side: sundried tomato hummus, Schneiders butter bites pretzels, carrot, and Suzie’s spelt multi-seed flatbreads.

This. Was. Perfect. I think I’m in love with just about every component. That almond mozzarella is pretty awesome, as ws my first turkey bacon experience! 

It was made even better that I could see this every time I looked out the door…

I love the peaceful beauty of snow when it falls like this 🙂 Isn’t it gorgeous?

Are you a snow lover or hater?

It’s funny – I’ve never gone snowboarding or skiing a day in my life, and hate being cold. But I love, love, love, watching the snow fall.

Lunch was followed shortly with my dessert, something probably only appetizing-looking to me, but oh well!

Some seriously good oats. Everyone must put dried goji berries in their next batch of overnight oats. They get deliciously moist and…delicious. haha. Same as rehydrating them while your oatmeal boils. So good! I don’t really care for them dry…

It was about this time that I decided I would not be driving back for my night class! The roads were much too sloppy already – and even if the commute in wasn’t bad, I only knew the one home would be awful. I hate driving at  night in snow storms. It’s like driving in a tunnel – and really exhausts your eyes! Not to mention the conditions in general.

This is a really nice professor, though – so hopefully he’s relatively understanding. I feel bad because I hate looking like I’m copping out!

With this information, I could have ditched my plans for a quick, easy dinner since had I gone to class I’d be getting home quite late. But, I’d grown rather fond of my idea and decided to roll with it. It incorporated two new finds – one from my co-op trip the other day, and one from my Bob’s Red Mill order I received today!

I knew the hot dogs would come in handy, and have pretty good nutritionals, and have been dying to try out nutritional yeast since reading Mae’s blog.

So, I decided on Turkeys in a Blanket!

Okay, so this dun’ look so hot.

It. was. so. good.

There’s just something so great about comfort food made quasi-healthy, don’t you agree?

What’s the “blanket” you ask?

Oh, you know…just the Naan I made up the other day!

Crafty.

Turkey dogs all cozy in a Naan dough with sundried tomatoes and a cheesy ranch sauce?

And burnt broccoli?

Yes, please!

And, verdict on the turkey dogs? Oh my goodness. So quick, so convenient, and so good! They’re really moist – I was kind of expecting…I duunno. Dry weirdness? haha. But really. They’re quite good!

But that’s about it from me!

What’s your favorite “comfort food”? Whether you healthify it or not!

Also! Is everyone familiar with Tastespotting? It’s a relatively addictive website, and where a lot of my ideas stem from – it’s picture and one-liner based, so it’s easy to grab an idea and run, rather than follow a recipe. And, if you’re a recipe-follower, the recipe is provided via a blog link.
Well anyways! There’s a new website similar – but just for desserts! It’s called Dessertspotting, and Donalyn is looking for more participants, photos, recipes – be it a healthy recipe or not! Breakfasts, sweets, etc. I know even though I try to healthify many things, I view websites like these on a daily basis because it’s not forcing a recipe on you before seeing a photo or one-liner description. You can pretty much take the flavors and idea and adapt it to your nutritional needs and desires! That and – I know tons of you dear readers have beautiful and delicious recipes that are certainly deserving of a feature. So go ahead, get on the boat and start submitting to this wonderful community!