Stop. Mehndi-Tiiii-iii-iiii--meeee. There ain't nothing like a good ole fashioned henna, and lately I've been on a spree. I've been doing my hands deep in eucalyptus leaves henna-ing everyone and their mother. And as it turns out my own mother yesterday! I think the skin is such a beautiful canvas to unleash such creativity on, a natural form of art with the usage of leaves to dye the skin, my kind of style! It is not permanent so I will hardly have a regret, although will sulk and lament if the design doesn't turn out well while I
only free hand it to my content. Plus I can always have a new design, unique as I will never be able to copy any of the free hand I do, and I love it that way! I have a sort of an addiction though. It's like seeing others yawn and mimicking it. Because every time I henna someone, I feel compelled to add a piece on myself! AGH so now I have the terrible burden of the fading and the nubile on my arm because I was too impatient and couldn't wait several days until it all disappeared. I tried convincing myself it is some wicked cool shadowing technique, but that is just full of fail! And normally I am so good at the powers of persuasion, alas!

Fire Alarm Fry

I'm on a roll, baby! Why not continue the uncontrollable flow of text from my hands by providing something delicious for your viewing pleasures! After being unable to go to the market all weekend, nor Monday due to inability/inconvenience I was finally able to whip up something pleasant to my palate instead of scrounging up what ever was around. Sure I love being creative, but when you have naught vegetables left, you start to go on a meltdown or is that just me who freaks when she doesn't see any fresh greens?! After reuniting with my favorite veggie friends I could hardly know what to do with them except worship them in the sunlight. Okay I know a thing or two to do with food, I decided to whip up old reliable that everyone of us must have a special recipe for -the stir fry!

This stir fry has an even more special significance because of Monday night's events when it was first attempted. By that I mean I got as far as the onions before I set off the fire-alarm. Normally this would cause no reason for panic. Please now, don't worry, the onions were not burnt! Oh yeah, and we were all safe too... which ever one was your first priority :P The real problem was that the fire-alarm was so sensitive that it went off with just a slight bit of smoke(hey the pot was hot!), mind you an old school one that they only way for it to be turned off was for the fire department to come! All show and dance for naught, as I slunk into a slightly embarrassed demeanor, the perfect welcoming song that showed I had arrived and made way for my presence! College wouldn't be the same without my endearing mishaps! Onward, the recipe must be continued!
Weapon of choice: Wok me like a sugarcane!
An essential part of one's kitchen, food just ain't as fun if it's not been taken for a ride on this metal rollercoaster



1. Look at this beauty, beckoning you for its ripe slicing. I loooove the vidalias in a way that is only expressed by the glazed over eyes and salivating tongue I am affected by when it becomes within sight. The sweetness they add is subtle and yet contribute to the dish the way a regular yellow onion just can't satisfy.

2.CHOPCHOPSLICESLICE more slicing, less chopping!

3. Into the wok ye go for yer next journey! Sizzlin'! Let them soften up a bit until they get to the succulent consistency and appearance of these sexy thangs:
Then we add these fine 'fus, all diced up and ready to take a dip and flip!


The next victim: a solo zucchini waiting to be chopped!


BFFS:

Spinach! How else do I maintain my physique? ;-)


My lovers:
spot of oil, splash of tamari

le piece de resistance!:

*claps*
word of sorrow, for some reason the quality of these photos were absolutely horrendous whence uploaded on here due to the large size of their nature, I was most excited about revealing my food photo shoots and now they reflect badly on my sharp shootin' skills! (but that does not fix my indolence and I don't particularly feel like resizing everything D:)

the "I'm all out of chocolate what am I going to dooooo" fix

I made the most divine dessert the other day. I had an overwhelming craving for chocolate and was positively irked that my dog had greedily snarfed them all up the previous evening. Well Buddy(that's his name and not just the colloquial expression) karma's that stitch in time, and he violently expelled it from his system due to the fact that they are allergic to chocolate (isn't that a horrible allergy?!) Anyway before I went on a tangent, he consumed all my precious nuggets of cocoa and that led me to be my usual creative detective and I whipped up this succulent cloud of flavor! 1 can of organic coconut milk, 1 box of organic coconut pudding mix, 2 Tbsp of Fair Trade Cocoa and a splash and dash of vanilla and sugar led me to a desirable dish! Bring the coconut milk to a boil, add the pudding, let that bubble bubble until it's nice and thick, then bringith the cocoa! Normally I don't like "semi-homemade"cooking, sandra lee, pshaw! But this was a time that involved drastic measures because I might have resorted to some act of vegetable violence had I not had my hands on this stuff stat! Yes I realize it is also quite caloric-ally dense, perfect for those hikes, forget the trailmix! :P But after a few bites, as delicious as it is, you won't want much more because it is that satiating! And coconut milk is a diuretic... so let's say this is amazing for a body flush! I would post a picture, but chocolate coconut pudding actually looks like a vat of excrement, especially with the little coconut shreds splashing about in it!

Baby Come Back-Wacky Willie Wednesday

Oh golly, how I've let myself down by neglecting this wonderful world of weburaly workings. I got the jump start hint that I should be ashamed of such behavior and immediately rectify it or else face punishment by the swat of an abnormally large zucchini! By popular demand (easy when you only have one follower who is actually your friend, so that I can exclaim said popularity due to the statistics) I hath returned, and brought a bounty of spectacular ideas with it. Willa, since you're the only one reading, do you ever get the feeling that when I write, it is how I would speak to you? You are like the ~Kitty~ to my Anne Frank Diary! That says enough about my own lingual labyrinths, let's tango with the text some more, shall we? So now I realize it might be an extreme net faux pas to have TWO wwW in a row, it only reveals and exposes my shameful disregard to my precious e-child. But it must go on, and if fate has paired two wW with one another, then I have no control whatsoever on the matter. :P

This topic is inspired by my favorite fruit jerkies, that overpowered me and forced me to consume them all within a very short time period after purchasing. Even I did not know that they would not stand against time and defy every scientific law known to mankind. They hypnotized me into being a voracious fruit beast, where I without a strain of prejudice, shred every piece of dessicated mango within my site, with no proper eulogy nor burial. The very things that make me weak, and my stomach gnaw uncontrollably, the magical dried fruit. How I love thee with every fiber of my heart's desire. So lovely as it flails around, flexing to my every want, seducing me until even I claim that I am a mere mortal to its celestial taut body. It satiates my sweet tooth and leaves me longing for more, until I've decimated all that I had and all there ever was in my possession. An ode to you my sweet and sassy nourishment and the promise to reserve time for you, always above any other food(unless it is Chinese food, I know I can compromise between you two, but if there is Buddha Bodai in my midst, sorry sweetheart but you're taking the back seat) :} Here is my precious, please do not objectify him so salaciously, unless it is with the good intention of hunger! I did not mean to substitute a picture from the web, but alas, the mango was no longer in the flesh after I ravaged it! Now Willie, it's your turn to tell us (me) why you so appreciate this darling substance!

Wacky Willie Wednesday

Every Wednesday, Willie will inquire something of me, and I shall respond to the best of my ability. It is just another interesting edition to my posts that I would like to include to shake things up a bit from their already abnormal routines! I guess she just wants me to hop on Gilbert(my laptop!) the first thing I do when I wake up, can you blame the technologically aware?

Her first ever suggestion is: What is the first thing I think of when I wake up: Hitting the snoozeberries until I can answer that! Sleep:acquired, perhaps more than I would have liked, but I suppose it is to pay off my hefty sleep debt that I built up in college(but I was getting used to 5 hours of sleep, now I'm at a gluttonous 10 which is positively unhealthy!). Why exactly do I want to wake up earlier then One post meridian is beyond me, but it seems more professional not to snooze in, I also feel as if I lose more time to do completely nothing and I prefer to get a head start on that! :P.

Arriba, The first thing I thought was ~Merlin's Beard~ it's one pm! Except it was a little more of the latin derived vulgarity that I would hate to slander across my precious food blog. Then I explored my previous dreamscape that I was somewhat of a prisoner of! I was taking some kind of wickedly long test and only after I chased a school bus for my backpack did I wake up. Also I do remember one shinning quote from yours truly "How can they expect us to run when there is peanut butter (gushing between my teeth), it sloooooowwwss you down" And then I proceded to sloooowwwmoooo. you see mother, this is what you get when you play mad scientist with my REM cycle! (don't let Kleitman and Aserinsky find out or they'll study me! :P) It is a result, dear children, of me being thrusted from my comfortable zone at 7 am in the morning to transport myself to another location for further eyelids combat.

So willa, I'm not exactly sure what I thought about, besides dangnabbit, did I have to turn off all three of my alarms? At seven am I am more of a "philosophical sleeper" all these intricate thoughts rushed into me and kept me awake for minutes and I had missed my inbetween dose-off point, alas it was inevitable that they are beyond my neurons now! Tell me about your inane musings of the morning!

The return of the 'Fu

Now that you have all seen just how aesthetically appealing my own cat is, I'm sure there is curiosity to the kinds of food I prepare! Warning: do not read before you have eaten! Your stomach will revolt against you.
I have stored up many steamy sessions of the photoshoots I have with my dishes, so I am unfortunately indecisive about what to present! Let's go with a tasty little number we all must have a rendition of : The Tofu Scramble! *mmmhhh what ya sayyy, you tasted so swellll* It's my favorite stereotypical breakfast item that I never eat for breakfast(I have an intense adoration for eating breakfast for dinner!):

This was actually the one time I decided to forgo my morning nap between lethal 8am Organic Chem. and 10 am Spanish. Arriba! Most of my dishes are pretty quick because during the school year I am a busy little aye aye and hardly have time to spend creating a 7-course meal! but I can assure you flavor patrol that none of the flavor is missing. ;-) I use a succulent tofu purchased from the Honest Weight Food Co-op available in those large watery vessels. I absolutely abhor those ascetic packaged boxes of the 'Fu. They are a travesty to soybean kind! Something I was forced to comply with in the beginning of the year and am a strong opposor of. Trust me, we're food friends, don't go to the dark side of plastic boxes and square tofu *tears*.
I caramelized some red onions first, and then crumbled this white sponge in it until it browned a bit. Add Some 'shrooms, not the kind bought off of your local cow patties though! Then I added several herbs and spices to take it to a higher level. I also used organic sweet potatoes, or yams, or whatever the difference between the two is?! ( tried researching the two but they are still rather confuddling) Whatever the nomer, the starch family is welcomed in my palate. I parboiled them and then fried them up until they got irresistibly sweet and had a nice crispy outside. I added several cloves of garlic about one minute before turning it off, for my favorite zing! The thing about me is that I do not measure things, so I can only offer the ingredients and preparation methods involved! I believe that only you know what you truly enjoy, so let your tongue, hands, and nose do all the work! Let yourself feel the flavors, dahling, even those with bad sense of direction will be able to figure this out!
So here is what I used:
Tofu, Sweet Potatoes(or possibly yams), Mushrooms, Red Onions, Garlic, Thyme, Cilantro, Basil, Oregano, Sea Salt,White Pepper, and Turmeric!
Don't be intimidated by the amount of herbs, they all contribute and enhance the dish, and weren't just in there because I knocked over my spice rack... :}
Transform away!

Let us start out with the quintessential testing period. Oh no, I won't lure you with food, but of my sassy feline with a sharp swagger and a story to tell. I present to you denizens of the third planet: Sir Lexington!
: Voracious for a new post and an important moral contributor.(sadly he does not enjoy taste testing my food, what a picky eater!)