Return of the Mack

Yep, that song is awesome.  Don't deny it!

I know you were probably thinking that at the ripe age of 30 I had decided to retire from my amazing year long blogging career, but have no fear my readers I am back!  There has been a TON of stuff that has gone on in the past 4 months, but I won't bore you will all of the details so here is a quick recap of what's been consuming what would have been my blogging time:

The day following my last post, I got engaged while on our trip to Seattle!!  After an amazing day of sight seeing, kayaking and a dinner on the water, Wren proposed on top of the Space Needle. 

 I have gotten over the initial overwhelming feeling about planning a wedding and we are very excited now that we have a date and venue picked out.

We have seen a ton of music, including one of my new favs Geographer (once at Treasure Island Music Festival and once at the Rickshaw Stop), Kanye/JayZ, Gramatik, Oh land, and a ton of great musicians at the Bridge School Benefit Concert.

We made a trip back to Chicago and Indiana to see family and celebrate our engagement. 

 We also got to meet Wren's new baby nephew, the adorable Liam.

We packed up a feast and got all decked out in white for Le Diner en Blanc San Francisco.  It was a seriously amazing event and I can not wait for the next one!

We did the Anchor Steam Brewery tour which I highly recommend if you are in SF, big bonus because the tour is free and you get to sample all of their amazing beers!

We had to say goodbye to one of our favorite four legged friends, Buddy. We miss you very much Budders!

We brought one of our most favorite Chicago traditions to SF and hosted the 4th annual Gingerbread House Making Party.  It was a great success and we realize there are some stiff competitors out here (look out Annie and Austin we are coming after you next year)!

I also said goodbye to Gary, it's not that he wasn't holding up his end of the deal I was just a bad parent and should be reported to DCFS.  But like a good mother I have decided to replace him with a new starter Peter (named after the author of his recipe Peter Reinhart), this is what good parents do right?

I have definitely been spending some time in the kitchen cooking up healthy eats and I have also taken on a new pizza project which you will likely be hearing a lot about in the future.

I also had the opportunity to meet with someone from Urban Sprouts and I will be starting an internship with them working in a few of the school gardens and possibly the Log Cabin Ranch which is part of the Juvenile Justice Program.  I am very very excited about working with this group, they are doing some great work with kids and nutrition!

I have been brainstorming crafy ideas for the wedding and sent these fun bottles off to my favorite ladies asking them to be my brides maids.  Although they were a lot of work, it was totally worth it for them to get these crazy packages in the mail.  It is actually quite amazing what you can send in the mail so break out your stamps and get creative!

It has been an amazing year for Enjoyable Me and I can't believe it's almost over!!  I have very high expectations for 2012 (some of which involves unicorns and the land of blueberries) and I am looking forward to sharing it all with you right here.  So stay tuned and I wish everyone happy holidays and wonderful new year!

Sour Flour

The last couple of weeks have been pretty busy around here; I have a few upcoming posts that I am very excited to share with you all.  As I mentioned a few weeks ago, I volunteered with La Cocina for their 3rd annual SF Street Food Festival.  The event was crazy, this was my first year experiencing it since we moved here and I had no idea just how big it was going to be.  There was so much amazing food and the variety was even a bit overwhelming, I'm almost a little glad that I spent a majority of the day volunteering and not stuffing myself into misery.  I also got to briefly celebrate the birthdays of two very lovely ladies, happy birthday Romy and Shiao!

Last week I had the opportunity (thank you Groupon for the sweet deal) to take a bread starter workshop with Sour Flour.  Sour Flour was started in 2008 by Danny Gabriner; his goal is to create the highest quality bread and at the same time help educate the community about the art of bread making.  Community is a big part of what Sour Flour is all about and they spread the love by giving out free bagels every Monday!!  You can learn more about Bagel Monday here.  I really enjoyed the starter workshop; I have no experience with using dough starters but had been wanting to learn about them for a while.  This introductory class teaches you about what a starter is, how to create one and how to care for it.  That being said I'd like to introduce you all to...

Gary is the handsome starter I made during the workshop and brought home with me, he comes from a long line of well known starters; his mother is Danny's Costa Rican starter Dulce.  You might wonder why the sad face Gary?  I promise I have been taking good care of my little starter guy, feeding him regularly and playing with him occasionally but I think the frown is due to his lackluster home...

Sorry Gary, rent in SF is expensive! Once you start putting out daily bread I promise to upgrade you.

In the class we also made a quick flatbread using the starter, it was slightly chewy and had a nice nuttiness to it.  There are few things more delicious than fresh baked bread, especially in the shape of a heart.

Between making the flatbread and my pizza loving boyfriend, I was inspired to begin my first starter adventure.  Having a dough starter on hand in your kitchen makes it much easier for impromptu pizza making; all you need is flour and water to get started.

Pizza dough recipe:
-dough starter
-2 cups of flour (I used 1 cup zero zero flour and 1 cup white whole wheat)
-3/4 cup warm water
-1 tsp salt
-1/2 tbsp olive oil

Using your dry ingredients, create a mound on your counter.  Next create a large well in the mound for the wet ingredients. Tear your starter into small pieces (sorry Gary) and add this to the well.

Add in your wet ingredients

Mix until you have a loose ball of dough

One of the most important things I learned in this workshop was to be patient and not overwork your dough otherwise it will be too sticky.  If you know me then you know I seriously lack patience, letting my dough rest is very difficult.  If you have the same problem, I recommend just walking away from it for about 10-15 minutes.  Using various techniques we learned in class such as flipping the dough and folding the edges over, work your dough until it is smooth.

Once I got it smooth, I let it take another longer rest (I would never hire dough as an employee; it requires way too many breaks).  After the lounging is over the fun begins, stretching out the dough.

And then the topping: I used a red sauce, fresh spinach, sliced tomato, quattro formagio and (because I love a meat-obsessed man) a little bit of salami.

I baked the pizza on our pizza stone at 450 degrees and it only took about 13 minutes for it to be nice and golden.

13 minutes in the oven and only 5 minutes to devour : )

Sour Flour offers other classes including a bagel making workshop, so if you are local I suggest you check them out.

Radio Africa: For the Love of Food

For me, there are few things more satisfying than a weekend filled with friends, relaxation and of course good food! Two weekends ago the sun finally decided to show its shy face and grace us with her presence for a majority of the weekend; "summers" here in San Francisco are extremely different than the ones that I have grown use to in Chicago.  But I'll take these mild summers any day over five long months of cold and snow. 

The weekend was spent celebrating various birthdays with some of our new friends and it rounded out with a wonderfully delicious afternoon spent with the charming and talented Eskender Aseged of Radio Africa & Kitchen.  I was fortunate enough to snag a spot in his cooking class at Mission Farms where a group of about 15 of us got to learn how to create some of his favorite kitchen staples and learn tips on how to be prepared for hosting dinners. Eskender got his start by hosting small dinners at his house for friends and family.  Soon word began to spread and his small dinners became a nomadic restaurant, he will be opening his first restaurant in the Fall. Eskender is one of those people that the moment you meet him, you are instantly drawn into his large welcoming presence.  He reminds me of what it would be like if Mr. Clean and the Pillsbury dough-boy had an Ethiopian child, with his bald head, charming grin and an aura that just makes you want to squeeze him.  Or maybe and very likely I'm just weird.    The combination of his knowledge and love for food make him a wonderful chef and teacher.

I really enjoyed this class because Eskender cooks from his smallish home kitchen and he really showed us that it is possible to cook for large groups no matter what your setup is.  He gave us lots of tips on how to be organized, keep things cleanly, and what to prepare in advance.  Eskender believes in using the freshest local ingredients and using spices and herbs to really take flavors to the next level.  We learned how to make a Berbere spice mixture (recipe below) and a fresh gremolata that went into a lot of the dishes that we made that afternoon.  I think in all 12 dishes were served; they were all fantastic so I'll let the photos do the talking.

Squash blossoms stuffed with artichoke

Marinated and sauteed shrimp

 Arugula and heirloom tomato salad

 Grilled leg of lamb

Vegetable Alecha (this dish is as delicious as it is colorful)

Goat cheese baked in Fig leaves (from his yard) with nuts and fresh herbs

Seared tuna on a bed of corn tomato salsa and purslane (a new to me succulent that is highly nutritious and delicious)

Other dishes included a mushroom Wot crostini, edamame hummus, vegetable terrine, long beans, and grilled fish!

All of the food was fresh and just perfectly spiced and cooked; I could have sat there all day and just grazed the evening away.  Eskender's yard and garden make the perfect setting for afternoon lunching, we had it pretty good sitting in the sun drinking wine and eating our hearts out.

This was my plate : )

And yes I ate it all!

At the last minute somewhat asked about dessert so Eskender ran off while we all munched away; he returned with fresh fruit and whipped cream and spiced chocolate for dipping.  What a perfect way to end this lovely lunch.

Eskender's Quick Berbere Ethiopian spice mixture

-1 tsp ground coriander

-1 tsp cayenne

-1 tsp cardamom

-1 tsp ground ginger

-1 tsp ground garlic

-1 tbs paprika

-1 tsp dried basil

-1 tsp ground black pepper

 

Directions: Toast all of the ingredients in a 300 degree oven for 5 minutes.  Put them in a grinder and pulse for a minute or so, keep in an airtight container.  The spice mix can be used on a variety of meat and vegetable dishes.  

Eskender hosts various pop up dinners and classes as well as catering and private events, if you haven't had the opportunity to eat his food I highly recommend you check him out. 

In the Kitchen/En La Cocina

A while back I mentioned how much I loved volunteering in Chicago and that I was hoping to find a place here in SF to volunteer my time, well I found a couple of places that sparked my interest and had the opportunity to work with one of them this past week.  La Cocina is an organization with a mission "to cultivate low-income food entrepreneurs as they formalize and grow their businesses by providing affordable commercial kitchen space, industry-specific technical assistance and access to market opportunities."  Each year they host the San Francisco Street Food Festival that showcases these food vendors doing what they love.

In order to promote the festival, La Cocina held a media dinner last Friday at Fort Mason where people from the media got to try a bunch of the foods from various La Cocina vendors set up at Off the Grid and during cocktail hour and a sit down dinner.  As a volunteer I helped set up the dinner and bar as well as walk around Off the Grid answering questions and directing people towards the participating food vendors.  Here are the OTG vendors that participated and what they sampled:

Azalina's Malaysian served Penang Curry Bomb: spicy coconut chicken curry with blueberry cucumber pickles in a green onion bun.  I was fortunate enough to try this and it was insanely good!

Chaac Mool served Conchinita Pibil.  I was able to try this and had lunch from their truck at Dolores Park this past weekend, yum!

Creme Brulee Cart served their "Yes Please" which was a Nutella creme brulee with balsamic strawberries, yes I ate this and yes I loved it.

Curry Up Now sampled their Tiki Masala Burrito

El Huarche Loco dished up Mini Huarches Alambre: sandal-shaped masa cakes filled with refried beans, lightly fried and served with beet, peppers, bacon and cheese.  These were little boats of Mexican delight!

Kung Fu Tacos sampled Pork Belly Tacos: braised pork belly over a bed of Jasmine rice topped with pickled mustard greens.

Namu gave out Korean Tacos: chopped marinated Korean style short ribs, kimchee remoulade, pickled daikon and kimchee salsa, seasoned rice on nori and toasted Korean seaweed shell.  I did have the opportunity to try this and it was a refreshing twist on tacos.

Onigilly served up 2 different dishes, Mini Onigilly Spicy Shrimp Onigilly: brown rice and cooked shrimp with tobiko dressed in house made spicy aioli wrapped with seaweed.  Hijiki Onigilly (vegan): brown rice and hijiki with shredded carrots cooked with house made sweet soy sauce wrapped in seaweed.

I was only able to stay for the first half of this event but I believe the night was a success and I really enjoyed working with the La Cocina staff and vendors.  I will be volunteering at the festival as well which is going on Saturday, August 20th from 11am-7pm.  I encourage you to come out and support these vendors and try some amazing food! If you can't make it to the festival check out La Cocina's website where you an order food, find out more information about the individual vendors, and sign up for classes and events.

Watching these vendors whip up their creations was very inspiring, who knows maybe one day there will be an Enjoyable Me truck : )

So besides volunteering with "the kitchen," I've also been spending some time in the kitchen cooking up eats.  In this case, the eats are 3 flavors of whole wheat crackers.  As my nutrition and health education classes continue I am constantly being exposed to a variety of wonderful sources for recipes and inspiration, one of the staples in my program is Sally Fallon's Nourishing Traditions.  I got a new toy a couple months ago but with the vacation and all I almost forgot about it, almost.  I'm totally okay with and in touch with my inner food geek, this thing makes me giddy and I'm not afraid to tell the world!

Thank you Amazon for continuing to stock my shelves with all of the unnecessary items that I dream of : )  This adorable German letter stamp set allows me to customize my baked goods, from now on we will only be eating goods with my name on it. 

So I needed to find something to try this gadget out on but I wasn't in the mood for cookies, that's when I came across Sally's recipe for Whole Grain Crackers and the kitchen became my playground.  Unfortunately, I didn't read the recipe ahead of time and found out that the flour needs to be soaked with yogurt overnight, so I had to wait.  I am VERY impatient, ask Wren what it's like to put up a Christmas tree with me.  I'll have half the decorations on before he has it bolted in the stand, true story.  Here is my version of whole wheat crackers, three ways.

Whole Wheat Crackers
Adapted from Sally Fallon's recipe
Ingredients:
-2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour (I used white whole wheat flour)
-1 cup plain yogurt
-2 tsp salt
-1 1/2 tsp baking powder
-8 tbsp butter, melted
-6 tsp seasonings: I used 2 tsp of each flax seeds, Italian herbs, Parmesan cheese (you can choose any spices or herbs that you fancy)


Directions:

Combine flour and yogurt in a bowl, cover, and let sit in a warm place for 12-24 hours.  

 In a food processor mix soaked flour, salt, baking powder and butter until thoroughly combined.  Add in your desired seasoning and pulse a few more times. 

Roll the dough out on a floured surface, the thinner the better (about 1/8 of an inch) I was too hot and tired and ended up with overly thick crackers.

Cut the dough into your desired shapes, feel free to get crazy and use fun cookie cutters.  Yep, that's my version of crazy.

I may be short but I'm no keebler elf so don't expect perfectly square crackers coming out of this kitchen.

Place the crackers on a buttered cookie sheet (or use a silpat mat) and lightly brush them with the remaining melted butter.  Bake at 250 degrees until golden brown.

 

These crunchy snacks are perfect for dipping in hummus, topped with cheese or with a spread of sweet jalapeno.  They would make a fun activity to do with kids and if you pack them in their lunches they can brag to all of their friends that they made them! 

I know they get the Lexi stamp of approval given that she ate the entire plate of them (spices included) that was left on the counter.

Happy snacking!