I've been absent for a bit, but I've still been cooking, of course. I've also updated a few things here on the blog, published a few old posts that were languishing in my drafts folder because the pictures had not been uploaded, and created a flickr account (the slideshow in the corner also links to my photostream) so I can upload pictures, when there's no story or recipe to necessitate a blog post.
It's been insanely hot here, which means three things, 1) I don't feel like being active, 2)I've been having a decreased appetite, and 3) I don't feel like slaving over a hot stove. Taking all of those things into account, here's a simple, refreshing recipe to help beat the heat. Horchata is a sort of chilled and spiced rice milk. It's almost always served at taquerias, where it's one of the three most common flavors of aguas frescas. It's made with different seeds or nuts, and just about every recipe has a different ratio, so play with it, and see how you like it. Apparently, in many areas of Mexico, sweet melon seeds are used, in Puerto Rico, sesame seeds are used, and in Spain, tigernuts are used. I'm only familiar with almond horchata, but that's probably just because they are more widely available here...I mean, I've never even seen a tigernut. This horchata will be a bit thicker than normal to allow for adding ice which will melt and dilute the flavor--and sweet, but just sweet enough so it's refreshing, although you can make it a bit thinner and sweeter than you want the finished product to be.
Horchata by Christina Terriquez
1 cup organic long grain brown rice, rinsed 1 cup organic blanched raw almonds or raw pumpkin seeds 6 cups spring or filtered water, or more 1 whole cinnamon stick 1/2 vanilla bean or 1 teaspoon organic vanilla extract, alcohol-free variety 2–4 tablespoons organic agave nectar, or other sweetener, or more to taste ice or water, if desired
Directions Combine the rice and almonds 2 cups water and let soak 4 hours or overnight.
Pour into a blender. Add cinnamon stick and vanilla bean now, if using. Process until the rice is finely pulverized. Add the remaining water, agave nectar and vanilla extract. Strain through double or triple layered cheesecloth. Sweeten to taste.
Refrigerate for 2 hours and/or pour over ice. Serve chilled.
Variations Add 1 whole organic cinnamon stick before soaking or 1 teaspoon ground organic cinnamon after straining.
In different regions of Spain, Central America and South America, various seeds and nuts are used. Experiment with substituting sesame seeds, melon seeds or sunflower seeds for the almonds.
Try a 1/4--1/2 teaspoon fresh organic lime zest.
Basmati rice, white basmati, or white long grain rice may also be used.
Valentine’s Day is a perfect special occasion to indulge in something really decadent with your loved ones. However, one of the biggest problems with indulging is the indigestion and feeling of heaviness that accompanies most baked goods. Nothing ruins romance like an upset stomach or feeling bloated and too-full.
These Love Bites are gluten-free for easy digestion. They have a complex yet classic combination of flavors which is rich and satisfying, yet their petite size makes them a perfect end to your meal, that won’t leave you or your sweetheart’s tummies feeling overstuffed.
1/4 cup organic juice sweetened raspberry preserves, diluted with 1 or 2 teaspoons of water
3/4 cup organic unsweetened non dairy milk, like soy, oat, coconut, almond, rice, etc. 1/2 cup organic grain-sweetened chocolate chips
organic fresh raspberries for garnishing, optional
Directions Prepare Gluten-Free Chocolate Cake and Crème Anglaise according to recipes.
Place chocolate chips in a heatproof bowl. In a saucepan, heat soymilk over medium-high heat until soymilk just begins to boil. Pour hot soymilk over chocolate chips and let stand for two minutes. Whisk soymilk and chocolate together until a smooth homogeneous texture is achieved.
To assemble Love Bites: Place a wire cooling rack over a cookie sheet.
Cut off any crisp or tough edges of Gluten-Free Chocolate Cake and set aside for other uses. Cut remaining cake into individual servings using a small heart cookie cutter, or cut into 1 inch squares. If using a cookie cutter, make sure it is no more than 2 inches by 2 inches.
Cut heart in half, so that you have doubled the amount of hearts.
Spread 1/4–1/2 teaspoon of thinned raspberry preserves over the top of half of the hearts, then place another heart on top, creating a sandwich.
Place heart sandwiches on a wire rack/cookie sheet set up. Slowly pour chocolate sauce over each heart, allowing some chocolate to flow down the sides of each heart If chocolate has thickened, heat it or whisk in a tablespoon or two of more nondairy milk. Decorate hearts with raspberries while chocolate is still soft, if desired.
Place chilled and whipped Crème Anglaise in a small plastic bag and cut the very tip of one corner off the bag. Use the bag to gently drizzle crème over each heart.
Allow chocolate and crème to set up. Share with your loved ones.
Variations Try using a different flavor of preserves or Cashew Crème.
Substitute your favorite cake recipe for the Gluten-Free Chocolate Cake.
Add 1/4 teaspoon of almond extract to soymilk before boiling.
Gluten-Free Chocolate Cake Christina Terriquez
Yields: 9–16 servings
1/3 cup organic quinoa flour 1/4 cup organic chick pea flour 1/4 cup organic white rice flour 1/3 cup organic, free-trade cocoa powder 1 teaspoon baking powder 1/2 teaspoon baking soda 1/4 teaspoon organic ground cinnamon, optional 1/4 cup organic safflower oil 5/8 cup organic unsweetened soy milk or coconut milk (1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons) 1 1/2 teaspoons organic white wine vinegar 1/2 cup organic agave nectar 1/8 teaspoon unrefined sea salt, Lima or SI brand recommended 1 tablespoon organic ground flax meal 1/4 cup filtered or spring water 1/2 teaspoon organic vanilla extract 1/8 teaspoon organic almond extract, optional
Directions Preheat over to 350° F.
Prepare one 8 inch square cake pan by lightly brushing with safflower oil, then lining with an 8x16 inch piece of unbleached parchment. Set aside.
In a medium sized bowl, sift flours, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and cinnamon together.
In a large bowl, mix remaining ingredients together. Add dry ingredients and gently mix to incorporate.
Pour into prepared pan and bake for 30–50 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean.
Allow cake to cool completely on cooling rack. Run a knife along the edges of the cake, and use long ends of parchment to gently remove cake from baking pan.
Variations Double this recipe for a two–layer 8 inch square cake.
Frost with Creamy Chocolate frosting, chocolate ganache, Tofu Cream Icing, Cashew Creme, or serve with Orange Blossom Syrup.
Garnish with a fruit sauce made with fruit sweetened preserves diluted in apple juice or water and thickened with kuzu.
Crème Anglaise Christina Terriquez
3/4 cup organic unsweetened soymilk 2 tablespoons agar flakes 1 organic vanilla bean 1/3 cup organic coconut milk 1/4 cup organic light agave nectar 1/4 cup organic amasake 1 tablespoon organic vanilla extract 1 tablespoon organic coconut oil, optional
Directions In a medium saucepan, combine soy milk and agar flakes and let rest for 10 minutes.
While agar and soymilk are resting, split vanilla bean in half lengthwise. Scrape the tiny black seeds from each half, and put vanilla seeds and pod into soymilk.
Add remaining ingredients to saucepan and simmer for 10–15 minutes, until agar flakes have dissolved and sauce has thickened slightly. Remove vanilla pod from sauce. Remove from heat and blend in blender or with immersion wand once again. Use immediately for glazing.
If using sauce for garnishing, cool until set. After sauce has set, purée in blender or with immersion wand. Sauce should be soft custard consistency.
Notes Crème Anglaise is usually made with cream, refined sugar, egg yolks and vanilla beans. This vegan version is much healthier for your heart.
Store it in a squeeze bottle (this is a perfect use for your agave nectar bottles when you've used all the agave inside), and use it to garnish any other desserts you make that week.
Make a double or triple batch and put it in an ice cream maker for a rich, French Vanilla-style ice cream.
Before moving to Austin, I had never heard of cornbread dressing, and the only cornbread I had ever made, was the kind from the little blue Jiffy box. Since I've been in Texas, though, it seems like every fall, you can't escape the innumerable mentions of cornbread dressing, recipes for cornbread dressing, and smell of cornbread baking in anticipation of being made into cornbread dressing. Needless to say, I've tried a few different versions of cornbread dressing, and while they may have been tasty, I couldn't help thinking that the dish would have been better if the building block of the dish, the cornbread, was better. It seems to me that the cornbread used is usually off, either too dry, too soggy, too sweet, or having too little corn flavor. So, I decided to experiment with cornbread recipes. Many of these were good, but something about each just wouldn't work for dressing. Finally, I decided to just create my own. This recipe is the result. It's slightly sweet, moist enough to eat alone, but dry enough to soak up soup, chili or bean likker. It also makes an awesome basis for cornbread dressing.
Christina's Cornbread by Christina Terriquez Dry Ingredients 2 1/3 cups fine cornmeal 1 cups unbleached white flour 2 teaspoons baking powder 1 teaspoon baking soda Wet Ingredients 1/2 cup fresh or frozen corn kernels 1/3 cup non-GMO corn oil 2-3 tablespoons agave nectar 2 tablespoons flax meal (ground flax seeds) 1/2 cup water 2 cups soy milk 2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
Directions Preheat oven to 350° F.
Lightly oil a 13"x9" baking dish.
In a large bowl, sift dry ingredients together.
In a blender or food processor, blend corn kernels, oil, agave nectar, flax meal and water until smooth. Add soy milk and vinegar and let rest for 5 minutes.
Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and stir until just combined. Pour into prepare baking dish and bake until a toothpick comes out of the center clean.
Notes
This can be frozen in air tight bags for up to a month, though it will dry out a bit.
JD was extremely excited about the cornbread, as he grew up eating it often, and to him, apparently, nothing is better than a bowl of "soup beans" and cornbread. So I made this meal for him. It's cubes of cornbread, covered with whole, slow cooked pinto beans, slow cooked collard greens cooked with a little alderwood smoked sea salt and sesame oil (to give it a sort of smoky oily flavor, like ham hocks or bacon), and sweet potatoes.
My dinner plate, from left: Mashed Potatoes with Mushroom Gravy,Walnut, Fig and Cranberry Cornbread Dressing, Blanched Broccoli, Cauliflower and Carrots, Spiced and Caramelized Butternut Squash Purée, Slow-Cooked Collard Greens, Fresh Cranberry Sauce, Wheat Gluten Roast, Wild Mushroom Pilaf
I'm sorry for my abrupt absence. I had a horribly tenacious computer virus/spyware/adware infection. I thought I was going to have to wipe my hard drive and restore to factory settings (in fact I had tried to do that, but I was unable to complete the process). I ended up getting help from the Geek Squad. The gentleman who came to nurse my comp back to health was extremely helpful and knowledgeable. The whole clean up took over three and half hours, and it took about a week just to get them here. This absence of course breaks up my Vegan MoFo postings....
Since this is a food blog, and a big food day just passed, I'll be posting the obligatory post Thanksgiving report, with accompanying pictures and a few recipes. JD and I both moved to Austin as adults, so we don't have any family in town, and neither of our families were planning to come to town, so we hosted a dinner for our fellow Thanksgiving Orphans.
Traditional Sage Dressing.
We had a pretty exhaustive list of dishes for Thanksgiving, including two dressings (stuffing)--I was leaning heavily toward a walnut, fig, and cranberry cornbread dressing, and JD couldn't bear to live without a sage white bread dressing to stuff in his turkey*. He's generally pretty traditional as far as flavors go, and can be a bit hesitant to mix things up.
The kitchen was pretty hectic, so the recipes in this post aren't exact, but are more like guidelines.
Sautéed onion and celery, dried cranberries, dried figs, herbs and toasted walnuts.
Walnut, Fig and Cranberry Cornbread Dressing
by Christina Terriquez
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, divided
1 small onion, diced
sea salt
2 stalks celery, diced
3/4 cup dried, fruit juice-sweetened cranberries
3/4 cup dried figs, diced or cut into quarters
1cup walnut pieces, lightly toasted
6 cups of your favorite cornbread, prepared, cooled, and cut into 1/2 inch cubes
3 teaspoons dried sage
1 teaspoon poultry seasoning, Simply Organic brand recommended
1 teaspoon dried thyme
4 cups vegetable broth
Directions Preheat oven to 350° F.
Heat 1 tablespoon of oil over medium-high oil and sauté the onion with a pinch of sea salt until translucent. Add celery and a pinch of sea salt and sauté until tender. Add cranberries, figs, and walnuts and sauté for about two more minutes.
Heat remaining oil, and add dried herbs and cornbread cubes. Toss cornbread to lightly brown.
In a 13"x 9" baking dish, mix dried fruit mixture and cornbread. Add vegetable broth and season to taste with salt.
Bake, uncovered for 30-45 minutes, until brown and crispy on top and moist, but not wet, inside.
Assembling the cornbread dressing.
JD made the turkey and prepared all its accompaniments. While he was cleaning it, there was a horrifying/ridiculous moment when I realized he had his hand literally up the turkey's butt. That was...kind of weird, and I don't think he appreciated me pointing it out. He also put his foot down when I cheekily suggested we name it.
The spread.
We didn't actually get to cook the mulled cider because I ran out of pots and pans (I added the spices and orange rind and it's been steeping in the fridge while we slowly drink it), but here's our menu:
Mulled Cider
Beer
White Wine
Wild Mushroom Pilaf
Slow-Cooked Collard Greens
Blanched Broccoli, Cauliflower and Carrots
Sweet Potato Casserole with Candied Pecans
Mashed Potatoes
Mushroom Gravy
Spiced and Caramelized Butternut Squash Purée Walnut, Fig and Cranberry Cornbread Dressing
Sage Dressing
Wheat Gluten Roast
Stuffed Turkey with Giblet Gravy
Fresh Cranberry Sauce
Triple Chocolate Silk Pie
Cashew Creme
The biggest disappointment was the wheat gluten roast. I had tried a stuffed wheat gluten roast earlier in the month, and it looked great, but was just okay in the flavor and texture department.
Cute but unremarkable stuffed Thanksgiving wheat gluten roast.
I thought I'd try one of Bryanna Clark Grogan's recipes, for Thanksgiving. Of course I tinkered with the recipe a bunch, and it came out really dry, hard, and pretty much inedible. JD and I both agreed that my usual seitan is much better. Since it was so tough, I ended up grating it and cooking it with diced onion, grated carrot, garlic, cumin and tahini as a filling for tamales a few days later. The tamales were excellent.
Grated leftover seitan with diced onion, grated carrot, minced garlic, cumin and tahini.
The biggest surprise to me was the spiced and caramelized butternut squash purée. It was richly flavored and extremely aromatic. I made it on a lark, as I'm not generally a big fan of butternut squash. It's usually just a bit too watery and not quite sweet enough for me. If I'm making winter squash, it's almost always going to be a kabocha or a buttercup. However, when we went grocery shopping, the organic squash was priced well, and it stores well, so I figured if I didn't use it for Thanksgiving, I'd have plenty of time to do something else with it. I'm so glad I bought it! The dish was divine, and it was the first thing to be entirely eaten--no leftovers! If you make this for dinner, I would recommend doubling or tripling the recipe as it's fantastic the next day, and it can be used in soup, as the filling for empanadas or pies, sweetened for a dessert, or frozen for later.
Squash and spices, midway through roasting.
Roasted and Spiced Butternut Purée by Christina Terriquez
1 large butternut squash, peeled, seeds removed and cut into 1 inch chunks
2 whole cinnamon sticks
seeds and empty pod of 1/2--1 vanilla bean
sea salt
water
shoyu, optional
sweetener, optional
Directions
Preheat oven to 350° F.
Place squash, cinnamon sticks, vanilla bean and empty pod, a pinch of sea salt, and enough water to cover the top of the squash. Bake for 1--2 hours, stirring occasionally and adding water if needed. Squash is done when completely soft, and slightly brown.
Remove from oven. Carefully remove cinnamon stick and vanilla pod. Mash with a fork or potato masher if needed and season to taste.
Notes
This gets better the longer it bakes. Ideally, it should be so soft that you don't really need to mash it, as stirring is enough to break up any large pieces.
If you don't have a vanilla bean, omit it entirely, vanilla extract will not work. However, if you have empty vanilla pods that you've been saving, you can use 3 or four of them in place of the seeds.
You can spice this up more with a pinch of cayenne powder, ground cloves, or nutmeg.
You can substitute ground cinnamon for the whole sticks.
Try adding a little coconut milk for a richer, creamier consistency. This also works well if you make this into a soup, or add some cayenne.
Sautéed onions, celery, and wild mushrooms for the pilaf.
The pilaf was a pretty basic pilaf, I used brown basmati, sautéed onion, celery, garlic, fresh shiitakes, and reconstituted wild mushrooms with a little thyme. It was yummy, but overshadowed by the other dishes.
The meal was delicious, the company good, and the music, well, we cooked to all four sides of the Saturday Night Fever album, so it was pretty....disco. Which prompted me to think about having a glam Disco Thanksgiving next year.....I don't think JD is really up for that, though. The only bad thing was that JD put the fresh-from-the-oven turkey directly onto the glass table cover, which, of course, cracked immediately. Ah well. I hope everyone had a good day and something for which to be thankful.
*I'm sure some people are wondering how a vegan could allow a turkey to be cooked in their house. Well, 1) this is JD's house too, and he's (usually...) pretty accommodating of me, so I figure I should be accommodating for him because 2) since we've been together, he usually doesn't buy/cook/eat animal products and 3) we invited many omnivores, and I think the best way of spreading the vegan/vegetarian message is by being an example and showing how fun, delicious and compassionate being a vegan can be. By making a dinner where all the dishes, with the exception of the turkey, were vegan, I can do just that. No one wants to be lectured on a holiday, and I for one, don't want to lecture. I DO want to prepare beautiful, yummy food for my friends and family to enjoy, and that's exactly what I did.
ETA: I made the Fig, Walnut, and Cranberry Cornbread Dressing for my family for Christmas, and I was a little worried that it would be too extreme, but they loved it. "THIS is how stuffing should taste!" was my mom's response to her first bite. The recipe was bit different, since I didn't have my own equipment or pantry, and it took about 1 1/2 hours to find dried figs at the grocery store, but it was definitely worth it.
Additionally, I actually found some "Dressing Bread" at the local King Sooper's (the name Kroger's go by in the Denver Metro area). It was a dense loaf of bread that had all the sage, celery seed, pepper, and herbs that typically go into dressing. I had never seen or heard of this before, but it actually came in handy, especially since the loaf I bought was on the reduced price shelf since it was older and slightly stale--which is exactly what I was looking for, since it was the day before Christmas, and it wouldn't have time to get stale naturally. Is this a new thing? Has it been around for a while, but I've just missed it? It was sort of neat, really aromatic, but also very weird.
I gave in to weakness and tried VeganRella. The worst part? It was delicious! It's not something I'll use often. I may, in fact, not buy it ever again... but it does indeed melt, and it melts better than Follow Your Heart Vegan Gourmet (my personal NotCheese of choice). The taste and texture right out the package leave much to be desired, as it is waxy and bland, and it contains canola oil (which I missed when I bought it) but for gooey meltiness it's probably the best commercially made vegan cheese alternative. The normally off-putting waxiness also comes in handy in this case, since it makes grating very easy. Of course, my minimally-refined, go-to ingredient for gooey deliciousness is usually mochi, and probably always will be, but sometimes it just doesn't work in a given dish.
One such dish is enchiladas. I had tried making a nightshade-free version with mochi and it just wasn't any good. The mochi filling was so rich and filling you could really only eat one, and you felt full and bloated for hours afterward. I may attempt another nightshade-free version with mochi, but if I do, the enchiladas would be filled with either beans or vegetables, and only the topping would contain mochi.
Yesterday I posted a recipe for green chile that I had been meaning to post for months; but it just so happened that we recently made a big batch, which we have been using in various dishes, and tonight we made green enchiladas, so it seemed like a very timely dish to post. I took a few really pretty pictures of the enchiladas and the soup and vegetables that I made, but apparently my camera ate the pictures (the food was that yummy!), so I'm left with one lone enchilada picture.
VeganRella and Mama C's Chile Verde Enchiladas
For this batch of green chile, we used about 6 Anaheim peppers, 4 poblanos, and 5 or 6 jalapeños. Using a mix like this really lets the most desirable aspects of each pepper shine through, in this case, the poblano don't have much flavor, but give a nice dark color contrast, and help temper the heat of the jalapeños. The tomatoes give a good tang and add bright red bursts of color. The Anaheim are slightly sweet and mild, give body to the chile, and provide a base. The jalapeños, of course, provide heat.
Enchiladas are another dish that is more about technique than ingredients. It's very important to have your filling and sauce ready. The fillings I associate most with enchiladas are cheese & onions, spiced ground beef, or beans, but the possibilities are endless. I used a simple filling of grated VeganRella (mozzarella flavor) and green chile. Making enchiladas is a great way to use leftovers, for example if you have tacos on Monday, you can use the leftovers as filling for enchiladas later in the week. Enchiladas are commonly made with a red chile sauce, often being tomato-based, but green chile sauces are not uncommon.
The basic process begins with lightly frying a corn tortilla in a touch of oil to soften. I think you could probably get away with heating the tortillas on a comal, skillet or griddle if they were fresh and flexible, though. Next, you fill the tortilla with your desired filling--I used approximately 2 tablespoons finely grated VeganRella and 2 teaspoons green chile per tortilla--and roll up. Place rolled tortilla in a baking dish, and repeat. This process is much easier if you have someone helping you, then you can fry while your helper fills, or vice versa. When you've either 1) used up all your ingredients, 2) run out of space in your baking dish, or 3) made 2 more enchiladas than you think will be enough to satisfy all members of your household, spread a generous amount of your desired chile sauce over and around each enchilada. You can even put a little sauce in the bottom of the baking dish prior to putting enchiladas in dish, but I haven't found that to be necessary. If desired, top with a sprinkle of your favorite notcheese. Bake at 350°F for about 20 minutes or until filling is heated through. If you're using a melty vegan notcheese, obviously, you're looking for it to melt. I like to smother the enchiladas with more chile halfway through cooking, but I don't think that's necessary unless they look a little dried out.
I also made a yummy stick-to-your-ribs soup, that just happened to be super easy and made almost entirely from leftovers. JD loves Campbell's-style vegetable beef soup, and I wanted to make a soup similar to that, but heartier and healthier. Recently, we've had a cold spell in Austin. Our temperature seems to be about 10 degrees cooler than usual, which means that I've had to wear long sleeves, pants, and real shoes as opposed to my normal casual November attire of knee-length skirts and flip flops. It also means that I've been craving more long-cooked, baked, or stewed foods and soups that are thicker, richer or more filling.
I've been playing with homemade vegetable stocks, and I saved some of the vegetables (I used carrots and celery), so I also had both of those items on hand. I also had cooked short grain brown rice, but you could use any leftover grain. I chose red lentils to thicken the soup and add heartiness, because red lentils, unlike most other varieties, turn to mush as they cook and change to a light yellow color, so you can't really see then in this soup. Certainly, other lentils could be used, but they wouldn't thicken the soup in the same way. If you have cooked whole beans like white or kidney on hand, they'd make a delicious addition.
Stick-To-Your-Ribs Comfort Soup by Christina Terriquez
2 1/2 cups of your favorite broth 1-1 1/2 cups diced mixed vegetables (frozen, leftover or fresh) 2 tablespoons red lentils 1-2 cloves garlic, minced 1 cup of red sauce (Mama Mia sauce, nightshade-free red sauce, tomato sauce, or marinara) 1 1/2 cup cooked brown rice your choice of dried herbs like oregano, basil, thyme, or Italian herb mix, etc. sea salt or shoyu
Directions In a medium saucepan or dutch oven, heat broth and add vegetables. If using fresh vegetables, simmer vegetables for 2 minutes. If using frozen vegetables, simmer for 10 minutes. If using leftover vegetables, proceed to next step.
Add red lentils and simmer for 10 minutes. Add garlic, red sauce, brown rice, and herbs and simmer for 15 minutes. Season to taste and simmer for 5 more minutes. Garnish with fresh scallions of parsley.
Notes Add 1/2-1 cup whole cooked beans.
Try adding other leftover grains in place of brown rice.
Can be served as a meal with a piece of crusty bread, or in smaller portions as a starter.
When I put away the leftover soup, I took it as an opportunity to try taking another picture, so here you are:
Stick-To-Your-Ribs Comfort Soup
I especially like the way the hands sort of take on the form of a heart in this picture.
It seems like VeganMoFo is really helping spread the vegan food love among bloggers. I know I've personally found many new blogs which will become a part of my weekly reads, and it seems like I've possibly gained a few more readers. If you're a new reader, welcome! It's always nice to make a new acquaintance.
I've been absent for a bit, but I've still been cooking, of course. I've also updated a few things here on the blog, published a few old posts that were languishing in my drafts folder because the pictures had not been uploaded, and created a flickr account (the slideshow in the corner also links to my photostream) so I can upload pictures, when there's no story or recipe to necessitate a blog post.
