“[Jessie Oleson Moore’s] new book, The Secret Lives of Baked Goods: Sweet Stories & Recipes for America’s Favorite Desserts looks at the stories behind some famous and not so famous desserts. It’s interesting to learn the origins of the desserts, as if you are anything like me you like a good story to go along with the recipe. This book is all that and more.”
From Apartment Gardening by Amy Pennington:
Where and When to Plant
Lettuce can be sown almost any time of year, depending on your climate, so it’s best to read the back of the seed packets to determine the timing that is best for each type.
Pot Size
Sow seeds in a long, shallow, pale-colored plastic container, since lettuces are shallow-rooted, and plastic containers hold water a bit longer than clay ones. Smaller pots tend to heat up faster than a large deep pot, so choosing a light color helps keep the roots cool, as well. Be sure to keep the seedbed moist until seeds germinate, which typically happens in five to seven days.
How to Harvest
To harvest lettuce, try to remove the larger outer leaves first. Using a small pair of scissors, cut the individual leaf stems as close to the base of the main stem as possible, leaving some interior leaves behind. These leaves will soon fill in and become outer leaves; thus you’re creating a cycle of lettuce leaves to harvest. If you prefer to harvest complete heads of lettuce, do so when the heads are full and the outer leaves are starting to yellow and wilt, but know that if you cut the entire plant, the odds of its regenerating are reduced.
APPLE GINGER SALAD
makes 4 servings
1 cup canola oil
1⁄4 cup garlic cloves, peeled
1⁄4 cup chopped peeled fresh ginger
1 teaspoon sea salt
8 ounces green or yellow beans, ends trimmed
1 medium green apple, cut into 1⁄2-inch wedges
1 medium red or yellow bell pepper, cut into 1⁄4-inch matchsticks (about 1 cup)
1 medium tomato, cut into 1⁄2-inch wedges
1⁄2 small red onion, thinly sliced
4 cups greens, preferably spring mix
Juice of 1 medium lime
Sea salt and freshly ground pepper
In a large sauté pan, heat the oil over medium-low heat. Add the garlic and ginger and cook until they just start to brown, 5 to 7 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and let the oil cool before using.
Fill a large cooking pot with 4 quarts of c water and the salt. Bring the water to a boil, add the beans, and cook for about 1 minute, until the colors brighten but the beans still have a crunch. Drain the beans and run cold water over them to stop them from cooking further. Refrigerate
the beans for 10 minutes.
In a large bowl, combine the cooked beans with the apple, bell pepper, tomato, onion, and greens.
In a small bowl, whisk the garlic-ginger oil and lime juice. Season to taste with salt and pepper and toss with the salad.
Check out some of the photos from Plum: Gratifying Vegan Recipes from Seattle’s Plum Bistro:
(photo credit: Charity Burggraaf)
(photo credit: Charity Burggraaf)
(photo credit: Charity Burggraaf)
Try this sneak-peek recipe from Makini Howell’s new cookbook, PLUM: GRATIFYING VEGAN DISHES FROM SEATTLE’S PLUM BISTRO… get your copy April 23rd!
SMASHED PURPLE POTATOES WITH PARSLEY (Soy-free/Gluten-free)
Makes 4 servings
These potatoes are surprisingly easy to make, and doubly addictive, with the appeal of mashed potatoes and crisp fried potatoes combined in one dish. The bonus is how pretty they are too, a natural violet color that they retain even after they’re cooked. Purple potatoes sound exotic, but many large supermarkets carry them now. You can substitute thyme, chives, or other favorite herbs for the rosemary, or use less rosemary for a more subtle flavor.
If you need more Plum goodness to tide you over until the book release, feast your eyes on Plum’s March dinner menu — http://plumbistro.tumblr.com/
INGREDIENTS
1 pound (about 8) baby purple potatoes
¼ cup plus 3 tablespoons olive oil, divided
3 garlic cloves, minced
Sea salt and freshly ground pepper
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary leaves
Zest and juice of 1 medium lemon
Preheat the over to 450 degrees F.
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the potatoes and cook until they are fork-tender, about 8 minutes. Drain and set aside.
Drizzle ¼ cup of the oil all over a large sheet pan or cookie sheet.
Place the boiled potatoes on the sheet, leaving plenty of room between each one.
With a potato masher or the flat end of a spatula—or even your hands if the potatoes are cool enough—gently press down on each potato until the top gives way and the insides are lightly crushed. Rotate the pan 90 degrees and mash the potatoes again more forcefully, until they are slightly flattened. The idea is to open up the potato enough to let in the flavors of the garlic and herbs. Brush the tops of each crushed potato generously with the remaining 3 tablespoons of oil.
Sprinkle the potatoes with the garlic and season to taste with salt and pepper. Bake until they are browned, 20 to 25 minutes. Remove them from the oven and sprinkle the parsley, rosemary, and lemon zest and juice over the top before serving.
April is National Poetry Month!
Enjoy this poem from Eric Ode’s new book of children’s poetry, SEA STAR WISHES.
Thank for your contacting us.
Are you referring the the Flying Apron Gluten-Free & Vegan Baking Book? If so, there is not an errata sheet available for that title.
Best,
Sasquatch Books
In her book APARTMENT GARDENING, Amy Pennington helps urban dwellers transform their small space into an edible garden.
If you’re into the whole shabby-chic thing, drawers can be used for shallow planters. Just give them a coat of paint and plant away.
When repurposing any item, it is smart to consider possible pitfalls of what you are attempting. Or at least that’s what my friend Patric is always telling me. He’s awesome at identifying potential problems with all the crazy ideas I come up with. The looming obstacle for this project, so he says, is making sure the planter is structurally sound. Filing cabinets are made from thin sheet metal. You may have tried to stand on top of one at some point, to change a light bulb, only to feel the top buckle under your weight. Something similar will happen if you turn it on its back, and fill it with soil and then water. To address this, for this project we use a piece of blocking wood—a 2-by-4-inch piece of lumber cut to the width of the cabinet. The blocking wood both provides support and gives you a secure base to drill the casters into.
MATERIALS
One file cabinet
Five or six locking and swiveling casters
Four 11/2-inch pan head screws appropriately sized for the holes in the casters
Six to ten 1-inch pan head #8 screws
One 2-by-4-inch by 8-foot board
One small tube construction adhesive
Four cans nontoxic primer spray paint
Four cans nontoxic exterior gloss spray paint
Electric drill with 7/64-inch and 3/8-inch bits
DIRECTIONS
1. Remove the drawers and any attached hardware from the inside of the cabinet. Measure its interior width. You will need to cut a few pieces of 2-by-4-inch boards to this length. The number of pieces depends on the size of the cabinet. A two-drawer cabinet will need three pieces: one on each end and one in the center. A three-drawer cabinet will need four pieces: one on each end and two evenly spaced across the center. This wood support is called the blocking wood.
2. Cut the blocking wood so it fits snugly across the floor of the cabinet and rests squarely against the sides. Do not make it so tight that it causes the cabinet to bulge. (It is possible that the blocking wood pieces may have to vary slightly in size in order to get them to fit precisely.) Apply a few beads of construction adhesive to the blocking pieces and fit them into the cabinet. This is just to hold them in place—no need to go overboard with the glue. Allow them to dry for at least an hour.
3. Turn the cabinet over so the top is facing down and the bottom is facing up. Place casters in the corners of the cabinet, lining them up with the blocking wood. With a marker, trace the caster screw hole locations onto the cabinet and set the casters aside. Using the drill, make pilot holes where you’ve marked your casters through the cabinet and into the wood. Return the casters to the cabinet and screw them into place at the corners.
4. Now, add any supporting casters and place the casters along the middle of your cabinet. (For a two-drawer cabinet, you will also place a caster on the blocking in the center. For a
three-drawer cabinet, you will need to place one caster on each piece of blocking.) Drill pilot holes, then screw the casters into place.
5. To keep the bottom of the cabinet from sagging under the weight of soil and water, you need to add some support. For support, you will add screws across the length of the center pieces of blocking wood. Adding screws in this manner effectively transfers the load (that is, the weight) across the cabinet floor to the edges, which are the cabinet’s strongest points.
6. Using a 7/64-inch drill bit, make pilot holes across the center pieces of blocking through the metal as you did for the casters. Start 1/2 inch from the edge of the cabinet. Drill pilot holes every three inches until you run into the casters. It’s not critical that the spacing be totally even. Finally, go back and add the screws for support.
7. Next, you need to make some drainage holes. Change the bit in your drill to 3/8-inch and drill through the cabinet, avoiding the blocking. You will need two rows of holes spaced every four inches or so.
8. In a well-ventilated area far removed from any objects you don’t want subjected to drifting spray paint (such as your car or your neighbor’s car), spray paint the exterior of the cabinet with two coats of primer and two coats of your finish color. You do not need to paint the entire interior of the cabinet, but make sure to get the first few inches around the edges, as soil will settle over time and expose the interior slightly. Also, be sure to let each coat dry completely before spray painting over. Finally, be sure to follow the instructions on the can, never holding the can too close. If you apply spray too thickly, it will run and create drip marks down your planter.
9. When the planter is completely dry, it is ready for soil and plants! Make sure to lock your casters once you start filling your cabinet planter, and remember to fill the soil to the tip top of the planter. This allows for full sun to hit the surface of your soil—a crucial step in germination.
Gluten-Free & Vegan Pie by Jennifer Katzinger
Coming August 2013
Sweet pies, savory pies, cream pies, and more; all 100% gluten-free and vegan!
(Photography by Charity Burggraaf)
Thank you for contacting us! Please send us an email at custserv@sasquatchbooks.com, and we will send you the errata sheet for Gluten-Free and Vegan Bread.
Have a wonderful weekend,
Sasquatch Books
