Crunchy Mushrat

This recipe is named "Crunchy Mushrat" because I substituted the bell peppers that are normally in Ratatouille with mushrooms. The crunchy part comes in because it is served on brown rice, which makes it very Northern California "granola crunch". The optional use of soy yoghurt and the vegan-ness also helps to feed into the "granola crunch" vibe.

Crunchy Mushrat

5 Tbsp EVOO
6 cloves garlic, minced
1 medium onion, sliced paper thin
1 bay leaf, crushed
1 Tbsp basil
1 Tbsp oregano
1 tsp rosemary
1 tsp thyme
liberal dashes of black pepper, to taste
conservative dashes of salt, to taste

Eggplant (sliced in half lengthwise then cut into cubes)

2 medium zucchinis, halved and then thickly sliced
2 1/2 C button mushrooms *
1 fourteen ounce can of diced tomatoes

1) Heat EVOO in deep pan or in large stock pot. Sauté garlic, onion and herbs in EVOO. Sauté until onions soften and start to turn translucent.

2) Add eggplant. Toss to coat eggplant with EVOO mixture. Cover. Cook over medium heat for 15 minutes. Stir occasionally.

3) Add zucchini, mushrooms and tomatoes. Toss to coat the zucchini and mushrooms. Cover and simmer for 20 minutes. Stir occasionally to prevent sticking and burning.

4) Serve over brown rice.

* Cut small buttons in half. Cut medium and large buttons into quarters.

Serving suggestion:

Serve with a large pitcher of herbal iced tea.

Garnish with sour cream, plain yoghurt or soy yoghurt.

A perfect dessert compliment to this is "Straw Cottage Salad".

Costume College 2005

Originally uploaded by Phoebe Swyft.

Here are some pictures from Costume College 2005. Most of them were taken on Saturday night.

Please contact me if there are pictures of you that you would like to have removed.

Costuming: Black Bling

side on tray
Originally uploaded by Phoebe Swyft.

This hat was on it's last legs. I indulged in some tulle and sequin therapy. In the process I managed to revive the hat. It has been reborn as a 1970's glam victorian style riding hat. The face veiling is detachable.

Materials used:

Black wool top hat (purchased in ragged shape at Hot Topic on clearance. I think the after tax price was about $5.00)

Purchased feather appliqué

Black tulle

Black faceted sequins

Silver faceted sequins

Opalescent faceted sequins

Pre-beaded black lace appliqué

Grosgrain ribbon

Aleene's Jewel-it Embellishing Glue

Notes:

The Jewel-it dries light, flexible and clear. The only points where the excess is visible is up close in bright light on the black tulle. The glue has a snail tracking effect on the tulle.

The detachable face veil will be attached with safety pins at the back and with a silver toned brooch at the front. The veiling covers the entire face.

Roughly 1,000 sequins were glued on to this hat with the Jewel-it. A bamboo skewer was used to apply the glue and another was employed to affix the sequins to the glue.

Minestrone v 1.0

Some of these ingredients may seem odd for me to use. I had some stuff lying around my pantry and freezer that I wanted to use up. So I guess the other name for this could be "Kitchen Sink Minestrone".

Minestrone v 1.0

1/4 lb ground beef

1 tbsp dried basil
1 tbsp dried oregano
1 bay leaf, crushed
1 stalk celery, chopped
1 small onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced

8 pints water

1 ten ounce package frozen chopped spinach
2 fourteen ounce cans diced tomatoes
1 fifteen ounce can kidney beans
1 zucchini, sliced
8 ounces frozen pea and carrot mixture
2 cubes veggie bouillon

2 cups pasta

1) Sauté ground beef in the bottom of stock pot

2) Add basil, oregano, bay leaf, celery, onion and garlic. Sauté for 5 minutes on medium heat or until meat is thoroughly cooked.

3) Add water. Raise heat to high.

4) Add spinach, tomatoes, beans, zucchini, bouillon and peas and carrots. Bring to boil. Reduce heat to medium. Boil for 1 hour 40 minutes. Stir occasionally. Add water if necessary.

5) If you are serving immediately add pasta and cook for 20 minutes. If not: cook pasta in separate pot just before serving; drain pasta ; add desired quantity of soup to cooked pasta; heat to desired temperature; serve.

Serving suggestion: Serve with warm bread (or soda crackers) and two buck chuck red or iced tea.

Notes:

You can use other lower fat ground meats. If you do, you should add 3-4 Tbsp EVOO to the pan before adding the meat. It will stick if you don’t.

You can use frozen then crumbled firm tofu for a fully vegetarian version. If you do: Freeze the tofu in it’s container; thaw ; skip step one ; add 4 Tbsp EVOO to stock pot, then proceed to step 2; add tofu the last 20 minutes of cooking.

This recipe will make about 8-10 large servings. The soup is stew like in consistency. If you add 1 part boiling water to 1 part soup in the serving bowl then provide hearty bread/crackers and salad/dessert this recipe could feed 16-20 hungry people. Watering the soup down in this fashion will not diminish the flavor.

Find: Nestea Lemonade Tea

Nestea Lemonade Tea powder. Arnold Palmer in powder form.

I picked up some of this recently on a trip to Costco. It mixes smoothly and has a good balance. Tastes good at room temperature but is better if chilled. It travels well and can be mixed directly in a Lexan bottle.

Cost at Costco? Around $5.00 for 2.81 lbs. According to the package this makes 80 eight ounce servings.

Enhanced Boxed Rice Pilaf v1.0

This dish is great for a day of house chores or when you just feel like whipping up a quick 1 dish meal.

Enhanced Boxed Rice Pilaf v1.0

Feeds 2-4 depending on hunger levels

- 1/4 lb ground beef or 1 hamburger patty (crumbled)
-1 box wild rice pilaf *

A) Saute ground meat in a deepish frying pan**
B) Add water as directed on pilaf box + 1/2 C and omit butter or oil ***
C) Follow directions on pilaf box

* I am fond of Near East brand but any brand will do

** You can also saute onion, mushrooms and/or crushed garlic with the ground meat

*** For a stroganoff like dish you can add 3 Tbsp sour cream during this step