Pumpkin Cheesecake, Part II…the leftovers

As I mentioned, I had quite the large amount of leftover filling from the pumpkin pie cheesecake. Not wanting it to go to waste (I hate waste) I thought the perfect solution would be mini galettes, with cheesecake filling and sliced apples. Since Martha’s crust was amazing (see recipe below) I put together another batch, and split it into 6 portions. Each portion was then rolled out, dolloped with filling and topped with apples which I had mixed with a little sugar, flour, lemon juice and cinnamon (think apple pie filling)

contrary to what you may think, that is not a bite taken out of the bottom left tart.

I greased a cookie sheet and baked them for about 35 minutes on 400. Success. Opposed to the cheesecake where there was not enough crust IMO, in these galettes the crust was the superstar. Especially the bits where it was folded over creating a nice cookie-like texture. 

 

Since I still had enough filling to fill a small swimming pool (swimming in cheesecake batter would be a little gross) I needed something else. Brownies perhaps? But no, since my crazy family does not like overly dense, chocolatey, sickly sweet things (I know, right?) A google search for cookies turned up cheesecake thumbprint cookies which I used as my inspiration. 

Pumpkin Cheesecake Thumbprint Cookies, modified from Bake or Break

Ingredients

• 2 sticks softened butter
• scant 1/2 c sugar (between 1/3 and 1/2)
• 1/4 t salt
• 1 t vanilla
• 1 egg yolk
• 2 C flour
• 2 T coco powder
• 1 t cinnamon 

Method

• preheat oven to 350 and line a baking sheet with parchment paper
• cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy
• add the salt, vanilla, and egg yolk and mix well to combine
• add the flour, coco and cinnamon and mix to incorporate. the dough should come together. don’t mix too much.
• roll into a ball and refrigerate for 30 minutes. 
• roll the dough into tablespoon sized balls and use your finger (or another object) to poke indentations in each cookie ball

 

• bake for 10 minutes, remove from oven, re-poke cookies and bake again for 8-10 minutes until just barely golden on the edges. 
• remove from oven and let them cool (mostly completely cool)
• use a teaspoon to fill the cookies with cheesecake filling and return to the oven for 10-12 minutes until the filling doesn’t jiggle and looks…done. sprinkle with cinnamon, if you so desire. 

see the one thats gone missing? its in my belly.

After all of this baking, I still have more cheesecake filling. help?!

Pumpkin Cheesecake

When your sister requests a pumpkin cheesecake for her birthday, you are not NOT going to make a pumpkin cheesecake. Even if you don’t have the correct size springform pan. Even if you do not have a KitchenAid. If a pumpkin cheesecake in the middle of February seems wrong, I am here to tell you that there is no wrong time to make and eat a pumpkin cheesecake.

pumpkin cheesecake and moscow mules

I had my friend Martha Stewart (just kidding, she is not actually my friend, I just used her recipe) help me out with this one, and of course there were a few tweaks made. After spending to much of my time at Whole Foods lamenting over the inability to buy individual sticks of butter, I was finally ready to start the process.

First, the crust. Not a press in crust made with store bought cookies, but a roll-out-yourself crust made from scratch and tasting faintly of sugar cookie. As in, I would make this crust into cookies and eat them.

Ingredients (for crust)

• 6 T unsalted, softened, butter
• 1/3 C sugar
• 1 egg yolk
• 1 t vanilla (or a dash more, if you are me)
• 1 C flour (yes, I used white AP flour)
• dash o’ salt

Method (the original recipe instructs one to use a stand mixer. I however mixed by hand, while standing)

• cream the butter and sugar in a large bowl until light and fluffy.
• mix in egg yolk and vanilla.
• add flour and salt and mix until the dough just comes together. flatten into a disk and wrap in wax paper and refrigerate at least 30 minutes, or up to overnight (because of my time crunch I went for 30 minutes)

Part II.

When rolling out crust I like to do it in between 2 sheets of lightly floured wax paper. 1) it prevents a huge mess on the counter 2) it makes transferring it into a pan slightly easier.

• lightly butter the bottom and sides of a 10″ springform pan. Preheat oven to 350.
• in between 2 sheets of lightly floured wax paper, roll out the dough into a 10″ disk, about 1/4 of an inch thick. This should fit nicely into the bottom of your 10″ springform pan. Or, if you are me, it will fit more than nicely, with a little bit of extra going up the sides.
• freeze the crust for 15 minutes. Then bake for 12-15 minutes until its “firm and pale golden”
• remove from oven and let cool (completely is ideal, or nearly completely will work too)

Part III. The filling. Where the ancient electric hand held mixer begins to smoke and smell really funny.

2 batters

Ingredients

• 1 C pumpkin puree (I used the canned variety)
• 1.5 t pumpkin pie spice (in retrospect, MORE)
• 2.5 lbs cream cheese at room temp (or, if whole foods is out of CC, 2 lbs CC and .5 lb neufchatel cheese)
• 1 3/4 C sugar
• 1/2 C flour
• 3/4 C sour cream (any ideas for what to bake with leftover sour cream?)
• 1.5 t vanilla
• 1/4 t salt
• 5 eggs

Method

• preheat oven to 325. wrap the outside of your pan with 2-3 layers of aluminum foil. this is to prevent water from seeping into the pan when you bake your cheesecake in the water bath. the water bath adds moisture in the oven and helps prevent cracks. also grease the sides of your pan once more.
• in a small-er bowl mix pumpkin puree with spices. set aside.
• cream the cream cheese until light and fluffy. this need not be an arduous process if you have the proper mixing equipment.
• gradually add the sugar and flour until smooth. add the sour cream, vanilla and salt mixing until incorporated. add the eggs one at a time until just combined. be careful not to over mix. over mixing once the eggs are added introduces more air into the batter, which makes it more crack-prone once baking.
• stir 2 C of cream cheese mixture into the pumpkin mixture.
• pour most of the cream cheese mixture into your cake pan. use a spoon to dollop the pumpkin mixture all over. top with a few spoons of cream cheese mixture. use a butter knife to swirl everything together in figure 8 patterns. if you over-swirl, you will end up mixing everything together. you really just want the top to look pretty.
• put the cake in a large, shallow roasting pan, and fill with 2-ish inches of boiling water. bake for 55 minutes to an hour (or more if needed) until the cake is set with a slightly wobbly center. turn off the oven and crack the door, letting the cake sit for an hour. remove from oven (at this point i removed took the cake out of the water bath and removed the foil) and chill on the counter top for another hour. you will see the cake shrink slightly away from the sides of the pan. after the hour I removed the sides of the pan and put the cake in the refrigerator for 3 hours until we sang happy birthday.

the cake was a great success. I loved the crust so much that I may use it for pie at some point, I wish it was thicker than 1/4 inch. The cake itself was great and not overly sweet, but I would have liked more of a pumpkin flavour (yes, flavour with a ‘u’). I think more spices and perhaps more pumpkin puree would have done a nice job. In fact, some cinnamon in the crust would have been great. I’ve also got some leftover filling since my pan was small than 10″, so perhaps mini cheesecakes are on the way.

Chez Panisse

I remember my first time seeing the little house that is  Chez Panisse and how much I wanted to go there, and thinking that when I graduate that is where my family will go to dine. And then there was a fire and it shut down for several months. So much for that.

However, anniversaries being the celebratory occasions that they are, there was no better place to celebrate.

Chez Panisse opened in 1971, with the philosophy that the best food comes from the best ingredients. This was before everyone was talking about local, organic, sustainable food and so Alice Waters can be thought of as a pioneer in the ever growing “food movement” (defined however you see fit). From the beginning the restaurant served a set menu, changing daily based upon the seasons. The upstairs cafe however, offers an a la carte menu, where diners are welcome to pick from a few assorted dishes. It was in the upstairs cafe which we dined.

I have never been treated so well in a restaurant, but again, I am not one to frequent fine dining establishments. It was a very comfortable atmosphere, and I was not talked down to or made to feel ignorant when I asked questions about the wine (and which one I should get since I had absolutely no idea). The vegetarian main option for the night was a Comte Souffle with wild mushrooms, spinach, and celery root. Using this as the springboard of the night, I settled on a grapefruit, fennel and butter lettuce salad as an appetizer since the bright citrus would compliment the rich, creamy souffle.

The three ingredients in the salad, tasted as they should, drizzled in a light olive oil and lemon vinaigrette. The thin shavings of fennel were not to overpowering, and I don’t think I’ve ever had grapefruit quite as sweet and aromatic. Once appetizers were cleared, along came the main course. I’ve never eaten souffle before, and I am generally not one to opt for rich, creamy dishes. But this…was light and airy, cheesy, and slightly browned on top. There was only a touch of cream on the rim of the plate, and under the pile of spinach were a few pieces of celery root, which I think I am now obsessed with. Sweet and earthy. Of course I ate all of it.

Despite my increasing fullness, I naturally had to have some dessert. After our main course was cleared, and the crumbs swept off our table (seriously), I contemplated the dessert menu. I was to full for chocolate cake, but what caught my eye was persimmon pudding with bourbon caramel and creme chantilly. Thats right. I was so sad a few weeks ago thinking I would have to wait until next year for something persimmon-esque to come my way, but here was something! And with bourbon caramel, what could go wrong? Nothing. It was delicious and sponge-y and sweet. The slight bitterness and bite from the bourbon caramel was cooled with a dabble of creme chantilly.

It was worth every penny. Not only the delicious food, but also knowing that I was supporting a place that sources well and pays living wages. Hobbling down the stairs, belly full and happy, I wanted to turn right around and do it all over again.

*unfortunately I have no pictures. I was not about to bust out my phone mid meal. Um, rude. But instead, I offer you a picture of dinner that I made.

not chez panisse

back.

With it being 2014, and me being done with school and simply working and having spare time to fill, I thought it might be an appropriate time to restart this thingie. Its also an appropriate time to make a new year’s resolution that I will post at least once a week. And since resolutions are made to be broken, it wont be catastrophic if that does not happen. But I hope to keep you entertained with commentary about my adventures in the bay area. I will spare you from reading all the (very interesting) details from the past several months, and just say that life is rolling merrily along, and that despite having a diploma, I still find myself constantly thinking: “I have no idea what I want to do”. I thought I would have epic epiphanies while at Cal, but the only epiphany I have had is that I want to do “something food related” yet that something is still formulating. And perhaps the most important thing I’ve learned, is being comfortable in the discomfort of not knowing. Its hard and I am not always good at it.

I am thankful for the things I’ve got: a place to live, good company, family, and a job that I like. But as a goal oriented person, its difficult to not have a goal which I am actively working towards. While (attempting) to live in the moment, and enjoy my daily activities, there is a constant nag of “what are you going to do?”. Of course, silencing that nag with a rash decision is not a good decision, and so I sit here, biding my time.

So stay tuned for what I do while I bide my time.

On Doors Opening and Closing (you know, the sappy stuff)

I suppose it finally hit me that school is now over, that I’ve graduated. It hit me with a flood of tears, when I was at home (parent’s home), in my room, on my bed, with my childhood stuffed animal. It also probably didn’t help that my “person” had just left, not to be seen for 3 months.

And now that the school door is closed, at least temporarily, I’m moving into the world of “real adulthood”. My definition of real adulthood is not at all related to the way one acts, but more to the responsibility one must shoulder: bills, work, rent. I suppose “financial independence” translates into “real adult” for me. 

School may be over, but the next several months are still a liminal stage for me. I am not quite adult, because I am not quite financially independent. I am not quite child because I pay for and manage a fair amount of my expenses. But like a ritual, where you start off with one identity and exit with a new identity, such will be the summer months. I am still like a student in the sense that I am doing something over the summer months–prep cook at farm camp–and when this summer gig is over, instead of returning to the bustle of another semester at school, I will return to the bustle of finding a job and a place to live. 

Speaking of places to live, I am also in-between places. Not quite a resident of SoCal and not quite a resident of NorCal. My stuff is all over the place. My heart is all over the place. Yet making the decision to stay in the bay provides a foundation to spring forth from, instead of lollygagging in my parents home unsure of what to do. 

I am very good at finding the “means” to reach and “end”, but what is hard for me is settling on the end; that is, what am I to do? However, “I want to stay in the Bay Area” is a definite end for the time being and I must figure out the means that will allow me to do so. Namely, a job. My “end” may, and probably will, change over the next few years as I piece together a career goal, or as opportunities spring up before me. Since now I have a fancy bachelors degree which legitimizes my capacity to get things done, that means I can do anything, right?

Goodbyes and Banana Bread

6 days ago we drove a few friends to the airport, who were, “never coming back”. That is, college had ended, and although they may return to the bay for visiting, it was the realization that they were no longer living here which made them a bit sad. I don’t think it has really sunk in for me quite yet, but those words about never coming back, and it being the last time, made me pause momentarily [schoolisoverwhattheheckdoidonow?] And we said bye and hugged and they walked into the airport.

I’ve made a fair bit of friends and acquaintances these past two years. Some I will most likely keep in touch with and see again, while others are temporary friends, who filled up a meaningful spot in my life, and taught me things, but I will probably not see them again. This is sad, yet OK, because I suppose I have now learned–like I said before–that there are temporary friends and forever friends. Forever friends you may not see for years and then when you do see them, its like no time has gone bye. Temporary friends are situational friends, serving some purpose while they are your friends and then…they just kind of disappear and all you see of them are ditties on facebook. I am extraordinarily bad at keeping in touch with people via phone, which is definitely something that I should improve upon.

Its random moments when I am meandering through campus to walk to the bank, or walking down the street to get to the farmers market, or biking by the marina, that a few tears spring to my eyes behind my darkly tinted sunglasses. I am not necessarily tearing up for any specific reason, its more that, I am overwhelmed with feelings that are both happy and sad. Therefore, tears. I am excited for my summer adventure as a prep cook, although a bit nervous. I am excited to come back to berkeley and job hunt, although a bit nervous.

Said friends that we took to the airport, love banana bread. And so, a perfect snack to send them off with seemed to be banana bread. The recipe is from a book I have called “the cook’s encyclopedia of baking” by Carole Clements. It is actually the first baking book that I got (I think on sale at Borders…whoa) and it has a few recipes that I do like. It is your basic cookie, cake, quick bread, yeast bread, pie, etc baking book. And so, the recipe is your basic banana bread recipe  that uses half whole wheat and half white flour, 1/2 cup walnuts in it, and I sprinkled more on top.

It is not a vegan recipe. I used good butter and good eggs. And holy moly was I surprised with the rise I achieved in this quick bread. I suppose I am quite used to vegan breads that are slightly more dense and compact, but the eggs, butter, baking powder…must have done something right.

Unfortunately, said book is packed and tucked away in a box somewhere, since I am leaving my trusty room of 2 years tomorrow morning. So, enjoy the photographs. And if you want to make banana bread, there is always google to help.

Pumpkin Trail Mix Bread

I still have trail mix left over from spring break, where I was responsible for feeding a group of 12 people for a week. Something had to be done with the trail mix, so why not bake it into pumpkin bread. Pumpkin bread is most definitely appropriate to eat during the month of May, despite what people tell you about its being an autumn food.

This recipe comes from here (hell yeah its vegan). But since I don’t have maple syrup (always extraordinarily expensive) I used agave. And since I didn’t have brown sugar, I used regular sugar combined with a tablespoon of molasses. Also, instead of boring old walnuts, I threw in said trail mix. The salty peanuts and chocolate chips worked very well in this bread. I think I am going to start making trail mix everything bread (banana, pumpkin, zucchini, etc). Its kind of like those “kitchen sink” cookies. But maybe not quite as kitchen sink-y. Anyways…

Ingredients: (for 1 loaf)

• 1 C AP flour
• 3/4 C whole wheat flour
• 1 C sugar
• 1 T molasses
• 1 t baking soda
• 0.5 t baking powder
• 0,5 t salt
• 0.5 t nutmeg
• 0.5 t cinnamon
• 0.5 t allspice
• 0.25 t cloves
• 1 C pumpkin puree
• 0.5 C oil
• 3 T agave
• 3 T almond milk
• a generous 0.5 C trail mix (consisting of almonds, peanuts, raisins, chocolate chips, and date pieces)

Method

• preheat the oven to 350 and grease a loaf pan
• In a large bowl, mix the dry ingredients: flour, sugar, baking soda and powder, salt, and spices
• In a smaller bowl, mix together the wet ingredients: pumpkin, oil, agave, and almond milk
• Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and combine until moistened. Don’t over mix or overwork the dough; it will be thick and its OK if a few tufts of flour remain (just not huge clumps)
• fold in the trail mix, again taking care not to over mix. Over working the dough causes to much gluten to form and will yield a chewy loaf instead of one with a delicate crumb
• Pour the dough into the loaf pan and flatten out with a spoon. Lick the bowl clean
• bake for 45-50 minutes until an object (knife of toothpick) inserted into the middle comes out clean
• Cool for a few minutes in the pan, then loosen the loaf and finish cooling on a rack. Its yummy warm with melty chocolate chips, and is a great snack the next day too

No Longer a Student. And Spiced Molasses Chocolate Chip Cookies.

One day and one week ago I walked across the stage at Memorial Stadium in the clusterf*ck that was General Commencement. 6 days ago I walked across the stage at Zellerbach Hall in the well organized Sociology Commencement.

I don’t think it ever quite “hit” me that I go to the best public school in the country, and then, whoa its graduation?! I am no longer a student; that piece of my identity has, for the time being ended. Of course this does not mean I stop learning and reading. In fact, I feel that most of my learning at Berkeley has taken place outside of the academic classroom, be it through friends or extracurricular activities. And, since I will keep reading about things I like, I can continue to build up my knowledge base until I go back to school in a couple of years from now. This is a strange, liminal, in between stage of my life at the moment. I have summer work, and then…ummm….uhhh…what do I do? That is the next adventure which awaits I suppose.

A while ago, when I was feeling nervous and uncertain and a little bit “empty”, someone asked me: “if there was a hole in the ground, and you had to fill it, what would you use?”. Well, dirt obviously. “Dirt, why dirt?” ummmmm…”Dirt because you have to fill the hole with the same stuff that it is made of” And so, over the past few years I have been filling up my empty with the same stuff that I am made of. And I am no where near complete, and I will continue to figure out what substance my dirt is made of.

I can list a few things. I am made up of sugar and flour and chocolate and butter because I like to bake. I filled with fresh fruit and vegetables because I am vegetarian and I value sustainable and ethical eating choices. I am made up of my bike because I like to go exploring the city on my bike. I am made up of adventures and excursions because I like seeing new things and new places. I am made up of words and sentences because I like to read and write (I suppose). I am made up of values and morals, because I think about the lives of others whether immediately in my life, or somewhere far off making the things I use. I am made of lots of questions and some answers and compassion. I am made up of laziness and tiredness because sometimes I like to take the easy way out. I am made up of some insecurities that sometimes make me jealous of other people. I am made up of all the people I have met these past two years, and years before that, because the self is shaped by others.

It is scary having this gaping hole of “time” now that I am done with school, and this hole will be sometimes empty and sometimes full. I don’t like the empty because it feels insecure, unsteady, unsettling. I don’t really know what I would like to do, which is the biggest gaping part of said hole. And, it is my choices that will determine what, exactly, gets to fill it.

And now, cookies.

My parental unit arrived on a Friday night, and like a good daughter, I wanted to serve them tea and cookies. And so, cookie making on a late friday night it was. (Bonus, they were still warm when my parents got here).

I settled on chocolate chip molasses cookies that I adapted from Averie Cooks. I made these over winter, they turned out delicious in my opinion, yet too chocolatey and too sweet in my parents opinion. So the following version omits some sugar and some chocolate. Admittedly, the following version allows the spices and molasses flavors to shine through, instead of being smothered by chocolate, which was very nice. I also used “heaping teaspoons” for the spices because, well, I love those warm, cinnamon-y spices. I also apologize for the poor quality photos; crappy kitchen lighting+crappy camera=crappy quality.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter. melted.
• 1 egg. (preferably from the farmers market 😉
• 1 cup sugar (fair trade, organic)
• 1/4 cup molasses
• 2 T oil (I used applesauce instead because I had a bit sitting around)
• 1/5 t vanilla
• 1 t cocoa powder
• 2 t cinnamon
• 1.5 t ground ginger
• 1 t cloves
• .5 t salt
• 2 1/4- 2 1/2 cups AP flour
• 1/5 t baking soda
• 3/4 cup semi sweet chocolate chips
• Coating: 1/4 c sugar, 1/4 tsp each of cinnamon, ginger, and cloves

Method (for about 18 cookies)

• After you melt the butter, allow it to cool slightly before adding in the egg. Otherwise, you will get scrambled egg cookies. So, add the egg, sugar, molasses, oil, vanilla, cocoa, cinnamon ginger, cloves, and salt. whisk ’til smooth.
• add the flour and baking soda. stir to incorporate. Start off with 2 14 c flour and add a little more if needed (depends on the type of flour and on weather). I used half white and half white whole wheat flour, so I stayed at around 2 1/4. The batter will, and should, be thick, but pliable.
• add the chocolate chips, and stir to just incorporate. roll the dough into a ball, wrap it with wax paper, or just cover the bowl with a towel and refrigerate for 2 hours. Or, up to 5 days. (If you plan to store it for more than a few hours, I would recommend storing in an airtight container)
• when you are ready to bake: preheat the oven to 350. grease your cookie sheets!
• make your coating in a small bowl by stirring the sugar and the spices. get the batter out of the fridge.
• use your hands (or a scooper) to make walnut sized balls and roll them around in the sugar coating.
• place them on the tray about 2 inches apart and flatten them slightly (not all the way though. they should bake slightly domed up)
• bake for 8-9 minutes. It is important to NOT over bake because you want that nice, chewy texture. I usually just do 8 minutes since the cookies continue to bake a little once out of the oven, and they will harden as they cool
• Once you pull them out of the oven, use the back of a spoon to tap the cookies flat. This will also crinkle the top of them, which looks pretty.

Liking the bowl was delicious. And, my parents approved. Success.

The Cheese Board

I’m not a frequent consumer of pizza or cheese because of its generally suspicious place of origin. However, on occasion, I do like to spend some $$ on a hunk of cheese from a reliable source. I was probably a little to excited for the adventure to the Cheese Board Collective in the Gourmet Ghetto in North Berkeley. I have been to Cheese Board before, yes. It was to indulge in soft chewy rolls, or sweet and succulent muffins of sorts. I have also bought small bits of cheese from the bin of rejects that are to small and sad looking to sell at a full price. But being in Berkeley for 2 years and not ever having the pizza is not the least bit acceptable.

The pizza collective rotates between different pizza’s everyday, and the weekly menu is posted on-line, well, each week. Pizzas are always vegetarian (win!) with ingredients coming from places nearby, so its seasonal too. Only having one type of pizza means that when you get your slices, they are extraordinarily oven fresh. Like, you have to wait a moment to take that first bite, which can be torturous. But never fear, since mini pieces line your plate, and these mini pieces are from an older pie which is at good eating temperature.

Being very excited, I took out the surprise factor and looked up the flavor online. It just increased my anticipation because it included 2 types of mushrooms, and mushrooms are one of my favorite things. Here was the daily flavor:

We got there relatively early (5PM on a Saturday) which meant that the line was short. Not that a long line would have detracted this excursion. One of my biggest pet peeves is when people go somewhere expecting to wait in line, and then complain about the line. Solution: don’t go there? Waiting in line for places like Ici or Cheese Board, or a select Food Truck is part of the experience. You get to people watch and you might make a friend or two while you wait. The Cheese Board also has live music more often than not, which makes waiting in line a pleasurable experience. Within 10 minutes we were at the register ordering 1/2 a pizza with the intention to have leftovers for the next day. Yeah right…

It was delicious. The crust was chewy enough, yet not to bread-y and thick, which tends to ball up in your throat as you swallow it. The mushrooms and 2 types of cheese were complimentary to each other. The asparagus was a reminder of spring. My one gripe however, was the excessive oil that seemed to emanate from the pizza. Not so much the natural oils that come from the cheese, but the excess garlic oil that was drizzled on top. In addition to pizza, they’ve also got beer, bubbly drinks, cookies, and some sauces. As you can see, beer was purchased, but cookies were not.

Perhaps next time cookies will be purchased, since there will definitely be a next time. I want to try some of the more unique varieties of pizza they concoct, I’ve heard rumors about sweet potatoes and squash and corn, amongst other toppings.

The Problem with Broccoli

I generally like broccoli. Its quite the versatile vegetable. It can be eaten raw: dipped in hummus or in a salad or sliced thinly onto a sandwich. It can be eaten cooked: in pasta sauce or on a pizza or sauteed with garlic. (note, this is not an all inclusive list of broccoli’s many uses). 

The last time I ate broccoli, I somewhat overdosed on it. I believe I had cooked it with sweet potatoes that I seasoned with curry and cinnamon. Said dish was tasty and I had made enough to feed myself for a week. On day one, I ate a heaping serving. Day two and three rolled by and I was still eating broccoli, but with somewhat less enthusiasm. By day four, just the smell of broccoli made my nose turn. But as someone who hates wasting food, I had to shovel it down my throat for dinner. And for lunch the next day. I think that did me in. 

And so, for several months, I have been avoiding the broccoli while I shop for vegetables. I opt for rainbow chard or kale or spring mix or spinach in order to get my daily intake of green things. However, last weekend at the grocery store, organic broccoli was on sale and lookin’ mighty fine. I decided to take my chances and buy a bunch of it that would be cooked into some vegan mac n cheese. 

Fast forward a few days and I get to cooking the broccoli. I wash it, and start to chop it into tiny florets. Popping one into my mouth I pause for a moment to appreciate the slightly sweet flavor. ohbroccoli, wherehaveyoubeenallmylife! I peel the fibrous part of the stem and eat the crunchy part inside (what I have dubbed the broccoli heart). Its slightly bitter yet leaves my tongue tingling with joy. I steam it and set it aside. Clearly, I am excited to incorporate the dear broccoli into my dinner. 

Cook the mac and chreese, fold in the broccoli, and tuck in. Tasty. The broccoli reduced the creaminess of the sauce, but it was delicious nonetheless if not a little sweet. I loaded my plate with extra broccoli because I was rediscovering how much I had missed it. Perhaps I ate a little to much, or perhaps my stomach had forgotten how to digest broccoli, but within the hour I was not a happy camper to say the least. Burping up the flavor of any food is an automatic turn off. And its also not very comfortable to have it sitting in your stomach, like a rock, for hours on end as you attempt to drown it in super strong peppermint tea. Apparently I had not learned my lesson because lunch the next day consisted of a heaping plateful of broccoli mac n chreese. And once again, my stomach let me know that it was not happy. 

And so, I think I have developed an aversion to the treelike shaped vegetable that is broccoli. Just looking at it I get a lump in my throat and can feel it hibernating in my stomach. I can also vaguely smell the pungent odor it releases whilst steaming. And so, I have come to the conclusion that I will never purchase broccoli again–at least until the fluffy green tufts get the better of me and I am left spellbound by its power.