They’re my favorite kind. I’m not really into the drippy, runny ones. But if you are, that’s cool. I won’t judge you based on your smoothie lifestyle. Each to hir own, you know.

In my experience, the easiest way to achieve this is to have all of your fruit frozen before your Smoothie Adventure. This is handy because it gives you a way to use up all of your fruit-that-was-perfectly-ripe-but-you-were-just-so-not-IN-THE-MOOD-for-peaches-or-whatever-so-you-froze-it. Fresh fruit tastes just as awesome, but won’t make as thick a smoothie.

But onward.

Awesomely-Thick Smoothies

• 1/2 cup plain yogurt
• 1/4 cup nuts (optional)
• 1 frozen banana
• 1 cup other frozen or fresh berries, plums, etc.
• just enough soymilk/orange juice/liquid to make the blender blend (possibly none, if your yogurt is runny)

Toss yogurt into blender, followed everything else.

I used plum.

And walnuts.

Banana…

And some mixed, frozen berries. Mmmm…..

This could serve two… But I suggest doubling the recipe if you plan to share.

Note: I’m sure there’s a nondairy yogurt or creamything that could be used to make a vegan version. Let me know if you find an acceptable substitute!

peaches, local blueberries, walnuts, vanilla, awesomeness...

It’s summer, and here in the South, it’s really hot. I wake up hungry, and I know I need to eat something with protein instead of some sugary cold cereal, but I don’t want heavy, warm, gooey omelet. *shudder* Luckily, I picked blueberries from plants at a horticulture lab on campus (Ask around! I bet someone you know knows where to find free blueberries or blackberries this summer!) and was inspired to make one of my favorite, simple, crazy-delicious breakfast-y snack foods.

Vanilla Spice Fruit & Yogurt with Nuts

• 1/2 cup plain dairy or soy yogurt (or vanilla, if you can handle sugar early in the morning )
• 1/2 cup sliced peaches, fresh or frozen berries, apple chunks, or other fruit
• 1/4 cup walnuts, pecans, or other nuts
• 1/8 tsp cinnamon
• tiny pinch of nutmeg
• splash of vanilla extract
• honey, brown sugar, or molasses to taste (optional: fruit may be sweet enough)

Toss everything into a pretty bowl. Admire. Scarf. Repeat.

Yes!

When I’m down, I like to eat mac n’ cheese, Klondike bars, and chocolate chip cookies, but the coziest comfort food I can think of is warm, creamy soup. I love soup. So when I started feeling kind of down last week, I decided to make the soup that takes me way back to early childhood in my mom’s house: zucchini soup. I think the reason I loved this soup so much as a kid is that it had a really simple, savory flavor. And it went well with cheese. And I love cheese.

Anyway, I called my mom to get the recipe, and she wasn’t near her phone. Seeing as I needed comfort food ASAP, I decided to go for it on my own, and ended up with a successful reinvention of one of my favorite soups.

Zucchini Soup:

• 3 medium zucchinis
• 1 cup yogurt or sour cream
• 1/2 cup whole milk (skim or lowfat milk may be substituted)
• 1 to 1 1/2 cups shredded white sharp cheddar, divided (or more adventurous cheeses, if you like)
• salt to taste
• 2-3 cloves garlic
• 1 medium onion
• cayenne pepper (optional)
• 1 Tbsp olive oil or butter

Chop your garlic coarsely and dice the onion. Throw it into a wok/large iron skillet with a splash of olive oil (or a hunk of butter) and sauté over medium heat until the onions start becoming translucent (3-5 minutes).

Wash your zucchinis and slice them into quarters longways, like so.

what a color, eh?!

Chop them into cubes (rectangular prisms?…) and throw them in with the onion and garlic, stirring occasionally.

I love my wok...

Add about 1tspn salt and cook until the zucchini darkens a little and is tender, but not floppy (I know there’s a better word…but you know what I mean. Who likes flaccid vegetables?).

Put vegetables into a blender along with yogurt or sour cream, milk, 3/4 cup cheddar, and a dash of cayenne, if you want some heat to your soup. Blend on a high setting until the soup is smooth and creamy. If it seems to need more liquid, add more milk. From here, adjust salt and cayenne to taste, and even add more cheese, if you wish.

And voila!

But don’t forget to put more cheese on top! That’s the best part!

Mmmmm.....

Note: Feel free to substitute milk, buttermilk, or anything else creamy and awesome instead of the yogurt or sour cream

So I drove home to my mom’s house last week for my grandmother’s birthday, and, as usual, my mother had deliciousness afoot. We had stuffed red bell peppers and tomatoes filled with a mix of veggies and either ground turkey or boca grounds, depending on hippie…er…meat-eating status. My brother and I snuck into the kitchen and put cheese in ours, too, because we think alike. But on to the point of this story.

For dessert, my mom had dug up a new recipe that was definitely not one of her old standards: tapioca pudding. She had sweetened it with maple syrup instead of sugar and added cardamom and what tasted like cinnamon and maybe nutmeg. And it was reeeal tasty. But it was also instant tapioca. So my inner kid-who-likes-to-play-with-chemistry-kits and inner food snob convinced me to try making it on my own. From scratch!

So I went to my local over-priced organic health food store and picked up some small pearl tapioca, and I talked my sweetie into hanging out with me while I had at it. I made a couple of seemingly-harmless substitutions (coconut milk for cow milk and molasses for sugar), and an hour or so later, I had a fantastic, gritty, gooey mess.

I wouldn’t even let Cute Face try it.

Not discouraged, I decided to soak some more tapioca overnight and give it another go in the morning. I deviated from the recipe substantially less the next day, and it finally turned out almost perfect.

I think I’ll leave perfect for another day, and move onto another project for now.

The Recipe!

• 1/2 cup small pearl tapioca
• 5 cups milk, divided (whipping cream or water can be substituted for 2 of the cups)
• pinch of salt
• 1/2 cup sugar (or to taste)
• 2 eggs (optional: it will just take slightly longer to thicken without them)
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract (if you want a subtly flavored pudding, like me, careful not to overdo the vanilla)
• ground cardamom to taste or 2-3 cardamom pods
• other spices and extracts to taste

Once you get your small pearl tapioca home, soak it overnight in 2 cups of the milk (or water or whipping cream…yumm) in your fridge. The next day, drain your tapioca and throw it into your thickest-bottomed sauce pan with 3 cups of milk, salt, sugar, cardamom, and (if using them) eggs. Cook on medium heat, stirring constantly to avoid scorching the milk. If using cardamom pods, remove them after about 10 minutes, or when the pudding tastes cardamom-y enough for you. Cook until the pudding has thickened and the tapioca has turned from white to translucent all the way through: about 15-25 minutes. Remove from heat and add vanilla. Serve warm or let chill — chilled pudding will be thicker. Top with berries! Molasses! Brown sugar! Slices of peach with whipped cream! Go wild!

My name is Case, and I’m addicted to tapioca pudding. And cardamom. And raw, aged white cheddar. Mmmm.

I’m at the beginning of what I sense will be a lifelong quest to find my inner culinary inspiration. That’s right. I’m in the midst of some very tasty soul-searching. August the 5th (I think?) marks the end of my first year living on my own, in my own apartment, with my own kitchen, and I’ve spent a good portion of the last year trying to recreate the magic I took for granted at home, in my mother’s kitchen. After some fumbling around, I think I’m finally getting it. Maybe it’s genetics. Maybe the kitchen spirits have decided I’m a good kid. Or maybe it’s just sheer will. But my cooking is getting better (on average, at least), and I want to record this evolution because my culinary whims and food instincts are getting to be a little eerie, and a ridiculous amount of fun.

Woohoo!