Food processor day!

I still have been having trouble with a lack of appetite this week. I don't want to eat- and when I do eat, I start to feel nauseous. I met with my advisor today- and it went pretty well* (see footnote) - so who knows why I feel all jittery all the time. Well, like I've said, one thing that can always whet me appetite is PASTA. I raided my cookbooks, and found a great pesto recipe in Williams Sonoma "Cooking from the Farmer's Market Cookbook" - which I received as a wedding gift from my labmate (and friend). I didn't have everything so I made a version based on what I had (I threw this together, so I am just estimating portion sizes here):

Pesto sauce:
all of the basil leaves left in my garden (about 2 cups)
1 cup spinach
1/2 cup silken tofu
2 Tbsp nutritional yeast
Handful raw cashews
Olive oil (maybe 3 Tbsp?)
Salt and Pepper

Blend it all in a food processor and pour over pasta. Even Dave said it was "pretty good. Haven't you made this green shit before?" This answer was "no, no I haven't."

What goes best with pasta? BREAD and WINE of course! Italian cooking is just the best. While I was out in my yard picking the basil, I noticed a ton of ripened FIGS on my fig tree! They ripen quickly, and if you don't pick them a damn army of ants finds and devours them, so you have to be on top of your game when harvesting. Behold: my bounty.


What do you do with figs? Make Carmelized fig spread of course! This is a recipe from my friend who made it countless times last year. It is so good and tastes great slathered on rosemary olive-oil bread.

Carmelized fig spread, originally from the Guilded Fork:

8 fresh figs, stemmed and halved
1 medium sweet onion, sliced thinly
4 tablespoons sugar, divided
2 tablespoons good-quality balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon salt

Preheat broiler. Cut figs in half, spread on baking sheet, inside part up. Top with sugar (I only used 2 tsp) and broil 4 minutes. Next slice onion, broil 4 minutes as well. Blend all ingredients together and enjoy with wine and pasta.

The wine? I was looking for something under $5 (classy!) and found:


First smell: black currant and ALCOHOL. First taste: cherry, licorice, and more alcohol. Seriously, it was very strong. Who's arguing?

And finally, the finished product:



Since the food processor was already good and warmed up, I figured I would make some balls- since I had been thinking of chocolate all day. Today I blended:

some cashews
4 dates
1 Tbsp brown sugar
1 tsp agave,
1 Tbsp cocoa powder
2 Tbsp peanut butter.

They are currently setting in the freezer, a sneak peek:


And now that it is almost time for bed, my eyes can finally see the computer screen!









*It most likely went well because at 8:20 this morning I had an eye exam, because I was OUT of contacts. For whatever reason, they DILATE your pupils during an eye exam down here. That means that you must avoid bright light, reading and computer screens for the next 4-6 hours. I could not see ANYTHING. Then it dawned on me: wait, what do I do at work??? Sit under a florescent LIGHT, READ papers, and stare at a COMPUTER SCREEN!!! Well, I decided that the extreme discomfort of the dilation was worth it- because I didn't go into work for the day! I couldn't read, so I watched True Blood for 3 hours before our meeting. When I arrived, I announced that I could "barely see" and would be wearing sunglasses. These also helped because I was able to roll my eyes freely when he said something ridiculous to me. Ah, how nice it was to express my annoyance through eye rolls. And he seemed generally concerned about my vision. SUCKER.