eat; raw carrot cake topped with vanilla cashew icing

tinyfarmblog.com

On day 1 of my raw week, I made this little slice of heaven to overcome any cravings for sugar I may experience during the first few days. It really is a slice of heaven! The vanilla cashew icing is sooooo divine that I couldn't believe how good it tasted. I interrupted my housemate Natalie while she was working so she could enjoy the fabulous flavours with me! This recipe is from Russell James and makes 12 servings, as the serving sizes are small. The cake is dense so make sure to cut the pieces small. Halve the recipe if you don't see yourself eating raw carrot cake for days or don't have extra mouths to feed.

The cake will keep well for up to four days, refrigerated.

What you need;

3 cups carrot, finely grated

2 cups pecans

1/4 cup raisins, roughly chopped
1 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp ground ginger

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp ground cloves

1 tsp ground corriander

1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp orange zest
1/2 cup desiccated coconut

1 cup fresh dates

1/2 cup orange juice

Vanilla Cashew Icing

1 1/2 cups cashews
1/2 cup water
2 Tbs raw honey or agave
3 Tbs coconut oil or canola oil
1 Tbs vanilla
1/4 tsp salt

Start by soaking the cashews and pecan nuts in separate bowls with filtered water for between two to four hours. Once the time is up, drain and rinse and place the separate nuts onto separate kitchen towels and roll to dry a little. This stage can be done the day before, just put the nuts into separate containers in the fridge.

In a food processor, add dates and orange juice and blend until a smooth paste is formed. Set aside.

Making sure your food processor is dry, add the pecans and whiz until crumbed.

Peel and grate the carrots finely as in the picture above and place in a bowl. Except for the icing ingredients, add everything, including 'date paste' and chopped pecans, in with the grated carrots.

I used my hands to mix as I found it easier than with a spoon. Whatever works for you is fine.

 

Line a baking tray with greaseproof paper and spread the mixture to about 1 1/2cm in thickness. My tray was too big so I ended the mixture with a clean edge, 1/4 of the way in from the side of the pan (see image above). Press the mixture evenly with the back of a spoon. Alternatively, you can shape them individually as balls or circular cakes but remember to make them small! Cover with cling wrap and chill for a few hours.

To make the vanilla cashew icing, simply blend all the 'icing' ingredients until really creamy and smooth. Place in a container and refrigerate for a few hours to thicken up. 

Just before serving, cut into individual squares (about 8x8cm as it is very rich!) using a really sharp knife and either spread or dollop the icing on each individual serving. You want to keep the icing and cake separate until serving.

And voila, an amazing little sweet treat that is actually good for you!!!!
 

Buon Appetito!

pink; true potential

http://alexagerrity.com/artwork/1665403_True_Potential_Installation_View.html

Yesterday I attended the Art Los Angeles Contemporary featuring contemporary galleries within Los Angeles, the U.S.A and a few from other parts of the world. I dread these art fairs most of the time as they are usually loaded with commercial galleries showing their crappy commercial art for an audience that is  mainly interested in buying something for their wall to match the sofa. But this art fair completely thrilled me! Lots of non-profits and a great quality of commercial galleries within a small setting of an airplane hanger and only in it's second year running. I may be biased, as you all know I heart L.A, but I have been to many of these fairs around the world and have never been so excited!

So of course I scouted around to find a pink work to include in my blog and came across this artist. The Company is a gallery in Chinatown, Los Angeles that represents Alexa Gerrity, a recent MFA graduate of Cal Arts. The work below caught my eye, not only because it was printed on pink paper but because it captures the 'self-help' vibe that Southern California is famous for. Many 'self-help' gurus come to L.A or get their lucky break here. Maybe it is something in the water, or maybe the weird fact L.A is on the famous fault line and could potentially fall into the ocean at any given moment, creating a sense of 'being in the now' attitude amongst those both that come here and live here. For crying out loud, even I have entered this world reading books such as Flow by Mihály Csíkszentmihályi and Louise Hays' You Can Heal Your Life during my time here so far!

http://alexagerrity.com/artwork/1665404_True_Potential_Posters.html

The main picture above was a site specific work at The Company last year, in the gallery's bathroom. Gerrity created a small and intimate, yet public, space for the viewer to enter into a personal conversation with oneself. I was told by a person who attended the show that the bathroom had fake candles all along it's edges, vanilla fragrance wafting through the space and a pink globe spreading the love. The affirmations on the mirror invite the viewer to participate in repetitive thought which is believed to potentially change ones old thought patterns and beliefs about themselves. Louise Hays is a huge advocate for this type of therapy. The participants are encouraged to take a poster which acts as a reminder, to put on ones wall on their return home, to keep up this affirmation process.

The question needs to asked, is Gerrity being facetious about what happens here in Southern California or is she somehow advocating this type of therapy? She is not native to L.A and my feeling is that she too, may have been caught up in the 'self-help' world that exists here when she first arrived and is now working out how it fits into her life through her work as an artist. Whatever her reason is for creating this installation, I found this work to be intriguing, very L.A with it's 'self-help'ness, covered in pink and sparkles. Gotta love L.A!!!!!

love; 10 things I love about Vegas

I just returned from my first trip to Vegas and decided to write about 10 things I loved about Sin City. 'twas interesting indeed! Unfortunately I left my camera battery charging at home, so no photos (well apart from me posing for Michael's shots!!!)

http://en.wikipedia.org

1. The famous 'Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas' sign. It was created in 1959 and is a great example of graphic design of the time. The sign conjures up images of what Vegas would have been like in the '50's with the likes of The Rat Pack performing, Frank Sinatra and the Mafia doing their thing, while debauchery was happening everywhere! The sign has now become a logo for Vegas and is slapped onto all sorts of souvenirs. LOVE!

thefashionpolice.net

2. Ladies dressed in sequins. Every second woman was dressed in some sort of something, in sequins; from scarves to dresses to shoes. I LOVED it! Even for breakfast, ladies were out with their sparklys simply because they could. LOVE!!!!

photo; Michael Dewhurst

3. The Venetian!!! Maybe it's just my desire to go and live in Venice that attracted me to this amazing hotel, or maybe it's just because it's f@#%ing FABULOUS! It has the canals running through the inside of the hotel and cheesy gondolier paddlers singing along under a blue cloudy sky painted on the ceiling! LOVE!!!! (that's me posing in seventh heaven with my mickey sequined ears!!!!!)

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4. The drive through Chapels!!!! Michael and I played the game of acting like we were in search of a place to get married and went into a few chapels and were given the royal treatment. Soooooo funny!!!!!  You can even get your picture taken at one of the chapels with a full life-size glistening plastic white horse pulling along Cinderellas carriage!!!! A must if you go to Vegas with a friend of the opposite sex! LOVE!!!!!

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5. Urban legends of Las Vegas. This website is really funny and dispells some myths that you may have heard along the way of stories about Vegas. Check it out. LOVE!

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6. "What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas." Yep, that's what everyone says to you as you're heading towards Sin City! The quote was created by Jeff Candido and Jason Hoff written as an advertising slogan for the Las Vegas Conventition and Visitors Authority in 2002. It is a spin off from previous interpretations relating to 'boys weekends away'. Vegas has soooo many quotes attached to it and I love that. Check this out!

uniquetravelsblog.blogspot.com

7. Downtown Vegas. Yes it is a very sad area, with those that are not invited to The Strip party being shoved into a small street called Fremont St. They have tried to bring in the tourists by creating a ridiculous $70 million light canopy that has a show on the hour, every hour. It is sooooo lame! But the bit I enjoyed most about downtown Las Vegas was walking into a bar that was off the tourist track with Michael and having a beer with some locals. There was only 10 people in this bar on a Friday night and the bar staff were singing into a microphone with the piano player in the corner, while serving drinks!!!! Talk about multi-tasking!!!! LOVE!!!!

inoldlasvegas.com

8. This four story high red stiletto in the downtown area!!! It had soooo many lights and slowly spun around! I was in awe!!!! I WANT SHOES LIKE THIS!!!! Here is a link to the Neon Museum where you can check out other historic signs. Check out this Yelp page for more photos too! LOVE!!!!

9. China Poblano restaurant. YUUUUUUMMMMMMMMM!!!! Thats all I need to say! Check out the link! LOVE!

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10. The Stratosphere Hotel. Michael and I went up there just before sunset and it was amazing to see how crazy the city really is! There is nothing beyond the tall hotel buildings along The Strip, except for sprawling suburbia. The Stratosphere has three rides on top at 108 stories high! One of the rides hangs over the edge, twirling you around while another pushes you out over it!!! Check out these images. Oh and you can jump off the building if you want, too! Michael and I enjoyed two for one Chocolate Martinis on our way down. YUM!!!

eat; raw butternut pumpkin pappardelle

I decided to go on a raw diet this last week (well, I still had my espresso!!!) and will be posting the yumminess I discovered and 'cooked' up over the next few posts. My decision to go raw was to discover how to create great tasting meals that were more than simply tossing a salad. It was more challenging than I imagined and I used ingredients in ways I had never used before. I had some disasters but mainly successes. I don't have a dehydrator and the food processor in my share house is a little kids toy compared to the beast I have at home in Melbourne. I tried dehydrating using the oven, keeping the temperature as low as I could and the door of the oven ajar with a wooden spoon. It worked but I had to be home for at least 6 hours as I was not confident leaving the oven on. This was a problem.

There is an element of raw 'cooking' that is heavy and too flavourful for me.; things like a raw lasagna where more than one layer is a combination of too many flavours. I like the coupling of intense flavours and uncomplicated freshness, so I will attempt a raw lasagna at some stage using only one complicated layer and the rest using vegies in their raw state . 

I have decided to keep going with my raw adventures, keeping my diet at 80% raw which would mean I only have 4 cooked meals a week, or 8 meals at 80% raw. I imagine creating meals with cooked brown rice adding small chopped raw vegies or meals using beans and the rest of the ingredients raw. I will consume fully cooked meals but will keep them at a minimum or plan it that my night out with friends, will be my cooked meal. This will be an interesting adventure but I think will be a good way to cut out the 'I'm starving! I'm just going to shovel in something before I die!' action, which for most vegetarians, is normally carbohydrate rich foods.

Day 1 of my raw week was this amazing Butternut Pumpkin Pappardelle. Yes, I can hear you all...'WTF?!?!?! RAW PASTA?!?!?!' Especially as I AM THE PASTA QUEEN!!!!

But let me tell you, this recipe by one of my favourite raw chiefs, Russell James, is pretty fun to eat and has amazing flavours that will surprise any skeptic. Give it a go and see for yourself!!!!

This recipe serves 4.

What you need;

Pasta

1/2 butternut pumpkin (squash). Try to
get one that is as straight as can be

1 tsp lemon juice

1/4 tsp salt

1 Tbs olive oil

Cream sauce

1/2 cup raw chashews

1/4 cup raw pine nuts
1/2 cup water

1/2 clove of garlic
1 tsp lemon juice

1/4 tsp salt

1 1/2 tsp nutritional yeast

4 basil leaves

Assembly

2 cups rocket (arugula)

3 Tbs shallots, sliced paper thin

1 cup cherry tomatoes

1/4 tsp salt

Start by soaking the cashew and pine nuts in filtered water for 2-4 hours. Once the time is up, drain and rinse, then put on a kitchen towel and dry by rolling a little.

If you have time, place the tomatoes into a very slow oven for 8 hours on a tray with a little oil.  Keep the door ajar with a wooden spoon. If you have a dehydrator, thats even better! Otherwise, fresh is fine.

I've taken pictures of the steps to cutting and preparing the pumpkin for shaving into pappardelle shaped pasta. 

Start by cutting the pumpkin in half, length wise.

 Turn the pumpkin on its cut side and slice length ways about 1 1/2cm.

Remove the skin with a potato peeler and cut out the seeded section.

 I've added this photo to show you how to 'shave' the pumpkin into strips. 

Try and slice all the way along in one big steady but slow action. 

You will have bits left over that are too hard to peel. 

 Save in a container for use with another recipe within a few days.
(I'll be posting a recipe within the next few weeks where I used the left over bits and the other half of pumpkin)

Vola! Your pasta is ready!!!! Add the lemon juice, olive oil and salt and toss so each piece is covered. Set aside.

For the cream sauce, simply add all the sauce ingredients into the food processor, except the basil leaves, and wizz away until smooth!!!! You may need to add more water until you get the consistency like a sauce. Add basil leaves towards the end and pulse to chop it up.

Back to the pappardelle.; add the rocket (arugula), shallots, salt, (leaving out the tomatoes until later) and mix well by hand. Add a handful onto each plate and pour a good amount of sauce onto each serving. This is simply for aesthetics as I think this looks better than serving it with the sauce mixed in. Now add the tomatoes onto each plate and serve.

  

YUM!!!!!!

Buon Apettito!

pink; for the love of god

champagneandheels.com

Damian Hirsts For The Love Of God  isn't exactly a candidate for contemporary works in pink but I  was reminded of this work in an email newsletter from e-flux stating this work will be on show at Palazzo Vecchio in Florence for only the third time since Hirst made it in 2007. It is a platinum cast of a human skull encrusted with 8,601 flawless diamonds, including a pear-shaped pink diamond located in the forehead. I figured a work with a pink diamond in it is surely allowed to find its way into this section of my blog...don't you think?!?!?!

Hirst spent $16 to $20 million to make this work and it sold for $99 million. This makes the work the  most expensive art work ever made. I think it had to be. Making this work with fake diamonds would not have allowed it to be so poignant. It needed to be an exorbitant expression through wealth to have the impact it does. It becomes a tongue-in-cheek execution of the idea it is trying to convey.

Hirsts works deal with death carrying on a tradition of artists who created in the genre memento mori. The diamond encrusted skull reminds us of our mortality.  We may try to defy aging or improve our physical appearance, but in the end, we cannot defeat death. This skull stands as a shining death star staring back at us with a victorious grin, knowing in the end, it will win our fight. We are living creatures after all, and yes, we have things we want to achieve, to create for ourselves and others, but our final destination, goal, or point in life is death, to become this skull (well, not exactly encrusted in diamonds, but you get my point).

We use the term 'for the love of God' towards someone in a situation when we want them to be aware of their irrational behaviour at that moment. We even end it with exclamation marks!!!! Hirsts use of the saying in the title of this work is his way of telling us to wake up and see the bigger picture, to be aware of how we are spending our days, our years, our lives. For the love of God, realise that one day, no matter how much riches you have accumulated or how much 'success' you have had, you will die. Simple. Make the most of now! (Don't you worry, I'm listening too!!!!)

Ahhhhh, la vita bella! Enjoy every step as if it were your last :0)

love; 10 things I love this week

discountperfume.com.au

1. Perfume! I love a spray as I head out the door. My favourite is good old Paris by Yves Saint Laurent.  It was launched by the design house in 1983 and has a flowery fragrance. It is a blend of mimosa, orange flower, rose, moss, sandalwood, and amber. I first got a bottle as a gift for my 21st in 1991 and have always had a bottle, while others have come and gone. LOVE!!!!!

christinesuniqueboutique.com

2. A gold handbag!?!?! My housemate came home the other day with a gold bag stating that what you put your money in is a reflection of how you feel about it. By putting your money into a gold bag surely must instigate more money!!!! Will be shopping for one as soon as spare money comes my way!!!! LOVE!!!!

asos.com

3. White tights with black spots! Well of course I do! Look at the design of my blog! LOVE!

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 4. White sunglasses! I do love them and have owned a pair on and off forever! Even as a kid, I loved 'em. LOVE!

lavishandlime.com

 5. Drinking 1.5 Liters of water a day. Yep, been doing this forever as well! I don't ever buy bottled water as the plastic thing aint good for me or my environment. I re-use my Laken water bottle, carrying it wherever I go, and YES it is pink!!!! LOVE!

alphawhat.blogspot.com

6. Mice. I know, what the hell are vermin doing in my list of 10 things I love this week?!?!?! Well, I've begun to appreciate these cute little creatures (look at him!) for what they are doing in our compost. Yes, I know they are creepy and freak you out when they scurry along, but I do love the hard work they do and how they contribute to my recycling! LOVE!

7. I went out to enjoy my green smoothie in this mornings winter sun and came across this only patch of water outside. It was the shape of a heart! How amazing is this?!?!?! Is the universe trying to tell me something after finding the paper heart last week in the gutter and this water stain this morning?!?!?! LOVE!!!!!!

onlinemovieshut.com

8. I watched this last night and LOVED IT!!!!! If you haven't had a chance to see it, make some time this week to see Balck Swan. It is powerful, nerve-racking and extremely thoughtful. I still can't think straight after seeing it last night! LOVE!

milktoothrain.blogspot.com

9. "A life lived in fear is a life half lived". LOVE!!!!!

realsimple.com

10. Having girly nights with my housemates!!! Tonight we are doing our nails and putting a mask on. I think I'll be off now to create a home made mix and treat the girls...LOVE!!!!!!

eat; orange chiffon cake

mygreenquotient.com

The other week I wanted to bake. It was during our six days of continuous rain here in Los Angeles and it was COLD! In the fridge were some oranges and I couldn't think of anything better to warm the house up than with the smell of oranges running through with the warmth of the oven. This cake is divine! It is light and fluffy and goes really well with vanilla bean whipped cream. We unfortunately did not have cream to serve with it on the night, but let me tell you, the day after, I was heading for a B-line straight for some cream!!!

Chiffon cakes were invented in the 1920s by a Californian (how appropriate!) named Henry Baker who went on to sell his recipe to General Mills in the 1940s. Chiffon cakes were popular in the 1950s and then seemed to fade away. I can imagine the ladies in their full skirt floral dresses, bum in the air opening the oven door to check if their cake was ready...and their kitchens! I got this recipe from the joy of baking website where the recipe was adapted from The Woman's Association of St. Paul's United Church's (Spryfield, Nova Scotia) "Book One Favorite Recipes" dated 1956.  So this would have actually been a recipe those 1950's housewives would have followed!!!!!

Here is the recipe. There are a few things to watch for that I'll mention throughout the recipe.

What you need;

6 large eggs, separated and at room temperature plus 1 additional egg white

2 1/4 cups of sifted all purpose flour

1 1/2 cups of castor sugar

1 Tb baking powder

1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup of vegetable oil

3/4 cup of freshly squeezed orange juice

2 Tb orange zest

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

3/4 tsp cream of tartar (this can be replaced by baking powder)

Separate the eggs into two bowls. Preheat the oven to 170c (325f) and grease up then flour a 10" (25cm) ring cake tin.

In the bowl of your electric mixer, place sifted flour (don't be lazy here, the flour MUST be sifted). sugar (minus 3 Tb), baking powder and salt. Mix together until combined. 

Make a well in the center of the flour mixture and add the egg yolks, oil, orange juice and zest and vanilla extract. Beat about one minute or until smooth. I don't have a mixer here in my share house in L.A so I did this step with a bit of elbow grease and a whisk.

In a separate bowl, whisk the egg whites until they are foamy. Add the cream of tarter and continue beating until soft peaks form. 

Gradually beat in the 3 Tb of sugar until stiff peaks form. Make sure you do beat it until it is glossy and the peaks form and be careful not to over beat! The eggs will kind of separate if you did beat it too much.

With a large rubber spatula, gently fold the egg whites into the batter just until blended. Be careful NOT to deflate the batter. This cake is amazingly light and fluffy because of this step, so be gentle and stop turning when it is just mixed.

Pour batter into prepared cake tin and bake for about 55-60 minutes. Check with a skewer jabbing the cake close to the rings center.

Once cooked, invert the cake on a wire cooling rack whilst still hot. Let cake cool completely before removing from the pan. Once cool, run a long metal spatula around the inside of the ring tin and the center core.  Dust with icing sugar and voila, you have an amazing Orange Chiffon Cake to share with your friends!!!!

This cake will be good for a few days at room temperature or a week in the fridge. It can also be frozen.

You can replace the orange with lemon or lime for different flavours.

Buon Appetito!!!!