Pumpkin Pie Adventures

This weekend the Oafs baked pumpkin pie!  We slaved over the pumpkin, scooping and mashing the pulp.  It was quite the experience, but we are hard workers and managed to get through it with our superior cooking skills.  Oaf #2's family ate the pie for Thanksgiving, due to the fact that Oaf #1 already had an assortment of pies for their Turkey Day meal!  It was delicious and the Oafs were very proud.  If you are looking for a great recipe for your next pumpkin pie, stay tuned!  We used a recipe from the back of Libby's canned pumpkin (BUT WE DID NOT USE THE CONTENTS OF THE CAN.  We didn't.)  We tweaked the recipe a bit based off of family recipes, and the final product
turned out wonderfully.

Filling:

• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• 2 large eggs
• The pulp from 1 big pumpkin (See pic of our pumpkin)
• 1 can (12 fl. oz.) evaporated milk
• Crust:
• 1 3/4 sticks of butter
• Pinch of salt
• 2 1/2 cups flour 
• 5-6 tsp ice water 

Procedure:
Crust: 
1. Cut unsalted butter into cubes
2. Mash butter and flour together leaving chunks of butter 
3. Add ice water tsp by tsp mashing after each
4. Once it is able to make a crumby ball put onto the counter and gather stray bits
5. One in dough form separate into two balls, wrap in wax paper and chill for an hour.
6. Roll dough 

Filling:

1. Mix all ingredients together
The oafs live wildly, and so we decided to combine everything together at once.  (Why not)

Make the pie:

1. Pour into a pie crust 

2. Bake at 425 degrees for 15 minutes, then reduce to 350 and cook for another 44 minutes, or until the filling is set

Enjoy the pie: 
1. Cut 
2. Eat

The oafs had slight technical difficulties with the lovely pictures that captured this experience of pie making. 
Hoping to fix these problems,
The oafs

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Smoothies

If I could live on one food for the rest of my life, it would be smoothies.  They are so versatile and wonderful and satisfying.  If you have never made a homemade smoothie, you have a very deprived life.  I enjoy at least 3 smoothies a day, sometimes 7 if the mood strikes.  I wake up and have a green smoothie that I make by blending an assortment of greens, almond milk, frozen bananas, almond butter, and avocado.  It tastes strangely delicious, and I feel very healthy as I sip it on my way to school in the mornings.  Throughout the day I will make berry smoothies, fruit smoothies, almond smoothies, and the occasional chocolate peanut butter smoothie.  I live for smoothies, and the possibilities are endless.  There is nothing that ruins my day more than when my morning smoothie turns out badly.  Three mistakes can happen:  too much liquid, too many greens, or not enough liquid.  I am about to show you how to make a delicious, personalized smoothie that will always turn out.  

Step 1:

Choose your fruit.  This is the most important step, as the taste of your entire smoothie depends on the bulk of the ingredients--The fruit.  Depending on whether you like icy smoothies or juicy ones, you can freeze your fruit or use fresh fruit.  A few of my favorites are bananas, raspberries, fresh strawberries, and blackberries.  Apples taste good if they are honey crisp!

Step 2: 

Choose your liquid.  If you are craving a tropical smoothie, choose a juice such as orange or pineapple juice!  Other liquids that work include almond milk, milk, coconut milk, water, or pomegranate juice.  Always combine 1 part fruit to 2 parts liquid.  For example, if you use 1/2 cup of fruit, use a cup of liquid.  

Step 3:

Choose your greens.  This is optional.  However, if you want a little boost and a way to get in some vegetables in a delicious way, I highly suggest adding some veggies!  You can add a small handful of kale or spinach if you wish.

Step 4: 

Choose your spread.  This step is also optional.  It adds more protein to the smoothie to keep you full longer.  I usually add almond butter, but peanut butter and cashew butter taste equally delicious.  Add 1-2 tablespoons.  Other optional additions include yogurt and flax or chia seeds for extra health benefits.  Nutella and vanilla syrup make sweeter smoothies.

Step 5:

If it is a hot day or you are craving something icy, add 3-4 cubes of ice to make the smoothie extra cold.

Step 6: 

BLEND

Here are a few of my favorites:

1. Nutella, Peanut Butter, Ice, Frozen bananas, milk (Tastes like ice cream)

2. Frozen Peaches, Cashew Butter, Almond Milk, Spinach

3. Pineapple Coconut Juice, Fresh Pineapple, Ice, Coconut Syrup (Tastes like a virgin piña colada)

4. Blackberries, Milk, Peanut Butter, Kale (Tastes like pie)

I hope these steps are helpful, but the only way to get a truly perfect smoothie is to test out different flavor combinations to see what tastes good to you!  

Happy blending <3

Grace the smoothie-aholic

Anticipation

The seconds before the steaming bite of soup reaches my mouth.
The drive from my house to the coffee shop.
The hazy view of baking bread through the window in the oven door.
The small taste of turkey my Grandpa feeds me stealthily every year, before anyone has sat down at the table.

My favorite thing about food is the anticipation.  I adore the preparation, and Thanksgiving is no exception.  I research complicated recipes and dream up intricate presentations, much to my mom's disapproval.  I try the strangest recipes I can find, from pumpkin pie made from fully raw ingredients to a unique blend between cheesecake and pumpkin tart.  Cooking isn't fun if
I know how a recipe is going to turn out.  Food should be a wild adventure, but unfortunately it's a hard life for an adventurous oaf in high school.

Last year, I wanted to make Pumpkin Eggs--an inside out version of pumpkin pie.  My idea was shot down by my fearful mother, who's idea of adventure is exploring different ratios of peanut butter and bread for her morning toast.

This year my idea is better.  Pumpkin soup baked and served in adorable little pumpkins, garnished with basil and cream.

I will not back down.  This oaf wants an adventure.

Pictures to come,

Grace

        This weekend, the oafs must get to work.  We are very sorry to have left our fans waiting.  We promise not to disappoint.  You will see lots of cooking done by these oafs.  We will begin with chocolate chip cookies. The oafs will then take on pumpkin pie.  We will make it from pumpkins.  Yes, ACTUAL pumpkins.  Not canned pumpkin like the inferior cookers.

The oafs will cut the pumpkins.
The oafs will scoop the pulp.
The oafs will blend the pulp.

And this is just a teaser.  The real fun begins this weekend.
Stay on the edge of your seats, folks, because this pie making is about to get interesting.

Until next time,
Grace the Oaf

The Eating Style of Oaf #2

               My family is the most ecletic mix of eaters you could find.  Being surrounded by such a strange assortments of palates is quite the experience.  Jack is up at three in the morning draping bacon on everything from ham to ice cream.  My baby sister isn't really a baby but only picks at what is put in front of her, and would starve if left to fend for herself.  My dad will eat huge meals and then forget to eat for three days.  My mom eats her way through different cleanses and fads.  She is known for her containers of chia seeds and flax powder, along with the jars of the latest antioxidant filled berry.   She always returns to her staples of survival--coffee and peanut butter.
                These different tastes have each influenced me in their own way.  I love my ribs and chicken, to the approval of my carnivorous brother.  I forget to eat and will sometimes wake up in the middle of the night with a hollow feeling in my stomache and realize that I haven't eaten anything since breakfast.  I follow my mother on her food adventures such as cleanses and different lifestyles, but with much less dedication.  I tend to alter the rules--last time I did the cleanse every day until five o'clock when I would give in to every  delicious food that tempted me.  Although I am impacted by my family, I also consider myself more of a social eater.
                Food tastes better in the presence of good company.  My favorite way to eat is out.  Out in the world. Whether walking around downtown with a bubble tea, or sitting at an outdoor table at a waterfront restaurant, food is better when I buy it.  I love the thrill of sliding my credit card in exchange for a delicious snack, or better yet--a drink.
            Drinks are my favorite.  I am obsessed with everything from spicy iced chais, slurped down in under 45 seconds to green tea frappuccinos.  I could live on an entirely liquid diet supplemented by only tapioca balls.  My eating habits get quite expensive, but I don't mind.  I'm young and free with few worries and I have all my life to make and hoard money.  For now I appreciate and enjoy what I have, and if I have only four dollars and a handful of change to my name I am going to spend it on a gingerbread latte.

Xoxo,
Grace

Thanksgiving

             This coming weekend is thanksgiving. The holiday most known for the giant turkeys and pumpkin pie. I for one have never been a big fan of pie, I like cake much better. And I never used to like the food with all the fancy and foreign ingredients my mom uses. Coming from the family that I do, it's hard to get away from gourmet food and on thanksgiving this is especially true. From sautéed brussel sprouts with cheese and cranberries to elaborate potato dishes I can't pronounce, every year I'm surrounded by tables and tables of unknown food.   And I have come to enjoy the adventure a bit. A little mystery in a bite of beans here and some terror before I take a bit of stuffing not even being able to imagine what could be in it, not wanting to, over there. It's almost more of a Halloween experience more than thanksgiving.
             But more than just the food, I have come to adore thanksgiving because of the general feel it has with the dim candle lights and the sound of laughter as the family collectively downs every bite of every dish on the table. I learned to love the food that brings us together even if only once a year because the taste of that turkey and those potatoes that are such mysteries to me is the essence of what family is- from making Christmas cookies in the kitchen with my mom when I was three to watching in horror as a huge pink-skinned bird is shoved into the over when I was five, food has been what brings everyone together and for that I am thankful.
              Me and the other oaf this thanksgiving in addition to the cookies, will be attempting to make a pumpkin pie dispute the deep loathing I have for it. I guess we'll just have those how it turns out, so until Friday, from one oaf to the masses, have a wonderful thanksgiving and enjoy the food and the company because it does only come once a year.

Kisses,
Catherine

Cookies

This weekend, the weekend of thanksgiving, the oafs will yet again be taking on a new baking challenge: the chocolate chip cookie. I recently tried to make eggless cookie dough so I could eat all the dough without cooking it (dangerous endevor I know because I ate almost al of it) It didnt work. The dough which consited of butter, brown sugar, milk, vanilla, flour, salt and chocolate chips just didn't tast the same, and it had the consistensy of damp dirt. I hope that these cookies that will consist of the normal ingredients and will taste better than the eggless stuff.

Wish us luck,
The oafs

Cooking

This is the question I ask myself every time I decide to eat or cook something: is it worth the effort? I know this seems shallow and I'll be the first to admit that I'm far from a foodie. I've grown up around people who love food my whole life. With my mom as the director of our local cooking school, we have a new dish every night and while this is nice and I'm grateful to not be eating chili and tacos every night but the truth is I could probably survive on noodles, edimame, carrots, zucchini, broccoli, apples, salad, burgers and chocolate and be totally content. Last January I tried being a vegetarian just because I didn't eat very much meat anyway and I didn't like a lot of it. It was fine and I lasted for 8 months but after awhile I got tired of not being able to eat a burger at a restaurant or chicken in a salad and so I stopped and ate a burger. But I'd be very okay to never eat ribs ever again. One, they're pretty much the messiest kinda of food you can eat and two, you barely get anything off of them- and so, not worth it. Bacon, although it smells good there are very few parts on it that aren't pure fat- not worth it. Carrots on the other hand, pull them out of the fridge and eat them- very very worth it.

Food is one of those things that for me I would rather just not have to deal with. Although I like to eat the foods I like, it's so much hassle trying to eat the "right" things, getting enough vegetables in my diet and balancing dairy and fruit. Getting vitamins and being healthy is just a very hard thing for me to do because food is just not that big of a priority in my life. Don't get me wrong every once in a while I like to bake a pizza or some cookies or the occasional stir fry but in actuallity moat of the time making elaborate food to eat is just not worth it to me.

You might ask then, why this oaf is writing a food blog. And this is the answer; im not exactly foing this beause of the food, I'm doing this because its fun! Like a food adventure and everyone knows that oafs love adventures. I'm doing this because of the fact I don't love food because it makes writing about it that much harder, it's a challenge and oafs also enjoy a good challenge.

Anyway, food for thought- try something that's not super easy and maybe not your favorite thing cause you might actually love it and don't write things off too quickly because just cause you don't like one aspect of it you might really enjoy blogging about it instead!

From one oaf to all,
Catherine

Pizza

This weekend, the Oafs cooked pizza.  We used an Oaf family recipe, and it was delicious.  We followed spoken directions passed down only in stories for generations, we repeated the steps aloud frantically mixing ingredients before the words were forgotten.

Here is the only pizza that should ever be made.

3 c. flour
1 tsp. salt
1c. hot water
1tbsp. yeast
1tbsp sugar
1/4 c. olive oil

Combine flour and salt in a food processor and set aside. In 1 cup of warm water stir in the sugar and then the yeast and set aside. Once the yeast mixture starts to bubble pour it into the flour salt mixture and pulse the food processor until it is a ball. Put the ball in a bowl, cover and let sit.


This is how we made the crust, putting the dough in a bowl and letting it rise for about an hour and a half or until the dough had reached about twice it's original size before rolling it out.


We rolled the dough, transferred the dough on to the pizza peal, then spread the sauce and sprinkled the cheese.



After sliding it into the oven and cooking it at 500 degrees till the edges were golden brown, we pulled it out, sliced it up into triangles and squares and ate several pieces. The oafs enjoyed it greatly.


We hope you enjoy this recipe and create pizza joys for yourself someday.
Kisses,
Catherine and Grace aka The Oafs

The Philosophy on Eating, Oaf #2

​        The difference between food and sustenance is what goes into it.  Sustenance keeps hearts beating, keeps people alive.  But food nourishes and helps them thrive and grow.  I would never diet, or eat less to get healthier.  In fact, in my opinion it is better to eat MORE.  More leafy green vegetables, blended into smoothies until they disappear, and fruit, sliced up and munched on throughout the day.  My philosophy on eating as that you should eat as much healthy food as possible, which will make for less junk cravings. However, healthy food doesn't just mean just rabbit food.  It is anything that is fresh and delicious and of the highest quality that will satisfy.  Whole grain bread, soft and fresh out of the oven.  Spaghetti with colorful veggies.  Cookies.  I recently went on a cleanse in which I was only allowed to eat vegetables, fruits, nuts, and seeds for 7 days.  It was supposed to make my skin glow, my eyes brighter, and body strong.  I lasted 11 hours before a piping hot slice of homemade pizza tempted me.  My eyes didn't glow, and I didn't feel strong.  In fact, I spent the next morning sweating on the bathroom floor in a nauseas heap until my dad brought me some toast.  I refuse to eat only rabbit food.  I discovered that limiting yourself to an extreme is not effective. But I also discovered that I like vegetables, and I feel better when I eat many of them.  To feel strong and healthy the only way to eat is to fill your body with healthy things and not deprive yourself.  So if you have eaten your vegetables and you've taken your vitamins, who is to say that you can't eat cookies all night, washed down with two different types of chai tea?  The oafs will eat what we want.  Not wretched diet food.  If we crave something, we will cook it.  Then we will eat it.  But we will eat our disgusting carrots as we mix the batter for cupcakes.  

xoxo,
Grace

Philosophy on Eating, Oaf #1

          So the oafs didn't get around to cooking pizza this past weekend, life is busy for the oafs. We will be attempting the pizza later this week and will post pictures of our success.
          For now I would like to talk about the oafs philosophy on eating. This is the thought: why eat something if it doesn't taste good? I just don't understand why people eat things they don't like. What is the point of good food if you can only eat the bad tasting stuff? The world is a screwed up place. And so because of this philosophy, the oafs will only be eating things they love beyond compare. Pizza for instance, my family makes pizza every single Friday. Yum. Chocolate? A healthy alternative to any salad, although this oaf quite enjoys salad also. And who says Thai iced tea isn't a healthy and balanced meal at any hour of the day? Idiots. I believe in eating things that taste good not what actually are good. If you don't like carrots don't eat carrots (I could live off carrots but that's beside the point because the other oaf doesn't like carrots at all). And this is the message: eat what you want when you want- except if you care about getting fat then you should probably eat some carrots.

Kisses,
Catherine

The Oafs Take on Pizza

Our first endeavor will be pizza.
This weekend the oafs will attempt to make pizza.
We have acquired a family recipe for pizza crust and will be making everything from scratch
Our plan of action:
The oafs will make the crust
The oafs will spread the sauce
The oafs will grate the cheese
The oafs will sprinkle the cheese
The oafs will add olives
The oafs will add onions
The oafs will add green bell peppers
The oafs will add mushrooms
The oafs will bake at 500 degrees
The oafs will eat

Wish us luck

The Oafs Take On Cooking

Burnt toast, the black scraped off with a butter knife.

Popcorn, charred and smoking.

Cookies, hard and round and inedible.

You have now entered the world of the Oafs and their amateur cooking adventures.

Prepare for slip ups, mistakes, and the occasional success.

A house burned to the ground?

A lost limb?

Little is sure.

All that is certain is that we are the Oafs.

And we are cooking.

By: Grace