The Raw Revolution

After today's gig (in Solothurn, just past Maleny), we all needed coffee/hot chocolate.  Stat.  Not much was open in Maleny by this stage of a Sunday afternoon, but we asked a couple who told us the Marketplace was still open and really good. 

The Marketplace is one of those organic places, beautiful wooden tables and benches, organic food and coffee, eco-friendly products... Hippie heaven.  Coffee was good.  I was a tad peckish as well, so I almost bought a Byron Bay Cookie.  But then I spied the Raw Revolution bars and decided to be slightly good.  Warning: they're really good - and really expensive.  No preservatives, or artificial ingredients, or refined sugars or proteins.  Includes Omega-3 & 6, 5g fibre, 7g protein.  But the best bit is I recognise all the ingredients.  They're all actual foods!   And the product itself was delightfully yummy, chewy and chocolatey.  Win.

Today's photo:

The light fittings in this place were beautiful.  Each one was different - this was my favourite.

Raw Brownies, Tweaked

Back in May, I had my first taste of raw brownies.  Yum!  I bought a mini-chopper so that I could make them, and made my first batch later that month.  I've made a couple more batches recently, but tweaked the recipe slightly today.  The main reason for the tweak is that I love dried apricots, but occasionally my delivery provides me with the totally healthy, sulphur-free variety.  They're okay I guess, but I prefer to cook with them rather than snack on them.  And dates are only in my pantry if I plan ahead.  I find these brownies are the best way to cure a chocolate craving - they're super healthy and super chocolatey. 

For the base:

1 cup dates (or, for me, dried apricots)
1 cup nuts (today I had to use 3/4 cup hazelnut meal, I didn't realise how low my nut supply was)
1/4 cup cacao (topped up today with regular cocoa)
1 teaspoon honey (or so...)

I chop the dried fruit and nuts roughly first.  Then put everything in a food processor/mini chopper.  Then blend/whiz/chop.  Don't get impatient here, when it's starting to clump together - then it's ready.

Line a loaf tin (or tin of your choice) with foil - this makes everything so much easier to deal with later - and transfer the chopped mix.  Flatten it as much as possible, like you're doing a biscuit base for a cheesecake or something. 

For the topping:

A tablespoon each of:
avocado
honey
cacao (or cocoa if you've run out of the good stuff by now)
coconut oil (this was my first time using coconut oil - weird.  Previously I've just used olive oil, but you can taste the olive oil in the topping)

Whiz in the processor.  Spread on top of base.  Refrigerate until firm.  Cut into squares...or slices...and enjoy. 

I find because of the honey and dried fruit factor it is quite sweet, so I tend not to over-indulge.  Phew.

Yesterday's photo:

I found mini tomatoes on my tomato plant!  This plant is one in which I had not much hope, to be honest - but the little yellow flowers have given way to tiny little green baby tomatoes.  I'm not sure if they'll last to turn into ripe tomatoes, but there's hope.

Matins, Raw Brownies, and the Balcony

I can't really claim Matins as a New Thing, even though this was my first experience (that I can remember, anyway).  This morning, the 9:30 eucharist was replaced with Matins in celebration and commemoration of the 60th anniversary of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Second.  I was not required for anything so it was nice to be 'unrobed' as one friend put it.  Music was fabulous, of course.

The first real New Thing of the day was making raw brownies with my new food processor.  Which is not technically a food processor... chopper and stick thingy.  I was probably a little impatient with the chopping of the base (I had a time limit after all), so there are slightly bigger chunks of nuts than I would like.  Next time.  And I started eating a bit too soon, possibly, as the first row was very crumbly and had to be eaten from a bowl.  With a spoon.  The next row behaved beautifully though (and no, I wasn't eating all these by myself!). 

Whenever my parents visit, things change.  After some unintended (and some intended) changes to my courtyard area, I was tempted to visit a nursery yesterday and buy up big on plants.  I didn't.  I figured some preparation might go a long way.  Especially as I seem to have lost my green thumb status in the last couple of years.  So my balcony went from looking like this:

to this:

Ok, it probably doesn't look that impressive.  But I've ditched the plants given to me by an ex, the vines that were really really dead, and the leftover bits of ... I don't even know what to call it... stuff from the disintegrated tv stand that I threw out last week.  The plants that are left are still living, but need a bit of encouragement in the potting mix and fertilizer departments.  The bonus is that my room looks calmer now.  Next I need to get a bucket and wash the balcony, and ditch the lantern thing - any takers?

Cluedo

Tonight was a games night.  The standard games night is Jeannie, Matt, my brother and me, playing poker.  Sometimes, we branch out, inviting more people and playing something else.  Tonight included Viola Man, Dancing Eggs and Cluedo. 

Dancing Eggs is pretty fun, you have to stay alert (so you can win eggs) and be able to hold them in weird places (like in your elbow).  This doesn't count as a New Thing as it was played last Sunday after Tequila.

It was my first time playing Cluedo, though.  I was Miss Scarlett (although I didn't appreciate the overbite, I did like looking like Catherine Zeta-Jones.  Plus I really like the colour red).  My brother kept starting rumours about me actually based on my personality...which I found rather flattering, in a weird sort of way now I think of it...  I must admit, it took a few rounds for me to work out exactly how the whole clue thing worked.  Jeannie and Matt, though, were all over it, writing things down after every rumour.  Not surprisingly, Jeannie had enough of an idea to make an accusation first, closely followed by Matt.  They have enough psychic powers between them to have it sorted, so Matt got it right.  Turns out it was Miss Peacock in the somewhere with the poison.  I think.  Definitely Miss Peacock (who looks totally scary).  Viola Man had a pretty good idea fairly early on but he drew the 8th clock so didn't get a chance to make any accusations.

Meanwhile, for dessert Jeannie had made us raw brownies.  I'd seen this idea around but never investigated further... so yummy!  I now have the recipe and good intentions to make these in the near future.  I just need a food processor.  Any donors...?