Organic Granny

Baby Bok Choy  I love bok choy.  During the beginning of the COVID19 period of isolation there was an amazing amount of organic bok choy available in our local grocery and whole food stores.   Bok choy comes from the cabbage/crucifer/mustard/brassica family, and is a Chinese Cabbage (grown first in Asia), as you might be able to tell from the name.  I guess we mostly see the Cantonese version here-- the Shanghai Bok Choy is a darker green-- the one I think of has broad light green/white stems and lighter green leaves, as in the picture above.  I particularly like the dwarf versions of bok choy, called Baby Bok Choy.  Light, easy to slice and eat, and mild-tasting with lots of delicious leaves. On Instagram I ran across an account that showed several small chunks of the bases of a bok choy plant sitting in water. When I inquired if they were rooting it to plant, they told me that that don't really wait for roots to form, but that they grow leaves from the old "wound" and a

This year I am intent on using more herbs from my small herb garden in our meals.   Oregano-- also known as wild marjoram-- lives in a couple of spots in our yard. In my current favorite reference book-- Carrots Love Tomatoes: Secrets of Companion Planting for Successful Gardening by Louise Riotte -- the author states that oregano "is used the world over the world over in Italian, Mexican and Spanish dishes."  Oregano contains thymol , "a powerful antiseptic when internally or externally... The pleasant aromatic scent... is very lasting. . In the garden [oregano has] a beneficial effect on nearby plants, improving both growth and flavor." (pg. 102) MONTESSORI BABY & TOT PLAY          To learn more about these and other finely crafted Montessori Baby and Child Items,  Click ABOVE on image !   OREGANO-LEMON BALM-WALNUT PESTO Put the following in a small blender and blend until smooth:   *1 cup fresh oregano leaves *1/4 cup walnut parm OR nutritional yeast *1/4 cu

Beautiful Kale-Chive Vegan Muffin This delightful muffin is made with wheat flour (organic all-purpose) in this recipe, but I think it could be made with a gluten-free flour, and also would work with half whole wheat or other half oat flour, half whole wheat.  I can also see it done up as a sort of cake (using spelt flour) and used to mop up olive oil and basalmic vinegar-- a kind of focaccia-soda bread. It's tasty!  Savory is often the way to go.  Especially as this pandemic plays out for those of us who seemingly can't stop baking muffins and banana bread and cakes.  Savory is a nice change-up to something that seems healthier. And it goes very nicely with a lunch soup.  Or as a breakfast muffin with some melty vegan cheese on top (or avocado or tomato and fako-bako-- you get the drift). It makes 10-12 muffins, depending on the size of your muffin cups.  INGREDIENTS: 1 1/4 cup (300 ml)         non-dairy milk 1/4 cup    (60 ml)           extra-virgin olive oil 1 tablespoon (22

Molasses-Maple-Banana Muffins This most recent muffin is inspired by the molasses cookie, specifically the molasses cookie my grandma used to bake.  It was fragrant, lightly spicy, soft but chewy, and generally had dates and walnuts in it. The muffins smelled so great when they came out of the oven, but for a few minutes I thought back to the sort of sugar-gritty and oily features of those delicious molasses cookies.  I am pretty sure my grandma used white sugar (and quite a lot of it, I would imagine) and some kind of oil.  These particular muffins are free of any poured oils, and instead of a sweet white or brown sugar I used a mix of molasses and maple syrup and banana to sweeten it. Would this muffin be a flop? Then I tasted it it... and IT WAS / IS DELICIOUS.  It is uncannily like the molasses cookies of my grandma... or my memory of them... except puffier and muffin-y.   I also use the oat flour and almond flour base of my last batch of muffins on here (the lemon-fruity muffins)