Hobo Cobbler

1/4 cup sugar
1/2 tablespoon corn starch
2 cups FRESH fruit* (rinsed, sliced, peeled and anything else you may need to do to it)
1/2 teaspoon lemon juice
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 tablespoon sugar
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/4 cup of milk

Destructions:

These instructions are written for Hobo cobbler, which means this is a one-pan dish. You need to ensure your pans are oven-safe. I take absolutely no responsibility for melted pans and chemical fumes. We use and love our IKEA 365+ pans which are all-metal and oven safe. If you aren’t sure or have doubts, don’t risk it – transfer your cobbler into an oven-safe dish. It’s heart will still be hobo. If you are making a larger quantity of cobbler, you may want to use a casserole dish instead once the stove top part is complete.

1. Preheat oven to 400°F

2. Mix 1/4 cup sugar and cornstarch in a saucepan (you want at least a 2-quart). Stir in fruit and lemon juice. Cook, stirring CONSTANTLY until mixture thickens and boils. This is hobo cobbler, people, don’t fuck around. Boil and stir for ONE MINUTE.

3. If you need to switch to an oven-safe dish, now’s the time. You can keep your mixture warm in the oven, or if you’re making it hobo style, just cover your saucepan for the time being. It’s going NOWHERE.

4. In a separate bowl, mix flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Cut in butter, crisscrossing two knives to blend, until mixture has a crumbly consistency. Stir in milk. Drop dough by spoonfuls onto the hot fruit mixture.

5. Bake uncovered 25-30 minutes or until topping is golden brown.

*We went with blueberries when they were in season this summer. You could adapt this to use apples this autumn. Just make sure you get a crisp, tart apple – no grainy, super sweet, or mushy fruit. Consider adding some cinnamon to give the dish that nice spiciness that apples benefit from. 

Mmm, tasty treats

On our walk home tonight, it was threatening to pour, so Blank and I ducked into various shops along the way. Blank wanted to do a cheese plate for dinner, so we headed to the cheese counter at DiBruno’s, and oh boy… the samples. My god. It would have been too dangerous to get anything tonight, as it would be all gone by next week, but I took a picture to taunt my mom.

Delicious cheese

Manfriend stopped at the local, organic farmer’s market today and picked up two ears of fresh picked sweet corn. Right? I was like, “dude, where’s the rest of it?”

“I got a rational amount. I know us.”

“You don’t know shit, son. That’s sweet corn. You’ll be getting a dozen ears tomorrow.”

“But the farmer’s market only comes once a week!”

“:(”

He also bought fresh blueberries. What’s the fastest, tastiest and easiest thing to do with fresh blueberries, besides eat them straight? That’s right. Cobbler. But lazy, baked in a pan cobbler:

Mmm.. Hobo cobbler.

There’s nothing quite as gorgeous as the deep blue-purple juice that comes out of the blueberries when you heat them up with a little bit of sugar.

Om Nom Nom

So it comes as a slight surprise that I have a vitamin B deficiency. But not much. I’ve kind of suspected that for a while and responded to that suspicion with a general, “meh.” I’m tired of not really knowing where my food comes from. I’m tired of lack of choices. I’m tired of paying a lot for not much. So slowly but surely, my laziness is being won over by my boredom with insufficient food options.

Of course, making such a change in habit is not easily done, and for me, it helps a lot to have fun accessories. Suffice it to say, I’ve been doing a lot of research, getting some ideas for super healthy meals, and of course, patronizing j-box. I recently ordered a new lunchbox, so that I can easily and fashionably transport my lunches from my home to my place of business. I also got a little tote so that I can actually lug it onto the trolley instead of carrying it with two hands. My god, my life is so challenging, isn’t it? And let’s be honest, I take the trolley entirely out of laziness and not at all out of necessity. Also, sometimes, it is chilly outside and I don’t want to get my feet wet. How spoiled am I? Tremendously.

I purchased the above donburi bento, which gives me loads of options, sections, containers and a handy snap on lid so that everything stays put. Oh, also, I can make noodles and drain them with the handy included strainer. How posh!

I’ve been busy, and when I say busy, I mean, “avoiding doing useful things like cleaning the house, folding my clothes, brushing my hair, actually going to the market, or anything else that might have a tangible benefit to our immediate future lives,” coming up with some easy recipes and rules for eating:

Breakfast (choose one):

Crockpot Oatmeal

1/2c steel cut oats
1/2c flax seed meal
41/2c water
1tsp salt

1. Optional – spray crockpot with cooking spray to avoid sticking.
2. Pour all ingredients into crock pot and stir.
3. Cook on low for 6-8 hours.
4. Add fruit, nuts, and milk to taste.

Suggested Additions:

• Raw walnuts for extra omega-3
• Sliced bananas
• Maple syrup (natural)
• Substitute rice or soy milk for regular milk, or use organic, locally produced milk.

Easy Eggs

I am not a morning person. I do not like thinking, smiling, laughing, talking, cooking, or anything else when I get up in the morning. Consequently, the idea of “cooking eggs” or oatmeal or anything is a hateful thought. Here’s how to make quick, easy, tasty eggs without dirtying a pan:

2 eggs, lightly beaten
cracked pepper and salt to taste

1. Beat eggs in a small, microwave safe bowl
2. Microwave high at 30 second intervals, stirring in between to mix cooked and uncooked egg.
3. Cook until desired consistency is reached, then serve.

Optional Additions:

• Veggies, such as spinach, tomato, broccoli, etc.
• Cheese
• A tablespoon or two of milk for creamier texture
• Knob of butter for creamier texture

And now, the final episode of Lost is on, so you’d better believe I’m out like a scout.

I’ve long mentioned my desire to plant a vegetable garden indoors. I’ve grappled with figuring out where and how I would set it up, what sort of mixtures I would use for different plants, how much light I could give them, what types of fertilizer I would need to get, and so forth. The limitations of an indoor apartment vegetable garden combined with the complex needs and desires of such a garden were daunting. I ordered books, I did research, I realized, to my increasing frustration, that the world was patting me on the head and going, “there, there, darling, wouldn’t you like some lovely flowers? Perhaps you won’t kill your next dull potted plant.”

That is, at least, until I remembered that I had done a hydroponic garden as a science experiment in high school (independent study, long story). We’d been given at some point an expensive hydroponic garden, everything included, by someone who’d grown fed up with it and given up. I was able to more than make it work, but in fact make it produce, even without fully understanding nutrients and pH levels, (worse, I didn’t entirely understand the science of which plants needed which nutrients, and as a result, all the plants got too much or too little of what they actually needed).

The benefits of a hydroponic garden are many, but let’s look at how they stack up against the limitations of an indoor container vegetable garden:

Suffice it to say, I discovered that old hydroponic system is still around and fully intact, if unused for about ten years. I’ll be setting up our storage closet in the coming weeks, dusting off the system, replacing necessary parts (presumably a new motor for water filtration), perhaps adapting some new functionality, such as an air stone, getting a sturdy and adjustable stand (and probably some new bulbs) for my light, buying a light timer, seeds, new grow media, pH tester and adjusters, liquid nutrients and a big ol’ floor mat to protect our carpeting.

I’m very excited to start growing a vegetable garden at home! It’s not quite as romantic as I’d originally envisioned, but it will be well-contained and protected, out of harms way, and out of our way, and hopefully we’ll get some wonderful yields!