This is a note my roommate Jocelyn found on Wentworth Street the other day. She left it open on my desk for me to find. She is wonderful. There is nothing I love more than finding a odd little note meant for someone else. I wonder if "Allie" ever got the note at all. "Dave" surely needs to brush up on his heart drawing skills. I do appreciate that he was bold enough to call her "snuggle buns" in writing.

Anyway.... This is a really busy week for me. I'm working on a lot of things for the Charleston Green Fair this weekend. The first night we are doing an event called GreenFlix. We're showing a film called The Botany of Desire. It's all about marijuana, tulips, and apples. Here's a preview.



So the Art Mag is setting up a clothing swap, like that of Eye Level Art the other weekend. We are also going to do some screen printing on the clothes people donated. Some screen prints will say "Art Lovers are the Best Lovers." And we are. Ha ha...

We'll be making a party yurt filled with furniture, a changing room, and probably some cocktails. There will be vegan chocolate truffles and beer from Sweetwater brewery. I just hate working these awful events! ;)

While I have been gearing up for that, I didn't forget how much I wanted to make a pizza from scratch. I've been playing around with temperature setting for the crust, seeing how I don't own a brick oven... yet. I tried a new way of making the dough as well. I had heard that making the dough the night before and letting it rise in the fridge overnight adds flavor and a chewy texture when baked. It is absolutely true.



You can leave the fresh dough in the fridge up to three days wrapped in plastic. Here is a recipe off Food & Wine's website because I don't feel like typing out a dough recipe. My main recommendation on this is use more flour than what they call for in the recipe. The dough is really almost too shaggy to handle at the beginning.



To bake the pizza, try setting the broiler to 500. Bake for about 10 minutes. For the pizza I simply used some good quality extra virgin olive oil in lieu of marinara sauce to mix it up.



I added some fresh minced garlic, sliced roma tomatoes, ripped pieces of basil, and added whole milk mozzarella di bufala. Do not skimp on the mozzarella. It makes the pizza, seriously.



Life is too short to buy cheap ingredients.



To top it off, I used a little cracked pepper, celtic sea salt, and crushed red pepper.



Let's be honest.....I ate the whole thing by myself.

Tonight I had the pleasure of attending the "Style Swap" at a gallery downtown called Eye Level Art. The whole idea is to bring a designer piece of clothing "gently worn" and in exchange you can bid on clothes for free. The bidding is in the form of tickets you place on clothes on a rack. Kind of confusing... well... I was confused but I won a sweet blazer! I brought a BCBG Max Azria pale pink pleated skirt I have worn once. I didn't want to let it go because I wore it to a winter dance ONCE. I said take it before I change my mind! Wine from Social... cupcakes from a bakery downtown.. loved it. It was actually something my boss at Charleston Art Mag asked me to show up for to fill the goodie bags with our newest issue.. I ended up seeing some friends.. meeting some new people..and all that.

Being back on the scene and single is weird but fun. I haven't been alone in awhile. I want to dedicate some new recipes to being single. I still cook for my roommates, of course. The other night I made them a spaghetti fritatta.. and last Thursday I made them sweet potato and black bean enchiladas... all vegan of course because of Sarah. I like to eat vegan because it tastes the same but is generally much healthier. Lucky for me, Sarah's mom sent her to Charleston with a ton of fresh peppers. I happened to come to school with lots of black beans and sweet potatoes. A match made in heaven? I think so. Here's your recipe.

Sweet Tater and Black Bean Enchilada Heaven:

2-3 sweet potatoes, steamed, skinned and cut into cubes
16 oz black beans rinsed
4 Anaheim chili peppers assorted colors chopped
1 red onions chopped
3 cloves garlic minced
extra virgin olive oil
cumin
nutmeg
tumeric
crushed red pepper
celtic sea salt & pepper
12 corn tortillas
frontera enchilada sauce (from whole foods)
shredded rice "cheese"

This is simple and logical as far as progression of ingredients goes.

First saute the onions, peppers, and garlic in the olive oil until tender, about 10 minutes on a lower heat.







Meanwhile, mash the sweet potatoes to make a smoother consistency. Add the tumeric, cumin, nutmeg, sea salt, pepper, and red pepper. You can mash the black beans with the potatoes or leave them whole. I left the beans whole because I like the texture better.



Grab a 9x13 glass dish and pour a little enchilada sauce on the bottom. You will be using this to coat the tortillas.

Heat tortillas one by one in a non-greased skillet. Once hot, take that tortilla and cover both sides of it in the dish with the enchilada sauce. Once coated, fill it with the black bean/ sweet potato mixture and top with the onion, garlic, and chile mixture. Roll it and push it to the left end of the dish to reserve room for the other 11 tortillas. Use the enchilada sauce liberally. There's plenty and it's delicious.



When finished rolling the enchiladas, cover with the rest of the sauce and the entire package of shredded rice cheese (2 cups?).

Throw it in the oven for about 30 minutes uncovered. This will melt the cheese and heat the inside.



There's something I love about enchiladas... I'm an Italian obsessed with Mexican food and I won't deny it.



Next week I want to make a honey almond chocolate torte..... so stay tuned.