"Karma Repair Kit: Items 1-4"
1. Get enough food to eat,
    and eat it.

2. Find a place to sleep where it is quiet,
    and sleep there.

3. Reduce intellectual activity and emotional noise
    until you arrive at the silence of yourself,
    and listen to it.

4. 



- Richard Brautigan, 1967



Not a day passes when I don't have a new idea about things I want/need to accomplish in this lifetime. I intend to start... one of these days. Without the forced deadlines of college, it is increasingly difficult to stay motivated. Not to mention I live on the beach, where the weather is perfect for daydreaming and playing outside... all day. And when night comes, I do on occasion bartend at a country/honky tonk bar.... how ironic.. probably the last place in the world you'd find me. But it is fun.

And not that I need it, but no one ever warned me how easy it would be to get off track after school is over. Almost 6 months out now. If you had asked me where I'd be after college a couple years ago and blah blah blah etc. what everyone says. I am happy. I'm working it out. I'm Taylor Chloe Berk.

Still baking insanely good for you treats, hosting weekly dinner parties, planning trips, hanging with Jimbo America, writing, reading, surfing, smiling. My brother has commissioned me to grocery shop for him and cook weekly meals, healthy of course. Could this start a new business? I am still waiting for my phone call from the Food Network begging me to star in my own show and be sent to exotic locations to commentate. Until that day comes.... which should be around next year or so..... I will continue on. 

 

In the spirit of year-round island warmth, I give you a snapper ceviche recipe.

 

What you need:

• 8 ounces snapper fillet large dice
• 8 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice
• 1/4 cup mango juice
• 2 roma tomatoes
• 1 small red onion small dice
• 2 to 3 medium serrano chiles, diced (remove seeds if you want it milder)
• handful of chopped cilantro

What to do:

1. Place fish in a nonreactive mixing bowl, and toss with 2 tablespoons of the lime juice until it is well coated. Cover and refrigerate for 2 1/2 to 3 hours (the fish should be opaque in color and firm to the touch).
2. About 30 minutes before the fish is ready, combine remaining 6 tablespoons lime juice with mango juice, tomatoes, onion, chiles, and cilantro in a nonreactive mixing bowl; set aside to marinate.
3. When the fish is ready, add tomato-onion mixture and toss to combine. To serve, season with salt and freshly ground black pepper and transfer ceviche to chilled serving dishes. Add homemade guacamole on the side to balance out the heat in the serrano peppers.

 Adapted and improved from a recipe on CHOW.com.

I have successfully ignored my cooking blog all summer. It is September 2 and I have way too many new recipes that need to be on here. It has been a summer of working, surfing, cooking, and music. Is there any other way to spend your summer? I complain sometimes, but it could be worse than living on an island. Not to mention an island that has had more than a couple days of waves and sunshine. Before I get right down to it, I'd you to play this track while you browse my summer recipe photos:


Miami Horror has been killing it lately, a smooth backbeat with a disco groove. Its mellow bassline is enough to relax and daydream about places you might want to be.

So now that you've got your appropriate baking track,we can begin:

Here is a list of all the delicious treats on this page:
1. French silk pie
2. Fresh mango tart with orange mango curd
3. Mexicali pizza
4. Sweet & savory plantains
5. Coconut apricot bread
6. Chocolate chip espresso almond ice cream cake (Vegan!)
7. Copious amounts of sushi... cannot get enough.
8. Triple chocolate butterfinger ice cream cake
9. Lemon cream pie
10. Another shot of the coconut apricot bread...
11. Vegan pancakes with mango, cinnamon coconut milk & honey
12. German chocolate cake
13. Vegan burrito bowl with fresh baked chili tortilla chips

There is more, and there will be more posts to come. I don't want to overwhelm you. We haven't seen each other all summer, and it's always fun to leave a little mystery. Check back soon for recipes, music, and much more.

It's full-on summer here in Anastasia Island. Surprisingly, it feels completely normal to be living here again. I have my morning run and swim on the beach in front of my house. I walk Jimbo in the morning in my bikini drinking hot chai to wake up. I attempted to go to work today, but surf camp was canceled due to lack of kids for the week. I am convinced to get some kind of work done this week, mainly writing out the stories I've been working on about Jimbo "America" Jenkins travels and experimenting with some new flavor combinations in baking.

Sometime I can't stand heavy desserts in the sweltering Florida humidity, so I turned to the ultimate summer fruit- peaches.... or nectarines. I know for a fact I baked one of these fruits. No, I was not drunk. When I was buying fruit, there was an entire section labeled "Peaches or Nectarines." I am not kidding. They were ripe, a color between the two, and just fuzzy enough to leave me bewildered. If that's not bad enough, the stickers on these mystery fruits were not labeled with anything but a number. It didn't even say where they came from! I purchased them anyhow, because they were ripe, and with peaches or nectarines you really can't go wrong. However, is it some strange hybrid fruit? But I digress.....  I made a peach or nectarine crisp. It has few ingredients and an insane amount of flavor.

Peach OR Nectarine Crisp:

Filling:
8 peaches or nectarines, sliced
juice of 1 lemon
3/4 cup evaporated cane juice raw sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ginger
1 tsp cardamom
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp vanilla extract
handful of flour

Topping:
1 cup rolled oats
1 cups chopped walnuts
1 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup Earth Balance vegan butter

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Toss the peaches or nectarines with the sugar first, adding in the lemon, the vanilla, and then the spices. Toss with flour your liking, it depends on how juicy you want the filling to be versus thicker like a pie filling. Pour the filling into an 8x8 glass baking dish.

In a separate bowl, mix the walnuts, oats, and brown sugar. Melt the butter in a saucepan and then add slowly mixing as you pour. This should create a sticky, combined texture. You don't want it to be too dry or too wet. It can be easily corrected if it's too dry, simply add more butter. If too wet, add more oats or sprinkle some flour in there. Get creative... you could even add chopped candied ginger or chopped macadamia nuts. Go wild.

Bake in the oven for 45 minutes. The top will bubble through the crisp topping a little bit. Let cool for 10 minutes. Serve alone or with ice cream. Also good for breakfast....................

My "to-do" list is out of control. I have skipped items 1-15 to bake double chocolate peanut butter brownies and listen to Hall & Oates. Think "Private Eyes" and "I Can't Go For That (No Can Do)".



As far as moving out goes, I have been failing. As far as baking goes, I have been very successful. In the past ten days, I have made the following: a rustic apple tart, chewy oatmeal raisin cookies, pineapple upside down cake (twice), coconut peanut butter cookies, and the brownies mentioned above.


It's bittersweet moving out of my home in Charleston, but the future is so full of options. I am going to be setting up at the St. Augustine farmer's market this summer, pushing my baked goods and possibly a little print out of all my recipes. I'll finally be able to spend some real time on writing and surfing more, along with my side projects... Hopefully planting some watermelons and getting the banana trees back on track.

There are worse places to be than living on an island for an undetermined amount of time. Love my family. Love that I actually finished college on time.

Don't worry about that Italian white linen dress... just stylin' after graduation.

Lately, I must confess, my baking has been way off. Banana bread not moist enough. Pizza crusts... just... subpar at best. Admittedly, my head has been completely in the clouds, but I like it there. This week I'm gaining some clarity through a bit of a fast/yoga/sunshine fest.. Glad I chose the week where I'm bombarded with work, exams, papers, and projects, but so it goes. Baking failures aside, I did make one thing I am very proud of undertaking. Rhubarb-peach pie with a lattice crust. This is the ultimate Martha Stewart kind of pie. I even used my fancy William Sonoma cakestand to display it.

Proudly this recipe is my own, making the pate brisee crust, using raw sugar and minimal ingredients to let the tartness of the rhubarb and the juicy sweetness of the peach takeover the pie.

Rhubarb-Peach Pie

2 pie crusts (this is what I did)
2 1/2 cups rhubarb, chopped
3 cups fresh peaches sliced
1 cup turbinado sugar
juice of 1/2 lemon
3-ish tbsp flour
cinnamon & nutmeg to taste
1 tsp vanilla
Earth balance vegan "butter"

Preheat the oven to 350. Roll out one of your pie crusts into a pie dish and roll the other out onto the counter  on a floured surface. You will use these after you make the filling.

Toss the fruit with the sugar, flour, lemon juice, vanilla, and spices. I like a good bit of cinnamon and nutmeg in mine, but to each his own. Let it sit while you make the lattice crust.  Feel free to add more flour is necessary because the rhubarb can be a bit watery, especially when it bakes.

Pour the fruit filling into the crust and top with a lattice pattern. Bake for about an hour.

I would let the pie cool a bit and also let the filling thicken. My pie didn't even last over 24 hours and I bet yours won't either.

In other news...random websites I found today...
My Very Worst Date
Unnecessary Quotes
Literally, a weblog

RAWR.

Why do my Tuesdays feel like Mondays? Would it be alright to claim I have a case of the Tuesdays? Had a party at my house on Friday night that ended up with foamy kegs due to tap problems and then the ratio spun out of control until it turned into BroParty 2010. Got to see Rocky Horror and Designer Drugs on Saturday night... Bottomless mimosas on Sunday. This would explain how Monday felt like Sunday, hence Tuesday as Monday. I can feel summer is on its way because all the days are blending together.

End of a mind-numbing, make me want to shoot myself week. Nearly every day was spent waking up early, working out, classes with library time all day until I came home and passed out to repeat. My room was a hazard area with my board bad overflowing with clothes and what have you from my trip to Puerto Rico last week. Despite being completely exhausted, I am in a stellar mood. Figured out some life plans.. got a few great things going on currently. I have compiled a short list of things I'm stoked about:

1. Moving to FL for my last summer at home; doing surf lessons @ Surf Station thanks to MattOBear.
2. Designer Drugs next weekend.. whaaaaat
3. Planning a trip to El Salvador with Sarah (and anyone else who'd like to join)
4. Bought Jimbo America a rawhide baseball, he's psyched on it.
5. Drafting a series of children's books based on Jimbo America Jenkins.
6. Getting my yoga on a regular basis.
7. Electro everyday all day + sunshine.
8. Just created a new recipe: Banana upside down brownie cake.

Pics/ recipe of the banana brownie treat to come.

This is a great song to swing your hair around to and shake it. That's what I'll be doing tonight.

part II

"We stopped at perfect days

and got out of the car.

The wind glanced at your hair.

It was as simple as that.

I turned to say something..."
 

part I

Something was missing

I realized I was in love with a voice
I called it, again, and again
But all I heard was the echo in the light.

I have been sitting on my computer writing Art Mag e-blasts (online newsletters)...since... Oh.. say 8ish. I'm tired. Why am I am on YouTube. Why are you not on YouTube?

Dark chocolate. Peanut butter.

Need I say more? Oh, it's vegan too... with a homemade honey graham cracker crust.

Tonight I am going to a "salon" party put on by my boss at the Art Mag. Remember the good ol' days when we could sit around in a fancy parlor and discuss the Age of Enlightenment? Well I don't either, but I do know that when one has a party, especially with a "Love, Lust, and Seduction" theme, I would bring a pie.

Love, lust, and especially seduction can all be attained through dark chocolate in my opinion. For me it would be chocolate and Joao Gilberto, so maybe I'll bring a mixed CD too.

You could also make this for your sweetheart/best friend/ anyone for Valentine's Day... but don't be cliche, make it on a random Wednesday for someone who deserves it.

My next random baking adventure for some lucky lad will be a raspberry truffle tart from the Joy of Baking. Stay tuned.

Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie

12 oz good quality dark chocolate chips (I used Ghiradelli)

1 package silken tofu

12 full honey graham crackers

about 1/2 c Earth Balance "butter"

3/4 c natural peanut butter

vegan confectioner's sugar to taste (I used less tha 1/4 cup?)

I used a springform pan, but you could use any pie dish as well.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Crush the graham crackers until crumbly, breaking up all the pieces so it makes a finer texture. Melt the butter, add it gradually to the graham until it becomes able to stick together. Press the mixture into the springform pan, or whatever you're using. Bake for about 10 minutes, then pop it in the freezer to cool.

Let's make the filling! Melt the dark chocolate chips in the microwaves. Put them in a microwave safe bowl and heat on 50% power for 4 minutes or so, stirring every so often. Meanwhile, put the tofu in the blender and whip until smooth and fluffy. This will make for a nice light pie texture.

When the chocolate is ready, pour it into the blender and whip again until completely combined, scraping the sides when necessary. Pour the chocolate filling into your cooled crust.

And now for the peanut butter... Melt it in the microwave for a minute. Stir in the powdered sugar to taste. This thickens up the peanut butter so it hardens nicely in the chocolate.

Pour the peanut butter over the chocolate and use a spatula or fork to swirl in a nice pattern. Put it in the fridge for a few hours or overnight for best results. Enjoy with friends.

This has been my theme song all day... good for baking and putting out the right kind of vibes.

I can't believe it's already February. Just booked my ticket to roam Puerto Rico in a month... thrilled. I need sunshine, waves, and Medalla in my life.

Today was a very active day. I actually went to three different supermarkets today, along with various errands and class. I may actually be addicted to food shopping. I swear a get a hard on when I look at fresh fruit. It's a problem. I went to Harris Teeter this morning.. followed by the Vegetable Bin this afternoon, and eventually Whole Foods in Mount Pleasant. I bought two different types of pears, a bag of golden delicious apples, coconut, bananas, and several other random fruits. I can't help myself. Maybe they have a support group for fruit addiction. Fruit Addicts Anonymous? So what if I sit in my film class and daydream about baking a rustic apple tart. If you fault me for that then you can't have any of my baked goods.

Tomorrow night Sarah and I are going to an oyster roast... already bought myself a nice bottle of sauvignon blanc to bring.

Friday night we're having a little Prosecco & Pizza dinner party. There is nothing I love more than making pizza from scratch.... maybe even throwing it on the grill. Psyched.

Here's a video I enjoy showing anyone who decides to come over after last call. It's disturbing and I like it.

"-Hear is not the right word. I became a telephone. Edith was the electrical conversation that went through me.
-Well, what was it, what was it?
-Machinery.
-Machinery?
-Ordinary eternal machinery.
-And?
-Ordinary eternal machinery.
-Is that all you are going to say?
-Ordinary eternal machinery like the grinding of the stars.
-That’s better.
-That was a distortion of the truth which, I see, suits you very well. I distorted the truth to make it easier for you. The truth is: ordinary eternal machinery."

-Leonard Cohen. Beautiful Losers, 1966




Something about this Wednesday feels off. I'm on edge. I haven't been sleeping unless I've been drinking all night. I guess I should post a recipe.. I did make some pretty scrumptious jalapeno cheddar cornbread the other night, but forgot to take pictures. here's the recipe anyway just for the hell of it:

Jalapeno Cheddar Cornbread:

1 cup corn meal
1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1/8 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon celtic sea salt
1 cup buttermilk
2 large eggs, beaten
8 tablespoons earth balance, melted
6 ounces (113 g) extra sharp cheddar, grated
2 large jalapeno peppers diced

Preheat the oven to 375F. Spray a 9inch nonstick cake pan or springform pan with cooking spray.

In one bowl, add the first 5 ingredients and stir. Make a little opening in the flour mixture and pour in the buttermilk, eggs, and earth balance. Stir until combined. Fold in the cheddar and diced jalapenos.

Pour into the pan and bake for 35-38 minutes. Enjoy.

Today is my birthday and I feel like a grown up! I'm sitting on my couch icing my knee because I guess I was dancing too hard last night.. ha ha.. Like that's even possible! Sarah and I found a DJ blasting some dirty electro.. pretty much everything I have on my iPod, and I couldn't have been happier.

They even played Oh! by Boys Noize.. The A-trak remix... I was in heaven. Sarah made me a beautiful vegan chocolate strawberry ice cream cake with chocolate ganache frosting. I can't wait to devour it later.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME.