point quiet

I really like this band. I am a sucker for lapsteels. The music makes me feel like I am going to be living in a trailer park in the middle of no where when I am old.

happy birthday nova!

My darling flower girl and cousin, Nova had a birthday this weekend. Klo and Steve partied it up at the San Francisco Gynastics Center. Thanks for inviting us. Kaia had a blast!

grand lake farmer's market

We went to check out the Grand Lake Farmer's Market.

It was pretty cool; a lot bigger than our neighborhood one. My favorite thing was the mini bus of waffles.



I spotted a teardrop trailer. One of these days I going to make my own.

food betas

Video game betas are so common in my life, I forget alpha and beta stages are used in all products. Just recently I got some from Cowgirl Creamery and TCHO.
TCHO is making a milk chocolate bar and I ordered the .2 test. Both bars were utter crap in texture and flavor, so I am going to wait until the 4th or 5th iteration to test again. I am pretty confident they'll make a terrific milk chocolate in the end. Their dark chocolates are amazing and I now use their organic baking chocolates in my desserts.

Cowgirl Creamery is trying to create a hard cheese. Right now it's in semi- hard phase and it's at batch number 32. I think they should stop there. It's mild, with a nice bite at the tip of the tongue and I ate practically the whole thing in just one sitting.

It's pretty cool giving feedback for food in the same way I give feed back to gaming companies. Go out there and try new stuff, you can always say you helped that particular product get that way with your opinions!

beans in brownies?

I had some adzuki beans, honey, and chocolate sitting around and I decided to make brownies. Yes, it's odd, but using honey instead of sugar and beans instead of flour not only cuts your calories, but it's better for you! Check out my recipe:

4 ounces unsweetened chocolate
1 cup unsalted butter cut in cubes at room temp
2 cups canned adzuki bean
1/2 cup almond meal
1.5 tablespoon vanilla extract
¼ teaspoon sea salt
4 large eggs
1 cups honey (I use Star Thistle)
1/2 cup of walnuts roughly chopped
Preheat the oven to 325°F.

Melt the chocolate and butter double boiler. When melted, stir the bowl in the middle until the chocolate has mixed well with the butter.

Place the beans, almond meal, the vanilla extract, and a 1/4 cup of the melted chocolate mixture into the bowl. I used my stick blender to get it smooth. I am sure a food processor or a blender will work just as well.

In a larger bowl, mix together the walnuts, remaining melted chocolate mixture, and salt.
In a separate bowl, beat the eggs until light and creamy (I used my Kitchen Aid, but you can use a hand mixer). Add the honey and beat well.
Add the bean mixture to the chocolate mixture. Stir until blended well. Then add the egg mixture until all blended.

Place in your greased pan and bake for about 35 minutes. Enjoy!