Meatloafing: gmd
Benjamin: Gmd
Meatloafing: is “deskfast” a good term for breakfast eaten at one’s desk?
Benjamin: Its a little awkward to say but it works
Meatloafing: ok

Recipe: Oatmeal, a little brown sugar, cinnamon, flax seeds, bananas, and a spoonful of Peanut Butter & Co. Dark Chocolate Dreams (peanut butter blended with rich dark chocolate).

Now that you’ve gathered ingredients and supplies, it’s time to start brewing! Ingredients and supplies are listed in Part One of the EZ Kombucha Guide.

Part Two: Fermentation

1. Put your SCOBY aside in a glass bowl. I use a Pyrex measuring cup. Keep it in the fridge until it’s ready to use. No need to cover it unless you’ll be storing for more than the time it takes to cool the boiling water (Step 2) and/or your fridge really smells.
2. Boil 3 1/2 quarts of water in a large pot. I actually have a 1.8-quart Le Creuset tea kettle (right), so I just use two kettlefuls of tap water, which makes for easy pouring later. Distilled water is recommended by some folks, but if your tap water is good, then that’s fine. It’s wasteful to buy bottled water unless necessary. If you have a home filtration system like Brita, then of course use that.
3. Let the water cool until it’s not scorchingly hot, and then pour into the glass jar. Careful! I actually pour the boiling water right into the jar so I can start boiling another kettleful, and I haven’t had any problems at all, but Meatloafing readers may want to use more caution. Fill the jar to the point where it starts to get smaller, near the lid.
4. Add 5-6 tea bags* and let steep for 5-8 minutes (5 if the water’s boiling, 8 if it’s really hot but not boiling). Discard tea. Continue for photos!

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Smokra. Better picture TK.

Sorry for the lack of updates. Meatloafing is technically a “seasonal lifestyle website.” Basically, that means we don’t write much—at least not when laziness or SAD kicks in.

But we’ve been out and about lately, spending quality time with good friends and spreading the good word of pickling. Our latest project was inspired by Rick’s Pick’s Smokra, a product we’ve never tried but have read good things about. In this economy (ok, in any economy. we’re thrifty.), though, $12.99 for a 15 oz. jar seems rather steep. Meatloafing’s version of Smokra cost a mere $4 and yielded at least twice the amount of the lightly fuzzy* pentagonal fruit. The recipe is a variation of our basic dilly bean recipe; main differences include the lack of dill and the generous heap of pimentón de la vera (smoked paprika). We also only used white vinegar (ACV just didn’t seem right in this case) and added some cumin seeds to complement the smokiness. Read on for the complete list of ingredients:

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Today Mat asked us “What are Meatloafing’s tips to fight the recession?” His own tips included bringing lunch to work, composting, and gardening. We couldn’t agree more.

Our answer? Pickling: a simple luxury that’s cheap, low-stress, and extremely fulfilling. And lately we’ve really been into the kind of cooking where you just throw some stuff into a jar and let it sit for a couple weeks. Inspired by Yossi—who recently pickled some beets!—as well as the recipes in Arthur Schwartz’s Jewish Home Cooking: Yiddish Recipes Revisited, we finally picked (heh) up some green beans and made these deliciously snappy pods. Yep, it’s true: pickling is the new plaid.

Filling the jars with brine:

Pickling from Mollie Lauffer on Vimeo.

Continue reading for photos and recipe!

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The quiche, fresh out of the oven

Quiche is easy, delicious, and attractive. This recipe—our first stab at quiche, although we used to make a mean frittata—is both versatile and forgiving. Swap out the bacon and ’shrooms for broccoli. If you want to make your own crust, by all means, go for it. Forgo the half & half and just use milk if you want a lower-fat (and less tasty) quiche. And so on.

Ingredients

• 1 frozen 9-inch pie shell from Whole Foods
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 6–8 slices bacon, cut crosswise into 1/2-inch pieces
• 1/2 pound mushrooms, sliced (I used cremini)
• 1 cup good swiss cheese, sliced or grated
• 1/2 cup whole milk
• 1/2 cup half & half
• 4 eggs
• 1 teaspoon dijon mustard
• Dash of cayenne and nutmeg
• s + p
• Herbs of your choosing

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We doubled this recipe and ended up swimming in stuffing on Thanksgiving. Yay, leftovers. This recipe—a Meatloafing original—has a lot of warm, comforting flavors and some nice textural highlights. Tip: Construct a celery partition to keep meat and veg stuffings separate (see photo above).

Ingredients

• 1 loaf rustic white bread, cubed, with crusts intact (1-1 1/4 pounds)
• 2 or so cups chicken stock (homemade if possible)
• 1 carrot, cut into several large pieces
• 2 stalks celery, cut into several large pieces
• 1 medium onion, chopped into small pieces
• 1/2 can sliced water chestnuts, coarsely chopped
• 1/2 cup walnuts
• 1/2 cup half & half
• 1 teaspooon (more? add this to taste) poultry seasoning
• Black pepper
• Butter
• canola oil
• 1 egg
• 1 roll pork breakfast sausage or 8-10 oz cremini mushrooms, roughly sliced (or use both, but halve the amounts)

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Sometimes I like to get fancy with ginger-infused syrups and mint leaves and stuff, but sometimes a basic punch is in order. If the weather is getting you down, throw yourself a party and enjoy a cup of this traditional and heartwarming punch.

Ingredients

• 2 liters 7-Up or a mixture of 7-Up and ginger ale (we prefer Canada Dry)
• 1 32-oz bottle pomegranate juice (hella cheap at your local C-Town or Food Dimensions) or cranberry juice
• 1 tub lime or rainbow sherbet

Directions

Combine chilled beverages in a cute glass punch bowl. Using a soup or ice cream scoop, gently plop half the sherbet atop the mixture. Add the rest of the sherbet when amount in punch dwindles.