Things I Love Thursday

Self Portrait with Covered Hair Rollers, Inner Richmond, April 2013 by Vivian Fu

SweetPotatoHandpie by IsaChandra on Flickr.

20-year-old Sylvia Plath in 1953 (source).

Billie Holiday, photographed by William Gottlieb, between 1946 and 1948 (source).

"Me and my sister at angels knoll in downtown Los Angeles" (source).

Some days are bittersweet, but hope can be a magical thing. I look forward to days that are almost two months away. I don't have very much money to my name at all. I've been writing secretly about old sad days, hoping to give up the memories, hoping to scrub them away as if with a coarse sponge. I'm nearing the end of reading the Harry Potter series for the first time and I know I'll feel slightly empty inside once it's over. I'm loving the openness of my future while simultaneously fearing it. I'm loving my friends and the people I hope to meet one day. I love, and sometimes retreat from, the enthusiasm of others. Blue skies and grey skies are equally appreciated. I will always be mystified by and half-in-love-with PJ Harvey.

Also:

• The thoughtfulness and care shown by a friend who made me dinner last week.
• Packing. I love packing. The organization of it makes me feel at ease.
• Drinking enough water.
• Listening to my old CD copy of the Gilmore girls soundtrack.
• The Red Brigade.
• The sweet potato hand pies I made from Pie in the Sky.
• Sirus Black a.k.a. Padfoot.
• Carrie Brownstein's new American Express commercial. Dreamy. Also: the fact that she was on the SNL series finale!
• This BRILLIANT tea calendar.
• The Shawn Carter Foundation.
• Falling asleep and waking up early.
• Planting flowers. Getting dirt under your fingernails.
• Big breakfasts, always. Homemade veggie burgers, always.
• Being purge-free for the greater part of the last year and a half.
• My wife's fight with breast cancer (BEWARE: it's tear-inducing).
• Drinking hot tea on the front porch with the cool morning air.

What do you love? Who? How? When? Where?

Spring Sizzle: Spiced Sweet Potato Burgers

With spring and summer come spirited barbecues and other hot-weather get-togethers; this is where celebrations ceremoniously move to the poolside, on the covered back patio, and under large shade-trees. No one wants to turn on the oven in this sun-drenched weather that causes us to sweat before our coffee or cold overnight oats are even finished... My spiced sweet potato burger only requires relatively little cooking on the stovetop (similar to the spicy black bean burger I shared a handful of months ago) and its deep orange color evokes a bright day's outdoor festivities (perhaps alongside some cool watermelon or grilled corn on the cob). Other no-bake summer foods you may want to check out: avocado frozen yogurt, white summer sangria, avocado lime tequila popsicles, nutella rice crispy treats, raw strawberry cheesecake, strawberry mâche salad, perfect grilled portobellos, blueberry chipotle barbecue sauce, flatbreads with creamy red pepper scallion spread, grilled peaches with ginger coconut caramel, trattoria pasta salad, etc.

The hint of spiced sweetness found in these burgers will have you impressed with yourself after the first bite (at least I was)! Today I ate my burger on a halved large slice of toasted sourdough bread, sandwiched between fresh spinach leaves. Yum.

Jenny's Spiced Sweet Potato Burgers

I imagine you could also use white beans (cannellini beans) in place of the chickpeas. I just peeled and steamed my sweet potato before mashing it. If you don't have sweet potato, I imagine you could use pumpkin purée or another mashed squash like butternut or acorn.

Ingredients

• 2 tbsp whole wheat, gluten-free, or white flour
• 1/2 cup plus 2 tbsp breadcrumbs, divided
• olive oil
• 1 diced medium-size white or yellow onion
• 2-5 garlic cloves, minced or pressed
• 1 15.5oz can of chickpeas (garbanzo beans), drained and rinsed
• 1 cup cooked and well-mashed sweet potato
• 2 tsp chili powder
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ground ginger
• 1/2 tsp ground coriander
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1/2 tsp salt
• A few dashes fresh black pepper
• 1/4 cup minced fresh parsley or cilantro

In a shallow bowl, combine flour and 2 tbsp of bread crumbs. Set aside for coating the burgers later.

In a pan over medium heat, heat a little oil and sauté the onion and garlic until the onion becomes translucent. Turn off the heat.

In a large bowl, mash chickpeas with a potato masher or fork. Mash with the sweet potato, then combine with sautéed onion and garlic, remaining 1/2 cup of bread crumbs, chili powder, cinnamon, ginger, coriander, cumin, salt, pepper, and parsley. Mix well.

Shape your mixture into burger patties. You can make them as large or small as you want; I usually end up with 5 burgers using this recipe. Coat each patty with flour/breadcrumbs and place in a medium-heated, oiled pan (I usually just use the same cast iron skillet that I sautéed the veggies in). Cook the burgers for 8-10 minutes on each side, or until browned.

Happy Mother's Day Cake

Last night I made my white cake but with some adjustments to create a white almond cake with vanilla bean buttercream, topped with shaved German chocolate. To make this, simply follow the original recipe but substitute the vanilla extract in the cake and simple syrup with pure almond extract. Also, when cooking the simple syrup, throw a whole vanilla bean in there. To make the buttercream, omit the lemon juice /zest and food coloring and add the scraped insides of a vanilla bean (the one that was brought to a boil in the simple syrup). Also add some nondairy milk, a teaspoon at a time, if the consistency of the frosting is too thick. Top with shaved dark chocolate and/or chopped almonds!

Things I Love Thursday

“Don’t plant your bad days. They grow into weeks. 

The weeks grow into months. Before you know it, 

you got yourself a bad year. Take it from me - choke 

those little bad days. Choke ‘em down to nothing.”

Tom Waits

"Body language affects how others see us, but it may also change how we see ourselves. 

Social psychologist Amy Cuddy shows how 'power posing' -- standing in a posture of confidence, 

even when we don't feel confident -- can affect testosterone and cortisol levels in the brain, 

and might even have an impact on our chances for success."

"When Joshua Prager was 19, a devastating bus accident left him a hemiplegic. 

He returned to Israel twenty years later to find the driver who turned his world 

upside down. In this mesmerizing tale of their meeting, Prager probes deep 

questions of nature, nurture, self-deception and destiny."

Quite a few links this week, but that happens sometimes:

• The two above Ted Talks; they both moved me to tears. The second especially hit home (for obvious reasons).
• Shortbread cookies.
• A clean bathroom.
• This stuffed eggplant recipe (that came out beautifully delicious!).
• Poetry! I've been reading through a couple issues of Rattle lately.
• Wearing skirts and tank tops in hot weather (I may even bust out my wedges this week!).
• The Nu Project.
• The Body Images Project.
• The Google Ngram Viewer.
• reCAPTCHA.
• Duolingo.
• Frida's closet, always.
• A feminist critique of cisgender.

Any links you care to share this week?