Shiny Cooking is all about delicious, mostly vegetarian recipes that use whole grains, natural foods, local foods, and fresh food from the garden, with an emphasis on heirloom (non-hybrid) variety seed stock. Check the "about" page for more about me, and subscribe now to the RSS feed to get automatic updates.
July 28, 2009 in main course, salad • 1 comment
Shrinkage. It’s not just for George Costanza anymore. Thanks to rising costs and a disinclination towards outwardly raising prices, food manufacturers are selling less for the same price. Everything comes in a smaller package these days, and not all of it is due to chilly swimming pools.
And in the process, mucking up loads and loads [...]
July 23, 2009 in breads, desserts, vegetarian • no comments yet
Oh gods. Rotting bananas on the counter again.
I don’t want banana bread. I’ll just put half of it in the freezer and forget it’s there.
Oh! A recipe for banana-chocolate chip muffins. I like chocolate chips, yes I do.
And about 45 minutes later these babies came out of the oven, all gently crisped tops and [...]
July 20, 2009 in breads, vegan, vegetarian • 11 comments
Don’t you just get bored with bread sometimes? Bla bla sandwich, bla bla toast. Wouldn’t it be so much more fun to stuff egg salad or beans and lettuce or —
Stop the presses! Shut. Down. EVERYTHING. (We’ll intersperse some tortilla-making photos during this break.)
The latest casting news for the upcoming HBO production of George R. [...]
July 18, 2009 in shameless plug • no comments yet
I’ve entered the strawberry buttermilk shortcake recipe and pic in a contest at Mixing Bowl.
Help me win the $250 prize and I’ll buy a neat little cooking gadget to give away!
As I so shamelessly Twittered, please do me a solid and click this link to vote for “whole wheat strawberry buttermilk shortcake” at Mixing Bowl. [...]
July 17, 2009 in 100 calorie snack, desserts, gluten-free, vegan, vegetarian • 2 comments
Check out this awesome bowl Dad found under the house.
Under the house, you say? Why yes, under the house. Why do you ask?
Oh, you didn’t know. My house got a new foundation this spring.
Wow, those plum blossoms in the background sure look pretty.
So yesterday Dad, his cousin, and the guy who works with [...]
July 16, 2009 in canning and freezing, how to • 4 comments
Why would you want to make currant juice?
I can think of a few reasons, one of which is definitely going to show up here shortly.
One, to make currant jelly. Now, I’m a strawberry jam girl, so I don’t make currant jelly, but if you put some currant jelly in front of me, I won’t complain.
Two, [...]
July 11, 2009 in main course, vegetarian • 2 comments
Hey, look, another super simple recipe that is super yummy.
I know. Fried rice is intended as a leftover-user. Day-old rice? Make fried rice with it! Unfortunately for the rice, fried rice is so good on its own that it gets made a lot on purpose here and never makes it to day-old status.
In fact, [...]
July 9, 2009 in breakfast / brunch, gluten-free, vegetarian • 3 comments
Dear banana-oat pancakes,
It’s not you. It’s me. I love bananas, oats, and ohmigod pancakes. And you’re fine. Better than fine. You’re sweet and oat-nutty and you never leave your dirty socks on the floor. Oh, sure, you might be a bit temperamental about griddle temperatures, but what pancake isn’t?
But you see, you’re too good for [...]
July 4, 2009 in salad • 7 comments
Update: strawberry and feta salad is now entered in this week’s ZOE Secret Ingredient Challenge. Psst: the secret ingredient is feta.
With strawberry vinaigrette!
You know. I’ve really got to begin paying attention to presentation when I snap these photos. I’ve been just putting something on a plate or bowl the way I’d eat it and sometimes [...]
