Homage

I feel like an old woman, beginning some many posts with

“When I was in Australia….”

But there is a reason for all of these memories and homages (hint hint…..my big news?)

Yea I still need to wait a little longer till I tell the world officially, but I don’t think I’m gonna last another three weeks. So expect me to cave relatively soon.

One of the many foodie reasons I luuurve Australia:

They share an equal (if not greater) love for pumpkin and dates.

Seriously, they put pumpkin in everything.

Lovin’ it.

One of the items I would get a lot from the store was this Pumpkin, Cashew and Parmesan Dip.

I can’t really find anything like that in US stores, so i figured: why not create it myself

I had a bit of extra pumpkin left from some baking and cooking I’ve done recently so now was the perfect time to take it for a test drive.

I didn’t make any *exact* measurements, but I can kind of guess how much of what I used.

1/2 c cashews

1 t cumin

1 capfull of oil

1/2 t garlic

1/4 t of kosher salt (might have been more….I like it a tad saltier than the regular person)

I didn’t have any parm on me so I added some chopped Australian white cheddar

I don’t think the cheddar gave much to the flavor but I’m going to buy some parmesan for the next go ‘roud. (I just bought all the necessary ingredients at Whole Foods tonight, so I’ll get crackin’ over the weekend!)

Grind that baby up!

My food processor is on its last leg.

(read: it’s a hand-me-down)

So I just settled to have some of the cashews chunky. Though I kind of like how the cashew chunks added to the texture.

*FYI this is a savory dip

Soooooo sumptuous. I’m never going to buy a homemade dip again.

(Don’t quote me on that. But I mean, if I have a food processor, there’s really no excuse. Play like a champion!)

I’m going to make a bigger batch with proper measurements in the near future but for now here is the tentative recipe

As far as the love of dates?

I’m planning a homage to sticky date pudding this weekend. There will be multiple trials as I’m creating this recipe from scratch too!

 

I also made some Flaxy French Toast recently.

Sometimes, eating vegan is so handy. I never seem to run out of flax or chia seeds.

Baking crises averted!

I used Whole Foods whole grain seeded bread.

Topped with a mixture of heated jam and mixed berries.I am a flax french toast convert.

Eggy french toast doesn’t hold a candle to this perfection.

I;m rather tired after the Whole Foods “Cooking Class”. So I’ll recap tomorrow!

 

Ta!

 

Casey