Celine Steen's Blog, page 3

Thrive by GoMacro: a review and a giveaway

Rain or shine, I have to work out every day or I become a grumpier bear. I need something to keep me steady before I hit the road: an energy bar’s what I choose to munch on, but why do some of them have to be so sweet? I love sweet, just not right after waking up.

I received a tray of assorted flavors of Thrive bars by GoMacro for review last week, and they’ve already become my early morning saviors. Here is why…

First case of awesome: the compostable tray they are stored in is made of recyc...

A lovely weekend and a bunch of randomness

1., 2., and 6. Farmer’s market loot. Now that Chaz has been bitten by the biking bug, it’s a mere 15-minute ride to get there. Love that the Thai peppers are sold still on the branch.

3. and 4. Newfound love for darker dishes. I know I’m not the only weirdo who checks out the underside of ceramics, often as pretty and sometimes prettier than the more commonly seen parts of dishes.

5. Shichimi Togarashi. I love coating cashew cheese wheels with this mix. Mine is made of Szechuan pepper...

Too many pictures

1. Berry love.
2. Enoki mushrooms. I love and hate them: such a complicated relationship with mushrooms.
3. Bought a huge amount of these Thai peppers at the Asian food store, can’t get enough of them.
4. I love this cat so much. She’s 12 years old and my gloomy side can’t remember life before her, and doesn’t want to imagine life without her.
5. Give me all the pluots.
6. A lovely dessert: tahini lime peanuts with grilled pineapple and coconut crema. Part of my upcoming first solo...

Instagram Noob

Shocker, I am finally joining the IG masses. You can find me here. Warning: I don’t know how to emoji. Or hashtag. Or anything, really. Yay!

A call for testers

I’ve just started working on a fun new cookbook project, and I’m going to need a few testers to make sure the recipes are stellar. Testing will begin around August 1.
If that’s something you might be interested in, please send me a message so that I can give you more information. I look forward to hearing from you.

(The delicious mess up there was the aftermath of some vegan vanilla ice cream with roasted strawberries, pomegranate molasses, pomegranate seeds, raspberries, sumac, and pistach...

A couple of links

I recently had the pleasure to chat with Mark of Mindful Vegan. Now I’m anything but a natural when it comes to interviews (anxiety galore, where’s my paper bag?) but I actually had a great time. Here is the result. You’ll see there are lots and lots of other awesome podcasts to enjoy on Mark’s site.

Cilantro Cooks also sent interesting questions my way for their Expert Interview Series, if you’d like to have a read.

Have a great week, and be safe.

Vegans Go Nuts

Good news! Vegans Go Nuts is officially in stock on Amazon.
I really hope you will have a blast making recipes from the book Joni and I co-wrote, and look forward to your feedback. You know I’m always available here or via email if you have questions.

In order of appearance:

Various seeds and nut flours, from l. to r.: Roasted flax, almond meal, pistachio meal, roasted white sesame seeds, poppy seeds, hazelnut meal.
Pad Tahini: a little bit of sesame seed butter makes the great even greater...

Honk if you love Esther (and who doesn’t?)

Image courtesy of the authors

For some strange reason (or maybe it’s just that rock I live under), I had never heard of Esther before receiving a message from Grand Central Publishing about a review copy of Esther the Wonder Pig, a book written by Steve Jenkins and Derek Walter with Caprice Crane.

Considering her dizzying popularity on Facebook, Instagram, and virtually everywhere, it takes talent to not have known of her before then.

The story of how Esther and her caretakers/BFFs meet beg...

Sesame Za’atar Pepper Soup and Other News

I’ve taken such a liking to gardening since we moved in that I have a hard time tearing myself away from the tiny backyard at all anymore. If it wasn’t for the paper wasps, I’d probably set up a tent there.
My parents visited us for a couple of months (we even got to spend the holidays together for the first time in well over a decade, yay!) and introduced me to the joy of growing my own stuff. I can’t stop planting vegetables, citrus trees (because California), berries, and more. Not to men...

Great Vegan Grains

Now that The Great Vegan Grains Book has been officially out for a few weeks*, here are pictures of some of the 100+ recipes it contains. It was fun to play with old (wholed?) favorites, and to discover a couple of less familiar grains too.

1. Teff and Pea Fritters (page 80, recipe at the bottom of this post)
2. Roasted Corn and Sorghum Salad with Chipotle Dressing (page 147)
3. Apricot Oats (page 27)
4. Blueberry Polenta Triangles (page 28)
5. Cabbage Pilaf (page 118)
6. Turkish Bride Soup...