1000+ Awesome Things

In an attempt at enlightening myself and enjoying life more I'm starting a daily addition of things that I think are awesome. Small things to the biggest of level of awesome. Also some of these things may not be awesome to you or you haven't done them and don't know the calibur of awesomimity you have yet to experience. So in light of this blog I shall give you ten awesome things to start....

1. Starting a new blog, even if only five people read it at least your getting your thoughts out of your head to make space for your new brilliant thoughts.

2. Waking up with your alarm and not being exhausted.

3. Sun kissed skin with that healthy summer glow

4. The thought of getting together with you dearest friend later to talk about a vacation you're going to be taking together.

5. A bushell of excited kitties to greet you outside your bedroom door in the morning all anticipating you loving them.

6. When your significant other wakes up long enough before you leave to walk you to the door and give you a kiss goodbye to work.

7. Being ahead of the game at work for the week.

8. Planning a trip to Europe with the possiblity of never coming back.

9. Drawing out plans for a business you want to open someday, it's a way of squeezing out of a rut because it gives you hope that there is more for you out there.

10. Working out because it boosts your attitude and naturally sends good vibes through your body making you happier.

So there it is folks, the first ten. In the future I will even them out by making some of them longer and some really short either way if you have a positive thought or an awesome thing send it my way, I'll add it to the list!

Peace and Love
Pam

Egg Rolls and such

So the other day I made some egg rolls and they were scrumptious. I have no formal training in Asian cuisine but like most things I wing it. My next feat I would like to accomplish is sushi but I need to actually do my homework on that. Ah yes but the rolls de egg, easy, amazing, sexual, delicious.

I went by no recipe because that's just boring right? I walked in my neighborhood stop and plop and guessed what might make a mouth orgasm...napa cabbage, bokchoy, a green apple, shredded carrot, shallot, bean sprouts, garlic and cole slaw mix for filler, oh an fish sauce...don't make sicky faces it makes the egg roll have its amazing addicting taste. I also picked up some sherry vinegar at William Sonoma because the sherry adds a certain umph to it. DON'T FORGET YOUR EGG ROLL WRAPPERS! That would be a travesty.

Chop you shallot, cut up your cabbage and bok and throw everything in to a pot with a little sesame oil, vinegar, 2 tbsp of fish sauce and sugar, a touch of soy sauce and let it all meld and wilt down. Crack and egg directly into the love pool and stir it in. It took me about and hour, then taste and adjust the flavor according to your preference. Let it all cool down for a little bit. Heat some oil to 350 Fahrenheit, roll up your rolls, directions are on the package. Then drop some of those puppies into the oil until golden brown and poof! Sex in your mouth....that sounds wrong...it stays.

Yup so I had nothing to go off of, I just winged it? wung it? wang it? hmmm, you get it.


OH YEA I made a quick dipping sauce out of soy sauce and honey. What ever ratio you please depending on how sweet or tangy you want.

Cream Puffs Yo!

SO how is everyones Friday going? Mines aight, I'm cooking up some vegtastic egg rolls that are going to be phenomenal. But we are not here to talk about that, no my friends we are here to talk about a very serious thing.....team Jacob or team Edward? I'm actually team Charlie but you know thats just me....wait what? OH! You wanted to hear about cream puffs I gotcha, my bad.

A brief history of Cream Puffs with the knowledge in my head and the odd language I use: The CP is made with a pastry called Pate a Choux which in French means "little cabbage" this being because they kinda look like cabbages when done correctly! Slap a smile on those puppies and sell them to children and call them dolls! SO anyways the first estimated time Pate a Choux was known to have been made dates back to 1538 give or take some years. They are known to be used more savory back old school days being not very sweet at all. Although they are just fat éclairs they tend to get more attention, I haven't a clue why but yes even here locally The Big-E giant cream puff has garnered national attention being known as "the best" well haha I think I may have stumbled upon a gem of a cream puff today.

I am not a cream puff or éclair fan, I didn't like the pastry ir was flavorless and not pleasing texture wise on the palette, and that god awful fake chocolate glaze that most places use to cover it was so gross! I gave up on them years ago...until now! I found a formula that needs no tweaking and yeilds an amazing thing!! It has flavor, it's a hardier shell that stands up better to fillings and baked so good in a larger size! I know I am a food nerd and get excited about the silliest thing but this was magical. The aroma that filled the kitchen was not one I was used to when baking Pate a Choux, it made me salivate:) A sure way of knowing I made something awesome, Mark(Boss man) ate one, unfilled, he never eats baked goods! I know odd him being a pastry chef and all. The pastry cream I made was a chocolate and then I turned it into a diplomat just to lighten it up because the cream puff was so gargantuan.

Enough making you wait I shall now bestow upon your eye sockets a thing of beauty!

Amazing Choux Paste

1/2 Cup AP Flour
1/2t. Sugar
1/4t salt
4T Unsalted Butter
1/2C Water
2 eggs

1 Egg
1/8t Salt

Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit

Sift together the flour, salt, sugar set aside

Mix one egg and salt set aside

In a sturdy metal pot bring the butter and water to a boil for faux emulsion, as soon as a boil is reached dump in flour mixture then stir quickly with a wooden spoon until a ball of dough forms and pulls away from pot. Transfer to mixing bowl and beat until warm not hot. When it reaches a more manageable temp add eggs one at a time and mix until dough comes together. Scoop of pipe any size, they bake well in muffin pans, brush with egg wash then bake for 15 minutes then turn oven down 350 and bake another 30-40 minutes. They will be golden brown and have no shininess.

So simple and awesome! Now you can fill them any which way you please but I'll give my chocolate pastry cream formula.

Chocolate Pastry Cream awesomeness!

16oz Milk
2oz Sugar

2 Yolks
1 Egg
1.25oz Corn Starch
2oz Sugar

1oz Butter
2t Vanilla
2oz chopped chocolate


In a heavy saucepan heat milk and sugar to just a boil

Whip eggs then sift in corn starch and sugar

Temper egg mixture by slowly beating in hot milk mix

return mix to saucepan and stir constantly until it boils and thickens, remove from heat

stir in butter, chocolate and vanilla pour into clean pan cover with plastic wrap make sure it touches the cream to prevent a skin from forming. put in fridge and cool.

for diplomat whip up 2 cups of whipping cream slightly sweeten then fold into cooled mixture.

Fill your puffs and viola!

I most certainly hope you enjoy these if you make them and I'm going to eat my rolls of the egg because they are done and delicious!!

Peace out

Quick Bit about Fitness

Hey everyone! I am going to be updating this much more often but real quick before I go off into the heat I have to give props to man who will never read this post. There is an elderly gentlemen who live in my neighborhood(give or take a block or two) who wakes up everyday and walks. This may not seem something to be in awe of but this man, when I first saw him was at least 450 pounds, barely able to walk with a cane. But he did, and he does every damn day around all of downtown Holyoke, even when the temp gauge reaches 104 degrees. He now looks like from what I can guess, 300 pounds.

It makes me want to laugh at those who complain when it's hot and they can't function properly or work out or work or whatever they need to bitch about. This guy inspires me to keep to my raw diet, even when it's super hard, and continue my workout routine even when I get questioned as to why I find it necessary to go to the gym six days of the week on top of all the other activities I do.

SO shut up and go function it'll be freezing before we know it and everyone will complain it's to cold.

Dump Cake

Are you sitting down? If not please do, because I am about to unleash a power of tastiness that is beyond all. This simple yet complex compilation of ingredients is such an intense explosion once it hits the taste buds your are forced down on to all fours weeping in amazement. I do not jest, this is a serious thing and I am trusting you with it and I trust that you will never tamper with its perfection, it needs not to be tampered with! DO YOU HEAR ME?!?! Also it is so simple that if you cannot do it I suggest you just shut up and try again, and if you don't like it then shut your trap because I know not a soul who disliked it. Are you ready? Hmmm, I'm not so sure you are... Oh you are? ok here goes, brace yourselves for this is so un-Pamlike but my Gram taught me this and I will teach the children I will never have it as well....
Ladies and Gentlemen, Dump Cake

One Box of yellow cake mix....NOT WHITE, DEVILS FOOD, CARROT, OR ANY OTHER CRAP JUST YELLOW!
A can of peaches drained
A can of cherry pie filling
a stick of butter MELTED
A pan of the 9x13 measurement SPRAYED MOTHER TRUCKERS
dump(hence the name) the cans of unfortunate produce into the pan, dump the cake mix on to of that, pour the melted butter on top of that
Bake at 375 for 40 minutes
Cool or not, you can burn your mouth its cool
An have a certain mouth orgasm unless you're a miserable tastebudless whore.

I need you to appreciate this because the woman who baked this for my family and I was a beautiful person who deserves all the recognition.

Good day sirs

Do you do what makes you happy?

I know it's a rather broad question but it's legit...do you do what makes you happy? These days everything is planned around money and society, I say eff that in the a then run over it with a bus and spit on it! Life is so damn short and I say live to the fullest you possibly can! I know many people with talk about job, priority, family, obligations, blah blah! I am going to be pretty repetitive because I'm not a dumbass, I know you've heard this before but throw all your inhibitions to wind, grab life by the horns and for christs sake do something you've always wanted to do.
SO what is it you want to do? Paint world class portraits of landscapes or beautiful women? Become a brew master of the finest microbrewery? Sing the only song you know you can kill in front of hundreds of thousands of people? Become a german prostitute who specializes in erogenous zones unknown to man....hmmm.....but you get my point, right? All I am wondering is what would make you the happiest? I suppose I have just been pondering this lately and I am astonished at the ratio of happy versus settled versus miserable. George Harrison thought happiness was a warm gun but personally, if we're speaking in terms of warmth, I'd say it is a warm pair of your favorite pj pants on a rainy spring day, dinner cooking and the aromas filling your home while listening to the best chill music with your legs in the lap of your husband/wife/best friend/ anyone you love reading your favorite book again for the eighth time with a kitty purring next to you:) See all it takes is a simple thought or vision of your warm happy place, it instantly put a smile on my face!
Settle down toots, this isn't just a bunch of hippy mumbogumbo! I am by no means a hippy, they went out in the early seventies, I just happen to be a person who believes in peace:) I made a promise to myself on January 1st, that was to do the most I could to live this year to the fullest, screw money ties and obligation! You must do something everyday that makes you tick! For example, right now I am listening to Johnny Cash while preparing a delicious greek inspired dinner with the sun shining on my back while I type this blog.
It doesn't take much to find a happy place, you just need to be willing to look deep enough inside your soul to find such a place. For the sake of your todays and tomorrows do something to make yourself happy.
Peace and love to you all and I am working on some awesome food stuffs so if you stay tuned keep on keepin on!

Hey, it's been a while

Hello all you non-existing blog readers of mine. The last month has been one of triumph and sadness but over all happiness has endured and is coming back full force. Ah but you see this is not a personal life and blah blog so I shall persevere and come back with a food all about blog(typo and it's staying). Shall we talk about food?! I think we shall!
Oh dear have I become a love sick school child over this wonder food...I find myself longing for it at the most inopportune of moments. Oh yes this food of my heart is none other than falafel. Yes my dear foodies and lovers of cuisine I have fallen a victim to this Egyptian ball of beans, but god damn it tickles my fancy! Also having just jumped a bit deeper in the world of healthier/raw eating enjoyment this food is a wonder to have around. And just so you know! Traditionally these babies are deep fried into balls of love and ecstasy but Pam happens to bake them in hopes of making herself less guilty about any raw indiscretions:)
Garbanzo Beans(Chickpeas for those of you who don't like fancy talk like me)+Fava Beans+other awesome awesomeness= Falafel! So I reckon your fine ass may want to know how to make falafel, WELL NOW! I do believe I can hook a brotha up.
I've been playing around with various recipes both traditional and nontraditional and I have discovered that you can't make a great thing much greater so here is what I have discovered to be the bestest of the best!

• 1 cup dried chickpeas or 16 oz. can of chickpeas or garbanzo beans.
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 2 cloves of garlic, chopped
• 3 tablespoons of fresh parsley, chopped
• 1 teaspoon coriander
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 2 tablespoons flour
• Salt
• Pepper

Place dried chickpeas in a bowl, covering with cold water. Allow to soak overnight. Eff that step if using canned beans.

Drain chickpeas, and place in pan with fresh water, and bring to a boil.

Allow to boil for 5 minutes, then let simmer on low for about an hour.

Drain and allow to cool for 15 minutes.

Combine chickpeas, garlic, onion, coriander, cumin, salt and pepper (to yo satisfaction) in medium bowl. Add flour.

A food processor works wonders, you want a paste texture

Form the mixture into small balls, about the size of a ping pong ball. Slightly flatten.

From here you can bake at 375 for 40 minutes or fried at 350 for 5-7 minutes. KEEP IN MIND more flour may be needed if the paste isn't binding properly.


Now I want you to try this magic patty on salad, with tahini, with hummus, on salad, in a pita with tomatos and lettuce and tahini or any which way you please!!!! Fo realz though its the shizzy.
Hope you thoroughly enjoy these balls of love and until I feel it necessary I bid you good eating!