We're two sisters who are craft book publishers and found ourselves in the midst of an avocado grove. We bought this house where we planned to conduct our publishing business and in the deal got 4 acres of avocado trees thrown in. Now we're not only publishers but ranchers as well! This blog is all about avocados and anything else that strikes my fancy.

Friday, January 21, 2011

The Tiniest Cookbook Ever



We recently went to a big fiesta at Olvera Street (the original street of Los Angeles) which is now a tourist attraction. The fiesta was a festival of molé. It was kind of like a chili cookoff but for molé (if you aren't familiar with molé - it's a type of sauce). Each area of Mexico has their own version. We wandered around the booths and looked at the various wares. And then I spied a booth that was selling teeny-tiny books.


I found a wonderful little Peruvian cookbook which really caught my eye since I've spent some time in Peru and I'm always looking for recipes from there. And here were all the recipes contained in this teeny tiny book which I couldn't resist. 

Here it is:


There are even some avocado recipes.


This recipe is for Palta Rellena (stuffed avocado). I've paraphrased it a little with apologies to the publisher.

1 large avocado
1/2 cup chopped cooked chicken
1 carrot,
1 small potato
1 medium onion
1/2 cup peas
parsley, vinegar, oil and salt

Cook the carrot, potatoes, and peas. Cut the carrot and
potatoes into small cubes. Mix with the
chicken. Cut the avocado in half and remove the pit. Peel.
Season the vegetable mixture with the vinegar, oil and salt and
stuff in the avocado halves. Top with chopped onion.
Garnish with the peas and parsley.

If you'd like to order one of these darling little books here's
their website:
www.minibooks.com.pe

They also have lots of children's books. Wouldn't you have loved
these tiny books when you were little?

More photos from Olvera Street:



  

The one disappointment of the day, we didn't get a chance to try any molé. It was late in the day and everyone was sold out. Maybe next year!

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

How to Peel A Pomegranate

Pomegranate painting by Barbara Finwall

Besides avocado trees, we also have lots of fruit trees. One is a pomegranate tree. I used to love pomegranates. When I was little we used to just break them open and try like heck to get the seeds out. It was so messy and you ended up with red fingers for days and days. But those little seeds sure were tasty. I really didn't know the proper way to peel one.

So I did a little research and found this excellent post on youtube which I think explains the process really well.



If you'd like recipes for pomegranates you might try these:
















I found this recipe for a nonalcoholic pomegranate cocktail in an old cook book. Sounds refreshing.

Boil the seeds of 1 large pomegranate with 2 slices of lemon in 3 cups of water until the water has absorbed the color and flavor from the seeds (15 minutes) . Add 1/2 cup sugar and boil for 5 minutes more. Strain through a double thickness of cheesecloth, add 1 tablespoon of lemon juice and chill. Serves 6.

Hope this helps next time you're trying to peel a pomegranate.