Is it wrong to want to live in an orange and black colored world?

I am not a blogger. Hats off to those who are because it takes time, dedication and something to write about to make a successful go at it. For me, it's just a way to express the randomness of what my brain likes to trip over. Mostly, I wanted to blog about my adventures with food, just like about every other amateur home chef. I lack dedication to this craft of writing for certain. Not for a lack of wanting mind you, just a lack of motivation.

No one really cares what I, this one individual among 7 billion on this big planet, has to say about...well anything really. I think I have hit my Social Media rut. I have lost interest in my personal Facebook page. My timeline cluttered with people bragging about how great their lives are, vacations, endless food porn, social justice activism, animal abuse activism and political strife that I am finding to be extremely tiring and depressing.

People in this country at least half of them, have lost their damn minds. I am tired of having to bite my tongue and not post things that would possibly piss others off. Why should I care? I don't know, but I do. So I have completely cut myself off from doing any kind of activity on Facebook except for passively reading when the impulse ignites. I then feel dirty, shameful that I again have bought into the drivel that has driven me away.

I have taken up to watching a lot of Periscope live streams. I find the vitality of the live stream of the here and now so much more interesting and the topics so much more intriguing. Well, with the exception of all the hoo ha ladies in their skivvies putting on makeup, or all the Tony Robinson wannabes that think they have all the answers to your Social Media marketing woes.

I am just an average person, ok, well....average is a stretch, I will admit that. I am a true dork, I like dorky and geeky things. I like things that make me think, that make me want to affect positive change in life, but Facebook is sucking all that life out of me, and it may be for you too.

In all honesty, I don't ever expect one single person to read this entry, or to even identify with what I am saying. This is my outlet, to get all of it off my chest. I feel the world is just about to crumble around us, with the climate change (that DOES freaking exist you knobheadded dillytwackers!), with all the unrest domestically #blacklivesmatter and abroad. There are many days that I just wish I could escape. Escape to my happy place which happens to be colored Orange and Black. Is it bad that I want to live in an Orange and Black Halloween world?

My head has been swimming with so much lately, from how the hell we can be so divided, to why we are poisoning our planet to why rich greedy conservative CEO's hate America and women so much? This society we have built is coming apart at the seams and everyone is too fucking busy pointing fingers at one another instead of seeing the real problems and trying to come up with REAL solutions. I am just tired, tired of all the drama, tired of all the name calling (libtards, etc. Yes, I know I just contradicted myself as I did call climate change deniers knobheaded dillytwackers, but at least I can ADMIT when I am being hypocritical) tired of the political corruption, tired of rich white men thinking they can control everything with their capital wealth. I am tired of the media sensationalizing shit that shouldn't ever matter to anyone (Kardashians/Jenner), I am tired of hearing about the same talking points from the right and the left. I am just damn tired of working hard only to be broke all the time. I am tired of all the damn asshats I have to share the freeway with everyday. I am tired of cultures claiming excuses for not wanting to be a contributing part of society yet expect entitlements. I am tired of political correctness and people pussy footing around truths. I am tired of having to give a shit about others when no one seems to reciprocate. I am tired of office politics and people who are in charge who shouldn't be.

All I want anymore is to live in my little fantasy orange and black halloween world where I feel most at home and comforted. I understand why Jon Stewart left, you just get to a point where society has broken you. At least he can go off to his farm and live a quality of life many of us will never achieve. Those of us who are part of this fucked up rat race are trapped in our maze of depression with the delusion that something better is waiting for you, if you work hard enough for it. Fuck that, I've been working hard all my life and only seem to be able to scrape the bottom of the shit barrel. I just want to hide away from everything and everyone, hunker down with those that REALLY do care and mean the world to me and just watch the world die through my orange and black colored glasses.

  Armenian Aram Sandwiches
I am one quarter Armenian. My maternal grandfather came to the United States in the early 1900's as his family was fleeing the Armenian Holocaust. He was born in Istanbul, Turkey and coincidentally enough, my parents were married in Ankara, Turkey at the American Air Force Base. My mother was a teacher for the US Department of Defense and my father was an enlisted Master Sargent with the Air Force. I was fortunate to live close to my grandfather and my mother would always cook Armenian food for special occasions when my grandfather would be coming over.

 I grew up with the smell of browning vermicelli in butter for the Armenian rice pilaf, and the salty, briny flavors of the stuffed grape leaves (we called them dolmas. I will do an article on these tasty morsels in a future blog post). When I was younger in my early twenties I had the pleasure of working for a friend's cafe/bistro type restaurant where we made everything fresh including aram sandwiches.

The Central Valley of California has a large population of Armenian and Assyrian communities. Arams were something I always grew up with and that all our deli's in the grocery stores carried. When committing to a staff meeting potluck, I thought to myself, "how about making some home made arams?". I sent out my staff wide response and to my surprise, several people emailed me back privately wondering what "Homemade Aram Sandwiches" were. So I  'splained.

They are like pinwheel sandwiches, made from softened cracker bread spread with a herbed cream cheese spread, greens, typically raw baby spinach leaves, some type of deli meat like turkey, cheese slices (pepper jack), artichoke heart quarters, pepperoncinis,and olives.

 

Roll it up, wrap it in plastic wrap and stick in the fridge until ready to serve! 

Finding the cracker bread could be problematic for some. Fortunately we have many places in our region we can find it. Most of it is actually manufactured in the central part of the state so their distribution in our area is very good. The cracker bread I used is the actual Armenian Cracker Bread Ak-mak made in Sanger, California. You can also use Lavosh or other cracker breads from the ethnic aisle or specialty markets.

There is another brand called Hye-Roller that some bakery/delis use which doesn't need any preparation. You can usually find it in a square shrink wrap packaging in the deli area of your local grocer. If not you can find it here. Finding ingredients is only as difficult as you make it, you can make it very fancy or very simple.

Recipe
This recipe makes 3 aram logs.

3 cracker bread sheets (softened *)
3 - 8 oz. packages of cream cheese
4 - Green Onions (Scallions)
1 tablespoon dried dill weed (2 fronds of fresh dill chopped)
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon fresh cracked black pepper
Baby spinach leaves (and/or spring mix, watercress)
Deli sliced meats (turkey, ham or roast beef;1/3 lb each per log)
Deli sliced cheese (pepper jack, swiss, cheddar; 5 slices per log)
Plastic wrap
Optional Ingredients:
Artichoke heart quarters (1 18.75oz can does 3 logs)
Large pitted whole olives (Black. green or try Kalamata if you can afford it! 1 large can will do all three logs)
Pepperocini peppers (whole and de-stemmed, 1 jar for 3 logs)
Pine nuts (if you can afford)
Use your imagination!

*Softening the cracker bread: Wet four tea or dish towels in luke warm water, ring out excess water. On a counter top or table, place a dry bath towel folded to protect counter/table top, layer one wet towel on the dry towel, place 1 cracker  bread square on the wet towel. Place the next wet towel on top of the cracker bread and layer the remaining cracker bread and towels so they have towels on top, in between layers and underneath. Let set for about 2 hours. You may want to use a squirt bottle with water to wet down the top towel about an hour into the soak.

 Once cracker has softened to the stage of being pliable enough to roll without breaking, it's ready to assemble. 

In a food processor or with a hand mixer soften cream cheese and smooth. Add in the green onions, dill, salt and pepper and mix together until it's a smooth spreadable consistency. Make sure you have all your cans open and your packages open for ease of assembly. I suggest doing one at a time. 

Place some plastic wrap on your workspace and place the first softened cracker bread light side up in the landcape orientation so it's wide sides are the top and bottom. With a spatula spread the herbed cream cheese mixture and start about an inch and a half from  the bottom and spread a third of the mixture all over the rest of the cracker. Then begin to layer the greens to 1/4 from the top. Layer on the meat overlapping on top of the greens, add the cheese on top of the meat covering lengthwise from end to end. Top the cheese with the remaining ingredients and get ready to roll! 

Gently, with both hands, cradle the cracker with your hands underneath and begin to fold in the edge closest to you in onto itself, and while rolling, you are keeping it tight and as you roll scoop with your fingers the ingredients into the roll as they tend to want to be pushed out. Once you have rolled it up, tightly wrap the plastic wrap around it and place it in the refrigerator for at least a couple of hours, if not overnight. 

When cutting for serving, I suggest using a thinly serrated knife and cut the log into spirals no more than an inch wide.  It's great for parties or luncheons and potlucks! 

I hope you enjoy them as much as I do! Happy rolling!

Favorites: Bosphorus Tea

One of my favorite places to visit when I am up in the Mother Lode Gold Country of California is a quaint little Victorian inspired tea house called Columbia Kate's Tea House.

Watercolor by local artist Olga Wright (From the Columbia Kate's Website)

My husband and I stumbled in one damp day while visiting the lovely historic town of Columbia just north of Sonora in Tuolumne County. I often find myself up in this area for work purposes and when possible will sneak a trip over to Columbia Kate's to pick up some bulk tea. They feature a vast array of different teas from black and herbal to rooibos and mate. My personal favorite has got to be the Bosphorus. When I first visited, this was the tea I choose to try while sitting in the tea room looking out the rain pelted window. It was rich and warm, a hint of sweet nutty chocolately flavor. The aroma of just the dry blend itself was enough to send me into an olfactory orgasm! The blend contained the base of black tea, pistachios, cumin, almonds, coriander, red pepper berries, apples and pineapples. It's so fragrant and when steeped in nearly boiling water, the oils and the fragrances perform this hypnotic dance transporting your mind and spirit thousands of miles away to where the crossroads of the spice trade intersect. This tea resonated with me so deeply, and not totally comprehending where the term Bosphorus originated from, continued to loose myself into the layers of complex flavors with every brew.

From Petali Teas

Time for a little background on myself. My heritage branches off from my grandfathers Armenian ancestry which was centered in Istanbul, Turkey. My parents, who were both U.S. Citizens and serving in the Air Force and Department of Defense as a civilian teacher, were married in Ankara. Turkey is a country that runs deep in my veins, and while doing some research on this particular blend of tea, as if a light bulb exploded above my head, it all made so much sense! Bosphorus! Of course! How could I have not instinctively known it?! Bosphorus is the region in Turkey that spans the great Istanbul Strait.

Wikipedia: The Bosphorus (/ˈbɒsfərəs/) or Bosporus (/ˈbɒspərəs/, Turkish: Boğaziçi, Greek: Βόσπορος, Vosporos, Bulgarian: Босфора, Bosfora), also known as the Istanbul Strait (Turkish: İstanbul Boğazı), is a strait that forms part of the boundary between Europe and Asia. The Bosphorus, the Sea of Marmara, and the Dardanelles strait to the southwest together form the Turkish Straits. The world's narrowest strait used for international navigation, the Bosphorus connects the Black Sea with the Sea of Marmara (which is connected by the Dardanelles to the Aegean Sea, and thereby to the Mediterranean Sea.)

This tea instantly connects me to my past, history of my ancestry and the great bosom of civilization. It transports me to a time of ancient bazaars and lanterns. If I close my eyes while cradling a fresh hot steeping cup, I can faintly hear the jingling of belly dancers, tablas, and Byzantine music trailing off onto the Silk Road. It connects me to who I am and warms me mentally, emotionally and spiritually.

Truly Tasty Teriyaki Tacos

One of my new favorite indulgences is a treat that my mother-in-law sends in care packages from Missouri. In the neighborhood where my husband grew up known as Gladstone, Missouri (Kansas City), there is a little factory that makes THE BEST taco shells. If you are from anywhere near Kansas City you probably have seen or heard of La Tiara taco shells. These little wonders are light, crispy and for their petite size, pack quite a punch of flavor to any filling. While you can't crowd them too much with layers and layers of toppings, keeping it simple is the best way to go. Whether you choose your standard seasoned hamburger taco meat, cheese and lettuce with some garnish of onion and or tomato, you will be surprised at just how strong these fragile little crisps of heaven are. As if made by angels, these shells make you rethink ever buying any other brand of taco shell again. There is an even better secret about these taco shells, they are LOW CARB! Only 4 grams per shell! You could totally have like a half dozen and not feel guilty, they truly are amazing! Yes, I am yelling this excitedly!

The most recent way we used these 3 bite wonders was making Teriyaki chicken tacos with a pineapple jalapeno salsa and brown rice. One thing I have noticed is that it's actually in some cases more expensive to buy a whole uncooked chicken and roast it yourself compared to the deli section in the supermarket's rotisserie chicken offerings. I tend to use this option for many different dishes to not only add flavor I wouldn't get out of using frozen breast pieces, but it's ready to go for just about any recipe calling for cooked chicken.

Start by getting all the meat off the chicken carcass, careful to pick out any gristle or tendons. Nothing ruins my appetite more than taking a bite of chicken salad or a casserole to feel that rubbery hard piece of connective tissue squeeze between my teeth. Ewww! Once the meat has been stripped from the chicken and placed in a bowl, I will hand shred the meat by pulling it apart and making shredded pieces throughout the whole bowl. I then took a couple tablespoons of teriyaki sauce, and a couple tablespoons of hoisin sauce and mixed it into the chicken and coated all the meat  evenly. I set that aside to work on the salsa. Canned pineapple rings (no sugar added) were opened and I pulled out about 6 rings and chopped them up into salsa sized chunks and put in another bowl. I took a handful of fresh cilantro and chopped up and put in the bowl, along with 4 small pickled jalapenos chopped. I poured in about 3 tablespoons of the pineapple juice from the can, poured in about 2 tablespoons of the pickling liquid from the can of whole jalapenos and added in a diced 1/2 of a red onion. A teaspoon of salt was added and everything was mixed together and put in the refrigerator while prepping the rest of dinner. We made some instant brown rice while re-cooking the marinated cooked shredded chicken in a skillet to heat and caramelize the sauce onto the chicken. 

The taco shells were prepared as directed by heating them in a low oven prior to using. Once the shells had been warmed, they were filled with a bottom layer of the brown rice, the shredded chicken, and topped with the pineapple jalapeno salsa. They were truly a delicious savory yet sweet option to the normal Mexican flavors one is used to with tacos. Satisfied a craving for the sweet teriyaki and the savory of the chicken combined with the tangy and heated salsa. Mmmm... 2 much of this good stuff leaves for great leftovers!

Ingredients

1 Fully Cooked Rotisserie Chicken (from grocery deli)

3 tbsp Teriyaki Sauce (I prefer the Soy Vey brand)

2 tbsp Hoisin Sauce (Again, Soy Vey brand)

1 Dozen La Tiara Taco Shells (or your favorite store bought shells or tortillas)

2 c. Cooked instant brown rice

Pineapple Jalapeno Salsa

1 can of pineapple slices (in no sugar added juice) diced into chunks
1 sm. can of whole pickled jalapenos

1/2 bunch of fresh cilantro

1/2 red onion (diced)

Pineapple juice from can

Pickling juice from jalapenos

See instructions in above article for mixing and assembly instructions.