Scribbles and Scrambles Really? Really!

So & and I were headed out to walk the girls last night. Casually, I mentioned that I had seen a wild bunny by our bunny cages the night before last and that I'd had a bizarre thought that it wasn't wild. It had such light coloring and seemed too fluffy and tame to be wild.

All of a sudden & stage~whispered that I needed to get close to her side of the yard, real fast. So I did. And there was the "wild" bunny, hopping along checking out some vegetation. "Look at his gait. He's not wild. No way." And I had to agree. Our neighborhood wild bunnies are speedy, skittish and all angles and sinew as well as being the traditional speckled gray, brown, black with just a hint of white under their tails and around their ears. 

If this guy was wild, he was a mix of wild and domestic. No way he was the pure thing. And his feet. Big old honking fat feet. Wild? Nah? And where the heck did he come from? Really? Another domestic bunny loose in our yard?

Crud! Now what? Seriously, we watched him sniff around getting closer to the cage where Charlotte was enjoying grass time. He hopped around without a care in the world. Of course, at this point, the dogs were all interested in the loose bunny on the other side of the fence. We couldn't leave this little guy out when there were predators about. I've heard racoons in our back yard the past few nights. Racoons don't have a bunny-friendly reputation.

& put the girls in the house and we both walked around to the other side of the yard to where this little guy roamed. She cut a wide arc and I brought up the back. Rob ended up joining us. & got to within feet of the bunny as he zeroed in on Charlotte. The guy was looking for a date, clearly. First he hopped over to &'s outstretched hand and actually sniffed it before heading back to charm Charlotte. Catching him was as simple as reaching out and grabbing him.

And he might be the tamest rabbit in the pack. No back foot defensive action, no wriggling to get away. He just let himself be captured and held and picked up and moved several times as we rearranged apartments and living quarters. 

Enter Willoughby. The newest member of the Klepfer Bunny Herd. Should we incorporate? LLC. That's got a nice ring. And should we build another cage. We no longer have any vacancies. Or maybe we should build a bunny ark. & is either a modern day bunny Noah wherein the critters now come to her. No more need to hunt and chase or visit Craig's List, those little suckers and bounding on up to the front door and ringing the bell. Facebook friends suggested that she might be the bunny whisperer or even Snow White. Ha. This little bunny summer saga definitely feels Walt Disneyish to me.

Scraps and Snippets ~ Amazing Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies from Classic to Vegan....

I lied. I said I wasn't going to post another peanut butter cookie recipe. Because, I reasoned, how many peanut butter cookie recipes does one person need? 

Well, this one. For sure. 

The classic Better Homes and Garden red gingham cookbook has a recipe for peanut butter cookies that I felt the need to completely remodel. Maybe it's because I've been making pear and apple sauce like a crazed beast and needed a vehicle. Maybe it's because peanut butter and chocolate is pretty much my favorite flavor combination. Anyhoo. These suckers have been modified to include healthy ingredients. Half applesauce to replace butter, coconut oil with a very low coconutty flavor. Flax eggs, old-fashioned oatmeal, whole wheat pastry flour. I cut the sugar in half without touching the burst of yumminess. 

Dare I admit to making a half sized batch which didn't make it 24 hours. And then again a full sized batch that makes about four dozen. And this was all from Thursday to present. There is not one delicious crumb left. None. 

I am going to put this recipe in my to go to favorites. And I'm going to add to it and turn it into monster cookies as the occasion requires. The addition of chopped peanuts, Vegan chocolate candies and/or other goodies would take them into the next level. 

In the meantime, here's the recipe. 

Amazing Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies Classic Gone Vegan

1/2 Cup coconut oil
1/2 Cup applesauce
1 Cup peanut butter
1 Cup brown sugar
2 Flax eggs (2 TBSP ground flax, 6 TBSPS water, combined and set aside to gel)
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 and 1/2 Cups whole wheat pastry flour (or flour of your choice)
2 Cups old fashioned oatmeal
1 Cup chocolate chips

Cream the oil, peanut butter, applesauce and sugar together. (it's best that you use everything at room temperature or a mixture because cold peanut butter or applesauce will crunch up the coconut oil if it's liquid)
Add the flax eggs, salt, soda and stir. Add vanilla and mix well. Blend in flour and add oatmeal and chocolate chips and mix until incorporated. 

Roll into walnut sized balls and press lightly onto cookie sheet. Bake at 350 for 11 minutes. I used a stone and didn't need to grease the pan.

Scribbles and Scrambles ~ Druggies

Scary. I almost posted another peanut butter chocolate chip cookie recipe. Really. How many peanut butter chocolate chip cookie recipes do I need to post? So no matter how good those peanut butter and chocolate chip cookies are, I'm not posting. But here's a picture, and one of my trusty 31 year-old red gingham cookbook.

So instead I will tell my drug story. 

Most of my co-workers are fairly aware of drugs, drug abusers, and drug seekers. We work in a medical office, after all. One gal is, however, still slightly innocent about such things. 

That's the set up. 

One of my co-workers mentioned she was coming down with the snuffles and that she had to go to Walgreens to pick up a name brand with a decongestant in it. After she waited in line at the drive thru the clerk told her she had to come in and sign for it. So she complained that she wasn't feeling great and had to go in and then stand and wait for a long, long time, then jump through the hoops of proving she wasn't going to spend twelve bucks on a box of pills and go home and make a batch of meth with them. She even said previously, in her quest to breathe clearly, her driver's license had a crack in it and when she went to buy pills the pharmacy refused to sell them to her. She wondered if a meth maker was more likely to have a crack in their driver's license. We laughed. 

Then another co-worker brought up a conversation she'd had with our slightly more innocent co-worker a few weeks ago. Turns out this gal had been lamenting the get-the-decongestant-and-get-on-with-life-hoop-jumps she'd undergone. She said, with her totally straight face, and possibly with her pearl necklace in place, and her sensible shoes on her feet. "Yes. And I said the the cashier. Do I really look like I'm going to go home with these and make marijuana?" 

And maybe the best part of that is several folks were standing there, including one of the doctors and not one person corrected her sweet innocent self. Ahh. Innocence is so refreshing.

Scraps and Snippets - Sesame Roasted Eggplant

Sesame Roasted Eggplant


1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

3/4 teaspoon garlic powder

1 TBSP rice wine vinegar

1 TBSP sesame oil

1/2 TBSP soy sauce

1/4 teaspoon agave

I'd also have added a few teaspoons of sesame seeds but I was out.

Preheat oven to 350

Peel and slice eggplant into planks. (soak slices in salt water for 20 minutes) Then blot dry and lay on a large cookie sheet. (I used a stone so I didn't grease the pan so I'd suggest spraying or using parchment paper if you don't have a stone.) drizzle or brush 1/2 the sauce on the top side of the slices.

Place in the oven for 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and turn the slices over. Coat each slice with the remaining sauce. Return to oven and bake another 15 minutes. 

When I was done baking I did run it through the broiler to give it an extra nice browning.

dessert = kiwi and mango...pretty and yummy.

Scribbles and Scrambles ~ Farm-a-Ling-a-Ding-Dong

The farm was pretty low key yesterday. We brought home fragrant basil, five pounds of heirloom tomatoes and a t-shirt kangaroo pocket full of too-ripe, too-ugly or too-oops tomatoes that needed to be used right away. Which we did. Everyone got a 2 pound sweet potato or a few that added up to that. Zucchini, cucumbers, eggplant, onions, garlic, beans, peppers, a few apples and a pear. Another week of heavy, heavy boxes and a time consuming pack. But, as always, satisfying on so many levels. 

On the home front, tomatoes. And those crazy tree pumpkins. The volunteer pumpkin vines have wound themselves through our 8 foot yew bushes in front of our house. One big guy holds firm at 4 feet off the ground and is oranging nicely. Others have not fared so well. One big one was lying in the ditch, still wrapped in her speckled green black immature robe. However, as she sits on the front porch she, too, is developing an orange glow. 

Scribbles and Scrambles ~ The Crew

Newbie Feral. Who knew?

Here's a story. It may contain facts that make you shudder or recoil or vow to never, never, never eat anywhere but your own safe home ever again. Whatever. 

This story is about a ritual that is important, foodwise, in our house. Clearly, it won't be involving animals, so you don't have to worry about that...or, wait, let me clarify, animal products. 

Lola, the protector of worker's rights, mostly her own.

Rob and I love PB&J sandwiches. It's the standard lunch. It's his always choice. I'll take leftovers, but it's hard to beat a PB&J.

So. Naturally I ran into a problem with peanut butter. It sticks like glue and hardens in the dishwasher. I don't know if you've ever experienced this or not. But, let's just say it was a real issue for us. 

Lily, uhhh did somebody say peanut butter?

Enter the household hint for the day. If you suffer from the same problem that kept me up at nights, here's the solution we found. 

 You just need to find yourself a worthy, and capable crew of peanut butter lickers. My trio began as a duo. And, really, they did a great job. Lily and Lola can de-peanut butter a table knife in mere seconds. And that was working well for us. I slept better at night, had more company than I knew what to do with at peanut butter sandwich making time, and they scored themselves a treat. And the knives came out of the dishwasher sparkling clean due to the pre-lick cycle.

Persistence pays off.

But then, we got a new applicant. Someone who didn't seem to fit the profile of a peanut butter licker. As a matter of fact, I wouldn't have given him the time of day except for his persistence. Feral was given a temporary job. He passed with flying colors and begins meowing for peanut butter time when I open the fridge every morning. Lola is a little slighted and they don't really work well together. But the work is accomplished in shifts. Win. Win. Win. 

My understanding is that they will take side jobs. And they work pretty cheap. 

Scraps and Snippets ~ Muffaletta Stroganoff

Warning do not let the color put you off. It's tasty stuff, this, and if you use mushrooms you won't even have to suffer the scornful looks and furrowed brows like I did. Rob forewarned me that he couldn't eat it. I asked him to please try it. And then he did and he said that it was delicious.

Muffaletta Stroganoff

Serves 4-6

Zucchini noodles or pasta of choice. (if you are uninitiated in zucchini noodles here's the scoop. Use a spiralizer a julienne blade or veggie peeler and cut zucchini into pasta-ish strips. Sprinkle the zucchini with salt and let sit for several minutes if you plan to use it raw. If you want it heated pour boiling water over it, cover and steep for several minutes then drain.)

2 cloves garlic (minced)

1/2 medium onion (small dice)

2 cups mushrooms or corn smut (mexican truffles) (chopped)

1 TBSP Earth Balance

3 TBSP flour

1 tsp powdered vegetable broth or bouillon

1/4 cup kalamata olives (diced)

1/4 cup green olives (diced)

2 cups non dairy unsweetened milk

1/2 TBSP lemon juice

1 tsp spicy mustard

1/2 tsp salt (heavy)

2 tbsp nutritional yeast

Sauté onions and garlic in the Earth Balance. Add mushrooms when onions are translucent. When veggies soften and brown add flour and stir until veggies are pasty. Add milk stir until the sauce begins to thicken and bubble. Add the remaining ingredients . Serve over noodles when sauce reaches the consistency you want.