Oat Milk
"So simple," the recipe said. "Really easy," it said. I guess if you are a good enough cook to make a living with your cooking blog, then tasks like making your own 2-ingredient oat milk are no big deal.
But as you know, awkward difficulties are among the things define me as a chef; they are my signature. There's no point in glossing over that. I'm not proud.
So I'm here to tell it to you straight: oat milk from the "Simple Vegan Blog" is not THAT easy to make. It was straightforward until I poured the blended oat slurry into my dishcloth for squeezing. That dishcloth always serves me very well for squeezing the liquids out of shredded veggies, but the oat slurry (I really love that word) was really thick, and didn't want to come out. I threw all my strength into it and it dribbled all over my hands and made a bit of a mess. And then when I concluded the slurry squeezing, the solids left on the towel made a slimy coating that did not come easily off such that I could use them for "cookies, truffles or whatever you want" (what?). I got some of it off, but I had to just wash a lot of it down the sink, and still my towel had some clinging to it. I will try a strainer next time. Or I'll just, you know, buy a carton of oat milk.
I made hot chocolate with my oat milk (yes, I drink hot chocolate all year round). It was thicker than I'd have liked, so I'd make the oat milk with more water next time. But other than that, it was fine, a reasonable substitute for milk.
I haven't posted on this blog in a while because I've been in England, visiting family members. These family members included my sister and our two cousins. A great many years ago, my mother took a picture of us four in front of a typical English stone wall, and we decided to join the ranks of marvelously ridiculous folks who recreate their childhood photos, when we all gathered from distant locales in the Cotswold village of Stroud. Credit goes to my sister for rallying us to embrace the mission, and then each of us rose to the occasion, procuring perfect outfits. The day was crazy windy, and we had to wait out some rain, but somehow we got it: an impeccable recreation of the original shot. It was exhilarating. It was a huge highlight of a great trip.
I wasn't cooking while on vacation, but I was still taking in environmental news items. Some are cause for despair, like the IPCC report that even if we cut industrial and transportation carbon emissions, the Earth is screwed unless "there is also a transformation in the way the world produces food and manages land," as stated in The Guardian. We really need large-scale policy change, obviously, but "Consumers in rich nations could act immediately by reducing their consumption of intensively produced meat and dairy foods," The Guardian reported.
I like those little reminders of why I would bother with trying to squeeze "milk" out of the seeds of a cereal grass. Along the same lines, on her own birthday, which happened to fall on my Vegan Vednesday last week, my sister thoughtfully suggested a vegan/vegetarian restaurant in London, Mildreds. I had a vegan "chicken" teriyaki burger that was great.
But as you know, awkward difficulties are among the things define me as a chef; they are my signature. There's no point in glossing over that. I'm not proud.
So I'm here to tell it to you straight: oat milk from the "Simple Vegan Blog" is not THAT easy to make. It was straightforward until I poured the blended oat slurry into my dishcloth for squeezing. That dishcloth always serves me very well for squeezing the liquids out of shredded veggies, but the oat slurry (I really love that word) was really thick, and didn't want to come out. I threw all my strength into it and it dribbled all over my hands and made a bit of a mess. And then when I concluded the slurry squeezing, the solids left on the towel made a slimy coating that did not come easily off such that I could use them for "cookies, truffles or whatever you want" (what?). I got some of it off, but I had to just wash a lot of it down the sink, and still my towel had some clinging to it. I will try a strainer next time. Or I'll just, you know, buy a carton of oat milk.
I made hot chocolate with my oat milk (yes, I drink hot chocolate all year round). It was thicker than I'd have liked, so I'd make the oat milk with more water next time. But other than that, it was fine, a reasonable substitute for milk.
I haven't posted on this blog in a while because I've been in England, visiting family members. These family members included my sister and our two cousins. A great many years ago, my mother took a picture of us four in front of a typical English stone wall, and we decided to join the ranks of marvelously ridiculous folks who recreate their childhood photos, when we all gathered from distant locales in the Cotswold village of Stroud. Credit goes to my sister for rallying us to embrace the mission, and then each of us rose to the occasion, procuring perfect outfits. The day was crazy windy, and we had to wait out some rain, but somehow we got it: an impeccable recreation of the original shot. It was exhilarating. It was a huge highlight of a great trip.
I wasn't cooking while on vacation, but I was still taking in environmental news items. Some are cause for despair, like the IPCC report that even if we cut industrial and transportation carbon emissions, the Earth is screwed unless "there is also a transformation in the way the world produces food and manages land," as stated in The Guardian. We really need large-scale policy change, obviously, but "Consumers in rich nations could act immediately by reducing their consumption of intensively produced meat and dairy foods," The Guardian reported.
I like those little reminders of why I would bother with trying to squeeze "milk" out of the seeds of a cereal grass. Along the same lines, on her own birthday, which happened to fall on my Vegan Vednesday last week, my sister thoughtfully suggested a vegan/vegetarian restaurant in London, Mildreds. I had a vegan "chicken" teriyaki burger that was great.
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| My burger in the foreground, and my sister and her boyfriend in the background. Happy birthday! |
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