This is her Briar Rose Yogurt Ghost - a representation of the story that doesn't shy away from how "sticky" things can get when you're fighting your way through briar hedges to your goal.
I think I'm going to start calling Ms. Garrett's cooking-and-condiment adventures "Natalie's Kitchen Tales", because there's something you may not know about her. Not only does she create fairy tales out of yogurt but she infuses her baking with tales too. I have no doubt that everything from her kitchen tastes more delicious than it should, just because of the care and story she folds into her ingredients. Just look at the way this woman cooks!
Here's part of her recipe for The "I Dare You" Chickpeanutbutter-and-Honey Bars:
Once upon a time, there was a piece of straw, a piece of coal, and darling little bean who escaped from an old lady who wanted to kill them. They banded together and set off on an adventure. When they came upon a brook, only the bean stayed behind. The straw and the coal tried to help one another across, and they both “died”, and then their pal, the bean, watching from the shore, laughed so hard he exploded. But then a wandering tailor saved him! Whaaat? The moral of the story is that beans are crazy.
...Fresh out of the oven, ohhhh, and they’re just so pretty, too, and filling, and perfect for breakfast, though I confess to an alarming tendency to snack on them all day.
Somewhere, a crazy little bean is laughing. Just not in my house...[That's a darling and funny Grimm's tale by the way. If you don't know it, go read it now. HERE. It's short, and sweet - like Natalie's recipe.]
Or the way this recipe begins for her The Lentil-Coconut-Oatmeal Cookie Bars (Psst! MOOC people! Pay attention to this one!):
They took her beautiful clothes away from her, dressed her in an old gray smock, and gave her wooden shoes. "Just look at the proud princess! How decked out she is!" they shouted and laughed as they led her into the kitchen.There she had to do hard work from morning until evening, get up before daybreak, carry water, make the fires, cook, and wash. Besides this, the sisters did everything imaginable to hurt her. They made fun of her, scattered peas and lentils into the ashes for her, so that she had to sit and pick them out again. In the evening when she had worked herself weary, there was no bed for her. Instead she had to sleep by the hearth in the ashes.
Despite the heat, the mess, and the inevitable Cinderella-esque cleanup for the scattered lentils, it’s totally worth it to make these bars.
...Like the I DARE YOU cookies, the lentils magically disappeared into them. Where do they GO? Only Cinderella knows....
Note - click on the recipe names to go to the part that has all the ingredients and the mix-how. From all reports, Natalie has great taste (pun intended) and always emphasizes the nom-worthiness.
I must confess, I'm not a real foodie but I would LOVE to hang out in Natalie's kitchen for an afternoon (or three), listen to her tell her tales as she bakes, watch her smear food into stories onto her counter and partake of any yumminess after!
Good food plus good stories? Sounds like a recipe for happiness in many parts of the world, including mine.
Keep cooking up your stories Natalie! We love them. ♥
Natalie Eve Garrett is an artist who likes disgustingly good food. You can follow her on Twitter, here, and on Pinterest, here. Prints of her art are for sale here.
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