Crafted VA was at Esoteric this past Saturday. We've been to a few Crafted events but this is the first we've attended in Virginia Beach. Here's the blurb on their Facebook page:

CRAFTED: Indie Arts & Craft Market. A curated showcase of the best in indie craft and design held twice a year in Norfolk and Virginia Beach, VA.

Actually, I'll write more about Crafted later because I wanted to highlight one of the booths at the fair we thoroughly enjoyed - Rose Macarons.

I'll be honest and say it was the first time we've heard of them but the macaroons were hard to pass up. The cute little designs, like the Harley Quinn and Harry Potter faces, were pretty cool. Of course we ate some and they were delicious! Love how they had a nice little crunch on the outside but were super chewy on the inside.

Chelsea Rose started the business January 2016 according to her website and suggest you keep an eye out for her work. These are going to be everywhere! I'd bet on it.

Everyone has their garden game going on! I'm sure a lot of you that have tons of stuff you planted thinking, "Heck yeah! That'll be cool to have!", then end up with buckets of said item. Cucumbers is one, they grow like crazy and even if you love them you'll have to admit you can't use them all. How about eggplants? I mean you can only eat so much Eggplant Parm right?

I got another another idea - Baba Ganoush!

If you don't know what Baba Ganoush is, it's basically hummus made with eggplant instead of chickpeas. Yeah, yeah, I know that's super simplifying it but you get the idea. Speaking of simple, I'm going to tell you how to make it quickly and use up all those eggplants you have stacked up in the corner.

Here's what you'll need.

Ingredients:

3 Medium Eggplants
3-4 Cloves Garlic
3 Tablespoons Olive Oil
Juice of 1 Lemon
3 Tablespoons of Tahini
1/4 Cup of Parsley
Salt and Pepper to taste

There is a little bit a prep you'll have to do before you end up with the finished product. The eggplant needs to be roasted or grilled. I roasted mine the last time I did it for convenience. I do prefer grilling them though, adds a slight smoky flavor to the dish.

You'll notice in the photo above I'm sweating out the eggplant with salt. Adding salt will draw out bitterness and moisture from the eggplant, it takes about an hour. Is it totally necessary?

No.

So if you're in a pinch for time you don't have to sweat it (haha, get it?) Eggplants these days aren't that bitter so you can skip this step.

Before You Start:

If you want to sweat the eggplant thickly slice and then heavily salt both sides. Do not cut the eggplant too thin. If the the slices are too thin they'll be hard to work with and they will dry out quickly Place on a tray or rack and let sit for about 30-45 minutes. You'll see moisture bead up on the surface of the eggplant. When done, rinse the eggplant under cold water and thoroughly pat dry with paper towels. Place them loosely in a roasting pan.

When using the food processor, pulse for as long as needed to get the baba ganoush to the desired consistency. The shorter in the processor, the more chunky. The longer, the smoother it will be.

Directions:

Move an oven rack up to the top notch and then pre-heat the oven to broil.
Place eggplant on top rack and roast about 15 minutes then flip and roast another 15 minutes. When the eggplant feels soft, they're done.
While the eggplant is in the oven, put all the other ingredients except the parsley in a food processor.
When the eggplant is done, take it out of the oven and let it cool down.
Add the eggplant to the food processor and run it through until it hits the desired smoothness.
Add the parsley and pulse until it is chopped and distributed evenly.
Scoop into a bowl, garnish with some olive oil and a little more parsley.
Eat.

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