3 Siblings and a Spatula

French Bread

2012-01-21T17:14:00.001-08:00

This bread is amazing. Add extra salt though. And I'm pretty sure people will think you're amazing when you make it and serve it. I am now going to attempt making it without a kitchen aid and leaving it in the fridge overnight.

Keep your finger's crossed it'll come out okay.

Sank you.

-Sar

PS Lady in Red is on Pandora right now. Wow. Most romantic bread-making session, ever.

PPS Oooh, he just whispered: "I love you." Yikes.

Don't be Duped, Make Pumpkin Soup

2012-01-11T20:20:00.000-08:00

Sometimes life happens. Blogging becomes second priority.

Hey punkins! So...it's been awhile. How are you? How's life? Good? Great. Glad to hear it.

Now, food...

I feel like a full-blown woman in every sense of the word when I buy a pie pumpkin and turn it in to something amazing i.e. pumpkin pie, which I did this week. Then there's leftovers of the pumpkin innards. This is when you have to get creative. I was thinking of making pumpkin french toast but then I didn't. I went for pumpkin soup. Which you should too.

I glanced at a couple of recipes and went for it! Here's a rough recipe. That's how I roll. Sorry...?

1 part pumpkin moosh

1-1.5 parts water

Appropriate amount of chicken broth (I like Better Than Bouillon)

Cream cheese (I used about 2-2.5T for 1-1.25 cups of pumpkin)

Pepper to taste

A little brown sugar (I used 1-2T for about 1-1.25 cups of pumpkin)

Salt to taste

A bit of butter

Wow. I could not believe how delicious this was. And so fast. Oooh-la-la!

Boy do I feel daft for not fulfilling my urges to make pumpkin soup previously. Yes Heather, I heard that on one of your "weird British shows" on netflix just now. Had the craving to use it. So I did. And I'm okay with it.

A thank you to those of you who have donated yourselves to the cause of finishing off the pumpkin pie I made. You know who you are. Take a bow.

Sar

Missionaries sometimes teach you food tricks too

2011-05-15T20:59:00.000-07:00

I didn't want to believe it. I was a little disgusted. However, I learned while eating dinner with the missionaries yesterday a new delicious treat. It follows.

Strawberries, dipped lightly in sour cream then rolled in brown sugar.

Touche Elder, Touche

Great Grandma's Raspberry Jello

2010-11-24T19:27:00.000-08:00

Big family dinner tradition, in little individual round jello molds

1 large box of raspberry Jello

2 cups boiling water

1 cup cold pineapple juice (from the can of pineapple)

~14 oz can of pineapple tidbits

1 cup of frozen raspberries

1 cup of whipping cream (prior to whipping)

1 Tbl powdered sugar

1 tsp Vanilla

Add Jello to boiling water and stir until dissolved. Add pineapple juice. Stir and chill until almost set. In the meantime, whip the cream and combine with powdered sugar and vanilla. Once the Jello is close to being set, fold the whipped cream into the Jello and then fold in the drained pineapple and the frozen raspberries. Add chopped pecans to taste if you want. Continue chilling until firm.

Sar

Tomato Appetizer for Bread

2010-11-24T12:40:00.000-08:00

I made this delicious mess a while back
(will not let me add the pic right now...I will add it in a bit)

Ingredients:
Cherry or grape tomatoes
Olive oil
Cloves of garlic cut in halves or quarters
Salt
Pepper
Fresh mint

Put it in the oven until tomatoes are soft. Eat on toasted bread.

Sar

Beef Stew with Polenta

2010-11-24T12:33:00.000-08:00

Many new foods are being discovered this week as Heather and I unite our forces. We made Thai coconut milk soup, quinoa, pizza, stir-fry, and beef stew w/polenta. I was excited to make polenta for the first time.

It is super easy. The recipe is from the red and white cookbook. I can never remember if it's the better homes and gardens or betty crocker. I think it's better homes and gardens.

I'll add the recipe in a bit.

Why must these products exist?

2010-11-24T12:24:00.001-08:00

Today I add yet another unbearably delicious food to the list I maintain in my head of certain foods that I wonder why they must exist.

Heather introduced me to this new friend. I believe it was purchased at Costco, you could also get it here. It tastes like butter, but cheese, with delicious seasoning. It's out of control.

This Thanksgiving Heather and I are joining forces. It shall be most assuredly delicious and exciting. Of course, appetizers will include boursin cheese w/crackers.

Sar

Pumpkin Pie - Completely from Scratch

2010-10-24T20:12:00.000-07:00

Leave it to Trader Joe's to get me to try out a new and risque recipe, which turned out to be delicious. Touche Trader Joe's, touche.

Buy a pie pumpkin. Cut it in half w/o the stem. Scoop out the seeds and strings. Place it cut down on foil-lined baking sheets. Cover with foil. Bake at 350 degrees F until tender approx. 1 1/2 hours. Cool. Scoop out flesh and mash w/potato masher or food processor until smooth. Drain if watery. Beat together just until smooth: 1 1/3c. smooth pumpkin, 1 1/3c. sweetened condensed milk (YEAH baby), 1 egg, 1 1/4 t cinnamon, 1/2 t nutmeg, 1/2 t ginger, 1/4 t cloves, 1 c. hot water. It will be very runny-no worries, that's right. Make pie crust (see below) and bake for 5 minutes, then pour pumpkin mixture into 9" pie shell. Bake at 375 degrees F for 55-65 minutes (center will still slightly move). Mashed pumpkin leftovers are good for 5 days in the fridge.

For the pie crust I used the whole wheat pastry flour pie crust recipe from here, which is delicious and undetectably whole grain.

Mexican-Style Sauces

2010-10-24T20:04:00.000-07:00

I beg your pardon. I just went to my friend's house this week who schools any Mexican restaurant around, and I figured out why my sauces (such as my enchilada sauce) is too runny when I make it. It's a brain buster: too much water. I missed the step of draining the water from the boiled tomato, tomatillo, garlic, onion, pepper/jalapeNo before blending, and then adding water a little at a time until the desired consistency of the sauce is achieved while blending. Don't forget salt and pepper. You can do this for any dish needing a Mexicany sauce, or cool it for chips. Try it, it's so good. So worth it.

She made me green chile colorado which is essentially a tomatillo and garlic sauce (made as explained above) and you cook pork in it. It was utterly delicious. Don't forget to eat it with warm corn tortillas.

Pasta in Cream Sauce

2010-10-24T19:57:00.000-07:00

A creamy italian pasta treat here

Curry Dish and Italian Sodas: Not the best combination but still delicious

2010-10-24T19:52:00.000-07:00

Heather created a curry concoction. Recipe here

Pumpkin Pie Cake

2010-10-24T19:49:00.000-07:00

Recipe here

Fage

2010-09-30T21:59:00.000-07:00

pic from here

Fage.

Need I say more?

If you have not tried it yet, you have not lived. You may think I'm exaggerating. But I'm not. Sorry to break it to you. You really haven't lived.

As if it isn't enough alone, amazing recipes here

SeJeather Does Iron CHEF!

2010-08-03T23:33:00.000-07:00

See here for our first annual Iron Chef competition.

It was amazing.

You Should be Very Jealous

2010-06-27T21:50:00.000-07:00

If you want me to make you a cupcake wedding cake, let me know

Sarah

Cereal

2010-06-03T18:59:00.001-07:00

Well, all I've been eating around here lately is Life cereal. It is incredibly delicious, however-particularly with fresh strawberries or blueberries and sometimes enjoyed in Trader Joe's vanilla soy milk. I guess our attempts at keeping our meals more interesting than cold cereal are currently failing-for me. And for James I think too. I'm certain Heather is having better success.

On a happier note, my Costa Rican friend made me gallo pinto (and a million other delicious Costa Rican foods). I could not have been happier. Gallo pinto is the traditional breakfast food in Costa Rica which is rice, black beans, cilantro, onion, perhaps red pepper if desired, cooked up all together and served with a cream called natilla which is somewhat similar to sour cream. It's really good, you should make it. Here's a recipe. At some point Costa Rica was taken captive by a company who makes this sauce called Salsa Lizano. They put it in EVERYTHING. I'm pretty sure the country would fall apart if the Lizano company stopped making their drug I mean sauce for the people.

Sar

Flaky Whole Wheat Pie Crust

2010-05-17T15:42:00.000-07:00

I really like whole wheat pastry flour and I love the idea of real butter and no shortening (trans fat) in a pie crust. I did make a pie crust using whole wheat pastry flour and it was good, definitely worth it. I don't think you will have naysayers if you do. I found this recipe on a bag of flour at Heather's house.

Recipe from Bob's Red Mill Stone Ground Whole Wheat Pastry Flour
2c. Whole Wheat Pastry Flour
1tsp. Sea Salt
3/4 c. Unsalted butter, chilled
5 to 8 Tbsp. Ice water

Sift flour and salt into large mixing bowl. Cut butter into 12 pieces and rub into dry ingredients until mixture has pea size pieces. Sprinkle water over mixture, one tablespoon at a time and knead lightly just until a dough forms. Form dough into a ball. Cut in half and press each into a disc shape. Wrap each disc in waxed paper or plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes before rolling. Makes 2-9" single pie crusts or 1-9" double pie crust.

Sar

"Oats"

2010-05-01T11:32:00.001-07:00

Some people make photo collages of their children.

Some people make photo collages of their "oats"

(as Malore aka Mallory so lovingly calls them).

What does finishing grad school look like?

A photo collage of oats.

An Ode to Oats

I went to New Orleans last week (Naw'leans) and had the most amazing dining experience of my life. It was called breakfast. We went to Brennan's and entered a world of amazingness I never before had experienced. I felt like Scarlet in Gone with the Wind, or Elizabeth dining at Mr. Darcy's. A three course breakfast. Yes. I sat there trying to soak it all in. This was a (likely) once-in-a-lifetime experience here. To be quite honest, the appetizer was the best dish. I had a southern baked apple which was an apple (cored, skin on) baked in oodles and oodles of brown sugar and cinnamon amazingness, then plopped in the center of cold cream. Mercy. I then had creamed spinach, fried shrimp, and hollandaise sauce-layered in that order from bottom to top. I also had some of my co-worker's salmon and poached egg. A poached egg folks. This was amazing. Never had I tasted such a thing. The hollandaise sauce was to die for. We also had a warm loaf of french bread which was perfectly crunchy/toasty on the outside. Dessert (yes, "breakfast dessert"-a novel concept that caresses the depths of my very soul) was banana's foster.

This was an amazing experience. And it was so delicious. I need to recreate the apple as well as the hollandaise and poached egg-as soon as humanly possible.

Yet, I missed my "oats." Nothing hits the spot, nor makes you feel good all day long like oats. In Canada I bought some "porridge" (so says the bag, I know, it feels weird to say that, "can I have some more porridge sir?" (said with British accent)) which has oatmeal, flax seeds, and wheat germ. I have been devouring this in the am with frozen blueberries cooked in for the last little bit. I also enjoy Irish steel cut oats (Trader J's has a quick-cook version=6 min. vs. 30 min.). If not, regular oats are the oats of choice (not to be confused with quick-cooking oats). With a bit of brown sugar. You just can't go wrong here. Pictured above are my beloved steel-cut oats.

I don't want no muffin. Cast off the pastries. Donuts-for shame! Pancakes, be done with you. Bacon-you can come back another day. Just give me some oats please.

Happy

2010-04-19T22:39:00.001-07:00

Wow, I didn't know that going grocery shopping could make me so happy. Maybe it was the alone time that my introverted self gave myself which charged me up for the shopping outing which was vastly improved by good & fun music at the store. Maybe it was the fact that I tried making something my pretend cousin Mal taught me and ate it for dinner. First of all, we went to Vancouver, BC and discovered a giant tub (relatively speaking-think of the tiny containers at the store) of thai curry paste for 4 dollars! There's an amazing market in Vancouver that has tons of international products and so many delicious foods to eat and stare at. It's amazing. Truly a trip for all of your senses. Here's what you do, be prepared to be amazed as it makes a lovely and interesting little mixture whilst (new goal to begin using this word, inspired by too much Jane Austen, I won't really do it bc I don't want to be weird, but I'll do it here) it cooks: Mix curry paste (thai) with a bit of coconut milk and cook chicken (cubed/similar) in it=so moist and flavorful! It is magical. Yes, it is. Maybe it's just me, but I had never ever used curry paste like that. (You may all be thinking, that's how we always use curry paste.) I was just so surprised how moist the chicken was. Apparently I'm amazed. Then do whatever you will with it. Turn it into a soup. Turn it into a stir fry. Whatnot. What have you.

So apparently the world/business owners who sell us their products in this country have been reading my blog because there seem to be more passion fruit products at the store since the last time I went. Remember. I said that us USers want more passion fruit products. Yeah, you were there.

Did you know...
That Ben and Jerry's make a pineapple ice cream (it's sorbet I think actually) with passion fruit swirls called Jamaican me crazy which is DE-licious?!!!!! How long has this product existed? Why did I not know about this? My heart is broken. I'm pretty sure, yes, I'm positive, this is the BEST-tasting passion fruit product with a US origin I have ever had. And since it's not ice cream it's not too harsh on the locus of feelings and intuitions or "the ol' ticker", if you will, as regards fat content.
There is a new passion fruit juice which just may be on sale at your local grocer's as it was at mine, although it is passion fruit and aloe (don't think, just drink) and it has less sugar/calories than minute maid passion fruit and was at least 1.50 cheaper.

I could go on and on about all of the delicious edibles I heart, but I'm so tired; alas, I shall save it for another day. Or for never. The latter (eek, I never know if I use that one right, which never fails to make me feel dumb) is more likely.

Is it just me....or do you all love passion fruit too, you do, right? I was talking to one friend and he was like eww passion fruit. I pretty much died. Preposterous. Moms likes to smell my passion fruit foods..."wait, let me smell that," and then she says "gross." Uncalled for. It's too delicious for mankind really. (I'm reminded of how Heather said that papaya tastes and smells like feet, and it does. It really does gang. But, papaya shakes are really good. ) Anyhow, so another friend, I thought was the person who didn't like passion fruit, and I mentioned this to him, and he got this serious look on his face and kind of sternly said: "that was not me." That made me happy. Passion fruit is good and it deserves to be respected as something absurdly delicious. Thank you for respecting passion fruit.

sweet dreams of passion fruit......

Sar

Why'd you have to go and make things so complicated? Enchiladas Revisited

2010-03-05T21:09:00.000-08:00

One fun thing about my life that makes me happy is that I work at a very unique agency that is literally in the middle of a neighborhood in a Latino community. When I go to work I say "buenos dias" not good morning. And I love it. Some things not to love, it is still work you know...but I'm seeing the glass half full right now. So, in this neighborhood (called South Park) there was a restaurant this Salvadorean lady opened. It recently closed but she still caters ($6/person!-hope that deal is still going on in a million years when I get married) and her food is so delicious, with real ingredients, it's authentic. Anyhow, so I had enchiladas there and they are delicious, and I realized, I think enchiladas are much simpler to make than us US-ers try to make them (there's no convenient way in English to say someone from the US, well yankee I guess, but in Spanish there are plenty of ways-estadounidense, gringo, guero, gabacho, yankee - I would have used estadounidense here but there's no equivalent in English, so I'll just make it up and start using it and hope that within 10 years there will be wide-spread use of my new term across the entire country: US-ers, help spread it, our society needs this term). So, I think that really no oven needs to be involved, hardly any cheese (and if possible it should be real Mexican cheese), and no crazy filling.

Last night I needed a meal and couldn't figure out what to make. When this happens, those times when it seems that although there is food, but there is just absolutely nothing that you could put together to make into a meal, and one that you feel like eating at that, I try to continuous look through the food and hope for some magic to happen in my brain. So I opened the fridge, the freezer, the food cabinet, shove a girl scout cookie down my throat, looked at the caned food, back to the fridge, the food cabinet, then the freezer, the cans...etc. After about 5-10 minutes of this, the wheels started turning. And then I thought-it's the perfect night for enchiladas: frozen corn tortillas in the freezer, a left-over rotisserie chicken in the fridge, some tomatoes and garlic and onion for sauce, and a microwave on hand.

My friend taught me how her family (Mexican) makes sauce for chips, enchiladas, anything. I think I discussed this in my first enchilada post. Anyhow, basically I made a sauce using her method (boil-microwave or stove-about 1-2 cups of water, 4 or 5 tomatoes, 3 cloves of garlic, half an onion, fresh jalapeNo or other pepper or dried peppers, and salt; once ingredients are soft, drain off the water, put them in the blender, and add water bit by bit until desired consistency is reached...and voila you have your sauce; of course as you may have imagined, you can switch the ingredients-more or less of any of them, any variation of hot pepper (dried or fresh)-or none, some tomatillos in the place of tomatoes (the strange little green tomato-y things by the jalapeNos-which you'd use for a green sauce). Anyhow, I made red with about 4 tomatoes. The sauce turned out very tasty, in my opinion. I then shredded the chicken, added a little of the sauce to it (stirred it together), added a tiny bit of cheese (yes, cheddar), heated the tortillas until they were soft and pliable, dipped them in the sauce (I don't think this is necessary though), filled one side with chicken, rolled it, put it in a dish, poured more sauce over all of them, and put it in the microwave for a few minutes. I then ate it with a little light sour cream on the side. One could cover them with cheese if desired.

I give you, the simplified, and perhaps more authentic, enchilada.

Que viva Mexico! OLE!

Coconut Cake for Mom

2010-02-26T12:48:00.000-08:00

Mom came out to visit and help with our new baby. For some delayed fun, we celebrated her b-day a little late with this awesome cake.

From Food Box

Thanks to Paula Deen and her talented chicks for this awesome recipe. It's a bit more labor intensive than I strive for, but was it worth it! Mom couldn't get over it. Must be a good cake for the cake queen to notice.

From Food Box

Heather

What's For Dinner?

2010-02-24T22:09:00.000-08:00

Potato tomato galettes, fresh steamed broccoli and poached cod.

Potato Tomato Galettes - courtesy of my new mandolin! Preheat oven to 400 F.
Slice 3 potatoes thin as you can, toss in olive oil, salt and pepper.
Lay on greased (or parchment paper) cookie sheet in little piles, layering in a circular pattern until about 5" in diameter.
Slice tomatoes and toss in remaining oil and lay 2 slices on top of each potato pile.
Bake for about 15-20 minutes, until edges of potatoes start to brown and crisp.
Yummy!

Steamed Broccoli - wash, slice, steam, enjoy!

Poached Cod - boil a few cups of water (enough to cover the fish) in a large pot or pan.
Add some bouillon or "Better Than Bouillon" chicken flavor.
Add fresh or dried dill weed.
Add lemon juice and some lemon slices if handy. If not, just pour in some bottled lemon juice.
Boil for 8 - 10 minutes, until flaky.
Delish!

Heather

Life

2010-02-15T10:51:00.001-08:00

There are certain foods that I would like to eat every day of my life. These include: blueberries and strawberries. Along with pineapple, avocado, watermelon, Trader Joe's chocolate yogurt, fresh homemade corn tortillas, fruit salad made with wheat, pico de gallo, passion fruit anything, pasta with fresh tomato sauce, olive oil in any form...the list goes on. And on.

With such a title as above, you may think I am going to reveal some amazing truth about life or some exciting news about my life. No, it's a food blog. (Supposedly.) Therefore, I mean Life cereal. Something else I consider to be my boyfriend. Along with the jar opener mentioned below and my delicious sweat pants I'm wearing as we read/write.

I'd like to thank my roomate from way back when for introducing me to Life with frozen blackberries. This contributed to a truly magical dorm experience.

Today was a momentous occassion. I discovered Life cereal with fresh strawberries and blueberries. Why oh why, Sarah from the past, did you not discover this before? I dare any of you to try this combination and to tell me it isn't amazingly delicious. And amazingly nutritious.
And that's really all I have to say about that.

On another note, yesterday at church people were to bring a food that made them think of love. Of course, there were many desserts including heart shaped cookies and brownies, crepes, and etc. Half of the people brought such a said dessert. The other half brought pasta. I'm curious as to your theories about why pasta makes people think about love. I have one but I want to hear from you. Why does pasta make people think about love?

I always feel the need to apologize for this food blog not being amazing and perhaps not meeting people's expectations and looking like this. Heather and James have the capability of making it look so, however I do not. If I knew how, perhaps I would try to do that and focus on only posting amazing new recipes, etc. Such a project would be the perfect thing for me as I try to not finish my capstone project for school right now (I'm done 3.11!). I do enjoy random food conversation though. Hence the above.
The end.

Boxed Lunches

2010-01-21T22:26:00.000-08:00

? Have you ever noticed how boxed lunches (the kind ordered at meetings at work) pre-judge those who will consume their contents? Basically, you choose if you want a sandwich or if you want a salad. The rest of the contents are completely pre-decided for you, all based on your single and seemingly unimportant choice of a sandwich or a salad. I find quite interesting the box-makers' decision on what the accompanying edibles should be. Let me explain: the salad comes with a roll. The sandwich comes with a bag of chips. So, if you get a sandwich you are obviously a fatty and want chips, not a roll. Whereas, if you get a salad, you are definitely not going to want to put any greasy chips into your healthy salad-filled body. You deserve a roll. This is regardless of what kind of sandwich or salad it is and how healthy it may actually be. The avocado and turkey on whole wheat bread sandwich eater gets the same goods as the Italian meat-lovers cheese-maniac mayonnaise delight eater. There is some jump in logic here that I just can't follow: those with a preference for salad-eating want the un-fried roll, and those with the sandwich-consuming mindset want chips. Please note there are also desserts, fruit, and other accompaniments which follow this same perplexing pattern. Oh, they have a salad, they must not want a dessert. Oh, the sandwich eater's a goner anyways, what with his greasy chips, carbo-licious cheese and mayo-filled sandwich and all; he's just asking for it. Might as well just throw a pop in there and a brownie. Make it a pop, brownie, AND a cookie for that matter! It'll make no difference. It is also decided for us, the boxed lunch-eating people, that we can only have a salad OR a sandwich. What of those who like to mix it up, say with the mind-blowing half sandwich and half salad combo? Anyhow, I just feel kind of sad for the sandwich eaters, or for myself-as I ate a sandwich today, since I am assumed to be one who would prefer a bag of chips over a roll. I tend to feel that if I have a sandwich, I don't necessarily always want the chips.

Cooking Tips & This Morning's Ingredients

2010-01-19T14:43:00.000-08:00

James fell upon this baby today. This guy is great. He's full of great cooking tips and delicious recipes. I am dying to try them. I like his videos on garlic, olive oil, and butter (he advocates for eating real butter and not spreads). I'm hoping with his tips I can master a delicious bolognese sauce. Oh man, my new bestfriend. His recipes look so good.

I love his kitchen backsplash too. Gotta get me one of those. Guess I need a kitchen first. Which means I need a house.

This morning my ingredients were

And the end result
A yummy waffle breakfast with my niece (with these waffles, raspberry sauce, and fresh whipped cream). Waffle breakfasts are my fav, but having it with my niece is the icing on the cake.

My Man

2010-01-13T15:42:00.001-08:00

You may be asking yourself, "What is this red dot?" It is one of the greatest inventions of our times.
Perhaps you find yourself thinking, "Well, that Sarah, she's just easily entertained."
Well, this is still an amazing invention. It's a jar opener. The day I discovered this baby, I thought "I don't need a man" (if it were to come to that...I'm not THAT negative, maybe...anyhow). Foods that come in every form are available to me with this at hand. Beautiful.

Also, make sure you try these chips. They are the best chips I have ever had. No joke. I take my chips very seriously.

Life Lesons Learned in the Kitchen, entry #2

2009-12-17T21:17:00.000-08:00

Do you drive on the freeway for your first spin in a car at 15?

Do you learn how to walk before you can crawl?

Do you yell out the punch line of a joke before the lines are appropriately delivered?

Do you watch season 3 of a show before you've finished season 1?

No folks.

You don't.

Yeah that's right. You don't.

So why find a random recipe and try to make it at the last minute when you have to bring it somewhere?

I should have been suspicious of some of the ingredients. I mean, come on, I know food. 3/4 c. flour....unheard of for this type of dish. No oil or butter.....blasphemous! I knew it was too good to be true.

Yes folks.

It was folks.

I may be no Julia Childs, but I can cook. I mean, come on. I can whip something up that you will likely enjoy. However, I should have recalled that it is a bad idea to bring a dish somewhere when I haven't ever tried it before. Don't jump the gun and commit when you may likely crash and burn. Yes, I said it gang. Become acquainted first, then commit.

Great-Grandma's Raspberry Jello

2009-12-06T22:01:00.000-08:00

When I was little we'd go over to my great-grandparent's house in Yakima for Thanksgiving and Easter dinner. On the table we would each have a little adorable jello that had been placed in a mold (a teeny jello ring). The jello was the delicious mess described below. I cannot have a family dinner without this jello. It is heaven on earth.

It's so good. You have to try it.

1 large box of raspberry Jello
2 cups boiling water
1 cup cold pineapple juice (from the can of pineapple)
One 2/3 size can (not the regular size) of pineapple tidbits, drained. --be sure to save one cup of the juice
1 cup of frozen raspberries
1 cup of whipping cream (prior to whipping)
1 Tbl powdered sugar
1 tsp Vanilla

Add Jello to boiling water and stir until dissolved. Add pineapple juice. Stir and chill until almost set. In the meantime, whip the cream and combine with powdered sugar and vanilla. Once the Jello is close to being set, fold the whipped cream into the Jello and then fold in the drained pineapple and the frozen raspberries. Continue chilling until firm.

The other day at work I was showing my friend the beloved jello left over from Thanksgiving and he said it looked like cat vomit. I really wouldn't know, I'm not a cat person.

Eat more, chunkers

2009-11-30T22:07:00.000-08:00

I would like to formally thank Taco Bell for encouraging everyone to add another meal (fourthmeal) to our current overindulgence. I'm not the type to go to fast food because 1. I'm poor 2. I like to cook and prefer homemade meals almost always 3. I need to run more, not eat fast food more. Yes, somewhat of a food snob. But hey, I'll eat it. Put something edible in front of me and I will gladly get it into my belly.

So, oddly for me, I've gone to Taco Bell twice in the past week. I discovered the double decker taco this summer and happily got that again and I discovered at my second trip that they have a new "healthier" menu which seems to be the same food but with pico de gallo on top-which I'm okay with because I LOVE pico de gallo. It would be nice if it actually was healthier though.

On another note, I made cranberry sauce for Thanksgiving and I did in fact enjoy it with turkey (to my surprise). I prefer to add less sugar for turkey-combining purposes. I bought frozen cranberries from trader joes that were already sweetened (12 oz., 8 g carbs per serving-if that says anything about how sweetened they were) and added them to 1 cup of water and 1/2 c. plus 2 T. of sugar that first was brought to a boil. I let it boil a few minutes then took it off the burner. Pretty delish. I was tempted to add lemon juice but didn't want to risk it so I didn't. I have a thing about adding lemon juice to fruit that I cook for jam-type substances or other purposes. I usually do risk it and it turns out good. I think cranberries may be their own lemons though, due to their sassy flavor.
See next post for grandma's raspberry jello. You should be REALLY excited.

Un-foodstuffs

2009-11-25T20:47:00.000-08:00

Foodstuffs, what does that even mean?

–noun
a substance used or capable of being used as nutriment.
Origin: 1870–75; food + stuff

Oh, that's what it means.

It's just one of those words that people throw around and no one really knows what it means.

Ok, maybe people know what it means but I don't. I don't really mind.

Speaking of not caring, lack of motivation, etc. etc. I have felt so unmotivated to cook lately. I think I just may have had the life sucked out of me. As I walked to my room past my mom with my cold cereal boxes and milk for dinner on this Thanksgiving Eve, my mom scoffed and said "ha! cold cereal!?" She expects me to never settle for cold cereal I guess. Let it be known, I'm fond of a good cold cereal with deliciously cold milk. Yes, I like to eat real handcrafted meals, but cold cereal just hits the spot sometimes.

Anyways, back to the life being sucked out of me. I feel like my brain is partitioned into three sections: 1. My gainful employment 2. My internship (I pay to be there) 3. School. My partitions are pretty much in that order too. I am having a hard time accepting feeling that I cannot put my all into any one thing. I know I'm not doing my best in anything because I have to balance everything. I'm about 35% energy at my work, 30% at my internship and (...how much is left?) 25% at school. (I just realized that would be 90% after publishing this post. Oh well.) It is not a comfortable feeling to only be able to apply minimal focus to something you want to be dedicated to. I daydream of only being a student. It would be so crazy to only be going to school. It would be so nice! My internship is actually part of school. Oh man. Can't wait for my stress-induced sore neck to go away. Should be gone in April! (After March graduation.) In the meanwhile, I am struggling to focus. Hocus pocus. See what I mean? Any one word or thought sets my mind off on random tangents that I would much rather entertain than that which I must accomplish.

The good thing about always having something you should be doing is that I find I always get other things done that I didn't want to do before when I didn't have multiple tasks clamoring for my attention. Exhibit A: A box organizing and sorting project I've had on my mind for months is mysteriously accomplished when I have many other top priorities on my list begging for my attention.

To end on a positive note; Pie. Creative pie crusts here. Thanks Martha! She's such a dear.

Life Lessons Learned in the Kitchen, #1

2009-10-26T18:14:00.000-07:00

About 5 years ago I was trying to figure out how to make rice. I asked for suggestions, I tasted different rices, analyzed them, and I tried different aforementioned suggestions...and it was all to no avail. I was in awe by anyone who could make rice. It was so hard. A real mind-boggler.

Then, one day, I read the instructions on the bag of rice. I cooked the rice exactly as directed. I measured the water and the rice exactly as directed. I did not stir the rice- exactly as directed.

And the rice was perfect.

By following the wisdom of previous rice-makers who documented their rice-making success, I was able to have success too and my life was therefore better. Sometimes we just need to read the directions, and not be a fool. Sometimes we need to take advice. The best advice is from those who know: such as the rice-makers.

I hereby declare you have permission to use this as a metaphor to demonstrate your knowledge of life lessons. May go over well for teaching young impressionable children or for presentations, teaching classes, or sacrament meeting talks.

Cafe Rio Salad! & Cilantro Lime Rice

2009-10-25T14:42:00.000-07:00

A long, long time ago,... I used to eat pork. Then I started to not like pork.

So one time I lived in Provo. I had this blonde Californ-I-A bombshell of a roomate. She had an obsession. She'd plead and beg for me to accompany her...

So then I met Cafe Rio. My life forever changed. So much flavor. Such perfectly combined tastes. Who could ask for more?

Of course, I was devastated when I learned they were pulling an In-N-Out and were sticking to Utah. They

should share the love, such as with Washington.

One time for Christmas the aforementioned roomie got the best present ever. Her brother brought her a Cafe Rio salad. Drove it straight from Utah to San Diego. Such love.

My order of choice - pork salad with the creamy tomatillo dressing. If not, then a pork burrito, enchilada style.

I left my heart in Cafe Rio.

Thanks to Heather's candid photography I now know what I look like eating Cafe Rio (last Dec. in UT). Notice the deep concentration one must exhibit while enjoying some Cafe Rio.

Creamy Tomatillo Salad Dressing

1 Packet of Ranch (I like the MSG free kind made with light mayo-not to be confused with Fat Free mayo)
1-2 Tomatillos (fresh-boil/microwave till soft and put in blender or canned)
Some cilantro finely chopped
1/4-1/2 of a jalapeNo (the gringo warning: do not chop with your bare hands, unless you want your hands and everything they touch to be on fire for hours and hours. Don't ask me how I know that.)
Some fresh garlic finely chopped or put in blender
Mix all the ingredients together (can put in blender and blend it all together), chill, etc.

If you want to make the salad a la Cafe Rio, do as follows: Buy some of those tortillas you cook (Costco, Fred Meyer). Make some. While they are almost done cooking, add a bit of grated cheese so it melts onto the said tortilla. Put the tortilla on a plate. Add some black beans (warm, canned or some you've made yourself or canned that you've spruced up with some seasoning, garlic, salt, pepper, onion, etc.), add some rice (white rice or make white rice and when cooking, first add a bit of oil to the pan, add some onion, after cooking for a while, add the rice and chopped garlic to the oil, let it brown up, then add the water (1.5 cups per 1 cup of long or medium grain rice) stir, bring to boil, add tons of chopped cilantro, salt, and squeezed lime now or at the end, cover and cook on low until it's soft. DON'T STIR IT until the end.), add lettuce, tomato, avocado, some chips, cilantro, and the dressing. Voila. If you want meat, make slow cooker pork, beef, or just add chicken. I have made some Cafe-Rio like pork, but it's not exactly the same. The trick is the crockpot and it's gotta be sweet and flavorful. Heather thinks sweet pork is not delicious. Don't worry, I will help her to understand the many endearing qualities of the sweet pork.
I went to San Diego (heart, heart) this summer and got to visit with my Cafe Rio partner-in-crime. Of course, we made salads. Notice the look of bliss as the salads are nearing completion. Do notice she did not lose concentration by keeping her eyes closed.

In search of the most delicious homemade chocolate milk known to man

2009-10-18T22:26:00.000-07:00

This is the world.

As we know it.

This is me on this giant rock called planet earth.

Now WHERE is the recipe for chocolate milk made at home that tastes like store-bought chocolate milk? I know that you are out there, somewhere out there.

Down with bitter chocolate milk made with syrup. Down with bitter hot chocolate from cafes. Do you know the secret to delicious homemade chocolate milk? Do you know how to make delicious homemade hot chocolate that is not bitter and does not come from a mix? How is it done?

We deserve sweet deliciousness. We the people.

Vitamins

2009-09-17T20:33:00.000-07:00

I feel like I'm coming down with something and I have a lot to do this weekend. So, I decided to take some people's advice from my internship and take an immune booster. I'm not so sure that was such a good idea.

I ask you: Can you have too much of a good thing?

I posit that yes. Yes you can.

Multiply the below ingredients x9 for my daily intake (per the bottle's recommendations)

Vitamin A 100% DV
Vitamin C 2,150% DV
Zinc 150% DV
Selenium 90% DV

Garlic Clove 360 mg
Propolis
European Elder Berry Extract
... and tons o f other extracts, roots, bark, fruits, and etc.

Since when do we need or is it recommended to take 2,150%x9=19,350% of your DV of Vitamin C for multiple days? Repeat content multiplication for excessive amounts of other vitamins, minerals, and random things. The note on the bottle stating: "These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration" was not helping it's craziness cause either.

So, I decided I love life and I don't have insurance...therefore I will stop taking it so I do not die or end up with wacky side-effects that need to be treated.

I may take one per day until I feel better and I will continue with my oregano oil pill. But, call me crazy, no more 20,000% of my Daily Value of Vitamin C though.

I don't know about you. That just seems a tiny bit excessive.

James and the Giant Peach

2009-08-30T22:53:00.001-07:00

Organic peaches were on sale for $1/lb. So, of course I bought the largest one I could find. It wound up having a better taste than the smaller ones. Here is James posing with the giant peach. James and the Giant Peach. Pun intended. I have been utilizing said peaches for waffle toppings, with yogurt, and a few weeks back made peach cobbler. It will be so sad when it is no longer summer and I cannot buy these lovely fruits. Here's to one last fruit hurrah before the end of summer. Remember, posing with peaches is a serious business.

Waffles

2009-08-26T22:34:00.000-07:00

Surprise HL! Hope you like it! What does this pic have to do with waffles? One thing: it is the location of the second to last time I made waffles (or three times ago...), Phoenix. And you should know, this was the silly state I was in.

Now, back to business. No more silliness. The Better Homes & Gardens cookbook changed their waffle recipe. :( I'm not a fan of sweet waffles (the batter), although I do like sweet yummies on top of my waffles. Here's the old recipe. I plan on making these every Saturday for approximately, the rest of my life. Pics from when they were made in Phoenix with old roomie.

1 3/4 c. flour

1 T. baking powder

1/4 t. salt

1 3/4 c. milk

1/2 c. oil

2 egg yolks

2 egg whites

Mix together dry ingredients. In a separate bowl beat yolks and add wet ingredients. In a third bowl beat egg whites until stiff peaks form. Mix yolk wet mix and dry mix together. Fold in egg white. VOILA!

With fresh peaches

Booberry Muffins

2009-08-16T22:29:00.000-07:00

Okay, I really mean blueberry, but booberry is funner to say. I accidentally said it earlier actually. boo-berry. Plus if it were halloween, it would sound nice and spooky.

When Heather, Jane, and Scott were here, we went blueberry picking on Bellevue way. It was so fun! Jane was trying to run away from us and steal blueberries jamming them in her mouth. It was awesome. She could pick them and put them in the bucket. We tried to teach her they have to be paid for first. It's hard with a 1 year old though. So, this recipe is using those blueberries! Picked by my niece. Way fun.

I looked at several recipes and put them all together and came up with this. (P.S. it's VERY delicious. I am feeling pretty awesome right now because I was craving a delicious muffin and got it. YEsssss. 1 point sarah, 0 points undelicious muffins)

1 lightly beaten egg

1/2 c. white flour

1/2 c. whole wheat pastry flour (or just do all white)

1/2 c. brown sugar

1/2 c. white sugar

1/4 c. oil

1 c. sour cream (I used light)

1 t. vanilla

1/2 t. baking soda

1/2 t. baking powder

2 cups blueberries (unless you don't want so many. I'll let you decide)

Mix everything together except blueberries and then fold in booberries. Put in muffin tins (use paper cups or grease accordingly). Sprinkle lightly with white sugar. Bake at 350 F for about 20-25 minutes. Should feel firm to touch and be a darker golden color or use the toothpick test. Remove from oven and let cool in tins for a few minutes, then remove from tins for further cooling.

Mine fell/collapsed a little, so there is room for improvement. But I didn't care because it wasn't that much and they were so delicious. I love these muffins because I they are full of blueberries and normally blueberry muffins do not have enough blueberries and are to muffin bready. I also love them because they are dense and moist. So, if you are not in to either of these two muffin characteristics, you may want to find another recipe, or just do less (or no) sour cream and less blueberries.

I should say I did sprinkle in a bit of salt, but just because I felt I had to. I don't know what purpose salt serves in baked goods...which proves I do not know a lot about this subject, but I felt bad not doing it since it's in every recipe so I gave it a little dash. Not a measured spoonful or anything, just a dash.

Maccaroni & Cheese in the Crockpot

2009-05-25T12:59:00.001-07:00

Sometimes (always) doing schoolwork is hard and all you want to do is anything in the world besides your school projects. Well, I have to eat right? I have not had time to cook for weeks so this weekend I have been going a bit crazy and if I could I would be making many other recipes I've had in mind. It just feels so good to cook sometimes! Well, back to the fact that I do have to eat despite being extremely busy. So, I decided to throw this recipe in the crockpot this morning and this is the amazing cheesiness that resulted

I didn't follow the recipe exactly (that's my thing) and I still think it needs a few adjustments. It's a pretty fun recipe though. I used:

3 cups (instead of 2) of elbow pasta, 1 egg (I would forgo the egg next time), 1/2 t salt, 4 cups shredded cheddar, 4 cups skim milk, 1/2 t dried mustard, 1/2 t pepper

Beat the milk, egg, and spices. Add pasta and cheese and stir. Spray your crockpot with cooking oil. Add everything to the crockpot. Cook on High for 1-3 hours (depending on how hot your CP gets and the size of your crockpot). Could also cook on low for more time.

If you look at the comments on the blog the recipe is from, you will see that many people complained of the milk curdling. I think my milk curdled too. I am not very picky so I do not care. It did not ruin the dish. I hypothesize that the milk would not curdle if this was cooked slower on low, but who knows. I also think that the egg may give it a slight curdle-y texture so I would try this recipe without egg. Now that I've completely thrown everyone off of the recipe....try it. It's good though and worth it. Just don't be too picky. Lighten up a little, will ya? It was done after cooking on high for about 2 hours and 10 minutes. I left it on to cook to see if it would crisp up on top as some bloggers said it would. That's going down right now, so I don't know what the outcome will be. Ok, just checked on it and leaving it on for extra time was a bad idea. It's okay, but it was much better when it was first done. I recommend turning off the crockpot as soon as desired cheesiness (versus too much liquid) is achieved and noodles are desired softness. Also, I think I'm having such a hard time focusing today likely because everyone is celebrating their day off with picnics and camping and I am in my room writing a research paper on cognitive behavioral therapy and domestic violence. Ok bye. (But I must say, I am truly happy to be in school right now, some days are just a little hard.)

Enchiladas!

2009-05-24T17:04:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite things about having leftover chicken (particularly those rotisserie chickens you buy hot from the food store - (I discovered in college that in my family we call the grocery store the food store and this is weird for some people, or perhaps for everyone outside of the five of my core family members. My roomates brought this to my consciousness)) is to use the chicken for taquitos or enchiladas. Today I made enchiladas.

Sauce

3 tomatoes, 1 medium onion, 3 cloves of garlic, 2 dried peppers or 1 fresh pepper, salt and pepper, oregano, water

Boil 3 tomatoes (or more if you want more sauce) in about 3-4 cups of water. Also boil 3 cloves of garlic, 1 medium onion (chopped into 4 or so large pieces) and if you want some spice - add some dried chilies or a piece of a jalapeNo or other fresh pepper (more is less - be careful not to add too much of the fresh peppers, start with about a 1 inch piece). Once the onion is soft, drain off the water, add this mixture to the blender and blend well. Add some water little-by-little until desired consistency. Add salt and pepper to taste and a few pinches of oregano (can use Mexican version which has bigger leaves and is sold with the Mexican spices at the grocery store - which are 1 dollar each by the way!). Set aside.

Chicken Filling

2 cups cooked chicken meat, cilantro, pepper, cumin, 1/2 c. cream cheese (or could use sour cream or cream of chicken or mushroom soup), 1/4 of a medium onion, 1 t finely chopped garlic, 1/4 c. monterey jack cheese

Take boneless chicken meat (cooked, I used about 2 cups) and add to a food processor (or chop by hand) with a few sprigs of fresh cilantro (if you have it). Briefly chop then add to a mixing bowl. Add pepper, a few shakes of cumin (has a strong flavor so beware - emphasis on "few"). Put 1/4 - 1/2 cup cream cheese in the microwave just until soft (about 30 seconds) and add to the chicken, stir well. Add 1/4 of an onion that is very finely chopped (or put in the food processor), add garlic, mix well. Add about 1/4 cup grated monterey jack cheese (could use other kinds, but experiment with cheeses besides cheddar if you have other cheese, pepper jack would be really good). Mix well. Afterthoughts: I am lazy sometimes and do not like to "waste" time chopping, therefore I used the food processor (you have to hold a button down for one second. ONE SECOND FOLKS!) but the bro states he prefers bigger chicken chunks - so with everyone's different tastes, choose your chunk size and chop by hand if you want larger, but just know what you're getting into if you use a food processor.

Tortillas

As many corn tortillas as you want of enchiladas, probably about one bag of 30

I think enchiladas should predominantly be made with corn tortillas. If you want to use flour, that's ok by me, but corn is the more traditional way of making it (probably depends on region) and it has awesome flavor, plus corn tortillas have more fiber and are like the whole wheat bread of tortillas (just what you wanted, right? more fiber). Heat the tortillas on a plate in the microwave. I use the small corn tortillas and lay them out on a plate with 2 or 3 layers and heat them 1 minute, them flip them around and heat another minunte, and continue to do so, checking them often, for a couple of minutes until they are very pliable and will not break when you roll them.

Use a 9x13 or similar pan and ladle some sauce in the bottom (a thin layer). Take a warm corn tortilla and dip it thoroughly (but briefly) in the sauce. Place in the pan, add 2 Tbsps (more or less) of chicken filling slightly to one side of the tortilla and make it into a line across the side of the tortilla. Roll the tortilla closed. Lay it in the pan so that it is sitting on its rolled edge. Repeat for all of the tortillas and filling. Cover with more sauce (and save some for while it is cooking). Cover with a small amount of grated cheese (don't want the cheese to mask all of the flavor of your delicious sauce and filling). Bake 30-40 minutes in a 400 degree oven. In the middle of cooking, add more sauce to the enchiladas (or they may dry out, you could cover with aluminum to help avoid drying out). Serve with sour cream and top with cilantro, as desired.

Variations: you could make green sauce with tomatillos using the same method as the tomatoes, or you could make a mixed sauce with both. You could add green chilies to the chicken mixture. The possibilities are endless, really.

Water

2009-05-24T16:50:00.000-07:00

Hooray for water and being hydrated. Yesterday I dehydrated myself and had horrible horrible side-effects; things which I never knew were possible. I did not feel dehydrated, but I had been feeling pretty thirsty for a few days (as you may have seen on FB) thanks to an antibiotic. Then I went on a long run with my friend. This was the biggest torture run of my life (and hers) and I am slightly traumatized. She got big blisters half-way in (the only way back was several miles of running) and the last few miles I was starting to feel my dehydration misery. After a few prayers and "you can do it" thoughts, and about 30 torturous minutes, I made it back. I ran to a drinking fountain and was DYING of thirst by this point, and the water was shut off! Cruel trick #2. Go back an hour or so, mid-run we were both already really thirsty and we stopped at a bathroom facility and there was something on the wall that looked like a drinking fountain but it wasn't - cruel trick #1. That was torture.

So please be wise and drink water. I say this really for myself, not so much for you. Silly Sarah.

Ice Cream

2009-05-24T16:47:00.001-07:00

Just a quick acknowledgement of deliciousness to Tilamook Mudslide ice cream. If you are not a believer, buy it and you will be convinced. Deliciously rich chocolate ice cream with thick fudge swirled in (hard fudge - not soft). At the bottom of the container there was a present for me: a giant chunk of fudge. Hooray! Thank you.

Their Brown Cow flavor is pretty good too.

Strawberry Apple Pie

2009-05-24T16:29:00.000-07:00

I ran out of frozen strawberries when making a pie the other day and the only fruit I had that seemed possible to combine with strawberries was apples. So I did a google search for strawberry apple pie. Lo and behold, (is this and LDSism or do all people say that? I feel like it's not an LDS thing but I'm not sure. Anyhow, on with the story) there were many recipes for strawberry apple pie. I played around with a couple of different recipes for crusts, including one with oil instead of butter or shortening (which was good but not easy to work with) and then the top crust I made with half white flour and half whole wheat pastry flour and butter (SO GOOD! even the usual complainers about the whole wheat didn't complain and did not even notice until I told them!).

Don't have a recipe for you, but the filling is basically 2-3 thinly sliced and peeled apples (I used fuji, sooo good), about 4 cups of frozen strawberries (or fresh), 2/3 cup sugar (you could adjust as you saw fit as well), and a couple of Tbsps of lemon juice. I could not stop picking at this mix before I put it into the pie. The lemon with the strawberry juices on the apples was heaven! Good luck!

Maccaroni & Sour Cream

2009-05-24T00:11:00.000-07:00

Wow! You have to try this: when making maccaroni and cheese (from a box, or not - if you are more creative), add 2-4 Tbsps of sour cream. Also, add some grated cheddar.

Heaaaaaa--vennnnn!

Even the bro agrees.

"agggg" throat gurgle in delight.

Passion Fruit Ice Cream!

2009-05-17T17:12:00.000-07:00

Dear U.S. Food Market,
I have a bone to pick with you. Some of us have traveled outside of the red white and blue, and we know about it. Yes. This is something that has been on my mind for a long time. We have tried passion fruit flavored foods. They are very good. Why do you think we only want overly-sweet Minute Maid passion fruit juice? Do you think this will quench our insatiable desire for passion fruit flavored delicacies? How dare you. Passion fruit is a flavor U.S. consumers deserve to experience as well.

Please discontinue this injustice.

-Anonymous Passion Fruit Admirer

Dear Haagen Dasz,
Thank you for your new brand of Five ice cream (with only five ingredients). You learned that people outside of Miami also want passion fruit flavored items. I tried your passion fruit Five ice cream today and it was really good. I thank you.

P.S.
If you make the passion fruit flavor slightly stronger, I would be much obliged. It will not be too much for us, I promise.

Forever yours,

Passion Fruit Lover

Local Cupcakes

2009-05-04T11:19:00.000-07:00

I have been on the cupcake hunt for a while now... Cupcake places have started popping up around here and ever since I have had to try them, everywhere.

Lessons learned:

1. Do not even consider trying the vegan cupcake from PCC (unless you are vegan). Ralf. I don't know what I was thinking. I'm too cheap to know about any other cupcakes they may have.

2. New York Cupcakes did not impress me but the mini cupcakes were pretty good, for some reason. Not a fan of their frosting. Doesn't taste like real buttercream, so what's the point?

3. Sugar Rush Baking Co. is more creative than most (more flavor and combination options) and is pretty good...although some of their cakes are a bit plain-tasting. The frosting is good. Heather was monstrous enamored with their white chocolate ganache-type frosting.

4. Hello, Cupcake is in my top for flavor and consistency. I don't think you'll be disappointed. Good frosting. Not a lot of variety flavor-wise, which I can live with. They close way too early so I can never make it, which I'm sure is for the best (my jeans thank you - unreasonable hours).

5. Cupcake Royale was disappointing the one try I gave it and I have not cared to try again. They give you the feeling of "must mass produce cupcakes" and that the simple fact of them selling cupcakes is sufficient (i.e. who cares about perfecting the product). Does not have the fun little bakery-shop feel. I'm curious to try them again as it was a while ago, but I'm too poor and too cake snobby.

6. Common Ground Cupcakes was over baked when they first opened. They have improved since and I really enjoy their little shop which is cozy to read/study in and I believe has free wi-fi. I like their cake and frosting.

7. Trophy Cupcakes disappointed me first try too. I tried for something more adventurous (Red Velvet and a Chocolate cupcake with raspberry filling and raspberry frosting) and was so glad I got a vanilla-vanilla (yes I bought three cupcakes. for myself.). Second try I went for chocolate with vanilla frosting and now I am smitten. SO GOOD! Delicious cake and probably my favorite frosting ever. I don't think I'll ever try another flavor, but it is so good. PLUS, they have DELICIOUS hot chocolate with amazing marshmallows they make. The hot chocolate is too sweet though. Just ask them to add a bit extra milk and less of the chocolate mix.

Conclusion #1: Cupcakes are still worth making at home as most store-made often leave much to be wanting. Plus who has the money to spend 3 buckeroos on each little cake?

Conclusion #2: must pose as Trophy Cupcakes worker and learn their vanilla buttercream recipe.

Sweet Plantains / Maduros

2009-04-25T22:21:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite foods is maduros. I grew hooked on them summer of '00 in Costa Rica (thanks Amigos de las Americas). Plantain facts: Plantains are not bananas. Plantains have to be cooked before they are eaten. Plantains can be made not ripe (green/verdes) in which case they will be fried and eaten sort of like a french fry or boiled in soup or just boiled. They can also be made sweet in which case they are left to nearly rot (they have to be very ripe to turn out good) and then sliced up and fried or sliced into rounds and made with a sweet buttery and brown sugar sauce.

Nearly rotting plantain looks like so

I would even leave this one out a couple of more days. It should be soft when you touch it. If it is not sufficiently ripe, it will not turn out well. When it is ripe enough, it is sufficiently sweet with no sauce, just fried alone.

Peel, slice it, heat some oil, and fry it. Don't turn the burner too high so it will not burn and you can leave it on long enough for the thin edges of the slices to get crispy (that's the most delicious part). I over cooked mine a little due to the burner being on too high.

On another note, James made another pasta sauce this time with onion, tomato, and yellow squash. It was very good and slightly sweet with the onion and squash. He added some small pieces of chicken to it. Here it is.

Ugly blog

2009-04-25T16:33:00.000-07:00

Sorry for making the blog UGlIE for a while. I think it's better now. I'm not sure though. The other sibs will need to approve.

Chicken Pozole

2009-04-04T21:26:00.000-07:00

General Conference Pozole

New family tradition? Yet to be seen. I saw this recipe on a digital tv channel (9.2) V-Me that has healthy Mexican recipes (love it). It's a healthy version of a traditional mexican soup normally made with pork.

1 t canola oil
5 cloves garlic (or more) cut into chunks
1 chopped onion
Brown these ingredients in a pan

Ground pumpkin seeds (I've never actually put them in the soup but you can try it if you want)
6 cups chicken broth (more or less depending on how much soup you want)
1/2 c cilantro leaves
Add these three ingredients to a blender (I only add 1-2 c of the broth and leave the rest of the broth in a pan) and also add the browned garlic and onion. Briefly blend (you can decide how big you want the chunks)

2 chicken breasts (cook 20-25 minutes in the broth, can add more if desired)
1 large can hominy (or as much or as little as you want, or substitute with rice or a small pasta)
Add a little oregano (there is Mexican oregano which is bigger than traditional oregano and can be found in your Latino food section at the grocery story (or food store as my mom...and I say), which you will smash a bit in your hand as you put it into the soup. don't add too much - you only want an accent of this flavor)

Mix all ingredients in a pot. Serve hot with thinly chopped iceberg lettuce, fresh cilantro, chopped avocado and lime on top. Eat with tostadas or chips (-if you are gringo chips, and if LDS, they may just even be Fritos, it's ok, if that's what you like). You may also want to eat with some sour cream or crema mexicana.

This makes a beautiful green broth (compared to the traditional red) and it is very delicious. I may be turning Martha Stewart as I really do think it makes a beautiful green broth. Check it out. I may unlazy myself and post a picture. I am going to serve it to the missionaries on Monday...we'll see what they think.

Pizza Sauce

2009-04-04T20:49:00.001-07:00

The Secret's in the Sauce

So I made pizza yesterday (dough here) and it is so good. There's just nothing quite like homemade goodness. For about half of the flour I used whole wheat pastry flour and it is so good! You really need to try whole wheat pastry flour (thanks SherBear).

I think that it is really important to put a good sauce on the pizza. My best concoction thus far is mixing tomato paste (you don't even need to cook it) with water, italian spices (or spices of your choice), some salt (doesn't need to be very salty due to the salty cheese that will top it), pepper, and garlic powder, perhaps some onion powder too.

Have you ever noticed how delicious tomato paste is? It tastes like sweet ripe tomatoes. Tomato sauce, on the other mano (hand), has quite a less appealing flavor and many-a-times I have avoided putting it into recipes as I am afraid it will ruin the food with its flavor. To use as pizza sauce (I put tomato paste into everything), you can add as little or as much water as you would like, depending on your preferred thickness. Whenever I have not had sufficient time or no tomato paste and used some sauce from a jar, the pizza was not very good at all. I don't even want to think about it (shudder of disgust). But, with this sauce, it is so yummy.

I love cooking. And baking. It's so therapeutic. It's like going for a run, but much easier (usually), with a much more delicious end product. Gives you time to think things through, to be creative, to create something wonderful from so many different regular every day things (flour, salt, etc.). It's quite amazing. If I eat something I want it to be very delicious, carefully put together, with real ingredients that are natural/meant to be eaten. I hate going out to eat and it seems the cooks don't even taste their food most of the time. Luckily with school right now I have no money to eat out so I don't have this problem. I don't even want to eat out though. I would rather try to make it myself. It's so much better and tastes fresh. I have less and less tolerance for premade foods. Perhaps I'm becoming a food snob.

My next feat will be to grow my own food...may try to plant some things this year. Part of me wants to live on a farm in the middle of nowhere and grow all of my own food. Can you see it? One of those old country homes with a large porch, a swinging bench, the family sits out and watches the stars on summer evenings (while eating homemade treats). Maybe I have just seen Field of Dreams one too many times. I don't know how I got through freshman year in the dorms at the cannon center, but I really didn't even mind it. We had plenty of choices I guess. Ever since sophomore year I have cooked most meals, partly because of my dislike of spending money in general, and partly because it tastes so good, and it feels good to cook. Cook! Families that cook together stay together?...likely

Donuts from a Can

2009-03-18T14:09:00.000-07:00

Ah, donuts. Crispy on the outside (or, at least they should be), soft and warm on the inside. One of my favorite things. Supermarket donuts are sad imitations of what could be so divine. Nothing is better than a hot, fresh doughnut. So, feeling the urge and being without a vehicle, I decided to make my own. Now, making donuts can be a time consuming and labor-intensive project, so I decided to google around for an easier way...there's always an easier way to do everything.
And here it is:
Take a can of biscuit dough. Use a small circular cookie cutter to make the holes. (I actually used the lid to my salt shaker because it was the perfect size and I don't have a tiny cookie cutter or one that's not shaped like a Christmas ornament.) Fry a few pieces at a time in oil over medium heat. Drain on paper towels and sprinkle with powdered sugar, cinnamon and sugar, or glaze with a yummy icing.
Voila! Hot, crispy donuts.

I cooked these in my deep fryer at about 350 degrees for 1 minute or so on each side. You could also cook them in a pan over medium heat with a 1/2" of oil or so.

heather

Commercial Spaghetti

2009-03-17T19:45:00.000-07:00

Onion and Tomato Spaghetti

Serves 4 - 8

Grab the following:

3 x Hothouse Tomatoes
2 x Roma Tomatoes
1 x White Onion
2 x Red Chili Peppers (De árbol)
2-4 x Garlic Cloves (depending on size)
Basil
Oregano
Salt
Pepper
Olive Oil

Pan or Pot.
Put oil in it, put it onto the burner, turn burner to medium.
Chop up the garlic and the onion and put both into the burner after about 5 min.
Put in the peppers with the garlic and onions, you can chop them up if you want.
Once the chopped onion starts to turn clear, chop up the tomatoes and put them in.
You can do small or big chunks of tomatoes, i did a mix of both.
Add the basil, oregano, salt and pepper to your liking. Id suggest tasting after you add it.
Once the tomato juices have been released id say its done. You can also go by my pictures below.

Peach Bread

2009-03-14T22:36:00.001-07:00

Hear ye, hear ye! Now see here.

I'm making this right now but with bananas too...I'm a little scared, but I'm going to go for it. I wonder what will happen if I substitute some of the white sugar for brown sugar.... the excitement is just too much!

Pasta Primavera - Creamy

2009-03-07T20:06:00.001-08:00

Ummmmm..................yum. I never thought I would like pasta primavera but now me thinks it a delight.

Ingredientes

Variety of vegetables (diced, I used 3 large mushrooms, 1/2 a yellow and 1/2 orange bell peppers, 1/4 medium onion, 1 clove garlic, 1/2 large fresh tomato. I think peas would be good too.)
Canola and/or olive oil
Salt (sea salt)
Pepper
1/2 c. chicken broth (more or less depending on how much you want to make)
1 and 1/2 T whipping cream (more or less as above)
Mixed Italian seasonings and Thyme (a small amount, as desired)
Cooked pasta

Cook the vegetables in some oil. Add onions first, then after a few minutes add the bell peppers and mushrooms, then after a few more minutes add the garlic and at the very end add tomato for just a few brief minutes. Add seasonings while veggies are cooking. Veggies should all be cooked well (not too much so they do not get mooshy). Add chicken broth, salt as needed, pepper, and cream when is at a low temperature and stir. Add sauce to cooked pasta and top with parmesan cheese if desired.

This is a real hit gang. It has very little cream so it is not too bad for you and it is a great way to get more of your servings of vegetables in the day. I never knew pasta primavera was so good. I could be a vegetarian if all meatless food was this good, except for when I crave a big ol' slice of beef now and then...and meatballs....and spaghetti with meat sauce, and lasagne with meat sauce...etcetera, etcetera....

p.s. I think you can make this with no cream or with a tomato sauce (with some tomato paste), but this version was delectable. Try it friends. If not, just may be mistaken for my foe.

Costa Rican Garlic Eggs

2009-02-14T21:46:00.000-08:00

Yes, I am one of those. I spent a summer in high school in a rural town in Costa Rica, named Portegolpe, doing volunteer work. It's definitely not the PeaceCorps, but I'm still kind of one of those types (not quite, but a slightly similar vibe). You should come to my work, it's filled with gringos like me who have done volunteer programs or PeaceCorps. Well, my host mom Marta would make me the most amazing food and serve me no less than two plates per meal and would get very mad if I did not eat it all. Her dishes were all so amazing, I never learned how to make them. One thing I can make (at least it is somewhat in it's original likeness) is her scrambled eggs. They are super salty and garlicky and I would eat them with plain rice and very plain thick fresh made corn tortillas and it was so good. Sabroso. (P.S. I know I do not have as beautifully artistic posts as Heathbar, and I'm really sorry, but I'm just not artisitc and she is, which is why I lazily post with no pictures many-a-times, but today you are in luck, for there are pictures, if our scanner still worked I'd maybe even scan you a picture of DoNa Marta.)

Get some garlic and chop it up, and some old food storage oil that says "Best if used by March 29, 2003" - oh wait, that's just the oil we use at our house (and no one has died...yet). Heat a thin layer of oil (be a little generous, or a lot) in a pan and once heated add the chopped garlic. (My host mom would actually put cloves of garlic with the peel still on and nearly burn it in the oil - so there has to be plenty of oil- then remove it and just use the garlic-infused oil to cook the eggs.) Once the garlic starts to turn golden, add your eggs. I just made about two eggs and used about half of a medium sized clove, so make sure to use plenty of garlic. As you're scrambling your eggs, add salt, and a healthy amount so they are nicely salty. For a healthier rendition, use less yolks and more egg whites (if you are a health nerd like me - I used 1 1/2 yolks and 3 whites, but normally I do one yolk to three whites). Accompany with whatever you desire, but plain rice, black beans, or corn tortillas are delish with this.

See, I told you. I give you: Bacon Post Numero Tres

2009-02-07T19:45:00.000-08:00

The Bacon Trip continues.
Bacon is a hot item right now. I was right.
So, there you have it.
Eat your heart out America. Literally.

http://www.cvwine.com/gourmet/bacon/home

which contains such quotes as follows:
"Whether you’re a recent “bacon-vert” or a well experienced “Bacon-noisseur,”..."
"We're your personal and reliable,“bacon-nection”'
"“Baconomics 101” clearly states: Selectively seasoned, simmering succulence + scrumptiously seductive, savory sizzle = sensational, soulful and sensual satisfaction! "

http://www.mcphee.com/categories/meat.html

http://www.bacontalk.com/?gclid=CJ37tM75y5gCFRwwawodGQxH1w

http://skilletstreetfood.com/baconjam.htm

http://laylita.com/recipes/2009/02/04/frisee-apple-bacon-goat-cheese-salad/

p.s. Although I stated this is bad news for the obesity and heart disease causes, I know that they are not really "causes", but epidemics/problems/issues, etcetera. I just wanted to say "cause." And now, I'm just wanting to let you know that I know they are not tecnicamente causes. So... it's settled then.

Heather's thoughts on all this bacon-mania:

This is my favorite Bacon Crazy clothing item found during the googling of bacon stuff.

And this is my favorite Bacon Crazy hygiene item:
This company's motto is "Everything Should Taste Like Bacon". I might have to disagree, even though my mouth is kind of watering at the thought of bacon balm. Could be almost delicious.

Here's a little treat for the sort-of vegetarians out there. Spread this on some toast with a little lettuce and some toms and you've got yourself a BLT.

And finally we have this little beauty...
What is it you ask? Well, you may have found it at the link towards the top of the page. If not, here is a little description straight from the source:

"we take a big bunch of really really good bacon, and
render it down...and a bunch of spices..onions,
etc..and let it simmer for about6 hours...give it a quick
puree, and blast chill it...and you have bacon jam..."

I think it sounds good, but I get a little gaggy thinking about it too much. I do know that I am going to have to try it. Luckily the company is in Seattle so once I get back up there I'm totally going to buy it. And then make myself try it. Does it go on toast? It could be heaven, it could be h%ll. I'll let you know in a few months...

heather

Bacon Mania: The Bacon Explosion

2009-01-29T19:47:00.000-08:00

There must be something in the air. It's going around. Ever since my trip to Utah I've noticed that bacon has been in the air, somewhat like love being in the air, except it has the opposite effect on your heart. Everyone is using bacon and thinking about bacon and just on one big bacon trip -- which is, of course, really good news for the heart disease and obesity causes.

Maybe you have heard about this, some BBQ fanatics wanted more hits to their BBQ blog so they made an incredible bacon mania bacon bacon bacon-y baconed delicious sausage roll which has a mere 500 grams of fat. See here.
(the 500 g data comes from a NY times article, and it's 500 in the whole roll Lex)

I just really can't compete with that. Maybe I could make something with all butter then wrapped in sugar... or something. What would be the baking equivalent of this? I think it likely already exists, and just maybe it's called frosting (or croissants, or pie crust...) I'm really not sure. I normally tend to think in terms of: goal is something that does not resemble solid fat so it's hard for me to think the opposite: make something that will cause sudden chest pain. I'll try though. I'll try really hard. Since I can't beat the bacon sausage roll, I'll join 'em-- and put a link to them. Nicely done barbecue men.

Maybe we should have a competition: the BBQ Boys vs. the Baking Ladies.

Bacon and Melba Toasts

2009-01-15T20:05:00.001-08:00

You know you love it
Tonight's recipes are in honor of it ...
BAcon

Here's our home girl 'MOM' showing off the bacon plate

If you are looking for a nutritious and delicious meal, try this one....

The BLT featuring irresistible MAYOOOOOoooo. Cannot be made without mayonnaise. Whether or not you like mayonnaise, this is the truth. I forgot to add lettuce until after the first few bites.Then, THE Notorious M.O. M. made her fav bacon dish: Broccoli salad which contains:Chopped broccoli, raisins, craisins, slivered almonds, sunflower seeds, and of course crumbled BAaaCon. The dressing is: 1/2 c Mayonnaise (see, inevitable), 1/2 c sugar, 2T cider vinegar. And this is what it makes:

And since we're on such awe-inspiring recipes tonight, here's another. I love my great grandma Melba and will therefore call these bagel chips Melba toasts in her honor as they are very similar.
Melba toast:

butter:
enjoyment:

Inspiration by Dove

2009-01-15T19:10:00.001-08:00

Thank you Dove chocolates for your inspirational words that warm my heart and lead me along my path in life. Every time I eat a chocolate (Christmas edition), in your wrapper I see such inspirational messages as:

"A smile is all the decoration you need"

"Miracles aren't limited to the holidays"

"Your presence is often the best present"

Since reading these inspirational thoughts, I
1. disposed of all my Christmas decorations
2. started believing in miracles year round
3. no longer give gifts (my presence is the gift that keeps on giving)

Dove has really changed my life, for the better i think.

Pizza Dough

2009-01-14T21:06:00.000-08:00

Back by popular demand... and by back- it's not really back because it's never been posted before; and by popular demand I mean my sister asked for the recipe.

1pkg quick rise yeast
1 t. salt
2 1/2 c. flour
2 t. cornmeal
1 c. warm water

Mix yeast, salt, and 2 c. flour. Stir in water (make sure it's the right temp for the yeast) and make a soft dough. Knead until smooth (~8 minutes) and add rest of flour. Form into ball and cover with plastic. Let rest 10 minutes. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. Grease pizza pan and sprinkle with cornmeal. Shape dough into pizza pan (I roll it and then place it in the pan). Cook in the oven for a few minutes (not all the way) before placing toppings, take out of oven and top, then bake until toppings and dough is done.

By the way, anyone else think the commercials for the McDonald's McRib are annoying? There's bilboards all over in Utah with this guy kissing the McRib. "You asked for it, and it's back." I didn't ask for it, did you? The commercials have this angry mob chanting: BRING IT BACK, BRING IT BACK! Ummm.... ralf.

Chocolate for Breakfast!

2009-01-13T15:05:00.001-08:00

I am officially in love with a food. COCO WHEATS, how I love thee. I was recently wandering the food isles at Tar-get (pronounced Tar-zhey) and happened upon this little culinary surprise. I often like to puruse the isles looking for new and unexpected edibles to try. This little surprise was hidden way at the top of the shelf, pushed all the way to the back, so I could barely see it. Perhaps if it had been at the front of the shelf I may have chickened out of trying it, seeing as it would have appeared to be a less-enjoyed item by the local Tar-get customers. However, as it appeared to be a popular item, I decided to try it. I am so glad that I did!

I am not afraid of sugar. Let me explain. Our mom is a great baker, and as such she would often feed us leftovers from her day at the bakery. I do not recall any sugar high issues occuring with any of us kids from eating too much cake or candy or anything like it. Because of this, I am not afraid to feed kids sugar. I do not believe that sugar highs exist (many of you are scoffing at me now). I think that chocolate in the morning is just fine. Whatever floats your boat, as long as it has some nutrients in it, it's fine. (I also realize I may eat my words in a couple of years.) So, this is why I decided that COCO Wheats are now a Church family breakfast staple. Thank you midwestern Tar-get. I may even be able to get my husband to eat breakfast now that it is chocolate flavored.

The COCO Wheats may have turned out extra heavenly because I did not make them with water, but with whole milk. I swear, it was like eating warm chocolate pudding. It kind of has the texture of tiny tapiocas or of cream of wheat, which is one of my favorite textures.

I know this is not a recipe, but I felt it had to be shared. Unfortunately this wonder-product is not available everywhere. If you want to try it check out the website where you can order it. http://www.littlecrowfoods.com/products/cocowheats/ Enjoy!!!

heather

P.S. My mom pointed out that she didn't know if this was hot cereal or what...It is a hot cereal with the texture of Cream of Wheat. It has lots of added vitamins and iron, which is great for little tots like mine. Plus it just tastes really good. I was actually craving it tonight after dinner and had some more for desert. This might become an obsession.

Unpardonably Cheap...or "Frugal" if you will

2009-01-13T02:46:00.000-08:00

Since when is having a functioning trash receptacle not on our list of priorities in daily life? Especially in the kitchen?! One sign of having an unpardonably cheap (or "frugal") family must be that you feel an inexpressible surge of joy and happiness every time you throw something into the kitchen trash because you can actually use the foot pedal (yes, it functions) and do not have to touch the germy lid to open it; and when you do push the pedal, it does not projectile-throw the lid off the trash can, which you then have to pick up in its filth. I cannot count the years the trash receptacle has not worked in the family kitchen. But I count my tears of joy every time my foot touches that blessed pedal and saves my hand from filth. Thanks to the powers that be for purchasing a new kitchen trash. It brings tears to my eyes with every piece of trash I toss.

Partial unthanks to the food-sealer gift giver (you know who you are) for giving my mom this incredible gift. How are we supposed to access the sealed food? I just saw 4 hamburger meat patties perma-sealed in the plastic seal. They look like a fake food display. This may preserve, however it makes the food inaccessible...perhaps which is why it needs to preserve food so well since it will not be broken into and eaten until someone can figure out how to rip open the very strong and durable plastic seal. The inventors have really out-done themselves with this one. Preserves a little too well.

The One, The Only, The Infamous BYU Mint Brownie

2009-01-05T19:59:00.000-08:00

For your viewing pleasure, here is an official BYU mint brownie fresh from the Creamery on 9th (on Saturday) which traveled all the way from Provo to Seattle with me.

No, I do not have the recipe.

Do I want to have the recipe?

Hmm. I think not. (Sorry BYU bakery-delectables makers. I love you- just not your mint brownie.) But this blog is about food, not just recipes, which is why I can talk about food without posting a recipe.

I for one do not like the minty flavor this chocolate brownie hides behind. I wanted a rice krispie treat. Of course the one time in my life I feel like splurging and buying a rice krispie treat from the creamery, they have none. I really just got it to get it and because my freshman year roomie Rachey J loved these things.

Eh.... it's okay taste wise. It was more a sentimental thing.

The brownie would not cooperate and pose well for the pictures, hence their blurry nature. It's a bad brownie.

Aloe Vera and it's Plethora of uses

2009-01-05T19:39:00.000-08:00

You know what plethora means... right?

Well, (said the aloe vera) you told me I have a plethora. And I just would like to know if you know what a plethora is. I would not like to think that a person would tell someone he has a plethora, and then find out that that person has no idea what it means to have a plethora.

If you are familiar with plethora, then perhaps you know what this is:

This is canned aloe vera chunks in their delicious light syrup for eating. ummm... WHAT?!! Isn't aloe vera supposed to lather your limbs and faces and soothe away their burniness after the sun attacks?

And I bet you didn't know that Trader Joe's sells a lovely can of aloe vera cubes for .99 cents, therefore making it a perfect supplemental gag gift for the little bro.

My uncle said the only way to describe eating aloe vera is: "refreshing." As in it literally tastes like you are eating "refreshingness" ...or something. This may be true man, but it also has a slight taste of cologne. Which is why no one ate it. This is what we have to say about eating aloe vera (at least me and the bro agree, perhaps not the pictured uncle though):

Pesto Crepes

2009-01-05T19:22:00.000-08:00

Don't judge a food by it's bad picture, because you would really be doing your tastebuds a disservice. I went to Canada with some friends and we ate at a cute little crepe restaurant with French owners. We decided to try a baked crepe, it was the special of course, which had chicken, mushrooms, bechamel sauce, fresh tomatoes, and cheese. I was craving pesto sauce for days afterwards. So much so that I made two pesto dishes.

No, the pesto was not homemade. There was pesto in the fridge (pretty good quality) so I used that and creamified it by adding some milk, cream cheese, sea salt, and pepper over a low burner. I made crepes using a simple recipe from the betty crocker cook book. I took some frozen chicken and cooked it in the microwave. After the crepes were made (fairly big) I scooped up some chicken and a mushrom and tomato medley I had made in a frying pan with some sea salt and olive oil, I added it to the middle of the crepe, added some pesto sauce, rolled it up, then I topped with the love of my life: muenster cheese. I put it in the oven and baked it for 10-20 minutes and, voila! I am loving cooking tomatoes briefly in olive oil with some salt then adding to recipes lately. I added to my pesto recipes and to scrambled eggs. I like to take them off the burner before they are really soft, just when they start to carmelize (if that's what you call it when tomatoes do what they do).

I do not know why I write recipes in first person, I apologize for any weirdness you may feel in reading it's unusual format. Just go eat crepes.

Ginger Snaps

2008-12-12T12:59:00.001-08:00

I got this recipe from Emily in my ward. I went to her house one day and she was baking these and they smelled so good I kept saying how good they smelled, so I think she felt bad for me and finally just decided to give me some. I then persuaded her to give me her recipe which is actually her mother's recipe. Thanks Emily!

Homemade Ginger Snaps are much better than those store bought rocks. Scott kept eating them last week and at one point said to me, I hope these aren't fattening because I've been eating a lot of them. In our dreams, honey. I hope you enjoy them as much as we did.

Cream together:

1 1/2 cups Shortening
2 cups Sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup molasses

Add:

4 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp cloves
2 tsp ginger

1 tsp salt

Roll into 1" balls and rolls those in sugar.

Bake at 375 F for 10-15 minutes. (The cookies will turn out a little softer if you cook for 10 minutes or so.

And a little shout out to my favorite store, Costco. This cinnamon smells and tastes amazing! Sadly, it reminds me of cinnamon gum. That sharp, spicy cinnamon flavor that almost burns your mouth when you chew it. I actually had a little bit of cinnamon leftover in an old jar that I wanted to use up before I opened this but I didn't have enough for the recipe so I had to open the Costco cinnamon. It about knocked my socks off! And this giant bottle was only like $3.50. I will always buy Costco spices. They are fantastic tasting and excellent in quality.

heather

Apples, Peaches, Pumpkin Pie

2008-12-03T11:22:00.000-08:00

I wanted to use some of the cranberries I just bought but I'm not super creative with them so I just made a simple pie. I don't really like store bought crust, but it was really cheap and it's so much faster, so that's what I used. So, either make 2 crusts or warm a store bought box. Then preheat the oven to 425 F and mix up the filling.

The filling is:
1 Can of Apple Pie Filling
1 20 oz. Can of Light Peach Slices
about 1 cup of Fresh Cranberries
a dash of Nutmeg
and about 1 tsp. of Cinnamon

Mix it all up in a bowl and dump into the bottom crust. Then top with another crust and bake for about 45 minutes. Tadaa! All done.

As you can see, I did a lattice crust. It was my first and it wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. I just sliced the dough with a pizza cutter and then followed my Better Homes and Gardens cookbook directions.

1. Lay crust strips 1 inch apart across pie.

2. Fold every other strip back half way and lay one strip down the middle,
all the way across the pie.
3. Fold strips back over the top of the middle strip.
4. Fold the other half of the strips half way back and lay another strip down the middle.
5. Fold strips back over top.
6. Do this until pie is covered. Then either cut edges to line up with edge of pie pan or leave it about 1/2" over edge and fold over to make a nice crusty edge.
7. Sprinkle some sugar over the top of the crust to make it sweet and a little prettier.

If these directions make absolutely no sense to anyone but myself, click here for great pictures and clearer directions.

The pie turned out well. It was a mix of different flavors because I didn't have enough of either apples or peaches to make a single type. Serve it warm with Vanilla Ice Cream and you can't go wrong!

heather

Taquitos

2008-11-27T15:42:00.000-08:00

Edward & Taquitos & Lisa

Need something to help with the "Edward Cullen is not the father of my children" blues? I do. What could help with this desperate condition? Nothing better than fatty fried goodness to make your heart happy (...figuratively). This is my friend Lisa's recipe which I post without permission yet in her honor as she just got married last Friday! Hooray Lis! May he be your Edward Cullen...

Okay so I guess she calls them Flautas but I do not understand the difference, do you? I hope I'm not upsetting anyone with my taquito word.

24 - 6" tortillas (I use corn)
1 1/2 c finely diced chicken
Oil for frying
3 T butter
1/4 c flour
1 t salt
1 c chicken broth
1 T snipped parsley (I use dried)
1 T lemon juice (lime would be good too)
1 t. grated onion
Dash of ground paprika, nutmeg & pepper

Cook the chicken and cut up into tiny pieces. Throw it in a pan with the butter, flour, salt, chicken broth, parsley, lemon juice, onion and spices. Cook it all up and mix it good. Should not be watery. Heat the tortillas in the microwave until they are very soft but not too long so they get chewy. Put about 1 T of chicken filling into each tortilla, roll up, and close with a toothpick. By this point you should have a pot with hot oil. Not too hot and not too unhot. It will probably need to be around medium heat. It is ready to fry with when you sprinkle some water in and it reacts (not too violently though, and literally only sprinkle a tiny bit of water so that you don't die). Put the rolled up tortillas in one by one. If it seems like it's going to rip you can use some metal tongs and hold it together in the oil for a minute until it is fried up a bit and will stay together on it's own. They will not fall apart if they are warmed up well enough before rolling them. Take them out when they are golden and at a good crispiness. You will not be able to fit very many in the pan at once, so you will have to be rotating them. Enjoy.

Q&A: Difference between whole wheat and whole wheat pastry flour - the pastry flour is very fine and will therefore not give that heavy feel that whole wheat flour does - it's similar to white flour in that way. Many whole wheat recipes call for half whole wheat and half white flour due to the heaviness of the whole wheat but then it is not 100% whole wheat, which is okay, but pastry flour would be better because it would be 100% whole wheat and you wouldn't have to worry about mixing with white flour.

I'll add pics later. This is due to my Thanksgiving day laziness. Is it nap time yet? zzzzzzzzz

Greek Yogurt

2008-11-15T23:15:00.000-08:00

Two words: TRY IT.

I think the fat free is better than the full fat. Plus it is not like eating a yogurt tub filled with butter like the regular greek yogurt.

Baked Sweet Potato Fries

2008-11-04T15:42:00.000-08:00

Tonight Jane and I are eating baked sweet potato fries that
Ina Garten made on Good Morning America.
For the "official" recipe click here.
Other wise just do as I did...

Preheat oven to 450 F.
Take 2 smooth, unblemished, raw sweet potatoes.
Chop in half (I also pealed them because they were not "unblemished") and then cut the halves in to 3 more pieces.
Put on cookie sheet (I lined mine with parchment paper because I hate scrubbing dishes forever!).
Drizzle 2 TBS olive oil over potatoes and mix around until well covered.
Mix 1 TBS light brown sugar, 1/2 tsp kosher salt, 1/2 tsp fresh ground pepper and sprinkle over potatoes.
Bake for 15 minutes, stir up, and bake another 10-15 minutes.
Enjoy!

heather

Zucchini Numero Dos & Mashed Cauliflower

2008-11-03T20:24:00.000-08:00

In honor of a few loyal comment leavers, I will do another post.

Zucchini Numero Dos

So this is simple, but delish.... Slice up the zuchini again in rounds and cook in a frying pan with olive oil. Add salt and garlic powder (or real garlic toward the end), pepper, and any other spices. When it's the right softness for you, EAT IT! This is really really really good. My mom makes this with butter and yellow squash. I tried it with olive oil to see if it is still delish...and it is.

Mashed Cauliflower

So I've been dreaming of the day I would try mashed cauliflower for a few years now and it happened last week. Cook some cauliflower until soft, drain very very well. Put in to a food processor (a blender would probably work if you don't have a food processor) and add a little cream cheese or sour cream, salt, pepper, any desired spices. You whip it up until it looks like mashed potatoes. Top with something crunchy like smashed up uncooked stovetop or similar - this helps with the texture.

Maybe I'll add pictures but I have homework. Try to veg up your life with these recipes! Do you have any favorite veggie recipes? This is really a new area for me.

Fried Zucchini

2008-10-31T18:54:00.000-07:00

= HEART

I've been asking HeathBar to blog about this for ummm... about 2 mos now but she only cares about her church-a-rama blog. Some of us like food though and want to maintain the food blog. Because of the aforementioned situation, I do not have the measurements, but I make it without measuring anything out so I believe you can too.

Zucchini
Bread crumbs or finely ground corn meal
Salt or your favorite salty seasoning
Garlic powder if you are a garlic person
Pepper
Flour
Egg
Olive oil (or other oil of your choice)

Cut up the zucchini in to round slices that are not too thick, a little thinner than 1/4 inch. Put some flour in a bowl. Put some corn meal or bread crumbs in a bowl. Put some beaten egg (maybe with some milk if you want, it worked for me) in a bowl. Get out a frying pan and put some olive oil in it. Put it on the stove on medium heat. Mix some salt, pepper, and garlic powder to the corn meal or bread crumbs until when you pinch it and taste it you have achieved desired saltiness (easy there nelly, you can always add more salt at the end, you don't want it to be too salty, now do you?). Dip the cut zucchini in to the flour, then into the egg mess, then cover with the bread crumbs or corn meal. Put into the frying pan. Cook it until golden brown or desired toastiness on each side. Don't put the burner too hot or it will get golden before cooking the zucchini and the zucchini itself may wind up too crunchy/raw for the likes of you.

This is tasty. Give it a try. Hooray for eating more vegetables (even if they are fried... hey check http://www.mypyramid.gov/ as you will see they recommend a daily intake of oils and olive oil is good for you as I mentioned in the I love Italia post).

Shout out for SOYRIZO!

2008-10-26T21:06:00.000-07:00

Can I get a what what for all of you chorizo lovers...
If you have had exposure to Mexican food, you may have a fondness for chorizo. Well, it is made of the most disgusting things known to man which I would mention, but I do not want you to lose your apetite. I had chorizo with scrambled eggs once or twice with tortillas and it was really pretty good.

Well, for several years now the "Soyrizo" from the vegetarian section has been calling my name. It had a good price the other day and I bought it. It's pretty good and is made from soy versus the most disgusting ingredients (if they can be called ingredients) known to man. I put it in a frying pan and cooked it up for a few minutes with a little oil, then added some eggs and mixed it all together. I ate it with some really good rice and it was delish.

Try it if you like chorizo, I do not think you'll be dissapointed.

Hooray for the first comment!

2008-10-22T18:34:00.000-07:00

Three cheers to my aunt for being the first person other than Heather or myself to comment on our blog. Sorry folks, but she won the million dollars and trip to disneyland. My mom came in a close second.

Whole Wheat Bread

2008-10-12T16:54:00.000-07:00

My quest for a good whole wheat bread recipe has been long and hard. This one is pretty good. My dietitian friend recommended whole wheat pastry flour for recipes and I am trying out my bread recipe for the first time with this flour. I found this recipe online and have made a change to it. Supposedly it's for one loaf, but it's a big loaf. You can add more or less honey as you wish.

3 1/2 cups whole wheat flour or whole wheat pastry flour (much better with pastry flour)
1/3 cup milk
1/2 cup honey
1 cup warm water (110-120 degrees F)
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 packet dry yeast

Mix water with salt, honey, yeast and oil. Then add milk and stir. Mix in the flour and stir. Place dough on a floured surface and knead 6-10 minutes. Place in bowl. Rub a small amount of oil on the top of the loaf. Cover loosely with a towel and let rise 60 minutes until doubled in size. Take the dough out of the bowl and place in greased and floured bread pan. Loosely cover pan with plastic wrap and let raise for 30-60 minutes. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and place pan in center of oven and cook for 35-40 minutes, covering with aluminum after 20 minutes (if it's getting too dark). You could sprinkle the dough with oatmeal before cooking. You probably need to brush with egg whites to get it to stick though.

Happy grain day to you!

Super Easy, Super Cheap - Croutons!

2008-10-02T09:50:00.000-07:00

I've been into this new/old cookbook lately that I found at the library called More-with-Less Cookbook. It's a cookbook full of Mennonite recipes and cooking ideas which come from all over the world. Some are kind of old school, like simmering your soup all day on the space heater, but other ideas are pretty cool. One that I came across is how to make your own croutons with old bread. Nobody likes yucky old bread so I thought I'd give it a try since otherwise it would go into the trash.

So, this is how it goes:
1. Preheat oven to 250 degrees F.

2. Take your old bread and brush with oil. Then season with things like salt, garlic, onion salt, parsley, basil, oregano, or whatever you like.3. Chop up your bread into crouton-sized pieces and put on a cookie sheet. Try to have one layer so they all toast up evenly.

4. Toast for 1-1 1/2 hours. Check on them periodically to stir and make sure they aren't burning.
5. Enjoy! These are great in anything from salads, soups, on top of casseroles before baking or in any recipe that calls for herb-seasoned croutons or stuffing mix.

Crazy Vegans? & Inspiration from Italian Festival

2008-09-27T23:55:00.000-07:00

I went to the Italian Festival at Seattle Center today and received some culinary inspiration. So, I ate this huge meatball sandwich (and it wasn't even worth it tastewise) then they had this lady from PBS do a cooking demonstration (http://www.christinacooks.com/). She is vegan and has been ever since diagnosed with Leukemia 25 years ago, at which time she cured it by eating vegan (I believe she received no medical treatment). So of course I was feeling even more regretfull about the 4 giant meatballs I had just eaten in between a huge white bread bun. Anyhow, this lady is really neat and was great to watch. She's funny and full of interesting facts about food. I learned the following:

-Extra virgin olive oil has the highest antioxidant content (compared to other olive oils) and of course helps combat heart disease

-Artichokes have the highest antioxidant content of all veggies

-Honey has iron

-Apparently you can fry with olive oil (however do not use extra virgin for frying) or you can use avocado oil which I'm sure is a million dollars

-Semolina flour (in pastas usually) is apparently closer to whole wheat flour than white flour (so it's sort of whole wheat and better than white flour)

-When cooking with olive oil, put in your ingredients while the oil is still cold which will help maintain the flavor of the oil (you can heat it up all you want though as you cook)

-You get more salty flavor from sea salt, so can therefore use less salt. Kosher salt does not have this benefit and is more similar to table salt (although it's in small rock form and blessed - as Christina said)

-When you add each ingredient (veggie in her case) add a pinch of salt to help bring up and out the flavor which supposedly will help you not add too much salt

The more I hear about people healing their bodies with foods, the more I feel like listening and trying it for myself (prevention aspect). Maybe I'll be a vegan some days/sometimes (very non-committal of me). It's definitely food for thought. Christina and her husband take people on tours to Italy and other places and cook all of their meals for them. Sounds cool... for rich people.

So I saw about 4 cooking demonstrations and it was really fun. Especially when they gave out samples at the end. (Although some people made me embarrassed to be in the same audience with them as they pushed and shoved and attacked the food sample people. Even the homeless guy hanging out there didn't resort to that.) Anyhow, I tasted fresh handmade ravioli with a sausage stuffing. So I think I will try to make pasta tomorrow. It seemed pretty easy. Apparently when you make stuffed pasta you are supposed to have a sauce that's not too overpowering so the main focus is on the stuffing. He used a butter and sage sauce and it was so delicious.

May you too be inspired. Cheers!

Cream Cheese Frosting Lovers, Look out: Swedish Nut Cake

2008-09-20T21:41:00.001-07:00

As you may know, we grew up with a professional cake maker as a mom (yes, "cake-maker" is the official term). For this reason, I am very picky about cake and frosting. Also, because at work my job is to talk to people about preventing disease due to unhealthy eating, I have gained the slight obsession of more natural and less altered by humans type foods (less hydrogenated oils, added gunk, etc.). For this reason, I like frosting made with real butter versus crisco/shortening and making a cake from scratch therefore you know exactly what you put in it and what you will be consuming. This first recipe is great for all of the above. As an additional bonus, it is super fast and easy.

The actual recipe is on another site, here's the link: http://www.recipezaar.com/10204.

I discovered this recipe at school. A classmate brought it as a treat for our last day of the quarter. I was amazed at its deliciously unique and moist texture and its amazing cream cheese frosting. I must say, it is different as it has little chunks of crushed pineapple in it, but that did not deter me. The recipe calls for nuts but my personal philosophy is that nuts (particularly in baked goods) ruin the goods so I normally leave them out. The only trick with this cake is the baking. It gets dark fairly easily which I think may be due to the pineapple juice which seems to carmelize in the floury cakeness. So you may want to put aluminum over the top towards the end, but it's never been ruined by this.

I do not have a picture right now, but I'll see if Heathbar can't add one. If not, next time I make it I'll have to add it. But then I'll have to eat a whole cake, so I probably shouldn't do that. Plus, Heather just satisfied my craving by making me one on my birthday. That should cover my craving for about 3 months, if I'm lucky.

Oh, and pay NO ATTENTION to the nutrition facts listed on the webpage of the recipe as it says there's about half your daily caloric intake in one slice. They calculate it based on you dividing the cake in to 8 slices. That would be 8 GIGANTIC slices (and I eat BIG slices of cake, so trust me).

Welcome to our Cooking Adventure

2008-06-13T22:22:00.000-07:00

The 3 of us have decided to come together (since we live apart) and assist each other with keeping food interesting and delicious. Hopefully this site will not only inspire us but also those who venture into our space.