The Food Aisle

Watermelon Salad

2013-07-16T18:34:00.002-04:00

This recipe uses three great garden items in season right now: watermelon, basil, and onion. Just add feta, olive oil, and balsamic vinegar. Deliciously fresh. I adapted this recipe, substituting basil for mint and adding onion.

Raspberry Simple Syrup

2013-07-03T17:30:00.001-04:00

I absolutely love the idea of creating new beverages as well as new food dishes. So many fresh, seasonal fruits and herbs can be easily processed into juices or syrups that can be added to cocktails, sodas, lemonades, and iced teas.

I was familiar with breaking down berries into a sauce/syrup from making my blackberry buttercream. Today, when I saw that the raspberries in our local community garden were ripe and going to waste, I spent an extra half hour picking as many as I could easily reach. I was going fast, therefore smooshing many of the berries, so I knew from the start that I would break down the berries into juice or syrup instead of trying to keep them perfectly whole for a dessert. Also, I prefer seedless raspberry anything--removing that annoyance lets you enjoy the berry flavor so much more.

Here's how it went.

1. Take a photo of whole raspberries.
2. Take another one.

3. I did a quick rinse and then put them in a saucepan with just a little water and a couple tablespoons of sugar. (If I were making a more concentrated reduction, I wouldn't add any water.)

4. I cooked them down until they were almost completely liquid, and reduced them for ten minutes or so.

5. I strained out the seeds and pulp. With raspberries, you really have to work the pulp with a spatula to get all possible juice out of them.

6. Look at that beautiful juice! This is just slightly thickened (reduced) juice with about two tablespoons of sugar. To make a thicker syrup, you can reduce for longer and add more sugar. I would use a thicker syrup to add to desserts like cheesecakes, but this time, I want a thin simple syrup that I can add to beverages.

7. Finally, I made a separate, plain simple syrup with equal parts sugar and water. You simply heat gently in a saucepan and stir or swirl occasionally until the sugar is dissolved. Then, I added the raspberry juice to taste...you can make it as sweet or as tart as you want depending on how much you add. I finished it with a squeezed slice of lime for acidity and bottled it up and chilled it. I store my simple syrup in the fridge. Basic simple syrup can last up to a month in the fridge; I'll have to experiment with the fruit addition to see how long it keeps.

Ready to add to a cocktail, soda, lemonade, or iced tea!

Bún thịt nướng: Rice Vermicelli Bowls

2013-05-26T14:39:00.003-04:00

My first date with my husband was at a Vietnamese restaurant in the city. Ever since, I've loved Vietnamese food. Our favorite dish at this particular spot is still bún thịt nướng or rice vermicelli bowls.

This dish is composed of a base of half rice vermicelli noodles and half chopped lettuce (typically romaine). The bowl is topped with cucumber, picked carrot and daikon (white radish), shallots, chopped basil, mint, and cilantro, chopped peanuts, and a protein--often pork, but my two favorites are shrimp or Vietnamese egg roll, in which they simply chop two pork-stuffed egg rolls on top of your bowl. The whole bowl is dressed with a liquid composed of fish sauce, vinegar, lime juice, garlic, and red pepper flakes.

As Stefon would say, this dish has everything: savory, meaty, fresh, crunchy, soft, tangy, sweet. It satisfies on many levels. It's officially become one of my crave meals.

I followed this fantastic recipe posted on Allrecipes.com. Better than the restaurant's version, my husband said!

Homemade Oatmeal Cream Pies

2013-03-17T16:30:00.001-04:00

It's been a relaxing weekend spent almost entirely at home, so I was inspired to try a recipe I've been eying up for a month or two now: homemade oatmeal cream pies.

There is a reason I don't buy Little Debbie Oatmeal Cream Pies: my husband and I have a joint weakness for them. Anyone who's ever lived with anyone else should know that joint weaknesses, especially for junk food, are bad news. But! A homemade version would have significantly fewer questionable ingredients, so even if we did eat 2 or 12, I'd feel better about it. I didn't know if I could create anything as soft and luscious as those tender, nostalgic little cookie sandwiches, but I had to try.

Most people in the food blogiverse seem to roughly agree on the cookie recipe (except for this brave soul who developed a flawless-looking recipe from the original ingredient list, which includes dried apple and cocoa powder), but there's some disagreement on the cream filling. Many are making a homemade meringue/marshmallow filling, which is what I did according to this recipe, but others are mixing marshmallow fluff with shortening and powdered sugar, and still others are simply making buttercream. Although a buttercream might taste more like the original, I like the lighter alternative of homemade marshmallow, which is just sugar and egg whites. It lends a very satisfactory gooeyness to the final product.

I say: success. I'd make these again.

A Short Doughnut Rant

2013-02-24T17:07:00.002-05:00

I need to have a few words with the cooking community.

I'm all into eating healthy. I get it. I'm eating more vegetables and fewer carbs too, and I try not to have too much dessert.

But let's get something straight here.

You've all been posting recipes for... (pardon me, I need to psych myself up in order to type such a blatant oxymoron)...

baked doughnuts.

Ignoring the plain fact that a doughnut, by very definition, is a ring of dough fried in fat or oil.

I know, I hear you. You want a doughnut; you just don't want it deep-fried.

But I would submit to you, then, that what you want IS NOT A DOUGHNUT, SO STOP FREAKING CALLING IT THAT. YOU ARE MAKING A CUPCAKE WITH A HOLE IN IT.

It's good I didn't see any recipes for baked fastnachts or beignets on Fat Tuesday, or I would have really lost my mind.

Now that I've officially established myself as a total snot, I'll just end with this, in all its rightful deep-fried glory.

Doable Healthy Eating

2013-01-14T21:09:00.001-05:00

Typically, I don't fall in with the people who make health resolutions for the New Year. It all seems pretty farcical, to commit to making drastic life changes, only to go back to your Dorito-binging ways in two weeks.

But this year, the husband's been struggling with some back pain and would like to lose weight, and I wouldn't mind tightening up my diet either. So we're making small strides to incorporate sustainable changes in our eating. I believe that any steps you take toward adjusting your diet should be gradual in order to avoid the deprivation-binging cycle that defeats most of us.

Here are a few steps we've taken that have been easy to stick with so far.

1. Green smoothies every weekday morning.
When I realized that I could add handfuls of raw spinach or kale to a fruit smoothie and taste virtually no difference, I was completely sold. I like spinach salads and kale chips, but most savory methods for making greens take longer and are less palatable than a fruit smoothie. I love hiding my greens in something that tastes delicious. It's nutrition magic. Anyway, we have been making smoothies every weekday morning. They taste fresh, keep digestion moving smoothly, and pack a huge nutritional punch. The ingredients vary daily, but my staples are usually the following:

Frozen fruit: bananas, peaches, berries, pineapple/melon blend
Plain low-fat Greek yogurt (I love Cabot)
Juice: orange (usually Florida's Natural; I also occasionally buy something more exotic like organic mango juice for flavor)
Almond milk
Spinach or kale
Milled flaxseed (so many health benefits)
Honey

When I need a break from the tart fruits, I use bananas, peanut butter and/or Nutella, and coconut oil for a more desserty treat. I still add greens to this smoothie; I'm telling you, you cannot taste them.

* Image used from twopeasandtheirpod.com

2. Adding vegetables in unlikely ways.
We're trying to consume fewer grains, but I really, really wanted some pasta tonight. I got the plain, white-flour tortellini out of the freezer and decided to compensate by amping up my pasta sauce with nutritious ingredients. I grated a carrot and soaked it in very hot tap water for 5-10 minutes. I poured organic pasta sauce into my blender and added the drained, grated carrot and two handfuls of fresh spinach and pureed everything. I heated the sauce on the stove with some extra garlic, and then served it over the tortellini and homemade meatballs. Couldn't taste the carrots or spinach, but they were there all the same!

3. Apple cider vinegar.
This is the most controversial item on our list, as I assume many people would scoff at the idea of ACV being the magic tonic that some claim it to be. I do not happen to believe that it is a magic tonic, but I've read enough to persuade myself that it can only do good. It was also recommended by the holistic chiropractor that my husband has been seeing.

I also think it's worth mentioning that my husband had been taking eight Advil a day for his back pain. The chiropractor suggested a natural alternative called OsteoMove Joint Care, a formula that works to decrease inflammation and restore cartilage. He's only been taking it for three days, so I'll report back if/when we see results, but I'm in favor of anything that reduces the need to take potentially harmful drugs. I will say that since starting to see the chiropractor, who uses heat therapy as well as typical adjustments, and incorporating these healthy changes, my husband has been able to decrease the number of Advil he's been taking--in fact, he just told me that he didn't take any today. Small strides can lead to success!

All-Natural Cleaning Kit

2013-01-04T15:54:00.000-05:00

Presenting the All-Natural Cleaning Kit: the perfect homemade Christmas, birthday, housewarming, or hostess gift.

I'm going to tell you what's in it, how to make or find what's in it, where I got my ideas, and what it costs.

This kit contains the ingredients for 3 different kinds of household cleaners.

All-Purpose Citrus Vinegar Cleaner
This has been floating around Pinterest forever, and I believe you can find the original source here. I am so happy I found this idea. Truly all-natural cleaning solutions are expensive and don't last long. I'll be buying citrus and vinegar from now on. There are numerous sources that claim the antibacterial properties of vinegar, and overall benefits of using it both in your cleaning routine and diet.

Carpet Spot Remover
A paste of baking soda and hydrogen peroxide can remove even stubborn stains from carpet. I used this solution on my nearly white bedroom carpet and it worked like magic. Two different sources explain this method.

Scrubbing Cleaner
I put off cleaning my oven for over a year, and it was pretty disgusting. I found this simple lemon juice and baking soda paste to be the best thing for cutting grease and scrubbing off caked-on oils and spills. You may have to let this one sit for a while, but it's worth it.

What's In It (complete supply list to recreate photo)

basket
shredded paper filler or tissue paper
silk flowers or other ornamentation (optional)
microfiber cloth
hydrogen peroxide
baking soda
lemons
citrus vinegar cleaner in a spray bottle
"laminated" instructional cards

How to Make or Find What's In It

Basket, filler, spray bottle, and flowers: Michael's
Microfiber cloth: Eurow Microfiber
Hydrogen peroxide, baking soda, lemons: grocery store

How to make citrus vinegar cleaner:
In a large (about 2-gallon) container such as a pickle jar or plastic pitcher, combine the peels of 6-8 citrus fruits (lemons, oranges, limes, and/or grapefruits) and plain white distilled vinegar. I don't worry too much about putting in clean peels--I just juice the fruits so I have fresh citrus juice to use for other purposes and throw the roughage into my vinegar container, seeds and all. Let container sit in a dark, cool place for 2 weeks, stirring or shaking every few days. Strain liquid through cheesecloth; discard any pulp/seeds. You now have a gorgeous, citrus-colored, naturally antiseptic, naturally grease-cutting cleaner concentrate. If you wish, you may add 10-20 drops of a citrus essential oil to boost the scent; this is completely optional, however. To prepare for this basket or to use for yourself, mix 1 part concentrate with 1 part filtered or distilled water in a spray bottle. Label if desired. Note: I use a 1-1 mixture of water and citrus vinegar for cleaning countertops and other non-wood surfaces. Some people do recommend a greater dilution if you're cleaning wood.

How to make "laminated" instructional cards:
This is pretty simple. I "laminated" some note paper with packing tape. Just stick it on both sides and then trim the edges. I made 3 cards, one for each cleaner. I recommend trying each of these cleaners for yourself before giving to someone else, and creating your own instructional cards based on how you used the products and what your results were. Basically, though, just write down how to mix the solution and what to use it on.

What It Costs
Basket: $5.00 (half off at Michael's)
Filler: $1.00 ($3.99 bag that will fill at least 4 baskets)
Silk flowers: $2.00 ($3.99 sprig that will fill 2 baskets)
Microfiber cloth: $1.33 ($16 pack of 12)
Hydrogen peroxide: $.85
Baking soda: $2.00
Lemons: $.67 (6 for $2 at my store)
Citrus vinegar cleaner: $.50 (very rough estimate, assuming it takes about $8 to make a large batch of concentrate split into 8 portions, and then each portion diluted to 16 bottles)
Spray bottle: $3.00 (cost varies widely depending on source)
Instructional cards: free, if you have paper, pen, and packing tape
= $16.35

You could put quite a dent in even that reasonable cost by finding a basket at Goodwill, foregoing silk flowers, and finding a cheap spray bottle (beware, though...if it costs cheap, it sprays cheap).

I'm so excited to give my first cleaning kit to my friend this evening. I hope you'll consider making a few of these cleaners to use for yourself, and perhaps sharing with a friend as well.

Whiskey Sour

2012-11-24T14:45:00.000-05:00

(Image from http://blog.fashionandyou.com/easy-cocktail-recipes/)

The whiskey sour. I've had only three in my life, but I'm pretty sure they're going to stay near the top of my mental Favorite Cocktails list. I love the combination of sweet, sour, and that kicky whiskey bite. Sadly, most bars use sour mix, which is mostly high-fructose corn syrup, and for people throwing parties, picking up the mixer bottle from the supermarket is much easier than trying to juice that many lemons. But my goodness are you missing out by not making whiskey sours from scratch. The good news, however, is that they're really easy with a little preparation.

Whiskey Sour

1 1/2 oz. bourbon whiskey
1 oz. freshly squeezed lemon juice*
1/2 oz. simple syrup**
1 maraschino cherry

Use a jigger to measure ingredients into a shaker and pour over ice in a rocks glass, or simply measure right into the glass and stir. Garnish with the cherry.

*By squeezing two lemons by hand, I got about 4 oz. of juice. So figure about half a lemon per drink. You may get more juice by using a juicer. Take shavings of the lemon peel for additional garnish if you like.
**To make simple syrup, simple combine 1 part water to 1 part sugar in a saucepan and heat on low, swirling occasionally, until sugar is melted. Put aside to cool and then transfer to a pourable container. I poured it into a labeled squeeze bottle, and it worked great. I've made great simple syrups with both plain granulated sugar and raw cane sugar.

Roasted Broccoli and Vegan Whipped Cream

2012-06-26T14:53:00.002-04:00

Two things today, because they're both so good.

1. Roasted Broccoli
My mom has always grown her own broccoli and frozen it, so as a child I ate a lot of broccoli. I've always liked it, but it never turned my life around or anything. I just thought that was broccoli's fate: to be good, but never revolutionary.

Until I realized something.

We were cooking it the wrong way.

Until a few months ago, the only way I had ever eaten broccoli was raw or steamed. Either cold, firm, and kind of grassy-flavored, or steamy, mushy, and... still grassy-flavored.

And then I discovered the joy of roasting. Roasting brings out a level of sweetness in broccoli that I never knew existed. Adding a bit of sugar to the dressing caramelizes and crisps the delicate crowns, and a splash of fresh lemon wakes up the whole dish. THIS broccoli has literally turned my life around, because I don't know if I will ever steam broccoli again. THIS broccoli is revolutionary. I recommend following this recipe with just a few modifications: use only 1/4 teaspoon each of salt and pepper, and add 1/4 teaspoon of sugar. Be sure to toss the broccoli with the oil and seasonings to thoroughly coat each piece. Place on a baking sheet lined with foil (clean up is so easy--sometimes I don't even have to wash the pan). Lemon is optional, but boy is it good.

2. Vegan Whipped Cream
Don't worry, I'm not actually going vegan. But I do recognize the benefits of eating less dairy, and some people can't eat dairy at all, lest they suffer an upset stomach the rest of the day. For these people, this little trick is a dream.
Buy a can of full-fat coconut milk and store in the refrigerator overnight. Open the can and scoop out the top solidified layer, leaving any liquid in the can (save and use in smoothies or whatnot). Whip the solidified coconut milk with a hand or stand mixer until thick and fluffy. Add powdered sugar to taste. You could use a natural sweetener, but I do recommend using something dry, or the cream may get too soupy.

I am ridiculously impressed with the texture of this cream. It's thick and luscious, virtually like real whipped cream in almost every way. The only caveat here is that it does taste like coconut, so if you're a coconut hater, this may not be for you. Fortunately, I learned to like coconut some years back, and even though I'm not giving up dairy any time soon (or ever, let's be honest), I'm really excited to have an interesting, flavorful alternative to whipped cream. Tonight, I'm serving it with homemade chocolate pudding.

Easy Dessert: Donut Ice Cream Sandwiches

2012-06-04T17:25:00.000-04:00

Need a dessert for company? (Or, let's just be honest... need a dessert for your Friday night alone?) Don't feel like cooking? Still want something awesome? Would rather not break your calorie bank?

I've covered all those bases.

Donut Ice Cream Sandwiches
Approximately 260 calories each!

Plain Entenmann's donuts (if you choose sugared or frosted, calories go up)

Any flavor ice cream, slightly softened (I chose chocolate)

Chocolate chips (or white, or peanut butter, or whatever)

Slice donuts in half. Scoop about 1/4 cup ice cream onto half of the donuts; top with other half. Smooth ice cream edges with spoon. Freeze sandwiches for 30 minutes. Put chocolate chips in a freezer storage bag, and microwave on high in intervals of 30 seconds, until you can squish and melt the chips with your hands. Remove sandwiches from freezer and drizzle melted chips on top. Refreeze for at least 1 hour before eating; less time will result in a still delicious, but melty sandwich. (If you have a particularly cold freezer, allow to sit on the counter for 5 minutes or so before eating.)

Meadow Tea

2012-06-03T16:54:00.002-04:00

When I was young, my mom would take us to my aunt and uncle's old farmhouse in rural Pennsylvania to pick peppermint, spearmint, and wooly leaf tea in their creekside meadow. All kinds of mint grow very well in moist, well-drained locations, which makes meadows, which often have a water source of some kind, excellent harvesting locations for wild mint.

Once home, my mom would boil water in three of her largest pots, steep the tea, sweeten it to taste, and pour it into old glass milk jars purchased from a local dairy. While there was tea in the refrigerator, we hardly drank anything else. It is one of my favorite beverages, and one of the most refreshing drinks for summer. Various people have asked me how to make meadow tea, and the truth is that everyone's procedure differs, but I'll try to give you the gist here.

Meadow Tea

One bunch peppermint, spearmint, or woolly (apple) mint (about as much as you can hold in one hand, and a combination of mints makes the best tea)

Approximately 64 oz. water (more if you have a particularly large bunch of leaves, or much more if you have shopping bags full like my mother)

Your choice of sweetener (white sugar, raw sugar, and honey have all worked well for me; I imagine agave would be good too)

In a large pot, bring water to rolling boil. Immediately remove from heat. Toss in the bunch of mint and steep for 5-10 minutes. Remove leaves and discard. Sweeten to taste. Pour while still hot into heavy glass storage containers. When cool, refrigerate. Tea should taste fresh for up to 2 weeks.

Additional notes:

I know some people will want a specific amount of sweetener to add. I can't help you there. The level of sweetness is the most variable part of this recipe. Some little Amish ladies make their meadow tea as sweet as Southern sweet tea, which is entirely too much for me. Others use honey and others hate honey. Use whatever you find most palatable, and add gradually, tasting as you go along. I recommend sweetening while the tea is still hot, and stopping just short of where you'd like the sweetness to be, as I find the drink seems sweeter when cold.

If your hot tea has a lot of sediment in it, let it sit for a few minutes and then ladle out into your containers. The dirt will settle to the bottom, and the boiling water will have neutralized any harmful elements. Especially if you collected your mint from a natural meadow or organic garden, you shouldn't have any issues, and bugs rarely bother mint plants.

I've never tried adding fruit or any other herb to my mint tea, as the taste is too nostalgic for me to meddle with, but you should totally go for it. My first picks would be strawberries, raspberries, or lemon balm.

Discount Grocery

2012-05-14T12:52:00.000-04:00

I write this post with one sole purpose: to get you to find and visit a discount grocery store near you. I have a long history of visiting "scratch-and-dent" stores with my mom, some of them way off the beaten path, like that tiny Amish shop in eastern Iowa that didn't have any electric lights. Right after getting married, though, it was enough work to think about just stocking my own pantry and refrigerator with the resources I had close at hand, so it's been only recently that I've ventured beyond our local big-chain grocery stores.

Lucky for me, I don't live in Iowa anymore, so even though I didn't find a huge selection of discount grocery stores when I searched online, I did find one gem: BB's Grocery Outlet, with several locations in the southeast PA area. It's definitely the biggest discount grocery I've seen, and the most comprehensive. The milk is regular price and the produce is passable, not amazing, but still, they have milk and produce along with aisles and aisles of dry goods. Even though I have no prejudice toward generic products, what I particularly like at BB's are their numerous high-quality, name-brand items. We're talking Yoplait Greek yogurt w/ granola topping for a quarter a piece. Softsoap handwash for a dollar. Even a Martha Stewart all-natural carpet cleaner spray for less than two dollars.

I could keep going, but the most persuasive way to do this is to show you a picture:

This glorious load cost me...

wait for it...

Fifty dollars and change.

Just in case this still isn't clear (maybe you don't do large grocery trips very often, or maybe you cook too infrequently to know the relative cost of groceries), let me break this down.

Buitoni fresh four-cheese ravioli: At Giant, $4.49. At BB's, $1.79.
Fresh limes: Giant, $.50 each. BB's, $.25 each.
Kraft veggie macaroni and cheese: Giant, $1.50 each. BB's, $.50 each.

As far as high-quality, name-brand items go, this pile also contains:

Hilshire Farm smoked bratwurst
John F. Martin cheese dogs (quality local meat brand)
Townhouse Flatbread Crisps
Kleenex tissues
Turkey Hill chocolate milk
Terra sweet potato chips
Scott select-a-size paper towels
Post Great Grains cereal
Cascadian Farms organic frozen strawberries
Snapple Sorbet Pops
Annie's Naturals goddess dressing
Kotex product
Stubb's beef marinade

If I'd had the energy, I would have been tempted to go to Giant and price everything out to really wow you, but instead I'll give you a rough estimate. My best guess is that for this batch of groceries, I would pay between $80-$100 at most of our local grocery chains. And I took it off BB's hands for $50.

A few tips for shopping at discount grocery stores:

First, find one. Google "discount grocery" with your zipcode, or ask that Mennonite lady down the street. If Google fails and you know no Mennonite ladies, ask a hippie.
Plan to spend a substantial amount of time shopping. Discount groceries are notoriously unorganized, and you will likely have to sort through shelves of mismatched products to find the gold.
Save discount grocery stores for stock-up trips, not quick errand runs. The potential inconsistency of the merchandise and long lines of insane, cart mountain, I-only-come-out-of-my-house-once-a-month-to-feed shoppers may frustrate you if you need to get in and out.
Keeping the first two tips in mind, I recommend taking time to browse. Don't write a store off just because you don't see useful products on first glance. Poke around, shove things aside. Because discount grocery stores are not as pristinely organized as regular grocery stores, sometimes the good stuff is hiding. That being said, I do recommend choosing a store that, on first glance, looks like they use some kind of organizational structure.
Check dates! Only two or three items in my pile above were just slightly past their Best By dates, and since I've read plenty about how those dates are conservative, I deemed them just fine. I did see plenty of product that was wildly out of date, however. Just be conscientious.
Don't settle for bad food just because it's cheap. This will ruin your diet and enjoyment of food. I am sometimes tempted to buy food that's not very healthy or flavorful just because it's that darn cheap. But no matter how many Hamburger Helpers I walk out with, the price isn't going to make them taste any better. If you have to choose between settling for a mediocre-looking version of an ingredient you need or paying full price at a normal grocery store, suck it up: buy the better product. You're saving enough money elsewhere with those 45 packs of crackers for FIVE DOLLARS!!!

No-Knead Bread

2012-05-11T16:05:00.001-04:00

I followed the now-famous recipe provided to The New York Times by Jim Lahey of Sullivan Street Bakery for no-knead bread, and created this beauty.

Can't wait to crack into it tonight and pair it with a cauliflower-cheddar soup, a bottle of wine, and good company! I'll post more after tasting.

Top 3 Someday Recipes, Vol. 1

2012-04-19T17:27:00.000-04:00

New blog feature! I spend a lot of time looking at food blogs (often via Tastespotting) and find lots of recipes that I want to try "someday." I usually save a lot of these through Pinterest, but it might be nice to link them here as well, for your benefit.

Top 3 Someday Recipes

1. DIY Instant Vanilla Pudding Mix from BrownEyedBaker

2. Ultimate Chocolate Cupcakes from Handle the Heat

3. Slow-Cooker Saucy Chicken Thighs from Cully's Kitchen

Coconut Oil, Inside and Outside

2012-04-12T14:43:00.001-04:00

I've been reading some lately about the benefits of coconut oil, both as a topical skin moisturizer and as a diet supplement. I won't go into all that now (but click here for the gist). Today, I made a trek to the natural foods store and picked up the ingredients for homemade whipped coconut oil body moisturizer. It turned out really well, and I'm definitely going to start using it on a daily basis to moisturize face and body and remove makeup.

Soft-Boiled Eggs

2012-04-09T09:33:00.001-04:00

Soft-boiled eggs: easy and elegant. Soft-boiled eggs are "slow food"--they take time to savor and enjoy.

Fill a medium saucepan with an amount of water that will cover egg(s) by about an inch or two. Bring to a low boil (180 degrees is ideal). Slowly lower refrigerated egg(s) into the water with a spoon. Set a timer for 6 minutes if you want a white that's just barely set and a completely liquid yolk; 7 minutes if you like a little more solidity. Try to keep water at 180 degrees, or just simmering. When the timer goes off, remove eggs and place in serving cups, pointy side down. Serve with toasted pieces of bread. (To eat, crack in a circle around the top with a knife and remove carefully, picking off any stray pieces of shell. Salt and pepper and dig in.)

Food Trends I'm So Over

2012-04-05T11:02:00.000-04:00

I work part-time at a bookstore, and we have a huge newsstand, and we're allowed to read magazines on our breaks. Hence, I browse through most of the major food magazines on a regular basis: Food & Wine, Saveur, The Food Network Magazine, Fine Cooking, Cook's Illustrated, etc. (Saveur is my favorite, by the way--truly engaging, educational food writing.) So, with this incessant food magazine browsing combined with an unhealthy interest in restaurant menus, I consider myself fairly well-versed in food trends. And there are trends, if you didn't know. Flavors go in and out of style like clothing fashions. Example: Cupcakes are five minutes ago. All the cool kids are now eating macarons.

And there are a few trends that I'm really just done with. I'm sick of seeing them, I'm sick of eating them, I'm sick of their being my only options on dessert menus. Time to branch out, folks! Here are a few food trends I'm so over.

1. Red Velvet everything.
We GET it--it's a pretty color. But that is IT. It's practically flavorless, or at least has much less flavor than something that's a brilliant crimson should have. Just in case you are unfamiliar with the ingredients of red velvet cake (cupcakes, cake balls, cheesecake swirled with cake, oh god make it stop) and think it must be something exotic to be so popular--it's not. It's a lightly cocoa-flavored, heavily colored cake. That's it. And red velvet, it's time for you to go.

2. Molten chocolate cake.
I get why these are popular, particularly in middle-class restaurants: they're so ridiculously easy, and yet look fancy enough to warrant a hefty price tag. They're simple to make ahead of time and pop in the oven or microwave. And don't get me wrong--they're delicious. But they're old news. I'm sure they're still extremely popular with restaurant customers, so we may not see them go for a while, but please. I'm begging you. Have some creativity. Have the courage to axe the molten chocolate cake.

3. DIY name-brand products.
This is a picture of homemade Oreos. And I've made them. And they were good. But they weren't Oreos. Because Oreo is a brand name, and the reason they taste so distinctive is because Nabisco spent years and loads of money refining their manufacturing process so that every red-blooded American knows what an Oreo cookie should taste like. Sure, we can make a healthier, fresher product in our home kitchens, but we can't replicate that process, and therefore, we can't make them taste exactly right. And I'm not sure that I care. Because when I crave an Oreo, I don't just want a cream-filled chocolate cookie. I could make that myself. What I want is nostalgia. I want that Oreo to taste exactly like it did when I was six years old. The same goes for Pop-Tarts. I know full well that Pop-Tarts are perhaps one of the worst processed foods you can put into your body, so I tried the homemade version. They were rich, sweet, and buttery--but they didn't taste like a Pop-Tart. And sometimes--not often--but sometimes, I want a Pop-Tart, and making one does not count. It has to come out of that blue box and foil wrapper! It has to taste the same.

I'm conflicted about this one, because I'm all for people cooking for themselves and finding healthier, less-processed alternatives to store products. But when it's things like Oreos and Pop-Tarts, which you shouldn't eat on a regular basis, not even the homemade ones, I think we've gone a little overboard on the DIY mania. Just because you can doesn't mean you should. Sometimes, the time you save by ripping open a package of Oreos and pouring a glass of milk is worth even more than the accomplishment you feel by making it yourself. Give yourself a break. You are not Martha Stewart; you are not paid to cook. Cook what makes sense and buy what you can't replicate.

Lime Cupcakes with Blackberry Buttercream

2012-03-16T11:38:00.000-04:00

A combination of factors led to these cupcakes.

1. After making that raspberry buttercream, but knowing I could make it better, I was obsessed with creating a new berry buttercream, and the bag of organic blackberries in my freezer that I had purchased on sale for smoothies were just sitting there waiting for me.

2. I love lime. Always and forever.

3. Perhaps most importantly, I just watched 5 episodes of DC Cupcakes, a TLC program that showcases a cupcake shop in the capital. I find the scripted banter, escapades, and arguments particularly annoying on this show, but I sat through it for the cupcakes. As cupcakes go, these seem decent to me. I like that the frosting is standardized and the decoration minimal; these are signs that flavor is what matters to this bakery. And, inevitably, after watching hundreds of dozens of beautiful cupcakes being baked, decorated, sold, and shipped, I couldn't get cupcakes out of my mind. I had to prove that I could make a cupcake at least as delicious and whimsical as those two Greek sisters are doing in DC.

So I did.

Lime cupcakes with blackberry buttercream.

I followed the Tender White Cake recipe on the back of the King Arthur cake flour box, substituting fresh lime juice and zest for the almond extract. I can't imagine a more perfect white cupcake recipe. It's a gorgeous sponge whipped up with plenty of butter and egg whites, which makes the mixing process easier because you don't have to be so worried about overbeating.

I cooked the blackberries over medium heat until they broke down into a sauce. I strained them, and then beat the syrupy purple juice with a lot of butter this time, since the lack of butter was the problem in the raspberry recipe. I've made "dump icing" pretty much my whole life, so I just whipped the butter, whipped in the blackberry concentrate, and then added powdered sugar until I liked the consistency.

I did it. They are amazing. And my photos aren't bad this time, either! Take that, DC Cupcakes.

Raspberry Buttercream

2012-03-01T19:33:00.001-05:00

As soon as I saw this recipe online, I knew my day would not pass before I had made it. My sister and I have been obsessed with making raspberry coulis for some time now--watching that magic tool, the fine-mesh strainer, turn seedy sauce into smooth ruby liquid. We've used it on pavlova, cheesecake, and coeur a la creme, but before this recipe, I hadn't considered the possibilities of whipping it with fat and sugar into a luxurious, tangy buttercream.

Courtesy of Brenda of A Farmgirl's Dabbles, I give you...

Raspberry Buttercream.

1/2 c. unsalted butter, at room temperature
12 oz. raspberries, fresh or frozen
1/2 tsp. freshly squeezed lemon juice
3-1/2 c. powdered sugar
pinch of kosher salt
1 to 2 T. milk, if needed to thin out the frosting

Cook the raspberries in a medium saucepan over medium heat, stirring frequently until the raspberries are broken down into a sauce. Pour the sauce through a fine mesh strainer to remove the seeds, and then pour the raspberry sauce back in the pot. Simmer until the sauce reduces to a 1/4 cup. It will be a very rich red and concentrated sauce. Set aside to cool. With a mixer, cream the butter with a paddle attachment on medium high speed about 2 minutes, until lightened in color and a bit fluffy. Add 2 cups of powdered sugar, the 1/4 cup of cooled raspberry sauce, lemon juice, and salt. Mix until smooth. Add another 1-1/2 cups of powdered sugar and mix until smooth. If you want the frosting less stiff, add some milk, 1 tablespoon at a time.

Frost whatever you wish! (Shown in this post on a prepared Dr. Oetker organic brownie mix.)

Edit: After tasting and re-tasting this recipe, and observing how it held up overnight, I actually wish I would have listened to my instincts and made this a truer buttercream by adding another stick of butter. Yes, another complete stick. If you look at a variety of buttercream recipes (like this and this), you'll find that if you're using over 3 cups of powdered sugar, the recipe should also contain at least 1 cup of butter, and this raspberry recipe only contains a 1/2 cup. Adding more butter would make the icing fluffier and more melt-in-your-mouth, though you might have to store it in the fridge. As it is, it's delicious, but extremely pasty-sweet because of the excess of powdered sugar.

A Break From Food: DIY Home Decor

2012-02-26T16:38:00.000-05:00

I have to be honest and say that I'm mostly posting this on my food blog because I want to be able to pin it on Pinterest. It'll probably get me some traffic, too. But primarily, I want to share this idea, because it's awesome!

I recently visited someone's home for the first time, and saw this clever wall hanging in their living room that consisted of a bamboo rod hung with pieces of twine. Clipped to the twine with mini clothespins were Valentine's Day cards per the recent holiday. I loved the rod + twine + clips idea, and envisioned it with branches of silk flowers instead of cards and photos. This afternoon, with the help of my nice husband, I accomplished the vision.

Silk flowers are so expensive, so I only bought two branches of faux apple blossoms. I think I need a few more to make this look more filled in; better yet, real branches. Still, it's a big improvement on a bare wall.

I pulled off several sprigs and hung them separately.

I love that this was so easy, relatively cheap (under $20 for all materials, excluding hammer and nails, which we already had), and completely versatile: you can change out the flowers/branches based on the holiday or season, add photos, cards, garlands...anything lightweight and clippable, really.

The Joys of Pinterest

2012-02-21T13:56:00.000-05:00

I'm back! I'm back! We'll see how long this lasts.

I've been cooking like a boss, but haven't worked blogging back into my routine yet. Many of my recipes have been sourced from Pinterest, which is a wonderful and addictive photo-website aggregate that allows you to post any items you find online and sort them into categories. You follow friends, preferably ones whose style you appreciate, and see a mixed collection of their "pins" on your main page. I think the reason why recipes posted on Pinterest are so appealing is that many of my friends are attracted to simple, tasty, budget-friendly options like I am. Most of the recipes originate from home bloggers, as opposed to Food & Wine or other similar lofty publications. I'll briefly review several of the recipes I've tried through Pinterest below.

Homemade Coffee Creamer
I try to always keep half-and-half around for coffee. Milk just doesn't cut it, especially since I usually buy 1%. Recently, I noticed that Coffee-Mate has introduced a Natural Bliss liquid creamer, made with only milk, cream, and sugar. I liked the fact that it was real dairy and had the convenience of already having the sugar included and dissolved. It was, however, too sweet for me. By the time I had added enough cream to my liking, my coffee was cloying. Then Pinterest came to the rescue! A lovely woman who specializes in organic cooking posted a recipe for homemade coffee creamer on her blog. This is, essentially, the same idea Coffee-Mate had, but even better, because you can use raw sugar or honey and sweeten and/or flavor to taste. Brilliant. I adapted her recipes by making a small amount of simple syrup with organic sugar. I then added a cup of whole milk and a cup of heavy cream and heated until the mixture started steaming. I added a teaspoon of vanilla, allowed to cool, and now my efforts at besting Coffee-Mate is sitting attractively in my refrigerator, just waiting to be added to my Dark Sumatra.

Homemade Pop-Tarts
This recipe haunted me until I had a chance to try it. I would find myself daydreaming about making it. I've had a long-time love affair with one of processed food's worst offenders, the classic iced Strawberry Pop-Tart. The idea of making an improved version myself was tantalizing. This recipe takes some time and elbow grease, but I like that you need to freeze the tarts before baking; it keeps them fresh and you can prepare as needed. The tarts are delicious, but they are extremely rich. After eating two, it was almost like I could feel the butter in my stomach, if that makes any sense at all. It was like eating a giant Christmas cookie, which is essentially what it is--a shortbread dough stuffed with jam. So, while they are flaky and buttery and wonderful, I wanted the filling to be tarter and the pastry to be cakier, like a real Pop-Tart. I would consider making them again, but not as a Pop-Tart substitute, since they didn't quite fulfill that craving.

Teriyaki Meatball Bowls
I saved the best for last. This recipe is phenomenal: easy, attractive, and delicious. If you don't normally cook Asian cuisine, the recipe may be expensive at first, but you should really consider keeping rice vinegar and sesame oil around--there's no way to replicate those flavors with any other ingredients. And once you've cooked fresh Asian food yourself, you may wonder why you ever dialed that Chinese takeout number in the past. I used ground turkey for my meatballs for an even healthier option, and they were great. Other than that, I followed the recipe to the letter. The husband's response says it all: "Add it to the rotation!"

Review: Hodgson Mill Brownie Mix

2011-08-19T11:57:00.002-04:00

My mother has recently commenced a super-healthy, vegan, vitamin-supplemented diet due to some health issues, and it's got me thinking a lot about what we should be putting into our bodies. A lot of people confuse a "healthy" diet with products that are low-fat, fat-free, sugar-free, low-calorie, or otherwise "diet" or "lite." This truly is not the case, and I'm surprised, with all of the good press now out about raw and whole food diets, that this confusion still happens.

My mother and I define healthy food as food in its most raw, unprocessed form--fruits, vegetables, and grains, but also sugars and fats. At home, we drink full-fat raw milk and use raw cane sugar and agave nectar to sweeten coffee, plain yogurt, etc. Counting calories is important in some cases, but what is really crucial is thinking about where your food comes from, how it is being processed, and how that processing is affecting our health, the environment, and the economy. Other people have written manifestos on this topic, so I won't here. (Please refer yourself to anything written by Michael Pollan, and check out Jamie Oliver's food revolution.)

I am a proponent of the idea that junk food should be junk food. If you're going to have sweets, have the full-fat, full-sugar, full-flavored variety and just eat it more infrequently, and less of it. But I'm also curious about "healthier" junk food--not junk food that is low in calorie, but which rather substitutes more raw, whole, unprocessed ingredients for the typical white sugar and flour. My first investigatory efforts are with brownie mixes. Can gluten-free, whole wheat, cane sugar, even black bean brownies stand up to Duncan Hines?

Hodgson Mill's Brownie Mix was my first experiment. This dry mix contains just five ingredients: turbinado sugar, whole wheat pastry flour, cocoa, milled flax seed, and salt. The added wet ingredients are eggs, oil, and butter.

The verdict: these brownies have great real chocolate flavor; they definitely didn't skimp on the cocoa. They are, however, incredibly coarse, dense, and filling. I felt like I had ingested one of those science fictiony, Willy Wonka whole-meal-in-one-bite things. With whole wheat flour and flax seed, it may as well be a meal substitute bar. They were better warm and gooey than cold. The wheat flavor and course texture were more noticeable once they had cooled. My fiance didn't like them, but one of our more health-conscious, vegetarian friends did. I think this dessert is good as long as you know what you're getting yourself into. If you expect whole-grain and healthy, you won't be disappointed. But if you're expecting ooey-gooey Duncan Hines, you'll have a sad reality check.

Vietnamese Cuisine: Bánh Mì

2011-06-28T14:01:00.000-04:00

My first date with my now fiancé was at a local Vietnamese restaurant. Laid back, BYOB, and gourmet or simple depending on your mood, it's still one of our favorite places. We usually order rice vermicelli bowls because they're one of the cheapest entrees.

The dish, in Vietnamese, is bún thịt nướng, and consists of grilled meat and rice vermicelli noodles over a bed of greens and bean sprouts. The bowl can be topped with chopped egg rolls, spring onions, and peanuts, and is served with a side of nước chấm, a basic term for a thin dipping sauce that often includes vinegar, fish sauce, and sugar. The dish bursts with flavor, primarily because Vietnamese cuisine often attempts a balance among five "spices" (spicy, sour, bitter, salty, sweet) and five colors (white, green, yellow, red, black) which correspond to the five elements. The grilled meat is salty and rich, the greens and bean sprouts are fresh and crunchy, and the sauce is tangy and sweet.

Other Vietnamese specialties include phở, a dish similar to rice vermicelli bowls, but in soup form, and, the actual subject of this post, bánh mì. The bánh mì is the delicious result of French colonialism in southeast Asia; the French brought baguettes, mayonnaise, and pâté, and someone combined them with traditional Vietnamese ingredients like the ones described above. This new creation, a hearty sandwich filled with cold cuts or roasted meat, cilantro, peppers, pickled carrots, fish sauce, and even noodles, has become one of the most globally marketable Vietnamese dishes because of its ease of preparation and consumption.

You can watch Anthony Bourdain sample one of these authentic Vietnamese hoagies here, and this article explains how the sandwich is quickly taking over the once mighty panini's fifteen minutes of fame. Europe is so last decade: bring on Asia!

A new Vietnamese cafe recently opened within walking distance of my fiancé's apartment. This shop, owned by the same family as the first restaurant, concentrates on easier, takeout Vietnamese fare: phở, bánh mìs, noodle bowls, egg rolls, and the ever confusing bubble tea. On our first visit, which won't be our last, we ordered jicama rolls, bún thịt nướng (noodle bowl) and a pork bánh mì. The rolls were served with a rich peanut sauce, and we added sriracha and hoisin sauces to our entrees. The service was a bit slow because the shop is still new, and they've decorated their walls with chintzy LED light strings, but I loved the new venture into Vietnamese cuisine. Need more bánh mì!

Wegmans

2011-05-09T15:15:00.000-04:00

School is over. Sleep and square meals have meaning again. Today I went to Wegmans, 30+ minutes away, just because I had the time. I didn't need anything in particular. It's just so...pretty...in there. I always look like a nut when I go to supermarkets like this, because I rarely shop with a list, and today I was furtively snapping photos with my iPod, so even if customers didn't think I looked weird meandering the aisles, the employees probably thought I was from a competing grocery chain doing secretive research. At any rate, no one stopped me, and here are some of the shots I took.

Grocery shopping, for me, is like going to an art museum. I see the ingredients I read about in magazines and marvel at their celebrity. Granted, many negative things have come from the celebration of food in this country, but the items in the spotlight are equivalent to Top 40 pop music: gaudy, saccharine, and pre-packaged. I go to Wegmans to look at real art in the form of beautiful raw ingredients: Dutch cheeses, smoked salmon, wildflower honey, whole grains, artichokes, clotted cream, Irish butter. This is the real celebration of food. I came home with riccioli pasta, pomodoro sauce, and the smallest block I could find of parmigiano reggiano to combine for lunch. Delicious.

Siggi's Yogurt

2011-04-14T12:07:00.001-04:00

My grocery shopping and eating habits encompass both frugality and excess. I love finding good deals, especially on unique ingredients and local restaurants, but I am also tempted by luxury. With some exceptions, the principle that "you get what you pay for" is usually true of food. Higher prices often mean greater quality; therefore, sometimes I buy food simply because it's more expensive. Paying a higher price often means you're supporting a privately owned enterprise instead of a huge corporation, too, and I definitely believe in supporting entrepreneurs and local business. Sometimes though, like today, I am entranced by the sheer hedonism of a particular food product.

I was rushed in the supermarket this morning, trying to pick up coffee (necessity) and lunch before racing to school, but I hadn't eaten breakfast. As I passed the organic dairy aisle on my way to pick up my beloved Annie Chun's noodle bowl, I spotted yogurt. Perfect. But as I reached for some 89-cent soy yogurt (already kind of expensive, but after Europe, I don't mess around with yogurt), a new product caught my eye: Siggi's Icelandic style skyr, strained non-fat yogurt. It was $1.99 for 2 ounces. I had to have it. The astronomical price proved its quality.

It comes in a gorgeous little paper container with a peel-off silver foil top. Whoever designed this creamy white, streamlined image was a genius. It practically reeks of purity. As you can see in the image, the packaging states clearly what it does NOT contain: basically, anything fake and/or otherwise nasty. The ingredients? Absolutely natural. My vanilla-flavored cup contained skim milk, agave nectar, Madagascar bourbon vanilla, live active cultures, and vegetable rennet.

The texture was unbelievably thick and coated my mouth instantly. It was very lightly sweetened and very tangy. Flecks of vanilla bean were clearly visible. The overwhelming combination of these factors made me stop halfway through and come back to it. I compare it to Greek yogurt, as it's made with a similar straining process, only perhaps even thicker. The quality was certainly unsurpassed by any other yogurt I've had. However, I wouldn't buy this on a regular basis. This isn't an everyday breakfast yogurt, especially at $2 per serving. But it was a worthwhile indulgence, and I'm happy to support a company that's bringing a distinctly cultural product to a wider audience.